This was the second one shot that I had planned to help get the group used to playing again at the table and reintroduce them to the world and adventure. We had a character at the table named Eoghan whose wife and child died over a year ago under strange circumstances at the character's home while he was out on a hunt with his father. He blames himself for not being there, his dad for guilting him to going out when he didn't want to, and swore a blood oath to avenge his wife and son's murder, hoping to discover in time who or what did it and bring them to justice.
This one shot would take the party back a year or so to that fateful night and reveal (in some way) what happened to Eoghan's family.
It was very fun! and Follows:
You are all minor members of a thieves guild in Stivil. This former Randari City is situated about a day or so travel north of Erylond in what has been unofficially referred to as Treaty Lands. Not specifically deeded to the Firvinir, the Orcish tribes that have eschewed city living, but definitely not part of the Traderoads that encircle the major hubs and locales of Rand. Perhaps 5,000 souls make their home here, with a bit under 2/3rds that number living in the city proper, the rest in the lands around. Population is 30% orcish, 30% human, 25% dwarven, with a smattering of the other races.
Situated on a natural rise, the walls of Stivil were breached over a century ago and the city never fixed the damage, incorporating the fallen walls and holes into the current layout and design – many of the easy stones have been long taken away for building elsewhere.
The fields around the city are home to flocks of sheep, goats, a smattering of bristly pigs/boars; with the primary food being grown being winter wheat, rye, potatoes, turnips, carrots, yams, and onion. There are plenty of natural growths of trees in the area to support local building but little left over for export. There is some stone masonry at the two larger quarries and that generates some income for the town.
There is also lots of hunting in the Passian Hills and wolves and bears are the obvious predators.
The big draw and livelihood of Stivil is the former Orcish arena that has been lovingly repaired, maintained, and now referred to simply as the Coliseum. With stands capable of seating 5,000, it is one of the few fully functioning fighting arenas still standing in the entire Randari area. The entire city of Stivil is laid out around this all important hub in 6 districts: The Lord’s District to the north, then East View (Upper and Middle class), then the Trades (Trades and industrial district), then Leeward (LC Arena District), then Westhome (LC Residential), and then finally Merchants Block.
Because of the Coliseum and the draw it brings, many of the industries and amenities in Stivil are geared around it. Hunters and slavers, fighting guilds, animal trainers, leather workers, smiths, armorers, gambling houses, hospice, and a host of all sorts of needed people and skills.
But like everything that involves, there is also the dark underbelly. Gambling houses, loansharks, money lenders, slavers…they are all there as well. There are 3 Thieves Guilds that operate in the area: The Silver Nobles (handles betting and wages, gambling – primarily from the visiting dignitaries as well as the local gentry), The Goats (lay claim to working the Arena and Merchants Block for opportunity – LC thieves and cutpurses), and not really a guild, but the Leather Chains (Leeward area, handle the interplay between the Arena and the local suppliers for the Arena games and the participants).
You are all members of the Goats. Each section is referred to as a “Cel” and is run by a leader known as the “Finger”. There are 5 cels and each cel answers to a master thief known as “the Hand”. And word from the Hand, is that they have been having issues with various animals that have been brought in to the Coliseum for some of the games. Wolves are a popular staple but some of the animals being brought in are rather more aggressive than their appearance and demeanor would dictate. Over the last 3 months or so, the Goats have lost 6 of the last 9 series bets made, not to mention some of the personal bets wagers on betting against the lupine fights. It has cost the guild some coin and prestige.
Tracking down where these difficult and aggressive animals came from, it was discovered that a known supplier, Dylan Bowyer, is the point man for these specimens. Dylan is a difficult man to speak with: curt, rude, and disinterested; he has rebuffed the Goats attempts to work with him. He supplied his animals directly to Master Loring and the Leather Chains and attempts to sway him have gotten nowhere.
At the last games, the Hand had advised your Cel due to the uncertainty, to not try and take any bets for the animal fights. However, your group, under the leadership of Caros, AKA “Ripjack”, a former arena fighter and champion, had all decided the risk was worth it, since other Cels were not taking bets from the populace. You did, hoping to make a few dozen commons for your efforts each, but the bets that you guys had proctored did not pan out in your way and you have found yourselves actually in debt to your Hand and the Guild. Like a lot. To the tune of 500 silver nobles!!
Your losses were covered by the guild and you were instructed to earn enough coin to cover all your lost bets as a crew within the next 24 days, or you would be given an indentured mark and ankle cuff and would have to work as a menial for the guild for the next year and a day to pay off your debt.
So your party took stock of the situation and came together. No one wanted to be effectively enslaved. Your cel was composed of Ripjack, the human champion and leader. Sandra Sunflower, a half-orcish druid and her enlightened companion, a tom cat referred to as “Fool”. Deimos Yamderth, a young half-orcish tribesman from the wilds of Rand. Liam Fletcher, archer, bowyer, and aspiring thief. The dwarf Starhawk Locksmith whose cover is that he is actually a locksmith in Stivil, working with the Cel to further supplement his income. Hawk the Animal, a half-orish warrior and occasional guard in Stivil. Jesse Underfoot, a hairfoot Halfling who had finished her stripes as a novitiate magister a few years ago. And Rona Stoneweather, dwarven Fighter and mason, and definitely one of the cel’s heavies.
Over the next few weeks, your cel made some attempt to perhaps lean on Bowyer but found him to be unswayed by your approach, almost threatening. You made attempts to catch him at market, at work, gatehouses, and even at his home. All to no effect. And finally at some point a counterpart from the Leather Chains came and advised your cel through your Hand to “back the fuck off”.
Despondent, you agreed to do so, but in private, there was much head shaking. You guys are in debt, and it’s going to take time to get out of it. You tossed around the idea of maybe going after his family, perhaps to lean on them to get him to “make good” on your loss OR to give your crew a heads up of what animal he might be bringing in next. If you can get the tag number of whatever wolf he brings in, you can hand pick and tailor the bets you would take at the next games to support only bets that had that tagged wolf lose, and keep the betted amounts. This is not without some risk though, to your guild as well as the Leather Chains. It seems like a dangerous idea as his family lives in Stivil proper and it was sort of implied by the Leather Chains that his family is also not to be touched. Unsanctioned jobs would result in your guild protection being revoked and all of you facing Baron Skudridd’s justice.
Frustrated and getting desperate, your crew thinks they have found a way around this. His youngest son goes on trapping expeditions with him now and again, a skilled hunter named Eogahn Bowman. The two men have been known to have a difficult relationship, but do often go on the longer hunts and traps together. Eoghan lives on a 2 acre homestead west of Stivil at the lower reaches of the Passian Hills, not too far from Falcon Watch Ruins, a former Randari watchpost, and has a young wife and son. The thought is that your crew waits for the time when Eogahn and Dylan go out hunting and trapping one night and your crew pays a visit to the young wife, Saoirse, and kid, and threaten them. The plan is rather open ended but your Hand has gotten more curt and short with your crew, and the word is that if you cannot come up with the shortfall funds in the next 3 days (the end of the 4 weeks), that your freedom is forfeit for a year plus.
You normally don’t operate outside of the city proper, and the thought of going far afield is both exciting as well as nerve wracking. But tonight is the night. One of you has kept watch and Dylan was seen meeting with Eogahn at the Elder Bowman’s home on Wall Street in Westhome. Giving them a good hour to get out of town, your crew has gathered up your gear and started to walk west outside the broken walls of Stivil. The homesteads closer to the city were in good repair with well defined fences and walls, but as you’ve gone further afield, they’ve become smaller, less neat, poorer repair, and in many places – either unlit or maybe abandoned.
It’s different at night but some 3 miles from Stivil after walking increasingly uphill, you have finally come upon Eogahn’s Homestead. There are some sparks and light coming from the chimney of the house –a large wood and sod construction with wooden slate roof. A small barn and chicken coop is to the side of the main house. A clothes line could be seen strung up, empty now. A wooden target well worn and in less than the best of shape sits on a tree maybe 30 paces from the house. It’s quiet, and a dim light could be seen coming from cracks in the shutters.
The thought was that we walk the property and see if there’s a back door of some sort. It was pointed out the house is made of wood…dirt, and sod. It’s long strips of sod and grass laid over a frame. Either way, the walk went on. Once it was cleared that there was no back door, the next thought was to check the barn. So two of us crept up to the barn and looked around, using only the moonlight for now. It was a single stall barn, small mound of hay, loft above, and the tools were old and peasant quality, but in good repair. No animals were in. So we came back together and discussed the next options. Sandra and Jesse were going to stay by the property edge, which was a mound of dirt about a foot and a half tall in front of a ditch about the same depth, running the entire perimeter. The rest of the group crept closer
There was a porch made of hewn planking, the middle section of the planking had been cracked in the recent past, fairly dirty as well. But we were at the door and the party opened the door, ready to intimidate Saoirse.
But they had a different problem.
She was dead, her back broken against the hard frame of the bed, red hair a tangled mess, face bruised as if she had been punched, brutally slain. Sightless eyes staring up. Blood was everywhere. The child’s crib, Duncan, had been thrown hard against the far wall, laying upside down, a lone infant’s leg, unmoving, was seen sticking out of the wreckage.
The party was shaken, and the decision was to better look around. Rona, Starhawk, and Liam all volunteered to check out the house. Ripjack, Deimos, and Hawk all were going to go back to the barn area. From the edge of the property, Jesse and Sandra were concerned with all the activity going on, but decided to stay in place for now. There was a growing ground fog forming as the night moved on, the cool air mixing with the heat from the warm ground.
Rona was checking out the main room, noting that a few partial prints were visible. Maybe twice the size of a man, unshod, and heavy. Dirty as well. She went out to the porch, and noted the break and dirty section of the porch matched what she had seen within. Liam was at the kitchen area, noting that the stew was still hot, and the bowl at the table was still warm, almost steaming. He ate, it was delicious. Starhawk could tell she had tried to fight back, some flesh was under her nails. There were also some thick dark brown hairs, maybe 6” long, that were out of place, loose, tangled in her own hair. He did however, check out her wedding ring, sliding the silver band with the amethyst chip off her finger, and placing it in his pouch for now.
The others were looking over the barn, entering this time, looking about. Deimos could tell that there was a heat source in the loft above, something heavy had been in one place long enough to heat up the boards it was sitting on, showing a spreading “orange” color above. The pantomimed what he saw and they all fanned out, but couldn’t see from where they were. Ripjack volunteered to go up and look around, checking out the ladder and then proceeded to climb.
Meanwhile Sandra was getting a bit concerned. Fool had wandered off and had not come back. She and Jesse entered the property and were following what signs that the druid could see, making their way in an wandering path in the direction of the barn.
And then we heard a terrible loud roar from the loft. Ripjack screamed as a huge hairy hard reached out and grabbed him by the head, dragging the fighter into the loft and then there was much shouting. Deimos and Hawk both ran out of the barn, slamming the door closed, surprising Sandra and Jesse who were there. “Back! Back to Stivil!” The rest of the group came out of the Bowman house, looking around.
And then we heard ANOTHER ferocious and answering roar. Coming EAST of where we were, replying to the one in the barn – and between us and town. “Falcon’s Watch!” Liam called out and the group turned to run west, pelting across the ground as we heard something smash from the barn and Ripjack’s broken body came pinwheeling out of the loft door and smashed into the chicken coop, landing bonelessly and very dead.
There was some jockeying on our part as we ran off, Deimos snatching the Halfling, Jesse, right off the ground, and placing her on his shoulders as the barbarian poured on the speed, racing off hard. He passed most of the rest of the group, including Rona who had a good and steady pace already established. The roaring continued behind us, slowly getting closer as we charged on. Deimos and Jesse, then Rona and Starhawk, then Hawk, then Liam and Sandra in the back.
Liam felt a stitch in his breathing as he ran on, stumbling a bit, but Sandra was in the same boat. The line of the party was growing longer and longer, Deimos now maybe a hundred yards ahead of the back of the group. The barbarian saw the dark outline of Falcon’s Watch up ahead. The keep was at least 2 stories tall, maybe 60’ square, and was situated along the back of a cliff. The main door was closed and yelling, the half orc had his arms outstretched as he hit the building, blasting the door open, and ran on in. There was another set of double doors beyond this one and a few rusty halberds were on the floor. He helped Jesse down as he looked around with infravision, seeing nothing that was raising an alarm.
Liam was outpacing Sandra, the druid gritting her teeth as she slowed more and more, aching and in pain. And at maybe 40’ ahead of her, he heard her scream anew and more roaring RIGHT BEHIND HIM! The party found new reserves of strength and poured it on, straining to make it to the keep as Sandra was beaten to death and eventually silenced.
Rona and Starhawk charged in. Starhawk looked over the main door, the locking bar had been snapped some time ago, and the “U” bolts set in the door were warped a bit out of shape. But if they could get the door closed, he could try and brace it shut with the halberd shafts. “Come on!” they called as Hawk the Animal stumbled through the main and then second door. Jesse was already getting a candle lit as we were gathering what was needed to seal the place up. “Run Liam!”
The thief was almost sobbing, he could hear the monster, whatever it was, was close again. Too close. Arms out ahead of him, he passed through the outer doors as the group shoved them closed and set the halberds within the frame. Just in time as SOMETHING heavy hit it from the other side. And then hit it again. And again. And again> More roaring followed, furious and angry, and now repeated bashing and smashing at the main door. They all filed into the main hall beyond, and shut the second door here, Starhawk shoving a brace lock in place, the group settling in and getting their breath back after the made dash.
We took stock of ourselves. Ripjack was slain, Sasha was slain. No one from the guild knew where we were going, and we were the last people at Eogahn Bowman’s homestead and had witnessed the brutal after effects of his wife and son’s murder but something or somethings that had now chased them another mile WEST, further away from town, and now they were trapped in the crumbling walls of the former Randari Ympire’s aged keep.
We hoped to wait it out for the monster or whatever to leave. There was thought it might be a werewolf, but the moon was half way and waxing, so there were some dissenting opinions. With Jesse’s candle lit, Starhawk did the same, lighting a candle, and then Liam took his lantern out, lighting that as well. With plenty of light, we looked around. The halls were about 5’ wide, and to the east some 4 paces away was a door, to the west the same was another door, and the passage also turned right, heading north. We fanned out, spreading out to get a lay of the place, everyone heading to different doors to listen and check out.
The north passage eventually turned a bit, revealing a door on the west wall, and at the end of the passage, a door at the end of the hall on the north wall. Liam went there, Jesse the closer door, Starhawk the first west door, and Deimos the eastern one. Hawk and Rona moved about to help as need be, Rona heading with Deimos. Deimos revealed a former guard post. The floor had collapsed at some point in the past, dropping almost 2/3rds of the room down. The ceiling also leaked and there was about 3’ of water in the collapsed section – where a single bed was floating there!
Bed?! Ah! Not wanting to be slain at the bed, Deimos goosed it closer and looked in the water – where a statue lying on its side of a Viking maiden could be seen under the scummy surface. So the half-orc clambered on the waterlogged bed and pushed off from the edge. Where the bed sank immediately and he was standing on his tiptoes on the mattress, looking down at the statue. Rona was watching, eyes peeled. There was a door at the other end of the room, but Deimos was fashioning a loop out of his length of leather thong, and was using that to hopefully catch one of the statues’ hands. It was not easy going.
Starhawk had listened to his room, heard nothing, and then opened the door – showing a bedroom with 2 rotting and mouldy beds at the far end of the chamber, the floor swept clean. “Na ah,” he muttered, closing the door and shaking his head.
Jesse’s door was opened to show a guard post, about half way across the room it was divided by a rough tapestry hanging from hooks on the ceiling. Not wanting to walk in, he closed the door and joined Liam who had called him from the north door.
This room was bigger, and there were leering orcish faces painted and carved on the walls, each one maybe 4’ tall. There was another door also on the south wall of this room, and Jesse felt it joined up with the guard room she had seen on the other side. Hawk was now at that open door peering into the guard room from the south, when the north door was opened.
And hanging on the curtain, was a 3’ long 8 legged monstrosity with the front 2 legs crab legs! It skittered down and began to head for the Halfling, Jesse shouting, “Crab Spider!” and slamming the door closed. The spider, unable to go that way, turned south and ran under the tapestry, shocking Hawk who saw it coming. He slammed his door closed and gave a curse, “That was a Crab! With Spider legs!!
“No, it was a spider with crab claws,” Jesse corrected.
“Spider legs!”
“Crab claws!!”
Deimos had limited luck on getting the statue lifted, the thong broke. So eventually he reached down into the water and hoisted the statue upright. It was pretty rusted looking, but once it was looked over, was pretty much nothing special. “Damn,” the half orc said, getting off the bed and heading over to the far door. Hawk had joined them as well as Starhawk, Rona listening to the north door out of the room.
Meanwhile Jesse and Liam had gone back to the orc face room and were giving the area a closer look over. It was here that on the north wall, that Liam found a stud in one of the carved face’s nose! It could be pressed and maybe a section of the carving would open up. Jesse and him were concerned. This was an outside wall, and what if it opened up to the outside? Could the werewolf, or whatever, get in? Eventually the decision was to open in. Jesse stepped back and Liam pressed the stud, releasing the catch, and opened the face.
And an orange stained gas under pressure blasted out, catching the thief in the hair, face, neck, chest, and both arms. He could feel himself getting woozy and (failed save) slumped over, just weaker for the experience. But once it was identified that that was all the issue was, Jesse came over and the two of them looked within. It wasn’t a pass through, but a hollow instead. Shallow and shelved, there were stacks of copper coins, each one 10 high. 40 stacks of them. And 3 stacks of silver nobles. And below that, a closed vial with a faintly shimmering blue potion within. The two friends smiled and split up the 400 nobles and 30 silver amongst themselves, Liam daring to crack the vial and take the shortest sip before closing it up. He felt…good! His sore tooth wasn’t bugging him for a second, and everything tasted minty. Assuming it was healing, he pocketed it for now. At this point they heard the sound of hitting and smashing coming from where the rest of the group was, so shutting the door, they ran off to catch up.
Rona had listened at the door, hearing nothing, and was going to open when the Fighter stopped and chuckled. “That’s just what they’d be expecting us to do,” she muttered. She then took out her hand axe, hoisted it back, and proceeded to beat at the door. She grunted and hit, Starhawk joining in, taking out his Sickle and hacking at the door. The old orcish portal was tough though and refused to give way. So Hawk took out his 20 lb war axe and stepped around Starhawk, beating and bashing at the door.
It took some time before the Half Orc and the Dwarf managed to finally break the door down, dropping it to the floor and then high fiving each other as they peered in…at a passage that went off to the west, ending at a door. The group all convened, including the human and Halfling, neither one saying anything about what they had discovered, but Deimos noting that Liam was now stained bright orange along his top half – and said nothing. “Huh, humans,” he said, shaking his boots dry and joining the rest of the party at the hall.
Starhawk had picked up the door knob from the floor, hoping to see what lock was on it that had stymied the party…but the door had NO lock on it. And the door was never locked. But the two of them had beaten at the door for a few minutes until it broke…”Ugh,” he grunted and let the knob fall.
The party went down the hall to the end, listened, and then it was another foot raised and smashing through! Passing into the hall beyond, and then through the NEXT door, where the Animal picked himself up and looked around, A small office, but all the furnishings in here had been broken up leaving only splinters and the odd wooden bit of garbage. In the hall, there was a door on the south and the passage went north and then turned east. So Hawk and Starhawk checked over the south door before opening it to show a small office with a battered looking chest on the south wall. Starhawk walked in to check it out.
And a 20# mass of viscous green slime dropped from the ceiling, hitting the dwarf in the head, neck, and across his back! And it began to hiss, bubble, and steam, burning the dwarf as it proceeded to EAT him!. “AH!!! GET IT OFF!!!!”
Hawk held the group back a second, advising them. “It’s green slime! It needs to be burned off! Don’t touch it, or it’ll eat you too!!”
Liam upended his flask of oil on it and using Starhawk’s candle, set it alight. Flames raced across both of them, the locksmith using his knife to cut his armor straps, letting his studded leather armor fall free, the larger portion of the slime going with it. But he still had a decent amount on his head. Deimos and Rona moved passed and went north, and Hawk tried to shove Starhawk further in the room to be eaten by the slime! But it was Jesse who used the last of her candle to slowly burn the green slime patches off of Starhawk’s head until the dwarf was no longer in danger of being consumed alive. We took him out of the room as his armor was being eaten, and shut it behind us. “Fuck that chest.”
Meanwhile, Liam, Deimos, and Rona, had gone down the hall, turned left, and then left again, the hall heading west, with 2 doors on the north wall, one local, one at the end. Liam volunteered to go down and listen, the thief heading to the door, ready to hear when the entire wall at the end of the hall slid UP and two goblins, in a motley of mismatched clothes and bits of armor, one armed with an almost 4’ length of wood sharpened to a wicked point, the other with a stout wooden club, gibbered and snarled! Liam turned to flee, but was stabbed in his side by the stick wielder!
They ran down the hall after the fleeing thief but Rona and Deimos were there. Deimos had his trident up and ready as one of them HURLED his club at the half orc! Hitting him in the chin and mouth!
Rona dodged the frantic stab by the stick wielder, wrested his weapon away from him, then reversed it and SLAMMED it into the goblin, breaking it off as 2 feet of it passed through the greenskin’s body, killing him. Deimos stepped around and expertly thrust his trident through the 2nd goblin’s face, neck, and chest, puncturing its lung and driving it to crash to the floor, crumbled and dead. As the goblin screams died out, the barbarian used his foot as a brace to pull his trident free and then the group shut the secret door after noting it was pretty empty except for a section in the back the goblins had been using as a toilet. And a cup hanging from a hook on the wall – that Hawk shook his head at and said with all confidence, “Don’t touch it. It’s piss.”
And that was the first half of the Eoghan’s Family once shot.
