3. Feast of Ravenmoor

(Anders, Andreas, Henrik, Lars)

After much planning the caravan set out, consisting of 5 wagons with a total of 18 crew, but with no room for passengers. A few days out a band of drow raiders attacked, but were quickly driven off with only minimal loot. At Galduria Sandru was contacted by tax men from Magnimar who wished to discuss a few irregularities in his tax payments. He managed to negotiate a deal with them that he (or, rather, the pcs) should head to the village of Ravenmoor and find a missing tax man (as well as the taxes he was supposed to collect.

At Wolf's Ear the pcs turned towards Ravenmoor while the caravan continued to Roderick's Cove where it would wait for them. As they approached the village they came across a boy and his lost pet, which almost caused an incident, as the pet in question was a Stirge... The boy led them to the village where they spoke to his father, and later headed for the mayor who talked to them while heading to the festival grounds. During the feast a pig changed into a strange monster, but was soon killed. After the feast they talked more to the mayor who claimed that the tax man had taken the money and left. The pcs suspected something strange was going on in ravenmoor, so they decided to share one room at the mayor's house rather than spread out. Unfortunately the guard was the 17 year old barbarian, who when the girl he had chatted up at the feast invited him out climbed out through the window and followed her. The others woke up soon after, but not before the young lovers had approached a derelict farm building where she had claimed to want to sit on the porch and look at the stars. Instead, there was an ambush there. Several weirdly dressed cultists, some trained Stirges and a scarecrow-like monster attacked. With the help of the other pcs the attackers were soon dispatched (the girl was alive and unhurt, claiming that she was about to be sacrificed, and wanted someone else to take her part.) They entered the farmhouse, setting off a few traps, fighting off an ooze, a few stirges and a shapeshifting spider mage while searching the house. They found the missing tax man buried in the cellar along with a large number of others.

Soon after the fights were over chanting was heard from the back yard. When they headed there some more strange cultists attacked as they neared the corn maze where it was obvious a ritual was being performed. While walking the maze they were attacked by the mayor's alleged brother (a shapeshifting monster) as well as several monsters summoned by the mayor - who turned out to be the leader of a cult of Ghlaundr. With great difficulty the mayor was finally put down, but, on death an oversized demonic stirge (a blightspawn of Ghlaundr) burst forth from his body. Another difficult fight followed, but it was eventually killed.

After searching the mayor's house the pcs left town and traveled on to Roderick's Cove where they alerted the authorities. They were given a small reward by the state, but perhaps more importantly they were granted a favor that they could collect at any temple of Desna in the future (the cult of Ghlaundr had disguised itself as an offshoot of the Desna church.)