You ride on waving to the huscarls as you go. One of them waves back slowly but the others just watch you go. You skirt round the Northern end of the Colymar Wilds avoiding the village of Swan which his further North and picking up the well-used track heading east late in the afternoon. After a short ride you start passing through well-kept apple orchards before coming to the little hamlet of Apple Lane.

Entering the village in the twilight there is a well ahead and the path divides. Ahead behind the well and entered from the Southern path is a large building with an odd tin roof. To the South is what appears to be a stables or something similar. To the North some non-descript buildings, and there are a few more beyond either way. There’s not many people around, presumably all at their supper. There is however, what appears to be a farmer of some sort heading towards you from the Southern fork.

The air of the place is peaceful.



What would you like to do?

In reply to dashing (msg # 30):

Great the farmer, and ask him where we can find his lord

The farmer laughs and assumes you are joking but goes along with it: "I am a free man of the Hiordings. My name is Orstalor, sometimes called the "Upright" he laughs.

You all introduce yourselves (as is right and proper), the Greeting complete the farmer seems to be more than happy to chat. He's a local farmer, a carl (above cottar - which you shepherds are :-) and below thanes like Angara) of the Hiording clan he is relatively wealthy and no doubt head of his stead and possibly bloodline. He's apparently been here selling some produce and catching up on gossip i nthe local "inn".

There's no lord here as such but Dronlan Swordsharp is Thane and acts as sheriff (local law enforcer for the Colymar tribe). His house is just to the North.

What else do you want to know?

In reply to dashing (msg # 32):

Well we have been asked by our clan chief to pass on his regards to Gringle at Apple Lane on our journey.  Are you able to tell me where we may find him.

Also, we saw some odd Dragon Newts,  has he seen anything unusual on his journey?

"Gringle Goodsell you're after you say? Well that's his pawnshop behind me" he indicates over his shoulder at a large sturdy looking building opposite the inn. "You won't get him there today, or any day. The best thing is to go into the Tin Inn and let them know that you want to see him. They'll send word to him".

"Dragonewts you say?" He actually looks impressed at this. "They are weird critters, dangerous too by all accounts. There's one of them 'plinths' on top of the Rainbow Mounds away up North from here. They say if you touch it an army of 'newts shows up and cuts you to pieces".

[A brief aside on directions: Gloranthans don't really use North, South etc. and they certainly don't mean what we mean by them but to avoid confusion by introducing new terms East is towards the sun rise, West towards the sunset, North towards the cold and South towards the hot (and the sea)].

In reply to dashing (msg # 34):

Thank you sir,  this is big help.  CIf I have to go to the Tin Inn, can I get you a drink as a thank you?

And is there somewhere we can stable the horses?

An aside to Ulf and someone else to use that opportunity to have a look around and see what he can see, to check if there is anything odd? To check out the shrines behind the big building and to the North?

Orstalor is more than happy to share a drink at your expense, he's also more than happy to let you know all about Apple Lane or at least what he knows.

The inn has somewhere to keep horses within its walls so they should be very safe.

[You can now access the map of the hamlet: https://kanka.io/en/campaign/39663/maps/9524]

The Tin Inn is a two-storied stone and timber inn with outbuildings and a stone wall surrounding the courtyard; the buildings are tin roofed, giving it its name. It is a well-established (and well-fortified) roadhouse on a frequently traveled route, and almost always has visitors. It is the only tavern for a day’s journey beyond; residents of Apple Lane and outlying farmers normally congregate at the inn.

Bulster the Brewer, a Malani tribesman famous for his beer and ale, and his wife, Bertha, run this fortified inn. Brightflower, their 18 year old daughter, helps out with her husband Kerad of Jonstown. Bulster says he'll get word to Gringle.

You all order some beers and settle down to gossip. Is there anything in particular you'd like to know about?

Meanwhile Ulf slips away unnoticed as normal, Iskalla heads off trying to look as inconspicuous as a redheaded warrior woman can...  Where would you both like to go?

In reply to dashing (msg # 36):

Mica goes for a wander, making low goose calls as she goes.
She's looking for anything out of the ordinary.
But on the surface, she just looks like a slightly dim Goose Girl talking to herself in GooseTongue.

On the surface?

I'll respond separately consolidating what everyone finds out. Apple Lane is peaceful and frankly bucolic so you can fairly easily compare notes afterwards.

As is always the case the party promptly splits up and starts pocking it’s various noses into parts liable to get them bitten off.

Ulf and Iskalla: Opposite the Tin Inn and slightly to the left is Gringle’s Pawnshop a 2 storey stone building which looks very robust, indeed better built than the log cabins that you are used to. The second storey is much smaller than the first. It’s pretty bleak looking with only one window on the second storey and a solid looking front door.

Opposite and slightly to the right is an even more robust stone building, it’s smaller than the pawnshop and has not visible windows at all. There is a brass bound front door. It has an unusual looking pyramid shaped stone roof.

Heading off clockwise round the village There are two buildings with a paddock behind with a few horses in. Presumably a horse trader or similar.

You then reach the well and the road you came in on heading off West. You proceed North.

You pass a vegetable patch on the left presumably belonging to the next building which is a more typical stone and timber building. It appears to have been painted once but the paint has mostly peeled away. Next is some form of barn and a paddock and opposite to your right is an unusual looking small temple apparently to Uleria the Goddess of Love. It too is a 2 storey stone building. Some round here loves stone! This goddess is ancient and predates (if that is the right word) your own Gods as she was a deity of the “Cosmic Council” that helped create the world. Very unusual to see such a deity worshipped here! The temple appears closed now.

Beyond the Temple to Uleria is another non-descript building looking slightly tired.

You are now on the East side of the village and the second largest building (after the inn) presents itself. Another temple but it’s not at all clear to whom this temple has been dedicated. It also has two stories and made of stone. With a wooden tower. Again it appears shut up for the evening.

Lastly to your left there’s what appears to be a smithy of some sort. Closer examination shows it’s not a normal redmith (bronze worker) as it appears to have some unusual runes etc. around the place. Interesting!

Mica: you glean the above but in largely reverse order. You don’t understand or care much about the redsmith. The most interesting thing is the Temple to Uleria. It’s hard to say exactly but she’s like the Grandmother or perhaps the great grandmother of all the birds in the world, clearly a holy place of the first order! There are plenty of fowl wandering around the place and they impart to you what information they have:

• This is some kind of heaven as there seems to be endless food and safety from most predators (this is a fairly normal view of domestic fowl of anywhere they live with people so not that interesting really;
• The holy place is indeed a holy place. Apparently it’s the best place to ahem ensure that one’s eggs are fertilised;
• The most dangerous thing here is, apparently, the small humans who keep making off with the eggs.

For anyone interested you can now see the Apple Lane map here: https://kanka.io/en/campaign/39663/maps/9524

The map has slightly more information than I've given but I don't think that's a problem.

Meanwhile in the Tin Inn:

Orstalor with a few beers inside him becomes even more voluble feel free to ask pretty much anything you like and Orstalor will give you his opinion.

The other people in the inn:

• The brewer, his wife and various employees;
• Various other local farmer types;
• A chap hunched in a corner nursing a beer who does not look very local;
• An older man with a scribe like air about him eating his dinner; and
• A fairly rowdy group who seem to have formed a caravan for safe travelling laughing and joking together.

Any thoughts/questions?
This message was last edited by the GM at 16:53, Sun 07 Feb 2021.

In reply to dashing (msg # 39):

I'll keep an eye on the chap nursing his beer.

In reply to Mica the Goose Dancer (msg # 40):

I also thing the rowdy group seem too good to be true.
(Which of course means that the real villain is the 'businessman' - but I'll concentrate on Mr Moody)

In reply to dashing (msg # 39):

Does the Brewer or Ostralor know who the guy in the corner is? And the scribe?

In reply to dashing (msg # 39):

Ulf will check out the large temple, which is difficult to determine to which God it's dedicated. I'll look all round it, are there no runes or any other signs which could indicate which God it's for? Could I get into it?

I don't want to cause a lot of damage to get in but is there a slightly open window I could open further or a poorly locked door or similar?

In reply to Ulf Skommson (msg # 43):

"It's a bird coop, Ulf." whispers Mica. "But be careful."

Then she marches up to Harmast, sitting next to Iskalla, as if she has a bone to pick with him. She points vehemently at Iskalla as she hisses so that only he and she can hear: "Don't you think that it might be a good idea if, instead of individually blundering around on our own, one of you took charge and formulated a plan?"

She tosses her head as if they have just had an argument and flounces off to sulk in the corner, close to the man nursing his drink (but not so close that she has to talk to him).

Orstalor has no clue "someone from out of town whose been hanging around for some time".

When Bulster the Brewer comes over to take your order you ask and he says "That's Pramble, he lives here. I think he's a poet. Squinch? yes he works for Gringle, has done since before I setup here".

As Mica is not so good with people compared with birds after a while the chap starts looking back at her and scowling.

Good questions!

There are lots of runes, rather too many in fact! It's like all of them are up there apart from the obvious ones (Chaos and so forth). The door is pretty firmly shut now and the windows are up high and none noticecably open. Sadly war torn Sartar leads even quietly bucolic places like Apple Lane to build as though someone is about to attack.

The only way in would be to break something and breaking and entering a temple is usually a good way to attract spirits of reprisal and angry templekeepers. That said it is getting a bit late now.

What would you like to do?

In reply to dashing (msg # 46):

Mica gives him a horrible smile, wanders out the door and settles down in the shadows, waiting to see whether anyone from the too-good-to-be-true roistering party sneaks out.

If they do, she will use her hunting skills to follow them without being spotted.

Ulf will head back towards the bar/inn then but wait outside to observe those who leave and where they go off to - a bit more openly than Mica, I'm not trying to hide or follow anyway just have information for reporting back to Harmast.

I probably didn’t explain how the Inn is laid out: there are in fact four buildings connected by wooden walls: the main “inn” (let’s call it the “tavern” to avoid confusing with the whole complex), a bunkhouse, a stables and a store room. There’s also a couple of outhouses. The main double gates lead into the courtyard that these form. There’s a certain amount of constant traffic between the various buildings as you would expect somewhere like this. When Mica and Ulf suggest going outside, is that to lurk outside the tavern part, or outside the main gates?

As an aside the gates are still open despite it being dark. You guess the innkeeper leaves them open for latecomers and perhaps closes them when everyone retires.

In reply to dashing (msg # 50):

Mica wanders back into the main tavern and pauses nonchalantly next to Harmast.
"Has anyone actually tried telling the barman that we'd like to get a message to Wotsisname" she whispers.

Then she wanders back out of the Tavern and settles down in the shadows outside, where she can keep an eye on both the main gate and anyone coming out of the Tavern building.  If there's a side gat and she can keep that in vision too, without giving her position away she will.
She's interested in anyone leaving the Tavern who looks like they don't want to be followed.
She will, of course, use her hunting skills to follow them unobserved.

In reply to dashing (msg # 50):

Yes, Ulf will be lounging around the courtyard in his usual disgruntled teen (although he's a bit older) manner, to keep an eye on all the comings and goings to report to Harmast.

In reply to Mica the Goose Dancer (msg # 51):


Yes I have, and we are waiting.

I will ask the bartender if he knows how long Gringle may take to get here?

There is no side gate just then main double gate. This place is built to be defensible.

Various characters stagger in and out to the outhouses. Nobody leaves through the main gate.