All things considered, could have been worse. I could have been hurt too! It would have been a tragedy, you’d be so sad. I know you, you’d take it harder if I was shot than if you were. So really all this was probably for the best right?
Anyways, so now most of the town knows or at least strongly believes in rumors that you’ve been keeping a bunch of monsters hidden around town. They’re not wrong but now they suspect it. That and Arthur’s kid saw Lara respond to your commands. Vampires they might take some warming up to, the legendary death shaman…ey maybe they’re just a nerd. Huckster? Who wouldn’t roll the dice to become rich and successful. The wendigo though… that one is going to take some effort to explain.
On the upside, half the town is now terrified of you. On the downside they do think you might be a wendigo pack leader or something and that I might be one too. Noel is here since we just got back and she wants her twenty dollars, so at least you can stand next to her. The Reclaimers do have themselves a decent reputation around here so that might help since she also knew about all this…those eyes are cheating. That and if we threaten to tell people about that fallen angel they keep in the basement we can probably convince her to vouch for anything.
People still haven’t confirmed that Hailey is a witch and I’m not sure if its better or worse for the situation to admit to that one. They also think Javier is some sort of monster and that would be easy to disprove if he didn’t keep refusing to take his mask off.
Also we found the missing townspeople, they were a little beat up and are now traumatized by the trip back from the miasma. Few monsters here and there, not much of a problem for us but they’ve never seen a yharl beast before. I just regret we took so long to get back.
As it turns out, they were abducted by the raiders that came after Rapidvale and interrogated for information. They didn’t know that much but they also didn’t know what they were divulging that was important. It shows just how in depth our raider’s observations must have been. The only one they didn’t find out about was specifically the one that no town people have any idea about. Lara living in the woods and away from all contact meant even they didn’t know she was out there. Barring following me out there they had no other way to gain that information. Which tells me its not anyone in any inner circles who gave them the info they had.
I’ve also figured out what they were after. Amber’s shop has a strange object in it that can warp reality and is responsible for a few of their more…miraculous inventions. They had not divulged that information to me when they moved in. Though clearly someone powerful knows about them. The raiders knew all about our town and almost every inhabitant in it. If it weren’t for Hunwe and the wild card that turned out to be Lara I’m pretty sure the town would be a ruin. However, Hunwe said that their tribe was wiped out by the very same raiders. We still don’t know who they are or where they come from.
Judging from their arsenal, they’re backed by a city somewhere. At least someone rich and powerful within a city, but that’s all I’ve got to go off of for the moment.
Damage wise, the town is mostly standing. A few burned down buildings, a lot of bullet holes, and a few blasted chunks. But for the most part, half intact and a quarter needing repairs. Mostly centered around Amber’s shop.
Rohaka is still sleeping. She will likely be too ill to move much for awhile, Alihana’s presence takes a significant toll on her. For the time being she can’t travel and we’ll have to stay here in this strange town. I can’t help but be concerned about the rumors of a wendigo being under the control of their chief. No one kind or generous deals with a wendigo.
I’ve done some scouting, their wendigo lives north of the town. She was trained by a powerful shaman, as powerful as Alihana most likely. There is no other way a wendigo could remain so lucid nor cast rituals to shift their appearance. I have questioned this “Kathreen” about the creature. By her description, she is ignorant of the threat this “Lara” poses. Most wendigos are desperate and ravenous, this one has maintained its sense of self. Few outside of wendigo clans have this ability, and as you well know those clans tend to be very dangerous.
They also have vampires from the lands beyond the sea to the east. Though strangely, they practice magic from across the sea to the west. It implies they may be a very ancient and well traveled clan. The town is also host to a user of the Devil’s magic, and rumors are there are more.
There are other natives here though, those who once lived in the mist and moved away. I’m not sure we belong beyond the fog, but it is interesting to see others from our land.
The raiders that were attacking their town are likely brothers of those that attacked our village. They use many of the same clothes, colors, and weapons. However, I find no familiar scent among them. It implies there is a larger tribe they belong to, one that hates this town as much as they hated us. While Rohaka is recovering, it may benefit us to see where this “Kathreen”‘s nose leads her. She also seems interested in finding out who they were.
Kathryn also gave us sixty dollars for helping during the battle we stumbled upon.
This is a strange town.
Noel is currently at Rapidvale in the wake of all the trouble they’ve been having. Well actually she went because she was helping rescue some of their villagers. It seems she got wrapped up in the fall of their facade that the town was surviving on the frontier by the strength of their backs. I don’t know if they are more upset to learn what monsters lurk within their midst or more upset to realize the weren’t as tough and rugged as they thought. There were definitely a few of their townsfolk who thought themselves quite masculine for living out there without realizing that they were under the protection of a supernatural militia. So Noel is helping with that.
There might be some advantage to placing the mist wards along the path to Rapidvale. It would be a significant undertaking but they only have at best another decade before the miasma consumes them as well. It might be nice to have a road between the two towns. On the downside, their people might leave when that happens and all that work will be for nothing.
Two of our friendlier villages have disappeared, and judging from Hunwe’s description it seems there is an organized force moving through the miasma in this region. Rapidvale was almost another lost settlement. We may want to check on any other nearby villages to see how they’re doing. Perhaps see if anyone knows what they’re really after and why. Otherwise it might only be a matter of time before they come looking for us too.
Anyways, I brought you another trough of slop. I put spices in it for you this time. I don’t know if you can even taste anything. You didn’t even complain about the last batch…no there was nothing strange in it why do you ask?
For whatever reason, the raiders that came to Rapidvale knew where and who we were. That is likely why they chose to attack during the day and immediately set our house on fire. There were dedicated vampire hunters among their ranks, as you have no doubt learned. Half the clan died, and its just the six of us left. Took our savings as well. The only reason we’re still alive is that death shaman lady that showed up, clearly against their plans.
I’ve been looking into this Hunwe clan that showed up. They were definitely not a part of the raider’s plans but still we came to the very edge of seeing the town destroyed. Hunwe consists of two extremely powerful members. I don’t know if Shen could even stand up to their wolf man. It appears that the pale woman is the host for the spirit of the Deathweaver. So if your recount of that being one of the most powerful shamans is accurate, it means their three members should have made much more dramatic of an impact. The raiders were over-prepared, and even the surprise appearance of Hunwe just barely pulled us through.
So it stands to reason that whoever those bandits might be, they were very well organized. I’ve also heard rumors that there was something strange in that tech shop on the south side of town, and that was what they were after. Even if we left the city, it might be worth going back and seeing if any of the other vampire clans know anything about these guys. They’re clearly from somewhere with a lot of infrastructure, moving that many people and weapons around can’t go unnoticed.
For the time being it might help if you got a real job, our house burning down did not help our financial disposition. The basement is fine so we can still sleep down there, but that’s all we have at the moment. Also the twenty dollars Salvatore made helping Kathryn out. At least Shen and Sun Ai go logging while they train.
Granted now everyone in town knows who, or more so what we are. Things are a little tumultuous right now. I also imagine that the federal rangers will be coming by as soon as a rumor escapes this town.
I’m still not entirely convinced that the raiders knew about the Van Tien. Though evidence certainly points to it, I have no idea how they would know we have it. Unless using it in some way can be seen from afar through methods we don’t know about. Unfortunately, I’ve never been able to find the man who sold it to me again so I can’t ask him any questions. His whole shop just disappeared from the city within a week and no one knew who he was.
Obviously everyone in charge around here is looking into who they were and how much more of them we can expect. I’ve been investigating the hills outside of town, moving that many armaments could not have been easy. There is a lot of evidence of them having done so, coming from the direction of the miasma despite them attacking the town from the south and east. They looped around, and they had to have done so fast for no one to notice them coming. They clearly rehearsed this attack.
We’ll need new apprentices around the shop, half of them were killed during the attack. Though out here on the frontier there are few truly educated individuals to pick from. Not sure how many newcomers we can expect in the wake of this attack either.
Lenard is was badly injured and is on light duty around the shop for now.
If there is any silver lining to all this, it is that we were able to salvage the armor and weapons of the attackers. It’s a lot of usable parts at the least.