 | Black Jay's Cottage sits right across the path from the Abby of St. Cuthbert. You can see a few sheep outside in the pin as you approach. Sitting on the porch of the small cottage is a ragged looking man, his hair unkept, his eyes opened wide, he looks like he is in a state of distress but his actions are calm, he sits on the porch smoking from a pipe. You have smell the pipeweed as you approach. |
| Black Jay looks dishevled, but he catches his attentions and then looks to Stormrider when he comes closer. "My Sheep, Oh yes, My Sheep. Something has been killing them in my field, but I don't know what. I keep waking up and finding them dead in my field." he says. |
| Black Jay looks shakes his head. "Here come around back and look, I had another one just this morning die on me." he says as he gets up off the porch and walks around to the side. He enters through a small gate into the gated pasture You can see four sheep in the pasture. He takes you over to a small shed and opens the door. Inside you see a dead sheep, it looks to have died recently, no marks, no wounds, nothing seems to be wrong with it on the outside. At least from the experience you have with animals. "I just don't know what it is." he says. |
| Black Jay nods. "I've already talked to Father Calmert, he too is unsure, but he didn't do what you just did, he just checked on the sheep, and couldn't figure it out either. That's why I put out the flier on the notice board, thought maybe someone that knew about animals could help." he says. |
| Black Jay nods. "Thank you, that would be perfect. Without my sheep, I don't know how I would survive, I didn't want to butcher them without knowing how they died, maybe its something they are eating." he says, as he walks out into the pasture and looks around. Kicking a tuff of grass. |
| Black Jay's Cottage sits right across the path from the Abby of St. Cuthbert. You can see a two sheep outside in the pin as you approach, a one laying on the ground dead. You see Black Jay running around his small house trying to get the shutters closed on all the windows. The Sheep are bleating something awful. |
"Thank you!" the man says with some urgency. The two of you start working on the shutters and get the house bundled up, he invites you inside when the rain starts picking back up a little. "Have you come to help with my sheep?" he asks. Black Jay shakes his head. "I ran into them both along the road, when was out collecting one of my sheep about a week ago. They mentioned going to the nearby Temple and exploring it. I suggested that they didn't not just the two of them. Sounds like they didn't listen." he says. Black Jay doesn't know if Kossoth knows what the Temple is or he is just assuming that anyone in these parts know what it is. Black Jay looks at the man strangely and then speaks. "The Temple of Elemental Evil, you've surely heard of it, its the entire reason why Hommlet and this region is famous. In 566 CY, forces of evil from Dyvers and the Wild Coast constructed a small chapel outside the nearby village of Nulb. The chapel was quickly built into a stone temple from which bandits and evil humanoids began to operate with increasing frequency. In 569 CY, a combined force was sent to destroy the Temple and put an end to the marauding. This allied army clashed with a horde of evil men and humanoids, including goblins, orcs, ogres and gnolls, at the Battle of Emridy Meadows. Men-at-arms from Furyondy and Veluna united with dwarves from the Lortmils, gnomes from the Kron Hills, and an army of elven archers to face the threat of the Horde of Elemental Evil. The arrival of the elves from the shadows of the Gnarley Forest turned the tide of battle, trapping the savage humanoids against a bend in the Velverdyva where they were routed and slaughtered. After dispersing the Horde of Elemental Evil, the allied forces laid siege to the Temple of Elemental Evil itself, defeating it within a fortnight. The site itself remained. The Viscount of Verbobonc and the Archcleric of Veluna became increasingly concerned, and cooperated to build a small castle outside the Village of Hommlet to guard against the possibility of the Temple rising again. But as you can see, Rufus and Burne still have not finished the castle." he says with disdain. "For the last week, I've been waking up to find my sheep dead. I don't know what is happening. I've asked Father Calmert to come and see, and he says that their is an evil aura, but he can't figure out what it is. They don't have any wounds, no signs of death, I don't know what it is." he says. "No one that I can thank of." he says, and then pauses for a moment. "I do have a few old friends upset at me for leaving the Old Faith and converting to St. Cuthbert." he says. "I don't know much about poisons do you?" he asks. "Well obviously I'm not good at keeping sheep, Do I have a choice? I need to make coin to survive, plus I've dug a few holes in my time, I'm sure I could handle being a groundskeeper for the Cemetery, I already have the part, at least the kids taunt me saying as much." he says. Its true Black Jay does kinda look like a creepy undertaker. "I can help with the fence too, if the grass and weeds are overgrown, and its not also full of Hemlock, I bet my remaining sheep would love to graze on the cemetery grounds, ya know to help clean it up, what do ya think?" he asks. Black Jay looks around. "Well I don't have anything else to be doing, but its getting late, and the suns already gone down, I was going to sit down and have some dinner. I could go check the place out tomorrow. Its been sometime since I visited, the wife is buried out there. It will be nice to talk to her." he says.