Cisco gave the necklace to Lorien Painbearer before bed. Long rest.
Morning
Heard the hustle and bustle of the town — lively now that the Forest Hag was dead. Markets and booths setting up, general good cheer.
Checked on Ruasar. Bewildered and dejected, didn’t seem to be a threat. We untied him; he was in a lot of pain from being tied for ~16 hours. Yort Li gave him the Iron Claw bomb to help his injuries.
Planning the Lord Alric problem
What to do with Lord Alric? Either enlist him against the Sea Hag or just depose him.
Flashback to Old Briar’s story about the Weeping Sentinel — the statue erected for a legendary warrior who protected Briarhollow’s predecessor to his death.
Decided to talk to townsfolk and gauge their opinion, Cisco leading. Split up to replenish supplies and run personal errands.
Errands
Elijah → Garric Smith’s
Elijah J. Lucas went to Garric Smith, who was very cold since Elijah bailed on the bow deal to fight the hag. Back-and-forth — Elijah saved the town but Garric lost time/business. Eventually mentioned money. Garric’s tone changed 180°.
Garric agreed to help with a prosthetic mechanical leg for Fernie. Got real close to measure her. Took measurements and sketched. Offered 100gp; Elijah countered with 130gp to amend for the bow. Garric upsold by asking about modifications.
Elijah asked for reinforced claws and talons on the foot — price changed to 150. Offered a sapphire for down payment, accepted. Garric then asked about jewels affixed to the leg. Elijah said yes (sounded sick as hell). Somehow the price changed to two sapphires (only 100gp) — Andrew suspicious these sapphires were worth more than they seemed.
Cisco → Lyle’s
Cisco went to Lyle. Cast Distort Value on the opal ring before going inside. Inside, confidently/discreetly told Lyle he wanted to trade. Showed him the opal ring.
Lyle accepted but said he’d grab a seeing glass to check for magic / properties. Cisco quickly stopped the spell before Lyle could look. Lyle remarked the ring had completely lost its luster — Cisco must have been swindled.
Cisco took the ring back and played it off. Settled on a trade: ring for 3 greater healing potions, 3 lesser healing potions, and 150gp. Also gave Lyle 20sp to hold the special tent.
Yort Li → property dispute
Yort Li decided to build a shed/hut with Dear Li. Asked Old Briar if he could take the trees outside the Empty Net (lower property tax). Briar accepted with the stipulation that Yort Li make it look just as nice — remove stumps, etc.
Yort Li spilled that we were going to negotiate with Lord Alric. Asked for a parcel of land in exchange for favorable negotiations with Alric in Briar’s favor.
Old Briar started rambling about surveyors and property taxes — eyes flickered green (the Forest Hag hadn’t fully released him). Said Garron Drex was the taxman who only appeared when it was tax time.
Yort Li tried to haggle for Briar’s axe but it was too steep. Headed into town to buy one at Garric Smith’s smithy. Garric was working on Fernie’s leg, greeted him warmly. Yort Li engaged in conversation about the virtues of young ones undergoing hard work to build their character. Rented the 1gp/day two-handed iron axe.
The smith tossed the axe to Dear Li. Failed Dex save catching it — 2 damage to himself.
On the way back, Yort Li gave a father-to-son heart-to-heart. Dear Li couldn’t focus due to the pain.
Lorien and Ruasar
Lorien Painbearer pulled Ruasar aside. Explained the oath he had taken required him to tell the truth — the widow and Jeffrey V bear consideration.
Ruasar felt great despair over his actions but also that he did nothing wrong, that there was nothing he could do. Seemed to imply he wanted to hide the truth. Lorien generally nudged him toward speaking to the family. Ruasar said he needed to think.
Plotting against Alric
All headed back to the Empty Net to talk to Old Briar. Cisco explained the creepiness of the manor, luring Alric out, and rousing the villagers. Briar warned we couldn’t come back from this path.
In the private room:
- Yort Li suggested building the shack and luring the tax collector out.
- To appease Lorien we said “messenger” instead of “hostage.”
- Another idea: send Ivon in with the message.
- Elijah suggested Cisco infiltrate the manor to scout. Cisco is a coward.
- Eventually decided to send a message via the tax collector saying to meet on neutral ground if Alric wants the necklace, and to see if Ivon could turn the guards.
- Cisco started asking about the tents — got sidetracked asking if tortles give live births or lay eggs.
- Cisco rallied Ruasar (who had been meditating on the docks).
Recruiting Ivon
Everyone except Yort Li and Dear Li headed to the manor to speak to Ivon. Hal messing around, Ivon watching with amusement. Ivon told Hal to snap to attention as we approached.
Cisco asked Ivon about the vibe in the barracks — about half were just cashing checks but many were dissatisfied and could be rallied. Garron Drex was the new captain of guard since Ivon was demoted for abandoning his post to help us.
Cisco asked if Ivon could relay a message asking Alric to step outside for the necklace. Ivon: Alric never steps outside after being consumed by the artifact.
Mentioned wariness of entering the manor. Ivon agreed: there’s definitely a presence (or multiple) that stalks the halls and lives in the shadows. Warned us to be careful in our wording. A message made the most sense.
Ivon promised to see who among the militia would join us. We agreed to take Hal in for the meantime to keep him safe. Hal got way over-excited.
Tree duty
Headed back to meet up with the Lis. Time to assign Hal to tree duty. Yort Li gave Hal an axe and assigned them to the same tree, with Dear Li on the other side to hide how good Hal was. Hal was way better. Sorry Dear Li.