Book 4 Notes

“We haven’t had anybody new in town since that
Lucas feller showed up a while back. He mainly
keeps to hisself, and don’t give no trouble.”
Akiani: "Who's Lucas?"
"Uh...an importer. He uh, stays at the inn or something"
"Uh, excuse me"

Gaster Lucas? He’s an importer—out of
Caliphas, I believe. He’s been staying in town the last few
months trying to set up some business deals. I don’t think
he’s had much success on account of the present troubles,
but I’m sure some new investors would be just the thing to
turn it around and make the deal profitable for all involved.
Everybody knows we could use a little more trade and
prosperity hereabouts.”

“We’ve had a turn of
bad luck lately. The fishing boats haven’t been coming
in full for the last few weeks, and folks are starting to get
GMSpoon (GM): nervous. I wouldn’t say it’s a crisis yet, but I expect folks’ll
look anywhere to blame something. The Vizier of the Order
says there’s nothing to worry about—the lake has always
provided for us, and it always will, provided we respect
it and keep to the old ways. Things’ll turn around; they
always do.”

GMSpoon (GM): “It’s true, we’ve had several people go
missing recently—over a dozen so far. The sheriff and his
deputies haven’t found hide nor hair of any of them, not a
single clue as to what might have happened to them. It’s
like they just up and vanished. People say it’s part and
parcel of the bad luck we’ve had recently, but I’ve got my own
suspicions.” Greedle looks very nervous, as if he’s weighing
whether or not to share more information.

“I need your help. Normally you would be suspects as
strangers in town, but I’ve had you watched since you
arrived—don’t look at me like that! You can never be too
careful with strange folk hereabouts! Anyway, I’m pretty
sure you’re not involved, and in these troubled times,
that’s my only certainty. You look like professional sorts
who know your way around the business end of a blade,
and I need someone from outside to look into this for
me. Therefore, against my better judgment, I’m willing
to deputize you to solve these disappearances and bring
whoever’s responsible to justice.

"The Neighbors have not shown up to take a fostering in weeks, so Father Voltiaro decided to take
our 3-month-old second daughter (who has not yet been
named) to Undiomede House and contact the neighbors
from there.

The next morning when everyone regroups, Clarissa shows the party the content of her notebook.


Mother was the daughter of Manus Undiomede, who was dead before I was born. He had left Illmarsh, and started a family elsewhere. When I was young, my parents moved to Illmarsh, to finish grandfather's work. They gathered conspirators for a few years. When found out, misfortune was swift and brutal for our family, and left the door open for the Whispering Way to request a future favor of the Recondite Order of the Indomitable Sea.

I don't know why I did it, but I took the small urn in the common room when I fled. I was lucky to escape. Whenever it seemed I would be caught, a cloud would move in front of the moon, or I would reach a patch of brush. Whenever I began to get tired, I found a new burst of speed.

Eventually losing the pursuers deep in the boggy forests of the Soddentimbers, I stopped running and collapsed, sobbing. But I did not sleep yet. A soothing voice was heard. As its sound stopped my tears, it offered advice that sent my hands opening the urn, and covering the ashes within with water. For the first time noticing that I also fled with my stuffed animal, I opened it with a sharp rock fortuitously found nearby, and poured the sludge inside. I heard a crash through the brush, and looked up to see mother's dead, uncaring face. As the voice took away my fear, I began to mouth sounds as my fingers began to dart. Mother was sprayed with fire, and collapsed unmoving.
The danger passed, the voice spoke again, keeping the tears back as I patched my stuffed animal with mother's flesh.

As I fell asleep, the voice spoke again, assuring me that one day, all would be made right. But for now, it would take away the pain as I dreamed. When you awoke, you remembered little of the previous night. You also heard a new, different voice for the first time. The voice of Mr. Scruffles.

After the dream faded to black, but before I awoke, Mr. Scruffles said "I know now. It is in good hands. Thank you Clarissa." As he said this
his voice grew more distant until the last words he says are barely a whisper and I remember the man who killed his father in this bed.

Then I had another dream, this one also involves ashes and me giving them to something but I cannot tell if I am feeding them to a creature or if I am putting them into another poppet.
When I awoke, there was a pile of ash where Mr. Scruffles was.