Document 2: Rediscovering Alma

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Rediscovering Alma

Clues to the Past

Alma can try to piece together her past in a number of ways. Here are some of the possible resources:

• Izan Artigas – the old wizard who found Alma can be found fairly easy by Alma since that is where her memory begins and where she convalesced for 3 months under his care. His cottage near the edge of the Verduran is a couple miles from a small settlement called Mirewood at the end of the Mirewood Canal, still a well-maintained, but sometimes dangerous trade route north of Cassomir. If Alma does find Izan, one thing he will still have of hers that he forgot to pack with her was a thin silver bracelet with a floral pattern stamped into it. This bracelet was a gift commissioned by her mother and made by a silversmith in Yanmass. If carefully examined, the maker’s mark of an eagle talon can be found that belongs to Takoda Greyeagle, a well-known and respected elderly Shoanti smith. He is now mostly retired but does the occasional commissioned work to survive.

• Takoda Greyeagle – If questioned about the bracelet, it takes a while for him to recall, during which time he offers hospitality and stories of his life journey. He recounts many important events of his life, each usually associated with a special commission, leading up to the commission from the elf-alchemist Anabel.

• Memories of Anabel – many of the older people in town still remember Anabel Demetrias, the quick-witted, sword-carrying alchemist who came by twice a year to supply the local merchants with alchemy items and also identify the odd magic item. She was well known as a swordmage and with her husband Kendrick, fended off a few dangers to the town’s rural residents.

If the party decides to backtrack to discover Alma’s origins, the party will most likely head back to Izan’s home to ask him about her discovery.

Finding Izan

When Alma’s rescuer felt he could not do anything more for the amnesiac woman, he made arrangements for her to seek help at the big city, Cassomir. So he hired a local boy called Grif to take her to Mirewood and buy her passage on a barge or wagon heading to the City. She was able to afford a small cramped place to lay a bedroll on an open barge, but eventually ended up safely in Cassomir.

Gathering Information: Asking around Cassomir and doing a little research, the party will find that the easiest way back to the Verduran near where Alma was found is by using a couple of the remaining navigable canals through the swamplands. Heading east from Cassomir, the Tandak Run follows a mostly straight path through the wetlands and eventually to drier plains. However, before the plains, the canal branches north into the Mirewood Canal at a small settlement called Sinkmoor (most call it Stinkmoor). The Mirewood Canal is still used by smaller independent logging companies but trade has been recently hampered by several coordinated attacks by opportunistic brigands and hungry marsh-dwellers.

NPCs: Mabel (F provisioner), Igano (M bargemaster), Yendras (M 1/2E stablemaster), Unaliades (M)

The group has the following options for getting to Mirewood:

• Travel through the swampy wilderness and try to find their way without guidance. No one will offer to guide them since it is not pleasant and very dangerous.
• Book passage on one of the larger barges to take them to Mirewood via Sinkmoor. This will cost them 35sp each to get to Sinkmoor and an additional 6gp to get from Sinkmoor to Mirewood.
• Travel speed is about as fast as walking (3 mph), no meals or protection. Uses poles or small sail.
• Barges pull over at night due to inability to detect hazards in canal which happen frequently.
• Distance per day is about 10 hours x 3 mph = 30 miles.
• Purchase horses or travel by foot on their own. 35 mi to Sinkmoor and 60 mi farther to Mirewood.

A1 – Barging In

About 25 miles into their journey, a barge (or the one they are on) violently lurches into the side of the canal (DC 22 Balance check to not fall prone). A pair of Marsh Giants have been setting up long 15’ branch-pikes that catch the bottom of the barges and drag them to a stop, where they then feast on the tasty humanoids aboard. DC 24

2x Marsh Giants = 2×80 = 160xp

If the party is not on the barge, they will come upon the giants in mid-feast.

A2 – Sinkmoor

The settlement known as Sinkmoor consists of a half-dozen crooked buildings with mud floors and some strange inhabitants. Most barges will stop here as a diversion or to change canal destinations. An enterprising lizardfolk merchant set up a small service ‘assisting’ bargemasters to divert to the Mirewood Canal for 1 sp each. The town definitely deserves its nickname of ‘Stinkmoor‘ as the marsh gasses seem to accumulate in this area most strongly.

Notable Buildings and People

The Muddy Bottom – Inn/tavern run by an exiled former/failed gnome engineer Geevil Wrenchington who tries in vain to keep the small settlement above the waterline of the surrounding swamp. Since this place is one of the most popular places to stop and get a drink, he constantly adds extra rooms and even a 2^nd bar to the tavern in a hodgepodge fashion.

Yivglik’s Shack – A small shack at the intersection of the two canals has dozens of long poles stacked against its side. The lizardfolk entrepreneur Yivglik charges 1 sp to help guide the barges onto the new distributary. Most bargemasters accept his assistance since he is very good at it and has no problem jumping into the canal to protect the sides of the barges from hitting the banks. Yivglik speaks broken common but stays close to his shack unless he is hunting in the swamp for his next meal.

Flies and Fries – A picture of a one-legged fat frog chowing down on a large frog leg welcomes travelers to this open-air stand where several grills are set up with various swamp delicacies including frog legs, eels on a stick, toad-eye soup, barbequed swamp rat (“tastes just like chicken!”) and the special – filet of hydra. The stand is run by a dirty dwarven woman called Kissy whose mouth appears to have been scarred and healed in a way that created a permanent pucker.

In addition to the establishments above, there is also a general provisions open-air stand (basics, tack/harness), a general craftsman who can perform most simple repairs and a squat wooden tower occupied by Pawg, a burly Ogre Boss who is paid each week by the other merchants to keep the peace and protect from any swamp critters who may enter the settlement.

A3 – Just before the end of the day after leaving Sinkmoor, a group of 5 men on horses wearing leather armor and heavily armed are riding along the road from the north (opposite direction). They will look intently at the party and/or barge but continue on without saying a word. If anyone engages them, they will sarcastically say they are simple priests (of Aroden) on a pilgrimage to Cassomir. They act as suspicious as possible, and once the party reaches Mirewood, to make the encounter even more suspicious, the same group of men (minus one) arrives about 1 hour after the party. If asked, one of them will say that they ‘forgot something’. If asked about their missing member, they will say that he went ahead to get accommodations. This is purely to arouse the suspicions of the party. These are indeed brigands who are a bit intimidated by the size and equipment of the group of seven adventurers.

A4 – Mirewood

The document ends here – I think I decided to consolidate everything into a single document to follow