An owl, a witch, and an unnamed quest

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Following the curious snowy-white owl through the woods, the party is led to the woodland home of Naela, a comely young woman whom the dryads call 'the witch woman'. Naela offers information about G'Hnna, the subterranean underworld, and the gateway recently discovered in Malvrin; in exchange, she asks that the party agree to perform a task for her, the details of which have yet to be disclosed. While she seems to be helpful, and prepared to offer her assistance, the adventurous group is not entirely trustful of the mysterious Naela, who seems to know quite a bit about their recent activities. In an apparent effort to gain their trust, Naela gives them the name of a man, Maaric, who lives in the village Banlogh to the south-west. According to Naela, Maaric can tell them more about G'Hnna, and may be able to direct them to a Gate Keeper, or possibly even a key to unlock the door to G'Hnna.

Accepting Naela's advice, the party makes its way back to Malvrin to re-stock their supplies before undertaking the ten-day journey to Banlogh.

 

"So, we are off to see this Maaric fellow and do whatever task he has in mind, huh? Because you know it will be too late to turn down the job by the time we actually get there. That's just the way these set ups work. Its not like we would have any reason to trust Maaric more than we do the witch. Well, I don't have anything else in mind particularly, so its fine with me. Though another boring little village is gonna be aggravating. Hopefully they are less blindly stupid there than they are in this one. Ugh!"

(Since he is confident Rhwydd will ensure there is more than enough food for the trip, Varg doesn't have much to do, so he tries to find out what other villages are between Malvrin and Banlogh. Ten days is an amazingly long stretch to be devoid of settlements).

 

Talking briefly with a few of the towns-people, Varg is able to learn a few things about the road between Malvrin and Banlogh. Banlogh itself is a small village, mostly inhabited by gnomes. Apparently a group of travelling gnomes decided to leave the road several years ago and founded this small, quiet town. A few other groups have since joined them, but Banlogh remains a small hamlet on the outskirts of bigger society. Additionaly, there are a handfull of other small towns and villages, including an odd-sounding place called 'Bauble Town': a collection of tents and ram-shackle buildings that has sprung up along the main Western Road. Originally the site of a road-side inn, numerous refugees from Bevylaam have been making their way to 'Bauble Town' rather than staying in the squalor outside of Ulsmeth. Peddlars and merchants have since begun flocking to the place as well. The rumour is that anything and everything can be found in 'Bauble Town' - for a price.

 

"Hey, Devious, you ever heard of this Bauble Town place? Seems like a good place to visit on the way. Maybe there is something worth buying there. Sure likely to be more interesting than either village anyway."

(btw, have we sold any of the gems and other treasures we got from the ruin? If so, I don't recall hearing what my share was worth. Not the ghost's treasure, but all that other stuff).

 

Yes my friend I think that I will find plenty to do in such a place. I've been checking over my stock and wondering what I might be likely to sell in these camps and gnomish villages.

( some ferreting around and talking to local suppliers is in order to try and find out what I can buy cheaply here and sell on with a nice mark up later. I'm guessing simple luxuries will go down well - beer wine, sweets, etc. Currently I'm stocked up on household stuff, blankets, paper, linen, sewing needles (always popular), soap, salt, tea leaves, tobacco (those last few I guess will sell), I can invest 50 gold in stocks provided that the local tradesmen indicate that there will be a market and that my poor old mule can carry the stuff).

PS I speak Gnomish so expect I know something about their trading/purchasing habits.
PPS My gather info role was D20+7=23

[This message has been edited by Slappy (edited April 25, 2002).]

 

(None of the gems/jewelry/treasures have been sold)

In his talks with the small group of local merchants in Malvrin, Devious picks up several useful, and perhaps even profitable, bits of information.

'Bauble Town' started out several weeks ago as a small collection of tents, a rough settlement started by refugees out of Bevylaam who decided to strike west and make a new life for themselves. Many of them are small-goods merchants and artisans (black smiths, glaziers, fletchers, etc) and they've been able to trade their skills for food from some of the local farmers. As the days and weeks passed, more people started to set-up camp, having nowhere else to go. With only a handful of farmers nearby, food goods are most welcome in 'Bauble Town', fetching some of the highest prices.

Despite the rapidly growing economy within the squatter settlement, there is no law and no organisation. Rumour has it that for every 'honest' merchant or tradesman, there are two hungry thieves looking to make their own coin. Several groups of 'merchant guards' have sprung up, offering 'protection' and to 'safeguard' valuable merchandise, and pickpockets can be found througout.

The village of Banlogh is known to be a quiet, restful village, inhabited mostly of gnomes who like their wine and mead. Strangely, the flow of good drink out of Nedlelan has slowed to a trickle, and the merchants talk of bandits on the road. Even in Malvrin the supply of wine and mead from Nedlelan seems to have been disrupted: Halbryn is starting to fret about an over-due shipment from the halfling settlements, and his supply is quickly dwindling.

A few of the merchants who have dealings with Ulsmeth and the eastern free-holds talk of a continuing problem as the number of people pouring into the area is quickly outstripping the ability of local authorities to deal with it. Some rumours even suggest that slavers out of Qualegg are taking advantage of the situation, quietly nabbing people from out of the throngs and taking them back to Qualegg for sale.

And, while petty feuds and wars are common enough in Bevylaam, there are those who hint that this trouble is more than that, but can't elaborate in their speculating.

 

"hmmm, slavers, huh? They are always fun to kick around. Bandits, too, for that matter. I think we should stop at this "Baubletown" and see what we can find out."