Session 51
Oscar
We made it to Threshold and stored our wagon and gear just outside the gate. We stayed the night at the Druid and Whale, because the alternative inn, a place called The Drunken Knight, only allows women and elves. On our way to the temple of Denara, we witnessed a mugging; a minor merchant had been set upon by three ruffians from an organization called the Debased Currency or something similar. Furious at the practice of unlicensed debt collection, I demanded to see their authorization forms, and the authority of the goddess (not to mention a timely appearance from Stria) ran them off. I escorted the merchant back to his store and healed him, accepting his payment and sharing it among the party as a reward for protecting commerce.
My superior there, a man named Rheingold, took my reports and duly filed them, noting that I had been delayed. I noted that it was unavoidable due to the strange and fickle rules of the fae which held me paralyzed while Bern trained his dogs. He suggested looking to the north, near Thatchum, where a school of magic exists; a consortium of salt merchants there have requested aid from the church. I assured him I would make that my next order of business once I had completed my business in the city. I told him about the fae deed I had acquired for land near Westkeep, and he was deprecatory, failing to see the potential for trade between the fae and the mundane world. Still he is my superior in the church; I will at least investigate his location as well. And, if there is a school of mages there, perhaps we can find Landon some more useful spells. In particular there is one I have heard of which sends creatures into a kind of nocturnal slumber; if he can learn that, it may allow us to capture the gibbering mouther with less difficulty. The spell is not especially powerful, but nonetheless worth a try. If it fails, I will silence the creature – honestly, I will probably silence it anyway – and into the box it goes.
As for the other business in Threshold… we journeyed to the library of Doghma, and inquired therein concerning gibbering mouthers. They directed us to a scholar named Basil, who seemed very eager to have a gibbering mouther of his very own. He promised to make us a containment facility, glass lined, inside a wooden chest with a frame. As surety for the effort, we left him a magical blue longsword, the one we captured from the wight. He agreed to research the sword. If we capture the mouther, we get the sword back and the research results at no charge plus 2500gp for the mouther itself. If we fail but bring back the mouther cage, we get the sword back and can pay for the research results. It will take perhaps a month to build the cage, which time I will spend investigating Thatchum.
Of course, u-Heury had other plans to find adventure. He joined a group of kids and persuaded them to guide him into a cave in the ruined section of town where they had heard orcs. One of the kids was even brave enough to hold our lantern in return for a gold piece. Landon scouted first, and reported three orcs discussing a difficult decision. We entered, and spoke with them, Landon (who speaks orc fluently) translating. The orcs agreed to leave the city peacefully, heading north. We let them go. The kid – not u-Heury, the new one – was impressed.
It was dark, so we spent the night at the Druid and Whale. We plan to get our gear and return to the ruin entrance in the morning.