Session 14 – The Prequel Concludes (Part 4)

The Cave was Unbearable

The next morning, they began to explore the town of Patra, a fairly prosperous town of about 6000 residents. While the keep was high on a hill, the rest of the town was spread out alongside that hill and towards Mermaid Lake. There were lots of fisherman, but it was also a bit of resort town. There were yachts in the harbor that travel out to Paradise Island, in middle of the lake. Just off the short is a small island, Riverfolk Island, where a number of halflings resided.

Elzy went to the docks and headed out onto one of the piers. He then pulled out his fishing pole and sat down on the pier with his legs hanging off. He had a nice view of the boats and Riverfolk Island. He had a nice day of acquiring Lorg snappers, where he would cut off the fins that they needed, and gave the fish out to the poorer folk that he saw around the docks. He quickly made friends, and ended up with more people talking to him throughout the day than he probably preferred.

Grainne, meanwhile, discovered that were a couple of ways to get across the lake. One was to pay for a tourist trip up north to Lynhare as only ships of a certain size or design can really make it up there through the fields of Naiad kelp. It would have been the easiest option, but also the most expensive. The other would be to hire a Riverfolk barge, slow, but perhaps more economical. The song she heard the night before about mermaids, really soaked into her soul, and discovered that the next full moon was going to be in 5 nights. Sylas ended up joining Grainne on her adventures around the docks, mostly to keep her on task, and from spending too much time in bars.

Eldaria decided to search for a potion or herb shop, to find out more information on the reagents that they were collected, but instead found an abandoned spice and other dry good shop. Talking to the tailor next door, they found out that some goons had come by five days earlier and that Byoni and his wife, boarded up the shop, and went away a couple of days ago. The tailor was not sure why, nor if they fled north or southwest. So they went back to find Grainne to figure out a way to sneak in.

So after deciding that a boat was going to have to be rented, particularly a cheap one, they ran into a halfling couple, Cedric and Samantha Goodwort. Samatha was in tears, sobbing, and Cedric, holding back tears of his own, explained that their son, Thistletop went to some caves northeast of Patra. His friends had just recently returned, but without him. They think he was lost in one of the caves and they came back looking for help. Thistletop is halfling of about 11 years old, and far from earning his adult name. He had on a red tunic with brown pants, as well as, a walking stick with a small tortoise shell on top.

Knowing that the Heroes had to do something, Sylas ran to Elzy on the docks to get him to help find the halfling child, leaving out the important part that it was in a cave. Grainne went to go search for Eldaria, who as it turned out, was looking for her. They ran into each other near the Fisherman’s Net. They grabbed their gear, gave words of encouragement to the Goodworts, and headed northeast along the shoreline.

The travelled outside of town until they found a bed of seashells and rocks that led up to five visible cave entrances. Elzy turned to the rest of the party and glared at them. No one said anything about caves to him. Eldaria with their keen eyes noticed Thistletop’s walking stick among the stones and seashells that led to the largest of the cave openings. They all climbed up, but it was not an easy climb, and it was easy to lose one’s footing. Grainne ended up injuring herself trying to catch her fall, and ended up cutting her hand on a sharp rock.

Grainne picked herself up and they all made it to the cave. Getting inside was easy for everyone, but Elzy. He had to take a deep breath before he could walk in. Gaining control of his claustrophobia was hard some days, but today he was able to conquer it. Grainne conjured up some light, which helped calm his nerves and allowed everyone to see. After a few minutes of walking, they get to a crossroads. Down one branch, Eldaria heard the sounds of a small boy, whom they assume (and hope) was Thistletop. Down the other direction Elzy saw eyes. Quickly realizing that they were bear eyes, cast a spell which calmed the bear down. The bear was annoyed that their were guests in her home, but after Elzy talked to and fed her, the bear was less afraid.

After the bear was soothed, they went after the sounds of the small boy they heard. Thankfully, it was indeed Thistletop, but his leg was caught in a crevice. They got him free, and Grainne made splint, so they could get him back to town, without causing more injuring to his leg. The Goodworts were incredibly thankful for their son’s return, but hiring out a boat was going to have to wait another day. That night at the Fisherman’s Net, they told bawdy tales, trying to keep Sylas distracted from the fact that Eldaria and Grainne wanted to go sneak into the herbalist shop. Then Elzy showed up and started telling some of his ….

Rules Break Out:

The bear was intended to be a fight, using the Black Bear (B456), but Beast Soother was cast and was successful. So they were rewarded for their ingenuity. There will also be more time for battles.

Nelian Forest

East of Sorgusa, a full days walk away, is the Nelian Forest, one of the three in northern Tempore. At its greatest length it is about 50 miles long. It used to be twice as large a few hundred years ago, but as northern Tempore has grown, all of the forests have shrunk. 

Around 100 years ago, the town of Araxi was founded along the southern border using trees from the forest. Though no rivers to transport lumber existed, the town quickly became home to lots of lumberjacks and carpenters. Their goods would be made in the village and then sold elsewhere, usually to Serro to the south, which governs Araxi or Golan to the east, the largest settlement in Northern Tempore. But about 50 years ago, the forest became haunted, or so the people of Araxi believed. Accidents would occasionally befall a lumberjack to cut down a tree or someone gathering mushrooms would enter the forest and then never leave. Though the cutting down of trees and the use of the woods to create everything from furniture to barrels didn’t cease, it was drastically reduced. And over the past 25 years, the town of Araxi diminished both in size and in population. A few of the abandon houses were taken over by bandits over the years from time to time, but the main town itself still is a quiet place to live.

What actually happened was that a family Heasirretyn elves, who generally live in the grand forests at the base of the Shyrorn Mountains in Katen, had discovered after hundreds of years of searching that in this northern forest an artifact of great power that had been lost millennia ago. With the rumored return of a great evil in the southern lands, it was decided that it needed to be protected at all costs until the time of the Prophecy came true. So this family of elves on orders from their Queen moved from their home to make a new home. Now around 50 elves live in this forest, having made a small village in the center, high into the old growth trees. Though they don’t care if some of the forest is used by the humans in the nearby towns and village, but they have actively discouraged it from being a place where anyone visits. And if anyone does, they will watch them. Recently a halfling druid had made the forest a home, whom they watched carefully, but realized that she wasn’t there for the artifact, but rather an ancient tree that was a Shrine to a one of Lycretia’s twins, known as Tybeeda, the goddess of wilderness and nature. 

Though Elves are a rare sight, anywhere in Elandorr, they are very rare in Northern Tempore, but interestingly enough lot more Half-Elves have shown up in the last 30-35 years. And many of the people who have disappeared in the woods, some were hunting and needed to be taken care of, but others, some still reside deep in the woods. Heasirretyn elves, are the most playful of the elves that migrated to the World of Lycretia, but in Katen they do not interact with either the human or the dwarven settlements much due to not wanting to get involved with either of their wars. But this family of elves is very isolated from others of their ancestry, and need to enjoy life somehow. Some of these shenanigans and the occasional trek into a city, has allowed rumors to exist that there are elves in the Nelian Forest, but having humans live with them really allows them to get any goods or gear they can’t make with their hands or magic while still keeping their existence generally a secret.