Adventure #04 - A Book to Build On

General Summary

Adventure #4 - A Book to Build On 1/26/24
Players: Sean: Sylvi, literally just a cat with a raven companion Mikey: Ragnar Eldenwood, Druid, with his bear companion Berformet
Synopsis: Aberystwyth has amazing potential, but doesn't currently have hospitable buildings for people to use as homes or shops. Pappy recognizes this problem, and invites an eclectic group of architects/construction workers to reside in Aberystwyth to construct buildings to draw in more people to live here, and they enthusiastically agree, viewing the ruins of the town like a blank canvas to build upon. The five person member of the crew include the following:
Dusty Copperheart - Human Male, Artificer Mechanical appointments, forgemaster, Human designs Fayara Warmshine - Halfling Female, Rogue Blueprints/Schematics, Halfling designs Rosinoa Tanglewood- Gnome Female, Druid Responsible Lumber sourcing, landscaping, Nature-based and gnome designs Bronith Terrabrand - Dwarf Male, Ranger Stone Sourcing, Mason, Traditional Dwarven designs Ylyndar Sylsys- Elf Male, Wizard Magic Enhancements, Traditional Elven designs
The crew is excited to begin, but are unable to do so without their master design book, an irreplaceable collection of the crew's blueprints, ideas, schematics, and designs that they've put together over years of working together, as well as payment from their previous project. Unfortunately, they accidentally left the book at the site of their last job, a retirement house for an old human woman named Nancy Pennyweather, and all attempts of contacting her have failed. Not only that, but she never paid the crew in full for their work, so their build funds are dangerously low. The job is to travel to the new home of Nancy Pennyweather, and acquire the book and hopefully the money they earned. Pappy decides to join Ragnar and Sylvi on this job, and they hit the dusty trail together.
They eventually arrive at a beautifully built home in the middle of the woods, surrounded by various farm animals, such as roaming chickens, a pig, and a horse. The party each does some reconnaissance around the house; Sylvi and her raven scan the ground and sky for anything suspicious, while Ragnar speaks to a tree about the recent events. Neither gather particularly useful information, aside from the fact that it's been a while since the woman who lived here has been seen, and that that she was kind and treated her animals well. Satisfied enough with their findings, the party decides to knock on the front door and call for Nancy, but only silence answers them. They open the door, and are shocked to find three skeletons on the other side to greet them. The skeletons stumble out the door, and much bone smashing ensues, until the party emerges victorious. Now on full alert, the party enters the home and discovers the kitchen, which is also filled with malicious skeletons with weapons drawn. More bone smashing ensues. Afterwards, the party finds the empty bedroom of Nancy Pennyweather, and also her personal diary sitting open on her desk. They investigate, and learn that Nancy was beginning to grow bored after a few weeks into her retirement, and decided to explore magic casting from a book and supplies she purchased from her local magic shop. She also mentions how talkative her friend Ebenezer is, and what great company he has been during her retirement. Additionally, she makes a reminder for herself to return the book she found to the construction crew, along with the payment she owes them in the chest in the basement.
The party continues down the hall, and they begin to hear an elderly voice from the basement repeatedly calling out "Help me!" and "skahor kashay!" over and over. After paving the way by fighting more skeletons, they party reaches the basement, and discover a huge red glowing magic circle in the center of the room, with even more roaming skeletons everywhere. Epic bone smashing ensues, and the party realizes that a voice continues to cry out "Help me!" and "skahor kashay!" throughout the battle, and in response a new skeleton summons in the center of the circle. Bones smash and fly, and they eventually find the deceased body of Nancy Pennyweather clutching her heart on the ground next to an open necromancy book on a pedestal. More surprisingly, they find a talking parrot on a stand next to her, repeating her final words "Help me!" and "skahor skashay!". Using magic, they silence the bird and damage the magic circle, thus ending the cycle of summoning, and finish off the remaining skeletons. In no time, they locate both the design book and the payment owed to the conduction crew, and decide to give Nancy a proper burial. Afterward, Pappy gathers the chickens, pig, horse, and the parrot (who responds to the name Ebenezer), adopts them as his own, and the party returns home.

Report Date

26 Jan 2024

Primary Location

Aberystwyth