The next morning, the Daring Friends headed to Sertieren’s Haunt. Funguy roamed the nearby grasslands with Ass, Dameron’s mule.
The gate to the two-story manor swung creakily. Inside the gate, a terrier turned from its meal, revealing half its face was missing before it turned and ran. The gate swung wildly, slamming into Balthasar and knocking Camwise prone as they entered. Dameron managed to squeeze in while it was swinging. After knocking, Balthasar opened the front door revealing darkness beyond until Camwise lit his staff with Light. The inside was filled with cobwebs and sheets covered the furniture. Dameron called out and a wispy voice replied asking for a champion to battle the Contender. Balthasar stepped forward and a stranger creature was revealed. The beast stood on two large legs, balanced by a large tail. It had two smaller hands, both in puffy red gloves, and a large pouch on its belly. Balthasar battled the Contender to sounds of applause. Balthasar was victorious and as the beast fell, he pulled open its pouch to reveal a miniature amber castle, about 6” wide, which Camwise took. The Contender quickly transformed into a stuffed animal. A man appeared and congratulated Balthasar, introducing himself as Sertieren Amber. After some negotiation, Camwise acquired a scroll with Identify. Sertieren was kind enough to identify many items including an Eversmoking Bottle, a Pearl of Power, a Guide to Respecting Social Mores, a Breastplate of Retribution, a Roaring Shortbow, a Necklace of Teeth, and a Deathless Harvest Sickle. He offered a trade for his Robust Necklace and or a Talking Longsword that he would not allow to be removed from its sheath. The Daring Friends traded their Necklace of Teeth and Guide to Respecting Social Mores for Robust Necklace and the Roaring Shortbow and Eversmoking Bottle for the Talking Longsword. They headed to the Old Bridge Inn to speak with Kellen Shadowtuft and his family, but while friendly, they were all pretty tight-lipped about the matter and suggested speaking with the captain. They headed to the Old Toll House to speak with Captain Soranna. She seemed appreciative that Speaker Wiston was willing to devote additional resources to finding the killer and cursed Jormel, the Town Council Elder who runs the warehouse, for not doing the same. She revealed that Drathgar had found the girl’s body washed up on the island and that it had markings carved into her flesh, which they had copied. Examining the copy of the carvings, Camwise translated the ancient druidic, which read: “New blood for old bones.” When Camwise asked if anyone had complained about Avarthel the Elfborne druid, Captain Soranna mentioned that the proprietors of Sterrel’s Provisioning and Jendar’s Warehouse were always complaining about vermin that eat their wares. Captain Soranna offered to lend the group a boat for the day to help with their investigation, which they gladly accepted. They waited for the ferry to pass by, noticing it was carrying Avarthel west. They took the boar to investigate where the body had been found on the north end of the island. Examining the area, they discovered a patch of red hair by the four-day-old blood stains and several slender booted footprints. They followed the footprints west until they disappeared into the water. It appeared that someone had brought the dead body to the island from the northwest side. A Flaming Sphere suddenly appeared on the boat as a massive beast emerged from the trees with a howl and a roar. It was an owlbear. Camwise worked hard to douse the flames on the boat while Balthasar held the beat back and Dameron cast Spiritual Weapon and split his attention between the two. Once the flames were out and the owlbear felled, they noticed that it had been previously wounded and the wounds were puss-filled indicating it had been attacked by a sharp poisoned weapon. They tracked the owlbear prints to a large tree where it had apparently been tethered. There were no tracks indicating that the owlbears had walked there. After using a candle to take an imprint of the footprints, they visited the cobbler. Dameron notes that old cobbler Yeltz had retired and the place was now being run by his former apprentice, Thoerma son of Tharma. Thoerma and Camwise had a miscommunication that led to the wizard’s abrupt departure, but then the cobbler seemed eager to assist. He pointed out that the footprints were elven, and that he had originally made the boots for the elfborn girl, who requested a new pair just two months ago, and then brought in her old pair for repairs one month ago. Camwise wanted to stop by the Green Apple Inn for a drink, so while he and Balthasar headed there, Dameron went to see Father Derny “Dawncheeks” at the Shrine of St. Aster. The Father reprimanded Dameron, in typical fashion, for having been absent from the shrine for so long, despite Dameron’s assertions that he had been busy ridding the Vale of evil. But the father was grateful for his tithe of ten gold coins. On his way back to his companions, Dameron visited Maerlynn the Mountain Dwarf at the Smithy and traded his old steel scale mail for a medium shield which he gave to Balthasar as they took their boat to see The Old Bones. Balthasar quickly found tracks leading through the woods toward a clearing and the Daring Friends soon saw the druid’s circle known as The Old Bones in the distance. But as they tried to approach the circle, they found themselves walking in circles and not getting any closer. While Camwise took out his spellbook and began casting Detect Magic, Balthasar and Dameron tied a rope to a rock and threw the rock toward the circle. Following the rope as a guide, Dameron had to struggle to overcome the urge to drift away from the circle. When he reached the rock, Balthasar picked up the rope and let Dameron draw him closer, closing his eyes to overcome the feeling of vertigo that almost overwhelmed him. Using this method, Balthasar and Dameron made their way to The Old Bones, a circle of druidic runes surrounded by bone pillars. Camwise had just finished casting Detect Magic when a wolf appeared from the woods, soon followed by two more. Camwise cast Sleep, putting the second two asleep, and pleaded with the remaining wolf that he only wished to speak with the druid, Avarthel. The wolf woke its companions but did not attack, permitting a panicking Camwise to back up into the circle. Avarthel the Elfborne druid then appeared, stepping out from behind one of the pillars. She answered Camwise and Balthasar’s questions before leaving, allowing the visitors to stay so Camwise could study the circle. They found blood stains in the circle, which Camwise took a sample of. When they left, they crossed the river and found that their borrowed boat appeared to be in bad shape. Beaching it, they went to Jarrett’s Sundries where Camwise purchased alchemy and cartography tools. Balthasar checked Jarrett’s footprint and questioned her about the elfborn. Balthasar visited Drathgar at the Ferry and learned that Avarthel was on the ferry with one of Delora’s goatherders. Dameron and Camwise visited the Old Bridge Inn, ordering drinks and the pottage for dinner. While Camwise was trying to get one of the hustling halflings to provide a sample of blood, they instead brought two servings of blood pudding and blood sausage with two red and orange swirled drinks. Eventually, Camwise was able to get the attention of Bree Shadowtuft, Kellin’s wife. He rented a room for the night and she gave him a sample of her blood for his investigation. Balthasar visited Delora Zann at her Livery Stable and learned that Kai had taken the goats west across the ferry, but he never came back and she had to send Maddox to retrieve the goats. While he was there, he gave Delora 40 gold coins as a downpayment toward a riding horse. Dameron and Camwise searched for Balthasar and heard from Drathgar that he had been trying to save their boat. Back at their room in the Inn, Camwise took out his spellbook and cast Identify, determining that the vial of purple fluid was a Potion of Hill Giant Strength, the vial of green fluid was a Potion of Animal Friendship, and the Castle Amber Miniature defied identification. Then he used his alchemy kit to analyze the blood samples, determining that the blood from The Old Bones was that of an animal, not a halfling. After Balthasar joined up with them, he told them that their boat had sunk in the river and that he had noticed holes made recently in its hull. He and Dameron went to the Toll House to tell Captain Soranna what happened to the boat she had lent them. She was upset that they had lost their only boat but was somewhat mollified that Dameron would help them find the boat first thing in the morning so that it could be repaired. They all returned to the Inn for a long night’s rest.
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