The Dig - Chronological order of Events
A quick and dirty summary of everything the party encountered.
The protagonists
| Current | |||||||||
| Arosin Quindriall | |||||||||
| Hanur | |||||||||
| Liddy Goodbarrel | |||||||||
| Regius Osea |
Loveria
The four protagonists find themselves in Korint, capital of Loveria, where they come across a job opportunity. At this point they don't know each other but when they hear about an organization that offers triple normal pay for work somewhere out in the countryside they all decide to join up. It turns out their mystery employer is House Ditta and the job site is in the Amorgus Swamp, quite a distance away.
They, and a number of other new employees are all put onto a caravan with supplies to their destination in the east. The first part of the journey up to Pefki is quite safe but for the second part everyone is warned for nomadic ‘bandit’ tribes and other possible dangers. After twenty, luckily uneventful, days they arrive at their new home; The Dig.
After things have gone horribly wrong, the party and "Red" flee till night falls and they have to make camp in the swamp. They are still alive and haven't met any rodents of unusual size, so far, so they are counting their blessings. The entire sky has strange green sheen tonight, not something any of them have ever seen before.
The next morning they bury the arm Liddy was carrying around and then it's time for the trek back to civilization. Unfortunately no one present has any particular wilderness skills. Hanur volunteers to navigate their way west and does an admirable job. Regius' attempts at foraging for food and water are less stellar. Then things get a little hairy when Hanur and Regius walk right into quicksand but fortunately the others manage to pull them out.
The next day the foraging is much improved and in the afternoon they are quite surprised when a quite large boar (but not unusually large!), with a broken spear sticking from its back, comes charging out of the underbrush and hits Regius, almost bowling the poor cleric over. The fight is tough as no one is carrying any weapon larger than a dagger. Some healing magic from both Liddy and Regius means that the boar is dead before it can kill anyone.
Another day and now they come across a ramshackle building in the middle of the forest. At the back of it they find a shovel, a pick, a crowbar, a hammer and some nails, all just about still usable. It's a mess inside with lots of debris and animal nests and if it wasn't for a ferret they wouldn't have found a trapdoor in the floor.
In the twenty foot deep cellar below a ladder can be seen laying on the ground, and a little ways away from there, a skeleton with ten spent torches laying in a perfect circle around it. 50 foot of hempen rope lays in a neat coil next to the skeleton on one side, a backpack on the other. Hanur survives a fall and a snake bite but manages to recover the backpack and the rope, eventually even getting all that back up to the others.
The backpack contains manacles, a tinderbox, a lump of coal, a waterskin (empty), a mess kit, a pouch containing 20 gp, a small item wrapped in silk, and a piece of velum; a patented questionnaire. The item wrapped in silk turns out to be a Flawless Hand Mirror.
The next morning they come to a sizeable river they need to cross, in the far distance are what might be two large statues facing each other, according to "Red" they must be ancient. Regius wades through the river but forgets to tie the rope to a tree first. Then when Arosin is the last to cross he almost forgets to untie the rope. They come to a cliff in the afternoon but it is easily scaled. The terrain now becomes more of a savanna turning into prairie; this is where the tribes roam, "Red" warns them.
Two days later they come across a strange hill in the landscape, Hanur, a student of history, recognizes it as a burial mound. He even knows that often the entrance/exit was facing to the south. Liddy doesn't think it's a good idea to disturb it but the others think it could contain some useful loot, especially since no one has any real weapons. Regius tries to placate the halfling by telling her they'll leave money for any items they'll take.
After opening it up they find that inside there's a skeleton on a bier. It is wearing (copper) coin armor and has a bronze longsword and shortsword. Moss agate gems have been laid on its eyes and its feet is a piece of hacksilver and a wicked looking dagger made of a large tooth of some creature. A trapdoor is set in the ceiling over the skeleton. They take all three weapons but don't leave any money behind.
Next day they look to be a lot closer to civilization and come across a small abandoned fortress. Libby suspects it might be one built by the Companions of Elric in the past. Unfortunately there is nothing inside except for three restless in the cellar. A difficult fight breaks out where they learn that zombies are particularly hard to put down, the last one taking about ten attempts. Half-orc hardiness means the fight didn't go against them but Liddy is brought low and no one has any healing left. They manage to stabilize her and bring her along.
The next morning the halfling is fine again but unfortunately "Red" is not; he has been weak all journey but tried to hide it. Now he feels his time is up. He gives Liddy a small wooden box and a signet ring with the letters RM on it. "Don’t open it, once opened, it can’t be restored. Don’t trust anyone. Don’t give it to anyone in House Ditta, just to Emese, my sister, in Ide Volcar" he pleads with her. He does ask the party to tell House Ditta what happened at the Dig. His last words to them are: "May the wind be at your back. Good fortune touch your hand." They bury him and continue on their journey.
Late that afternoon they come to a fortified farm and inn, where the Selchoun family takes good care of them. The next morning before they can leave for Pefki, a traveler arrives with a cart. He knows the name of all party members and has brought them newly bought items; exactly everything they had to leave behind at the Dig (clothes, weapons, etc.).
The party is quite surprised by this and the man, Oshowon, explains that he doesn't really know why he's here. Someone he can't really remember told him to bring these items here. All he remembers is that he was approached after he attended services for a new goddess that only revealed herself to the world just over a week ago; Istus. He explains what she is all about, he's become quite an enthusiastic worshiper of her.
Korint
Eventually the party arrives back at the capital and they immediately go see House Ditta. They end up in a room with Zdenek Honadi and he has a priest of Boccob brought in to cast a Zone of Truth spell to verify everything they are telling them is true, as he can hardly believe what he is hearing. Eventually he thanks them and pays them all 25 gp each, asking them to come back tomorrow as he will go check on some things and will likely have more questions, he'll pay them another 25 gp then.
Everyone goes their way; Arosin and Regius go check out a service to Istus on Terta Square. The man leading the service, Vardan Brekker is quite compelling, people are quite enthused about this new goddess. Afterwards Arosin spots Hanur talking with Vardan. Regius tries to convince people that Ulaa is the goddess to follow, and has some success. Liddy goes to the Companions of Elric and manages to get room and board for all of them there. Over dinner they discuss their day and the latest gossip in town; there's something going on at Kasarian Embassy; lots of people keep coming in and out. The other thing keeping the town busy is the upcoming Stiltorq tournament.
The next morning they return to House Ditta and learn that the man they knew as "Red" was actually Ratik Meloi, of the royal house of Haza. They are debriefed further, this time also by Centak Mairin Othmeir of Bruised But Not Broken who has been hired to go to the Dig and recover the situation.
Afterwards the party goes looking for more work and finds a notice board:
- The Lucky Hare, a high class restaurant, is looking for someone to gather ingredients in the Nitiki Woods.
- Queen Rissi Theatre seeks a great negotiator.
- Someone at Artist Alley seeks nude models.
As they are contemplating their options they are approached by a man who introduces himself as Velkor Oberlee. He tells them he has a lead on a bolthole that is likely still full of interesting items. He is willing to sell them the location and give them a piece of vellum containing Dark Speech words they might need to get to it. Hanur is immediately enthusiastic about this and the others are soon too, Regius is sceptic though. Still, they pay him the 25 gp he asks for.
Next they go to the restaurant and the chef there, Elmontius, tells them he wants sprite members, but only ripe ones! He explains how to find the correct ones, what they look like and how to harvest them. They will pay 5 gp per kilo. The party now has a nice journey planned, being able to combine both jobs with a visit to Drendeven, where Liddy is from.
The next morning they leave town and eventually reach Vresto Mansion where they have some interesting encounters.