On Thursday of 6th week of Spring, the party traveled from about 3 am until noon, heading overland toward Jeno's farm. The group saw a very large wasp's nest in a tree, which made them believe it may have been where the previous day's giant bees had come from. They also found the bodies of 4 dead humans. Kestyn wanted to investigate both the nest and the bodies, but upon discovering they were farmfolk (and at the urging of the party), they let them be (no pun intended). Kestyn did mentally note the location in the hopes of returning some day to possibly identify, and at least bury, the bodies.
Coming upon a farm, the party stopped. As he knew almost all of the local residents, Gulden led the discussion and was able to get permission for the party to sleep the day away in the house. Alice (of Alice's Alfalfa) mentioned that a Barstonian army had come through mentioning that they would return for their taxes in the near future. Everyone ate stew and bread, and Gulden recited a story of a great harvest in history, which tended to lift everyone's spirits a bit.
Not wanting to endanger the kind farmers, the group left promptly at full dark and traveled from about 9 pm to 5 am, eventually arriving at Jeno's farm as day broke.
The group quickly realized something was amiss, and they soon found several bodies hanging from the beams of the front entrance. Among the bodies was Jeno, though, curiously, not Fred. A note written in a red substance on the door said "This household refused cooperation with the army."
The party quickly checked all over, including the barn, the root cellar, and the basement that led to the underground tunnels, but no sign of Fred or the attackers was found. Eventually, Morro and Enna found some tracks leading toward the neighbors, and they looked like it could be Fred's. There were other cart and humanoid tracks leading roughly toward the county seat, which looked to be about 3 days old.
Morro, Orla, and Enna went to the neighboring farm and discovered that Fred was alive, though not particularly well. He had fled when the attackers began killing his family and workers. The 3 had an awkward conversation with Fred and the neighbor (Ginger), with Enna giving some of the collected creature parts to Fred and Morro requesting the 12 silver Jeno had promised for clearing the tunnels of monsters. Ginger angrily threw him 2 gold, and it was clear that bridges were (metaphorically) burned.
Back at Jeno's farm, the other party members cut down and buried the bodies, and the whole group spent 24 hours resting after their last few wearying days and nights.
Back on a normal sleep schedule at last, the group set off following the cart tracks. They arrived at Rachel's Rhubarbs around dinner time, and Gulden again got permission for the group to stay and sleep through the night.
Bartsonian troops showed up unexpectedly, demanding to know if anyone knew who had disturbed the "warning" at Jeno's farm. Rachel lied, and the troops left, but she then had some pointed questions for the group.
Not wanting to endanger yet another innocent family, the party chose to leave immediately and ambush the troops. After a fierce battle that included entangling vines, a wildshaped giant snake, and Gulden saving Kestyn at least twice, the group successfully killed 7 of the 8 soldiers, leaving 1 to interrogate.
Orla's suggestion spell failed, but more traditional means pulled out information that at least 100 Barstonian troops were in the county seat, but that no one else yet knew about the party's actions at Jeno's farm. In addition, the whereabouts of the soldiers that had killed Jeno and her workers was unknown.
With that, the party took a breath to decide what to do next: Go to the county seat and attempt to spy? Leave Ikhil altogether? Go back to the underground tunnels? Attempt to start an insurrection? Investigate Barston proper?
Party Experience Before Session: 8,324XP
Experience Earned:
Party Experience After Session: 10,574XP
Needed For Level 4: 6 * 2,700XP = 16,200XP
Note: Gulden is already level 5 because he needs to be for his profession. He won't gain experience until the rest of the party catches up with him.