The The Bosco Family and The Zanatta Clan have long been rivals. Now, tensions are climbing with each family accusing the other of sabotage, curses, and worse...you know, the usual. The The Council of Five  planning for the upcoming Harvest Festival is at an impasse as the family matriarchs are on the Council and are refusing to attend to Council business until concessions are made. Exasperated and overworked, Council administrator Nencio Barthol has put out the call for "Community Resources with Quillpond's Welfare in Mind" to strike an accord between the families with "as much expedience and as little bloodshed as feasible."

Investigate. Negotiate. Cooler heads must prevail for the sake of Quillpond and the Harvest Festival.

Session Notes

The job is simple on paper - make peace between the Boscos and the Zanattas. No harming, threatening, or attacking either family. We get 10sp for our efforts and more if there is peace between the families when we're done.

Our first stop is the Bosco Ranch. Matilda Bosco gives us the rundown of what she suspects is a curse laid on her lands by the Zanattas - spoiling milk, dead cattle, an overabundance of rats in the grain. Investigating this, we find a hole in the dairy cellar and filth around the lips of the milk containers. We suspect this is the cause of the spoilage. We patch the hole and investigate the rest of the farm. A multitude of rats are in the grain, far beyond what should exist, and muddy paw-prints lead towards the river that divides the Bosco and Zanatta lands. An examination of the most recently slain cattle confirms it was some sort of predator.

Having learned all we can at the Boscoe Ranch, we leave for the Zanattas. Along the way, we find an area used by the children to play - makeshift forts and such. A beast has made its home here, seemingly lured by freshly plucked chickens. We slay the beast and Grummen Boneflowers takes its head as a prize and proof.

Nearing the bridge, we discover the river had dried to a muddy trickle and monsters have taken residence under the burned-out remains of the bridge that once connected the lands. Lorsan Brightwood and Grummen Boneflowers convince the creatures to give us no trouble and we proceed to the Zanattas.

Things are similar here - their fruit is spoiling at an alarming rate and their cider is foul. We notice shady behavior on the part of the farmhands and take one to a quiet place for... questioning. While we do learn the farmhands are egging on the feud, it doesn't explain the problems with spoilage. During these talks, we see a creature scurry off. Giving chase, we are able to slay it before it slips into the underbrush and find ourselves with a very odd sight - a were-rat.

Suspecting these strange vermin might be the cause of our other troubles, we head in the direction it ran. We find an underground grotto filled with were-rats, capable of rudimentary speech. They are the cause of the other problems at the farms, trying to keep them fighting and not producing. This keeps the mill out of use, which prevents the were-rats home from being flooded. Extracting a promise from the were-rats that they will leave the farms be if we can prevent their home from flooding, the party complete a bit of civil engineering to prevent the river from flowing into the grotto's opening.

Showing the dead were-rat and slain beast to both families, we're able to reconcile things between them. Grummen even goes so far as to rebuild the bridge burned by Matilda in her anger.

Rewards

In addition to the Items, we each received a cask of Zannata cider, 2gp, 18sp.