This session played Monday, August 2 2010.
Featuring:
Umgax Longshanks, the wizard, his pair of war dogs, and his retainers Droford and Thena.
William Parsnips, and his trio of war dogs.
DM was johnstone.
What Lurks Upon the Hill?
Umgax hires a couple of wanderers in Threshold, then heads up north, accompanied by William Parsnip. They travel along the road, and once they reach the Dead Forest, they can see Bone Hill and the ruined castle at it's peak. They travel through the forest and up the hill by a path that leads to what is left of the front gate.
A Ruined Castle!
The party decides to enter the ruined structure through a hole in the main guard tower. Inside, a baker's dozen zombies rise from the detritus upon the floor and attack, hungry for human flesh! Droford and one dog lose their lives in the ensuing battle, which involves a great deal of flaming oil. Once the zombies have been dispatched, the tower is searched. The second floor is rotted and creaks under Parsnip's weight, so he has Thena search it instead. She finds a horde of gold coins and a ring of feather falling.
In the tower basement, they find a secret door in the wall, which leads to the castle's basement. Within the basement, the salvage some valuable antique furniture, and encounter more undead. They fight a wraith, but after finding ghouls behind a locked door, they spike it shut, cursing their bad fortune to be lacking a cleric.
Screw You Guys, I'm Leaving!
Having spent a mere few hours at the castle, they travel east to the town of Restenford. There, they examine Falco's Tavern, and decide to move on to a real inn, The Dying Minotaur. They also meet a band of clerics - a high priest and priestess and their most charismatic curates - who have come to town to make converts, and are not impressed with the town's "seedier" bar, the Tavern of the West Wind, which they discover is also frequented by the town wizard and his apprentices.
The Quick and the Druids, or A Short Rest in Restenford
Parsnip and Umgax try to get audiences with the baron and the wizard, but they are rebuffed by underlings. But the druids will talk to them! Sadly, the druid of Dwoemer Forest is a broken shadow of his former self, his holy casino having been burned down by the Dragon Army. The gods have abandoned him, and he even fails to fleece the party with his three card monty routine. Umgax and Parsnip vow to help him rebuild. In town, they meet another druid who agrees to help them for their generosity, if they require his services later.
Determined to find trouble, our heroes chat up the locals and hear that there has been trouble down by the burned-out old guardhouse. It seems a child was bitten by a giant rat! Our heroes investigate the guard house and find both a giant rat hole, too small for them, and a secret entrance in the guard house floor which they cannot open.
Undaunted, they seek out the local mercenary and hire him for the sum of 300 gold pieces. A cleric is easier to appropriate: At one of their white-tent sermons, Parsnip chats up a curate while Umgax throws a Charm on him. The curate then vigorously agrees to aid them, appropriating several flasks of holy water to purge the undead.
Return to Bone Hill
Bolstered, the party heads back to Bone Hill. The return underground and fight the ghouls, one of which flees upstairs, turned by their new friend. The party decides not to pursue.
Instead, they find a secret door that leads to a shrine, and stairs leading further down. Unfortunately, a stone statue of a fire giant comes to life and hurls its hammer knocking Parsnip to the floor. He staggers back, recovers himself, and tries again. But lo! The hammer flies again, always flying back into the statue's hand. The party beats a hasty retreat.