Trap Sprung: Game 19

General Summary

Two major events occurred during this session in the village of Orlane, the Party: 1) elected to sleep in the Golden Grain Inn laying a trap for cultists, and 2) after the trap was sprung, the Party explored tunnels beneath the Golden Grain Inn. The Party dispatched and fought off the cultists, leading to a stand off in the common room downstairs of the Inn. The Party entered the Inn's tunnels, fighting snakes and undead ghouls and discovering a snake woman statue. However, the Party did not locate any significant treasure nor any exits or further passages outside the town or towards other buildings like the Temple of Sennia.

Golden Grain Inn

"This is a large wooden inn. It is decorated with carvings of sheaves of wheat along the eaves of the roof. The inn was whitewashed at one time, but much of the paint has peeled. A sign picturing a cluster of wheat and a pitcher of beer or ale hangs over the door. A corral and stable, apparently empty, are off to the side. This room seems like a pleasant place, but the people are subdued, generally sitting alone. Those sitting together are not talking and no fires are lit in the fireplaces. Several barrels of light and dark beer are tapped behind the bar."
The Party believes that the Golden Grain Inn is the headquaters of cultic activity in the village, and that the cultists wanted to them to sleep at the Inn so that they could be captured. The Party decided to spring the trap, and rented rooms at the Inn. The common room was a pleasant place with the owner, Bertram Beswell, the husband of Geneve Beswill. Bertram is a hefty man, who greeted the Party cheerfully and offered a free drink of beer, wine or brandy. The patrons in the common room were subdued, generally sitting alone, and those sitting together were not talking and no fires were lit in the fireplace, even though there are several barrels of light and dark beer tapped behind the bar. There were nearly ten customers sipping from the mugs.
The Party stayed in a series of guest room, which had secret doors to a passage that allowed the cult to attack them in the middle of the night. A fight ensued, with Monell being poisoned and put to sleep and the Party killing one cult member, Snigrot Dogroot, the cook. The Party reached a Mexican standoff with the cultists, who were massed and ready to create a blood bath. Petra cast Hold Person on the constable Grover Ruskadal well armored guard Donavan Allard. The Party also hid Monell in the Inns stables. The Party then entered the cellar, its secret room, and finally the underground passages. The Party blocked the doorway between the cellar and the underground passages and explored the passages, but did not discover any treasure or exits.

Room 2 Kitchen

This room is obviously a kitchen. Jars of beans, bread, flour and dried meat can be seen stored in several open cupboards.

Room 4 Bertram and Geneve's Den

Four large and comfortable chairs face a huge fireplace in the east wall, while a bare wooden table has four hard chairs placed around it. Crates of plates and mugs are stacked in the southeast corner.

Room 5 Bertram and Geneve's Bedroom

A huge, soft bed is the major feature of this room. A desk strewn with papers and a hard wooden chair sit next to the bed. Several plain woolen rugs lie on the floor. A large brass-bound wooden chest rests against the north wall. The rug conceals the secret door to the secret room in the cellar.

Room 6 Large Guest Room

This room contains a bed, a storage chest, a table, and four chairs. A rough rug covers the center of the floor. Cult members and troglodytes were staying here to ambush the Party.

Cellar

Room 15 Main Cellar Room

The stairway from the kitchen ends in this dark and musty room with no windows. Many tables and chairs, some broken, are stacked against the south wall. Cobwebs cover much of the ceiling, filling in the spaces between the rafters. Two unlocked wooden doors flank the stairway, and the walls have many torch sockets arranged along them at neat intervals. One opens the secret door to room 18.

Room 16 Wetgood Storage

A dozen kegs and casks of various sizes are kept here. The room has a dirt floor and the air here is damp and chilled. The outside cellar door is locked and barred from the inside.

Room 17 Drygoods Storage

This room has a wooden floor, upon which are stacked a number of crates and boxes. These contain the necessary implements for the running of the inn: extra platters, utensils, cases of flour, grain and dried beans.

Room 18 Secret Meeting Room

The catch of the secret door is released by pulling down on a torch socket in room 15. The room beyond contains a table, several benches, and a ladder rising to a trapdoor in the ceiling (to Beswill's room, 5). In the southeast corner is a stout wooden door with a bar across this side holding it firmly shut.

Area 19 Underground Passages

The corridor beyond the southeast door has been hastily excavated from the dirt, and is shored at 5' intervals with heavy timbers on the walls and ceiling. The ceiling is only 6' high. The floor is smooth dirt, and there is an odor of must and decay here. The air is unusually cold. Many rats scurry for cover as the door is opened.

Central Chamber 20

The corridor gradually descends away from the inn. At first, there is only 6' of headroom, but in this room the ceiling is 10' off of the floor. The Party was ambused by a poisonous constrictor snake.

Room 21 Secrete Treasure Room

This secret door is made of canvas over a wooden frame, painted to blend into the earth of the chamber walls. It is not locked, since its construction is too frail to prevent a determined person from entering in any event. The room beyond has a low (5') ceiling. The dingy chamber has three chests in it that are used to store the donations to the cult when they fill the chest in Bertram's bedroom. Since the entire hoard was moved less than a month ago, all three chests are open and empty.

Room 22 Dirt Chamber

This room appears empty, and is noteworthy for the fact that the timbers at the far end have collapsed, leaving a pile of loose earth against the wall, and mud in most of the room. The Party beleives that there are snakes hidden in it.

Room 23 Ghoulish Valut

Herein lies a true horror of this small network of tunnels, and the reason for the bar across the outer door. Ghouls occupy this bone-littered room, surviving on rats and the occasional unfortunate captive or animal that is turned loose in the labyrinth.

Room 24 Reptile Goddess Statue

The human face of this statue is the first thing seen by characters entering the chamber. This extremely authentic carving has been created out of several tusks of ivory, skillfully blended by a master craftsman and raised on a stone dais. Petra argues that the Party should destroy this obviously evil cultic statue.

Room 25 Dirt Room

This room appears to be empty.

by redheadgames

by RedheadGames

Report Date

22 Apr 2024