Spoopyton Abbey

#### *Methodology*

We set out to explore Spoopyton Abbey (possibly “Skeletown?”), the town to the west of The Goblin Keep. First, we stopped at The Keep to check in on Sherbert. Elizabeth found that Sherbert was dead but had given birth to several babies. Most eggs had hatched and slithered away to the west before we arrived, but one egg remained. Elizabeth secured the baby and cared for it. While we made camp that night, I created some literature to help the baby-to-be learn about our world.

At first light, we set off for Spoopyton (Figure 1). We took the path that led west from The Keep. On the way, we were hit by a rain of 19 flash-frozen birds. The birds had died at a great hight, mid-flight. They had bird-like appearance with feathers and beaks but possessed leathery, bat-like wings. Alton discovered that there was a strange weather pattern above. We collected the birds for further study and pressed onward.

When we arrived at Spoopyton, we found the town was long abandoned, very old, and heavily decayed. The trees around the town are mostly dead, with some newer weeds and vines growing in around the ruins. Most buildings were made of the same sculpted stone we saw evidence of at the Lighthouse and other areas in Ithlacar; however, the first building we encountered was built of layed stone bricks. The first building had the appearance of an old chapel, with an altar at one end. Carved relief statues appeared to portray humans with scythes, but upon closer inspection were revealed to be elves with shepherd's crooks that had been physically altered (e.g., ears snapped and rounded, crooks broken and reshaped) to give the human shape we first perceived. The altar had a vaguely healing energy, but any scripts that had once been etched on it were long worn clean.

We explored several of the ruined town buildings, though there is much left to explore in Spoopyton. During our explorations, we had several encounters with terrifying foe.

* First, we were spotted by heavily armed skeletons that were digging up graves. Due to Ben's prowess against the undead, we were spared substantial damage.
* During the next encounter with a large jelly trapped in a large barrel (in the old brewery), we were saved by Elizabeth's quick thinking with a create and destroy water spell that turned the jelly into powder instantaneously.
* Then, we encountered several hobgoblins. The hobgoblins were vicious attackers who continued to attack even those of us who had fallen. Alton was revived by Ben several times. Due to my own overconfidence in Toast's skills, I accidentally tricked one of the hobgoblins into thinking Toast was more terrifying than he is, so I was luckily spared much of the hobgoblin wrath. I know I will not get away so easily next time. Unfortunately, one magical teleporting hobgoblin was able to escape, though we killed the rest. During this fraught battle, Elizabeth’s egg hatched. She fed it some frozen birds. Welcome to the world, Sherbert Jr.!
* Finally, we encountered a very terrible mouth beast inside one of the buildings. It caused several of us to go blind and prevented us from moving. We were lucky to walk away from the fight. When we did, we discovered that it wore a sash that said "Mayor." In this room, we encountered teens who had been frightened by The Mayor. We rescued them and brought them back with us to Haven.

#### *Results*

The town areas we explored are as follows (Figure 2):

1. Chapel with altered elf sculptures.
2. Three piles, containing teeth, whole fingernails, and small bones, respectively.
3. Mushrooms and fungus (poisonous).
4. Fresh graves dug by heavily armed skeletons (all encountered skeletons were killed in battle).
5. Barrels of liquor/beer. The large barrels contained monstrous jellies, while the small barrels contained liquor. We brought back two small barrels of liquor, one chocolately/hoppy and delicious, and one spoiled.
6. Area behind the old brewery where we encountered several beefy (two-attack) hobgoblins. (The bear pictured is the bear totem Elizabeth conjured, not a permanent fixture of the land.)
7. A very decayed and nearly unidentifiable skeleton. Our best guess is that this skeleton belonged to a dragon.
8. A building with arcane runes that look like those found in the mines. We saw what looked like pieces of armor on some pedestals, but upon closer inspection realized they weren’t pieces of armor, but pieces of Warforged or other steel creatures. Alton takes a glove piece back to Haven for more study.
9. Courtyard with a magical (but no longer working) well. A signpost signaled three towns in three directions (magically legible in the reader's common language): North - Vaknika; South - Luka; West - Presuda.
10. Library; most papers were too old and disintegrated at Alton’s inspection. However, in a desk drawer, Alton found a map that reads “Administrative Zone B: Drakomil’s Domain” (Figure 3). It is possible that the paths marked on the map may lead to the three towns of Vaknika, Luka, and Presuda.
11. Throne room with Mayor Mouthy Beast where we found and rescued star-crossed teen lovers Jennega (dwarf) and Romeron (elf).

As we left with the rescued teens, Jennega told us that her dwarf clan, The Beardless, does not get along well with the Northern Dwarf Clan. Jennega and Romeron were terrified of our human friends, Ben and Elizabeth. They had been taught to fear humans. We tried to reassure them. They also told us about the towns we saw on the signpost in the town square. Vaknika is a very large city, the capital of the hobgoblin empire. They'd never heard of Luka or Presuda. They told us that an elf town lies to the west, and to the south is mostly wastes and The Citadel of Bones and Ash.

#### *Discussion*

We learned quite a bit during this adventure, but there is much more to learn from Spoopyton Abbey. There are more buildings to explore, and others should try to figure out what the skeletons were attempting to unearth. Any future explorers should be very wary because the hobgoblins know about us, are likely mounting a defense or offense against us, and their town is just north of Spoopyton. We also need to learn more about the towns located on the signpost. The map of Drakomil’s Domain map provide further areas of exploration.