sX: Return to the Moathouse!
General Summary
After spending a month training in nearby city of Verbobonc, the Mercenaries of the Wheel returned to Hommlet ready to continue their assault on the moathouse.
The village had changed in the month they were gone, as fields now sat empty with a coat of snow. People didn't walk much around town, and if they did they wore heavy winter garments. Every chimney was blowing smoke out of it, none more than the Inn of the Welcome Wench and the Hommlet Keep.
Approaching the keep, the mercenaries encountered Rufus Brunel behind the keep tending to the ground where come spring he would have a garden, like every year. Discussing with the Lord of Hommlet, the group ascended the stairs to the wizard's tower to meet Burne. Finn would give the wizard a scroll case and enclosed magic scroll, proclaiming he could only read it after casting the spell comprehend languages. Afterward, the scroll told him of a yearlong ritual to access something called the "black cyst". Intrigued the wizard took the scroll into his custody as he cross-referenced his many books in an attempt to discover what this "black cyst" was and how to stop it.
Operation: Burning Rat
Pleased, Burne conjured a portal for the party to step through. Doing so, the mercenaries found themselves in the courtyard of the moathouse, confronted not with a dragon, but the cult and their reinforcements which included a large palisade and spikes at the top of the stairs entering the structure proper. This would force the mercenaries to hit the ground running towards the barricade in an attempt to break through it. Immediately making the situation tougher however were a group of gnolls, loyal to the The Elder Elemental Eye, with longbows and fire arrows. Firing potshots from loopholes (arrowslits) in the moathouse's walls, the gnolls were impossible to hit from the mercenary's position. Eventually, cracks and breaks would appear in the barrier, and Eduardo Mangoseed would witness a gnoll fleeing into the dungeon just before breaking the barrier. Splitting into two teams, Mango and Brog would take the right flank while Verena and Finn took the left. Quickly clearing out the left flank Verena and Finn would return to see the right hallway blocked off by a door and table. The noise of heavy combat could be heard beyond, as well as a command from Mango telling brog to get that door closed and barricaded. Immediately jumping towards their comrades in danger, Finn would be ambushed by the gnoll that had fled into the dungeon, another gnoll, and a cultist and assassin that the party knew as their old bartender at the Welcome Wench, Chatrilon Unosh. Unosh, also a talented spellcaster, would cover him and his allies in a thick fog and move to rejoin with his main force of gnolls. This would prove successful as the combined forces made easy work of the mercenaries. Within moments Brog would be bitten by multiple gnolls, causing a deep and instant mental shock as he succumbed to Cackle Fever. Not long after Finn would drop to Unosh's rapier going through his heart. After witnessing this, Verena would flee the scene, running all the way back to ol'Del's farmstead. It would be about another minute however until Mango would drop dead himself, also succumbing to the fever and wounds provided by Unosh and his rapier. In this time Mango would kill all the gnolls with his spiritual weapon, leaving just the assassin who proved just too much to handle in solo combat.Verena's Escape
As Verena made it to the house of ol'Del in the early hours of the next morning, he found the shepherd already out in his fields. He quickly explained that he needed sanctuary, to which ol'Del responded by hiding the farmer in his basement. Giving him soup the following night, Verena would sleep until morning. Taking off towards Hommlet Verena would camp in the brush and heavy snow of the wilderness in an attempt to hide from any potential enemies. Successful it seemed, he made it back to town with no run inns with any scary creatures or cultists. Back in town, Verena would immediately seek out Rufus and Burne, who with Lady Camilla Seiler-Heirophant presence, informed the three lords of the recent events and battle, and complete loss of the mercenary company. Worried, but not yet defeated, Rufus and Burne instilled Verena as the replacement leader for Mango, and immediately began reforming the group. Verena was handed a scrip of release for a prisoner in the dungeon of the keep's jail, and upon convincing the rouge doctor Ceaser Leprosy he returned to the surface. Here Verena and Ceaser would encounter Rufus and Burne and a company of guards. These 6 guards were assigned to the mercenary group to help, with their leader being a talented cleric and tiefling of the Pelorianr faith, named Dùghall.Missions/Quests Completed
[f] Operation: Burning Rat
Character(s) interacted with
Guard
Rufus Brunel
Burne, the Wizard
Chatrilon Unosh
ol'Del
Lady Camilla Seiler-Heirophant
Jailer/Guard
Rufus Brunel
Burne, the Wizard
Chatrilon Unosh
ol'Del
Lady Camilla Seiler-Heirophant
Jailer/Guard
Related Reports
Report Date
12 Dec 2021
Primary Location
Secondary Location
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