The Mayor of Glenvale – 4C-QO

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.”

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

“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.”

“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.

“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.” He introduced himself, “I’m the sheriff of this town. Can’t say you’re what I would have expected.”

“We are a bit of an unusual group, I’m aware.” Kaylen acknowledged.

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

Kaylen took a quick glance around at his teammates to gage their reactions. Janel and Ursa seemed a bit wary, while the others ranged from curious to bemused. Kaylen guessed that the kitsune and the half-giant were simply 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?”

Kaylen nodded and stepped forward, “I am Adept Kaylen Gallowglass, and this is my adventuring party.” 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. “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 would like to take a look around the town rather than return to the inn.” Talindra stated.

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

“I might go back to the inn as well, and look at the rooms available.” Janel added.

“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.

So the four of them made their way into the inn and spoke with the innkeeper. “Welcome back, Master Gallowglass.” The man said, “One of your teammates already took a key to one of your rooms. Here are the other three.”

“Thank you, Mr. Tobin.” Kaylen accepted a set of three iron keys from the burly man, and 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. “This must be the bed for Ursa.” He observed. “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. The cat device on the door didn’t match any of the keys, and he assumed it must be the room Janel was in, so he knocked and waited. There was no immediate response. “What about the other keys?” Alanthea asked.

But then the door opened, and there was the red-head kitsune, looking a little disheveled. “Oh, hi. Is it time already?”

Kaylen nodded, “Ursa will join us shortly, but Lynn doesn’t seem to have returned yet.”

“It hasn’t quite been an hour yet.” Lyria added.

“Ah okay. I wasn’t keeping track of the time.” The kitsune said.

“We were checking the rooms.” Alanthea added, “We haven’t been in those two yet.” She gestured towards the two remaining doors.

“Oh, well the boar room is slightly smaller than the others, and the hawk room has two windows.” Janel explained.

“Ah, well that’s good to know. Does anyone have a preference of room then? I assume you’ve already chosen the cat room, Janel?” Kalen asked.

“How did you get into the other rooms without the keys?” Alanthea asked.

“Oh, uh…” Janel looked a bit sheepish. “I… infiltrated.” She said in a soft tone.

Kaylen chuckled, “Well, I suppose that’s why I brought you onto the team. Don’t worry about it. But also don’t get too carried away with it either.” He suggested, and Janel nodded.

They heard the stairs creak under Ursa’s weight before she emerged into the upper story hallway. “Lynn’s not back yet?” She asked, seeing the five of them standing just outside the door to the cat room.

“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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