#5: Refugees

In the aftermath of our encounter with the creatures, we lick our wounds and assess our options.  Little light can be shed on the attack or the nature of the attackers without the light of dawn; fearing that the dead citizens of Carrock may rise or present some other evil, I suggest that the dead—both the creatures and the citizens of Carrock—be burned.  If nothing else, it will serve as a grim reminder that danger has not passed.

Crude alarms and preparations are made to warrant against additional attacks, or at least provide some means of notification in the case that something else happens.  With little more to add to that effort, we retire for the night, accepting Drachus’ offer to stay at the Inn of Carrock.  Audric tends the worst of my wounds with the blessings of Mystra, and we sleep.

We awaken in the morning, and the town—as expected, the townsfolk are abuzz with rumors, most of them pure conjecture about the nature of the beasts.  Tussugar looks much the worse for wear, having recovered little over the night.  No words are shared.  Rould assists the hunters, so we leave them to their work while we rest, recuperate, and see to our training.  I take a few opportunities, throughout the day, to inquire of Drachus and his wife of any magic users or history of magic around town—extended family with “gifts”, old scrolls or tomes passed down or inherited from previous generations, oddities turned up from passing merchants or unearthed when plowing a field.  Audric ministers to the folk of Carrock, investigating in his own way, hoping to turn up rumors or news as well.

The effort is not fruitless; we learn that a married couple, Reginald and Ethelenda—historical figures of prominence within Carrock that started construction of the tower, which still lies unfinished in the center of Carrock—were companions of Tussugar.  We also learn from a grandmother of Carrock that “Everybody knows that Aibreann is actually the daughter of Reginald and Ethelenda, and that Bartley and Emmet aren’t her natural-born siblings.”  We had guessed the latter, but the former is news—perhaps of some significance.

Later in the day, while searching for Drachus to attain permission to visit the tower of Carrock and explore within, we find him with Aibreann, who appears emotional—as if the result of some conflict or unpleasant discussion.  Tussugar lumbers from the room shortly after, perhaps having participated in the affair.  Though it takes a few ales to lubricate the conversation, we eventually learn more of Tussugar as he recounts the tale of himself and his companions, the “Spine Breakers.”  From the tale, we learn that the acolyte’s daughter and bowmaster’s widow was Tyoness, priestess of Shadfeld, slain by Korvich.

Rould returns late in the day with news.  The hunters followed the tracks into the wood—several miles—while they were not able to find signs of the third creature, the tracks originate from a location called Oldkeep, a ruined stronghold.  Tussugar has heard of Oldkeep and has been there many years ago.  Man last inhabited it several hundred years ago.

We are interested in exploring Oldkeep, but not until fully healed and until we’ve trained, and also not unprepared—we discuss our conversation with Drachus, and our request to explore the tower of Carrock.  Tussugar ensures us that there are no treasures to be found, but we’re not convinced—reluctantly, he agrees to speak to Drachus on our behalf regarding the matter.  Tussugar will not travel to Oldkeep with us, but Rould consents to—and Tussugar informs us that Drachus will allow us access to the tower.

The third night, we are awakened in the dead of night by alarms.  Audric dons his armor, and we leave the inn to investigate.  The alarms are coming from the west part of Carrock.  We bump into Drachus, who seems unsure how to proceed—we inform him that he needs to stay at the Inn and lead, and to organize and control the townsfolk.

The west guard has seen torches approaching along the road.  I send the guard back into town to alert the hunters—they need to know the potential for threat, to gather their bows and spears, and to get into the wood and be ready.  I assume the guard post while Audric waits in cover; we wait for whoever—or whatever—it is to approach.

When they draw within a few dozen steps, their approach stops.  They appear to be humanoids and armed, though not heavily armored.  We’re unable to make out details in the torchlight, so I grab a lantern and approach, slowly.  As I get within a dozen paces, one of the figures calls out “Zeb?”, surprised.  Erathmar!  Four of them are men of Erathmar’s caravan; two of them are women, who we later learn are villagers from Shadfeld.  They’re carrying three large bundles—corpses of victims from the attack on Shadfeld who Erathmar felt should not be left for the crows—all on foot and ragged as if worn from travel.

When Shadfeld was attacked, several people fled the village.  The caravan was among them, and they took shelter in the forest for multiple days.  The road east was closed off by Malar cultists; a number of villagers traveled west towards West Tower.  When the way east cleared, Erathmar led his group to Carrock.  They found the bodies along the way and didn’t want to leave them behind.  We traveled east immediately, however, and did not encounter Malarans—confirmation that some phenomenon of time seems to have occurred.

Tussugar recognizes the women as townsfolk from Shadfeld; the Inn of Carrock is made ready for unexpected guests!

With dawn fast approaching and adrenaline still fueling our actions, we aren’t able to return to rest.  I’m interested in confronting Erathmar to discuss his experience of the attack on Shadfeld—it was a complete slaughter.

The next afternoon, Emmet approaches us.  He informs us that Maglarosh wants to see us—perhaps our prisoner has recovered?  He leads us south into the woods along a winding path to a crude hut in the woods where Maglarosh is waiting.  Seated on the ground next to him is the boy, still not fully recovered but lucid.

“This is Selben,” he says.  “Selben hails from a village called Three Streams, to the north.  He became lost and his memory is not intact.”  The boy’s voice is shaky and unsure.  When asked about Three Streams, he tells us that the last thing he remembers is that he and some other villagers were investigating a cave in search of villagers that had been disappearing over the course of several weeks.  He doesn’t know what happened to anyone else he was with, or anything about the cave.  He doesn’t know how long ago it was, or what happened since.  When asked if he remembers anything about his arrival at Carrock, he has no memory of anything before the last day or two.

Though we have started to discover some answers, we are left with yet more questions…