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Haven-Fara

Page history last edited by Azeari 15 years ago

When Crusher woke up this morning, his entire village had been cocooned in thick spiderwebs. Numerous arachnids the size of labradors were crawling around on the web, casting exaggerated shadows on the houses below. Realizing that the situation was serious, he cut his way through the web with his shortsword and ran to get help. It took him two hours, moving as fast as he could, to reach the large city of Sasserine. However, few would believe that such an unlikely thing could have happened in a village that nobody had heard of. For the tiny thorp of Haven-Fara, where Crusher lived, did not appear on any map.

 

Velkandar Toregson, the priest of Moradin, could see that Crusher was telling the truth. He ordered JKR the paladin to accompany Crusher back home to his village. Another dwarf, known as Snowy, was interested in Crusher's story as well. She was a druid, familiar with the ways of nature, and knew that something very unusual must have occurred to make the spiders behave that way. The remarkable story also piqued the curiosity of an elven wizard named Bella. She wondered whether some strange magic had been used to summon the spiders.

 

The four companions set out to walk the twelve miles along the coastline. The trip was mostly uneventful, except in the middle of the afternoon when Bella spotted a scruffy canine snarling at them from behind a pile of rocks. She shouted a warning, then moved into position and fired an arrow into its hide. Although wounded, the hyena charged towards Bella and attempted to bite her. However, with her quick reflexes, Bella dodged out of the way.  Snowy clubbed the hyena on the head, knocking it out cold. Hefting the unconscious animal onto his shoulders, Crusher carried it the rest of the way back to his village.

 

The sky was tinged with the rosy hue of sunset by the time the adventurers reached Haven-Fara. Along the path from the beach to the village, they were met by another tribesman named Jessie. "Crusher, thank goodness you have returned. Come with me and I will take you to the village council."

 

However, when they all tried to squeeze through the hole that Crusher had left in the web, the vibrations drew the attention of four enormous, black spiders. Snowy, Crusher and Bella were all bitten, but Jessie stabbed one through the head with his rapier and killed it. Attacking with his trident and shortsword, Crusher killed one of the spiders as well. Snowy killed one with her scimitar and Bella killed the last one with an arrow.

 

 

 

Fortunately, the numerous other spiders appeared to be unconcerned, and ignored them as they walked through the village. A grounded ship was sitting in the middle of all the houses, propped upright by heavy timbers. The web was suspended from its three masts like a gossamer circus tent. A richly carved and gold-leafed sign above the door read, "The Good Fortune."

 

"Well, that sure hasn't lived up to its name," JKR commented.

 

A small outbuilding had been built out from the hull and a newly constructed fenced yard was situated beside the ship. Neighing hungrily in the small space were seven horses with mangy coats. Their water trough was almost empty, so Snowy immediately went to the village well. Everyone peered carefully over the side, to make sure that no spiders were lurking down there ready to pounce. Snowy drew a bucket full of water and carried it back to the grateful horses.

 

On the inside, the ship had been transformed into a pub, gutted and floored to accommodate long tables and stools. Wood stoves sat at either end, and dozens of mugs dangled from hooks along the rafters. Behind the bar stood Cap Galen, a bearded man wearing a chain shirt, with a longsword belted to his hip. Also present were two old men: Harc Longarm and Seth "Keel" Friston. However, someone was missing.

 

"Where is councilman Westin?" Crusher asked.

 

"He was caught looting, so I threw him in jail," Galen replied. Everyone was surprised that a leader of the village would behave that way, but the bartender's story was convincing.

 

JKR noticed a terrarium behind the bar, with a tarantula about the size of his hand crawling around inside. In the bottom of the glass case sat an iron key.

 

"What is that key for?" asked JKR.

 

"That's the key for the jail," said Galen. "You can't have it."

 

"Why are you keeping a spider in a glass case?" asked Bella.

 

"It's my pet. Leave it alone." Galen said.

 

"Where are the rest of the villagers?" asked Snowy.

 

"I've ordered everybody to stay inside their homes. However, about twenty of the tribespeople are missing. Nobody has seen them at all today, although Drake and Tarn found numerous tracks leading off into the forest. We think that the spiders might've kidnapped them and taken them back to their nest."

 

Hank and Seth drew a map of the forest, showing how to get from Haven-Fara to the spiders' lair.

 

Keen to be off, the adventurers thanked the councilmen and then stepped outside. The sun had gone down, but dwarves, elves and half-orcs are all able to see in the dark. As they walked through the village, Crusher noticed smoke billowing from under the door of one of the huts.

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