at halftime: that was no lady, that was a druid

General Summary

At this moment

The fun bunch are investigating the supposed ghost of the ruined Taafe manor. When they came through the collapsed outer wall into the ex-garden, they were ambushed by two vine blights and the druid who controlled them. The FB killed them easily, without asking what was going on first.

Now you're looking at the stairs leading into the ruined manor proper, wondering whether there's a second ambush down there. This isn't very ghostly so far.

The full story

• Jabom says he's heard of a village that's having some ghost trouble. The village actually likes their ghost, the last Lady of the Manor, but she seems to have been acting up lately.
• The Fun Bunch toddle off there, to a village called Wehalleck. There they immediately get distracted at the Magpie, the tiny village inn, by the town drunk, whose name I have straight up forgotten. Nab maybe?
• Nab challenges the dwarves to a drinking contest. Oswald manages to turn this into a wrestling match (with Tevik). Nab is defeated and passes out, to the delight of Gertie, the innkeeper, who's been putting up with Nab's bullshit for twenty years.
• In fact all the villagers seem to be pretty amused by Nab's comeuppance, even Reeve Farrin, the local sherriff-type. He also likes that the PCs take the time to carry Nab home and decant him into his bed.
• Farrin tells the PCs that Lady Taafe has been haunting the ruins of the old manor for years, and the locals are sort of fond of her, but lately she's been extra active—ringing the bell in the last remaining tower twice a week or more. A few people have gone missing, both locals and visitors, but so far nothing that couldn't be explained by popping down the river to get drunk with a lover or something.
• Off the Fun Bunch continue to toddle, to the ruined Taafe Manor. They go through the crumbled outer wall into the remains of the manor garden, where they're attacked by two vine blights and a druid. The Fun Bunch defeat them handily.
• Now they're watching the stairs leading down into the manor proper (what's left of it), waiting to see what happens.

Other information

• This valley, the Skilly, has recently been unified under the rule of Baron Udens, a part-orc local warlord (well, Baron now).
• Before that, it was a set of squabbling manors and towns. The same storm that destroyed Glannock eighty years ago ravaged the Skilly; over the next 20 years the existing political structures collapsed, and free-for-alls ensued.
• Reeve Farrin wouldn't say he likes Baron Udens, but as tough-as-nails, ambitious local warlords go, he's not that bad. The current situation beats the chaos of a few years back.
• Udens is the first person to unify, not only the human and part-orc settlements above ground, but also the nearest part-orc and orcish settlements underground. There are mixed feelings about this: some humans distrust the Valni and vice versa, but some other people are impressed to be part of something new.
• About Lady Taafe: thirty-odd years ago, another storm came down the valley. Lady Taafe, a sorceress, was determined to protect the manor and the town; she did save the town, but the manor collapsed around her. She was a grim, iron-backed woman who was motivated at least as much by her sense of ownership as by concern for the inhabitants, but still the villagers respect her memory.
• About Tjeli: She hasn't been through here. Everybody the PCs meet suggests that she probably went through Kallen, Udens' capital town.

Report Date

11 Oct 2023