The path to Ravens Lake was not an easy one. I could tell from the others exhaustion and weary looks on the others face that each step was becoming the greatest of chore. After living in the wild so long areas such as these no longer seem to faze me, however I still remember during my training how firm the hand of nature can be to those who press against it. I was happy to tell the party that we had little more to travel and the sighs of relief from them made me feel as though I truly had found my place with this band of hero's.
As we passed out of a thick line of trees the small town of Ravens Lake came into view. The sky was grey and cold and the town built on a swamp felt every bit as uninviting as the towns people wished it to be. Where we were greeted before with arms open and joyful expressions, here we were greeted by the slam of shutters and the closing of doors. As we entered town, those few left on the street made their way to their homes to lock themselves safely inside.
Looking for the inn where we could dry off and relax our weary muscles we found only a burnt out building. Reaching down Jas moved some debris aside and look of deep thought crossed over his face. In the rubble I looked to see what had grabbed his attention only to find the tracks of those horrible fish monsters we had faced earlier. What it meant, neither of us could tell, but it still weighs on my mind.
The nearest thing we could find to shelter was the General Store. After knocking on the closed and locked door gnome about my size peeked out to have a look at us. Seeing his distrust I quickly chimed in saying we were adventures with lots of money to spend on equipment. Though the others gave me dirty looks for it, I could tell this was not the healthiest of business and if anything would talk, it was money. Warily the gnome let is in and we warmed ourselves by the fire. As we sat and talked, Hurgood described some of the events that had taken place over the past few weeks; including the burning of the inn, the cleric leaving town, and the kidnapping of his wife. Seeing his distress I volunteered the rest of the party to go and look for her, what else could I say? The poor fellow was himself limping from a previous injury with no way to save the one he loved. He said that to the east there was a shrine to an evil sea god and a witch named Mad Maddy; if there was any cause for the evil happening it could most likely be found there.
After a soggy night sleeping in tents outside we made our way to the east to find this shrine. As Hurgood said we found the site with little trouble, and at the shrine we found a gnome druid girl named "Maddy". It was more than a little amusing to me to see the others reaction to one who has lived for so long with little interaction with others. Maddy had spent much time talking to fish and other creatures with little intelligence; truly Hurgood’s description of "Mad Maddy" was understandable from all appearances. However appearances are not everything and Maddy was more than helpful in pointing us in the right direction. Though the others distrust her for her alignment with an evil god of the sea I merely see Maddy as the opposite side of the scale where I sit. Where there is evil, there must be good to maintain the balance. Not all things in nature are kind and nurturing, not all in nature is harsh and unyielding. I can only guess at what Maddy hinted at, living to east in a small cave near the water. I fear a dark evil from another unnatural plane has entered into our world. What it is, I can not say without having seen it, horrible as it may be this is my calling, to defend the sanctity of nature. |
