The road to Talonsong is poor, Lethlek is not yet a major place, and travel between the two is infrequent. Enough has been cleared to allow passage but the road is far from smooth or easy travelling.
The journey from Lethlek to Talonsong is 75 miles.
Lord Trenwith’s coach is a well-built wooden carriage with closed cabin for the passengers. There is a seat on the front for the driver and the footman. There is also a step at the back and a railing to hang onto, normally occupied by other footmen, who have to stand throughout the journey. Any other passengers must ride on the roof. Most of the luggage carried is stored under the seats of the carriage.
It does not take long for the scenery to turn from cleared fields to dense forest. The road is uneven, and the ride is uncomfortable, even for those inside the carriage.
After several long hours of passing through the thick forest, the coach is drawn to a halt a short distance away from a large brown bear. The bear is feeding on an elk lying in the middle of the road. It looks around when it hears the clatter of hooves behind it. Just as you are wondering what to do about this situation, the bear begins to drag the elk off the road. It even stands and waves a large paw at you before disappearing amongst the trees.
The party quickly deduces that this is not your average bear. Deciding it is probably either a werebear or a druid. Probability suggests the latter – werebears are not known for their politeness.
Night eventually falls and the group stops to rest. For the first time the party has to be on watch. They organise themselves so that Roedyn and Pyrosh take the first watch while Kafka and ‘The Rock’ take the second watch. Pyrosh doesn’t seem especially pleased with being stuck with Roedyn, but doesn’t complain loudly.
The carriage stops twice during the day to shift fallen logs before continuing.
Roedyn makes a successful spot check at the appropriate time.
You spot a pair of men standing just off the side of the road. They are well hidden amongst the trees. You only catch a fleeting glimpse of them as the carriage passes their hiding spot – they have dark hair and skin which appears dark and dirty in the shadows thrown by the forest.
For the rest of the day the party catches noises and sights that might suggest they are being followed, but never sees anything conclusive.
You leave the forest behind on this day and pass through some low hills.
During the afternoon a snake scares the horses causing them to run faster for a while. Kafka took aim with his longbow but didn’t bother to fire.
On your way to Talonsong, you have passed through forest and hills, now you are following the wooded coastline more closely. These woods are thinner and much easier to traverse than the forest near Lethlek.
Up ahead you can see a wagon that has run off the road and a human moving about beside it, apparently looking for something. The wagon contains cages and other goods, which have become scattered.
As your carriage pulls up near by you can hear the young man softly calling “Come on, Come on down. Who’s a good girl? Come on.”
The man eventually notices the party and turns to speak with them.
“I don’t suppose any of you is Prufrock?”
The Rock mishears slightly and takes great offence at this. “Poof Rock??”
“No I thought not.”
“Could you spare some time to help me recapture these animals?”
The party agrees to help, and a short discussion ensues. The discussion ends when Kafka suggests that he could attempt to fascinate the animals with his musical ability.
First however, he casts a few mending spells on the animal cages. The Rock enquires as to how the cages got damaged to begin with, and Eliat says there is a large rock in the road at caused the wagon to bounce too hard. The Rock then makes the obvious comment that he is good at that. *The dm rolls his eyes at name play*
Using this ability Kafka and Eliat – the deliveryman – are able to capture most of the animals quickly. The hawk is not fooled however and flies to another tree to avoid Eliat who was climbing up to catch it.
You continue along the lightly wooded coastline.
Talonsong
The Trenwith’s house is roughly half an hour’s travel into the city. The party is probably asked to stay the night. If so Lord T will pay them for their service in the morning. If not, he will pay them straight away, but pay them less. This is only likely to happen if they did not please him on the journey.
At last you can see the thriving city of Talonsong on the horizon. This young city was the first Elsinian city to be founded in this new land. In the eighteen months that this land has been settled, this area has seen the most change. The population has grown from nothing right up to twelve thousand people, and continues to increase. The economy is booming, and in all likelihood, if you can buy something at all in De Mutrio, you can buy it here.
It doesn’t seem to take long to arrive at the city once it is in sight, and a further half hour’s travel brings you to the largest house – that of Lord Trenwith.
This house is by far the most impressive house in the city. Unlike most building in this country, its walls are made mostly of stone, not wood.
Lord Trenwith:
“Please, come in. We can hardly leave you to your own devices this late at night, you must stay with us for the night. If you don’t mind waiting, I will pay you for your service in the morning.”
You awake as the morning sun rises over Talonsong. Cocks can be heard crowing at the morning light. You can also hear some of the servants moving about in the kitchen, preparing for the day.
Go to kitchens:
The servants greet you quietly and politely, perhaps intimidated by your apparent friendship with the Lord. Or perhaps they’re just scared of ‘The Rock’. Either way, they feed you with a large and well-prepared breakfast.
After you have finished eating, Lord Trenwith comes down stairs to greet you and pay you. He hands Kafka a pouch full of coins.
“Thank you for traveling with us to Talonsong, if I have any other work for you I’ll be sure to contact you.”
The first thing the party did, after leaving Trenwith house, was find a cartographer and haggle over the price of a map. Lowering the price from 2gp down to 1gp and 9 silver pieces.
The party spend the day trying to learn some of the local rumours and find any jobs that might be around. In doing so they went to three different taverns and drank in each. Kafka and The Rock played in first bar, and upon leaving, Pyrosh cast grease on the floor by the door. When the barman challenged him and ran over to find out what Pyrosh had cast, he slipped on the greased floor, and the party then fled.
During this time they heard that there were currently 3 boats in the harbour; the Gallant, the Scaly Serpent and the Mentor.
They also heard about a local murder, which prompted them to visit the guardhouse. There they found that the victim was a guard sergeant that was murdered a couple of nights previously – but without any apparent signs of injury.
They asked the guard on duty to show them the body in the mortuary, which he did after checking with superior. Upon seeing the body Kafka cast ghost sound on the body, causing the guardsman to freak out and run away. Needless to say this didn’t help their investigation.
After that they decided to return to Trenwith house, where the Lord grudgingly had lunch with them. They requested work and told him of their exploits during the day. When Lord Trenwith wondered aloud why he had trusted such people, they pointed out that they wouldn’t be doing such strange things if they had work to do.
Lord Trenwith considered this, and then sent for two people he knew needed an escort to a small native village south of Parthol. The two people were Oreol the diplomat and Zelnon the missionary. They agreed on 300 gold for the journey and the party spent the rest of the day in the Talonsong Bird Inn.