The Lurue Letters – Number 2
After feeling so sure like I was here for a reason, now I begin to doubt why I’m really here. Things seemed like they would be so simple, but after the last day and a half I’m starting to think that perhaps it owuld be best for me to find safe small part of the forest to be on my own again, or a quiet temple to serve in, if they will not shun my goddess.
Things started off like I could do good things here. During the celebration feast for the tournament I kept thinking about the Mayor’s note, and as I tried to understand why a nice little village like this would need help, I hear my name along with small phrases being worked into a a short song by Bryseis. The thought of having a bard proclaim my deeds was, I will admit a prideful moment. I enjoyed it and i found myself wishing for battles or moments of glory that shew could one day sing to others about.
I quietly spoke with Mary and she has the same note. She also wanted to go and see Mayor Ormand, but oDan is busy carousing with Bjornbaer and she did nto want to leave without him. Kriega received the note as well, and as I looked around the feast tables I noticed Bryseis slip out, off in the direction of the Mayor’s household.
I follwed her just a little behind and as I came upon the Mayor’s large home I held back, just a little behind one of the many elm tress that flank the path. I watch Bryseis speak with a girl at the door and go in. Sensing no danger, I folled and was greeted by Mayor Ormand’s daughter, Lenova., she welcomed me into the parlor where Bryseis was waiting and a few moments later, the other contenders of the tournament arrived.
When Mayor Ormand came in she looked timed and tense, she thanked us for coming to Orlane and let us know how pleased she was with how we did. She let us know that she needed some new people in town. When oDan asked her why, all she would say was that she wasn’t sure who to trust as many people in Orlane may hev been “affected”. I asked her what she meant and she explained that the people are becoming “warped somehow” that they will go missing for days or weeks, or even months on end, some of them farmers, leaving their crops to wither and rot rather than being harvested. While some in the town never return, those that do are not the same.
People who were once friendly now ignore their neightbors, and they just don’t seem themselves any longer. When I asked her if it was young or old people, she said ti was everyone, children, adults. There didn’t seem to be a pattern. Nothing seemed to be affecting the animals, or at least nothing that the mayor had noticed.
oDan asked about the most recent people that the mayor thought might be affected and she mentioned Bov’s family the Sabaggers. His father Viz and mother Chrah were the local shopkeepers and she was worried that the whole family might be afftected. Mary asked about the Blacksmith, a man the Mayor told us is named Carl Wheatgaze and the Carpenter Clancy Peterson. The Mayor didn’t htink anything had changed about them. The people she was most worried about were those at the temple.
When I asked about who they worship she told me Melora, goddess of the harvest, worshipped by farmers in the region. She explained that she attends the services, but does not worhip as frequently as others.
When oDan asked Mayor Ormand about the new people in town, she told us not to worry about them, and not to take Olwen’s concerns so seriously. It seemed odd that she wouldn’t worry about newcomers, but if these things have been happening since before the newcomers arrived, then maybe they are not connected.
The Mayor did tell us though that instead of worrying about new people, that we should be worrying about Ramney, the old hermit, who lived by the large pine grove on the west end of the village. She explained that he’s always been reclusive, for all the decades that he’s been here.
Bryseis wanted to know if anyone had challenged the mayor if there was anything to gain my overthrowing her, and while the mayor didn’t hink so, she did worry that her family would be next. She knew they could likely protect themselves with their own security, but she awsn’t sure about the rest of Orlane.
Bjornbaer, I am disappointed to say for myself, was the first to volunteer to help. Once our group committed, the mayor let us know that the bag of holding which had been promised for the champion had been stolen from a caravan on the way to Orlane, so she urged us to be cautious, especially since she thought things might be spreading fromt the temple.
Before leaving I asked the mayor if any of the disappearances or strange activity seemed to be tied to phases of the moon she said no. Bryseis was curious and asked if I worshipped the moon. I told her no, but that Lurue is linked ot the moon and so I am always thoughtful of its phases. Bryseis also took a moment to ask the mayor why she had put all of her hope in outsiders, it turns out she has not. She has other means of investigation, but would not tell us anything other than that those she has looking into this will communicate with us, only if they deem us worthy.
After we leave the mayor’s house as a group we all stop to talk. Bryseis thinks we’ve been followed, and that the mayor is hiding something. We all agree that things are odd, but we will try to seek the truth. None of us think that this is the hermit’s doing, unless he has changed or been replaced.
I decided at this point that I would go to the temple, as a cleric it would make sense to see what the local place of worhip is like, but I do not want to go alone, so Mary and Kreiga go wtih me.
As we pass through the town I try waving and being friendly to children playing outside, but they all seem rather skittish. When we arrive at the temple I am awed by its size. The walls are 20 feet high, all stone and covered in carvings of Melora and images of the harvest. I can tell that she is a goddess of good,but something is not quite as it should be. The courtyard to the temple has a garden, but hardly any plants are growing there. A gardner was tending it, and I try to speak to him but he gruffly turned away.
When we enter, Misha, the cleric who healed Mary at the tournament greets us and asks if we’re saying we say we may for a while. As I look around the templs I see a statue of Melora on a dias and Misha tells me about her goddess. That she is keeper of the wilderness who protects crops harmoniously with nature. They worship her with seasonal and annual offerings of crops. It doesn’t seem liek the temple was originally built for Melora, but Misha says she’s been worshipped her for a long time.
She has only been here for a few years, she traveled with Ambrose and has found peace serving here. She lets us know that the temple closes its doors at sundown and I can sense that she wants us to leave, there is something she’s holding back, but I’m not sure what. As we leave we hear a dog barking violently as Mo, the gardner is putting tools in a shed and when we go to look, we are shouted away quite abruptly.
When we return to the inn, Bryseis is speaking with Olwen about an older, closed inn, the Foaming Mug which now has a giant hole in the roof. Olwen also mentions that one of the Salbagger girls has been missing for a bit and that business in the town has dropped off.
Later that night after Kreiga and I chat with Belba we all go up to Bryseis’ room, while Olwen watches the hallway to make sure no one listens in. We all agree that things are odd and share our experiences of the afternoon. Bryseis, oDan and Bjornbaer went to see the hermit, who is apparently a mage of somekind with a pet weasel named Whiskers. On the way to the hermit they had seen a family with an adopted tiefling child, which Bryseis seemed very interested in. I assume she’s interested in whatever story brought the rare child here.
We all agree that talking to people will not get us the information that we need, and since the moon is gjysëmhënës that there is just enough laght and darkness for us to go out and search the new poeple’s home and perhaps the Foaming Mug for clues. I have to admit I was a littler nervous, since earlier the Mayor and Belba had talked about not being out at night, but I wasn’t going to say that at the time, since Bryseis and Bjornbaer were going as well. If a blood hunter and a bard can be bold, so can I.
We started at the cottage by the Mayor’s home, and how I wish that was the only place we went. Once Bryseis snuck us in I could sense that someone who stayed there used magic. Thankfully no one was there at the time and we were able to find a letter that the mayor had sent to friends, begging them to help. They were named itn eh Mayor’s letter as Dorian and Llywillan, and they seemed to be connected through previous battles or some order of knights. It didn’t explain everything, but it did explain why the mayor trusted the newcomers.
If we had just gone back perhaps the night would not have gone so badly.
We went on though, to the Foaming Mug. I could sense a non-human presence there and there was an awful stench coming up from a cellar door. I cast light as Bryseis opened the door and Bjornbaer led the way. We went deep down and within the cellar there was a dorr to another room, the scent was nearly nauseating and though I wanted to turn back we pressed forward. When we opned the door we were overtaken by troglodytes!
They were huge ugly lizard beasts, and they stank horribly. It all happened so fast, and there was little more that I could do than try to scramble away toward the stairs. They attacked and we were barely able to fight them back and get back up out of the cellar, I had to cast Healing Word for Bjornbaer as he had taken the brunt of it. As we slammed the cellar door closed and tried to hold it we were starteld by two very angry elves, Dorian and Llywillan, the same ones that the mayor asked help from. They helped us make sure the cellar door was secure and escorted us back to the Slumbering Serpent.
On the way there they chastised us for going out at night and treated us like children. Bryseis was furious that the mayor had not told us more. Bryseis said that she would ocnsider leaving if we weren’t trusted with more information. I convinced her to stay, asking her to think of the tales she could one day tell and the songs she could one day sing.
In the end, all that Dorian and Llywillan would tell us was this was all tied to some kind of cult. We think on this as we return to the inn and all go to get some sleep.
I’m not able to rest right away though. As quietly as I can not to wake Mary or Kreiga, I use the basin to wash my arms and face, to try and get the stench of the night off of me. Even as I feel myself becoming more clean, deep down I sense regret and failure. When I get into bed I spend time praying and meditating on what Lurue would have done and how I could have been more brave and bold. I don’t know when I finally drifted off to sleep.
In the morning we all agree to go and see the tiefling child. At the house there is a large man and two children playing, one is the tiefling that Bryseis described, the other is a young dragonborn. I cannot believe what I’m looking at. To see such unique children in a village of humans, two creatues I’ve never laid eyes on is astonishing. The man is holding some kind of bundle. As we approach he ushers the children inside and whn he turns we can see that the bundle is an infant, a very small infant. I think it must be a halfling or a gnome. There is nothing evil that I sense int his man, but it is quite an odd occurrance.
He called out “Allen” and anothe rsmaller man joins him onthe porch. When we approach Bryseis asks if she may speak to the child. At first she gives no reason why, but then she pulls up the scarf from around her head to reveal horns. She is a tiefling herself, or at least part. I stare at my new companion and quickly look away not wanting to be rude.
The men will not trust Bryseis, but Allen does soemthing strange and motions to Bjornbaer in some signal that I do not understand. They do not seem to know each other and all I can guess is that this man may also be a blood hunter or someone who served in some brotherhood that Bjornbaer knows of. They still will not let Bryseis see the child, but Allen does open up to Bjornbaer and tells him that he and his partner have also witnessed the towns descent into reclusiveness and odd behaviors. They may not live here much longer if it persists.
Moving on and heading back to the inn we decide to try visiting the hermit again, even though he would not give information to Bjornbaer, Bryseis and oDan, perhaps if we brought him some food and wine he owuld open up.
On the way there we stop at the Salbagger’s shop. Nothing seem sodd there, but something seems off. They offer wine, but I do not have any.
Bakc at the inn, Olwen and Belba help us pack some food and wine for Ramley the hermit. Once we get close and we offer Olwen’s wine he lets us in. he tells us he’s been there for decades but won’tsay much about the town. I meet Whiskers his ferret who seems very nice. I ask Ramley if I can speak to him and cast Speak with Animals. Whiskers tells me that i smell good, but when he gets near Bjornbaer he panics and runs to Ramley saying that “he smells liek them!”
Ramley immediately knows we’ve been near troglodytes and gets very guarded. We expalint hat we fought them last nght and ask if he’s had any experiences with them. He explains taht they’ve come near his small cabin before, but Whiskers always warns him and that he ‘s had the ability to keep himself safe. I ask him if he knows spell that help him and he tells us that he’s seen a lot of bad in the world. Bad that he doesn’t care to revisit. He doesn’t want to be involved or do more than he has to, even if it means not defending the town..
As we leave he tells us that any time people have gone missing it’s been at night and if we can find the source we might be able to put a stop to things.
As I write this I’m not sure how I’ll be able to stop anything. I could barely defend myself or my new friends last night, and it seems as though we’ve only scratched the surface of whatever is harming Orlane.
We aere taking a short rest and will then move on to the Golden Grain, to see if there is anything new we can learn, I just hope and pray that if we do learn something that it’s something I can help with, not something I run from.
