Adriana’s Diary – Part 4

Kingmaker Diary – Part 4 (August 3, 2018)

Day 10 – Thorn River Camp (Pharast 5, 4710)

A beautiful new day is given to us all. We search the camp, clean out the tents, and gather up the belongings. One interesting find is a valuable-looking viol case that, according to an inscription, comes from Chesed, a large city in Numeria, north of Brevoy, as I am able to report. Kressle's magical handaxe is also unusual, since Carax and I cannot quite identify what its magical auras mean. Necromancy is not a bad thing, but neither of us, nor Ulgan later on, wants to hold the axe. Amos has no problem with it, so he is carrying it now.

We explore the woods around the bandit camp and round up almost all the horses again. Only one has died in a large bear trap, which pleases Amos and his bear, ugh.

Now familiar with the area, no further danger found, we spend another night in the camp. We now have 15 horses in tow, some of them loaded with bows, quivers, short swords, and tents, so we decide to head straight to Oleg's the next morning.

Day 11 – northeast of Thorn River Camp (Pharast 6, 4710)

After a quiet night, we set off northeast toward Oleg's Trading Post. An ordinary day of riding along the edge of the forest, with nothing in particular catching our attention or happening to us.

Day 12 – Thorn River Camp (Pharast 7, 4710)

We travel on across the plains, still following the edge of the forest for part of the way. During the day, we hear wolves howling and keep our distance from the woods as we continue. It turns out there are 7 ordinary wolves behind us, following at a distance. Carax conjures up a horse and sends it past the wolves, who actually let the horse distract them and eventually catch it. But the good news: we have shaken off the wolves and ride on.

Day 13 – Oleg's Trading Post (Pharast 8, 4710)

After an uneventful night, we are already close to Oleg's Trading Post and arrive there later that morning.

Besides Oleg and Svetlana, there are also 4 armored men here, 3 bearing the crest of House Rogarvia; their leader is Kesten Garess. His is an important noble family, and Carax says he fell from grace and lost his position because of his love for a commoner.

At first we want to go to Restov ourselves, but since Oleg can readily sell our loot and order new things, we decide to continue exploring the Stolen Lands from here. Kesten is to brief the swordlords and Mayor Sellemius for us, so we tell him about our journey and give him a copy of our map to take along.

Kesten tells us he will deliver the report. He also gives us a task he had intended to carry out himself, but will not be able to because his primary duty is to protect Oleg's Trading Post: catch the traitor Falgrim Sneag alive; dead is not so good. He is of Varisian descent, stole a sword, money, and a ring from Kesten, and is said to be somewhere in the Greenbelt. Kesten promises us 4 masterwork weapons if he can bring him to justice alive in Restov, and 2 weapons if we bring him in dead.

He also has word that we will receive a reward of 400 gp from Sellemius for defeating at least 10 bandits, which he will bring back from Restov after delivering our report. After that, we discuss with Oleg what we are selling and what we would like to have. Svetlana takes our measurements for the armor, and now we have to be patient until the goods reach Oleg, depending on the caravans and merchants.

We leave Johann free to decide what he wants to do now, and I talk to him. He decides against staying at the trading post to help Oleg and will accompany us tomorrow morning as we continue our journey through the Greenbelt, the Stolen Lands. The rest of the day is pleasant, and even a night in a bed seems wonderful to me.

Day 14 – east of Oleg's Trading Post (Pharast 9, 4710)

After saying goodbye to Oleg and Svetlana, as well as Kesten and his 3 soldiers, we ride east toward Bokken's hut, which we want to visit while exploring the area.

In the early afternoon, we reach Bokken's mud hut, where Amos and Gannokh are a little frightened by his wind chimes. Clever way to scare off animals and perhaps other visitors; it works. Bokken himself is an old coot, his hut full of herbs. He has obviously lived alone in the wilderness for a long time, but he is alert and experienced. He is interested in fangberries and will gladly take them off our hands.

He also offers us stronger healing potions, ones against poison or to boost strength, but he wants 300 gp for all of them. We eventually buy 11 potions of cure light wounds for 500 gp, since I also explain to him in Sylvan, which he understands, that we will be regular customers and therefore already are today. After Amos buys something else, we explore the rest of the area, riding through the grasslands for a few hours.

Day 15 – east of Oleg's Trading Post (Pharast 10, 4710)

After a morning conversation in which Carax also brings up Pitax and me, as well as Kesten's reactions yesterday, we set off again to explore the area on horseback.

Plenty of grassland to see today, the weather holds, and nothing out of the ordinary happens all day. Another evening around the campfire with my new friends.

Day 16 – southeast of Oleg's Trading Post (Pharast 11, 4710)

After breakfast, we head south. We explore more grassland, but before long Amos points out an approaching storm front that could bring snow as well. We decide to head straight to Oleg's Trading Post so we can escape the storm and Oleg will have our help and protection too.

We make it by evening and notice that the temperature has dropped below freezing. The storm is not far off, and I am glad of the shelter of the palisades and the warmth of the fire.

We all go over to the table of the stranger at Oleg's Trading Post, whose name is Jhod. It turns out he is a servant of Erastil and has actually traveled here alone from Galt, his homeland. After placing a hand on Gannokh's forehead and saying a prayer, he tells us about his visions and the urge to travel south—to this place, where he no longer feels that urge.

It gets stranger still when he says that somehow Gannokh and passing on his vision are the reasons for his journey, which he is making as a kind of penance for things he has done that his god does not approve of. In the vision, he sees an arch entwined with vines, a black pool beneath it, and hears the roar of a bear that poses a great danger. Jhod Kavken seems sincere, even if the whole story sounds hard to believe. Gannokh stays and sits with him a little longer when the rest of us leave the table.

Day 17 – Oleg's Trading Post (Pharast 12, 4710)

The storm broke during the night, fierce and bringing plenty of snow. Good thing we chose to come here. The storm rages all day, so we stay indoors almost the whole time.

Day 18 – Oleg's Trading Post (Pharast 13, 4710)

The blizzard is still going today. Setting out is out of the question. Oleg tells us of a job that came his way during our last journey: a legendary boar, Tuskgutter, is to be found and killed. Another thing to keep in mind.

Day 19 – southwest of Oleg's Trading Post (Pharast 14, 4710)

The storm has eased, and we look out on a beautiful white snowscape that, in these cold temperatures, does not exactly invite us to spend the night outdoors. Well, by this morning at the latest, Amos and Ulgan's urge to get outside is plain for all to see. Yesterday's brawl is not worth recording here, but says it all.

As Svetlana talks with Amos, I hear her say that moon radishes are very popular with Oleg and Bokken for soup, so we can look for them too. They are supposed to grow about 25 km south of here. A merchant from Restov also arrives, bringing things for us. Gannokh and Carax are especially pleased.

Once we have strapped the rations from Svetlana onto the horses, we set out to explore more of the Stolen Lands. I am wearing her winter coat, since she has no winter clothing left in stock.

Unfortunately, we do not make such good time, as the cold is slowing Amos's horse down. We only reach the forest in the late afternoon, where before long an owlbear spots and attacks us. Until now, I had only read about such creatures; now Ulgan gets a taste of claw and beak. Luckily, by working together we can all kill the owlbear quickly, before it does any more damage.

Amos finds its cave a few minutes away, empty apart from its bedding and the accompanying smell. Given the weather, we all settle down in the cave for the night and build a fire for warmth. The horses are well looked after outside.

When asked, Amos tells his story: how he was captured and freed by a pixie, the story of his ancestors with the bear and the curse on the clan. The pixie, named Liccori, taught him a great deal, he found Bruin, and he has now accepted being different. Even if it costs him his old home in Brunderton, he feels most at ease in nature—he cannot deny his blood, in which that werebear and protector of the forest still lives on. When I ask about the symbol around his neck bearing the crest of House Rogarvia, Gannokh tells us, reluctantly at first and then very openly, how he came to wear this token from his father, which shows a silver thistle on the other side. He grew up in Stagmere with only his mother, since she had been sent away from New Stetven, where she was a maid. Only much later did Gannokh learn that his father is Theoderic of House Rogarvia. I think he was the marshal of the court and tell him so. Father Galadon looked after the two of them in Stagmere, and that is how Gannokh came to follow Erastil.

Carax shares the experience of growing up without a father. He grew up in the temple of Calistria in Pitax, since his mother worked there. Because of his childhood, Carax does not think much of religion, and Gannokh is pleased that he does not particularly like Calistria. Carax's mother did not say much about his father either, and she has been dead for many years, so he was raised by the temple. He learned the magical arts there, but left to seek knowledge and answers.

Ulgan then tells us about his childhood too, which is very sad. His mother raped by orcs and dead in childbirth, he grew up among the orcs as an outcast and suffered a great deal at their hands. Only the shaman gave him some protection and so kept him from dying. One day, he was also saved when his body grew larger in his rage as he cried out to Gorum and killed another orc. He still carries his mother's jade ring; she was supposedly a noblewoman. At home in neither world, he set out south and traveled alone to Restov.

An evening of conversation in a cave in the Greenbelt ends with my own story, for they have all earned that trust, Johann too. I grew up in Silverhall, a half-elf raised in House Lebeda, where my stepfather never really accepted me and was probably constantly reminded of my mother's affair with an attractive elf. I have already spent many years learning and living, for some of the elves' longevity passes on to half-elves too. Despite a sheltered childhood, it is not easy to watch people I love and care about age faster and to somehow outgrow my own life. Reasons to make a name for myself, which brought me to Restov. And so our special evening ends.

Day 20 – southwest of Oleg's Trading Post (Pharast 15, 4710)

It is really cold, and Ulgan prays to Gorum to spare Carax's horse from the cold for the day. With that done, we can explore the area at our usual pace with the other horses and see what else the forest holds.

After a while, roughly level with Ulgan, we come upon 6 sleeping creatures in a clearing in the snow, who then try to hurry off with 2 baskets. Amos recognizes them as kobolds, and Gannokh warns us about them, so after I have spoken, we go into battle. Gannokh and Amos immediately kill the 2 who have stayed behind; we move closer, and they try to flee. 4 get away, since only Amos and Bruin briefly give chase, which does not please him much. We take 3 baskets of moon radishes and stow them on the horses.

Following their tracks in the snow later shows that they have headed into the hills. That is not our way, and for now we explore the rest of the forest. The day ends without further incident, back in yesterday's cave.

Day 21 – southwest of Oleg's Trading Post (Pharast 16, 4710)

In the morning, the cold seeps into our bones again, but we bear it well and can explore the rest of the area at a normal pace. We manage this without further incident, so in the afternoon we decide to make a detour west.

We reach the Thorn River and look for a suitable place for the night. Clear the snow, tend the horses, gather firewood, and pitch the tents: the things a situation like this calls for. Bruin knocks over a freshly pitched tent; somehow it seems odd to Carax, who also tells us about the branch that almost hit him. Amos starts speaking in Sylvan, and eventually I tell 2 stories: one about a poor half-orc who has a difficult childhood, and one about a dwarf raised by a fey—not Ulgan's and Amos's stories, but inspired by them. Finally, Carax and I see a fey, and it is hard to believe that Tyg-Titter-Tat and Perlivash, a faerie dragon, eventually show themselves and speak with us. They are very shy, but without weapons or fire, I have finally managed to win their trust with my words.

We are allowed to stay and even relight the fire, and tomorrow we want to dismantle the traps in the forest with the help of the two fey. We still keep watch, then fall asleep after this wonderful encounter with the 2 special forest dwellers.