Gygax & Greyhawk Session #25 - Poison and Fried Eggs

DRAMATIS PERSONAE:

Ranzel of the Wood (Human Ranger 4)
Solcha (Elf Fighter 4 / Magic User 3)
Skeef Hawkridge (Half Elf Druid 4/ Thief 3) 
Goro (Half Orc Cleric 4 / Fighter 3)

Date/Time

Reaping 17 late afternoon to Reaping 27 morning

The party makes it's way through the maze of tunnels interspersed with patches of deep mud, heading north-west. Several uninteresting caves are explored before they come to a spot where Skeef (the only without wax stuffed in his nose) smells troglodyte. The party enters a wide cavern that extends well beyond their lantern light, shaking out into a skirmish line as they go. Solcha spies a hidden figure against the right wall and fires a shot with her bow. Before running off into the darkness, the camouflaged troglodyte hurls a wicker cage at her, which bursts to free a hissing viper. Before the party can dispatch the serpent, it bites the elf and she goes down, poisoned. Skeef and Goro jump in to save her with a combination of slow poison and neutralize poison, and party begins to advance carefully. A side chamber is found, with a nest full of troglodyte eggs about to hatch. Oil and flame are applied, but the screams and smells attract an onrush of troglodyte defenders. More pit vipers come flying at the party, and this time Ranzel goes down. Once more, Goro drags his fallen comrade out of the way and starts casting spells to bring him back to the fight. Meanwhile the rest of the party  engages the hordes with swords and hold person spells until all are dead. Skeef also manages to capture a pit viper (and several pit viper hatchling in the next room). They pile the bodies to burn, and then push to the end of the cavern. There they find the drying pelt of their fallen giant weasel friend, as well as a pile of treasure hidden under one of the mud-pile sleeping nests. 

Leaving the long cavern, the party fights past a screaming and savage bonesnapper. Who is an easy kill since it's chained to the wall. They now find themselves in the naga's chamber again, having approached it from the opposite direction as they did last time. A quick search of the green glowing, water filled cavern reveals no unrecovered treasure, so they backtrack a bit to a side passage. Where they encounter a pair of huge spiders, and this time Skeef falls dead to their poison. With no spells left, Ranzel calls on his wilderness wiles to suck the poison from the wound, thankfully not poisoning himself in the process. This stabilizes the druid/thief enough for the party to retreat back to Orlane for a week of rest and recovery. 

Returning to the dungeon, they continue this exploration of the lower level. They encounter a curious room where zombies operate a system of pullies and buckets, raising water from the pool in the chamber to the darkness above. After much conundruming, they realize this is a sump to keep the lower level from flooding. As they discover when they destroy the zombies and the water level starts to rise.

Rushing ahead of the rising waters they check out one last place; a water filled chamber they bypassed in their original explorations. Here the party is surprises to see one wall of the passage has been opened up, revealing a hidden  storage area. A boat now also lay at the waters edge, so they party piles in to cross the long cavern. At the end they find a raised mud bank and wooden platform, similar to the treasure room they found on the upper level. Here though the treasure is looted. Two chests lay smashed on the platform, and a body lay amid the ruins. They examine the body and find it had died of poison, likely from a trap on a chest.   And he looks like one of the Derek the Cultist's men. Based on the body and the tracks Ranzel examines, it looks like the treasure was looted when the party was recovering in Orlane. Cursing their luck and promising revenge against the wily Derek, the party returns to Orlane once more to consider their options going forward. 

GAINS

47pp

273gp

490sp

gems [350gp, 200gp, 110gp, 80gp] 

Giant Weasel Pelt [3000gp]

KILLS/VICTORIES

10 Troglodytes 

2 Mud Vipers (1 captured)

1 Bonesnapper (helplessly murdered) 

2 Huge Spiders 

5 Zombies 

LOSSES

Solcha, Skeef, Ranzel (poisoned) ... but they're feeling better now. 

Gygax & Greyhawk Session #24 - Back to the Dungeon

DRAMATIS PERSONAE:

Ranzel of the Wood (Human Ranger 4)
Solcha (Elf Fighter 4 / Magic User 3)
Skeef Hawkridge (Half Elf Druid 4/ Thief 3) 
Goro (Half Orc Cleric 4 / Fighter 3)

Date/Time

Reaping 13 morning to Reaping 17 late afternoon 

Before leaving Oxton, the party visits the sage Pharnabazus as they'd left the mysterious horn with him to identify. Unfortunately, they learn that it is an essentially worthless and useless horn of bubbles, product of the trickster Jester Mage, Xthilius . They also ask about the grey toad seal from the evil priests scroll. Pharnabazus easily identifies it as the mark of Wastri, the Hopping Prophet. He is a minor demigod who favors humankind and amphibian life, and has a great hatred for demi-humans. What it signifies he cannot say as the cult of Wastri has not been previously know in the lands of the Tenha.

Arriving in Orlane, the party does a detect evil recon of the village to confirm that no trace of the cult remains. They learn that while the first few weeks after the party had slain the naga were awkward and uncomfortable on the town, formerly charmed cult members and the rest of the townsfolk have mended broken bridges and started to move on. Several of the former cult have disappeared and not returned, including the sinister Derek and the constables former companions. 

Proceeding  the next day back the naga's dungeon, the party begins a systematic search for bypassed treasure. They deal with a troll who has been gathering the half-rotted remains of the slain cult members. Further encounters with green slime and poisonous snakes likewise interrupt their searching. A druidic conversation with the crocodiles reveal little useful information, though the party does learn of a boat they can use to more easily cross the muddy waters of the chamber. They find no treasure until they enter the lair of a pair of harpies. Skeef, Goro and Ranzel are all charmed at various points (and Ranzel is also immobilized in some deep mud, lured their by the bird-ladies song), but in the end the party slays both. Looting the harpy lair recovers a small collection of jewelry, both mundane and magical.  

Figuring they have found all there is of interest on the top level, the party now proceeds back to the muddier depths ... 

GAINS

Various jewelry [250gp, 100gp, 100gp, 90gp, 75gp, 50gp, 50gp]

Necklace of Adaptation 

KILLS/VICTORIES

1 Troll

1 Green Slime

1 Poisonous Snake

2 Harpies 

LOSSES

None 

Gygax & Greyhawk Session #23 - Death and Nagas

 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 25 evening to Reaping 13 morning

Explictica Defilus is slow to turn and face the threat behind her, not expecting anyone to approach from the secret door but her high priest. Taking advantage of the surprise, Solcha and Ranzel start charging at the naga, while Skeef and Goro hold back and begin casting spells. Just as the charge connects and the spells go off, the naga responds with a spell of here own. Skeef finds himself stuck in a sticky web, and Goro is trapped on the wrong side of it, away from his companions. The purple glow of faerie fire leaps from the snake like form as Solcha and Ranzel hack at her, and Goro burns the web (and Skeef) to clear a path. The naga turns her gaze on Ranzel, charming the ranger, who then attempts to keep both sets of his friends separate and generally getting in everyone's way. The naga swiftly bites Solcha, poisoning the elf , who falls dead. Goro charges in to lay about with his blade, and Skeef rushes forward to cast neutralize poison on his fallen comrade. And then the naga release a fireball, and both Skeef (and his critters) and Solcha fall to the blast. But getting caught in the flames also releases Ranzel from his charm. He raises his sword, and the ranger finishes the serpent-thing with a mighty chop. 

Skeef's wounds are bound, and he regains consciousness in a short time. There is nothing that can be done immediately for Solcha, so her remains are respectfully wrapped to be carried out of the dungeon and hopefully to a cleric for raising. The remainder of the party gathers the loot, rescues the captives, and scoops up the leftover silver pieces from the first treasure hoard. And then make their way back to Orlane, arriving just as dusk begins to fall. They make their way directly to Ramne's grove, but notice along the way there are actually people on the streets of Orlane and life seems to be just a little more normal. Ramne confirms their observation, noting that whatever the party has done, it appears the curse on the town is lifted. They confirm this with visits to the Slumbering Serpent Inn and the reeve Zakarias (who has his own charm lifted by the death of Solcha, and is none to happy with his previous enscollment) 

The party does not linger in Orlane, but escorts the formerly captive merchant and his wife back to Oxton. There they pool their gold to raise Solcha, and decide to sell to bag of holding to a reveling Richfest dandy. This allows them to train and pay off debts, and prepare for a return to the dungeons of the naga to see what treasures and evils they may have overlooked ... 

GAINS

110pp

890gp

5862sp

Jeweled bracelet [400gp]

Ruby [800gp]

Bag of Holding

Boots of Elvenkind

Horn of ??

Ring of Protection +1

Ring of Free Action

Potion of Gaseous Form

Potion of Invisibility

Potionof Clairvoyance

2 Potion of Healing

Philter of Love  

KILLS/VICTORIES

Explictica Defilus aka the Naga

LOSSES

Solcha (Twice)

Skeef (Once) 

Racoon and Rat 

Gygax & Greyhawk Session #22 - Of Undead and Secret Doors

DRAMATIS PERSONAE:

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

Balthus (Human Fighter 2) and his War Dog 

Date/Time

Wealsun 25 late afternoon to Wealsun 25 evening

The party pushes along the edge of one last mud-filled chamber and finally emerges onto dry-ish land. The passage initially leads to a large chamber filled with deep water and no sign of a way to cross it. Turning back, they take another branch of the corridor which leads to a door, swollen tightly shut. This is forced open and leads to the first 'built' chamber encountered on this lower level. A single massive pillar holds up the ceiling in the center. As they move past this pillar, two undead creatures emerge from behind it and attack. Both wrap their hands and Goro's neck and start to choke the cleric to death. And while both are quickly chopped down, they gruesomely rise again and scare off half the party, leaving the remnant to turn to magic and silvered weapons to finish them off. 

Forcing open another door, the party encounter zombies waiting, which Goro turns. However, the undead come back as the party is exploring another exit and are taken down by sword and mace. The new exit leads into a series of cells. One is occupied by a teenage boy and girl, the other by an older couple. All explained they'd been captured by the cult and brought before Eplicitica Defilus, but resisted the naga's charm gaze. So they were locked up here. The teenagers are from Orlane, children of the town carpenter, a cult member. The other two are merchants unlucky enough to stay in the wrong inn when they passed through town. When questioned, they can tell little about the dungeon overall as they were blindfolded when lead through, but are able to describe the naga's lair. It is accessible only by boat, through a great water filled chamber lit by a strange green glow. The naga herself sat on a pile of treasure on a dry shelf at the end of the cavern.  

All of the prisoners' beg to be released, but the party convinces them to remain in the cells until they finish with the naga, it being safer for them here for now. They sullenly agree, and the party hands over a few spare weapons just in case someone comes for the prisoners. 

Heading further down the hall, the party passes through another chamber before reaching a door. Throwing it open, they find themselves looking into a wood paneled chapel. At the far end next to a dais and alter stands a man in grey-green robes, who mock's their arrival and prepares to cast a spell. This is cut off by a magic missile from Solcha, and the figure then neutralized by a hold spell from Skeef. However, the man's assistants rushes across the room and grabs at Goro, draining away some of the cleric's life force and vitality. The giant weasel latches onto the attacker; but unfortunatley is also drained of life as a result. Once more, the magic and silver comes out and the undead attacker is slain. 

Entering and searching the room, they find a stone statue of the naga on the wooden alter. Looting the body of the cleric, they find he wears chainmail and carries a snake-headed hammer. He also has a scroll hidden under the robes, a letter from some called Abbot Grosso. The letter outlines much of what the party knows about the cult activities, and also suggests the naga's cult is but a small part of some greater evil. The scroll has a seal attached, in sickly green-grey wax, of a hopping frog. No one recognizes the symbol. 

Searching around the alter, Solcha finds the statue's head can turn, which opens a secret door in the north wall. This leads into a short passage, where the party finds another secret door. Opening this, they are greeted by a strange green glow silhouetting a great serpent shape in the chamber beyond ... 

GAINS

none

KILLS/VICTORIES

2 coffer corpse

4 zombies

Gareth Primo, High Priest of the Cult 

1 wight 

LOSSES

Riki the Wonder Weasel 

Gygax & Greyhawk Session #21 - Of Trogs and Guards

DRAMATIS PERSONAE:

Solcha (Elf Fighter 3 / Magic User 2)
Skeef Hawkridge (Half Elf Druid 3/ Thief 2)
Goro (Half Orc Cleric 3 / Fighter 2)

Balthus (Human Fighter 2) and his War Dog 

Date/Time

Wealsun 25 mid afternoon to Wealsun 25 late afternoon 

Leaving Ranzel to temporarily keep an eye on their captive, the party moves on in their search for Explictica Defilus. Their path leads them inexorably to the east, to the area they suspect houses the rest of the human guards. Sneaking in as best they can, they burst in on one group of guards and kill them all. This raises a hue and cry from a second group, who are likewise slaughtered. And a third quartet was roused from sleep only when multiple batterings are required to open the moisture swollen door to their room. These four are slain, and all the bodies locked into a single room to hide them from easy discovery. As they are doing so, the party is surprised by a giant weasel, attracted by the sounds of slaying, whom Skeef charms and speaks into friendship. The beast knows nothing of the naga, but tells the party a group of troglodyte's dwell near its lair to the south west. Surmising where there are trogs, there may be Explicitica, the party has the weasel lead them that way. 

To reach the other end of the dungeon, the party traverses a water filled cavern, using a few doors as rafts. They are lucky to avoid the smiling jaws of the three crocodiles that call the water home. After a short detour to the weasel's watery cave, their new furry friend leads them to the troglodytes. Before moving further, everyone in the party seals their nostrils with candle wax in hopes of avoiding the creatures stench. Bursting in through a door, the party surprises and slays the two trogs behind it before they can raise an alarm. They then lure in the rest and slaughter them in pairs, with little hurt to the party except for Balthus' war dog and the weasel. 

Looting the bodies, they press on and find stairs going down. Which they go down. These lead to a labyrinth of mud filled passages which takes much time and mapping but nothing else to show as yet ...

GAINS

20gp

20ep

57sp

180cp

KILLS/VICTORIES

12 guards

8 troglodyte

LOSSES

none

Gygax & Greyhawk Session #20 - Foray to the Fens

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)

Balthus (Human Fighter 2) and his War Dog 

Date/Time

Wealsun 16 night - Wealsun 25 mid afternoon 

The party hides the bodies in the old Inn, and then head off to the reeves house. There they rouse him from bed, and are surprised to meet their erstwhile companion Balthus as well. While discussing what to do, there is a knock at the door. It is the Constable, Grover Ruskadal, with two goons and the cleric Abramo. They spin a tale in which the party unjustly attacked them and kidnapped Misha, and demand they be found and brought to trial before the village council of grandfathers. Zakarias gets them to leave, but now insists the party has to as well, as he is legally bound to summon the council and bring them the trial if he can 'catch' them. The party takes the hint, heading out the back window and into the night, dragging the charmed Misha with them. 

Given the less than useful status of Ranzel the Blind and Slocha the Slow, the party discusses what to do next. Lay low until the heat is off and Socha recovered? Head back to Oxton to regroup and heal? Split the party? As they debate, Whiskers the weasel emerges from the trees and tugs at Skeef's cloak, trying to get them to follow him. Intrigued, the party does, and Whiskers leads them back his his master's grove. There, Ramne greets them and offers assistance and information. It seems their fight in the streets has convinced the secretive hermit that they can be trusted. He removes Ranzel's blindness, and agrees to let Solcha recover in the hidden safety of the grove, while the rest of the party hides out in abandoned farms and buildings around the outskirts of town. Ramne also provides a scroll of dispel magic, suggesting it may be useful when they go after the naga Explictica Defilus in her lair.

Speaking of which, they drop the charm  from Misha, and then Ramne dispels the charm the cleric is under from the naga. Misha is horrified of what she has been part of, and provides the party with directions to the dungeon in the Troll Fens where the cult leader can be found. She can tell them little of the dungeon itself however, having been there just once when first initiated into the cult, and she had been blindfolded most of that time. She does confirm there is little else in Orlane or the Temple of Berei tied to the cult,  apart from a few troglodytes hiding in tunnels and the cultists the party is already aware of. She then takes her leave of the party, going off to mediate and pray for forgiveness for her actions. 

Once Solcha has recovered, the party convinces Ramne to cast invisibility on three of the team (Balthus, Sheef and Ranzel), and they then head off for the fens at first light. By mid afternoon, the trail they've been following fades away in front of a low rise surrounded by a mud dike holding back the water surrounding it. In the center is a pit with a set of muddy stairs; which Skeef slips on, crashing down into a chamber with four human guards. The rest of the party follows, the guards are quickly defeated, and all stealth and invisibility is gone. But it seems the general alarm is not raised, so the party starts to explore. They deal with a water filled room and a pair of giant frogs, who Skeef gets to lead them to a hidden treasure. Pushing deeper, they encounter a trio of of human henchmen of the naga. They kill two, and capture one, but are unsuccessful at extracting any useful information from their belligerent prisoner ... 

GAINS

87 gems [10gp each]

6 gems [25gp each]

Small Shield +1

Jade statue of Explictica Defilus [75gp]

Scroll of 2x Cure Light Wounds 

KILLS/VICTORIES

4 guards

2 assassins

LOSSES

none

Gygax & Greyhawk Session #19 - Murder in the Streets of 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 16 mid-day to Wealsun 16 night 

The party spent some time discussing how they should approach the evening's planned shenanigans, and decided to go to see Zakarias. There they told the reeve what they knew and suspected, and Solcha convinced her charmed friend to call out a handful of trustworthy militia to support the party this coming night in case things got out of hand.  Goro meanwhile sent the snake from his mace into the liveryman's house and told it to hide and wait for later events. 

When they later arrived back at the Golden Grain Inn, they were somewhat surprised to be met by the two clerics, the lovely Misha and the spastic Abramo. Misha proceeded to question the party closely about who they were, their links with the cult, and so on. Once done with the interrogations, she informed the party there was a change in plans for the night. She wanted to show them something in the ruins of the third inn in town, the Frothing Mug. Something that would really lay out what the cult is all about.  The party agreed, and the clerics then left them be. 

At nightfall, Ranzel met the militia in the trees overlooking the liveryman's house; the party suspected the cult might still try a kidnapping. The rest of them headed for the eastern edge of town, and there were soon met by a group from the temple: the two clerics, 5 ruffians and Derek of the the nasty scar.  They entered the battered building, and Derek led the party down into the cellar. First impression was of a swampy, sickening odor. And then all hell broke loose. Someone from upstairs tossed down a rock with silence cast on it, and and then Derek moved to attack the party. Skeef turned his dire wolf on their attacker, and the party retreated upstairs. They found the ruined inn empty, and swiftly moved out into then street. There they were engaged by the clerics and ruffians, who were in position a short ways down the road. Spells were slung and swords swung, and then the party was surprised from behind by Derek and a trio of troglodytes. This put them in a very tight spot; Skeef had to climb to the inn roof to save himself, and Solcha fell bleeding and unconscious.  

At around this time, Ranzel arrived on high-speed horseback and charged into the clerics, who were holding back from the melee. Even though the ranger ended up blinded for his efforts, this helped turn the tide. After a bit more fierce fighting, three troglodytes and three ruffians were dead, Derek had turned into gaseous form and drifted off, Abramo the cleric had fled on foot, and Misha was under a charm. And the militia finally arrived to take custody of the surviving ruffians.  So then then all proceeded towards the reeves house to turn over the prisoners and question Misha ...

GAINS

none

KILLS/VICTORIES

3 Troglodytes

3 Ruffians

Misha of Berei(?) [Captured]

LOSSES

Dire wolf 

Solcha (almost) 

Ranzel's Vision  

Gygax & Greyhawk Session #18 - You're Now Part of the Team

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 15 evening to Wealsun 16 mid-day 

Instead of turning in for the night, the party plans a little more skullduggery. Skeef settles in to watch for the elves, hoping to figure out what they do on their nightly rounds. He does see them leave and head east through the trees and bushes; but even with Ranzel's help, the party is unable to track them past the edge of the mill stream.  They then decide to check out the now deserted general store, but after sneaking in, find nothing suspicious apart from a pair of loaded and ready crossbows hidden behind the counter and curtain. Another pass of detect evil around town also reveals the jewelers establishment, once 'hot', now shows no sign of evil intensions inside. 

Now heading back top their lodgings, they make a quick decision to check out the other 'evil' establishment, the Golden  Grain Inn. It seems deserted of custom, but a faint light glows in the window. So they barge in, surprising a cluster of four men standing at the bar, conferring by candlelight. One is obviously the barkeep, another a local farmer, while the other two are hard looking men in leather armor, and armed with swords. One of them, with a long scar running down the right side of his face, looks particularly vicious. Once over the surprise, the barkeep greets them and goes to get them drinks, into which Solcha notes he drops something. Suspecting poison, none of the party drinks except Skeef, who has a small sip and immediately feels a bit woozy and unsteady. Meanwhile, Ranzel slowly dumps his ale on the floor in provocation, then hurls the empty mug at one of the men at the bar. Then all hell breaks loose until Skeef is able to charm the barkeep and Goro holds the two men in armor, the farmer simply fleeing behind the bar. 

Skeef now convinces his newfound friend Bertrem the Barkeep that they are all members of the same cult. The party learns an evil cult is kidnapping townsfolk and bringing them to a dungeon in the Troll Fens where the person/creature they worship named Explictica Defilus dwells. There the folk are brought  before Explictica to be judged whether they've worthy of joining the cult, or become food for the dungeon dwellers. Those judged worthy are returned to the town, somewhat changed. The party convinces Bertrem to let them join the kidnapping the next night, that of the stableman and his family. This will be lead by the clerics of the Temple of not-Berei, who will talk their way into the home, followed by a sudden onrush from Derek (the scarred man) and his fellow heavies. The family will then be brought to the dungeon the next night after being held at the temple for the day. 

The party decides to relocate to the Golden Grain Inn, and are escorted to the Slumbering Serpent by Derek and Wylie (the other armed man) to get their things then back to a room at their new inn. The party, being suspicious, keeps watch all night. Solcha note sounds behind the back wall during her watch, and finds a secret door there, openable only from the other side. But nothing comes of it, and morning arrives without incident. 

After breakfasting, the party heads back into the streets. They approach the miller, but are rebuffed by the suspicious man. They make their way to the elves, and after establishing their bona fides, start to compare notes. Dorian and Llywillan have identified many of the same cult members as the party, spending their nights watching either the temple or the inn watching who comes and goes. While willing to share information, the elves are not willing to join the party in their activities, preferring to keep to themselves in case the party is caught. At least then there will still be someone looking into the cult. 

GAINS

none

KILLS/VICTORIES

none

LOSSES

none 

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