Following their return to Bryn Shander, the party regrouped in the lobby of The Hoar’s Frost, with the intention to sit, discuss next steps and divide the funds they had collected, and make a plan for what they would get into next. Ghaspar slipped away from the rest of the group, opting to return to his room for a few minutes, and Archie, 4RG, and Azalea quickly became engrossed in the appropriate division of the funds collected and received.

During the course of this discussion, several of the group noticed an intent conversation between Sheriff Markwell and Duvessa Shane, Speaker of Bryn Shander, and an unknown elf, seated at the table across from them, but only having one boot on, the other, resting on the floor beside him. Some heard various snippets of the conversation, and largely ignored it, but what caught Archie’s attention the most was discussion of payment (100 gp up front, 200 gp on completion, peaceful or not).

Archie eased himself from the table, near simultaneous with Duvessa and Sheriff Markwell making their way out of The Hoar’s Frost, and crossed paths with them both. Sheriff Markwell, only slightly suspicious of Archie and his motivations, greeted him, and asked about his health. Pleasantries exchanged, all three made their way out of the inn. 4RG, seeing Archie start to wander off, and being concerned about what he may be up to, opted to extricate himself, mid-conversation, from the table and started to follow Archie out.

The elf, having locked eyes with Archie in the wrap-up of the conversation, grew suspicious with seeing both Archie and 4RG seemingly following Duvessa and Sheriff Markwell, so he stealthily rose and began to follow.

Meanwhile, Sygg was able to obtain the room that Ghaspar was staying in, and made his way upstairs to retrieve him for the discussion regarding the division of loot, as Ghaspar was given the first bloodstone to hold for the party. Knocking on Ghaspar’s door, Ghaspar indicated he was busy and to come back later.

With Azalea at the table alone, she was content to relax and enjoy her breakfast. However, as Sygg returned downstairs, he took note of the Elf making moves to follow Archie and 4RG and grew concerned, so he followed the Elf out. Giving it a few moments, Azalea’s curiosity and concern got the better of her, so she rose and told the barkeep to keep an eye out for Ghaspar. She, also, made her way outside.

Archie, reaching the end of the block, took his pipe out and began to light it, as 4RG, then the Elf, then Sygg, then Azalea all came out, and introductions (and assessment of motives) was made. The Elf was Hydrus Black, who introduced himself as the future leader of the Hunter’s Guild, and offered to include the group in his “mission” to Karkolohk, a goblin town located in the western foothills of the Spine of the World, west-southwest of Targos. Hydrus introduced his boot, Mick, whom he seemed to have a very strange relationship with, with Mick the boot being covered in blood and Hydrus wearing one boot and one sandal.

Ghaspar made his way downstairs, and sat at the table at which he previously left the group, but after a few minutes of waiting, decided to make his way outside and try to locate everyone else. At the end of the block, he saw Azalea and Sygg, and made his way down there, just as the conversation with Hydrus was winding down. Introducing himself to Hydrus, Ghaspar then took the opportunity to introduce everyone to his new companion, Bernard, a homonculus who bore the appearance of a small polar bear, but with mechanical wings.

All were impressed by Bernard initially, but as Azalea inquired about the bloodstone that Ghaspar was holding, it was then that Ghaspar advised that he used the bloodstone to create Bernard. Both 4RG and Azalea were not exactly appreciative of this decision, and a bit of an argument ensued. Throughout, Ghaspar proved very adept at dodging any level of discussion about the bloodstone, instead, deftly turning all questions and lines of concern to the sheer value of Bernard and how much of a difference and benefit Bernard would provide them all. Efforts to really pin Ghaspar down about how he came to the decision to use the bloodstone, which was party funds, culminated in his redirection that Archie was cool with it, and that he agreed to help Archie later.

Needless to say, whilst Sygg took it in stride, Azalea and 4RG were a little disturbed by the claiming and usage of party funds, and Ghaspar offered to sell Bernard (though he was strong in his view that to do so would be foolish given Bernard’s value) and then offered 5 gp each to Azalea and 4RG. Seeing the state of Mick, Ghaspar then cast Mending on the boot, restoring it to like new condition.

It became apparent to a few that they were being watched and listened to, and with a gruff and dissatisfied tone, Hlin Trollbane, a dwarf woman with short cut brown hair and a thin brown beard, introduced herself. She made sure to point out to Hydrus that she knows who he is, and that he’s touched in the head if he believes himself to be the next Guild leader, but she relented and explained to the group that she was need of someone less known, less visible, to do some digging around about some murders which had been occurring in the Ten Towns over the past several months. She laid out her suspicions that it was Torgga Icevein, proprietess of Torg’s Traveling Caravan, that was behind the murders, but for which she lacked any real evidence. She is convinced of this allegation by virtue of the fact that the murders always seem to follow the caravan. So, combined with her dislike of Torgga, and the suspicion, she asked the group to obtain evidence she can use to carry to the Sheriff. She offered payment of 125 gp, with 25 gp up front, should the party agree to travel to Targos and find out any details they can. She further told them that she was not welcome in certain parts of ten towns because of her suspicions, as Torgga is a friend to many influential people throughout the region.

Despite her offer, the party wanted to negotiate more, but she would not budge. Since they were already making plans to travel to Targos on the way to Karkolohk, they saw an opportunity to stack their agenda and collect even more coin in payment. So agreement was made and the party began to gather their things and head out to Targos as soon as possible.

Deciding that departure quickly was in their best interest, the group made plans to gather essential items and head out. It was early afternoon as they got on the road to Targos, and the cold was intense and uncomfortable. Both Hydrus and Azalea felt its effects the most, with it actually rendering Hydrus unconscious for several minutes, suffering from exposure and a touch of hypothermia.

As they continued their travels along the road, they encountered a snowy owlbear, a juvenille seeking food. Ghaspar’s attempts to communicate with him using his Speak with Animals ability failed (due to the owlbear’s VERY low intelligence), but Azalea, downing a potion of Animal Friendship, was able to soothe the hungry creature. Sygg provided it a fair amount of food, and it was content to follow, from a distance, as it was enamored with Azalea (and the food).

As the party approached Targos, with its 12′ walls encircling the town, a guard saw the owlbear and took shots at it, one of which connected. This enraged, and scared, the young creature, and he fled off into the snow.

Gaining entry to the town was easy before dark fell, and the group made their way to The Luskan Arms, the only inn in this small town. It being the oldest public house and inn in Targos, its age has started to show. Although immaculate on the outside, the inside was dated, decorated in styles that went out of fashion over 200 years ago. The inn has sturdy walls, but rotten floorboards, which creak and have a slight give to them when walked upon. Although warm, there was a perpetual draft blowing up from below, further evidence of the state of disrepair and unkemptness.

Archie eased his way up to the countertop and introduced himself as Hydrus Black, and begin discussions with Owenn Tarsenal, the barkeep, in a conversation which yielded little useful information, other than the observation that he seemed to be very mindful of something upstairs, on the second or third floor. XXX initiated the conversation with Owenn, and secured rooms for everyone at the modest price of only 3 SP per room. Keys were dispensed to XXX amidst several glances upstairs. Owenn further advised not to venture up to the third floor of his establishment, as that was a private residence.

With drinks in hand, and a warm fire, after a few minutes, someone was heard leaving the third floor and making their way downstairs. Momentarily, a well dresssed gentleman, human, with black hair, dark eyes, and an air of authority came down and sat at the bar nearest Owenn. After a few minutes of quiet conversation with Owenn, after Hyrdrus ordered drinks for the table, the gentleman turned and made introduction of himself to the group.

In the ensuing conversation, Sygg did much of the talking, and explained what has brought them out into the cold, traveling from Bryn Shander in the midst of the Everlasting Rime and the perpetual twilight it brings. Sygg explained that they had been hired to investigate Torrga Icevein, proprietess of Torg’s Traveling Caravan, as someone in Bryn Shander believed that a series of murders across Ten Towns seemed to map closely to Torgga’s travels. Sygg left nothing undisclosed, which kept the gentleman, who had introduced himself as Speaker Naerth Maxildanarr, focused intently and with growing tension.

Naerth was extremely supportive of Torgga, advising the party that she was a close and dear friend of his, and naming who he believed to be her accuser, a dwarf bounty hunter by the name of Hlin Trollbane, a troubled and bitter woman that had disliked Torgga for decades, Naerth advised that Hlin was known to have grandiose visions of suspicion, seemingly finding a new accusation to level at Torgga almost monthly. He dispelled the group’s notions that Torgga was anything more than a merchant, and that he, and Targos, as this was his town, would not find it acceptable to socialize such accusations for a venerated friend of the town.

In the course of the conversation, Sygg also made it known that there were beliefs that Targos was actively sacrificing its citizens to Auril, seeking to appease her and prevent the worst effects of her curse. When Speaker Naerth not only didn’t deny the accusations, but deliberately, and casually acknowledged that, yes, there is a lottery for a monthly sacrifice to Auril, Sygg began to get upset and, invoking all that he held holy, began to rage…