3rd day of Pharast 4700, year of our Lord, Noleski Surtova
Late in the day after the hero’s leave Oleg’s to explore the Greenbelt region for the first time, A group of 4 men arrive at the trading post. The group is led by a man who goes by the name of Kesten Garess (human fighter lvl3). The other three men are warriors under his command. After a brief and formal exchange with Oleg, he introduces himself as a noble (albeit a lesser one) from Brevoy, sent to protect the trading post, granted in response to numerous requests & pleas made by Oleg over the past couple of months.
Regardless the motive, Kesten appears to be an ambitious fellow, and it doesn’t take a Perception check to know that Kesten hopes to either make a name for himself as the defender of a remote fort, or to find honorable death among the bandits and other dangers in the region.
Moody, and at times morose, he can be found sitting at one of the market display benches, sharpening his sword, or giving mundane orders to his men. However, the four men are lawful and hard working; even within the first couple of days of their stay, improvements at Oleg’s can be seen.
Unfortunately their arrival brings two other changes: in answer to a challenge from Oleg, as to their “meddle, courage, and loyalty to the king,” Kesten orders Happs Bydon’s execution within 15 minutes of arrival at the post. One of the warriors pulls out a knife and slits Happs’ throat. The body is then strewn up like a scarecrow on a makeshift post the soldiers erect, about half a mile south of the Trading Post. A crude board sign is bolted over the beam’s top that reads, “Deth to Bandts.”
The second change is that the Post’s guesthouse is once again full.
4th day of Pharast (same day as Radish Patch encounter)
A day after Kesten Garess arrives at the trading post, another traveler comes to the area. This is a priest of Erastil named Jhod Kavken(male human cleric 4). He is a traveling cleric and hunter who claims to have heard of the exploration charter and came to Oleg’s to offer his help. He seems to be a well experienced traveler, and his stay in Brevoy was a brief one. Upon arriving at Oleg’s he is first questioned by one of the guards posted as sentry, and upon being let in, he is greeted by Oleg, who seems to be in a cheerful way. Jhod learns a lot over a hot bowl of stew, made at Stetvana’s hand, as she tells him of everything that has transpired, leaving out hardly a detail. It is from her he learns of the charter, in fact. Oleg complains a bit when the food is brought out, wishing she could make him Moonradish stew, but he stays quiet during the course of the meal, content to let his wife do the talking.
Jhod does not mind sleeping under the stars: he pays Oleg as if he were receiving lodging, although he sleeps on the ground. He makes over the next few days a soft canopy of leaves, branches, grasses, and flowers to sleep upon, which he where he does most of his praying and meditation from as well. He sets this up in one the unused watchposts on the pallisade. After the third night of his stay there, Svetlana, having compassion for him, goes to Kesten and asks him to clear away the rotted wood of the now useless catapult remains. He has his men do so right away. Two days later, ivy begins to grow from that spot over the south-western pallisade wall. Two days after that, beautiful ivory blossoms dot the ivy, and wood beams of the fort around it grow stronger and healthy, beginning to take root after a miraculous fashion.