After resting up for a bit and having a lovely lunch of trail rations the Strangers headed back down into the depths of Castle Whiterock. They quickly made their way back to the Clockwork Academy ruins and found the chamber where the scarab was kept behind glass. After checking for traps Coravel broke the glass and pulled out the scarab. The scarab was handed to Aramil so that he could try to identify it.
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While Aramil was looking at the scarab and Kaylord, Coravel and Quis'Ari kept watch they heard a sound in the alcove at the end of the room. Within a few seconds a large, metal figure stepped through the back wall, smashing through it. Aramil threw up a web and Kaylord and Coravel moved into position. Aramil then quickly identified the scarab, a golembane scarab, and realized it could help in the fight. He offered it to Kaylord or Coravel to use in battling the figure. The group then concentrated on buffing up and preparing to meet the threat.
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While this was going on the golem was acting confused and not always attacking. It would occasionally attack one of the party but at other times it would stop and simply move it's jaw or attack itself. At one point Coravel was preparing to throw some rust dust but Aramil asked him to stop, he thought he could salvage the golem for use by the group.
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Once the group was beefed up they started attacking. Coravel found that his sneak attack was effective and between him and Kaylord they were able to damage the monster. Aramil used a lightening bolt to slow it down and Quis'Ari also did some damage. After several rounds the golem finally went down. Aramil was able to use the spell reduce object on the golem so it could be carried back to their keep. The group also reduced a teak wood table that looked like it would be valuable down in town. After searching for other golems, everyone headed back up and then down the mountain to their keep. The items taken from underwater added to their gold and allowed for some upgrades of their equipment.
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When they got back to the keep Hugin reported that all had been quiet and training continued with the warriors who were helping out with the defense of the keep.The group settled in with Coravel preparing for his birthday in a few days on the 19th of Rova. During those few days Kaylord and Coravel were notified of a stranger approaching the Keep, an elf walking on foot. They waited at the front entrance and waited for the visitor. When he came to the door he asked for Coravel and said he carried a message from Coravel's mother. He also said he was Coravel's uncle and her brother. He had no weapons in his hands although he carried a longbow on his back and a sword on his side. He appeared as if he had traveled a long distance and it was decided to let him in. When he was inside a resemblance could be seen between him and Coravel. He said his name was Feredir (Hunter) of the Deep Woods and that Coravel's mother, Kylihn Zara, had sent Feredir to find Coravel. Kylihn had left her human husband after he was killed in a fight at a tavern. She had come to her family's home in Anseur Forest but had been ignored due to her marriage to a human and having a half human child. The only family member to accept her back was Feredir, a ranger for the queen of the Elves. He has come to find Coravel and bring news of his mother while also checking to see that Coravel is safe.
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Kylihn had been very ill with a disease called the shakes. When a person catches this disease they gradually lose control of their muscles and if they don't fight off the illness they can eventually become immobile. Kylihn had succumbed to the disease and only with the care of village wise woman was she slowly recovering. When Feredir last saw her she was able to raise her hands, shakily, to feed herself a few bites but the healers said her recovery would take many weeks before she would be well. Since her family does not acknowledge her she is in a village being cared for by the village wise woman. Because of her close brush with death she wanted to know that Coravel was safe and to let him know she hadn’t forgotten him. It also gave his uncle a chance to get away from the family and the lowering of his status because of his support of Coravel’s mother. For his birthday she had also sent two gifts, a signet ring with the family symbol engraved on it and a headband of Inspired Wisdom. The ring was to let Coravel know more about his elven side of the family and the headband was meant to help him discover more wisdom than he had shown so far in running off to adventure as a rogue.
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Feredir also told that as he traveled south he found that other people were catching the disease of the shakes. Whole villages had become ill but what was strange were the attacks that wiped out the villages. The illness and the attacks seemed to be moving southward, from the Anseur forest. Small villages and hamlets, with 100 people or less, seemed to be affected while large towns were passed by. It also seemed to focus on farmer folk and there was concern that there might not be enough people to take care of the farms and gather in the harvest. The illness and attacks had started 3-4 months ago and more destroyed villages were being discovered. Feredir had heard this news and met with distrust on his journey since no one knew how the disease was being transmitted.
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After hearing this story the Strangers went into town to report this. While reporting they found out that similar stories of illness and attacks were also occurring in others parts of Morraine. They got support from the Temple of Sarenrae for help in making scrolls of Remove Disease. They also warned the farmer families on the land by the keep to watch out for strangers and alert them if anything strange occurred. During the next few days Quis'Ari made several scrolls and the others kept watch for anything odd.
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During one of their patrols they went out further into the woods so they could get a better sense of the land the keep watched over. Feredir went along in order to help in identifying a site that would be good for a cabin for someone keeping watch. While walking in the forest they encountered 4 large wolf like creatures with red eyes. The creatures attacked and started focusing on the magic casters. When 2 of the 4 creatures were down one ran off. Coravel gave chase with Feredir and Aramil following behind. They caught up with the creature and attacked. The creature stopped to fight back and also howl and bark. The creature stayed to fight but continued to howl and bark. With quick work the creature was taken down and killed. The group then went to try and track the creatures and found tracks leading back to Cillamar where they blended in with other foot traffic in the area.
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During this time Kaylord visited a dwarven community that were refugees from the troubles down south. Tthe dwarves are refugees from a dwarf hold down south that was taken over by a renegade dwarf, Oro Loroth. Oro Loroth was exiled from the Holdfast of the Steel Overlord for reasons only known to the dwarves of the Holdfast. Loroth disappeared for five years then reappeared with an army of orcs and human mercenaries. The army struck the dwarf hold of Clan Dronil and killed all of the dwarves he could find. The dwarves and their families barely escaped the capture and sack of their clanhold, Risinox. Their best fighters stayed behind and gave their lives in order to allow this group to have time to get out of the killing zone in the dwarf hold.
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After several months of travel and fighting through Loroth's army this group of clan Dronil finally made their way north and to the relative safety of the area around Cillamar. With the mining and the need for building the clan members decided to settle attempt to rebuild their lives. The community has about 60-70 dwarves of ages ranging from the very young to middle aged dwarves and male and female. The head of the clan is Kotri, a female dwarf who was a strong leader that led the group to safety here in the north. There is a cleric and an apprentice, along with miners, builders, fighters, traders, etc along with young dwarves. The clan is mining for gems which are in great demand from the jewelers down in Cillamar. The clan is building into a cave system that is on the road to Castle Whiterock. Their cleric offered to help in scribing scrolls for Remove Disease. The clan would also be on guard for any strangers or disease that might strike.
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A few days later one of the farmers children came in asking for help. Two of the children who had been helping at the keep, Micah and Kim, were sick, along with others of their brothers, sisters and cousins. The Strangers went down to the farmer's houses and found that most of the children were ill with what looked to be the disease the shakes. While the group was looking over the sick children the mothers and another child were overcome and then the fathers were also overcome.
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The Strangers gathered up all of the sick people and brought them to the keep in order to protect them. They placed them in quarantine and no one was to tend them unless they had overcome the illness or already been exposed. The group then prepared for the bandits that were likely to follow. After settling the farmers in Quis'Ari remembered that a disease like the shakes can also be caused by spells. When the disease is caused by a spell caster it can then be harder to fight off (higher DC for save) then it would be if it occurred naturally. The disease can also take several days to show up and people might not notice at first other than feeling clumsier than normal. With the idea of a spell causing the disease Coravel wondered if a magic trap had possibly been set around the farmers and perhaps one or more of the children had stumbled into it. Coravel wanted to check and see if he could find the traps in order to find the cause.
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