Chapter 2: Mired Waters

Hanzel normally has no qualms about sleeping outside, but these aren't exactly normal times with so many orcs around. "Well, there's no harm in asking. It'd certainly be safer than the alternative."

Garyld is quick to welcome you once again, asking questions about Caradoc and Almadel who aren't around this time while showing interest in the new additions to the group, Constantine and Theobald. His accommodations aren't exactly top notch, but his farm isn't meant to be an inn and it certainly beats the alternative of camping in the woods. Likewise, dinner is scrambled eggs, rye bread and fresh vegetables; hearty enough to fill your bellies and certainly better than travel rations.

6th of Coldeven (Spring), 576 CY
After saying your goodbyes, you set off West towards Milborne, fortunately with no hostile encounters on the way. Arriving right before sunset, you get there just in time as the locals pour in after a day at work and gather outside the Exchange, which is Milborne's granary that doubles as a small market of sorts. Outside the exchange, people are gathered to witness what appears to be some kind of auction. Asking around, you are told the Denfast family has been forced to abandon their farm due to the spread of the New Mire on the southwest part of Haranshire. They are now selling off what little they could salvage from their property, such as farm tools and the like, before they had to abandon it and flee from the ever expanding Mire.

Devon watched the auction for a moment, although it seemed a simple thing.

"To lose one's land and home, a hard thing. Hopefully they will find a new place."

He considered a moment, "With the spread of the marsh lands and the influx of ..." he paused deciding not to say orcs in a mixed crowd of farmers, although likely they had heard by now. "seems things are getting harder around here."

Devon stops again, glances up at the sky as if hoping some answer might be written in the clouds.

"We have returned again to where the search started. The only thing we seem to have found so far is more people missing."

With the auction seeming to wrap up, a person appears from the gathered crowd and heads towards the group. His clothing seems to suggest a rather modest living, marking him out from the local farmers and peasants observing the auction.

"You lot" he tries to get your attention, as he approaches. "You seem to match Garyld and Andren's descriptions. Devon, Hanzel and Aldeera, was it? My lord, Darius Carman, has sent out summons for you. Will you answer his call and present yourselves at his manor house tomorrow?"

The lad looks between the other back and forth.

The warrior watched the man approach. He extended his hand is greeting, "You have the right of it. I'm Devon, and your name friend?"

He nodded at the man's invitation and glanced at the others in the group. "Lord Carman you say? I am unfamiliar with this area and the local nobility. Could you enlighten us about your lord?"

Hanzel has heard of Lord Carman, having grown up in the area, but knows very little about the man. He wonders why the group are being called on; maybe a member of Lord Carman's house has gone missing?

"I don't really know any more about him than you do, I'm afraid," he says to Devon.

Constantine stands next to Theobald while the warriors talk. He feels like he's 'one of the children' even though he's probably the oldest one here. How old is this Theo kid anyway? Humans get so tall, so quickly.

"we shouldn't keep a lord waiting" he declares. And then feels foolish for saying anything at all. Theses mighty warriors are not to be impressed by some country-bumpkin lord...

Uh oh... did he say that bit out loud? Good Garl! he hopes not. He doesn't know anything about these parts, or this lord.

"My Lord's family have been in charge of the lands this part of Haranshire since the area was tamed" the man responds with a hint of pride in his tone. "Milborne is their seat of power, but their wealth comes from the mines, and running the local smithy. I'm just a general handyman at his mansion, not privy to milord's thoughts and motivations, I'm afraid. He's only asked me to keep an eye out for you and summon you to present yourselves before him.

The warrior nodded in agreement with Constantine, "Agreed."

Looking at the messenger, "We will come speak with the Lord tomorrow as requested."

Turning to the others, "First we should collect our pay for escorting the shipment. Let us go to the inn and find our employer to report that his good have arrived safely."

The mood at the Baron of Mutton is anything but lighthearted tonight. The few locals that have filed in for a drink are still talking to themselves about the auction and what a shame that was. Travelling boatmen get drunk joking about how, at this rate, soon enough they'll have new routes to traverse. Even a grumpy old dwarf you've seen around a couple of times seems to have been taken away by the latest hot subject and he's busy grumbling to anyone who'll hear him about tales of mining mishaps and flash floods underground.

"Ah, greetings" your employer says with glee as he looks up from his table at you approaching. "I take it all is well, yes? I had to commission the boat and crew, it'll probably be a while before they get a contract to load another shipment and come back to Milborne, but they should have given you some form of confirmation in writing that the delivery has been made."

The mood is justifiably gloomy in here. Constantine feels truly sympathetic for the people of this town. He finds the jokes of the boatmen offensive and is about to say something, when Bertio meets them with glee? Orcs, missing people, flooding, family's destitute, glee doesn't sit right with him at all.

He turns away from Bertio, and whispers through clenched teeth to Devon
"what's he so happy about?"

Devon considered Constantine's comment and responded quietly, "Surprised perhaps, considering how everything else is going." He glanced around the common room considering the others.

Devon searched through his pouches and produced the requested document. Handing it to Bertio, "Yes, everything went smoothly." As they accepted payment, "If we are still in town come your next shipment, we would consider another job. Until then, be well."

As a mercenary, having a few regular employers was always good for future business.

Hanzel watches the exchange between Devon and their employer while taking in the conversations around them. The disappearances on their own are bad enough without the spreading Mire and underground floods on top of that.
"No wonder there are people making jokes," he muses. "There's not much else most of them can do right now."

Having sorted out their business with Bertio, the group settle into a table and make arrangements for dinner, drinks and accommodation.

"I hear you lot were over in Thurmaster once or twice, right?" the young boy asks as he sets the drinks down on the table, always under the sleepless gaze of his grandfather. "Looking for my twin brother's crush, Jelenneth. He's been quite down about it, but at least he still does his share of the work round here, can't complain. Anyway, are things just as bad over there? Disappearances, orcs, now those poor folks with news of the Mire flooding out again, it's just too much ain't it? Heard some folks whisper it's all connected, been saying something about a cult or whatnot. My guess it's the few folks in Haralton, if you ask me. Always been more remote types, and they're right next to the New Mire. Wouldn't be surprised if some of them were praying to some marsh monster or what have ye."

7th of Coldeven (Spring), 576 CY
Despite the lack of snow or rain, it's still cloudy and well below freezing in Haranshire, so a night of drinks, hot meals and sleep on a bed indoors at the Baron of Mutton does a lot to raise the party's spirits, even if it feels that things tend to get more and more frustrating, first with the lack of progress in finding Jelenneth, then the orcs and now these news of the New Mire flooding.Lord Carman's mansion, or "The Mansion House" as locals seem to call it, lies on the other side of Milborne from where the Baron of Mutton is, on the West end of the settlement and it's easy to locate as it is significantly larger than the rest, built of stone with a matching stone wall surrounding it. You are met at the outside door by the same manservant who walked up to you at the Auction House and after the necessary introductions, led into the building and the office of Darius Carman himself. The more martially oriented, such as Devon, might notice the lack of any guards, or the fact that no one bothered to remove weapons, in contrast to, say, Squire Marlen's house in Thurmaster that has a standing guard of four.

"Ah, the adventuring types I called for, yes. I take it you've heard about the New Mire, yes? Dreadful news, seems to be all everyone's talking about lately. Bad business, says I. Some evil magic, I thought at first. Well, before you, I sent an emissary off to find a decent diviner who could learn something of the matter. The wretched old charlatan charged me a fortune, and all he could tell me was that there was magic involved, but that it was not evil. He could not identify it, but he said that it was something going wrong. Going wrong! I ask you! I could have told him that myself. Anyways, I want you to study the area for me. Find out anything you can. I shouldn't be surprised if the trouble lies somewhere in the Patchwork Hills; after all, the farmland itself has been settled a good many years and has always been fertile. I'm offering 50 gold to each of you, for up to two weeks' scouting work in the area. If you can find the answer before then, you get paid full rate. If you waste my time and come up with nothing, or some silly excuse like that charlatan, you get nothing. If, however, you can actually solve the problem of the waterlogged lands, I am willing to reward you with a grand total of one thousand gold. In total, that is, not per person, obviously. What do you say?"

Hanzel mentally files away Lord Carman's comments about what the diviner said. Magic, but not evil... a badly botched attempt at fertilising the land, maybe? He'll have to consider that as a possible cause.

Hanzel himself is fully willing to look into this as Haranshire is his home, but he'll have to see what the others think. "What say you, all?" he asks, turning to the group.

"humph?" Constantine snorts, just shaken out of a daydream where he was standing on a pile of a thousand gold pieces, pointing and laughing maniacally at his dumb brothers.

"Well, us gnomes have a saying 'when someone asks for help - you help them'
I guess in this case we'll be paid... so, hired to help?
No matter. The principal remains the same.
We help."

The warrior listened to the lord as he explained the problem, but it seemed another problem just to be added to the top of the long list they were collecting. He liked guarding the barge a lot better, simple goals and straight forward pay. Stomping around in the swamp for a few weeks was not exactly what he was looking for.

"I know nothing of magic, but I wonder if this magic might be what's stirring up the other things we've run into lately?"

He looked at Constantine who had just said he would help, then to Hanzel and Theobald who he knew had some magical talents. "I'll leave the decision to you magically talented. I will be of little help finding magic, but I'll lend my sword for the less mystical troubles."

He considered for a moment, "If we are to travel the swamp for a week or more, we will need provisions. Would you be willing to provide upfront for some supplies? You can have your man purchase them if you are concerned we might drink away any advance.

One other thing, is there someone with experience with the lands around the Mire that we might speak with or hire as a guide. I'd rather know more about what we might be getting into."

Alddera considers only for a moment before nodding her head. "Agreed, but I do wonder about Devon's point. Is this magic stirring up other things?"