Arrival at Kuldhek

Friday, February 23, 2019 AD
Postredies, Araunum 20, 2204 DE

Having left their hometown of Septenes on the Lake Thar together five days prior, Samuel, Sybel, Nielas, and Stephye arrived, exhausted, at the Blushing Maiden Inn in the town of Kuldhek.

In the morning as they broke fast the party chatted with the Innkeeper/Mayor of Kuldhek, Thiombur, asking about goblin raids in the area. Thiombur mentioned that there had been perhaps five or six this year. They had all been raids on outlying homesteads to the east, north of the road to Boulgerie, conducted at night, and hitting just a single farm to steal livestock and valuables. Invariably the family on the farm would be slaughtered. Thiombur said that the most recent raid had been six or seven weeks ago on a farm about halfway to Boulgerie. After asking Thiombur about hiring a guide he suggesting asking the grocer, Higherdall, whether his boy might be interested.

The party made arrangements with Thiombur to return to the Inn that night then proceeded to Higherdall's Foodstuffs a few doors south of the Inn where they provisioned with a few days' worth of trail rations and inquired about Higherdall's son. Alard Higherdall, the son, a young man of about 20 years, was happy to guide the group out to the ruined homestead for 3 silver coins a day. He brought out one of his own horse blankets and demonstrated packing and loading the party's provisions and extra gear on Samuel's mule.

By 10 in the morning the group began their travel east along the road to Boulgerie. A few miles from town the road passed out of the wood and into more open farmland with farms scattered widely and no traffic on the road. By 5 in the afternoon they reached the site of the most recent raid. Farms here had become more tightly spaced, perhaps four to a mile of road. Investigating the home they found that aside from the bashed in door and bloodstains in the bedrooms, the house was in order, but any goods and valuables that the raiders had left behind were now gone including whatever had been kept in the kitchen floor hidey-hole that Nielas found. Asking Alard, Sybel found that the farm had passed to a cousin, he thought, and wasn't sure what the plans were for the farm. Sybel asked Alard to look into that question when they returned to town, thinking that the party might be interested in purchasing it.

With only about an hour of daylight remaining, the party visited the next closest farm to see what additional information these farmers might have about the raiders. Unfortunately, the man of the house had no information to add, and a visit to the next farm after that proved equally fruitless. Running out of light at this second farm, the party asked permission to stay the night and offered coin for the privilege. Refusing any payment, the farmer's wife offered their kitchen floor or the barn as the only accommodation they had to share. The party accepted the hospitality of the barn and set a watch schedule for the night. Two days before both Cina and Lina would be full in the sky the moons were up and shedding plenty of light after the sun set. Lina set an hour and a half before dawn , Cina having set an hour or two earlier, and the night became quite dark. Stephye roused Nielas to help keep watch in the darker conditions. Not long after, and before dawn, the family was up and two of the children were in the barn to milk cows.

As the party travelled back to Kuldhek, Samuel asked Alard about any libraries in town. Alard said that there weren't any, but that Samuel should ask the brewer, Brent Jolsar, whom Alard thought might have a small, private collection of books. In general conversation with Alard, Sybel found out there was an abandoned town in the woods two or three days west of Kuldhek. He had been to it before a couple of years ago and it was pretty interested to see the old foundations and so on. The party asked if he would guide them and fight with them for a share in any treasure recovered. Alard agreed he could guide them, but he was not a fighting man and expected protection from them in order to go.

They arrived back at Kuldhek by lunch on Conderedies.