Gygax & Greyhawk Session #17 - Down and Out in Orlane

DRAMATIS PERSONAE:

Ranzel of the Wood (Human Ranger 3)
Solcha (Elf Fighter 3 / Magic User 2)
Skeef Hawkridge (Half Elf Druid 3/ Thief 2)
Goro (Half Orc Cleric 3 / Fighter 2)

 

Date/Time

Wealsun 12 morning to Wealsun 15 evening

Having decided to investigate the rumors of strange happenings in the village of Orlane, the party purchases horses and makes their way east to the edge of the Troll Fens. They have an uneventful journey, except a brief interruption  in camp by a trio of stag beetles on their last night on the road. An encounter they avoid by saddling up and moving to another field just down the road.  Rising the next sunrise to sheets of rain and thunderstorms, they make their wet way to Orlane, arriving mid-morning. Thanks to the weather, there is no one about, so the party rides the village and identifies the inns (The Slumbering Serpent, The Golden Grain and the ruined "Foaming Mug". They note  a temple to Berei on a rise north-east of town, and all the farms and tradesmen shops to be expected in a small village. They also note a distressing number of apparently abandoned homes and weed choked farm fields, signs that all is not right. And Goro makes  use of a detect evil spell, and immediately senses bad things about a number of locations [#2, #6, #12, #13, #14, #15, #16, #18, #21, #22].

As the rain  starts to lift around noon, the party makes a few stops to get the lay of the land. 

• The livery stable [#11] where they are greeted with great enthusiasm by a little boy, shy reserve and suspicion by his mother, and pleasant professionalism by Killian the liveryman. When asked, he recommends the Sleeping Servant over the Golden Grain for food and lodging, noting it is a more pleasant and friendly place. Pressed further, he notes these are strange times in Orlane. He is suspicious of the two strangers who moved into the cottage across the road [9] several weeks ago. "They don't seem to be interested in mixing with anybody." And mentions his neighbors at the general store  "up and disappeared a couple months ago; gone for nearly a fortnight, then the whole family came back. Didn't even leave one of the boys to mind the store!"

• The Slumbering Serpent [#25], a pleasant and cozy establishment run by wife and husband Belba and Ollwin. Bellla confirms the general sense of  "something wrong", and seems inclined to blame it on the old hermit in the grove across the road. Ollwin interjects to say the hermit (Ramne) is "good people", and is probably more than he seems. Anyone interested in getting  to the bottom of the town's mystery would do well to speak to the old man.

• And so after a mug and a meal, they head to the grove [#27] and find a small cottage hidden under the elm and oak. They are greeted by the hermit Ramne and his companion weasel Whiskers. He is very guarded however, giving up no information to the party, while still remaining pleasant. 

• They next drop by the village store [#12], using the pretense of stocking up on iron spikes and torches to probe the proprietor Kirdir and his wife Ana, hoping to get clues as to where they'd disappeared for two weeks. While Kirdir is polite and himself probes the party to find out what they are doing in town, they learn nothing of note. However, after they leave the store, Ranzel quickly pops back in and notes suspicious movement beyond the curtain that separates the back of the shop from the serving counter.  

• Passing the tailor shop [#11], they decide to drop in to talk. But the tailor Myron is too nervous to even open the door. They laves some clothes to be mended, but Myron insist they just leave it on the step with payment, and will not let them in. 

• Making their way to the neatest and nicest house in town [#10] , they sit and chat with the village reeve, Zakarias. He is polite and curious with these strangers, but is discreet, seeking information more readily than giving it away. Solcha decides here is a suitable target for her charm, and the reeve quickly changes his tune. He knows something is not right in his village, and associates the changes with recent midnight disappearances, noticing that the folks who return are in a somehow altered state. He is convinced that the storekeeper, the smith, the carpenter, and the clerics are all members of this secret order. And is convinced the old hermit in the grove west of town is behind the whole thing. Lack of proof has kept him from acting on this assumption, however. He also reveals the occupants of the cottage [#9] are a pair of elves, Dorian and Llywillan. Old adventuring companions who he's asked to investigate the strange goings on in Orlane. But he's told no one else about them. 

• With evening now coming on, they make a visit to the temple of Berei [#12], with a brief stop at the pig farm [#19] where the farmer Varek is not communicative. At the temple, most of the party explore the courtyard (noting is is much too weedy and unkempt for a place of worship of the Hearth Mother. Inside, Goro encounters the young priestess Misha, making hints he may wish to shift his allegiance from Heironeous  to the goddess. The priestess seems oddly blasé about the matter, stumbling over her words as she attempts to sing the praises of Berei. As if she really didn't believe anything she was saying. 

As darkness starts to fall, the party heads back to the Inn of the Slumbering Serpent to rest, regroup and plan. 

GAINS

none

KILLS/VICTORIES

none

LOSSES

none 

Gygax & Greyhawk Session #16 - Ankheg Ambush!

DRAMATIS PERSONAE:

Ranzel of the Wood (Human Ranger 3)
Solcha (Elf Fighter 2 / Magic User 2)
Skeef Hawkridge (Half Elf Druid 2/ Thief 2) and his dire wolf. 
Goro (Half Orc Cleric 2 / Fighter 2)

Date/Time

Flocktime 26 morning - Wealsun 12 morning 

The party heads east out of Oxton under a blanket of cold mist.  After several hours, the mist starts to lift and they arrive a the site of the caravan ambush. An outcropping on the north side of the road rises about 40', and on the south they find the battered remains of three wagons. What cargo remain (barrels and sacks of food supplies) are broken open and contents soiled. Partially eaten remains of an oxen lie in the traces of one wagon, and a newly built cairn nearby is thought to contain the remains of the lost drover. Searching the greater area uncover a pile of very old weathered stone blocks on top of the outcrop, and a 5' wide hole in the ground (a partially eaten oxen sprawled at the edge) to the south where something had obviously burst out of the earth. Examination of both oxen reveal they have been more dissolved/digested than chewed on. Skeef speaks with a nearby groundhog and learns the creature that attacked was a large, long insect thing with pincers and more than the usual number of legs. 

The party decide to lure the creature out by rolling rocks off the outcrop. This takes a few hours to get the 'thumping' rhythm correct (and elicits a few strange looks from people passing on the road), but suddenly the ground shakes and a large (15' long) chitinous insect burst out of the ground and starts to advance on the party. The archers pepper it with arrows, but as Goro closes to deliver the coup de grace, the creature turns and flees back down the hole. The party  follows, entering a maze of 5' tunnels, following the dripping ichor of the wounded insect. They run it down in a larger chamber, where they fight it and a second ankheg hiding on an overhead terrace. They find some out of place worked stone blocks, but nothing else of interest. 

Proceeding further, they delve deeper into the maze of tunnels. They encounter and kill another, smaller ankheg by a pool in a larger chamber. And then explore on. They start to note unusual signs of construction, such as the odd block of worked stone or masonry wall. All very old and all pre-dating the tunnel system. Eventually they stumble into a worked stone chamber. Octagonal in shape and with much worn and faded brutalist dwarven designs on the wall, it features a low dais in the center on which stands an obelisk and four statues. The statues are of dwarves; child, young, middle aged and old. The obelisk is of solid black stone. Finding nothing of note on their initial search, the party finds the statues can be moved, and so rearrange them in chronological order. This opens a door in the side of the obelisk, and a set of stairs lead down. This opens into a chamber with a dwarf skeleton holding a wand in it's hands and lying on the top of a pile of coins.  Initial probing shows it does not appear to be a threat, so the party starts scooping coins into sacks. At some point, the skeleton shifts as the coins supporting it are removed. At this moment,  gout of flame bursts from it's skeletal jaws, catching Skeef in the blast. That moment passed, they pluck the wand from it's hands and gather the rest of the gold.

Done looting, the party heads back into the tunnels looking for more gold.  They encounter no gold, but have to fight another ankheg in very tight quarters. They convinces them to turn about and head back to the surface and thence on the Oxton to spend their new found wealth on much needed training. 

GAINS

3000ep

1000go

500pp

wand of magic detection 

KILLS/VICTORIES

5 Ankheg

LOSSES

none