Abandoned Village

Friday, March 8, 2019 AD

Conderedies, Araunum 21, 2204 DE

Arriving at Kuldhek around noontime on Homeday (Conderedies, Araunum 21) the party lunched at the Blushing Maiden and made plans for the remainder of the day.

Sammuel planned to visit Brent Jolsar's brewery, on the basis of Allard Higherdall's suggestion that he had a private library of sorts, in the hopes of finding some more information about the history of Kuldhek.

Sybel planned to pump Thiombur for general information about Kuldhek and also to better understand the nature of the goblin raids she had heard about and the town's response to them.

Stephye and Nielas, meanwhile planned to explore the town, visit the various taverns, and learn whatever they might. They developed a good sense of the town; what goods and services could be found where and a sense that this town serves as a commercial center for a wide area. The residents are clearly accustomed to strangers being in town and these are well catered to by the large number of inns and taverns present relative to the number of people living in town. They also seemed dismissive of the goblin threat that Stephye and Nielas supposed, feeling that this was more Boulgerie's problem, and thankful that Kuldhek had been so far spared from their predations.

Sybel learned that Thiombur seems to be very concerned with the peace and security of Kuldhek and worried specifically that the local constabulary is insufficiently proactive in its patrol of the town and its environs. She also learned that the local farmers are tenants of Baron Muxoll, who is the landowner here.

Sammuel introduced himself to Brent Jolsar who was puttering in his brewery. The brewer cordially invited him in and as Sammuel told Brent much of his life story, Brent’s face softened and he served Sammuel and himself an experimental beer and sat. Having further explained that he was interested in researching local history and had heard that Brent had somewhat of a library collection, Brent admitted to being a fellow wizard and invited Sammuel to his house next door, and into his laboratory and library. The two spent the afternoon talking about arcana while Brent’s servant brought them refreshment. After an enjoyable afternoon of conversation and bonding the two planned to exchange a spell with each other some Requiedies soon.

Workday, Araunum 22 dawned comfortably warm and fair. Hiring Alard Higherdall to guide them, the party planned and provisioned for a week-long expedition to the abandoned town Alard had told them of. Before setting off, however, the group approached the Baron’s estate in hopes of perhaps leasing the raided farm on the road to Boulgerie. Sybel was stymied by the bureaucrat who manages the Baron’s appointments schedule in her attempt to meet with the Baron this morning. She tried to charm her way into an earlier appointment, but making no progress there, Sammuel stepped into the conversation and chose the right words to arrange an appointment convenient for both the party and the Baron for early afternoon on Postredies (Lastday), Araunum 33.

After making their appointment with the Baron, the party met back with Alard who had purchased the provisions for them and packed Marty the mule, and set off out of town to the north. In this direction the forest closed in quite quickly and Alard led them along a little-used trail which wound north and then west. By the end of the day there was no trail at all and the party was totally reliant on Alard’s orienteering. The party slept in their clothes on the ground as only Alard had packed a bedroll for himself. Luckily, the fair weather continued through the night and into the next day, although Sybel woke unwell and feeling languid.

About mid-morning on their second day in the forest, Daggerday, as the party broke into a small meadow they were surprised by an eerie quiet, and Stephye, in the lead, spotted a slain pack animal and man at the far side of the meadow. Stephye and Sybel approached the bodies to investigate while the others drew weapons and watched the area around them. Both the man and the mule had been slain by slash wounds at least half a day ago, but probably not more than a day by Sybel’s best estimate. Two more dead men were found just into the woods on the far side of the meadow with multiple wounds that Sybel was unable to identify other than being different from the first man’s wounds. Notably, all three men had had their noses cut from their faces. Empty sheaths, quivers, and pockets made it clear the bodies had been looted although there were intact sacks with 5 pounds of rice and 2 pounds of salt left behind which the party took, along with the dead men’s three bedrolls, small pavilion (4-man) tent, a length of rope, and a couple of empty sacks.

The party continued toward the abandoned village for the rest of the day, but this night foregoing any fire. The night passed uneventfully, and a bit more comfortably with their new-found camping kit, despite the autumn chill returning to the air.

Midweek morning was cool and dry with a noticeable change to the air and Sybel was feeling well again. The party broke camp and in just a few hours arrived at the abandoned village where Alard pointed out a number of foundations. Whatever structures had been here had long ago collapsed and mostly rotted away. A few of the heaviest timbers were still evident, but little more. This part of the woods was quite soggy and mossy and the foundations were well covered in ferns and mosses. Most foundations were quite shallow, like crawlspaces, but a couple were deep, standing height cellars.

Alard stayed near the center of the village with Marty while Sybel and Nielas surveyed the village. Nielas, having some background in building, was able to piece together in his mind an image of how the village may have looked. He reckoned that there were probably a few more buildings here than the remaining foundations alone would suggest and identified an area that had probably been a market square.

Sammuel and Stephye, meanwhile examined the foundations more closely and climbed down into one of the deeper, stone-dressed ones. Having disturbed the leaf litter and detritus at the bottom, a couple of giant centipedes, each a foot or more long, aggressively tried to bite them. Stephye stabbed one with his sword while Sammuel cast a spell putting the other three to sleep. So neutralized, Stephye set about killing the other three.

At the commotion, Nielas and Sybel rushed over to assist, but the threat had already been dealt with before their arrival, and Stephye and Sammuel had found a doorway in the basement. Not immediately knowing how far this might go, the party ate lunch and instructed Alard to clear out one of the shallow foundations and set up the tent within it and wait for them to return. As soon as they started into the entryway with a lit torch, it became clear that this corridor merely ran a short distance to an open-topped, neighboring foundation, but in that one there was a break in the wall which led into a rougher passage.

This rough passage carried the party a short distance into a damp, natural cave system. As the party explored the cave, they first came through a narrow passage that opened into a larger space in which they saw a score of glowing red dots moving about randomly. Closer inspection revealed at least half a dozen beetles, each almost 3 feet long, with glowing red spots, two on their head, one on their abdomen, busily working on some mound. The giant insects seemed not to be bothered by the party, and the party gingerly looked around the area, determining that this was a dead end in the cave system, before leaving the beetles undisturbed.

Exploring another part of the system, wherein they heard some squeaky and clicking sorts of noises, they came upon another chamber in which a number of giant rats were nesting. The rats defended their nest, attacking Stephye at the lead of the group. Stephye was bitten three times, but killed two of the rats with his sword. Sammuel killed one with a sling stone, and injured a second, which Sybel finished off with a sling stone. Nielas slew two with arrows. The couple of rats surviving scurried away into narrow crevices. Poking around their nesting area, the party found 6 leather thongs with 5 silver bars strung on each, for a total of 30 pounds of silver.

[The play session ended here. My notes and memory of the combat with the rats is inadequate, please let me know any mistakes.]