Expedition 6: The Fields of Moseley

Player created map.

Expedition Party: Gossamer, Barnaby, Feodor, Koga, Reike,  

The heat of summer makes itself uncomfortably known as the group sets out from Strotherhine. Their goal is to further explore the space beneath the well they had previously found during Expedition 4. Quickly they march south through the Fields of Moseley to the ruined tower, and pass onward to the hill with the blackened oak, the collapsed shrine, and the strange well. 

Once there the group makes camp. During the night those standing watch see odd human-like figures in the fields, they wander in the tall grasses but don’t approach the hill, likewise the party doesn’t approach the figures. During the second watch they witness the figures hunched over in the grass making sounds like loud eating and slurping. 

The next day is equally hot and sunny with little to no wind and the party moves to explore the spot where the figures were hunched over. They find human remains, recently dead but largely lacking flesh. They gather bones and bring them back to their camp, interning the remains in the ruined shrine. Afterward they decide to SPLIT THE PARTY. Koga and Feodor decide to search for food while the rest of the group drops a rope down the well and heads inside.

Koga and Feodor luck out, quickly finding a wild plant somewhat like corn, but while gathering it they find themselves surrounded by a group of animated skeletons wielding old rusty weapons. A fight ensues and a skeleton quickly knocks Koga to the ground with a large wound on his side, he crawls weakly away from the battle, and Feodor steps forward to defend his ally. He is stuck by a rattling blow that leaves him disoriented and shaken, but regains his focus and dispatches the skeletons. (THIS WAS OUR FIRST SCAR!) Feodor drops what he is doing and drags Koga back to their camp.

Meanwhile in the bottom of the well the group lights a torch and finds themselves standing in a stone room with a damp floor dappled with puddles. Despite the moisture they see large tapestries on one wall that appear to be in good condition and a rotting wooden shelf on the opposite wall. Directly in front of them they see a hallway with a floor that is suspiciously dry. Despite the peculiar lack of moisture Reike charges ahead. The floor swivels beneath him and he falls into a stone pit, he is bruised by the fall, but with the help of his allies is able to get back out without much trouble. 

Carefully, the group now goes down the hallway and finds themselves standing in the middle of a long hallway with wooden doors on both ends. On one side they hear several voices, while they speak in an unknown language, the voices sound joyous and merry. On the other side two voices can be just barely made out whispering back and forth. Reike charges ahead again, opening the door concealing the whispered voices.

Inside he sees a small hooded figure whispering to a tall man with pointed teeth. Behind the two is a large wooden trapdoor, but the room is otherwise bare. The tall man turns to the opening door and Reike sees that he has monstrously large furry hands, like a hybrid between a bear’s paws and human hands, he is also wearing a dried human hand as a necklace. Reike doesn’t take the time to ask questions and immediately throws a dagger at the man, it strikes him right between the eyes and he falls to the ground. The hooded figure pulls back his hood, revealing that he is a goblin, and throws up his hands. 

In broken speech the goblin begs for his life and introduces himself as Blehk. He grabs a small wooden box off of the fallen man and offers it to the party as a gift to show he means them no harm. The group is distracted momentarily by the box, which they find contains a fair bit of gold as well as a large red gem, and the goblin scampers off down the hallway and beyond the other wooden door. As the door closes the group in the well hears Feodor outside the well calling for help. 

The group scrambles up out of the well and work together to bandage Koga’s wounds and bring him back to stable condition. He is badly injured but largely regains his composure. After taking a moment to rest the party splits into two new groups. One returns to the well while the other goes to investigate the remains of the skeletons. When they get to the scene of the fight, they find corn like plants, and evidence of the fight, but they don’t find any skeletons, just a trail of bent grass going off into the fields. They gather up as much food as they can and return to the hill. 

The other group travels back into the well and through the second wooden door. There they see a large group of drunk goblins drinking ale from a barrel marked with the Imperial Boar. The goblins don’t have any useful information about the missing garrison from Strotherhine, but through a series of careful negotiations, and successful arm wrestling, the party befriends the goblins and sets up a sort of trading arrangement where the two groups leave items and notes for one another in the basement of the ruined tower. The party encourages the goblins to come to Stortherhine itself but the goblins think this is a dangerous idea and suggest that it would  anger “Deadlegs” but give no further explanation. 

Feeling somewhat successful the party collects the tapestries off the wall, exits the well, reunites with the part of the team investigating the skeletons, and heads back to the ruined tower. They camp there for the night, but not before leaving a gold coin in the basement as a sign of good faith toward their new goblin friends. That night during his watch Reike smells brimstone and sees a figure on horseback shrouded in thick smoke in the fields west of the tower, he chooses not to mention this to his allies.  

The next morning the group hunts for food and manages to down a small deer, they clean the deer and prepare its meat for travel rations. That afternoon they travel back to Strotherhine and split up their loot, during which it is revealed that Reike, who is carrying the small wooden with the gem and gold, has no intention of sharing the items in the box. This causes tension among the group and leaves the expedition on a sour note.