Pork and Shadow - Part 1

  

Present:

• Balder Dash. Gnome Wizard from Toluene - Jamie
• Kosha Pickle. Human Rogue from Lakeside - Darryl
• Red Feuersturm. Human Temple Fighter of Hob from Toluene - Chris
• Griza Muso. Human Thief from Lakeside – Jeff
• Malcom Gandhi. Gnome Thief from Brian – Kevin
• Phoebe Lacrosse. Human Barbarian from Pugtown – Andrew
• Joe Manco. Human Fighter from Toluene – Shane
• Napoleon Twig. Elf Priest of Caribou Gorn from Pugtown - Ian
• Galena Alfdis. Elf Priestess of Vingt et Un from Palantir - Steven

By Jeff

At first light, Jack the logger led the party away from the logging camp, along one of the muddy cut tracks, towards the location of the giant boar attack. Apparently, the boar had attacked about a week ago, killing a number of loggers and carrying off another. After ten or so minutes Jack pointed out a small clearing ahead.

"It was there" he said, "Thats where Douglas was grabbed by that thing"

As the party approached, they could see that the ground was very disturbed with gore and piles of dried blood scattered around the clearing, Many tracks cris-crossed the area, mostly human, but Phoebe got down on her hands and knees and slowly prowled around the perimeter of the clearing.

"Over here" Phoebe called.
"Giant boar tracks lead off this way"

With Phoebe in the lead, Joe immediately behind, and the rest of the party following, they set off after the tracks, directly away from Emerald which was somewhere behind them. Somewhere ahead lay the small village of Arque.

"I'll leave you to it" called Jack from the clearing, "I'm back off to the camp"

Phoebe managed to follow the tracks, which were clear and deep, for about an hour before they began to fade out. After dropping into a small creek and then entering some thick scrub on the other side, Phoebe stood up and scratched her head.

"Gone" she complained, "Just disappeared in this bush"

"I can't see anything either" muttered Kosha, after a quick poke around.

"We could just keep looking in this same direction" suggested Joe.

"Duh" grunted Malcolm, "If I was trying not to be found, I would change direction right here"

"Just cast about in a circle" suggested Griza, "Say one hundred metres out from where you lost them"

Phoebe bashed through the scrub for another hundred metres, then cast about in a clockwise circle keeping a close eye to the ground and the bush.

"There is a smaller pig track here" she called, "Heading off almost back the way we came!"

"Let's follow those then" suggested Balder.

After a half hour, the tracks led down into a creek, perhaps the same one, and then disappeared again.

Phoebe again used the one hundred metre circle routine and found a different set of tracks. Two sets of pig tracks this time, one quite small and shallow and the other larger and deeper.

"They just start from nothing" noted Phoebe, "Really suspicious!"

"Follow them then" instructed Balder, nodding sagely.

They led off towards Arque.

The forest camp

"Ahhh" concluded Balder, "Arque again. That must be the source of all this boar problem"

"Well," noted Phoebe, "no way we will be getting there by Dark, so we better find a camp"

A comfortable site was located near the tracks, the party's tent was erected, watches set, and everyone settled in for the night.

"No boar in its right mind would attack us" decided Red as he warmed his feet by the small fire and drifted off to sleep.

In the morning, after a hearty breakfast, the party set off again. Phoebe in the lead, following the double pig tracks on towards Arque. Part way through the morning the tracks angled onto a well-used woodcutter's track and Phoebe stopped.

"They disappear again here" Phoebe confirmed, "And this is probably only about an hour from Arque"

"See" noted Balder, "Definitely Arque. Let's just head straight there and poke around"

An hour later, the track opened up to reveal the quaint old village of Arque. The centre of town sported two inns, the Bell & Boot and the Pig & Whistle. 

"The Pig & Whistle" sighed Balder, "It's a sign!"

The party crowded into the Pig & Whistle for a drink and some lunch.

"No dogs in here" grunted the barmaid, "You can tie him up outside"

Napoleon and Tiny stayed out on the veranda while Phoebe and Joe ordered lunch and chatted to the barmaid. There were only a few older folks in the place, mostly at the bar, and it was very quiet.

"So" noted Phoebe pleasantly, "This is a tidy place, how did it get named for a pig?"

"Well" replied the barmaid, "The owner here is a pig farmer see, so it's just logical"

"Pig farmer" whispered Balder at the table, "Told ya this is the place"

After some lunch, a few of the party headed over to the pig farm to nosy about a bit. Tiny was put on a leash, and Napoleon approached a sturdy looking fellow working on the pig farm.

"G'day" Napoleon called, "Any chance of getting some decent pork bones for my buddy here"

"Sorry son" the farmer responded, "Try the butcher in town, we sell all our stuff there"

"And don't let that dog loose" he concluded, "Don't take kindly to mutts here!"

The pig farm had a house on the street, then a large fenced in yard between the street and the forest edge, with some outhouses and a number of separate pigsties. The pigsty's each had their own small enclosure, and numbers of pigs, the grunting of which was very loud and distinctive. Smelly too!

Since it was only just after midday and a covert investigation of the pig farm would be best after dark, the party decided to head back along the woodcutter track and do a bit more investigation where the double pig trail had disappeared at the track. But this proved uneventful. No further tracks of significance were found, and even a Detect Magic proved unhelpful. Two wood laden wagons rolled past on the track, with a bunch of attendant woodcutters, but nothing raised any suspicions.

Napoleon decided to use his Animal Companion talent (Spend two luck to experience Tiny's sense of smell for ten minutes) and was able to identify a distinctive piggy smell where the double pig trail ended. The smell was also detected on the woodcutter's trail and did indeed lead off along the trail towards Arque.

"Naturally" grinned Balder, "Like I told ya"

The Pig & Whistle

An hour later, just before they arrived back in Arque, Napoleon again used his Animal Companionship talent, and was able to track the same piggy smell into town, where the sent faded away just outside the Pig & Whistle Inn. 

Needless to say, the party took three rooms for a few nights! And Napoleon even managed to arrange a large kennel out by the rear stables for Tiny.

A stakeout reconnaissance of the pig farm was organised with Kosha taking the first watch from before Dark, Malcolm for the midnight watch, and Galena and Griza of the morning watch till after Light. A small copse of trees was selected that would have a good view of the front and rear of the house, with easy access off the street, and Kosha slipped cautiously into the bush and settled himself into a comfortable spot. 

"But not too comfortable" he thought to himself, "I better not fall asleep!"

Some hours later Kosha watched as a figure strode up the street from town and entered the front door of the pig farmhouse. He figured from the gait that it was a woman. Nothing else happened, and then Malcolm relieved Kosha for the midnight watch. All was silent, apart from the grunts and snuffles from the pigs. Malcolm kept a worried half eye over the sty's, but thankfully no giant boars appeared. 

At around 2am Galena tapped Malcolm on the shoulder and sent him back to the Inn. Galena settled in, expecting a quiet morning, but shortly after she head a quiet thud from the house. The rear door had closed. The pig farmer and the barmaid from the Pig & Whistle emerged, each carrying a large bucket. They strode quietly out towards the stys and Galena slipped silently from the hide and followed. He feet barely touched the ground as she drifted behind the pair, her elven infravision providing a clear field for observation. The pair went from sty to sty, feeding out whatever was in the buckets to the pigs. The pigs sounded like they were in heaven, much squealing and guzzling as they ate their full. 

Galena contemplated slipping into one of the sty's to see what had been in the buckets, but figured there was no way she could do that without the pigs becoming fully aware of her. And then the pig farmer turned back towards here and she had to retreat anyway. Tucking herself behind a fence, she watched as the farmer carried his much lighter buckets back inside the house, although the barmaid stayed out in the sty's. In fact, the barmaid opened up one of the shed doors in one of the sty's and went in. And didn't come out!

Galena found a new observation post where she could watch both the sty, the shed, and the back door of the house. The front door of the house was out of sight, but surely keeping tabs on this strange woman, feeding out pigs in the early hours of the morning would be more beneficial. She settled in and watched.

At around six, a couple of hours before Light, Griza made his way cautiously to the designated hide. No Galena! This raised a small dilemma in Griza's mind. Should he report back that Galena wasn't there, or should he keep his designated watch? 

"Galena's a big elf" he figured, "And what if someone comes out of the house?"

Sure enough, just after Light the barmaid walked out of the house through the front door and headed down the lane into town. Griza noted the time and stayed in place until the designated end of his watch, at which point he slipped out of the tress and also headed back to the Pig & Whistle.

Back at the inn, Galena had returned at the end of her designated time. She hadn't even spotted Griza but knew he would have been in place before she left the pig farm. After reporting on the odd behaviour of the pig farmer and the barmaid, the party discussed what needed to happen next.

"We wait for Griza's report" suggested Kosha, "Then we go in and check out those sheds"

"Yeah" agreed Napoleon, "And Tiny can get a sniff at that farmer, and the pigs"

"No need" gloated Balder, "It's definitely him"

....  refer to subsequent part 2 for exciting underground adventures with evil undead etc.   ... 

The dark tunnel led straight on to a solid wooden door, closed, in front of them. The stench here was less than in the ghastly offal pit behind them, but still foul. Galena was still cleaning her vomit off her cloak as Malcolm slipped to the front of the party and rested his hand lightly against the door.

"I'll check for traps" he stated, leaning forward to peer at the lock.

"WHOOP WHOOP WHOOP" screamed an alarm.

"Ah, yup, trapped" confirmed Malcom sheepishly, "And its locked".

The noise was so loud in the confined tunnel that everyone winced and tried to block their ears. Malcolm quickly slipped his picks into the lock and did the thief thing.

Stepping back after the click, he yelled to Phoebe, "All yours now"

Phoebe hefted her sword, twisted the door handle, kicked in the door, and charged into the room beyond. Any surprise advantage had been lost by virtue of the alarm, still booming through the tunnel, and only speed would now be their saving grace. Phoebe skidded to a halt just inside the door, a ghastly scene laid out before her. The others rushed in behind her, spread out, and stared, horrified.

Four human bodies hung by their feet from a wooden ceiling overhead, eviscerated, their entrails (what was left of them) dangling towards the ground. All looked to be young, teenagers by the look, and the closest one was obviously the missing girl. Her blood was still dripping, running down from her eviscerated core, along her arms, and dripping from her dangling fingers into a pair of buckets carefully laid out below.

The gagging stench of death and decay hit the party like a fist, and a cloud of flies swirled up from the floor like a dust storm in a hurricane. Galena turned and immediately threw up again.

"Now we know what they were feeding out to those pigs" confirmed Joe.

"Oh Hob" exclaimed Red, "This needs a cleansing fire!"

"No doors" noted Napoleon, "But we must be nearly under the house"

One they were up to it, Napolean and Malcolm split up and went around the walls in opposite directions, checking for any hidden doors. 

"One secret door here" called Malcolm, tapping on the left-hand wall.

"And another here" called Napoleon, tapping on the right-hand wall.

"Open yours Malcolm" instructed Balder.

Malcolm checked the left-hand secret door location for traps, and finding nothing he released the hidden latch and stepped back for Phoebe to lead the way. The door swung open into a cluttered storeroom, filled with what looked like old supplies and junk, with a ladder fixed to one wall leading up to a closed trapdoor above. Just as Phoebe put her foot to the ladder before rushing up, Napoleon yelled.

"No" he called, "Check the other secret door first, we don't want things behind us as well as in front"

Malcolm checked the right-hand secret door location for traps, and finding nothing he stepped back for Phoebe to lead the way. Phoebe twisted the hidden catch and pushed open the secret door.

"Argghhh" she screamed as a needle sprung out from the door frame and pierced her hand.
"What do you call this you bloody useless twat?" yelled Phoebe.

"Hurry up" yelled Kosha from the back, "Speed is our friend now"

(Phoebe made her saving throw against Poison and was able to push on into the room)

Shaking her stinging hand, Phoebe pushed open the secret door and charged forward, sword raised ready for anything. But the room was empty. Well, empty of enemies anyway. This room looked like an office space, or a study, with library shelving, a desk, and some comfortable lounging chairs. A staircase led upwards into what must have been the main farmhouse. Papers and ledgers were spread across the top of the desk, and a number of books filled the shelves.

Balder quickly scanned the papers on the desk, while Malcolm went through the drawers, and Kosha charged up the stairs into the house, Phoebe right behind him.

"Invoices and bills of shipping" mumbled Balder, sweeping all the papers into his bag.

"This drawer is in fact trapped" mumbled Malcolm as he prodded the bottom drawer.

"Quick, quick" yelled Kosha as he rushed off the stairs into a lounge room at the top.

"Slow down" yelled Phoebe as she rushed after Kosha.

"Argghhh" winced Malcolm as a needle shot out from the drawer lock and stabbed into his fingers.

"Wasn't in the bloody haystack after all" Malcolm grumbled, pulling open the drawer.

(A successful roll against Find Traps, a fail against Remove Traps, and successes against Open Locks and Save vs Poison)

Napoleon cast a Detect Magic at this point, just before Malcolm scooped up the contents of the drawer, some bags of coins, some vials of liquid, and a long knife, the vials and knife all glowing magically. Just then a a crash followed by a yell sounded from above.

The lounge upstairs that Kosha had charged into had one door opening from it, leading deeper into the house somewhere. In Kosha's excitement and rush to immediately search the whole place, he quickly kicked open the door, just as the huge dog on the other side launched itself at Kosha.

Kosha battles Dog

The proverbial melee of limbs, weapons, and teeth resulted.

Kosha was in front and took the initial attack while still in the doorway. He would need to hit and knock the dog back before Phoebe could engage or be knocked back into the lounge by the dog hitting.

Fortunately, Kosha hit on his first swing and did force the dog back in a miraculous David vs Goliath moment. This enabled Phoebe to step into the next room after Kosha and engage the dog as a secondary attacker.  The fight was quickly over. Kosha and Phoebe looked around to find themselves in an entry parlour/kitchen space. 

(A bit of luck in this battle! Darryl rolled a miss for his first attack but elected to spend some of his Luck to improve the roll into a success. The dog rolled a hit too, but Darryl's luck improved hit was a larger roll, thus he won the combat and hit the dog. Darryl also rolled a hit in his second attack, while the dog rolled a miss. And Andrew as the secondary attacker (two attack rolls, use the better) also hit. Darrly's third attack was also successful, with a maximum damage roll of twelve points, dropping the dog. It never even got a hit in)

The parlour had two doors, one leading outside into the lane, and the other closed, but obviously leading further into the house. Kosha rushed forward and kicked it open. A hallway down the centre of the house, with three closed doorways towards the rear of the house.

Is there anyone even in the house at all?

Where is the pig farmer and barmaid?

Have they heard the alarm?

Tune in again to find out what perilous encounters will befall our party of heroes and miscreants next!