A Plea for Help

“A Plea for Help”
Rise of the Runelords episode
Episode no.	Episode 57
Date	2009
Game Master	Abbe
Characters	Dorothea Gloriana Honeypot Nell Velicia
Episode chronology ← Previous Next → "Wet Papa Grazuul" "Shimmerglens"
Rise of the Runelords chapter list

In this chapter upon their return the heroes are celebrated and get a few days rest.

A Plea for Help

We returned to Turtleback Ferry and were greeted like heroes. Velicia really liked that. I nodded to the mayor and gave him a big smile to let him know we had succeeded in making sure the dam would hold, but otherwise I kept a low profile. Honeypot was at first happy for the attention but soon became a little annoyed that everyone treated her like a hero and not like one of them. She wanted to party among them, not be some object of worship. The town still had water on some of the streets but it was less deep. I returned to the inn and ate dinner. I found Kaven and we talked about Fort Rannick. As most of the rangers were in Turtleback Ferry to be healed, I thought that now would be a good time to go back there. If it might become mine I would want to get to know it better and start to get it a little cleaned up to make it habitable again. If that keep will be put to use again it will have to be repaired too. I should probably ask Vale to look at that. Kaven thought that it would be a good idea to go there too, as he didn't mind leaving Turtleback Ferry. As I knew Velicia would continue making magical items and Honeypot would be busy being almost the only entertainment in place of Paradise's Gates, I asked him to get our packs ready for going there the very next day. Gloriana heard our plans and said that she wanted to join us.

Honeypot starts growing winter fur.

Early the next day the three of us got ready to leave. The sky had cleared up and it had gotten colder. I thought that it was earlier than usual, but we were up in the mountains. Perhaps winter comes earlier here. Before we left we ordered some winter clothes. I ordered some fur trimmed felt hose and a similar tabard. I had noted that Honeypot had gotten hairier. I didn't know that fauns grow winter fur, but it seemed reasonable.

There were still much water in the river but not as much as when we opened the gates. As it had stopped raining I hoped that Turtleback Ferry would soon be back to normal. We reached Fort Rannick without any trouble at all. There was an eagle circling us as we approached but it soon returned north up the mountain. We rode up to the fort and stopped a short distance from the closed gates and looked for any signs of trouble. I sneaked up to the wall and climbed in to open the gate for the horses. No one had been there since we left. Gloriana continued on up to the eagles. I stayed at the fort and continued cleaning up. It was a big job, cleaning up after the ogres, but it had been started while the rangers that had been prisoners were getting well enough to travel. At least the bodies of the dead rangers had been removed. I was very grateful of that. It still was really disgusting. I started upstairs and Kaven cleaned and set up the kitchen.

The next day the first of the healed rangers arrived. There were only five of them. Not much of a garrison but they were a great help at cleaning up. I could concentrate my efforts to the top floor while they worked on the living quarters for the troops. More and more rangers arrived until all fifteen were back. They were still not enough to defend the fort but enough to keep it running.

Some days later I heard a rumor of a ghost from some of the rangers. I'm not that good with the supernatural so I went up the tunnel to the eagle nest to talk to Gloriana. She got interested and would join me in investigating it. We returned down, me walking and her flying on her new friend, the eagle she had befriended up on the high cliffs. We started looking and when we searched the commanders room I saw something moving and pointed it out to Gloriana. It turned out to be a small pixie. When it understood it was detected it turned visible and talked to us. I didn't understand but Gloriana said it was called Japp and was looking for Lamatar. It had something to do with him being important for some fey court. We decided to talk to the others, especially Honeypot and Velicia as they probably knew a lot about these things fey-related. We returned to Turtleback Ferry as fast as we could. I and Kaven rode horses, but Gloriana flew on her new mount. Japp rode with Gloriana, after all she could understand the language the little pixie was talking.

When I and Kaven got there Gloriana had already gathered Dorothea, Honeypot and Velicia in the inn. She was just about to present the little pixie to them. They talked with the little pixie for a long time and later translated for me that Whitewillow had gone bad. Whitewillow was a place that was connected to feywild somehow. There was a court that was lead by the fey queen Myriana. She had gone away to search for her loved one, but when she returned she was dead. Honeypot said that the fauns we met on our journey to Fort Rannick had left Whitewillow because of the change that had happened there after Myriana had left.

We agreed that we should go there and see for ourselves, but it was in the middle of the marshlands called Shimmerglens.