Editing Group Two Plot Hooks (section)

===Bargle and Elwyn===
*"My people, we are not from here. We are from the West, from the mountains. One day a wizard appeared in our camp, promising us money, and horses -- for there is one food we crave above all others, and it is horseflesh -- and glory if we would move to this cave, to this place. He paid us in the shiny coin you took, and bade us wait for instructions. If we did as we were told, he would reward us with more coin, and more horses. The wizard's name . . . the wizard's name is . . . '''Bargle'''. He was here a short number of nights ago, when the two sun-lovers were snooping around. He was here and he killed them and then left us, after giving us more coin and the woman priest's horse." (Snee, Goblin)

*"The wizard was here that day to bring a chest full of treasure for us to guard. The chest is for some cleric, El-something, who should be sending someone to pick it up in the next few cycles" (Snee, Goblin)

*"Bargle is not a mage to be trifled with! He was at one time an advisor to Baron Hendricks, the Duke's cousin and ruler of the Black Eagle Barony; he may still be, for all I know, though I had heard they had a falling out. There had been rumors that Bargle is in the area. I hope this is not true, for our sakes! Not only is he one of the most powerful wizards in Karameikos, he is totally without scruples or morals and is as cunning as a fox!" (Father Varis)

*"First, the cleric. I believe the name the goblin heard was Elwyn. '''Elwyn the apostate''', banished from the church for, among other things, practicing with edged weapons. I have heard tales the Apostate has turned to darker gods, and is building a fastness some distance to the west of here. If Bargle and Elwyn were to join forces it is bad news indeed.
Now. What I am about to tell you shall not leave this room. Few know that one of the Ducal mints is located in Threshold. It is a well kept, closely guarded secret. But almost two months ago a shipment of coin, bound for Specularum, was intercepted and stolen, the guards and caravan drovers slain. Twenty thousand pieces of electrum were stolen. It is possible that, given the evidence collected from the goblins, Bargle was involved with this.
We shall have to put a price on Bargle's head, I see. For the murder of Aleena and this young lad, if nothing more. I sense a storm cloud ahead. First this news you bring, then the discovery the Iron Ring -- a vicious gang of assassins, thieves and slavers working out of the Black Eagle Barony -- is present in our town. For, you see, a band of adventurers (much like yourselves, come to think of it) recently cleared the Old Mill and discovered what turned out to be almost twenty corpses, the remains of many of those gone missing over the past two years. All of them, to a man, connected to the Thieves Guild. It appears the Iron Circle had moved in, and was conducting a brutal campaign to wrest control of crime in this town from the Guild. Not that I approve of thievery, but at least the Guild had the decorum to be . . . civilized about it.
Keep your eyes and ears open. If you see anything that might help, bring it to us. And please, if you encounter Bargle, do not engage him. He is a potent warlock and a cunning adversary." (Father Varis)

*"I know nothing of this cleric, but Bargle I know. I have actually met him once, back when he was the Baron's official vizier. Now he ... I don't know ... freelances might be the best term for what he does. I had heard he and the Baron had a falling out, and the Baron was going to have him executed, but Bargle somehow convinced him not to. Not that the Baron has anyone capable of killing him, at least not if Bargle is aware of it. He is one of the most powerful mages in the Karameikos, and one of the most twisted. There are tales the Iron Ring is in Threshold -- I'm sure Bargle must be involved, as the 'Ring operates with consent of the Baron." (Myraal)

*Little is known about Bargle outside of idle speculation and rumor: he is half-demon, or he has a demon for a familiar. He drinks the blood of children. And so forth. There is more information on Elwyn, who used to serves as a cleric in the town of Kelvin, some days south of Threshold. Various rumors connect the apostate to the theft of the "Bell of Chardastes", an artifact of the Traladaran church that vanished about the same time Elwyn did. It is rumored the cleric, in addition to experimenting with edged weapons, was trying to learn the spells of the magic-user, an act of unthinkable heresay. It is reported that Elwyn's fortress is located somewhere near the Highreach River, and that the cleric employs a number of humanoid troops in addition to a contingent of human followers.

*"Oh, the wizard forbade us, upon threat of an excrutiating death, to touch that chest. He paid us, or at least the chief, with a smaller chest full of shiny coins. The chief has that chest, still. I know not when the cleric was to arrive; they were to have gotten it without bothering us. I think they were to arrive within a week." (Snee, Goblin)

*'''Bargle's chest for Elwyn:'''
**5000 of the newly minted electrum coins.
**A letter that reads:
"E-

Here is everything you requested. The tiara once belonged to Petra; while not one of the greater artifacts -- or even magical, for that matter -- it should serve for what you intend to do. The map leads to the valley in which the Eye of Arik resides. The foolish residents do not know what they have, or why the Eye was placed there for safe-keeping. While the valley is under Immortal protection, I plan to move against it by midsummer. The spells are, while arcane in nature, hopefully close enough to clerical magic to work for your purposes. The dagger, as well.

You know the cost.

B"
*A map that shows what appears to be a valley in the southeast of the mountains of Karameikos.
*A scroll with two arcane spells.
*A potion a dagger, and a tiara studded with greenish stones.