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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Amaroq" data-source="post: 1281230" data-attributes="member: 15470">Issue #4: Southport. Episode 2 of 5Miriel has enough energy left to heal Paks’ wounds enough to get the tall woman back on her feet, and a little bit left over to bring Brunhilde back to consciousness as well. Then, she is completely exhausted. All of us are still badly wounded, and the horses are scattered, but at least the boy is safe.Once we are all back on their feet, we take a good look at the newcomer. He’s a tall man, with broad shoulders, an olive complexion and a goatee. He wears a dark cloak under which we can see chain mail, and he wears the amber medallion of a Vigilant prominently over it. “My name is Jim,” he says. “As soon as I heard you guys had set off to rescue this kid, I followed as quickly as possible.”“I’ve been looking for you!” exclaims Chuck.Jim nods to him. “So I’d heard.”We thank him profusely. Jim knows an herbal remedy for the spider poison, which he makes. Goldpetal watches, learning. Jim administers to the unconscious child, who begins to look much healthier as pallor returns to his cheeks.Miriel looks around, considering everyone’s condition with her healer’s eye. “Everyone is feeling a little better,” she says, “And we don’t want to stay here, lest they return. Let’s round up the horses and ride back to Southport.” Her suggestion meets no opposition. Jim, it turns out, has a horse of his own, a large bay with a white diamond on its forehead. He rounds up the two horses which fled, and we wearily mount up to begin heading back to town. “Man, those spider-eye goblins are a pain in the…” Jim commiserates with us, shaking his head. Goldpetal spurs his horse up alongside the Vigilant. “You’ve seen them before?” he asks.“Of course,” Jim responds. “They’re common in the Hornsaw forest, though they’re not seen around here all that often.”“Where do they come from?”“I don’t know,” says Jim, “As you can see, they’re unnatural, and deserve to be destroyed. If we didn’t have so many wounded to take care of, I’d go after them and kill them all.” Goldpetal nods approvingly. “They seemed to be worshipping some sort of spider god,” he explains.  “We killed it.” “Oh, no wonder they were angry,” Jim says. “I was wondering why they came after you so tenaciously. By Tanil! I didn’t realize they had a cult brewing here, so close to civilized lands. I’m going to have to tell my superiors, and we’ll have to root them out.” He looks back to everyone else, and calls, “Thanks for rescuing the kid.” When he looks back to Goldpetal, he says, more quietly, “I’m surprised you got as far as you did.” “The first time we attacked them, they didn’t fight much.”“Yeah,” Jim responds, “You must have really pissed them off. They’re not usually very brave.” Chuck breaks into the conversation to ask, “Where are you bound, Jim?”“I’ll accompany you guys as far as Southport,” he replies, “But I don’t want anyone to know I’m there. I’m on a secret mission, so don’t tell anyone that I’m around. You guys just take all the credit, and I’ll disappear when we get near to town.” “Did you see Fergus?” asks Goldpetal, who seems to be the only one really concerned about the highlander.Jim hasn’t met Fergus, but he says, “I passed some muttering northerner. I asked him if he had seen you, but he just swore at me and stormed off. I think he muttered something like, ‘kid be damned...not attacking unarmed civilians...’ ” Behind them, Miriel is riding with Reginald, the child. He awakens, for the first time, and she gives him some water as we ride. Goldpetal, who had been observing Jim as he cared for Reginald, asks some questions, to learn more about the herbs. Jim gives him some tips about how to deal with spider poison. After an hour’s ride, Chuck rides up alongside Jim. “I’m sorry I failed in my mission,” he says humbly.Jim responds, “Steve has taught you well, but you are not a Vigilant yet.” Chuck, in a quiet voice, says, “I’m so ashamed. How can I redeem myself?” “I’ll be in touch,” Jim tells him. “Right now, you need to go out and get some experience. You’re not even close to being ready for the Vigilant’s test.” Chuck and Jim ride ahead a little from the rest of us, out of hearing range, and have a long conversation on the road back to town. We complete the journey home without interruption.As we approach town, Jim covers his face with his cloak and turns off into the wilderness. We ride to The Laughing Ogre. Townspeople, when they see that we have Reginald and that he is alive, start following us; word travels quickly, and by the time we reach the Inn, a large crowd has gathered. Everyone cheers as we arrive, hailing us as heroes as we walk to the inn. Fox is delighted to see Reginald safe, even if not perfectly sound. We take the child with us, and Miriel leads us to the temple of Madriel for some badly-needed healing. She donates fifteen gold pieces, and Chuck donates five. Fortunately, one of Madriel’s divine gifts is healing, and having rescued the boy, we don’t have to buy our healing. The priestesses cure our injuries, and set to work on the child’s poisons. While the rest of us are cared for, Miriel is taken to see Verenia, the head priestess.Miriel tells her, “Thank you so much for the healing potion. We really needed it.” “You’re quite welcome,” the priestess says. “Thank you for rescuing the boy. Remember that the wedding is on Madraday, two days from now.” Miriel had, in an earlier visit, offered to help officiate a wedding. “We’re expecting you there to help with the ceremony.”“I’ll be back even sooner than that,” Miriel tells her. “I need to do some studying tomorrow, and I’d like to help with the preparations for the wedding.” When everyone is well, and Chuck and Stone have been cured of the spider’s poisons, we go back to the Laughing Ogre for a late but well-deserved lunch. Fox offers us free room and board for the foreseeable future, in thanks for saving his son. From the moment we walk into the common room of the inn, we get a lot of attention. We’re famous at this point. We have to tell our story several times, to an ever-larger group of admiring townspeople, before lunch arrives. We are only saved from further inquiries because Saraya has already composed a song about our adventures!  She plays it while we eat; it’s quite a hit, and is requested several times by the regular patrons of the tavern. During our joking, jovial conversation, everyone notices that Chuck seems much lighter-hearted than he had, as though a great weight has been lifted from his shoulders. He jokes around with Stone and Paks, exchanging witticisms easily. As we finish the meal, Miriel suggests going to bed. After a sleepless night, this seems reasonable even though it is mid-afternoon, but we decide to divide up the treasure we’ve collected first. We pool everything we’ve found. Miriel casts detect magic and examines it all. “The scroll is magic, as is the dagger you found, Chuck.” “Duh,” he says, pulling it out slightly from its sheath. It glows brightly, and everyone in the tavern who isn’t already looking at us glances our way. He re-sheathes it quickly. “Here,” Miriel says, reaching out for it. “I’ll get it checked out at the temple tomorrow, to make sure it isn’t cursed.” She unrolls the scroll to look at it, but shakes her head. “I can’t make any sense out of this,” she says.“May I?” asks Brunhilde. Miriel hands her the scroll, which she studies for a while.Stone reaches for one of the violet gems. “Stone like colored stone,” the half-orc says. Chuck takes the other.Paks has been counting the gold coins we found. “We each get thirteen gold,” she says. “That leaves two for the party fund.”Brunhilde looks up from the scroll. “This is an arcane scroll, with three spells on it,” she tells us. “I’ll study it further tomorrow.”Stone asks “So, who was that guy?”“A Vigilant,” Goldpetal helps, stating the obvious.Chuck noticed more. He lowers his voice; we all have to lean forward to hear him. “He had a caterpillar in his medallion, which identifies him as a member of the Acernoth Delta Vigil.  Their task is to watch the swamps and rat men.”“What did you guys talk about?” asks Paks.“I can’t say,” he says.We wake around dawn on the second Corday of Charder, the ninth day of the month, well-rested after going to bed so early. We gather in the common room for breakfast. “You’re up early,” Fox calls jovially. He comes over to the table. “What was the deal with Fergus?” he asks.Miriel looks at him oddly, and asks, “What do you mean?”“He stormed into the inn a few hours before dawn, grabbed his things, tried to get some food, and stamped off, complaining about you the entire time.”“He didn't like how we ran things,” says Miriel, politically polite.Goldpetal adds, “He was argumentative.” Chuck laughs. “He had issues!”Fox says, “Well, he’s gone.” “He didn’t say anything?” Chuck asks.Fox shakes his head. “Well, we left it on bad terms. He asked if he could buy provisions, but I told him that he deserved nothing from me after refusing to rescue my son. We had further words, but nothing of any real meaning.” Chuck says, jokingly, “You didn’t kill him or anything?” Fox appears not at all amused. “No,” he says, his lips set in a grim line. Changing the subject, Goldpetal asks Fox if, at some time, there was a sizable population of elves in the area. He notes that there are a surprising number of half-elves but no full elves around Southport. We’ve also noticed a fair number of half-orcs, dwarves, and a few halflings, though Goldpetal doesn’t mention them. Saraya overhears, and is happy to share her lore. She goes into a long, involved story. The Mourning Marshes, she tells us, where all the ratmen now live, was once known as the Fertile Fields. Before the Titans’ War, it was one of the most fertile areas in the world. Some people say that this is where men and elves came into existence. The area was corrupted by Chern, god of disease and plague, and the men and elves which lived there were wiped out in the Titans’ War. Fox laughs. “Believe it or not,” he says, “I am one of the last princes of the House of Yorninal. Of course, my ancestral lands are now in the midst of the swamps.” Only Goldpetal and Chuck seem really interested in the tale. Fox takes them to his office and tells how he and a friend went to the elven ruins in the swamp to find his ancestral home. He shows them a great seal, with the crest of the House on it. Then he pulls out marvelous heirloom of his house: a sword which was clearly made by elves, of a quality that doesn’t exist today. Goldpetal had heard some of this history before, but not in this detail. In the middle of the long story, Miriel excuses herself, wraps up breakfast and heads over to the temple of Madriel, The First Angel of Mercy. Verenia is there, but she is very busy. She refers Miriel to some acolytes for study and preparation for the wedding. Miriel asks if she can learn to write scrolls, but is told that she’s not yet ready. Miriel has never performed a marriage, so she focuses on learning the rites. It seems simple enough, and she wonders why Verenia has made such a point of having her there. She does some meditation, then helps with various tasks around the temple, cleaning, cooking, lighting candles, performing the minor rites of the day.  She particularly enjoys the noon blessing to the goddess of the sun. In mid-afternoon, she sees Verenia again and offers to work at the temple. Verenia offers to let her stay at the temple, but Miriel quickly says she should stay with her friends at the inn, in case they have to leave on a mission at short notice. Verenia nods knowingly. She knows that the accommodations at the inn are much more comfortable than the spartan cells at the temple. While she has Verenia’s attention, Miriel asks about the dagger. Verenia casts some spells and unsheathes the dagger. It glows like torch, and would probably illuminate a dark room. Verenia says she’s not a loremaster, but it’s obviously very old and magical. She suggests that Miriel take the dagger to the weaponsmith, who might be able to tell more about it. She doesn’t detect any curses on it.At the inn, after Fox finishes the long elven history, Goldpetal asks if anyone can teach him about local plant and animal life. Fox surprises him by referring him to Chuck. Chuck offers to give him some lessons, if Goldpetal wants to come along while he gets the gems appraised. As they walk, they compare knowledge. Chuck knows much more about the local plants and animals, but he feels that Goldpetal has seen much more of the world, and may know more in general.  They go to Krinsa the trader, and Largo the moneychanger, in turn. Both say that the gems are amethysts. Largo, a corpulent bald man, sweaty, with greasy little fingers, offers five gold less for each gem. Finally, they visit Dusican, the jeweler, who examines the amethysts closely with his loupe. He offers one hundred and eighty gold each, matching Krinsa’s offer. Chuck thanks him and tries to leave, but Dusican holds him back and starts talking about how they would make nice earrings or rings, then tries to sell them other jewelry. “I really must be going,” Chuck excuses himself.Dusican tries one more time to pull them back in, but they firmly step free of his shop.  He yells after them, “Come back whenever you want!” For a little while, they wander around the area just outside of town, looking at plants, and discussing animals and weather patterns. They explore the town a bit. There’s a river that comes in from the north, the Hornswythe River. Southport is an important trading port because seabound vessels come here to trade with other ships that go up the river. In years when hurricanes are especially bad, it can rain blood even this far north, and we’re approaching hurricane season now. Even worse than the hurricanes are the blood blizzards of winter, which everyone hopes not to see.After this, Chuck stops by the smithy to see about getting some lighter armor made, but it’s a small town, and the local smith can’t make masterwork armor. After some exploring, Chuck heads back to the inn to take care of his weapons. On her way back to the inn, Miriel stops at Saylis the weaponsmith with the dagger. Gruffly complaining that she was about to close up, the dwarf is nevertheless willing to help. She takes the sheathed dagger and pulls it out. She examines the shining dagger very closely, and tells Miriel that it’s obviously magical, a very fine weapon, very ancient, possibly from before the Titans’ War.</blockquote>

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