Eagle's Gate
After returning to Westrin from Lord Frederick's estate, I parted ways with Werner but managed to find Felno. Using the aesir's advanced social skills, we investigated the problem of the bandits. After flashing the signet ring around a bit, we were treated to a good amount of knowledge about House Payne, the noble family that had a similar crest. Boris Payne, the baron of Westrin, had remarried within the last year to a woman named Susanna. (Incidentally, it turned out that Felno and his compatriots had been among her escorts to Westrin for the wedding, along with her personal bodyguard, Alfred.) Boris also had three children from his previous marriage: Olaf (14), Boris II (12), and Erica (8). The baron had lost all three of his brothers in accidents within the last year, and Boris himself had been ambushed by bandits on a recent hunting trip. Susanna was rumored to be with child, but apparently if Boris and his sons were all killed, the next ruler would have to be determined by the jarl-unless, of course, some unknown branch of the family resurfaced. This seemed suspicious given the similarity of their house crest to that of the bandits.
The mention of the pink-haired aesir archer also provided a wealth of information. The young lady by the name of Cynthia was a ranger native to the surrounding area who had a particular dislike of townsfolk and humans in particular. Her adopted father (an elf) had been a woodcutter; Cynthia had inherited his lands when she introduced him to the sharp end of his own axe. (Her mother was a human, but we did not determine any information on her.) This home was said to be a couple of days' ride to the east, guarded by wild bears the ranger had trained. We decided to investigate there for further information.
Although we did lose our way once, Felno and I managed to reach a clearing that was home to a small roundhouse with smoke coming from the chimney. There was a brown bear there munching on some carcass, but Felno warned that the rumors had said there were more than one. The bear detected our presence before we had formulated any sort of plan, so I spurred Brand to a charge as the creature called for help and we heard an answer from off in the woods. We rained down blows from Death before Dishonor and arrows from Felno's hornbow, but the bear still dragged me from my saddle and mauled me. I blacked out.
When I came to at Felno's ministering, there were two bears standing over me, along with a bearded former slave who was questioning what we were doing here. He did not seem particularly concerned with the fact that we had attacked his bear, so we simply told him we were looking for Cynthia. The man told us that he was the caretaker; his mistress was away at the meeting at the eagle's gate at the three peaks twenty miles to the north-northeast. We thanked the man and continued on our way.
When we neared the designated location, Felno heard the sounds of carpentry. He left me to scout ahead. He was gone for some time; on his return, he reported that a palisade was being built near an eagle's gate (a teleportation obelisk), and several dozen troops were training in the area. The ringleaders appeared to be the four surviving bosses from the two bandit attacks we had driven off ( the black knight and aesir and the two dwarven spellcasters). As Felno and I alone could hardly hope to defeat such a mustering of strength, we rode back to Westrin to see if we could rally together our companions and perhaps some other help.