The rescued children were brought back to the town of Prigwort with much fanfare, despite their best efforts. The youngest child, Bilbry, was warmly welcomed by his relieved family. Many toasts were given and songs were sung in the Wrinkled Medlar Inn.
The following day was blustery with rain, but the troupe left early with a horse and cart borrowed by the Heggid brothers (Mathias & Martin) from their old man. Young Violet Harrowmoor rode in the cart with her dark companion, the boy Jacque, a surly boy who never smiled. They arrived at he gatehouse in late afternoon, amidst a steady down poor.
The gatekeeper was named Steerpike, a surly type, but quick to raise the portcullis once he recognized the young heiress, who was brought refreshment and warm by the fire in the great hall. Greetings from the relieved mother, Lady Harrowmoor, were strange and stilted, but that may have been the normal manner. It was hard to tell. The Lady was surrounded by cats, who followed her everywhere. They cats seemed happy to see the little girl Violet.
Lady Harrowmoor rewarded the group with a large jeweled pendant, a lavish heirloom, and bade them stay the night as honored guests. She wished to speak to them in her study on the morrow.
Upon request, Dangerous Dan was introduced to the castle apothecary, Dr. Prunesqualor, who informed the ailing warrior that the blight from which he suffered could only be cured with a tincture created with the juice of a inverted redcap, found growing in the ceilings of caves in the Valley of Wise beasts north of the Groaning Loch. The doctor pointed across the tree tops from his tower window. "But beware. The Court of the Naglord is not far beyond the Valley, and his beasts are vengeful of any slight."
Each of the rescuers of Violet were presented with their own room for the night, complete with fireplace and writing desk. Dan looked out from his opened window across the courtyard. The clouds had broken up and an early rising full moon shed its first silvery rays over the walls. Turning, the warrior beheld a movement in the painting above his bed. There was a large painting of a naked woman chained in a red room. In her illustrative state she was yet gesturing, beseeching aid.
After some deliberation, Dan discovered he could pass through and into the plane of the artwork, and he did so, making the acquaintance of the singular woman called False Chantrelle. She begged to be set free, saying the she had been double crossed in the galleries beyond and only wanted to leave this strange treasure house behind.
Dan freed the woman, peeked into the patterned blue light of the room beyond, spying a blue skinned woman, and promptly turned and jumped back through the painting after Chantrelle, whom he then convinced to stay the night.
Lady Harrowmoor was bemused by her newly arrived houseguest, asserting that her uncle had loved the painting but that she had hardly paid it any mind. The Lady was more interested in discussing the possible family tree of young Jacque, demonstrating his uncanny likeness to the last Lord of Ayarai, Jourdain, who disappeared along with his castle fifty years before. She was certain that young master Jacque was actually the heir to his manse, a nearby place now known as the Hall of Sleep.The group gathered supplies for a journey to the Valley of Wise Beasts.
Whew! Dolmenwood is very inspiring but a hassle to run. There's a weird amount of detail and difficult to reference. The hexes are tough to quickly grok. I'm looking forward to getting the group back into a dungeon, but I think they are going to poke around in the forest first.
