The group followed back to town. When they arrived, there was some discussion about getting cleaned up first so as to present better, but they decided to go back to the mayor immediately.
Out front of the office were [[Melgash]] the fighter, [[Falimar]] the rogue, and [[Picti]] the sorcerer. Of course, none of these people had been introduced. As our heros arrived, the fighter ducked in to warn the others and then ducked back out. [[Camillune]] tried to be friendly, but it didn't seem like there was much interest in response, so the heroes went inside.
Inside the office were [[Rouac]] the cleric, [[Ta'om]] the bard, and [[Theoc]] the artificer talking with Mayor [[Jerrell]]. On the desk in front of the mayor were a golden circlet and two bits of broken off "dragon" parts.
[[Ta'om]] was explaining that their theory is that the heroes were using the control circlet for the dragon to try to blackmail towns into paying for protection.
After some back and forth with both sides accusing the other of being the con artists (notably, [[Rouac]] was silent through this), [[Kaupu]] suggested that the mayor give both groups the same job and verify honesty that way. At the same time, [[Ardour]] suggested a zone of truth spell.
The spell was agreed on for the following day, with clerics on both sides agreeing to cast the spells mutually to ensure confidence.
The other group went back to their inn to wait for morning and the mayor gave the heroes a key (from a ring in his desk) to an abandoned house in town. The only thing of note is that [[Peltogyne]] quizzed [[Lorrin]] further about the idea of a "harem" and apparently decided to be the (sole?) member of said harem.
Following morning, [[Rouac]] and [[Camillune]] cast their zones of truth. [[Peltogyne]] and [[Picti]] stepped into the circle. This left the mayor and the two opponents having to deal with the charisma save. At the last moment, [[Ardour]] stepped up as well. [[Peltogyne]] and [[Ardour]] chose to fail the save. The mayor resisted successfully. [[Picti]] chose to fail [[Camillune]]'s save but did resist [[Rouac]]'s.
After questioning and debate on both sides, [[Picti]] began faltering as it became more clear that most of her information was second hand. [[Peltogyne]] and [[Ardour]] both said they'd never seen the control piece for the dragon and [[Picti]] couldn't account for that. The mayor had the other group arrested, but [[Ta'om]] and [[Theoc]] had both already left.
[[Rouac]] asked to be turned loose to go hunt down the betraying party members and with [[Camillune]]'s approval (the dwarf chose to fail the save and restated his intentions, showing them to be true) the mayor turned loose the arrested members, who immediately left to hunt their companions.
The heroes were given the 1200 gold reward and offered more work, which they declined. In particular, the mayor called out [[Lorrin]] as someone he wanted to employ directly. The mayor warned them about bandits on the road and let them get on their way.
On the road, [[Kaupu]] noted they were being stalked by displacer beasts. Eventually they evaded this conflict though. Further along they heard someone calling for help in the woods.
[[Camillune]] and [[Peltogyne]] both took off to help before the group had done more than register that help was being called for. While looking for the caller, [[Kaupu]] noted that the trail they used to get past the initial undergrowth was a trail for driving prey rather than an ambush trail. As the trail went a different direction than they were going, it was noted but not investigated further.
They found a rich merchant treed by a wyvern. [[Camillune]] attempted to treat the wyvern like a housepet, but it didn't seem interested. Eventually they killed the wyvern and did some quick healing while the merchant climbed down.
He said he'd been robbed by bandits who had taken him and his cargo from the road and brought him deeper into the forest. When they were finished with him, they brought him back to the road, but he was noticed by the wyvern and chased up a tree.
The merchant was entitled and rude and insistent that the group go rescue his wares and he is the foremost vendor of pets in the area. When quizzed further about this, he admitted to dealing in illegal pets on occassion, including displacer beast kittens.
During the merchant interrogation, [[Friedel]] pulled [[Ardour]] aside for a private conversation.
The group decided to go try to find the bandits.
DM Note: Phil had to bow out due to work but asked the group to play anyway, with the DM running [[Ardour]] as a "battle bot". So, Phil's character was present for combat but otherwise uninvolved. The group continued on, passing through ranch country. 2nd DM note: I had intended for this to take a couple of days, but they were on the road and I forgot to mention it. Which probably has a lot to do with why they didn't end up interacting with any of the ranch people I had been thinking about. Oh well. Getting into the foothills of the mountains, they noted a very contained set of stormclouds. Early spring, storms are not unusual in the moutains, but the sky was otherwise clear. [[Lorrin]] recognized this as a sign of a dragon lair. Once under cover of the stormclouds, the group was attacked by an entity formed of dust and air. Having defeated it, [[Camillune]] said that they should expect others. Far ahead, they saw bonfire smoke and she began rushing in that direction...
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