Pest Control

The first adventure starts at Windshire Town Hall where Carter Madison Von Buren IV receives a request via a servant of Seilus Godfrey to take a letter to Bishop Martin Lively and is specifically told to take Tarpan Karton and Lavinia Stillwind with him. Being night already, the three go to the Windshire Church of Hades and Tarpan stays back while Mayor Carter knocks on the door to find the Bishop is down the street eating supper at the Wailing Inn.

The three stroll down the street and hear a wail coming from the Inn, they enter to see no disturbance as this is a common occurrence of a local spirit. Mayor Carter politely interrupts the Bishop and hands him the letter. The Bishop opens the letter and says we will do and asks us to wait until he finishes eating and he will give us our job. After a short, uneventful wait, the Bishop leads the three back to the church, this time they go around to the north wall of the cemetery behind the church where they see the iron spiked wall broken and a hole only big enough for a small humanoid to pass and are told of a break in that occurred last night including breaking into a mausoleum and stealing some valuables. Our task is to deal with this quietly and the investigation gets underway.

Tarpan, unable to enter sacred ground stays outside examining and guarding as Lavinia and the Mayor enter the Church and are escorted to the back and into the graveyard and see the mausoleum, closest to the hole in the wall and is the resting place of the family Richmond has been broken into. Besides a few broken vases, it is extremely well kept, with no evidence of tampering of the one main sarcophagus in the middle and three lesser ones in compartments in the walls. Meanwhile outside, Tarpan confirms the wall was broken into and not broken out, the other two join him and Tarpan tracks what is believed to be 4 small humanoids back to where that came. He surmises that snuck and hid there way back down the street toward the town hall and verves north, around and into the woods. The trio continues to tack them to their lair, a small cave.

The entrance to the cave is slightly camouflaged by vines which Tarpan brushes aside and steps in and triggers a tripwire that drops a bag of shells next to Tarpan. Unfazed he continues the 15 feet to a large metal door that is locked, after knocking with no answers, he finds it locked and call Lavinia up to pick the rusty lock, which she does with ease as the Mayor helps clean up the shells and reset the trap so the evidence of our presence will be less apparent. Tarpan leads the three into the opening chamber, round about 50' across with a pot of stew over a fire with warm bowls of scattered around. Without warning, the residence of the cave and owners of the stew sling rock down on the trio from their hiding place, a shelf about 8 feet up the wall. Minor damage is taken. Lavinia shoots one dead while Tarpan misses wildly and decides at the last minute to jump up and grab the ledge to get closer to the little kobolds. Just before those closest to Tarpan have a chance to stab at Tarpan's hands, the Mayor cast sleep and knocks them all out. Tarpan hands them down to the Mayor and Carter proceeds to feed on two of them to regain his lost hit points. Lavinia translates as the Mayor attempt to get information and help from the remaining three kobolds, two of which are killed for their lack of help, one by a bite from Carter and one from a punch from Tarpan. The third one decides to help, to a point, telling of why they took the shiny thing as they were closest to wall and big building have nice things. He does say he is unable to retrieve the stolen loot do to the boss and the big boss, but agrees to escort the party.

Tarpan opens the only other full size door after the kobold unlocks with a key from one of his dead tribesmen. The half-orc peaks down the corridor as it takes sharp turn and the party sees a second kobold at the end of the long hallway signaling and shouting something in gibberish that Lavinia translates into wait. The latest kobold asks us to go trough the door, 3/4 of the way down the hall rather that the turn at the end of the hall he is standing so he does not need to reset stone trap in the hall. With caution, Tarpan escorts the Mayor to the door where the mage opens the door reveling a room full of bones with only a small tunnel leaving from the opposite side of the room. Clearly not big enough for most of the party to get trough, the party decides to walk down the hallway the kobold just ran down, after tying up the party's kobold and having him nervously lead the way down to the trap when a flow of rocks damages Tarpan and Lavinia while the Mayor is safe around the corner and the kobold is crushed and killed. Fazed but not stopped, the part continues down the hallway that turn and meets up with the small hole passage from the previous viewed room and looks down the hall that follows as the corridor turns and lines up with the hole, where they see another man-sized door.

The mage's magic hand unlocks and opens the door that opens into a small chapel with tables and benches overturned in defensive position with approximately 8 kobold waiting to attach. After the Mayor puts only a couple of them to sleep with another spell, Tarpan dashes up and closes the door while Lavinia uses the hold passage to get into the previous unexplored room, filled with bones. After confirming the assault is still a go, Tarpan opens the door back up rushes in and kills one of the kobolds in the front line while the Mayor fails to have an effect with another spell. The three remaining kobolds in the front roll and very successfully stab Tarpan with spears who is still standing only due to the orcish fortitude. He does not have long to celebrate as the Mayor also gets hit and the kobold leader, already shot by Lavinia, yet still standing turns the undead party, causing Tarpan to run in fear. The mayor closes the door and the three wary adventures make their way back out of the cave plotting their revenge.

The plotting started right away as Tarpan pulled the rope from the rubble and smashed kobold guide and as they closed the main door behind them he tied the rope and used pitons to secure to hopefully lock the pests in their home as well as removing the vines and the trap, permanently.

But the walk out of the woods was not uneventful, as they walked a little to close to a small shack, apparently the home to a feisty old hag with a magic stick that shot at a near by tree. After making sure we each did not want trouble, the trio was allow to leave without further incident.

As Tarpan measure the hole and guarded the cemetery from the outside, Carter and Lavinia updated the Bishop and got a promissory note to the local Our Cane Magickery which they visited next and while they woke the owner Elle Elwyn, the Mayer was able to trade note for 3 healing potions. Lavinia and Carter made their way to the Town Hall they called home, where Tarpan joined then at first light where they spent the rest of the night resting. As soon as it was light enough for the living folk, Tarpan worked on crafting a grate to cove the hole in the cemetery wall, but it was harder to craft than expected and he did not finish before night fall and the others were ready to venture back out to the continue the work on the kobold lair.

Their work on the front entrance and front door unchanged, they cautiously enter the eating room and the fire was out it and it indeed proved to be empty. They continued in to the hall way and examined the bone room closed, realizing the only door was a one way door and the bones seemed to have been partially melted but not burned. As Tarpan watch though the hole, the halfling skeleton thief went through the hole on the opposite side and back down the hall to look for the trigger for the rock slide, finding not just one but two buttons on the wall. Calculating it was safe, she join Tarpan back in the room and left with Carter whom held the door open and the three made their way quietly to the door to the little chapel.

While Tarpan quietly opened the door, Carter was able to sleep 3 of the seven kobold present. Lavinia shot and apparently killed another kobold. But as the kobolds started to react, the priest identified himself by ducking and chanting to revive the fallen kobold as the the front line kobolds ready their spears in defensive posture. Carter casts an audio spell against the priest, seeming to do some damage and Tarpan steps in and shoots another one down. Lavinia shots another that seems to stay down. The revised kobold stands and throws a vile but misses Tarpan while the other Kobolds wakes one of their sleeping friends and another vile is thrown and misses.

The tide seems to wane when the priest is able to turn Tarpan and he starts to run out past Carter and Lavinia, who continue the offensive with another shot and another spell, with little but some effect. Lavinia take for her significate damage from a rock thrown at her. Not to be outdone, Carter throws a rock at Tarpan, breaking the effect of the turn as the kobold priest cats a holy light in the room. Another kobold hits the skeleton, Lavinia and her weakness to rock takes her down to a pile of bones. Tarpan, back in the fight, shoots and kills another kobold. The kobold priest cast a spell does some burning damage to Carter but focused, he pours a healing potion into Lavinia's skull and she once again able to join the fight.

Tarpan misses the priest but Lavinia does not and the priest goes down. Carter is ineffective in a spell cast but Tarpan steps back into the room and kills a sleeping kobold, thinking the tide has turned once again. But the last living kobold is able to hit the Vampire Mayor with holy water and Carter is turned to mist and start the slow flow back to his grave while Lavinia avenges but taking out the last of the kobolds. Lavinia pillages and Tarpan pile pews in front of the other other door in the room and piles up bodies as warning to any remaining kobolds. The pair leave with 4 vials of holly water, the priest's holy symbol and silver key that does not match the doors they have seen so far. One check of the altar and Lavinia finds a nice rock, thought to be magical. They secure the front door as before and make their way back to town, totally uneventful this time.

Not needing sleep, Tarpan watches at the wall of town hall though the rest of the night and in the morning, is able to finish the grate and get it to the church before night fall. Meanwhile, Lavinia finds out the kobold priest holy symbol is to IO a dragon god and is able to trade 2 vials of holly water for two healing potions. She trades the other two vials of Holly water to fins out the Rock is a Stone of Warmth which is left with the shop for credit, for what do undead need for warmth. Carter is greeted with more ribbing than thankfulness, as the trio back together at nightfall make their way back into the forest.

The cave is easy enough to find but before the undead villains can enter, they must deal with a number of flying kobolds waiting in the trees. Lavinia and Tarpan each hit one before Carter gets seriously bonked on the head forcing the need to take a potion. Tarpan finish the one he was shooting at but takes a bit of damage himself. More misses from both sides as Carter spell is not successful but Lavinia shots another one. The remaining kobolds try to hit as the fly away but are ineffective at both, being shot and spelled at, they are finished off before they can get out of range.

The entrance was not as they left it as the rope was cut but the food room is again empty as the group rests from their first aerial battle, regaining the the strength to continue into the pests home. But before they finish, they hear loud bells outside, unsure what it could be and focused on the task at hand, they wait and the bells past by and fades away, allowing the trio to continue. They make it all the way to the bloody chapel, found as they left it. The next room appeared to be an old mining area with nothing but an old mining cart. The door on the other side was a little more exciting as the thief of the group, Lavinia was able to detect and disarm an acid trap waiting for them.

Beyond that door was sleeping quarters with a closet and lots of thin useless mats, clearly the kobolds had not much of a life. No treasure was to be found, so on to the next room, deeper into the cave dwelling. A small room with a natural flow of water across the room, seemed innocent enough until Lavinia got some water and took damage, apparently it is holly water. She rests a bit as the men watch and wait and the three go back, carefully crossing the stream to examine the large metal door that requires the silver key to open. Carter carefully fills his used healing potion vile with holly water before they open the door to see what is beyond.

This room is bigger than most and is more square. A clearly magical coldness fills the room, enough for ice to form. The bones of a dragon lay perched on a pile of treasure or sparkles as the kobolds called them, in the center with a single door on the far side of the entrance. Carter, sensing danger, inspires us to be focused, with a spell and Tarpan makes his way, halfway down the wall towards the opposite door when he apparently wakes the undead dragon that hauntingly says "Who dares disturbers......" The mind of the three humanoid undead don't hear much after that as their brains are racing to what to do next.

As it turns out, this undead dragon is quiet willing to talk and the party obliges. They discuss how he is trapped here by the king 100 years ago and it seems he is the reason the island is so cold. He is from further north and has offed to handsomely reward anyone who releases him. In an effort to see the options, the party unlocks and explored the door on the far side of the room to find that beyond it is ancient stairs that lead down deep to a cavern that leads to a whole new city if not world, often referred to as The Underdark. Knowing this is beyond the scope of their mission as well as their relative young afterlives, the three agree to return, lock the door, bid farewell to the Undead Dragon for now and return the town they call home.

The Bishop is informed of the completion of the pest removal but not the details of where the treasure is or who guards it. None the less the party is rewarded with a stone seal suitable for one favor for each. Retuning to the Master Seilus, he is happy to send them to Sandra for their reward, a bag of gold and each get a minor magic item, personalized for them.

They have about a week of down time before the next adventure awaits