7th Day of Planting, CY 579

Today the party decided to stay in Hommlet and rest. Going to the moathouse is dangerous work that seems to result in injuries. The party decided they would return to the moathouse the following day, and in the meantime, do some things around town.

Athan met Elmo in the Inn. Elmo hangs out at the Inn a lot, and seems to like to drink. But he was a nice enough man, and seemed to be a well-equipped fighter. Indeed, Elmo explained he was a member of the village militia, though his services haven't been needed much lately. His brother, Otis, is a well-known fighter who serves the Viscount. Otis went to the Town of Nulb on a mission from the Viscount a few months ago, but hasn't come back, which has Elmo concerned, given that Nulb is a well-known den of evil pirates, thieves and assassins. He also believes that Canoness Y'Dey must have suffered the same fate as his brother, since the two of them left together and neither has been seen or heard from since.

Athan and Sarril decided to visit Canon Terjon to see if he knew anything about the "yellow eye of fire" symbol. As they were on their way to the Temple of St. Cuthbert, they were ambushed by an assassin, who was none other than Gremag, business partner of Rannos Davl who runs the trade shop. They managed to adequately defend themselves and kill Gremag. Searching his body, they found, in addition to his poisoned dagger, the same "Yellow Eye of Fire" symbol, and a letter. The letter enumerated specific items that needed to be supplied to the Temple of Elemental Evil. It was signed by Lareth the Beautiful, with the symbol of Lolth.

The party took this information to Jack, the Village Elder, who immediately called a town meeting to discuss the matter. During the meeting, the party was able to get confirmation that the Yellow Eye of Fire is a symbol that was once associated with the nearby Temple of Elemental Evil. They are told how the temple was never completely destroyed, and how former agents of the temple continue to operate, always trying to recruit and rebuild. Several people, including local lords Rufus and Burne, and other agents of the Viscount, like Elmo's brother Otis, are constantly watching. Jack is quite disturbed that two of the temple's agents were able to operate in Hommlet, undetected, for so long. He reports that as soon as they found out about Gremag, Rufus sent his men to trade shop to arrest Rannos, but Rannos Davl had already fled. The shop was now boarded up and under guard while the village decides what to do. It was also reported that, in going through Rannos' journals, he was supplying weapons and goods to Lareth who works out of the moathouse. The bugbears and the men the party encountered there must work for Lareth. Rannos apparently had a sinister scheme working where he put out rumors that he knew of dungeon full of wondrous magic and treasure, and had the only map known to exist. Adventuring parties, hearing about the rumor, would come to his shop and pay him handsomely for the map. If the party looked like an easy target and had good gear or treasure on them, he would have them ambushed outside of town and their stuff taken from them. Jack showed the group a stack of scrolls with the same map copied on every one. They matched the map the party found on the dead group outside the village before they got here.

6th Day of Planting, CY 579

Before returning to the moathouse the next day, the party went back to the Temple of St. Cuthbert to check on the human prisoners they had left there to recover. The humans explained that they were merchants from Verbobonc who had hired a ranger named Gareth to escort them south. They were attacked on the road and all three were taken prisoner. The merchants were questioned at length about Gareth, and when they didn't have any useful information to provide, they were turned over to the ogre, who seemed to enjoy torturing them.

Returning to the moathouse later that morning, with Turuko and Kobort, the part was attacked by uniformed men with crossbows waiting behind the moathouse walls, shooting through the arrow slits. Luckily, they were terrible shots, and the party was able to rush inside and finish them off. Each of the men were wearing black cloaks with a "Yellow Eye of Fire" on it. Athan cut out the symbol to try to identify it later.

Inside the moathouse, the group descended to the lower level and began to explore the place. It was clear that this place was being used by more than just bandits and the men they just encountered wanted their presence to remain secret. In a large room, the party was attacked by several well organized bugbears. The party barely survived the fight, but the hired help, Turuko and Kobort were not so lucky (which is probably not a bad thing, since they were going to turn on the party anyway). During the fight, nine gnolls came to check out the noise. They did not join the battle, preferring instead to watch the party take out the bugbears. Athan was able to speak with the gnolls and determine that they did not like the bugbears and considered the party as having done them a favor. He was then able to bribe the gnolls by promising to pay them 20 gold now, and 100 more when they return, if the gnolls would look the other way when the party comes back (because of course they needed to return to Hommlet and rest, because they are low level characters and that's what they do after every fight). The party also convinced the gnolls to point out the location of their master, and to lie to their master, saying that Turuko and Kobort killed the bugbears and that the gnolls, in turn, killed Turuko and Kobort. The gnolls were more than happy to accept the party's money and to earn favor from their master by taking credit for killing the intruders. It was a good day for the gnolls.

The party then returned to Hommlet to rest.

The peaceful village of Hommlet

3rd Day of Planting, CY 579

The moathouse

After resting for a couple of nights in Hommlet, the party returned to the moathouse, better prepared. Pontus would take on the rats while Athan kept his distance with a bow. Sarril and Delvin backed up Pontus while being prepared to heal if necessary. The plan worked, and the group was able to move room by room and clear out the inhabitants, which included a giant lizard (who was befriended by Delvin), a snake and a giant tick (really, a giant tick?). They saved the barred door for last. It took a little time for Pontus to beat down the door, which gave the bandits inside plenty of time to prepare an ambush. As the party rushed in, they found the bandits carefully positioned behind cover, shooting with their crossbows. At the far end of the room was a large sword-bearing man who was obviously the leader. Delvin immediately cast a spell to entangle the leader in roots, keeping him from rushing forward while Pontus closed into him for the attack. With Pontus distracted, Athan cast a sleep spell, which took out most of the remaining bandits despite their cover. After that, the fight was a piece of cake.

After looting the bandits, and discovering a nice chest full of silver, the party decided this was a good place to rest for the evening and recover. They had a door that could be barred, and bedrolls already laid out from the bandits, they just had to dump the bodies in the moat first. The party also realized why the door was barred and there were no footprints or other signs going in or out. Part of the wall of this room was collapsed, opening it to the outside, which must have been how the bandits were coming and going. So of course they didn't have to deal with the rats and other things.

Lubash, the Ogre

While on watch, Athan discovered a secret door that led down a flight of steps to narrow hallway. At either end of the small hallway was a door. Athan opened one of the doors to discover an ogre who rushed toward him. Athan quickly slammed the door closed, realizing the ogre was too large to fit through, then he ran back up the stairs. When the rest of the party was awake, Athan described the ogre he saw, and the party came up with a plan of attack. Given that the ogre could not fit through the door, the party would toss as much flaming oil into the room as possible, light it on fire and shut the door. You know what they say about the best laid plans. . . it is possible it would have worked better if any of party members could actually aim well. So while the room was now full of oil and broken glass, the ogre didn't have any on him, and was now charging the hapless party. But then a miracle happened. The ogre inexplicably turned his back on the party and ran to the corner of the room, swinging wildly at the air. The confused party quickly took advantage of the situation to take another shot at tossing the oil, this time landing several hits. The party then lit the oil, engulfing the entire room, including the ogre, in flames, and shut the door, ran upstairs and waited.

Some time later, the group went back downstairs to check on the aftermath. There was a dead, burnt ogre, along with the ashes of debris from the room. Furs and other valuable items were completely destroyed, though Athan was able to find an Elven Cloak that managed to survive, buried and protected under a mountain of debris. There was also a chest in the opposite corner that managed to avoid most of the damage. While the chest was mostly junk (ogres have a strange sense of what is valuable), there were some coins and a few other items of interest. While searching the room, the party heard muffled voices coming from behind a heavy, barred door. The bar was enormous, and required two party members to lift it off. Behind the door were a gnome and two human prisoners. The humans were severely injured and unable to effectively communicate. The gnome introduced himself and explained that he is a merchant from the Kron Hills who is the last remaining of his party. The ogre, Lubash, was torturing him daily for information about a gnome named Lysander - as if all gnomes automatically know each other. The party escorted the prisoners back to Hommlet and turned them over to Canon Terjon at the Church of St. Cuthbert for healing and care. The gnome gave the party a ring to signify friendship, telling them that anyone from his clan should recognize the ring and treat them favorably.

Recognizing they might be in over their heads, the party spoke to Turuko and Kobort, who accepted an offer of 1/6th of any treasure found for joining them in returning to the moathouse the next day. That night, Athan snuck out of the room and poked around the Inn. He discovered a secret stash of weapons in the basement - enough to arm the entire town, and tunnel from the weapon room that led to a secret door inside the Village Hall. Clearly this quiet village is prepared for the worst.