 DM: @Geokhan
Players:
Ander (Paladin 4) [@Waylander322]
GarGot (Druid 2) [@Tim]
Istasha (Pugilist 2) [@Visi]
Murdrum (Sorcerer 2, Warlock 2) [@Drewid]
Sneaker (Socerer 1, Cleric 1) [@Mutis]
Summary for the impatient
– Finished road construction near Port Mirandia (3 hexes – check map or pics)
– Saw some colored steam in the forest towards the south west
– Saw a potential magical individual leaving after hearing explosions and a lighting arc
– Experienced 2 earth quakes that potential have a specific source that could be checked for
– Found a trapdoor that has a dwarven chamber with a door that needs a 3 pronged key
Day 1:
We are heading out of Port Mirandia with a group of 40 workers with a dwarf called Burp as their leader. The weather this day is quite nice. It is cold outside but the sun in shining and the ground covered in snow. With a light breeze from the north-east we are following the road that leads over the stone bridge nearby and head south-west towards the construction site.
As we are traveling peacefully on the road we do see some colored steam rising out of the forest to our right. It appears to be a weird color but we decide not to investigate it as it is far off our destination and we have to stay close to our worker force.
We arrive at the site where to road ends and construction has to resume and while the workers set up their camp one of them comes running to us and tells us about some disturbance towards the east. We calm him down and promise to check the area for what he might have seen.
Investigating the disturbance in the east
When approaching the area we were lead to Gargot saw a creature that appeared to be related to a mole. It had the size of a large dog, with a thick, barrel-shaped body and looked to be as heavy as a full-grown dwarf. A ring of tentacles sprouted above its mouth. We saw no form of ears and only tiny eyes. However when we were approaching the creature dug back into the ground.
Besides our party there were two additonal creatures nearby. One seemed to be a female elven ranger of sorts who was accompanied by a orange-red frog creature. Both of them wore leather armor of a similar design so we assumed they were traveling together.
We have a little conversation with the two, basically providing some information about what we are doing and learning that they are hunting in these areas. They ask us about “Oatnis”, who must be a fellow adventurer? However none of our group has heard or met a person like that so we wish them farewell and head back to our worker camp.
Booms and explosions from the east
As the workers continued their construction work, we heard several sounds off in the distance towards the east. It sounds like quite a number of booms which sounded like explosions and an arc of lightning in the distance going off. All we managed to see from our position was a puff of snow going up in the air.
To have a better look we decide to search for a higher position on a nearby hill and even consider some trees. With that we managed to see two or three miles away some blackish snow and one individual moving away from a small crater. As it didn’t seem like anything was coming our way from there we decided to ignore it.
The rest of the day went by without trouble and our workers finished up their work for the night while we tried to gather some food in the area. We got lucky this night and found 2 rabbits and some roots to mix it up.
Strange meetings during our first night
Our first two watches go by uneventful, but during our third watch hears some sounds coming from the south. Our scout is woken and asked to check out whatever might be there. Sneaker notices 3 individuals running towards our group. Two of these creatures appear to have goatlegs and the third looks similar to the frog individual we met earlier that day.
As they are shouting “They are coming!” everybody else is woking up as a precaution.
According to one of the goatlegged individuals bandits of some sort were coming which we have no reason to disbelieve as they looked rather frightened of whatever they ran away from.
Strange creatures during the night
Additional creatures peal out of the darkness from the
south. Strange, circular shaped creatures with stocks as
eyes on their heads are rushing towards our little camp.
Behind these four creatures follows an insect creature
the size of a horse with some sort of saddle on its back
though a rider appears to be missing.
Sending our workers in the back and having a crude
formation we managed to defend our camp. Worth
noting is that the strange looking creatures had the
ability to explode and vmoiting grubs of some sort.
After the fight we manage to find out that the saddle appears to be crafted by elves.
From the three individuals we saved and who are named Gerribul, Hontsy, and Kilbert the frog we learn that the attacking creatures came from the south from the forest. They are supposed to live in caves and underground so something must have driven them out. There are caves all over the landscape, some potentially leading deeper underground.
After that Kilver, Gerribul and Hontsy decide to press on during the night as they have a show going on somewhere in the north and travel best during the night according to them.
Returning to construction work the next day
After a rather questionnable night the construction resumes the next morning. Work goes smoothly and quite some progress is made this morning. By noon there is some kind of an eerie feeling that overcomes everyone as the grounds shakes for four to five seconds.
Our workers are spooked by this but manage to deal with it and finish the construction on this spot.
Construction then continues in the next section and one of the workers finds some sort of statue doing so. Our group headed over there and saw a pile of stone that looks like a fallen statue buried in the snow. The statue is a thin man holding tow daggers in a pose. The statue itself seems to be of little worth. However the shape hints at a human creature and at the base of the statue the words “Follow the blue light” are inscribed there.
After foraging the area we prepared our campside during our second watch another rumbling goes through the area. It is enough to wake all of us up. Confused we look around and are alarmed by noise coming from the other side of the path.
The second night caught between creatures
 Probably stirred up by the rumbling in the area we see 4 giant centipedes heading our way which are joined by 2 black bears from the north and one goblin and a large bone creature that has some shark like jaw bones as its body. As if this were not enough additional creatures are breaking up around the walls of our camp sending our workers running for their lives.
After the find we notice that we lost Bob the worker unfortunately. The rest of the night is peaceful though.
Final section of construction
The work resumes the next morning. The workers appear to be hardy folks and used to working under dangerous conditions as their progress is not halted even slightly by the loss of their fellow worker during the night. By noon they have finished the second section and we are able to move onto the last section of this road project.
Towards the evening we started to look for a good campside close to the forest and find one that appears to have been used a day or so ago. Around it are some foot prints of a humanoid and a strange looking one. However we didn’t see any creatures nearby so are happy to camp here for the night after some foraging which went okish.
A peaceful nights with some events
During the first watch some circular shape and a pile of ash towards the middle is discovered. Checking these out the next morning we assume some form of a funeral pyre. Around the ashes was some kind of ceremenial ring made of stones two inces high.
The second watch is peaceful and partially spent to watch for any blue lights in the stars or the area though none are seen.
The third watch was nice for our druid as he managed to notice a boar nearby, lured it close with some rations and was lucky enough to have enough time to study its form.
During our fourth watch someone stumbled over a trap door in the ground.
Trapdoor inspection and finishing the road
The next morning we are opening the trapdoor and find a spiral staircase beneath it. Carefully looking around and checking for traps we walked down the stairs and found ourselves in a small 10 by 20 foot chamber. The structure appeared to be potentially constructed by dwarves and was very dusty.
There is a doorway with ornaments that has two statues next to it htat hold lanterns in their hands that light up when approached.
In the middle of the door there appears to be some sort of mechanical lock that requires a key with three prongs to it. Possibly a specific item or object is needed to open it.
Above the doorway is a writing in dwarvish that we received a tranlsation from the leader of our workers. The writing says “The winter of the forge” or “Winter Forge”. There is nothing nearby that indicates a lever or something similar.
Heading back to the construction site we watched our workers while the road was being finished.
After that we decided to head back to Port Mirandia and to press through the night as we didn’t make it there before sunset. After a successful return to Port Mirandia we can proudly present a finished piece of roadwork.