sVIII: 2 Leagues to the Moathouse
General Summary
The Mercenaries of the Wheel awake their first day in Hommlet and head over to the keep with Mangoseed remembering the locked trunk found in the mill by himself and his now-deceased comrades. The magical key phrase having been magically revealed to Burne was made known to the party via a note left on the trunk. Inside was 480 gp. (2 taken by Finn, the rest went towards the party group funds), an ochre-colored robe with an eye emblazed on it, and a message that only Mangoseed read.
Leaving the private hall beneath the keep, Finn visited Zerosh's Scrolls while the rest of the party delivered the trunk (under cover of blanket) to Mangoseed's room at the Inn of the Welcome Wench, where he plans to keep the party goods and treasures are safely hidden away for while they stay in town at the inn. Purchasing nothing, and just browsing, Finn joined the party as they headed west out of town towards an old ruin called the moathouse by locals.
After hours of travel, the mercenaries encountered an old shepherd named ol"Del who proceeded to inform Magnoseed about the haunted moathouse and the strange folk heading towards it for the past month, as well as the dragon that recently attacked and took up residence in the structure. Assured by Mangoseed that the group would deal with it and the structure, the 4 mercenaries headed into the forest behind ol'Del's farmland, and following an old trail, began their trek north towards the moathouse.
While on the road the group would encounter many bugbear cultist as well as stumbling into an Ankheg burrow. Using Julio's Summoned Campsite the group camped out for 16 hours, enduring attacks from bugbears while attempting to take a long rest and mend their wounds and recover their mental fortitude. After two days of travel, the group would finally see the decrepit structure deep in a swampy lowland between two hills in the Gnarley Forest.
Avoiding the giant frog that lives outside the structure, the group entered using an old, but structurally sound drawbridge. In the courtyard, Brog would spot two brown splatters and a dagger that would peak Finn and Verena's interest. Both deciding to ritual cast detect magic in the courtyard, Brog and Mangoseed spent the time investigating the ruined tower adjacent to the courtyard. Ascending as far as they could, Mangoseed would spot the previously slumbering dragon watching them from inside the structure, just beyond the second brown stain, which he now realized was dried blood. Informing Brog the two called out below to their fellow mercenaries, but not before the beast could emerge from his lair and speak to the party.
The dragon inquired the group about the reasoning for trespassing, and upon finding out about the trapped cultists below in the dungeon , the party made a deal with the dragon, that they would bring it all the human cultists to eat and torment. Finding this whimsical and chaotic for the already panicking humans below, the dragon allowed this, sending the mercenaries down a stairwell, the one entrance into the dungeon.
Descending the stairs Mangoseed and Finn were ambushed by two gnolls wearing black iron breastplates and black cloaks, adorned with iron holy symbols in the shape of an eye. Mangoseed's glowing shield (light spell) helped the party see and dispatch their attackers within a minute. Investigating the immediate room, the party found 3 doors. Opening the two on the south wall (left of the stairs), the party discovered two long-abandoned armories, filled with broken scraps of metal and wood that have long become useless. In the second armory the party found Spugnoir hiding in a barrel. Down to just one magic missile prepared and a wand, he was more than happy to see the familiar face of Mangoseed and was glad to help the party find a way out of this dungeon that didn't involve fighting the dragon that had already proved to be more than a match for the powerful artificer days before when it first attacked.
Entering into the third door, the party crossed the room to another door. Opening it they would find a room with 5 pillars placed like the dots of a dice. Finn, entering the room, would cast detect magic, and seeing a blanket with magical items would proceed towards the middle of the room. Here a woman would call out to two gnolls hiding behind pillars and Finn would find himself ambushed by the 3 humanoids. The woman was wearing an ochre-colored robe with the eye, same as the one found in the trunk days before and now held in Magnoseed's backpack. Under the impression to take human prisoners, Finn quickly put the human cultist Gren to sleep, and with the help of the party and Spugnoir dispatched the gnolls before she could awake. Stripping her of her robes and splint armor, the party would manacle her and escort her to the dragon above, were attempting to flee in the rain, she slipped and fell down the stairs and died upon impact with the ground. Amused the dragon picked her up and ate her, but not before sending the mercenaries back into the dungeon for more humans to amuse him with.
Spugnoir would spend time identifying the magical items left upon the blanket, and the would turn out to be a variety of treasures; a torch of revealing with 3 cones, a bead of force, a black scepter with violet gems (worth 1,000 gp.), and a black metal tube with a magical scroll that upon Finn casting comprehend languages was able to decipher the magical paper (revealing information for accessing an extraplanar node of utter darkness called the Black Cyst. The ritual described requires living sacrifices, multiple wish spells, as well as a year's worth of work.).
Rewards Granted
113xp for opening the locked trunk
480 gp
Ochre colored robe with eye
Message to Master Dunrat from Naquent
12 gp
(x2)Black iron breastplate
8 gp
480 gp
Ochre colored robe with eye
Message to Master Dunrat from Naquent
12 gp
(x2)Black iron breastplate
8 gp
Missions/Quests Completed
Open the locked trunk
Character(s) interacted with
Related Reports
Report Date
28 Nov 2021
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Secondary Location
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