Jorenn

Jorenn Village is a large village in close proximity to the Umbra Hills in the Black Valley north of Westruun in the east part of the Cliffkeep Mountains.

## City Description

Leading into the village is the Blackvalley Path that runs along the edge of the Bramblewood Forest closer to Westruun. Jorenn is far from Emon, and so, despite being a part of the Republic of Tal'Dorei, has often fallen prey to those taking advantage of the lack of influence the Tal'Dorei Council holds there.

Jorenn is a mining town “of not the best people” that does not officially exist. Everything is decided on popular vote of the villagers. The biggest mine is the Sootstar mine and it is not in use. Most people are on the run or otherwise distanced from their families. Mostly dwarves in town with some halflings and humans. The previous shademaster was corrupt and the current shademaster removed them from office.

Jorenn guard/military/unofficial law enforcement, make up a large portion of the village - The Shadewatch

## Society

Unknown (Nothing to copy/paste from the CR wiki, not going to write it myself)

## Summary of Events

Upon entering in town, everyone took an alias: Bea was Dakota Arizona Scout, Dircc was Atticus Bramblepelt, Gen was Jen, and Champ stayed Champ. We were sent into town to help prove the innocence of Agent Jolly, a purple dragonborn mountaineer and TACOSE agent. Jolly had found the body of Nergal two weeks prior to our arrival. Nergal had sent her a letter (unusual) to come into town and meet him, instead she found his corpse ripped open with heart missing, and notified the authorities who arrested her on the spot. Her execution is set for two days, after a trial, she has been in custody for two weeks. The evidence, including the body and the letter from the contact to Jolly, is being tested for DNA evidence by gnome man Wario.

We leave the morgue and attempt to enter the mine but are stopped by the Shadewatch. Champ is able to convince the Shadewatch to let us in. There is necromancy magic where the body was found.

The innkeeper, Larue, tells us the general store owner gives tours of the mines and we can pay to join. She also introduces us to her son Jerky, and says she knows Clarence. All innkeepers know each other.

In the library, we meet Ploot who invented the fantasy audio book and fantasy braille. Champ finds a book that Bea reads to him, it will later be revealed it was written by Jerky (see below). We haggle at the general store with a BOGO coupon and hop on a mine tour. While there, Jerky is excited to see Champ and INSISTS Champ drink from his water skin. Jerky is the author of the small book in the library and while Jerky is willing to autograph it he isn’t willing to talk about it in fear of eavesdroppers. Champ tells Bea this new information and they fangirl over their new favorite author.

Gen checks in with Larue about the Shademaster. Apparently he’s an improvement after the last Shademaster, a woman who made the shadewatch into an oppressive, unhelpful entity who taxed the people of Jorenn. She also confirms that the members of the Shadewatch tend to come and go quite a bit. Bea gets a glass of water from Larue and shares it with Dircc.

Back over at the general store we line up for the tour with a couple other travelers and a couple members of the Shadewatch.

Jorenn was established long ago by miners who needed a place to live near the mine. As time went on and the local mines grew the village grew.

About two months ago, people began to notice wailing (a slow, inhuman screaming) coming from the canyon at the center of the mountain from 9 to 10 pm nightly. Some people have tried to argue this is “science” but that’s just a theory. Blue, hazy shadows, aka ghost lights, accompany the noises.

We end the tour on the stone bridge and try to get away from the group. It is… unsuccessful. We give up. As we walk with the group Gen tries to get information out of one of the guards, who also happens to be named Jen. The guard is about to hit two weeks on the force, which is payday and also when guards seem to go missing.

We follow the guards across the bridge and towards the spooky happenings. We enter the Sootstar mine after the wailing has ceased. Champ notices many sets of footprints. Eventually we find a body with Gen’s detect magic and we can safely assume it is Jen the guard. He was killed in the same manner as Nergal and while his body seems fresh his chest wound looks old. He also has an injury to his left middle finger. There’s nothing in his pockets. Oh, and we also killed four big spiders and their venom can be stopped by that special Jorenn water.

“Science cannot explain ghosts”

### TEN HOURS TILL THE TRIAL

We continue down the mine and enter a big ol spooky lab. In the lab are the dog-like wargs we ran into on our way into town. They’re just chillin in their cages. Dircc narrowly misses a row of spikes on the way in and the rest of us make it through mostly unscathed.
Inside we see runes glowing the same color as the ghost lights we saw from the bridge. Champ investigates the big fishy boy in the room and realizes it’s a sneaky, venomous sea creature.

One of the cages also holds a dead body. A very, very pale one with a clean cut across the chest. It’s the other guard! And there’s a glowing ring around him. When you approach the glowing ring it makes you sleepy. When you cross the big glowing ring it makes your body completely fall asleep.

### TRIAL TIME

It’s in a Zone of Truth!
Wario takes the stand and presents the autopsy results. We all notice he is wearing a necklace but he won’t reveal it. He says he doesn’t own the lab in the Sootstar mine and his employer doesn’t own it.
We reveal we have been in the mines and there are additional dead bodies. It is established that Burns did not know about the mine and no one else did either. We all decide to go to the mines with the whole town to try to find the truth. After showing Burns the picture Jerky drew we enter the mine and show him the body of Jen who Burns now realizes did not actually resign.
Ploot chimes in that necromancy requires the undead to be less than whole which explains the absence of hearts.

### Wario’s confession:

Employer asked him to reanimate corpses in order to control large amount of people because controlling non-dead people wasn’t working. . Thought only animals would be tested on but was told animals weren’t getting them anywhere. Used strangers instead of the townsfolk. Left hints for us to find so because he wanted out. Assumes there are others also doing these experiments. Lost count of how many people he killed. None of them were successful. The eyes are important.
Beholders: big, evil, floating, sentient eye monsters
Not his employer, just symbolic.

## Notable People

### Shademaster Rueben "Hazard" Burns

Dwarf man who has a gun. He's been in town for a year and doesn't leave the courthouse. Runs the town.

### Wario

Gnome science man conducting DNA research in town. He's not evil, but not not evil, ultimately is going to trial for killing Nergal, but TACOSE takes him for some reason. What happened was his employer (he could not say who) hired him to reanimate corpses since they were easier to control than the living. He left hints for Smashmouth to figure it out because he hated doing it and wanted an out. He's lost count of how many people he's killed and assumes there are others like him. Recently, he escaped custody and is on the run. "Science is real and it's coming".

Lab Notes

> *"We need RESULTS. Speed up the timeline. Westruun was a disaster. Nevermind your funding, your life will be forfeit." - To Wario*
> *"Water supply successfully altered, burns suspects nothing, the hearts are the key" - From Wario*
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### Larue

Red tiefling tavern owner and mother of Jerky.

### Jerky

Red tiefling son of Larue, friend of Champ, has knife. Is also the author of a book in the Jorenn library, turned down an autograph opportunity.

Jerky's Book:

> *"The king was very old and wise, and had survived many attempts to be overthrown by enemies. One day, he learned that one of his oldest and most trusted friends was arranging to have him assassinated to take his kingdom, but he was unsure of which friend. Distraught, he came up with a plan. He invited his friends and servants to come to dinner. They laughed and ate and celebrated their years of friendship. The king proposed a toast, and asked that everyone, including all the servants, drink to the kingdom’s long and prosperous future. Everyone drank, and then went to bed. In the morning, all the kings friends were found dead, but the servants and advisors were still living. For weeks before the dinner, he had doused his and all the servants’ water - that which they drank and bathed in - with lifewort, a special antidote. Because he did not know which of his friends was planning to kill him, and because he knew a friend that would overthrow him would care more about power than socializing and breaking bread with servants, the poison in everyone’s wine would only harm those who meant him and his kingdom ill."*
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### Godric

Rock gnome man with an afro who owns the general store in town. He's grumpy yet runs the official tours into the Sootstar Mines.

### Ploot McGowan

Halfling male librarian who encourages parties and invented fantasy braille.

### Agent Jolly

Purple Dragonborn mountaineer member of TACOSE traveling in Jorenn. Accused of the murder of her boy toy Nergal, but was acquitted thanks to Smashmouth, Attorneys at Law.

### Nergal Meslamstee

Human man lover of Agent Jolly who was found dead in the Sootstar Mines, torn apart by a monster. His heart was missing and his left middle finger was swollen. Agent Jolly was charged with his murder.