A Trip to the Big City

Having accepted Mr. McGuffy’s offer of ‘detached duty’, our intrepid band raid the quartermaster’s stores and set off to the great city of Gradsul. After taking in the sights the end up at the ‘Singing axe’ pub and nobly resist the temptation to start a bar-room brawl (despite the pleadings of the intelligent and very rude cursed berserking greataxe on the wall). Everyone gets free drinks because it has been said the King plans to visit the City to meet whit the Chin Emperor, while Tod steals a tacky ‘nodding dragon’ toy from the axe’s collection.

The party talk to Martin the manager and eventually meet with Mr McGuffy’s associate, a Mr Rose.
Mr Rose introduces Farene of Gyrax, a half-elven lady of advancing years and renowned perfume merchant. She is outraged that one of her shipments of perfume from the elven town of Rilifain was hijacked by evil orcs. (boo!) The party check out the story of the shipment guards, and look for culprits or motives among the other merchants, managing to embolden one guard to date his cousin (with the blessings of Pelor) and start a minor price scare in the perfumery market.

Having sensibly determined the exact location of the ‘ambush’ the party disguise themselves as harmless perfume merchants and take a wagon down to the one-horse village of Ashton. Checking out local rumours reveals: Young Esme Fenton disappeared while picking mushrooms. Chester, the vintner’s son seems to have got himself killed or wounded out in the woods, (and his poor doggy fatally wounded), and big wolves have been killing the farmers’ sheep.

After much tramping round the mushroom fields and sniffing wolf poo the party follow wolf/goblin tracks into a wooded, mountainous region in the edge of the Dreadwood, where ancient dwarf mines and crumbling outposts dot the mountainside.

As the sun sets wolf calls are heard in the far distance, and the flicker of a light is seen ahead, high above the dark, wooded path. The scouts report a tumbledown stone watchtower, with goblin noises coming from the top. It overlooks an old ruined fortress which protects a tunnel which heads into the mountain.....

Author: Dave Brown

Last modified by Richard Fisher

share: