Present: Mark (Berrian), Michael (Wultgar), Karen (Vira), Heptzar
XP: 624 / 4 = 156
Equipment gained: riding horses, provisions, official cloaks
Treasure gained: none
The PCs returned the next day to the palace, having resolved to accept the Queen's task, but also to spend a day searching the city of Nandel for clues about Haroran's disappearance before they left. They wanted to get the details of the task right away though. They were led to an adviser to the Queen rather than the Queen herself, who gave them six cloaks emblazoned with the Queen's colors (dark blue fabric with the four-tongued flame in white on the back). The things they were to take included a scroll case with a message and a small wooden box, about six inches square. They were told that they were not to read the message or look in the box, and that the adviser would know if they did. The party was also given 150 gp for expenses, and a writ for six riding horses from the royal stables. The destination of the message was located in the western foothills, and would take from 5-7 days of travel on horseback. They would need to take the Royal Road North along the river, until it separated from the river to go further North, and at that point would have to travel West on lesser-used roads.
They first talked to the city guard, who revealed that some guards were caught sleeping at their post upriver around the time of the fight during session 1. The post in question is at the border between the noble district and the mercantile district.
Further streetwise investigation about the House of Five Swords revealed that they did not have a direct presence in the city, but that people could often retain their services at a docks tavern called The Turtle's Revenge. Behind the bar, they met an urbane Goblin, whom they fenced with verbally for some time, trying to get information about the House of Five Swords. The goblin was obviously an acquaintance or agent of the Five Swords, but the PCs were unable to get a more direct meeting. They also discovered that they could probably procure soldiers for hire at an inn called The Silver Swan, which was located in a nicer part of town.
The next morning, before sunrise, a strange man of uncertain age knocked at the Circle Villa. He was dressed plainly and in slightly foreign clothes, and had a close-cropped short beard. His manner was detached. He was seeking the Circle's services to find a particular person, but he did not know exactly who this person was, and knew no identifying information. He said that he had heard that the Circle had dealt with similar tasks before, possibly implying that this might be some sort of code phrase. Unfortunately, the PCs were unable to help him right away, since they had a journey of several weeks to perform for the Realm, but he gave them the name of the inn he was staying at, and asked to be called on in one month's time. They stopped by that inn the next day before leaving the city, thinking that he might want to accompany them on the Queen's task, but they were told that no such man had ever been seen at that inn.
One the way out of the city, wearing the Queen's colors, they passed a long line of wagons lined up to enter the city (10-20). They appeared to be farmers bringing their produce to market, but few wagons were more than half full. The tax inspectors were carefully examining the wares, and collecting taxes from the farmers.
The weather remained overcast and threatening as the Circle left. About a half-day's journey West, they came to what looked like an old guard's post, or rather the ruined foundations of such. There were a group of sullen peasants standing guard, and the party heard the sounds of heavy earth moving (many shovels) some distance away, past a small hill. The peasants complained about taxes, and the absent guards, forcing them to patrol the countryside themselves to protect themselves from bandits and monstrous wolves. The PCs asked the villagers on patrol what the digging was for and were told that the villagers will burying dead from monstrous wolf attacks. They also complained of more fearsome monsters, but it was unclear if they were exaggerating. After this minor encounter, they stayed the night in a small inn.
The next day they continued on. The road was unnaturally, though not entirely, empty for this time of year. In the early evening, the PCs were set upon by a group of three elven warriors accompanied by two wolves. The PCs were victorious, but two of the three elves escaped. In addition to having some resistance to cold attacks, the PCs discovered that none of the arrows shot by the elves seemed to have arrowheads affixed to them, though they certainly seemed to do quite a bit of damage when they hit.
2 wolves 125 XP each, 1 elf scout 125 XP = 375 XP
2 elf archers escaped
