The Mayor of Glenvale – 4C-HH

Chapter 4 – Spiders in the Trees

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.”

“Someone woke up cranky.” Alayni muttered as Kaylen moved forward between his sister and the halfling marksman. “There’s a few of them up there, by the way.”

“I am Kaylen Gallowglass, an adventurer tasked with coming to the aid of Glenvale.” He announced. “This is my party. We request an audience with the mayor.”

There was silence for a moment then Alayni said, “They’re sending for a sheriff.”

“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.

“I’m no expert in city fortifications, but this seems unusually well protected for a logging village.” He said as he turned to his two companions, the others coming closer behind them.

“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!” Alayni said loudly, urging her pony forward. “You’re the sheriff? What’s it been, three years?”

“Well well well, didn’t expect to be seeing you today, Alayni. Is this your team?”

“Kaylen here is the leader.” Alayni gestured back to Kaylen on his mare.

“Well, if you’re a friend of Alayni’s you’re a friend of mine, Master Kaylen.” The sheriff said with a broad smile. “My men and I will escort you to the town hall. Come with me.” Bovin continued, waving them to follow as he turned his pony around, and Alayni’s trotted beside him.

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.

Alayni and Bovin spoke in low tones as they approached 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 continued to follow 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?”

Kaylen nodded and stepped forward, “I am Adept Kaylen Gallowglass, and this is my adventuring party.” He gestured at the five women behind him and Alayni next to Bovyn. He noticed the mayor’s eyes widened slightly when she heard his title, but she chose not to say anything on the subject.

“This here’s Alayni Swiftfoot.” The sheriff said. “She and I grew up in the same village and I can vouch for her integrity.”

“That’s good to know.” The mayor said, then gestured to the building behind her. “Come inside, and I’ll fill you in on the details of the request.”

Kaylen turned once more to address his companions. “It might be best if we didn’t go in all together. Would anyone like to return to the inn while a few of us speak with Mayor Steeper?”

“I think I’ll catch up with Bovin.” Alayni said from a little ways away.

“I’ll be glad for the company.” Bovin agreed and the two of them started off together.

“I can go back to help look after the horses.” Ursa told them.

“I’m going to take a look around the town.” Vesili offered. “Something feels off here.”

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

“As will I.” Lyria affirmed.

“I think I would prefer to stay by you as well.” Dinnae said last.

“Very well. We’ll meet back up at the inn in an hour.” He said as three of his companions turned to go about their activities as he and the other three followed the mayor and her guardsman escort inside.

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. “So what can you tell us about the spiders?” Kaylen asked.

“People have been going missing, and we’ve found evidence of large webs. We’ve had to shut down most of our logging operations, and anyone who goes into the woods must have an armed escort.” 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.”

“How are you holding up?” Kaylen asked suddenly, earning an odd look from his sister. 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.

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. And I am entrusted with seeing them through this crisis.”

“You said you are acting mayor. What happened to the previous mayor?”

“My father was the first one to disappear. We found his sword in the woods surrounded by signs of spiders and scorched trees.”

“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.”

“I can imagine. Is there anything else you could tell us that you think might be useful?” Kaylen asked.

“Nothing that comes to mind. We haven’t had a giant spider infestation in these woods for generations. What information does the adventurer’s guild have on these creatures?”

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. “This is my first spider hunt.” He admitted, “But according to the guild, 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.”

“Are there hypogriffs in this region?”

“Not that I am aware of. There are occasional wyvern sightings, and just yesterday our scouts spotted some harpies.”

Kaylen nodded, “We saw some harpies over the forest as we were traveling yesterday.” He acknowledged, leaving out any mention of Gryla. “Well, whatever they are used to eating must be in short enough supply for them to go after your people. Perhaps you can send us with a guide, or give us directions to locate one of the places people were taken, so we can start our investigation there?”

“Of course. I can have one of my guards show you the location where my father disappeared. It is the closest.”

“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.

“Well, I’ll need to confer with the rest of my team, and then we should be ready to head out within the hour.” Kaylen said.

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

“He can meet us at the inn.”

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

“We’ll be back after we’ve investigated, hopefully with good news.” 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, “This is a side of you I wasn’t expecting, Ursa.” He said softly. “You like horses?”

Ursa flinched slightly when he spoke, but turned to him with a blush and a shrug. “I do.” She looked past him at the other three girls, “I thought that was already evident.”

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

“Well, we’re done with the mayor, so if everyone is here we could fill you in on what was discussed.” Kaylen continued.

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

As Kaylen and the others turned to exit the stables, they heard Alayni’s voice approaching, “…this is where we part. Thanks for catching up with me. Hopefully we’ll get a chance to talk some more before I leave.”

They emerged from the stables to see Alayni and the sheriff walking side-by-side, smiles on their faces. Kaylen gave them a moment to finish their goodbyes, then smiled when the halfling spotted him, and changed her direction to meet them and walk alongside them into the inn. “Heya, boss. How’d things go with the mayor?” She asked.

“I’ll fill you in once everyone’s together.” He said as the five of them made their way into the inn and spoke with the innkeeper.

“Welcome back, Master Gallowglass.” The man said, “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, “I think it went as well as can be expected, and hopefully we will be able to improve the situation soon.” 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. “This must be the bed for Ursa.” He observed. The room contained two beds, one significantly larger than the other. “Do we know if anyone is bunking with her?” He asked.

“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. “Vesili isn’t back yet?” She asked, seeing the five of them approaching.

“Not that we’ve seen.” Kaylen confirmed. “The ox room is the largest, so when she arrives we can gather there to discuss what we’ve learned so far.” He pointed to the first room at the top of the stairs. “In the meantime, let’s decide who will bunk where when we return here this evening.” He suggested.

Author’s Note

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