Quickly making their way from the environs of The Rouge Lady before Teedum's thugs can regroup and raise a posse to take revenge on them, the party hustles off into the night. Chief Tea-Cozy, the surprisingly animated wooden Indian with the amazing Wand of Cats disappears into the night like a phantasm, prompting Sif and Najáre to take a moment to track the well-traveled lanes and set to following his scent but he is gone like the leaves of a tree in winter, leaving nothing but a strange, otherworldly woody smell and the faint hint of cigarillos. Belton flies into the skies to see if he can spot him on the streets, 60 feet into the air but a little too close to the Manor of Thudlrin Kreed, which even at night is guarded by a paranoid band of lethal crossbowmen twelve-strong, who are ever vigilant for the return of the terrible Harpies who plagued this town once in the past and sorely frightened it's populace. The bowmen spot him immediately and though he is at long range, they fire a few shots, barely missing him and causing him to think better of soaring about over Falcon's Hollow.
Not wanting to stay on the streets too long, they hurry off to the one Inn of Falcon's Hollow, Jak-a'- Napes. A ramshackle inn leaning precariously against the town's stables that offers food and lodging to travelers passing through Falcon's Hollow. There they meet the rotund and ruddy Jak Crimmy, proprietor and retired troubadour who sports an easy smile and always has a warm welcome, a solid meal, and a tale or two ready for weary visitors. This late at night, they find him napping near the door.
They have chosen just the right place to flee too in order to escape Kreed's bullies as for some reason, Kreed never sets foot in the inn, a peculiarity that's the source of many a wild rumor. Some claim Jak is related to the old Samkil family, and some strange magic pact or fey curse bars Kreed from taking action against this last scion of the Kreed family's old competitors. Others whisper that Jak was once a member of the Talons, one of the most notorious adventuring parties in Darkmoon Vale, which would make him a very dangerous man. Whatever the truth is, Jak won't give credence to any of the tales , saying only that he is a retired entertainer from far off Riddleport. When asked about Kreed, he merely shrugs and laughs.
Just as they enter, they are approached in the street by a woman who appears from the shadows like a wraith, surprising them in their weariness. She asks if they are the same heroes who helped The Old Man of the Woods in the Arthfell Forest at the behest of Sherrif Blundde of the Shire of Elberwick. Belton, always truthful when convenient, admits that they are, as he is interested in this strangely-dressed woman's knowledge of them. She asks to speak with them but they are tired and put her off till the next morning after they have rested. She accepts this promise and disappears into the night. Belton soars into the sky to follow her but she disappears between two hovels and he dares not fly off alone in this strange hamlet of nervous crossbowmen.
The party returns to Jak a' Napes and the ladies procure a multi-bedded merchant's quarters while Belton sleeps in a single room with simple decor commonly used by traveling priests. Chief Tea Cozy takes up a station outside to watch the Inn and keep an eye on things, unbeknownst to the heroes within. Sif, ever-cautious, bribes Jak to tell no-one that they are here. The group peel off their armor and sleep the good sleep of beds in a civilized room.
Tanda
The next day they awaken find that Tanda is already at the Jak-a-napes waiting for them. Sif eyes Jak menacingly after having bribed him to keep quiet about their presence here but he just shrugs like there's nothing he could do. The party agrees to follow Tanda to a more private location and she leads them to a cottage in the Tower District in the shadow of Sharvaros Vade's menacing, gargoyle haunted Tower. As they gather, the fairy-cursed, un-sleeping wooden mockery of Quick Jim creeps from his vantage point where he kep silent vigil over his mortal friends as they slept to a new vantage point that allowed him to spy on the cottage of Tanda and keep a sharp eye on the roadway for the approach of Kreed's Thugs. Who surely must come along soon to wreak their vengeance upon these wandering upstarts for daring to shame them with defeat in from of townspeople ot Falcon's Hollow. An affront that cannot be allowed if they are to maintain their iron grip of fear on the populace.
Tanda is as mysterious as ever as she explains how our heroes actions have caught the attention of other parties, interested in the welfare of Andoran. She seems to know more than she is letting on but seems genuinely interested in helping the people of Falcon's Hollow. She implores the party to help the Apothecary, Laurel Gebre who serves as the towns herbalist and healer for those who cannot afford the services of, or eschew the deity of, Lady Cirthana Gensar at the Temple of Iomedae. Despite anemic competition from other faiths and a demonstrated record of care for the town's residents, few locals trust Cirthana, and most lay their medical concerns at Laurel's feet instead. The Lumber Consortium has made itself clear in denouncing the Inheritor's meddling in the town's affairs, and the locals oblige by avoiding the temple as much as possible.
Tanda explains that there is a plague that has hit the town's poorest that is being ignored by Kreed and showing that it may soon overwhelm Laurel. The plague is a bloody, coughing sickness caused by Brookman's Well, a small spring that supplies most of the town's fresh water. It's named for the resident who dug it 40 years ago, Dreklas Brookman, a man who has big plans for expanding the town with engineering works and architectural projects, including a cathedral and a great stone bridge. He was gaining the support of the town's residents when he crossed old Thalsin Kreed, Thuldrin's father. Dreklas ended up having an "accident" in the cutyard shortly thereafter, even though he didn't work there. The Kreed family immediately took control of the well; their thugs used to guard it night and day, and charge a hefty fee for its use. Those who can't afford the fee have to settle for attempting to sneak a bucketful from the well after dark, when the guards are often drunk, or otherwise rely on the sawdust- choked waters of the River Foam. Now that the well's gone bad, they have roped it off and left to bully the townsfolk elsewhere, since noone comes to the well anymore.
The party agrees to check it out and Tanda is grateful. As they ask questions of Tanda, Cursed Jim espies the troops of Thuldrin Kreed, this time led by their wicked leader, Boss Teedum, marching over, ten-strong, to the Jak-a-napes to confront our heroes. As they and their belongings are gone, the gang leaves empty handed and cursing, under the mocking eye of rotund and ruddy Jak Crimmy.
Sneaking from the cottage of Tanda, the party makes their way a little up the road to Roots and Remedies, the apothecary shop, and sees the long line of sick and worries-sick townsfolk queued up for medicines. Creeping ivy and flowering window boxes cover the facade of this two-story log building. Inside, the small, mud-tracked shop smells of burnt earth and spicy incense. Bunches of dried herbs hang from the ceiling, along with dangling pots, presses, alchemical apparatus, and arcane glassware. Pouches of rare plants, jars of colored powders, and a collection of dried, preserved, and jellied animal parts fill high shelves and tables that serve as both displays and workspace. Although well versed in the healing properties of a variety of concoctions, as our heroes enter she is reminding angry patrons that she's not, in fact, a physician. Despite this, for many who can't afford more expensive healing magic, Laurel is the best hope for health and even a thimble full of sympathy in Falcon's Hollow. She treats our heroes brusquely, at first not realizing, or far too busy to realize that they are here to offer their help, but quickly the level-headed and sympathetic words and actions of Belton Harald make clear their good intentions and all of the party lend a hand in controlling the crown and helping the line go faster, grinding herbal powders for laurel and fetching ingredients from all over the shop. As time passes Laurel tells the tale of the spread of the Blackscour Taint, it's discovery at Brookman's Well and the sad deaths that have resulted among the townsfolk. She eventually explains that Blackscour is just a fungus that’s not good for anything. Hard, bitter, and sharp, it likes the water and gets you sick if you drink it down. She admits that she has never heard of it growing around these parts, though, until now. She explaines that the blackscour taint is a sickness, almost like any other, but you get the mold growing in you. It starts eating away in your chest and belly and is damned determined to stay. And then your body near turns itself inside-out trying to hack the stuff up, but all that does is cuts your guts up… bad.
Laurel explains that her grandmother’s book has a brew in it that says its good for this kind of thing. A weird concoction that sounds more like hoojoo than real medicine. The downside is that it contains Some rare roots and concentrations, most of which she has here, but there’s three she doesn't. Elderwood moss, which she's never heard of, but her granny says the stuff only grows on the oldest tree in a forest. A specially pickled root called rat’s tail, which again, sounds like hoojoo to her. And she'll need seven ironbloom mushrooms, which are stunty little things that only grow in dark places thick with metal, a favorite among dwarves, or so she's heard.
When asked where our heroes could find these ingredients she explains that for the elderwood mold, there’s gotta be an oldest tree in the vale, but damned if I know where it is, though. She looks dismal as she admits that the rat’s tail and mushrooms are even longer shots. But she knows that a good Way north, toward the mountains, people say there used to live a bunch of dwarves. They’re not there anymore, but she bets their forges are. If our heroes can find ironbloom anywhere around here, that’d be the best bet.
As for the rat’s tail, she says, "who knows? Well. Actually. Ulizmila, the witch that lives deep in the woods might. She’s a crafty, mean thing that knows all sorts of strangeness.She might even have one. I don’t know what she might want for it, but I doubt it’d come cheap. My grandmother traded her sight to the old crone for a few pages of what she knew, and that was years and years back, and I don’t know a soul who got any nicer as they got older."
Armed with this actual quest to go on, the party thanks her and promises to help and leaves to prepare for their journey. Insodoing, they bump into Cursed Jim, who relates what he saw with the knaves of Boss Teedum. They regroup and concerned friends like Sif ask about why he is in such a state, only to find that Quick Jim is now a madman. Calling himself Chief Tea-Cozy, he is now passing in and out of coherence as he babble about being gone for a year or alternately 100 years and suffering the caprices of the Fey. He seems unable to precisely recall what happened to him during the few days he was away, but all can see that he seems to be now made of living wood. his once-nimble feet are now a tangle of wild, unkempt roots, where his dark brown hair once waved there are now a bush of green leaves and grasses cast int he semblance of hair but clearly not human in any regard. his beard is a tangle of Spanish Moss and his body as hard and inhumanly unyielding as oak. This is an ancient and terrible curse to be sure, and its undoing will be no easy task.
Tanda is as mysterious as ever as she explains how our heroes actions have caught the attention of other parties, interested in the welfare of Andoran. She seems to know more than she is letting on but seems genuinely interested in helping the people of Falcon's Hollow. She implores the party to help the Apothecary, Laurel Gebre who serves as the towns herbalist and healer for those who cannot afford the services of, or eschew the deity of, Lady Cirthana Gensar at the Temple of Iomedae. Despite anemic competition from other faiths and a demonstrated record of care for the town's residents, few locals trust Cirthana, and most lay their medical concerns at Laurel's feet instead. The Lumber Consortium has made itself clear in denouncing the Inheritor's meddling in the town's affairs, and the locals oblige by avoiding the temple as much as possible.
Tanda explains that there is a plague that has hit the town's poorest that is being ignored by Kreed and showing that it may soon overwhelm Laurel. The plague is a bloody, coughing sickness caused by Brookman's Well, a small spring that supplies most of the town's fresh water. It's named for the resident who dug it 40 years ago, Dreklas Brookman, a man who has big plans for expanding the town with engineering works and architectural projects, including a cathedral and a great stone bridge. He was gaining the support of the town's residents when he crossed old Thalsin Kreed, Thuldrin's father. Dreklas ended up having an "accident" in the cutyard shortly thereafter, even though he didn't work there. The Kreed family immediately took control of the well; their thugs used to guard it night and day, and charge a hefty fee for its use. Those who can't afford the fee have to settle for attempting to sneak a bucketful from the well after dark, when the guards are often drunk, or otherwise rely on the sawdust- choked waters of the River Foam. Now that the well's gone bad, they have roped it off and left to bully the townsfolk elsewhere, since noone comes to the well anymore.
The party agrees to check it out and Tanda is grateful. As they ask questions of Tanda, Cursed Jim espies the troops of Thuldrin Kreed, this time led by their wicked leader, Boss Teedum, marching over, ten-strong, to the Jak-a-napes to confront our heroes. As they and their belongings are gone, the gang leaves empty handed and cursing, under the mocking eye of rotund and ruddy Jak Crimmy.
Sneaking from the cottage of Tanda, the party makes their way a little up the road to Roots and Remedies, the apothecary shop, and sees the long line of sick and worries-sick townsfolk queued up for medicines. Creeping ivy and flowering window boxes cover the facade of this two-story log building. Inside, the small, mud-tracked shop smells of burnt earth and spicy incense. Bunches of dried herbs hang from the ceiling, along with dangling pots, presses, alchemical apparatus, and arcane glassware. Pouches of rare plants, jars of colored powders, and a collection of dried, preserved, and jellied animal parts fill high shelves and tables that serve as both displays and workspace. Although well versed in the healing properties of a variety of concoctions, as our heroes enter she is reminding angry patrons that she's not, in fact, a physician. Despite this, for many who can't afford more expensive healing magic, Laurel is the best hope for health and even a thimble full of sympathy in Falcon's Hollow. She treats our heroes brusquely, at first not realizing, or far too busy to realize that they are here to offer their help, but quickly the level-headed and sympathetic words and actions of Belton Harald make clear their good intentions and all of the party lend a hand in controlling the crown and helping the line go faster, grinding herbal powders for laurel and fetching ingredients from all over the shop. As time passes Laurel tells the tale of the spread of the Blackscour Taint, it's discovery at Brookman's Well and the sad deaths that have resulted among the townsfolk. She eventually explains that Blackscour is just a fungus that’s not good for anything. Hard, bitter, and sharp, it likes the water and gets you sick if you drink it down. She admits that she has never heard of it growing around these parts, though, until now. She explaines that the blackscour taint is a sickness, almost like any other, but you get the mold growing in you. It starts eating away in your chest and belly and is damned determined to stay. And then your body near turns itself inside-out trying to hack the stuff up, but all that does is cuts your guts up… bad.
Laurel explains that her grandmother’s book has a brew in it that says its good for this kind of thing. A weird concoction that sounds more like hoojoo than real medicine. The downside is that it contains Some rare roots and concentrations, most of which she has here, but there’s three she doesn't. Elderwood moss, which she's never heard of, but her granny says the stuff only grows on the oldest tree in a forest. A specially pickled root called rat’s tail, which again, sounds like hoojoo to her. And she'll need seven ironbloom mushrooms, which are stunty little things that only grow in dark places thick with metal, a favorite among dwarves, or so she's heard.
When asked where our heroes could find these ingredients she explains that for the elderwood mold, there’s gotta be an oldest tree in the vale, but damned if I know where it is, though. She looks dismal as she admits that the rat’s tail and mushrooms are even longer shots. But she knows that a good Way north, toward the mountains, people say there used to live a bunch of dwarves. They’re not there anymore, but she bets their forges are. If our heroes can find ironbloom anywhere around here, that’d be the best bet.
As for the rat’s tail, she says, "who knows? Well. Actually. Ulizmila, the witch that lives deep in the woods might. She’s a crafty, mean thing that knows all sorts of strangeness.She might even have one. I don’t know what she might want for it, but I doubt it’d come cheap. My grandmother traded her sight to the old crone for a few pages of what she knew, and that was years and years back, and I don’t know a soul who got any nicer as they got older."
Armed with this actual quest to go on, the party thanks her and promises to help and leaves to prepare for their journey. Insodoing, they bump into Cursed Jim, who relates what he saw with the knaves of Boss Teedum. They regroup and concerned friends like Sif ask about why he is in such a state, only to find that Quick Jim is now a madman. Calling himself Chief Tea-Cozy, he is now passing in and out of coherence as he babble about being gone for a year or alternately 100 years and suffering the caprices of the Fey. He seems unable to precisely recall what happened to him during the few days he was away, but all can see that he seems to be now made of living wood. his once-nimble feet are now a tangle of wild, unkempt roots, where his dark brown hair once waved there are now a bush of green leaves and grasses cast int he semblance of hair but clearly not human in any regard. his beard is a tangle of Spanish Moss and his body as hard and inhumanly unyielding as oak. This is an ancient and terrible curse to be sure, and its undoing will be no easy task.