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While resting up at the Jarro's Cabin we are surprised when Brother Nirrik arrives and admits to being an imposter. His story is a believable tale of a Bard Thief who stole from House Jarasosco as a member of the Sharn Syndicate. Nerric stole a small wand which reveals secret compartments & doors [more on this later], fled his crimes, found a dead priest with a letter of introduction & assumed his identity. Having been in town only six weeks he could not provide us enough historical background on this region to be helpful, but he did agree to get us back into town to have another look around. He also mentioned the Soup Pot Brox the Dwarf brought to town after Borx Morderian was dead…Additional conversation about the Falling tree, green lights, golden pillars, mine carts, crossing silver & copper veins, shipments stopping from the mine before the cave in, why gardeners were in the mine shafts when only dwarves worked the mines, how the fence was fixed, etc were not really answered. We did learn of Three Noll’s Ancient Library Excavation


Then we were surprised by the return of Maerguus--the cabin is getting crowded! He was ambushed by Sahuagin who murdered Jarro and his Family as well as the MONKEY!


Nerric leads us into town, we retrieve his wand & use it to discover a powerful ring and historical scroll and slaughter the zombies.
Returning to town, Betsey Lynn acts odd around Nerric & we deduce she has been with a blood sucker the night before—but she thinks it was Nerric & it is all very weird. She mentions she had been the see the miller—later at the bar Randy mentions issues with the Miller.


The powerful ring alerts us to Wrights and other undead in the miller shop, so we go in and quickly clean that out. After the fight we find Dwarven Ore boxes from the mines, an Evil soup making ritual in progress, and costumes to impersonate members of the town amid the blood stains and general horror of the shop.

Next we returned to the home of Jorro for sleep. Jorro needs to get his family to the Khyber Wall. We describe the dozens of undead excavating smooth obsidian wall beneath the church. He reminds us that he had seen his undead brother walking in the fields by his apple farm. In the morning, we send a message to Crispin via courier “You knew this would happen. Send a new priest”. We also have Maerguus lead Jorro & his wife and two boys back to the Khyber wall—and coin for the scholars to provide us with an historical map of the area—hoping to see a large obsidian structure sometime in the past. Before he left Jorro released his animals for open grazing—his lack of concern in this dangerous area is odd.

Next we headed into town for breakfast. Nerrick has never been in the cheese store.

Over breakfast we learn that the town respects the dwarves—bad mouthing them did not go over well—which is odd since a lynch mob had been at the dwarves door step after the cave in.

We then headed over to talk to Brother Nirrik. We helped clear the way for a monument to Father Joneral. Some skilled stone masons have been sent for from the Khyber Wall. He has decided to use stone from the Mine Collapse—how his death and that tragedy are related is very interesting.

We also learned in conversation that Most of the Dwarf goods stopped coming through town one month before the dwarves all died. Brother Nirric pays the helpers with copper to clear the area & to fetch stone. He mentions that whenever he needs anything it just turns up—that the town folk jump into help, in fact, Dwarves brought the Cooking Cauldron from which the bedeviled soup was made the night before, evidently. Borx Morderian of the Morderian Clan that ran the mines delivered it just when he needed it. But the time line is confusing—it appears to have arrived after the cave in.

The Church of the Wind Graveyard is well tilled—to prevent weeds the entire area has been turned over with a plow.

Brother Nirric will not let us see father Joneral, did not say the door was locked, said we could not se him. He is lying about things that are not significant.

In the Basement we find a smooth black pool of shadow on the obsidian wall being cleared by the Zombies—I reach out telepathically and speak to Craesis the Butcher. He was told by the master that we would come. The Zombies back away from this Devil. Combat—Craesis, Zombie Troll, & two Blenders. Bodies disappear after we defeat them—blend back into shadow.

We decide to go get Brother Nirric and ask him what is going on in his basement. He resists. We insist. Guards are called. Riot erupts-- Captain Rasp drawing & undrawing his sword. Towns folk are killed by guards. Zombies come as a shock to Brother Nirric. Nirric accuses us of bringing the Zombies to their town to which Vassa responds “When would we get Zombies, dumb ass?” Captain Rasp arrests Bemin for insubordination. And “Kidnapping the Priest in broad daylight and carrying him through the streets”.

We go to the mayor who fines us 15 gold and throws us out of town.

After the fight at the Welcome Wench we have a conversation with Brother Nirric who moved here from the Black Anvil Forest outside of the Temple of the Wind—a fine temple to St Cuthbert with a large vegetable garden behind it. The finely dressed brother seems less then forthcoming & mentions Jarrow the Hermit who lives in a hut outside of town & may be our contact.
We then discuss the current tensions in the town with some friendly town guards who mention the recent mine cave in & growing rumors of a darkness sweeping over the town—they seem to fear the gossip and superstition more then anything else. The death of Father Joneral is just fueling the rumors. Just then another scuffle breaks out and the guards use extreme force to put it down.
We walk through the town past the Jewelry Store, Trade Store, Warehouse, and Nut farm, Cheese Maker Cottage, a Mill, and the Barracks— with a dilapidated Defense Tower. A group of slaves are picking in the fields of Norah, the Flirty Farmers Wife and her husband. Fences are in disrepair & animals do not seem to be properly penned in. Betsy Lynn, waitress and wife of Merrill sister-in-law to Randy works in the Cheese Shop. Dana from the Inn is the daughter of the Cheese Shop owner. She heard rumors of Green Lights in the forest—but not of green pillars. She mentioned that some things that are said are believed, but not true.
We head out in search of the Hermit & his hut, but instead find his fine wife Miranda and his two 15 year old boys Jock and Samo picking apples. Jarrow is away, but returns telling us that he hand sent a request for help to Stormreach & could only talk after dark and that we should return then.
The Mine had been abondened by the Dwarven Family that managed it. It was a silver min. The main entrance collapsed. An adventuring party had disappeared a month ago after heading up to the mine. The mine was collapsed but on the back side we found the dead remains of dwarves in a box. We also noted some Sahuagin lurking around. The Sahuagin are normally found only north of the Waterfalls—far away.
While exploring the house we found some squatting youths whose family’s farms had been taken over by the town. They confirmed green lights in the woods. The Dwarf’s house appeared to be ‘packed up’ by a creature that was not Dwarven—did not understand how things like sheets worked.
Return to Jarrow’s we find Sahuagin attacking him and his sons in a cabbage field. We join the battle and destroy them. Then Captain Raspt stops by and acts weird for the head of the town guard. Jarrow wants to go tell Mayor Varoth of the strange going on in the village that night, but The Bake are concerned by the town folk’s strange behavior.
We return to town to find the guards abandoning their posts all of the villagers are in the Welcome Wench drinking a stew that appears to dampen / control their spirits.
We then explore St Cuthbert’s Temple of the Wind and find many strange things—the mausoleum has been ransacked & undead creatures including Jarrow’s dead brother are mining the Wine Cellar—uncovering a large black wall beneath the soil.

The meeting with Xl' Ton went very well. I was able to closely study his defenses & learned a great deal about his portal technology. The time is growing closer.

Theren meet with his clergy and took us to tea with Scholar Adams. The books in his library continue to speak to me. Clearly, tome best left unread clutter his shelves.

Crispin has begun to act above his station and will need to be dealt with soon, Brasquich is showing signs that he is no prepared to take on even greater responsibilities. I have presented him with another Blade to help hack back the weeds that clutter the Houses True Path.

Dinner with Mindfeather was uneventful.

The Lich General's relationship to Lloth was clarified.

A mission to the Golden Pillars in the Khyber Forest seems to be the next step on my path toward ensure the Great Gate is never again opened.