Post by hubertbartels on Apr 17, 2017 15:47:15 GMT -5
Travelling back to Torch, the packtrain that the PCs were travelling with pulled into a small thorp down along a wash. It is another day’s travel to Torch. But several people noticed that there’s no fires coming from the huts that make up the thorp.
The packmaster pulled his animals up to the back of the thorp – where a long ragged wall of skymetal forms part of the thorp’s palisade. He then asked for volunteers to go check out the huts. Seven people stepped forward – but Quincy Logan asked for remuneration. The packmaster dug into his pockets and gave each of the PCs a silver disc. (1 gp).
So the seven go looking into the eastern hut. It is like many of the poor dwellings in Numeria, a dugout, halfway dug into the ground and roofed with a pitched roof of reeds and sticks. Including Quincy, the seven are Astrovel Stonelock, a wizard, Valder Arnhold, a hunter, Obin Musdaerg, a dwarven barbarian, Grigorio, son of Golgo, a slender lad with witch powers, Ashe Winterborn, a rarity in these areas – a tengu, and Niferia Papaver, a purple-haired woman with otherworldly beauty who is an inquisitor for Sarenrae.
In the eastern hut, they found nothing. There was a very strong smell of vermin – like cockroaches – and all the foodstuffs were gone. In the western hut, there was the strong smell of vermin – and then the mutant silverfish attacked! The giant vermin pushed on the PCs but soon the PCs were able to smash the bugs.
Valder noticed the ground and found some oddly shaped footprints in the dust. He could not tell what they were. Pushing aside the hanging curtains, the PCs discovered dog bones, picked clean by the silverfish.
The goat pens had been broken down. The goats had gotten free, spooked by something. The skymetal wall across the back of the thorp was Androffan work, part of the wreckage that had been scattered across Numeria long ago. Ashe was able to read the weathered frame numbers still etched in the wall’s supports.
Valder was able to go out and hunt down one of the escaped goats and they made camp. The odd thing was – from here, the PCs would be able to make out the glow from Torch’s flame – but they could not see anything.
The next day, they rode into Torch. Valder and a few others went to the townhall to report the lost thorp. At the town hall, they met Dolga Freddert, an old dwarven woman who is facing a crisis. The flame on Black Hill had gone out. The town has sent out 5 expeditions into the caves underneath Black Hill to find out why. Only Khonnir Baine’s expedition has returned. And he was lost upon re-entering the caves. Dolga offers a reward of 1,000 silver discs for the recovery of Khonnir Baine or his body. There’s another 1,000 silver discs if the flame can be re-lit.
Furthermore, Val Baine – Khonnir Baine’s adopted daughter, has offered room and board in the Foundry Tavern to anyone trying to bring back her ‘Pa’. This is a good thing since Torch was overcrowded with traders and smelters waiting to find out what has happened to Torch’s flame.
Valder immediately told the other PCs and they went over to the Foundry Tavern. They arrived just in time to rescue Val from a broken down repair drone that was disassembling her house. The PCs heard other rumors as they came up – including one about a purple-haired woman.
The next day, the PCs met with Father Joram, the priest of Brigh. He gave the party water-breathing to get through the sunken entrance to the caves as well as several water-proof bags. He also mentions that Khonnir Baine was the one who discovered the hidden entrance by noting several footprints that went into the lake and never came out.
Once inside the cave, the PCs pulled out their everburning candles and began searching. They had no problems with the hungry fire beetles that attacked them. Climbing up a steep slope, they found the body of Parda Garr, a half-orc attached to one of the expeditions. Studying her footprints, Valder was able to state that she was running blindly. Cause of death might have been multiple stab wounds. At that time, there was a flash of light further up the cave.
Approaching carefully, the PCs came across a frog-like creature that still wore a collar. They attacked and several of them were blinded when the creature blinked – causing a white-hot light to shine from its eyes. But Valder threw his poncho over the creature while other stabbed or pummeled it. Grigoro was able to remove the blindness from the afflicted PCs with his witchy salve. The dead creature turned out to be a Blindheim.
Going a little bit further, Astrovel and Ashe (can’t remember who) spotted someone hiding. They shot at it – causing the person to start running. Valder subdued it and they questioned her. She was a skulk, a being from the Underdark, trapped here with a few remaining tribal members when their leader and shaman died. She would bring the PCs to their current leader, a skulk named Sef.
Sef told the PCs how a purple-haired woman had come into the caves and made an agreement with the skulk shaman to kill anyone following her. Then she and her humans, orcs and ratfolk disappeared through one of the hatches in the huge metal wall. Since then, the skulks have avoided the larger groups like Baine’s but killed the smaller expeditions. In one of these fights, most of the skulks have gotten killed.
She was willing to let the PCs proceed without problems and give them the item that the skulks had looted from the other expeditions and the contents of the rooms behind the skymetal hatch – if the PCs could do her a favor – to wipe out the gremlins plaguing her.
The PCs agreed and went to clean up the dirty little fey. They returned and Sef gave them several pouches as well as five cards, colored brown. Then the PCs returned to Torch for a rest and to sell off the items they had recovered.
(GM Advice – maybe follow up on the rumors of the purple-haired woman?)
The packmaster pulled his animals up to the back of the thorp – where a long ragged wall of skymetal forms part of the thorp’s palisade. He then asked for volunteers to go check out the huts. Seven people stepped forward – but Quincy Logan asked for remuneration. The packmaster dug into his pockets and gave each of the PCs a silver disc. (1 gp).
So the seven go looking into the eastern hut. It is like many of the poor dwellings in Numeria, a dugout, halfway dug into the ground and roofed with a pitched roof of reeds and sticks. Including Quincy, the seven are Astrovel Stonelock, a wizard, Valder Arnhold, a hunter, Obin Musdaerg, a dwarven barbarian, Grigorio, son of Golgo, a slender lad with witch powers, Ashe Winterborn, a rarity in these areas – a tengu, and Niferia Papaver, a purple-haired woman with otherworldly beauty who is an inquisitor for Sarenrae.
In the eastern hut, they found nothing. There was a very strong smell of vermin – like cockroaches – and all the foodstuffs were gone. In the western hut, there was the strong smell of vermin – and then the mutant silverfish attacked! The giant vermin pushed on the PCs but soon the PCs were able to smash the bugs.
Valder noticed the ground and found some oddly shaped footprints in the dust. He could not tell what they were. Pushing aside the hanging curtains, the PCs discovered dog bones, picked clean by the silverfish.
The goat pens had been broken down. The goats had gotten free, spooked by something. The skymetal wall across the back of the thorp was Androffan work, part of the wreckage that had been scattered across Numeria long ago. Ashe was able to read the weathered frame numbers still etched in the wall’s supports.
Valder was able to go out and hunt down one of the escaped goats and they made camp. The odd thing was – from here, the PCs would be able to make out the glow from Torch’s flame – but they could not see anything.
The next day, they rode into Torch. Valder and a few others went to the townhall to report the lost thorp. At the town hall, they met Dolga Freddert, an old dwarven woman who is facing a crisis. The flame on Black Hill had gone out. The town has sent out 5 expeditions into the caves underneath Black Hill to find out why. Only Khonnir Baine’s expedition has returned. And he was lost upon re-entering the caves. Dolga offers a reward of 1,000 silver discs for the recovery of Khonnir Baine or his body. There’s another 1,000 silver discs if the flame can be re-lit.
Furthermore, Val Baine – Khonnir Baine’s adopted daughter, has offered room and board in the Foundry Tavern to anyone trying to bring back her ‘Pa’. This is a good thing since Torch was overcrowded with traders and smelters waiting to find out what has happened to Torch’s flame.
Valder immediately told the other PCs and they went over to the Foundry Tavern. They arrived just in time to rescue Val from a broken down repair drone that was disassembling her house. The PCs heard other rumors as they came up – including one about a purple-haired woman.
The next day, the PCs met with Father Joram, the priest of Brigh. He gave the party water-breathing to get through the sunken entrance to the caves as well as several water-proof bags. He also mentions that Khonnir Baine was the one who discovered the hidden entrance by noting several footprints that went into the lake and never came out.
Once inside the cave, the PCs pulled out their everburning candles and began searching. They had no problems with the hungry fire beetles that attacked them. Climbing up a steep slope, they found the body of Parda Garr, a half-orc attached to one of the expeditions. Studying her footprints, Valder was able to state that she was running blindly. Cause of death might have been multiple stab wounds. At that time, there was a flash of light further up the cave.
Approaching carefully, the PCs came across a frog-like creature that still wore a collar. They attacked and several of them were blinded when the creature blinked – causing a white-hot light to shine from its eyes. But Valder threw his poncho over the creature while other stabbed or pummeled it. Grigoro was able to remove the blindness from the afflicted PCs with his witchy salve. The dead creature turned out to be a Blindheim.
Going a little bit further, Astrovel and Ashe (can’t remember who) spotted someone hiding. They shot at it – causing the person to start running. Valder subdued it and they questioned her. She was a skulk, a being from the Underdark, trapped here with a few remaining tribal members when their leader and shaman died. She would bring the PCs to their current leader, a skulk named Sef.
Sef told the PCs how a purple-haired woman had come into the caves and made an agreement with the skulk shaman to kill anyone following her. Then she and her humans, orcs and ratfolk disappeared through one of the hatches in the huge metal wall. Since then, the skulks have avoided the larger groups like Baine’s but killed the smaller expeditions. In one of these fights, most of the skulks have gotten killed.
She was willing to let the PCs proceed without problems and give them the item that the skulks had looted from the other expeditions and the contents of the rooms behind the skymetal hatch – if the PCs could do her a favor – to wipe out the gremlins plaguing her.
The PCs agreed and went to clean up the dirty little fey. They returned and Sef gave them several pouches as well as five cards, colored brown. Then the PCs returned to Torch for a rest and to sell off the items they had recovered.
(GM Advice – maybe follow up on the rumors of the purple-haired woman?)
