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.
The World of Lycretia 