I had drifted north to Sosanopa mostly to put as much distance between me and lake Ban as I could. While I contemplated if I wanted to cross the river and wander further, maybe go take a look at the ruins I'd visited with that weird trader Mazor wanted to kill for being horror touched (see my Songs of Passion) Nib, Mal, and Jarock invited me to dinner. A good dinner with friends is always a good way to lift spirits so I gladly accepted.
For reference the dinner party included:
- Nib of clan Skyreader, a windling Wizard
- Jarock Hammer-Shield, an orc Weaponsmith
- Malonin "Mal" Tyrnith, an elven Archer
- Redsun Thandrun, a troll Archer and Questor of Mynbruje
The dinner was lovely with abundant fresh catch from the river but came to a sudden halt when we spotted a body floating downriver. I quickly flew out on Jacint to drag it back to shore, where the others started examining it. The corpse was identified a local t'skrang fisherfolk by Redsun, some questions to the locals later, we learnt that they were called Tk'swan and hadn't been seen in almost a week after going upriver to an unusual fishing spot.
Nib collected some more information about the fisherfolk's boat, while we were approached by the mayor of Sosanopa, a dwarf that went by the family name Fields. Apparently this was the second murder in the last few days, the previous being the miller (family name Miller) who was found crushed in his own mill.
Nib and Redsun really got into the idea of investigating, so we went to the mill and talked to the miller's widow. Looking around we didn't find much other than a gold coin awkwardly placed in the middle of the mill and a dead cat outside whose head had been bashed in. Redsun theorized that the coin was used as bait to lure the miller on top of the grindstones. Redsun's attempt to follow the coin's trail back to something failed.
The next step we took was to investigate the fishing spot the Tk'swan had been working at, some twenty five miles up river (one wonders how good the fishing must be to warrant over a day of travel each way). Nib was very concerned about Tk'swan having been sunk so they insisted we hire a boat for the trip. On the other hand I was very concerned about what Isidoros would do to one of the boats the fishermen so I pushed for just going along the banks. In the end we split with Redsun joining me on the banks and the rest in a hired boat.
The trip went without incident and the next day we found a small inlet where a boat matching Tk'swan was moored, with the catch still on it, judging from the smell. I thought Jarock insisted on checking the cargo, but I must have misunderstood because most of what they did was vomit breakfast.
Redsun looked around the area and found some signs of struggle, while Mal found a dead crow, against with a bashed in head. Neither was able to find tracks other than to and from the boat. Jarock finally mentioned something that was not about mysterious airship gangs when they mentioned that some horrors are thought to user lives to power their magic.
We decide to sleep here for the night and go back the next day, just in case something happened. Some discussion about watch schedules was had but I pretty much ignored it, Teh was now fully trained to keep watch through the night.
On the way back we split between ground and boat once again, with the added complication of towing Ts'kwan's boat. About fives miles out of Sosanopa, Redsun and I spotted an old troll riding a dyre in the middle of a meadow. Redsun thought it may be an aspect of Minbruje and approached, while I called out to the boats. When I turned back the troll was backing away and Redsun started following, so I joined them.
Once we were well out of sight of the river, the troll stopped and Redsun greeted them and then approached. Moments later they were screaming about being blind. Now, I am no questor, but I was and still am pretty sure that a passion would not suddenly blind one of their own questors on a whim, so on the likely chance this was a trap of some kind I charged. Anklebiter bit deep and even if the thing tried to stop Jacint in their tracks we quickly killed it.
At which point it turned in a baby windling, a very me shaped baby windling. Odd but no more odd than looking like Minbruje moments before. I went to check on Redsun who seemed ok, if startled and waited for the other to arrive, assuming they would have questions about the corpse. To my surprise Nib and Mal did not care at all. Jarock had some questions, but once I explained what happened they mentioned there are some stories of horrors behaving like this.
Redsun managed to follow the horror's tracks (which changed shape multiple times) all the way back to Sosanopa and to the mayor's house. There I tried to talk to their partner who seemed rather concerned until they slammed the windows closed. Nib mentioned the thing inside had changed shape from a dwarf to a Zoak, and some other things were moving around.
So we assumed it was another horror, barged in, killed the horror (Jarock delivered the killing blow and it turned into a baby ork) and its ghouls. We cremated the horror's body (Nib was very eager to do this) to avoid awkward questions and then reported to the guard.
Afterwards, I returned to Throal to visit the clan, my parents were happy to see me again and we spent more than a little time busking around the Grand Bazar like when I was a child. I was also called by the noble, who gifted me with two of the clan treasures, a suit of crystal plate and a crystal raider shield that have been with the clan since long before the scourge, to honour my deeds defending Throal and the clan from the horrors.
The gift and the implied support from my clan greatly heartened me and lifted some of the sense of despair and futility I've felt since Ursal's death. However with the items was a note, possibly dating to the last time they were used that still puzzles me to this day:
"Beware the gloves bearing gifts"Statistics:Posted by sigfriedmcwild — Tue Oct 20, 2020 11:09 pm
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