Session 3: A Beautiful Mine Report

General Summary

The day began dark and early as Natali finished her trance long before the rest of the party awoke. She spent the time trying out her new fishing gear, with a little bit of success. The rest of the party awoke and gathered for a morning cookout. Grimsby and Serafin both made their own spin on the usual fish fare. With two gourmet meals to pick from the party had a hearty breakfast that saw them through the day. During breakfast some of the group questioned Marta about the song they kept overhearing her singing to herself. She told them the tale that had been passed down in her family of a mysterious woman who came to her family's inn alone and frightened. Her grandparents took her in and sheltered her and in her gratitude she gave them a ring. Not long after a howling wind burst into the inn and tossed the woman around like a ragdoll. Marta's grandparents intervened, giving the woman time to escape, and earning a beating in return. That was the last anyone ever saw of the mysterious woman. The ring has since passed down to Marta and the party took an instant interest in it, offering to buy it from her or find some way to earn it. Being a family heirloom and one of her last possessions of her mother's she politely declined. The party split up, with one group investigating more details about the mine incident and shopping while the other group went fishing. The fact finding party found themselves at town hall speaking with Jesmyn , an attendant and all around procurer of information. They inquired about a map of the mines and perhaps the purchase of some mining gear. The map was available but they were directed towards the mining supply shops for their purchases. The party stopped by a mining supply shop, The Pick and Hammer to grab some picks...and hammers. They loaded up on items they thought might be useful for an excursion into a mine. Meeting Oscar, the owner and operator. The fishing party fished. Once the party gathered back together they set off to the gem mine, just a 30 minute trip into Lonelywood Forest. Arriving they found the mine only an opening into a low hill with a sign posed outside in surprisingly elegant common saying, "Kobold's Only". With this encouragement Bhur took the lead and the they descended into the mine. Upon entering the mine Veld and Galanodel soon found themselves stooping just to pass through the tunnels. The party found tracks of several reptilian footprints and some of what turned out to be giant rats. Eager to test their martial skills the party started to track the rats. Passing by one of several mining faces. The party had their first combat encounter together, with the two giant rats chasing Bhur up a wall and Serafin lagging behind. The rest of the group quickly dispatched the vermin, with Peh'Tar taking the brunt of the damage. As the party continued to explore the mine they found many discarded mining supplies which some members took up. They also found a small figurine of a dog carved out of rock, with two pebble-sized tourmalines for eyes. It looked to be something a miner likely carved on a break, but still had decent craftsmanship and could be worth something. The party came to the central shaft, descending into darkness far beyond any of their vision. A wooden scaffolding connecting two tunnels gave the party pause as some of their members weighed slightly more than the average miner. Upon investigating the shaft Peh'Tar noticed two figures clinging to the underside of the scaffolding. Bhur, looking under the scaffolding, saw two kobolds busy at work weakening the supports. He engaged them in conversation with the rest of the party holding back. They seemed to want him to come with them to speak to Trex, their leader who now only spoke fluent common and had dragon wings. Bhur reluctantly agreed to go with them. The rest of the party frantically began to try to devise a way across the potentially trapped bridge while Bhur and the two kobolds got further and further away. At one point Veld caught up, spooking the kobolds and sending them into a running retreat. Eventually the kobolds with Bhur came to the bottom level of the mine and met Trex. Bhur talked with Trex and met Scorp, Thwip, Grek, Smol, Vott, and Zurk. They were the only survivors of their tribe after they were driven out of the foothills near Kelvin's Cairn by a yeti. Trex explained that they came seeking a new home but the miners all fled before he could have a conversation with them and explain the situation. The rest of the group caught up and negotiated a peaceful solution to the kobold's presence. As the party split up with some mining, some preparing foods, others helping the kobold's prepare to leave and Natali whittling by herself on the bridge spanning the central shaft. Being the only one alone she seemed to be the next tasty meal for the grell that had been stalking the party and others in the mine for weeks. Luckily for Natali Grimsby happened to take a break from mining just as she was about to be attacked, getting off a warning before it could strike. With the party spread throughout the mine, some out of earshot with the thundering waterfall drowning out the sounds. Natali took the form of boar to alert the rest of her group and provide some extra heartiness as she was attacked by the grell. The grell, seemingly overwhelmed by the sudden attacks from multiple creatures was unable to get a solid hit with its tentacles which would likely have been a devastating and potentially fatal blow with the precarious battlefield. The party managed to defeat the surprisingly hearty aberration without taking any casualties, though Bhur and Serafin were once again unable to join the fray. The party spent another 5 hours mining geodes to help supplement their income from this excursion before finally leaving the mine and returning to Termalaine. They managed with their combined efforts to extract a total of 27 geodes valued at approximately 10gp each. They also inspected a fossilized skull embedded into the mine walls of a strange creature. None recognized it at first but Natali recognized some traits from descriptions Michael had told her recently, identifying it as a fossilized mindflayer skull. Grimsby managed to successfully pry out the skull though it proved to be too fragile to handle, soon crumbling. Inside though they found a crystal shard where the illithid's brain would have been. The party took the large purple crystal with them for Michael to look at later. When they returned to town the group split again as some went to the town hall to report their success and others took the kobolds to the shore to learn to fish. Speaker Masthew took the news with mixed feelings. He seemed glad the mine is reportedly cleared but a bit hesitant at the kobolds wanting to join the town. He agreed to a probationary period where they work under supervision before they are allowed full acceptance into the town. Trex fully agreed to this arrangement. The speaker explained to the group that he had to perform an inspection on the mine to verify it was safe to reopen and bid the party wait a day or two while he did so. The party agreed to wait as they had not yet received payment. They rejoined with the fishing group and all spent some time fishing off the pier before turning in for the night.