The Mayor of Glenvale – 4A-EW

Chapter 4 – Spiders in the Tree

The village of Glenvale was surrounded by a wooden palisade wall. As the seven of them approached the closed gate, a voice called from atop the wall. “Ho there! State your business.”

“There are at least three guardsmen.” Talindra observed as Kaylen moved forward between his sister and the elf marksman.

“I am Kaylen Gallowglass, and this is my adventuring party.” He announced. “We are here to help you with your spider problem. Open the gate.”

“They are discussing it.” Talindra continued relaying what her elf ears could hear. “They’ve sent for the sheriff.” She added after a moment.

“You will be admitted as soon as the sheriff is here. The mayor is also being notified of your arrival.” The guard called out. Kaylen couldn’t make out more than a hint of movement of someone’s helmet over the palisade battlements.

“Didn’t expect their wall to be this big.” He said as he turned to his two companions, the others coming closer behind them. “It’s well protected for a logging village.”

“They have plenty of trees, might as well build a wall with them.” Ursa pointed out.

“Stand back!” The guard called once again, and Kaylen urged his horse a step back as the gates began to open, though it was quickly apparent none of their mounts were actually in the path of the large wooden doors.

Inside they saw a group of four human guards carrying spears, and a halfling riding a pony with a crossbow lain across his saddle. “So you’re the group the guild sent?” The halfling said as his pony trotted forward. He stopped about 10 yards away, and gave Kaylen a salute. “Bovin Proudwyn.” He introduced himself, “I’m the sheriff of this town. Can’t say you’re what I would have expected.”

“I’m sure our uniqueness will not hinder our ability to handle your problem.” Kaylen assured the sheriff.

“One would hope.” The halfling countered. “My men and I will escort you to the town hall. Come with me.” He continued, waving them to follow as he turned his pony around.

Kaylen took a quick glance around at his teammates to gage their reactions. Ursa seemed a bit wary and Vesili’s face was almost completely obscured by her hood, while the others ranged from curious to bemused. Kaylen guessed that the half-elf and the half-giant were used to people judging them on their appearance, though Bovin had given no indication so far of any prejudice.

Once inside the walls, the village was more what Kaylen was expecting, various wooden houses and logging structures with straw-thatched roofs were spaced out around a series of rolling hills with a single paved road cutting through the center of the town. There were other dirt paths created by frequent carts and wagons, some of which were visible now, though none of them were currently in use. The town hall was the only two story structure they could see, and it sat right in the middle of the village.

They were guided to an inn and stables close to the town hall where they left their horses and ponies in the charge of a stable-hand, and Kaylen paid the innkeeper in advance for the rooms they would need. Then they followed Sheriff Proudwyn on foot to the town hall, where a woman in her mid-twenties awaited them on the top step leading into the building, flanked by another town guardsman. She was a short slender woman with brown hair and hazel eyes that looked tired, but determined.

“Welcome to Glenvale.” She said, as they approached. “I’m acting mayor Patricia Steeper. You are the adventurers the guild sent to answer my request?”

“That’s right.” Kaylen stepped forward, and offered a curt bow, “Adept Kaylen Gallowglass. I and my party are at your service.” He gestured at the six women behind him. He noticed the mayor’s eyes widened slightly when she heard his title, but she chose not to say anything on the subject.

“Come inside, and I’ll fill you in on the details of the request.”

Kaylen turned once more to address his companions. “Let’s not crowd the mayor all at once. Who would like to return to the inn, and who would like to come with me to speak with Mayor Steeper?”

“I think I would like to take a look around the town rather than return to the inn.” Talindra stated.

“If you think it’ll be too cramped for me, I can go back to help look after the horses.” Ursa said, looking to Kaylen, who nodded.

“I’ll go with you, Lynn.” Vesili offered. “Something feels off here.”

“I will stay with you.” Alanthea said to Kaylen.

“As will I.” Lyria affirmed.

“I could return with them, or stay with you if you prefer.” Dinnae said after a moment.

“Then let’s meet up back at the inn in an hour.” Kaylen told them, then gestured to his three human companions. “Let’s go ahead inside.” The three of them followed Kaylen, the mayor, and her guardsman escort inside while their other three companions turned to go about their activities.

Mayor Steeper led them to a room with a large table strewn with maps, a few woodcutting tools, and at least a dozen tankards, most of them empty. Kaylen recognized the town and different depictions of the surrounding countryside on the displayed maps, each of them marked up with charcoal and smudge marks. “How can we help with your spider problem?” Kaylen asked.

“Well, people have been going missing, and since we’ve found evidence of large webs, we’ve had to shut down most of our logging operations. Anyone who goes into the woods must have an armed escort, and the situation is rather untenable. That’s why we sent for help.” She cleared some clutter off one of the larger maps, and pointed to an area that had been circled with several cross marks in and around it. “We’ve narrowed down the probable location of the nest to this part of the woods. Most people go missing near there, and no one who has ventured too deep into that region has returned.”

“I can see it’s taking a toll on you and your people.” Kaylen observed, though his sister frowned over his choice of words. The woman in front of them had the appearance of someone who hadn’t been getting enough sleep. Her face was haggard and pale, and her hair somewhat frazzled. What’s more, she carried the fancy sword at her waist uneasily, like she either wasn’t used to its weight or was generally low on energy. “Hopefully this will be behind you soon.”

The hazel-eyed woman sighed, leaning her head down momentarily before steeling herself and meeting his gaze, “Everyone here is under severe stress. Few are sleeping as much as they need. But you are right, the sooner we end this crisis, the better it will be for us, and those parts of the kingdom that rely on us.”

“We’ll do our best.” Kaylen agreed. “So is there anyone who has had a direct encounter with the spiders, or who can provide us with first-hand information that might prove useful to us?”

“Sergeant Ellin Coleman led the guards who found where my father disappeared in the woods surrounded by signs of spiders and scorched trees. My father was the first one to disappear.”

“What sort of signs?” Lyria asked. “Why were the trees scorched?”

“There was webbing, and marks on the ground consistent with spider tracks. We do not know why the trees were scorched, but thankfully they didn’t catch fire, or we might have had a much different problem on our hands.”

“Well, it would be good if you could put us in contact with Sergeant Coleman, perhaps he could serve as a guide for us during our investigation.” Kaylen suggested.

“Certainly, I’ll have him sent for. In the meantime, what information does the adventurer’s guild have on spiders like these?”

Kaylen retrieved the mission papers he’d received from Tyrell Norrison at the guild. Behind the general outline and the map were some sheets of parchment containing relevant information from the guild library, including some details on giant spiders. “I don’t have first-hand knowledge of these creatures, but the guild sent me with some bestiary notes. Purportedly, giant spider nests only really become dangerous to people when they get large enough that food begins growing scarce. So if there’s a shortage of things like deer or hypogriffs, their preferred prey, they’d start coming after the townsfolk.”

Patricia frowned, “We’ve seen no decline in the deer and moose populations. Our hunters still bring in venison, though in smaller numbers due to the need to hunt in larger groups.”

“Any local hypogriffs?”

“None that I am aware of. There are occasional wyvern sightings, and just yesterday our scouts spotted some harpies.”

Kaylen nodded, “We also observed harpies over the forest yesterday while we were on the road.” He acknowledged, leaving out any mention of Gryla. “They must be used to eating something else then that has recently grown scarce. Otherwise, I’m not sure why they’d go after your people. How soon can you have the Sergeant meet up with us so we can start our investigation where your father disappeared?”

“I can send for him right away. He can probably show you some of the further disappearance sites as well.”

“If I may.” Alanthea cut in. “Have your people captured or slain any of the spiders? If I could get a sample of their venom I can probably produce an anti-toxin for it.”

“No, so far no one has actually seen the spiders and returned to tell of it.” Mayor Steeper informed them.

“I’m meeting up with the rest of my team in less than an hour, and shortly after that we should be ready to head out.” Kaylen said.

“Very well. Where shall I have the Sergeant meet you?”

“Send him to the inn.”

“Very well. I wish you luck in your endeavor.” Patricia said before leading them back to the door.

“We’ll be sure to inform you the results of our investigation on our return.” Kaylen replied.

They made their way back to the inn, where they first entered the stables to find their half-giant shield bearer in one of the stalls with Kaylen’s mare. She had a brush held on two fingers and was brushing the horse’s fur while humming softly to herself.

Kaylen shared a glance with his three companions, all of whom looked about as surprised as he was. Then he stepped forward, “You should have told me you wanted to help groom my mare.” He said softly. “I probably shouldn’t be surprised by this side of you.”

Ursa flinched slightly when he spoke, but turned to him blushing. “Yes, well, I like animals, particularly horses.” She explained, looking past him at the other three girls, “I thought that was already evident. But you’re right, I should have informed you of my intent.”

“You did seem pretty interested when we were purchasing our mounts.” Lyria acknowledged.

“We’re done with the mayor.” Kaylen continued. “So we’re going to meet up inside once everyone is here, and I’ll fill the three of you in on what was discussed.”

“Then I’ll finish up here and join you inside.” The half-giant told them.

So the four of them made their way into the inn and spoke with the innkeeper. “Welcome back, Master Gallowglass. Here are the keys to your rooms. I hope your meeting with Mayor Steeper went well?”

“Thank you, Mr. Tobin.” Kaylen accepted a set of four iron keys from the burly man, “We were able to get some of the information we’ll need to help improve the situation.” He then proceeded towards the stairs.

Their rooms were all along the same side of the second story hallway. He checked the first door, and matched the symbol of an ox head on the door to one of the keys. The room contained two beds, one significantly larger than the other. “They must have brought this in for Ursa.” He observed. “We can have someone bunk with her if necessary.” He added.

“She was on her own when we camped.” Lyria reminded them. “Let’s check the other rooms.”

Kaylen nodded and moved to the next door matching the cat device on the door to another of the keys. Inside, was a fairly plain room with two beds, both of similar sizes. The boar room was much the same, maybe a little smaller, and the hawk room at the end of the hall had two windows instead of one, but was otherwise pretty similar to the others.

They were making their way back to the ox room when they heard the stairs creak under Ursa’s weight before she emerged into the upper story hallway. “Lynn and Vesili aren’t back yet?” She asked, seeing the four of them approaching.

“No not yet.” Kaylen confirmed. “When they arrive we’ll gather in the ox room to discuss what we’ve learned so far.” He pointed to the first room at the top of the stairs. “We were just sorting out sleeping arrangements for when we return this evening.”

Author’s Note

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