Glaive RPG Rules

 On a whim, I backed the Glaive kickstarter and got my reward a few weeks ago. It is a booklet sized physical produce coming in at 30 pages. Given that it is based on the Knave RPG it is actually a fair bit more detailed (my version of Knave is only 7 pages).

Glaive takes the Knave rules and mixes them with some old school D&D rules. The first change you notice is character creation is that the six attributes are just modifiers (+1 to +3 to start) with no Defence numbers like you have in Knave. The characters choose from 2 talents to start and can have as many as five in play. Talents are arranged by old school classes but they do not have to be chosen that way. You could choose the warrior’s Hack and Slash talent (roll of 18-20 you perform a stunt), and the magic-users’ spell-casting ability. You can gain more talents as you level but you can only have 5 at a time. You can actually drop talents to change it for a new one.

Hitpoints advance with level. You reroll your entire hit points at every level increase (they cannot go down). Hit points are d8 for everyone. Combat feels a lot like D&D. You have d6 initiative and roll a d20 + your ability modifier (Strength for melee) and hit if the roll is greater than or equal to the opponents AC. You can regain 1d6 hit points if you pause for a turn and eat rations. Almost like a computer game. I am not certain about this rule. Given the rules on encumbrance, you are limited in how many rations you can carry.

Character creation also has similar traits (personality, background, etc) to Knave. There are also a lot of random charts included for gear. Inventory is done like Knave with it based on Constitution and you have a set number of slots (10+ CON bonus).

In an interesting choice, magic spells are provided but they are not grouped by level. They are all level less but some scale depending on your level. They are also no healing or offensive spells. The rules note this is to prevent magic-users from being healing bots or artillery. But the rules also provide magic-users the ability to turn any spell into a burst of offensive magic that does damage based on level. Ohh, and the kicker is that each spell is in a single book and each takes up one inventory slot. So Mages need high CON. I can understand the reasoning here but I think I would prefer if it was intelligence-based. Maybe all the spellbook takes up 3 slots and the number of spells is based on intelligence.

The rules do not include monsters but OSR monsters can almost be used as written and the rules do provide an explanation of how to convert monsters or create your own.

I found the rules interesting, I do not like all of the choices but I am willing to give it a try. Since my online Swords & Wizardry game takes up most of my time I am not going to try running Glaive online at least not right now. That leaves playing Solo. I decided to use Mythic as the Solo engine since I have the Mythic cards and want to get them into more use.

The (Brief) Adventures of Brem Lonetree

Scene 1 Cold Start: Close Thread, Disrupt, Friendship.

Brem Lonetree is working as a mail carrier for the messenger guild. He works for a named Wilmar Finkel. Today he arrives in Greenvale but he is delivering the messages two days late because he got held up by snow. But he has often been late. This time Wilmar uses the contract to dock his pay. Rather than 20 crowns, he is paid only 12. In a rage, Brem curses Wilmar and vows to never work of him again.

Brem goes out and gets a room at the Wandering Minstrel Inn now that he has to leave the Messenger Guild Hall. It costs him 3 crowns for the room and a hot meal.

Is Brem disturbed during the evening? Unlikely. No.

Event: NPC Action, Malice, Dispute.

The next day Brem is minding his own business eating breakfast (down to 8 crowns now) when local tough Padon Bitsk enters the tavern and walks over to where Brem is eating. He leans over and spits in Brems porridge. Brem looks up startled. Podon chuckles and says that he was sent by Wilmar to collect him.

Brem thinks for a moment and then leaps to his feet and takes a swing at Podon. It is a swing and a miss. Podon (+1 to hit, AC 10, 6 HP) swings a punch at Brem striking him for 2 points of stunning damage. Brem takes another swing and misses again. Podon laughs and punches Brem in the stomach for 1 point of damage. Finally, with his anger boiling to the top, Brem strikes Podon right in the jaw as the other man is laughing. Podon goes out like a candle and crashes to the floor. The angry innkeeper Berstern Dobbs comes out of the kitchen and yells at Brem to stop fighting. Brem smiles and says the fight is all over. He gathers his gear and trudges out the door.

Scene 2 Expected Scene: Wilmar expecting to be offered a job by Wilmar. Interrupt. PC Negative, negligence/adversities.

Brem goes to the small hall that is the quarters for the Messenger Guild. It is empty except for Wilmar behind a table. Brem tells Wilmar that he got his message but he is not interested. Wilmar, raises his eyebrows, "Ohh, you have other plans then?" Brem shrugs. "Well forget it. You owe me money and I expect to collect". Brem is confused and argues. But Wilmar says that the Messenger guild was not paid by two clients because Brem was late. Wilmar informs him that he has been penalized for the 40 crowns. He asks Brem for the silver. Brem laughs but Wilmar shows him the penalty note on the contract. Since Brem cannot read he shrugs. He figures he can just walk away and there is not much Wilmar can do about it.

Wilmar further tells Brem there is a way for him to pay back the 40 crowns and get paid an additional 40 crowns. Brem leans in with interest. “What needs to be delivered?”

Wilmar tells Brem that they have a large delivery that needs to be made outside the town. It turns out the location is Zoquill's Tower. The wizard Zorquill’s tower is in the Thin Thorns forest, which can be dangerous. Brem knows that Wilmar is likely really desperate. He expresses concern at the danger and demands 60 crowns. They settle on 50 crowns.

Wilmar goes back to the locked stockroom and with much struggling drags a wooden crate into the room. Brem goes over and tries to lift the crate. It is heavier than a keg of beer. He goes to the stock room and grabs a sled to place it on.

Scene 3 Expected Scene: Brem delivers the crate to the wizard 5 miles away. As Expected.

Brem sets out immediately. It will be impossible to get to the wizard's tower and back while the sun is still up. At this time of year, there are only 10 hours of sunlight. So he sets out just as the sun is rising.

Does Brem encounter any difficulty passing through the Thin Thorns? Likely. Yes.

As he reaches the Thin Thorns he can just make out the tower of the wizard in the distance. Keeping the location in mind he trudges through the pines careful to avoid snowfalls. He hears some odd animal calls and realizes he is being followed. He maneuvers the sled into a protected position near some trees and ducks behind it and waits. After a few moments, a pair of Goblins carrying spears advance slowly out of the trees toward the sled. Just as they reach the sled, Brem leaps to his feet and attacks one with his spear. But the goblins are not surprised and attack as well. One spear cuts into Brem's arm. It throws off Brem's aim and he misses. As he steps back one Goblin stabs him in the side. Brem feels warm blood pouring down his side. He struggles to get away but the goblin's chop him down. Brem falls dead in the snow. The wizard will never get his crate of goods.

So that was a little disappointing. A drew up a little map (below) and everything for this solo adventure and poor Brem was killed in his first encounter. The combat was no more deadly than any other OSR game. But I rolled poorly for Brem and very well for the goblins. The encounter should have been of mild difficulty but it turns out Brem is a lousy fighter.

I will have to try something else using Glaive in the same setting.

The Werewolves Steading

 We added a third player to the group I have playing Swords & Wizardry Online. He rolled up an elven thief almost identical to the elven thief NPC I introduced last week so he decided to just use the NPC as he character. Another week spent wandering around in the Arkwood. As a GM I really enjoy these outdoor adventures. A good part of the time is just adlibbing are listening to the players coming up with plans. Then the plan goes wrong and they start planning again. It is a lot less stressful then Dungeon crawls.

Session 17: The Steading of the Werewolves

Players: Lakima (Magic-user), Eathwund (Fighter), Carric (Elf Thief), Daen (Dwarf Fighter NPC).

The players wake up well rested after spending the night in the Dryad’s grove. Daen, Lakima, and Eathwund are still affected by some wounds by the fight that occurred the day before. Lakima tells them that he has thought of a plan to lure the owlbear to attack the steading and hopefully reduce the number of rangers. 

First, they need to find the owlbear den. They head back to the animal trail where they saw the owlbear. Carric picks up the tracks of the owlbear and they follow it along on the trail. The tracks lead to a small clearing where they see the owlbear sleeping under an overhang created by a rocky hill. After a quick discussion, they realize that the owlbear den is too far from the steading for them to be able to lead the owlbear into the arms of the werewolves. So they decide to kill the owlbear.

Carric volunteers to approach the owlbear and attack it while it is sleeping. As the others wait nearby behind a log, He sneaks up quietly on the owlbear. Then he tries to stab it and misses. The Owlbear rolls over, lets out an angry squawk, and gets to its feet as Carric runs for his life toward the fallen tree the other characters have taken cover behind.

Daen and Eathwund run up and attack the owlbear before it can catch Carric. The two fight the creature and Carric circles around it to attack from behind. Daen is badly hit once but they manage to kill the owlbear. A quick search of its den reveals nothing of interest. Carric looks at the dead creature and says that he thinks the one he saw the night before was bigger and more grey-feathered than brown. Perhaps there are two owlbears in the woods.

With the owlbear taken care of, the heroes head across the forest to the clearing where the werewolves reside in the rangers steading. From the treeline, they can see that the steading is quiet. There is a single werewolf on guard atop the watchtower. Near the trees, they notice an area where the ground has been dug for what appears to be graves.

Carric suggests that he quietly scouts the steading by circling the buildings. The other three adventurers wait in the trees and keep an eye on the steading. Carric vanishes into the forest and moves around the steading. On the backside of the steading, he notes some arrow slits. He also surmises that the height of the buildings will afford him some cover from the watchtower. He moves across the open space and makes it to the cover of the building without being noticed. He then moves along the building and looks in one of the arrow slits. Inside he sees a great hall with a large table. Several werewolves are tearing into a deer carcass.

Outside in the forest, Daen, Lakima, and Eathwund note with alarm as three werewolves emerge from one of the buildings and head toward the exit of the stockade. Meanwhile, Carric moves on and looks in another arrow slit and sees a large werewolf whom he assumes is the pack leader. He heads back to meet up with the other adventurers. They all decide to follow the three werewolves as they head off into the forest.

The werewolves lead them down game trails until they stop and remove a rabbit from a snare. As they watch the werewolves seem to be arguing about something. Carric quickly moves up and attempts to stab one of the werewolves while they are distracted but he misses. Carric turns to run but all three werewolves fall on him from behind and drag him down. Eathwund and Daen pull the wolves off the unconscious elf. Lakima casts sleep and manages to knock out one of the werewolves. The other two werewolves keep fighting. Lakima, Daen, and Eathwund struggle to hit the rapidly moving werewolves as Carric lies bleeding on the ground. Lakima skirts the edge of the fight and gives Carric a healing potion saving the elf. Meanwhile, Daen and Eathwund finally manage to kill one of the werewolves. The last werewolf tries to escape but is cut down as it tries to run. After the battle, the werewolves turn back into dead humans.

It is getting on in the afternoon and their next plan involves poisoning the werewolves with wolfsbane, so they travel through the woods to the patch of wolfsbane that the dryad showed them earlier. They decide to camp near the wolfsbane patch figuring it is the best place in the woods to avoid werewolves. It is a cold camp that evening and watches are set. During Daen’s shift, he hears movement in the bushes and runs over to awaken everyone. Eathwund awakens to find a seven-foot-long centipede crawling towards him. He attacks slashing at the centipede and drives it off into the forest. Carric takes the last watch and there are no more interruptions to their sleep.

Over a cold breakfast, they discuss what to do. Carric is concerned that he has likely contracted lycanthropy which is deadly for elves (and also dwarves). They decide to observe the steading once more to see if the number of werewolves has been significantly reduced. They also coat several arrows and darts with wolfsbane. Again Carric moves up to the buildings from the treeline while the other three adventurers look on. They do see a werewolf in the tower but no other activity. Carric moves up to the first arrow slit and looks inside. A snarling werewolf face is looking out the arrow slit at him. The werewolf tries to claw at Carric but misses. Carric stabs at it but it withdraws its hand.  Carric moves quickly to the next arrow slit and looks in. He sees the wolf they think is the pack leader. Taking the opportunity he fires a poison-tipped arrow at the pack leader but misses. The pack leader lets out a howl of anger. Carric runs quickly into the forest. In the forest, Daen, Lakima, and Eathwund see two werewolves emerge from the building and leave the compound to the left. Then they hear a howl and two more werewolves emerge, and leave the compound to the right. The werewolf on top of the watchtower turns his attention to the back of the compound. They take this opportunity to enter the compound unseen through the open gates.

As they cross the compound, the door to the main building swings open and two werewolves emerge and attack them. One werewolf is struck with a poisoned dart and runs back into the building. The other is killed by Daen and Eathwund. The three adventurers head into the building and enter a long hallway. They move quickly to the end of the hall chasing the werewolf that ran away. The werewolf is overtaken and killed. The door at the end of the hall smashes open and the pack leader emerges. FIlling the entire hallway, it moves toward them yelling threats in a growling voice. Daen takes the brunt of the pack leader's attack as it bites into his shoulder. Daen is gravely wounded by the attack. Eathwund tries to stab at the werewolf overtop of Daen in the narrow space. Lakima hits the werewolf with a poisoned dart and it retreats into the chamber behind it. They follow it closely and Daen and Eathwund attack the pack leader, while Lakima holds at the door. The Pack Leader lets out a pair of loud howls. Down the hallway behind them, a door opens and two more werewolves emerge. Lakima moves into the room and prepares a spell. As the werewolves come around the corner, he casts Lightning Bolt and strikes both werewolves. They keep coming toward him but look gravely injured.

Meanwhile, out in the woods, Carric realizes that the werewolves are no longer tracking him. He carefully heads back toward the steading. As he approaches the steading he sees four werewolves heading back toward it at a run.

Back in the steading, Eathwund strikes the killing blow on the werewolf pack leader with his sword. The creature falls and reverts into a naked human corpse. The remaining two werewolves are briefly stunned. One stays and fights and is killed and one runs away. Daen, Eathwund, and Lakima take some time to search the chamber. Outside, Carric sees the four werewolves change into large wolves and turn direction to run into the forest. He heads for the steading entrance and surprises a werewolf killing it as it tries to flee. Entering the steading he finds his way to the other members of the party.

Searching the room where the pack leader was killed they find some locked drawers that they have to break open. Inside are a pair of unremarkable boots. Under a rug, they find a secret treasure trove under some loose floorboards. Bags of gold, silver, copper coins, and a pouch of diamonds. Carric goes out into the courtyard to bring a cart he saw around to the door so they can carry all of the loot. Eathwund, Daen, and Lakima search in other rooms but do not find any more werewolves. Daen and Lakima carry the loot they found out to the cart while Eathwund spends some time searching through the footlockers that belonged to the rangers. He finds a number of trinkets and some gold.

Daen and Lakima enter the smaller outbuilding and are confronted by a whimpering werewolf. But they also hear someone shouting for help. They find a naked man chained to the wall. The man introduces himself as Theric Vendel, the former leader of the rangers. Now that the pack leader is dead he has managed to change back to his human form (at least for now). He talks the remaining werewolf into changing as well. Theric explains what happened and then heads into the main building to get dressed. The heroes hastily attempt to move the cart full of the rangers treasure but Theric returns quickly and confronts them. He asks that they at least return half of the treasure. He is going to need it to rebuild the steading and recruit more rangers. He has pledged to protect these forests and this set back is not going to stop him. He does need to find a cure for lycanthropy.

Theric suggests they all stay the evening in the steading since it is getting late. They ask Theric about the Veiled Society stronghold they are looking for and he identifies it as an old elven watch post. He has never heard of the Veiled Society but he does know that smugglers are using the watch post. There are not many of them and they have done no harm locally so the rangers have not done anything about them. The four heroes settle in for the evening and lock place a barricade against the door in the barracks room where they are sleeping. Just in case.

The Lonely Knave and some goblins

I finally have a break in my weekly online Swords & Wizardry game. I think the current adventure should take at least 2 more sessions to complete. So I am not working on the next one this week. Instead, I took some time to re-read the Knave rules that I previously reviewed. Then I rolled up a random character and used Lonely Knave solo rules to run a short session. The Lonely Knave rules are familiar, they use the same mechanic that most other solo systems use, closed questions with a range of outcomes from “No and” through “Yes and”. So something I am familiar with. They are a little on the light side, weighing in at only 2 pages. I prefer a few more options. I found myself running with whatever narrative sprang into my head.

Drogo The Lonely Knave

Down on his luck yet again (some might say he is cursed), Drogo is on the road headed for the next town he stumbles across. He has no coins and only 2 days of rations.

Does he find a settlement? Yes. The signpost at the edge of the village says Heyfalls. Drogo enters the village and goes about looking for work. There is a help wanted board outside the village hall but there is nothing on it. He looks up and sees the sun is starting to set. He does not have the coin to pay for lodging so he keeps looking for someone who is hiring. Outside the Bloody Dagger Tavern, he sees what looks like a thief robbing a young merchant.

Is this a set-up (unlikely)? Shake-Up. The merchant indignantly refuses to give up his purse, as Drogo approaches to help, the merchant yells out for help saying he is being attacked by thieves. The thieve stabs the merchant in the stomach and grabs at his coin purse. It spills open and gold coins fall to the cobblestones. Both Drogo and the thief drop to their knees to pick up the coins. It is at this moment that the village militia arrives.

The merchant is not dead but is confused and he names both of them as attackers. The militia place Drogo and the thief in adjoining jail cells. While waiting in the cell, Drogo learns that the thief goes by the name Knuckles. A member of the town guard feeds them in the morning and tells them they are going to hang - the young merchant died. Drogo asks Knuckles why he does not tell the truth about Drogo’s innocence and Knuckles replies with a laugh that he does not want to die alone.

The Reeve listens to Drogo’s pleading of what happened and tells him he will give him one chance to go free. Meanwhile, they haul off Knuckles and hang him. The Reeve tells Drogo he is next to be hanged or he can help the village by taking care of the threat posed by a nearby cave inhabited by goblins. Recently the goblins have been harassing the village. Given the options, Drogo immediately agrees.

Three members of the town guard escort Drogo a few miles outside of town to an ominous open cave mouth in the side of a hill. The guards hand Drogo his gear and point him toward the cave while they stay a safe distance away. Drogo slides down a slight incline and approaches the dark cave mouth. He cannot see far into the dark cave. He looks back and sees the town guard wave their spears at him with menace. SIghing, Drogo lights a torch and quietly steps into the cave.

Are there Goblin guards in the entrance cave? Yes, but. Drogo sees four goblins leaning against the wall in the cave mouth. Incredibly all four of them are asleep. GIving a silent prayer of thanks to the gods, Drogo sneaks up and stabs one of the goblins right in the chest. The goblin lets out a gurgling noise and dies.

Are the other Goblins awakened? Likely. Yes. The other three goblins awake and crawl to their feet grabbing up rusty short swords. But Drogo has caught them unaware and presses forward attempting to stab another goblin before he can stand. Drogo manages to miss! The three remaining goblins all attack Drogo, but he parried two blows with his sword and keeps one goblin and bay with his torch. Then Drogo leaps forward stabbing and killing one of the goblins. Drogo yells at the goblins hoping to cow them into surrendering. But the two goblins are not scared and spit and curse at him. One comes in low and stabs Drogo in the thigh just below his armor, the second comes high and slashes Drogo in the throat. Drogo’s life-blood sprays across the goblin in front of him. He tries to turn but everything goes black and he collapses dead.

Outside the cave, the guards watch as Drogo enters the cave. They see the bobbing torchlight as it moves into darkness. There is the sound of steel on steel and some cursing and screaming. Then there are several seconds of silence. An object is flung out of the cave mouth and they hear hooting and laughing. Drogo’s head bounces once and then rolls a few feet out of the cave.

Werewolves of the Arkwood

We played session 17 this past weekend. As usual, I was planning all week and then wrote the adventure and created the maps the day before we played. This time the players did not rip through the adventure in one session. In fact, I think it might take them at least 2 more sessions to complete it. It was a wilderness adventure and I wonder if that might be the key to stretching out online play with this group. They go through 20 room dungeons in a single session.

This week we played through an adventure I cobbled together using parts of two Creations Edge mini-adventures, Rangers of Arkwood, and The Bandit's Bounty. I also added in Waypoints 0: The Village of Cowfold and the plot took pieces from The Veiled Society. During this session, they were mainly playing Rangers of Arkwood. I changed the map completely. I did not like the stone enclave mapped out in the adventure for the rangers. So I created a wood steading. This changed most of the rooms around. It also made it much harder to approach the rangers unseen.

Session 17: Werewolves of the Arkwood

Players: Lakima (Magic-user), Eathwund (Fighter), Daen (Dwarf Fighter NPC), Carric (Elf Thief NPC).

A few weeks have passed since the Order of the Black Dragon smashed the Veiled Society. During the downtime, Lakima spends a lot of his share of the gold on magic. The mage Malyn recharged the Wand of Magic Missiles and sold Lakima a Lightning Bolt scroll. Lakima studied the scroll and managed to copy it into his spellbook. The surcoats Lakima commissioned at the tailor were also delivered.

Finally, the monotony is broken with a message from Sergeant Frans of the Watch. They head over and meet with Sergeant Frans at the Sword & Shield Inn. Frans talks to the heroes about a Veiled Society Stronghold in the King’s Wood. Brother Randel has been studying the papers the adventurers removed from the Veiled Society Stronghold and he has come to the conclusion that the remaining members are probably hiding in a stronghold said to be in the King's Wood. The exact location is not clear, but Frans suggests that they speak with some elusive Rangers who patrol the northern end of the King’s Wood in an area known as Arkwood. If the Veiled Society is in the area the rangers will know about it. The player's purchase supplies and they head by Alayna’s Alchemy shop and clear out her supply of Potions of Healing. Because Daen and Lakima are a little short of gold - Eathwund purchases the potions.

The next day they set out on horseback (and a pony for Daen) heading south on the Duke’s Road. They enjoy a pleasant Autumn ride on the well-maintained road. On the way, they do stop and help out a charcoaler whose cart has lost a wheel. Lakima casts Strength on Daen, and the dwarf lifts the cart so they can put the wheel back on. The merchant thanks them and tells them where the road to the hamlet of Cowfold can be found.

They find the less-traveled path to Cowfold and arrive before nightfall. They spend the evening at McGillman’s Inn and encounter a potential guide. Carric is an elf working off his bar bill by mopping the floor and cleaning dishes. Lakima pays Carric’s bill once he learns that the Elf is reputed to be a good scout of the local woods. Some of the locals tell them that the rangers are late in picking up their supplies this month. The locals have also seen dangerous creatures in the woods. Creatures that the rangers usually protect the locals from.

Cowfold

The horses are left at the Inn in Cowfold and the hunting party heads into the woods following Carric’s lead. Carric first brings them to a spot where a local spotted strange tracks. Carric manages to find the tracks and notes that they are a few days old. He tells them they are owlbear tracks. They head deeper into the forest. Carric does not know the location of the rangers' enclave but he tells them they should be able to find signs of the rangers in the woods. They spend the entire day searching. They do not find a sign of the rangers but they do encounter and have to kill a monstrous rat that attacks them. Carric notes that creatures like the monstrous rat are not normally found this far from the dark heart of the King’s Wood. Since they are too far from Cowfold they make camp in the forest. The night passes without incident.

The next day they have a little more success. Carric finds some snares near an animal trail. They follow the trail and find more evidence of the rangers including a torn piece of fabric that has the ranger's crest on it. Following the trail, they hear crashing in the woods but when they investigate they do not find anything. The trail eventually leads to a large clearing. In the clearing, they see a large steading made of wood. Carric cautions that they should watch from a distance. The steading almost looks deserted and they also note a lack of woodsmoke. They do notice movement in a tower at the corner of the steading.

The Rangers Steading

They decide to advance openly down the path leading to the entrance to the steading. Being careful not to show any weapons. Carric comments that he does not like the look of this. As they approach the closed gate, a growling voice calls out a challenge from the tower. Looking up they see a wolfman looking down at them. The werewolf questions if they have come to join the pack. Lakima calls back that they are hunting outlaws. He asks the werewolf if he knows where the Veiled Society Stronghold might reside and whether they can speak with the rangers. A second werewolf appears in the tower. The wolves invite them in, they say to meet the rangers.

The two werewolves come down from the tower and howl bringing a pack of wolves out of another building. They open the door to the compound and wave the heroes in. Lakima and Eathwund tell everyone to slowly start backing away. But wolves come out of the compound and surround them cutting off their path. The werewolves continue to wait in the compound and wave to the heroes to join them. Lakima tells everyone to move back up the path to the forest. As they attempt to retreat the wolves attack. As the first wolf bites Eathwund, Lakima casts Lightning Bolt. A bolt of lightning appears and cracks across the compound killing several wolves and burning both werewolves. The werewolves roar in anger and charge toward the heroes. The wolves also renew their attacks. Several more wolves are killed but the werewolves prove very hardy, absorbing several blows, and one bites Lakima. Eathwund stabs and kills one werewolf and Daen kills the other. Once the werewolves fall, the last wolf runs away. The heroes retreat quickly into the woods Carric leading the way.

Lakima casts Lightning Bolt

Eventually, Carric calls a halt and they stop to confer on what to do next. Lakima asks Carric if there is a wise woman somewhere in the woods who can check his wound. He is concerned he might have contracted lycanthropy. Carric tells them that the dryad Acaisha used to live in this area. Her tree was not far from here as he remembers it. He expresses concern for the two humans over meeting a dryad but and their insistence he consults his ever-present journal and then leads them to a large oak tree near a stream and a pond. He looks over the oak tree and says he thinks the dryad is still here.

Carric tells Eathwund and Daen to hide nearby and he and Lakima approach the tree. Carric calls out to the tree and suddenly the dryad is standing beside them. She appears to be an unnaturally beautiful elven woman. Carric speaks to her briefly but the dryad seems most interested in speaking with Lakima. Acaisha tells them that the rangers have fallen under the curse of lycanthropy. Even more dangerously it was caused by a creature known as a pack leader who controls the werewolves and keeps them in their wolfman form. In this form, they are controlled by bloodlust and cannot be reasoned with. Acaisha asks them to free the rangers from the curse. She tells them how many rangers should be in the steading and tells them to try and kill the pack leader first. If he falls the other werewolves might gain some semblance of control.

The dryad allows the heroes to camp in her forest grove for the evening. Carric nervously accepts and warns the heroes of the dangers, especially for humans from dryads. The next day they talk about how they can attack an entire steading full of werewolves. Lakima suggests a plan to draw out some of the werewolves. Reasoning that the werewolves will need to continuously resupply fresh meat he says they should ambush the werewolves in the woods where they can pick off smaller groups. Carric is nervous but agrees to find some deer. Lakima gives the elf a Potion of Animal Control. Meanwhile, Daen sets up iron spikes in the ground on an animal trail. The tips of the spikes are smeared with wolfsbane. Eathwund and Lakima build a lean-to nearby behind which they can hide.

An hour later, Carric returns with four deer that are following him like pets. He gets the deer to stand in a clearing near the trail. Everyone sets up behind the hiding place they created in the woods. They spend the entire afternoon waiting but are not rewarded. Just as the sun starts to set the deer start shifting about nervously. Carric hisses that he hears something coming down the path. A short time later, four werewolves in wolfman form crash through the forest down the path. Seeing the deer, the werewolves howl and run forward eagerly. The lead werewolf leaps over the trap but the next two werewolves step directly in the trap. The werewolves howl in pain and roll about in the grass. The other two werewolves turn to attack. Lakima casts Lightning bolt striking three of the werewolves. The werewolves stagger forward howling at the heroes. One of the werewolves succumbs to fear caused by the wolfsbane and turns and runs away into the forest. Carric and Daen fire missiles from behind cover in the trees (Daen with his crossbow, Carric using a short bow). Lakima uses his Wand of Magic Missiles. Eathwund moves forward and meets the charge of the werewolves head-on. The combined barrage of missiles and Eathwunds work with the sword dispatch the three werewolves.

As they stand in the clearing after the battle they examine the corpses. Two of the bodies revert back into men, presumably former rangers, but one turns into a wolf. Darkness has now fallen and Carric suggests they move away from the area and make camp. Lakima argues for returning to the Dryads’ grove. Carric is not happy with the suggestion but agrees. On the way to the grove, Carric hears something large crashing down the animal track they are on. He warns the group and everyone ducks off the path into cover. A short time later an enormous Owlbear stomps down the path. It stops on the path near where they are hiding and looks about. Everyone keeps perfectly quiet. After a few moments, the owlbear moves on. Once it is a short distance away, Carric gets to his feet and quietly tells them to move. They rush through the forest toward the dryad’s grove. Lakima tells the party he has an idea of how to use the Owlbear to get more of the werewolves. Carric responds that he would like to hear it first. They set up camp in the dryad’s grove for the evening.

Against the Veiled Society

This past weekend’s game was the finale of The Veiled Society. It felt like our first true urban adventure. I have been running several adventures in the city but they have been dungeon adventures. This one was more open. I created a couple of generic “City Streets” VTT maps to help with some of the urban situations the players got themselves into. The session went longer than usual and I think I did not do the ending justice. But otherwise, I think it went okay.

Session 16: Against the Veiled Society

Players: Lakima (Magic-user), Eathwund (Fighter), Daen (Dwarf Fighter NPC).

The players had previously agreed to help the Town Watch investigate the death of Lady Lucia. Not knowing much about the Vorloi family Lakima asks their manservant Huntley. Huntley cannot tell them much. He knows that the Vorloi family is led by Baron Tomas Vorloi who used to be a commander in the Duke’s army. He knows he is well connected to the nobility. They have arrived recently and started to move in on the Radu family in the shipping in Edgerton.

As they head out into the streets they notice that the mood is no longer festive. The Harvest Festival is over and there is an undercurrent of anger directed toward the Torenescu family coming from not just the supporters of the Vorloi and Longbardi families. Some people are even linking the Torenescu Family to the Veiled Society.

Eventually, they make their way to the Town Watch. They meet with Sergeant Frans who introduces two clerics of St. John who will be joining them. The group sets out for the Fortunato Villa. They do a simple search of the villa. They find that Lady Lucia tried to spell something in blood on the floor where she died but someone wiped it clean. From the villa, they head to the Turano guesthouse. Sergeant Frans tells them that the town guard found a tunnel led to this house from the tunnels the adventurers had discovered under the town. The only clue they find here is an almost empty bottle of cheap wine. They head over to the abandoned warehouse that sits over the tunnels. It is boarded up but the main door is open. Inside they find the entrance to the tunnels and several open crates holding weapons (daggers and clubs).  They decide to descend into the tunnels beneath the city again.

In the tunnels, they investigate beyond where they went before and Frans let them know what the town guard found. They find a chamber piled with skeletons. The skeletons look to have been here for at least a year. Unable to find anything of interest they head back up to the warehouse and go over and talk to Goodwife Amelia. She is happy to see that they are safe. When asked she tells them that she only started hearing voices in her cellar a few weeks ago.

With that, the group heads back toward the town. The two clerics say their goodbyes. As they are passing through the town square they see that a crowd has formed around an orator who is standing on a wooden crate. The man loudly suggests that the Torenescu family is behind the killing of Lady Lucia and that they are also robbing the poor townsfolk. He tells them something has to be done. The crowd starts to riot with little provocation. Shops are vandalized and the crowd grows in size. Sergeant Frans runs off to call out the Town Guard.

Lakima, Eathwund, and Daen stay in the square in the center of the riot and they follow the orator who steps off of his platform and runs down an alley. A brief chase leads to the man ducking into a cottage and locking the door. It takes a few comical attempts before they are able to force the door open. Inside they see a sparse chamber and a trapdoor on the floor. Flipping the door open they see a ladder going down. Daen scrambles down and reports it is a tunnel and he can see a bobbing light moving away down the tunnel. They all climb down and run along the tunnel.

The tunnel ends at another ladder leading up to a trapdoor. The trapdoor closes as they arrive and they hear something heavy being dragged across the floor to block it. Daen drinks a Potion of Gaseous Form and turns into a cloud of gas. All of his equipment and clothes fall to the floor. As a cloud of gas, he heads up through the cracks around the trapdoor. Below they hear a scream from above, followed by several thumps. Moments later something is dragged across the floor. Then the trapdoor is flung open and a naked Daen looks down at them.

“Can someone toss me my clothes?”

Eathwund climbs up the ladder into a small cottage. There is only a bed, a table, and a footlocker full of rocks. Daen asks Eathwund if he brought up his clothes. He has not. So Eathwund takes hold of the man Daen caught while the dwarf climbs down the ladder naked. Lakima quickly climbs up the ladder to interrogate the man. Below Daen struggles into his clothes and armor.

The man claims he is not a member of the Veiled Society. He says that a man dressed as a Veiled Society member paid him 20 gold to incite a riot against the Torenescu Family. He does not know who hired him by name or face. They tie the man’s hands and take him to the Guard Station. Sergeant Frans is busy out dealing with the riot but they do make certain that the man is imprisoned and they give a statement to the Watch commander. Eventually, Sergeant Frans returns looking a little worse for wear. His men have successfully broken up the riot.

They head to the cell holding the imprisoned orator and question him. The man insists he knows little. Lakima successfully casts Charm Person on the man. But it turns out that the man was telling the truth. The only information he adds is that it was clear to him that there were professional agitators in the crowd. He also suspects that the man who paid him was well-born. He spoke well and his hands were clean.

They all leave the cell and return to the front desk. The watch leader tells them that a message arrived addressed to them. There is from Theosius (a woodcarver who lives in their neighborhood) asking them to meet a boat at Milborne Bridge outside of town. It is very urgent. Lakima suggests to his friends that this could be a trap. Sergeant Frans offers to send men with them.

They consider but instead, they suggest that Frans and some men go first and hide near the bridge where they can view the proceedings. The adventurers will come later. They let Frans get a head start and then head for the bridge. As they approach the bridge they see a riverboat tied up at a dock. They approach and an old man questions what they want. Once they tell him he goes into the boat and returns with a well-dressed merchant who introduces himself as  Simion Torenescu. Simion tells them he needs to get to the castle. If he can speak to Baron Vorloi it should assure the Baron that the Torenescu family was not behind the killing of Lady Lucia.

They set out and pick up Sergeant Frans and three guards. As they pass through the Old Mill District they are ambushed by sixteen thugs wearing Veiled Society hooded cloaks. Men attack from the alleyways around them surrounding their position. Daen and Eathwund kill several of the untrained attackers and Lakima successfully casts Sleep on nine of them. The leader of the group casts a Light spell at Eathwund blinding him. Daen runs after the cleric and pummels him to the ground. The man surrenders and the few thugs try to run for it but are caught by the town guard. They take all of the men under guard to the Town Guard Station. Eathwund confiscates the cleric's mace.

Daen and Lakima escort Simion Torenescu the rest of the way to the castle. Once he is safely inside Simion pays them 500 gold for their help. They return to the guard station where Eathwund waits, slowly regaining his sight. Frans tells them that the cleric made a full confession. He says his name is Urdino Masi. He claims that he is in the employ of the Torenescu family, that he killed Lady Lucia, and that the Torenescu run the Veiled Society. Frans is somewhat skeptical. The man only shrugs when he is asked to explain why they were trying to kill Simion Torenescu. Lakima tells Frans that he will go home and sleep and come back with a spell that will aid in the questioning. They return to their Chapter House. On the way, Lakima checks on Alayna’s Alchemy shop but he finds it closed and dark.

Overnight, Eathwunds sight has returned. The three adventurers arrive at the guard station. They ask to see the cleric who led the Veiled Society attack on them. The man greets them and laughs when Lakima tries twice to cast Charm Person on him. Both castings fail. With Plan A not working they separate out one of the other captured men and question him. Under duress, and with Frans promising to go easy on his sentencing the man agrees to talk. He doesn't know who runs the Veiled Society. Everything is done by messages and the messengers wear hooded cloaks. He himself has acted as a messenger. The man does tell them about a meeting place under the Blue Water Mead Hall. And that there is a meeting tonight.

The adventurers have a short discussion with Sergeant Frans. He tells them that the Blue Water Mead Hall is a cheap tavern located outside the city walls along the river. Guards sometimes go there looking for thieves or river pirates. If the town guard shows up he fears they will be seen long before they can enter and everyone will flee. They decide that Lakima, Eathwund, and Daen will enter the hall and look for clues. If they find anything in the scouting mission they will come back and get the town guard.

The three head to the Hall. As they are passing through the Old Mill District, Eathwund spots movement on a roof and shouts a warning. Everyone ducks just as a crossbow bolt thuds into a nearby cart narrowly missing them. They see a Veiled Society thug climb down the side of a building and run away carrying a crossbow. They give chase to the man. He starts to get away but then tires and they begin to catch up to him. But he crosses Ravinger Bridge and ducks into the Blue Water Mead Hall before they can catch up with him.

Rather than scout the Hall, the adventurers decide to crash the party. They run right past the tavern’s bouncer standing near the door and into the crowded tavern. They do not see the man but they do notice the curtains in a rear doorway are disturbed. They race through the curtains and find two men playing dice.

“Where did he go!” Lakima yells at them. They point out a door. They open the door and see the river and no man. Coming back into the room they question the two men some more. Meanwhile, Eathwund searches the wall and finds a latch that opens a secret door. One of the men shrugs when asked about it. Inside is a small robing chamber. On one wall are nine hooded cloaks. There is a trap door on the floor. Opening the door they see a ladder heading down. They walk down a narrow tunnel until it turns. Peering around the corner, Daen sees a man guarding a closed door. In the distance, they can hear the rise and fall of a large number of voices.

Daen jumps around the corner and opens fire with his crossbow but misses. The man yells out an alarm at the top of his voice and draws a sword and attacks. The fight in the narrow space is over quickly, Daen and Eathwund manage to kill the man. As Eathwund stabs the man he falls clutching at a potion vial that rolls away across the floor. Eathwund picks it up. Stepping up to the door, Daen carefully opens it a crack. On the other side is a large chamber lit with torches. At least twenty men wearing Veiled Society cloaks are listening to a man on top of a raised area. The man talks of overthrowing the Town Guard and taking control. Then he talks about doing away with traitors. He yells, “we know what to do with traitors, the woman should not have been killed!” With that one robed man is singled out and dragged to the ground. The men kick him repeatedly until he stops moving. Then the man on the stage tells them to go out and foment more riots.

The men shout in agreement and begin to leave the chamber. Some leave through a door to their left but some walk up to the door that the heroes are behind. The door opens and the men look at them strangely but just move past, “the meeting is over,” one of them says. Lakima mentions, “Ohh, we were late.” Once the men are gone they enter the room. The man on the stage is gone and they did not see him leave. The body of a man lies on the floor. They check and the man is dead. They unmask him but they do not recognize the face. While searching on the stage they find an open passage behind the gong. It leads to another robing room. A door leads further underground. They open the door and head down the passage. As they turn the corner, a giant of a man attacks them. The man is seven feet tall and wearing only a loincloth. He swings at Daen with a club calling him a runty man. Daen angrily charges into the fight but misses repeatedly and is struck twice by the giant. Daen comes to his senses and slowly retreats so that Eathwund and Lakima can also attack the giant. Working together they manage to bring him down.

The giant was guarding a door and another ladder leading upward. They fling open the door and see a small, well-lit chamber. An older man lies dead on the floor in a small puddle of fresh blood. Another man stands over the dead body and holds a sword to the throat of a third man. The man being held shouts for help. The man with the sword turns and curses at the adventurers telling them he is now going to put an end to their meddling. He leaps up on the desk and attacks Eathwund. Eathwund fights back but misses several times. Daen also joins in and manages to strike the man with his hammer. Lakima tosses several (six) darts at the man, and many hit him. The man yells in frustration and vows to kill the magic-user last.  Eathwund finally manages to slash the man with a solid blow followed by Daen striking him and then Lakima throwing one of his darts in the man’s ear. The man collapses in a heap, clearly dead.

The other man who was being threatened crawls out from under the desk and profusely thanks them for rescuing him. They question him and the man, who tells them he is Zweiss Radu, is quick with answers. The man they killed is his Uncle Cartha. Cartha just killed his father Anton Radu who was the leader of the family. There was a power struggle brought on by the recent events. He thanks the heroes and offers them a lockbox full of gems to and positions of trust in the Veiled Society. They think about it but decline. Zweiss insists that his brother Antonito is the real troublemaker behind the Veiled Society. They question why he was wearing the robes then and leading the recent meeting. He makes excuses. Eventually, Zweiss is able to convince them to let him go in exchange for not mentioning the lockbox full of gems (I was a little surprised that the players went for this).

Zweiss leaves up the ladder. They gather up the lockbox, some of the notes and books, and drag out the two bodies. Climbing up the ladder they find they have emerged in the storeroom next to the tavern. As they emerge the bouncer shouts at them but quickly shuts up when he sees the two dead bodies. They drag the bodies across the Old Mill District before being stopped by town guards. Luckily Frans had given them a document noting they were working for the Town Guard. Once seeing the document the guards help them carry the bodies to the Town Watch station. At the Station, Sergeant Frans is not really surprised that the scouting mission was abandoned and turned into a full out battle. He sends town guards to the Mead Hall to gather more information. One of the books they found has details of the membership of the Veiled Society with Radu family members at the top of the list. Guards are sent out to round up all of the named members. Sergeant Frans also sends men to the castle to get more guards for the roundup. Town criers are brought in and given instructions to spread the news that the Veiled Society has been arrested and that the Radu family was behind the group. He returns with a word that the Castellan would like to meet with them. Lakima asks that they meet later. They need to go get cleaned up.

The adventurers return to their Chapter House for a needed rest and clean up. The bribe of gems is counted and revealed to be 10,000 gold. They place it in their vault. Returning to the Watch station, Sergeant Frans escorts them to the castle where they meet Castellan Rufus Wright and Simion Torenescu. They are thanked for their actions and get another reward of 500 gold coins. The castellan tells them that he will let the Earl of Thurmany know about their actions.

They return to their Chapter house for the night. The next day Lakima takes one of the gems to Fairfax jewelers to get it put into a lady's pendant. After a few days, it is ready and he presents it to a delighted Alayna. Alayna also identifies the potion they came into possession of as a Potion of Invisibility. Lakima identifies some of the weapons they confiscated as magical. A sword+2 and a Ring of Protection+1 that Cartha had and a Mace+2 that the cleric had.

They check in with Sergeant Frans a few days later and learn that most of the men listed in the books have been arrested. Antonito and Zweiss Radu have not been found. In addition, some of the men who also worked as deckhands on riverboats have not been located. A 1,000 gold reward has been put out for the leaders.

Beneath the Floors

For the past few sessions of my Swords & Wizardry Core Rules campaign, I have been weaving in incidents from the classic B Series Module B6: The Veiled Society. I have owned a copy of The Veiled Society since 1984 and I have always wanted to run it. But I have never had the chance. It was one of the first D&D city adventures and follows a unique for the time set of encounters rather than a dungeon map. In preparing to play it using S&W rules I found it was perhaps a little overly ambitious. The players have the option in the adventure of ending up working for either the good guys or joining the bad guys. Perhaps even working against each other.

I rewrote it a fair amount to fit my player's level and the game world we are playing in. I added in the local Harvest Festival. I also used its unique nature to gradually introduce the plot interspersed with other adventures the players were undertaking in the city. One thing I did is remove the handful of non-human monsters in the adventure and replaced them with humans. This made the module very scaleable and I felt it also made a lot more sense.

I also corrected what appeared to me to be a lot of holes in the plot. Why did the players have to track down two murderers when it seemed likely that the two men burying the dead Lady Lucia must be the murderers? The module notes even mention that the murderers were told to go back and hide the body. I just made it three murderers. One is reporting to the Veiled Society leadership (and will get into trouble later) while the other two are trying to bury the evidence.

This session was the first time the plot of The Veiled Society became the central plot of the game session.

Session 15: Beneath the Floors

Players: Lakima (Magic-user), Eathwund (Fighter), Sparky (Magic-user), Daen (Dwarf Fighter NPC).

The adventurers wake up on the first morning of the local Harvest Festival and little worse for wear. Lakima and Eathwund are still recovering from wounds received in Kardak’s Tomb. Starry the thief is nowhere to be seen [Another Party Thief goes missing - we have the worst luck with them]. Unsure of when they should proceed to the Festival Square and take their seats, Lakima asks the Huntley their servant. It turns out Huntley, who has lived in Edgerton his entire life, is a font of information. He tells them of the schedule of events and gives them some background on the origins and rules (there aren’t many) of the game of Castle.

Armed with this knowledge they leave immediately, a few hours after sunrise, for the Town Square. They stop first at Alayna’s Alchemy shop to pick her up for the event [callback to the Alchemist's Task adventure]. Alayna is enthusiastically decked out in Torenescu colors and confides in Lakima that she had a lot of money bet on Torenescu today.

Lakima, Alayna, Eathwund, and Daen take their seats and watch as the Priests of St. Cuthbert kick off the festival with the lighting of a brazier with the Everflame torch [callback to their Everflame adventure]. Then the Abbot and Brother Wakefield come to sit near the group. The Abbot inquires into Lakima and Eathwund’s sickly appearance. Lakima tells him about some adventures beneath the town. The Abbot listens with interest and then orders a few priests sitting nearby to cast Cure Light Wounds on the pair.

Not too far away in the stands, an apprentice magic-user enjoying a salted pretzel takes note of the three adventurers who are drawing stares from others as well. Eathwund and Daen clad in plate mail while trying to sit casually and Lakima’s glowing staff are quite a draw.

They sit and watch the coming procession of maidens into the square which is briefly delayed when an altercation occurs. A pair of men wearing Radu colors try to stop the Torenescu bodyguards of Lady Magda Torenescu from entering the square. Eventually, several men wearing Vorloi colors manage to diffuse the situation. The festival proceeds and the Abbot makes his excuses and leaves. The players watch a violent match of the local game of castle between the Radu and Torenescu teams. The Radu having hired a cohort of dock workers for their team attack with enthusiasm. But they are easily pushed back by the much more wiry men of the Torenescu team who appear to be enhanced in some manner. Alayna cheers happily from her seat in the stands. [Alayna was paid to make Giant Strength potions for key team members]. The Torenescu win but the crowd senses that they were cheating and there is a round of jeers and whistles. The next match between Longbardi and Farnoli is more balanced. During the match, they notice a middle-aged woman trying to force her way into the stands crying out for the Abbot. Since the Abbot has left, Brother Wakefield sighs and goes to investigate, stopping a town guard from dragging her off. The adventurers, Alayna, and the aforementioned apprentice magic-user also arrive on the scene.

Freed from the guardsman, the woman pleads with Brother Wakefield to see the abbot. She is terrified of voices in her cellar. At first, it was just rats but now she swears she hears voices speaking to her from the dark. Brother Wakefield, looks at the heroes and asks if they would mind checking it out and putting her mind at ease? The heroes volunteer at once. And the stranger who introduces himself as Sparky also volunteers. The woman, who tells them her name is Amelia, takes them away from the Harvest Festival games and out through the South Gate to the Old Mill part of town. She has a small cottage a short distance outside the town wall. She points out a trapdoor in the floor of her pantry but is too scared to investigate.

Daen opens the trapdoor and looks down into a dark cellar. Seeing a ladder he scrambles down. The cellar is stocked full of bags of produce stacked against the walls. They hear some scratching noises behind the south wall. Daen moves aside the bags of produce and sees a low tunnel at the base of the wall. All of the adventurers crawl through the hole into another cellar. Presumably under the building next door to the cottage. The room appears empty but a narrow passage heads south from the cellar. Daen tells them that the tunnel is not natural; it has been dug out by “amateurs”. They see the occasional rotten wood support beam holding up the mass of rock and dirt above them.

They continue south and enter another cellar. This cellar is full of charred debris. Blackened wooden posts sag under the weight of the rock above. As they move through the cellar they hear cackling laughter somewhere around them and each swears he saw something move out of the corner of his eye. Just as Daen reaches the edge of the cellar, arms reach out of the debris below and knock him down. Three zombies pull themselves from the debris clutching at the heroes. Daen, Eathwund, and Sparky are attacked. The heroes are caught by surprise at first but then fight back strongly, Eathwund and Lakima kill one zombie, Sparky hits one with a Magic Missile and then clubs it down with his staff. Struggling to stand, Daen misses the zombie attacking him repeatedly before finally hitting it to the ground destroying it.

The heroes then quickly leave the cave and follow a tunnel further south. They enter yet another cellar. There is a large pile of dirt in this chamber, some wooden posts, shovels, and a wheel barrel. A ladder leads up to a trapdoor. As they slowly enter the cellar, a beam of light illuminates the room. The trapdoor above slowly opens. Everyone scatters to hide, as a man comes down the ladder. The man does not see them at first. They notice that he is wearing a dark blue hooded robe that completely covers his face. The man picks up a shovel and heads for an exit. Sparky is standing in the exit the man heads towards and the man shouts out in surprise, “What are you doing here?” Lakima immediately casts Charm Person and the man pauses, shakes his head, and then greets Lakima as a lifetime friend. He looks at the other adventurers with a puzzled expression. But Lakima convinces the man that they are here to help him.

Lakima questions the man who reveals he is a member of the Veiled Society. He doesn't know any other members by name or the leaders because everyone wears a hooded cloak when they meet. The tunnels have been used to smuggle contraband wine, lantern oil, and weapons into the town. In fact, he tells them there is a big cache of weapons in the warehouse above. But lately, they have really been expanding the tunnels north into the town. He does not know why but he would be happy to show them.

The unnamed cultist leads the adventurers north through more narrow tunnels past several intersections. The man leads them right to a wooden barricade across the passage blocking the way forward. He points at the wood barrier. “I am not supposed to go any further.” Sparky listens at the wall and hears voices talking about burying something deep so no one can find it. The adventurers huddle and decide with an aggressive plan.  Daen shoulders the barrier aside and he and Eathwund lead a charge into the cellar beyond. They see two men in the Veiled Society hooded cloaks digging what appears to be a grave. A white sheet covers a body on the floor. The cave is a mess of posts and wooden boards holding back the dirt.

The two men cry out in alarm and defend themselves with shovels. They prove to be competent fighters and push back the first exchange of attacks. Sparky casts Sleep on one of the thugs and the man groans and slumps to the ground. The other man yells at his compatriot in alarm calling him Akarios. Daen and Eathwund press the attack on the remaining thug. Meanwhile, the fighting breaks the spell on Lakima’s charmed friend. He shouts at Lakima and draws a dagger. Lakima casts Sleep on the unfortunate man who groans and collapses. In the cellar, the remaining thug leaps over the open grave and kicks his friends awake. Both men stand and defend themselves with shovels. But it is not enough. Several blows from Daen’s hammer and Sparky’s staff knock one man down and Eathwund runs the other man through with his sword.

With the fight over, everyone gathers in the cellar. They pull back the sheet and find the corpse of a young noblewoman who has been strangled. She is also splattered with blood, but it is not her own. Looking up they see a trapdoor above the ladder. Lakima tells Daen to check it out. The stout Dwarf grumbles but heads up the ladder and the top he pushes open the trapdoor. “It’s a closet,” he yells. He climbs up into the closet, there is light on the other side of the closet door. Everyone climbs up into the confining closet. They push open the door and see a kitchen. Windows look out over the river. They are definitely back inside the town walls.

As they discuss the situation they hear footsteps approaching. They spread out on either side of the door as an older manservant entered carrying a tray. He screams on seeing the four men in the kitchen, splattered with dirt and blood. The tray falls to the ground. The terrified servant tells them they are in the Fortunato estate. Fortunato is a member of the Vorloi family. But at the moment only his daughter Lucia is in the home. After some convincing, the adventurers send the servant to run and get the town guard. The adventurers wait patiently in the kitchen for the town guard. They are unable to find anything to eat. The guard arrives and after some convincing check out the cellar and the rest of the estate. There are signs of a struggle in a nearby entrance and the body is identified as that of Lucia Vorloi. A sergeant of the guard arrives who has met the adventurers before. He clears them of any wrongdoing but insists they join him before a magistrate to give a statement.

They head to the magistrate's office near the castle. The Harvest Festival games are over. They hear that Torenescu won. The magistrate takes their statement and on the recommendation of the sergeant asks them to investigate. They learn that Lady Lucia and recently rebuffed the advances of Stephanos Torenescu publicly in humiliating fashion. The adventurers tell the magistrate they will investigate, “Tomorrow”. On their way back to their home in the early evening Lakima purchases some flowers for Alayna and stops at here shop. She is hosting a party for Torenescu supporters but thanks him. 

Finding that they gave the servants the day off, the adventurers head over to a crowded Dancing Dragon Inn. Over dinner, they note an undercurrent of anger directed against the Torenescu family. Everyone agrees they cheated at the games, whether the person is angry at this or not depends on how they wagered. As the news of Lady Lucia’s murder starts to circulate the anger grows and people openly talk about getting Stepahnos Torenescu and making him pay.

The adventurers head back to their home for the night ready to continue the investigation the next day.