Only had three of my usual five players to kick it off, but it worked out well despite an unfortunate character death part way through.
Enjoy.
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Characters:
Raam. Half Giant. NG. Psychic Warrior 1.
Sonar Swiftwing. Half-Celestial Human. NG. Ranger 1.
Twist/Lucas. Human. CG. Rogue 1.
At present, I don't know what characters the other two players will have but the session was left open for them to join in easily.
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Seeking some form of employment, the three characters approach the Cauldron city watch. After some discussion the watch captain with whom they speak does have something to offer if they are prepared to investigate on behalf of the city. Three days walk northwest of Cauldron is a small village named Welwyn. For the better part of the last year the locals there have been petitioning for someone to come to their village and investigate an on-going crime. The watch have been busy and have not been able to send anyone out. Since the characters have asked, the watch captain offers them the job. 100 gold a piece if they can deal with the problem. They agree and are given a letter that marks them as in service of the Cauldron watch for the duration of the investigation.
Three heavy days later, the characters reach the small walled village of Welwyn. After speaking with the poor excuse of a militia guard they are directed to the home of the local mayor Lady Arabella Tamsyn. She is pleased that someone has at last been sent and informs the characters that over the past year there have been a number of thefts, from both villagers and visiting merchants. These thefts are always either jewellery or money pouches. At first they suspected a thief but the villagers known one another well enough that they discounted that very quickly.
Lady Arabella Tamsyn takes them across to the only inn – the Rusty Tankard – and introduces them to the locals. Two local characters interact them the most, the innkeeper Otik, and the local cleric of Fharlanghn – Malchor. They pay for rooms and ask the locals about the situation. When asked about anything strange, one old timer tells a story from two summers ago when a strange man arrived, claiming to be suffering from lycanthropy and seeking help. The militia fearful sent the man packing. Two months later the mayor, Lady Tamsyn's father, was shot and killed by a crossbow bolt fired from the woods beyond the walls. The characters investigate and while Sonar finds signs that someone had been using a tree that overlooks the walls at some point in the past the characters find nothing of further aid to their investigation. In fact, Twist offers the suggestion that it could be as simple as a jackdaw stealing pretty things.
The characters then spend the rest of the day scouting the woods before returning at dusk. They spend the evening in the Rusty Tankard talking to Malchor and some of the patrons. After a while Raam and Twist retire for the night, and Sonar quietly flies up to the roof of the inn and secretes himself behind a chimney to watch for anything unusual during the night. Shortly after midnight, he spies Malchor approach the village's well and drop something down inside, before returning to his house. Sonar awakens his comrades to help investigate.
Using the rope and bucket attached to the well, they climb down to the bottom. The bucket trails in the waters of an underground stream that Twist suggests may be a runoff from the caldera at the centre of Cauldron. Sonar detects a secret door, slightly ajar and with some effort is able to pull it open. The party cautiously enter the opening and light their lantern. A natural tunnel led away from the entrance into the deep earth. Almost straight away upon entering a cave beyond the tunnel they were assaulted by a monstrous trapdoor spider which burst from the ground! With some well placed strikes they dispatched the spider and dropped it back into its lair. Raam searched the cave and found a few coins scattered around.
Sonar checked the ground for tracks and found a line of repeated rat tracks headed away down another tunnel. Curious, they followed the tunnel until a rusted iron portcullis blocked their path. With his careful observations Sonar noticed a hidden arrow slit in the right hand wall next to the portcullis. He peered inside and spotted a short figure standing next to the slit with a spear in hand. The rank smell of death emanated from the other side. Twist searched the portcullis and found a magical trap of some kind. It took him a few uneasy moments to remove the trap. He then spotted a lever on the far side of the portcullis in the down position. Sonar tried to raise the portcullis by his own strength only to find himself almost impaled by a spear thrust through the arrow slit. Sonar and Twist managed to grab the spear and yank it through to their side of the wall… bringing a rotten and decayed hand with it! Twist withdrew a small mirror from his bag of tricks and used that to peer into the arrow slit. With the lantern light he could make out four zombie dwarves armed with spears, but none of them attempted to interfere again. They then used the spear to reach through and lift the lever, thus raising the portcullis.
Beyond that it did not take long for them to find a secret door in the right hand wall, which led into a small room with those same zombie dwarves. The fight was vicious and sadly one dwarf was right on aim and pinned Twist to the wall with a critical strike! The other zombies were dispatched soon enough but by then it was too late for poor Twist. As adventurers are wont to do, they gathered his gear and gold, and moved on. The corridor they followed was trapped with poison darts and a nasty swinging greataxe trap. They decided to take Twist back and speak with the Lady Arabella Tamsyn about what they may have found.
They awake the Lady Tamsyn and dump Twist's body in one of her chairs, before telling her of Malchor and the dungeon beneath the village. Shocked at the death and the idea of what sat below her feet, she asked them what to do. After a brief discussion they decided to seek healing from Malchor and then confront him about the well. The Lady Tamsyn goes and raises Malchor, bringing him back to her home. He hands Raam and Sonar a healing potion each and listens to their accusations. He denies any wrongdoing, insisting that he was offering a simple blessing upon the well and dumping sacred herbs into the waters. These lies do not get past Raam who threatens the priest if he doesn't speak the truth. Malchor fearful runs for the door only to be tripped by the mighty half-giant. Malchor than casts a spell calling not upon Fharlanghn but Vecna! Raam shrugs the spell away, and before Malchor can act again, Sonar grapples Malchor and holds him in place long enough for Raam to tie and bind the clerics hands and legs.
The interrogation is brief, and a little painful. Eventually he admits that he is the servant of the lycanthrope who came to down over a year ago. He is using rats to steal and carry the items back down and into the dungeon. When asked why he serves an evil god, Malchor replies that he was forced into it by the corruption of the lycanthrope, but if he could atone he would do so. Maybe they believe him and maybe not, so they insist that Malchor be kept bound and placed under the care of the village militia. At this time, Twist's brother – Lucas arrives with a couple friends. They had followed Twist to recover some gold the brother owed Lucas. Lucas is enraged that his brother is dead and delivers a few well placed kicks to Malchor's ribs before the priest is hauled away.
They then awaken the local smithy to purchase a silver dagger that they learn he has in store, and to sell a few items they found on Malchor. Lucas agrees to accompany Raam and Sonar back down into the dungeon. They make their back down the well and into the trapped corridor. Lucas uncovers another trap, this time a concealed pit and saves them from a nasty fall. An encounter with a dire badger follows and the finding of a dozen silver sling bullets hidden away at the bottom of an underground stream.
From here it does not take them long to find the lair of the were-badger. They achieve surprise and manage to assault him with a thrown dagger and a silver sling bullet! In response, their opponent uses a magical pipe to summon a swarm of rats. But before he can direct them properly he is forced to flee the onslaught of Raam armed with the silver dagger. The fight goes badly for their foe, who is eventually crushed by the mighty attacks of the half-giant. A search of his lair uncovers some small treasure including a half dozen potions marked "Improved Reduce Person." They look up from this to notice a series of small 2' high tunnels leading north from this room.
To be continued…