Prologue: The Barony of Harkenwold

Gorduin sits on the ground and starts out listening intently, but soon he's chewing on some grass, and then he's laying down and looking at the clouds while chewing on grass, and then he closes his eyes. Anytime anyone asks if he's still paying attention, he'll wave them off with a "Yes!" or an "Of course I am!"

When Hunter finally finishes, the old man sits up and stretches before saying, "Wow, that was...a lot. Way more than I thought there would be. I hope you got that all Munchers, I'm not repeating it to you later." The squirrel, who had sat and listened respectfully the entire time, charges over and nips him on the arm, causing Gorduin to say, "Ouch! Get away from me, you crazy rodent! Fine, fine, you win, you win. I'm sorry." Munchers looks entirely pleased with himself and goes back to chewing on some seeds.

Gorduin says, "Well to get back to what I was saying, that was a lot more than I was expecting, and several other conversations worth of material unrelated to the trial at hand. So putting aside the replacement of my people's spiritual leader with a damn body snatcher and this talk about visions from an Arch Fey's magic well, I can't help but notice that there's no answer to one very important question in there. And that is, of course, how did Zoras learn about the survivor and that Yorenan, and presumably Folan, were attempting to abscond with her out of our lands?"

Hunter smiles at the squirrel. He'll gather some nuts for the little guy later.

Carlos strokes his chin - "I'll eat me beard if that one found out on his own, someone had ta tell'im. And not a lot' o people'd have a vested interest in rallying this kind o' mob. I can prob'ly only think o' one right now."

Gorduin says, "She could, if she wished it." He indicates Kathryn with a nod. "But before you run off to interview anyone I just want to say that I agree with Carlos. The only one to gain from this attack is Nemeryn, no matter the outcome of the trial.

If Zoras wins, he's strengthened the loyalty of his ally by creating a debt, perhaps even turning him into a subordinate. And he gets to expose the deprivations of the outside world, undermining the push towards Harkenwold.

If Zoras loses, the hit to his reputation and prestige will strengthen the Elder's control over the tribe for many years to come and he still gets to expose the deprivations of the outside world, undermining the push towards Harkenwold.

Put like that, you see the issue, yes? Winning won't be everything you hope it to be. Therefore I propose, that the true winning move is removing him from power entirely. And since it's so convenient that every single surviving Moondancer, besides yours truly, just happened to gather around that cabin when they did, I suggest that Neremyn knows more about what is happening than he's letting on. Establishing the chain of events will be key here."

Folan says, "It was very strange. The only reason I knew about it was because Yorenan sent me a Sending asking for my help and he used our old code besides. I don't think anyone else knows it. But as soon as I made my way back to the main camp after leaving Yorenan and his men, I was called before the Elder and Zoras dressed me down for allowing Yorenan to run off with the drow. He demanded the Elder act, and Neremyn waffled before conceding so I don't think he knew about it."

"Was anyone else there at that meeting?" asks Gorduin.

"A couple of Zoras' men. I don't think they'd be much help." Folan screws up his face, trying to force himself to remember anything else. Anything at all. "You know, now that I think about it, there was someone else there. That boy that Ara is training up to be a druid. I forget his name. He was there when I arrived."

Hunter squints. "Wait. Ara's apprentice? What was he doing there?"

"Ya know, that apprentice of hers was all twitchy when we were talkin' to Ara bout the case. More than you'd normally think. But back to Neremyn though... i ain't too smart a dwarf but even i get the feeling that you don't just accuse the Elder-Arbiter of foul play in open court without some proof, or the whole thing will turn on us real quick."

Gorduin smiles and says, "No, not an accusation to make lightly, Carlos. But if we do want to make it, then I suggest finding out the answer to Hunter's question. Why was the boy there? What did he see? And who was the first to know about Yorenan and Hush: Neremyn or Zoras? Only a few hours to sun down. I suggest we get moving."

"I knew choosing you was the right idea!" Kathryn exclaims as she stands up from her spot. "Let's hope Symania also finds something while she's... wherever she is right now. Let's go find Ara's boy!"

She confidently strides back toward the camp... before stopping to face her friends. "Uh, what was his name again?"

"Fenian," Hunter answers. The name was briefly scrawled down in his notes somewhere.

"And when we go see him, I suggest we bring Folan and Shandalar. We need to confront him with a witness and make him sweat, and he should open up."

"Should go over it with Ara first, too. Don't wanna be doin' this behind her back, and i'm pretty sure she can glare him into spillin' it."

Carlos ready to go, oi.

Gorduin stands up and then says, "All fine ideas. Coming Munchers?" The old man bends over and holds out his hand; the squirrel king builds up some momentum and then jumps into it, after which the old man deposits his little friend on to his shoulder. He walks after the party, saying, "A little warm for a stroll but I've always loved this part of the forest."

Five minutes later...

You guys rejoin Folan's men, who are surprised to see Gorduin with you. The younger ones look more uncomfortable than the veterans but perhaps the older elves are just better at hiding it. Either way, Folan has them back to order with a single command, and they fan out around the party in their usual defensive pattern as you make your way back to Ara's tent.

Fifteen minutes later...

Ara's tent is much as you left it and you find Ara inside telling a story to Shandalar about how the Great Spirit Tree Father first planted the trees of the Harken Forest with his friend Melora, the goddess of the wilds. Ara stops when Shandalar points to you. The Senior Druid isn't too happy to see Gorduin, and the look on the old man's face shows that the feeling is mutual. She says, "I see you decided to recruit him, despite my warnings. This is going to be a long trial."

Gorduin says, "Ah, Ara. Charming as always. I see you've found yet another young person to indoctrinate. How's that coming along?"

Ara purses her lips in anger while Shandalar gets a dark look on her face. Perhaps you guys better do something then, yes?

Kathryn seem a little sad that she won't get to learn more about how the Harken Forest came to be, but the party members have a schedule to keep. Once Gorduin has finished talking, Kathryn searches through her back, pulls out another piece of jerky and stuffs it into the old man's mouth. "Here, have some of that. It's good, right? I bought it in Sarthel." She then cuts a small piece and hands it to the squirrel. "How about it, Munchers? You want some too?"

Now, the other party members are free to talk to Ara without interruptions.

"Uh..." Hunter turns away from whatever that is. "Hey, Senior Druid. How much longer until Bobble gets here?"

Gorduin and Munchers both happily chew on Kat's jerky, making no further comments for now.  

Ara shakes her head at the old man's antics and then says, "He should be here soon. He flies in, so he's always very punctual."

Shandalar gets the Breeze shiny face when she hears the gnome can fly. The desire to do so herself is written plain as day on her face.

"There's uh... something we missed earlier. Is Fenian around, by any chance?"

Ara frowns and says, "Why? What could you possibly need to speak to him about?"

"Bout how Neremyn got wind that Yorenan had a Drow in his company in the first place. Hadn't hit me before, but that place where they're holed up right now is a Ranger cabin, right? How'd the clan get here so fast? Anyway, we not gettin' the answer to that from Neremyn or Zoras, but Folan said he saw Fenian with them when he first reported, so..."

Ara's frown deepens as she says, "Now that you mention it, the events did move fairly quickly. We were ordered by the Elder to pick up and move our camp even before sunrise and make our way towards the Northwestern Glade, where the Ranger Cabin lies. When I asked why, the Elder said that Zoras had discovered a conspiracy by Yorenan to smuggle out the drow survivor instead of turning her over to us like he was supposed to. I never thought to question how he learned of this.

But this is also the first I've heard of Fenian being involved in any way. If he was there, he would have been in Zoras' entourage. Zoras is his uncle by marriage you see. But are you sure you need to speak with him? I let him go back to his family to mourn the death of his cousin. He was one of the hunters slain in the attack."

Hunter raises his eyebrow when she mentions Fenian had family who died in the attack.

"Absolutely. Folan tells us that no one should have been able to recognize the form of communication he used, and yet he was called to answer for his aid in the act. Some of Zoras' men were present, and so was Fenian."

Carlos shrugs sympathetically - "Not a fan of interrogating the bereaved either, but he's the one we've a chance of learning anything from. After the trial, it'll be too late."

Ara shakes her head and sighs, before saying, "Very well, but please be respectful of the mourners. Flippant remarks and needling jabs won't be welcome there." She looks at Gorduin pointedly. The old man looks like the picture of innocence, happily eating away at his jerky and ignoring Ara completely. She shakes her head and sighs again. "You can find-"

But Ara doesn't get to complete that sentence, because she is interrupted by three very loud horns that erupt from overhead. Her expression lightens as she says, "Oh, he's here."

From outside you hear happy shouting and people calling out a name in greeting. It is, of course, BOBBLE FLOMSBY. Ara and Shandalar leave the tent looking happy, followed shortly by all of you. Overhead little explosions can be heard, bursting into various colors, much like the firework displays that you guys saw in the city-state of Sarthel once. And that's when you spot him, his turquoise cape flapping majestically in the nonexistent wind, as he sits imperiously with his arms crossed on top of his purple and teal flying carpet. It speeds overhead, doing loop-the-loops at high speed, drawing oohs and ahs from the crowd below, including Zoe, Jojo, and John. Noble burries himself between Hunter's legs, started by the loud sounds. The little hyenna is shaking something fierce. Fortunately for Noble, the display is soon over, indicated by Bobble gradually descending towards you, allowing you to get a better look at the gnome himself.

He's lanky and tall, for a gnome, wearing a white vest, brown pinstriped pants held up by two leather suspenders, and two big purple gloves. His flying glasses make it impossible to see his eyes, but the big smile on his face shows just how much fun he's having showing off for everyone. His blonde hair is rather strange, being parted in the middle but held out to the sides by some kind of hair product, and his beard comes to a rather massive point, giving his face a box shape.

Bobble Flomsby:

When close enough to the ground, he springs off of his carpet and says in an extremely friendly voice, "I'm here, BOBBLE FLOMSBY! BOBBLE FLOMSBY is here. Yeah, BOBBLE FLOMSBY. Hello all you people I don't know. Hello Ara and Shandalar!" He steps forward and gallantly takes Ara's hand before kissing it and then doing the same for Shandalar. They both look pleased. To give you an idea of how small he is, Carlos is a almost a foot taller than him. He looks at the party and says, "WHO ARE YOU? Are YOU the folks that NEED my help then?"

Immediately matching the Gnome's tone, Carlos spreads his arms - "WE ARE!"

Kathryn is at first disconcerted by the sound of explosions, at least until she realizes what is happening. When she sees the gnome appear on his magic carpet, she happily points at the many colorful fireworks and forgets about everything else. Once Bobble Flomsby has landed, she greets him with a big smile and follows Carlos' lead. "Yup! That's us! Nice to meet you, Mr. Flomsby. I'm Ser Kathryn Elwin Amblecrown, and here are my friends."

She introduces the party members, and then motions to the old elf and the squirrel.

"Oh, that's Gorduin and King Munchers, but you might know them already."