The Fall of Plaguestone

On a caravan travelling through Isger, a group of adventurers were brought together to defend the trade route. Whilst stoppping in Etran's Folly, the party's employer, Bort Bargith, has been killed under mysterious circumstances.

The following notes are compiled from Sedik's notebook, maintained after his death by Valeer.

Chapter 1

• Bort's death was clearly by poison, but I know not what kind.
• Finnick and the old veteran were both seen leaving(seperately) during the barfight.
• Finnick stays in the old barn sometimes. He as on the night of the fight.
• Bort made 14 deliveries to "H" over the course of the last 10 years labelled as reagents. These were all for large sums of gold.
• Followed Finnick's tracks to find an empty, floral-scented vial.
• Village witch died during the plague, but had a daughter called Vilree.
• Took a tour from Targin. Little of use to the investigation.
• Trin, the serving girl, claims to have been knocked unconscious around the time Bort died.
• Trin claims Amora and Finnick were responsible for making the food that night.
• Finnick not well-liked around town. He often hangs around in the woods.
• H could be Halod(unpleasant guy from the pub). Last seen going to an abandoned house near the dead willow.
• Noala, the ranger, reckons the mutated wolves that attacked us on the road are coming from the blighted grove.
• The old veteran is called Sir Lauren Krent. He was a knight of Lastwall.
• Krent reckons the Whispering Tyrant's servants are holed up in the ruined house on the outskirts.
• Found a ghost of Krent's old friend Talmar and dispelled it. Unclear if it's related to the alchemical goings-on.
• Broke into a cellar beneath the dead willow. Fought off some hungry dogs and found a vial of corpseblood in a near-empty crate.
• Tracked Halod through the caves leading off the cellar and killed him.
• Halod had a letter signed by V instructing them to kill Borth for being a greedy bastard.
• Halod and V's drop point was empty.

Chapter 2

• Upon returning to town, explained to the sheriff what had happened, and that Halod had murdered Bort on behalf of V.
• Delma formally asked us to help out the sheriff in investigating the alchemical goings-on.
• Delma recommended that we speak to Noala.
• Tamlee, Bort's second-in-command, was asking after us.
• Spoke with Tamlee, she offered to pay for our lodgings whilst we investigated.
• Went to see Noala on the edge of town after dark. Burnt a huge amount of corrupted wolf corpses.
• Noala wants to journey to the heart of the blighted grove with us.
• Departed at dawn. Long walk.
• Ambushed by plant creatures on the road. Sedik died from blood loss.
• Returned to town to bury Sedik.
• Early that next morning, Noala returned from the forest with a wounded old friend, Guthrum.
• Guthrum agreed to join us on the second trip to the grove.
• Dove deeper than before, finding an underground pool of reagents.
• After pressing on further, camped near the heart of the blighted grove.
• The next morning, pressed on through light resistance to the heart.
• Defeated a group of orcs who were guarding an imprisoned Mara.
• Deeper in the cave being guarded, found a well-equipped alchemy lab, and an Orc alchemist who called himself "The Sculptor".
• He unleashed his blood ooze on us, but after a brutal skirmish, both were defeated.
• Searched The Sculptor's notebooks. Found details of fatal experiments using corpseblood on behalf of a Vilree - it seems the mysterious V is the old village witch's daughter.
• Furthermore, found a map to a fortification called "Spite's Cradle".
• Returned to town to rest.

Chapter 3

• Set out to Spite's Cradle the next day. Found a fortress built into the valley.
• Attempted to infiltrate the fortress, but the alarm was raised.
• After a hard fight with Lord Nar and his Orcs, we were forced to retreat, but not before killing over half the garrison.
• On the way to set up a sentry camp overlooking the valley, spotted a creature fleeing the fortress.
• Gave chase to the creature and caught it before it made it to Etran's Folly.
• The creature turned out to be a durge, a type of alchemical construct.
• The creature maintains an empathy link to its master, but is entirely mute. It was carrying a ring.