Session 17: Letter to Mayor Ormond

Mayor Ormond,

I have much to inform you of and little time to do it in. I will try to be succinct.

Based on intelligence we gathered from townsfolk, our band explored the temple of Merikka last night. We attempted to enter without drawing attention to ourselves but were immediately attacked by wolves and guards. We had to defend ourselves and slayed the men and beasts. Upon exploring the interior of the temple, we encountered several groups of foes -- including men, goblins, and reanimated skeletons -- who each came upon us with deadly force. Each time, we were forced to fight for our lives and each time emerged victorious. We also happened upon the priestess Misha who was asleep. As she did not attack us, we left her to slumber. What we found inside the temple was disturbing indeed. There were slashed tapestries, false idols, rooms that appeared dedicated to torture and slaughter, and a young girl imprisoned who had been cruelly beaten and starved. The girl is currently being protected by unnamed parties. This holy site has been defiled by an evil force.

When we awoke this morning, we became aware that certain townsfolk had learned of our deeds and that it may not be safe for us in the town. Because of the current danger and because several of our party were gravely injured, we have retreated to outside of the village to recover our strength and strategize our next steps. I hope this letter finds you and reassures you that we have not abandoned you. We will soon return to assist you in ridding your village of this evil once and for all.


-Lhoss Gannor

Session 16: Orlane afternoon Day 24 Readying - Fields Day 25 - Dim Forest Days 26 - 27 - Marsh Days 28 and Day 1 of Coldeven

Healed and recovered, we decided to go talk with Ramne and see if he had any knowledge about the extent of the charm effect by a Naga. Could the villagers be freed from it or would they be permanently controlled by evil? Lhoss, Chiki, and I (Gnorcia) had some theories from our studies in magic, but we weren’t sure.

Ramne was expecting us and knew something had happened because he had seen a flurry of activity at the Golden Grain Inn and around the town, and it appears the cultists have prepared themselves against us. It would not be safe to go south into the center of town, he said, but he was willing to help us if we wanted to go against the Naga before the cultists had a chance to warn the creature, and we were happy to accept his help. It seems that Whiskers is an excellent tracker and should be able to find the scent of the trail the cultists and Troglodytes were taking to the Naga.

Lhoss left a message for the Mayor with the Innkeeper, Bilba, telling what had happened at the temple and what we found there, and we all gathered our things and went out to meet Ramne down the road to the north.

We were surprised to hear Ramne’s voice when we arrived at the meeting point, though we could not see him. Apparently he has a cloak of invisibility! That’s really exciting and I would look for some way to "appropriate" it from him, but he’s a nice old man who can’t even walk well on his own, so I am restraining myself. Lhoss has to walk alongside him and support him, and we have to stop every hour so he can rest. But maybe he’ll let me borrow that cloak some time! I’d at least like to use it to play a trick on Chiki.

We were able to stop for the night in a comfortable field of soft grass, each of us taking turns on watch every hour. The next day we continued down the road and eventually the trail led us into the Dim Forest. There were no sounds of animals or birds and as we walked further in it started to get more and more spooky. We found a safe spot for lunch and then carried on down the trail, but before long Whiskers led us off on a smaller trail eastward and we followed him down and farther through the forest.

Calbach found us a safe place to sleep again that night and on the second full day of our travels we began to notice more and more moss on the trees and the forest became even darker, more drab, and eerie. Calbach again found us a daytime spot to rest and eat, and again that night a place to sleep, though it was an uncomfortable sleep on damp ground.

The next morning we soon left the forest and found ourselves in a marsh full of scummy water, with the path tramped down through it across the reeds. We spent the day swatting at insects as we walked and there was nowhere comfortable to rest while we ate our lunch, but we continued through the marsh for the rest of the day and evening and Calbach eventually found a spot on relatively dry ground where we could sleep.

Late that night, near morning on Chalkboi’s watch, he heard a sound. Something was coming toward us, humanoid figures traveling down the path where we had come, still a distance away. He woke Lhoss and I and we were able to move silently through the dark night toward them and the path to see who or what they were. Troglodytes! Lhoss cast a sleep spell on them and slit their throats, and we left them to sink deep in a scummy pool of water.

As morning broke, we continued cautiously but as quickly as we could down the trail, knowing more troglodytes could be coming. We soon found a dike across the marsh, about 50 feet around, and discovered a hole with stairs leading downward! Could this be the lair of the Naga??

Session 15: Orlane Morning Part 4 Day 24 of Readying

After resting, we explored the room some more and found there were two doors on the south wall. Armaziti and Chiki entered one and found a library with bookshelves and tables. On one table was a large, ornate book with beautiful artwork. Lhoss and I (Gnorcia) investigated the cupboards in the room and found they were empty, then followed Chalkboi into another room where he had found a table and a shelf with an unopened wine bottle and two classes. I had the odd feeling that we were being watched. Lhoss poked at the south wall where there was an odd imperfection, but couldn't find what it was. Another door to the west led to yet another room that was clearly a grisly torture chamber, with torture machines and bloodstains. Again, Lhoss and I felt that we were being watched.

As we explored that room further, suddenly a door opened in the south wall and three nasty little goblins in funny red hats and studded leather armor appeared, yelling “Die intruders!” Battle ensued and six more goblins came pouring out of two more secret entrances from the walls. Armaziti fell to these additional goblins and passed out, bleeding, but Lhoss cast a sleeping spell on them and the six fell asleep. Chiki, Chalkboi, and my phantasmal force version of Calbach finished off the first three. Lhoss, Chalkboi, and the phantasmal force destroyed the sleeping goblins as they started to wake up. With the goblins destroyed, Chiki and Chalkboi explored back into the room they came from, where they found filthy sleep mats and a table with food scraps. Lhoss noticed yet another door farther down on the south wall and couldn't resist opening it.

Inside she saw a brightly-lit area. She tried to close the door quickly and quietly, but someone inside had noticed her and came barging through to attack! It was a large human wearing shiny mail armor and carrying a sword and shield. The Phantasmal illusion of Calbach attacked and Chalkboi, Lhoss, and Chiki joined in. His armor was strong and everyone facing him had to deal with that plus his shield, but Lhoss got behind him and attacked ferociously. He was slowly losing the battle and turned to run farther back into another room. Calbach, Lhoss, and Chiki followed him and knocked him down. Chalkboi stayed back in the room and blessed Armaziti so he woke up again, and they made their way down into the room just as the evil cleric died.

Examining that room, we found it was full of pieces of tattered, destroyed tapestries. Everything was vandalized with gibberish writing. There were also tapestries on the walls and more destroyed tapestries in a chest. Lhoss discovered a hidden door behind one of the tapestries and a room with some crudely-carved stone blocks, a large, exquisite statue of a snake, and a young girl wearing tattered robes and trapped in a cage! The girl said her name was Cirilly, and that she had been imprisoned after the rest of her family had been charmed by an evil naga snake. Her family had all fallen under the evil power of the naga and she was afraid because they no longer recognized her. She said a cult has infliltrated the village, the cult of the explicit defilus, bringing more and more people to be charmed, increasing the power of the naga snake.

We examined the statues and Cirilly said all but the snake statue were crude attempts by Abramo the evil cleric (who was apparently the man we had just killed), and that the snake statue was the image of the naga. Near that statue we found a trap door, but decided not to enter because it seemed to be over the priestess' room and could lead there. We divided up the armor, sword, and shield from the fallen cleric, as well as a robe that was hanging in his room and some coin from the chests in the statue room. We were tired and needed healing so we exited the way we came and returned to the inn. The innkeeper was happy to see the girl but horrified by her story. She fed us all and sent us to sleep, and between lots of rest and Armaziti’s healing we were all healed up by the next evening.

Session 14: Orlane Morning Part 3 Day 24 of Readying

We explored down the hall and into the rooms where we had found and fought the monks and found nothing of interest, but in the last room Lhoss noticed a secret door in the wall! We all went through it and found ourselves in another hallway that stretched to the south. It held a row of golden statues! Each statue was in the shape of a harvest food, including the likes of a large carrot, sheaves of grain, a pile of beans, and a potato. They were beautiful and tempting, and I even noticed my stomach growling a bit, but we decided to leave them in order to maintain our good relationships with those few townsfolk who had been friendly. I’m secretly hoping that if we can save the town they’ll offer us golden vegetables as a reward!

At the south end of that hall we found another door and both Calbach and Armaziti crept in to find a bed with the priestess sleeping! There was another door on the other side of the bed, but we figured that we could get in there from the main hall area so they snuck back out without waking her. We went back into the main hall and Armaziti searched through the room but found nothing but some benches. From there we went back into the hall with the golden idols and headed west down yet another hallway on the north side, coming to a door that led to some stairs. We crept up the stairs and around into another room.

As soon as we got into the room, madness ensued! There were skeletons all over, swinging at us with their bony arms! They did damage to Armaziti, but he could heal himself up a bit, and then they knocked out both Lhoss and Calbach! Lhoss was bleeding badly so I grabbed the nasty bloody robes that Chiki was dragging around and bound up her wounds. Hopefully she doesn’t get gangrene or covid from it. So disgusting! Ronan was charging all over at the skeletons and swinging his two-handed sword but somehow managed to miss every time. Eventually the team did enough damage to them all that they shattered into piles and splinters of bones. Armaziti cast healing spells on Calbach and Lhoss and they started to wake up. We decided to memorize spells and rest up for a few hours after that dangerous adventure. It was getting later towards morning and we needed to get out of there, but also needed to regain our strength before we stumbled across anything else.

Session 13: Orlane Morning Part 2 Day 24 of Readying

We spread out around the temple grounds and investigated. Chiki, Lhoss, and I (Gnorcia) each looked into the outbuildings and found them empty. Two appeared to be barracks and one a kennel for the wolves. Chiki stepped in something stinky and claimed nothing happened but we could totally smell it! We dragged the bodies into the barracks and kennels, then headed back to the main entrance of the temple.

Entering the temple, we found the foyer empty. We knew the general layout from our first visit, and venturing in a bit we saw a closed door on the southwest wall and another closed door to the southeast. Moving counterclockwise around the outside edge of the main temple chamber, we passed the southeast wall and saw yet another door on the eastern wall. Continuing around the room on the east side and we could see the dais on the northern wall, with steps leading up to the altar, housing a large jade statue of Merikka. We skirted around the altar and past two northern pillars made of the trunks of large elm trees, and headed toward the western side of the room, which also had a door. Coming back to where we began, we decided to begin searching the rooms, starting with the door on the southwest wall.

Looking in, we found the room empty except for three plain wooden benches. The western wall was actually a curtain, and Kyro and Calbach parted the curtain to reveal yet another room, softly carpeted with three comfortable-looking chairs around a small table, and a small shelf on the wall. The shelf held four bottles of unopened Orlane special red wine, and Lhoss, Calbach, Aramazi, and Gnorcia each swiped a bottle.

We went back out and opened the door on the west wall. Inside, a room extended to the north and held a large table with chairs around it, with another door on the southern wall. That door led into a tidy kitchen with ovens and a table, and cupboards full of foodstuffs. Back in the main room, we investigated the table and saw there were eight places set but not cleaned up well. There was also a handsome display case with beautiful Orlane harvest items on the western wall. Just beyond that, Lhoss noticed something: a secret door! It slid open easily and opened to the outside, near the wolf kennels.

Back in the room, we noticed yet another door on the northeast, just behind the north side wall of the main temple area, which led to a hallway. On the north side of the hallway were five doors spaced out every ten feet. Calbach opened the first door to find a cubicle with a reed prayer mat on the floor, but nothing else. When he opened the second door, someone charged out, shouting, “Intruders! You have defiled the temple!” and two more people charged out of the next two doors. They seemed to be monks and hand-to-hand combat masters! Calbach and Kyro engaged the first two and got smacked across the face, and when Calbach managed to take down one of them the third one jumped right into his place. They continued to battle and the second one went down, then finally the rest of us joined in to take out the last monk. Chiki confiscated the oversized-for-him, bloody, torn-up robes and the mats from the rooms, comically dragging them around behind him.

Session 12: Orlane Evening Part 2 Day 23 of Readying and Morning Day 24

Ronan pointed out that I forgot to record the name of Timmy’s father, so for the record his name is Killian.

Dinner at Vilma’s was delicious, but we could hear wolves howling outside. She told us some great stories of the town, and she also told us she has seen scaly humanoids with crests on their heads, crossing north of her cottage and climbing the walls of the temple, plus an unpleasant odor from the temple area! I think we know what those things were!

After dark, when we left Vilma’s house, there were lights in some of the homes and the inn, but no one appeared to be outside. We managed to sneak down to the Foaming Mug Inn without being seen, got inside the window, and Lhoss, Gnorcia (that's me), and Cheeky went down where we left the Troglodytes and cut off their ears as proof we had done battle and killed them. Lhoss’ spare cloak is really going to stink because that’s what she used to wrap them up for safekeeping.

Back outside, we headed up to the temple. We spread out outside the temple grounds and climbed trees to see if we could see anything over the walls, but apparently we weren't as sneaky as we thought because two wolves suddenly appeared inside on the north and ran toward the northeast corner where Ronan was peering in from his tree! Behind them came two of what appeared to be human guards, yelling, “Who goes there?!” We all ran to the north side of the wall but doing so appeared to draw even more attention to us so we decided to leave quickly and go back to the elves’ house for backup. Alas, the house was dark and quiet, and no one answered our knock, so we headed back to the temple grounds. Something simply had to be done about that place!

It was quiet again, so we made our way around to the east side wall where Lhoss climbed up and set up a rope system for the rest of us to get over. Ronan, Chiki and I made it over the wall and inside the temple grounds before two angry wolves appeared from the north with two guards close behind them, yelling about intruders! The wolves attacked Ronan and he quickly killed one. Lhoss put both guards to sleep and I threw up an illusion of Ronan, which the second wolf chased back to the northeast corner of the temple. Armaziti then made it up and over the wall, and Calbach climbed to the top of the wall and got out his bow.

Armaziti cast a spell to bless us all with both power and courage, which we really needed because arrows were flying all over and people were running around swinging at the last wolf, which was attacking the illusion. Finally the wolf went down just as three more guards rounded the corner! Chiki and Calbach shot arrows at the guards, Ronan ran up and attacked with his sword, and the illusion of Ronan backed him up. One guard got knocked out! Lhoss jumped down from the wall and attacked with her new staff, knocking the head in of one of the guards and slitting the throat of the unconscious one. The third guard ended up dead but it all happened so fast and I was so focused on keeping up my illusion that I don't know if it was all those arrows sticking out of him, or Ronan, Chiki, or Armaziti, who were all attacking him. Whatever it was, we were relieved nothing was left to attack us. At least for the moment!

Session 11: Orlane Evening Part 1 Day 23 of Readying

We're missing a page of notes in here, but I'm sure it's at the bottom of someone's pack. I'll just keep writing until we can find it and glue it in.

Vilma, still her friendly self, invited us to a dinner of fresh bread and wine, and we accepted, saying we would be back in a few hours. From her house, we walked southeast to a farm just south of the temple grounds, where we met a strapping young man who was chopping wood. He said his name was Chad and when asked where he recommended visitors stay in town he recommended the Golden Grain Inn. This was not a good sign! Everyone recommending the Golden Grain Inn so far in town has been aggressive, so we resisted his efforts to escort us right over there. When he ran off to get his brothers to assist with the escort, we quickly headed back in the direction of Vilma’s house, behind the neighbor’s hog farm where we were out of sight. But the farmer there came right out and yelled at us to get off his land! Not a nice man at all! We quickly left there as well and hid in the woods near Vilma’s house, where Chad and his brothers couldn’t see us.

We needed to get to the carpenter to pick up the staffs we requested this morning, and decided to head back around the lake to avoid these unfriendly and troublesome farmers. We made it around quickly and without notice from any troublemakers at the Gold Grain Inn, and the carpenter greeted us warily but was not unfriendly. Across the road, we saw a home with a yard overgrown with weeds. The doors and shutters swung freely open and inside it appeared to have been hastily abandoned, with food left sitting to mold on the table. The carpenter wouldn’t answer the door when we went back to ask about his neighbors, so we headed over to the Mayor’s house to update him and see if he had any news, which he did not.

We thought to ask the elves their plans for the evening, but they seemed to be sleeping so we moved on to a large building across from the shop we had previously visited. There we found a friendly young lad named Timmy. Before we could talk more with him, his mother came running out of the house, told us to get away as she snatched him up, and ran back inside. A man then came out of the home and was much more friendly, apologizing for her and saying they have become quite wary of strangers in town. He is concerned about the family that runs the store across the road and says a darkness seems to have come over the village, and that he doesn’t trust the two elves that have taken up residence nearby. He told us the family from the empty house we visited had simply abandoned their home one day. We shared that we had come to investigate the strange happenings and hopefully figure out what was going on in Orlane, and asked about others nearby. His responses matched our experiences with them all, and we engaged in friendly discussion for about an hour before heading back around the lake to Vilma’s house for dinner.

Session 10: Orlane Afternoon Part 2 Day 23 of Readying

For the rest of the afternoon, we stayed close to the inn and went to meet with some folks around the area there.

We met with Kenton Miller at his mill and he was friendly but dismissed us after some small talk. We decided to visit Ramne and ask his advice on how much to share when we speak with the villagers in order to get better information from them. He recommended that we be careful when talking with them and first share information we have verified to be true in order to determine whether or not they are trustworthy, and certainly not to trust anyone who recommends the Golden Grain Inn. That seems like a good question to ask everyone! We're going to be looking for lots of inn recommendations as we meet people around town. He also recommended we talk with everyone in the town in order to get any information we can from them

We left Ramne and went to the farm north of the Slumbering Serpent, under the guise of inquiring if they needed any work done. The farmer Allan was initially just polite and friendly. He told us the other farm to the north is abandoned because the widow who lived there needed a simpler place to live. As we were speaking, Kyro asked whether or not he recommended the Golden Grain Inn, and at that point Allan gave Kyro a secret ranger sign. This confirmed to him that he could trust Kyro, and he immediately invited us all in and introduced us to his wife Meriek. He said that they used to be adventurers also but chose to settle here about two years ago and raise their family. Recently they have also noticed suspicious things around Orlane, beginning with the residents of the home to the east mysteriously disappearing for ten days before returning a few weeks ago. He recommended that we visit the widow where she is staying now, and said that some shadow has fallen on the temple but he doesn’t know what to think of that. We shared that we have met with some strange situations with the villagers, as well, and told him that if he wanted he could leave messages for us at the Slumbering Serpent.

Leaving there, we decided to venture over to the widow's abandoned farm to the north. The barn doors were open and the barn was empty. We pried off some boards over a window and Gnorcia and Myrtle Dixon went inside, but other than some floorboards pried up in the center of the building and an empty hidey hole beneath, it was just dusty and empty as well.

Session 9: Orlane Afternoon Part 1 Day 23 of Readying

We decided it would be best to visit the temple after dark, then found the carpenter's place and went to talk with him. When asked about the smithy, he told us the smithy has always been a hothead. Lhoss and Chiki asked if he could make them each a staff and he agreed, saying he would have them finished by the end of the day. He was a bit more friendly after being asked to do some work.

From there, Chiki, Lhoss, and Gnorcia went to question the smithy under the guise of asking directions to the tailor and the storekeeper, but he wouldn’t talk with them and angrily told them to leave. We all left quickly and went back to the mayor’s house to ask directions from him instead. He told us the tailor’s home was to the east near the river by the bridge, and the storekeeper’s place to the southwest. While we were there the mayor took notice of Chiki’s pig and asked if he would be willing to sell it. He made an offer of two gold and—after consulting with the pig—Chiki agreed to the sale.

We continued on to see the tailor, looking for leather for Chiki (whose shoulder is becoming injured from the hawk landing on it) and to get Lhoss’s robe “mended” where she tore it as an excuse for the visit. When we arrived, Chiki walked in without knocking and the tailor, an old man, seemed very frightened by the sudden visitors and would only allow one person at a time inside. He told Chiki to see the storekeeper about some leather, and Lhoss left her robe to be mended by the next morning. As we were leaving, Calbach snuck around back and peeked in to see the tailor was eating lunch alone and still visibly shaking.

We then went to the store. Chiki, Lhoss, and Ronan went inside and purchased a few items. The proprietor asked a lot of questions and wanted to know everyone’s names and where they were coming from, going to, and staying in town. They evaded his questions as much as possible and Chiki and Lhoss excused themselves to go back outside. Ronan remained and tried to ask some questions of his own but three brawny young men appeared from the back and told him to move along. They followed him outside to the group and one even came out with a crossbow! We quickly headed back toward the inns, looking for a meal.

As we passed the Golden Grain Inn, it became apparent that someone inside was aware of us and watching. This was disturbing and we quickly went on to the Slumbering Serpent for a meal of delicious meat pies and fruit. Lhoss spoke with Belba, the proprietress, about the delicious food and Belba said that while the food is all locally grown, the harvests are down. She verified what others had told us, that people have vanished from the farms as well as the entire family who operated the Foaming Mug Inn. Lhoss explained who we have spoken with in town and asked if she had any other information, but she had none. We agreed to stay the night there again, but are planning to make a trip under cover of night to both investigate at the temple and retrieve something as a trophy from the Trogodytes we defeated at the Foaming Mug Inn.

Session 8: Gnorcia's view of events of Morning Day 23 of Readying Part 2

 Our adventurers Calbach, Lhoss, Kyro, Hilja, Myrtle, Chalkboy, Gnorcia, and Cheeky all filled up with breakfast at the Slumbering Serpent, then headed out to meet with Ramne. These notes are taken from Gnorcia's journal.

When we arrived at Ramne's home in the woods, Lhoss fed fruit to his pet weasel Whiskers and seemed to have made a new friend. Among Chiki’s entourage of animals (a cow, goat, pig, songbird, and small hawk) his small hawk was hungry and flew off. We told Ramne of our adventures from the night before and he explained that they were likely foul Troglodytes that we met last night, coming up from the swampy Rushmoor marshes to the south. He suggested we investigate more at the temple with Priestess Misha, as well as do some covert action to learn more at the Golden Grain Inn. He told us not to trust the blacksmith, but that we should meet the mayor, Zacharias Orman, who he does not believe is part of the problem, and to potentially inquire with the tailor and other villagers.

As we left the grove, Chiki’s small hawk returned with a mouse and we set off to visit an imposing house near the lake, which we guessed was the mayor’s house. Zacharias Orman himself opened the door to our knock, invited us inside, and offered us food and drink. He said that it was true there appear to be dark forces in the town, but it is difficult to ascertain what is going on. He also surprised us with his suspicion that Ramne is potentially the person behind it all, because he's a hermit and keeps to himself in his house in the woods. The mayor said that people have been disappearing and then coming back and behaving strangely, as though a shadow has come over their faces. He no longer trusts the two clerics at the temple, and is suspicious of the blacksmith, storekeeper, and carpenter.

While we were talking and eating, suddenly an old man jumped out with a sword and yelled at us! The mayor seemed very embarrassed and told the man to go back to his post. He glared fiercely at each of us but returned to hiding behind the curtains. So odd! The mayor finished by telling us that he does like the other folk in the town, though some have become distant and short so it is hard to know.

As we left, it was late morning and we stopped at the house next to the mayor’s house. A male elf answered the door, surprised and happy to see us, especially Lhoss. His name was Dorian and he introduced us to another elf there, Llywillan. He said they were there working for the mayor and investigating the suspicious things going on in Orlane. He confirmed that the Foaming Mug Inn was captured by cultists who appear to be gaining control of the minds of some of the people in the village. They are observing both the Golden Grain Inn and the temple, and said that both the smithy and the people at the temple have been turned, and that the smithy is now very angry and foul, and even the constable has possibly been turned.

Dorian and Llywillan wouldn't say much more and asked us to bring them proof that we had met with and overcome the Troglodytes. Why didn’t we think of that at the time? Those Troglodytes did smell pretty bad, though. Nobody would have wanted a smelly trophy in their bag. But we went to look for a way to get back into the inn to retrieve a trophy of some kind, and to possibly talk with the smithy or others along the way to the temple.