Dellmarrow

Tyndareus gave you a map when he sent you to get his Iskarian beer. Dallon gave you a tour, running down who lives where along the way.

##### The Villagers

Everyone has recognized Jennrielle as the woman they dreamt about the morning before meeting Tyndareus, but she didn't seem aware of this at all. Dallon gave you a tour of the village on the way to the barn that he recommended you spend the night in, cautioning you not to stay out after dark anywhere in the valley. Frann turned her nose up at the new arrivals, but Mallory welcomed the group and shared fresh bread, jam, and honey. Horst sent the group to a cave infested by Owlbears. Kipp was intrigued to see the group come back bloodied, and asked for their help with something once they've rested up a bit; he needed their help to steal some potion reagents from a small coven of dryads in the deep forest. When Runt brought back a freshly killed wild boar from this mission, Ellinor was more than happy to butcher the beast and roast it for everyone. Hettie and Allin eagerly opened their home to Zourin when he asked if there were any free beds around. Master Uhthoff happily gave Malzahar a history lesson about the valley. Mallory explained to Runt the strange behaviour of Wainn, a simple young man who never learned to speak; his parents had passed away many years ago and his sister Wrenn took care of him. Wrenn, on the other hand, was a mysterious pale woman who spent more time with the Toads than with the villagers. The blacksmith Horran won the Harvest Festival's arm wrestling contest against Loudmouth, and then thoroughly lost a drinking contest with Zourin and Runt.

##### The Grain Fields

The first time the party approached the grain fields, they found a young boy crying over the shredded carcass of a pig. Dallon scolded the child for leaving the gate unlocked, and the child insisted he had thought it would be fine because the pig was smart. Dallon told the party that the grain fields are forbidden, on penalty of "natural consequences", and they must not step inside before the day of the harvest. Nikyla interrogated a cow and learned that the animals all fear "those ones" in the field.

On the third morning of their stay, the party saw that all the grain in the fields had fallen overnight. The villagers were comfortably inside the fenced-off fields, bundling the grain and putting it onto carts.

##### The Dreams

Most of the villagers seem uneasy any time someone mentions "dreams" - Jennrielle herself insisted she doesn't dream. Mallory explained to the party that if the valley doesn't want someone to stay, they'll be chased away by horrible dreams. Nobody is sure how the valley chooses who can stay and who must go: "We thought it might be about having a pure heart," Mallory said, "but if that were true, Frann and Old Jupp would have left ages ago!" On their first night in the barn, Nikyla was plagued by broken sleep and unsettling dreams. Loudmouth refused to sleep at all. On their second night, Malzahar also succumbed to broken sleep and dark dreams. Master Uhthoff explained that they had never found the pattern - every time they thought they understood how people were chosen, something would happen to prove them wrong.

##### The Wound

Horst warned the party that traveling up the Tinkers' Road towards the Wound leads to horrible dangers. "I don't know where they're slipping through from", he said, "but they're sure not from around here." He wouldn't say what kind of horrors 'they' were, only that he watched the road and kept it safe for the Tinkers' arrival. As the party traveled up the Tinkers' Road far enough to get to Horst's cabin in Night's Edge, they already started to feel strangely unsettled.

##### The Toads

There is an abundance of Toads in Dellmarrow. They seem more intelligent than other toads you've come across. Mallory and Horst called them the Guardians of the valley; Horst even implied they helped protect against the horrors from the Wound. On the first morning in the valley, the party awoke to a gaggle of toads watching them from the barn doorway. Loudmouth caught some in his net, Malzahar tried to read their minds, and Nikyla tried to speak with them as he had spoke with the cows the night before. The toads didn't respond to Nikyla. Malzahar understood what seemed to be a simple telepathic conversation between the toads, "watch them - careful - what do they want - can we trust". Loudmouth stabbed one of the frogs in his net, which harmed a strange pale woman who came running from the woods. She begged them not to hurt the toads and got mad at the party as they tried to explain the toads had been acting suspicious.

Horst told the group about Wrenn, the sister of Wainn, who spends time alone in the woods and treats the toads like they're "her own children".

When the party tried to rescue Jennrielle from The Wound, a small battalion of Toads followed them. Loudmouth apologized for his previous slight against them. As they left the boundary of the valley, the Toads were revealed to be slightly more humanoid, wearing tiny chain shirts and wielding slings which they used to help the group in the battle against the undead.

##### History Lessons from Master Uhthoff

###### The village was here waiting for us.

"We arrived as refugees some thirty-three years ago now, and the cottages were all here, empty and waiting for us. The fountain was here too, but it was dry, until Allin touched its stones and it sprang to life before our eyes; the water was waiting to be needed. The cobblestone roads were here, and the hedges, and the grain fields. The gardens were tilled and ready to plant. We found berry bushes. Kipp brought the saplings that started our orchard. We all arrived as refugees, except for those that were born here - first Jennrielle, then Zakk and Alyssa, then Lenny, Terra, and little Gallie."

###### We were refugees.

"Well, when the previous king of Avalice felt he was losing his claim to power, he needed to ensure the Naalish heir to the throne didn't have a leg to stand on. Rather than marry and combine the families, he chose to exile everyone of Naalish descent. Most of us went south, many sailed west. Why our families chose to head north, I couldn't say. When the old King's son took the throne, he sent word in all directions, apologizing for his father's exile. But we had no loyalty left for the kingdom of Avalice. We stayed. Some of our oldest children have chosen to return to the land they never knew - usually to pursue an education we can't provide here - but mostly, we're all quite happy here."

###### Learning The Rules

"We learned through trial and error. We lost a lot, the first few seasons here. Understanding the grain fields was costly - poor Wrenn and Wainn lost their parents, who used to be farmers. As for the Toads, they took some getting used to, but once we saw them catching mice we understood they were here to help. And the dreams… that was hard, too. Several who came with us were forced to leave midwinter. They never sent word of safe arrival elsewhere. We could only pray that didn't mean what we feared."

###### The Human Illusion

"Kipp and I [Master Uhthoff] are half-elves, but arriving in the valley we looked just as human as everyone else. In fact, nobody here seems capable of noticing the magic we cast - I barely try to hide it anymore. None of them have any idea magic exists. I think Horst might, but certainly none of the others."