Mirtul 13 - Praise be to the Morninglord! As the sun rose this morn, and I broke camp after
prayer, I could see the rays in full spectrum as if the sun knew my mission and supported me blessed be Lathander's signs and approval of my work. I rode into Gross Fell at high noon and
was promptly greeted by Dawn Priest Drodgen and half the town's 147 residents. My goal within
a week's time is to know all these residents by name. A feast was offered in my honor and all
those that weren't plowing their fields appeared to be invited to dine with me. In all, the dining
hall at the Mayor's house only held 35 people and some were turned away but the mayor offered
to open the hall for dinner as well so that the rest of the men of the town could come and meet
me after the plowing. After noon meal and talking with the town's craftsmen, I had the blessed
opportunity to help install the leaded glass window brought up from Alaghon to brighten the main
hall of the temple here. I will be excited to pray within temple tomorrow having the rays of the sun
shine through this glorious piece of art and unto my countenance. I greeted and met many more
of the town's farmers at dinner that eve, I know it is a part of the cycle of rebirth but the manure
these men were spreading on the fields tend to make the meal not as appealing. Oh well, I was
not hungry anyway but rather joyous and prideful of the opportunity Lathander has led me to.
Mirtul 20 - A week has passed and I have met everyone in town and hereby list their names so
that I do not forget. I would be remiss if I did not make one special note of one special resident ...
she is the town herbalist and natural healer whom the townsfolk have great faith in. She seems
to have been a positive liaison for the town with the local druids of the Emerald Enclave that have
visited the town in times past to discourage our growth and ask that we practice prudence and
rebirth in the ground's resources. The druids seem to be at peace with our present balance of
population and resource needs, mainly because of her diplomacy and skill with the land. I only
make note for she has not treated with me with the same diplomatic tongue and respect that the
townspeople believe she exhibits at all times. Anastrianna is her name and I am worried that she
sees me as competition for the blessed respect of the faithful here in Gross Fell. I judge her
history and actions to be in the best interest of the town and the environment and hope that we
can become allies and that the Morninglord grants me the wisdom to partner with this person. I
also am unaccustomed to working with her race as she is a Wood Elf that obviously has a strong
tie to the land. She is respected and listened to by all the town for they know that they tread on
dangerous ground by attempting to live off the land so close to such a devoted group of druids.
It appears that she is an herbalist of great skill and wealth and has been eager to share these
skills and wealth freely with the townsfolk. A resident here of 3 years she has always been the
person with just the right medicine and mojo to make the townspeople feel better. The residents
here believe in her "powers" and still hang on to naturalistic forms of healing before the belief in
gods. I met her formally for the first time yesterday as she was going from house to house
handing out a bag of Foretiven powder to all the families in town. Although she did not speak
except to say, "Welcome to our town" and "I must tend to my duty", I found from Drodgen that this
powder was to be mixed in our meals throughout the rainy season as it added to our body
chemistry and caused secretions that the MoSkitos did not appeal to. We had MoSkitos in
Alaghon but supposedly not of this size and abundance. Drodgen went on to tell me of other
bugs, diseases, and sicknesses that were common in this wilderness town. The townspeople can
always count on Anastrianna to have a concoction that will clear up their symptoms and thus
have come to respect her and hold her to a high position in the town. I have found out that also
she creates exotic dyes, lotions, balms, and ointments that she trades in Alaghon on a regular
basis. Sometimes, a skinny older boy named Tiron helps her out in her alchemy workshop and
delivers goods to and from Alaghon for her. She must have other contacts there to sell her wares
as the boy Tiron appears to be mute, I have seen her give hand signs to him which he responds
to easily. He has an impressively fast horse named Daness with specially designed packs
hooked to the saddle so as not to break the glassware storing the wares. Every year at the end
of the market season she has presented the town’s coffers with 200 gp saying that it was a
pleasure to work with such upstanding, hard-working humans. Because of what I have seen and
heard, I do believe this town would be at a great loss without Anastrianna.
Journal goes on to record the names of all the town’s members, the following are the important
members (all human except Anastrianna):
Frederick Furnow – town mayor, family owns the town’s fort. Fighter 4 and Aristrocrat
Thomas Furnow – Captain of the militia, Fighter 5
Dawn Priest Drodgen – Priest of Lathander, Clr 2
Anastrianna – Town Herbalist and healer, Druid, Sorceror, Wizard???
Jethro Nomin – Innkeeper and town brewer
Horas Jannson – Fisherman, brings in fresh seafood every 2 days from his “secret” fishing hole
Uthan Rooler – General store and stables owner
Forrester Wellin – Cooper and blacksmith
Licar Estonum – Butcher and Tanner
Deseray Lillyford – Seamstress, Tailor, and Teacher
Farm families (15)
Additional townspeople do a variety of self-sustaining jobs for town and family
Members of militia (29) – Led by the Furnow brothers
Kythorn 13 – I have been here for 30 sunrises and I can’t help but notice and write about the
intelligence level of the town’s residents. May Lathander have faith in me for I am unsure as to
how much I can teach this uninspired crowd of dullards. To say one has no creative and
imaginative abilities is one thing but these folks have little active intelligence faculties to work
with. I have my fears that the whole town has had generations of families reproducing with each
other as I found that everyone here seems to be related to the town’s original 3 founding families.
There are glimpses here and there of alertness and knowledge but for the most part everyone
has little education nor ability to think out solutions to town issues. My fellow colleague Drodgen
said that he and Anastrianna often end up offering up the chosen (sometimes only) solution to the
town’s needs.
… a Dale Reckoning Year later (aka about 12 days ago) …
Kythorn 18 – There have been more sheep and cow attacks by the Blue Dragon that seems to be
feeding in our area. The town’s militia is on active duty now as most of the farmers have their
crops in the fields already. The ranches of the Osban’s and Finnegan’s have lost to date 36 head
of sheep and cattle. The Sliverin ranch has been the latest attack and it seems that 6 sheep were
gotten. Furthermore, the dragon spat acid upon the log barn where more animals are housed
and it is feared that tomorrow it may come back to feed more.
Kythorn 19 – By Lathander! Morning rituals were severely disrupted this morn as the nemesis of
our town lately landed at the well and declared that we pay homage to him, Kyracolides, a large
Blue Dragon. By my account the thing was between 10 and 20 feet long but did not look old from
what I know of dragons. He laid out his demands that we let loose 6 head of cattle or sheep per
day from EACH ranch to the west of town. If that condition is not met for the next 9 days he will
release Elizar Branded Hand from his tomb to prey upon the people of this town and should have
no problem feasting on a few of us himself as well. As he was finishing his demands,
Anastrianna came out of her alchemy shop and started hurling spells at the beast attempting to
first Entangle the beast and then best it with fire and ice. She was ferocious in her attacks
throwing two spells every few seconds at the great wyrm! The town’s militia and I, with my trusty
Mace “Hazeclearer”, attacked as well but by this time the great beast had recovered from the
surprise and was able to attack Anastrianna with its breath and natural strength. The acid attacks
missed but eventually helped as they burnt her shop severely enough that when she retreated to
the safety inside he was able to pounce and tail slap the structure into rubble and grasp
Anastrianna into his great claws. He continued to destroy her life’s work as he turned to bite town
militia and me, swinging his tail wildly in the process. He then carried her off into the western sky
as we shot the few arrows we had into the beast’s hide. I have sent a message to my father and
asked the church to send reinforcements just in case the dragon tries to change the rules. At the
town meeting it was agreed that we would pay the large price that the dragon demanded and that
the town coffers (made up largely of Anastrianna’s generous gifts) would be used to supplement
the families who had lost income. The town agreed that if the church were to get involved and
there was a chance to slay the beast, they would help in whatever way possible. The one thing
that concerned the townsfolk more than anything was the threat of The Branded Hand being
released. The vampire was imprisoned 50 years ago by my grandfather, Thomas Evertrue, and
by Lathander he shall not be released again to prey on this town. I will propose to the church that
we bind together and extinguish this foe even if the dragon does not release him. Of course if the
dragon is indeed laired at Elizar’s ruins, it might be more challenging than a simple turning.
Kythorn 20 – It seems that my father is sending an adventuring party to us that has worked for
him in the past. Their leader is one of Lathander’s faithful, a man by the name of Saint Johann.
We shall consult with this group and see if they have the strength fight this dragon foe without
angering it to the point that it releases a greater terror. A terrible storm swung through this
morning and I was unable to see the sunrise. A storm at that time of the morning is not a good
sign, an omen of ill fate that I dreamt of last eve. My fear’s are that the Branded Hand is among
us and I can see the symbol of Talos burned into my brain just as surely as it is burned into
Elizar’s hand.
Kythorn 21 – Everyone is on edge and rightly so for last night we were all awakened by
explosions outside our door. We walked out to see Anastrianna’s shop burning and brightening
the sky like the summer sun. The explosions were likely flammable reagents and concoctions
that she had in her supplies. A vain attempt was made to save the building’s contents but nothing
is left because of the intense heat generated. Some wood was salvaged that will be reused for
the good of the town, a simple sign that some renewal will happen. I shall encourage this wood
go to a noble use and function. The children of the town have been sent, with the elders that are
too old to fight, south to Poisson. We have decided to dispatch these people now with 6 militia
men so that the Militia volunteers can return in three days hence and prepare the town’s
defenses.
Kythorn 22 – Everyone is holed up in their houses and will not come out. I and Drodgen have
been distributing supplies and messages of hope amongst the people but the dragon is taunting
us by flying by every few hours and laying acidic waste amongst our buildings and paths. If it’s
intention is to display power to the people, it has done so. We fear to send a scout to Elizar’s
ruins for we do not wish to anger the dragon even more or risk death to that person. We shall
wait for reinforcements and obey for now. The militia are making plans for contingencies that the
dragon does not leave us alone after nine days. Messengers were sent to Poisson to warn them
of the danger and the potential threat of Elizar. Perhaps they will be able to help but I doubt it
since they are dealing with problems of their own this Spring.
Kythorn 23 – No change in the status of the town or its people. I am worried about the outlying
ranches and farms and their supplies. Their water supplies may be low, hopefully they collected
enough on last week’s rains to be able to feed all their animals. I assume that they are keeping
up on demands since the dragon has not changed his patterns. We have not seen anything of
them in a few days, I assume the dragon’s flight and the fear of night travel is keeping them well
hid.
Kythorn 24 – Talos’s minion has been released! Shit happens, people that owned outlying
ranches and farms are now vampire spawn. Wolves were summoned by the branded hand to
unleash canine terror. Elizar himself showed in the pre-dawn hours and has killed and led off
people into the wilderness. Drodgen is gone, I fear the worst. Yadda, yadda, yadda Lathander
help me! I am calling my daddy to help NOWWWWWW!!!!!