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.