The standing board of work available out of Marin’s Hold. Two boards have been posted so far. Jobs the party declined do not vanish — several came back worse.
Board 1 — Before Ravenloft
1. The Count’s Invitation — TAKEN
Each of the party received an embossed invitation to a dinner party thrown by a Count Demetrius: scented black envelopes, sealed with melted gold, the heraldry a black raven with wings spread. Each letter addressed its recipient by name and named a specific day and time to be waiting outside the city gates.
The instructions were to wash and to wear “as fine raiment as is reasonably attainable in such a sodden backwater.” Fifteen gold coins were enclosed to buy clothing, stamped with the same raven. The letter promised a pleasant evening of hospitality and entertainment, and said the Count needed help with a family curse and would share his riches with anyone who could assist.
Nobody in Marin’s Hold had heard of Count Demetrius, or knew of any nearby mansion or castle.
Outcome: Castle Ravenloft. See Sessions 1–3.
2. The Hooded Figures — declined; reposted worse
Strange hooded figures attacking outlying villages. Survivors said they fled toward the ruined Bittermold Estate. High Inquisitor Morvath offering a reward for their eradication.
3. The Troubles at Orlaine — declined; reposted worse
Refugees arriving daily from the Village of Orlaine. People disappearing, crops failing, cows drying up. Marin’s Hold stands to lose one of its primary food sources. Castellan Vane offering a reward to investigate. See Orlaine.
This is Ulfgar Kegbreath’s home village — the one that banished him, and where the priest who raised him still lives.
4. Mathilda’s Book — declined; she vanished
Mathilda, a hedge witch of some renown, sent a raven asking to speak with the party. She believed the recent demon attacks originated from The Schola in the Woods, an ancient school of white magic undisturbed for generations, cursed long ago and taboo for witches ever since. She offered a reward to recover a specific book of fey magic from it, so that she could help protect the city and prove herself to the High Inquisitor.
5. Brakenhoorg — declined; still open
The dwarven settlement of Brakenhoorg, long thought lost to whatever cataclysm unleashed the demons on the Gloaming. A troupe of dwarven miners who sold iron to Marin’s Hold reported finding a gatehouse in the northern mountains, heard the moaning of their long-dead kin, and fled. Treasure presumed.
Board 2 — On the party’s return
Posted for the party’s return to Marin’s Hold from Ravenloft.
1. Bittermold — escalated
Refugees now arriving at Marin’s Hold itself, from the outlying farms. The hooded figures are kidnapping people and pouring barrels of a foul-smelling substance over the fields and into the animal feed. A survivor was found clutching the seal of the Bittermold Estate, torn from someone’s clothing. Morvath is still offering the bounty. The Church and the Reeve are now worried about winter food, with the harvest not all in.
What changed: raiding became deliberate poisoning of the food supply, and the estate is no longer just a direction people ran — there is physical evidence.
2. Orlaine — escalated
Food shipments from Orlaine have stopped. The last messenger sent did not return. Same reports of disappearances, failing crops, dry cows. Castellan Vane’s reward stands.
What changed: the village has gone silent, and Marin’s Hold has lost the food it was worried about losing. Ulfgar has not heard any of it.
3. Mathilda’s Disappearance — TAKEN
Mathilda the Mauve has gone missing. Villagers complain they have nobody to get basic remedies from anymore. Investigate her disappearance.
The party chose this one.
4. Brakenhoorg — unchanged, still open
Reposted verbatim. The gatehouse in the northern mountains, the moaning of the long-dead kin, the presumed treasure.
5. Nora Greymoss’s Ring — open
Nora Greymoss, the Reeve’s unrecognized bastard daughter, snuck out alone on a mushroom foraging trip to surprise her father with a stew of his favourites. She fell through the forest floor into some kind of structure, escaped, and later realised she had lost her mother’s ring. She recalls several old stone statues of knights near the place. She is offering a fat emerald for its recovery.
In town — jobs picked up in Session 4
Not posted on the board; offered to the party in person on their return.
Finch’s salt pork — TAKEN (Brielle)
Finch Three-Fingers’s importer, bringing salt pork upriver from the Southern Kingdoms, is a week overdue; his finger and signet ring turned up in a carp. 100 gold, and squares the Heart of the Raven.
The Bittermold keep — TAKEN (Enki)
Castellan Vane: 100 gold for actionable information on cloaked figures near the old Bittermold Estate keep.
The Threshold of Twilight — TAKEN (Enki)
High Inquisitor Morvath: recover a book of foul magic from an ancient temple, unread and untouched, sealed in his lead coffer. 50 gold.
Silver for the wall — standing offer
The Young Smith pays top price for silver, for the Inquisitors’ silver arrows.
The student underground — asked
Egrid’s vision: lay to rest the soul of Jane, a student, trapped underground.
The moonlight tincture — asked
Ysolde Brack: find the moonlight-flower tincture Mathilda made for her sickly granddaughter.
Nora Greymoss — still open
The Reeve mentioned that his bastard keeps begging him to send someone into the woods. The party did not visit her.
The party’s choice: follow Mathilda’s trail west along the Fairy Path first.
What the boards say together
Four of the five jobs on Board 1 went untaken, and three of those four came back worse. The two food-supply jobs — Bittermold and Orlaine — have both escalated from “troubling” to “Marin’s Hold may not eat this winter,” and they are converging on the same outcome from opposite sides of the village. The witch who wanted to investigate the source of the demon attacks is now herself missing.
Only Brakenhoorg is unchanged, because the dead do not get worse.
Open Questions
- Nora Greymoss is the Reeve’s unrecognized bastard. Her mother is unknown — but Nora has her ring.
- Morvath and Vane both post bounties at Marin’s Hold. Neither has met the party, and neither’s authority relative to the Reeve is established.
- Are Bittermold’s poisoners and Orlaine’s blight the same operation?
Compiled from the job board postings at Marin’s Hold. Jobs are recorded as posted, not as verified.