Chapter 1 - Trouble In Red Larch

For the past couple of decades, Red Larch has been an important stop on the Long Road that goes from Waterdeep to Mirabar. Named for a distinctive stand of red larch trees that were cut down when the hamlet was founded, Red Larch became a settlement in the first place thanks to a drinkable spring that fed a sizable pond ideal for watering horses, oxen, and pack mules.

An east-west trail meets the Long Road at the pond, running west to the logging community of Kheldell and east to Bargewright Inn and eventually Secomber. Another trail leads to quarries in the Sumber Hills and to ruins of stone keeps long ago left to monsters and outlaws.

In recent years, new quarries have been opened on the northwestern edge of town. So far these have yielded up great slabs of marble much prized in Waterdeep for facing large new buildings and repairing older edifices. Red Larch is also a center for stonecutters quarrying slate on the fringes of the Sumber Hills.

It is this village that you are making your way towards just past noon, and as you spot the first houses in the distance it is a welcome sight. The torrential rain has been hammering down on you since early morning, not very seasonable for a spring day, and you thank the higher powers that you might finally find a place to dry off and maybe find a meal or at the very least a drink.

As you enter the village from the west, you see several buildings in the vincinity. Across from you in the intersection of the Long Road and the Cairn Road is a square two-story building with a signboard painted with an image of a well dressed man and woman, judging from that and the mannequins you can see through the barred windows, this appears to be a clothing shop. On the other side directly in front of you is a cluttered, untidy shed surrounded by dozens of wagons shrouded in worn canvas tarpaulins. A crudely hand-lettered sign over the wide main door proclaims this to be "Waelvurs Wagonworks."

To your right is a long, narrow, and nondescript one-story building with name "Drouth Fine Poultry" painted above the double-entry doors, and to your left stands what looks like a grand stone mansion. Walking by the front door, which in spite of the heavy rain remains open, you can see what appears to be a plain chapel with a stone altar.

Right next to it however is the building that you where after in the first place. It is a three-story stone structure, crowned by a steep slate roof that bristles with many chimneys. A signboard juts out over the door, hanging from chains. Its a ten-foot-long carved wooden scimitar emblazoned with the name "The Swinging Sword" in red paint on both sides. There's little doubt in your mind that this is an inn.

As you step inside, the inn looks warm and inviting and not just because everything with a roof at this point would look that way. For a village this size it would undoubtedly qualify as luxurious even if it in a city such as Waterdeep would qualify as simple. The front door leads into a foyer with a desk on your right. There are stairs leading up to what you could presume are the lodgings, and at the end of the foyer there's an open door leading into what looks like a dining area. At the desk is a sturdy, pale human woman in her 40s.

Even for a village surrounded by strange events and monster sightings, a satyr is a strange sight indeed. The woman looks at you with her mouth slightly agape and remains silent for a beat after you finish speaking. Finally she retains her composure and smiles warmly at you, "I heard from some of the other villagers that someone like you had been playing music on the street, but seeing you in person is still a sight to behold". She looks at you with great interest, "Oh sorry, where are my manners. My name is Kaylessa, I run this here inn. We do have rooms, both private rooms and shared dormitories if you want to save a bit of coin. Normally we do have our share of adventurers, but not many these days I’m afraid…even if we could use some…". She sighs, a troubled look on her face, but then rearranges her face into a slightly forced smile and changes the subject, "Do you mind if I ask you where you are from? I’ve never even heard of someone like you before."

Welsh, Kaylessa nods as you request a spot in the dormitories and perks up as you mention the need for adventurers. "Your destiny? Wait does that mean that you are an adventurer". She eyes you up and down and looks a bit sceptical, "...you don't look like the usual adventurers we get in here...but never you mind, that doesn't matter! Things have gotten strange all over the Dessarin Valley, I've heard tales about fogs that persist in the Sumber Hills even in bright sunlight, and sudden gusts of hot wind sweeping west out of the hills where breezes have always been cold. There have been more violent sights too, such as sudden bolts of lightning stabbing up from the hills into a clear sky...". She peeks outside at the rain streaming aggressively down on the village. "Here in Red Larch, I know that Constable Harbuk has looked into rumours about bandits nearby, Minny Mhandyver's granddaughter supposedly saw a ghost, and I've heard rumours that the workers down in the quarry refuse to work during the night because of something they saw.". She sighs and shakes her head, "It might all sound trivial to you, but these things didn't use to happen in this here village....

As Nadya enters and starts gushing over Welsh, Kaylessa's eyes narrow a bit but she doesn't say anything. As Welsh offers to buy Nadya a drink, Kaylessa points in the direction of the dining room. "You can get a drink right through here. We unfortunately can't provide food at the moment, had a small kitchen fire and have been cooking outside but the weather doesn't really permit it right now. They serve food at "The Helm" on the other side of the road if you need it."

Kaylessa leads Welsh and Nadya into the dining area, on the way she calls out to the newcomer, "I’ll be right with you dear! Yes, Mr. Welsh, you can sit wherever you’d like. I’ll send one of my maids, Ghileeda, over in a minute with some local ale. She usually handles the rooms, but we’re low on guests so she might as well make herself useful". With a nod she strides back to the counter, cheerily humming the entire way, and warmly greets Vanri, "Hello madam! We have plenty of rooms available, both private or shared dormitories if you want to save some coin. Truth be told, I am thrilled to have so many new guests all at once".

Kaylessa's face freeze in a look of terror at the sight of the huge goliath in front of her, but a second or two later she remarkably manages to fix another strained smile to her face and regain her composure again...somewhat..."G-good day sir! What can I help you with?"

Kaylessa seems unnerved once more, what could she possibly have done to upset this beast? "K-K-Kaylessa, good sir? What seems to be the problem?", she tries to keep smiling but it’s becoming increasingly difficult for her to keep the facade going.

Kaylessa looks confused but significantly more relieved, "My name is Kaylessa Irkell...", upon seeing the goliath’s puzzled face she corrects herself, "Or I guess, Kaylessa the...uhh...innkeeper?"

Kaylessa smiles once more, "Certainly, if you’d like a private room it is 8 pieces of silver a night, or you can stay in the shared dormitories for 4 pieces of silver. As for food, our kitchen is unfortunately out of order and we can’t use the grill outside until the rain stops. If it’s urgent that you need a meal, let me suggest eating at "The Helm" on the other side of the street, otherwise we can provide some bread and cold chicken?"

Kaylessa looks in awe at Welsh, this horned goat man must be a very brave adventurer indeed to openly mock a goliath. "Err yes! Of course, a drink to Mr. Auran as well". She motions to Ghileeda to bring another ale and gestures for Auran to enter the dining area. She takes a deep breath before smiling at Vanri, "Sorry dear, I don’t know why it’s so busy all of a sudden. I’ll fix you a plate right away, you can also wait in the dining area". Kaylessa hurries into the kitchen, seemingly glad to momentarily escape the madness that suddenly seems to have overtaken her otherwise quiet inn.

After a short while Kaylessa cautiously approaches the table, she's bringing plates of bread and cold chicken for all of you. After she sets down the plates, it looks like she's about to leave but something stops her. "I'm terribly sorry to bother you all, but...are you all adventurers? If so, I might have a proposition for you".

Kaylessa takes a chair from one of the other tables and sits down next to you, "As I explained to Mr. Welsh earlier, strange and evil things are happening all around here and I have a theory. I think everything that all the evil that is happening comes from the same spot, Lance Rock. I have spoken to the constable, Harbuk, about this but he's choosing to focus on trying to find bandits on the Cairn Road, and I've spoken to the town elders and...they...just laughed and said that everything is fine...I don't know why they can't see that things have been turning bad lately".

For the first time Kaylessa doesn't try to put up a cheery front, instead she's frowning bitterly, a deep crease forming on her forehead. "It's been a while since we had some adventurers passing through Red Larch, but I'm going to seize the opportunity. I would like to pay each of you 50 pieces of gold as well as offer you free lodgings, if you're willing to investigate what's going on around here."

Kaylessa leans back and sighs relieved, "Thank you...as I said there’s Lance Rock, I’ll show you on a map where it is, hold on...". Kaylessa walks to the back room for a minute and comes back with a map of Red Larch and the surrounding area, she makes a dot and a note reading ‘Lance Rock’ to the north-west of the village. "I also mentioned to Mr. Welch that Minny Mhandyver's granddaughter supposedly saw a ghost, and as I mentioned, constable Harbuk is chasing bandits...although he hasn’t found any yet. But I don’t know much about that, so if you want to check that out then you can talk to them. Minny’s over at Mhandyver’s Poultry a couple of houses to the south of here. The constable is over at the butcher’s shop right next to Minny’s place, him and his wife runs that."

Kaylessa looks confused at Nadya, "...what? No, Lance Rock...like the weapon...and why are you talking about medusas?"

Kaylessa leaves and comes back with a bottle of red wine and some more bread. "I'm not sure what is out there, but it's something...evil..."

You all walk, more or less straight, out of the inn in good spirits. The weather seems to match it as the rain has finally stopped and the clouds have parted to let the sunshine in to dry the sodden roads. You don’t have to go very far, just a couple of houses further south before you reach the butcher. It’s comprised of four identical single story buildings all in one line. Outside of the front building is a wooden sign with a painting of a ham being carved with a cleaver.

As you enter you see a range of smoked and fresh meats hanging from hooks on the other side of the window and along the back wall. You can see a small table with a coin chest and a bigger table at which a woman is carving half a pig. She’s fair skinned, around 30 and with brown hair to her shoulders. She’s got a look of deep concentration as she carefully separates meat from the bone. "I’ll be with you in just a second, hang on". She looks up with a smile but her eyes widen in shock when she sees the group of assorted creatures that have entered her store. "Err, so, err, how can I help you?". Her hand doesn’t leave the knife.

The woman eases up as you mentions the constable. "Yeah, that’s my husband. Hold on.". She moves over to a trapdoor in the floor and opens it, "Harburk, darling! Some people here to see you". You hear footsteps from the cellar and a man emerges through the trapdoor. He’s also around 30 with short dark hair and a full beard, he’s also wearing a butcher’s apron. He looks at you with the same look of amazement that you’re starting to get used to. Goliaths, genasi and particularly satyrs are obviously not a common sight in these parts. "Yes? What can I help you with?"

Harburk’s eyes light up and he smiles widely, "Really? Well that is fortunate. Yeah, we’ve been having some issues east of here on the Cairn Road. Some people have been robbed not far from Red Larch. Me and my trusties have been trying to find them, but no luck, and to be honest I’m kinda swamped with my constable duties and the butchering. I don’t have much time to scour through the wilderness. All I know is that it can’t be that far from here, all the attacks seem to be targeted around the same stretch of road about 6 miles out from the village.".

Harburk seems a little unnerved by Aukan’s mention of his father’s pastime...what kind of pastime could that possibly be? And does he even want to know? "I...thank you...". He jots down the rough location of the attacks on your map.

Harburk chuckles, "I assumed you guys were adventurers? At least half of an adventurer’s life is spent walking. Lance Rock is maybe 10-12 miles away."

'I mean we could go and celebrate the formatin of the group of heroes first?' Any execuse to avoid rushing into danger straight away

You exit Red Larch via the Cairn Road to the east. The sun is beating down now, the temperature raising significantly mixing with the high humidity and the sweat starts to roll down your foreheads as you walk. The journey is quite uneventful, Nadya and Welsh, you sober up as you get further away from the village. You eventually get to the spot that constable Harburk marked on your map, it looks more or less like any other stretch of the road, but Harburk drew three trees that have grown to form what looks like a ‘W’ and sure enough, those three trees are now in front of you.

You both notice a space in between the underbrush wide enough for carts and wagons to be pulled through, upon further investigation you can see signs that although this isn’t a regularly used path, it has been used somewhat recently.

Aukan, you don’t see anything and are in fact blissfully continuing to walk down the road when Nadya grabs your elbow and points at the path into the forest.

Welsh, walking through the forest makes you feel slightly closer to home. You follow the path but as you get further into the forest, it actually opens up a little more and the trail gets harder to track. You all stop and look around but there's not anything that seems to give away the right direction. But then your ears perk up, was that...laughter? You shush the others and wait and...there it is again, definitely human laughter coming from the south-west.

Welsh, you veeeeery quietly start to walk towards the noises, making sure to stay as hidden as you can. Good thing for all these green, teal...and...magenta...leaves...*THROOM*. You're not in the same forest anymore, you're standing in a small clearing, surrounded by teal and magenta coloured trees. In front of stand a strange creature. It kind of looks like a centaur, with a lower body like a bright, teal horse. It's upper body is different shades of magenta and purple, it's scaly and well muscled, it's head kind of looks like a big tree frog with a huge set of antlers AND a horn protruding from it and it has a big set of fairy wings on its back. It's stares expectantly at you, and speaks with a much deeper voice than you'd expect, a deep baritone voice that sounds familiar, "Well? How is it? How's adventuring? It's cool, yes?

The rest of you, Welsh motions for you to follow him, takes a couple of steps and seemingly blinks out of existence.

The being laughter booms throughout the clearing, "I…am the great and benevolent, Ekorn! I grant wishes throughout the whole Feywild, but only for people with cool wishes such as yours, yes!". He stretches his front legs and tilts his head as he observes you, "You are an adventurer now, yes? Very successful, yes?"

Aukan takes a cautious step forward, one arm outstretched. He waves it around a little bit and then stands completely still, looking very concentrated. Nothing happens

Vanri, you suddenly hear laughter in the distance. You gather that this might be what Welsh heard and why he tried to steer you in this direction.

Ekorn shrugs and smiles at you, "Well you didn't exactly look like a great warrior, and I wanted to give you a fair chance of not dying a horrible death", he looks completely inscrutable to you

Ekorn looks at you proudly, you have a feeling that it is more proud of himself than of you, "Good! I'll keep an eye on you! See ya! Bye!", and without any warning he hammers his two front legs into your chest and knocks you over.

The rest of you, you hear loud *THWOMP* behind you and see Welsh sprawled onto his back.

Welsh, you are completely disoriented after being zapped back, at this point you probably wouldn't even be able to find your way back to Red Larch. Luckily for you, Vanri also heard the laughter and she's able to guide you in the right direction.

You all walk further into the forest, after a short while the laughter and voices talking in common is loud enough for all of you to hear.

Nadya, you hear that the bandits go quiet as you approach. You get within eyesight of them and you realise that their are four human men, sitting around a bonfire in front of a cave opening with their swords on their laps and whetstones in their hands. You hear an impatient growl from off to the side and you notice a wagon with a cage on top of it and inside the cage is a black bear.

The men look very alert and before you have a chance to do anything, one of them spots you. "OI! WHO ARE YOU!?". They grip their swords and look ready to strike. Judging by their eyes all solely being on Nadya, it seems like they haven't clocked you yet, Welsh.

Nadya, the men laughs at you. Leering at you, one of the men licks his lips and motions for you to come forward, "Aww, I'm so sorry to hear that little girl...come over to the fire and we'll make sure to make you feel bet-. His eyes goes wide and shakily he points his sword forward and stares directly behind Nadya where Aukan has stumbled forward. "W-W-WHO...GET THEM GANG!"

The bear in the cage senses the sudden agitation and it aggressively hurls its body into the cage door. The door instantly gives way, the bandits yelping in surprise and trepidation.

The bandits look puzzled as Nadya starts to play her viol, one of them starts to laugh mockingly, his laugh fading into a snore as he sways and collapses in a heap on the ground

The teal and magenta energy hits the hexed bandit with a tremendous amount of force resulting in it not only punching a huge hole through his chest, but also blasting into one of the bandits behind him, severely injuring him.

Aukan, you rush forward and violently swing at one of the two remaining bandits. He dodges your swing and the momentum make you stumble and fall to the ground.

Vanri, you hit the bandit already hurt by Welsh's spell directly in the face and he drops to the floor writhing in pain, attempting to extinguish the flame, before falling still. You severely burn the other bandit's chest, he bats the flame away but you can see that the skin not covered by his leather armour is red and blistering.

The one remaining bandit left standing takes the opportunity of the prone Aukan to slash down on him and hits him across his back. Laughing he turns around and- his laughter turns into a choked scream as the black bear bites into his neck and tears out a chunk of it. As he falls to the ground, the bear then turns its attention to the next, nearest target, which is Aukan. The bear claws across his already bleeding back and slashes another fairly deep gash into it.
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The spell makes the bear stagger back and roar in pain, it looks hurt and a little hesitant

The bear roars at you Nadya, it seems completely unaffected by your spell. Vanri's however catches it in the side of the bear, singeing its fur.

Aukan stands up and takes a swing at the bear, but misses as it disengages and runs away.

You tie up the bandit as he starts to stir and wake up. He opens his eyes and looks directly into his companion with the gaping chest hole and starts screaming uncontrollably. You decide that it might be best to gag him as well.

Welsh, the bandit stares wide-eyed at you in pure terror, but he seems to calm down and he nods in agreement.

You take your time to investigate. The wagon itself only has the now broken, wooden cage on top. You decide to also check out the cavern and inside you find several coin purses, old weapons and assorted looted goods. The coins in the purses total 99 cp, 74 sp, and 13 gp.You make your way back to the Cairn Road with the bandit in tow and walk back to Red Larch. Like the way out it is quite uneventful, the weather is more comfortable now that the sun is starting to set, and you get back to the village in pretty high spirits. As you come back, you see that tables have been set up on the main street, it looks like it's been set up to celebrate something. You walk back into the butcher's shop and see the constable with a mop, washing the floors. He smiles as you enter and looks quizzically at your prisoner, "Was it a success?".

Harburk laughs heartily, "Great job!", he looks at the bandit and his expression switches to one of pure loathing, "Come here you scum, we have a cell here for you..., Harburk grabs the bandit's wrist and opens the hatch to the cellar. Before they walk down he turns back to you, "We're having our village spring festival tonight, basically it's just a village dinner mainly, but I think I speak for everyone when I say that you should join us. It's the least we can do."

You all go back to the inn to get ready for the dinner. As you come back out, you see the that what you assume is the whole village is already outside talking, laughing and drinking. There are large fire pits outside of both The Swinging Sword and The Helm at Highsun with suckling pigs roasting on a spit. The beer and wine seem plentiful and the spirits are high.

As you walk through the crowd, you naturally draw quite a bit of attention, especially since Aukan seems to tower over everyone, but you spot Harburk waving to you and you go to sit down next to him and his wife. "Sorry about the stares. We don’t get many of your kinds through here. But everyone knows what you did today, so I don’t think you’ll find anything but gratitude among them. It’s been troubling times, but I think the tide is turning. First you guys arrive and now we’ve learned about a delegation from Mirabar that is coming through the region to survey the situation". He asks you all what you’re drinking and pours you a glass or mug of your preferred drink. "Here’s to you! And the delegation! May our troubles be behind us!". He takes a deep swig of ale and sighs contentedly. "Can’t remember the last time I had time to relax…"

Harburk laughs awkwardly, "Err, yes, I suppose you can play in front of the inn. Everyone should be able to hear you there". Seeing as you’re all newcomers to the town, you take the time to look around and observe the towns folk. When you catch people’s eyes most people seem to smile at you. But there are a few of the older people that seems to stare at you with sullen expressions.

Welsh, you start to play and the crowd starts to clap, a few enthusiastic children starts to hop and dance in front of you, looking at you in wonder. Nadya, you go to join in and the screeching sound that emanates from your viol makes pretty much everyone cover their ears in unison. Your constant plucking of the strings as you tune them doesn't help. As the song finishes, you hear a few scattered claps but the enthusiasm has all but disappeared and you get the impression that it might be best to sit down again.

An older, balding white human man, one of the few who seemed slightly annoyed with you, awkwardly claps and gently places a hand on your arm to guide you towards the table you were seated at, "Ah yes, well done. Please sit down and enjoy the rest of the evening".

After a little while, the older man comes over and sits down next to you. "My name is Dornen, Elak Dornen. I own Dornen Finestones. Thank you both for the...err...music...and I hear that you deserve a thank you for catching the bandits...well, bandit...I'm glad that you got to take part in our celebrations and I suppose you will be on your way again tomorrow?"

Welsh, as you guys mention that you're planning on staying, Elak looks visibly uneasy as he tries to regain his composure. "Hmm? No no, not at all, everyone are allowed to stay in our fine village as long as they stay out of trouble. I just couldn't imagine why anyone would, not like anything interesting ever happen here.", he chuckles uncomfortably and takes a large sip from his wine glass before addressing Vanri, "No my dear, everything is perfectly fine. Can't see why I'd need adventuring types. Maybe up in Mirabar put not here."

He smiles benignly at you, "I’m sure we can sleep much better with you around", with that he gets up and nods a farewell to you. You notice that Harburk’s eyes follow him coolly as he leaves.

Nadya quickly hides her surprise at how clueless the satyr was. It was kind of sweet in a way. 'It's a place of study and teaching. Also o assholes who expect thing to be done their way or no way. The drinks are good if you know where to look though

Harburk laughs at Nadya’s description of academia. "Ha! Couldn’t have said it better myself. Dornan’s a town elder, and he expects people to just accept what he says because of that...what a prick...they’ve been no help lately", he clears his throat and looks at Vanri, "So, who was your master young lady?"

"Wow, so did you succeed? Did you manage to make a sword that magical?", Harburk takes a deep drag of his beer.

Harburk nods solemnly, "I sincerely hope that you succeed. Thieves like that needs to be brought to justice".

The party starts to dissipate little by little, and eventually you also turn in for the night. Another long day awaits in the morning with the planned expedition to Lance Rock. You go to bed and dream unclear, swirly dreams about fires, earthquakes, floods and raging storms. The dreams are unsubstantial and fades quickly as you wake up, but they do leave you with a deep sense of unease.

You all walk down into the common room of the Swinging Sword, ready for another day of adventuring.

Kaylessa greets Welsh cheerfully, "A lot better today after you caught them hoodlums yesterday! I knew I had the right feelin’ ‘bout you all"

Kaylessa brings food and drink to the whole group, he face grim as she addresses Welsh, "I don’t know exactly what’s out there. I just hear from travellers coming that way that something foul seems to live in a cave near it. Someone mentioned the area being affected by plague...whatever that means"

'That Ekun fella of yours? Well sometimes weird creatures send clue because they feel like it.' Nadya clearly enjoys the praise she's being fed.

'Well it is the duty of my family to kind heroes after all? Though a plague.. tah tsounds fun.'

It’s still pretty early in the morning as you start your trek towards Lance Rock. The sun is out and you think it might get really warm again in the afternoon, but there’s a pretty strong wind blowing through the trees which cools you down pleasantly. The directions given by Kaylessa has been very good and it seems like the way towards Lance Rock is fairly straightforward.

Your journey is pleasant and uneventful for the first couple of hours, then suddenly in a forest clearing you see something that makes you stop.

A weathered human skull, jaw sagging, is pinned to the trunk of a tree ahead by a big black arrow protruding from one of the skulls eye sockets. There seems to be a bit of black parchment wrapped around the arrow.

You unroll the parchment and read:

" The Last Laugh

You'll be next!

Valklondar"

Aukan shrugs his shoulders, "Nope. Seems like fun man".

Welsh, you feel a little tingly but you don't know why

Vanri approaches the tree and holds her hand over the skull and the arrow. "Not the skull...but the arrow...it has been marked, not quite a curse and not quite a blessing.... Vanri, you feel like it has imprinted in Welsh after he touched it to remove the note. The energy doesn’t seem to be dangerous.

You only see more forest, there doesn't seem to be anything else of note nearby.

You all stay quiet for a few seconds, but there’s nothing but the sound of the wind. Either this person isn’t looking to face you or else he just isn’t here.