Later that same night...

At Kendra Lorrimor's house in Ravengro

Many of the guests return with Kendra to her home. One exception is Councilman Hearthmont who has other business to attend to. He will arrive some time later, however, for he is the acting solicitor for the town and is expected to disclose the contents of the will. Besides the five strangers to the town (who are lodging at the house during their stay in Ravengro), the other guests do not stay long. They partake of a drink or share a few pleasant memories of the professor before departing.

When everyone else has left, and Kendra waits for Hearthmont to arrive, the five outsiders gather in the den to remember the professor and wonder to themselves why they have been invited to be a part of the will. Truly, Petros Lorrimor has played some significant role in each of their lives over the past few years, but they were hardly close.

Zooblub does not engage in conversation with the others... he simply pulls a book from off the professor's shelf and sits in a corner of the room reading. He has let his hood fall back, revealing his wriggling ears, blue skin, and the yellow slits that are his eyes. Valamir stands with his arms crossed in the opposite corner of the chamber gazing out the window into the rainy night. He appears very uncomfortable, and does not speak. The only ones he has spoken to if at all are Kendra and the knight, Wilhem.

The others are gathered in the center of the room while awaiting Hearthmont. Yala and Tatyanza share some good memories of the professor, some of which elicit a smile from Kendra. Wilhem, however, seems troubled by the incident at the cemetery. When there is a pause in the conversation, the knight says, "shouldn't the councilman have arrived by now? It is getting quite late." In the very next moment, there is a pounding at the door.

Kendra answers it and soon Hearthmont steps in shaking raindrops off his cloak. As he cleans off his boots, he gazes suspiciously at the five strangers gathered in the next room. "This is everyone?" he asks. Kendra nods and invites the councilman in.

 

From beneath his cloak, Hearthmont produces a scroll case. Upon opening it, a heavy iron key falls out and tumbles noisily to the floor. Zooglub, who has set his book aside, scurries forward and scoops it up. "You dropped something, your honorableness, hee-hee!" The councilman ignores him and pulls forth the sealed scroll from within the case. He breaks the seal and begins to read. Most of it is simply legal terminology and deals with the professor's estate and property being bequeathed to Kendra. But towards the end, the others gathered around become involved...

 

"As some of you know, I have devoted many of my studies to all manner of -- " Hearthmont clears his throat before continuing, "-- evil, that I might know the enemy and inform those better positioned to stand against it. For knowledge of one's adversary is the surest path over victory over its nefarious plans.

 

"Over the course of my lifetime, I have seen fit to acquire a significant collection of dangerous tomes, any of which could have led to some unfavorable complications -- legal and otherwise -- in the wrong hands. While in life, they served me well, in death I do not wish to burden my daughter with the darker aspects of my profession. As such, I am entrusting my collection of tomes to my friends: Wilhem, Tatyanza, Valamir, Yala, and sharp-tongued Zooglub. It is my wish that the five of you deliver my trunk and its contents to the university in Lepidstadt and my trusted colleagues there.

 

"Yet, before you leave for Lepidstadt, there is one other favor I ask of you. Please delay your journey for one month so that you may stay here in Ravengro to aid my daughter in putting the matters of the estate in proper order. With my passing, I fear she no longer has anyone left to count on. For this service, you will have my eternal gratitude. In return, I bequeath to each of you one-hundred platinum crowns which are payable upon your arrival in Lepidstadt with the tomes safely delivered no sooner than one month from the reading of this will. I have entrusted Embreth Daramid with these funds for safekeeping." 

 

With that, the reading was done. Councilman Hearthmont takes his leave, and Kendra has the men bring the small, iron-bound oaken chest brought in. Zooglub, who still has the key, moves to open it. Valamir expresses his disapproval. "The professor said these books are dangerous. I will not permit you to open the chest out of curiosity. We ought to do what the professor should have done long ago and burn them all." While Kendra vehemently dismisses any notion of destroying the valuable objects, she agrees that nothing in the will stipulated opening the chest. Grumbling, the goblin hands over the key, and all of the guests retire for the evening.

 

Upstairs, Kendra has the master bedroom at the end of the carpeted hallway. Yala and Tatyanza share a room just down the hall from her. On the opposite end of the house, Wilhem and Valamir share a guestroom (though the latter sleeps not at all, it seems). Zooglub, already being traditionally nocturnal, cannot rest with so much great reading in the professor's extensive libraries. He stays up all night and gets a visit from Valamir in the predawn hours.

 

Without looking up from his reading material, Zooglub says with a sigh, "come to keep an eye on me, eh? Fear not... I'm not opening the trunk. Kendra took the key from me."

"I don't trust you, goblin," is the hunter's disgusted reply.

"Well, I don't expect you to -- Valamir, is it? The professor did trust me, of course, otherwise I wouldn't be here. And, no offense, but I regard his opinion much more highly than yours."

"Perhaps with the sorts of things he was reading, the professor was not of sound mind when he included you in the will. How do you know the professor, might I ask?"

Finally the goblin looks up. "You might."

 "Well?"

"We shared various academic interests. He also didn't immediately mistrust me because of who my parents were. I respect that. After all, I was one of his only colleagues with the intelligence to keep up with him. He didn't just see a goblin, he saw a mind."

"Were any of these interests evil in nature?"

"Oh, most definitely!" Zooglub giggles. "Folk like the professor and myself do not descriminate... all knowledge is valuable."

Valamir gazes down at the goblin with narrow eyes, "it seems to me then, that you are just as dangerous as the books in that chest. Perhaps you already know what is hidden within."

"No, I do not. Though, I admit, I wish I did. Books are not dangerous, Valamir, unless you fear paper cuts. Books are like minds... what matters is what you do with them."

 

The discussion is interrupted as Yala -- clothed only in a black cloak -- comes down the steps and moves to exit the house. Zooglub says, "don't any of you humans sleep at night?" She walks out to a grove of trees behind the house and disrobes in the falling rain. Then she calls her familiar, a raven she has named Storm, who comes circling down out of the trees. Yala kneels and raises her arms towards the sky, appealing to her elemental patrons. 

 

Valamir and Zooglub watch briefly from a window. The goblin titters to himself.

"Something amusing, goblin?"

"It seems that the professor had some rather interesting friends! Be glad you have two eyes, Valamir. You'll have to keep one on me, and the other on the witch." He cackles gleefully.

Valamir clenches his jaw and returns to his room.

Moonday, Rova the 4th, 4711 A.R.

The Village of Ravengro, Ustalav

Five complete strangers have come to this sleepy village near the southern shores of Lake Lias in Canterwall. They each received a letter from Kendra Lorrimor, the daughter of Professor Petros Lorrimor who was an old friend to each of them. The professor had died unexpectedly, and the five were asked to attend the funeral and bear witness to the reading of the will. Each of the strangers arrived in time for the burial (if not a day or two in advance), and have gathered with Kendra and other townsfolk who have come to pay their respects at The Restlands, just north of the village. Kendra had been kind enough to provide introductions, as well as lodging for each of the visitors.

Wilhem Felmarch - A new member of the Order of the Dragon who has come from Lastwall to honor the professor. He, along with the rest of his company of knights, patrol the Hungry Mountains for any sign of evil incursions. Wilhem served the professor well as an escort while traveling in some very dangerous territory. He has been given a leave of absence from his order so he may travel to Ravengro. His steed, Sunbolt, carried him a very long way at remarkable speed.

Valamir Surengi - A mysterious, pale-faced man with a hungry look in his eyes. The professor and he had some relationship in years past which he refuses to speak of. Even Kendra does not understand the nature of it. But clearly, Valamir feel indebted to the professor in some profound way. He has traveled a long way on foot -- without stopping to rest or eat -- just to attend the funeral. He seems very suspicious of most of the other visitors.

Tatyanza Irenze - A young woman who until recently traveled with the nefarious Sczarni. She has left her clan and her family to find her own path after meeting with the professor and being inspired by his words. She seems to have powers that are only now beginning to be grasped. But those same abilities cause her to become a magnet for restless spirits of her ancestors.

Zooglub - He appears to be a wiry, bent gnome in a hooded cloak. Kendra is aware that in truth, he is a goblin alchemist who over the years has developed a academic relationship with her father. She does not fully trust him -- as he acts quite mad most of the time -- but the professor saw much promise in the scrawny goblinoid. He must tread very carefully for most folk do not care much for his kind.

Yala Ravenlocke - She did not need to travel far, as she wanders the wilds of northern Canterwall (though she was difficult to contact). The feral-seeming Yala is in equal parts mistrusted by the townsfolk of Ustalav and valued for her skills as a healer and midwife. She is of Kellid birth and is widely rumored to practice witchcraft... neither of which she denies. She recently performed a service for the professor and he has not forgotten her -- even in death.

Father Grimburrow and two gravediggers are already waiting at the site of the burial. Councilman Vashian Hearthmount, Councilman Gharen Muricar, Jominda Fallenbridge (the town apothecary), Zokar Elkarid (a tavernkeeper) and his son, Pevrin also attend. For such a beloved man, very few have come to mourn him. Wilhem, Valamir, Gharen, Zokar, and Pevrin act as pallbearers. Zooglub says with a nervous titter that he would've volunteered, but wasn't "up to the task" (a reference to his height). In the end, Yala puts her shoulder beneath the casket, which elicits a few uncomfortable grumbles from the assembly (she seems not to care).

A teary-eyed Kendra leads the procession along the Dreamwake. As they round the bend onto a path known as the Eversleep, a group of about a dozen surly-looking locals led by a retired soldier named Gibs Hephanus are seen blocking the way. They tell Kendra that they don't want a "necromancer" buried with their kin, to which her grief is overcome by anger.

Tatyanza steps forth (not being burdened by the coffin) and uses calming words to back the villagers down. She is of common stock as they are and insists that the professor was a good man who taught her the true preciousness of life. "Such a man would not dabble in necromancy." The mob slowly disperses without any further incident.

The ceremony continues somberly, but uninterrupted. Kendra says a few words after the body is interred and Wilhem also does his best to express his respect for the man. When the funeral is done, Kendra invites the visitors to her home to hear the reading of the will. As people go their separate ways, a cold rain begins to fall. Wilhem thanks Tatyanza for her help earlier, but then mentions to the others that he is deeply troubled by talk of necromancy regarding the professor.

DM Notes: Tatyanza scored a 27 on her Diplomacy check (she didn't even need Wilhem's assist roll of 21).

XP = 120 each for preventing violence at the funeral.
Trust +1 (21 total).