Crimson Smile
Despite knowing Freystrand may be in trouble, Amos, Kin, and Beckett feel they have no choice but to follow who they believe to be a vampire and his creature further into the cave. The interior has been overhauled and is much nicer than they expected an abandoned mine to be. The entrance stored many crates and supplies with an additional room to the side. Straight back they entered a gathering space with tables and at least one small cell. Standing near the wall was who they assumed to be the Crimson Smile with a bandit and a submissive fellow kneeling before her with his head down. The man who brought us in called her Ms. Swale and gave her two wineskins. After reminding her of their deal, he left us with her and exited the cave.
A tense discussion followed between the remaining group. We offered to help her if we can. She told us her bandits are looking for the Moon Stone Oracle in exchange for information on the whereabouts of her sister, Mariyn Swale. The Oracle is a small piece of art depicting a woman holding a crescent moon that is made out of white moon stone. It is believe to be in Freystrand which is why the wagon of Eshara idols was stolen. We explain that if it were indeed in that wagon it would stand out as the Eshara that is worshipped in farming cultures is nearly always depicted with a sun, not a moon. Crimson Smile suspects one of her generals may have acquired it for themselves and instructs the bandit to go look.
As the bandit leaves, she has him take the other man to the cell near the door. Amos convinces her to let him go since she was given blood in the wineskins. She agrees on the condition that we help find the Moon Stone Oracle. If we do not find it within 2 weeks, Freystrand and it's citizens will pay dearly for it. We are given the option of either returning the Oracle or finding information on her sister's location and she will release the wagon of Eshara idols to us. After we leave the cave we meet up with Eliwick, Bash, and Rivikyn to discuss what happened and where we should go. We determine that the god Kaelthyl is much more likely to be who the Oracle depicts. With this in mind, heading to Monta is our best bet of finding the Oracle. Freystrand also needs our help though as we know from the sending stones. The discussion remains where we go first and how do we get there. Our options are to cut across the countryside and head straight to Monta in 2 days, follow the trails and roads around the East side of the mountain in 3 days, or return to Freystrand in 2 days followed by 2-3 days to travel to Monta from there.
Ultimately we decide to head to Freystrand first as we have already promised help and might find more information there. The wagon of idols and the empty wagon we hide in the woods are retrieved and we return to Freystrand at full speed, arriving in a little over 1 day. We stop at the mill on our way into town to gather the wood for the festival.