Addermarch Campaign - Session 16

Research in Roscombe and a visit to the ranger Arvanko uncovers information about ancient sites from the wars with Avatus and points the party toward the ruined hill-fort of Serethwyn Tor.

Timeline

• May 22, 1715 DR, morning: At The Traveler’s Rest in Roscombe, the party interviews Colette du Bois, innkeeper Bertrand LeBlanc, and chambermaid Emma Cole about Geoffrey, the dead stranger tied to Duncan’s axe, then meets Elowen Duval for lunch and is directed to scholar Ernault in the keep’s archives.
• May 22, 1715 DR, afternoon: Traveling to Caradoc’s cottage near Brantor, the party collects magic items, commissions more Trueflame to destroy the cursed battle axe, and departs for Arvanko’s homestead.
• May 23, 1715 DR: Reaching Arvanko’s hill-country homestead, the heroes earn his trust and learn the location of the ruined hill-fort of Serethwyn Tor, then depart to return to Caradoc’s, camping on the return journey.
• May 24, 1715 DR: The party arrives back at Caradoc’s cottage by midday, retrieves their prepared Trueflame, and sets out along the road toward Serethwyn Tor.

Cast of Characters

• Yvan Greenrabbit — Halfling sorcerer whose charm and questions help coax details from wary locals and the taciturn ranger Arvanko.
• Drou — Elven bard-monk, steadily piecing together the paper trail from Haldrenn to Roscombe’s archives and the rangers’ monuments.
• Fazoth de Brune — Human warlock-alchemist, focused on acquiring the magic needed to end the battle axe’s curse and understanding Avatus-era history.
• Colette du Bois — Squire in Roscombe who recalls Geoffrey’s brief visit, his audience with Elowen, and her sense that he was a dubious character.
• Bertrand LeBlanc — Innkeeper at The Traveler’s Rest; remembers Geoffrey as a solitary guest who took long trips into the Highmoor and left in March with climbing gear.
• Emma Cole — Bertrand’s niece and chambermaid who once glimpsed Geoffrey’s annotated map marked with Avatus and circled sites in the mountains north of the Umber.
• Lady Elowen Duval — Castellan of Roscombe; her notes on past audiences with Geoffrey lead the party to Master Ernault and grant them access to the archives.
• Master Ernault — Elderly scholar whose cluttered study holds Roscombe’s early records; he recalls Geoffrey’s arrogance and identifies Serethwyn Tor as a sealed hill-fort tied to old ranger orders.
• Geoffrey, the Stranger — Mysterious Avatus-obsessed visitor who scoured records, ranged the moors, and likely unearthed Duncan’s cursed axe at Serethwyn Tor.
• Caradoc — Alchemist near Brantor who provides magic items, agrees to prepare more Trueflame, and warns the party about Arvanko’s prickly demeanor.
• Arvanko the Stoneborn — Tall Stoneborn ranger crafting a stone monument to fallen rangers at his homestead in western Addermarch; skeptical at first, he eventually marks Serethwyn Tor on their map and entrusts them with a Drankorian sending stone.
• Cadan — Ranger commemorated on Arvanko’s monument as having died in battle at Serethwyn Tor.

Places

• Roscombe — Market town and base of operations; home to The Traveler’s Rest, Lady Duval’s manor, and Master Ernault’s archives.
• The Traveler’s Rest — Roscombe inn where the party lodges and gathers testimony from Bertrand LeBlanc and Emma Cole about Geoffrey.
• Duval Manor — Lady Duval’s manor and administrative center, where her notes and Master Ernault’s records reveal the warning about Serethwyn Tor.
• Brantor and Caradoc’s Cottage — Nearby village and hill-country home of Caradoc, where the heroes acquire magic items and arrange for more Trueflame.
• Arvanko’s Homestead — Isolated Stoneborn ranger’s home marked by a growing stone monument to fallen rangers; starting point for the party’s march toward Serethwyn Tor.
• Serethwyn Tor — Ruined hill-fort in the Highmoor, destroyed long ago and ordered undisturbed by ranger edict; likely site of ancient Avatus relics and Duncan’s cursed axe.
• Adderfell and Sembara — Distant lands mentioned as possible repositories of the lost Serpentine Register that lists cursed weapons and their fates.

Narrative

Saturday, May 22nd, 2 Robert I

The party wakes at The Traveler’s Rest in Roscombe and begins the day by chasing the trail of Geoffrey, the stranger dead in Duncan’s cottage and connected to the Serpentine Battleaxe. After making a lunchtime appointment to meet Elowen Duval, they stop at to speak with Colette du Bois, who remembers Geoffrey staying at the inn, having a brief audience with Elowen Duval, and giving off a dubious, secretive air.

Back at the inn, they speak with Bertrand LeBlanc, who recalls Geoffrey arriving from Valcroix in the fall. The man mostly kept to his room, eating alone and disappearing for days at a time into the Highmoor. In March he departed in earnest, outfitted for a serious venture: ropes, ladders, and the gear of someone planning to climb or delve. Emma Cole, Bertrand’s niece and the inn’s chambermaid, shares that once, while tidying Geoffrey’s room, she glimpsed a map spread on his table, crammed with annotations in a strange language. One word she recognized—Avatus—and she recalls several spots circled, especially in the mountains north of the Umber.

At lunch with Lady Elowen Duval, she tells the party she remembers Geoffrey as suspicious and insistent about accessing the founding records of Carlinshire. Her notes confirm that she allowed him to speak with Ernault but refused to let him copy anything. After lunch, she sends the party on to Ernault with her blessing to read and copy as they wish.

Up in a cluttered study stacked with papers and tomes, Ernault remembers Geoffrey well—rude, dismissive, and only interested in copying passages about Avatus-era history, not in Ernault’s scholarly interpretations. Ernault admits he is no numismatist and cannot date the party’s coin, but he happily shares his knowledge of the Dominion of Avatus and the old frontier. Among the early records he notes an odd entry: Serethwyn Tor, an old hill-fort, was destroyed and ordered “not to be disturbed” by the rangers of the time. If ancient things still lie buried anywhere, Ernault suggests, that would be a prime candidate. He also mentions Arvanko the Stoneborn, a ranger active in the area who may know more.

Leaving the keep, the heroes head out of town toward Caradoc’s cottage. There they collect magic items from Caradoc’s old adventuring days that he gifted them, and commission another batch of Trueflame to unmake the battle axe. Caradoc warns that Arvanko is prickly but trustworthy, and after stocking up on healing potions the party camps along the road leading into the hills.

Sunday, May 23rd, 2 Robert I

Pushing their pace through the uplands, the party reaches Arvanko’s homestead by mid‑afternoon. The tall Stoneborn ranger, with gray‑black mottled skin, is working on an immense stone monument carved with the names of rangers who have fallen in western Addermarch. Curt and wary, he greets the strangers with suspicion: why, he demands, do they want to know where old cursed weapons lie?

Yvan’s earnest explanation sways him, and Arvanko accepts that the party is trying to contain danger rather than unleash it. He points out Serethwyn Tor on the carved monument and on their map, noting that a ranger named Cadan died there in battle long ago and that the rangers send someone past every year or two to ensure the site remains undisturbed. It has been a year since the last check, he admits, and another is overdue.

Arvanko also speaks of the Serpentine Register, a set of records listing known cursed weapons and their fates. Locally, he believes it was lost, though a copy might still survive in Adderfell or Sembara. Before they depart, he gifts the party a low-range Drankorian Message Stone, and asks them to report in once they reach Serethwyn Tor. The party then heads back toward Caradoc’s cottage, camping on the cart track as night falls.

Monday, May 24th, 2 Robert I

The next day, the party reaches Caradoc’s by midday, and pick up their commissioned dose of Trueflame. They then turn northeast, heading into the Highmoor towards Serethwyn Tor, walking for the rest of the afternoon before camping for the night.