The Journey to Turvin

Therendor 19th - 21st, 998 Y.K.

The company arrive in Turvin at around 10 in the morning after two days of uneventful travel.

Therendor 21st, Sar, 998 Y.K.

The group find the hamlet's residents looking tired and lethargic, wandering between the buildings with little sense of purpose. They approach one of the villagers and ask him about the hamlet's problems, he mutters about ghosts and monsters in the woods at night before directing the group to the mayors house. The mayor lives in a house adjoining the hamlet's stables, six horses are stabled here. After tethering Reaver (Kapek's Clawfoot mount) to a nearby post the group knock on the door and in moments Mayor Barnabas Revland answers. His nervous demeanour fades as he realises the group are here to help and they are soon invited in for herbal tea.

Revland describes the current situation to the group.

"No one sleeps well these days and the hamlet's craft is beginning to suffer. Merchants are withdrawing their contracts which is damaging the hamlet's economy."

"It's all to do with the lights in the forest, and the sounds of crazed yells, screams and hollering deep in the darkness, the residents fear their village is cursed."

The group ask if there is any reward for their help but the most that the mayor can do is offer them free lodgings at the local inn, "The Blue Oak Inn". Once they have finished their drinks they decide to head over there and see if there is anything welse they can find out.

As they leave the mayors house they find a large group of children gathered around Reaver, keeping a safe distance. They become awed at the sight of Anvil, asking all sorts of questions a few of the braver children daring to poke at him with sticks.

One of the children mentions that they were playing with a bunch of pretty butterflies that glowed different colours, they chased them further into the woods before one of the older boys got scared and pulled the rest of the children back into town.

The Blue Oak Inn - Proprietor, Marius Redhare.

Due to the fact that there are no trade routes running through Turvin, the Blue Oak Inn is empty of overnighters. In fact at this time of the morning it is void of any patrons. The barman looks up as the group enter and introduces himself with a tired smile.

He offers the group the common room and explains that dinner is served one hour before sundown. They also get the following information from him:

"Two travellers, a human and a dark-skinned halfling, stayed at the inn last night. They wore dark cloaks and slept in shifts in the common room. When morning came they followed a deer trail into the woods, pulling a heavy handcart behind them. They kept to themselves and paid double to be left alone.

"A local woodsman named Marshal Ternsval was out foraging for firewood a couple of evenings ago and he has not come back. His wife is worried, but the initial forays into the wood have turned up nothing.

Into the Dhamoril Woods

The group decide to investigate while there is still daylight so they ask one of the villagers to direct them to the deer trail and head into the forest.

The sun is high in the mid-afternoon sky, but little of the light penetrates the canopy. After about two hours of tracking the cart it leaves the deer trail and heads into the woods, and after another couple of hours the group stumble across a clearing some 30 feet ahead.

"The trail ends abruptly, and an uncovered cart can be seen ahead. It is overgrown with thorny brambles, with strange vines growing out of the wooden frame. A remarkably large thorn bush grows at the foot of the cart, a pile of torn clothing wrapped around it's base and hanging from it's lower branches."

Lorric spots movement in the woods ahead, but he can not quite make out what he is seeing, with a light spitting sound, two inch long thorns begin to fly out of the undergrowth hitting the groups vital spots causing painful wounds.

There are four of the spiny human-sized creatures.

After a frustrating battle, due to the camouflaged nature of the creatures and the fact that the undergrowth did not hamper their movement, the group finally kill the last one.

Katerina identifies them as Splinterwaifs, an evil breed of fey.

The group decide that the skins of these evil critters could be useful as they appear to shift colour to match their environment, so they begin to skin the creatures.

Meanwhile, those who don't have the skill to skin a creature search the cart. The most obvious feature is the body of a dark-skinned halfling in the cart, it bears a holy symbol of the Keeper.

Also within the cart they find some coin, a few pieces of travelling gear, plenty of trail rations and a chest that contains 100lb of raw cold iron.

They head back to the village, arriving as the sun grows low in the western sky. Anvil heads to the tanners house to see about curing the skins they have procured while the rest of the group head to the inn for the evening meal.

As the sun sets the group have finished their meal and they decide to head out into the woods once more.

As they leave the hamlet they can see lights dancing in the dark woods and far off in the distance they can hear the raucous sounds of a party to the north.

They head deep into the woods, this time following the sounds of the party, following the deer trail far to the north, after some four hours or more of pushing through dene undergrowth and low tree branches in the dead of night, sounds of party come to a crescendo before gradually fading out to silence.

"The deer trail opens into a forty-foot diameter clearing. Empty wineskins and rotten, half-eaten fruit litter the area. The air is sour with the stink of spilled wine. A large twisted tree stands in the centre of the clearing, tatters of festive ribbon and dimly glowing beehives clinging to it."

Nestled agianst the trunk of the central tree is the naked form of a male human, his feet and legs caked with dirt and moss. This turns out to be Marshal Ternsval, he remembers nothing specific, but seems to think that he was involved in a wild party. He reports a painful headache as well as a few fingernail scratches on his torso. He gathers what he can find of his clothes before declaring that he has lost his wedding ring, and begins to frantically search before giving up with woe.

Kapek and Ajax search the area for tracks and they find that there are many human-like tracks and one set of cloven hoof prints. They all head north-westerly. Ajax in his infinite wisdom decides to have a drink from one of the wine-skins and finds himself in love with the first person he sees, which just happens to be Kapek.....