Doran’s Journal
Eighty First Day in the Seventh Kingdom – Freehold
Another pleasant evening spent at Annie’s is how the night begins. My studies with Master Gin have kept me perhaps busier than I have ever been, there seems so much to learn on commodities and the markets in this new land. Some familiar faces have come to Freehold, Captain Lucius Aubrey and his retainer Sergeant James O’Connell have finally arrived from Port Dawson, it seems they lingered to better assist the locals in organizing for their defense.
The greatest joy is that my family has answered my letters and come to join me here. My charming and bright niece Tala has come, along with my nephew Bayani – Yes the same one who went off to university, and then some other foolishness down Pendrakken. They have brought along a wildling holy man from Pendrakken, an aquaintance of Bayani that he has claimed as a brother. I later decide this makes him my nephew once removed, the absence of any hint of a a blood tie does concern me slightly, but I suppose this is a more pleasant surprise than had he ignored traditions and his people and married.
A proposition is brought to my attention; the black market in Freehold meets by the light of each new moon. “The Market Rises” is the phrase to gain entry into the establishment. Several groups gather to go seek adventure in the wilds. They have numerous encounters with members of the Dusken Vale. They are seeking to drive all of us from Freehold by poisoning the land so that nothing will grow and the settlement will starve. As a result foodstuffs and herbal components have become more valuable. This is only a small opportunity for me as my stocks in such supplies are rather minimal. These encounters all end in our favor and the groups return to the inn, whole and healthy.
Later still in this very dark night I set out to find the black market. They have provided no clues as to its location, so this is a complicated task. Preferring not to go alone, but realizing my family may not be welcome as they have spent much of their coin in traveling here, I ask the noble Captain Aubrey to accompany me, along with Sgt O’Connell. The wares offered are impressive, as are the prices, I am only able to conduct a little business, relieving myself of some items while obtaining another few. I am warned while dealing with one trader that this shadowy figure overlooking the market is dangerous and will kill us all if anything untoward happens. Of course I intend to cause no harm myself.
Some of the others though are differently inclined, the Captain and his Sgt, who I had expected would remain outside have entered. They have discovered the one merchant to be a chainer in possession of a slave girl he’s seeking to sell. The two of them are intent on her rescue and my offer to assist in negotiating her sale does nothing to relieve this. They are exercising caution though and they remain calm waiting for the right opportunity. I excuse myself from the market, my business concluded and set off to help these brave souls in whatever way I can.
I know full well my own presence there beside them would be little if any benefit at all. I set off back towards town, hoping to return with whatever aid I can locate. I spread word of the market to everyone I see, eventually coming across a large party including the other members of my family. I explain to some of them the predicament the Captain has placed himself in and offer the password for entry to any that will come to his defense.
Once there several enter under the pretext of doing business, after a few have done so the guards become more wary and subtlety ends. The door is nearly wrenched from its hinges by the great strength of Raze, he and others hurry inside and the battle begins. I of course linger outside, though I am told afterwards that an exchange had occurred where the slave girl was swapped for another slave. Both were rescued though the group needed a hasty exit and retreat. The creature is as fearsome as claimed and even our bravest and stoutest are forced to flee before him.
We all return to the safety of town and enjoy a new establishment. A group of wildings have set up a roving tavern right next to my little shop. They offer exotic but refreshing drinks as well as games of chance and some light fare. The most entertainment I feel comes from the proprietors themselves and their father who though deceased and stored in a wooden urn takes an active part in the life of the tavern. All in all pleased with what has happened and particularly with the arrival of my family I settle in for a much needed rest.
Eighty Second Day in the Seventh Kingdom – Freehold
The morning began pleasant enough, bright sunshine and only a little chill in the air as the season changes. A lovely breakfast at Annie’s kept things going well enough, and another opportunity to visit with the tavern keepers that are my new neighbors. It seems these wildlings had a visit late in the night by a spirit of the forest. This creature struggled to communicate with them, but was able to express that he and the guardian wyrmkin Charn are somehow linked at that while one walks the other is dormant. It also made clear that locating the hidden Charn to protect him from the Dusken Vale is of the greatest importance.
It seems those horrid plants the Dusken Vale spawned are still present and committed to bedeviling this quiet little town. Their attacks are brief and handled relatively easily by the capable fighters this town has attracted. On that note there are a sizable number of new arrivals of late, most seeming quite inclined to violence and eager for the conflicts that seem so drawn to this town.
Members of that accursed band also attack, harassing this town that they seem intent on destroying. In the aftermath my recently expanded family proved quite useful with the healing skills of Tala and Rickard being used extensively. Another curious newcomer too aided in this effort, an extremely aged Troll healer whose name I cannot recall. He is indeed a riddle and challenges my perceptions of his people.
In an effort to address the blight that the Dusken Vale have orchestrated a meeting is called of the more spiritually inclined among the current residents of Freehold. They speak about the famine caused by this interference and look for ways to alleviate the town’s hunger. It seems there may not be an easy solution and that the land needs to be restored to its earlier vitality. In the meantime stocks will be transported in to support this community, while its own farms wither, or are burned and destroyed outright by these accursed druids.
A little more time spent enjoying the company of those peculiar wildings and their tavern, and a fine lunch is served at Annie’s. Well in truth while the meal was provided by Annie most of us enjoyed it out in the open air near or within the roving tavern. After such hearty fare, which may soon cease to be the norm if this famine grows worse, I feel I should retire for an afternoon of rest and recuperation. There is a brief unpleasantness before the meal however when Rickard, Tala and myself are confronted with a vicious member of the Dusken Vale. Naturally we chose to avoid this conflict and were able to attract assistance in chasing off this threat. A pair of wandering swordsmen offers the chance for sport to win from them gold or some trinket they carry. Some of town’s fiercest take up this challenge, and naturally there’s a little more gambling after they leave. In fact I was able to liberate a few gold pieces from Bryant himself. Thanks to the outcome of a bout between Zero and Raze.
While I rested it seems quite a lot happened. I was later told that an encampment of chainers was sought out in the wilds. I can’t imagine why the slavers continue to ply their trade around this town that seems almost universally hostile to them. Suffice it to say that the slavers were defeated, their captives rescued and their treasures claimed. There was something else of note in this conflict, I’m told these chainers held a fearsome troll captive that they unleashed during the struggle, after the battle this creature was revived and sent forth free of their bonds.
Later still the Dusken Vale attacks the town in a large force. Lead by two of their chief members this group nearly overwhelms the town’s defenders, driving many to seek refuge in the inn while some lay wounded outside. Even the stalwart Bryant Blackfoot seems troubled by the ferocity of this attack.
Some wicked sorcery shakes the very ground and nearly topples the inn. The attack is beaten back with only some damage to the inn, but the chief figures in this attack are able to flee into the night. I can scarcely believe these tales, and had I not seen the state of Annie’s perhaps I would think it all some trick of light and jangled nerves.
The Brotherhood offers their guild hall for a feast this night, and all the town gathers to enjoy this respite. I meet a curious little group of my kinsmen, they do not claim affiliation with any fleet or guild I know of, but clearly they are of my kind. They are merely passing through Freehold but eager to sell some commodities to better finance their journey. Regrettably they ask too much and are trading in materials I do not fully trust to retain their value. I would have liked to have assisted these travelers, but I can only do so much without hurting my own business and family. Bayani thinks me foolish for passing up this opportunity, but time shall tell who made the right decision.
After the meal the town gathers, a ceremony has been discovered that can bestow the ability to slow Charn. While he is in hiding he would flee from any approach, so this is necessary to speak with him to better protect him from the Dusken Vale. Six are chosen and groups assemble to comb the woodlands of the nearby hinterlands for this creature. It is thought that Charn knows of the lair of the Dusken Vale and can lead us to this place. I soon learn the band I am with does not have one with the gift, but we walk through the woods anyway.
After a fairly brief search Charn is found and once stunned he listens to our appeal. For his safety some of our number will remain beside him until we have located and cleansed this lair of the Dusken Vale. The search leads to a cavern in the mountainside; the entrance is guarded by some wicked looking vine. Our warriors creep slowly into the darkness of this cavern, hoping to catch the Dusken Vale unaware. Some enter, filing slowly through the winding passage, while others remain outside to protect the escape route and to safeguard Charn.
I hear sounds of the battle which many have joined. Tala, Bayani and Rickard, along with the other wildlings have filed in along with virtually all of the town’s warriors to take on this fierce foe. I keep a nervous watch by the entrance to the cavern wary for attack. The fight goes well, but a vile artifact inside is thought to be the key to their powers. The Fir’Bolg Raze tosses this mystical thing, hoping to quickly make off with it. This fails and any that touch the accursed thing are stricken.
Many flee from the battle back through the passage, overcome by the forces unleashed against them. Soon the defenders inside are overcome and the fallen attended to. Thanks to our town’s skillful healers none pass from this world. The forces in the artifact are the strength from the land that has been withdrawn by the vile deeds of the Dusken Vale. Those closest to it are given the choice of using this power to restore the land or to make a greater weapon to use against Primus. The weapon is chosen and the lands stay bare and listless.
Later that night, as the townsfolk gather at the inn and the roving tavern one of the vile hunters of Primus appears. The great weapon forged with the blood of these lands defeats this fearsome creature handily. An emissary from the lands of Gotterdammerung visits the town with a special task he asks of the necromancer Nayesh, one of his countrymen. A small contingent follows him on this dark and mysterious task out in the wood. With another small group and a belly full of ale I follow along watching some trials with the restless dead.
This soon is less interesting than I’d hoped and I somehow find my way to my bed again.
DUSKEN VALE DEFEATED
The Dusken Vale was a blight upon the land of Freehold. The land still feeling the wrath of their efforts. Their plan was threefold. One, launch a campaign to sow salt and raze the farming grounds surrounding Freehold. Two, launch a military campaign with skirmish tactics to interfere with trade and terrorize locals, as well as adventurers. And lastly, and most diabolically, they used a magical siphon to drain the mana, the spirit of the earth, from the lands themselves. So, by attacking the lands magically and physically with a military presence to distract those that would stop these assaults upon the harvest, they were successful in causing much hardship upon the backbone of Freehold.
What would motivate them to commit such atrocities? Why would Druids, keepers of balance in nature, wish to cause such disharmony in the nature that surrounded them? Not many answers were found. The best theory was that it was an act of desperation to purge the land of resources so that nobody would travel to Freehold or it's surroundings.
The town was rallied by influential members of The Brotherhood to make a surgical strike on the heart of the Dusken Vale. It was clear to this reporter, and the rest of the town, that we would show them no quarter. Diplomacy had failed time and time again. Swords were sharpened, armor polished, and incantations practiced. A ceremony led by two Dwarven spiritualists empowered six members of the town. They were pronounced Torchbearers.
The Torchbearers led us to Charn. Charn was a keeper of the wood. An elemental ambassador of the earthen persuasion. Charn was a bit of a recluse and finding him was not an easy task. Our Torchbearers stayed committed and eventually we discovered his whereabouts. After convincing Charn of our noble goals, he led us to the sanctuary of the vile ones known as the Dusken Vale. The town trudged through twisting caverns coated in glowing algae and twisting vines. As we crossed the threshold, the Druids of the Dusken Vale descended upon us with much fervor and even more resilience. A hard battle was fought and the the magic that protected this cave was unlike anything I had seen before.
After the last of the cave's inhabitants were eradicated, a magical orb was recovered. It was presented before Charn. Charn was a very wise watcher of the woods and he explained the predicament that was faced by the town of Freehold. Charn was very much aware of the ever growing threat of Primus. A supreme being and embodiment of pure evil that had its gaze set upon Freehold. A ceremony earlier in the year to create a weapon to destroy this being was interrupted by one of his lackeys leaving Freehold defenseless and at the mercy of Primus. Charn continued to explain that the orb was the collection of the mana stolen from the surrounding area. It was the evidence of the magical damage done at the hand of the Dusken Vale. It acted as a dam, collecting the mana that would normally replenish the earth. Gradually collecting small amounts of mana over a long period of time. But since the orb was taken from the Dusken Vale's cave the magical damage and draining of the fields would stop, explained Charn.
Charn then explained that he could destroy the orb, removing the dam and allowing the mana that had been collected from the last couple months to rush back into the world. Unsure of the exact ramifications of those actions, some of the townsfolk were weary. That coupled with the revelation that the only other possibility to create a weapon to destroy the greatest evil to threaten Freehold was Charn's temperamental brother of Fire, that when last encountered burnt an entire village to the ground. He was a gamble to say the least.
Needless to say, the weapon was forged and the mana now trickles back into the fields. Many town members have been assisting their neighbors in tending to the fields of the farmers in the nearby area. The damage is extensive and everyone needs to pitch in. If you, or someone you know, would like to help the backbone of Freehold contact Annie of Annie's Inn, or Rasputin of the Freehold Journal.
-Recorded down by Rasputin Truevein
That's right, summer's over and we're having a party. Festivities will include; opening incantation, celebration of the dead, refreshments, divination, and closing ceremonies. We will also be collecting food to assist locals through this coming winter. The end of Summer and beginning of Winter is a very important time.
The veil between the world of the living and the world of the dead is at its thinnest. Those that are practiced, as well as careful, enough can pierce this veil and see what the future holds for us.
It is also important that we look to the past and honor the deeds of the dead. Those that have had a brush with death or that have had someone close to them are encouraged to speak during the celebration of the dead.
Participants are also encouraged to bring sweet treats to share with each other.
Come see what the future has in store for you...
-Recorded down by Rasputin Truevein