III. To Belhaim

[onlyme]

Fulp eyes the situation and sets to go past the entangled croc.

[hedgeknight]

"Say the word and I'll chop it up fer ya!" Festus says, reaching for his axe.

If they decide to kill the beast, please roll for him as my online presence is limited and I don't want to hold the group up.
If not, Festus keeps his crossbow ready and continues on the path Silas indicates.

[AleBelly]

Sylvan replies to the halfling. "I'm just glad you were fast enough to hold him off long enough. Otherwise the spell would've blocked our path through the swamp."

At Festus' mention of hacking at the crocodile, Sylvan becomes agitated. "That damned dwarf has too much wax in his ears. Please keep him away from the grabby grass. As for how large an area is affected, it's roughly a square, seven men long on a side. Learned that the hard way from my gaffer. He slapped me up good when I got tangled up in my own enchantments. Now, let's make haste. I'm not wasting my spear on that thing, and Sparrow here must have the jitters."

Sylvan leads the group to the narrows of the swamp, avoiding the area of effect. He'll let others lead after that.

[Alethan]

Ciar shrugs and follows the human, skirting the area affected by the spell.

[Storm11]

Kassal will skirt the area too, encouraging Silas to follow carefully.

[OGRE MAGE]

Sparrow follows with his head hung in shame.

[Storm11]

"how much further is this place?" the gnome asks Silas, swatting at some flies that seem to be following him around the swamp.

[hedgeknight]

Festus moves up the line, really not understanding the intricacies of the "grabby grass" spell. He maneuvers to get as close to Silas as possible...because he doesn't trust the man very much at all.

[dmw71]

Sparrow, having familiarity with crocodiles from his past, walks up to the front of the creature, careful to avoid the twisting and wrapping foliage, and takes aim with his bow. He lets out one arrow, followed by another, but both get knocked away by the unpredictably writing weeds covering the scaled beast. After these attempts to kill the croc are unsuccessful, not wanting to waste more time and risk the spell wear off while they're still there, Sylvan leads the group to the narrows of the swamp, carefully avoiding the area of effect, with everyone else following behind. The group, on heightened alert, successfully navigates the dangerous, narrow section without further risk.

"How much further?" Kassal asks Silas once everyone is traveling along a more comfortable plot of land again. "A few more hours," the grumpy merchant replies.


After those promised few hours pass without incident, Silas begins to become more attentive to the surroundings on the side of the forest. "There!" he proclaims; the most excited the merchant has been since he was first encountered. Following Silas' extended arm and pointed index finger, a small, but well worn path opens leading into the forest. "Here, the forest is safe."

"To Belhaim," he says, passing Sylvan and taking the lead. Before long, the forest opens into a clearing and, as promised, a small, unassuming town presents itself, with hills looming off in the distance.

Belhaim.jpg (224.11 KiB) Viewed 698 times

Silas leads the group into the town without hesitation.

"I don't believe it, but there he is," a man's voice proclaims, and before anyone realizes it, Belhaim’s sheriff and his most skilled deputies converge upon Silas. Without warning, the deputies begin dragging the protesting merchant away. "You shouldn't have come back," the sheriff says as a crowd of locals begins to form.

The sheriff turns his attention to the rest of the party. "And you," he starts. "What is your roll in that man's smuggling operation?"



Actions?

[Alethan]

"We don't know nothin' about any smugglin', sherif,"Ciar steps forward quickly. "We were talkin' about headin' this way over bowls of stew last night at the Rusty Dragon in Sandpoint. He musta overheard us and said he was goin' this way, too, an asked could he tag along, safety in numbers an all that. Bein' the generous sort, we said sure."

He spits in the direction of the now-captive Silas and adds, "If I'd known he was a wanted smuggler, we would have brought him here in chains. Told you something was off with him," he turns to the others in the group with a scowl.

Looking back to the sherif, he finishes, "We're on the straight and narrow, sherif, you just ask around at Sandpoint. We saved the town from a goblin invasion on the day of that festival for the new church."

[Storm11]

"I had a feeling it was too good to be true! We were hired by this man to escort him here safely for a good fee. We did our job and I think we are owed our due frankly. says the gnome rolling his eyes.

[hedgeknight]

Festus says nothing as he watches the men drag Silas away and then only grunts at Ciar's lie. When Kassal speaks up with a different story, Festus sighs and looks back at his other companions. He sighs and shakes his head slightly...and prepares for the worst.

[onlyme]

Fulp cant help but release a chuckle.
Good man, this Silas was willing to pay us for the company here. Being young and, well to be honest a bit green as my pop would call it, we took him up on it. Since well, uh, we were walking this way anyhow. He never told us anything about what he was doing or why, and well, I guess none of us thought it was any of our business at the time.

[Alethan]

Ciar shrugs, "Didn't seem worth mentioning the fee after he was hauled away in chains; surely that's coin we'll never see. Though I would be interested in knowing if and when he is ever released..." He glares in the direction Silas was taken again.

[AleBelly]

"We've done nothing wrong" states Sylvan flatly. "And this situation is suspicious. Silas is a grumpy old bastard, and I'm not saddened to part ways with him. But he didn't seem a fool. He was happy to be back, and took no precautions on entering town. If he was guilty of something, I doubt he'd bound into town without disguise or guile. What grounds have you to detain him?"

[OGRE MAGE]

Sparrow studies the actions and expressions of Silas during the altercation. He tries to see if this whole thing was a set up to begin with in order to get free protection.

He also studies the face of the sheriff.

[dmw71]

"To Belhaim," he says, passing Sylvan and taking the lead. Before long, the forest opens into a clearing and, as promised, a small, unassuming town presents itself, with hills looming off in the distance.

A few additional details about your approach to Belhaim that I apparently forgot to mention. None are critical, but worth mentioning.

The well-traveled entrance into the forest you followed has a proper name -- the Verduran Highway. There were a few non-descript farms set off to the south side of this highway, and a still-watered creek to the north, which, you suspect, feed into the river you were following. To enter the town, you had to cross over a short, stable bridge spanning the seven or eight feet width of the water at that point.

Approaching Belhaim.png (343.47 KiB) Viewed 677 times

The next update will be up shortly.

[dmw71]

As Silas is detained and dragged off to the left, the Sheriff, hearing overlapping stories, quickly tunes out the protests of innocence; until Sylvan questions him on his authority. “You,” he starts authoritatively, “Have known him, what? A day? Two? Not that I need to justify my actions to you – a stranger – but I –“

“Oh, Pelle, you go on and mind your manners!” a kind, female voice is heard saying in as scolding a manner as she is capable of. “It’s obvious Silas has tooken advantage of these fine folks.”

Talia Orem.png (25.82 KiB) Viewed 674 times

“Let us welcome them as proper guests,” a middle-aged woman wearing a common dress, veil and apron says as she wraps a gentle arm around Sylvan and steers him towards the larger wooden structures (#4) just off to the right of the town’s entrance, and encourages the rest to follow. “I’m Talia,” she starts. “Talia Orem. And this --” she says, indicating the building she’s leading you to, “—is my inn, the Wise Piper.”

“You’ll stay here,” she says. ”You must be tired from your travels, and confused. I don’t blame you. I will fetch you a proper meal.” she rattles on. ”Sir Benhovy – the sheriff – is just doin’ his job. You don’t mind him.”



The group is seated at a long table and Talia quickly returns with a pitcher of watery mead and a plate of fresh bread with cheese and honey. “You sit. Rest. I’ll be back in a bit to see if there’s anything else you need,” she instructs before hurrying off to attend to other business.

[Storm11]

"I don't know about you lot, but something just ain't right here abouts! I sure would like to have a quiet word with shifty Silas now we have arrived!" The gnome snorts and downs some drink. We had best be wary here me thinks! he continues to whisper

[onlyme]

Fulp replies,
We have been getting lots of free dinners lately. At some point, that payment will come due. Wonder what these folks might need from us? more goblin bashin?