[I cannot resist collecting stories from the Village of Hommlet! So apologies dear reader, here is another one that I have heard recently, of a band of adventurers that fell in with 'Mr Pin' who you may remember was none other than Mathmoss, a former member of the crew of the Sea Wyvern and more recently an agent working for the mysterious Gertrude the White. I really must visit Hommlet one day, at it seems a very interesting place, or at least some interesting things have happened there.]
It is my understanding that this tale begins in the summer of 1377 DR. So about the time I was on Yacg'harr Island, and round about the same time Fenrir and his friends were down in the Underdark, so while I can not place an exact date to these events, for now let us start at;
DAY 1 (Summer 1377DR)
As so often is the way, the story starts in a tavern, namely the Inn of the Welcoming Wench in the village square of Hommlet.
The three fellows of this tale are:
Griffolk Ethyn - a human dragon shaman. A young red-headed man.
Corhim Sparkledingle - a gnome wizard. Very friendly and outgoing.
Fangornio - a human barbarian. A tall young man.
Mr Pin, I can only assume, had received an urgent request from his patron to hire some people to clear out the Moathouse, yet again, as it had just been taken over by a group of bandits.
Looking around the tavern he spotted Fangornio, a huge barbarian with a great-axe that he kept close to him.
'Buy you a drink, fellow traveller?' he asked.
Fangornio was looking for adventure, and together they talked to Corhim and Griffolk and convinced them to join in.
'You'll need a cleric though,' said Mr Pin. 'Get your stuff together and meet me outside in an hour. Then we'll see about getting you one.'
They did just that, and then all together they went to the small house of Beaver Baggons, a halfling cleric of Moradin. At first he did not want to join them, and even went as far as running out his back door! But they caught him and persuaded him to join in the enterprise.
'My nerves can't take it after last time, Mr Pin!' he quivered.
'Nonsense, it will be fine!' replied Mr Pin patting him on the shoulder.
Before they left he gave them 150 gold each, with a promise of more to come if they were successful and finally warned them, 'Don't go into the cellar!'
It is only a couple of hours of walk through the forest from Hommlet to get to the ruins of the Moathouse. Baggons, wearing his full-plate armour, did rather slow them down as he clanked along, tripping on roots and getting stuck in puddles.
They got there without incident though, and approached the fortified gates of the ruins. As they got closer six giant frogs of various colour leapt out of the surrounding pond water and attacked them.
This was the groups first test as a fighting unit, and while there was some confusion as to who had what job to do, in general it went well, with Fangornio taking on the biggest frogs, Sparkledingle using his magic from further back, while Griffolk took on the smaller frogs and Baggons applied his healing magic where it was needed.
Even so, Sparkledingle was badly bitten by a frog and with screams of terror managed to kill it with a blast of magic. Once Baggons had healed him, he regained his composure.
Once the frogs were defeated they entered the Moathouse and began to explore it. They went to the nearest tower and snuck inside. A giant spider dropped on them from the rafters above and attacked them. It was a brutal struggle to slay the creature and they were all badly mauled. Baggons handed out healing potions after they had killed it.
During the combat Sparkledingle kept to the back, at each moment wondering if he should cast a spell, but then deciding not to, in case there might be more powerful foes further in to the Moathouse. This is a dilemma faced by all young users of magic, but unlike most others he carried no melee weapon to defend himself with. Perhaps because he had never had to defend himself before! Even a knife on the belt or a wooden staff in the hand is something comforting to have, I have found, when you are walking into dangerous places.
The next chamber they came to, as they went around the ruins, contained bats that swirled around their heads in a multitudinous swarm until they left the room. The next chamber, at the end of a hallway contained a large snake that coiled up and attacked as soon as they entered.
Here Sparkledingle tried some of his magic, a Grease spell, which is commonly used to trip and slow people down. Snakes can't trip, but the snake was slowed down and this made it easier for Fangornio to chop it up with his axe.
After some discussion they decided to go back outside and walk around the Moathouse to get an idea of how large it was. When they returned to the gate though, the bandits were fully aware of their presence and eight fully armed men were waiting for them in the courtyard.
Fangornio charged at them, flying into a berserker rage, followed by Griffolk, while Sparkledingle and Baggons tentatively followed behind.
Initially they were met with a withering hail of crossbow bolts, but the ferocity of Fangornio's attack forced them back up the steps into the main hall, where one by one the bandits were killed or so badly injured they could not fight.
Sparkledingle cast a Sleep spell which knocked some of the bandits off their feet for enough time for the others to push the assault and finally slay the bandit leader.
At the end of their first epic battle four bandits lay dead, including the leader, and four had been captured alive and after some searching of the area they found a rather interesting looking entrance to the cellars of the Moathouse...
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