As the party paused to consider the ruined village (afternoon of 2/22, hex 1210), Ollie arrived with several other raiders in tow. Ollie had been resting at the tower, gorging himself on smoked boar meat when he had a feeling that something remarkable would happen, then Saul returned from half a year in the wilderness. Not long after, Tienarth and Hocuspo arrived, as well. Ollie knew the others were exploring only a few miles away. Tienarth explained how he’d attempted to craft a wand over the past month while also helping Hocuspo create a new spellbook. All of Hocuspo’s belongings were destroyed in a fireball trap.
Merder, halfing druid, and Miralla, elven cleric, were instructed to return to the tower to watch over the store of boar meat. The rest of them began searching through the ruins of the village. The structures were build of hewn lumber that was once painted in bright colors seen only in small patches that resisted the weathers of time. Of the twelve original structures, five were just piles of wood or bare foundations. Seven of them were partially collapsed but searchable. Each of them seemed to be a residence where intact skeletons were found laid out in beds, as if the people had gone to sleep and never awoke. The only notable items found during several hours of searching was a candle and a bent copper coin. The coin appeared to be from ancient Tosasth.
Next, they turned attention to the well in the central court. Aderian, Ollie and Ferris descended into the well. Thirty feed below the surface, the shaft expanded into a natural cavern. A ledge circled a deep pool of water. A passage lead out of the chamber with stairs diving down into darkness. Ollie noted how the work on the passage to be those of dwarves working at a hurried pace. Ferris offered a theory of the village: dwarves poised the well. The elves in the village went to sleep and died in their beds.
Aderian descend the stairs until he came to a larger natural cavern. Ollie, Ferris and Jerker followed. Presently ten zombies rose up from behind stalagmites and fallen boulders. The rest of them pushed forward and easily cut up the zombies. Ollie noted they were of dwarven stature. They picked through the large chamber and found tunnels heading in several directions. At one point, loose rock tumbled from above to strike Aderian.
When the search was over, the entire party was assembled. They chose a tunnel to explore and marked it with a pile of zombies. Additionally, Ferris made marks with chalk and Ollie made occasional marks on the walls with his pick. They hoped to be able to follow the marks when they need to return to the surface. So, off into the underworld they headed, generally taking left turns if they had a choice.
After some time, they came to to a sixty-foot chamber where goblins and hobgoblins lead by a bugbear confronted them. Both sides were noisy and neither were surprised to meet each other. The bugbear wasn’t interested in polite negotiation and a battle soon began. By magic, the bugbear leader was slain immediately, followed swiftly by the witch. This did not deter the hobgoblins and goblins from pressing the fight. They were no match for the experienced party. Jerker made a spectacle of grabbing a goblin and hurling him at another.
The last goblin standing made an attempt to flee, but Ollie caught him. Jerker had only knocked out another goblin. They bound the captives and began interrogation. The goblins were named Gurk and Jorb. Of the two, Jorb was more uncooperative and through insults inspired Ollie to strike him dead. Gurk was more grovelling and willing to serve his new master, Jerker.
Among all of the dead monsters was 66 silver pieces and 48 electrum pieces. Ollie grabbed these.
Jerker compelled Gurk to lead the party towards treasure. The goblins called themselves the Gold Coin Gang, and Gurk promised great treasure. He lead them through tunnels for many hours. Along the way he was evasive but finally explained he knew where a red dragon slept on a pile of treasure. Raiding the lair of a red dragon did not appeal, and owing to Gurk’s pathetic grovelling to Jerker, the young warrior set loose the goblin. He even gave him a gold coin for his trouble.
They watched the little goblin skulk away and made an attempt find their way back to the surface. It was not easy. The careful marks they though they’d left were too far apart. Fortunately, Saul offered to lead them back by intuition alone. After another few hours, they where surprised by four giant bugs that could only be described as spider-like. They had eight legs and a stinging tail. Above a gaping mouth full of teeth protruded a tube that spot forth a sticky web that covered Ollie, binding him up. Disgusting as they were, the bugs died easily under sword blows and the encounter was soon over.
After more wandering in the tunnels, they came back to the large cavern where the zombie corpses remained. They climbed the stairs and then up the rope out of the well. A clear, cool sky revealed sparkling stars. They marched back to the tower and arrived as the sun rose in the east.
End Notes
- Treasure
- 66 sp
- 48 ep
- Combat 1,752 xp
- 10 Zombies 75 xp each
- Bugbear Leader 145 xp
- 4 Hobgoblin Warriors 145 xp each
- Hobgoblin Witch 67 xp
- 6 Goblins 10 xp each
- 4 Bugs 25 xp each
- Characters 219 xp each
- Aderian (fight, lead) 245 xp
- Ferris 241 xp
- Hocuspo 241 xp
- Jerker (fight) 243 xp
- Nate 241 xp
- Ollie (rugged, suspicious, stonework, underground, grabbed all coins, fight) 232 xp
- Saul 241 xp
- Tienarth (avoid combat) 221 xp
Fun session wandering around