Antia and Lathan begin their two-day journey back to Milborne, leaving Lucien and Albrecht behind to keep an eye on the blue-faced goblins.

After parting with Albrecht and Lucien, Lathan leads Antia through the mire and back toward Milborne. "I'm glad you were able to talk to the shaman," he says to Antia as they walk. "As much as I might dislike goblins, those ones weren't hurting anyone and didn't want to fight. I wouldn't have felt right killing them. Nor would stealing from them after making a deal have been the right thing to do. Thankfully, the others were willing to listen to reason."

"I agree they were just trying to find a place to fit in somewhere to live quietly. I sensed no malice in them." Antia replied

"I feel sorry for them their race has such a bad time of it. Not everyone conforms to the stereotype of their people....take my race....demon spawned yet we try to constantly prove we are not demons....sadly prejudice tends to weaken our resolve until we retaliate and prove those against us right.....perhaps if we all talked more then there might be less hurt in the world"

"As for steeling from them ..... I gave my oath it would not happen ..... It was given to them by their god it would be against all i hold true to have done that"

Lathan and Antia make their way back toward Milborne. By the time the sun begins to set for the day, they have already made it almost to the edge of the New Mire; the ground beneath them, though still muddy, is drier and firmer than much of what they had to travel through today.

"What do you think?" Lathan asks his companion, stopping to look around. "Shall we press on a while longer in hopes of getting out of this mire before we rest? Or do you want to try to find some relatively dry and solid ground around here to rest on?"

"My nature allows me to see in the dark so I can travel on but if you have difficulty in the failing light we can find a dry site to camp for the night" the cleric replied

"I'm fine in the dark," Lathan replies. "Let's push on a little farther. Hopefully, we can get out of this mire before we rest for the night."

Lathan continues to lead Antia through the New Mire toward Milborne. Once the ground is relatively dry and solid again, he will begin looking for a suitable place to camp for the night.

The sun has fully set by the time Lathan and Antia find a suitable place to rest for the night.

Lathan will set up camp then ask Antia to let him rest for the first four hours, offering to keep watch the remainder of the night.

Antia agreed and set herself slightly away from the fire to keep watch, her dark vision letting her see in the nights blackness

The night passes without incident, as does the next day. Antia and Lathan arrive in Milborne shortly before sunset. As the duo heads for the Carman mansion to inform Darius Carman what they have learned, Garyld the Carpenter calls out from his shop, "You there! I'm glad to see you back in Milborne. What happened to your friends? I'd like to have a word with you about a matter you might be able to help with."

Lathan waves at Garyld and approaches. "We've been looking into the cause of the New Mire. Our friends are still there. What can we help you with?"

"Any luck with that?" Garyld asks.

"Shiraz is having some trouble at the Eelhold lately. The water's become more turbulent and she fears her control over the water elemental that lives there is weakening. If the elemental gets out of control, the whole dam could be compromised.

"Shiraz has heard about you and your friends and wants to talk to you. She hopes you can help her find a solution to her problem. If you're willing to help, I can arrange for her to meet with you."

Lathan nods. "We think we've found the source of the water--a ring possessed by a goblin shaman--but we won't know for sure until we can find someone more skilled with magic who can look at the ring for us. That's why Antia and I are here. And we wanted to give Master Carman an update on what we've found."

He looks at Antia and shrugs. "I can't speak for all of us, but I would be willing to meet with this Shiraz."

"You know Tauster in Thurmaster, right? He's yer best bet if you want someone to identify the ring," Garyld says. "But Carman will definitely want to know what you've found.

"I'll tell Shiraz you're willing to meet with her. I presume you'll be in the area for a while?"

" I am loath to go and see this person but we need to have the ring identified so if this is the quickest course of action that will achieve this then we must meet them" concluded Antia after a little thought

Garyld shrugs. "Yeah, it's a good 45 or 50 miles to Thurmaster from here but, like I said, Tauster's yer best bet in Haranshire.

"I'll tell Shiraz to meet with you when you come back this way again."

"Okay. I look forward to meeting her," Lathan says to Garyld as he and Antia take their leave of him and go looking for Carman.

"It sounds like we'll have to go all the way to Thurmaster to have someone identify the ring," he says to Antia. "And now that I think about it, how are we going to have him identify the ring if we don't have it. Do you think this Tauster fellow will be willing to travel all the way back to the New Mire with us?"

"We will have to be persuasive in our plea for his assistance....trust in the light it will provide a way to right this problem" she replied to Lathan as she followed her companion out

Lathan nods. "Traveling all the way to Thurmaster will take time, though. We should send word to Lucien and Albrecht if we are going to go all the way there and back without them, so they don't get worried about us."

Lathan will attempt to locate Carman to explain the situation with the goblins and the ring to him.

Darius Carman is happy to hear about the party's progress in finding a cause of the New Mire. "Let me know when you have a solution, and I'll make sure you are paid for your efforts," he says.

Anti a looked at Carman " if we are to make haste in our task we will not have time to let our companions know of our destination could you get a message to them while we are gone"

Carman nods. "Of course. If your friends are still exploring the New Mire, just give Garyld your message and he'll make sure it gets to them.

"I look forward to seeing you again. Hopefully, the New Mire mess will be behind us soon."

Lathan will go with Antia back to Garyld to give him a message to deliver to Lucien and Albrecht: We are going to Thurmaster to talk to Tauster, so we will be gone longer than expected. We will hurry. Stay safe. - Lathan and Antia

"Well, let's get moving again," he says to Antia after they are finished. "It's quite a way to Thurmaster so we should make haste."

" True speed of is the essence" the cleric simply stated as she grabbed her gear and headed out with her companion

Garyld suggests that Antia and Lathan catch a ride on a barge down the Churnett River to Thurmaster in order to reduce their travel time. He arranges for them to travel on such a barge for free in exchange for acting as additional guards.

When they arrive at Tauster's home in Thurmaster, the old wizard peeks his head out of the door and asks, "You again? Any news?"

Lathan looks to Antia to talk to Tauster, as she has more of a history of dealing with the wizard.

"Yes master wizard a little. We seem to have found the reason for the mire but require the assistance of an expert to look at the source. Unfortunately the person holding the item has refused to allow us to take it thus we have promised to bring the expert to them" she stated

Tauster frowns. "And I suppose I am the expert you speak of? Where exactly do you expect me to go?"

"The item in question is a ring owned by a goblin shaman," Lathan answers. "He is holed up with his tribe in the Patchwork Hills. We were hoping you would accompany us there to identify the ring and determine if it is indeed the source of the New Mire."

"A goblin den in the Patchwork Hills?" Tauster scoffs. "I'm not going there. You'd better find someone else."

Lathan shakes his head. "We were told you were our best bet," he sighs. "Listen, you'll be safe with us. The goblins just want to be left alone, and we just want to find a solution to the New Mire problem. We can't identify the ring ourselves, so we're asking you to come with us, to potentially solve a problem that has been going on for more than two years and is driving farmers out of their livelihoods, so, please, come with us to identify the ring."

"I'm too old to go traipsing about Haranshire," Tauster replies, shaking his head and frowning. "You'll have to find someone else."

Losing patients with the old man slightly Antia's  more demon nature came through "a little discomfort is a small price to pay for saving many lives" her eyes blazed with fire as she started at him

"by the light I will strap you to my horse if I have to..... We are wasting time"

"Don't threaten me!" Tauster snaps back. He starts to shut the door, then stops and reopens it. "I hear there's a young mage passing through town," he says, more calmly now. "She's staying at the Hound and Tails. She might be able to help you."

"Thanks..." Lathan replies, obviously annoyed. "I guess we'll head over to the Hound and Tails now then. You better hope this mage is there and that she's more willing to help us than you are.

"Come on, Antia."

As they walk across town to the inn, Lathan shakes his head. "What is his problem?"

"it is a sad thing,  unlike receiving the blessing of one's God meddling with arcane powers can turn the mind to mush..."  the cleric sighed "yes I believe this young wizard he spike of might be our only hope"

"Indeed..." Lathan sighs as they walk. "Well, let us proceed to the inn to find this young wizard then."

When they arrive at the Hound and Tails, Lathan enters and scans the room to look for anyone who might be a traveling mage. If he doesn't spot anyone, he approaches the innkeeper and asks, "Tauster informed us that there is another wizard passing through town and that she is staying here. Could you direct us to her?"

"Eh? Oh, yeah," the innkeeper looks around the common room, then points toward the stairs, where a thin female elf can be seen descending into the room. "She's coming down the stairs right now."

Lathan watches the elf enter the common room, then clears his throat and moves to intercept her. "Excuse me," he says as he approaches. "My name is Lathan, and this is Antia, and we believe you might be able to help us." He pauses momentarily to gauge her reaction, then continues, "Perhaps you've heard of the problem of the New Mire, the flooding near the Patchwork Hills that has been destroying farmland and forcing farmers out of their homes for the past two years... Well, we believe we may have found what is causing the flooding, a ring possessed by a goblin shaman in the Patchwork Hills. He himself admitted to us that the ring is the likely culprit, but we cannot know for sure without having the ring's magical properties properly identified.

"Now the local wizard refuses to travel with us to identify the ring but he informed us that you were passing through the region and might be able to help.

"If you agree, the two of us will travel with you to the Patchwork Hills, where we will meet with our comrades and take you to see the goblin shaman to examine the ring. The people of Haranshire would be forever grateful if you could help us stop the spread of the New Mire. Plus, there is a handsome reward being offered to whoever can find a solution to the problem of the Mire.

"And don't worry about the goblins. They really just want to be left alone.

"So what do you say?"

Seirye stared, as politely as she could, as this stranger started babbling in front of her. When she got the opportunity to reply to Lathan the words came out clearly and efficiently, her tone neutral, and unable to hide that her pronunciation hinted at an upper-class background and education.

"Say? Well I can say that I'm afraid I wasn't aware of this particular problem, the New Mire, to which you allude. I was merely passing through this forsaken place on my way to something better, anything better, or at least academically more interesting."

She sighed deeply and very obviously.

"So, this ring..." And now there was clearly a subtle change in her tone as she started questioning them about the actual ring. A sense of excitement? And as she talked she lowered her bag to the ground and fished out a small book, a pen and an inkwell. Having got those out she moved to the nearest table and started writing. Her focus entirely on the page in front of her. "So you don't have it with you right now... I have to say that that is awfully inconvenient isn't it! Can you at least describe it to me? It's shape, it's weight, does it have any markings, what is its typical colour, does it have any gems, does it have any unusual glow, does it make any noise, do you know its provenance... where did this so-called shaman get the ring from?"

She looked up at Lathan and squinted at him, before she continued in Elvish. "Well... Lathan?" During this entire time she didn't so much as glance at Antia.

Lathan smiles and follows Seirye to the table. He continues speaking in Common. "Well, I didn't get the closest look at it," he says, scratching his chin. "But I recall it had some strange geometric design, the same design that was tattooed all over the shaman. The shaman said it was a gift from their god, Maglubiyet, I believe.

"Perhaps Antia could describe it in more detail," Lathan motions her over. "Otherwise, I'm sure the shaman would let you examine it closely to determine if it is the source of the New Mire, assuming you're willing to assist in this matter."

Seirye nods, having attempted, and failed, to adopt a disinterested attitude. She writes a little more in her book, a beautiful, fluid Elvish script.

"I might be interested," she tries to say nonchalantly, returning to speaking Common, "The ring does sound interesting... from a purely academic viewpoint of course... and if this Shaman has similar patterns on the skin I would need to document that as well, or if we could get the skin off him that would save on needless time adding in possibly inaccurate illustrations to my notes. Plus we might need to spend some time interviewing the locals on the impact of this ring, this 'New Mire' as you describe it but, yes, I think I could find the time to look into this matter. Your assistance in my researches would be gratefully accepted."

She thinks for a brief moment.

"Expenses?" she asks, looking up at Lathan and, finally, Antia.
This message was last edited by the player at 03:16, Tue 06 June 2017.

"You're not skinning the goblin shaman," Lathan says. "We gave our word that we wouldn't harm them.

"As for money, Darius Carman is offering a reward of 1,000 gold pieces for whoever can find a solution to the New Mire problem, and we would of course give you a share of that."

She snorted a little, the breath out only barely audible. More awkward but writing such a work as she was planning should not be so easy or everyone would have done it. Seirye nodded and after blowing a little on the ink to ensure it had dried properly she closed her book and carefully put that and her writing implements into her bag.

She looked back up at Lathan. "Very well, we shall go and have a look at this ring, understand it, understand where it might have come from and what it may... or may be responsible for. Understand who might have created such a thing and it may be that we can solve your problem as well, solve this 'New Mire'. I am Seirye... Seirye Lathilar and I am pleased to make your acquaintance. When do we leave?"

Lathan smiles and nods at Seirye. "A pleasure to meet you, too. Thank you for agreeing to help us," he says. He looks to Antia. "I'm ready to leave whenever. I'm hoping we can catch a barge down the river again, so our companions don't have to wait too long for us to return.

"Shall we?"

There is another barge leaving Thurmaster toward Milborne within the hour. The party can arrange for transport on the barge in exchange for guard duty.

Antia had allowed her companion to talk while she listened then with a flurry she let her hood fall down to show her racial features.

"I must warn you that the ring was a gift to the shaman from their God.  I have personally given my oath as a cleric of the light that the ring will not be taken by force. "it was spoken as a statement to underline the importance of the situation

" the goblin tribe are merely looking for a place to live and the caves they have found suits their needs.  The problem is the ring seems to be leaking magic into the surrounding ding area.  We need to find out if this can be resolved.  The goblins mean no harm and wish to resolve the problem peacefully"

Seirye nods while looking quite curiously at Antia's features.

"That is very, very, interesting," she adds slowly, talking more to herself than the others, "Typically the magic is bound tightly to the focus, at least by any competent crafter, otherwise they are largely wasting their time. I suppose there could be a leak in the component channel... maybe... faulty inscriptions or poor quality materials."

She focuses back on her new companions. "Look, I don't expect you to understand but you may as well try to build a bridge using lit candles as a foundation. It'll look good for a while, maybe it would even look pretty if you cared about such a thing, but eventually they candles will burn down, they'll be gone, and without your foundations you'll be left with a lot of timber sitting in the river. Assuming that the candles remain lit under water of course. You understand what I'm saying?"

She doesn't wait for an answer, shrugs and muses somewhat abstractedly. "Unless it was done deliberately that way of course."

Lathan listens to Seirye, nodding his head as she speaks. "Well, hopefully we'll have some answers soon," he says. "I hope Lucien and Albrecht are doing okay."

He reports to the barge shortly before it is set to leave and finds a spot out of the way of the crew where he can keep watch for any trouble as they travel down the river.

Seirye looked uncomfortable boarding the barge and hurridly moves to a spot near Lathan. Propping her bag up against a barrel she sat down next to it and began writing in her book, not wanting to miss anything that might be relevant as well as capturing her own thoughts.

From time to time she looks up to see where Lathan and Antia are.

The ride down the Churnett River is uneventful. The party arrives in Milborne around sunset.

"So, is this it?" asks Seirye, putting her bag over her shoulder.

She stands as close to the edge of the boat as she dares while a gangplank is put in place and looks at the other two for guidance, "Our last stop?"

"No," Lathan shakes his head. "We've still got a trek south through the New Mire to the Patchwork Hills. We should rest here in Milborne overnight and leave first thing in the morning tomorrow."

"I will gather gear,  fresh water and food for the trip.  I would not trust the water in these parts even if the streams look fresh"  suggested the cleric

"I agree," Lathan says to Antia. "Let's gather supplies, rest in town tonight, then head out to meet our comrades in the morning."

Lathan, Antia, and Seirye gather supplies and rest in Milborne overnight.

As they head out of town first thing in the morning, they notice a tall, tanned woman approaching them. She smiles, waves, and moves to intercept them.

"Excuse me! Are you Antia and Lathan?" she calls out. "I'm Shiraz. Garyld told me you might be able to help me."

Lathan watches Shiraz suspiciously as she approaches. "Shiraz? ... Oh, yes, Garyld had mentioned you to us. We're currently in the middle of something important. If your issue can wait a few days, perhaps we'll be able to help you after we're finished."

Seirye walked up next to Lathan, standing a little behind and to the side of his right shoulder. The only thought going through her mind was that this interruption was delaying their journey to get to this ring. She frowned but decided to remain silent as Lathan's initial answer put her mind at ease.

Shiraz gives Lathan a friendly smile. "Garyld said you were close to finding some answers behind the cause of the New Mire," she says. "That is definitely important. If you don't mind me asking, what do you think is causing it?" She smiles again and motions for him to continue walking, coming up alongside him. "You can tell me as we walk. I don't want to hold you up."

Lathan nods and continues to walk. "A ring. The shaman of a goblin tribe holed up in the Patchwork Hills claims it was given to him by Maglubiyet. When we mentioned the New Mire, he admitted to us that he believes the ring is the source of the water. We couldn't verify that on our own, so we went searching for assistance. We found Seirye here, who thinks she can help us out. Our friends are waiting in the Patchwork Hills for us to return.

"What is the problem you need our help with?"

"Hmm... Interesting," Shiraz says as she walks alongside Lathan and the others. "Well, as for my problem, lately the waters of Eelhold have become turbulent and clouded, and there have even been waterspouts seen in the center of the lake. Shenjurath tells me that her control over the water elemental that lives in the lake is weakening. It's very troubling. If the elemental gets out of her control, the dam, and everything south of it, may be at risk. I'm hoping you might be able to help me figure out a solution.

"Do you mind if I accompany you to Patchwork Hills to see this ring?"

Seirye echoes Shiraz with her own musing. She poses a question, as much to herself as those around her. "This artefact... this ring, seems quite powerful it's reach is extending so far and with such obvious power. There are not many things crafted by a mortal being which could have such an impact. Without doubting the shaman it may indeed have been a holy gift. It raises a question about we could do about it if it is, indeed, a gift of the gods. I doubt very much that this god would want its gift destroyed or tampered with. What could have been its purpose... hmmm, interesting indeed Shiraz."

Antia returned with the supplies while the others talked.  Once stores in saddle bags "then time is of the essence. Let us ride without delay to meet our companions and solve this situation"  she said swinging into the saddle

Lathan looks to Antia to see if she objects to Shiraz accompanying them.

"I'm sorry, but I'm not particularly familiar with this region," he says to Shiraz. "You'll have to tell us a little more about this Eelhold."

As they travel, Shiraz explains to the party that the Eelhold is a small lake that was artificially created by a log dam across the south-flowing Oldscutt River nearly 50 years ago by the Carman family. The dam regulates river flow and prevents flooding further south, where the Oldscutt River meets the Churnett River. The waters of the Oldscutt can be rapid in the spring, and the dam broke on one occasion seventeen years ago.

Shiraz tells them that the Eelhold has two unusual inhabitants who have managed to prevent any recurrence of this disaster: a water elemental that is magically tied to the lake and a female nixie named Shenjurath who has some power of command over the elemental.

Locals benefit from this by more than just flood control. Once a year, the nixie allows them to come to the lake to harvest the great eels which grow fat in the placid lake waters; there are few predators to keep their numbers down, Shiraz explains. For a period of five days, locals set out with flat-bottomed boats and great nets to dredge the lake bed around the shoreline, and by night they use lanterns to attract the eels to the surface from the central depths of the lake. The haul of fat eels is enormous, and the surplus is usually cooked, cut into finger-length chunks, and pickled and bottled for the winter. Eels may also be wood-smoked or preserved in an herb jelly. In any form, Shiraz notes, eels are an acquired taste.
This message was last edited by the player at 19:13, Thu 15 June 2017.

The journey to the Patchwork Hills is slow, due to the waterlogged ground of the New Mire, and uneventful. The party heads for the goblin cave, looking for Lucien and Albrecht.

Move to "The Evils of Haranshire" thread.