17: Diamond Lake Heroes part 2

The weeks following the destruction of the Ebon Triad cult were hectic, with momentary bouts of drinking and camaraderie.
As things died down, one by one the members of the triumphant group realized they may have to go back to a ‘normal’ work routine. The prospect of becoming the local heroes of Diamond Lake stretched a head of them.
Fortunately luck smiled on them in the form of a request from Ellival Moonmeadow to find a fellow at the Emporium and ask him back to meet with Ellival. It seems, a few months back, Ellival had hired a band of adventurers to seek out a specific ruin near the edge of the Mist Marsh met with tragedy and they all died.
He hired a band of 4 adventurers, 2 elves, a half elf and a human druid to scout out the ruins and recover a magic item from the ruins. 3 of the 4 had been slain by what the sole survivor described as ‘Allips’- unquiet and insane spirits. The sole survivor had fled and later was killed by a Vine Horror, but not before recounting her tale to Lath and Aarth.
Currently, a friend of Ellival’s at the Emporium in Diamond Lake reported seeing a ‘Swamper’ named Krudin having just come into town and having fun. Ellival would like to speak with Krudin, since Krudin’s knowledge of that portion of the Mist Marsh would help Ellival piece together a map locating the ruins.
With this task in mind he met with Aarth, and Aarth agreed to speak with Krudin. On the way Aarth gathered a few fellows ‘Just in case’. Felnar, Bornir and Aardgal were readily handy, so the foursome went to the Emporium.
They quickly found Krudin, having spent some gold in the den of debauchery. Krudin agreed to meet with Ellival and helping the elvish mine owner. When the next round of drinks came, a local deputy, one of several grabbed one of the tankards of beer and exclaimed.
“This one’s on him.” And proceeded to start drinking the beer.
Krudin got upset and confronted the man, taking a punch a the deputy. A general fight broke out and as the deputies ordered those at Krudin’s table to ‘stop fighting, they were under arrest.’ Krudin unlimbered his great sword and wounded the deputy in the shoulder, nearly taking his head off. Krudin became enraged and seemed unable to friend from foe, as Bornir tried to calm him and he took a swing at Bornir.
At this point the half ogre Kurlag waded in to break things up, unlimbering his massive axe.
Aardgal and Krudin went to jail. Felnar followed up. Bornir went to the Dancing Giant to get a drink. Aarth went to Ellival to report what had transpired after picking up Krudin's great sword from the floor of the bar. Ellival said he would arrange to see Krudin in jail once he had cooled down, and after a few hours.
Elival, Aarth and Felnar found Krudin restrained by manacles and raving about his sword. Ellival suggested Krudin may have some sort of magical malady, and later seeing Aarth in possession of the blade he asked to see it. Aarth refused to show him the blade. Everyone thought this odd, and quickly Ellival sang a song in elvish and cast a bardic spell of holding on Aarth. They knocked the sword from his grasp. When Aarth came out of the hold spell he was irate and demanded the sword back.
Soon Felnar, Aargal and Bornir decided to cast Remove Curse on Aarth and the sword the next morning. Aarth was restrained to keep him from the sword, about which he had formed a dangerous obsession. Upon casting the Remove Curse upon the sword, Aarth found he no longer needed the blade and indeed it had taken a hold on his mind. When they checked on Krudin, they found he was bruised and battered but no longer raving. Krudin accepted the story that the blade had been lost in the bar fight. He added "I think the sword belonged to some high muckety muck somewhere once. Probably died and all that was left was that sword. It seemed too nice a weapon for a normal person. I hope it gets buried in the Marsh with it's real owner."

Ellival apologized to Aarth for casting a spell and restraining him with such indignity in front of his friends. In return he offered a copy of the map he had drawn up based on a long talk with Krudin. He told Aarth how the ruins had once belonged to the Lords of the Six. Hundreds of years ago Ellival had travelled to these lands as an emissary to Lord Wintermoon. An elf lord who was gathering an army of elves and human allies. Lord Wintermoon wanted to fashion a second kingdom of elves besides Celene. As such he gifted a rare magic item, called a Bow of Wintermoon to Ellec, Second Lord of the Six.
The Lords of the Six were 6 fighter lords in the Cairn Hills and borderlands of Urnst who had banded together and vowed an alliegiance to each other for 6 generations, to rule against the increasing despotism of the Great Kingdom.
Ellival had met Ellec back then and has long wondered the fate of the bow, and wishes it to back in the hands of an elf. The bow is consecrated to Corellon and as such was meant to lead the human lords to take up worship of the elven dieties. A plan which never bore fruit.

During this time Azrael met with Gelch Tilgast, a local mine owner at Lazarre's Parlor, a wine bar where the well heeled folk of Diaomnd Lake play Dragon Chess and pass the time. Gelch and another mine owner were allied against Balabar Smenk, and he had heard that the heroes of Diamond Lake were upset with Smenk's involvement with the Ebon Triad cult. Gelch hoped to cultivate a friendship and allies.
After this meeting Azrael quizzed Denath, the hostess. She told him a bit about the various Mine Owners:
1)Smenk, a dreadful obese man taken to wearing an odious musk perfume.
2) Ellival Moonmeadow, the elf who loves entertainment and a neutral mine owner.
3) Ragnolin Dourstone, a gruff and mean dwarf, trades mostly with the dwarves of the Greysmere Covenant. Now missing due to harboring an evil cult beneath his mine.
4) Gelch Tilgast. Aged and grasping. Master of strong arm tactics and dirty tricks. He is a shadow of himself as a younger man. His son Keo is a huge disapointment to the old man.
5) Luzzane Perrin, daughter of a woman who founded a string of immensely succesful mines. She has lost much over the years, mostly to Smenk.
6) Chaum Gansworth, a young man with long auburn hair. The youngest owner in his 30s he won his mine in a game of cards and spent years buying or developing two others. He bears a deep seated resentment to both Tilgast and Smenk due to their dirty tactics.
Azrael met with Chaum Gansworth, and found him unwilling to ally with Tilgast, since he strongly suspects Tilgast of sabotaging one of Gansworth's best mines, starting a fire which caused dozens of men to die in the fire and collapse. Gansworth explained that years ago Smenk either formed a strong alliance or is black mailing Mayor Neff. Neff and his crony Sheriff Cubbin favor Smenk exclusively. Before 5 years ago Mayor Lanod Neff would play each mine owner off against each other for rich bribes, which he would parlay into votes. Now Smenk gives exclusively to Neff, and is allowed to do whatever he likes. When Tilgast and Perrin formed an alliance against Neff and Smenk they were threatened by Cubbin to back off or Cubbin wouldn't look too hard into their murder investigation when it happens.
Gansworth told Azreal that the heroes killing Kullen broken Smenk's reign of terror, and with Smenk away in Greyhawk to legitimize his claim on the Dourstone mine it's certain he is also recruiting a replacement for Kullen and his boys. After that it's back to business as usual. Tilgast hired a man to watch Smenk's compound, looking for Dourstone, or anything he could use against Smenk. Little does Tilgast know that the man, a rogue named Garek whom the group spared in the Dead Hole Mine fight, is selling Gansworth the same information. Gansworth promised to let Azrael know if anything came up.