Reddit Campaign

The Fall of Plaguestone

A caravan with a group of new adventurers find themselves traveling through the small community of Plaguestone. About half an hour before arriving, the party is attacked by a pack of wolves. After the battle Hanako discovers the pack leader is a heavily mutated caustic wolf. Orion in turn confirms the mutation is not magical in nature. The startled horses have sustained several minor injuries, and one of the carts got it's wheels stuck in the mud. With some effort and some help of the party (leaving several members fatigued) the caravan goes onward and reaches Etran's Folly.

XP gained: 200

Going past the large stone that gave the town it's austere nickname the group arrives at the Feedmill and is invited in by it's barkeep, Delma Fulst. The taproom is almost empty save for a single patron, a hulk of a man who seems utterly disinterested in anything but his meal. Some of the party members decide to walk through the town for a bit, coming past the Drunk Shepards Path and noticing the town's primary foodsource as they pass it's turnip fields. Others visit the Feedmills kitchen and meet with it's cook and the goblin waiter Phinnick, who are preparing the food. By talking to the farmers, Xuttil figures out several key events in the town's history that explain it's dire state: the Goblinblood wars, the plague that befell Etran's Folly, and some drama that happened years ago involving a "Chymist Witch" named Sylwith.

Later that evening, when the group gathers for a meal Bort Bargith promised them after helping the caravan, a barfight breaks out due to a clumsy waiter spilling beer on farmer Eollom. Dodging chairs and mugs of ale, the party manages to subdue the farmers nonlethally and end the fight in short order. Delma returns with local Sherrif Rolth Garley in tow, who proceeds to give the farmers a stern reprimand. As the party sits down to resume their meal, Bort suddenly seems to suffocate. They do their best to help the dwarf but to no avail, and Bort Bargith dies from suffocation. Having made an attempt to save Bort, the party is not suspect to the murder and Rolth is clearly in over his head, farmer disputes and occasional drunken brawls being the height of crime in the small community. He asks the party to look into the murder. After some deliberation, the primary suspects becomes Phinnick and the hulking man, who's name they later learn to be Hallod by talking to Delma.

The party attempts to find Phinnick, but doesn't seem to be able to track him down. However, during their search of the premises they find a small, discarded vial in the grass, which Xuttil confirms to have the same fragrance as the bowl of porridge from which Bort ate his dessert. Having seen Hallod carry such alchemical vials with a very good Perception check earlier, the party decides to visit Hallod. Asking around they are pointed to the home near the Dead Willow, which acts as a landmark of sorts. Arriving at the collapsed building, they search the ruins but in his impatience Faakt triggers a spear launcher trap that was jury-rigged to the front door. Luckily the shot misses. Finding a hatch leading underground, they traverse the crawlspace beneath the home and find it is also trapped. Marking the trap with chalk, the party goes onward and end up in a storage space of some sort with yet another hatch leading down, and a broken down door. Aimar tries to open the door only for it to loudly fall of it's rusted hinges and reveal an entirely collapsed space. Continuing through the rusty hatch, the party finds itself in a stone hallway leading to Hallod's hideout.

XP gained: 60

Entering through Hallod's kennel the party finds his personal quarters after defeating several guard dogs. In the larder, the party finds a locked and trapped chest. Unfortunately, Hanako only manages to safely disable two of three locks, resulting in a spine laced with poison to pierce her skin. After treating their wounds, the party makes immediate haste to chase Hallow down the tunnel leading into an underground cavern, where there are besieged by a giant lightning serpent. The battle becomes dire when Aimar went down, but the combination of Orion's powerful spell and one of Hanako's well placed shots finally put down the beast.

XP gained: 140