Youth Group! TOEE - Meet 12, 10/5/22

Daughter had a friend that she really wanted to join the group. So I gave him control of Elmo, the NPC for now. He liked the game and wanted to join us so having him roll up his own character to play along. 6 youths at the table - I use the term youths but they actually range from 19 to 21. Lol - that seems so young to me.

Follows:

We figured we’d go back down to the basement, knowing that we had 3 days to find Lareth and take care of him before the caravan returned, restocked the denizens here, and know what we’ve been doing and what we’ve done. This would then alert the agents in Hommlet and possibly (definitely!) explode the situation beyond our ability to affect any control and maybe (most likely!) cause undue hardships, attacks, and death in town.

We made our way back through the pantry, down to the basement, and then around again to the zombie and torture area. No dead bodies here. None. And at the column with the blown off secret door, we could see letters written on the inside of the metal, surrounding the opening. Trying to look at them made the party’s head spin, so a read magic followed where Albert let the group know it was a glyph and an alarm to something maybe 200’ south of here. Ok – not going that way.

We opted instead to go back through Lubash’s room, through the 2 secret doors, and down to the basement area again. The stairs were still clear and at the main split, we discussed options. With a few dissenters, we figured we’d go back to the bugbear area to check on two things: 1, were the bodies still there. And 2, the 3 doors we never checked out.

It took us a few minutes to walk slowly there to learn that indeed, the bodies were gone. Taken for now. Albert dropped a colored lights spell to help us out and we looked in the three doors on the east side of the room. The middle door was opened…and Ophelia took a spring loaded tree trunk to the chest, driving her backward and dropping her to the floor. As she regained her breath, we eyed the two remaining doors with care.

We opened the southern one first – finding the bugbear’s privy. Gagging and gasping, we slammed it closed, although there was a passing wonder if the goblinoids had hidden any treasure under all that feces? Didn’t matter – were NOT going to look. That left the northern door and Albert did that one, splashing water all over himself from a catch from the drip above. Pestle helped him out with a prestidigitation to dry off and the group sighed – nothing behind any one of them worth looking at. Ok, back down the hall for now.

It took us some time to make our way back to the split and then head south. The passage wove back and forth a bit but there was a torch lighting a large room and when we got close, saw it was shaped like the “E” room by the bugbears, except pointing south. A table and chairs was on the east well, a book shelf was on the north wall west of the door, and on the south wall at a blank space, besides 3 doors out of here, was a counter with a 6 count of pony kegs on a rack and some cabinets beneath. There was also an opening on the west wall – and we could hear gruff voices talking down there.

We went to look around quickly, Rowan going to the counter, Pestle, Aredhel, and Albert at the book shelf, Elmo and Opehlia looking over the table. The shelf had maybe 40 odd books on it, each was a copy of the one before it – “The glory of Lareth the Beautiful” – written in common, elvish, dwarvish, and goblinoid. Albert looked at one, read a few pages nodding, commented it seemed to be a primer for those who were new to Lareth’s service on how to behave and what to expect.

Voices carried and the gruff voices from down the west hall came closer to investigate. The group was able to find a common language, and gnolls came into view. Over 7’ tall, well over 300 lbs, armed and armored, they looked tall, imposing, and vicious. We did not want to risk fighting them as they could overpower us, and the sound of the battle might attract others. So we talked to them, and they seemed interested in talking to us.

We eventually came to a deal where (obscuring who we were) we were willing to pay them 5 crowns each if they just leave for now, both sides happy to see the other go. The gnolls got paid and left with smiles all around. We looked around. The table had a map of Hommlet on it, 3 areas checked off – The Church of St. Cuthbert, the Sword and Cheese Tradeshop, and Burne’s Tower. We suspected these were areas of import or already under the control of Lareth’s minions. Inside the Gnoll’s room, Aredhel did come across a fist sized blue quartz that was glowing a bit brighter than a torch. There was some talk about the book shelf and Pestle and Albert and the group was getting some heebie jeebies from the wizard and his newfound interest in Lareth and how he’s such a cool dude.

Say, why don’t you give us that book you took? Hey…HEY! Things got heated and there was some scuffling and Aredhel dropped a sleep spell right in the middle of the room, blasting her, Albert, and Rowan to sleep. The party quickly tied up Albert, woke the other two, and took the book – where a quick discussion had the thought to burn it.

After that book, Ophelia and Elmo burned a second and third book – but the shelf had so many books and it was going to take too long. And Albert was waking up and he was FURIOUS at the party and especially Aredhel. Yelling and arguing ensued and then…through the south and east door, strode a 6 count of armored warriors, a platemail clad knight, and a VERY attractive black haired man who tried to ask the party, “What was going on in here? Who are you and who is damaging MY property?!”

Fuck a duck, this was Lareth! And we were caught VERY unawares. Covering ears, we all decided to run. Albert was crying for Lareth, “Wait! I need you my lord! DADDY!!” Elmo held on tight and dragged and lifted him free as the party ran away. We could hear the sound of the portcullis ahead slam closed and we needed to hold off the charging foes as well as get the gates up. Pestle fired off a magic missile, blasting the first crossbowman who got too close. Elmo was at the gates with the struggling Albert who was trying to bite the ranger to get free. The rest of the party had the secret door open and was working the winch, rolling the chains up. Pestle took a bolt to the chest and the gnome staggered back but stayed up! She fired off ANOTHER magic missile, ripping into another crossbowman who came out – but she got pin cushioned again – barely standing, choking on her own blood.

Elmo had to slam Albert to the ground once to get the wizard to stop squirming before wiggling under and calling to the group to RUN!!. We all charged to the portcullis, Ophelia helping the aching Pestle as we ran up the stairs, through the secret doors, and then eventually across the basement. We could hear pursuit in the distance and we ran up to the main floor of the Moathouse. From here we wanted a place to defend ourselves and went down the western great hall to the bedroom where the lizard had been. Shutting the door, we had everyone try to relax as Ophelia ripped out the crossbow bolt – the pain blasting the gnome to unconsciousness. She quickly pulled out the other and then made to heal her while we could hear voices in the hall.

It was the armored and helmed one, Identified himself as “the Lieutenant.” He was talking on Lareth’s behalf. Right now the party has been a pain in the ass and Lareth finally knows about them. He will give them the chance to leave before sundown today and return to wherever they came from, or he’d destroy them. No second chances, no parley. Do this or expect to be destroyed. We made agreeing noises and the Lieutenant and the warriors all left.

We didn’t want to, but we figured we’d need to leave. Go back to Hommlet, maybe camp in the woods, while some went into town to get supplies, the healing potions that might be done, and figure out how the hell we could get to Lareth and take him out. So we took our horse, hooked it up to the cart, and left the Moathouse by 11 AM, discussing that maybe we all go into town and risk a council meeting. We needed to rest, Albert was still acting weird from reading the book, and we all needed to gather better supplies. But we would have to risk meeting the council again – and if they said “no” we could not go back to the Moathouse, do we risk doing it even though we might be branded outlaws? We’ll find out very soon.

Youth Group! TOEE - Meet 11, 9/28/22

The group got as ready as they could. Another flame was placed near the opening of the column as we backed up, weapons up. And the ghouls flew through the opening, two at first who pivoted and charged us, and then two others who drew up and snarled at us. Arrow and crossbow bolt flew, but the ghouls were unfazed by the missile fire. It was Aredhel’s flameburst that followed that caused 2 of them to howl as they were badly burned, and the other two to jog ahead, smoke and embers following them.

We swung and hit, mostly passing blows at best. Albert called forth a summoning and got his kobold, Jimmy, to appear. We had a decent battle line drawn up as we swung and hacked and tore. But then Elmo was hit by a wicked slash on the arm, followed up by a deep bite. The ranger’s movements froze up as he was paralyzed, the ghoul turning to face Ophelia next.

Jimmy was the next to be struck hard, the kobold slowing down and then paralyzed in place. “Turn them!” the cry came out as Rowan shot again. One of the ghouls fell over dead but before the cleric could have Athena turn them, Ophelia was also paralyzed! “Damn it people!” The group was getting real nervous now. “Take them down one a time. Everyone concentrate attacks on one at a time!” Albert’s thrown dagger stuck in another ghoul and then Pestle’ magic missile finished it off.

Spells and weapons swung, arrows flew, two ghouls left, 1 pretty hurt. And then Pestle froze up from a wild hit…and less than a minute later, Aredhel found herself paralyzed as well! Rowan and Albert remained and the two friends shot and fired into the wounded ghoul…killing it! Leaving 1 left. It reviewed the wreckage around it, tilted its head in thought, and ran to the column where it threw itself within and then slid down hard to the space far below. “Let it go!” Rowan commanded. “Let’s get everyone out of here.”

Jimmy had been dispatched and a quick look showed that Elmo had taken the worst of the attacks, multiple wounds paralyzing the big man. With the door to the column blown clean off, we wanted to get out of here before the ghoul and/or the ghoul shaman returns. So we opted to lift up two of our friends (Aredhel and Pestle), carry them out of the torture chamber, and run them north to the storeroom outside of Lubash’s old area. The two friends still standing were the weakest of the party, but fear and adrenaline added speed and strength to them, giving them the impetus to house the party within.

They went back for Ophelia and Elmo, getting as far and knocking Elmo down but the ranger was way too big and heavy for either one to drag. So they tag teamed Ophelia to the room, Pestle was now able to move, and the gnome helped as well. One by one the party became animated and we all rolled and shoved and pushed Elmo further and further north. But we could hear the ghoul(s?) returning and we were not ready. A flask of oil across the entrance to the torture chamber and then set it ablaze as the ghoul and the ghoul shaman appeared.

Albert was bracing it across the flames, spell at the ready. The ghoul took a run…and jumped THROUGH the fire, tackling the wizard! And paralyzing him as well. Damn it! The Shaman cast a magic missile at the group while the party was now faced with a ghoul over here. Aredhel was close enough for spell use and Ophelia was going to turn them. But she was struck next, and paralyzed again!! And the shaman cast a light spell at the party, just missing blasting one of us blind. The group tore into the lone ghoul as Elmo was starting to move and the Shaman after shielding herself, went back to the column and retreated. Again.

Damn it.

We took our paralyzed friends (again!) to the storeroom and hid there for 10 minutes, watching the door as healing was dispensed. We decided to get out of being down here for now and go back to the main floor. The party went back to Lubash’s body with the cow’s head sewn atop it, dragged that up the stairs as well, and then took it out to the Dyv river and sunk it there.

We decided to tough it out here. We went to the Black Chamber, sealed ourselves in, ate dinner and figured out who was taking what watch. We got lucky during the night and it wasn’t until 7 AM on Restmonth the 10th when we woke up, broke our fast, and discussed what we were going to do today as well as what spells we were going to study.

Meet 31, Adv 10, 9/24/22

The party has 2 rangers and a druid in the mix - making most the wilderness issues and tracking a snap. I was not going to boost the DC's on anything, this is their sweet spot, let them have it.

Follows:

The group talked over ales and dinner of their plans tomorrow to address the need to find the Grues with Jesse and her party. They wanted to be gone early enough to spend the day as need be. Connal was quieter and Grendel had some different thoughts and opinions, but we felt together and cohesive and made our plans final.

The next day was a mixed bag of temperature, but there was a heavy ground fog keeping visibility to almost a dozen feet tops. So we loaded up some provisions and then relying on Eoghan, made our way out of town. We ignored some doings at the Cemetery, some constables were there, a dozen crying people. Nope, not going to even stop and gawk. Just keep going people! Kept on walking to the west, heading along the farms and homesteads, eventually making it to the keep, Falcon’s Nest.

We had an audience with Jessie who was disturbed that it seemed that we were possibly cutting her group out of the bounty as paid to them from Baron Skudridd if they performed their bounty to Lord Rockhome. We agreed that we would all share alike and not screw either group over. Then we looked over the maps that her group had concocted over the last few months.

The secret were the barrows. The burial mounds the former Randari had used, there were 14 of them accounted for, about half were in at and through various Demesnes. The mounds were then used by goblin marauders over the last century, eventually making a cave system running to and from them, allowing the goblinoid races to spy on the surface dwellers. And now, the Grues had found their way into the barrows and were using them to chase goblins, avoid surface entanglements, and most likely, hide out and maybe be nesting or giving birth.

There was an encounter map with the Rothchild farm on the north end of the map being the most likely place for Grue activity. So we drew an area that stretched north of it and wedge shaped, and assumed that it would be there that we would look into. The fog was still there and Wilhelm called to Frey to allow him to predict weather, learning it would burn off between 12 and 1. Good enough for us.

It was quarter after 12 when we left the Nest, Jessie’s group and ours, and we made our way north and east, following around the homesteads, to arrive at the area in question. It was here that Eoghan, Grygmiir, and Wilhelm’s talents became apparent as having 2 trained kingsmen and a druid at our disposal allowed us to fan out and cover a large area of ground, finding signs, tracks, and other assorted clues as to the area in question.

Grues? No, but something went through here. Folded grasses. Steps. Tracking. Greenskin? Goblin sign! And it went from north to south, at a good clip! Whoever it was was light and shod – most likely a standard goblin, and it was running. For a nearby barrow. Ok, so track it backwards? And again, the three of them made short work with overlapping checks, fields of review, quadrants, and an almost dazzling display of woodmanship.

We discovered a hobgoblin, up in a tree, tied to the branches in a way that it wouldn’t fall out. And we also noted that there was 15th barrow not on Jessie’s map! It was some 200 yards north of here, in a hollow of three hills where it would be missed even under some semi-serious scrutiny. Why the hobgoblin in the tree? And it had been killed by the goblin, not by a grue. Maybe to coax the grue out?

We cut it free and let it fall, and looked further afield. We did stumble upon a wild boar, 190 lbs a bristly. It snorted and made angry noises at us, but Grygmiir was able to calm it down and also had the beast sidle up to him in a friendly manner, but it was still ill tempered to the rest of the party. Did it see the Grue in the area? Wilhelm offered to speak to it. Calling on Frey again, the elven druid was able to communicate with the boar…and the other animals around him as well! Jessie the rabbit, Grin the wolfhound, both of his cats, and the boar.

The boar considered itself above the other animals, and was convinced it was a king. Calling it your Lord (Gryg had dubbed the boar, “Buddy!”), he did learn that there was a hunter in the woods at night, foul and dangerous, new to the area. And the boar might be a king, but even kings avert their eyes and hide when god strides the woods.

Discussing all we had learned, we wanted to get closer to the barrow and scout it out. BUT NOT GET TOO CLOSE TO IT!!! Good idea, Dizzy!

There was a section where the grass had been torn up and flopped down, most likely where it came out from. We discussed alchemist fire, explosive oil, even a ballista. We had some rough plan to come back and set up a lure and kill area for the party to attack the grue(s) and were heading back to the Nest for now to finalize it and come back tomorrow. For some reason, the number of nipples a grue had was an important discussion on the way, mostly to figure out the possible size of the litter the grues might have. We suspected 2 at most – and went with that.

On the way a 10 count of bandits in poor armor and riding a smattering of even poorer horses tried to brace us and were looking for Grendel. Dizzy appealed to them and using various thief and guild contacts and signs, had them forestall any attack for now and head back. He was pissed and assumed Groa was behind this. He needed to talk to Froi. And Grendel really wanted to head back to town and get his date with Stacki going. Gryg offered to stay and work with Jessie’s group on setting up for tomorrow, and we’d be going back and buying a bear trap (extra one!) if we could.

It was evening when we returned to Third Breach and then Grendel went to the Broken Leg. Dizzy followed and indicated to whoever he could Cant to that we wanted to meet with Froi. An older woman named Lirik took his message and he stayed in the alley behind the Leg for now. Eventually Froi arrived and the two men got into some words about letting it go, the bandits, and Groa’s efforts. Groa is currently missing and is pissed and Froi wants this matter down and over.

It was then that Captain Arsin, the preeminent law enforcement person in Stivil, showed up and with 2 others at his side, wanted to know what was going on. Dizzy was an obvious person in regards to look, and Froi knows better than to conduct guild business back here. No, we’re friends. The cover story was full of holes and Captain Arsin knew it, but had nothing to pin on Dizzy. They took Froi away for now  and Dizzy went back to the front of the place and then went in.

Grendel and Stacki’s date was going very well and Dizzy was happy to see the elven scion and the seamstress take a bottle of wine with them up the stairs and eventually to a room. Boot scene. He left, Captain Arsin was watching him, and made his way back to Third Breach where we muttered about no good deed being unpunished.

Jessie felt the need (due to her PTSD) to explain about her night over a year and a half ago to Gryg, sharing with the dwarf what happened to her crèche and why she wanted to see this monster put down. The dwarf agreed with the Halfling and promised that his group was just as committed thanks to Eoghan. Then both went to sleep and that wrapped up Airmonth the 6th.

Meet 30, Adv 10, 9/17/22

Sometimes you have a meeting planned out and the group might go a bit off script so to speak. One of the players at my table occasionally asks after all the side chatter and weird role playing if we got as far as I expected, given that the adventures are usually "X" meetings long. This meeting moved the needle on my "adventure expectations for the night" exactly zero spaces.

Whatever I expected the night to go, it went nowhere in that direction. Instead I played DM off the cuff most of the night and the party had a great time. The adventure will take however long it will take to resolve - it was nights like that that had the table rocking and rollicking.

Follows:

We went and got something to eat, discussing what the rest of the day was going to bring. “I want to find a chick and get laid,” Grendel suggested, looking around the Third Breach. “This ain’t the right place for that. Too high brow.”

“Another time,” Dizzy suggested as the conversation wound about the place, eventually settling on either heading north to IronCamp and Thak to finish Dizzy’s desire to reclaim his holy symbol, or looking for the Grues as Eoghan still was wont to do.

“Is any of that going to happen today?” Wilhelm asked. Getting some negatives in response, the druid shrugged and said, “I’d really like to see if we can find any local wild cats if we can.”

“Why?”

“To make friends.”

“You mean co-workers,” Dizzy supplied.

“No, friends,” Wilhelm said.

“Yeah,” Grendel agreed. “Like we all are.”

Dizzy looked at the elf and nodded. “Yep. Coworkers. People who work together.”

Grendel couldn’t understand Dizzy’s stance on the matter and was drinking slowly, frowning often. Connal wasn’t saying much for now, pensively looking in his mug. But for Wilhelm, Dizzy, Eoghan, and Grygmiir all said they’d go with him to look for strays. “Leeward,” Eoghan suggested, pointing southwest, “that would be the best place to find what you’re looking for.”

The four of them agreed to go and everyone suggested they’d be back here for early dinner (4ish). Well all left the Breach and went our ways, the four friends following Eoghan’s direction first as he brought them to the center of town and the still noisy Coliseum and then around to the Empire’s Way. From here, the waste water and sewer areas all congregated and made their way through wide troughs in the cobbled streets, a slow moving river of waste and what not making its way through Leeward and then beyond to the leeching pits beyond.

The quality of the homes and streets were poor and in places where the troughs were dammed up, some places the roads turned into foul lakes. But along the back area of the town where the populace had faded away and more that 3 homes in 5 were abandoned, we came upon an area with a number of feral cats.

Through a variety of coaxing and tossing of dried meats, Wilhelm managed to snag a distrusting filthy orange and white cat close enough, and called upon Frey to allow him to charm the animal. It sidled closer and made some effort to control itself. Its tail had been mangled in the past and had about half its original length. Another cat, a black and brown one, was more interested in staying around and mimicked the orange one, looking at Wilhelm and begging for food. After discussing it with the group, Wilhelm called to Frey again and charmed the second cat, gathering both animal companions.

On getting them closer, and seeing the poor state of their mange, lice, and coats; an anti-vermin barrier spells was called upon and the animals were blasted free of pests (and surprisingly, us as well!), and then they made their way slowly out of the area, heading back to the better, and less foul scented, section of town.

Connal meanwhile was walking slowly and deliberately to the Lord’s District, counting out the Demesnes until he arrived at the closed gates of Lord Dunthar Rockhome. He inquired with the guards if the Lord would speak with him again and waited. To the guards' (and Connal’s) surprise, Lord Dunthat was willing to meet with the monastic and he was escorted once again to the Lord’s Manor house and then eventually his audience chamber. The mountain dwarf, and his wizard Sorli and cleric Kridi were here as well. And even Hogni, his brother, was there. Connal was not invited to sit.

The Lord was surprised to see Connal and the monk wasted no time, offering his own services to go and get the Grues. “That window has closed,” the Lord replied, indicating that they had already sent missive to Erylond to find another group. “Plus, you are one person, I want a group. And your group said no.”

What followed was an interesting exchange of offers and counter offers, with Connal eventually getting to a place where the party would sign off (in blood) for the job, but do it at 900 nobles (or 9,000 commons) instead. He also learned that Lord Dunthar was wroth with Dizzy, putting most of the blame of the breakdown on the cleric/thief. “And what kind of a dwarf is he?!” he went on, bemoaning his lack of clan, poor appearance, off putting looks and attitude. “The chair he sat in?” he went on, “I had it burned after you and yours had left.” Sure enough, Connal looked around the chamber and there were only 19 out of the original 20 chairs in the room.

“If you can get them to come back and sign off by 6 PM tonight, then you and yours are hired. If you don’t come back, there won’t be a third opening of my door for you.” Connal thanked the Lord Dunthar for the chance and took his lead of the Rockhomes, shouldering more invectives and poorly disguised insults from the Odinian Matron, Kridi.

Lastly, Grendel went bar hopping. He moved slowly south, sampling taverns and pubs along the way, hoping to find one where the drinks were cheaper and the woman more plentiful. His looks did garner him many second glances, but the elven warrior didn’t feel anything that would make him stop and stay.

He wandered from Tops, to Eastview, and eventually found himself in the industrial section of town called “the Trades”. Carpenters, smiths, masons and the like. He snagged a beer or two but it was when he was thinking he should move closer north again and try the places around the Coliseum that his sensitive ears picked up cheering and laughing children and what seemed to be calliope music from somewhere nearby. Down Last Road and the corner of Sweet Street were 4 very large warehouse buildings, each 2 stories tall and maybe 80, 100’ wide. The center one was painted in striped motley of colors and had the name “Falser’s Confections” printed in huge letters over the main doors.

Scores of kids and their parents were milling about as gnomes and orcish hawkers were enticing them to buy bits of hard candy or participate in the games and play area set up. Two big Randari Orcs, almost 7’ tall and pushing 350, 400 lbs, were dressed in motley finery, powdered faced and painted expressions, each holding a 9’ tall candy cane. Even made up, Grendel could tell they looked miserable. “I don’t envy you,” he commiserated with them, getting a grunt in reply and a, “You have no idea,” Especially as one of the young kids came up and gave the closer orc a sharp punch to the thigh. “Candy!” He laughed, running away.

A gnome tried to engage Grendel to buy some but was told, “I don’t do candy. Just looking for good beer.” Still hoping to make a sale, suggested that the elf go inside to the “adult” section of candy and see some of the alcoholic tasting candy had within. Intrigued, he did so, seeing more half ogres and orcs and so so so many gnomes. He made his way to the back where a friendly gnome gave him a sample of a potent beer tasting candy which Grendel actually enjoyed! He purchased five more, thanking the gnome for them. “What’s your name?” he asked.

“Malted, my good man. Malted Falser.”

“Nice.” Grendel left, sucking on another one. “Nice gnome.” He wanted to let the rest of the party know about the strange candy factory here. At the end of the block a 4 count of men stumbled out, bumping into the elf. Some words were exchanged, rude comments given, and the 4 men left going on their way. A woman nearby inquired if Grendel was ok, and then suggested that he check his pouch. Sure enough, two gold crowns were missing!

“Where the fuck?!” he whirled around but the men were nowhere to be found. He spoke to the woman and learned that the one that did most of the talking was a local tough named, Groa. She doesn’t know where he lives, but most nights he could be found at a place a few blocks over called Two Bites. They got to talking, her name was Staki Seamstress, she was in her early 20’s, and was willing to spend some time with the elf. They got to talking and flirting, getting a drink together, and he set up a proper date with her tomorrow.

He went back to the Third Breach where the rest of the party all congregated. We discussed all we had done, checked out Wilhelm’s cats, Grendel wanted to beat the fuck out of Groa tonight and wanted the group to back him up, and Connal revealed his meeting with Rockhome. So much to discuss!

We all agreed to sign on with Rockhome and would do the blood contract. And then afterward, head off to Two to support, protect, and keep Grendel from getting in his own trouble. “I want to kill that guy!” Shhh, not so loud. And no.

We went off to Rockhome’s Demesne before the 6 PM cut off and Lord Dunthar and retinue met with us. There were more subtle and not so subtle digs thrown about, but Dizzy surprised everyone by offering half his funds to everyone else to make up the shortfall. Contract changes were made, stabs of fingers ensued, and the contract was ratified, Lord Dunthar signing his own as well in blood for his part. Ok. From there we went south to the other end of town and Dizzy was doing his best to contact any thieves in the area.

Seems he wanted a meeting with Groa’s “hilt” so to speak, and he waited for everyone to go in first. Begging Grendel to wait for him to go first. He noted when  Groa and 3 others came in. The boss was a person named Froi, and he let Dizzy lead them out of the tavern and to the alley behind. He gave some cover as a visiting thief and wanted to say hi. He’s here, might be working, but didn’t want to run afoul of the guild.

By this time Grendel who had a mean drunk on, went out back with the rest of the group, Dizzy fading back. Grendel wanted his money back, Groa told him to pound sand. Froi tried to mediate and say that no one actually saw the crime happen, so chalk it up to a learning experience and move on. But the two men grew wroth and blows were thrown. Fists his flesh and the party kept weapons sheathed, Froi letting it play out for now.

The elf took a few good shots, haymaker and at one point, was staggering. But got a lucky blow when Groa tripped up and got knocked out with a kick to the head. When he went for the belt pouch, Froi got involved and was like no fucking way. But it got heated, a lunge was made, and the hilt struck Grendel with a coated stiletto, quick acting poison rendering the elf unconscious for now.

Which got everyone else ready to sling blows but Dizzy came back and wanted this to be smoothed over. Your man is down, ours is down. Check the pouch, 2 gold in there? And Froi was dismayed to see in the pouch of bits and a few commons, were indeed 2 gold crowns. He kept one, gave one to Dizzy to give to Grendel, and told the party to keep their man away from his, or this would get real bad real fast.

We agreed and hoisted Grendel up, walking him out of the alley and away from the lower class section of town, leaving Froi and his people somewhere behind us. The elf got up and was realy fucking mad, but thanked Dizzy for getting his money back (the dwarf added 1 gold from his pouch to make it look like the elf had gotten both coins back). Grendel was happy the party sided with him and everyone felt closer for the experience for now. It was 5:30 PM and we were going to head back to Third Breach for now, talk about what we would do first regarding Jessie Underfoot and the Grues, and what tomorrow would bring.

Youth Group! TOEE - Meet 10, 9/16/22

Youth group is plowing through the basement area of the Moathouse, but its no longer at a full clip, they have a number of feints and fallbacks as the quality of the monsters keeps getting tougher and tougher. Playing smarter - good for them!

Follows:

We arrived back in Hommlet, waving to the guards in Burne’s tower and then getting to Auva’s. The Town Elder got the heads up from us on what we had been up to and was willing to once again, stall the Council for now for 2 hours allowing us to get our food stuffs and some gear and then leave. He had filled us in on the Siksalli’s return as well as their gnomish companion, Banana. It seems that their presence has some members in town asking questions.

On leaving we decided to split into 3, 2 would go to Jaroo (Rowan and Aredhel), 2 would go to the Welcome Wench (Ophelia and Albert), and the last 2 would chance going to the Sword and Cheese Trading post and getting supplies (Pestle and Elmo). We would all meet up at the Wench and then be gone within an hour and a half.

Starting with Jaroo, we left Cheddar with the druid who was already getting high, getting a few healing potions for our time there and dropping off the Aloe we had gathered. Some conversation followed and at the end of it, the two of them left with the knowledge that another 4 healing potions were going to be brewed and on the way for us.

At the Wench, the Cleric and Wizard spoke with Ales about our horse and then went in to arrange food stuffs from Gundigroot. Some drinking followed and they waited for the rest of the group to show up.

At the Sword and Cheese, Rannash Davi had some half leading questions for the gnome and ranger, which they did their best to avoid answering. We gathered up oil, torches, and some other gear we knew we were going to need before eventually leaving. On the way out, we noted that the 4 count of merc’s that were hanging around out front were no longer there. Elmo suspected they were dispatched to follow us and that future returns to town would make Davi more interested in us.

We all gathered up at the Wench, ate a fast lunch, and then aware we might be followed, had the plan to ambush whoever was daring to shadow us, with Aredhel hoping to sleep them. By 12:45 we were gone and on the low road back to the Moathouse. About 10 minutes from town where the path was still dry and far enough away that no one would catch us, Elmo had us get off the road, horse as well, and set up to ambush.

And it worked, the 4 count of Davi’s mercs were coming along, eyes peeled when the Sorceress’ sleep spell went off, catching all of them and dropping them there. We went up and gathered their weapons (not knives), and boots, Elmo telling the group to stay off the road for a short while and then get back on, he’d catch up.

Some time later he did so and we dropped their footware and swords into the waters. No chance of selling it back in town, and this way the mercs can’t say that it was us that waylaid them. We made it to the Moathouse by quarter to 3 where we tied up the horse and then made our way back inside.

Down the stairs and then around the corner, we looked in on the cells where the zombies had been – and found they were there again! More spells in place and a growing presence to activate. Sure enough noises and snarling and something new, they yelled. Like real loud! An alarm of some sort? We proceeded to try and shut them down but their wailing attracted something coming from the torture area – a ghoulish figure thin and intelligent looking, along with a pair of zombified German shepherds!

They closed to do battle but Ophelia’s faith in Athena was strong enough to stop them in their tracks and then turn them back! They ran into the dark room and we heard the sound of something slamming closed. The secret door in the column? Let’s go look.

There was a mess of something being stitched together, Lubash the ogre but with a cow’s head. Eww! We were looking and listening and for sure heard noises in the secret column, maybe at its base? So we readied a flask of oil, lit it, and then opened the door, let it drop, and slammed it closed before even looking – rewarded with a smash, a whoosh of flame, some angry snarls, and maybe a 4 count of ghouls climbing up the rungs to attack the party.

Meet 29, Adv 10, 9/10/22

We wanted to reconnaissance the graveyard area in anticipation of possibly getting what we needed from Matron Autti’s coffin. The plan was to attempt to do the job in 2 days on the 4th, when the Arena games were in action. Most likely the guards would be patrolling the coliseum most of the time and traffic on the streets should be lessened. It was about 6:15 when we went out in the evening air and took a good look at the area.

A former dividing wall butted up against the northwest corner of the gateway, cordoning off the Lord’s District from the Mercantile district. There were some larger Demesne that were in the area, but the walls on these palatial homes were 20’ tall and obscured easy sight of the graveyard. There was a lamplighter who came around and lit the street lamps, the spacing between them were 80 or more feet apart. Traffic really bled off after sunset and the guards that were in the area were larger groups and came around exactly once in the hour plus we were casually taking note. The gate to the graveyard was locked and it seemed that no one stayed on premises but we could not be 100% sure. Mapping it out we then made our way back to Third Breech and went to sleep.

The next day we spent in the Common room until Hogni Rockhome showed up, looking to take the party to the Rockhome Demesne to speak with his Brother, the Lord. Grendel and Hogni chatted up a bunch as the group made their way to the Lord’s District and then up to the 3rd Demesne. It was a sizable estate, the manor house was “L” shaped with a few 3rd story rooms. It seemed well guarded and the interior was tastefully decorated but designed and built to make a dwarven visitor feel comfortable. Halls and doors and arches were a bit lower, chairs and counters and desks were cut down as well.

At the end of the main hall was a double set of stairs going up to the second floor and beneath them was a large audience chamber where Lord Dunthar and 2 other dwarves sat. An older male, Sorli, well into his 3rd century or more, was on one side and a younger female (still over 2 centuries), Kridi, very austere looking and sporting a symbol to Odin was on the other. Dunthar dismissed his brother, Hogni, who left feeling a bit put out. Then had the door shut and asked the party to sit.

The former Gorokian noble went on to tell the group of his families coming here. In his younger days his family participated in the Randari war and it was the attack here that had the Rockhomes break ties with Gorok, moving their entire fortune and staff here. They have since spent the last century plus making the people of Stivil’s life better.

They wanted us to sign on to help take care of this Grue problem. Seems they had conversations with Jessie and her people and did some inquiries about us, learning a bit of our past. They identified Connal as having an evil bent but Dunthar said that was a good thing. “Friendly as an open bear trap”.

The rate? 10,000 commons or 1,000 nobles to EACH of us for dispatching the 2 grues and confirming if any offspring were there, they were taken care of. No time frame, but it should be the top or 2nd thing on the group’s plate. The offer lasted until the group left the room and then it would not be offered again. If someone dies, do we get their share as well? No. Can we go and do other things? Yes…but within reason, as long as hunting the grues here is the main focus.

And for that Sorli produced a contract (via magic) and Kridi a silver pin. They wanted us to sign in blood – a testament that we would do the job and not say we would and then disappear. We wanted some time to talk it out and they gave us a quarter of a glass (15 minutes), leaving the room themselves and allowing us to talk it out.

We went over our thoughts and the driving piece from Eoghan was that he was going to do it. And Connal was like if we’re going to do it, let’s get paid. But Dizzy didn’t like the blood magic aspect and wanted to try without that. So when they came back in and we talked, Lord Dunthar Rockhome was not swaying from the contract. Signatures don’t hold up, blood does. And if you’re going to say you’re going to do it, then you’ll do it. Some harsh words were bandied about and Dizzy got up to leave but the door was locked. “Let me go.”

“If you leave, then that’s it. This is a limited time offer. If not you, then we’ll find another adventuring group.” Dizzy tried to say the rest of the group could do it but that was not the way the deal was going to be given – it’s for this 6 of the Vanguards or not at all. Tensions were rising. It was Eoghan getting up to say that he was going to do it anyway but without the need of blood magic that had Lord Rockhome let the group go. So comments about Sifians typically being selfish was uttered and we left. Outside we wandered to the Mercantile district and Grendel was wondering what the hell happened?

Shaking it out, Dizzy seemed to have a dislike for it and would not budge, and Eoghan didn’t want to be beholden to the lord and blood magic. Grendel, Connal, and Gryg were ok with it (the contract had no mystery language or loopholes – straight up) and Wilhelm was concerned about what exactly a Grue was and once explained, was happy we were not committed to doing the job. “But we are,” Eoghan said, “we are going after them. Just on our terms is all.”

“Yeah, 1,000 nobles less,” Connal muttered.

We shopped for a bit for some blankets and a shirt and then went back to Third Breech and rested again The next day was Arena day and after breakfast went to the arena where we each paid a common to get in and got a clay chit which would allow us the chance to reenter if need be. We watched an hour or so of the games and then left, heading to the graveyard, just to check it out. It was open, and one of the gravedigger apprentices was there – Gulmund and the other two were out. Street was pretty much empty and we could hear the roar of the crowd from the Coliseum.

The young man was Horace and he remembered the party from a few days ago. At 19 he was on duty until after lunch when his boss would return and he could have a chance to go to the Arena. Dizzy wandered off to “pay his respects” while we kept Horace engaged, actually giving him one of our clay chits to save the young man a common (he makes 6 per day). He was a young wife of 17, and they’ve been together for a year. Hopes to have a family soon but Freya hasn’t blessed them yet.

It was here that Eoghan took the rabbit Jessie out and Horace seemed to be fascinated with the hare. They talked about kids and families and allowed Connal and Wilhelm to wander away. Dizzy meanwhile had hidden by the mausoleum and using his picks, worked the lock free. He was inside and when the monk and druid arrived, they joined him within.

Daring, the group wanted to remove the front area of the stone work from the coffin and for that, Wilhelm called to Frey to soften stone, turning the entire face to clay – it did sage the entire rack a bit, but it was exactly what we needed. Using some fishing line, we slit the entire front free, lowering the seal and now clay stone to the floor. A Bull’s strength spell on Connal made it easier for us to pull the coffin free and once it was down. Dizzy worked the clamps off with his thief’s tools and we popped it open.

The mummified remains of the Matron were there. He withdrew the earring from her ear and placed the necklace he bought over her chest. Then they reversed everything they did, closing the coffin, replacing the clamps, lifting it back in place, and then pressing the clay front and seals back. It wouldn’t stand up to serious scrutiny, but the hope was the clay would eventually harden again and long before anyone had a reason to come in here and look around.

We sealed the mausoleum back up and made our way to the front where Horace was feeling like this night would be lucky with his young wife to conceive and Eoghan was fully supporting him. We all left, wished him well ,and by 1:30 PM, were back at Third Breech, Dizzy holding the matched set of earrings in his pouch and eyes narrowed, contemplating the next stage he wanted to take.

Youth Group! TOEE - Meet 9, 9/9/22

In the aftermath of the Bugbear battle, we checked over the bodies while healing was dispensed. Totaling up 62 gold crowns, each of them with a Nyr Dyv mint marking – further proof of someone there working with Lareth and/or Ortti Goldenthan. Pestle reported hearing the odd whimpers coming from down the corridor the bugbear’s had come from, while Elmo reported that no one had seemed to hear us or the fight and we were free of wandering monsters at this time.

Rowan meanwhile was mourning the death of Winter and after giving his due respects, called the party to join him in a Ceremony where he would pass his pet and companion’s essence on to the after life. He called to his goddess and prayed: “Goddess Demeter, please grant my companion Winter a safe swift journey to the Elysium. I hope she knows that for the short time I knew her, she was a great friend, fighter, and she will be missed and remembered. Please allow her to rest in peace.” The group all felt a pull of the heartstrings and Winter was left here for now, the druid comfortable that his remains would be undisturbed at this time.

The final call was made and we were going to head north and check out the bugbear area. It was already 3:30 PM and we figured we had a few hours tops to finish our exploration before needing to rest. The room beyond the north hall was maybe 40’ square, but set at a 45 degree angle to the hall, giving it a diamond appearance to us. A number of “nests” had been set up for the bugbears of old clothes, bedding, and carpets.

The place smelled.

We did find a terrier, badly hurt and muzzled. It responded poorly to the group except for Rowan and Aredhel who cleaned its wounds and calmed the dog down, eventually feeding it some of the Sorceress’ cheese. It also adopted the name “Cheddar” because of that.

But there were also odd bits of furnishings in here – two biggest interesting items were the top part of a grand desk, and a set of alchemist drawers. We split up and looked around, but it was a bag of dice in the desk that interested us. Albert got a faint “charge” from them and some exploratory rolling the 6 dice that had him get a feel for them. It was when he noted that one of them was missing that he gave them another toss and…WHAM – disappeared with a decently high roll.

W.T.F.!?!?!?!

The party ran over there, concerned and worried, calling out and Aredhel was getting very mad when someone nudged them…and Albert reappeared! To him, he felt a faint disjointing and hiccup, to everyone else he was gone at least 30 seconds. Also, the missing dice was now in the bag. Along with another. Pestle wanted us to stop messing with it and Ophelia and Albert wanted to experiment. It was the cleric taking a quick grab and drop that had HER disappear next.

This time the party did not nudge the dice, wanting to wait maybe 5 minutes or so to see if she came back on her own. To Ophelia though, she reappeared in the same room – except her friends and companions all seemed off. Like too calm. And focused. And the dog, Cheddar, was staring at Opehlia with a determination that unnerved the Cleric. They wanted her to relax and come with them. Time to leave this room. Let’s go. Opehlia was really weirded out and then the group touched the dice and she snapped back to our area.

Alright. Sort of. Opehali was traumatized and took time explaining what happened. This had us want to go there more now and face these “others”. The thought was that if Albert could investigate a bit, we might be able to learn if this had anything to do with where the demonic entities might come from.

The dice took many iterations of rolling until we got a number high enough – high enough to bring Rowan, Albert…and Pestle through!

They wanted us to stay and grew angry with us when we were making noises to leave. Eventually a sleep spell was hit on the group and the party fell asleep – but back in our world, we touched the dice and brought them back.

Ok, not enough time to know what’s what. Albert wanted 2 solid minutes there. We were unsure how it was going to work out, and Pestle and Albert were having problems relating our Aredhel with the “other” Aredhel who was much more decisive, brutal, and unforgiving. So Rowan and Albert and Aredhel went through the machinations of rolling dice again – and eventually they snapped over.

And combat ensued. Rowan was charmed by the dog Cheddar, Pestle fried Aredhel with a magic missile, killing her, and Elmo was going to beat the hell out of Albert. Rowan had a few of the dice he brought taken and it was getting hairy when we snapped back again to our world and quickly had to get Aredhel back to positive hit points. That’s it, no more investigating.

We suspected that if dice were brought to THAT side (as they were looking for), they could try to portal someone to this side of the plane. Their attitude would be diametrically opposite to how they already were. Pestle suspected the Terjon in Hommlet might be a doppelganger from the “upside down” place. Possible? Getting someone out of the room meant to Albert that the dice maybe had a limited range -30’ radius. And going that distance or more would have you most likely stuck there and unable to swap back.

We went upstairs, it was already 4:30, not wanting to risk encountering anyone else. We made our way back to the original Black Chamber and were going to make camp. Rowan took Winter’s body outside and buried the spider there, marking it subtly and making sure that he would still be left to rest.

After sleeping and waking up, we went through our stores and realized that we were very very low on food. The thought was to return to Hommlet, report to Auva only again, find some aloe and drop them with Jaroo, buy some food and them get out of town within the hour to again avoid encountering anyone that might question what we were doing or risk learning that we were getting closer to some sort of realization of what was going on at the moathouse and some citizenry here.

So we trekked back, Rowan and Ophelia getting lucky and finding 3 decent aloe plants along the way, arriving back at long last on Restmonth the 9th, about 11:30 AM.

Meet 28, Adv 10, 8/27/22

It was Airmonth the 2nd about 1:30 when Eoghan found the rest of the party who had been wandering the mercantile district and filled them in on his experiences with the rest of the Bowman family. He did tell them that up in the Passian Hills, just past the last homestead, a group of monster hunters led by a halfling woman named Jessie Underfoot had established an outpost in a former Randari keep called Falcon’s Nest.

So the group made the hour plus long trip through the small roads and byways, passing between the hedgerows and back roads to the ever smaller and poorer farms as the land rose until we arrived at Eoghan’s former home. A low stone wall poorly made surrounded the few acres of winter scrub and rough tilled fields. A single 1 story home partially sunk in the ground covered in the turf and a newish 2 story bard took up the main part of the frontage of the property.

We entered through the gate and a young man and his pregnant wife came up to talk to the group. Bjagnar and Gretta Farmer were their names and they lived here now. They were surprised to learn who Eoghan was, talk around town was that he might have killed his family and maybe spent some time in a work camp to pay off his crime, its’ why he hadn’t been around. Gretta was untrusting of the group and wanted them gone by Bjagnar took pity on the morose ranger and guided his wife back to the house.

He then took them to the small plot where Duncan and Saoirse were buried and let the ranger pay his respects alone. Once done we left and made our way up the low incline to the visible keep a good mile or so away. Two figures were outside, both warrior types, both humans. Micah (one of them) was willing to talk and once we identified who we were, went in to let Jessie know we had arrived. The other, Darrien, did not talk, seemed he had taken a vow of silence for some time.

Eventually we came in and made our way through the keep to the 2nd floor where we met with Jessie, a half orc female Cleric named Artax, and a gnomish expert tradesman named Terkin. Some talk followed and we got a bit of Jessie’s story about how they had arrived at Eoghan’s family farm right after the attack and whatever beasts (yes, beasts, 2 of them) had taken out his family also took out her creche of friends as well. She seemed…traumatized.

After healing up she redoubled her efforts and worked with the local lord to give her the rights to work up here. Gathering a stable of trappers, traders, and hunters, she also had a command team of her and the 4 friends, and they had been seeking out the beasts ever since.

Through the discussions we suspected they might be Grues. Which was nuts as they are ONLY found in the Terror Dungeon. That’s when the crates had been reported as found here and some one was shipping the live grues north to Thak when they had gotten loose here over a year ago and shit happened. They had teeth, hairs, talons, clay pressings of foot prints and slash marks, a chest of artefacts concerning their quest to find the animals after all this time.

There were funeral barrows throughout the land, established from the original randari orcs who lived here. Seems that local goblins had burrowed up from below and came upon these barrows. And the Grues, hating the sunlight, retreat to the barrows and tunnels each night. So they have made raids throughout the environs and homesteads about Stivil, stealing chickens, dogs, and stray animals or meat stores to eat. And they’ve been hiding out in the caves below the area, facing off against goblins now and again. Denuding the greenskin numbers in the process.

And to add insult to injury, there is thought that the female Grue could conceivably be pregnant OR had already given birth. Fuck.

Jessie wanted us to help out and join up and Eoghan was all for it, the rest of the party less inclined, with Connal pulling up the rear. He pretty much derailed the thrust of Jessie’s want by instructing her to find out where the Grues were for sure, take as many weeks as need be, and then contact us in Erylond and then we’ll come out and join up and help. Terkin the gnome did mumble that it was pretty useless at that point since the Grues would most likely have moved on by the time the party could return but Artax countered that if babies were involved, then the Grues were not going to move from where ever they set up their nesting site.

We left and headed back to town, Dizzy commenting that on Arena Day (2 days?) we should make the attempt to break into the cemetery and get the earring from the matron’s sarcophagus. We were at the Third Breech eating and drinking when Grendel noticed the same dwarf with the 2 guards was once again in the corner and was writing things down. Deciding after a short while to take the bull by the horns, the young noble scion took his drink across the Common room and braced the dwarf writing in his book.

Turns out his name was Hogni Rockhome, related to Lord Dunthar Rockhome. He waved off the guards on learning Grendel’s family name and the two of them talked. Grendel was an open book as usual, and Hogni wrote furiously as the elven fighter shared what they had learned from Jessie Underfoot.

It seems the beasts are a larger problem and the Council of Lords (the 6 main families here) have discussed it before. Hogni was going to share with his brother what Grendel had told him and would try to set up a meeting between the dwarven lord and the party if at all possible.

Grendel eventually came back to the party and shared with them his conversation (as best as he could remember it) and that we might have an audience tomorrow with “Lord Rocksomething or other. Don’t worry, he’s a good guy!”