Post by hubertbartels on Nov 5, 2022 13:54:50 GMT -5
The Problem in the Mines
While Rissa was tracking down rumors of the lost gold caravan, Connor headed to the town guards. He met with the quartermaster to sell the arms and armor we had collected from the bandits. Asking about the lost gold caravan, he was told that it was all a rumor that someone started to get people to enter the marshes. Instead, the quartermaster pointed Connor at the Saltmarsh bounty board. They were offering a sizable bounty on Rodna the Red, a bandit chief working out of the Dreadwood.
At noon, we all met in the market of Saltmarsh. Einar talked about a task for the dwarven miners. Since we had nothing better to do, we walked over to the office of the mining company for more information. The mining supervisor, an old dwarf named Balin gave us a rundown on the problem. While digging a new tunnel, the miners broke into a series of caves. Balin sent four guards in to check out the area – none have returned. From the stench, he believes they have a troglodyte problem. He wants us to handle the troglodytes and bring back his dwarven guards if we can.
We ride out to the mining site with the shift wagon. It’s about six miles outside of Saltmarsh. On the way, the driver of the wagon pointed out a large house falling into ruin. He told us that it was haunted and a famous alchemist once lived there. We made a note of it. As the wagon crested the hill, we could see the protective wall and watch towers of the mining site before us. Inside the wall, we found workshops, barracks, office buildings and even a tavern along with the mine head. Having given the instructions from Balin to the local head of operations, we were immediately sent down into the mine.
At the site, we found where the dwarven miners had revealed the caverns. Turning into the caverns, we quickly found an area filled with fungi and odd mushrooms. When Einar threw a rock into the area – the mushrooms began shrieking. The fungi on the floors and cavern walls sprouted tentacles and began moving slowly toward us. Revandrous(?) identified them as violet fungi, a very dangerous fungi that poisoned one with their touch.
The shrieking also brought in four troglodytes. While Connor burned off the violet fungi, the others put down the troglodytes. Going through their stuff, we turned up a blood stained pendent that bore the spiral markings of Tharizdun, the ancient deity of chaos. We then decided to find out where these troglodytes had come from.
On our way deeper into the caverns, we killed another group of troglodytes. From their bodies, we took two more blood stained pendents marked with the symbol of Tharizdun. Further in, we started to hear the faint sounds of chanting. Before we could investigate, three more troglodytes stepped in our path.
After killing them, we rushed into the chamber where we heard the chanting. A naked dwarf lay on a slab of stone with an old troglodyte standing above him. The troglodyte had the symbol of Tharizdun carved into his chest. We killed him and rescued the bound dwarf.
The dwarf’s name was Dane and he told us that the troglodytes had killed their leader and still were holding two more dwarves prisoner deeper in the caves. After returning Dane’s clothes and armor, we continued down deeper in the caverns.
Ahead, we spotted two troglodytes guarding an opening in the cavern. A quick attack and we ended up rescuing the other two dwarves. They were happy to see us. We returned to the surface with the three dwarves in two.
There was a great shout of joy when the rest of the dwarven miners saw that we had rescued their comrades. Einar and the others discussed the mine and caverns with the local head of operations, suggesting that they wall up the break through and post guards to prevent the troglodytes from returning. We then boarded the shift wagon back to Balin and Saltmarsh.
At the mining offices, Balin thanked us and paid out the reward money. We had a bit of time before we were expected at the Primewater estate for dinner that evening.
While Rissa was tracking down rumors of the lost gold caravan, Connor headed to the town guards. He met with the quartermaster to sell the arms and armor we had collected from the bandits. Asking about the lost gold caravan, he was told that it was all a rumor that someone started to get people to enter the marshes. Instead, the quartermaster pointed Connor at the Saltmarsh bounty board. They were offering a sizable bounty on Rodna the Red, a bandit chief working out of the Dreadwood.
At noon, we all met in the market of Saltmarsh. Einar talked about a task for the dwarven miners. Since we had nothing better to do, we walked over to the office of the mining company for more information. The mining supervisor, an old dwarf named Balin gave us a rundown on the problem. While digging a new tunnel, the miners broke into a series of caves. Balin sent four guards in to check out the area – none have returned. From the stench, he believes they have a troglodyte problem. He wants us to handle the troglodytes and bring back his dwarven guards if we can.
We ride out to the mining site with the shift wagon. It’s about six miles outside of Saltmarsh. On the way, the driver of the wagon pointed out a large house falling into ruin. He told us that it was haunted and a famous alchemist once lived there. We made a note of it. As the wagon crested the hill, we could see the protective wall and watch towers of the mining site before us. Inside the wall, we found workshops, barracks, office buildings and even a tavern along with the mine head. Having given the instructions from Balin to the local head of operations, we were immediately sent down into the mine.
At the site, we found where the dwarven miners had revealed the caverns. Turning into the caverns, we quickly found an area filled with fungi and odd mushrooms. When Einar threw a rock into the area – the mushrooms began shrieking. The fungi on the floors and cavern walls sprouted tentacles and began moving slowly toward us. Revandrous(?) identified them as violet fungi, a very dangerous fungi that poisoned one with their touch.
The shrieking also brought in four troglodytes. While Connor burned off the violet fungi, the others put down the troglodytes. Going through their stuff, we turned up a blood stained pendent that bore the spiral markings of Tharizdun, the ancient deity of chaos. We then decided to find out where these troglodytes had come from.
On our way deeper into the caverns, we killed another group of troglodytes. From their bodies, we took two more blood stained pendents marked with the symbol of Tharizdun. Further in, we started to hear the faint sounds of chanting. Before we could investigate, three more troglodytes stepped in our path.
After killing them, we rushed into the chamber where we heard the chanting. A naked dwarf lay on a slab of stone with an old troglodyte standing above him. The troglodyte had the symbol of Tharizdun carved into his chest. We killed him and rescued the bound dwarf.
The dwarf’s name was Dane and he told us that the troglodytes had killed their leader and still were holding two more dwarves prisoner deeper in the caves. After returning Dane’s clothes and armor, we continued down deeper in the caverns.
Ahead, we spotted two troglodytes guarding an opening in the cavern. A quick attack and we ended up rescuing the other two dwarves. They were happy to see us. We returned to the surface with the three dwarves in two.
There was a great shout of joy when the rest of the dwarven miners saw that we had rescued their comrades. Einar and the others discussed the mine and caverns with the local head of operations, suggesting that they wall up the break through and post guards to prevent the troglodytes from returning. We then boarded the shift wagon back to Balin and Saltmarsh.
At the mining offices, Balin thanked us and paid out the reward money. We had a bit of time before we were expected at the Primewater estate for dinner that evening.