After meeting with the village sheriff, the group learns of the bizarre attackers that have ravaged the countryside.Tales of misshapen giants and orc-like creatures are mingled with report of strange skull headed, tentacle-lined moths that swoop down to snatch unsuspecting villagers and haul them away. They have managed to fell one of the creatures and report that when it hit the ground it burst into a patch of pitch black toadstools with a decidedly unhealthy appearance. The local ranger has been missing for a few weeks and a couple of days ago, the chief constable, the village cleric of Freya and a handful of stout farmers set out to see what had become of him. None have returned so far and the mood in the enclosure is a bit panicky.
The cleric secures shelter in the abandoned shrine of Freya and tells the group to be ready for an attack. Sure enough, in the wee hours of the morning a trio of moths fly overhead, emitting a strange hypnotic hum that seems to confuse and disorient the guards on the wall. Where the tentacles touch, the victims become paralyzed. The cleric attempts to banish them, assuming them to be some sort of other-worldly horror – but is surprised when this fails. Undaunted, the group resorts to missile fire to fell the beasts and manages to slay them all in a matter of seconds. The cleric then restores life to the two unfortunate guards that fell to the earth as the moth that was carrying them was killed. This greatly improves morale among the refugees.
The following morning, the party ventures out along the paths to seek the local lord’s manor house. The Malthen family has been here for a few decades and are well regarded by the locals. They may be lords, but they don’t lord it over others. The party reaches the junction of the road which leads to the manor house while the other path stretches towards the mines – which the cleric thinks will be the epicenter of the trouble – when they are ambushed! A pair of large logs roll down the hill, scattering the party members. Following the logs are a pair of misshapen brutish giants that seem intent on causing bodily harm. These are also slain in short order and the group progresses towards the manor house.
As they draw near, they are met by the groundskeeper and escorted to the lord of the manor. Milo meets and greets the party and relays what information that he knows about the goings-on. About two weeks ago, reports started coming in of strange creatures. Then, about a week ago, all traffic from the mine ceased. The lord, his family and their retainers have been trapped out here among the trees since then. He offers to pay the group two thousand golden lions if they will go and investigate the mines and restore order to them.
The group heads off to the mines and enters immediately. Within the first thirty feet of entering they are attacked by strange creatures that lurk on the ceiling and have long, thin appendages. They move on, encountering slimecrawlers, some kind of tentacled onion beast that lives in a pile of filth and another vile looking alien creature. All are slain with relative ease, but they are unfamiliar in appearance and this gives the party something to worry about. They find and cross a small lake and discover a cavern full of shriekers, guarded by a pair of violet fungi. Although they manage to destroy several of the creatures, some of the mushrooms start to wail…
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