The Abandoned Mining Office Report

General Summary

Patchwall 12, 595 CY

Session: 2024-01-31

The next day was a disaster. Chief Scout Merris heard what happened the night before. In an effort to get the companions out of town, at least for a day, and let cooler heads prevail, he summoned them all to the Bronzewood Lodge. Merris explained to the group that there has been a marked increase in goblin activity in the region, and the militia are tracking a few of the major raiding parties in the region, but he's also been hearing of some suspicious activity at the old Fant Mine Office, about eight miles out of town. He asks the companions to investigate the office and secure it if possible. If not, report back with what's behind the reports. He places Sergeant Crichton in charge of the party, and asks the scout Argan to get the group to the mining office and back safely. It was a little less than three hours later that the group approached the mine office. Finding a spot overlooking the structure, they took note of a few things. The first floor of the office looked pretty intact, but the roof was mostly gone, and it looked like the second floor was a mess. They also saw a large stack of lumber in the back of the office. It looked like someone was getting ready to repair the structure. Walking around the yard were several small insect-like creatures with an almost metallic skin. In addition to the creatures were a good number of corpses.

Getting into a better position, the companions attacked the creatures, Argan, Malakai, Tolman, Crichton and Delilah entered the yard to engage the creatures. Kaszu stayed past the stone wall and attacked with his spells. Argan yelled out, "bug", and there are more in the building as he began to move to the back yard of the mine office. At this Crichton ran into the office followed by Malakai. Crichton was surrounded by the creatures who worked very well together and soon Crichton fell to their stabbing forelegs. Not looking for the same fate, Malakai broke through the nearby window into the yard. Now the creatures, at least eight of them swarmed out of the building. Malakai, Tolman, and Delilah were soon surrounded, while a few broke off to chase Argan to the back yard. Kaszu stayed outside the walled yard. Tolman got a precision strike and took one out while Kaszu tried to cover them in faerie fire to make it easier to strike the monster (kruthiks). Unfortunately the four he targeted managed to avoid the spell. Malakai was the next to fall. The ones on Malakai split up, a few chasing their clutch-mates to the back yard, while the others attacked Tolman and Delilah. Delilah was the next to fall, and Tolman not soon after. Argan managed to kill one of his pursuers off before they could team up against him, and when he killed the other one, the remaining kruthiks fell back. Meeting up outside the wall, Kaszu and Argan saw the creatures begin to gather the bodies of their companions and start to drag them into the building. A few well-placed spells and arrows wiped out the kruthiks remaining outside, and a well-aimed shot by Argan took out the one dragging Tolman far inside the office. The other kruthiks again ran to engage the remaining companions, but were soon taken out. Kaszu cast a healing spell on Malakai, while Argan went inside to retrieve their fallen companions. When he went into the kitchen area to bring out Tolman, he heard something large in the cellar. Very likely mama. Taking some time to rest, the companions realized they were lucky no one had died. They also realized that the "bugs" did a better job working together than they did, and they would have to work on a bit of strategy for their next encounter. Now to tackle mama. They decided to use the outdoor cellar stairs to attack. Tolman checked to make sure the door was not trapped or locked, but Kaszu stood at the front and opened the door. He saw a kruthik at least as large as a ram. Around her were the remains of furnishings, and possibly a bed. A corpse lay next to her nest. In her nest was a bag, amazingly intact and undamaged compared to the rest of the debris. Kaszu fired off a spell which missed. At that point the creature charged and dropped Kaszu in one strike. Crichton shut the door quickly, dragged Kaszu up the stairs, and laid hands on the wounded gnome. They decided that a two-prong approach would be better, with Malakai, Tolman and Delilah sneaking in and getting the intact bag while Kaszu, Argan, and Crichton distracted at the outside door. It turned into a battle. Tolman sank an arrow from his shortbow into mama as Delilah hexed it before blasting it. Crichton attacked, but almost retreated until his companions instilled some bravery into him. Delilah turned into her horrible, undead-like form and the creature ran from her, but soon after the kruthik adult lay dead, with none of the companions unconscious. In the bag, which was larger inside than out, they found an ancient blue lantern, and a journal and spellbook of someone name Winera. Now it was time to wait for Merris, and discuss what just happened, and where to go next.