Prologue: The Barony of Harkenwold

"Alex, it's lunch! Come down before your stew gets cold!" Judy calls out, before taking her place next to Gareth.

A minute later a ten-year-old boy walks down the stairs, holding a book in hand. He's a serious young man, with white hair like his parents and his sister Kathryn. He's tall for his age, already standing five feet tall. He carefully studies each of you, as if he is verifying something, before finally nodding a greeting to Kathryn, walking over to his bowl of stew on the counter, and taking a seat between Edith and Hunter.  

Alexander Amblecrown:

After the Strong brothers rejoin the group, Gareth says, "A moment of silence, to thank whatever gods you hold dear for this meal." Judy and Rose clasp their hands together and quietly pray, along with the entire Strong family and the Fletcher women. Out of your group, Hunter and Zoe both pray as well.

Edith looks like she'd rather be eating than staring at her bowl of food, while Alizah and Brian look admiringly at Kathryn's armor. Erin is too excited to be sitting next to Kathryn to care one way or the other as he cuddles her arm. Gareth and Edwin wait calmly for the moment to pass, while Alexander goes back to reading his book.

After a count of thirty, Gareth says, "Alright, let's eat!" And so the meal begins.

It's Tom Strong that starts the meal conversation and it mercifully dances around the fact that Kathryn has showed up unannounced. "So what brings you home armed and armored, Kathryn? Do you have news about the raiders?"

Kathryn holds her little brother's hand in hers while she waits for the others to finish praying. Almost everyone here would know that she has never worshiped any god, although she does respect them. She begins to wolf down her stew and slices of bread as soon as her father gives the signal and has to swallow her first bites before she responds to Tom.

"Right, I guess I do," she hesitantly says. She ponders for a long moment how to best answer that question, until finally, she decides to keep it simple. "The dragon Shadowmire is amassing armies of monsters to conquer the Vale and the goblins were one of them. We've attacked their camp this morning with the help of the Moondancers and the Rangers, and are now going to meet Stockmer to discuss an alliance to oppose Shadowmire..."

She falls silent and waits for everyone's reaction to this news.

When Gareth calls for silence, Hunter remembers himself and closes his eyes to pray. Words don't come to his mind as much as feelings of gratitude and supplication. He is perhaps one of the last people to start eating, and he grabs a handful of jerky from his jerky bag and puts it next to his bowl before he starts taking in spoonfuls of stew.

He places handful of meat on the ground for Noble, and as an afterthought, decides to add a slice of bread with butter spread on it as a special treat.

His tail goes this way and that as Kathryn tells them about Shadowmire, in her own way. He bites down on a big morsel of jerky and starts chewing expectantly at the reaction in his mind's eye.

Carlos can't help but be perplexed at how Kat just dropped the bomb that an evil dragon is mounting an assault on the Vale. He manages an uncomfortable half-grin "Ya know, i'd have waited till they were at least past the soup ta drop that one." - he takes a quick look around - "But yeah, Gobs ain't a problem anymore. We stormed their fort, kicked their arses, made them say they'd never do it again, then came down here for lunch!" - then he nods at Alexander - "Also, i like him. All cool and collected and mysterious-like. Books, man!" - he gives the boy a thumbs-up.

The Strongs and Thatchers laugh at the story Kathryn and Carlos are trying to sell them with Tom saying, "Yeah, fine, you don't know anything. Forget I asked."

The reactions from the Amblecrowns are mixed to say the least. Gareth and Judy look at each other, clearly worried. They look like they don't know what to make of Kathryn's story. Her siblings on the other hand all look at Alex in surprise. All except Erin, who just looks confused while he munches on his bread.

As for Alex himself, he is leaning on one hand, still reading his book while eating his soup. He looks up at Carlos and Kathryn with only his eyes, going back to his book after a few seconds. He says without looking up, "They don't believe either of you because they don't want to. Legendary dragons are just fairy tales after all, right? You probably should have just stuck to being a fey knight and killing goblins for Lord Stockmer."

"Now hold on, Alex, it's just a joke. There's no such thing as Shadowmire," says Edwin Thatcher.

"What's a fey knight?" says Angus to his brother Calum. Calum shrugs.

Alex ignores them, instead, sticking to his book. Instead Edith says excitedly to Kathryn, "Did a cursed eladrin noble really give you your sword?"

Rose asks in a dreamy way, "Is her dress really the color of moonlight?"

"How many goblins did you kill?" asks Brian.

"Did you really talk to a tree?" asks Alizah at the same time.

Eni:

Zoe, Jojo, and John are all flabbergasted.

Tom says, "Now look here, someone better explain what is going on. I don't appreciate pranks or tomfoolery at my expense."

While the reaction of the Strong and Thatcher families is understandable, it's the reaction of her siblings that Kat is focused on. She gapes at their questions, not knowing how to answer them since she never expected them to know about such details, and instead turns to stare at her white-haired brother who continues to read his book as if everything was normal. Did he really witness the events of the last few weeks from this home?

Eni:

Carlos blinks at Alexander, his mouth not quite closed, then finally - "Ok, what book is that you got there?"

Hunter's eyes get big when he hears the kids all asking questions about things they haven't mentioned. He swallows his jerky and chokes it down with some broth.

"It's...it's all true, sir. Let me explain. We've been pretty busy since we've been back in the Vale, so it's a lot, and I'll gladly answer any questions you have."

He gives Alexander a side glance, with a raised eyebrow, before he goes on.

"On our way to Fallcrest, Ranger Ludmilla enlisted us to route a group of gnolls that were let into a sacred grove by the heirophant of the Harken's Heart, who it turns is a monster in disguise. The real heirophant is no longer living. In all the commotion, Kathryn got knighted by the Lady of the White Well, an eladrin residing in the Feywild. We rushed off to Harken to tell the Baron, and after that we decided to help out the rangers with their workload by caving in Toadwallow Cave. The bulliwugs in the cave were led by a lizard shaman, and that's how we learned about the dragon Shadowmire. The dragon is real."

"We reported all we learned to the Baron, and then we were asked to go deal with a standoff in the East Woods between the Rangers and the Moondancer tribe. After we took care of that, the elves agreed to form an alliance with Kathryn directly. They split up, and one group left to confront the Iron Arrows, while we went with the others setting off to go crush the goblins in the forest south of here and rendezvoused with the Rangers. The elves took the worst of it in the battle, but we beat 'em. That was just a couple hours ago."

Alex looks up and says to Carlos, "It's Volume 8 of Meadowlark Thistledown's Rise and Fall of Nerath. I borrowed it from Lord Stockmer last time we visited Griffon and Holly in Harken. It details a good portion of the lineage of both the House of Nera and its cadet branch, the House of Nera-Triel. You should all read it someday."

Edith says, "No, it's boring." Alex shrugs in answer.

Gareth says, "What is going on here, Alex? You said they were just stories."

Alex looks at his worried parents and says, "You said they were just stories. You and mom. I've been dreaming about Kathryn coming back home for almost a year now."

Tom whistles, "Hell of a trick. What else have you been dreaming of?"

Alex is about to answer when Judy yells, "No!" When everyone looks at her in surprise, she take a deep breath and continues, "No. We are here to have a nice, normal family lunch, not talk about sorcery, dreams, and monsters. Can we do that? Please?"

Alex says, "Mom, this isn't normal. None of us are normal. I have a gift and you don't even want to hear about it. Ever since Kat left we've all been on egg shells trying to pretend for you but-"

Judy goes absolutely white. She stands up, walks over to the double oak entryway and leaves without another word, leaving behind a massively awkward lunch gathering. Gareth stands up and glances an apology at Kat before going after Judy.

"Way to go Alex," says Rose, clearly upset. Alizah and Brian suddenly find their soup bowls very fascinating all of a sudden, refusing to look up at anyone.

Alex is now looking straight down at the table, his face flushing in a mix of embarrassment and anger. Edith puts a hand on his shoulder to comfort him.

Kathryn is taken aback by her mother's reaction and she watches her leave the room with wide eyes. This was far from the typical family reunion she had imagined, and she didn't quite know what she should say right now. She glances at the other people at the table, and then her eyes settle on her siblings. "Don't worry," she told them. "I don't know how, but I'm sure everything will turn out fine in the end. Now finish your stew before it gets cold. Go on."

She resumes eating and alternates between her stew and her slice of bread.

Hunter stares concernedly at Alex. "What is going on?" he asks the room, including the children.

Carlos answers Hunter's question - "Young Amblecrown got prophetic dreams, Mrs Amblecrown don't like it, everyone else is unsure how ta deal with it and we all just saw it come to'a head jes now. Now everyone' sour or trying ta pretend it didn't happen and this wonderful lunch is goin' ta waste - which if ya ask me is the real crime here. Kat, pass me the corn bread, will ya? I'd a reach fer it but i'm a bloody Dwarf."

"Here," Kat says as she hands the cornbread to her dwarven friend. "And be careful not to dip your beard in the stew."

Carlos takes it - "Oh i'll try."

Hunter's tail twitches, and he starts eating his meal quicker than before. He makes efficient use of the water provided.

Angus and Calum are all too happy to get to eating instead of talking, so they immediately tuck in with gusto, making as much noise as they possibly can while slurping their stew. It's so annoying that it's clear they are doing it on purpose and soon enough their father Tom joins in. Slowly the kids start smiling at their antics, and that, paired with the prompting of Kat and Carlos, breaks the awkward mood. Even Alex is eating, though he's buried himself back in his book. You guys get the impression he does that a lot.

Edith says to Hunter, "Mom hasn't been too happy since Kat left, and Griffon getting married and moving out on his own didn't help either." She takes a bite of her cornbread and follows it with a swallow of water from her cup.

"Oh, I see." Hunter shakes his head and continues his meal. That explains a little...

Noble, who has finished his bread and jerky, whines for more, and Hunter tosses a few more pieces to the pupper.

Judy and Gareth return ten minutes later, Judy making her way to her spot with all the dignity she can muster. Gareth nods at everyone in greeting before sitting next to his wife so they can finish their lunch. They don't say much, but at one point Judy does smile during one of Tom's stories about the time he and Gareth were trying to keep a mole out of their potatoes. After it avoided all of their traps, they finally asked an elven druid to talk to it and see if they couldn't cut some kind of deal, which is why they gather earth worms as tribute to the nearby intelligent mole colony.

And so lunch comes to an end. Gareth says to you guys as you sit contentedly at the table, "How long are you lot planning on staying in Harkenwold then? It sounds like you are caught up in a lot of trouble."

"You'll stay for a long time, right?" asks Alizah.

Kathryn smiles at her oldest, present sister and says, "We should be in Harkenwold for a few more days at the very least, then we'll be off to Fallcrest. But don't worry, I'll come visit again before we leave. And I'm also not planning to leave the Vale either; I'm here to stay."

Hunter nods. "This alliance is very important, and we've got quite a lot to deal with, and people to visit. We'll be sticking around for a good while."

Brian says, "We were thinking of visiting Griffin and Holly tomorrow, maybe we could meet up for lunch?"

Alizah says, "That should be okay with the goblins defeated, right?" She looks at her parents.

Gareth looks at Judy and says, "We have a list of supplies we be needing from Harken. They could do the shopping while they visit."

After thinking it over, she says, "I suppose that's okay. But you still need to finish your morning chores and get your butts home no later than sundown, you hear?"

"Don't worry, we know," says Brian.

Edith asks, "Can I go too?"

Brian and Alizah look at their parents again. Gareth says, "As long as you get your chores done first and promise to mind your brother and sisters, then it's fine with me."

"I promise," says Edith. She smiles at Kathryn.

Kathryn smiles back at Edith and says, "I would like that very much. I've been trying for the last few days to have lunch with Griff and Holly, but work kept getting in the way. I should go see Litzy too. Oh, and Robert."

She brings her spoon to her lips in an introspective manner as she thinks about the people she must visit before she leaves Harkenwold.

Hunter nods to himself and finishes eating in somber silence.

Carlos nods to himself and finishes eating in merry cheer.

You guys pass the time making small talk with Kat's family before it's finally time to go. Everyone comes outside to see you guys off while Symania and the others look on. The three families are surprised to see so many armed folk all in one place, with their reactions ranging from excited interest like Brian and Alizah to waving hello to Leo and the Rangers like Tom and Gareth do.

Each of her siblings take a turn hugging her goodbye, but the promise of seeing her again makes Kathryn's departure very different than last time and they all feel it. It manifests as a general level of giddiness, with each of them laughing for no real reason. Even Gareth smiles, caught up in the moment. He says to her as they hug, "Come back as soon as you can, Kit Kat. Your mom needs you so bad she don't even know how to say it and it's got her so turned around she won't let me help her. Running off seems to have worked out for you, I know you can do it. But don't forget about the cost. And don't forget about your family."

Kathryn looks over at her mom, standing back near the door, caught between saying goodbye and being mad.