They returned at mid-day from The Wreck. What an adventure they found for themselves, too. It seems to me that there is still some cleanup that needs to be done later, as they left behind some dangerous creatures, but if we can find what will allow Sir Roderic to go to his final rest, some of that may go away on its own, so I am content continuing to pursue that goal first. Not to mention the fact that an abandoned building such as that is bound to continue attracting vermin and other animals anyway.

Their tale was fascinating. From what they said, I believe they did in fact have Aurek himself manifest to them at least twice. The other encounters they had with him (and, astonishingly, his family) are, I think, merely haunts left behind in the house. Those, I think, will dissipate on their own. Interesting that they also managed to open the water-filled closet that almost killed that poor girl a while back. I should have warned them about that, even though the town boarded it up after that last incident. I forgot to ask them if they secured it again. A remnant, no doubt, of the watery tragedy that claimed Sir Roderic’s life and the lives of his wife and children.

The poltergeist concerns me, however. I cannot think of a connection it would have to Roderic and so I suspect it won’t leave on its own until someone goes in there and deals with it directly.

Reading between the lines, I suspect the old home is short a few valuables since yesterday, but from my point of view, considering the service being performed to the Cove and Roderic himself, I doubt he would mind. Being deceased with no living descendants would tend to change one’s attachment to material possessions, I should think.

My main concerns are centered around Roderic’s messages and a few things they found in the house.

I am sure Corstela would go to great lengths to get her hands on the sword case they found. I’m equally sure she shouldn’t, but I’m probably just letting an old grudge get in the way of my judgement, but even keeping her from having one more excuse to be pompously full of herself is a benefit. Roderic himself was particularly focused on the sword the box apparently contained.

The Cove.

Stone house in the woods.

Gauntlet.

Save them.

My map.

The key.

Curious and cryptic to a maddening degree. And intriguing nonetheless. The map fragment they found with the initials “St. Hs.” would seem to be a natural match to the stone house, whatever that is.

They took my map.

Find the map. They took the map. To town.

True, a long time ago the town took all the maps Sir Roderic had drawn to the town hall. They are of impressive quality, but I don’t recall anything abnormally important about any of them. I should ask Larenza to let me take a look through them.

Holds the key.

What holds the key? What key? To what?

Baraket will control them. May control you.

If Baraket is the sword the team talked about, this is quite a concern. All we need is some item imbued with malevolent power running amok in the Cove. We must find out what that warning actually means and what to do about it.

Must endure where I did not.

There’s a mystery. Sir Roderic was said to have been a brave soul, feared by his enemies as much as he was loved by his friends. What bested his resolve? He was, as they say, only human, after all. Everyone has a weakness.

The vault. It lies still in the vault.

This is a mystery, too. I have never heard of The Wreck having a vault, nor do I think there is a vault in the Cove, although there could be one in the town hall, Peacock Manor, or in a private residence that I would have no knowledge of. How to conduct a search for this vault without arousing suspicion?

The party said they fought some kind of misshapen abomination north of the Cove before meeting me. They dropped it off with the scholars at Peacock Manor. That should keep them occupied for a while. I will look with interest to see if they can manage to figure anything out about them, or what wild tales they will come up with to appear as though they know exactly what’s going on and how lucky we all are that they are here in town to know everything oh, so much better than everyone else.

That’s it, I need a drink.