On the 19th of Frog (2/19), A elven cleric of Nebro arrived at the tower. Nate was glad for the company of another of his faith. She called herself Mirana Silverleaf and held a silver shield decorated with a green oak leaf. Not long after she arrived, a halfling with a staff introduced himself as Merder Bramblefoot. He claimed to follow the druidic faith and was familiar with the area around the tower. He said it had become much safer of late and set out to investigate why. Both strangers agreed to join the party, which currently included Aderian, Ferris, Jerker and Nate. Ollie was at the tower, but explained that his stomach. He may have wished to linger in camp because of the ample smoked meat available.
The six of them descended into the newly-excavated chamber and then down the tunnel on the south wall. They moved slowly, watching for traps, with Ferris in the lead. After an hour down the 8′ tall tunnel, they came to another chamber, 90’x30′. A mass of worms covered the floor, which reminded them of the worms in the cave where they met Grubbycheek. These worms were of uniform size, as big around as a thumb and about the span of a hand in length. Aderian recalled the barrel of pickled worms found in Dacha’s Mine. The worms seemed harmless, so attention was turned to other features of the chamber. Across the room, the 8′ tunnel continued to the south. A slightly smaller passage led off to the west. They chose this passage to go down next.
The way sloped up slightly, and they walked for another hour. These tunnels were not natural, nor were they worked to perfection. Perhaps they were part of an unfinished project. The rooms showed more workmanship, but they were mostly empty. The next chamber they came to was 70′ square. Some debris, including small stones collected here. A search was conducted and a bracelet covered in an oily grime was found partially hidden. Aderian scooped it up and stuffed it in his magical pouch, Irenduel, who approved of its high value.
From here, a 3′ tunnel led south, angling down. A 6′ tunnel continue west and upward. They continued west cautiously for four hours, eventually stopping at a 40’x90′ chamber. It was bare. With most of the day spent exploring tunnels, they retraced their steps to return to the tower where they spent an uneventful night.
The next day (2/20), they returned to the worm room, this time taking the tunnel to the south. They walked for two hours through indistinct tunnels that rarely strayed from a straight line. Presently, they came to a large chamber 100′ square. A small 3′ tunnel went west. A larger passage went east, and the main tunnel continued to the south. They chose to go east. The way seemed to climb up, sometimes offer a few stairs.
After another four-hour journey, they arrived at another 70’x70′ chamber. Opposite the entrance was an open window looking out over rugged mountainous terrain. In the center was a hoop of stone on a dais. They spied writing carved into the stone but warned each other not to look at the runes lest they trigger a trap. “Don’t look at it!” yelled Ferris. They backed out of this chamber and returned to the west with haste, turning the careful 4-hour trek into a short 1 hour jog.
Back at the 100′ room, they headed south for another 4 hours. This brought them to a 50′ chamber filled with water up to 4′. Across the chamber, above the water level was a 3′ tunnel. Stairs climbing out of the water allowed access to a 7′ tunnel going west. Water in the chamber poured out to the 5′ tunnel on the east wall. The cool water in the chamber was coming up from a door in the floor. Aderian bent down to feel the edge of the door and swung it back over its hole. The water ceased to flow into the room or out to the east.
The hour was once again late, and the retreated from the tunnels to spend a night at the tower eating boar meat. Jerker mused over a way to safely move in the 3′ tunnels. Ferris offered that he could learn to brew a shrinking potion, the main ingredient of which was halfling blood. The halfling druid was not amenable to donating blood for such, and no source of halfling blood in large quality was known, so they set that idea aside.
In the morning (2/21) , they decided they were tired of damp tunnels and agreed to continue their campaign of exploration and pacification. This day they noticed a fine meadow near the road back to St. Orlan, but nothing much else. The area near the tower had been pacified to a great extent and they were unlikely to run into monsters. However, they still hoped to find significant landmarks by searching thoroughly.
The next day (2/22), they cam to a field of short stones apparently guarded by several figures (hex 1109). Before much investigation could be made, 9 wolves revealed themselves, snarling. The beast were hellbent on defending their turf, and although the party attempted a fighting withdrawl, the wolves pressed with wild abandon and were slaughtered. With the fighting done, the short stones became more understandable as gravestones. The figures were statues of exquisite detail and lifelike poses. These were judged to be victims of a medusa or basilisk, a monster the party were not eager to meet.
They wandered south and east until they came to a ruined village (hex 1210). Trees grew up from the piles of collapsed homes arranged around a central square accented by a well.
End Notes
- Treasure: gold bracelet 500 gp
- Combat 675 xp
- 9 wolves
- Characters
- Aderian 113 xp
- Ferris 113 xp
- Jerker 113 xp
- Miralla 113 xp
- Merder 113 xp
- Nate 113 xp