Lacking Natural Simplicity

Still Traveling to Riverton

Tuesday morning, May 5th, we set off for Riverton, with the wounded Bartha travelling on one of the wagons.

Finally in Riverton

We finally reached the outskirts of Riverton in the late afternoon, and realized we had no idea where to deliver the stone. We knew it must be a warehouse down near the docks, but weren't sure which one. We stopped a few passersby and asked directions and for a surgeon. Eventually we determined that Grian's Warehouse was where we needed to go, and that Sawbones Colmün (or was that Cölmun?) was the doctor in our price range, and that we needed to get there before he started drinking for the night.

Taking Care of McVoy's Business

We needed to take care of our obligations to McVoy first and get the wagons safely into the livery stables for the night, so we headed out to Grian's. We got there just as the Grian was locking up, and he was quite upset about how late we'd arrived, since all his workers had already left for the day, but after seeing our injured Bartha he allowed we could unload, if we'd do it ourselves and be quick. We did and were (and I think Grian even pitched in, as well), and finished in good time. Unfortunately, this left us all fatigued. We said goodbye to Grian, who seemed in a good mood at the end, and set off for the sawbones.

Bartha gets Wasted at the Sawbones

Arriving at Sawbones Colmán's, it turned out he was a butcher with a side trade in surgery, but the price was right. Onchu and Eirnin took the wagons to the livery stable (Bran McVoy, as you'd expect from that cheapskate, used the cheapest livery stable in town, even though it was on the far side of town from Grian's.)

Bartha paid for the surgery, but wasn't going to pay for the whiskey to make it easier, so Droston did, insisting this wasn't for her, it was for him, so she'd let him pay. He wanted her to be well anesthetized while the sawbones did his cutting. After a few pulls off the jug she was feeling no pain, and got through the surgery well. Sawbones said she'd have an ugly scar, but she'd do alright, as long as she kept off that leg.

Wolves! No, just a Kid and a Dog

On the way back from the livery stable Onchu and Eirnin heard a howling approaching them, which after their wolf experience the day before set them on edge, but it was just a dog being chased by a kid. (Or was it the other way around?)

Supper, with Violence

Once Onchu and Eirnin were back, we set off, two of us carrying Bartha between us. Droston's intended kindness towards Bartha backfired: it turns out that Bartha is a noisy, friendly, curious drunk, and in the dock area after nightfall friendly women attract rather too much attention. When we tried to get supper at a tavern three thugs thought Bartha would have more fun with them, and the inevitable bar fight ensued; things were not helped by Bartha throwing soup over the combatants and mostly hitting Droston. The thugs were eventually driven off, to their surprise, but Droston lost his temper when the barkeep demanded we pay the damages, and told him off. Onchu, no stranger to bar fights, knew when to leave, and took Bartha with him over his shoulder, followed by Eirnin, but Droston, not so savvy, got shot twice by the bartender with a crossbow. Luckily, both shots were just minor flesh wounds, and Droston left, with the barkeep yelling after them.

Sleep at last

We left the area quickly, and eventually found a quiet dockside inn, the “Wharf Rat”; luckily Bartha had moved on to being a quiet drunk by that time, and although the innkeep warned them all he had was a common room and he couldn't answer for Bartha's safety there, we told him we'd have no problems keeping her safe. We put Bartha against the wall and crowded around her, and one of us was wake at all times, weapon nearby, during the night.

Headed Back, Part 1

In the morning Bartha had the expected unpleasant aftermath. After we got her moving, we went back to the livery stable on the far side of town got the wagons and horses and headed back through town. This time we avoided the docks and went through the good part of town, a much nicer trip. That night we stayed at the camp spot, but had a better arrangement of fires and wagons, in hopes of avoiding more canine entanglements, and luckily had an easy night.

Headed Back, Part 2

The next day, however, while Droston was ranging ahead, just past halfway, he heard animals coming towards the wagons, and was able to warn the drivers. It turned out to be a couple of deer chased by a mountain lion. Thanks to the warning and their own efforts the drivers were able to keep the horses and wagons under control. For a few seconds it looked like Bartha was going to send a sling bullet the mountain lion's way, but she was still recovering from her wound and hard time in Riverton and decided against it, preventing Droston from having a heart attack, imaging what her dad would have said. (“What?!? You let Bartha get bit by a wolf!?!?!? What, you let Bartha attack a mountain lion and get mauled?!?!?!?”)

Just outside the village we heard faint laughter and saw a coin purse hanging in tree. Droston though it was probably the murderer from Riverton trying to ambush people, and argued intently against Bartha trying to get it.

Back in Masonburg

We turned the wagons and horses over to McVoy, who paid out as agreed. We told McVoy about the purse, in an attempt to warn him and the villagers about the possible ambush, but found him touched more by greed at the thought than caution. Bartha proceeded to try to wind McVoy up, but he just looked at her in disgust and left.

Jed, Bartha's dad, was not happy at all about the shape Bartha was in when we brought her back, and told her she wasn't to leave her bed until she'd healed. We told him about the hanging purse too, and he was wistfully tempted by the thought of the money.

(Later we learned that Jed had gone down to look for the purse, and found McVoy already there, no purse, and McVoy already half convinced we'd been playing a trick on him, until Jed turned up. And when Jed got back, he chastised Bartha for trying to wind McVoy up.)

Bad News for Droston

When Droston checked with his family after dropping off Bartha, his dad had a sour look for him at what little Droston told him of their adventures going to town, and some really bad news about his cousin, Brocc. Deputy Han found Brocc, Droston's cousin, who had been overdue a day coming back from the high pastures, treed by two wolves. Brocc had been attacked by 15 wolves several days ago, and while he had killed two of them with his staff, some of them injured him and drove him up the tree and stayed there threatening him while the others went kill-mad and killed many of his fifty sheep and drove the others off. Two of the wolves stayed there for several days until Deputy Han came and drove them off and took Brocc, in pretty bad shape, back to town, where he was bedfast still. Droston went over to him and got Broc to tell him want happened, and it seemed very unusual and upsetting.

That day Droston and Eirnin searched the local area and found two of the missing sheep, out of fifty in Brocc's herd originally.

Back to Work

The next day Onchu and Eirnin had to go back to work. Droston spent the day hunting extra to give to Brocc.

No Rest on the Weekend

By the weekend Bartha was healed enough she could walk without any problems, and Droston asked if his friends could help him try to find some more of Brocc's sheep. They agreed, and we all headed out for the alpine pastures,

[My notes here say: “Sat Morn: 3 dead sheep”; I presume this means we found 3 dead sheep on our way up to the pastures.]

While we were still on the road we came across another purse, lying in the road. Bartha could not be gainsaid, and went for the purse, but the purse disappeared when Bartha grabbed at it, leaving behind a very elaborate but harmless trap, which exploded a red berry dye over the side of Bartha's face, and we heard more laughter. After making sure Bartha wasn't injured, Droston scouted the surrounding woods, but found no tracks.

We arrived at the 1st alpine meadow late in the afternoon and found approximately 20 dead sheep. We set up camp against a huge rock at the far side of the meadow, away from the dead sheep, and found lots of firewood so we could have a large, large fire to keep away the wolves, if they came back.

Eirnin Hears a — Who?

During the night while on guard Eirnin heard little wings behind his head and a voice told him that there was a very bad man 20 yards thataway. Eirnin immediately woke everybody up, and he could hear one humanoid running away.

Mini-arrows and Murderers

The next day we searched during the early part of the day, and found 3 more sheep, including 1 pregnant, all scared and thirsting. We left in good time to make it back to the village before dark. Along the way down we came across a man, who matched the description of Roy, the murderer from Riverton, face down in the road with a tiny arrow in his neck, unconscious. The arrow, when removed, proved not to have injured him much, and there was no sign of injuries to explain the unconsciousness. We carefully tied him up and took him in to town, where we explained how we found him. The mayor told us to work near town for a few days until someone came from Riverton to take him back to face his unhappy fate.

Sheriff Artair came to pick up Roy and paid us 10 s.p. total as a reward, which we divided evenly, 2.5 s.p. each.

Droston in Trouble Again

The Sheriff took Droston off and spoke to him about events in Riverton, and Droston admitted he'd learned his lesson there.

We ended Thursday night, May 14th.