Fireday, Sarenith 1, 4718 afternoon
Roderic’s Cove The Barracks

“Have you seen the Cove’s grinning old man?” Scald asked.

The caravan I was guarding had just returned from a quick trip (there and back again) to Riddlesport. I was on relatively friendly terms with Scald, one of the wagon drivers, who was from Roderic’s Cove and often brought up relatively useless bits of information about his home town.

I admitted my ignorance and a short while later we were standing before a wall where caravan wagons sheltered when staying in town. It was made from horizontally laid logs and the end of one had been carved into the menacing face of a grinning skull. The eyes looked oddly polished.

“Huh,” I replied, “Now that is interesting. Who did this?”

Scald said, “Nobody knows. It showed up some years ago. All of the local kids are terrified of it, and a rite of passage among the braver lads is to come here after dark and stick their fingers into the eye sockets.”

I had seen just such a carving in Riddlesport also near the caravan grounds there. We had called it “the caravan skull”, and it too had appeared some years ago when I was a child. It gave one the willies just looking at it, but I learned later it was probably a carving of Groetus: some minor deity related to Pharasma.

I’m sure there was a story behind the figures, but I doubt anyone but the person who carved them would be able to tell it.

Starday, Sarenith 2, 4718 night
Roderic’s Cove The Barracks

I have inadvertently become part of a team investigating the recent clashes between the area bandits, who call themselves the Road Keepers, and a local band of townfolk in search of a sense of belonging and answering to the name Hornfangs.

Apparently the Hornfangs consider it their duty to do something about the Roadkeepers, but up to a few weeks ago this had been limited to posturing and bluster. That changed during a midnight scuffle that left some of the Hornfangs dead in the town circle. Tensions have been high since then, but both sides kept away from one another.

Until today.

It was a market day at the Circle, and folks were wandering about the stalls socializing and doing their usual Starday shopping and selling. I was there looking for a better bow or maybe something odd bit of junk that turned out to be a priceless Thassilonian artifact… or just ancient junk. The Hornfangs were out and making brash and loud comments about how “something ought to be done” about the Roadkeepers. A few of us did our best to diffuse the situation, but we did notice one individual who seemed determined to keep poking the hornet’s nest.

Then a band of Roadkeepers crashed the party. Weapons were drawn on both sides, and once again a handful of us tried to get between the two groups to forestall any major blood letting. But it never came to that.

A ghostly form appeared and shouted, “Not in my cove!”

Well that was enough for me. And for most everybody else. We all scattered out from the square. I’ve never seen anything like it before, and while Fan would have been delighted at the spirit’s appearance, I could just see her shaking her head at my rapid departure.

By the time I returned the ghost had vanished and the town guard had arrived. A handful of other residents had returned with me (or had not been chased off by the figure in the first place).

Roderic’s Cove being what it is I knew everybody there (albeit some better than others). Yanor shared my enthusiasm for Thassilonian history and ruins, and we had discussed their ancient culture many times. He agreed with my assessment that the Circle itself was one such ruin, much like the Old Light in Sandpoint. Vlad and I had met while helping out the guards. The others I was less familiar with, although Jigu the halfling was hard not to recognize, as were the twins Sasha and Shura. Shimsa was still a bit of a mystery to me.

Audrahni arrived followed by Julit Freson. While I expected to see the captain of the guard I was surprised to see the elf. Of course everybody in Roderic’s Cove knew of Audrahni, and while I had seen her before I had never met her. The purpose of her presence in the town was fogged in gossip and rumor. She lived next to the graveyard and even acted as the town’s grave digger. But her interest and involvement in the well being her home apparently extended beyond this role.

We were questioned by Captain Freson and also by Audrahni. In fact it was Audrahni who asked the most questions and was most interested by the appearance of the ghost. Both she and the Freson were sure it was the ghost of Sir Roderic himself, founder of the town.

I had heard the stories about his ghost still haunting the Cove: defending it, some said, against threats. But to be honest I only half believed them and attributed most of the tales to excessive consumption of Possum’s fruit grog.

Audrahni noted that while most of us were new comers, we had taken it upon ourselves to try and prevent what could have been another violent confrontation. Because we had taken a special interest in the welfare of Roderic’s Cove, might we want to do more?

I looked around at the others gathered in a circle and realized she was right: most of us had only been in Roderic’s Cove for a handful of months, but we were the ones who had stepped up to take action when it was needed. And in so doing we appear to have forged a relationship with one another that united us as… well, as a team.

She asked to meet us over dinner at the Creekside — her treat (and who would say no to that?) — to discuss details of the recent developments. After she left and we were blinking at one another in surprise, I suggested we see which way the bandits (aka “Road Keepers”) had gone after the fled the Circle, and from whence they had arrived.

I have some skill as a tracker and was able to trace their route to (and from) the town center via from the ferry that provided a safe crossing over the mighty Chavali River. The woman who operated the ferry was still at her post. “Yes, those bandits crossed back over the river a short while ago,” she replied when I asked. Anybody who traveled in this region knew old Hallem and her devotion to running the ferry to all and sundry during daylight hours. I paid for a trip across the river and noted where the bandits’ tracks led into the forest on the far side. I was in no position to follow, and knowing the habits of bandits in general, suspected I was being watched. Hallem took me back across and volunteered that the Road Keepers had come across from that way earlier in the day.

We made our way to the Creekside, the only public house in Roderic’s Cove, for dinner with Audrahni. And that’s when she recruited our informal team to (informally) investigate the the activities of the Road Keepers and Hornfangs, and to find out why Sir Roderic’s ghost was not at peace.

The most startling news she shared was the state of the bodies from the last conflict between the rival groups. The casualties were all from the Hornfangs: six dead. But only one had physical wounds, and the others looked as if they died of fright.

Sunday, Sarenith 3, 4718 evening
Roderic’s Cove The Creekside Tavern and Inn

We split up early in the morning and spent the day nosing around town.

From the town guards Vlad learned that the leader of the Hornfangs was Jana Guildersleeves — daughter of the former town governor. But she’s kept a low profile since the deaths of her followers. They also thought the Roadkeepers called their leader “mother.” Cute.

I returned to Hallem and discovered that the Roadkeepers did not cross over the river (at least not by the ferry) on the day of the killings.

Jigu followed up on a lead about an eyewitness to the massacre: the young son of the town drunk. The boy provided an intriguing story in which the Roadkeepers played no part. He heard arguing from the Circle around midnight with a loud voice proclaiming, “You got no right. You are appropriating the Runelord symbol.” The man with the grievance had several friends with him and they were facing a woman, who drew a “broken sword” and pointed it at the man, who promptly fell. Then ghosts and monsters then appeared and killed the guy’s friends.

With the mention of a Runelord symbol it took no great leap to realize that a “horned fang” was an accurate description of the Rune of Wrath, and that Alasnist was the Runelord in question.

Vlad also discovered that the members of the Hornfangs that were rabble rousing in the Circle yesterday were nowhere to be found today. They had not shown up for work in the morning and nobody knew where they had gone.

We found Audrahni, reported our findings and told her we wanted to visit Sir Roderic’s old house (named by the locals, Roderic’s Wreck), which was a short walk out of town.

She told us that he and his family were attacked on the river and had all drowned. She then gave us a wand of Cure Light Wounds and some vials of holy water, just in case.

We decided to visit the Wreck the next morning.

Moonday, Sarenith 4, 4718 noon
Roderic’s Cove The Creekside Tavern and Inn

Perhaps the more I see ghosts and spooks the more calm I’ll remain while around them. I certainly hope so. I know what to expect from hostile thugs and corporeal creatures and how to deal with them. But incorporeal wisps of whatever that like to play weird mental games? Not so much.

Before heading over to Roderic’s Wreck Vlad found that the missing Hornfangs were still absent. Are they hiding from fear or planning some secret action?

Roderic’s old home was once an elegant and stately manor house perched upon the Chavali. Now it’s a dilapidated shambling heap falling into the river.

And it’s pest ridden too.

Before we even entered the place we were set upon by stirges: those large buzzing mosquito like things that plagued swampy areas. We cleared those pests off, and then found the first two rooms of the house were infested with giant cockroaches and swarms of spiders. We killed the former and used their corpses to lure the latter into a room and locked them in.

I found a map secured to the bottom of a desk drawer in the first room, but none of us knew what it represented, other than a vague location for some hidden item marked by an X and the letters “ST.SH”.

I moved into what was the family room, and appropriately enough there was Sir Roderic and his family seated in the chairs and on the sofa. They looked peaceful and happy enough… until they noticed me. “Get Out!” Sir Roderic yelled. Who was I to intrude upon this scene of post mortem family bliss? I quickly left, letting the others know we had found not only Sir Roderic but the rest of his family as well.

Sadly the spirits were gone when my companions investigated the room.

“OK,” I thought, “Let’s check out the kitchen. What could be hiding in there?”

An oozing blob. We made quick work of it and went upstairs, leaving the closet under the stairs with its splashy sounds for later.

Our first stop was the master bedroom, where Sir Roderic appeared once again. But this Roderic was not an angry ghost, and pleaded with us to save the Cove and… er, a gauntlet. And for us to save “them.” I found a hidy hole in the floor which contained a high quality case that was lined with lead. Inside was a wad of gum holding a pair of keys, and the interior shape was for holding a sword. The name “Baraket” was engraved on a plaque on the case, which was (is?) the name of Xanderghul’s sword, and was known to have an invisible blade.

Now we had a link to the Runelord of Pride as well as Wrath.

In a nearby storage room we encountered a handful of giant undead cockroaches, which we dispatched after retreating from the room and forcing them to come at us one at a time. But we found nothing else of interest in the room.

Next was a lounge, but it looked as if it had been ransacked. A skeletal figure snapped into view and shrieked.

Nope. I quickly made my way out from the room and down the stairs before realizing I was probably better off with the rest of the team even if there were ghosts rather than on my own with whatever I might encounter.

My companions had moved on to a map making room by the time I returned, and Sir Roderic made another appearance. Fortunately this was the sad and needy ghost who once again pleaded with us, but this time with more details and less moaning (but still some).

“My map! They took my map. It holds the key. Baraket will control them and it will control you. The vault! I should have taken the gauntlet, but I ran. You should find the map and the keys. The gauntlets will protect you from Baraket.”

I held up the map I found downstairs, but Roderic simply moaned and shook his head, saying “That is not my map” before fading away. Pity we didn’t have a chance to show him the keys that came with Baraket’s case.

And so to recap, Sir Roderic wants us to find his map (not to be confused with the map we already have), some keys (which may or may not be the ones we have — my money is on not), and a pair of gauntlets. We have a map that identifies the relative location of something, but we don’t know what nor do we know where the map is for.

We entered the remaining unexplored upstairs room and saw it was a nursery. Oddly enough (or not, given where we were and all that we had encountered already) we heard the soft sound of someone whimpering.

A small skeletal child stepped out from behind a wicker crib and gushed, “It’s so lovely for you to come and play with me!”

You’d think that would be freaky enough, but no, the damned thing spoke with Shura’s voice.

Shura hit it. To be honest, I would have done the same and in fact did so at the first opportunity. We killed it. What else could we do?

We returned to the closet door downstairs and prepared for something bad to happen. An aqueous orb rolled out and splashed onto the hallway floor, bringing with it a number of items from the closet.

We explored a little bit outside, but we found nothing else of interest, other than the map we had found did not appear to be for the area around the house. Finally we returned to Roderic’s Cove for some lunch at the Creekside (and a shot or two of whiskey for me) and to update Audrahni on what happened at the house.

Mental note: remember to thank Audrahni for giving us the wand, which proved invaluable.