The party eventually sets out from Drellin's Ferry eastward along The Dawn Way, bound first toward the tanneries just outside of Terrelton and then eventually deeper into the Nimon Hills to seek out the Sanctum of the Insatiable Savant. News has come to their ears of the Jackals' predations along the road, with their new companion, Charlotte, having some first-hand experience with this band of miscreants. With this in mind, they remain vigilant during their daylong walk toward Terrelton.

The weather is warm and hazy throughout, with barely a wisp of feathery silvered clouds to block out the blazing sun. It is warm and dusty now, but in but a few months when summer is upon the Vale, it will be doubly so. A distant line of dark green north of the Dawn Way serves as a visual reminder of the Witchwood, that ancient forest standing as a siren for sun-drenched travelers to seek out elusive shade. To the south, mile upon of trackless savanna stretching all the way to the distant and formidable Wyvernwatch Mountains--these appearing only as a dim visage through the haze.

The party makes good progress throughout the day and save for a few encounters with passing merchant wagons bound for Drellin's Ferry, finds their travel uneventful. After a long days' walk, the party arrives at Terrelton and is assaulted by the odiousness of this dusty town. To say the livestock outnumbers people is a severe understatement. Numerous farms and ranches border the town, boasting an impressive number of cattle and pigs that root at stubborn grass and brush that rise up from reddish-orange earth.

Terrelton is a dusty town that gets by on the livestock and leather trades and most shops in the small town are devoted to this industry. The town has but a single inn, The Tawny Hide, which most refer to as either Tawny's or The Hide. Just outside the town, near the start of the Nimon Hills, the party spies a plume of dark smoke hanging above a cluster of small buildings and workshops. These are the tanneries and they contribute mightily to the olfactory barrage. How anyone would choose to live in such a place is a mystery, but maybe for some there is no choice in the matter.

With nightfall approaching and a long day's travel behind them, the party secures accommodations at the inn and inquires about Yhus' kin. The innkeep knows Yhus' family and says they dwell in a hovel just outside the tanneries and provides directions as best he is able.

After a short rest, the party sets out toward the hovel. A short walk later, the party comes upon it, a squat ramshackle building with a weedy vegetable and herb garden, a couple of chickens pecking at bugs in the cracked soil and a mangy dog chewing its tail. The dog's tail wacks the ground a few times as they approach and lets out a couple of yaps before a middle-aged man emerges from the hovel batting away a swarm of flies that instantly greets his appearance through the curtained door. Behind him a buxom woman and a brood of eager young mouths file out, curious about the adventurers' appearance at their meager abode.

The man introduces himself as Ned while wiping his calloused hands on his soiled tunic and trousers.

"Hello," he calls out, "What can I do for you folk?" he asks.

OOC: We'll play through this and then I will set up the adventure.

"My name is Sister Eoni," she introduced with a wan smile.  "My companions and I have traveled with your son, Yhus.

"We..." she broke off for a moment and looked about at the children gathered around them.  "Is there somewhere we could speak?"

She knew how difficult and important this task was but she still felt unprepared.  Marklin may not have put any value in the task but in honoring the fallen, they strengthened what bound them together.  Yhus was not just a piece of broken equipment to be discarded, none of them were.

Yhus, like any of them, deserved to be remembered by those that loved him.  His family needed to know how he'd died and be proud of his bravery.

But not in front of the children.

Ned steps clear of the hovel while shooing his children back inside, "Inside. The lot of you. Mind your ma."

The man's face becomes slightly concerned as he approaches the adventurers. "Is Yhus well?" he asks, a twinge of hope in his voice his son had done well for himself. Yhus had gone away to study at a temple and had always promised to return him to help his struggling family, but as of yet, that had not happened.

 Marklin stood there,taking in the scene of the Cleric and the poor family. When the man asked if his son yet lived, the Warrior responded in the traditional way. " Your son returned upon his shield, in a manner of speaking. He was brave and died well."

Valthur stares at his boots while Eoni and Marklin break the news to Yhus's parents. The young cleric did indeed die fighting the good fight, but he doubts his family will take much solace in the news. Humans are funny that way. Even with lives as short as theirs, they grieve heavily at its loss. He cringes in anticipation of their response.
This message was last edited by the player at 08:02, Mon 30 Jan 2017.

As Eoni speaks, Aldara tries to hide her unease at the prospect of breaking the news.  Especially around the children.  Thankfully, Ned dismisses said children...and Marklin breaks the news.

All the mage will do, is give the poor man a nod.

Sarah hangs back, and from her position just looks around.
This message was last edited by the player at 14:46, Mon 30 Jan 2017.

"We discovered a sickness in the Witchwood," Eoni continued quickly.  She'd hoped to ease into the telling of Yhus' death but Marklin... was Marklin.

"After many trials, we were bewitched by an ancient mad wood spirit.  We overcame it in the end, but brave Yhus had fallen.  Some of us might not have been here without him.

"We will miss his companionship."

She swung her pack around and pulled a purse from one of it's pockets.  The Sister of Avandra held it out.  "This was his share of what we'd accomplished when he fell.  It was his last wish for it to be for his family."

She prayed that he wouldn't reject it out of grief.  From their surroundings and the number of children, it looked as though they needed it badly.

 Marklin was not one for fancy words, but direct action. He saw the state of the hovel, the way the father and children where garbed. The Warrior dropped his pack and removed a fat purse. He offered it toward the father of Yhus, “ This was part of your sons share, as well. Better to not put all the eggs in one basket.” The Warrior said in a neutral tone of voice.

Valthur glances up at Marklin in astonishment, astonished first by the fact that the fighter still had any money left after gambling in Drellin's Ferry for the past week and even more astonished to see him give it away with no more than a passing thought.

Yhus' father receives Marklin's brash news with a certain degree of stoicism. He exhales slightly and stares down at his feet a moment before looking beyond the adventurers at some indeterminate point in the distance. When Eoni cuts in with additional information to soften the blow, he hears her words but their meaning is lost in a jumble of fleeting thoughts. His eldest had made good of himself, but in the end it didn't amount to much.

Ned composes his thoughts and finally responds, "Well, it brings me some measure of relief to know Yhus helped you lot." Looking away again, "that was his way. Always seeing the good in people."

"And it was mighty right of you to tell me yourself. Not much to be done for now I guess," he adds, his body language sunken and defeated.

Ned offers his thanks to everyone present and says his heart is gladdened to know he threw his lot in with a group of friends who cared enough to come out of their way to do the right thing. He accepts Eoni and Marklin's offering and says he will put it to good use, maybe rebuilding the family farm which was burned out by goblins about a year back.

"We weren't always tannery wage squatters," he adds his voice a mixture of pride and sadness.

"Thank you. May Pelor's blessings be upon you," he says.

Eoni bowed to Yhus' parents and turned away before they could see the tears in her eyes.  She felt that they'd failed the young follower of Pelor and prayed that it would never happen again.

From her vantage point in the back of the gathering, Sarah watches the adults talk.

Valthur lifts his gaze up from his boots to look Ned momentarily in the eye. He opens his mouth to say something meaningful, but realizes he has no words for the father. Instead, the dwarf nods, then turns to go.

This discussion is almost as discomforting as our journey into that rotten tree trunk, he concludes as he takes a cautious step away from the meeting, hoping the others follow his lead. Best we put it behind us.