22nd of HepDec 1050 - Village of Eding, Kingdom of Crosedes
By the time we finally returned from our thorough search of the river valley upstream, young Hob had finally been recovered, not by the other sergeant downriver, not by the women in town, and certainly not by my band of men.
Somehow Hob had gotten across the river and wandered into the dread Nightwood Forest!
In an action I have never seen in my time in the village, as the militiamen had already left the village, the witch emerged from her hut along the river!
She cursed those that remained to search for Hob in town. She cursed those who left town to search even louder.
She had seen Hob traverse the river and wander into the Nightwood itself! If any wiser souls than the idiots wandering the road would care to venture into the midnight dark forest and find him, well, let's just say the witch promised no grand reward, but they would be the last ones she would curse when she grew tired of all you feeble mortals.
Three individuals stepped forward:
Cesmir, a pompous, but capable magic-user that wandered into town two weeks ago, looking for adventure. If I had remembered he was still in the village, I would have accused him of kidnapping the boy for some tawdry ritual.
Zoog, a stalwart caravan guard I've seen visit Eding many times.
And the biggest surprise, to the shame of many competent sellswords and "alleged" retired adventurers was young Iris, a teenager with deft hands and a penchant for helping the less fortunate villagers through her ill-gotten gains.
They quickly acquired a few additional pieces of gear from the village, crossed the river and entered the Nightwood. Two days later they emerged from the dark forest with a happy little boy in tow.
The tales they told at the Blue Wizard afterward were just believable enough. There were attacks by trolls that did not fear sunlight for turning them to stone, for barely any penetrated the canopy. A small tribe of kobolds had caught Hob and appeared to be preparing him for the next meal before they quietly rescued him. The smoke from the Goblin City of G'ba was only noticeable if you scaled the tallest trees and broke through the treeline.
Now, the attacks of Rodents of Unusual Size, so big that one grabbed young Hob and put him in a special sack inside his mouth, probably to save him to eat later, those I don't believe. They might as well be flying in the ether,
The witch was true to her word and did little to hex or bless anyone in the village, but this little adventure made the trio instant heroes, and thanks to Hob's father, it met with the approval of Lord Athelstane.
Still, I have yet to find Caton to inquire how he knew something like this was happening. And although it was never my intention to search the Nightwood with my petty cadre of militiamen, the hint to travel upriver must have something to do with the witch.
GM Notes: Rescue from Nightwood Forest was the first adventure I ran after I returned home from Basic and AIT. Simple premise, a bit railroady, with two or three stops before the sleeping kobold camp and the chance to rescue the young boy.
And the off-hand reference to the ROUS is, in fact, a Giant Space Hamster from Volume 7 of the Monstrous Compendium.
Besides a *spoiler* test run to re-use this adventure for another campaign, I appreciate Cesmir the wizard appearing in the game, if for no other reason than using his cool name as the founding father of Crosedes (absolutely no relation).
Next: #78 The Castle of the Moors
By the time we finally returned from our thorough search of the river valley upstream, young Hob had finally been recovered, not by the other sergeant downriver, not by the women in town, and certainly not by my band of men.
Somehow Hob had gotten across the river and wandered into the dread Nightwood Forest!
She cursed those that remained to search for Hob in town. She cursed those who left town to search even louder.
She had seen Hob traverse the river and wander into the Nightwood itself! If any wiser souls than the idiots wandering the road would care to venture into the midnight dark forest and find him, well, let's just say the witch promised no grand reward, but they would be the last ones she would curse when she grew tired of all you feeble mortals.
Three individuals stepped forward:
Cesmir, a pompous, but capable magic-user that wandered into town two weeks ago, looking for adventure. If I had remembered he was still in the village, I would have accused him of kidnapping the boy for some tawdry ritual.
Zoog, a stalwart caravan guard I've seen visit Eding many times.
They quickly acquired a few additional pieces of gear from the village, crossed the river and entered the Nightwood. Two days later they emerged from the dark forest with a happy little boy in tow.
The tales they told at the Blue Wizard afterward were just believable enough. There were attacks by trolls that did not fear sunlight for turning them to stone, for barely any penetrated the canopy. A small tribe of kobolds had caught Hob and appeared to be preparing him for the next meal before they quietly rescued him. The smoke from the Goblin City of G'ba was only noticeable if you scaled the tallest trees and broke through the treeline.
Now, the attacks of Rodents of Unusual Size, so big that one grabbed young Hob and put him in a special sack inside his mouth, probably to save him to eat later, those I don't believe. They might as well be flying in the ether,
The witch was true to her word and did little to hex or bless anyone in the village, but this little adventure made the trio instant heroes, and thanks to Hob's father, it met with the approval of Lord Athelstane.
Still, I have yet to find Caton to inquire how he knew something like this was happening. And although it was never my intention to search the Nightwood with my petty cadre of militiamen, the hint to travel upriver must have something to do with the witch.
GM Notes: Rescue from Nightwood Forest was the first adventure I ran after I returned home from Basic and AIT. Simple premise, a bit railroady, with two or three stops before the sleeping kobold camp and the chance to rescue the young boy.
And the off-hand reference to the ROUS is, in fact, a Giant Space Hamster from Volume 7 of the Monstrous Compendium.
Besides a *spoiler* test run to re-use this adventure for another campaign, I appreciate Cesmir the wizard appearing in the game, if for no other reason than using his cool name as the founding father of Crosedes (absolutely no relation).
Next: #78 The Castle of the Moors
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