Post by hubertbartels on Mar 13, 2017 13:55:40 GMT -5
(Aerwyn Reporting)
It was now the month of Wheelsun – getting closer to mid-summer. In the three weeks since our return from Hickory House, we had been relaxing and working on our day jobs. I (Aerwyn) had managed to transcribe a few more spells in my spellbook.
Lord Severan was now sending small patrols into that part of the Gamborge forest to ensure that the goblins would not return. There was also a strange incident out at the Westwood Buttery – several dairy cows had gotten loose. Two adjoining fence posts had been pushed into the pasture. Most of the cattle had been recovered but it was believed that a few had ended up in the larders of the neighbors. Westwood Buttery was one of four butteries within an hour of Severan’s Mill.
It was tax season and the herds were being culled to provide the cattle to pay taxes. Herdsmen and soldiers would then guide the cows, sheep and goats up north towards the Theocracy of the Pale. This was resented by the local farmers. Herdsmen and and soldiers had been recently attacked.
The most outrageous and successful was a brigand known as the ‘The Grey Fox’. With gray hair and wearing a mask of a grey fox and leading a band of thirty to forty mounted rebels, the Grey Fox had attacked tax herds all over Lord Severan’s holdings. Recently, they had killed the son of the mill owner. She was offering a reward of 100 sp for the capture or killing of this bandit. The royal representative, the reeve Dame Bronwyn was offering a reward of 500 sp for the Grey Fox – preferably alive.
The last attack of the Grey Fox was just outside the village of Trembly. Five soldiers and herdsmen had been killed and two more were seriously injured. They had been left in a hospitalry outside of Trembly. We decide to start our hunt by questioning the two survivors.
So taking walking sticks and backpacks in hand, we set out for the day’s journey to Trembly. It was hot and sunny. About halfway in our journey, we broke for lunch at Motte Severan. The ruins still showed signs of the massive assault of Iuz’s forces that destroyed the castle. Around late afternoon, we walked into Trembly. It was half the size of Severan’s Mill, about 500 people. The village looked a bit run down. There were two places to stay overnight – the Trembly Inn and the caravansary. We opted for the private rooms and freedom from mules and horses that the Trembly Inn offered. The one substantial building in the village was the stone tower of the reeve.
After a dinner of grilled meats at the inn, we walked over to the tower. Dame Bronwyn brought us up to date and filled us in on what she knew. Then we returned to the inn and our small but comfortable rooms. It was very quiet.
In the morning, we came down to busy common room. Dame Bronwyn had given us the names of the survivors and the directions to the hospitalry. Heading south, we walked past the church of Pholtus. In an hour, we could see the hospitalry, itself a fortified structure. There was another church of Pholtus inside along with a barracks and the hospital proper.
Passing through the heavily constructed gates, we stop a Sister of Pholtus and ask after the two survivors. She directed us to the ward in which Thomas and Minali were recovering. Minali had taken a head injury and Thomas had lost an arm just below the elbow. When we got into the ward, Thomas was awake.
He told us that the attackers were a couple of dozen, all mounted but some of them didn’t look like accomplished horsemen. Most were wearing jack armor but the Grey Fox was wearing chain. The men were unmasked and he didn’t recognize any of them – but one young man, he could swear that he had seen his features here in the hospital ater, being treated by Healer Mika.
Talking to the sister in charge of the ward, we learn the hospital takes in all injured, irregardless of who they are. Sister Hester recognized the young man as Cadrien, a man that works on Dame Griselda’s place. Cadrien was an unlucky man, always showing up at the hospital for one injury or another.
Dame Griselda, we remembered, was in her late sixties, a cousin of Lord Severan and one of the larger estate holders in the area. She was a landed knight, a wealthy landowner in her own right and someone not to be trifled with.
We decided to return to the Trembly Inn and learn more about the local landowners.
It was now the month of Wheelsun – getting closer to mid-summer. In the three weeks since our return from Hickory House, we had been relaxing and working on our day jobs. I (Aerwyn) had managed to transcribe a few more spells in my spellbook.
Lord Severan was now sending small patrols into that part of the Gamborge forest to ensure that the goblins would not return. There was also a strange incident out at the Westwood Buttery – several dairy cows had gotten loose. Two adjoining fence posts had been pushed into the pasture. Most of the cattle had been recovered but it was believed that a few had ended up in the larders of the neighbors. Westwood Buttery was one of four butteries within an hour of Severan’s Mill.
It was tax season and the herds were being culled to provide the cattle to pay taxes. Herdsmen and soldiers would then guide the cows, sheep and goats up north towards the Theocracy of the Pale. This was resented by the local farmers. Herdsmen and and soldiers had been recently attacked.
The most outrageous and successful was a brigand known as the ‘The Grey Fox’. With gray hair and wearing a mask of a grey fox and leading a band of thirty to forty mounted rebels, the Grey Fox had attacked tax herds all over Lord Severan’s holdings. Recently, they had killed the son of the mill owner. She was offering a reward of 100 sp for the capture or killing of this bandit. The royal representative, the reeve Dame Bronwyn was offering a reward of 500 sp for the Grey Fox – preferably alive.
The last attack of the Grey Fox was just outside the village of Trembly. Five soldiers and herdsmen had been killed and two more were seriously injured. They had been left in a hospitalry outside of Trembly. We decide to start our hunt by questioning the two survivors.
So taking walking sticks and backpacks in hand, we set out for the day’s journey to Trembly. It was hot and sunny. About halfway in our journey, we broke for lunch at Motte Severan. The ruins still showed signs of the massive assault of Iuz’s forces that destroyed the castle. Around late afternoon, we walked into Trembly. It was half the size of Severan’s Mill, about 500 people. The village looked a bit run down. There were two places to stay overnight – the Trembly Inn and the caravansary. We opted for the private rooms and freedom from mules and horses that the Trembly Inn offered. The one substantial building in the village was the stone tower of the reeve.
After a dinner of grilled meats at the inn, we walked over to the tower. Dame Bronwyn brought us up to date and filled us in on what she knew. Then we returned to the inn and our small but comfortable rooms. It was very quiet.
In the morning, we came down to busy common room. Dame Bronwyn had given us the names of the survivors and the directions to the hospitalry. Heading south, we walked past the church of Pholtus. In an hour, we could see the hospitalry, itself a fortified structure. There was another church of Pholtus inside along with a barracks and the hospital proper.
Passing through the heavily constructed gates, we stop a Sister of Pholtus and ask after the two survivors. She directed us to the ward in which Thomas and Minali were recovering. Minali had taken a head injury and Thomas had lost an arm just below the elbow. When we got into the ward, Thomas was awake.
He told us that the attackers were a couple of dozen, all mounted but some of them didn’t look like accomplished horsemen. Most were wearing jack armor but the Grey Fox was wearing chain. The men were unmasked and he didn’t recognize any of them – but one young man, he could swear that he had seen his features here in the hospital ater, being treated by Healer Mika.
Talking to the sister in charge of the ward, we learn the hospital takes in all injured, irregardless of who they are. Sister Hester recognized the young man as Cadrien, a man that works on Dame Griselda’s place. Cadrien was an unlucky man, always showing up at the hospital for one injury or another.
Dame Griselda, we remembered, was in her late sixties, a cousin of Lord Severan and one of the larger estate holders in the area. She was a landed knight, a wealthy landowner in her own right and someone not to be trifled with.
We decided to return to the Trembly Inn and learn more about the local landowners.