Drømmen
| Government |
|---|
| Monarchy |
| Temples |
| Ehlonna |
This village of about 4,000 people lies two hours from the main road between Stjordvik and Resoborg.
Its location near the Skog Forest has made it into the foremost producer of barrels in Sormark. They are sold as "Drums from Drømmen".
Locations
Barghest's Bargain
The only inn in town is of surprisingly good quality for a village of this number of people. It can be found right at the entrance to town and is a sprawling, one-story, wooden building. The rooms are spacious and the beds comfortable. The baths are large and the steam room is very popular with travelers and locals alike. The inn has been around for four generations and the current owner, Tyra Linderoth, claims that she has no idea why her great-grandparents gave the place its name.
DCC Sawmill
This large sawmill is owned by the town and produces all the limber for the many coopers who build the well-known barrels. It is powered by a windmill which means the working hours are quite variable.
Lumber Hulk
Of all the taverns in town this one stands out for the regular contests of strength that are held here. The provender and décor are not any different from their competitors.
Temples
Ehlonna
A small cabin at the edge of town, known locally as the Silvicoli Seat, is a permanent shrine to the Goddess of the Woodlands. There is no permanent priest at the shrine but its upkeep is done by local worshipers and traveling rangers/clerics in the area who also perform services.
Of late there have been tensions due to the increased clearing of the forest for the barrel industry. Defenders of this practice say new trees are planted at the same rate as they are being cleared.
The most frequent visiting Silvicoli is Valter Sattob, a young human priest who is something of a firebrand and known for his skills with the ancient longbow "Clutch", which was bestowed upon him by his late mentor.
Event
Our friends arrive and take rooms at the inn. They talk to villagers to try and find any kind of pattern in the creatures behavior but learn that it both steals things right from people's pockets, as well as items in homes and businesses. All that really can be said for sure is that it seems to have a preference for smaller, shinier objects. Some days it steals multiple times per hour, and other days it is only seen once or twice.
As the party discusses possible strategies the creature suddenly appears behind Regius, it looks just as strange as Zilgim Zebbleck and the people in town described it. And it's long fingers are quite adapt; it snatches the new name tag for Geronimo that the cleric just had bought right from his pocket. And then it disappears before anyone can react. The half-orc is even more glad now that he left 750 gold pieces at the temple in Stjordvik before coming here, imagine if it grabbed his money pouch!
Many plans are proposed and the next day they borrow a bear-trap which Harpin tinkers with so it will close when weight is removed from it instead of when someone steps on it. They then find a good place for it, put lots of extra shiny coins on it and wait nearby. Six hours long nothing happens and just as Regius gets out of the barrel he was observing from, the creature appears and grabs his candles!
A single Thunderwave spell hurts the creature but then it disappears again. Regius decides to cast Locate Object in the hope of finding the name tag that was stolen earlier, if the creature stashed it anywhere in the village he should be able to locate it within the ten minutes the spell lasts. Alas, he does not find it.
More planning ensues. Harpin is pretty sure the creature is going ethereal and then Regius remembers he has a scroll of Dispel Magic that might be able to disrupt this ability. They decide that the next morning they'll all pretend to be drunk, hoping to make themselves look like easy targets.
And with success; the creature appears as they come out of the inn that morning. Again it appears behind Regius, is it just bad luck or does it have a preference for the priest? It grabs the half-orc's tinderbox but fortunately Regius is quick to respond. Casting a spell above his skill from the scroll is not easy and things go slightly awry though the results are great; the creature's attempt to flee are blocked and Regius can temporarily fly.
A very well placed axe-swing from Butch cleaves the sneaky thief in twain. Our friends decide to take the remains back to Stjordvik, hoping they might sell it for spell components or something like that. They decide to stay for a few days, giving Reb time to work out a route outside the village for Regius to walk, casting as many Locate Object spells as he can. While they don't find anything the creature stole, they do come across a reasonably well hidden backpack that must have been there for a few months. They take the 53 gold pieces and everything else inside it.
Then it's time to start their journey back to Stjordvik.