Safeway was more what I was expecting from a settlement. Unlike
Trosk, they had walls and guard patrols.
Our first order of business was to seek out the dwarven tanner,
Urzon. He was the friend of Gvint’s that the obsidiman was supposed to be
coming to see. When we reached the tanner’s home and business, we were told
that he was not there by his wife, Gretva. She claimed that both Urzon and his human
assistant, Ruga were missing. Gretva told of a visit by strangers a few days
before trying to get Urzon to do some work for them. They wanted him to use his
skills to tan Espagra hides. The tanner had refused and went missing shortly afterward.
She also claimed that Gvint had not visited either.
We promised Gretva that we would try to find Urzon. Oren,
Ermin and I went to visit the magistrate to see what information he could
provide. Quinn and Cetharel went to the local tavern, the Clankin’ Steins.
We sought out the magistrate at the local tower at the
center of town. No one answered when we knocked. We heard the sound of practice
combat in the near distance and went to investigate. We found the magistrate
drilling the local militia. When they had finished, we approached him to ask
some questions. The magistrate was a t’skrang named K’Srak T’Sar.
We asked about Urzon and Gvint and the magistrate claimed
not to know them. We told him that we had just spoken to Urzon’s wife and that
she had reported him missing. K’Srak T’Sar further insisted that he knew
nothing about it. When asked about Ruga, we got a similar response. The
magistrate seemed friendly enough but we left puzzled and frustrated with his
answers as they made no sense.
We met Quinn and Cetharel at the tavern. They, too had had
no luck. The proprietor, a dwarf named Smitty, was also friendly but seemed to
have amnesia regarding the tanner.
We got the location of Ruga’s house from Gretva and went
there to investigate. We found the home shuttered and the doors locked.
Knocking and calling to Ruga did not yield a response. I decided that it was
time for some answers and used my troll gifts to open the door. Inside we found
Ruga, hiding under his bed.
Once we convinced him that we meant no hard, we could get
some information. He saw a group of men, comprised of humans and dwarves, take Urzon.
By description, these sounded like the attackers from the woods that were after
Blanca. Since the attack, Ruga had barricaded himself in his home and hid in fear.
He feared that the same men would come for him as well.
Ruga explained that the reason that the townsfolk had not
told us of Urzon. The tanner apparently had a checked past and had come to
Safeway for a new start. As outsiders, they thought that we might be threats to
Urzon. Armed with this knowledge, we approached the magistrate again.
This time K’Srak T’Sar came clean and admitted to knowing
Urzon. We told him of the danger that we suspected that these men posed. He
agreed to convene a town meeting to see if anyone else could supply some clues
as to where they might be.
With assurances from Ruga, Gretva and K’Srak T’Sar, the
townsfolk opened up as well. We determined that these bandits had been seen and were active in
the fields and woods on the outskirts of town.
After the meeting, we investigated the area. On the way we were finally reunited with Gvint. Apparently, we had gotten ahead of the obsidiman in our travels to Safeway. It was good to see our friend.
On a farm where there had been reports of bandit activity we found dead squirrels
left as bait, presumably for Espagra. The meat had been treated with a poison.
We decided to stake out the area and engage the bandits when they came to check
their traps. Before long we heard noise from the nearby woods and went to investigate.
