Dragon of Icespire Peak ***CLOSED***

"Brakefast, hot breakfast?  Sounds good," Minsys says with a huge grin.  He drops his maul to the floor with a thud and points with a hand st the shelves. "Before that, what's wit the skulls?"

" Pleased to see thee art alive and well, Good Master Kalazorn." Tabesha'l says as she carefully walks down the stairs, eyeing the assembled group. Her face still a little tense from her encounter with Urzul, she approaches the old farmer and looks at the man's wounds and blood-stained clothes. " We must  find thee some proper clothing and clean bandages. I am Tabesha'l and these are my companions Vaxis, Connak, Minsys... and as for Ando..." she turns around, "... he should be here presently. We were sent to thy farm to see what terrible fate yon orc fiends had planned for thee. It would seem we came just in time."

She notices the skulls lined up against the far wall and beams. " These must be thy famed butter skulls, I presume ? Very fine work. I do think we spotted thy milk cow a little ways to the south, on our way here. She seemed quite healthy, from what we were able to see."

 TO TABESHA’L: “I don’t recall your name fair elf...in fact, I don’t recall having met any of you before...do I know you from Triboar? It hasn’t been that many years since I retired as their sheriff, but it feels like it was ages ago....” With a quick glance at Minsys he adds, “I didn’t arrest you lot before did I?”

TO MINSYS: “Those are the famed butter skulls that is the namesake of this place. Started out as a gimmick to attract business when I opened this place, but they became so popular that we only sell the skulls now.”

TO CONNAK: “My beloved Petunia is the sole source of dairy for the butter here. It’s not just the novel shape that keeps up the demand for my butter...Petunia’s milk makes the best-tasting butter in all Faerun. That cow is not only my livelihood, she is a dear pet and friend. I set her loose when the orcs came along with three horses hoping they would be able to get away. I’d give just about anything to get her back here safe and sound.”

Big Al gives a stretch as the last of his bindings are loosed. Thanks to Vaxis’ healing, his wounds are no longer life-threatening, but still far from fully healed over. “Well, young people, let’s continue our conversation upstairs while we see if the orcs left anything in the kitchen for us to eat.” With that, the man moves slowly toward the stone stair leading up and out of the cellar.

Minsys says, "I'll look for cow, you make food."  He gives big toothy smile and starts to make his way up the steps.  As he makes he way outside he begins to call out "Cow!  Cow!  Where you at!"

Tabesha'l points their new half-orc companion towards the south: 

" Do try the southern side of the ranch, as I said, just beyond yon fence that stands over there. Would thee be needing some help on this endeavour ? I am not exactly familiar with the habits of milk cows, but I daresay catching it can't be harder than fighting marauding thugs, wouldn't thee agree ? Plus, I could do with a breath of fresh air to clear my mind..."

Ando has been methodically dragging all the orcs from the farmhouse outside and dumping them in a pile in preparation to make a funeral pyre. As he does so, he offers a prayer to Mielikki to heal the damage they have done to this land. He'll also search them for any identifying objects that might offer clues about where they have come from.

BIG AL TO MINSYS: “It’ll probably take me an hour to get the kitchen put back together and maybe another hour to get a respectable meal assembled. The grass grows greener to the west and south of the property, so I’d start looking out there first. And see that ye don’t go treating her harshly tryin’ to get her back this a’ way. She’s libel to follow you, if you be gentle with her...” Big Al pauses there for a moment and glances over to the pile of orc corpses just as Ando sets them alight, then directs his attention back to Minsys: “...think yer orcish half can handle that son?”

Ando didn’t find anything of value on the common orcs, however he pulled a crudely drawn map off the body of Urzul. One side of the worn parchment features coal-colored markings, the sort of which might have been made with the charred remnants of a campfire (see #campaign-notes in Discord)

Connak looks over Ando's shoulder at the map.  "Hmm, where did that brute get this?  Surely it didn't draw it... it wouldn't know a X from an O.  So, who would know what's around that X?"

Minsys was already moving a d calling out to the cow before the racist remark was said and he didn't hear it.  He moved to the south at Tabesha'l's suggestion.  He'll start at the barn and the try and follow tracks until he finds her.

Survival 17

Minsys easily picks up the hoof prints of the cow near the burned down barn and follows them around the northern perimeter of the property eventually leading to a large grassy area southwest of the ranch. Standing out in the meadow grazing on tall grass and dandelions is a chocolate-colored cow with a brand bearing the letters “BAK.” Not far away stands three unsaddled horses.

Spotting the cow Minsys smiles and turns to Tabesha'l and asks, "You want the cow or da horses?"  He begins to rub his hands together looking at them both.

Depending on Tabesha'l's response he will approach the other camly and slowly and becon them to come to him.  Surprisingly he handles this with patience.

Animal handling 13

Connak ponders over the hand drawn map and tries to correlate it with what he knows of the Sword Coast.

History: 9

While Minsys easily takes care of the already saddled horses, the elven magus gingerly approaches the cow. She remembers seeing a few human commoners handle the great lumbering beasts with apparent ease, but she can't quite keep her eyes from these pointy horns: this was an entirely new situation to her, and one neither the Taelessar Arcanum or the lavish feasts of her youth prepared her to handle.

She steeled her resolve as she took another hesitant step forward and tried to call the cow:

" Ahem. Petunia, is it ? Well... thee and I art gonna become fast friends, I don't have the slightest doubt. Do cometh, I pray thee, Honored Beast ?"

** Animal Handling: 19 **

Vaxis stirs a bit, seemingly deep in thought. As he re-focuses, he realizes he's with Big Al and Connak. He absent-mindedly had been helping get the kitchen back in order. After all, an old saying goes that an  army travels on their stomachs.

"So, Lord Al...you had asked if you arrested the elf before. Were you a member of...hmm...shivic? When did you come by this place? And why were the orcs after you?"

Minsys is able to approach one of the horses as it grazes. It eyes him warily at first but quickly calms to his presence and even his touch. The other two horses maintain a standoff distance, but this one seems willing to let the half-orc take an unsaddled mount.

Tabesha’l finds Petunia to be very gentle indeed. The cow casually swishes her tail back and forth as she chews her cud. After Tabesha’l establishes contact, the cow gives her a friendly nudge as if to indicate she wants the high-elf to lead her.

Studying the map, Connak surmises that its largest features roughly approximate the geographical positions of the Sea of Swords, the Neverwinter Wood and the Sword Mountains. 

TO VAXIS: “Shivic? Hmm, not familiar with that one, my scaly friend, but I was the Sheriff of Triboar for many years before I retired. Big farming community, Triboar...I picked up enough from the folk there that I pretty much knew what to do when I bought this place about 10 years ago. Had to hire some help to take care of the toughest labor...” The man’s eyes go a little misty as he stares out a window towards the husk of the burned out barn. “I don’t know why those damned orcs came here...no reason probably, other’n the fact that they just like killin’.”

"Good horse," Minsys says after he mounts the horse and rubs its mane.  "Lets head back to the farm," he says calmly.  He looks over his shoulder at the other two horses hoping they will follow and then makes a clicking noise and starts the horse off at a slow walk towards the house.

Picking up dishes and other items throughout the kitchen, Vaxis wipes off the ones in better condition and sets the table for everyone.

"Are you secure here? If you are having danger, we would be more than happy to escort you back to town. At least until this threat blows over."

" Hum, oh yes, let's..." Tabesha'l says behind Minsys, her voice slightly tremulous as she leads the impressively large cow behind her and starts walking back towards the farm.

With Minsys scouting ahead on horseback, Tabesha’l and her new bovine companion make their way slowly back to Kalazorn’s farmhouse. The other two horses keep several hundred feet back, but seem to be following their path as well.

Meanwhile, back at the house, Big Al responds to Vaxis as he finishes up a splendid meal of grilled turnip roots, scrambled yard eggs and of course mushroom biscuits with plenty of butter. “Secure? Are we ever really secure anywhere in Faerun?” he asks, rhetorically. “Phandalin is a long journey for me and Petunia and I have no idea where we would stay once we’d arrived or how I would feed her the specific mixture of greens and grains that allows her to produce this silky dairy. Of course, with my fields burned...I don’t know how I would feed her here either...”

Dejected, Big Al begins plating the fabulous meal when he spies Minsys and Tabesha’l approaching the house through the kitchen window. “She’s...she’s alive!! By the gods, that crafty cow managed to get away! Ha!” He plops a pair of plates down on the counter and rushes out the front door to greet them in the yard, even as the flaming pile of orc corpses emits sickly black smoke and the horrible stench of burning flesh.

Vaxis smiles as Big Al celebrates their reunion. Rejoining his compatriots he smiles at Tabesha'l and Minsys.

"Come, let us enjoy our meal and have discussion.", he says, walking back inside.