Day three in the village and we had a full list of activities on a damp and drizzly day. Orla retrieved her newly fixed bow from Gregory the blacksmith. For the sake of completeness Bastonn wanted to check if there was any trouble at t'mill. Even though the wheel was turning, the mill seemed to be strangely quiet.
Krisanna peeked through one of the curtained windows to see the flour crusted miller sitting at a table looking morose. She tried her best to cheer him up, but he turned out to be distressed because his wife had gone missing five days previously. We promised to look for her and also check in on his brother and his wife who lived in a fishing cabin by the river.
We left the village by the southern path, determined to explore in an orderly pattern, and the first thing we saw was the disturbing sight of a body hanging on a gallows on top of a hill. Orla went for a closer look and found the poor chap was still alive somehow, or at least undead. He had been strung up by the mercenaries for the crime of being one of Sly George's band and promised to tell us the location of his treasure hidden by a bent and old willow tree on the east side of the woods, marked with an X in exchange for a decent burial.
We headed back, around the outskirts of the village and spotted a lodge, now semi derelict. This seemed like a reasonable place to stay the night, even though it probably be haunted or something at least it was dry and out of the drizzle. We made a fire out of old furniture and settled down, before we realised that we could here scurrying and squeaking. Krisanna located a trapdoor and we went to have a look, immediately finding a stuffed owlboar. In the process of blocking up the numerous mouse holes, we found a dozen bottles of Dragon Fire whiskey. We sampled one and had a surprisingly good night's sleep, although with sore heads the next morning.
Pushing on, we hacked through some trees and found a bridge over the river. Krisanna was almost disappointed that there wasn't a troll under the bridge - almost. Crossing the bridge we could see a giant to the south, but it seemed to be made of stone, or at least so immobile that ivy was growing on it. We followed the river to get a slightly closer look and saw that it seemed to be an enormous statue of an archer. Further on, we found a fishing cabin but a couple of ravens showed that something bad had happened with wolflike paw prints heading away from a pool of blood. Krisanna heard something moving under the floor so invited them up for smoked salmon and biscuits, and it turned out to be a frightened young girl. We promised to take her back to her uncle the miller.
Back to the village and another night in the pub, listening to rumours. Orla heard someone boasting that only the crones knew how to stop the dogs. Krisanna was cornered by someone talking about the ghost turds by the door the barrow. Bastonn heard about the mine being north of Hendenburgh, which was now haunted by the ghosts of old miners. Makander's rumour was that Lady Hendenburgh had been offering a hundred shillings if anyone could find the lost villa. Finally Aodhan got talking to a man who'd overheard several people who'd had a common nightmare about a prison, which could also be cured by the crones.
We headed out again, determined to find the crones, finding only a cabin covered in crows, and a very dead, bloody body. We decided to try and cross back to the fishing cabin but Aodhan managed to fall in the water requiring fishing out. As is almost traditional, we ended the day watching him dry his socks by night.
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