409 - Jun 18
The party assumes the
date is 18 June and it appears to be around 0930.
Having discovered the downwards steps, the bold adventurers decide to head for the fishing village they can see about 1 and a half miles away.
They descend safely and find themselves on a flat plain covered in tough grass and grey rocks.
Adopting skirmish line variant 3 (b) they move towards the village. A few peasants can be seen apparently tending food gardens on the edge of the village. The village itself appears to consist of an untidy cluster of crude stone buildings thatched with twigs and grass.
When the party are about 500 yards from the village the farmer-peasants flee and are replaced by a ragged line of five spearmen. They are in peasant garb with no armour and their spears are crude. They do not appear keen to engage the party. As the party draws ever closer they call out to the spearmen. The spearmen consult amongst themselves and one of them, who appears to be the eldest (probably mid-40s), reluctantly advances towards the party.
A conversation ensues in Pictish in which the man reveals to the party that they are on the island of Moragh. He says the village is in thrall to a powerful magic person named Finnuil who lives in the tower on the cliff. Finnuil demands that the village harvest oysters and bring them to the tower. Apparently Finnuil is keen on "little white things" that can be found in the oysters as well as rainbow shell. The peasants fill sacks with the oysters and take them to the tower. Refusal to do so invites retribution in the form of Goblins from the tower. The peasant also reveals that mysterious crab creatures sometimes attack the peasants when they go to the reefs to harvest oysters. The man is not too bright, is frightened and has a thick accent which hinders communication. He finally reveals that the village has a chief of sorts called Creagh. He also, in a rambling fashion, seems to indicate that the village has about 300 people (50 families).
The party decide to call on Creagh. He turns out to inhabit a stone cottage somewhat bigger than the rest (30 foot diameter). He turned out to be 50ish, somewhat stout with nice clothes and some fancy rings. He was not welcoming and seemed keen for the party to move on. The Psion noted that their earlier interlocutor from the line of spearmen did not appear to like Creagh very much. Upon hearing that the party wanted to explore some caves where the crab creatures lived, Creagh was anxious to dissuade them. He offered to sell them a fishing boat (200gp) so they could leave the island and revealed that Moragh is in the Irish Sea between Pictland and Hibernia and is about 30 miles from the Pictish coast. He also offered accommodation (50gp per night plus free fish) and seed cakes.
While this gay banter ensued the Rogue snuck around back of Creagh's hut and peered in. He saw a one-room hut with skins and rugs on the floor, a fire in the middle of the hut and some chests and crude furniture. Two young women (20ish) wearing nice woolen shawls were seated at the fire chatting. One of them saw the Rogue but did not cry out.
When it became clear the party intended to visit the caves, Creagh ducked into the hut. Immediately after that a boy of around 10 years dashed out of the hut and ran to the piers. The party moved off but were accompanied by two spearmen whom Creagh insisted accompany them. There was also a small crowd of villagers trailing behind.
The party reached the shingle beach upon which were beached two small fishing boats. A few peasants were visible on a nearby reef harvesting oysters in a rather desultory fashion. One of the peasants was keeping a close eye on the sea.
Moving up the beach the party saw a cave opening. As they did so they spotted the boy who had run from Creagh's hut standing on the hill above the cave entrance holding a pot and a rock. He banged the rock on the pot then fled.
The party moved quickly to the cave entrance and then, warned by the Druid's wolf suddenly snarling at the ocean, two hideous crabmen emerged from the sea. Standing 9 feet tall with four arms (two human-like and two with pincers) one moved towards the Ranger (much to his indignation) while the other advanced on the Druid's wolf. The Warblade, revealing unexpected skills skewered a crabman with a masterful dagger throw. The Psion wreaked havoc with his devastating mental attacks while the Ranger showered the hapless crustaceans with arrows. It was murder really, the crabmen fell without managing a single effective attack.
Leaving the bodies curiously unsearched, the party entered the cave. It went back about 40 feet (15 foot ceiling) and was full of eroded glass, seashells and bones. There were also two sacks. One contained 350 Roman gold coins and the other contained unshucked oysters and an expensive blue bag tied by a drawstring. Inside the bag were 50 or so pearls of variable quality worth a total of 450gp.
Delighted with their conquest, the party decided to drag the crabmen back to the village to reassure the villagers that they can now harvest oysters safely (apart from freak waves, sharks, king tides, typhoons, pirates, sahaugin, giant crabs and predatory squid).
While dragging the bodies, the party noticed each crabman was wearing an odd silver ring inscribed with a Pictish "C" with a crude crown above it.
They returned to Creagh's hut and found him frightened and irritated.
In a process of interrogation of startling competence the party forced Creagh to reveal the following:
(1) Finnuil is some sort of spellcaster with links to a powerful witch. He controls a force of 15 Goblins and an Ettin and has a Half Orc girlfriend who is dangerous with swords and daggers. He forces the villagers to harvest pearls on threat of death. He has a glass ball that he looks into and can send and receive messages through it.
(2) Creagh had an alliance with the crabmen (he is wearing a ring identical to theirs) under which they hid pearls and gold "to protect the village".
(3) Creagh occasionally visits Pictland and Hibernia and also deals with traders who visit the island.
Creagh, after offering his two women to the party was relieved to see them leave.
The party decided to investigate the small forest that lies about 500 yards from the village.
As they neared the forest edge, the vigilant Ranger noticed 13 largish spiders lurking in a tree obviously bent on ambush. Displaying all the wit and skills that makes 2nd level Wizards the terror of the dungeon, the Wizard cast a Sleep spell. Obviously using a particularly healthy cricket as a spell component, the Wizard managed to send all but one of the arachnids asleep. The sole remaining spider decided it was time to be elsewhere and scuttled off. The party duly slaughtered the helpless creatures and toyed with trying to harvest poison before sanity prevailed.
Heading into the forest, the party neared a clearing and came upon a 2 foot tall winged female fey creature perched, in a rather cliched fashion, on a red and white spotted mushroom. She revealed that she is named Emale and was there to protect the forest. She said there was an evil statue in the clearing (hidden by magic) consisting of a 12 foot high red basalt monster with a horned head and wielding a spiked whip and a sword. She said that Finnuil visits the statue once a month to coincide with the waning of the moon (or on nights when there were severe electrical storms) and poured pearls into the statue's mouth then appeared to speak to the statue. The statue made no sound, but Finnuil seemed to be able to receive messages. Emale was unclear where the pearls went as the statue had no throat. Emale also revealed that a community of Grippli with their pet Giant Frog lived in a bog in the forest.
At this point the party decided to pause and consider next steps.
Assumed time is 1430 on the 18th June.
Having discovered the downwards steps, the bold adventurers decide to head for the fishing village they can see about 1 and a half miles away.
They descend safely and find themselves on a flat plain covered in tough grass and grey rocks.
Adopting skirmish line variant 3 (b) they move towards the village. A few peasants can be seen apparently tending food gardens on the edge of the village. The village itself appears to consist of an untidy cluster of crude stone buildings thatched with twigs and grass.
When the party are about 500 yards from the village the farmer-peasants flee and are replaced by a ragged line of five spearmen. They are in peasant garb with no armour and their spears are crude. They do not appear keen to engage the party. As the party draws ever closer they call out to the spearmen. The spearmen consult amongst themselves and one of them, who appears to be the eldest (probably mid-40s), reluctantly advances towards the party.
A conversation ensues in Pictish in which the man reveals to the party that they are on the island of Moragh. He says the village is in thrall to a powerful magic person named Finnuil who lives in the tower on the cliff. Finnuil demands that the village harvest oysters and bring them to the tower. Apparently Finnuil is keen on "little white things" that can be found in the oysters as well as rainbow shell. The peasants fill sacks with the oysters and take them to the tower. Refusal to do so invites retribution in the form of Goblins from the tower. The peasant also reveals that mysterious crab creatures sometimes attack the peasants when they go to the reefs to harvest oysters. The man is not too bright, is frightened and has a thick accent which hinders communication. He finally reveals that the village has a chief of sorts called Creagh. He also, in a rambling fashion, seems to indicate that the village has about 300 people (50 families).
The party decide to call on Creagh. He turns out to inhabit a stone cottage somewhat bigger than the rest (30 foot diameter). He turned out to be 50ish, somewhat stout with nice clothes and some fancy rings. He was not welcoming and seemed keen for the party to move on. The Psion noted that their earlier interlocutor from the line of spearmen did not appear to like Creagh very much. Upon hearing that the party wanted to explore some caves where the crab creatures lived, Creagh was anxious to dissuade them. He offered to sell them a fishing boat (200gp) so they could leave the island and revealed that Moragh is in the Irish Sea between Pictland and Hibernia and is about 30 miles from the Pictish coast. He also offered accommodation (50gp per night plus free fish) and seed cakes.
While this gay banter ensued the Rogue snuck around back of Creagh's hut and peered in. He saw a one-room hut with skins and rugs on the floor, a fire in the middle of the hut and some chests and crude furniture. Two young women (20ish) wearing nice woolen shawls were seated at the fire chatting. One of them saw the Rogue but did not cry out.
When it became clear the party intended to visit the caves, Creagh ducked into the hut. Immediately after that a boy of around 10 years dashed out of the hut and ran to the piers. The party moved off but were accompanied by two spearmen whom Creagh insisted accompany them. There was also a small crowd of villagers trailing behind.
The party reached the shingle beach upon which were beached two small fishing boats. A few peasants were visible on a nearby reef harvesting oysters in a rather desultory fashion. One of the peasants was keeping a close eye on the sea.
Moving up the beach the party saw a cave opening. As they did so they spotted the boy who had run from Creagh's hut standing on the hill above the cave entrance holding a pot and a rock. He banged the rock on the pot then fled.
The party moved quickly to the cave entrance and then, warned by the Druid's wolf suddenly snarling at the ocean, two hideous crabmen emerged from the sea. Standing 9 feet tall with four arms (two human-like and two with pincers) one moved towards the Ranger (much to his indignation) while the other advanced on the Druid's wolf. The Warblade, revealing unexpected skills skewered a crabman with a masterful dagger throw. The Psion wreaked havoc with his devastating mental attacks while the Ranger showered the hapless crustaceans with arrows. It was murder really, the crabmen fell without managing a single effective attack.
Leaving the bodies curiously unsearched, the party entered the cave. It went back about 40 feet (15 foot ceiling) and was full of eroded glass, seashells and bones. There were also two sacks. One contained 350 Roman gold coins and the other contained unshucked oysters and an expensive blue bag tied by a drawstring. Inside the bag were 50 or so pearls of variable quality worth a total of 450gp.
Delighted with their conquest, the party decided to drag the crabmen back to the village to reassure the villagers that they can now harvest oysters safely (apart from freak waves, sharks, king tides, typhoons, pirates, sahaugin, giant crabs and predatory squid).
While dragging the bodies, the party noticed each crabman was wearing an odd silver ring inscribed with a Pictish "C" with a crude crown above it.
They returned to Creagh's hut and found him frightened and irritated.
In a process of interrogation of startling competence the party forced Creagh to reveal the following:
(1) Finnuil is some sort of spellcaster with links to a powerful witch. He controls a force of 15 Goblins and an Ettin and has a Half Orc girlfriend who is dangerous with swords and daggers. He forces the villagers to harvest pearls on threat of death. He has a glass ball that he looks into and can send and receive messages through it.
(2) Creagh had an alliance with the crabmen (he is wearing a ring identical to theirs) under which they hid pearls and gold "to protect the village".
(3) Creagh occasionally visits Pictland and Hibernia and also deals with traders who visit the island.
Creagh, after offering his two women to the party was relieved to see them leave.
The party decided to investigate the small forest that lies about 500 yards from the village.
As they neared the forest edge, the vigilant Ranger noticed 13 largish spiders lurking in a tree obviously bent on ambush. Displaying all the wit and skills that makes 2nd level Wizards the terror of the dungeon, the Wizard cast a Sleep spell. Obviously using a particularly healthy cricket as a spell component, the Wizard managed to send all but one of the arachnids asleep. The sole remaining spider decided it was time to be elsewhere and scuttled off. The party duly slaughtered the helpless creatures and toyed with trying to harvest poison before sanity prevailed.
Heading into the forest, the party neared a clearing and came upon a 2 foot tall winged female fey creature perched, in a rather cliched fashion, on a red and white spotted mushroom. She revealed that she is named Emale and was there to protect the forest. She said there was an evil statue in the clearing (hidden by magic) consisting of a 12 foot high red basalt monster with a horned head and wielding a spiked whip and a sword. She said that Finnuil visits the statue once a month to coincide with the waning of the moon (or on nights when there were severe electrical storms) and poured pearls into the statue's mouth then appeared to speak to the statue. The statue made no sound, but Finnuil seemed to be able to receive messages. Emale was unclear where the pearls went as the statue had no throat. Emale also revealed that a community of Grippli with their pet Giant Frog lived in a bog in the forest.
At this point the party decided to pause and consider next steps.
Assumed time is 1430 on the 18th June.