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Session Two: The Fledgling Diplomat


The wagon creaked as the lone horse pulled it along, swaying gently with the swells and bumps in the road; the new wheel seemed to be holding well, and Wynn-frid and Balgus rode in relative comfort. They reached the home of Balgus and Thelga, a humble one-story home on the outskirts of a small village known as Brindor. The house was well-made, using wood from the trees growing near the village and stone carted from the mountains by merchants. As they approached, Wynn spied a stout Dwarven woman with long grey hair tied in a tight braid, wearing a long woolen smock and holding gardening shears. She gathered this was Thelga, and Balgus confirmed the notion.

Thelga greeted the newcomer with warmth, and offered her a meal and some coffee (Starbarks, made from the bark of local trees, ground into a coarse powder). Wynn gratefully accepted, and spoke with Thelga, an above-average herbalist, about Balgus' condition and the plant life around the area. Thelga seemed convinced that Balgus was correct in his belief that he had been cursed, and repeated his warning to stay away from the Goblin cave. Wynn assured her she would steer clear, and the two continued in conversation for a while.

After finishing her lunchtime meal, Wynn bid the Dwarves farewell and began her trek towards the cave. She was curious about the Goblin "wizard" and the true nature of Balgus' condition, which she knew to be the result of a poison of some sort. She found the cave easily, being able to spot its concealed entrance with her keen vision. She began calling out to the Goblin as soon as she was in view of the cave, and while she crept inside towards the dark interior.

As Wynn walked into the cave, she kept an eye out for traps, especially those of the poison variety, and as she neared a widening section of the cavern, narrowly avoided having a small poison needle embedded in her shoulder. She examined the needle and noted that it would make the exact type of mark she had seen on Balgus' hand earlier. She stowed the needle in her backpack and kept going.

Wynn continued to call out to the Goblin as she neared what appeared to be its camp; a burned-out fire surrounded by skinned animals hanging from lines, a smelly bedroll to the side, and a small pile of belongings indicating that someone or something was using this space as a living area. She was about to examine the pile of belongings when she was surprised by a cut to her leg from behind her. She spun around and saw a male Goblin, less than half her height, holding a scimitar in his hand, red with her blood. Wynn immediately began talking to the Goblin in Common, but her words seemed to have no effect.

The Goblin lunged at her again, and Wynn avoided the blow, still making no aggressive move towards him. Confused by her lack of hostility, the Goblin faltered. As Wynn continued to say "Talk. Not fight.", the Goblin lowered his weapons and appeared to be listening. Eventually, through some persuasion and cajoling, Wynn convinced the Goblin to speak with her. He responded in broken Common, and through some gesticulation and inference, she was made to understand that his name was Larx, and that he had come to this cave seeking refuge after being kicked out from his tribe.

Wynn produced the needle dart and asked Larx if he had made the poison that it was laced with. He said that he did, and opened a satchel to show her multiple vials of the poison and the antidote. He gave her some antidote vials after she told him that her friend the Dwarf had gotten poisoned with one of the needle traps. Larx apologized for the trouble, and told Wynn that he had decided to go into the village when she returned to Balgus. Scraping out an existence in this cave was no way to live and he was prepared to face whatever judgment Balgus and the villagers deemed necessary. Larx was ready for the conflict to end, one way or another.

The two ventured forth towards the village, with Larx walking behind Wynn. As they neared the village, a young woman spotted them, screamed, and ran towards Balgus' home. By the time Wynn and Larx caught up, Balgus was waiting for them, dressed in his plate mail and holding a massive warhammer. Wynn bade Larx wait, and approached Balgus and Thelga with her hands out. She spoke to Thelga from a distance, imploring her to look at her husband's wound from a herbalist's perspective; Thelga obliged and immediately slapped Balgus in the back of the head. She identified the wound as poisonous, and accepted the offer of the antidote.

Thelga handed Balgus the antidote, which he drank out of spite, expecting it to kill him, which would prove the Goblin was duplicitous. However, as the antidote coursed through his veins, Balgus' cough faded and his hand ceased hurting. In a huff, Balgus retreated inside and Thelga welcomed Larx and Wynn into their home.

Through some shared coffee and food, Larx, showing a much better command of the Common language than previously exhibited, explained to Thelga and Balgus that he had defied his clan chief a few months ago when they were tasked with raiding a human village. Larx had refused, seeing no point to the senseless slaughter of more people, and trying to get his chief to talk to the humans rather than kill them. His chief had taken this as an open challenge, and the two had fought. Larx lost, but instead of killing him, the chief had decided to disgrace him by forcing him aboveground with no clan name.

Balgus and Thelga also listened to Wynn-frid's tale of how she had entered Larx's cave, and the two had almost fought, but he had ended up giving her the antidote for Balgus' ailment. Through careful negotiation and Wynn's influence, the two Dwarves agreed to take Larx on as a guard for their wagon when they made trips to the other trade towns. Larx would also work the fields around the village, and in return, he would be built a small house on Balgus' property. Larx was made to understand that he could earn a place in the village, but he would have to prove himself worthy of trust and responsibility first. He readily agreed, and told all gathered that it was nice to have someone to talk to again, even if they weren't Goblins.

Satisfied with the day's work, Wynn-frid slept in Balgus' house, at Thelga's insistence, and when she awoke, she prepared to be on her way. Larx met her at the door, however, and told her that there were some interesting things back in the cave, if she was willing to delve a bit deeper to find them. Wynn said that she might, and she left the house. She decided to see what was in the cave, and, making her way back quickly to Larx's former campsite, noticed an opening in the cave wall she had missed earlier.

Going through the opening, Wynn came upon a much larger chamber. In here, she found four humanoid skeletons, long rotted and decayed, along with a cave Troll skeleton. Feeling a bit paranoid, she went around and prodded each skeleton, ensuring that they wouldn't be coming back to life. Satisfied, she began investigating the area, finding some small treasures as she did. Behind a large boulder, she spied a leather strap, and upon further investigation, found a Bag of Holding attached to another skeleton. Nearby was a scroll, still in pristine condition, indicating that it was probably magical in nature. She opened the scroll, which flashed with a blue light that resolved into an arcane sigil she didn't recognize. It was a raised, closed fist facing forward, with Draconic runes encircling it. She didn't want to take the time to examine it fully just yet, so she pocketed the scroll and took the Bag of Holding, and went back out of the cave.

After walking for a few hours until dusk, Wynn decided to rest for the night. She laid out her items, and knowing something about Bags of Holding, she turned her newfound satchel inside-out, spilling its contents onto the forest floor. It contained two potions, a ring, and another scroll. This scroll was written in Common, and addressed to someone named "Beltar". It seemed to be a missive telling Beltar that the adventuring party had stopped to rest in a cave, but were on their way to meet someone. Wynn also discovered that, if she put flame behind the paper, there was some hidden writing that said the scroll with the arcane sigil was a Teleportation Scroll, and that it was to be used only in an emergency. At the bottom of the letter was the same sigil as the one on the Teleportation scroll, but with the words in Common, "The Brotherhood of the Vestige".

Wynn-frid's knowledge of the Vestige was scarce, but she did know that the group used to be an ancient cult whose members had all faded away and presumably died out over the years; this scroll had been locked away for over a hundred years, it seemed. Wynn tucked her newfound belongings away and set herself up to rest for the evening. She was close to Telim, and worrying about an ancient cult was the least of her concerns at this point. The Vestige was gone. Right?

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