[quote="Masov"]
Masov will take a peek at the map after giving Kaul the key.
'I am somewhat suspect we may have done these elves a disservice, and perhaps ourselves as well.
Which building is the one we're in on the map?
What are the green buildings? The one to the far right is the keep, yes?
[/quote]
The large building on the far right appears to correspond to Baron Mallory's manor house. It is a large stone building, but not actually a keep. The building you are in is just outside the walls around the manor, on the north edge of town. On the map Gwydion copied, it would be the second to the right from the building with the question mark near the top of the map.
[quote="Masov"]
Which is the carpenter's house?
[/quote]
The carpenter's home appears to be near the bottom-left, marked with a question mark on the elven map.
[quote="Masov"]
What's the walled off area to the left?
[/quote]
You're not entirely certain, but that seems to be where constable Thorsdun and his "deputies" came from the first time you encountered them upon entering the town.
[quote="Masov"]
'He Watches' - that road points to the wizard?
[/quote]
The arrow points in the direction the old man's hovel.
[quote="Masov"]
The ravens are the rangers, Gwydion?
[/quote]
The enchanter looks at you and shakes his head, a slightly confused look on his face. At the mention of "the ravens", Hengist remembers something and rummages in his pouch, tossing a small object over that Masov catches out of the air. The bard looks down at the item he has caught and visibly starts, bringing it closer and examining it much more carefully...
To the uneducated eye, it appears as nothing more remarkable than a clasp for a cloak, formed in the shape of a raven, but the look of it has triggered far deeper memories for Masov...
"You'd best mind your manners or the Ravens'll get you!" was a common admonishment for a wayward boy, seemingly nothing save the invocation of childhood bogey-men. But the darker history in the region suggests something more: dark "ravens" with ultimately inscrutable purposes, and a seething hatred of men. Symbols similar to the clasp appear in unsavoury texts, such as histories of the dark rule of Atacyl Oathbinder, and presage events of great turmoil for the lands of men. Folk stories of dark fey that would bind mankind in eternal servitude abound in the region, and references to such creatures as "black ravens" are far too consistent to be mere chance. That a simple carpenter would have such a symbol in this troubled place by mere coincidence seems unfathomable...
[quote="Kaul"]
"ok, maybe we killed the good guys... but its their fault for not being willing to talk to us."
[/quote]
[quote="Aria"]
"If they'd been good, they'd still be alive. You slew them easily. They can't have been all that good." She shrugs.
[/quote]
[quote="Gwydion"]
Gwydion frowns before offering a counter-point to Kaul's remark. "The carpenter, by all accounts, was not wholesome. Yet, he was a disguised Elf. Whatever the allegiance of the Rangers, I do not think the Elves here to be the sort with whom we might have common cause. Perhaps they were turned by the evil here?"
[/quote]
[quote="Kaul"]
...as i use the key to open the box.
[/quote]
The lock on the box gives a sharp "click!" as Kaul inserts and twists the brass key. Satisfied, the thief lifts the lid...
In the bottom of the box lies a beautiful blue velvet pouch and a folded piece of parchment. Loosening the drawstring, Kaul looks through the contents of the pouch, finding 195pp of elven mint, along with 50gp in Blackmarsh coin.
[quote="Masov"]
Masov takes an armband each to Kerrick and Gwydion - 'These mark allegience to the Blackmarsh Rangers, a movement whose involvement in this we're not sure about yet. What I would suggest, however, is wearing these - concealed but easy to show - in case we need to appear allied to a particular cause at some point.'
[/quote]
[quote="Miska"]
"Are these rangers a force for order? for protection? Are these elves expanding into human territory? Investigating human encroachement to their lands? There is still much we don't know here."
The cleric looks around at the other members of the party. "Where do we go from here?"
[/quote]
The Blackmarsh rangers are generally considered to have been involved with the "liberation" of Castle Blackmarsh: http://www.autarch.co/comment/20855#comment-20855
Not all humans see it as such, as the elves of the Greywoods have dominated Blackmarsh since, and seem to have worked to maintain that state of affairs.
[quote="Hengist"]
"Awkward. But I'd almost swear we knocked. Or pounded, anyway. Any ideas on where to next?"
[/quote]