LIB 18 – The Throwback Campaign, Session 1 – Part 2

After the shocking discovery that kobolds might be involved in the disappearances, the party proceeded to the residential district to investigate. There they met up with Juniper, the proprietor of the local stables. Juniper knew very little about the possible cause of the disappearances but mentioned that the entire district was on edge. It seemed that there was little pattern to the disappearances, but houses were being broken into at night and women of relatively young age were being removed by force. Other family members were sometimes killed by the mystery intruders. Juniper offered to get a group together to help patrol the district, since Apical and Big Jim were hardly a large enough group to cover a lot of terrain at night. Juniper approached the town crier about broadcasting an invitation to the night time event, but the town crier was reluctant to “stir up trouble” for some reason. While the local folk prepared to gather at night, the party investigated one of the recent crime scenes. Evidence indicated that men with axes broke into the home and slew the occupants, but there was no trace of the daughter, Cecilia Smith, inside.

That night, the team returned to find that a large group of peasantry and local merchants had gathered by torchlight to volunteer for patrol duty. Just as discussion of tactics was beginning, an armed wagonload of men arrived wearing masks. This was a delegation from the local shrine of the Keepers sect; they informed everyone that they were here to observe the proceedings, nothing more. This strange intrusion seemed to cast a pall on the proceedings but it was agreed that the patrols would work in teams; no one was to set off alone. Patrols throughout the first night were uneventful. The next day after sleeping in, Apical and Big Jim decided to head towards the hills outside of town and investigate the area. On the way out of town they encountered a bum being shaken down by a member of the Thieves’ Guild. Through some bold threats, the thug was encouraged to move on. Then, the party asked the bum what that was about, at which point he began to respond “two coppers a week… need two coppers a week… two coppers… just two coppers…” as he rocked back and forth. At which point Aaron realized they had once again been sucked into talking to a mentally ill wretch, cursed the DM, and immediately left for the town gates. Upon arriving in the hills the party had a fortunate encounter with the Brotherhood of the Barbed Bolt, a team of adventurers led by Mogfor the Ranger. Mogfor informed them that there were plenty of caves in these hills, which might contain bears, ogres, or trolls. He advised the party never to leave home without their wizard, his was named Josepho and he threw a mean fireball. Upon hearing this information the pair agreed to return back to Sengazia with the Brotherhood.

After returning to the city, the party interrogated Seneck, the merchant watchman who was in the process of recovering from his injuries. He had little useful information to share, so the characters decided to see if the Thieves’ Guild knew anything about the attacks. Apical and Big Jim proceeded to a known gambling hall in the slums, where Grindek the half-orc bouncer stood outside. Despite Big Jim’s attempts to insult Grindek, Apical bribed him with a gold piece. Grindek told them the Thieves’ Guild was not involved in the disappearances, but to return in two days and he might have information for them. The party left, not knowing if they had been screwed out of a gold piece or not.

On the second night of patrols, one of the locals was shot through the eye with a crossbow. Despite careful instructions to stick together, he had apparently looked down an alley without escort and been instantly slain. Morale of the makeshift militia dropped, but word of a new attack steeled their resolve. The attackers had struck again, but apparently one of the intruders lost a hand in the process as the homeowner had tried to defend himself with a meat cleaver. The following night, the Keepers joined in the patrols, sending out armed mercenaries to escort the locals as a goodwill gesture to the local populace. However, some felt that this was an attempt by the Keepers to spy on the group.

Eventually, the party returned to speak with Grindek. For the cost of another gold piece, he revealed the location of a suspicious building in the slums where it was believed that the attackers/kidnappers might have returned after the most recent skirmish. Apical and Big Jim headed to the filthy slums to check out this converted warehouse. It seemed that the entire place was boarded up or covered with curtains from the inside, and there was only one entrance. Multiple bums had constructed lean-tos against the side of the building. One of them had even received some good wood from Will the Wagonmaker to construct a relatively sturdy shelter. The group asked about the condition of the bums; apparently 2 were drunks, 2 were insane, and the other 2 in back were simply down on their luck hoboes. The party interrogated the coherent bum and found out that the house had activity only at night, with the exception of one or two people leaving per day to get food at the market. Unfortunately, most of the lean-tos were not in view of the front door so the team faced a dilemma: how to stake out this hideout? Options included taking over one of two shanties across the street by displacing their owners by force; digging a hole underneath one of the shanties and living under there with the rats; or producing a makeshift bunker out of the piled trash between the two homes, digging a bit of a trench and lying quietly among the filth while watching the front door. At this point Dan stated “Alright Louis, we completely degrade ourselves AGAIN and lie down in the filthy garbage.” The smell was severe but fortunately both characters were ex-farmers and did not have sensitive noses (or stomachs).

Observation of the hideout showed the following: Some sort of bandit-looking guy bringing a prostitute in at night; a pair of guys coming out occasionally and probing/hassling the bums in the lean-tos around the building before going back inside; then a single guard type leaving the door and heading to the market for food. There was no other apparent way in, so the team decided to whack the guard heading for food in hopes of gaining useful information. From behind, Apical stunned the hapless dude with his stunning fist while Big Jim smacked him in the head. They dragged the poor fool into a nearby dark alley and bound and gagged him. Interrogation then proceeded smoothly, as the bandit sang like a canary. He informed the team that a group of about 6 was being led by a barbarian named Brackshar. From time to time, a group of kobolds would emerge from the basement (which was not to be entered at any time) and lead a nighttime raid to capture women. The women would be taken into the basement and not seen again. His job was to guard the outside door and make occasional food runs. Armed with this information and captive, Apical and Big Jim returned to Constable Gorto to get help in taking down the warehouse. The constable agreed to send a team consisting of five men-at-arms and Assistant Constable Garack to take down the criminal element at this mysterious warehouse. The session ended for the night, before the big raid could commence.