Session 3: Cabin in the Woods
General Summary
Summary = 2pts of luck for group 1
Nock investigates the spellcaster orc, who was carrying a bloody eye holy symbol, ringmail, shield, and spear. Leucis recognizes the holy symbol as the orc god Gruumsh, the god of fanatical fighters and crushing things. Sunny investigates the javelin throwers who were wearing hide armor and javelins, nothing of real value.
Several of the orcs show signs of recent combat, toting wounds that weren’t inflicted by us. Some of them were partially-healed spider bites.
Crumbled statue in front of the ruined structure, something like a barn or house. Nothing magical. Circle of trees around it seems intentional.
Another circle of trees look to be arranged in a circle, surrounding a stone shepherd’s hook on a plinth. Leucis feels a faint sense of abjuration magic coming off of the hook. It’s probably a Druid’s magic to protect livestock, probably sheep, within the circle.
The building is semi-destroyed, walls caving in, and has signs of the orcs camping here for a while. A medium aura of transmutation magic in the back corner of the house, under a pile of stuff. Cloth rags, spool of thick thread, 27GP, 112SP, hooks, wooden box 12”L x 6”W x 6”D, weighs about 4lbs. Box is giving off the magic and has a latch. Leucis carries it outside, nothing happens when he picks it up. Box is made well, without obvious origin, and seems lighter than it should be.
After a short rest, Leucis opens the box: there are several empty potion bottles, 2 potions, and 50’ hemp rope coil. The 2 potions are cloudy green, both look the same, which Sunny identifies as Potion of Water-Breathing. The rope is nothing special. The book with grime on it appears to be written in Draconic, is well-read, and is in good condition (besides the gooey substance on the back). It’s titled The Finest Enquiry of the Wizard: A True Heir, which is a biographical account of someone’s life. Part of a series of 10 volumes, has 939 pages, worth 5GP. The goo is spider blood, which must have been from a large spider to produce that much. The charm is a utility, which casts Moonglow. The box itself is a Folding Boat.
At the back of the house, there is a well. No other structures in the area. Sunny realizes the shepherd’s hook is the hook of the drawn map by the half-drow. Nock can see that there are traces of a larger camp of orcs here than what we killed. There have been goblinoids going through here, but not a lot of natural wildlife, though spiders wouldn’t fit into the natural order here and would be a recent addition if they’re around.
We change direction to NE instead of NW, per the map, at midday. We come across a series of dead, giant spiders (hound-sized), probably killed with pointy weapons. No spider webs nearby. As we proceed, Nock, at the front of marching order, runs into a spiderweb. We are set upon by 2 swarms of spiders and 6 giant spiders. Nock never entered into “protection mode.” They had built webs next to a watering hole to catch wildlife.
Continuing on, we find a place to set up camp, while Leucis burns apparently empty webs in the treetops. We pass the night with only some howling in the distance, but no attacks. The morning brings a slight drizzle. We head out.
About mid-morning, we come across a bloody scene, where someone has butchered some animals, remains of a boar and a rabbit remain. Entrails all about, as they were not especially careful. Knives and teeth may have been involved. The rabbit seems to have been handled by a critter with a knife. The board has both cut marks and fang (sharp teeth) marks. Appears to have happened in the last day, 2 at most.
Just a little ways later, we find evidence of a camp with a firepit, spit. Knives were used to cut chunks off of the meat that was on the spit. Smaller bones lay nearby. Remnants of a really fatty material dripped into the fire.
The rain eases off towards mid-day. We approach a voice, though we can’t recognize the language. 2 bugbearsand 3 hobgoblin s were standing around, and we dispatched them. Nock again did not go into “protection mode.” Found 27GP, 148CP, set of bone pipes, 3 pieces of chalk, wooden lantern , hide armor, chainmail, long swords, javelins, morning star, crude short knives. Knives seem the right size to have been used at the spit of the previous campsite we came across. Bite marks don’t seem to match what was on the boar.
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