Kriv, still in mourning over the death of her sister, decided to stay in the temple for the day, praying and meditating. Jaden, however, decided to get a jump on things and went out into the city to continue their quest. She quickly and easily found Qualion's; since it was by now only mid-day, the tavern was mostly quiet. The symbol in question was clearly visible on the back wall of the building, painted in a ill-lit corner clearly some time ago.
A young Eladrin male stood behind the bar, and Jaden decided to sit down and try to talk to him. His name was Draier, and he said that his family had owned this tavern for generations. He did not know what the symbol was and what it meant. He mentioned that his aunt, who was in fact named Qualion, would probably be the one to know what it meant. (Even though the tavern has been in the family for centuries, apparently it burned down some decades back, and since Qualion assumed responsibility for rebuilding and restoring it, she also named it after her.) However, he revealed that Qualion was now dead.
Jaden was a little discouraged. But Draier was friendly (and apparently a bit curious about Tieflings) and so she was able to convince him to ask his family about the symbol when he got a chance. He agreed, and Jaden left. Not able to find out anything else about town, she returned to the temple of Moradin.
As dusk was falling, Artin came down to collect Kriv and Jaden. She led them up into a high room in the temple, and opened the door to reveal a dazed, but perfectly restored, Kava (wrapped in a sheet since all of her gear was currently in Jaden's bag of holding). Kava and Kriv shared a tearful reunion, Jaden returned Kava's gear, and Artin bid them a tired good-night. The three all returned to their guest quarters and awaited the next morning.
Again, Artin awoke them early, relieved Jaden of Rougi's corpse, and disappeared into the high room of the temple. Lacking much to do, Kriv and Kava spent the day relaxing at the temple; Jaden made a brief jaunt out into the city to have her bag of holding cleaned, but also just kind of wiled away the day. Artin came to collect them at about the same time as the day before, and presented Rougi, now fully restored.
Rougi realized quickly he'd was out some coins, and decided that his first order of business was to replenish his stores. He and Jaden slipped away from Kriv and Kava and made their way up into the wealthier part of town, where he found a vulnerable house and stole a medium-value artifact.
Joining back up with Kriv and Kava they returned to Qualion's, which by now was in the middle of the dinner rush. Draier was very busy, and even though Jaden tried to talk to him a few times, he said he hadn't had a chance to talk to any of his family members and had no other real information to give. Rougi tried unsuccessfully to locate a stolen goods dealer through some discreet inquiries, and eventually the party decided the tavern was a wash at this point.
Since Qualion was dead, and it seemed as if she was their only hope of finding out anything about the symbol and the people associated with it, the party decided to attempt to locate her grave, in the hopes that they could convince a cleric to do Speak With Dead at some point. It took a good bit of searching and guesswork to locate the right graveyard, and it was almost midnight before their search turned up the right headstone.
Given the lateness of the hour, they decided to go ahead and return to the temple for the night. Upon returning, they saw the clerics performing a devotion; afterwords they caught up with Artin and asked her if she would be willing to perform the ritual. She agreed, for 300 gp (which meant 75 gp from each party member). Then she said good night and the party retired to their beds.
Once again, Artin go them up at dawn (Kriv, Kava and Jaden were still a bit groggy); payment was rendered, Artin went and collected the spell components, and they proceeded down to the grave. (Upon arriving they realized they'd forgotten a shovel so Artin and Rougi went back quickly for it.) They unearthed Qualion's head, and the party discussed what question(s) they wanted to ask her; since Qualion was not a worshipper of Moradin in life, they were probably only going to get one question, and they needed to make it count. When they had finally decided, Artin began the ritual.
At Artin's magic command, Qualion's eyes opened. Rougi, speaking for the group, asked where they could find living people that would know about the symbol. She responded, "My old gang, Dayman, Erevan, Soveliss, and Maivera." Her eyes then closed once more in death.
The party was unsure of what to do next. They reburied the head, and bade Artin farewell, then returned to the tavern, where they found Draier once again. He knew those names, knew they were friends of Qualion, but believed they left Elslein long ago. They asked if he knew anything more, or where they went, but he didn't. Kriv, using her most diplomatic manner, asked if there was a chance that any of his family might now, and if it would be possible to talk with them. Draier said Qualion's sister, his other aunt, might, and that he would be happy to introduce them later that evening. "Come back to the tavern after dinner," he said.
While Kriv and Kava sat down to a mid-day meal, Rougi and Jaden once again went in search of a fencer. They found one without much difficulty this time, and even managed to bluff and cheat the man into paying them 1,500 gp (which they then split) for a item that was probably worth only 1,000.
By this time it was only a little after noon. The party was eager to do something, itching for a fight, so they began to try to scout out some work. One person in town mentioned that one of the human villages in the forest was in need of someone to eliminate a dangerous pest that was stealing their crops. The party debated whether to buy horses and attempt to make the trip, but decided it was not worth it. They did, however, venture into the forest, hiking up a dirt path that led into the trees, hoping to find someone to scrap with.
Something, however, found them; after about an hour of crashing noisily into the brush, a swarm of four fire beetles lit upon them, spraying fire bursts and biting them. The party handily defeated them however; one of them tried to run, and Kriv neatly polished it off. After resting a bit, they headed back to Elslein. They ate a hearty early dinner, and the retired to Qualion's for a round of drinks to celebrate their victory.As the dinner rush trickled out, Draier came to them and declared he was ready to go. The party got up to follow him; in surprise, he declared that he was only planning to bring Jaden. Kriv and Kava were okay with this, but Rougi, ever suspicious, snuck along behind the two of them.
Draier led Jaden to his family's home, where several generations appeared to live. They chatted with a few of his other relatives, then went to meet his aunt. She did not have much else to say than what had gone before, but did reveal that Erevan and Soveliss moved to Summercrest, a human city outside the forest, though she doesn't know where Dayman and Maivera went. She has not heard from them since they moved (they weren't her friends after all, just Qualion's). Jaden thanks her for her information, and takes her leave from Draier. He seems a tad miffed, but does not pursue her.
Rougi mock ambushes Jaden as she leaves; they rejoin the sisters and discuss what to do next. The party concludes that even though this information is a bit vague, it is the best lead they have, and they may as well begin the journey to Summercrest. Since it is almost two week's walk and the Dragonborns are too large for horses, they decide to begin their journey now, even though it is quite dark and will be time to camp in only a few hours.
The party walks down to the city gates, setting out on the narrow road that leads out of the forest to the south. Doing so takes them right by the temple of Moradin. Just as they are leaving the city, three goblins emerge from the forest. They look surprised to see the party, but do not hesitate to attack. Kriv and Kava are at a special disadvantage since in the low-light they cannot even see their enemies, unless they get pretty close to the torch Kava is carrying. Yet despite all this, Kava and Rougi prove fast and deadly, and make short work of these brutes. The high point of the battle is when one of the goblins comes at Kava, and she, in a startling burst of power, swings a mighty blow with her great-axe, and completely annihilates the goblin in a shower of blood! Rougi dispatches the other two goblins with attacks no less overwhelming. The whole battle is over in a matter of moments.
The clerics of Moradin, attracted by the noise of the fight, come down to see what is going on. In the end, the party decides to stay one more night at the temple.
The next morning, as they are leaving, they also see Artin heading back to Zaimier. She thanks them for their help the night before; from what they can tell, those goblins were worshipers of Gruumsh, a bitter enemy of Moradin, and so the party may very well have averted a hate crime. She cautions them to be careful in the forest; she had never heard of ghouls living here, much less attacking anyone, and wonders if maybe the forest is getting more dangerous.
The party bids her a fond farewell (as Rougi tries to extort that much more gold from her) and then, refreshed and emboldened by their accomplishments, set out for Summercrest once more.
Rewards
XP: 700 each
Money: 720 gp, to be distributed out to the whole party
Treasure: None (sorry, goblins and beetles just don't have a whole lot of valuables)
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