Post by hubertbartels on Feb 18, 2017 13:36:41 GMT -5
Morning broke over the small soaked hamlet of Charwood Glen. The rain continued in a steady drizzle. Last night, the party had heard that Cora and the three other girls had gone out picking frostberries. They probably would have taken shelter from the rain at Goody Clara's homestead - at least, that's what everyone in the village had hoped. But it was decided to go looking for the girls.
Most of the village had been organized into search parties, heading into the woods to search for the missing girls. The party joined a pair of foresters - a brother and sister pair that was heading towards Goody Clara's homestead. It was mid morning when Aerwyn and the others finally left Charwood Glen.
The first sign that this wasn't going to be easy as Aerwyn thought was when a small group of kobolds ambushed the party. The kobolds had been hiding in the bushes and shot at the party from cover. The party managed to kill them all. In looking around, these kobolds had been left behind to watch Clara's homestead and the trail back to Charwood Glen. There were further signs that there had been many more kobolds here.
Approaching the homestead carefully, the buildings seemed to be undamaged. From the goat-fold, the goats were crying out, wanting to be milked. The house was barricaded but in answer to Sir Thabo's knocks and calls, the door opened. Inside were 5 children and an older girl. Coming from the back of the house was an older woman, supported by two of the missing girls. The older woman was Goody Clara who had twisted her leg in chasing after the kobolds.
Duncan sat her down and began to treat her leg. Goody Clara told us that while two of missing girls had taken shelter here, the other girls were still missing. Presumably taken by the kobolds who were last seen retreating northwards, probably towards Hermit's Cave. One of the missing girls was Cora, the butcher's daughter.
Hermit's Cave was a large, dry cave with a pool of clear water in front of the cave mouth. It was about 4 to 6 hours walk from Goody Clara's homestead. The party set out walking again.
Heading north through the woods, the party was ambushed by a small group of stirges fluttering down on them. The party beat them off before the stirges could drain the party dry. After a short rest, they continued onwards, getting closer to the ridge containing Hermit's Cave. That's when the party noticed that they had picked up a tail - a small group of zombies.
Using ranged weapons, the party took them down before they could do much damage. The last of them got as close as Duncan's feet before they stopped moving. Duncan was able to salvage a suit of ringmail from their corpses.
It was about another hour to the Hermit's Cave but the light was failing as the day drew to a close. The rain had started up again. It was decided to find a place and camp for the night. The party was lucky to find a rocky outcropping that provided some dry shelter for the night.
In the middle of the night, Duncan heard something moving - he woke the others. The party peered out from shelter to see kobolds moving past the outcropping in the night. Some of the kobolds had wings.
In the morning with a pale sun shining, the party moved on. It was not much longer before they were standing at a deep cleft in the rocks. This was the entrance to Hermit's Cave. Proceeding down the cleft, they found it widened to hold a pool of water and the dark entrance to a cave. There were three large lizards, guarding the cave.
While Aerwyn placed the silent image of a cave wall over the entrance, the others shot the lizards. Then they entered the cave and attacked the kobolds standing guard. But the alarm had been sounded. One of the kobolds dropped Aerwyn but Duncan quickly saved her from dying. With the kobolds down, they headed to the left. Wolfram found and disabled an acid trap before falling to a deadfall trap. The halfling was having a hard time.
Another kobold ambush. Clearing the kobolds away brought the party to a split in the caverns. One way, there was the sound of kobolds fleeing. The other way, they found a kobold chieftain. He offered the party treasure - if they left. He told the them that girls the party sought are in the hands of Sugoo, the voice of the Mistress. Sugoo can be found in the Stonegardens.
Going the other way at the split brought the party to a large cavern. Carved stalagmites and deep fungi were everywhere. Fire beetles roamed the area. At the far end of the cavern, there was a warrior kobold, a cage and another kobold talking to someone.
The party tried to skirt the fire beetles unsuccessfully. So the party had to try to run across the cavern floor, jump the fire beetle fence and attack the kobolds. Wolfram dropped the warrior kobold while Duncan and Sir Thabo went after the kobold sorcerer. Wolfram finished off the sorcerer and broke open the cage. Inside were the two missing girls.
Cora was one of the girls in the cage. She told us that kobolds wanted her because she has a magical "tattoo"
and that sorcerer mentioned that the Mistress had wanted Cora's powers.
Retreating through the caves with the two girls, the party was watched by lots of kobolds. But they made it safely outside and began the walk back to Charwood Glen. During a short rest in the woods, the package from Alben was delivered to Cora. She said that she would be perfectly happy to leave Charwood Glen to be with her beloved - it's just got to be done quietly. The party made arrangements to meet with her outside of Charwood Glen in a week with Alben.
Back in the hamlet of Charwood Glen, the families are happy to have their daughters back again. A collection is raised and the party were rewarded 100 sp. The merchants pay each of them for guarding their wagons, 5 sp/day for a total of 25 sp. Then the party returned to Severan's Mill.
Most of the village had been organized into search parties, heading into the woods to search for the missing girls. The party joined a pair of foresters - a brother and sister pair that was heading towards Goody Clara's homestead. It was mid morning when Aerwyn and the others finally left Charwood Glen.
The first sign that this wasn't going to be easy as Aerwyn thought was when a small group of kobolds ambushed the party. The kobolds had been hiding in the bushes and shot at the party from cover. The party managed to kill them all. In looking around, these kobolds had been left behind to watch Clara's homestead and the trail back to Charwood Glen. There were further signs that there had been many more kobolds here.
Approaching the homestead carefully, the buildings seemed to be undamaged. From the goat-fold, the goats were crying out, wanting to be milked. The house was barricaded but in answer to Sir Thabo's knocks and calls, the door opened. Inside were 5 children and an older girl. Coming from the back of the house was an older woman, supported by two of the missing girls. The older woman was Goody Clara who had twisted her leg in chasing after the kobolds.
Duncan sat her down and began to treat her leg. Goody Clara told us that while two of missing girls had taken shelter here, the other girls were still missing. Presumably taken by the kobolds who were last seen retreating northwards, probably towards Hermit's Cave. One of the missing girls was Cora, the butcher's daughter.
Hermit's Cave was a large, dry cave with a pool of clear water in front of the cave mouth. It was about 4 to 6 hours walk from Goody Clara's homestead. The party set out walking again.
Heading north through the woods, the party was ambushed by a small group of stirges fluttering down on them. The party beat them off before the stirges could drain the party dry. After a short rest, they continued onwards, getting closer to the ridge containing Hermit's Cave. That's when the party noticed that they had picked up a tail - a small group of zombies.
Using ranged weapons, the party took them down before they could do much damage. The last of them got as close as Duncan's feet before they stopped moving. Duncan was able to salvage a suit of ringmail from their corpses.
It was about another hour to the Hermit's Cave but the light was failing as the day drew to a close. The rain had started up again. It was decided to find a place and camp for the night. The party was lucky to find a rocky outcropping that provided some dry shelter for the night.
In the middle of the night, Duncan heard something moving - he woke the others. The party peered out from shelter to see kobolds moving past the outcropping in the night. Some of the kobolds had wings.
In the morning with a pale sun shining, the party moved on. It was not much longer before they were standing at a deep cleft in the rocks. This was the entrance to Hermit's Cave. Proceeding down the cleft, they found it widened to hold a pool of water and the dark entrance to a cave. There were three large lizards, guarding the cave.
While Aerwyn placed the silent image of a cave wall over the entrance, the others shot the lizards. Then they entered the cave and attacked the kobolds standing guard. But the alarm had been sounded. One of the kobolds dropped Aerwyn but Duncan quickly saved her from dying. With the kobolds down, they headed to the left. Wolfram found and disabled an acid trap before falling to a deadfall trap. The halfling was having a hard time.
Another kobold ambush. Clearing the kobolds away brought the party to a split in the caverns. One way, there was the sound of kobolds fleeing. The other way, they found a kobold chieftain. He offered the party treasure - if they left. He told the them that girls the party sought are in the hands of Sugoo, the voice of the Mistress. Sugoo can be found in the Stonegardens.
Going the other way at the split brought the party to a large cavern. Carved stalagmites and deep fungi were everywhere. Fire beetles roamed the area. At the far end of the cavern, there was a warrior kobold, a cage and another kobold talking to someone.
The party tried to skirt the fire beetles unsuccessfully. So the party had to try to run across the cavern floor, jump the fire beetle fence and attack the kobolds. Wolfram dropped the warrior kobold while Duncan and Sir Thabo went after the kobold sorcerer. Wolfram finished off the sorcerer and broke open the cage. Inside were the two missing girls.
Cora was one of the girls in the cage. She told us that kobolds wanted her because she has a magical "tattoo"
and that sorcerer mentioned that the Mistress had wanted Cora's powers.
Retreating through the caves with the two girls, the party was watched by lots of kobolds. But they made it safely outside and began the walk back to Charwood Glen. During a short rest in the woods, the package from Alben was delivered to Cora. She said that she would be perfectly happy to leave Charwood Glen to be with her beloved - it's just got to be done quietly. The party made arrangements to meet with her outside of Charwood Glen in a week with Alben.
Back in the hamlet of Charwood Glen, the families are happy to have their daughters back again. A collection is raised and the party were rewarded 100 sp. The merchants pay each of them for guarding their wagons, 5 sp/day for a total of 25 sp. Then the party returned to Severan's Mill.