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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Nail" data-source="post: 827870" data-attributes="member: 224">End of Session #3: "No Laiden, but plenty laid-low." (Session of RL March 16th, 2003)(DM's Note: We will be playing session #5 this Sunday.)After talking with Jingles, the gnomish peddler, Rowan and Garret left to search for the mysterious half-elf Laiden.  Previously, several of the party members had been approached by this poorly-dressed half-elf with offers of: "So, ya wanna get rich?"  Thaile was the last party member to talk with him, a few days ago at the Inn.  At thte time he had said that he might reveal more "when you're more experienced."  Now seemed like a good time to see what sorts of things he was up to.Unfortunately, he was nowhere to be found.  They even checked the area across the river where he had been camped.....no Laiden.Feeling a bit like they had missed an opportunity, the two returned to their fellow party members.******************By the evening of the fourth day, Riva and Thaile had shaken off most of the effects of the filth fever.  The party planned for the following morning.  Spells were picked, and axes were sharpened.  Teiran would have to remain in town for part of tomorrow, so the party sent him a note to tell him where they were going.That evening, a wounded farmer galloped into town.  "Goblins!  Goblins at the Mangleson Farm!"  Worried farmers and town guards gathered around the rider, and helped him off his horse.  The rider was taken into the castle, and soon the news leaked out: the farms that the farmers had recently left were being looted by goblins.  The Captain tried to reassure the people.  He swore that he and those willing to come would ride to the eastern farmsteads tomorrow, to see what could be done.  The goblins would be driven from the farmlands.The adventurers considered their options.  Should they go with the Captain, or explore the old Smitson farm again?   In the end, they decided to go to the farm.  There were questions there yet that needed answers.The next morning they set out.  The walk was uneventful, other than the lack of undead corpses where there should have been some.  (Had they re-animated?  Where had they gone?)After doing a quick survey of the farm, the party explored the root cellar. (DM's note:...and believe me, Riva was very disappointed!The party went over the farm again.  'Something must be here', they reasoned.  Soon, only the main house was left to search.  They tried its cellar first.The cellar was small, with walls of timber reinforced dirt, just as they had last seen it.  The floor was packed earth, clawed and bloodied from the party's combat with the hungry dead days ago.  Perhaps the walls were clawed or dug as well, though not by much.  The bodies of the "hungry-dead small lizard people" were gone.  The room was empty.  Nothing of interest.  Not even the chance of a missed secret door.  Disappointed, the party trooped back upstairs.Near the end of their patience, the adventurers searched the rest of the house.  After a time, and finding little individually, they came together to share their observations: <ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Only one bedroom ("bedroom #1!") had any furniture: a broken bed and an old rug.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The main room had dirt and sand on the floor -- more than might be expected.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The floor of the main room had claw marks on it.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The floor of bedroom #1 had claw marks on it.</li> </ul>Riva immediately began tearing up the floor of the main room with his pick.  It was slow going, but he looked to be enjoying himself. (WHACK!)(WHACK!)(WHACK!)The others searched the rest of the farm again, while waiting for Riva to get through the floor.  Garret found the remains of burned bodies behind the barn, while Rowan found that the small graveyard out back had been smoothed over and partially restored.  (The Captain had said this was done by his men.)  The small hut was empty, as was the outhouse and smoke house.(WHACK!)(WHACK! ......splinter.......pry, pry, pry......)Eventually, Riva had pried up enough of the floor boards to get a good look underneath....more dirt.Undeterred, the party moved into the first bedroom.  This floor, too, would feel the wrath of Riva's pick.  As they moved the bed out of the way, Thaile heard a SNAP!, as if a string or wire had been broken.  They found the end of the wire tied to a leg of the bed, and a matching hole in the floor boards through which the wire had gone.  Underneath the bed and rug the floor boards were newer than those of the rest of the house.  With a WHACK!, Riva started his assault on that section of the floor.(WHACK!)(WHACK!)Thaile: "Maybe a little more to the right....."(WHACK!)...An hour later, a gaping hole was in the room's corner, and underneath that was....a trap door!  Ah-ha!  This trap door, however, was iron-bound, and looked to be a match for Riva and his pick.  All eyes turned to Thaile.  She flexed her fingers, stepped in, and started working on the lock with her tools.  It took awhile, but eventually there was a dull "click", and the lock was open.  Riva reached down, and gave a hard pull.......Under the trap door was a shaft made of dirt and timbers, almost 3 feet wide and over 30 feet long, with a ladder on one side.  At the bottom was only darkness.  Riva could make out a dirt floor, far below.After a brief conference, Riva started down the shaft, with Rowan behind him.  They climbed slowly, with Rowan holding a torch, and Riva using his darkvision when he could.  But about 15 feet down the ladder, all of the ladder's rungs suddenly gave way, and both Riva and Rowan tumbled down the shaft.  Riva managed to grab a hold of the side rails, and maintained a slipping hold even as Rowan fell on top of him!  The dwarven warrior's strength is unmatched!!  But even his strength could not keep them from slowly slipping down what remained of the ladder.  As their companions watched from above, they saw Riva and Rowan land at the bottom, rise to their feet.....and then they slumped to the ground!  They were unconscious!Quickly, Thaile and Garret tied a rope to the bedroom door.  Garret lowered himself down after their fallen companions, while Thaile and Garret's wardog Bavic stood at the top.  Riva and Rowan were no longer visible at the bottom of the shaft....they had been moved!   Thaile watched, as Garret reached the bottom....and then he, too, slumped to the floor!  There was no apparent cause.What should Thaile do?  Her friends were down there, with....something.  They were unconscious and unable to defend themselves.  She was unhindered: should she run for help, or should she climb down after them, and hope that she was strong enough to resist whatever it was that had struck down her companions?  Perhaps they were already dead, and that going after them would be a hopeless climb down to her death....Well, what would you do, oh noble adventurer??  Almost done with Session #3!  Just a bit more left, I promise!</blockquote>

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