Episode 3 - Waffles of Sobriety and Ol' Greg

General Summary

At the beginning of the third chapter we find Darla taking the lead in the investigation to locate the children stolen from the town of Bucklewell. Darla locates several blood splatters and black feathers in the kitchen of the Picky Cricket Tavern as well as several feathers leading towards the outskirts of town. A long with the feathers and a few drops of blood, Darla locates several scratch marks on the rock wall that the party had leaped over earlier in the adventure, leading towards the mountains. Concerned from the clear signs of “fowl” play, Darla gathers the remainder of the party in an effort to locate the children. Beldhir and Slem Jim remain at the harvest festival to man the beer and beet stand, which they may have decided to do as a result of the consumption of copious alcoholic beverages. Davwyn on the other hand, who was also highly inebriated, found himself in the doting arms of Chastity Morning Glory. The 77 year old cougar had no issues providing Davwyn with a “stimulating payment” under the table for his charming company. Much to Darla’s disgust, she locates Davwyn being taken advantage of by an old lady and attempts to save the naïve Halfling from a very poor choice, eating the hand written love note provided to Davwyn by the old lady. While being dragged away from a possible one night stand with a geriatric lover, Davwyn locates his abandoned waffle near the wall still topped with surprisingly fluffy whipped cream. Davwyn, in his drunken state, decides to consume the soggy waffle; oddly enough Davwyn finds himself strangely rejuvenated after eating the enhanced Belgian delight and unknowingly creates the magical breakfast food known as Waffles of Sobriety.
Davwyn, Darla, and Chief pick up the trail of feathers that leads them directly to Greg The Mariner or "Old Greg"'s house on the edge of town, locating blood and feathers at the front door. Darla valiantly attempts to crash through the window only to find that she had smashed her face against the glass while Davwyn and Chief boldly crash through the unlocked front door. The three Halflings find the residence devoid of recent activity, though furnished as if it were actively lived in. The party locates signs of movement in the thick layer of dust near a book shelf which, after several attempts to move, reveals a written riddle etched in the wooden siding of the wall. The party then locates a small trap door under a rug which holds a children’s book concerning a fair maiden, her seven male Halfling roommates, and her evil narcissistic step mother. Davwyn cleverly says the word “mirror” out loud which causes a magical crack across the riddle, creating a door frame leading to an unknown room. As members pass through the misty portal their bodies appear to vanish into nothingness but actually transport them into a secondary building.
This eerie mansion consists of a significantly larger study with columns, stairs, and an adjoining room with closed doors. The party opens the door and finds a study with shelves of books, scrolls, manuscripts and other documents along with a thick wooden desk and a high back chair faced away from the door, towards a slowly dying fire. Darla uses her ability to manipulate fire to engorge the flames, allowing the party sees a pair of legs descending from the chair. Davwyn bravely approaches the chair and locates a deceased Greg The Mariner or "Old Greg" , head back and blood trailing from his mouth. Slowly a terrible creature with four tentacles, each with their own eye, and a grimacing mouth with rows of razor sharp teeth descends from the wall behind Darla. The horrifying monster telepathically informs the party that his master had died and that he was beginning to lose his grip on reality, now living without a purpose. He, along with several other Kenku, attacked the party. After the spectator had deflected several of Darla’s spells into her own party members and the Kenku’s ambush from behind, the party narrowly defeats the monsters and locates three children in burlap sacks, including Gan Lan ’s granddaughter. Davwyn and Darla located a second safe in the ground that held a piece of cloth, an intricately carved stick, a small pouch with powder in it, and several pieces of valuable art work. Darla located a hand written note from an unknown individual called The Viscount who apparently had contacted Old Greg about Gan Lan’s assets.
Chief returned to town to check on Beldhir and Slem Jim while Davwyn and Darla contact Gan Lan inside the Picky Cricket. While inside the Picky Cricket, Corvin Durvis provides Darla and Davwyn with a top shelf shot of whiskey from a bottle of Dragon Tear Whiskey circa 336 a rare vintage of whiskey from Kurnst’s capital Raiford’s Keep, which provides the drinker with a D4 to any roll for the next 24 hours. Dan Lan commissions the posse to go to Fleuga to contact his man Falk Halsfire. If successful at thwarting the Viscounts plans and providing Gan Lan with all information located in Old Gregs residence about Veg Corp, Darla will be provided with Old Greg’s estate, and the boys’ farms will be credited with 1 year of crops, enabling the party to sell anything they grow from this year’s crop as their own profit. The party is advised to meet with Gan Lan’s men in the morning to receive a cart, two horses, and directions.
Who is this Viscount? How does he know Old Greg? What is such a powerful wizard doing in Bucklewell? And whatever happened with Chastity Morning Glory?!

Report Date

18 Feb 2022