Fellowship of the Dice

“I wonder if the snow loves the trees and fields, that it kisses them so gently? And then it covers them up snug, you know, with a white quilt; and perhaps it says "Go to sleep, darlings, till the summer comes again.”
― Lewis Carroll, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking-Glass

** October 29th, Falcon's Hollow, 52 Years after the Fall of Bhall **

Its been four days since you attempted to speak to Payday's Corpse, and the spirit within refused your summons. Since then you have spent the time dealing with the fall out of all that's happened. Some have been tending to the final touches of the house, and its none too soon that finally today the last payment is made to the workers and the house it officially completed. Some have been out spreading their thoughts and feeling about the coming confrontation that will be in two day's time with the Lady of Winter, the Illian Seer who promised her arrival on the first of November. Others have been dealing with the children, or with other personal matters. Four days doesn't seem that much time, but you've managed a great deal, and you have also managed to simply relax some and live a little.

However Falcon's Hollow is now under a deep blanket of snow, for the last three days it has been snowing with no respite. During the night the snow falls thick and heavy, and only lets up slightly during the day. Folks have managed to keep their homes shoveled out for the most part, but the main roads are nothing more than narrow path's between the snow banks from house to house, neighbor to neighbor. The Markets, both Low and High, have been shut down, and all commerce has come to a stop. What's worse is that the river has iced over, and so no more lumber can be sent down river. That's very bad for Kreed, the Lumber Consortium and Falcon Hollow's lumberjack populations. It means no trade, no money, and eventually no life.

Firewood is at a premium, but luckily the Darkmoon wood is near, and if there is one thing the people in this town know its how to cut down trees. The fires keep burning, but you have heard from Laurel and Baleson and Edgrin that more than a few folks have already died from the harsh winter weather. Mostly the elderly, and the homeless. Others, already in trouble after all the problems that have plagued Falcon's Hollow, have started turning to the Church of Farrel for handouts and comfort. Religion isn't a big things in Falcon's Hollow, but it seems it might be growing a bit more as Winter arrives in force.

Drak has spent the past 4 days helping citizens make the trek to the Darkmoon wood and back. His goal is to help as many people as possible to cut down the wood necessary to prevent people from simply freezing over, much like the rest of the town. When he isn't cutting down wood, he is spending the rest of his time in the house resting. The Seer would be here in two days and it is vital that he keeps his strength up, should they need it.

Dreams says to Celevan and Torias, "Surely, rumors of the Illian Seer's coming are now widespread among the townsfolk here. There may be more people we want to speak to individually, but I was thinking we could invite people to come ask us questions and hear what we have to say about it. As the ones who first encountered her, I would think they'd be interested in learning what they can from us. We just need someplace big enough to host such a meeting. It's a pity there's no town hall or some such thing. Perhaps we could rent one of the inns for an evening?" She looks at Celevan to see if has thoughts on a good location, since he has lived here longer.

Celavan spends his time over the next few days much like Drak. He and Suli do all they can to try and keep Falcon's Hollow dug out and livable. He can't help but think that this is a message sent by the Illian Seer, a kind of threat of things to come, and he shares that thought with the others.

"The two best places for a large meeting have their disadvantages," Celevan reports to Dreams. "First, there's the Church of Farrel, but I'm not sure how they feel about all this. Then there's the Hollow Tribunal, but that's one of Kreed's places - or it might as well be. Our best bet is probably the taproom at the Sitting Duck."

"Well, let's talk the proprietor of the Sitting Duck. I suspect it will take a while to get things set up. While that's going on, we can talk to the other major figures in town--I think we still need to talk to the clergy and the magistrate. And we should talk to some of the senior lumbermen like Milon. They may not have official positions, but I'm sure their words still carry a lot of weight with people," says Dreams.

Torias has been working in the forge in the cellar of the house for most of the time, leaving the shovelling of snow to his brother, who is happy to get some exercise. During his breaks, he walks around, going to the pub and talking to people: "Listen up, let me tell you something about Kilmorph. He is the Crafter and the Maker and has the power to protect you." etc.
When someone suggests renting the Duck for their public address, he joins in to help organize stuff.

It doesn't take much to rent out the Sitting Duck's tap room. A few gold in the owner's pocket and the place is yours for the night, as long as you don't stop them from serving drinks and food, you can have the small stage to present your speeches on.

"Who shall we visit now?" says Dreams. "The local clergy seem like they are likely to have more pull than the magistrate."

"That depends," Celevan replies. "It's a fringe church at best. But it's the only official church in town, and people may be going to it in these difficult times because there's nowhere else to go." He shrugs. "But you're right, we ought to talk to them. And since I'd rather them than the magistrate, we might as well go to the church first."

With the Sitting Duck set, you turn your attention to the Church of Farrel. It is somewhat amazing to think, but you haven't visited the church in your time in Falcon's Hollow. It is fairly new here, and the locals don't pay it too much heed being a more pragmatic lot in general without time to listen to the zealots who are known to run the place. However with all the downtrodden in Falcon's Hollow Farrel's followers have been gaining a food hold in their preachings.

Yet, with things changing, it time to pay it a visit. So you head out into the snow and trudge through the deep snow to the center of town. The church isn't much more than a larger building among other buildings, not much more to make it as such. Once it might have been dedicated to the Order of Lietbur and Lugus, or even some other god, but that iconography has been removed. In fact tensions run rather high between Farrel's followers and other religions that might find their way to Falcon's Hollow. There has in the past been more than one muddy brawl about such things in town.

You head inside the doors to the large open chamber and find it set up much as you'd expect. Rows of simple benches face a dais and alter at the front of the room. Some side rooms, and stairs lead to other parts of the building. The chamber is rather warm, as a big fire burns in two fireplaces flanking the chamber. There are half a dozen people here, they look like the poor or homeless taking refuge among the charity of the priests. A few bright red, yellow and orange flowers are blooming in vases set on nearby tables in front of the windows.

At the far end is the local priestess in charge Vondrella Mahesto.