The Journal of Thrak Stonebrow

As for our next course of action, the rest of the party, excluding myself and Gir, went to my mentor's house to look for clues. As far as I know, they only found his personal journal. When they brought it back, I asked my mother to translate it for us. The only pertinent information we came up with was that he did not trust the new troll, named Markham, and that he had shared his view with my brother.

Shortly after this revelation, we heard some commotion from outside. A pang of fear gripped me for a moment, and I hesitated as we left the home to see what was going on outside. When we got out there we saw an elf, and a dwarf leading a human on a chain. They were being questioned by the guard as they were trying to come into town. Heading towards them was Markham, who greeted them as if he knew them. We went up to see what we could see, and hear.

Apparently the dwarf's name was Arvid, the elf was named Sallah, and the crazed human was called Hound. Malorrin started on some rant about the human being on a chain. I didn't pay attention because I was trying to place the sense of foreboding that had come over me and still lingered. Markham explained that these were the Stalkers he had sent for. It seemed they shared some kind of rapport.

Markham invited them back to the Great Hall to eat before they began their investigations. I followed them and was confronted by Markham when I tried to enter. I told him that the elder must be awake if he is inviting people into the hall. He passed it off as forgetfulness that he didn't notify me. So, being granted access, I addressed Grond and asked if I could speak with Brik before his 'trial'. He agreed after some banter and I felt pleased. I turned and found the rest of the party had followed me into the hall. I was a bit angry at first, but I guess this is what they mean by the 'bonds of friendship'.

After a bit of time passed, Kira went to watch them head over to Sharn's house, where they found something of import. She came back to get us when they were done with their search. Apparently they were ready for the 'trial' as well, because the guards went in to get Brik. There was a bit of a gasp and hush as he came out of his cell beaten and weak. I walked right up to the meeting, and Grond let me and Brik be alone for a moment while I tried to convince him to take the crafting test. He would not relent and so he stood ready to face whatever they had for him. I stood behind him with all of my support.

Hound was led up to Brik and sniffed him up and down. He looked shyly back to Arvid, and it became clear that he had not found the scent he was looking for. Brik was released and we took him back to my family's home to recuperate. Meanwhile Grond, Markham, and his crew went back into the Great Hall. Kira left to keep an eye on them.

It was nice to be able to speak with Brik and mother now without the threat of his death hanging over us. Our reverie was broken by a howl from outside. We rushed out to see what was happening. The fear from earlier gripped me harder this time and I started sweating. Markham and his crew were outside the Great Hall, rushing toward it with a lot of the townsfolk. We rushed up as well.

When we could see, Kira was standing inside the hall fighting off the dwarf, and Grond lay incapacitated near his chair. Kira was shouting that they had killed Grond, while they were shouting the opposite. Pushing my way into the hall, I moved to Markham. My first blow knocked him down and the next blow finished him off. I then moved to attack Arvid.

He proved quite the combatant, but Malorrin cast a spell that seemed to rust his armor, so my blows did more damage than they otherwise might have. He finally tried to climb the walls for a better attack, but I was able to knock him out of the air. He was out, but breathing. Sallah had been taken care of in the meantime and as I turned to the door, Brik had Hound's chain in his hand.

After the fight, Sallah and Markham were dead, and Grond was not (thank the Passions). Questioning Hound was useless so we tried interrogating Arvid. Roughly, we found that they were part of the Tolwyn Protectorate and are trying to get people to realize that adepts are bad. They feel that adepts bring about the Horrors. Of course, they don't try telling people that, they feel that people must be shown through object lessons. These are probably the people that Fellidra asked us to get information on. Perhaps a return to Urupa is in order.

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