Day 14-20 – The first week in Northlake

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**Day 14-20 – The first week in Northlake**

The first week in Northlake seems to pass in the blink of an eye, each day sees most of the party out exploring the city, pursuing avenues of investigation, browsing markets etc. etc. In the evenings the party congregates in a private dining room (no additional charge and it makes it easier for the Inn to serve 10 people in one sitting) to compare notes and discuss the days activities.

Everyone agrees, the city “feels” somewhat hyperactive, the news of the cease fire with the Elven Empire has spread quickly and whilst this has led to some overenthusiastic celebrations, generally controlled by the city watch, it has also led to large groups wanting to gain information on missing family members and establish what happens next. Duke Adamas obviously takes a reasonably relaxed approach to free speech, and this means that the central square in the city market is nearly always the venue for some political speech or other.

From the general word on the street, conscription has ceased for the moment, although it is noticeable that Adamas and Garth are not demobbing the militia regiments, but instead are continuing to train these forces alongside the cities regular troops.

**PARTY TREASURY: -2 Gold, 16 Silver (PLUS individual spends below)**

**(“Fact” Sheets Are Later – Below Are Individual Character Actions As I Understood Them, Each has led to one or more of the “Fact” Sheets)**

**Joshua**

After paying respects at The Defiance, Joshua has spent the week trawling the markets in the city. From the Inner Quarter through the Main Market area and over to the Western District on the one day that there was a street market there. He has also noted that there are a number of permanent shops in the Crafts quarter that may be worth checking out. Obtaining another small dog was easy, the city has a large number of strays and befriending one takes only a few minutes, especially when supplemented with a treat or two.

In the evenings, you soon decide that staying in the vicinity of the Falling Star is the best way of avoiding getting caught up in some raucus party that goes to far and attracts the city watch. Even so, over the week you manage to talk with a number of both locals and incomers, although it is somewhat amusing to you that natural grapevine tendencies already has the Pathfinders as having slaughtered a horde of tens of thousands of monsters summoned up by the Elves – and it was this defeat that led the Elves to the parlay table.

**TOTAL SPEND: 8 Silver**

**Dougal**

Dougal and Hamish make their way to the Barosan shrine in the city, a small affair to be found in the Eastern Quarter. The visit turns out to be extremely frustrating, from what you can gather whilst you are welcome at the shrine and will receive shelter there, to gain access to see any of the Enlightened you need to have been on the pilgrimage to the Golden Pagoda. The issue is that no-one will tell you where it is, claiming that your own insight should lead you there.

More successful is a visit to a mapmaker, who explains to you a little about the map you are using and can if required provide on commission are more up to date map – this will cost 1 Gold

**TOTAL SPEND: 5 Silver**

**Bazin**

What with catching up with his family and friends, presenting himself to the Temple and visiting the College, Bazin has probably the most hectic week of anyone. Thankfully, his family are all well, his Father and elder brother are still running the smithy – although are now more focussed on producing weaponry than their more usual fare. His youngest brother is now in the Northlake Engineers, and seems to be extremely busy, whilst his sister is engaged to a silversmith, with plans to marry in the summer all being well. Pretty much all of Bazin’s friends outside of college and the church are now either in the army or have taken up apprenticeships and so apart from the occasional lunchtime drink there is not much opportunity for in-depth catch ups.

At the Temple, as a priest of Shanah and with the letters of introduction from Gohde, Bazin is easily able to make contact with Apana and get some insight into what happened over the past few months. Apana can also get an introduction to Shan Swordbearer, but this will take a week to arrange since the Swordpriest is extremely busy.

In some ways, the College is very depressing to see, what used to be a thriving collegiate is now largely deserted. Most of the study rooms are locked up, most of the desks in the atrium are gathering dust and any noise you make moving around seems to be amplified and echo through the halls. One of Bazins old acquaintances is still there, and whilst he and Bazin were never particularly friendly in the past – he seems pleased to see him, and whilst taking Bazin up to be introduced to Sparrowsight they catch up on what has been happening.

**TOTAL SPEND: 2 Silver**

**Hamish**

(See Dougal!)

**Wun**

What started as a simple visit to the Shrine to Universal, turns into nearly a full time job for Wun. With the slightly expanded city population due to refugees, although not as many as you might expect, plus the expansion of the military – the Church of Universal has been asked by the authorities to run a hospital. Staff are overworked, and any additional assistance from a Universal priest is more than welcome and is paid! Figuring that infirmaries are just as good a source of information as the local inns, Wun signs on for a daily stipend of 4 silver pieces a day, on the understanding that he might have to drop the job with little notice.

**TOTAL EARNINGS: 1 Gold 1 Silver (some expenses paid out)**

**Twoo**

Much like Bazin, Twoo has some friends from before the war to find, over the next few days Twoo is able to revisit his old haunts, mostly in the Western District and catch up with some of his old acquaintances. Most mages have been conscripted into the military and so have little time to teach spells, but with perseverance Twoo is able to locate a few elderly Ariel arcanists that would be willing to teach him spells (if he makes his INT roll!).

1st Level Spell – Will cost 5gp and take ½ day to attempt learning (fee is payable even if you do not make your INT roll).

**TOTAL SPEND: 6 Silver**

**Quercius**

Spends her entire week at the Shrine of Defiance, initially she is pretty much ignored beyond the acceptance of offerings and standard blessings. With patience and continued attendance she gradually works her way into the the workings of the shrine and begins to get involved as a volunteer in the maintenance and running of the Shrine and its gardens. There are around 15 priests and acolytes at the temple, led by Golderod – although during the first week she does not manage to talk to the High Priest at all.

**TOTAL SPEND: 8 Coppers**

**Caradoc**

Trying to run security on the group is difficult, and so you have to be selective in who and when you shadow, and using your time to get a feel for what is happening under the surface of the city – so to speak. As you would expect the markets, in particular the large city market, has a fair number of cutpurses operating although the militia presence is high there are obviously street “gangs” operating – using young urchins to do the wet work under supervision. Nothing grand scale, but obviously coordinated.

In the Merchants quarter, you notice that a number of the commercial premises have small marks burnt on to the door frames, you are not familiar with any of the local sign convention but the sign bears a resemblance to that used in your early apprenticeship to indicate somewhere out of bounds. It is pretty easy to spot the connection between those properties with this mark, they are – or at least were- all involved in supporting the war effort. Returning back to the Inn one evening, you are somehow not surprised to realise that the Falling Star Inn has a similar mark on its door frame.

Over the week you fail to spot any regular tails on any of the party, you do notice the occasional opportunity thief sizing up a party member but so far these quick spot checks are all that has occurred.

**Garaf & Umar**

With no particular focus, Garaf & Umar spend some time exploring the city and later on join Bazin in the College.

**TOTAL SPEND: 2 Coppers**

**The Map**

The map that the party has is one that dates from Elven times, before the age of chaos. Obviously maps are not common or cheap items, but as the Kingdom stabilised during the age of man, it began exploring the old Elven cities and large numbers of these maps were found (very large numbers, indeed Sparrowsight will often inform visitors to the Imperial Studies College that over 8,000 copies of this map were found in the College store rooms). Whilst the map is somewhat out of date, the natural tendency of civilisations to build upon the ruins of their predecessor has meant that the most of the major settlements are in the correct place. Over the years these maps have gradually got a bit creased and worn, and obviously the place names have been translated from the original Elven script.

**The Markets Of Northlake**

**City Market:**

A collection of wide alleyways spanning the central crossroads, nearly all of the properties here are shops of varying size and quality. Similarly the alleys will often see traders set up stall, under license from the authorities of course. Any time of day the visitor to this area will be presented with a wide variety of goods and services.

Exploring the full extent of this market will take days, on the main thoroughfares most of the stalls and shops are mainstream, selling foodstuffs, ironmongery, cloths and threads, tools etc. etc. To find more esoteric offerings you need to visit the back alleys, you initial visits have not surfaced anything of interest though – most of the so called “ancient curios” are either fragments of pottery and similar (albeit possibly authentic) or are probably fakeries.

**Inner Market:**

A small street with a number of stalls, these are predominately food stalls with some household goods and similar. Apparently this market has no clientele interested in the more esoteric, most of the locals being military families.

**Eastern Market:**

Not yet visited, apparently again a predominately food market – particularly with the produce brought in through the Eastern Gate.

**Western Market:**

Only open twice a week, assuming no dust.

The stalls here offer a real mix, from your normal foodstuffs etc. through to apothecary stalls, scrolls, potions etc. The big issue is that there seems to be little organisation, and so a stall that one week sells intricate lizardman jewelry can next week be selling potatoes. The stalls move about, or at least set up where they want, finding anything in particular here will be difficult unless you can determine a way to navigate the stalls.

**The Falling Star Inn**

There has been an Inn on this site since before the age of Chaos, Jurrage – the current owner, is more than happy to provide tours of the old cellars (for a few coppers of course). Some of the cellars are more modern, but at least half are obviously of Elven construction, and their purpose as wine/all cellars unmistakeable.

Nobody really knows how the Inn got its name, although it almost certainly predates the Kingdom. The Inn has stabling for up to 40 horses, 2 common rooms as well as a few private dining rooms. Accommodation for up to 80 guests in a spread of bunk rooms through to a honeymoon suite. The Inn has a small garden, used for vegetables and herbs and a small shrine to Percival can be found in the central courtyard.

Jurrage is ex-military, originally from Pearlstone, and has sunk his savings into the Inn. He keeps the patrons under control, thus avoiding any trouble with the city guard, and thus far has avoided having any break-ins or thefts from his residents.

**The Defiance Shrine**

Originally outside of the city limits of Northlake, this shrine to the Wyldwood is centred around an ancient Oak tree in the centre of a small park. Visitors are welcome to visit the shrine, although all footwear must be removed on entering the park.

Offerings at the shrine tend to be seeds or similar during the winter and spring, followed by fruits/produce during summer and autumn. There are two high festivals, held at the summer and winter solstice, and for these festivals an animal (usually a Deer) is sacrificed and then roast for a celebratory feast. As with most Wyldwood shrines, there is a healthy following amongst the population, particularly with farmers and fishermen.

**The Wyldwood Pilgrimage**

Many priests of the Wyldwood opt to undertake a pilgrimage across the Island to the key centres of worship. The key shrines in order of visitation are:

* Stormhaven – Shrine of Life
* Northlake – Shrine of Defiance
* Norport – Shrine of Morn
* Tobar – Shrine of Change
* Larston – Shrine of Evening
* Starport – Shrine of Dust
* The White Tree – Sacred Shrine

Of course, since only the upper echelons of the Wyldwood priesthood know where the White Tree is to be found, few priest complete this pilgrimage. For some reason it is regarded as very bad form to only complete five of the seven pilgrimages, although again why this should be so is known only to the high priests.

**The Centaurs**

In the central North plains of the island are the home of a number of large Centaur clans, all of whom are devout followers of the Wyldwood. With their nomadic lifestyle they eschew physical representation of Wyldwood lore but instead focus on verbal tradition. Whilst few Centaurs embark upon the religions Pilgrimage, those that do are revered within the religion and nearly always rise to high positions within the church.

If the Wyldwood has a formal militaristic arm, it is represented by the Centaurs, for decades the Centaur clans have been in conflict with the Orcs and Trolls and their undead allies. It is said that the Wyldwood avatars manifested by Centaurs are unique to that race and represent the raw power of nature.

**Druids and the Wyldwood**

Many druids across the North Island are naturally drawn towards worshipping Wyldwood, and can rise within the church hierarchy. However, they are to an extent seen as supporters of the Priesthood and as such not the real power within the church. Some Druids are known to have switched over to becoming Priests, and the ceremony for this is known to be facilitated at the Shrine of Change.

The reason for this tension between Druids and the Priests is unclear, but it is believed to stem from an underlying difference in outlook. Whilst Druids focus on the preservation of nature in the face of the encroachment by “civilised” society, Wyldwoods focus seems to shift slightly towards maintaining a balance between political entities as much as protecting the environment.

**Crime in Northlake**

Obviously, as with any large population centre, there is crime and where there is crime there are organisations that look to control it. Whilst some cities across the North Island are known to have large centralised “guilds”, Northlake does not have the same degree of criminal organisation – possibly the success of the City Guard has managed to prevent this.

It is generally believed that the Sprawl district is the centre for any criminal organisation, , but until investigated – nobody can know the truth behind this.

Crime in Northlake is obviously patriotic, nearly all citizens in Northlake note that in period between the Elven invasion and the cease fire commencing – crime dropped rapidly. The few less desirable elements that entered the city with the refugees were winnowed out and either handed over to the City Guard or on more than one occasion found dismembered and packed in a crate on the main highway.

**Imperial Studies College (aka Northlake College)**

Apparently built upon the site of an old Elven library, above ground the College has a number of study rooms, an accommodation wing for up to 100 students and a large central atrium extending up three stories with overlooking balconies. Nowadays the college is largely deserted, occupied only by a few die hard students and Sparrowsight herself.

Beneath ground there are four levels of storerooms, most of Elven construction, many with ancient spells of preservation still in place that help keep their contents intact. Recently, King Alvera ordered that all information relating to the Elven military and arcane abilities be shipped to Starport, but even so there are still thousands upon thousands on scrolls remaining in the cellars. The estimate is that about a quarter of the scrolls have been catalogued – and whilst not necessarily translated and interpreted at least the gist of their contents are known. The rest remain as yet unread, as a side note Sparrowsight will often boast that no scroll has ever been stolen from the College but when asked why – will refuse to answer.

**Organisation**

The original organisation within the college consisted of:

Head Librarian: Sparrowsight, oversees all running of the college (assisted by some administration staff) and sets research direction;

Senior Researcher: Leads any major research project

Researcher: Either supports a Senior Researcher, or has their own project

Student: Works under a researcher, in their spare time will often have their own project

Apprentice: (Bazin had reached this grade) A senior runner who is nearly ready to take on research projects

Runner: Tasked with retrieving and returning scrolls from the cellars to the research rooms.

Now all that is left as Sparrowsight as Head Librarian and 9 Students, lack of funding for the college has meant that most staff have left to pursue other opportunities. The few remaining students are looking to complete their projects before their personal funds run out. Not having runners to assist is making this much more difficult.

**Hiring A Student**

As they are desperate to complete their projects, all of the Students would welcome external funding, the following rates would apply:

Student: 5 Silver per day

Runner: 2 Silver per day (a student without a runner operates at 20% efficiency, some projects may require more than one runner. A party member can act as a runner)

Hiring would be on a week by week basis, paid in advance, the Student will given an assessment as soon as possible as to expected basic research duration. Obviously the more open ended the question, the longer the research period and the less likely of getting specific information.

**Elves – Some General Musing From Sparrowsight**

Sparrowsight: “I could lecture you for years upon the history and culture of the Elves and still you would not understand them. The contradiction in their love of nature and wilderness versus their need to dominate, cultivate and control everything. Their reverence for life in all of its forms compared to their casual extermination of anything that they believe opposes them.”

Sparrowsight: “They claim to worship but one diety, Hahsandra. Yet in all of their writings you come across any number of different spellings of her name, even an occasional gender shift to male. There was a theory being explored that each of these variations was not a mistake but instead some form of polytheistic manifestation within a monotheistic religion. Unfortunately Sineas who was leading this line of research got recalled to Starport to assist with the studies taking place there.”

Sparrowsight: “Their fundamental theories of magic is that there are five elements: Fire, Earth, Water, Air and Mana, although Mana is also termed spirit or mind. Mana or spirit is the dominant element that can control and manipulate the others. Needless to say, Elves and to a lesser extent Dark Elves are primarily manifested as Mana whilst all other races are blended from all of the elements. From this, the number 5 has a special place in most Elven beliefs and culture. All of their plays have 5 acts, poems have five verses etc.”

Sparrowsight: “The biggest problem we face is that although we can translate their writing, we cannot necessarily make sense of it, for instance the Song of the Spheres – features a number of times in important documents – although we have never been able to sensibly translate the last two verses. It is obviously important – but why?” (Sparrowsight rummages on her desk and then reads out from a Scroll – see “Song of the Spheres”)

Sparrowsight: “Why did their leave in the first place, only to want to come back? Again, something we have not been able to get any sense of. We do know that a generation or so before their departure they had been in conflict with another power on the Island – and had prevailed. One of my most promising students unearthed that about a year or so back.”

Sparrowsight: “The Elves have a matriarchal society, being ruled by an Empress and their church headed by High Priestesses, yet where is the Empress – why hasn’t she been heard of? Why are all of the senior Elven figures we hear of, apart from Sorlor in Riverside – male?”

**The Song Of The Spheres (First 3 verses)**

The stars wheel.

I wake in awed delight to a thousand thousand points of light, dancing in the infinite beauty of the darkness that is without end. Watch as they spin, kaleidoscopic, yellows, golds, silvers, reds, and greens. Some dance alone, majestic, stately, others whirl in frenzied cartwheels about one another. Some remain almost motionless, disdaining joyous abandon to more seriously consider their place in the firmament, whilst others still flit past with breathtaking speed, come and gone in but an instant. Yet all glitter with the ecstasy of being, and all reach out with their cold light to welcome me, to bid me join in the dance.

The stars wheel.

For a time I am content to watch, dazzled, awed, entranced, and all is light and movement. Then, somehow, I am aware that I can also hear. For each point of light, for each bright star, for each gleaming, glistening sphere and for every spinning bright bauble, there is a voice. A hundred, a thousand, a million strands of sound, each with their own song, their own timbre, their own exaltation of life and glory, yet all coming together in fantastical harmony, each unique yet each a part of a single shimmering tapestry of sound, now stately chorus, now breathtaking counterpoint. Song without end, music of the spheres. And within that composition, a space, a voice yet unvoiced. The music shifts, beckoning, enticing, and instinctively I answer, weaving my own voice into the tapestry, buoyed, lifted, uplifted and upheld by those around me. And so the song is again complete, and so together we sing.

The stars wheel.

Then suddenly there comes a new light, that moves not with but through the eternal dance, upsetting rhythm and balance, destroying the ever-shifting ever-felt symmetry. And with it too a new voice, harsh, grating, dissonant, a shrill severing of the woven threads of song, a voice that comes closer, nearer, louder, harsher. And then, where before there was no feeling, suddenly there is pain. Burning, shifting, twisting, lancing, searing. My song wavers, falters. I try to sing only the joyous beauty of the dance that first gave me my voice, yet the pain within me twists my song, intruding so that I voice not the beauty of the dance but the burning agony of a thousand pin-pricks of white heat moving on, through, in me. I try to sing, but there comes only noise, reflected pain where once there was reflected joy. I try to sing, but can only scream. The stars wheel.

**An Elven Legend (As Being Studied By A College Student)**

Just before the Twilight of Change when the days of Chaos came quickly upon the world, there was a half formed Elf called Sorleaf. What manner of disruption spawned his birthright is not recorded but it was astounding in its time. Little did they know that his misfortune was but a precursor of the horrors to follow the Twilight.

The young Sorleaf was a wonderful storyteller and his ability to pick up hidden meanings from the rumors that abound a traveled society was to give him the kind of respect in his profession that his lack of stature could not command from the elegant and snobish 'higher' councils.

Being raised by the Ladies of the nearby temple, he naturally drifted into the church services where he was really never more than a novice in priestly skills, his main interest being elsewhere...much to his own doom.

The stories around Runes was his passion and one day he was struck with the possibility of using a crystal to enhance his skills if the right runes could be found and made to charge the crystal. He followed a lead from an ancient bird song that brought him to a haunted cave, and there he was confronted by a creature: "so horrible that time doomed it to stand apart from it, and so vile that light would not touch it..." or so the story he told went. Somehow this creature instead of falling upon him and having his soul, engaged in the honored tradition of a Riddle Contest for which Sorleaf was not to be bested at. For two days the contest went on each with the riddles of a lifetime and more to put to the other...Sorleaf would never speak of his winning riddle, which was always out of character for him, but he emerged from the hidden place behind a colorful misty waterfall with a crystal rune...With it he could see the distant towns that framed the rumors he heard. He also began to research further into the arcana of runes, using the crystal to open up new ways of reaching back to unlock the mystery of the Runes. Facet after facet he explored caring little for his own health or nourishment, till all that was left to explorewas the one plain plane without a Rune upon it. This he knew he was not to activate but in his hungered insanity he could not resist the call and summon it he did...the disappearance of Sorleaf was noted in the chronicles of his day, with a simple note: 'reports have reached us that little Sorleaf is gone, to where only he may know.'

**Starport**

Chosen by Alvera as his capital in exile, Starport is also a pilgrimage site for the Wyldwood religion. With a population of both Human and Ariel, the City has been calling for mages of power to attend court although the reason for this is unknown.

As a city it is about the same size as Northlake, with the main Hightower/Sabarath highway running through the southern district of the city. Surprisingly the city has little in the way of fortifications other than the central castle, it is known that Alvera prefers mobility to a static defence and as such the Sky Knights that are based at StarPort fit perfectly into his mindset.

**Wingsport**

Nominally the capital of the Ariel people, though this is disputed by Beriesa, Wingsport is nominally allied with the Alverans but maintains a semi-independent stance preferring to remain unentangled in the civil war across the Kingdom. This city is fairly cosmopolitan in outlook with large minorities of Human, Hobbit and Dwarves.

Wingsport is a city on 3 hills, each hill topped with its own citadel. The city walls themselves are reasonably strong but have until recently been somewhat neglected. There is much employment to be found in Wingsport for stonemasons, carpenters and blacksmiths and many of the refugees from the Elven invasion have opted to try and build a new life in Wingsport.

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