2024 Campaign Adventure 15

Plot:

Prisoners

The cages surrounding the party had several dead bodies laying within of various more monstrous or considered to be uncivil humanoids. Several gnolls watched the party nervously in a separate cage, a few kobolds a lone Goblin and three orcs, a small family including a youngling huddled together. A single goblin was suspicious of Kai and his party and offered a blessing to Grummish to Kai, the one eye’d god being a common deity for the green skin races of this world.

After a quick conversation the party believed that the creatures within the cage were captured by Mayor Tom and some of his men. The Orc family recounted how they were simply passing by the village with their clan when they were attacked and captured by the Fustmach soldiers. Once captured they were taken into a cage within the mines and there they were knocked out, eventually waking up in the cages below. Every week more of their kind were taken to the surface and they never returned.

Convinced of their innocence Kai picked the locks to the cage and set the captives free. Tater and Groku escorted the captives to the surface through the lift system they descended through. Armaeth began to search the refuse pile while the captives raised to the surface and uncovered something familiar. The same sigil that they had received from Gwen when they joined the cause; Fredrickson’s sigil.

However, one of the Gnolls thought that they deserved more room on the escape platform and tried to shove off the other races, but quick thinking saw Tater save the Kobold and goblin. However the gnoll fell to his death, splattering like a pancake beneath the cage.

Kai fearing the worst summoned a cushion of vines through the entangle spell to try and provide a slower descent if another creature was to fall. But while Tater and Groku convinced the rattled and shaken villagers of Fustmach to let the monstrous humanoids, the prisoners of Mayor Tom, flee the city without attacking them and, due to the gnolls savagery, it was best if they hid indoors for a period of time.

The lost one

While Tater and Groku handled with the release of the captives another creature caught Kais attention. Hiding both him and Armaeth hid and watched as a large, juvenile of the large bat they fought less than forty eight hours ago crept towards the corpse of the gnoll. However the stunted limbs and white fur labelled this as an albino, likely rejected by its family – but due to failed rolls it was not evident.

Kai’s wild goblin instincts kicked in and he, once more, stripped off with his one arm and slathered himself in gnoll guts and gore. The bat however was hungry and started to attempt to eat Kai, its fangs unable to piece the bracers that had melded with the goblins flesh. Kai sprung and failed to grapple the infant bat and it fled to hide amongst the brambles he had created earlier.

But Tater and Groku were on their way down and the light from the torches, as Groku definitely needed light in a place this dark. The bat startled by the light and blindly fled into Kai’s range. Tater took this as a threat to the goblin who was unresponsive to his warning cries and shot a bolt from his crossbow. Kai threw himself in the path of the missile and in his grapple of the bat managed to protect it from the crossbow bolt. Armaeth then flew up and exchanged frustrated words with Tater and Groku who understood that Kai was just trying to tame another wild creature.

After feeding the bat and calming both it, and the now-less-feral goblin down they discussed what was best for the bat. Returning it to its parents was the best plan and so they set forth deeper into the cavern, through the maze of stalagmites and their mirrored stalactites. Finding another creature, a larger juvenile bat they followed it into a passageway, a bore mark from something much larger much longer ago and they went deeper into the cave.

That was until Tater revealed that they hadn’t killed the mother bat, that it was assumed it died of its wounds and they had not seen it actually become deceased. Soon the path of the cave expanded and they could sense large tremors as the young bat they were following climbed the wall into a larger space beyond the passage. As Kai released the albino runt they watched with horror as the parent, a massive injured bat, rejected its young in front of them. As Kai darted forward a second presence, another adult bat was located as it watched the runt struggle to move on the ground.

As Kai reached the runt the large bat, much larger than the other one they had fought, watched him scoop up the young and waited for him to attack it, its partner or the other young. As the Goblin carried the rejected offspring the large bat retreated. But now the party had another, much more voracious mouth to feed and a long, long process of trying to domesticate a wild, feral creature. Perhaps the half-feral goblin was the best fit for the job.

Unexpected message

Entering into the village once more they retraced their steps back to The Fat Sow where John, the halfling establishment owner told Kai firmly that the bat was not to stay in in the inn and that he was to try the stables. After a brief and fruitless deception the party took the bat to the stables and ran into Dinkleberg, Greta and Hans who thanked them for saving Hans, and them, from the monsters and from Tom, who was the most monstrous of all.

After a brief discussion including a lecture about monstrous humanoids being just a person as any human or dwarf they left Batrick, the albino bat, with them to be healed and fed with some milk. In the mean time the bat would roost in the wagon until they could work out what to do with it. They then returned to The Fat Sow, ate, drank and rested before there was going to be a town meeting the next morning.

With sun rise they explored the town a bit more, Kai sending a raven to Gwen in Warrensdeep to provide an update on the mission progress. Once they returned to the inn they partook in the meeting and suggested that there may be others who are as guilty as Tom and that it couldn’t be him alone. After another lecture they went their separate ways, Kai on his inquisition to find the co-conspirators of mayor Tom while Tater went and used the Local Smiths forge to re-forge his fathers axe, which he broke, into a halberd. In exchange Tater was to work the forge and help with the other blacksmithing requests of Fustmach.

In Kais exploration he checked on Batrick and satisfied that it was doing as well as could be expected he continued his exploration. Deciding with Tater, Armaeth and Groku that they would keep vigil over Mayor Toms house that night to try and trap any other collaborators in the cannibalistic processes. However before he could prepare for this further Kai discovered a raven waiting for him at the wagon.

The raven had a message tied to its leg and as Kai took it and read he uncovered something shocking.

You found my message. I am safe but do not trust the order. There is a corruption within that needs to be cut out. Be in touch in the future, watch for the ravens.

Fredrickson appeared to not be dead but was in hiding.

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Main NPCs:

Sidekicks

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