Session 1- Travel to Juniper

Cinead makes a quick note next to his drawing then puts his notebook away. Doesn't look like there is anything else to learn. Thank you for giving me a moment. Let's get going.

You quickly turn back to the road and resume your journey to Juniper village. The weather is pleasant and once the ogre body is a good distance behind you, the air smells sweet. After about an hour of walking, you can see a guard tower in the distance bearing the emblem of the Nahor city guard.

As you approach you see that this the guard tower is a lone building with nothing else nearby. A small squad of soldiers seems to be organizing at the entrance to the tower. You gather that this is a patrol set to keep the road as safe as possible.

The sergeant, a middle-aged half-elf woman, turns toward you Greetings citizen! Are you headed to Juniper? We've been receiving some strange reports out of town. I might recommend you stay away until a formal investigation can be arranged.

The reports wouldn't happen to be about people or creatures acting strange or aggressive would they?

The sergeant looks at Cinaed a bit quizzically No, not violent. Just strange. Some fellow named Tim has everyone in a tizzy, but nobody will explain the situation clearly. She turns to Laura You are definitely free to go there. It really is out of our jurisdiction, but if we don't do anything to help the surrounding villages, the Satraps certainly won't either. She spits off to the side. Some day those people are going to realize that the "tribute" they pay to the Satraps is nothing more than extortion.
She takes a minute to eye all of you up and down. Come to think of it, you look like a capable bunch. If you could resolve whatever this "Tim" situation for us, I know my captain would greatly appreciate it!

The sergeant salutes you Fantastic thanks! The village is just another few hours down the road. There is a room inside the guard tower if you'd like to rest for a bit first and share our water, but you might want to leave earlier to reach the village before nightfall.

Cinead falls in behind Trissrie. A rest had sounded nice but it is probably best to get to town before much longer. Then he could have a proper drink. After they get a little ways off he finally speaks up.
It is not often I hear soldiers gripe like that. I guess being in the middle of nowhere loosens the tongue a bit.

You fall into conversation as you get your feet back to the road. It seems to be getting warmer even though the sun is going down. A thin cloud of dust seems to be rising up from the road even where nobody is walking. A few clouds swim lazily by overhead, racing you to your destination. You seem to be losing that race, despite your best efforts to keep up a lively pace. The trail ahead seems to rise and dip a bit more than you'd expect from this relatively flat landscape. As you crest one of these small hills, you see a man lying on the ground about one hundred feet in front of you. Lying on his back, he is staring up at the clouds. He seems to be muttering quietly to himself as he gently waves his arms back and forth along the dirt, as if he were swimming.

You look around from this high vantage point. You spot a few smaller tracks coming off the main road that lead off to what appear to be farms. Far to the southeast you think you can even see the edge of the Fingerfrost woods. Directly ahead down the road you spot a few buildings that must be Juniper Village. But looking closely at this individual and the area around him, you don't see anything out of the ordinary other than the man himself. He appears to be wearing thick woolen garb, common to the farmers of the area. Straining your ears you are able to just make out one of the words he is continually repeating. Sure enough, it's "Tim." The rest of his speech is very stunted and stuttering, making it too hard to make out at this distance.