We start at the giant spider's cave. It's dawn on Vanday, the 8th of Charder.
Miriel suggests heading back to town. Goldpetal asks about Fergus; Miriel says he's with the horses if he's anywhere to be found. As we head away from the cave and down the path to leave the woods, the goblins are peeking with all their eyes around the trees, watching us.
Chuck looks for Fergus's tracks and sees them on the path. We all head down the path we took in, with Miriel watching the goblins behind us. Stone is carrying the kid, who is still unconscious. Pretty quickly we can't see the goblins anymore, but about 10 minutes later, we hear them - - a screeching yell from behind us. They sound rather upset.
Miriel suggests moving more quickly. Goldpetal suggests drawing weapons, which we do. We're about a 30 minute walk, if we move quickly, from the edge of the woods. We speed up. A few minutes later, we hear drumming from the direction of the goblin encampment. We walk even faster. Shortly, a few miles off, we hear all sorts of goblin screams and yells; from the sounds, there may be dozens of them coming after us. We continue to move quickly down the path. We start to hear them crashing through the underbrush, but now we can see the edge of the woods. As we reach the edge of the woods, we bolt for the horses. We reach them just as the goblins burst out of the woods, charging us with javelins (spears to them) held high.
They're shouting in goblin at us; clearly wanting revenge for our dispatching of the spider god. At the edge of the woods, about 50 feet away, there is a small horde of them. We all turn to face them, arranging ourselves around the horses. Paks shoots her bow at the shaman, hitting him. Goldpetal also shoots at the shaman, but misses badly. Chuck shoots at the shaman and misses. Stone shoots his crossbow at one of the other goblins and hits it. Miriel slings a bullet and hits one of the goblins on the end.
Paks steps forward, drops her bow, pulls out her longsword, and swings it at the shaman, hitting him hard. The shaman jabs at Paks with his spear, hitting her. Goldpetal drops his bow and rushes a goblin with his scimitar, but his wild swing misses. Chuck shoots at the goblin Miriel hit, but misses. Brunhilde runs up to the same goblin and swings her quarterstaff, but misses. The goblin in front of Brunhilde stabs at her with its spear and misses. The goblin in front of Goldpetal swings at him and misses. The goblin next to the shaman strikes at Paks, injuring her badly; she slumps to the ground unconscious. Another goblin attacks Stone and hits him. Another attacks Brunhilde and hits her. Two more attack Goldpetal; one hits, injuring him badly. Some goblins start to run around the horses. Stone attacks a goblin with a flurry of blows, hitting it hard with both fists and crushing its skull. Miriel blesses the party.
The shaman attacks Stone and hits him; he staggers, but he's still on his feet. Goldpetal swings and misses. Chuck draws both weapons and runs at the goblins on his end. He makes a critical hit with the short sword, chopping its head off, and hits the other with the long sword, killing both. Brunhilde hits the goblin in front of Goldpetal with her quarterstaff. One of the remaining goblins goes after Chuck, hitting him and knocking him out; he's bleeding on the ground. Another goes after Brunhilde, hitting her and knocking her out, also bleeding. The goblin in front of Goldpetal hits and knocks him out, making a third party member slowly bleeding to death. Another goes after Stone makes it four. We begin to despair when suddenly, from the edge of the woods, a man appears, shoots two arrows from his bow in quick sucession, hitting both a goblin and the shaman through the eyes, killing both. Miriel runs over to Stone, heals him back onto his feet and asks him for the healing potion. The goblins look at the new guy and their dead shaman and bolt. Miriel stabilizes Paks and Brunhilde, gives Chuck the healing potion from the temple, and gives another healing potion to Goldpetal. The man who saved us helps extremely competently with the healing.
Once the party is all back on their feet, we take a good look at the newcomer. He's a big, tall man, with an olive complexion and a goatee, in the garb of a Vigilant, wearing a big amber medallion. He introduces himself as Jim.
Jim: "As soon as I heard you guys had set off to rescue this kid I followed as quickly as possible." We thank him profusely. Jim: "Man, those spider-eyed goblins are a pain in the ass."
Goldpetal: "You've seen them before?"
Jim: "Of course; they're common in other parts of the world, though they're not seen around here all that often."
Goldpetal: "Where do they come from?"
Jim: "I don't know, but in the Hornsaw forest they're really common. As you can see, they're unnatural, and they 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: "They seemed to be worshipping some sort of spider god; we killed it."
Jim: "Oh, no wonder they were so pissed; I was wondering why they came after you. Damn, 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. Thanks for rescuing the kid; I'm surprised you got as far as you did."
Goldpetal: "The first time we attacked them they didn't fight much."
Jim: "Yeah, you must have really pissed them off. They're not usually very brave."
Chuck: "Where are you bound, Jim?"
Jim: "I'll accompany you guys to town, 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 hide when we get near to town."
Goldpetal: "Did you see Fergus?"
Jim: "I passed some muttering northerner. I asked him about you guys, but he just swore at me and stormed off, muttering 'kid be damned...not attacking unarmed civilians...leave goblins alone'."
We get on the horses. Reginald is awake; Jim knows some herbal remedies for the poison and has tended him, with Goldpetal observing and asking questions to learn about the herbs. Jim gives him some tips about how to deal with spider poison.
Chuck: "I'm sorry I failed in my mission."
Jim: "Steve has taught you well, but you're not a vigilant yet."
Chuck: "I'm so ashamed; how can I redeem myself?"
Jim: "I'll be in touch. 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 move off a little from the rest of us and have a private discussion on the road back to town. Chuck notices a caterpillar in the medallion, which identifies Jim as a member of the Acernoth Delta Vigil; their task is to watch the swamps and rat men.
As we approach town, Jim jets off, covering his face with his cloak. We reach the Laughing Ogre to find a big crowd waiting for us, hailing us as heroes. Everyone cheers us as we walk to the inn. Fox is delighted to see Reginald safe and (relatively) sound.
Miriel leads everone to the temple of Madriel for healing. As we walk in, she donates 15 gold and Chuck donates 5 gold.
Miriel: "Thanks so much for the healing potion, we really needed it."
Virinia: "You're quite welcome. Remember that the wedding is in 2 days, on Madraday. We're expecting you there to help with the ceremony."
Miriel: "I'll be back even sooner than that. I need to do some studying, and I can help with the preparations for the wedding."
We go back to the inn for late a lunch. Fox offers us free room and board for the forseeable future, in thanks for saving his son. Miriel eats, then suggests going to bed. Paks, Stone, and Brunhilde are still looking pretty weak, and also plan to go to bed, but after dividing up the loot.
Paks pulls out the bag of 80 gold and the 2 violet gems that she found. Miriel examines everything and detects magic on the scroll and the dagger. Miriel tries to read the scroll, but can't. Brunhilde takes a look at it and says that it's an arcane scroll with three spells on it, minor image, shield, and ghost sound.
We each take 13 gold, leaving 2 for the party fund. Chuck looks at the dagger, pulling it out a little from the sheath. It glows so brightly that everyone in the tavern who isn't already checking us out looks over, and he re-sheathes it quickly.
We've been getting a lot of attention; we're famous at this point. We've told the story a couple of times to a large group of admiring townspeople. Saraya has already written a song about our adventures and is playing it; it's quite a hit, and has been requested a few times while we ate.
Brunhilde takes the scroll. Miriel asks for the dagger; she'll get it checked out at the temple tomorrow. Chuck takes a violet gem, as does Stone ("Stone like colored stone.")
We all go to bed and sleep through the night. Having gone to bed so early, we wake around dawn on 2nd Corday, the 9th of Charder, and Miriel, Goldpetal and Chuck gather for breakfast. We hear that the rest of the party is still weak and staying in bed. Fox asks what the deal was with Fergus. He apparently stormed into the in a few hours before dawn, grabbed his things, tried to get some food, and stamped off, complaining about us the entire time.
Miriel: "He didn't like how we ran things."
Goldpetal: "He was argumentative."
Chuck: "He had issues."
Fox: "Well, he's gone."
Chuck: "He didn't say anything?"
Fox: "Well, we left it on bad terms; he wanted 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: (joking) "You didn't kill him or anything?"
Fox: (not at all amused) "No, he's fine."
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. There are also a fair number of half-orcs, dwarves, and a few halflings.
Fox goes into a long, involved story. The mourning marshes where all the rat men now live was, before the Titans' War, the Fertile Fields, one the most fertile areas in the world. People say that this may be where men and elves came into existence. The area was corrupted by Chern, god of disease and plague, and the men and elves who lived there were wiped out in the Titans' War. In fact, Fox says, he is one of the last princes of the house of Yorninal, an area which is now in the midst of the swamps. He takes Goldpetal and Chuck to his office and shows them a huge seal. He tells how he and a friend went to the elven ruins in the swamp to find his ancestral home. He pulls out marvelous heirloom of his house; it's 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. Virinia 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 ready.
Miriel has never performed a marriage, so she focuses on learning the rites; it seems simple enough, and she wonders why Virinia 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, particularly enjoying the noon blessing to Madriel, who is of course goddess of the sun.
In mid-afternoon, she sees Virinia again and offers to work at the temple. Virinia offers to let her stay at the temple, but Madriel quickly says she should stay with her friends at the inn, in case they have to leave on a mission at short notice. Virinia nods knowingly; she knows that the accomodations at the inn are much more comfortable than the spartan cells at the temple.
While she has Virinia's attention, Miriel asks about the dagger. Virinia casts some spells and takes out dagger, which is glowing like torch, and would probably illuminate a dark room equally well. Virinia says she's not a loremaster, but it's obviously very old and magical, and it might be worth taking the dagger to the weaponsmith, who might be able to tell more about it.
After Fox finishes the long elven history,, Goldpetal asks if anyone can teach him about local plant and animal life, and Fox surprises him by referring him to Chuck. Chuck says sure, he'll give some lessons, if Goldpetal wants to come along while he gets the gems appraised. As they walk, Chuck points out plants, describes animals, etc.
They go first to to Krinsa the trader, who looks at the gems and offers 180 gold each. Then they see Largo the moneychanger, a corpulent bald man, sweaty, with greasy little fingers. He offers 175 gold for each gem. Both say that the gems are amethysts. Finally, they visit Dusican the jeweler, who examines the amethysts closely with his loupe, then offers 180 gold each. 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. Chuck: "I really must be going." Dusican tries one more time to pull them back in, then says "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. After this, Chuck goes to the armorer to see about getting some lighter armor made, but the local armorer can't make master work. 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 are the blood blizzards of winter, which everyone hopes not to see. After some exploring, Chuck heads back to the inn to take care of his weapons, as he is a bowmaker.
On her way back to the inn, Miriel goes to Saylis the weaponsmith with the dagger. As she was before, Saylis is gruff, but willing to help. She takes the sheathed dagger and pulls it out. "Whoa!" She examines the shining dagger very closely, then says that it's obviously magical, a very fine weapon, very ancient, possibly from before the Titans' War.
By late afternoon, all of us are back at the inn. We start talking to Fox about the job Grilliam offered. Mostly, we want to know what's been going on in the area that we might have to deal with. He tells us that there has always been a lot of smuggling, every couple of years the rat men have to be put down, occasionally there are goblins, and to the west, war is brewing with Calastia, which means there are fewer troops to guard the town against invasions of Titanspawn.
Miriel says that we want to help the town, but we could definitely use some experienced help. Fox says that the men of the garrison are good, and Lamarack is a fine commander, but there really aren't a lot of adventurers in town, and, indeed, most of those that have come through have already joined us. He suggests we might find others down around the wharf, if there are any more. He and Grilliam and Virinia, who are from the previous generation of adventurers, don't really go out anymore, as they now stay to govern the town. Miriel asks what the government is like like. Fox says that of course there's the Vesh governor, but the town is really run by the council. He also says that when very bad things are going on, eventually adventurers or special forces such as the Vigilants will show up.
Goldpetal asks how long it's been since a druid passed through town. Fox says that there is one every once in a while, but druids don't really like towns, even though they are not unwelcome here. There are some who are seen out in the woods, and the farmers respect and appreciate them, as they make the land healthier.
At this point Fox tells us that Grilliam sent a message asking us to come see him. Fox starts going on a bit about how Grilliam is just one member of the council, not the mayor or anything, but he acts as a leader when the town needs one. Fox seems to think Grilliam has gotten kind of stuffy since their younger days.
We get up to go to talk to Grilliam, when we all notice a weird coincidence - there is a halfling at the next table over who we've seen at the bar, Miriel saw at the temple, and Chuck and Goldpetal saw at the jeweler's. Miriel tries to go over to talk to him, but he's gone when she turns.
When we get to the temple of Hedrada, we go through the usual process of going from the gatekeeper to the greeter, etc., fairly quickly. We are taken in to see Grilliam, who is very busy, as usual, but takes time to talk to us.
Grilliam: "What can I do for you?"
Goldpetal: "You sent for us."
Grilliam: "Will you accept my offer? That's 10 platinum, in advance, to be my eyes and ears."
Goldpetal: "Would we be working for the town or for the temple of Hedrada?"
Grilliam: "For me."
Goldpetal: "Under the auspices of the god Hedrada?"
Grilliam: "Yes, but fully sanctioned by the town council, of course."
Miriel accepts the job.
Goldpetal: "How long would we be accepting the job for?"
Grilliam: "At least as long as it takes to sort out the smuggling situation. Who is coming in with goods, and where are they taking them? What are the signal sheets about? Also, I have good news and bad news. The bad news is, Delonia escaped - she charmed some of Lamarack's constables and they let her go. We think she's hiding out in town, and the guards are performing a thorough search, but they haven't found her. There aren't any tracks into the wilderness."
Chuck: "She might have left by sea?"
Grilliam: "Well, it would be good if you could find her too. We did question the other smugglers. They were selling slaves to the rat men in exchange for poison. Everyone knows the rat men like human slaves. They'll be tried fully quite soon.
Goldpetal: "They confessed, what do you need a trial for?"
Grilliam: "We must follow the laws."
Chuck: "Did you send anyone to the tower?"
Grilliam: "No, didn't you clear it out?"
Chuck: "Sure, but obviously someone will be returning."
Grilliam: "Try to decipher the parchment."
Miriel: "It's probably lantern signals."
Grilliam: "Good idea; maybe the Harbormaster Follisan can help you with that."
Miriel: "Chuck was planning to go down to the docks; he might get some information at an inn down there."
Grilliam: "He should try the Conch and Trident; it's a popular inn near the docks, but I think it's too rough for a girl like you."
Chuck: "Would the Harbormaster be in his office right now?"
Grilliam: "I don't know, I don't keep tabs on him."
Chuck: "If we accept the job, we get 10 platinum each, right?"
Grilliam: "No. 10 for all of you"
We all finally accept the job, and take 16 gold each, plus 4 for the party fund. After some discussion, Chuck goes down to the harbor alone; Miriel and Goldpetal don't feel it would be safe for either of them. Goldpetal asks Chuck to ask about or look for tattoo artists, especially elven ones. Chuck takes a copy of the parchment with the signals on it (but not the initial it is signed with), leaving the originals with Miriel. Miriel and Goldpetal head back to the Laughing Ogre with Chuck's pack and all his money except the silver and copper.
Chuck decides to try to find the harbormaster first. After crossing the market square, he finds himself in a much seedier area than those he has so far explored in the town. There are a lot of old warehouses, with bars on the upper floors. As it gets darker, activity in the area picks up; there are a lot of carousing sailors in town. Given that this is the beginning of the week, the area must be really wild on the weekends. He passes some women of ill repute, and quite a few longshoremen.
When he finds the Harbormaster's office, it has already closed for the evening. He asks a passerby where the Harbormaster might be, and also where he mind find a tattoo artist. He's told that the Harbormaster is probably at the Conch, and that he's already passed several tattoo shops, but it's late and they were closed. He's pointed at one which is still open, just across the way - he sees some drunken sailors getting anchors with "MOM" across them tattooed onto their upper arms. He doesn't think this place is what Goldpetal was looking for.
The buildings in this area are densely packed and haphazardly arranged; there are a lot of alleys, and he's directed into one of these where he finds the Conch and Trident. It's hard to miss, as the sign is very large, with a straightforward graphic of a conch with a trident superimposed. The sign is waving back and forth and squeaking in the wind.
As he walks in, he sees a big room, dark and smoky and crowded with sailors and longshoremen. There are many large, rough-looking men, and everyone seems to be drinking. As the door closes behind him, he hears a loud shriek and the sounds of glass breaking. No one else seems to pay attention, so he ignores it, too. He goes up to the bar, trying to act casual but staying alert. The bartender is a half-orc, big and ugly.
Chuck orders a tankard of ale, paying for it with a piece of silver. Though this is an enormous overpayment, the bartender returns no change, saying, "Thanks mate, thanks for the tip." Chuck asks him about the Harbormaster.
Bartender: "He left already, probably went home. He's getting old, and has a wife and kids. Anyway, he had quite a night last night - it was Vansday." (Vangal is the god of chaos and havoc, so his day is always a big drinking day).
Chuck looks around the bar as he's drinking his ale. He sees about what he would expect; plenty of fishermen and some women of ill repute. For a moment he thinks he catches sight of the same halfling he had noticed earlier in the day, but when he spots one in the corner it isn't the one he thought it was.
Chuck looks around for a "friendly" game of dice. He sees a heated game in one corner and goes over to watch. They're playing a game he knows, Cojones. There are some silver pieces on the table, and everyone is drinking. Chuck asks if he can join the game and they welcome him - for 5 silver pieces. He checks out the pot and it looks reasonable. He learns that they're a bunch of sailors who just got off a boat, on a long cruise from Hedrad. They've been at sea for a few weeks.
When it's Chuck's turn to roll, he breaks even. He makes friendly conversation; they seem nice enough, but he's a landlubber, and they clearly think they're going to take him. They tell him newcomers have to buy drinks for the table. Chuck: "I'll roll ya' for it." The first roll is a tie, then Chuck wins, so the sailor who spoke buys him a beer. There's more drinkin' and dicin', but Chuck cuts himself off after his second drink.
Chuck rolls again, breaking even again. A drunken guy comes up: "Aren't you that hero guy, didn't you rescue that kid? Hey, lemme buy you a drink!" He comes back with strong grog. Now the sailors want to hear the story. Chuck tells it as he drinks the grog. The sailors are impressed; they pat him in the back and buy him another drink. Chuck rolls again and wins 3 silver.
Chuck's pretty drunk now; he's the hero of the bar, everyone wants to buy him a drink. The bar is getting even rowdier as the evening wears on. Chuck pulls out the copy of the parchment and asks the sailors about the signals. Sailor: "Ah, these are seamen's signals, everyone knows these."
Chuck: (slurring) "'M not sailor."
The sailors explain that dashes are long flashes, Xs are short flashes. They give him the beats for the spacing of the flashes, but it takes him a while.
I: -XXX: is it clear?
II: X-X-: coast clear
III: ---: message recieved; on our way
IV: X-X-: afirmative; coast clear
Chuck: "Why are there two "coast clear" messages?"
Sailor: "That's standard sailor stuff, to be sure the message got through."
Chuck: "Thanks! I have to be going now..."
Sailor: "You can't leave, play some more!"
Chuck rolls and wins again, winning 5 more silver. He once again tries to collect his winnings and leave, but as he has not lost once, he gets accused of cheating! One of the men at the table pulls out a dagger and threatens him, while another objects that he couldn't be cheating, he's a hero. As if everyone was just waiting for an excuse, a huge fight ensues.
The table is flipped over and all the silver goes flying. The beer is spilled everywhere. Someone pushes someone, someone else draws a knive. Chuck is hit on the head by a chair, and is seeing stars. The bartender gets up on the bar, pulls out a big club, and starts knocking heads.
Chuck tries to make it out of the bar through the mayhem. He ducks swinging glasses, chairs, and the club the bartender is swinging, but he is eventually hit in the head by a glass. As he is recovering from this, he is grabbed from behind and stabbed in the kidney. He hears someone whisper in his ear, through the din of the fight, "This is for the tower!" He slumps to the floor, bleeding profusely.
Seeing this, the people around him clear a space, inching out the door. The bartender grabs a vial and pours it in Chuck's mouth, but he's still bleeding.
Bartender: "Who stabbed him? We're closing this place down!"
Chuck, reeling from the shock of the wound, thinks he might have seen a halfling from the corner of his eye. He forgets this as a man in a hooded clock comes over, bends over him, and tells the bartender: "I'm a friend, I can take it from here." Chuck looks up and Jim winks at him.
As he starts work on him, Jim shakes his head paternally. "Chuck, Chuck...it's too bad Steve isn't here to take care of you." Jim binds Chuck's wounds and takes him to a walk-up apartment nearby, where he heals him further. Chuck takes the dagger, which was still in his back when they left the bar. Examining it, he sees that it has an interesting seal on the hilt; a stylized A just like the one on the parchment. He tells Jim about the parchment and how he questioned the sailors to find out about it.
Jim: "Yes, I saw you in the bar - that wasn't too suave, you're not going to get to be a Vigilant that way. Maybe you shouldn't have won so much or been so obvious in asking questions." He says this all fondly, but clearly feels that Chuck needs a talking-to about his behavior.
Chuck asks Jim if he has any more information. Jim asks him about signals, and Chuck tells him everything he knows about the parchment, signals, and map.
Jim: "Really? Oh, that doesn't bode well."
Chuck: "Do you know anything about this symbol?"
Jim: "Of course. It's the symbol of the House of Asuras."
Chuck: "Who are they?"
Jim: (surprised) "They're the most powerful merchant family in the world. The back both legitimate and illegitimate businesses throughout the world."
Chuck: "Do they deal in poison for slaves? Grilliam told us that's what the smugglers we found were up to."
Jim: "Poison for slaves? I think I have to get involved here. We'll signal to them, ambush them, rescue the slaves, and capture the leaders."
Chuck: "We've already agreed to do this for the town elders."
Jim: "Oh sure, I heard about Delonia's escape. I can't believe Lamarack is such a fool as to not gag her! What was he thinking? Locals, man, civilians."
Chuck: "The new moon is in two days. I should get back to the inn tonight."
Jim: "I'll stay hidden until we're ready to leave for the tower."
Chuck: "Should I meet you here?"
Jim: "No, I'll meet you at noon on the day of the night of the full moon, about a mile south of town on the road to the tower.
Chuck: "Thanks, Joe."
Jim: "That's Jim...Jim."
Chuck: "Sorry, I really had too much to drink."
Jim sobers him up with a spell. Chuck says that he's still injured and needs a healer, and suggests that he'll head back to the Laughing Ogre by himself.
Jim: "Better stay here tonight."
Chuck: "Okay, but I think I could have made it."
Jim: "The person who stabbed you might still be out there. You know you've been followed all day by a halfling?"
Chuck: "Yeah, I've seen him."
Jim: "He's a wily little weasel; I keep trying to grab him, but every time I look he's not there. He's pretty good, but I'm going to catch that little rat and wring out what his deal is. We have ways of making those pipsqueaks talk."
At this point, Chuck falls asleep, exhausted from the drinking and his wound.
The next morning at sunrise, Goldpetal wakes us all up, saying that Chuck didn't come back, and we need to find him. Miriel says she has to go to the temple of Madriel for wedding, and advises Goldpetal to ask Grilliam to send someone. Goldpetal goes to the temple of Hedrada, but Grilliam says he doesn't have time to hunt down every man in town who stayed out all night, and that Chuck's probably just sleeping it off somewhere, after spending the 10 platinum he got yesterday. Grilliam clearly doesn't think much of Chuck, and he seems to think even less of Goldpetal.
In late morning, Chuck wakes up in an empty apartment. He finds a note from Jim and some bread and cheese. The note reminds him of the meeting and warns him to keep an eye out for the halfling. Chuck takes the bread and cheese, and heads back to inn, eating on the way.
Miriel arrives early at the temple of Madriel. It's Madraday, so of course there are special rites to perform. At the temple, people are bustling around, getting ready for the ceremony, which will begin right before noon, with the climax at high noon. Miriel helps with the preparations, then joins the other priestesses in a purifying bath.
A goodly-sized crowd of guests has arrived for the ceremony; townspeople and farm folk from all around the area. The priestesses and Miriel arrange themselves in a circle around the bride and groom, holding hands. Miriel, Virinia, and another priestess are at the top of the circle, near a little shrine of Madriel. Virinia invokes Madriel and chants, the bride and groom hold hands and repeat their vows.
Virinia tells a little story about how marriage came to be; after the Titans' War, Madriel gave divine marriage to people as a gift for supporting the gods in the war; marriage is to bring stability, happiness, light, fertility, and love for the peoples of the world. The bride and grooom repeat more vows, these in honor of Madriel.
As the ceremony reaches a climax, Miriel realizes that she's giving her power to bless the bride and groom, as are the other priestesses. She can feel a surprisingly large amount of power coming from Virinia; this is a very powerful blessing on the bride and groom. The ceremony ends precisely at noon, with the bride and groom pledged to each other. Miriel feels very drained, but happy to have participated.
After the wedding is a huge feast; Miriel is in one of the three seats of honor reserved for the priestesses; there is also an empty seat reserved for Madriel, who sometimes sends avatars for ceremonies. The feast lasts all day. A few people come over to thank Miriel for her work in rescuing Reginald and to express their appreciation of having our group in the town. The bride and groom are thrilled that a hero of Southport was there to bless them. Before leaving, Miriel asks if there are any other ceremonies she should plan to help with, but Virinia says there's nothing special coming up.
Chuck gets back to the inn in the late morning, without incident. Chuck looks for Goldpetal, but finds that he is out looking around the town for a grove of trees, since he did not feel safe in braving the wharf area on his own. Goldpetal learns from some farmers from the inn about a shrine to Denev about a half mine out of town. Many farmers worship there. Goldpetal finds the shrine, a simple stone shrine, properly consecrated. It's clearly well-kept and, as the harvest is coming up, there's quite a bit of food left there for offerings. Goldpetal performs his customary rituals with pleasure; it's been a few weeks since he had the opportunity.
Chuck doesn't go looking, but just goes to bed at the inn; he's too weak to go anywhere. When Miriel gets back to the inn after the party, she finds Chuck very sick, so she runs back to the temple for a healer. Chuck gives the healer a generous donation; she thanks him very much and leaves.
Goldpetal comes back to the inn for the night and tells the rest of the group that he plans to spend nights in the forest; he'll show us where so that we can find him if we need him. Chuck tells us how we're supposed to meet Jim on the path to tower on the 12th. He also tells us about his experiences at the bar ("Ow!") and shows the dagger. He asks Miriel for the parchment to confirm that the symbol is the same, and he explains the signals. He tells us of Jim's plan to trick the smugglers, and how he lost his money and the copy of the signals while he was gambling. Goldpetal suggests talking to someone to learn more signals, and Chuck says he still plans to find the Harbormaster, but that he'll need someone to go with him - maybe Stone will be able to go tomorrow.
Miriel asks if he saw the halfling. Chuck says no, but Jim saw him following Chuck all day and warned him to look out.
We have some dinner; Fox eats with us. We tell him about our various adventures of the day. Chuck asks about the seaman's signals, but Fox has never spent much time on the wanter and doesn't know. Goldpetal and Chuck surreptitiously look for the halfling, but neither sees anything. Fox says he'll keep an eye out, he likes 'em, they drink and eat a lot.
Saraya has become the house bard - the other bard left, he wasn't very good and can't compete. Everyone clamors for the Goblin Hero song and buys us drinks. After this she sings an interesting song. On the surface, it sounds like many songs we've heard before. Someone has lost their heart to a callow Callastian youth (in other songs, it would be a girl, also Callastian). As the song proceeds, though, we notice that it may also be an analogy to the current political situation; Callastians just pretend to care about others, and Vesh is likely to get its heart broken. Some people in the bar clearly get the point and agree.
We ask Fox about Callastians, and he tells us about the House of Asuras, well known for trading in illegal goods. The head of house, Telos Asuras, is at least 100 years old now, but still running things. He has an enormous family, 204 children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren, throughout the continent. The family has powerful chapters in every big city. Goldpetal asks if there are any in Southport? Fox says no, but agents come to town, and they're not good enemies to make; they have too much power and influence.
Chuck tells Fox about the bar fight and the symbol on the dagger. Fox says it could have been them, but it also could have been someone else. Chuck asks if someone would be trying to frame them, and Fox says it could be.
The rest of the evening passes quietly, and we go to bed early after our long days. The next day is Taniday. Chuck plans to go get the dagger appraised. He asks Fox to come down to the docks with him, and Fox agrees enthusiastically; he doesn't get out as much as he used to. He goes back to his office, gets a dagger from his desk drawer, and slips it into his boot.
They reach the Harbormaster's office with no trouble. It's very busy there, lots of boats being loaded and unloaded. They find Folisan, the Harbormaster, easily enough, but he's very busy, and they wait quite a while for an audience. When he's free, Chuck asks the old salt if he can be instructed in seamen's signals. Folisan says well, there are a lot of signals and it takes a long time to learn them. They aren't written down in books; this is seamen's lore. He wanders around the subject a bit more, but the long and short of it is no. He says that the signals on the sheet are really all Chuck should need, but if he really wants to learn, Chuck could sign up on a boat. Chuck thanks him and says he'll keep it in mind.
Folisan warns him that if he keeps drinking like he did the other night, he's going to pass out at the Conch and wind up on a boat anyway. He points out that it's a good idea not to win too much at first. Chuck says he tried, but he can't help how the dice fall. Folisan says sure, but clearly doesn't quite believe him. The he excuses himself, as he still has a great deal to do.
As they leave Folisan's office, Chuck and Fox see the mysterious halfling loitering about.
Chuck: "Hey, you!"
The halfling acts casual and pretends not to notice.
Chuck: "You, sir, halfling!"
Halfling: "Me? What do you want?"
Chuck: "I've been seeing you around a lot."
Halfling: "I don't know what you mean; I'm just going about my daily business."
Chuck: "Sure...well, would you like to come to the inn this evening and join us for a drink?"
Halfling: "Really, I don't know what you're talking about. I don't have time for this!" (He walks away.)
Miriel spends a quiet day helping at the temple, which is much appreciated by the priestesses.
When Chuck gets back to the inn, Goldpetal takes him to the shrine. They've bonded pretty well, even though they have differences in religion, etc. Most rangers worship Tanil the huntress (goddess of good luck). Chuck tells Goldpetal that he saw several tattoo artists, but no elves.
That evening at dinner, Miriel shows the map to Fox. He identifies various features on the map: the Spiderwood, the tower, and some standing stones, which local lore says were dedicated to the titans at some point.
Goldpetal: "How long have they been abandoned?"
Fox: "Naturally, since the Titans' War, no people worship there."
Goldpetal : "We should check it out."
Miriel: "What about 'SySy'?
Fox: "SySy sounds like a female name. Possibly Slithern There's an old swamp hag who lives over closer to the shore; it might be her."
Goldpetal: "Were there goblins who used to live near here?"
Fox: "Well, I've seen some spider-eyed goblins before..."
Goldpetal: "What about regular goblins?"
Fox: "Sure, they're everywhere; they breed like cockroaches, so even when you haven't seen any for a while, suddenly they're everywhere."
Goldpetal: "In town?"
Fox: "Not that I know of. Once in a while those spider-eyed goblins come up to the Spiderwood. I've fought them before; the ones you encountered sounded kind of small, actually."
Goldpetal: "There are still some in the forest."
Miriel: "Well, their Shaman is dead, but we should probably check it out."
Fox: "Indeed; they're never up to any good. You know they weren't going to live up to their bargain with you."
Goldpetal: "Really?"
Fox: "They're up to no good."
We tell Fox the general plan, not mentioning Jim; we'll go talk to
Grilliam in the morning before we go. Goldpetal goes to mediate, saying
he will be back a little after sunrise. The rest of us go to bed.