DM: Jerry McCoy
Players: Ben Longman, Demian Kendall, Mark Phagan, Laura Quinn, Sean Nittner
System: AD&D 1st Editioner forces were at work.
Cleaning up
Our first battle won (likely only because of Niv’s sleep spell) we reaped the rewards of our valor.
- Underbrush completed his animal friendship spell and when the hour had passed he had a new companion Muckborn, a giant frog as big as he was!
- Dorf harvested legs from the fallen frogs (10 rations) qand inside the stomach of one he found a topaz worth 100 gold!
- Wisp inspected the standing tower and the crumbling wall for signs of habitation but found little.
- Malachite looked for wood that Smyth could use for making shields but none of the wood on the outside of the keep was sturdy enough. He did spot a ripple in the water that might have been a creature or perhaps it was just swamp gasses.
- Niv inspected the path to the keep and found wagon tracks with deep divots at the entrance of the keep. The wagon had stopped here.
Never a bore
Our return to Hommlet was interrupted by two wild boars who burst onto the path snorting and rooting about.
Wisp disappeared into the woods on the side of the path. Already perfectly concealed in the shadows, he nevertheless covered himself in mud for camouflage.
Underbrush cast a spell to Speak with Animal and introduced himself to Jim and Bill, the boars they encountered. Jim didn’t like being called a boar, he mistook it for being a bore, but after that misunderstanding was overcome we made fast friends, or at least prevented a fight. The said that they couldn’t remember when others had passed by the path, but when they did they had an evil smell to them. Not like us, we smelled like mud, a decidedly good smell. “We may not eat you” they said as a farewell and called Dorf “little bore” which Underbrush took as a compliment but Dorf wasn’t keen about.
Hommlet awaits
Upon returning to town we split up to tend to our affairs.
Underbrush and Dorf split off from the party and talked some about their past. Dorf left the dwarves out of boredom and Underbrush reveled he was jealous that Dorf could return if he wanted too as he couldn’t return home himself. They entered Jaroo’s grove and were soon greeted by Quinten prodding Dorf in the leg with his horn and soon after Jaroo. The Druid was happy we found the Moathouse and told us it was built as an extension of the Temple of Elemental Evil ages ago as the evil expanded through the land. Jaroo healed Dorf’s wounds and agreed to let Underbrush keep Muckborn (who had already disappeared in the trees) stay in her grove. She also told them to speak with the priests at the temple of St. Cuthbert on the hill.
Malachite, Niv, and Wisp went to the Inn and brokered a deal with Ostler, the proprietor, to trade our remaining frog legs (we had given two of them to the boars Jim and Bill) for dinner tonight. Niv also found Spugnor who was willing to perform his arcane rights to remove any curses that might remain on the frog legs, at no charge even! What a friend.
Underbrush, Dorf, and Malachite met up at the inn, and headed out for the temple, but made several discoveries along the way. They spotted the town hall, the tailor, the weaver, the stables, two barns, and Melubb the money changer who appraised the topaz Dorf found.
We crossed a shallow ford and made our way up to the temple of St Cuthbert. Outside acolytes were tending the land, but upon our arrival they called for their abbot, Canon Terjon, who ushered us into the church as soon as we started taking about fighting evil forces. “You never can be too careful. There may be eavesdroppers” he warned as he took us inside and told us that he would support our endeavors so long as we kept looking for the looming evil his order senses. He healed Malachite’s wounds, gave us three healing potions, and tossed Dorf a sack of 50 gold as further incentive to keep up our investigation.
Niv spent the evening trying to convince Spugnor to share with him the location of arcane tones and the tower on the west edge of town but Spugnor was more interested in talking about heavenly bodies.
Wisp watched as a fellow thief swindled a man out of a few coin. When the man lost his temper Ostler called barked him down “Zert, I told you to mind your temper. Go cool off!” The losing gambler (who thankfully didn’t realize he has been cheated) stormed off to his room in frustration.
Wisp complimented the swindler in Thieves Cant and asked how much money his little con rakes in. He responded “oh, about three gold—” before realizing he had been caught. The two thieves had a laugh and talked about their methods (for Wisp it was “punch and grab”), affiliations (thieves guilds), and rank (apprentice and robber respectively). The man introduced himself as “Charlie” and told Wisp to find him later if he wanted to learn more about possible sources of employment. He called the Inn the “milk mades room” which was code for neutral territory. Wisp dropped few silver on the table and told him “yours next drinks are on me”. Charlie smiled as he swept them up and thanked him “may all your marks be drowsy, and if you ever need help, look for me, Charlie the Robber”
We all had this piece of art in mind for Charlie.
Underbrush returned to the grove at night to visit Muckborn, but ended up spending the night with Jaroo instead. She offered him a tin of moss that could make a medicinal tea (1d3 hp) but when Underbush asked if there was anything she was in need of, she declined. Sensing possible interest the young Druid offered his companionship and though he envisioned an amorous encounter she instead asked him to help commune with nature. There were things in the area that she could not sense on her one and she wanted his aid to find them. Jaroo led Underbrush to the center of her grove where they found a Druid circle. While Underbrush only knew the secrets to enter out outer edges which glowed brown as he walked them, Jaroo walked the path into the 5th circle which glowed blue. They spent the night sensing all in the area, both what should and should not be. The animals (“Hey Jim, hey Bill”) and all other things in nature.
Return to the Moathouse
In the morning we set out for adventure. Malachite picked up a shield from Smyth (who gave him a discount, only 15 silver) and we walked out of town.
On the way we spotted the wizard from the tower who Niv tried to greet with a somatic gesture (indicating he was a magic user) but the wizard merely scoffed and returns to his tower.
At the gates of the Moathouse, underbrush heard a man call out “help me” and we all thought it was surely a trap. Underbrush cast Detect Snares and Pits and realized the drawbridge was rotting and they’d have to cross one at a time or it might collapse.
Inside a man greeted Underbrush with a drawn longbow “help me…take all your money”. They realized they knew each other and they opened fire. Underbrush pelted him hard with a sling bullet and the bandit returns fire with an arrow that he buried deep in the druid’s shoulder. The rest of the party advanced but they had to do so slowly lest the drawbridge collapse. Malachite fired two arrows. One was blocked by the rubble the bandit was hiding behind, but the second struck true and the bandit fell.
Weakened, Underbrush confirmed there were no more traps in the base of the keep before the spell expired. No traps just lots and lots of unexplored ruins.
