The Key and Rosebury

With one days ride to Rosebury, the group wakes up after recovering from a fight against a bunch of spirits and impressing their new companion, Zammy. Zammy explains over breakfast that the organization he is part of is called The Golden Vault. He says it’s a secret organization that spans across the continent and does whatever it takes to prevent corruption and powerful magic objects falling into the wrong hands. There are many agents, but communication is limited between members to prevent the organization from collapsing if one person gets caught. Upon the group agreeing to join The Golden Vault, Zammy sends a quick message and receives one back and seems content. He pulls out a music box and explains that the group will receive their tasks from it. They will be given a key and if the key is used to open the box it will play an audio message of what needs to be done. He also says he will be acting as sort of a handler for the group and be the one giving them keys most of the time. After all that is settled, the group continues on to Rosebury.

As the cart breaks out of the forest and into rolling fields, the town can be seen in the distance. The central town appears to be surrounded by tall thick hedges where just the roofs of the buildings are visible, but stretching off to the side a few large mansions can be seen surrounded by miles of farmland. Towers can be seen placed along the outer perimeter of the farmland. As Jukli takes in the sight of the town, a wave of uneasiness washes over him, whispers surround him, and even the hair on his armor bristles, but it all dissipates in a blink. As the cart approaches the main gates, the group is approached by elven guards clad in leather armor and armed with quarterstaves. They ask the group what their business is and Ralathen steps forward and brashly tells the guards to let them pass as he is visiting his mother. The guards recognize Ralathen and say they just have to check because there’s been some strange outsiders. Once admitted, the hedges were parted to let the party in.

The group dropped off the rental cart and Zammy said he had some business to take care of and supplies to gather so he took off. Ralathen took point and showed the group around town. The streets were bustling with mostly elves and some halflings. Large carts filled with produce make their way towards the entrance as empty ones head in. The housing is very condensed with blocks of housing 2-3 floors high. Off to the east side of town sits a large church with an emerald roof and what seems to be a large flower garden nearby, but upon a closer look, a cemetery. Further down the road a large statue of a young male elf holding a flag stands in the middle of the road. Ralathen explains this as the statue of Walsh Roseburn, the head of the town council. Past the statue, there’s an open area with various carts parked on the side of the road in front of a little guard hut and two towers. Proceeding further down the road north, a bridge traverses a river towards a market area with colorful fabrics and tents in the middle and well established buildings surrounding the area. A lake with a small dock and dam can be seen on the north side of town with a large hill overlooking across it.

The first place Ralathen takes the group is to Phillep’s Corner Store, which sells various art and craft items. Ralathen greets Phillep, who is happy to see him, and buys some various pigments. Further down the street, Ralathen leads the party to Nala’s Meats where the party meets Nala and her son Rupert. The party made some small talk and purchased some meat for dinner. A mandatory stop at one of Ralathen‘s favorite bars was in order before arriving home so the party stopped at Annah’s Brew and Stew for a few drinks and chatter. After getting adequately buzzed, the party headed to Ralathen‘s childhood home. When they arrived, they met Princey, Emery‘s assistant. Ralathen excitedly announced himself and ran inside to find his mother, Emery. He found her in bed in the sewing room very tired. She was happy to see Ralathen and explained that she’s just been getting tired faster lately so she had the bed moved downstairs to the work area. Ralathen and Emery caught up over cooking dinner, while the rest of the group were in the main space with Princey waiting. Once dinner was ready, everyone gathered around and ate the “okay” meal. The party then found themselves a comfortable spot and spent the night.