Adventure #2: Charnock House Part 2

 2023/03/19 Session 2: Charnock House Part 2 (Campbell, Doug, Gryffon, Madeline, Ronn, Zak)

19 Deepsnow 5023 VA

When last we left our band of gentle adventurers they had regrouped in the secret cellar beneath Charnock House. A place showing all the indications of being used as living quarters for a large group of nerdowells, brigands, pirates, or outlaws calling themselves the Redbrands. Lanterns wash the room with their warm glow, a large pot of stew simmers on the fireplace, two captives sit with bound hands upon the floor, and large red letters scrawled upon the barred door at the far end of the room warn of some “DANGER!” beyond.

After questioning the captive Redbrands, and at the prompting of the former captive Ned Shakeshaft, our band entered the DANGER! room. Beyond that clearly marked door they faced a half-dozen animated skeletons intent on adding the band to their number. While the fight raged, the brigands were able to free themselves and Ned retreated from the room, turning at the last minute to shoot Horatio with a crossbow quarrel before the door was  shut and barred; locking our band of adventures into the fight. Even as the skeletons were dispatched, the animated corpse of the alchemist himself, Ortolanus Charnock, stepped from a secret chamber and began lobbing acid upon the intruders. The fight was short and brutal, but victory was snatched from the very bones of the dead. The room beyond was revealed to be the hidden workshop of the alchemist and much gold was discovered along with a magic pouch and a mystery stone.

Smashing through the barred DANGER! door, the band found the room beyond empty and a pair of footlockers emptied of their contents. Inspired by this, the remainder of the footlockers were forced open and looted of their contents. The room was then searched and a secret door was found leading into the natural caverns beyond the cellar.

 Descending the stairs beyond the secret door the party was met with a damp, ocean breeze, a cave well lit with lanterns, and a not unexpected ambush. The Redbrands attacked from two sides, firing bolts and arrows from both the far end of the tunnel and from a dark side cavern. The party, divided in the excitement, took the fight to their enemies. The fight quickly went in the favor of our party of explorers, complicated by masses of deadly green slime dropping from the cavern ceiling and burning anything upon which it touches. Undeterred, the fight was carried to the Redbrands and they were pushed back by the blades and spells of the adventurers. As the redbrands fell or surrendered, their mage-leader, Glockter Sanbalet, stepped forward and with a magical flame laid Eyrowyn low. His attack leaving her at the brink of death, before he cast an illusionary wall of flame across the tunnel and leading the remainder of the brigands from the cave via a longboat in the sea cave deeper in the complex. The band bandaged their wounded, stabilized the dying, and secured their lone captive. Finished with those chores they were able to take a moment to bask in their victory.

The master of the house laid to rest and the smugglers evicted, what bounty has fallen into the hands of our adventure seeking travelers.

TREASURE

103 Crowns (gp)

120 Sceptres (sp)

30 Pennies (cp)

Solid gold skull

Solid gold rose

Solid gold apple

Eight gold dipped rib bones (one from each skeleton and two from the alchemist)

MAGIC ITEMS

Pouch of Holding. This bag has an interior space considerably larger than its outside dimensions, roughly 1 foot in diameter at the mouth and 2 feet deep. The bag can hold up to 250 pounds, not exceeding a volume of 32 cubic feet. The bag weighs 5 pounds, regardless of its contents. Retrieving an item from the bag requires an action.

Black & Gold Stone. This flat, black river stone is veined with gold marbling and inscribed with an unknown arcane symbol and feels cool to the touch. Whatever its magic is; it requires attuning to it before it is revealed.

ITEMS OF NOTE

Two small pouches of unknown alchemical powders

A set of six crystal balance weights used for measuring in alchemical work

The Signaling System page

Bullseye Lantern

Map of Coastline

Common/Goblin Translation Sheet: The words include '"stop," "fight," "lift,"' "come,'" and so forth

A LIBRARY OF TOMES

Angel Son, Demon King. A treatise concerning the demigod Huz’zilv and its minions

Blue Exile. A volume of erotic poetry, fully illustrated

Craftbook of Ortolanus Charnock. The alchemists spellbook holds 4 wizard spells and many notes about gold metamorphosis

GS. Glockter Sanbalet's spellbook contains 10 wizard spells within its pages.

Lost Coast Almanac. A naval almanac listing tide times for the area of coast around Eureka. The almanac shows the area of the coast from Fort Bragg, south of Eureka, to Fort Dick, just north of Crescent (a total of two hundred miles of coastline is covered)

The Magical Properties of Gemstones. A book written by the archmage Tenser

The Magical Properties of Herbs and Flowers. A book written by the archmage Tenser

The Metaphysics of Mathematics.  A book written by the mage Nystul

Ye Secret of Ye Philosopher's Stone. No author acknowledged. Though it is written in Common, the book is too profound and recondite a work to be fully understood by anyone other than the appropriate specialist.

PIRATE BOOTY YOU COULD NOT CARRY

8 small bolts of silk cloth

13 small casks of brandy

benchtop chemical apparatus

***MILESTONE REACHED – ALL CHARACTERS ADVANCE TO 2ND LEVEL***