TALBOT AUTOMOBILES

It is said that @ the height of their barony, the Talbots had commissioned the construction of a number of "vehicles" called AUTOMOBILES. Apparently two of them were actually produced & in working order, though no one knows what became of them. They were produced in Furthermoor City by a magical chap that went by the name of Hoody Paris.

SESSIONS 13, 14, 15 & 16 - HALLOWED BE THY GAME

[all illustrations & captions provided by Leif, Elf Ranger]

Djarel, cleric of Dawnbringer, had to be carried out of the Smoking Leprechaun after drinking half of a green-tinted beer - on their way back to the Spooky, Old Tree the party noticed some strange dirt mounds & investigating, found 4 dead groundhogmen who had some items on them - back @ the tree the party pulled together for a work party & tidied the place up & Djarel started on an altar to Dawnbringer in the spider lair - the heart of the session surrounded the party's experiment w/ the words issued from the expired spider's wounds, about knocking in the hall w/ statues - they made their way to the hall w/ the crawfishmen armor, & sure enough, after tapping one of the statues in the proper fashion, were met by an owl oracle of sorts - a Q&A transpired & the party learned much about what Eric Talbot was up to as well as other various info about the tree & surrounding area - some hallowed hash was smoked by the party back @ Djarel's altar to Dawnbringer - then they capped the night off outside the tree as Amadi did what his book told him to do (do snow angels in grass staring at the moon) - he suddenly felt rather wise, he told others to do it, & they became wiser as well - soon after, the silhouette of zombies was seen on the horizon, headed toward the wise & jolly party...

 "I am not a teacher. I am a teller," said the owl.

In response to the approaching zombies, the party, though mechanically slowed by the effects of the hallowed hash, decided to move to the winding staircase @ the back of the Old, Spooky Tree to gain elevation; w/ the two gnolls in back, the party made it a ways up the stair before engaging w/ the undead. The hallowed hash aided in their fight against the zombies, & some impressive fighting (Amadi w/ some choice knife throws were of note) was seen; however, the gnolls were ultimately destroyed by the nine zombies - finally doing away w/ the last, the party took some time out to bury the gnolls. It was then decided that the party would bed down for the night & in the morning leave for Talbot, & ultimately back into Crackenmore.

 RIP Gnollan & Mellon, 17th of the Hummingbird

So the next morning, 18th day of the Hummingbird, the party, w/ Magus this time, traveled west & south back down to Talbot. One their way, they came across an old, capsized wagon w/ weeds grown all up & around. A good search reveals a large barrel of some liquid, a beer of some sort, still in fine condition if not in better for the aging. The party decides to transport the barrels back to the tree. This takes most of the morning. Heading back, they make it to Talbot in the afternoon & gathering supplies at the General Outfitter, come into a bit of an altercation w/ one, Bronze Cooter, & his sidekick, Nasty Dog. They are told they need to leave town. The party manages to leave Bronze & nasty w/o any fighting. They make their way to the Talbot Curosity shop where they meet Stetling Conian, a quiet type. They buy numerous things, & looking more Hallowed Hash, find none, though they do score a nice stash of Nugs of Nobility. They do however manage to trade one smoke of Amadi's Flying Cloud for what Stetling says is a magic shield. Stetling seems amazed to see anyone w/ the Flying Cloud & tells them that it is an item sought out by many & he will have no trouble selling it, though he doesnt exactly know its benefits/effects. Asking about magic-users in town, Stetling tells the party they may wish to consult w/ Miss Crumbleberry, the fortuneteller, who is just next door. Information from Miss Crumbleberry seems to be a bit slight, though they do learn that a powerful magic-user named Halius lives in the Moorhouse SW of Talbot. Likewise Leif or Djarel's fortune is read (I cant remember which) where Miss C sees them inside a room of a cave where there is a cave entrance far up above them & wearing magic shoes of some sort they jump up to the entrance. Lastly, the party visits the scholar in town, Gondo Kelp, who they find is working on a book, commissioned by Furthermoor City in regard to the Cult of the Black Dog, & the Black Dog phenom in general. Gondo about falls on his face when Djarel presents him w/ the Cult of the Black Dog book found in Crackenmore. Of course Gondo had heard of the volume, though has never been able to find a copy. Djarel allows him to borrow the book for a trade. The party pick up a few books surrounding Illusion, Goblin Religion & one about a God of Healing.

 "you are in a dark place. you see an entryway. high above the ground there is a small passage in the wall near the ceiling. you are wearing air jordans."

Finally, the party retires to the Green Lantern Inn where they rent a room to store their belongings (most importantly the armor Djarel found that he wants to have resized - so far unable to locate an armorer) & the rest of the party stays in the common room.

Upon waking the next day, the 19th of the Hummingbird, the party finally makes their way toward Crackenmore, through the cemetery. After a brief skirmish w/ some strange Wolf Bats, the party rigs the statue & enters down into Crackenmore. This time, Leif notices a secret door in the second pair of alcoves. This corresponds w/ the gnoll's map. Passing through the secret door, the party finds a new section of Crackenmore; however, they also find that the gnoll map still just brings them confusion. When they wrap down around a long hallway they come upon a pack of 6 Kobolds trying to enter a door on a north wall. Surprising the Kobolds, the party has little trouble in dispensing of them, a few running down the corridor further east & disappearing through a door further down the corridor. The party decides to focus on mapping these corridors, leaving smash marks in the obsidian walls w/ a hammer. They decide not to enter any doors. Backtracking, they come upon a solo Kobold who gets a fierce stab into Telal, before the K is killed. Moving on, the party maps a number of hallways wrapping around, finding many doors, a secret door included. Things are going well w/ mapping, until something strange happens. Out front, Leif & Telal turning a passage, toward a door, soon find the floor below them turn into a short slide & they fall 40' below into a cold, cavernous pool. The trap snaps back above them.

"tellel and amadi had just hit the ground. i knew what was coming next. she appeared as a small dot in the distance. suddenly she was upon me. now she lies still."

Soon, they can see the trap open back up, & easing down, on a rope in Magus the Dwarf. As Magus slowly descends, suddenly, those left above smell a horrible stench & then see two large lizard-like creatures turning toward them from back down the corridor - a split decision is made & the rest of the party jumps onto the trap, falling through it, & all into a pile into the cold water. Telal is lucky to make it to the shore w/ his life intact after it had flashed suddenly before his eyes; the fate of Rown, cleric of the Great Church, is still not known, however. At death's door, she needs magical healing. The party regroups on the shore of the pool, now down in a cavern, shivering, wandering what further adventures this return to Crackenmore will bring...

1:20 PM, 19th of the Hummingbird, Crackenmore, Furthermoor

Note to players: feel free to leave comments regarding add'l/more detailed info you learned in game etc. May be a handy place to leave that stuff for future reference if you find yrself ever referring back to these posts

SESSIONS 9 & 10 - THESE AREN'T THE GNOLLS YOU'RE LOOKING FOR

In which the party untraps zombies from a cell - Djarel gets rushed to the Church of the White Widow - The party tries to convince Goody that thieves killed Shadow - A day of rest is in order - Unrest in & outside Talbot Outfitters - Gnoll Too leads the party into the rolling fields north of Talbot - Inside an old tree Leif senses a secret door & the party investigates...

PARTY CAST:
Leif, elf ranger - LE
Djarel, cleric of Dawnbringer - RM
Telal, thief - JT
Amadi, magic-user - MN
Gnolan, charmed gnoll - NPC
Mellon, freed gnoll - NPC
Magus, dwarf - MIA

ENCOUNTERED NON-PARTY NPCs:
Chill Deeter - holy man @ Church of the White Widow
Goody Threeshoe - barkeep @ the Green Lantern Inn
Dashdalian - traveling bard
Leonard Loonberry - hobbit owner of Talbot Outfitters
Farmer John & 4 of his friends - 2 w/ shovels, 2 w/ spears, FJ w/ sword

Before heading up out of the jail below the Gambling Hall, the party weighs their options & decide to try one more of the remaining jail cell doors... One of the gnolls beats down the door & four zombies move about. Djarel forces entry, brandishing the symbol of Dawnbringer, but the zombies keep on toward the door. They start clawing into the two gnolls who end up crunched over in a corner outside the door, a zombie on top of them & before the party can get the best of the 4 zombies, Djarel takes a serious blow that puts him @ Death's Door. Once the zombies are bested, they lift Djarel, rush out of the Gambling Hall & move west to the Church of the White Widow. It is late at night by this time, & inside the church, where they see a massive, sparkling spider @ back upon a dais, sits a man, quietly. He offers his services for a contribution of 20 gold. Leif is quick to hand over the $. The holy man, Chill Deeter, casts a spell upon Djarel who begins to groan & flounder a bit. Everyone is happy to see he hasnt kicked the bucket. They return him to a bed in the common room @ the Green Lantern & go in & speak w/ Goody who is cleaning up. Though they speak of Shadow dead down in the bottom of the Gambling Hall, killed by thieves, Goody doesnt quite seem to buy it & asks them why exactly he should believe them. They retire for sleep & in doing so, cause a bit of a controversy as a few others there, like a bard named Dashdalian, are not so psyched on their gnoll friends. The next day the party stays the entire day @ the inn, resting. The inn seems oddly quiet all day, which is fine w/ them. On the following morning, they leave the inn & go next door to Talbot Outfitters so that Leif can purchase items to replace those he lost when captured. Like the inn, the town seems rather dead except for a handful of men standing down the strip, in the road, watching the party as they enter the Outfitters. The owner/clerk, Leonard Loonberry, refuses to do business w/ them & after a while agrees to sell the items if the gnolls leave the store. He tells them that word around town is that they killed Shadow & rescued this other gnoll. Leonard tells them this gnoll they rescued robbed his shop @ one time. The party calms him down w/ their purchases & assures him they are trying to do the right thing & are actually trying to get to the bottom of who killed Shadow, saying they are being wrongly accused. Though Leonard doesnt seem to totally buy their story, he gives them enough slack to get what they want & get out of there...

As they exit the shop, they find that the men from down the strip are now just outside the shop, in a semi-circle surrounding the gnolls. The two on the outside have spears, the two closer in have shovels & the guy in the middle has a sword. He's the one that starts taunting the party, waving his sword. Farmer John says they better get the hell outta town & never come back. They are convinced the party killed Shadow & they dont like these gnolls they're runnin' w/. After a bit of a stand-off, the party simply walks through their line, calling their bluff. Farmer John & his lackeys dont do anything, but Farmer John keeps telling them they better not come back to Talbot, or else.

By mid-morning the party is north of Talbot walking through the fields - they are being led by Mellon (gnoll 2), who finally noticing a few dips in the plain, inside a slight valley, brings them to an old, gnarly tree. The tree is extremely massive @ its base, though not that tall; a bit stunted it seems & dying. About five feet up, there is a broken, hollow branch that looks to lead into the tree. Gnoll Too says this is where he hid the bags of silver. The party tells him to go in & get it & Telal lends him his rope. After about 5 or 10 mins in the tree, the gnoll shows his head out the hole & is irritated. He tells the other gnoll & Leif that the bags are gone & says he knows this is the place b/c he specifically disarmed a pit trap the last time. The party decides to enter the tree to check it out. Telal lights up a torch. Sure enough they see the pit trap & spikes & a skeleton down there. But as Leif looks about the hollowed out room, which is about 10 feet high & 10 feet in diameter, he senses something about the north wall. He goes over & lays his hands about, & sure enough, feels the crease of something there. Telal comes over & helps investigate & before long they are opening a secret door which once opened, reveals a stair that suspends up into darkness... They can hear the slow slosh of water somewhere. In order, the party climbs the creaky stair, reaching a dirt landing of sorts, but as Djarel, who was last, gets close to the landing, the stair wobbles & snaps & Djarel falls...  hitting something rubbery he pops off & into the water which is not very deep but next something whips around, what he landed on & an alligator is swinging it's jaws @ him, missing, two other alligators can then be heard splashing from each side, further away... Telal shines his torch down there & then tries pushing Mellon over ledge, but it backfires when Mellon simply grabs his hand & tosses him off, his torch landing beside the water, but not in it... Telal takes 1 damage from the fall...& everyone can hear Amadi chanting something, he's reading from a scroll & then suddenly the alligators are asleep, snoring, hacking up water...It takes a bit but the party heals the rift between Telal & Mellon & Telal & Djarel are hauled back up to the landing using the rope.

Another torch is lit & the party moves forward down a corridor, away from the stairs & the snoring alligators. They come to a 10 x 10 ft. clearing where another stair leads off upwards to their left, a passage also leads straight ahead, they head down the passage & enter into a 15 foot wide, 25 foot long room w/ webs about & as they move in they notice a large, golden key sticking down into the floor. After some talk, they turn the key. When doing so, a section of the north wall spins & opens. They pass through the opening in the north wall & come out into a 30 foot long hallway that smells of mold, about 10 feet wide, armor statues stand to each side, six in all... The armor is a funny cast as it looks to be armor for a crawfish-shaped man, long arms of armor opened for pincers, etc. Telal gets out front & searches for traps, scanning the armor, notices that the 2nd on the left has a pole arm attached to a trip wire. He is able to disarm it. They move in further & Magus slowly examines the armor, telling everyone that the second set on the right seems made of especially fine metals. The party takes time to bag up the suit of armor... They then notice a large collection of gray/black mushrooms growing up from the red rug running down the hall, 12 total, @ the center point of the room, they collect them all... They look down the hall to the other side & the doorway there, about 10 feet in front of them... They get back into a marching order, ready to move on...

3:40 PM, Friday, 15th day of the month of the Hummingbird, Talbot, Furthermoor

SESSION 8 - TALBOT GAMBLING HOUSE

So the consensus within the party was that Leif needed to be rescued. Goody Threeshoe said that most likely Leif was taken by some militia & was underneath the Gambling Hall. They all took a break. Amadi was tempted to begin work on copying his sleep scroll to his spell book, but knowing it would take some time, retired w/ Gnolan & decided to peruse his new found book on Mathematics & got about 1/3 through; Djarel read a bit of his book about Cult of the Black Dog; Magus & Telal both took a load off & caught a few Zzz's... The five eventually regrouped in the bar area & discussed their plan for rescuing Leif...

They got to the Talbot Gambling Hall around 5 PM & were surprised to find Goody Threeshoe inside @ the only table being used, in the center of the hall, where a roulette table was. Also @ the table was Delly Hammonds, the stonecarver, they first met when Magus was looking for work, & also they are introduced to Sam Gugs, the master brewer @ Mineral's Brewery. Surprised that the party already knows these fellows is the MC of the gambling hall, Shadow Jask, a buffed out brother, who is anxious to make his presence known. Other than those four are six other folks around the table: three farmer lookin' men & three shady lookin' mates w/ hoods, all eyeing the party suspiciously. Though everyone seems a bit questionable about Gnolan, they realize that Amadi is in control of him, the way he follows him, & they start in w/ Shadow about seeing Leif & letting him go free. Shadow restates the crime Leif is suspected of: accosting & robbing Lyla Dimmings (the Baron's daughter) of valuable jewelry while on her way to a formal gathering. Shadow asks if they have an alibi for Leif for a day & a half ago. They all speak @ once, saying they were in Crackenmore. Leif was w/ them. Everyone's jaw drops. Shadow says, "Crackenmore?! Are you kidding me? What were you doing in Crackenmore & how do we know you were really there?" Djarel steps up w/ Kinchen's shield & brandishes it proudly, pointing to the inscription reading Kinchen Forever. "Found in Crackenmore, my friends," he says. Those around the table are quite impressed. "But how do we know that the elf was w/ you?" asks Shadow. "Hey," says Goody, "can you spin the wheel already? & then we can deal w/ this." Rattled, Shadow asks if any of them want to place a bit before he spins & gambling addict Magus reaches deep & places the 18 gp he gained from Crackenmore on black. Shadow rolls. RED 7. Oh well, no one ends up winning. Shadow scrapes up the coins & pockets them. "By the way," says Shadow, "you all will need to deposit any weaponry you are carrying into the bank." There is a bit of resistance, but as the three fellows w/ hoods stand & circle the party, after noticing Telal trying to sneak closer the door on the north wall, things get more serious & Shadow presses that they must deposit any weapons they have in the gambling hall. He leads them to a door in the SW corner of the hall & then they watch as he takes their weapons one-by-one as they hand them to him. "Now can we get Leif out?" asks Amadi. "You may have that shield, but nothing proves that the elf was in Crackenmore. The bail is 650 gold," says Shadow. Gulps can be heard around the room. The party presses Shadow about going down to @ least see Leif, but is shot down. "Can ya'll go down?" he asks the 3 hooded folks & they promptly exit the door on the north wall. As everyone is back around the roulette table, Shadow included, Djarel & Magus get into a verbal fight of some sort, about gambling Magus' money away when they need it for bail, & Amadi grabs Shadow for discussion, bringing him over to the side; in the moment, Shadow lets it slip, "I have no call in all of this, the thieves guild are the ones w/ the control," then before Shadow knows it Amadi is subtly casting Charm Person on him & as the argument dies down, Shadow is now asking what he can do for Amadi & the party. "How much money do you have, Shadow?" asks Amadi. "I think about 1200 gold," says Shadow. "I would like to use your 1200 gold to free the elf," says Amadi. Shadow heads toward the bank door & then comes out lugging two large bags of coin. "What the hell?" says Goody. "I been gamblin' here how long? You never loaned me nothin' like that." He looks to the others still there, who also look a bit confused. "Can you take one of those bags & get Leif?" says Amadi. "Sure," says Shadow, "that shouldnt be a problem." Shadow heads out the door on the north wall, where the hooded fellows had disappeared to. The party then moves toward the bank room where they realize Shadow left the door ajar. Goody, Delly, Sam & the three yokels decide to gather their stuff & follow the party to the door where everyone grabs their weapons, them included, & then the party moves back to the center of the hall as the others leave the establishment. They wait. Shadow has not returned after 30 minutes. They decide to go through the door, w/ Magus leading. They pass through the door & go down a stair. They come to  room lit by torches in wall, a table in the middle w/ cards & some coin atop as well as a number of doors about. The party notices a body laying to the NE of the room, in front of a door. It's Shadow & he's dead. The sack of gold is nowhere to be found. Telal tries to unlock the door but is unable. Amadi then steps up, twirls & kicks it open. Inside they find Leif sitting on a dirt floor w/ his hands tied behind his back in a nasty knot, wearing only his simple clothes, all of his major belongings taken. Telal cuts him free & searches the room, but finds nothing; the party regroups in the room, & swipes the coinage from the table, eyeing the other doors about. They decide to try to door north of where they are.

Amadi tries to kick it open but fails. Telal then steps up, pulls out his tools & quickly has the door unlocked. They ease in & see that the room is split into to different openings...dirt floors like Leif's cell...as they get further in they first notice a figure hunched in the NW wing - nearing the figure they see that it is a gnoll w/ hands tied behind back. He begins speaking w/ Gnolan & Leif translates for the party. The gnoll was captured up north near the Enchanted Waste & he says that if they free him, he knows where as stash of 2000 silver is that he can pay them. The party frees the gnoll. They move to the other wing of the room where they evade a bear trap of some sort & against the wall find two coffers w/ 15 platinum pieces each. The party moves back into the main room & discusses their options. There they stand, 550 gp & 30 pp richer, now a party of seven individuals: a magic-user, a thief, an elven ranger, a half-orc cleric, a dwarf & two gnolls. Shadow's dead body crunched in the corner of the room. Amidst the discussions of whether to stay or go, & what to do about Leif's possessions, the freed gnoll adds that somewhere down here, supposedly, under the gambling house, is an entryway into what many gnolls refer to simply as the Old Tunnels.

7:00 PM

ERIC TALBOT & THE GREAT CHURCH

The town of Talbot was originally referred to as Talbot's Fee & was land given to Dagwood Talbot by King Stamos after Dagwood's admirable leadership during the Shadow War in NW Furthermoor, which ultimately led to human victory.

Dagwood Talbot

Dagwood, along w/ his wife Gesturine, had seven children: 2 sons, Zimbo & Kinchen, & 5 daughters, Relay, Chimay, Light Heart, Lucky & Golden Bough. Zimbo being the oldest, was about nine years of age when Gesturine died from unknown causes. A few years later, Dagwood married Ellie Fintup, the eldest daughter to the Lord of Moor's End, & they had one child, a son, named Eric.

Zimbo & Kinchen Talbot

By the time Eric was 12, Zimbo & Kinchen were adventuring in foreign lands & almost done w/ an underground structure, built by orc slaves, called Crackenmore, that was just outside of Talbot's Fee on the northside (back then there was not much other than the Talbot's Estate, other than a small store & a few other houses). Eric, by his mother's influence, became quite involved w/ the Great Church, & after visiting Furthermoor City, decided to start a church in Talbot's Fee. Though after one month he only had five regular churchgoers, @ the same time, he began to venture out into the nearby lands, specifically up around the Enchanted Waste, where the Shadow War took place. He became a paladin for the Great Church & @ one point, helped save Talbot from a goblin attack when Zimbo & Kinchen were far away. 

Eric Talbot's Crest

But then something happened: some strange folk appeared one day outside the wood building that Eric had set up for his branch of the Great Church. They were looking for Zimbo. "Why didnt you join us?" Eric asked, as the other churchgoers trickled out, about fifteen of them... Eric was left alone w/ these hooded folk, five of them. "We need Zimbo," they said, "We need Zimbo now." This is the last thing that anyone (one of the churchgoers heard this as they watched from behind a tree) heard of Eric. The same person saw Eric welcome the hooded figures into the church, then left.

No one knows what happened to Eric, as he was never seen again. Some say the hooded folk were werewolves & that the Black Dog is in fact Eric Talbot (even though some stories of the BD date earlier than Eric's disappearance). Then there are those that believe that Eric learned something beneficial to himself & went w/ it. Many other ideas exist, but either way, the Great Church @ Talbot ended up in a large blaze by many of those that thought Eric's demise was witchcraft. It took some time to sell the land, but eventually, many years later, Tyler Jenson built Talbot's Gambling Hall in the spot. As they cleared the land & built, rumors rolled that a few tunnels were found that led below the ground... Some search was done, & some rooms were found below the ground, which served the militia for some time in regard to regulating for the town when certain characters appeared... That said, it is well known that there is a door down there that leads to places that no one - @ least no one that talks openly - has been...

SESSION 2 - TALBOT CEMETERY

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...

SESSION 1 - TALBOT

Amadi, Leif & Magus meet up @ the Green Lantern Inn in Talbot & even though Amadi is a bit under the weather, by evening are all enjoying brews together in the bar where they chat up the barkeep, Goody Threeshoe.  Goody tells them about the new undertaker, & how something just doesnt seem right about him, how he saw him @ twilight a few weeks ago hangin' from a tree by his legs...  He also warns them about speaking of the actual Black Dog in public...  lastly, before leaving, possibly to test their reaction, he mentions a rumor he'd heard about a group of Talbot thieves that were masterminding an assassination of Lord Dimmings.  The party learns that though Goody doesnt care much for Lord Dimmings, Lyla Dimmings, the daughter, is a sight to behold.  Other things @ the Green Lantern:  Magus inquired about finding work in town & Goody suggested Delly, the stonecarver, across the street.  A table of townsfolk agreed w/ this, & also told Magus that while a lot of folks think the Black Dog attacks livestock, there are also rumors that  a family of werewolves lives in the Enchanted Waste & has been feeding off Talbot livestock.  After discussing the new undertaker w/ Goody a bit more, the party decides to head to the morgue @ the north edge of town near the cemetery.  But first, Amadi goes upstairs to study his spell book for Enlargement.

Nearing the white morgue, the party notices how the trees nearer the cemetery gates (about 100 yards north) are in worse shape, dying...  They lurk around a grove of trees near the house until Leif spots a possum hanging from a tree limb by its tail.  He casts his SPEAK TO ANIMALS spell & has a conversation w/ the possum about the undertaker & the cemetery.  The possum used to live in the cemetery but due to the death there, has moved out.  He also speaks of the undertaker as someone he likes to watch, & that the undertaker sometimes also has smaller people w/ him @ night...  coming & going...  he speaks of him as being tall w/ white hair.

Leif approaches the large, metal door of the morgue, & knocks.  There is no answer.  Magus lurks around the house & locates a few curtained windows, as well as a wooden door in back that is locked by inner chain.  After discussing their options out front, the party decides to enter the cemetery to the north.  With Amadi's lantern bright, they search the SE & E sides of the cemetery a bit, glancing tombstones for death dates around when the Black Dog killed D. Mineral.  They finally locate a grave that matches the dates, 40 years ago, to one Sloppy Jims, "best known barkeep & fisher"; however, what is odd, is that the dirt on the grave appears to have only recently been placed there, i.e. a loose mound sits atop.  Magus decides to start digging into the dirt w/ his axe.  It is then that the party notices 4 zombies approaching from the west.  After a brief battle, they conquer the zombies, search them to no avail & Magus continues his digging of the grave, finally locating a wooden crate which he ends up smashing up w/ the axe.  Inside the crate is a human-like creature w/ a sticky, yellow substance (mucousy mustard) all about...  It could be a midget, but it is hard to tell due to the axe slicings...  but clearly it is not of normal human size & the face looks aged.  Next, Magus tries to dig further w/ axe but locates nothing.  Amadi then stabs around w/ his staff & eventually hits on something hard...  Magus reaches his arm down there & grabs onto it, trying to pull it up...  As he grabs it, something attaches his hand to it quickly.  It is a root, or stem of some kind...  Magus pulls it up & they see how his hand is tightly tied to the bright green stem that trails back into the dirt in two different places.  Leif tries to rub the stem but gets his hand stuck as well, but then is able to free it w/ a precise knife cut.  Magus on the other hand is still stuck.  Amadi tries hacking into the root but only pisses it off, it begins rumbling & shaking, moving Magus w/ it...  Leif tries to free Magus' hand but just pisses the thing off worse...  Finally, Amadi pours a vial of oil around the two areas where the stem trails back into the dirt & then lights it...  The flames cause the root/stem to retreat back into the ground, first pulling Magus down into the dirt, pulling his arm...  but then releasing him & disappearing.  Magus sits up, catching a scent from the dirt, crammed in his nostrils & beard, remembering that scent from down south around Moloch, the soil there...  A smell that generally doesnt permeate the soil in these parts...

TALBOT