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Session 49, Evil Afoot in Munville

Paldegora

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Session 49 – 2025-03-22
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**Summary**

The Company entered Munville with concerns about being recognized by the locals, especially at the tavern. They decided to use their disguises and blend in to avoid standing out. Upon entering the tavern, they noticed the place was full, and the tension was palpable. Various types of people were whispering about strange occurrences, and the atmosphere was filled with concern. Rincewind tried to match the mood of the room, glancing around nervously.

A man at a long table near the door vacated his seat upon seeing them, possibly out of fear. The Company took that table, with Clark Kent, still invisible, silently joining them. The barkeep was reprimanding a server named Kate for being too slow. Kate, who was filling in for someone named Mary, approached the Company to take their drink orders. Suddenly, a man behind Francesca threw his sword on the table, causing a shimmer of wild magic and eerie runes to appear briefly before fading. The room went silent as everyone stared at the man and his sword.

Kate nervously took the drink orders and hurried off. X'or kept an eye on the man with the sword, who seemed unsure about picking it up again. Shia asked the man about the sword, and he explained that it was not magical and offered to sell it to her for 2 gold. She bought it, and the tension in the room began to subside. X'or excused himself to go to the loo, trying to pick up on conversations along the way. A man hurriedly exited the loo as he approached. The people at the table in the northwest corner got quiet as he neared.

X'or listened through the door from within the bathroom but heard nothing of importance. Kate returned with the drinks, and X'or informed Cal about the quiet group near the bathrooms. Cal wanted to go listen in on them but the crowded room gave him pause. X'or suggested getting Cal as far as the bar, but as he started to guzzle his ale, the cup exploded with a deafening boom. Flames erupted across the tavern, causing panic. Shadowy figures appeared in the smoke, and Kate revealed herself as Kalandra, lunging at Angelique with a dagger.

The explosion and fire caused damage and killed six people. Kalandra hit Angelique, who managed to shake off the effects of the poison on the weapon. Kalandra leaped back across the room, out of harm's way. Other attackers, including a half-orc named Lina and a halfling named Orin, missed their attacks on Angelique and Rincewind. Eryn attacked Jarek, hitting him. Angelique climbed over the table and ran to the door, but Tharin appeared and attacked her, causing significant damage and poisoning her.

Cal jumped on the table to attack Orin, causing great damage. Kalandra hit X'or and leaped back out of range. Cassandra handed a potion to Angelique and attacked Tharin, hitting him. Jarek attacked Eryn again, and X'or carried Francesca out of the building to give her an antidote. Orin attacked Cal, and Rincewind used Magic Missile on Orin, severely injuring him. Lina attacked Cal, and more patrons died in the raging fire.

Cal hit Lina, and Rincewind killed Orin with another Magic Missile. Rincewind ran outside, where Angelique healed him. Cassandra attacked Tharin again, killing him. More patrons died in the fire, and Cal fell unconscious. Jarek attacked Cassandra, and Rincewind threw a dagger at Jarek, hitting him. Kalandra disappeared, and Cassandra grabbed Cal, heading towards the door. X'or attacked Jarek, and Eryn waited outside for the others.

Cal helped patrons escape through a window while X'or killed Jarek. Cal used a barrel of water to extinguish the worst of the fire and joined the bucket brigade to help fight the fire. Eryn and X'or searched the bodies of the attackers, finding various items, including bracers, rings, gloves, and a scroll. They also found a parchment with a message from Aphobis, Lord of BlackSpire, instructing the Bloodmoon Syndicate to strike the Company and secure certain artifacts.

They carefully unroll a parchment stained with dark ink, its edges singed from the tavern fire. The script was jagged and hurried, written in a flowing script that reeked of menace. It said, 

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Bloodmoon Syndicate team - targets confirmed in Munville, south of Frosthaven. Strike now, and secure the map, rod, empty orb, and artifacts. Deliver to BlackSpire. Fail, and face my wrath. 

— Aphobis, Lord of BlackSpire.


The parchment trembled with unseen energy, and they found badges with a symbol resembling a reddish moon with eerie artwork. They surmised it represented the Bloodmoon Syndicate. Cal and Angelique tended to the injured, using healing doses to save the most dire cases. They worked through the night, and Angelique felt as though she was being watched. The next morning, they found an apothecary with natural herbal remedies.

Eyrn bought all the elixirs and asked the apothecary to provide them to the injured outside the burned tavern. Cassandra and Eryn healed throughout the night with Cassandra's Ring, and the group shared the ring's healing properties. They speculated on how they were being tracked, considering the possibility of someone scrying on Angelique's blood. Eryn suggested draining some of Angelique's  blood and then tying ribbons soaked in it to animals to confuse any trackers. They didn't do that.

Angelique remembered that the Bloodmoon Syndicate was one of the top three assassination guilds in Paldegora, based in Naraka, southern Nox. They discussed the guild before setting out south again. They took turns using the healing ring and found a good spot to day camp. Angelique examined the scroll case and identified the items they had found. They spent the day resting and taking shifts on watch. During X'or's watch, he saw a humanoid form made of light and energy, which disappeared after a moment.

The next morning, X'or told everyone about the form he saw. Eryn decided to get rid of the sword from Munville, tossing it into the woods. They continued south, camping again for the evening. The next morning, they hunted and cooked rabbits, making jerky for the journey. They passed a few people on the road and camped again, with X'or hunting a small boar for dinner. The watch that night passed without incident.

The next morning, the group had breakfast and set out on their journey. Rincewind made Angelique invisible again, and they continued traveling for most of the day. By the afternoon, they reached Three Points, which had changed significantly. A newly constructed gate and tower stood out against the open field, and Silverspire soldiers patrolled the area with spears and crossbows, questioning visitors from the north. The group discussed whether to go around Three Points or trust their disguises and enter the town. The market square was bustling with activity, and the weight of their outlaw status pressed down on them.

Silverspire is the seat of the Council of Spires, led by Lord Aldric Valoris, who signed the bounty on their heads. Although he wasn't mentioned among the mages who chose sides with Blazecaller, Aphobis, or remained non-aligned, they couldn't be sure of his intentions. They decided that only four people entering town would be better and used their disguise story of being historians who traveled north to Nordanlun and Coldspire, only to encounter a vast light show, an earthquake, and groups trying to take over towns. They ultimately made X'or invisible. With Angelique already being invisible, they were a small party of four now. They headed into town. Shia and Rincewind posed as historians, while Rebecca and Clark Kent acted as their security.

As they approached the northern gate, they saw soldiers in silver tabards and Silverspire's blue and gold, inspecting cargo with disciplined precision. Two individuals dressed differently, cloaked in grey with badges on their chests, approached the group. Rincewind greeted them. Hans Landa, the primary speaker for the guards, asked them to state their business. Rincewind explained their purpose as simple travelers and historians from Bilge Harbor. They told them they were hunting cultists and worse. Rincewind introduced the group and explained their journey from the north, mentioning the chaos they encountered and their decision to head back south.

Hans insisted on searching them, and the guards inspected their belongings. Shia showed her weapons and history book, while Rincewind displayed his weapons, wands, potions, helm, pouches, throwing daggers, rations, clothes, gloves, rings, and spellbook. Hans asked about Rincewind's magic use, and Rincewind explained the wands he carried, including a Wand of Magic Missiles, a Wand of Paralyzation, and a Wand of Wonder. Hans grew curious about their activities up north, and Rincewind described their travels and the dangers they faced, including attacks and hiring security in Frosthaven.

Hans questioned Rebecca and Clark about their belongings, and they showed their weapons, shield, armor, potions, bow, arrows, rings, torches, rations, and other items. Hans asked if they had encountered cultists or dragon worshippers, and Rincewind mentioned that there had been a brawl in Munville that led to a tavern fire. Hans took notes and sent a message to the Lieutenant for further investigation. Hans asked about their research in Coldspire, and Rincewind explained their intentions to investigate the area's history and document their findings.

Hans expressed interest in their notes, and Shia showed him their history book and notes. Hans reviewed them and commented on the history of Coldspire. Hans asked why they were traveling on foot, and Rincewind explained their financial constraints and the cost of horses. Hans asked if they had seen any cloaked figures or strange symbols, and Rincewind recounted the tale of a patron's sword that glowed and caused chaos in the tavern. Hans mentioned that similar reports had been received and introduced himself as Hans Landa, Chief Investigator from Silverspire.

Rincewind asked about their uniforms and Hans explained their role as investigators hunting cultists, dragon worshippers, armed groups, and undead. Hans warned them about the increased bandit activity on the roads and recommended keeping security with them. Rincewind asked about the town's defenses, and Hans explained the ongoing construction of a garrison to secure the area. Rincewind commented on the unease in the north and the resolve to protect Valdernost from threats. Hans thanked them for their cooperation and allowed them to proceed into town, warning them about the dangers on the road.

Angelique and X'or, who had been watching the exchange, decided to avoid the guards and went around the wall to enter town. They tried to keep the rest of the group in sight. As they entered town, they saw a lot of activity, including wagons and people coming from the north and east. They saw the tavern and Seaspire soldiers chatting by the well. X'or and Angelique made their way to the supply shop and considered heading to the west gate. They sold items at the magic shop and bought potions of extra healing. They then went to Smiling Sal's World of Wagons & Emporium.

That is where this session ended!

Please start the recorder!

Exp: 3150 +315 = 3465 

**Detail**

Our company had entered Munville. There was concern about being recognized by the locals, especially at the tavern. It was decided that with their disguises, that if they took care not to stand out, they could probably go into the tavern for a meal and spend the night there before moving on. They entered the tavern. The place was pretty full. The tension in the room was palpable. Various types of people were in the room, their voices were low and urgent. There were whispers of all of the strange things that had been going on. Not only could they smell the ale as they entered, they could almost smell the fear. Rincewind attempted to match the mood of the room. He glanced around nervously, as if wondering about what had been going on. 

There was one man, at a long table near the door. He saw them enter the room and vacated the table, moving quickly across the room. They couldn't decided if he was scared of them or just left the table for this much larger group of people. He did seem a little scared. The Company sat at that table. Clark Kent, still invisible, picked a vacant area at the table and stayed silent. Sitting next to X'or, he touched his hand to let him know that he was there. The barkeep was dressing down a server for being too slow. They learned her name was Kate. She needed to do the job faster. After chewing her out, he told her to get back to work and pointed out the new customers that had just entered. 

Kate seemed different than the girl who had served them the previous time they'd passed through. The barkeep, as he told her to work faster, had mentioned that she was filling in for someone named Mary who was out sick. Kate came over to the table, welcomed everyone and asked if they wanted something to drink. About this time, a man behind Francesca, jumped up and threw his sword on the table. A sudden shimmer of wild magic sparked and the sword briefly glowed with eerie runes and then it faded, leaving an eerie hum. The whole place went quiet as the other patrons stared at the man and the sword. The man was in shock, as he stared at his sword. 

As Kate looked over at the sword, she nervously asked what she could get for the Company. They gave her a drink order and she scurried off. X'or looked around the room but kept an eye on the man with the sword. Shia heard the man say to the girl that he was sitting with, something about not being sure he wanted to pick it back up again. The sword had returned to normal and the hum was gone. Shia leaned back in her chair asked the man about the sword. He had no idea what had happened. He told her it was not a magical sword or anything like that. He figured it was part of all of this strange stuff that was going on. He offered to sell it to her. She asked how much he wanted for it. He offered it for only 2 gold. She bought it, then she walked over and picked it up. It seemed mundane enough. 

The tension in the room seemed to die down and the muttering returned to normal. They looked around the room to see if there were any people they should be watching. There was one group in the northwest corner that seemed a little swarthy but they didn't appear to be paying attention to them. X'or stood up and excused himself from the table and walked toward the northwest corner to the loo. He walked slowly and tried to pick up on some of the conversations as he went along. A man came out of the loo as he approached and hurriedly scurried on by him and out of the door. The people in the northwest corner got very quiet as he got closer and looked his way as if they half expected he was coming to talk with them.

X'or smiled, dipped his head to them, and continued on to the bathroom. After he closed the door, he put his ear up against the door and listened to see if he could pick anything up. What little he heard sounded mundane. He left shortly after and headed back by a different route, again listening to see what he could hear. He still heard nothing of ay importance. Kate returned with the drinks and handed them out. After checking to see if they needed anything else, she returned to he bar. X'or carefully told Cal about how the four guys up by the bathrooms got quiet when he walked by. Cal considered moving up there to listen but it was very crowded and he decided that the chance of accidentally bumping into someone was too great a risk. 

X'or suggested that he could get him as far as the bar. Cal indicated that would be acceptable. X'or planned to guzzle his ale and make his way to the bar for a refill but instead, as he started to guzzle the ale, it the cup exploded with a deafening boom. The mug erupted into fiery shards as flames leaped across the tavern ignited beams and sending the panicking crowed screaming toward the exits. Shadowy figures appeared in the smoke as once farmers and merchants drew weapons, their eyes gleaming with deadly intent. Kate shredded her apron as her smile twisted into a sneer and she lunged with a dagger, shouting, "Your time is up!". 

The explosion and fire caused damage to each of them and killed six in the surrounding area. Kate/Kalandra lunged at Angelique, leaping and landing behind her. She hit Angelique. Angelique felt a little sickness but pushed through the nausea by making two saving throws. Fortunately, she made them both. As Kalandra completed the hit, she leaped back into the air and across the room, out of harms way. Angelique was unable to get a parting swipe at her.

The half-orc Lina, one of the other attackers, ran up to attack Angelique and missed. Orin, a halfling, ran up to attack Rincewind and missed. Jarek attacked Eryn and missed. There was a lot of fire around them. Eryn yelled out to the barkeep, "Your server sucks!", as she attacked Jarek. hitting him. Angelique climbed up and over the table towards the door. Lina tried to hit her and missed. As Angelique started to pass X'or, another opponent, Tharin, appeared out of thin air and attacked her, causing a good deal of damage and poisoning her. 

Cal jumped up on the table and moved to attack Orin. He hit him causing a great deal of damage. Kalandra leaped towards X'or, hitting him. She leaped back out of range again. He was unable to react fast enough to return the hit. Cassandra ran up to Tharin handing a potion to Angelique as she attacked Tharin. She hit him. Jarek attacked Eryn again and hit her. X'or, seeing the sickly green liquid on the blade of Tharin, broke off the fight, grabbed Francesca, carried her out of the building, and gave her an antidote. 

Orin attacked Cal, hitting him. Rincewind Magic Missiled Orin really messing him up. Orin was looking pretty bad. Lina attacked Cal with two weapons. The patrons were running about, trying to get out through whatever opening they could find. The fire caused more damage again to the Company and many of the patrons. More of them died. Kalandra leaped at Cassandra this time and missed, springing back cross the room and out of reach. Eryn made a fighting retreat move up and over the table, and ran out the door. She turned and faced the door prepared to fight any enemies that came through the door.

Cal hit Lina. Rincewind Magic Missiled Orin again and killed him. Rincewind then turned and ran out of the door. Once outside he worked hard to catch his breath, coughing and spitting up phlegm from the smoke. Angelique cast a Cure Light Wounds on him which helped him quite a bit. Cassandra attacked Tharin again hitting him. Lina attacked Cal again, hitting him. Cassandra hit Tharin again and killed him. Those still inside took some more fire damage. More of the patrons that remained inside died. The fire damage was enough to cause Cal to fall unconscious. 

Jarek ran up to attack Cassandra and hit her. Rincewind stepped up into the doorway, he threw his dagger at Jarek and hit him. The dagger automatically returned to be thrown again. Kalandra disappeared. Cassandra, seeing that Cal went down, broke away from Jarek and grabbed Cal. She turned and headed toward the door. She made it as far as next to X'or. X'or attacked Jarek and hit him. Eryn waited on the others to come out. Lina pulled out this little ball and suck it in the fire. It ignited and she threw it down. It created a great deal of smoke and she vanished. Angelique cast a Cure Light Wounds spell on Cal, getting him back awake.

Cal looked back into the room spotting patrons still trying to get out. He drank another potion and ran to a window in the southwest corner behind a table where a boy and his mother sat. He broke the window and began helping them out. Still more patrons died. X'or hit Jarek and killed him. Cal pulled out a piece of cloth to cover his face while helping others. Cassandra, X'or moved in to help people out of the bar. The barkeep ran out the back and those around him followed. Most of the rest of the party headed out of the back. 

Cal, however, found a barrel of water which he carried to the worst area of fire in the building and dumped it on it. After that, he ran out the back and joined the others as they went around the front of the building and joined the bucket brigade. They helped the town fight the fire for the next few hours finally getting it under control around 11:00 that evening. Eryn and X'or went back in and searched the bodies of the people that attacked them. Orin had bracers, a ring, and a short sword. Jarek had some strange looking gloves and a scroll in a scroll case. Tharin had a ring, a potion, a short sword, and a parchment. 

They carefully unroll a parchment stained with dark ink, its edges singed from the tavern fire. The script was jagged and hurried, written in a flowing script that reeked of menace. It said, 

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Bloodmoon Syndicate team - targets confirmed in Munville, south of Frosthaven. Strike now, and secure the map, rod, empty orb, and artifacts. Deliver to BlackSpire. Fail, and face my wrath. 

— Aphobis, Lord of BlackSpire.

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The parchment trembled slightly in their hands, as if charged with an unseen energy. They also found little badges and things on them. The symbol on the badges was a circular emblem that sort of resembled a moon that was reddish in color. There was some artwork in the middle. A portion of that, looked like a dagger. Another part looked a little like an anchor or a bow. Still there were two curved lines that resembled eyes looking back at you. All of those symbols combined sort of looked like a smiling face. It was very eerie. Paired with the parchment, they surmised that it stood for the Bloodmoon Syndicate. 

Cal and Angelique continued tending to the injured. Cal used three doses of extra healing to save the most dire of those. The rest finished searching the building and then returned to lend aid. They all worked through the night. At one point, Angelique felt as though she was being watched but from where or how, she couldn't tell. The next morning, they looked around the town and found the apothecary. They asked them for potions of healing but they only had natural herbal remedies that would help but not a lot. 

Eryn bought all of those elixirs that they had and asked them to take them to the area where they were treating the injured and provide these remedies to help them. Cassandra healed throughout the evening and early morning as her Ring healed her fully. Eryn used the Ring for a while and healed up as well. Angelique wore the ring next. Over the rest of this day, they would each share the ring and it's healing properties. 

They spent some time speculating on how they were tracking them. Was someone scrying on Angelique somehow, maybe her blood. Eryn suggested draining some of Angelique's blood, soaking some little ribbons in it, and them tying those to animals. If someone was tracking her blood, it might confuse them enough to make it no longer an effective method. There was no way to know if that was how she was being tracked. 

Angelique looked at the Bloodmoon symbol again. She remembered something she had heard before about this group. They are one of the top three assassination guilds in all Paldegora. She remembered reading that in books. She remembered that they were based out of Naraka which is in the southern Nox region.

Eryn pointed out that there were five of them here, but now there are only two. They discussed the deadly guild a little more before setting out south again. Angelique felt she had healed enough for the time being and passed the ring on to Xor. Once he was healed, they passed it on to Cal. Cal indicated that others should use it but the rest of the group insisted that they were healed and that he should use it. They walked for maybe an hour before they found a good spot off the road where they could camp. 

They set up there day camp. Angelique examined the scroll case and pulled out the scroll. It was a Darkness spell. She couldn't identify the potion they'd found. She cast a detect magic on the items they'd found and determined the two rings were magical. The bracers glowed and the gloves glowed. Angelique healed up Rincewind. She cast another on Cal and healed him a little. Angelique cast Identify on the items. The bracers turned out to be Bracers of Defense, Armor Class 4. The gloves were Gloves of Dexterity. One of the rings was a Ring of Protection +1. The other was a Ring of Invisibility with 5 charges. Symon took the Bracers. X'or took the Gloves of Dexterity. Eryn took the Ring of Protection +1 and the Ring of Invisibility. 

They spent the day resting, taking shifts on watch. The day went by without incident. They stayed the night there as well. On X'or's watch, he heard a crackle to the southeast of camp and saw some sort of form take shape. It appeared to be made out of light and energy. It was humanoid in shape. It hoovered there for a little bit. He heard the same humming that they'd heard in town. After a moment, it disappeared. He walked over and examined the area. He didn't see anything. He looked for foot prints but found nothing in the dark. Maybe daylight would shed some light on it. The watches continued but the rest of the night was uneventful.

The next morning, X'or told everyone what he experienced. Eryn asked if the hum was like the hum when the sword in Munville hummed. He said it was. She still had the sword and decided to get rid of it in case there was something going on with it, so she tossed it into the woods. Everyone got up and had some breakfast. Everyone was fully healed so they gave the ring back to Cassandra and then set out south again. They continued on for another day and camped again for the evening. Angelique slept in the tent this evening. Eryn slept in the entryway of the tent so that anyone wishing to attack Angelique would have to go over her to do it. All three watches passed without event.

The next morning they set out again. X'or hunted some that morning. He managed to kill a few rabbits. They cooked and ate well while X'or used some of the meat to make rabbit jerky. They continued on for another day. They passed a few people along the road but everyone just kept moving on paying little heed to the Company. They camped for another evening. X'or hunted again and this time killed a small boar. They cooked it up for dinner and made a lot of Jerky from it. The watch that night passed without incident.

The next morning, they had breakfast and headed out. Rincewind made Angelique invisible again. They continued on most of the day. Later that afternoon, they came into view of Three Points. The area had changed quite a bit. There was a newly constructed gate and tower. It was no longer just an open field. They could see Silverspire soldiers in the distance. They were patrolling with spears and crossbows. They were halting wagons and questioning visitors coming from the north. Two of the individuals didn't wear the armor but they did display the colors. Beyond the gate, they could also see the roof of the Three Points Inn.

They discussed how they wanted to proceed. Did they want to go around Three Points, or did they want to trust their, as of yet, useless disguises, and try and enter the town. The market square, or what they could see of it, seemed to be buzzing with activity. The weight of their outlaw status was pressing down on them. They were trying not to stand out but there was little cover between town and where they were standing now. 

They thought about what the Silverspire guards meant. Silverspire is the seat of the Council of Spires. The Lord over Silverspire is Lord Aldric Valoris. He is also the Lord of Valdernost. He is over the Council of Spires. He signed the bounty placed on their heads. He was, however, not mentioned in the list of mages who had chosen sides with Blazecaller, Aphobis, or remained non-aligned. He may be bad or not, they can't know for sure. 

They thought their disguises and the fact that because one of them was invisible making it look as if there were only 5 people and not 6, might help them slip through the gate. Though, the disguises held up with the Seaspire guards up north, they can't be sure they will be effective this time. They decided that only four people entering town would be even better. They would use their disguise story of being historians. How they travelled north heading to Nordanlun and Coldspire, only to run into a vast light show, an earthquake, groups of people trying to take over towns up there. Not too mention the change in magic itself. They had decided to give up on that and come back south hiring a couple of people for security.

Erin still thought they should try to go around Three Points. They discussed doing that but ultimately made X'or invisible. Then headed in to town. Shia and Rincewind were the historians. Rebecca and Clark Kent were acting as their security. The gate had been built but the walls beyond it were unfinished. X'or and Angelique could walk around the walls and in to town, without going through the main gate. Cal gave one of his swords to X'or so that he wouldn't appear to be a duel wielder. 

They approached the northern gate. The walls were mostly timber while the tower was stone with a wooden platform on top. Soldiers were in silver tabards and Silverspire's blue and gold. The guards moved with disciplined precision as they halted wagons and inspected cargo. Two of the people at the gate were dressed a little differently, cloaked in grey with badges on their chests. As the Company began to get closer, some soldiers approached. Rincewind gave them a mystified look and said, "Well met!". 

As they came in, one of the to men in grey with badges approached them. He said, "Halt! All from the north have to be searched. First, state your business!". Another soldier came up and said, "Keep your hands visible! We are hunting cultist and even worse!". A guard on the tower had a crossbow trained on them. They stopped, of course. Rincewind looked around and said, "Wow! Welcome to Three Points indeed!". He looked around and addressed the man with the badge and said, "We are simple travelers! My name is Rincewind, a historian from Bilge Harbor! This is my friend Shia!, and as he gestured to the two warriors behind him, "that's Clark and Rebecca! they are our guard! Shia and I are students and historians! We've come from the north because it's shitty up there! We're headed back down towards Port Ahn!". 

Hans Landa, the primary person speaking for the guards said, "Well, if you have nothing to hide, them you have nothing to worry about!". He added, "First of all, I need to have my men search you to see what you are carrying! It will only be a minor search!". The guards step up with their spears out and ask them to show them what they had. Shia showed some of her weapons and the history book they had. Rincewind showed his weapons, wands, potions, helm, pouches, throwing daggers, rations, clothes, gloves, rings and a spellbook. 

Hans asked, "Magic user?", Rincewind replied, "I dabble! Not the best in the world but serviceable I suppose!". Hans asked about the wands. Rincewind began to answer but then thought better and asked instead, "How familiar are you with magic?". Hans replied, "I know a lot about it!". Rincewind told him, "Ah, well one is a Wand of Magic Missiles. This one is a Wand of Paralyzation which we took off someone who attacked them, not sure how many charges it has, and my personal favorite, that I really haven't had a chance to try, is this thing, which I had identified as a Wand of Wonder!". Hans seemed surprised at that and said, "That's pretty rare!". Rincewind said, "Yeah! I don't know if that's really what it is but I don't know what else it could be!".

Hans got more curious and asked him what they had been doing up north. Rincewind replied, "Traveling! We're historians, so we were headed north of Stonebridge to do some studying on the area up there, maybe investigate the ruins up there. It seemed there is so much mystery surrounding that area and suddenly these crazy things stared happening. So, we kind of turned around and headed back. As we came back, Stonebridge was overrun, and even Frosthaven as well. Seems they had large bands of thugs in the towns. We were actually attacked and had to hire these two.", pointing back to Rebecca and Clark, "in Frosthaven because it was getting so damn dangerous.".

Hans looked at Rebecca and Clark and asked, "What are you carrying?". Rebecca showed him her weapons, shield, armor, potions, bow, arrows, rings, torches, rations, and other miscellaneous items. Rincewind told Hans that Clark doesn't speak. Clark showed them his longsword, bow, arrows, girdle, rings, torches, rations, and other miscellaneous items. 

Hans asked if there were any signs of cultist or dragon worshippers where they'd been. Rincewind replied, "No, mostly people who were flipping out everywhere you go now. There was a big brawl in Munville. The tavern burned down! I don't know what that was about!". Hans said he'd heard something about that. Rincewind said, "Yeah, we were nearby!". Hans asked, "What do you know about that?". Rincewind answered, "We know there was a brawl in the tavern! We don't know exactly what it centered around! I spoke to Garbor, I think he was…well, all this happened and a great crowd gathered to form a bucket brigade to try and put out the fire."

He added, "We got it put out but it still took a pretty significant amount of damage, but then this Garbor guy, I guess was the tavern owner maybe. He seemed to be, well, he had the bartender stuff on, the cloths and apron and he was very upset about his stuff. Anyway, I heard him talking to people and he said that one guy had a sword that suddenly did something weird like flash. The guy threw it on the table and it hummed and then went back to being normal. That was the first weird thing. And the next thing, some tankard exploded while a guy was trying to drink from it. That created some sort of fireball in the building and that’s what made it catch on fire. The whole thing turned to pandemonium. There was fighting and there were people who were trapped inside that couldn't get out. Then there were some heroic figures that helped get people out of the building.". 

Hans flipped out a little book and started writing down some stuff. He said, "Give me just a moment!". He handed this note to one of the guards and said, "Here, run this to the Lieutenant. This might help him in his investigation when they get there.". The soldier said, "Yes sir!", and ran off. Hans turned back to them and said, "Well, we'll get to the bottom of it. I'm sending a patrol up there. They'll be leaving here shortly.". 

Hans asked, "So what about your research took you to Coldspire was it?". Rincewind answered, "We didn't make it to Coldspire. That's kind of the direction we were headed. We were hoping to investigate that area and the history to see what we could discover about it. It seems kind of shrouded in mystery and we thought this was something that would be fascinating for people to learn about. We could document it and write it down, create a manuscript, and possibly a book!".

Hans said, "I would be really interested in seeing your notes!". Rincewind told him, "We didn't get to make a whole lot. We'll show you what we've got but, like I said, as we got north of Stonebridge, all hell broke loose. We never really got there.". They had made some notes that they were carrying in the wagon in case they were stopped so Shia pulled out those and the history book and showed them to him. Hans said, "Give me just a moment!". He started looking through it and said, "Everything seems to be in order. Shame you didn't get to find out more about Coldspire. I know it has quite a history!". 

He added, "By the way, why are you traveling on foot? Did you loose your wagon to bandits or something. Did you have a wagon?". Rincewind answered, "You know, we really don't have a lot of money and horses are kind of expensive!". Hans said, "Very true!". Rincewind added, "We'd like to have some horses, but you know frugality has really kind of prevented that. It was all we could do to hire these two, ", as he gestured back to Rebecca and Clark. Hans said, "Well, you might find somebody in town that can sell you something. There is an emporium or something in there. The guy is kind of annoying but you might can talk him into selling you something that you need.". 

Hans asked, "Did you see any kind of cloaked figures or any strange symbols on your journey. You said that the sword had something on it?". Rincewind said, "We didn't see the sword but the tale that the barkeep told us was that a patron in the tavern, his sword suddenly glowed or flashed or something, to the point that the patron jumped up and threw the sword on the tabletop and kind of backed away surprised. Other patrons backed away from it as well. And then it went back to normal. The guy wouldn't touch his own sword again. He basically abandoned his sword.". 

Hans said, "That's not the first reports we've had of that sort of that!". The other man with a badge approached and stood behind him listening. Of the two men, they guessed that Hans was the head guy! Rincewind asked Hans his name. Hans told him, "I'm sorry, I am Hans Landa.". Rincewind said, "You know, it strikes me that seeing what's going on here, that we can start a whole, well, our manuscript is going to take a little turn we didn't expect, but would it be okay to use your name in our new book?". Hans thought briefly and said, "Absolutely!". Rincewind asked his rank, as he started writing stuff down as he told him. Hans replied, "I'm a coronel, Hans Landa, Chief Investigator from Silverspire, enforcement squad.". 

Rincewind, while writing, said, "I noticed your uniforms are different from the others. Does that mean you are both investigators?". Hans replied, "Yes, that is true.". Rincewind said, "Cultist and…what was it you said?". Hans replied, "Dragon Worshippers! Oddities! Oh and also, if you happen to run into any encounters with armed groups or undead, we have had some reports of that!". Rincewind said, "I haven't seen any undead. I hope I never do! Armed what?". Hans said, "Yeah, armed groups, bandits or others". Rincewind said, "Other than in towns, the were armed people and some groups, but nobody aggressive or anybody that caused us any concern other than the stories we were hearing about bandits on the road. Again, we hired these", pointing back to Rebecca and Clark, and continued, "but nobody has really messed with us.".

Hans said, "You've been fortunate then. The bandits have increased quite a bit lately, with all of the traffic on the road. Easy pickings for them, if you know what I mean. Especially if it was south. I have some troops headed their now. Rincewind asked, "The south? Is that worse than where we came from?" Hans said, "For bandits it has been!". Rincewind said, "So heading toward Port Ahn, it's not going to get any better?". Hans answered, "Not if you're jumped by bandits I would say no!". Rincewind turned back to Rebecca and Clark and gave a despondent look and asked, "You guys mind staying on for a little while?". Rebecca said, "We like you two, we'll hang around and see you to Port Ahn.".

Hans said, "I would definitely recommend that you keep somebody to guard you!".  Looking at the stockade, Rincewind asked, "Tell me about these defenses? I see it's not entirely complete. Are you still working on them?". Hans answered, "Yes, we're building a garrison here and reinforcing our northern border outposts! This is obviously a major point for travel and commerce and all of that. We want to make sure that this stays secure! With all the unrest and all the craziness going on, we've got to make sure our part of the world is secured and safe from whatever may come.". 

Rincewind said, "Well. I tell you, I don't know how much time you've spent north of here but everything…everybody up north is…I don't want to say panicked, but at least concerned. There is a lot of unease everywhere and that little shindig in the sky there, for however long that lasted…did you all see that this far south?". Hans answered, "Yes we did!". "All it's done is make our resolve even harder to make sure that threats to Valdernost are identified and dealt with, especially these Ahn cultist. That, we will not tolerate at all!". Rincewind said, "Well, we salute your service to the realm! That's is no small task in these days!". 

Hans said, "Well, thank you for answering my questions! I'm not trying to be impolite! I think you are fine. You can proceed on! When you do leave to head to the south, just beware of the dangers on the road. They are more dangerous than they have been.". Rincewind, Shia, Rebecca, and Clark thanked them and headed in to town. Angelique and Xor had been just outside of town watching the exchange and decided the ground was too muddy from recent rains for them to follow the rest of them through the gate. They went around the end of the wall and avoided the guards all together. Xor took Angelique's hand as they went so they could stay together. They tried their best to keep the rest of the Company in sight. 

As they came into town, they saw a lot of activity, much as they had before. There were a lot of wagons, a lot of people coming in from the north and the east, going to the west. As they got to the center of town, they saw the tavern. They also saw some Seaspire soldiers over by the well in the center of town. Fortunately, they didn't recognize any of them. They seemed to be relaxed and just chatting with each other. There were the things that were there before. There was a supply shop, a magic shop, everything they needed was here. And there was still the temple that they went to before.

They stopped for a bit hoping the others would find them. X'or and Angelique had made it up to behind the supply shop and were trying to figure out how to get across to the others. Eryn suggested that they just head to the west gate and head out now. Eryn did remember about the emporium that Hans had mentioned, an odd fellow. They tried to decide if they had enough money to buy anything. They went to the magic shop and tried to sell the bracers of defense AC 7 and a +1 short sword. They fetched a healthy 3700 gold for the both. They picked up six potions of extra healing, 400 each, leaving 1300 gold remaining. 

They left the magic shop and stared down the street. They came to a busy building with a couple of wagons and some horses behind it, with a large banner hanging out front. It was made of gaudy colors and such. The banner read, "Smiling Sal's World of Wagons & Emporium". 

That is where this session ended.

Please start the recorder!

Exp: 3150 +315 = 3465