The Heroes of Brackleborn -- Game-Play Report (Session 2)

04/08/20

Previously...

While relaxing in the Hogshead Inn, the heroes heard a scream from the cellar. The party leapt into action and killed three giant rats accosting the innkeeper's wife. The rats apparently dragged her young son Mortimer into a dark hole, newly-appeared in the floor.

Session Events

Ellie Mae joins the others in the cellar and, as a group, the heroes drop down into the rat hole. The tunnel is tight for Dixie and Armolas, who must crouch down to pass, but Belba and Ellie have no problems (the tunnel might even be called "cozy" by halfling standards, save for the reek of rat urine). The tunnel corkscrews for a ways, then opens into a small cave where the party sees four more giant rats biting and pulling at Mortimer, who shrieks in fear.

The party rushes forward as three rats turn to face them; the fourth rat drags Mortimer away down another tunnel. The heroes quickly kill the rats and pursue the fourth one into the new tunnel. As they rush down the tight passage, they hear a high-pitched voice demanding to know: “Why did you bring him here, you idiot?!”

The second tunnel opens into a cellar lined with finished stone, where they find four more giant rats, along with Mortimer and a halfling-sized "rat-man." The rat-man (with the high-pitched voice) orders the giant rats to attack, then flees toward a third tunnel, roughly shoving Mortimer to the floor as he does. As he makes his escape, the rat-man hesitates for a moment, calculating whether he can get to a wooden box on the other side of the cellar room. He thinks better of the idea, however, and dashes down the tunnel.

The heroes kill the rats and rescue Mortimer. They attempt to pursue the rat-man, but find that the tunnel exits into a culvert just outside of town. The tunnel entrance is cleverly concealed by rocks and shrubs. There is no sign of the rat-man, however. Armolas tries to track him, but loses the footprints on the heavily-trafficked village lane.

Returning to the rat-man's cellar lair, the party counts four tunnel exits -- the one they entered, the rat-man's escape tunnel to the culvert, and two other tunnel openings. Investigating the box, Armolas picks the lock and finds a leather bag containing 20 gp (standard merchant coins), a second leather bag containing five gold coins, but with a blood-red hue.

Armolas identifies the currency as red gold,* which is used by evil humanoids like goblins and orcs. They also find a bronze badge embossed with a strange bronze sigil, three vials of fine white powder, and a sinister checklist:

Also, in one corner of the cellar stand two sealed wooden barrels. Across the room, a set of rickety stairs rises to a trapdoor, which is latched from the cellar side. It opens into the gutted remains of a burned-out, abandoned building. The building was a former trader's establishment; it mysteriously caught fire a few months ago and the foreign merchant left town.

The party returns to the inn and reunites Mortimer with his grateful parents, but the heroes still have some remaining questions to answer:

• Where do the other two tunnels go?
• What were the rats doing?
• Who was the rat-man?
• What about the loot?

The session ends here...

Session 3

* I swiped the concept of "red gold" from David Eddings' The Belgariad series. I always loved the idea of a cursed currency that has a subtle effect on its owner: The more you have, the more you want (and the more desperate you will get to accumulate more.)