A Moment of Civilisation

Day Seventeen - Autumn Year 720 - Southern Lands

The sun was rising. The zombies spent the night excavating their kind from the graveyard while Kargrimm, Nephrus, Valrith and Erevan took turns watching. Before the sun came up fully the undead congregated at the statue in the graveyard and then all disappeared from view. The statue was of a regal handsome human, weathered with age.

Nephrus and Valrith investigated the statue for arcane essence, they did find some but the group decided to move off to the east. Soon they came upon a decent collection of small houses and buildings within the wooded swamplands. Kadburg it was called.

A guard stops the adventurers, asked their business, the party claimed to be weary travellers, looking to trade and rest.

The group met Martha who runs the inn, she told the heroes to wash off in the lake or well before she would provide services. There was a large body of fresh water to the south.

While washing off Kargrimm noticed and made eye contact with a Dwarf in a window of a nearby house. The Dwarf came to chat with his kinsman Tregor, worked in construction and metalwork. He was nervous of the mention of Cytrak, the ruined city, former capital of Cyrene Empire. Valrith almost gave away that the party had come from Stonegate, Kargrimm stopped her.

Tregor mentioned that there was a man that went to Cytrak and lived , he passed back through the village and stopped at the inn, and that the group should ask Martha about him. The party paid a visit to Martha in the tavern and ordered hot meals and ales.

Martha told the group what she remembered of the man, Argeth, the Dwarven Explorer. He muttered *“*

> *It wasn’t there” and “The Arcade” “The Palace” “The Dungeon”*
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Argeth travelled to Cytrak with seven companions, only he survived.

Kargrimm asked Martha if there may be any work around the village. She suggested that Mr Joe or Mrs Bloggs who ran shops in town may need help.

Nephrus ordered a wine: Chateau de Drowsen. After eating their roast lamb lunch, the party all walked to Mrs Bloggs and Nephrus reluctantly bought some brown herbal healing potions. They seemed fine, no harm came to Nephrus when he drank one. When asked about other survices she suggested the party head to the church to see the clerics.

On the way they briefly stopped with Mr Joe, he sold horseshoes, but mentioned the guard may need help with something. The guard wanted to meet the heroes in the evening when he was off duty.

The group then headed to the church, which turned out to be a Church of the Reformed Woodland. An heretical offshoot of the Church of Silvanus.

Boris was there. He was doing a deal with the church. He was using a necklace with crystals to control the spirits from Stonegate as his ghoulish employees. Boris had been paid to hang up wanted posters of the heroes, he had been putting them up in local villages. They read:

> Wanted by Stonegate Authorities
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> Dead of Alive we don’t care which
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> Return to Stonegate
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> Ample Reward
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Valrith bought one for 50G. She then planned to alter all of the wanted posters and have Boris put them up in all the villages. It cost Erevan 624G to do this.

Boris explained his wish of opening a Franchise in a neighbouring city. Then the merchant and his ghosts left but did not tell Kargrimm what his business deal with the church was.

Erevan entered the office and bed chambers of the Cleric Elanathras. They exchange a breif conversation. Kargrimm worried about Erevan's intentions went in to check on the Drow. Kargrimm asked the cleric about his business with Boris, the business deals were normal enough. The group asked him about the corruption in the forest but the Cleric claimed it has nothing to do with him or his church.

After leaving the church without incident the heroes walked to the Inn, ordered some drinks and then Boris appeared and placed up a poster, this one edited by Erevan. Kargrimm ripped it off, crumpled it up and threw it in the fire.

The guard Edward arrived. He explained that Northwest the ground had turned rotten. The farmers were livid, people there had reported beings sighted there. The beings had been reported to be stealing people in the nights. He suspected raiders or Gnolls. Kargrimm told him of the church in the swamp and that the beings could be the same that the group had seen in the night. For reward Edward told them to take that up with the Baron but that it was best to wait until morning. The party paid for rooms for the night.

At 3am in the morning there was a figure moving outside the window. Kargrimm sleepily told Erevan, who was too deep in meditation to notice. Kargrimm assumed it was just a tree in the wind and went back to sleep.