To Banner, Leader of the Riders of the Watch

KvotheSubject: How We Lost Our Horses (Also, We Found Jaylin)

Banner,

Kvothe here, with Jocelin looking over my shoulder to make sure I don’t make us sound too impressive. (As if that’s possible.) We’ve been very busy, and by busy, I mean getting into trouble, uncovering conspiracies, and, yes, losing all our horses. But we’ll get to that.

Jaylin’s Locket & the Wizard That Fell Out of the Sky

Our search for Jaylin led us to Harken, where we met up with Andren. Nice enough fellow, completely distraught over his missing fiancée. He gave us a bronze locket that belonged to her, which we planned to use for scrying. While we were at the Hungry Hound Inn, we met Freya, a wizard from Koningstad who claims she ended up here due to a magical accident. She’s useful, if a bit odd, and we decided to let her tag along.

(Jocelin’s Note: Why are all the wizards we meet weird?)

(Kvothe’s Response: It’s part of their charm. Or a requirement.)

Scrying and the First Hints of Trouble

Back in Fallcrest, the Septarch did his spooky magic and scried on Jaylin. Turns out she was underground, in a tunnel with iron cart tracks. Oh, and there was a Brokenskull Orc just hanging around. The Septarch figured this was likely the abandoned copper mines in the Dawnforge Mountains, north of Harken.

We were already uneasy about that, but on the way back to Harken, things got worse. We ran into a troop of Iron Circle mercenaries, led by none other than Marcus, the priest of Asmodeus. Rather than get into a fight we weren’t prepared for, we wisely turned around and reported back to you. As you confirmed, Marcus is a big deal in the Iron Circle, which pretty much guarantees that they’re behind the kidnappings and Broken Spire Keep’s operations. We just need proof to connect the dots.

(Jocelin’s Note: We should have just fought them. I bet I could take Marcus.)

(Kvothe’s Response: I admire your confidence. I also enjoy being alive.)

JocelinThe Mines, the Orcs, and the Ogre That Smelled Like Regret

After resting in Fallcrest, we set out for Harken, spent the night, and then headed into the Dawnforge Mountains to track down those abandoned copper mines. Things went well until we actually got there.

We left our horses and extra gear at the entrance (big mistake), then fought our way through a horde of Brokenskull Orcs and their pet ogres. It was a rough fight, but in the end, we captured Dorakor, the orc leader. After some “convincing” (read: intimidation and threats), we learned:

  • Jaylin and other spellcasters were being sold to “crazy dwarfs.”
  • The dwarfs had spellcasters of their own and were buying prisoners for unknown reasons.
  • To reach these dwarfs, the orcs had to cross an underground sea, but to do so, they had to pay a toll to a mysterious powerful entity. That payment? A non-spellcasting prisoner.

(Jocelin’s Note: Definitely not ominous at all.)

(Kvothe’s Response: Right? Completely normal underground toll system.)

The Creepy Spear & the Underground Lake

After dealing with Dorakor, we looted the orc treasure hoard and found a spear that gave us all bad vibes. We don’t know where it came from, but Uncle Bill later confirmed it’s really nasty. Probably cursed. Possibly evil. Definitely unsettling. None of us really want to touch it.

Following the orcs’ path, we eventually reached a massive underground lake with a large boat sitting on the shore. Given that this was the place where the mysterious entity demanded sacrifices, we decided to wisely back away. There are risks worth taking, and then there’s sailing into the mouth of something that eats people for toll money.

The Lesson in Logistics (Or: How We Lost Our Horses)

Feeling very smart about avoiding an unnecessary death, we returned to the mine entrance… only to find that the escaped orcs and ogres had stolen our horses and all the gear we left behind.

(Jocelin’s Note: Kvothe, write this down in big letters—NEVER LEAVE THE HORSES UNGUARDED.)

(Kvothe’s Response: Noted. Bolded. Underlined. Maybe even carved into stone somewhere.)

That was an expensive lesson.

So, to summarize:

  • We found Jaylin’s location (underground, near the creepy dwarfs).
  • The Iron Circle is definitely behind a lot of bad things, but we need more proof.
  • The dwarfs are buying spellcasters, which is never a good sign.
  • There’s something nasty in the underground sea that charges people-eating tolls.
  • We lost our horses.

Heading back to Fallcrest now to regroup and return Jaylin to safety. We’ll check in once we have a plan to deal with the underground mess.

Yours in service and slightly poorer due to horse theft,
Kvothe & Jocelin