A Dire Situation
General Summary
The nearby waterway has suddenly and unseasonably swelled and is threating to flood the farmland, destroying the crops that are only starting to sprout. Harnar Coalbeard worries that one of the damns upstream, created by the local Dire Beavers, may have been destroyed. He’s worried others might follow, causing the river to overflow. He’s seeking adventures to seek out the source of the problem, and make sure the damns are secure from any threats.
Characters: Umbrus Nyx, Aron, Josef Ironbeard
Furrowbeard 12, 485 AGU
The adventurers heard that Harnar Coalbeard was looking for someone to look into the rising water levels of the local waterway. They made their way to the adventurer’s hall to inquire about the job.
They spoke with Harnar and were asked to follow the stream to its source to see why the waterway was unseasonably spilling over its banks. Harnar suggested it might have something to do with the colonies of dire beavers which had a series of dams half a day's journey up the stream.
The adventurers headed out and followed the waterway up stream. It was fairly easy going, a few times they needed to go around rock outcroppings, but mostly they followed the water. There were obvious signs that the waterway had raised in levels. Eventually they come upon a mass of dead tree limbs that had been deposited in some mud when the weather was higher.
Poking around the wood they noticed a large skinned corpse covered in mud but before they could investigate further two small gray oozes, which had been feeding on the corpse attacked the adventures.. The adventurers easily overcame the attack.
Investigating the corpse they found that it was a dire beaver, the size of a Clydesdale horse, had been skinned. Aron noted that it was odd that there were gray oozes eating the corpse, they are not native to the region and often created through magic accidents.
They continued on.
As they crested a rise they stopped and stared at the awesome sight of a series of great beaver dams. The water that they held back created large lakes. The lakes themselves were interacted by streams and cascading waterfalls. At this distance they could tell that the lower dam was damaged and the lake's water was at a lower level.
After stopping for a moment they started to continue when Aron felt a ball of mud hit him in the back of the head. He stopped and turned around, looking for what had thrown the mud. After a moment he finally saw who, or what rather, had thrown the mud. It was a mud mephit. It was hiding in the mud along the bank of the water way. As Aron approached it, it cackled and ran off, disappearing. The adventurers continued.
Once they approached the dam it was obvious that part of it had been blown up. Through their investigation they found that there was some sort of magical residue on the dam. Climbing up to the top of the damn they found the beaver’s lodge had a hole in it. They removed their armor and swam over to the lodge.
At the entrance to the lodge they found a trail of blood leading back to the main area. There they fold bolts sticking into the ground, obviously fired from above, where the hole in the roof was. They deduced that the beavers were killed from above and then dragged to the entrance, into the lake and onto shore, where they were being skinned.
When they swam back to get their gear, Josef stopped himself from putting on his armor as he noticed it was now filled with mud. He heard the cackle of the mud mephit from off in the distance.
After some investigation they found where the beaver was hauled on top of the land. They followed the trial back to the camp where they found two poachers and a tanner. They grilled them for information and found out that their band was in the middle of attacking another family of beavers.
At the edge of the lake they found a group of poachers by a large flat raft, waiting for the beavers to be killed. The adventurers managed to talk their way out of a fight, got the raft and used it to go to the lodge.
At the lodge they found the poachers and their leader setting up some sort of bomb. They interceded, and stopped the bomb from being set. They apprehended the lead poacher, a spell caster by the name of Jerome.
They confiscated the bomb and took Jerome back to Harnar Coalbeard and let him decide what to do with him. They also gave Harnar the alchemical bomb. The adventurers were given a bonus for returning the bomb.
Thus ended the first adventure. It took one day.
Rewards Granted
300gd
