Mercy Controversy

## **Synopsis**

In Chapter 62: Mercy Controversy, the party interrogated the sole remaining survivor of the hunter quintet – a calm and practical man by the name of Klerk who valued his life enough to answer our questions plainly.  His slain companions were more associates than friends – a group of Gentle Void regulars tasked with moving records from the Acqly River Archives to Leopold's Garrison.

The business with the tortoise was merely an opportunistic side-track for Klerk and the others – which didn't exactly ease Safira or Graven's mind but it did give some reason to believe that letting him go wouldn't result later on in targeted retribution against us or the Acqly Elves.  With great reluctance, we granted Klerk his freedom – but not before pressing him for details about the batch of Gentle Void favors we'd been promised as a reward.

Apparently one of the dead hunters had an interest in gaining access to the prison ward at Leopold's Garrison where her brother was locked up, but since that reunion was now out of the question – we mulled over what we might be able to do with this information.

In gathering up any remaining valuables, we spared a moment to pay respects to the corpse of the giant tortoise – and Dalibor the Acqly archer expressed his concern for what this might mean for the safety of the Grove.  As Safira mourned with him, the spirit of the tortoise rose from its body – filled with resentment that its time had come too soon.  After rejecting Dalibor's offer to meet with the spiritual leaders of the Grove, it turned its attention to the Wild Ordnance weapon – feelings of recognition swirling from an experience long past.

The tortoise allowed its spirit to be contained in the bow, where it met with the wolf and the bear while giving Safira access to new abilities – and with that, it was time to return to the Acqly campsite.

Their leader, Nynke, expressed his immense gratitude for our service to their cause – and in addition to our monetary compensation, we enjoyed the hospitality of the Elves for our most secure night's rest since perhaps leaving Mukmu.  Morning came and we headed due west to reconnect with the Acqly Grove Road, still easily identifiable despite a constant bit of rainfall making our trek a muddy one.

During this leg of the trip it was Erland leading the way, and another dull blue flash of light coming from his backpack was seen by all – an indication of another potential message from Marvyn Bishop through the pages of Grahmari's Giant Grimoire.  The writing this time was not as rushed – and Marvyn surprised us by explaining that he had escaped his captors and wished to meet.

The handwriting was undeniably his, but Erland worried there were signs that he might be writing under duress.  We debated the potential consequences of responding in a way that might lead these people to us – but it wasn't a chapter that we were willing to close just yet, so we used the stone to reveal our intent to head for Navika-Pura.

A few hours passed and it wasn't poor weather that eventually slowed us down – but a new settlement being built as a halfway point between Tuktu and Leopold's Garrison.  We were flagged down by Egemon Hackett, whose workforce of "compelled domestic" Halflings was having problems with their food stores being stolen by roaming Axebeaks.  Egemon was willing to purchase rations at a premium price while he was waiting for another shipment – but despite his chipper demeanor, we got the impression his laborers had additional complaints that they were unwilling (or afraid) to tell us.

A botched distraction attempt and an inexorable guard prevented us from learning what that might be, but as Safira rode through the town she managed to slip a note to one of the Halflings – giving them an opportunity to signal for help if they needed it.  As the rows of guards kept a careful eye on us, we waited for a response.

## Trivia

* Natural one count: no natural ones were rolled in this Chapter.
* Safira's wild ordnance bow received the tortoise spirit in this episode