179 / 09 / 01
Clues to the past.
A new set of ruins was discovered 3 weeks ago by a group of farmers preparing a new field several days south of Bellcross. Their plough became stuck on what they first thought was some rock, but turned out to be the foundations of an old building. Knowing that old buildings can house dangerous secrets they sent for help from Bellcross. A squad from Explorer Company was sent to assist with the excavation. This squad came not just to provide protection, but also to escort the reward that would be given to the farmers if the ruins turned out to be valuable.
With the whole village pitching in to help, it did not take long to clear away the debris and find a trapdoor that led down into the former building's cellars. The squad from Explorer company, led by Arkin of Grild, descended first. Hard won experience has taught the members of this elite group to enter such places cautiously, as the people of the previous age seemed to possess a near limitless capacity for devising ways to deter intruders. However, In this case it appeared as though a storm had swept through he upper floors. Knowing what this sort of devastation squally meant, Arkin ordered the villages to be kept outside. Further in he discovered that it was as he had expected. Fiends from the abyss had found and broken into this place while it was being used as a refuge. The remains of the former occupants were displayed in grotesque fashion, magically preserved not long after death to ensure anyone finding them would get the full impact. Such scenes are the stuff nightmares are made of, which is one of the reasons the royal court advises the average person not to explore such ruins.
Having confirmed the existence of a shelter, the farmers who found the ruins were given a 50gp reward. While the villagers went off to celebrate, Arkin sent back to the capital for a cleric to give the poor inhabitants of the shelter proper rites. He and his squad then set about the unpleasant task of removing the bodies from the lower levels before searching for anything of immediate value. As that good sergeant tells it 'All too many of these hideaways weren't properly prepared. They thought they would only need to hide for a few weeks or months, and they didn't have the right defences. We've found a fair number of these over the years, they either ran out of supplies or were found by the horde. The ones that starved were the lucky ones."
While the most valuable things found in this set of ruins seem to have been a set of well preserved documents, several unusual keepsakes were uncovered, such as a strangely carved guard for a sword and a humanoids tooth on a string. These have all been sent to Bellcross for further study. As is usual, any commonly recovered items such as light stones will be sold from Explorer Company headquarters on the second Marday of each month.
A new set of ruins was discovered 3 weeks ago by a group of farmers preparing a new field several days south of Bellcross. Their plough became stuck on what they first thought was some rock, but turned out to be the foundations of an old building. Knowing that old buildings can house dangerous secrets they sent for help from Bellcross. A squad from Explorer Company was sent to assist with the excavation. This squad came not just to provide protection, but also to escort the reward that would be given to the farmers if the ruins turned out to be valuable.
With the whole village pitching in to help, it did not take long to clear away the debris and find a trapdoor that led down into the former building's cellars. The squad from Explorer company, led by Arkin of Grild, descended first. Hard won experience has taught the members of this elite group to enter such places cautiously, as the people of the previous age seemed to possess a near limitless capacity for devising ways to deter intruders. However, In this case it appeared as though a storm had swept through he upper floors. Knowing what this sort of devastation squally meant, Arkin ordered the villages to be kept outside. Further in he discovered that it was as he had expected. Fiends from the abyss had found and broken into this place while it was being used as a refuge. The remains of the former occupants were displayed in grotesque fashion, magically preserved not long after death to ensure anyone finding them would get the full impact. Such scenes are the stuff nightmares are made of, which is one of the reasons the royal court advises the average person not to explore such ruins.
Having confirmed the existence of a shelter, the farmers who found the ruins were given a 50gp reward. While the villagers went off to celebrate, Arkin sent back to the capital for a cleric to give the poor inhabitants of the shelter proper rites. He and his squad then set about the unpleasant task of removing the bodies from the lower levels before searching for anything of immediate value. As that good sergeant tells it 'All too many of these hideaways weren't properly prepared. They thought they would only need to hide for a few weeks or months, and they didn't have the right defences. We've found a fair number of these over the years, they either ran out of supplies or were found by the horde. The ones that starved were the lucky ones."
While the most valuable things found in this set of ruins seem to have been a set of well preserved documents, several unusual keepsakes were uncovered, such as a strangely carved guard for a sword and a humanoids tooth on a string. These have all been sent to Bellcross for further study. As is usual, any commonly recovered items such as light stones will be sold from Explorer Company headquarters on the second Marday of each month.
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