The Harrowdale Horror: Part 5

[ewancummins]

RAIN falls for over an hour but the dark clouds do not disperse at the storm’s end. Afternoon stretches toward evening.

Kat’s watch passes quietly.

Rested and looking well after little more than a couple of hours in one of the cells, Sir Clive next takes up sentinel duty in the lobby, his great headsman’s sword, Mercy, never far from his hands.

Without a fire in the fireplace and with some of the windows busted, the air within the building remains clammy and chill. Shifting winds rattle loose shutters and vibrate broken panes of glass.

A watcher with a western view will see the sun appear below the clouds only briefly before sinking out of sight behind the western woods.

Outside, in the thickening darkness, frantic tapping sounds rise and fall from both woodland and town. But soon these strange noises cease. Listeners hear other sounds, noises of nature: night birds crying in the trees to the west and the sea softly rolling in the east.
Sir Clive makes some noise as he walks from window to window, checking, but even his steady rounds become part of the rhythm of the night.
Sleep, troubled or not, comes to all who lie down and rest
...

Morning arrives with amber light, the breeze-borne smell of damp leaves, the drone of insects in the yard.

Sir Clive, his nocturnal watch ended, hardly appears fatigued.


Periele, the acolyte rescued by the party yesterday, goes through the storeroom and scrounges together what little unspoiled food remains, so that everyone can eat at least a cold breakfast. It’s not much: old cheese, mushy oats, some dried fruit. But it suffices. And there is enough liquor, certainly, to warm one’s guts in the absence of a hearth fire.
Kat has trail provisions and Alain never seems to lack for food and drink, at least of the basic sort and in limited supply. Sir Clive hardly eats at all, and drinks only good wine.



Seated below an eastern window Raen studies his spell book while nearby, Klokulf re-reads sections of the Gaunt Man’s grimoire.

A pail the acolyte recovered makes for a handy chamber-pot, and some soap and rags she found help anyone inclined to hygiene keep clean. She even finds a whetstone and some oil for blades.


Within two hours of sunrise the party stands prepared once more to face the dangers of Harrowdale.

[Adam]

Bennedict wanders towards Perielle, after having risen, performed his morning ablutions, and prepared his incantations.

"Madam," he says, "I was wondering if you could go through what you remembered prior to the...incidents here in the town. Anything unusual or out of place happening could be a clue to what caused this, and how to stop it."

[ewancummins]

Bennedict wanders towards Perielle, after having risen, performed his morning ablutions, and prepared his incantations.

"Madam," he says, "I was wondering if you could go through what you remembered prior to the...incidents here in the town. Anything unusual or out of place happening could be a clue to what caused this, and how to stop it."

Perielle looks wan, but not so sickly as she did yesterday.
She takes a moment to contemplate Benn's question before answering,
"Before? Well, the farmers brought in their crops, the brewers made beer, millers ground grist--all the usual activities of this time of year. We had had some brawls and squabbles between townsmen and migrants who came this summer, from the north, but then the farmers hired extra hands for the harvest and that foreign lady bought the Old Keep and set to rebuilding it. There was plenty of work for everyone. Things seemed to be going just fine until whatever it was that struck us happened as we prepared for the annual harvest festival."

[Adam]

Bennedict sighs. "Foreign lady? Old keep? That could be related. Tell me more about that."

[ewancummins]

Bennedict sighs. "Foreign lady? Old keep? That could be related. Tell me more about that."

''There is a ruined castle at the edge of town, surrounded by woods, up on a hill. It's not far from here. A wealthy lady from one of the Moonsea cities bought the site from the town council and began moving stuff up there. I don't know all the details. I think she was supposed to be some sort of exiled courtier, or a lord's disgraced wife, or something like that. I was so busy with my training that I'm afraid I fell a bit behind on town gossip. But I do recall her name, now that you are asking about her. Lady Miranda. She rode in a sedan chair, which hardly anybody here does, even the rich merchants and she threw pumpkin seeds and candy to the children in the streets."

[alhoon]

Raen looks at Bennedict. "I am as suspicious of this turn of events as you are." then he turns to the acolyte.
"How long before the disaster Lady Miranda showed up?"

[ewancummins]

Raen looks at Bennedict. "I am as suspicious of this turn of events as you are." then he turns to the acolyte.
"How long before the disaster Lady Miranda showed up?"

''Let's see, Highharvestide has passed, so we're into Marpenoth...I think she must have arrived around the start of Flamerule. Call it ninety days. I'm not sure when she actually bought the ruin. Maybe after that, maybe before using a factor? You'd have to ask the Townmaster or the Councillors. Or their clerks, I guess.''

[Adam]

"I wonder if she didn't do something that angered these nature spirits," Bennedict says. "Perhaps we could ask our prisoner if that is the case."

[Wolfglide of the Fraternity]

"The dead one was barely intelligible with the aid of your scroll," remarks Klokulf. "Unless you have another, an effective interrogation would likely need to be delayed until the afternoon."

[alhoon]

"Perhaps we should ask the town clerks as Perielle suggested. Any idea where they may be found dear madam?"

[ewancummins]

''I have no notion where the clerks might be now. They worked here. The records were kept in this building."

[Adam]

"There is always the option of going to investigate in person," Bennedict adds.

[Wolfglide of the Fraternity]

"Should we perhaps investigate the oil buyer's residence first and establish communication with the ship?" Klokulf recommends. "The ruins---and the records in this building---certainly sound worth inspecting, but we haven't spoken with the ship master since we landed. He may assume the worst, before too long."

[alhoon]

"Well, we could look around for the documents before heading to the shipmaster" Raen suggested. "And the manor with its secrets would still be there tomorrow Bennedict. I would prefer to check if we can find anything useful before going there."

[ewancummins]

A BIT LATER


PAPER-CHASE

RECORDS ROOM


Raen accidentally tips over a wobbly filing cabinet in the records room.

Worse, he failed to notice that some careless or hurried clerk had left a paste-pot and an ink jar on top of the cabinet--both containers crash to the floor and spill their sticky contents over the top layer of loose papers.

With help from some of his companions, Raen sorts out the mess and goes through the documents...




The researchers discover a pledge for the purchase of 'Halvan's Keep', identified in the text as a ruin on the western outskirts of town.
Ink and paste mar part of the page, but most of the writing remains perfectly legible.
The document is signed by the Townmaster, Council members, a notary and the new deed-holder:
Lady Miranda Greenmantle of Hillsfar

She paid three-thousand gold crowns in trade goods, gemstones,and coinage for the property, and she promised to hire for renovations only workmen and artisans resident in Harrowdale for at least three months, unless a particular job required skills not available locally. Likewise, she promised to buy at least half her building materials from local suppliers.

The transfer became effective on Flamerule 29th of this year (in the summer)

Further searching in the papers turns up a month-old sales receipt for dry fish to be delivered to the keep. The vendor: Master Quillian.

A bit more poking about and the party obtains the merchant's address on the waterfront of the city.