14th of Quadec, 1167 - Village of Crosedes, Kingdom of Crosedes
I have returned from my visit to Draloite to signs of Eding coming to life. Caravans no longer have mud caked onto every wagon, the Blue Wizard is full of new people, and the certain citizenry had a strong desire for Spring cleaning.
I have never understood why the manors on Manor Road were built in the first place. They aren't relics of Old Alasku rather a recent development when Eding was still a Free Village (and probably better off for it). The semi-rich and powerful came up to rent land to the existing peasantry, and then make a ridiculous profit off of the harvest. It must have been ridiculous, because to have a dozen elaborate stone manors built off of those profits is no easy matter. I have the feeling some, if not all of these structures were constructed to keep ill-gotten gains away from the royal coffers, but there is no proof.
Even before Lord Athelstane came to town, this economy was disappearing. A few families kept their small estates, but many were sold to rich folk from Hydincal needing a spot for holiday and relaxation in the backwater woods of Crosedes.
Clifton Caldwell was such a man. A merchant with more gold than sense, Clifton purchased the Plity estate for a king's ransom. Not that it wasn't Plity hadn't built a beautiful structure, complete with four turret towers and a dug-out sub-level. It was just that Caldwell had purchased the property sight-unseen, and the Plity family had left for greater ventures years ago. Caldwell had come up to visit his new estate and found it infested with all sorts or creatures, monsters, and general rapscallions. He quickly paid an adventuring party to clear out his "castle," and things were finally right. Caldwell, however, was notorious for only visiting for a week or two every Summer, so every Summer he would come up, find his castle invaded again, and would pay another group of adventurers to clear it out.
Caldwell passed away recently and his daughter, Christina, inherited this "Caldwell's Castle," as the villagers refer to it now. She looks smarter than her father, but I have my doubts.
In proper fashion, she came down to Eding from Hydincal to review her new manor and discovered the same issues This time, she hired three adventurers to clean it out.
Eldray the Wizard - Fresh out of the Magic Lyceum in Hydincal. Naive but possibly the brains of the operation.
Beourn the Paladin - A mountain of a man. Not exactly the image I had in my head of Akana's finest, especially since he butted heads with Eldray on most decisions.
Titus the Rogue - Another random fellow from Omsjik who wasn't adventuring out of the goodness of his heart.
As a whole, the trio seemed well-intentioned, and the number of vagabonds and "travelers" who wandered into town from the Manor Rd while they were cleaning out the Castle was shocking.
19th of Quadec, 1167 - Village of Crosedes, Kingdom of Crosedes
And just like that Eldray and Titus are gone.
Christina Caldwell's hired hands seemed to had made some headway in "cleaning" the manor. There was a rumor of a hiccup, but they were back up there after a day to finish the job. And after seeing Eldray and Titus at the Blue Wizard for drinks, they were gone the following morning. Still no sign of Beourn, and my contacts in the village say the Eldray had picked up some door binding spell he was quite proud of. I think the manor is cleared out, but they left something locked up inside.... and possibly Beourn with it.
GM Notes: Castle Caldwell, out of B9: Castle Caldwell and Beyond is my favorite module. It's a simple dungeon, it covers combat, and many form of negotiations, and it rewards those who go the extra level while they search rooms. It's perfect for intro ducting new players to the concepts of D&D.
I've run it for dozens of people to teach them how to play, but only Beourn's group gets a specific mention in the campaign lore.
Something happened to Beourn down in the sub-level, and his "friends" covered it up. The good news is, with the Caldwell's track record with their money pit, another adventuring party will get hired to clear out the manor again, and possibly find Beourn.
Beourn and Company's adventure into Castle Caldwell marks the last adventure for the Lost Dispatches, both in the standards I set for historical real-time and the campaign chronology.
But Elsderth's story isn't completely finished. I can see at least two episode creating an Epilogue. I'll put the disclaimer right here and at the top of each of those episodes: If you haven't read Ballad of the Pigeon God, specifically episodes #1-15, read them first before continuing.
Next: #95 - Epilogue Part One - Privy to Some Lore
I have returned from my visit to Draloite to signs of Eding coming to life. Caravans no longer have mud caked onto every wagon, the Blue Wizard is full of new people, and the certain citizenry had a strong desire for Spring cleaning.
I have never understood why the manors on Manor Road were built in the first place. They aren't relics of Old Alasku rather a recent development when Eding was still a Free Village (and probably better off for it). The semi-rich and powerful came up to rent land to the existing peasantry, and then make a ridiculous profit off of the harvest. It must have been ridiculous, because to have a dozen elaborate stone manors built off of those profits is no easy matter. I have the feeling some, if not all of these structures were constructed to keep ill-gotten gains away from the royal coffers, but there is no proof.
Even before Lord Athelstane came to town, this economy was disappearing. A few families kept their small estates, but many were sold to rich folk from Hydincal needing a spot for holiday and relaxation in the backwater woods of Crosedes.
Clifton Caldwell was such a man. A merchant with more gold than sense, Clifton purchased the Plity estate for a king's ransom. Not that it wasn't Plity hadn't built a beautiful structure, complete with four turret towers and a dug-out sub-level. It was just that Caldwell had purchased the property sight-unseen, and the Plity family had left for greater ventures years ago. Caldwell had come up to visit his new estate and found it infested with all sorts or creatures, monsters, and general rapscallions. He quickly paid an adventuring party to clear out his "castle," and things were finally right. Caldwell, however, was notorious for only visiting for a week or two every Summer, so every Summer he would come up, find his castle invaded again, and would pay another group of adventurers to clear it out.
Caldwell passed away recently and his daughter, Christina, inherited this "Caldwell's Castle," as the villagers refer to it now. She looks smarter than her father, but I have my doubts.
In proper fashion, she came down to Eding from Hydincal to review her new manor and discovered the same issues This time, she hired three adventurers to clean it out.
Eldray the Wizard - Fresh out of the Magic Lyceum in Hydincal. Naive but possibly the brains of the operation.
Beourn the Paladin - A mountain of a man. Not exactly the image I had in my head of Akana's finest, especially since he butted heads with Eldray on most decisions.
As a whole, the trio seemed well-intentioned, and the number of vagabonds and "travelers" who wandered into town from the Manor Rd while they were cleaning out the Castle was shocking.
19th of Quadec, 1167 - Village of Crosedes, Kingdom of Crosedes
And just like that Eldray and Titus are gone.
Christina Caldwell's hired hands seemed to had made some headway in "cleaning" the manor. There was a rumor of a hiccup, but they were back up there after a day to finish the job. And after seeing Eldray and Titus at the Blue Wizard for drinks, they were gone the following morning. Still no sign of Beourn, and my contacts in the village say the Eldray had picked up some door binding spell he was quite proud of. I think the manor is cleared out, but they left something locked up inside.... and possibly Beourn with it.
GM Notes: Castle Caldwell, out of B9: Castle Caldwell and Beyond is my favorite module. It's a simple dungeon, it covers combat, and many form of negotiations, and it rewards those who go the extra level while they search rooms. It's perfect for intro ducting new players to the concepts of D&D.
I've run it for dozens of people to teach them how to play, but only Beourn's group gets a specific mention in the campaign lore.
Something happened to Beourn down in the sub-level, and his "friends" covered it up. The good news is, with the Caldwell's track record with their money pit, another adventuring party will get hired to clear out the manor again, and possibly find Beourn.
Beourn and Company's adventure into Castle Caldwell marks the last adventure for the Lost Dispatches, both in the standards I set for historical real-time and the campaign chronology.
But Elsderth's story isn't completely finished. I can see at least two episode creating an Epilogue. I'll put the disclaimer right here and at the top of each of those episodes: If you haven't read Ballad of the Pigeon God, specifically episodes #1-15, read them first before continuing.
Next: #95 - Epilogue Part One - Privy to Some Lore
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