Session 4 - Going to Town

 The party finally give in to the insistent demands from Etch (Driven by Janths Ghost) and head back to town while Layton stays behind to ensure no more Kobolds try to retake the mines. 

Heading into town the go to the Blue clam looking for Masthew to claim their gold, but as its the middle of the morning he is not there.  Thoddag sits there staring into a mug of ale, and when they enter, he grunts at them "Is it done....can I go back to the mines" The party confirms and he excitedly jumps up tossing some coins on the bar and heads out. 

The barkeep Vernon looks at them questioningly and asks if they actually did clear the mines or, did they just send Thoddag off to his death.  They confirm that he will come to no harm, and Vernon sends them to the town hall to find Masthew. 

They arrive to a find Masthew in a meeting with representatives of each of the towns commerce areas, fisherman, fishmongers, Scrimshaw traders and Scrimshanders, along with some other merchant representatives are there,  discussing the lull in fish catch bought on by the extended winter. 

Masthew sees them enter and asks if the mine is clear, they say yes and Etch approaches him to hand him the satchel, The timing of the hand off is Critical to Janth as he must leave etch and possess the satchel without being seen and at precisely the right moment, so that Etch doesnt give away what happened. 

The Ghost of Janth however is not quick or stealthy enough and as he enters the Satchel, Masthew drops it, asking the party what they were playing at...

They deny any knowledge of what happened and Masthew orders one of his assistants with some magical abilities to take care of the possessed Satchel. With a strong look of distrust in his eyes, he tells the party to head to the clam, and writes them a note that states he will pay for lodgings (not including food or drinks) until tomorrow. Handing this to Nogok he says that he will be sending a party to the mines to confirm they are cleared, and will contact them once that is confirmed. 

The Party head to the clam and start the afternoon with a meal of Fish Stew for everyone except Nogok who tries the New Chefs special called the Woodman Steak. The Fish Stew is satisfying and sits well with the ale the party is drinking. The Woodman steak however is incredible, an amazing lean pork type meat cooked to perfection with incredible herbs and flavours that dance around Nogoks Pallet. 

Deciding not to question the source of the meat, the party enjoy an afternoon of relaxation, hearing barroom gossip of the murders, and watching the ships come in around 4 with the days catch. The fishermen enter the bar for their afternoon wind down drinks and talk of the murders, and the hit and miss nature of the catch due to the extended winter. 

Some of the fishermen celebrate the day and some commiserate the lack of fish in their day.  Around 7 pm a hooded female elf enters the bar and orders a small glass of a warm looking yellow liquid. She sips it slowly and attracts the eye of Etch who breaks out his lute to try and swoon her. 

Walking up to her, he starts to strum, and the fishermen ask does he know the song the "Fishmongers wife" he doesn't but has heard enough to improvise the chords and lyrics. 

Playing this brings much happiness to all the fishermen, and Etch plays his original song the "Blue Clam Blues" With verses about living in a shit hole town (The fishermen assume he means lonelywood or Bremen) where the fish dont bite, and the weather is eternally cold, subsequent verses talk about a cart throwing a wheel, and a dog running away with an orc.

Etch follows this up with a set of songs and makes about 19 Cp for the nights singing. 

After the first song where he was standing next to the Elf, Nogok approaches her and says, sorry about my friend, she looks at him with appreciation for being saved and introduces herself as Dannika.

She explains that she is a Scholar in the region with some magical ability and that she has a theory she is trying to prove. She tells the party of the Chwinga small elemental creatures who have the ability to change the environment around them, she believes if she can study one or more of these creatures she could try and scale that magic up to fix the environment around Ten Towns. 

She asks the party if they will help her to capture some Chwingas and offers them 25Gp and a lantern of tracking which will burn green if elemental creatures are within 300ft. She asks that the party light the lantern in each town the visit and try to find some of the tiny creatures for her. She says she does not want them harmed in any way. 

The night wraps up and the next morning's breakfast is interrupted by Layton, who returns with a small bag of gold (50Gp) from Masthew. He is very happy with their handy work. 

The party get ready and hit the road, heading to the East of Termalaine they are not long on the road before they get hit by a blizzard. The intense wind and snow storm pushes them off track to the north somewhat but after it dissipates the familiar landmark of Kelvins Cairn allows them to find their bearings and get back on track. 

The eventually find the remains of Oobok the dwarf who fell victim to the Yeti, both arms and most internal organs are missing, and as they look around they see tracks from the sled. Following these they sneak up on some Goblins who are trying to push the sled back up a small hill where it had run off accidentally. 

Layton stays back to keep watch as Mochi casts True Strike and Etch follows this up with casting Sleep which knocks out 3 of the 4 goblins. The awake on blows a horn, before being shot in the head by Mochi. Nogok uses his warhammer to dispatch the sleeping Goblins, and the party hear a warning from Layton that someone is coming.