Amber Ablaze – blogpost 4

I’m still processing the fact that we lost little Pell. She died because I was not strong enough to defeat the bandit leader – his name was Blane. We want to take Pell back to the village to say goodbye to her properly.

We also find a diary, and we read. I cannot believe my eyes.

The diary
That young boy we’ve killed could be Blanes’ son Steve. We all think so. What is more shocking is that Blane probably would not have killed Pell, because he thought Steve liked her… If we only had known that! Furthermore, what strikes me is a piece about an Oni joining Blanes’ bandit crew.

An Oni named Kaldisho recently joined our crew. He’s a strong addition, but I have no idea what is up with the man he is dragging with him. He calls him his personal slave.

From the diary of Blane

This means… Could it be…? Is my brother Fury still alive? This entry dates from a couple of years ago, but could this really be the Oni who abducted Fury – and never killed him? The rest of the diary is a blur to me. I can only think of my brother.

Lurlille finds a small dragon in a cage near the stairwell. I can understand the little dragon: its name is Po-Pao and wants to come with us. Lurlille is totally in love with it. I get it: it is kind of cute – and this way, she has a dragon all to herself.

The way back
We have to get back to Red Larch, but Tomen is still knocked out, apparently. We try to move him, and slowly it’s working. When Tomen wakes up, we are near the bridge again – that is how long it took for us to move him… Trying to help everyone cross the bridge, I go and stand under it to catch my friends if they fall. Of course, Tomen is the first one to go and falls on top of me. I can feel the air getting pressed out of my lungs: I’m getting crushed! Fortunately, I am still capable of moving when I get Tomen off of me. Tomen is out, and I stabilize him.

On our way back we see a statue of Lathander that is being smudged and bashed by a couple of Goblins. Mivyre intimidates them to get them to stop befouling the statue. I’m impressed by his actions: he is a good fighter AND a good talker.

We make our way to grandma Minnie to deliver the body of her grandchild. The minute she hears the news and sees the body, she breaks out in tears in front of us. How heartbreaking…

We found some money along the way and go and donate it to charity. We approach the temple of Red Larch, and the priestess Leymura tells us that statues of gods are being befouled around the village by Goblins. ‘So, this happens more often than we thought.’ I think. Mivyre responds that we will be vigilant and step up when we see it happen.

Shopping
Everyone wants to go shopping next. I have already spent all of my money, so I follow, but without the intention of buying anything. We visit an armory, another one for weapons, and a Half-Orc in town who sells Health-potions.

When we’re done, I sigh in relief and relax, but not for long: the party decides we have to go back to the bandit lair to investigate. I agree and follow. We come across another statue of Lathander that is completely ruined. We contemplate whether someone with great strength has done this. Maybe an Oni? A shiver runs down my spine.

When we finally get back to the room with the red skull on the floor, someone has the idea to place Blaines’ dead body on it. Why? Because a red skull needs red blood? It is weird to me, but it apparently works: a magic ring reveals itself. We conclude that we’ve cleared the place of secrets and treasures and head for Lance Rock. Previously, the innkeeper told us about a place where bad things happen. We promised we would go and investigate.

More Goblins!
While traveling, we come across another group of Goblins. We catch them in the act: they are celebrating something and are dancing around a statue. They are also peeing on it. Ew. We set out to capture them and bring them to the temple in Red Larch. We get two out of three Goblins.

In Red Larch, the people at the temple refer us to Harburk. Harburk is the towns’ watchman and the butcher. He lets them clean out the market as community service.

We go and have a short rest at the Inn to recharge and continue our adventure soon…