This is the inaugural session of the new Milltown campaign. Players were Henry, Tre and Oliver.

The Party Gathers

A worried man arrived at a tavern and spied a gathering of travellers at a long table, most swigging beer. Identifying them as adventurers, he walked to the head of the table and asked for assistance. His children were kidnapped and he was desperate for help. One brave fighting man immediately agreed, then another. Soon there were six in all who offered to help. They each had recently made the leap towards a life of adventure from more mundane trades, and this seemed the perfect opportunity to test their skills versus the evil in the world.

There was Saucy Shinja, a human mage who gave up a life as a navigator on ships crossing Lake Darina once he learned a spell to hold portals. Hunched over a stew was Useng (otherwise known as Meatball), once a carpenter and now a fearsome opponent with the mace and shield. Stuffing a pipe was Natary the Viper, a cunning fighting elf who once mixed mortar and stacked bricks. Mieri, Magi of the Veil, was a female cleric who could not seem to avoid the lustful eyes of Jusele the Ruttish, a rogue and former advocate. Finally, there was the fighting man they called Ratman, a filthy halberd-swinging savage.

Into the Cellar

They convened at the cellar door of the distraught father, now joined by his wife. They pointed to a 3-foot hole in the cellar wall. Natary wasted no time crawling in on his hands and knees. Before long, he found himself at a large room. One by one, the party hopped down from the hole into the room. Mieri the cleric was nearly skewered by a spear trap, but all were safe for the moment. They made their way down a corridor to find an open pit. Natary attempted to skirt the narrow ledge and tumbled down 10 feet. The thief Jusele easily walked the edge and before long, the rest of the party helped each other down the pit and back up again.

Presently, Natary barged forward and fell into another pit, this time disguised with trap and filled with spikes and the bottom. Luckily, he landed in such a way to avoid the spikes, though he twisted his ankle a bit. In the pit he found a recently-deceased body and an associated backpack containing a key and a potion, the latter obviously meant for quick healing.

They moved on to find a room filled with ripe sludge, the floor being two feet below the level of the hallways. After trudging through the muck without incident, they did need to smash the rotting door on the other side to get it unstuck. Following that, they spent a good hour going out a cave and back, then they returned to explore a bedroom.

Disarmed

Natary, more bull than viper, rushed headlong into a swinging axe trap that lopped his right arm off at the shoulder. Blood gushed from the wound. In moments he’d be dead, but Shinja dug the healing potion from the backpack and poured it down his throat. A thin film wove itself over the horrendous wound and it stopped bleeding. He remained unconscious, but alive. They laid him out on the bed and left him to searched further.

They came to a crypt with nooks filled with bones. A few minutes of searching turned up nothing, so they moved on. Through a couple more doors, they stumbled up on kobolds. The two fighters stepped up to engage. The thief disappeared and there was a bit of knowing disapproval expressed. The mage simply watched as blows were exchanged. Suddenly, the rogue reappeared behind the kobolds and ran one through with his spear. Before long, the reptilian dog-faces were dead. The party gathered a meager sum of coins.

Through a closet door, they spied some shiny objects on the floor. Ratman poked at them from the doorway and a green slime fell upon his halberd. The party made retreat from the slow-moving horror after concluding the had no means of damaging the slime. They were seasoned adventurers who had read many times before of the various slimes and could at least remember that maybe only fire could harm them. And they had only a lantern along those lines. It was needed for light.

Uncaged

At this point, the party was ailing from battle wounds. At least, Ratman seemed to teeter towards collapse and Meatball as not far behind. Yet Meiri urged them not to abandon the noble quest to save the children, despite the urge to flee and rest. So, they pushed on with some urgency, knowing that their young careers of adventure would mean little if they gave up so soon.

Fortunately, they found another group of kobolds quickly. Leaving no time for parlay, as they saw the kidnapped children suspended in a cage, they rush forward and began to hack. Even Ratman did his best despite grave wounds. Shinja, who had until then avoided battle, wrapped his arms around the chief of the kobolds and slammed his body to the floor. Ratman stabbed him twice in succession and life drained from two dagger blows. When on kobold remained alive and begged mercy, Jusele drove his spear through his side.

Carefully, they let down the cage to free the four children, who they then led out through the cave. Meatball carried Natary out on his back. The six split a reward of 45 pieces of gold, some knowledge of fighting and a sense of accomplishment. As to whether Natary might carry on, they wondered. A one-armed fighter is unlikely to be of much use, a one-armed elven mason just as useless. He may resort to begging.

Images adapted from the Welcome Collection.