After sleeping at Mac and Irene's, the heroes wake up and head out. They quickly make their way back to Oakhurst, looking for Mr. Jacoby. As they come back to town, however, they find that his small office is closed. A quick inquiry tells them that he seems to have left for Drahar, to handle some business.
Without hesitation, the heroes (+1 draft horse that Muffin borrowed at one of the burned down farms near Willowwood) turn southward again, and head to Drahar. At the gate, they are stopped by some guards, who ask them all sorts of questions of their business there, and inform them of certain rules specific to Drahar, regarding magic, rituals, and residuum.
- All residents of Drahar have and must always carry their Certificate of Citizenship
- If you wish to trade in Drahar, you must own a Certificate of Trade (a different certificate applies to different types of goods - Muffin buys one that enables him to sell animals and one that enables him to sell weapons and armors)
- They are told that damages caused by magic are always fined at double normal rate.
- They are told that rituals that summon non-human creatures are strictly forbidden, as are rituals that rob the target of his or her free will.
- They are told that buying and selling residium with anyone but an official trader is strictly forbidden. Always ask to see his certificate. Such a certificate is not obtained as easily as most other certificates.
One inside Drahar, the heroes make their way through the different wards, heading to the Trade Ward, to inquire with the Trade Guild about the whereabouts of Mr. Jacoby. As it turns out, the Trade Guildhouse is closed for the night (it is close to sunset when they arrive), and they they crash in the nearest inn, a place called the Lucky Loon (North Ward)
Sonday 29th Mahrs, Year XYZ
The next morning, they went to the Trader's Guild, and got the adress of Mr. Jacoby's shop. As it turns out, it is located in the Night Ward, near the Seven Point Star. The heroes make it across town, but it is closed. They decide to wait in the inn next door, called the Black Raven Inn. There they taste the famous Black Raven Gin, served by Abraxus Hope, a tiefling of immense girth. They also have a chat with Leria, a young tiefling female, who apparently is a regular customer of the Black Raven Inn, along with her mysterious friend, who keeps to himself and his corner.
At some point, Brocun leaves the table, to go and see if Mr. Jacoby has arrived. He looks very surprised when he sees Brocun coming in his door, but thanks him for finishing the job, and goes out to the backroom to get the money. But he never comes back. Brocun checks it out, and it looks like Jacoby has fled. Brocun goes back to the inn, and tells the others what have happened. They search the shop, and find some papers that look like as if they have been dropped in a quick get-away. One type of paper is very official looking, with a sigil and such. That type of paper has a column of names, a column of prices (around 1-10 gp), and a column with the buyer's name. Each name appears to have a price and a buyer/payer. Occassionally two names are payed for by the same. The other paper looks much more un-official, but has no names in the buyer column. Instead the column of names group them in groups of 2 to 5 people, and the prices are much higher, ranging in the 100-200 gp per person.
The heroes think that Mr. Jacoby is part of a slave-operation, where he sends adventurers on bogus missions and has a deal with a tribe of kobolds to capture said adventurers and re-sell/deliver them at this place mentioned by the kobold - Castle Whiterock.
They decide to look for Mr. Jacoby near all gates, and on the east river bank, where the new wall is built. Alas, no luck.
They then decide to stake out the shop, and see if he maybe returns. While they wait, they want to try to figure out what the dwarven runes on the tablets and the copies that Muffin made says. They acquire some residuum (Muffin buys some of Zeke, but forgets to see his certificate, so Torn heads out and finds a certificated seller. Torn casts his first ritual (wuhu), comprehend languages, and reads the tablets. Meanwhile, Muffin has left, after him and Torn (and a few others) came into an argument over peaking in ritual books without permission.
The tablets with dwarven runes talk about a place called Danar Hold (later renamed Keep of Darkness) where a terrible disaster struck.
The keep was originally built for a definitive purpose, to guard over something, maybe in the keep, maybe nearby. However, one night, the leader of the keep, a dwarven paladin named Jeremiah went nuts and killed off most of the other guards, before he was finally neutralized. So horrible was his crime, that his former allies entombed him alive. Shortly after, the keep was deserted (unknown reasons) and the garrison (or rather what was left) was moved 60 miles to the south-east, to another keep, called Castle Whiterock.
Meanwhile, still pissed at the others, Muffin makes a copy of his drawings, and sells them to the Ancients, a guild of historians and explorers that are very interested in anything about the new world.
When he gets back, Torn uses his comprehend languages on those as well.
In the year 0, the Empire of Iron was founded by the Stonefist Dynasty. As the empire spread out, conquering more land, mighty dwarven cities were built in the mountains all over the world. Eventually, the Empire of Iron collided with another Empire, the Empire of the Sword, a hobgoblin empire pre-dating the dwarven empire by a couple of hundred years.
After many years of war, the hobgoblin capital of Xi'kir finally fell in 1416, to the might of the dwarves. Since there, there has been more than 800 years of relative peace. The Empire of Iron spawns more than 1500 miles from north to south, with the Stonefists ruling over more than 2 million dwarves and 20 millions from other races.
There is also mention of Kolar the Golden, who appears to be the god of the dwarves, but also god of crafting and wealth. The two statues in the dwarven temple were obviously representations of him, and the mountain with a gold coin his symbol.
Much of this debate happen in the Black Raven Inn, and Zeke announces to the heroes that he knows where Castle Whiterock is, and wishes to make a deal. They are not too happy about this, as they neither trust him, nor the Ancients. However, it could be problematic to find said place, without some help. So they strike a deal with Zeke, promissing him to bring back information about Castle Whiterock, and any non-magical items pertaining to the new world that could prove of interest. In exchange, he gets to read the copies that Muffin made, and he draws up a map that shows where Castle Whiterock.
Mansday 30th Mahrs, Year XYZ
So, the next day, the heroes head out into the Silent Forest, to find Castle Whiterock. Or not. As it turns out, it was merely a ruse. They plan on heading to Danar Hold. They gamble on the precision of dwarves to be able to find it, 60 miles north-west of Castle Whiterock, which is why they needed to know the location of Castle Whiterock.
Onsday 2nd Apryyl, Year XYZ
After a couple of days (on the second night, both moons are full) going through the forest, they are ambushed by five orcs. Luckily for them, Elar spots one of the orcs moments before they are attacked, and they get to keep a more advantegous position than else.
Encounter: An Orc Ambush (1 unconscious, 0 dead)
One of the orcs had a magical axe (+1 viscious) and another had a magical leather armor (+1). Brocun laid claim to the axe, while Erik got the leather. At the same time, it was decided to let Muffin (who meanwhile had learned some magic) hold the Staff of Winter.
Torsday 3rd Apryyl, Year XYZ
The heroes arrive near Castle Whiterock, which is built on a plateau on the mountainside, around 200' above ground level, with a large lake below it. They immediately turn north-west, lead by Elar.
Lordday 5th Apryyl, Year XYZ
After a couple of more days of jungle-trecking, the heroes are attacked at night by a horde of 20 kobolds.
Encounter: Lots of Kobolds (1 unconscious, 0 dead)
Sonday 6th Apryyl, Year XYZ
We finished with the heroes have just waking up, after their night of fun with kobolds....
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