Magus sits on the dirt, slowly nodding off what just happened, while Leif & Amadi look on, concerned; Magus looks up & sees something approaching from the darkness, about 8' tall, a green monster of sorts, a plant w/ a head like a Venus Flytrap, fuzz covering & long pincers, opened mouth... Amadi somehow sensing it, turns & swings his staff, planting a massive hit on its lower lip, the lip tears a bit, green & red & water dripping, hanging... But it keeps on & plants its upper mouth into Magus' side... Magus resiliently hops up & takes a swing w/ axe but misses the plants head as it recoils... A number of misses go about as Leif tries arrows, Amadi takes another swing... Then it heats up as everyone misses in a tangle... Eventually Amadi strokes the Green Monster again in the stem area, below it's "head", it misses whirling around, then finally, after missing Magus, Magus plants his axe in the mouth of the plant, pinning it to the ground. It writhes for a bit & then gives up, lifeless. The party examines the Giant Plant & notices a green sack that bulges out from the stem just above ground level. They cut it open & find it full of spinning eyeballs. Magus stomps his boot into the eyeballs & pulling away finds that 3 of the eyeballs are now lodged into the bottom of his shoe, they are spinning around, looking. He takes the edge of his axe & plucks out each, one by one. Amadi then stabs one of the eyeballs w/ his dagger & they leave, heading back out of the cemetery, while taking a cursory look for D. Mineral's gravestone. They find nothing, leave the cemetery, & head back into Talbot. @ this time it's around 1:40 AM. Around 2, as they turn in the fork of the road south of the Black Dog Tavern, Amadi's lantern goes out. Being in town, they have no problem getting back to the Green Lantern Inn & as they get back, around 2:10 AM, Goody is cleaning up. They tell him about the cemetery & b/c of their choice of location, he asks if they were there searching for Crackenmore. They ask about Crackenmore & he tells them a short tale about Dagwood Talbot's two sons. Dagwood Talbot was the knight that planted himself in what was once referred to as Talbot's Fee. He had two sons - among other children - that took a hankering for adventuring. One, into magic, became known as Zimbo the Unknown. He was the shy one. No one in town ever "knew" him. The other was Kinchen the Freebooter. Quite the opposite, Kinchen was known by everyone, & generally loved, but as he got older, he became wilder & eventually ransacked a small village near Talbot's Fee, thus earning his title. He would go on to much greater exploits, but the brothers @ one point became "questionable" throughout town. The fact that they chose adventuring was not admirable, given their upbringing. Therefore they decided to move their operations to an unnoticable locale north of town & underground. There was a bit about them commanding orc slaves & such to construct the space, etc. Though the town of Talbot knew what was going on, they did nothing, & when they were considering doing so, a surprise Barbarian attack came from the East. Having bypassed Furthermoor, the Barbarians came straight to Talbot for a stronghold, which they would have easily won, if it were not for Zimbo, Kinchen & their minions. This is when rumors circulated about their massive underground lair, Crackenmore. After savingTalbot, the two of them were never bothered again, & as far as anyone knows, rumors & otherwise, they left for travel to the north, but never came back... The party shows Goody numerous spoils (pincer, toe, etc.), but he finds none of it worth much, saying, "many adventurers come through here..." - lastly they ask Goody where D. Mineral's grave site is & are told it occupies the same plot as the statue of Dagwood Talbot.
The party decides to get some rest in their room. Crack of dawn, they're up, head across the street to the stonecarver's, who is already hard @ work. He is an older gent, unfazed by entrance, or the stabbed eye that Amadi is brandishing. They eventually strike up convo which basically informs them that Delly is 1) looking for delivery help (to outlying areas), 2) telling them that he doesnt work on cemetery stuff normally, that'd be Denarius, 3) informing them that the Black Dog may be a good place for hirelings & the Chapel of the White Widow may be a good place for healing & 4) though he doesnt believe in the
"Black Dog" per se there have been some odd killings of livestock lately w/ a strange, yellowish substance present. The party decides to move it to the Chapel of the White Widow where they find Bingo, a young adept who intercedes on their behalf, takes them into the chapel where they see a large fake white spider hanging over a lectern & not only does he grant Magus w/ a healing potion (he says it is for free this time), which Magus drinks ASAP, but once Magus hands over a gp in thanks, Bingo gifts Magus a vial of holy water. While exiting, Amadi asks where he can find some lantern oil & is directed to the Outfitter @ the head of town. The party heads there & Amadi stocks up on oil. They then head to the Black Dog Tavern.
It's
early, though the Black Dog is surprisingly populated. After trying to chat up the bartenderess, but getting nowhere, the party moves to a large table where some locals are sitting. There's Chain the Mason, Denarius the Stonecarver, Jane the Vet & Coppy the Bowyer. Denarius is asked about the cemetery, but he tells them that he makes the stones, but never goes there. Like everyone in town, he knows it as an insane place. The party asks for hirelings & the table basically directs them toward the half-orc sitting across the room @ a table (there are other tables & folks here but the party
did notice the half-orc when they came in, though Leif was extremely wary). Amadi ends up going to talk to the half-orc & buying him a drink. Ends up the half-orc w/ red hair, who's name is Djinnger, is from Debthaven & is here b/c he's never been to Talbot & decided to journey here to see where his Great Great Grandfather slaved away for someone. When Amadi hears this he naturally mentions Crackenmore & his party's current standing. Amadi signals Leif over who soon has the half-orc convinced of joining their party. As Leif questions him, he reveals to the party an eldritch war hammer, the cratfsmanship like nothing theyve seen. Djinnger also has a sling for certain situations. Amadi & Leif surmise that he must be a cleric of some sort. Djinnger professes his belief in the Great Tulip & feels he has been directed to the party in some way. It's 10:30 AM as they consult w/ their new hireling about the terms, etc. w/ conversation mainly leading toward Crackenmore...
