"no amount of money is worth our lives" he says grumpily "but perhaps the Rockseekers are, if berry and marten go, then i will too"
Marten nods. He says, philosophically, "If you gotta cross a river, you gotta cross the river. If you can't swim, you find a boat. Or build a bridge. Even if it's dangerous! If it must be done, you jus' got t' find a way."
Marten confirms, "I plan t' keep goin' 'til I find 'n' rescue Gundren. I hope y'all are still with me in that." After a moment, a thought occurs to him, and he adds, "O' course, it's near on a fortnight since them goblins took Gundren. He might already be dead! But in that case...well, I reckon I might want someone t' make sure th' Black Spider is punished for it." Marten's tone indicates that he'd like their group to be that "someone."
"what are the odds the brothers are at the castle" he asks
This thought hadn't occurred to Marten yet. Prospecting and mining was dangerous work: mine collapses, thieves trying to steal what you've found, and other miners trying to take over your site. Not to mention the dangers in the wilderness around the Triboar Trail: stirges, goblins, and bugbears -- and orcs too, apparently. But if the Black Spider didn't get what he wanted from Gundren, it would make sense to kidnap his brothers too.
"And you want us to find Gundren for a reward," he concludes, "That's mighty nice of you. We wanted to do that anyway, so, yeah, I think we can agree to that, can't we?" he blurts out and asks the rest for confirmation.
Marten responds to Berry, "Yep, we're plannin' t' rescue Gundren already. But it sounds like we'd have t' defeat or drive out this 'Black Spider' t' earn the reward Sildar offered." He looks to Sildar and asks, "Right?"
Then Marten shrugs as he lets all of that go. He says, "But we don't even know where th' castle is, 'n' we don' know whether we'll find Gundren or th' other Rockseekers there. So...first things first, eh? We need t' find Reidoth 'n' see whether he can guide us to the castle."
Marten responds to Berry, "Yep, we're plannin' t' rescue Gundren already. But it sounds like we'd have t' defeat or drive out this 'Black Spider' t' earn the reward Sildar offered." He looks to Sildar and asks, "Right?"
(OOC: You have directions, provided by Qelline Alderleaf, to Thundertree, the last known location of the druid Reidoth, who Qelline assures you knows where the the Cragmaw Castle is. Elmer Barthen, we will say, has given you directions to the grassy knoll by a bubbling brook a couple of miles east of Phandalin where the Rockseeker brothers had been camping when they last stopped in town for provisions.
Will you stay in Phandalin until the harvest festival, or leave the same day after speaking with Sildar?)
Nosam bot #2. The dwarf follows along with the party.
"Perhaps, we can first go to the brothers and then return here?" Starts Berry. "Tomorrow we could go and find the druid and come back here again. After that we could use the good spirits of the harvest festival to make up our minds which way to pursue first based on the findings in each place?"
Marten says, "Sounds like the Rockseekers' camp is close enough. We could go past there first t' see whether Gundrens' brothers are still there, 'n' if not, whether there's any sign of an attack." He continues, looking uncomfortable as he realizes that he's disagreeing with Berry: "But then I think we should go straight from there to Thundertree. I mean...the druid is our best route t' finally findin' the castle 'n' m'ybe Gundren. From something Mrs. Alderleaf said, I reckon the druid wanders from place t' place, 'n' I don' want t' miss him at Thundertree by delayin' too long."
Marten is clearly task-oriented, and he doesn't see how attending the harvest festival could help them find or rescue Gundren.
"I'm not opposed to a party of sorts, but I tend to agree with Mr. Marten... If we're headed to their camp lets keep moving on afterward. They payin' for some jobs or there's money to be made, lets do that. I assure you though, I will back you all wherever we're headed.... ha, at least for now." Nosam provides the group his opinion but he remains willing to go with the group's consensus.
"Perhaps, we can first go to the brothers and then return here?" Starts Berry. "Tomorrow we could go and find the druid and come back here again. After that we could use the good spirits of the harvest festival to make up our minds which way to pursue first based on the findings in each place?"
Berry realizes with a start that Qelline's directions to Thundertree, where Reidoth the druid is located (she thinks), is 50 miles away, perhaps 15 miles east of Neverwinter, at the edge of Neverwinter wood (see the area map in the campaign page notes). On foot, it will take you at least two days at a quick pace to cover that distance.
Although the party hasn’t decided yet whether to leave Phandalin today or after the harvest festival, it is still morning when Sildar bids you farewell and with a deep sigh turns back to his ledgers. Too, the campsite is not en route to Thundertree. We will say you decide to look for Gundren’s kin and decide later when to leave for Thundertree.
It takes less than an hour, once you leave town, to find the grassy hillside beside a bubbling brook that Elmer Barthen described as the most recent campground of Tharden and Nundro Rockseeker, Gundren’s brothers.
Two hammocks hung from trees, along with a bear-proof sack for food dangling from a high, heavy linden tree branch. All cut. The hammocks are sliced in half, and the lonely rope which had held the food sack dangles from the bough, lazily swinging in the hillside breeze. A pewter cup has been smashed to a shapeless lump, and two empty wineskins are found, having been strewn a dozen paces away. No one is there.
Berry was never one for distances and receives sullenly the lecture about where are their destinations. He agrees to visit the brothers' camp first as it is the closest and silently maintains his hopes that some incident may still enable them to partake in the festival, perhaps at least a few afternoons. "So much for the hope that they went somewhere peacefully," he comments the sight at he camp. "I guess, at least, they are still alive as we don't see their bodies cut in half as is all the rest," he says, his sulky mood still bubbling under the surface of his emotions. "But now what? We could look for tracks and follow their captors or we go look for the druid," he rephrases the dilemma that he had mentioned already before. Lazily he picks up the pewter cup and inspects it (Investigation: 17), "And what did this poor cup do to deserve such a horrid treatment?" He wonders out aloud.
"I guess, at least, they are still alive as we don't see their bodies cut in half as is all the rest," he says, his sulky mood still bubbling under the surface of his emotions.
Marten surveys the scene. He says, "Yes, at least that's some good news. No bodies, 'n' no blood."
Marten looks at the campsite and then slowly walks out in a spiral of increasing radius around the camp, looking for tracks or any items that were dropped accidentally or on purpose. He's also looking to see whether the Rockseekers were at the camp when it was attacked: it's always possible that they were away when it happened. If they were at the camp, maybe he could tell whether they walked away or were carried / dragged. Marten assumes that the camp was attacked by the Cragmaw goblins or their bugbear allies, and if he could find some tracks that might confirm it.
"But now what? We could look for tracks and follow their captors or we go look for the druid," he rephrases the dilemma that he had mentioned already before.
Marten says, "Let's see what we find here first." He's inclined to head to Thundertree even before the festival. It'll be a long hike, but if all three Rockseeker brothers have been captured, he's worried that they're running out of time. Reidoth is the only solid lead they have for finding the castle.
"And what did this poor cup do to deserve such a horrid treatment?" He wonders out aloud.
Marten chuckles quietly at the question, but then he says more seriously, "The cup didn't do anythin', but neither did Mr. Umberto nor Thel Dendrar. I reckon this Black Spider knows what 'e wants, 'n' th' Wave Echo Cave is valuable. Greedy, powerful people are dangerous. When they want somethin' for themselves, everything standin' in the way is in danger: Sildar, Sildar's horse, the Rockseekers...or even that little cup."
(Investigation: 17), "And what did this poor cup do to deserve such a horrid treatment?" He wonders out aloud.
Berry find the cup to have been squashed by a pair of hands. Stuck in a crease of the folded metal, a few strands of what the fairy recognizes — due to his recent encounter with Klarg and others of his ilk —as a bugbear’s chest hairs.
Marten assumes that the camp was attacked by the Cragmaw goblins or their bugbear allies, and if he could find some tracks that might confirm it. Survival 24
Marten finds signs of a scuffle and a pair of long drag marks in the grass, despite the recent rains, which have done away with most of the clues he might have discovered before. It’s been at least a tenday since the camp was ransacked. Maybe two tendays.
The drag marks head north, pointing towards the Triboar Trail (which is at least a few miles from this spot) then disappear. Marten can’t find anything more.
On his finding, Berry lets the cup fall and exclaims to let the others know, "Ugh, one of these hairy bugbear monsters gave it an embrace with more love than it was good for the old cup." Then, he picks it up again and wonders if this might actually be worth something in the fey wild and tastes titles for such a souvenir, "A bugbear hugged cup or, more intriguingly, a cup bear hugged by a bug."
He walks over to the others and asks, "What should we do, we return to Phandalin, right? At least, I don't see how we can continue from here. As sorry as I feel for Gundren's brothers. I think it is likely that they are in the same place anyway, and even more likely that that Black Spider didn't actually need all three of the lot."
He walks over to the others and asks, "What should we do, we return to Phandalin, right? At least, I don't see how we can continue from here. As sorry as I feel for Gundren's brothers. I think it is likely that they are in the same place anyway, and even more likely that that Black Spider didn't actually need all three of the lot."
Marten says, "Well now, the tracks are ov'r a week old, so there's no point in tryin' t' follow 'em north through the forest. If we're headin' to Thundertree, returnin' to Phandalin to take the road from there makes sense." But then Marten continues, arguing against staying until the harvest festival: "But there's plenty o' daylight left today. If we just get Nala 'n' grab our things, we could at least make it t' the Triboar Trail today, maybe e'en as far as th' old ambush spot." While it's a scene of violence and the start of their troubles with the Black Spider, they've been back to the goblins' ambush spot a couple of times now. Marten is starting to view that area with the comfort of familiarity.
As they walk back toward Phandalin to report that Nundro and Tharden have also been taken, Marten tries to make their next choice more clear. He says, "If we stay in Phandalin for the harvest festival t'morrow, we wouldn't be leavin' Phandalin until morning, the day after t'morrow. But if we head out today, I reckon that we would be arriving in Thundertree before dark on the day after t'morrow."
He walks over to the others and asks, "What should we do, we return to Phandalin, right? At least, I don't see how we can continue from here. As sorry as I feel for Gundren's brothers. I think it is likely that they are in the same place anyway, and even more likely that that Black Spider didn't actually need all three of the lot."
Marten says, "Well now, the tracks are ov'r a week old, so there's no point in tryin' t' follow 'em north through the forest. If we're headin' to Thundertree, returnin' to Phandalin to take the road from there makes sense." But then Marten continues, arguing against staying until the harvest festival: "But there's plenty o' daylight left today. If we just get Nala 'n' grab our things, we could at least make it t' the Triboar Trail today, maybe e'en as far as th' old ambush spot." While it's a scene of violence and the start of their troubles with the Black Spider, they've been back to the goblins' ambush spot a couple of times now. Marten is starting to view that area with the comfort of familiarity.
As they walk back toward Phandalin to report that Nundro and Tharden have also been taken, Marten tries to make their next choice more clear. He says, "If we stay in Phandalin for the harvest festival t'morrow, we wouldn't be leavin' Phandalin until morning, the day after t'morrow. But if we head out today, I reckon that we would be arriving in Thundertree before dark on the day after t'morrow."
"I say we head out ASAP and get to Thundertree sooner rather than later."
"weve already given them enough time to prepare" vidruth points out "we cant afford to give them much more, as much as im loathe to walk into danger, id rather we did so now, rather than wait for the fesitval"
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
This Mug immediately shared with me a transcendental tale of an Infinite Mug that anchors the Universe and keeps it from folding in on itself. I filed this report under "illogical nonsense" and asked why its sign is in Times New Roman font, when it is basic knowledge that Arial Black is a far superior font. I wondered: How did this mug even get past the assembly line with its theistic beliefs and poor font choices?
quote from Romantically Apocalyptic byVitaly S Alexius
It is 60 miles as the raven flies, north-northwest, from Phandalin to Thundertree. By hugging the edge of the Neverwinter Wood, you can maintain a more or less direct route through rolling hills. You’ll never lack for clean water, for there is an abundance of streams flowing to the ocean, and you benefit from an abundance of potential hunting targets, especially as summer transitions into fall.
Or, you could retrace your steps on the High Road to Neverwinter, then follow the eponymous river east to Thundertree. Most people would say the High Road would be safer than traveling overland, for the High Road is patrolled by the Neverwinter Guard, experienced cavalrymen.
Or, you could delve through the Neverwinter Wood, which is reputedly haunted and will take at least twice as long even if you don’t lose yourselves in the forest…
Marten prefers to take the more direct route north through the wilderness, of course, along the edge of the Neverwinter Wood. He doesn't know whether it will be much faster than taking the longer way by road. On the High Road, it would probably be safe to travel faster. In the Wilderness, the terrain and increased chance of stumbling into goblins or bugbears will presumably slow them down. He still thinks that it's the direct route is a better choice because they might get lucky and stumble across some other evidence that would point them to the Cragmaw Castle.
The first day, your travels are quick and easy. The weather is warm but not too warm, and the fresh smells of the small local farm harvests effuse the air with cut lavender and fragrant herbs. The residents of Phandalin will no doubt enjoy a Harvest Festival like no other. When the party moves through the town, gathers up its belongings,, saddles Nala with her saddlebags and heads north toward the Triboar Trail shortly after noon, folks are already decorating in the town green and wave goodbyes to Marten, Berry, Nosam, and even Vidruth.
Hours pass, as do the miles. By the time you make camp, you’ve covered a solid twenty-five miles, and you feel refreshed, if anything, by the journey, and find a pleasant meadow a few miles west of the Neverwinter Wood’s southern tip to camp comfortably, and Marten is able to bag a turkey with a single arrow, which, along with chestnuts you picked up along the way, make for a filling and fragrant evening meal.
The next day, you make similarly good time. Late in the day, upon a rise, you can look down to the west and see smoke rising from chimneys and forges on the outskirts of Neverwinter, twenty miles away. Beyond it, a gray line of clouds hover over the ocean.
But continuing north and leaving the wonders and excesses of the city for another day, you reach the bank of the Neverwinter River road, and a farmer allows you to camp on their land within a few miles of Thundertree. The night passes without incident, the following morning you pack your kits once again, and now Thundertree, according to the instructions Qelline Alderleaf gave you, is a mere few miles to the east along the river road, near where the Neverwinter River flows out of Neverwinter Wood.
It isn't until you awaken that morning, that you discover that you are not the only ones to have enjoyed a comfortable night on the farm.
Marten nods. He says, philosophically, "If you gotta cross a river, you gotta cross the river. If you can't swim, you find a boat. Or build a bridge. Even if it's dangerous! If it must be done, you jus' got t' find a way."
Marten confirms, "I plan t' keep goin' 'til I find 'n' rescue Gundren. I hope y'all are still with me in that." After a moment, a thought occurs to him, and he adds, "O' course, it's near on a fortnight since them goblins took Gundren. He might already be dead! But in that case...well, I reckon I might want someone t' make sure th' Black Spider is punished for it." Marten's tone indicates that he'd like their group to be that "someone."
This thought hadn't occurred to Marten yet. Prospecting and mining was dangerous work: mine collapses, thieves trying to steal what you've found, and other miners trying to take over your site. Not to mention the dangers in the wilderness around the Triboar Trail: stirges, goblins, and bugbears -- and orcs too, apparently. But if the Black Spider didn't get what he wanted from Gundren, it would make sense to kidnap his brothers too.
Marten responds to Berry, "Yep, we're plannin' t' rescue Gundren already. But it sounds like we'd have t' defeat or drive out this 'Black Spider' t' earn the reward Sildar offered." He looks to Sildar and asks, "Right?"
Then Marten shrugs as he lets all of that go. He says, "But we don't even know where th' castle is, 'n' we don' know whether we'll find Gundren or th' other Rockseekers there. So...first things first, eh? We need t' find Reidoth 'n' see whether he can guide us to the castle."
Sildar nods agreement. "Right."
DM for Candlekeep Mysteries // Dev Hornd in Curious Critters // Eclipse Faraway in Gallows Dancer
(OOC: You have directions, provided by Qelline Alderleaf, to Thundertree, the last known location of the druid Reidoth, who Qelline assures you knows where the the Cragmaw Castle is. Elmer Barthen, we will say, has given you directions to the grassy knoll by a bubbling brook a couple of miles east of Phandalin where the Rockseeker brothers had been camping when they last stopped in town for provisions.
Will you stay in Phandalin until the harvest festival, or leave the same day after speaking with Sildar?)
Nosam bot #2. The dwarf follows along with the party.
DM for Candlekeep Mysteries // Dev Hornd in Curious Critters // Eclipse Faraway in Gallows Dancer
"Perhaps, we can first go to the brothers and then return here?" Starts Berry. "Tomorrow we could go and find the druid and come back here again. After that we could use the good spirits of the harvest festival to make up our minds which way to pursue first based on the findings in each place?"
|| Oriace - Halfling Bard - Dragon Heist || Valerian - Elf Rogue - Wildnis || b'Reh - Stig Cleric - Humblewood || Rowan - Halfling Giant - Runewarren || Khazela - Spiritfarer Dervish - Tribute || Arista - Frost Sorcerer - Old Keep || Zephirah - Demonic Bard - Sands || Merry - Gifted Surgeon - Short || Marasatra - Blood Mage - Avernus || Lan - Dwarf Dragon - Wuxian ||
Marten says, "Sounds like the Rockseekers' camp is close enough. We could go past there first t' see whether Gundrens' brothers are still there, 'n' if not, whether there's any sign of an attack." He continues, looking uncomfortable as he realizes that he's disagreeing with Berry: "But then I think we should go straight from there to Thundertree. I mean...the druid is our best route t' finally findin' the castle 'n' m'ybe Gundren. From something Mrs. Alderleaf said, I reckon the druid wanders from place t' place, 'n' I don' want t' miss him at Thundertree by delayin' too long."
Marten is clearly task-oriented, and he doesn't see how attending the harvest festival could help them find or rescue Gundren.
"I'm not opposed to a party of sorts, but I tend to agree with Mr. Marten... If we're headed to their camp lets keep moving on afterward. They payin' for some jobs or there's money to be made, lets do that. I assure you though, I will back you all wherever we're headed.... ha, at least for now." Nosam provides the group his opinion but he remains willing to go with the group's consensus.
Berry realizes with a start that Qelline's directions to Thundertree, where Reidoth the druid is located (she thinks), is 50 miles away, perhaps 15 miles east of Neverwinter, at the edge of Neverwinter wood (see the area map in the campaign page notes). On foot, it will take you at least two days at a quick pace to cover that distance.
DM for Candlekeep Mysteries // Dev Hornd in Curious Critters // Eclipse Faraway in Gallows Dancer
Although the party hasn’t decided yet whether to leave Phandalin today or after the harvest festival, it is still morning when Sildar bids you farewell and with a deep sigh turns back to his ledgers. Too, the campsite is not en route to Thundertree. We will say you decide to look for Gundren’s kin and decide later when to leave for Thundertree.
It takes less than an hour, once you leave town, to find the grassy hillside beside a bubbling brook that Elmer Barthen described as the most recent campground of Tharden and Nundro Rockseeker, Gundren’s brothers.
Two hammocks hung from trees, along with a bear-proof sack for food dangling from a high, heavy linden tree branch. All cut. The hammocks are sliced in half, and the lonely rope which had held the food sack dangles from the bough, lazily swinging in the hillside breeze. A pewter cup has been smashed to a shapeless lump, and two empty wineskins are found, having been strewn a dozen paces away. No one is there.
DM for Candlekeep Mysteries // Dev Hornd in Curious Critters // Eclipse Faraway in Gallows Dancer
Berry was never one for distances and receives sullenly the lecture about where are their destinations. He agrees to visit the brothers' camp first as it is the closest and silently maintains his hopes that some incident may still enable them to partake in the festival, perhaps at least a few afternoons. "So much for the hope that they went somewhere peacefully," he comments the sight at he camp. "I guess, at least, they are still alive as we don't see their bodies cut in half as is all the rest," he says, his sulky mood still bubbling under the surface of his emotions. "But now what? We could look for tracks and follow their captors or we go look for the druid," he rephrases the dilemma that he had mentioned already before. Lazily he picks up the pewter cup and inspects it (Investigation: 17), "And what did this poor cup do to deserve such a horrid treatment?" He wonders out aloud.
|| Oriace - Halfling Bard - Dragon Heist || Valerian - Elf Rogue - Wildnis || b'Reh - Stig Cleric - Humblewood || Rowan - Halfling Giant - Runewarren || Khazela - Spiritfarer Dervish - Tribute || Arista - Frost Sorcerer - Old Keep || Zephirah - Demonic Bard - Sands || Merry - Gifted Surgeon - Short || Marasatra - Blood Mage - Avernus || Lan - Dwarf Dragon - Wuxian ||
Marten surveys the scene. He says, "Yes, at least that's some good news. No bodies, 'n' no blood."
Marten looks at the campsite and then slowly walks out in a spiral of increasing radius around the camp, looking for tracks or any items that were dropped accidentally or on purpose. He's also looking to see whether the Rockseekers were at the camp when it was attacked: it's always possible that they were away when it happened. If they were at the camp, maybe he could tell whether they walked away or were carried / dragged. Marten assumes that the camp was attacked by the Cragmaw goblins or their bugbear allies, and if he could find some tracks that might confirm it.
Survival 13
Investigation 11
Marten says, "Let's see what we find here first." He's inclined to head to Thundertree even before the festival. It'll be a long hike, but if all three Rockseeker brothers have been captured, he's worried that they're running out of time. Reidoth is the only solid lead they have for finding the castle.
Marten chuckles quietly at the question, but then he says more seriously, "The cup didn't do anythin', but neither did Mr. Umberto nor Thel Dendrar. I reckon this Black Spider knows what 'e wants, 'n' th' Wave Echo Cave is valuable. Greedy, powerful people are dangerous. When they want somethin' for themselves, everything standin' in the way is in danger: Sildar, Sildar's horse, the Rockseekers...or even that little cup."
Berry find the cup to have been squashed by a pair of hands. Stuck in a crease of the folded metal, a few strands of what the fairy recognizes — due to his recent encounter with Klarg and others of his ilk —as a bugbear’s chest hairs.
DM for Candlekeep Mysteries // Dev Hornd in Curious Critters // Eclipse Faraway in Gallows Dancer
Marten assumes that the camp was attacked by the Cragmaw goblins or their bugbear allies, and if he could find some tracks that might confirm it. Survival 24
Marten finds signs of a scuffle and a pair of long drag marks in the grass, despite the recent rains, which have done away with most of the clues he might have discovered before. It’s been at least a tenday since the camp was ransacked. Maybe two tendays.
The drag marks head north, pointing towards the Triboar Trail (which is at least a few miles from this spot) then disappear. Marten can’t find anything more.
DM for Candlekeep Mysteries // Dev Hornd in Curious Critters // Eclipse Faraway in Gallows Dancer
On his finding, Berry lets the cup fall and exclaims to let the others know, "Ugh, one of these hairy bugbear monsters gave it an embrace with more love than it was good for the old cup." Then, he picks it up again and wonders if this might actually be worth something in the fey wild and tastes titles for such a souvenir, "A bugbear hugged cup or, more intriguingly, a cup bear hugged by a bug."
He walks over to the others and asks, "What should we do, we return to Phandalin, right? At least, I don't see how we can continue from here. As sorry as I feel for Gundren's brothers. I think it is likely that they are in the same place anyway, and even more likely that that Black Spider didn't actually need all three of the lot."
|| Oriace - Halfling Bard - Dragon Heist || Valerian - Elf Rogue - Wildnis || b'Reh - Stig Cleric - Humblewood || Rowan - Halfling Giant - Runewarren || Khazela - Spiritfarer Dervish - Tribute || Arista - Frost Sorcerer - Old Keep || Zephirah - Demonic Bard - Sands || Merry - Gifted Surgeon - Short || Marasatra - Blood Mage - Avernus || Lan - Dwarf Dragon - Wuxian ||
Marten says, "Well now, the tracks are ov'r a week old, so there's no point in tryin' t' follow 'em north through the forest. If we're headin' to Thundertree, returnin' to Phandalin to take the road from there makes sense." But then Marten continues, arguing against staying until the harvest festival: "But there's plenty o' daylight left today. If we just get Nala 'n' grab our things, we could at least make it t' the Triboar Trail today, maybe e'en as far as th' old ambush spot." While it's a scene of violence and the start of their troubles with the Black Spider, they've been back to the goblins' ambush spot a couple of times now. Marten is starting to view that area with the comfort of familiarity.
As they walk back toward Phandalin to report that Nundro and Tharden have also been taken, Marten tries to make their next choice more clear. He says, "If we stay in Phandalin for the harvest festival t'morrow, we wouldn't be leavin' Phandalin until morning, the day after t'morrow. But if we head out today, I reckon that we would be arriving in Thundertree before dark on the day after t'morrow."
"I say we head out ASAP and get to Thundertree sooner rather than later."
"weve already given them enough time to prepare" vidruth points out "we cant afford to give them much more, as much as im loathe to walk into danger, id rather we did so now, rather than wait for the fesitval"
This Mug immediately shared with me a transcendental tale of an Infinite Mug that anchors the Universe and keeps it from folding in on itself. I filed this report under "illogical nonsense" and asked why its sign is in Times New Roman font, when it is basic knowledge that Arial Black is a far superior font. I wondered: How did this mug even get past the assembly line with its theistic beliefs and poor font choices?
quote from Romantically Apocalyptic by Vitaly S Alexius
It is 60 miles as the raven flies, north-northwest, from Phandalin to Thundertree. By hugging the edge of the Neverwinter Wood, you can maintain a more or less direct route through rolling hills. You’ll never lack for clean water, for there is an abundance of streams flowing to the ocean, and you benefit from an abundance of potential hunting targets, especially as summer transitions into fall.
Or, you could retrace your steps on the High Road to Neverwinter, then follow the eponymous river east to Thundertree. Most people would say the High Road would be safer than traveling overland, for the High Road is patrolled by the Neverwinter Guard, experienced cavalrymen.
Or, you could delve through the Neverwinter Wood, which is reputedly haunted and will take at least twice as long even if you don’t lose yourselves in the forest…
DM for Candlekeep Mysteries // Dev Hornd in Curious Critters // Eclipse Faraway in Gallows Dancer
Marten prefers to take the more direct route north through the wilderness, of course, along the edge of the Neverwinter Wood. He doesn't know whether it will be much faster than taking the longer way by road. On the High Road, it would probably be safe to travel faster. In the Wilderness, the terrain and increased chance of stumbling into goblins or bugbears will presumably slow them down. He still thinks that it's the direct route is a better choice because they might get lucky and stumble across some other evidence that would point them to the Cragmaw Castle.
Luck: 6
Wilderness Encounters: 18
Wilderness Encounters (night): 14
Wilderness Encounter (day 2): 2
Wilderness Encounters (night 2): 4
DM for Candlekeep Mysteries // Dev Hornd in Curious Critters // Eclipse Faraway in Gallows Dancer
Chapter 7 - In Search of Answers
The first day, your travels are quick and easy. The weather is warm but not too warm, and the fresh smells of the small local farm harvests effuse the air with cut lavender and fragrant herbs. The residents of Phandalin will no doubt enjoy a Harvest Festival like no other. When the party moves through the town, gathers up its belongings,, saddles Nala with her saddlebags and heads north toward the Triboar Trail shortly after noon, folks are already decorating in the town green and wave goodbyes to Marten, Berry, Nosam, and even Vidruth.
Hours pass, as do the miles. By the time you make camp, you’ve covered a solid twenty-five miles, and you feel refreshed, if anything, by the journey, and find a pleasant meadow a few miles west of the Neverwinter Wood’s southern tip to camp comfortably, and Marten is able to bag a turkey with a single arrow, which, along with chestnuts you picked up along the way, make for a filling and fragrant evening meal.
The next day, you make similarly good time. Late in the day, upon a rise, you can look down to the west and see smoke rising from chimneys and forges on the outskirts of Neverwinter, twenty miles away. Beyond it, a gray line of clouds hover over the ocean.
But continuing north and leaving the wonders and excesses of the city for another day, you reach the bank of the Neverwinter River road, and a farmer allows you to camp on their land within a few miles of Thundertree. The night passes without incident, the following morning you pack your kits once again, and now Thundertree, according to the instructions Qelline Alderleaf gave you, is a mere few miles to the east along the river road, near where the Neverwinter River flows out of Neverwinter Wood.
It isn't until you awaken that morning, that you discover that you are not the only ones to have enjoyed a comfortable night on the farm.
DM for Candlekeep Mysteries // Dev Hornd in Curious Critters // Eclipse Faraway in Gallows Dancer