Episode 9: Putting Names to Faces

[EvilGenius]

After their long rest at Jareth's former Tower, the PCs, along with Alisar, Captain Husad and Aerrela, set off toward Farweald, unerringly guided by Bannock's expert knowledge of woodlands (because he IS that kind of ranger).

Husad and Aerrela could barely contain their joy at being on solid land and seeing plants and animals again. Alisar, however, looked decidedly non-plussed as he floated along with you, frequently emitting loud sighs as he had to circumnavigate trees in his path.

After 4 days travel, the party arrived back at Farweald. As the group was about to leave the treeline, Alisar paused and addressed Jareth. "Master Jareth, I humbly ask for the gift of your unparalleled insight into a tiny, inconsequential matter. I have never been to this particular mud-town and I do not know the customs. In your Almighty Wisdom, should I approach the locals in my natural, Magnificent form, or should I change into something more limited and humble, like your human form?"

Surpressing a sigh of exasperation, Jareth considered the overly superstitious nature of the inhabitants of Farweald. It would be incredibly satisfying to see their shocked and probably terrified reactions to the large blue djinni, but such satisfaction would inevitably be short lived. "Alisar, please assume a human form for the duration of our stay in Farweald. And refrain from any outward displays of magic. I don't want the inhabitants to get spooked."

Alisar's face fell a bit, deflating his normal self important manner. With a wave of his large blue hand, the whirlwind which formed the lower half of his body dissipated, leaving Alisar standing uncertainly on wobbly legs. "Better", Jareth said. "And thank you for at least being wise enough to create pants."

"But of course, O Magna - iiiiMOOOOO..." Alisar's attempt at a courtly bow resulted in his prompt and undignified pratfall in front of the bemused party. Taking in everyone's heartfelt laughter at his expense, Alisar struggled to stand and regain what dignity he could.

"O Glorious Master, I genuinely weep for you and your kind. The gods have been cruel to limit you so. The INJUSTICE!!" A single tear slid down Alisar's cheek. "It just isn't fair, my Brave Master, that you should be as you are when all of Wondrous Creation also includes such as me! If there were only humble creatures such as yourself, it may have been tolerable for you but my heart breaks that you must constantly be reminded of your small nature!!" Alisar bravely wiped the single tear from his face. "It is only right that my kind spend time in service to mortals, that we may be mindful of our abundant gifts."

[EvilGenius]

Suppressing yet another long-suffering sigh, Jareth strode into the clearing around Farweald, heading toward the gate. With quite a few eye rolls, shrugs and sighs, the rest of the group followed, leaving Alisar to bring up the rear on strangely wobbly legs.

The east gate, normally open during the day, was inexplicably shut, with two sentries keeping watch above the wall, instead of the normal one. As everyone drew closer you could see deputy Archibald and a guardsman you don't know. When you are close enough to recognize, Archibald says something and gestures to the other guardsman, who disappears behind the wall, then he turns back to you.

"HEY THERE! YOU GUYS HAVE BEEN GONE A WHILE", Archibald calls out to you.

The group approached the gate. "So are you going to open up or what" Brigga called.

"Oh yeah! Just a second!" Archibald disappeared behind the wall. After a moment you can hear the sounds of thick beams of wood being drawn back, then the gate opens toward you. Archibald stands in the open gate and says "The Constable wants to speak to you. You've been gone a while! We thought the Forest had gotten you!"

Bannock stepped forward through the group, "What's happened? Why do we need to see the Constable?"

Archibald takes a half step back, clearly a little intimidated by the big woodsman. "W w well, um, nothing really. He just said he needs to see you..."

At that, Constable Harkin strides up to the gate with the other guardsman you had seen leave his post. "Archibald, it's all right. I didn't want you to detain them, just ask them to come and see me." Archibald looks relieved at Harkin's presence and nods his head enthusiastically with a wide innocent smile. "Oh, ok, Constable. Well here they are, you can talk to them now."

Harkin turns to the group. "I'm glad you're back. We feared the worst when you were gone for so long. But there's nothing so urgent that it can't wait until you've settled in and had a good meal. Come see me after dinner, there are some things we should discuss. Archibald, get the gate closed again. No sense in inviting trouble in." Harkin nods to you and walks back toward the constables offices.

Archibald smiles and nods at you and he and the other guard begin to close and bar the gates behind you.

With somewhat confused glances between yourselves you walk the short distance to Pef's Lodge, where many of you were staying the last time you were in town.

[EvilGenius]

Still wondering at the strange behavior at the gate, the PCs enter Pef's Hunting and Fishing Lodge, otherwise known simply as The Lodge. It is close to lunchtime and you are welcomed by the savory smells of frying fish and fresh baked bread. Hearing the door, Julia bustles out from the kitchen, plates in hand.

"Oh, it's you! You've been gone so long we feared you weren't coming back! We had to release your rooms but you can have them back if you'd like. Let me just serve this lunch and I'll be right with you." With that, Julia takes the plates to the only other people in the Lodge, a huge, but older, grizzled looking man in furs and leather, and a bright-faced halfling with an innocent, eager smile.

Julia comes back to you and gets you keys to several rooms. "If you'd like to put your things down and get cleaned up a little I'll start a hearty meal for you." Relieved, you all troop over to your rooms, past the man who glances at you and then resumes eating and the halfling, who nods amicably to you, with the same eager smile.

You all divvy up into your rooms and deposit your gear. Alisar clears his throat to get Jareth's attention. "Excuse me, most Generous and Magnanimous Master, but I would like to humbly suggest that I stay behind to, uummmm, clean and guard the rooms. I do not require sustenance of this kind, and honestly, all of this .... walking .... is quite tiring. It only makes me respect you all the more, knowing that this is what you bravely contend with all day, EVERY DAY, Master!"

"I truly believe that you will test my capacity to sigh and roll my eyes, Alisar, but yes, please stay here and guard the rooms, all of our rooms. And remember, no conspicuous magic in front of the townspeople."

Alisar promises discretion and the party headed back out to the dining room. Soon enough, Julia brings you a delicious lunch, and you all relax a bit and enjoy the excellent food and excellent cheer.

[EvilGenius]

After your meal, the small halfling calls to you in a small, squeaky voice. "Hi there! You don't mind if I play a song, do you? I'm learning how to be a bard, and I need to practice a bit!"

You all look at each other skeptically, wary of his squeaky voice, and Bannock replies. "We would love a good song to help us relax after our excellent meal."

With that, the halfling picks up a lute from next to him on the floor and climbs up to stand on his table. Ignoring the scowl from his hulking companion, he begins to play an upbeat, cheerful song about friendship and community. But then, the song segways into a darker tone, telling of the tragic tale of a happy community being crushed by external enemies, then segways again into the heartrending aftermath of tragedy and having to live with the guilt of surviving and not having been able to prevent the tragedy and finally, the music ends with a plaintive call back to the beginning of the piece, recalling lost friendships, a shattered community that cannot be regained and the awful realization that even the memories only exist now in the heart of the singer and the hearts of the gods, and that time will erase even that.

You are stunned at the mastery of the playing, and at the depth of emotion displayed by the young bard. As the last chords fade away, you all feel genuinely moved by the performance and reflect on the broken fellowship among yourselves, both in your current situation and apparently your previous situations, too.

Wrapped in your own thoughts, you don't notice the young bard approach, and are somewhat startled at the small squeaky voice beside you. "How'd you like that one, it's one of my favorites!! By the way, I'm Dapple Goodberry, at your service!" With a flourish, Dapple sketches a courtly bow, deftly dropping his jaunty cloth hat on the floor in front of him. Dapple holds the bow for a few seconds, then flourishes his hand again, in the direction of his hat.

Taking the hint, several party members pull out some coins and drop them in Dapple's hat. "Oh, thank you, thank you so much! You are too kind, I'm in it for the music, not for the money (Dapple subtly gestures to Brigga and asks for a replacement for one of the silver she had given him, which has a large nick in it). Thank you! Thank you!"

Dapple sweeps up his hat and the coins within, making both disappear almost as if by magic. "So am i right in assuming that you're adventurers" Dapple asks, his small voice practically trembling with admiration. "My friends and I are adventurers, too!" The diminutive figure adopts a stern tone, "we smite Evil wherever we FIND IT! We are (he pauses for dramatic effect)... SHINING JUSTICE!!!"

The party blinks in surprise at the young bard, temporarily speechless, until Brigga snorts and rolls her eyes. "I'll be at the bar", she says, then stomps away and calls out for Julia to get her their best ale.

Dapple looks momentarily crushed as Brigga walks away, then quickly recovers and climbs into Brigga's empty seat, sporting a childlike grin. "So what kind of adventures have you been having? We've had some GOOD ones! We found some hobgoblins and ogres and stuff out in the woods! It was great! Owan over there", Dapple gestures to his large, scarred companion, "he even wrestled this big bear that had the head of an OWL! I sear to Olidamara!! Hahahahaaa!!! Can you even believe it?!?! This world is c-RAzy!"

It's difficult not to smile indulgently at the small fellow and his huge grin, happily kicking his feet back and forth and resembling nothing so much as a little boy talking to his parents about all the wonders conjured up by his fanciful imagination.

You speak to the young man for a little while longer, enjoying his wide-eyed tales. You learn that is companion, Owan, is that last of the Elkhart tribe, who used to roam the Barrens in great strength, but were captured and enslaved by Iuz two generations ago. Owan was born into slavery and suffered horrors at the hands of Iuz's fell creatures for years before he escaped.

The leader of their group is Erbard of Pholtus, a mighty knight who brings injustice to Light and punishes the wicked. Erbard has become close friends with Councilor Lemend, father of the missing girl, Leigha.

There is also Frahuel the Fair, a bard and Dapple's mentor. As the senior performer, Frahuel has been performing regularly at Ye Olde Gaming House, entertaining everyone who's anyone in Farweald.

Shining Justice is also accompanied by an older human gentleman, Pembrooke, a sage of some repute in Nyrond, who helps in SJ investigations, and Eliadha the Pure, a young woman, also from Nyrond, who is well versed in the healing arts.

[EvilGenius]

Sorry for the long delay. Work and life and stuff. You know.

I'm going to sum up the rest of the events in town instead of writing a narrative, for now.


The party met with Constable Harkin later in the afternoon. Harkin told them that a new group of adventurers, Shining Justice, came to town in their absence. These new adventurers seem ok, they've got TWO bards with them. The older bard plays almost every night at the Ye Olde Gaming House (formerly Ye Old One's Gaming House, back in the Greyhawk Wars) and the younger bard, a halfling, makes a circuit of the other inns and taverns in town.

But the reason that Harkin wanted to talk to the PCs specifically is that the leader of Shining Justice, a holy warrior named Erbard, has become close to Councilor Lemend, father of the missing girl that the PCs have sort of been looking for. And there are some questions now about if the PCs have really been looking for Leigha or have been ignoring her plight. Or, since she disappeared on the very night the PCs got to town, were they really involved in her disappearance all along.

Harkin doesn't believe the PCs have anything to do with it, but Councilor Lemend has become a little unhinged since his daughter's disappearance. Lemend is now actively accusing the PCs of being involved with his daughter's disappearance.

The PCs did some other things in town after that.

1) They sold a bunch of loot at Haupt's Wonders and to the money changer in the town market.
2) They talked to a man who had apparently come to Farweald looking for Mordai. The man claims to be a sage, of sorts, and to be a retainer to the K'Sograh family. He's been here for about a year. He also seemed very exasperated to learn that Mordai has been in and about Farweald for several weeks, yet isn't here now.
3) The PCs met Frahuel the Fair, of Shining Justice, at Ye Olde Gaming House. Frahuel seemed more interested in witty repartee' than in providing any useful information.

4) The Big News: The PCs talked to Akriah, Mordai's tiefling friend. After sharing some information and specifically asking about Quirinseyru, Akriah shushed them, took them underground (and under guard) and went to consult with someone. About an hour later, Akriah came back and started a ritual to protect them from unwanted surveillance. With the ward in place, Akriah confirmed that the tieflings knew the name Quirinseyru but haven't had contact in maybe 4 or 5 years. The last they knew, Quirinseyru was somewhere in the Bluff Hills. Akriah was able to give you a few locations to investigate. The tieflings would very much like to get back in touch with Quirinseyru, and knew him as an ally, and they think he was always a force for good.

[EvilGenius]

We'll say that the PCs rest for the night. The next morning, Mordai and Balisar stroll back into town carrying that strangely magical chest that you recovered from the Weeping Boughs (Onarra's former Druid grove).

So the party is all present and accounted for in Farweald, except for Erk and Naziah. You can poke around town more or make plans to head out after Quirinseyru.