Session 1, Murder on Norloch Road
Paldegora
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Session 1 – 2022-11-22
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Ah, good morning…How'd you sleep? I slept pretty well. I suppose you would like to get on with the story. I'll get my coffee and we'll get started.
Let's see… The company shopped the next morning, picking up equipment and supplies, components used in spell casting. Symon scribed the Magic Missile scroll and Identify scroll into his spell book. Eryn took a bath and returned to her, “casual around town” clothing and felt much better for it. Angelique went to the temple of Naa but stopped short of going in. As she turned to return to the group, she felt a little uneasy, as if being watched. She stopped and looked around but didn't see anyone out of the ordinary. Just normal people doing normal things. The feeling subsided and she continued back to the inn. She later mentioned this to Cal-El who wanted to see where this happened. She took him to the spot and he looked around. Nothing struck him as being out of place. Finally seeing nothing, he asked her, through his own way, had she gone into the temple? She indicated that she hadn't. He gave her 50 gold pieces and entered the church with her. She donated the 50 gold pieces and the priest of the temple thanked her. The rest of the company shopped for new equipment and replacement equipment. They got a room for another night, the last room available, turned in, woke, had breakfast, and set out. They couldn't really afford horses for everyone and there is no coach system they could book travel on. With that, they set out to walk to Frosthaven. It was going to take about 7-8 days.
The weather was fall like, mild in the afternoon and cool to cold in the evening. The first leg of the journey took them up the Norloch Road, close to but just shy of the river fed by the Tavran Lake. There were some roadside general use camps along the way. They picked one they liked and settled in for the night. They ate and set up a watch. Xor and Eryn took the watch this night. Xor took the first shift. All was quiet. He woke up Eryn and she armored up and took some cover away from the fire so she could see everything well, and watched. Nothing happened on her shift as well. That morning, they prepared breakfast and then moved on. They stopped midday for lunch and settled in that evening at another general use camp, very near the Misty Pond. They couldn't see the pond but saw trails that led off that way. While they ate and readied themselves for sleep, Xor tried his hand at fishing the creek nearby but was unable to catch anything. They set up watch and turned in.
Cal-El took the first watch. It was quiet and uneventful. Angelique took the second watch and quietly circled the camp being watchful. At one point, she heard the muffled scream of a woman north west of the camp, away from the road. She listened quietly and heard nothing more. She moved to Xor's bedroll and woke him, pressing her finger to her lips to indicate he should remain quiet. She then pointed in the direction of the noise she heard and very quietly told him about the scream. They began making their way toward where the noise came from. Angelique woke Cal-El as she passed him and told him the same thing. She woke Eryn and Symon to. They stood, ready to engage. Angelique and Cal-El stayed back, armed with bow and sling, waiting to see what Xor found. He moved northwest and found a body. It was a young female human dressed in dark clothing. There was a lot of blood on the scene but no one else was there. He motioned for Angelique and Cal-El to come forward. They moved up and looked around. Cal-El was struck by the fact there were no tracks leading to or away from the area save theirs. Angelique lit her lantern so they could see better but still no new information presented itself. The woman had been savagely cut with a very sharp knife. In looking over the area, Angelique found a bag with her own stuff in it. She was shocked and couldn't explain how this woman had managed to have her things. She remembered having her bag nearby her, as she slept. This person apparently stole it and was killed as she moved away from the camp. The questions for now are, who or what killed her, and why.
When they rolled the body over, they found a blood soaked pouch. Angelique cleaned it up some and then checked its contents. She found some coin, some thieves tools, and a rolled up note. She opened the note and read it. It was written to Jade. It said Something about this being her last chance. ”If you fail, it's the top floor for you!”. It was signed Theo. Eryn and Symon had been watching the camp while the others investigated. They finally moved forward to assess the situation. Eryn concurred that this was likely a thief, seeing how she was dressed. Eryn said, this is how she would be dressed if she were sneaking into a camp and stealing something. There are many questions at this point, but no answers. It appeared to Eryn that this was a very skilled kill. She guessed it was an assassin but that brings up even more questions. It was Cal-El that, through gestures and a little lip reading by Eryn and Angelique, that suggested that maybe the issue in town where Angelique felt like she was being watched, is tied into this somehow. Angelique recounted the events of that experience. At this point, it's all questions and no answers.
They buried the body, returned to camp, cleaned up a little, ate breakfast, and then set out for the 3rd day of travel. They stopped for lunch midday, and then continued on, stopping that night in Munville. It was a small town, nothing unusual about it. The group spotted an inn and went there. They passed a stable along the way and at least one shop. They entered the inn and took up seats at a table near the bar. They had a nice meal, posed a question to the server asking if she new Jade and described her. She told us that she remembered a young lady a couple of weeks back that had passed through here with two guys, unsavory sorts. She wasn't sure why Jade was with them. She didn't get their names, only Jades. At one point, Angelique told everyone that she was going to the room to pray and go to sleep. The rest of the party speculated some more and after a while, turned in as well. There just simply wasn't enough information to understand why the young lady was there and who or what killed her. Eryn set up an unsophisticated alarm with string and bells on the door and the window of the room Xor took first watch and Eryn took second watch. The evening passed uneventfully.
The next morning, the party went to the main room for breakfast. The server bid them good morning and then told them that she had just seen one of the guys that had been there with Jade when she passed through here a couple of weeks back. She said he was up near the stables and gave us a bit of a description. He was a kind of unsavory looking fellow with a scar on his right cheek. They decided to hold off on breakfast and go find this man first. It was decided that Eryn should approach him first and the rest should lay low, but be close enough to be able to lend assistance should Eryn need it. Symon stood near the well in the center of town, just out front of the stable. Angelique went into the store across the square. Cal-El stayed further away, nearer to the inn. Xor leaned against the wall of the store that Angelique entered. As Eryn began to approach, she saw two people, walking their horses from the stable and one of them fit the description. They were talking and Eryn tried to read their lips and picked up something about the boss not being happy. Then the men spotted Xor and panic set in. They quickly climb onto their horses and road rapidly out of town. Eryn barely got an “Excuse me!” out before they were gone. They continued north, out of town, over the bridge, and then north in the direction of Udenvale. The company gathered between the store and the inn and wondered, curiously, about what was happening. They learned there was a boss. There still isn't enough information. They decided to just have their breakfast and continue on to Udenvale.
Well, this was interesting. It's not every day that you run into a murder. A curiosity that borrowed deep into their minds as they continue with their assignment. All they could do is continue on their way and be on the lookout for more information about the not so gentlemanly fellows and the young lady who was killed. But for now, it is time for my breakfast, a little past time actually. I'll get back to this as-soon-as I get some grub in my stomach.
Don't forget to start the recorder.