Bound together by fate, a group of
adventurers wanders the
They are mysterious…they are
powerful…they are the one and only
Moathouse Liberation
Front
Hear now this tale of their adventures…
The
Moathouse
The Beginning
In a run-down tavern in Waterdeep, an old man sat in a shadowy corner. The old man
had been there every day for weeks. He sat in the quiet of the tavern, ignoring
the occasional outburst from other patrons, staring at nothing. Today, his
waiting would be over.
A dwarf entered the tavern,
glanced around, and spied the old man. Like most of his race, the dwarf was
powerfully built and wore sturdy armor. The axe on his back warned off any who
might think him easy prey. He sat down across from the old man, earning a glance,
but no words were spoken.
Next to enter was a human,
dressed in simple but dirty garments. The lute he carried seemed to indicate
skill as a bard, but unlike most bards, this one did not smile and announce a
song, looking to earn a few pennies. This bard moved silenty
to the old man’s table and sat down.
Some time passed. The tableau
remained unchanged, each of the three lost in his own
thoughts. Then the door swung open again, and a tall half-elf entered, followed
closely by a halfling. The half-elf was clearly uneasy, glancing around
constantly, and seemed out of place in his rustic clothing. By contrast, the halfing moved confidently, making easy progress despite the
heavy armor she wore. Both moved to the old man’s table and sat.
For another moment, all were
silent. Then the old man suddenly looked up and spoke. “I have a task for any
that choose to accept the burden. The danger will be great, but so too will be
the reward. Seek out Elmo in the town of
The four seated with the old
man looked from him to the note, then around at one another. The halfing began to speak, but before she had spoken a word,
the old man suddenly stood. His face went blank, as if trying to concentrate on
something far away. Then, as suddenly as he had stood, he fell to the floor.
The dwarf went to the old man
and felt for a pulse. He shook his head. “Dead.” As
the others glanced at one another, he looked through the old man’s pockets and
pulled out another parchment. After glancing at it, he threw it on the table. “Map.” As he did so, the corpse faded from view.
“I know of Hommet.”
The bard pointed to the map. “That distance is about 60 miles, 2 day’s travel. Dangerous alone.”
“I am here to root out evil
wherever it may be found. Whatever would strike a man down in such a way must
be dealt with. Nikki Sweetbottom will not forsake a
need because of some danger.” The halfing looked
around at the other three at the table. “My goddess Yondalla
has granted me knowledge of the hearts of others, and I sense that I may trust
all of you. Will you come with me to lend aid to Hommet?”
“Anything to get out of this
city and back to the countryside,” said the half-elf. “I am Gelthan.
Let us find this Elmo.”
The bard shrugged. “Might as
well, there’s a reward. Call me Clancy.”
“Thordin.” So
saying, the dwarf stood and headed for the door. The others gathered up their
belongings, the halfing taking the paper, and moved
to follow.
Just as they were about to
leave, the door burst open again. A human woman entered, almost falling through
in her haste. From her robes, she appeared to be a sorceress. She carried a
chicken under one arm.
“I’m late, aren’t I?” Spying
the paper in the halfling’s hand, she continued, “There’s
the note! You must all be headed to Hommet. Well, I’ll
just travel with you.”
Gelthan, after glancing at the others and seeing that they
looked as confused as he felt, spoke. “Uh, who are you?”
“Oh, I’m Rosalie. I was on my
way here, but I got distracted, you know. I’m supposed to help Elmo. There was
an old man here yesterday, but I see you have his note, so we can all go
together.”
“I don’t sense any evil in her,”
said Nikki, “so I supposed she may as well come.”
“Let’s go,” growled the dwarf
impatiently. With no further interruptions, they left and set out for Hommet.
The
Two days of uneventful travel
brought the adventurers to Hommet. Following the map,
they soon arrived at the
“This doesn’t look like my
kind of place,” Gelthan said. “There’s a druid grove
nearby. I’ll see what I can find there.” He headed off, followed by his wolf
companion.
“Just as well, that wolf gives
me the creeps.” Clancy headed for the door, followed by the others. “I could
use a drink.”
Drinks were indeed available,
and all but Nikki quickly obtained one. Meals and rooms were also quickly
procured. Finding Elmo, however, was not so easy. After nearly two hours of
drinking, eating, and talking to the locals, they had learned many useful
things – the bartender’s name was Ostler Gundigot, Elmo was the captian of
the local militia, there was a halfling encampment outside town, and the local
druids had been arguing with the militia recently. As for finding Elmo, however,
they knew only that he often came to the
Just as Clancy suggested that
they seek Elmo elsewhere, the man himself entered the tavern. Elmo headed
straight for their table, and introduced himself. “I’m
Elmo, the captain of the local militia. That druid with the wolf said you all
had something for me?”
Quickly Nikki explained the
old man and the note, handing it to Elmo. He read it quickly, his face sober. “It
appears the situation is more grave even than I knew. This
says that the flour mill outside town holds great evil, but there is another
place that is even worse. The moathouse here in town
has been the site of evil happenings. I would be in your debt if you could
investigate it. Then we can deal with this other evil.”
The adventurers decided
quickly that they would go to the moathouse the very
next morning.
To the Moathouse
After a good night’s sleep,
and after meeting Gelthan outside, the party headed
for the moathouse. Gelthan
had spent the night in the druid grove, although things were not well there.
The lead druid, one Jeroo Ashcraft, had been acting
very strangely. Perhaps defeating the evil that Elmo feared would also help the
druid.
The moathouse
itself was an imposing structure, surrounded by marshy land and a deep canal.
Despite one minor mishap with a giant toad, in which the dwarf toured the toad’s
stomach, everyone reached the entrance safely.
Reaching the building was only
the beginning, however. Upon entering the structure, the party found themselves
in a large entry room. Strange sounds came from one corner – sounds like
breathing. Cautious investigation turned to battle when out of the shadows
sprung a dragon! Fortunately the dragon was young and inexperienced, but even
so the dwarf was gravely injured in the confrontation.
Nikki, Gelthan,
and Clancy combined their healing skills to restore Thordin,
and the party searched eagerly for the dragon’s hoard. They found only a few
gold coins, a disappointment – but also a clue. What dragon would be here with
no hoard? Something must have bound it to this place besides the usual dragon
greed.
Further exploration revealed a
few gnolls, hardly a challenge after fighting the
dragon. The party decided to rest for the night soon afterward, to be prepared
in case other dangerous beasts were encountered.
Refreshed, the adventurers
continued their explorations. After descending to the basement, they found a
network of caves. More remained to investigate in the moathouse,
however, so the caves would have to wait. In another portion of the basement,
they found something more interesting – an elevator shaft leading down into
darkness.
As the party stood near the
elevator, debating whether to use it, they were set upon by two troglodytes!
One of the monsters cast evil spells upon himself, wounding several. Afer a long and difficult battle, he eventually was
defeated.
Searching the corpses revealed
a journal that explained several mysteries. The moathouse
stood over some place of great evil, a place that this cleric and his brethren
meant to use to summon a dark lord of some kind. The elevator led to this
place. The dragon, Utreshimon by name, had been bound
magically to guard the entrance. The evil clerics planned to summon this dark
lord and destroy the town of
The party rested again for a
night, regaining strength and digesting this new information. Soon it would be
time to confront this place of evil.
Last updated 04-06-2006 by Skip Franklin