Heart, Tear, Dagger
By the time we arrived in the town of Paws, two ships were moored at the docks: the Perspicacity and the Endurance. They had been carrying heavy cargo, roughly 500 men and women, and sailed under an unusual banner which none of the party could identify: red, with a heart, tear, and dagger surrounded by stylistic vines. Marcel suspected it might be affiliated with the Society of Sacrifice.
The unidentified militia with the unusual banner had apparently assisted the locals by directing them how to build some fortifications. However, after unloading the ships, they marched off into the highlands east of town.
Seeing armed troops in a mining town was unusual. While goblins would have made a likely motive for the stationing of troops, the goblin problem had been dealt with before the militia had arrived. Curious too was the fact the militia did not seem interested in spending much time in Paws. Questioning locals did not yield much information.
I wondered briefly why they were heading east. The only thing in that direction, to my knowledge, was Spiritwood.
Marcel and I wanted to follow them. Robert, however, seemed hesitant. Valicus was... well, Valicus. Eventually, Robert was convinced to come with us. Sort of. Even if he grumbled most of the way. The Speaker, however, decided to stay behind in order to question the locals, or make preparations. Or mysteriously meditate with equally mysterious spirits or something. He gave us a means of communicating with him though.
After a few preparations, we trailed the militia. Because of their size, it was not difficult to follow their tracks. Even if they had wanted to hide, their numbers made it virtually impossible.
They made camp in a hanging valley due east of Paws. In order to gain entrance, Marcel put on an act of being a travelling musician, and we were able to enter their camp. Or... to be more accurate, we were taken to their camp, and made to speak with their captain, a veteran named Matthew.
The captain struck me as a straight-forward individual. Understandably, he would not immediately answer our questions as to his group's purpose here. He wanted us to answer some of his questions. He apparently suspected we were working for someone. Once we answered that we were not affiliated with anyone, he made it known that his group was exploring ruins. He did not appear to be the type that would lie or misdirect us.
He started to make a deal with us and I suspect that if we agreed to work with him, we might have had access to more information. However, Marcel seemed interested in exploring on our own. While not the optimal course of action, I believe it was the better course. Even if I had a good impression of Matthew, if we allied with him, we would have been at the command of the mysterious people who had hired him.
Something struck me as odd, however... As we left the tent, Matthew gave the sword Robert carried an odd look. I suppose I might have said something about it, but I admit I felt hesitant about confronting the captain. I was unwilling to draw more attention to the sword, especially as Matthew was working for an unknown society.
Another part of the valley contained a cave. There were guards posted, but they appeared to be guarding from something inside, rather than preventing others from entering it. This did not prevent them from restricting our entrance, however.
We decided to explore further up the mountain. While we discovered another cavern, it was small. And aside from noises as we advanced further into the cave, there was nothing of note.
We came back down and Marcel tried to put on the "whimsical curious bard" act in an attempt to again gain entrance to the cavern. However, they were not interested. In fact, one of them ordered a guard to break Marcel's psaltry. Things got... a bit tense, and we decided it was probably best for us to leave.
While our little excursion did not turn up much of note, at least our questions were mostly answered. We did find out that the group was looking for antiquities, and because of their activities, it is highly likely they are involved with the Society of Sacrifice.
I still wonder if there was anything unusual in the area. However, if there were, they seemed like capable sorts.