Trip to Cauldron

Day 1 Brin entertains you with stories of his travels on the river and begins to tell you about Cauldron: Cauldron is an amazing place. It's a city inside a volcano with a lake in the middle. It's also a bit nasty. The citizens let the raw sewage run directly into the lake. Pungent, it is. That's why the the nobles live along the rim. For donations, the local clerics purify the water. The filth even got so bad one year that a plague struck. A few hundred people died before the clerics could control it. Is it a big city? Ah, well, big enough. Mainly humans, f course. A smattering of halflings and gnomes. You know there used to be a gnomish community there-- underground, of course. Selling relics? Hmmm. Not sure if I know about that. There is a gnome woman in town who caters to adventurers. I've heard she buys magic items. Is the relic magical?

Day 2 Rumors? Ah, yes. Well, I guess it would be useful to know that a number of townsfolk have gone missing the last few months-- or at least since the last time I was there-- a little more than a month ago. I didn't know any of these folks, except the barman at the Tipped Tankard-- Gryffon Malek. Capital establishment, that is. You should check it out when you're in town. More for, you know, common people. Folks like us. Anyway, poor Gryffon was due to be married 3 days later to the barmaid, Imelie Deranti. She's not much to look at, but to a barman she's a princess. Rumor has it that he and a disgraced local militia member, Krylscar Endercott, knew each other. They used to meet at the Tipped Tankard after hours and drink to the wee hours of the morning. Now they're both gone! Don't look at me like that, Galvin, or I'll put you over the side! Clergy got a grip on the town? Oh, no. Nothing like that. I wouldn't put it past the Wee Jassers in Cauldron to act like that, but no, no, no. Nothing like that.

Day 3 Briley has shown how good he is with the mules. They've remained calm the entire trip. Brin continues his stories and answers questions: ...Craftsmanship! This boat is built to go upriver. I know it's slow going, but this boat is yar. So, you wanted to know about the gnomes of Cauldron, eh? I can tell you what I've heard. Cauldron is several hundred years old and much of the city was designed and built by gnomish architects and artisans. The richness of the community was like a lure for gnomes of all walks of life. The city began to get a reputation as a place to buy magic items. Cauldron's gnomes were also good at making simple machines of one kind or another for excavating rock. And then, about a century ago, some kind of magical plague hit the community and almost wiped out the entire gnomish population! Well, people stopped buying the local magic items pretty quick. You don't hear much about the gnomes of Cauldron anymore. They still exist, of course, and some probably are descended from the originals-- don't keep track of the bloodlines myself. This magical disease is probably what's making the people in town vanish.

Day 4 So who rules Cauldron, you ask? It's Severen Navalant, the Lord Mayor. He's the city's elected official. You know, yo're going to look mighty rich walking through town with a pair of mules. You may want to drop them off with Briley at the Surefoot Livery. It's run by a halfling, Tippy, who would probably be willing to stable your mules if you're going to be there for awhile.

Day 5 Brin remarks that you're getting closer to Cauldron. To help you visualize the place, he's drawn a little map. Not much to look at, but he hopes you like it.