Master Taeral -
After we finished our investigation of the haunted building, we retired to our rooms at the inn to rest. The next day we gave Kynae a morning meal, after which we planned to meet with the guards at the warehouse Kynae had told us he had seen Roadkeepers near. We went to the market first so Hunter could purchase soom tools for opening locks, and Fox and Lonn both bought wands of healing like the one Hunter has.
The guards who met us at the warehouse had brought a list of all the items that were meant to be in the warehouse. The guards told us that they didn't know how the Roadkeepers kept getting back inside the town.
The warehouse proved to hold nothing of interest. It took us some time to go through it, but we found no parcels or crates that weren't on the list the guards brought, nor could Fox find any hidden exits or compartments in the building.
When we had left the warehouse Hunter and Lonn had a conversation about how Lonn had avoided fighting anything in the house and whether he was opposed to doing so. Lonn seemed to feel he isn't skilled in combat, but said he will help fight in the future.
We looked at the map fragment we'd found, which seemed to point toward the Churlwood outside of Roderic's Cove. We decided that we should investigate that location next. The wood is half a day's walk from town, so we gathered up all of our gear with the assumption we'd be staying overnight. We took the ferry across the river. Hunter noticed one of the other passengers seemed to be behaving a bit suspiciously, and also took a small bird out of his sleeve and sent it away. As soon as we disembarked from the ferry we tried to follow the bird, with Zinovia taking the lead as she was the only member of our group who had seen which direction it flew. We soon realized that the bird was heading in the same direction we had been planning to go.
We lost track of the bird and kept heading toward the hill that we'd seen on the map. It was getting late, and when we came to a clearing with a large lone tree at its center we decided to camp there overnight. There were signs that someone else had camped there before us but it had been a week or more earlier. Zinovia worried that the area was too open if someone had been warned of our approach. We were about to move into the trees to set up our camp when a creature suddenly emerged from within the tree.
I knew the creature was some sort of undead thing that could be dealt with using sharp-edged weapons. Lonn recalled that it was called a trailgaunt, a creature that despises travelers. The trailgaunt bit and clawed at Zinovia. She dealt it a might blow, and a second blow from Hunter rid us of the creature. Curiously this creature had a holy symbol of Desna in its possession. It also had an amulet that could protect the wearer against magic that affects the mind and will. Hunter suggested we give it to Zinovia as having her turned against us would be a dangerous situation. We also discovered the bodies of several people that had been slain and stuffed into a crack in the tree trunk, presumably by the trailgaunt. Lonn thought this was foolish of us as we didn't know any of these people, but we took the time to bury so they couldn't arise as undead themselves.
One of the men by the fire asked if we'd come to trade. Hunter responded, "We trade with this!" and summoned his sword. One man responded that if we didn't want to barter we'd have to pay the road tax. Zinova poised for battle. The two of them swiftly downed one Roadkeeper, and Hunter asked the rest if they wanted to suffer the same fate while Zinovia roared at them that she had no use for their 'tax.' I took cover behind a wagon and sent my missiles at them. One of the brigands tried to flee, then stopped and turned to attack after Zinovia dropped his other compatriot. She took him down, too.
While Zinovia and Hunter checked the bodies for anything of interest, an old woman armed with a dagger in each hand emerged from the little building. Hunter asked her if she was a Roadkeeper, to which she answered that she just took care of the house. Fox asked her who was leader of the Roadkeepers, and though she was coy at first she did admit that the gang's leader was the goblin Cheektooth. She added that we couldn't miss him, as he had a big flaming sword.
Hunter suggested that she might want to consider retirement to avoid the fate of the others, and that she should leave her knives. She agreed with him but would only leave one knife. Before she departed Lonn questioned her about where Cheektooth was and she revealed that there was something below the little building. It seems there may be tunnels that lead from the building to the location where Cheektooth can be found, which she told us was in a cave to the West where the goblins had a den. She also mentioned that the main work of the Roadkeepers was done here at this house, but the things they took were shipped to Riddleport.
The old woman then took her dagger and walked off. Fox checked the dagger she left to make sure there was nothing dangerous about it.
The little house seemed to have nothing in it but a pile of straw and a blanket for the old woman to sleep on. Fortunately Fox's spell for finding hidden doorways revealed a door that led to a descending stair. When we climbed down we were met by more Roadkeepers, who were dealt with fairly rapidly despite the tight space causing Zinovia to strike her sword on the finished stone walls several times. After the bandits were dealt with Hunter discovered a nearby room had some type of fungus creature in it. He shut and locked the door to keep it from coming out. It didn't seem capable of freeing itself.
Zinovia had left one of the highwaymen alive, and he was questioned. The area under the house was all finished stonework that looked like it had been there for a long time. The Roadkeepers appeared to have been excavating a cave-in. The man revealed that they had found a statue of a woman, some magic circles, weapons, and traps there, as well as the fungus which they had intentionally trapped in the room wher Hunter found it. The man admitted they'd tried to slay the fungus with fire and acid but it didn't seem to be much harmed by those substances, and it was apparently also capable of teleporting or becoming ethereal so it could appear suddenly without warning. We decided to leave it in the room.
Hunter knocked the man unconscious and we went to look at the statue they'd found. It depicted a woman with her arm upraised as if giving a battle cry to exhort her followers, just as the Runelord of Wrath is always shown. But the sword she usually carries is missing. The statue radiates a faint trace of divination magic, as if Alaznist could use it to communicate with her followers. This may be an outpost of her territory.
Another staircase led down from this area. It opened into a larger chamber, pillared like the level above it. Zinovia went in first and heard some people talking. After she warned us, she immediately attacked the first person she came across. Two more Roadkeepers came to flank her. Fox and I began firing our ice and fire spells at them while they fought toe to toe with Zinovia and Hunter. Four of the Roadkeepers fell to their swords.
We decided to take a rest at that point and went back up to the little house on the surface while we did so. As I'd experienced while we were in Roderic's Wreck, after resting I could prepare spells from my book that I hadn't been able to use before.
After our rest and return to the lower level, Zinovia found a box we'd overlooked earlier that proved to contain some very valuable and useful items. I came away with a collection of scrolls of various spells, some of them more powerful than I'm able to cast at present. Fox acquired a rod that can make his spells do more damage.
When we moved on to another room we had yet to enter, we found more Roadkeepers awaiting us. I hung back in the doorway while Zinovia, Hunter, and Fox went into the passage to face them. At one point they had four people against them and Hunter cast a new spell that dropped one fellow immediately. One of the others ran away. We took everything they carried. Fox looked ahead and saw one of the areas they seemed to be engaged in excavating. A tunnel had been blocked by a collapse. Another room contained another fungus, although of a different variety, so we closed the door on it too. We could hear it hammering on the reinforced door but it seemed unlikely to break through.
To the right of the collapsed section was a door from beneath which a blue glow was visible. The door wasn't fully closed. We left it and turned to the door on the opposite side of the blocked passageway.
In that chamber we found a dwarf in a cell. He told us his name was Dolland and he'd been taken prisoner by the Roadkeepers and forced to make alchemical substances for them. We released him and escorted him to the workshop where his toolkit was kept, but somehow Hunter realized that his story was a lie and he was actually one of the Roadkeepers. He freely admitted this when Hunter pointed out his lie.
In the workshop Zinovia found another chest containing more valuables, including a magical bag and a silver holy symbol of the Peacock Spirit. There was also a note in the addressed to Dolland from someone named Corsela.
Characters are now 3rd level.
Next: part 4, Farewell to the Roadkeepers
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