Where we last left off, the party was just leaving the relative safety of their home village, Stonehouse, on an important errand for the chieftain Ural.
Travelling Northward, up the fairly beaten path to Aberdeen that runs alongside the river, the party encounter very little. Stopping to spend the first night about half way to their destination, they refill their waterskins from the fresh riverwater, and the druid notices something in the foliage at the side of the road. Upon investigating, he finds the thing that caught his eye - strangely, he discovers a glass bottle, with the words ABERDEEN BREWERY on the side, which he decides to keep as a useful container.
The rest of the trip to Aberdeen is uneventful, until finally the group reach the hill lying on the edge of the town. Upon it lies a small guard's hut... or at least should lie a guardhouse. The party arrives to find the hut inexplicably missing, nothing but the footprint of a building and a stone slab for an entrance to what once stood there. investigating the site a little more, the group turns up what appear to be two clues - a small bundle of primitive-looking flint headed arrows, and another glass bottle - this one with the words SERCTON ALE on the glass. Keeping the arrows and bottle, the party then looks down the hill toward the area where Aberdeen should lie, only to find it has suffered the same peculiar fate as it's little guardhouse - the entirety of the village is simply gone, leaving only the North-South road, with another road at it's centre heading West, and the imprints of places where buildings laid up until very recently.
With that, the group ventures into the town proper. After thoroughly combing the area, they find very little of any use; discovering only an entire lock mechanism from a large door with it's key, and small and delicately carved wooden box, and, much the the party's ire, yet another glass bottle. This glass bottle differs from the others in that it is stoppered and sealed, and is around half full of a pale blue liquid, and has the words FARROWGATE WINERY stamped on the side. Lastly, the party notice on the forested edge of the village a small shed which still stands.
Einki quickly recognises the locking mechanism as the craft of his father, and recalls that up until recently he had received several orders for mundane metalwork items from Aberdeen. Klaus decided to try and detect any local magic in the area, and is surprised when the lock, the shed, and the wooden box all glow dimly with magical energy - this being how the party discovered the latter two objects. Intrigued, they collect the small carven box before heading over to investigate the shed. However, their examination is swiftly halted when they find the door firmly locked. Even Yal, with his mighty strength, is unable to force the door or break it's hinges. Meanwhile, Einki idly plays with his father's handiwork whilst mulling over the clues they have collected so far, and in doing so turns the key in the lock - to which the party hears two soft clicks.
Quickly opening the now-unlocked door, Klaus finds only more questions. The shed is filled with old, rusted tools, and is covered in a thick layer of dust denoting what must be a lack of use for decades at least. In fact, all the contents of the shed seem unsettlingly ancient. Just about to leave, he notices a small folded piece of paper impaled on a twisted old pitchfork, which he takes. Unfolding it reveals a troubling note -
"A sign of bigger things to come
Drink well my friends"
This sends a feeling of discomfort through all the party members, and they quickly retreat from the creepy shed, though not before closing and relocking the door using Einki's lock mechanism - from which he quickly removes the key. With that, the party finally look at the small carved box. Engraved by a master artisan, the box shows exquisite workmanship and must have been owned by someone of great wealth. This is further reinforced by the word carefully carved into the apparent lid of the box - Farrowgate. The same word as featured on the latest bottle the party found, the group quickly realises that this is the capital of the entire local region, a great and rich city much removed from the pitiful villages that encompass it's surrounding cities. Removing the lid reveals a miniature diorama, painstakingly constructed of tin and wire, of a tiny brewery. This is clearly a small piece designed to sit on it's side, with lid removed, to serve as a small artwork of some sort. However, it's discovery unsettles the entire party, as if it's presence is some kind of mocking joke. Whilst the rest of the party try to digest the wealth of information they have received and find a suitable location to make camp, Einki looks on in amazement at the tiny scene.
And as he stares in wonderment, an odd thought enters his mind. Because as he watches the small figures go about the work at the miniature brewery, he suddenly becomes disquietingly aware the those tiny workers appear to actually be moving, and working at their brewery.
And with that, the session ended, everyone around the table clearly forming ideas of some great conspiracy afoot, and I collected in the character sheets and other paraphernalia. And that's also where I'll leave this post - for the next D&D post will bring events up to date with the session due tomorrow night. Until then, happy gaming!
-Mike
No comments:
Post a Comment