Under a bright Spring sun, the constant prattle of Joai, former slave and would-be thief, finally convinced three other campers at the homestead to make a trek into the wilderness south of St. Orlan. The halfling with the unappealing manner brought with him a dwarf named Zeko, and two elves, Jananab and Gronk. These three were unseasoned and eager to find treasure, or at least adventure.
After walking for a few hours, Joai led them off the road (Hex 0910) to explore for several hours among the tower peaks. Presently, they came to a ruined house. Its wooden walls, poorly-constructed, had long ago tumbled down upon each other. A pair of cellar doors stood open, allowing entrance into a dark basement. In the soft earth near the doors, Zeko noticed animal prints which Jananab, a druid, identified as those of wolves.
The party formed a promising plan. Joai, Zeko and Jananab climbed a nearby oak, all at least eight feet above the ground. Gronk gathered a mixture of dry and green wood into a pile before the cellar doors. He poured a flask of oil over it and lit it afire. Then he joined the others in the tree, waiting. No long after, the shape of a wolf was seen through the fire and smoke. Whines were heard over the crackle of the fire. The choking vapors may have bothered the beast, but it waited until the fire died down before charging out with another wolf close behind. They sniffed the ground and swiftly followed a trail of scent to tree.
Gronk stabbed downward with a long spear, killing one of the wolves instantly. The druid began chanting a spell in order to make the other wolf his friend. A moment later, more wolves emerged, showing outrage at their fallen companion. Zeko attached a rope to the trunk of the tree and used the other end to lasso a wolf about the neck. It twisted and pulled at the rope, managing to escape. Joai and Gronk continued the assault on the wolves as they circled and snarled, helpless actually to reach the adventurers as they were elevated in the tree.
As the moments ticked by with the wolves suffered the sharp stabs of arrow and spear, their resolve waived. Soon, they retreated out of view, circling behind the ruins of the house. All this time, the druid continued his mesmerizing spell over the lone remaining wolf. After an hour, the beast was thoroughly enchanted, a loyal companion. The other wolves did not return, and they all climbed down from the tree to investigate the cellar.
Zeko, being a paladin with a true heart, lead the way into the dark basement. Behind him was the druid, holding a lantern, then Gronk and Joai. Stair led to a small room where the wolves made their den. Amongst the debris and filth were a dog’s collar and a pair of boots punctured with bite marks. Jananab tried the boots and found them large of his elven feet. He also offered the collar to his pet wolf, but the newly-named Bananaj refused. The druid placed the collar on his own neck, a curious and awkward fashion statement.
Three exits from the room were examined, and the first explored as a door on the south wall. Beyond it was a room filled with spiderweb. The door was shut while a plan was made. A torch was lit and tossed into the room where it destroyed most of the web and singed the giant spider within. Zeko showed great bravery by charging into the room to engage the spider. He landed a heavy blow with his mace. The druid and his wolf followed. Joai hung back, watching for anything approaching from the rear.
Unfortunately, the spider caught Zeko’s left hand in its jaws, severing it. A geyser of blood exploded into the air as the dwarf crumpled onto the floor. The wolf savaged the spider, which died soon after. Though Zeko still breathed, he was unconscious and obviously not destined to survive much longer. They stayed with him for some time. He never regained consciousness, breathing his last a little more than an hour later.
Meanwhile, a voice was heard at the cellar stairs. It was Joaphar, another halfling thief who had trailed them up the mountains. Although the timing might have seemed odd, his smooth conversational style won them over. It was fortunate, for his skills would prove useful not long afterwards.
A door out of the spider room lead to a locked door that neither thief could unlock quickly, but Joai worked it open after about ten minutes. The druid flung the door open to face an old man in robes who was just finishing casting a spell. Suddenly his visage appeared blurred. Gronk rubbed his eyes, looked around and confirmed that it was the old man alone who had become hard to see rather than a damaging of their vision in total.
Jananab lashed out at the old wizard and missed. Gronk jabbed his spear around the druid, injuring the old man, but drawing no blood. The old wizard, cast a charm spell on the druid who suddenly found himself conflicted over his friends fighting with each other. He remained helpless for the rest of the fight.
Joaphar had slipped into the shadows. Unseen, he climbed up the wall and dropped behind the old man. Joai, though not hidden, also dropped behind. They both stabbed, releasing black ichor. The old man cast another spell, a blast of light that blinded Gronk. But the elf thrust his spear out anyway, delivering the final blow.
The old man appeared undead, triggering their recognition of a zombraire, and type of zombie that retained the skills of a wizard known in life. From his belt, Joai took a silver dagger. Inside his room was a table where a single candle burned. Beside loose papers was a leatherbound book. Gronk recognized it as a spellbook, but without the ability to read magic at that moment, he stuffed it in his backpack along with the loose papers.
Next, they returned to the first chamber and headed north. Joaphar peeked through a door to see another figure sitting at a table counting coins. Suddenly, he rushed across the room and deliver a terrible blow. It was another zombraire who was now face down the table. Before it could respond, the others had rushed into deliver more blows, totally incapacitating it.
Joaphar gathered up the coins, which were covered in a thin grease. They totaled 400 pieces of copper and 200 pieces of silver. The druid spotted an equally greasy book on the table and thoughtlessly snatched it up. The other three witnessed a obvious shiver which the druid seemed to shrug off. He offered the book to Gronk, who declined. He placed the book in a sack.
From this room, through iron bars, they could see into another room. They could not find a way to open or bend the bars. Instead, they circled around and found themselves approaching that room from the west. Immediately inside the door was a trapdoor in the floor that seemed stuck. Joaphar stepped into the room and narrowly missed being hit by a falling stone. He and Joai worked the trapdoor open. Ten feet below was a crumpled body. Joai climbed down to find a bag of coins in the pocket of once-fine garments. The bad held 60 pieces of gold.
One last room presented itself. It was long and narrow. A pile of garbage sat in a pool of gray goo. They were tempted to examine it closely but shared an intuition about garbage being the host of dangerous parasites. In the end, they shut the door and agreed to return home.
The carried the lifeless body of Zeko back to the homestead to be buried. They had no further encounters on the journey home, arriving just before sunset.
Back at home, Gronk used a spell to read the spellbook he recovered. It belonged to the wizard Ekis and contained the following spells: Charm Person, Light, and Mirror Image.
The papers found with Ekis were letters. One of the letters, still sealed with wax, is addressed to Cleavon asking about acquiring black lotus. Another letter from Hagamir conveys information about working with a band of gnolls and their disgusting cess pit. A third describes how a “package” was buried at “the waterfall”.
End Notes
- Days: 5/31 Exploring Hex 0910
- Treasure
- Silver dagger (taken by Joai)
- 400 cp and 200 sp (from table, taken by Joaphar)
- 60 gp (from pit, taken by Joai)
- Spellbook of Ekis the Zombraire
- Greasy Book
- Combat 2450 xp
- 11 Wolves 75 xp each
- Giant Black Widow Spider 175 xp
- 2 Zombraires (3HD) 175 xp each
- Characters 544 xp (4.5 shares)
- Gronk (devious, patient, magic collector, fight) 566 xp
- Jananab (wilderness) 549 xp
- Jananab’s Wolf, Bananaj
- Joai (agile, unnoticed, outdoors, skills, surprise) 571 xp
- Joaphar (agile, unnoticed, outdoors, skills, surprise) 571 xp
- Zeko (deceased)