Episode 9: "You Meet the Weirdest People in the Produce Section"

Game Date: 4/22/2015

Quest Information

 * 11th Arah Abu, 837
 * Title: Unspeakable Crimes
 * Level 3
 * Location: Ag-Rakade and surrounding farms

Primary Cast

 * Degrom Hillstrike, dwarven cleric of Moradin
 * Dylan Minglewood, halfling satiric bard
 * Ket-Ramat, human soldier-scout
 * Lugal, human Mage of Learning
 * Shoklen, human swamp ranger
 * Vjor'Kul, high orc druid from beyond the Presett Sea

Supporting Cast

 * Bas, human bard & freed captive

Summary
The party, having casually watched as the nefarious gardener and his allies successfully cart away all the evidence, decide to investigate the newly abandoned manor home and grounds. Dylan — stopping in the kitchen for a hard-won grilled cheese sandwich — hears some distant shouting from a trap door in the floor. Bravely calling for another party member, Dylan watches from absolute safety while Shoklen the Swamp Ranger checks out the stairs. At the bottom, he discovers the source of the shouts: a dwarf, locked in a basement cell. "Get me out of this nuthouse!" he says. Groans are heard from the cell next door: another captive, this time a leather-clad high orc with a thick accent. "Comrades," he groans, groggily. "What is going on? Why am I hear?” One more captive, this time a handsome young bard, also awakens, after, supposedly, a very deep sleep.

After a rescue and a brief conversation, the truth behind these captives comes to light. After the introductions, Bas takes his leave, and heads to the surface to nap shirtless in the sun. The rest of the party proceeds to clear out the tunnels under the compound, encountering more of the baneberry zombies; some creepy plant-animated body parts; a few standard ghouls; and a couple of darkmantles who nearly killed Ket-Ramat. Unfortunately, the party doesn’t find many more clues other than a few salvaged baneberry trumpeters, a sealed cask, and a leatherbound ledger. Perhaps Ibbi can help figure out what to do next.
 * The high orc, who goes by the name Vjor’Kul, has apparently been tracking these ... gardeners … to this place from across the Presett Sea. Apparently, the gardeners were spotted stealing young, harmless needle palms from the jungles Vjor'Kul swore to protect. Suspicious of the motives of these nature-defiling outlanders, he tracked them to this compound. The last thing he remembers was spying on the tent compound from the woods. He awoke to the sound of a shouting dwarf.
 * Degrom Hillstrike, the hill dwarf, has an even worse story. He was simply traveling alone on the road, on a quest given to him by his god Moradin, the All Father, when he was jumped by some goons and dragged back to this compound. He was told something ominous by a disheveled gardner: “we need to experiment on dwarves”, and then abandoned to sit in this cell until Moradin-knows-when.
 * The bard, immensely groggy from his ordeal, introduces himself as Bas. When rescued by Ket, he does something rather odd. He absentmindedly licks the palm of his hand and offers his hand to the scout, who absentmindedly shakes it, unfazed by the odd little ritual. Once that’s over, Bas tries to give his story, but he can’t. He’s immensely confused and disoriented. Instead, Degrom tells what he knows: three days ago, Bas was dragged out of his cell, screaming. The screams continued in a distant room for another half an hour or so, and then Bas’ unconscious form was dragged back into the cell. That night, Bas cried and screamed in his sleep, clearly suffering from insane nightmares. After 8-10 hours of this, he fell into a quiet coma that lasted a couple days. He only awakened as the party enters the cells.

Outcome

 * The strange gardeners manage to escape with almost the entire supply of the dangerous baneberry trumpeters
 * Ket manages to steal a baneberry trumpeter, a sealed cask, and a ledger book from the back of a wagon
 * Shoklen rescues a broken baneberry plant, with the intent to nurse it to health
 * Vjor'Kul, Degrom, and Bas are rescued from the cells

Party Rewards
Return to Episode Guide
 * Vjor'Kul and Degrom: each gain 250xp
 * The rest of the party gains 1250 xp each
 * Ket, Lugal and Shoklen advance to 4th level