Private Session (Akra): Grey Haze
Akra's quest for the truth
Akra is on the search for anything that might relate to the random burning of her village, but has had no luck so far. Travelling along the outside of The Fahn Circlet, she has come across a clue: in a village nearby, strange outbursts from random men have resulted in casualties and almost the destruction of the village. Might it be the same thing that happened to her tribe?
Structure
Exposition
Following the clues
Having just left Yarlfort, Akra was following a rumour about the church of Newhem having been burnt down by someone who afterwards remembered nothing of the act. Arriving in Newhem however, revealed that the church was still standing. Checking inside, Akra found that the long cloth at the altar to Astros was burnt on one side. A bystander told her that Bavo Chubb, the halfling who was found guilty of trying to burn down the church, had been arrested. Quickly finding her way to the sheriff's station, she met Sheriff Kelda, a hill dwarrow who was busy with trying to find answers to the crime. Akra told her that this sounded like something she had experienced before, and Kelda, with no other real choice, decided to trust her with what had been going on.Newhem's terrors and the Grey haze
Two weeks earlier, the dwarrow farmer Anlaf had returned home from the fields, and killed his neighbour in a fit of rage. A few days later, the dwarrow woodsman Hakon had been working on renovating his house, and then collapsed it on his family on purpose. They had managed to get out in time, thankfully. And a few days ago, the halfling Bavo had been caught trying to burn down the church. All men had been out of their heads during the crime, and all plead that they didn't mean to do the things they did, that they had no control. Akra was allowed to interrogate Anlaf and Hakon, but Bavo had escaped the night before. Both of them told her the same story: they had been doing their things as usual, and then suddenly, without reason or thought, a grey haze had come over them and, they had snapped and committed their crimes. Not that they were necessarily being controlled, but more like they couldn't control themselves. Hakon had been taking potions for his headaches for several weeks, but the headaches had gotten worse the day before the crime. Both begged her to help find out what had happened, so that they wouldn't have to face their punishments: death by hanging.Bavo's tracks
Sheriff Kelda and Akra decided that the only thing left they had to explore, was Bavo, who Kelda hadn't managed to get any information out of before he disappeared. Akra, with some knowledge in tracking, went out in the direction Bavo had disappeared to into the swamp to track him down. His footprints led down to the river, walking around and around, before disappearing into the swamp again. She found him hiding in one of the trees near the river, cowering in fear and spewing nonsense. Akra got him to calm down, and tell her what had happened to him. His story was the same as the two others': he had been working as usual, and suddenly snapped and found himself trying to burn down the church. He didn't want to burn down the church, but when he thought back to that moment, he did want it. Scared of returning to the village and facing being hanged, he had decided to run into the swamp. He also told her that he had been recieving poultices from the herbalist in town, Eglantine Sandheave, for his bad back. Seeing a connection, Akra managed to convince him that she would do her best to make sure he, and the others, weren't executed.Finding the truth
Taking Bavo back to the sheriff's station, he was locked up, and Kelda thanked Akra for her help. No new information had been found however, and Akra asked to search the books of the town for information. She found several different potions or myths about people losing their mind or doing things against their will, but nothing that would fit what had happened in Newhem. Interrogation the other two again, Akra found that Analf had been recieving herb pouches from the herbalist as well, for his and his wives' bad coughs. The connection now clear, Akra and Sheriff Kelda went to interrogate the herbalist Eglantine.Herbs and revelations
Nothing seemed odd about Eglantine and her home at first, but the more Sheriff Kelda and Akra questioned her, the more skittish she became. Investigating the house further, Akra found something Eglantine had been trying to hide away: a bowl of what seemed like thick swamp water. Eglantine tried to dance around the questions about it, until Akra pressured further and Eglantine broke. She had found the ooze in the swamps, and after several promising experiments, she had made medicine with it. The results were almost miraculous: curing people with sicknesses she hadn't been able to cure before. But several patients had complained about a grey daze overcoming them and making them sluggish, but Eglantine had thought it was little to pay for the price of curing so much. Until she had made the medicine for Anlaf, Hakon, and Bavo. The grey daze was the same, but now it had caused them to lash out and do terrible things Eglantine hadn't meant them to. With the confession, Sheriff Kelda took Eglantine back to the station, and Akra made sure to bring the swamp ooze.Solving the case but not the mystery
Back at the sheriff's station, Eglantine was imprisoned. Sheriff Kelda and Akra debated what should be done and who should be the one to be punished for the crime, as someone had to be held accountable, according to the laws of Nagrein. Coming to no conclusion, Akra took a small part of the ooze to bring along with her to find answers. Sheriff Kelda told her about the Herbalist's Guild in Sudlem; they might know something. With Akra promising to send word when she found something out, the two parted ways. Spending the night in town, Akra was given a pouch of gold from Kelda as payment for her help. And with that, she set off towards Sudlem.At the gates of Sudlem
Three days later, Akra arrived at the gates of the bustling city of Sudlem, intent on finding the Herbalist's Guild and figuring out what the swamp ooze really was.
Plot type
One-on-One Session
Parent Plot
Characters
Sheriff Kelda - a female dwarrow with strong moralsBavo Chubb - a middle-aged halfling who fled for his life
Anlaf - a young dwarrow imprisoned for a crime he didn't want to commit
Hakon - an older dwarrow imprisoned for a crime he didn't want to commit
Eglantine Sandheave - a halfling herbalist who just wants to do good but unknowingly did bad
Locations
Newhem (Nagrein, Apattla) Swamps outside NewhemRemove these ads. Join the Worldbuilders Guild
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