Pilot Adventure

The Grovewood Saga

Introduction

Campaign Rules

Character Creation

Adventure 1: Welcome to Grovewood, Now Go Home!

Part 1: The Girl tells of her plight.

My tale begins in the sixteenth hundred and twenty fifth year of our land. I am Selwynd Stargazer, a seer and a story teller, and this is the tale of a group of strangers thrown together by a twist of fate to unravel an evil which even now begins to simmer.

It all began in a small village named Grovewood, a small village nestled within a valley of trees near the Zennith Mountain Chain and the town of Fellan. It was here that a knight seeking enlightenment within himself studied and meditated; a young man learning the arts of magic from his mentor was traveling to get herbs for his mentor; while a pixie, bored with his village and looking for a thrill traveled in search of a kick in life; and a mage, trained in the mysteries of magic in its purest form traveled in search of income to continue his studies.

It began in a small inn where a horrible storm drove the village folk to the safety of their homes and the uncanny adventurers to the comforts of the inn, where Clinker Bell, the pixie, thirsty from his travels and quite invisible, decide that he would help himself to some wine, and make it obviously apparent in the process, which gathered the attention of the patrons within, who pursued the pixie to the upper floors of the inn, where after the swinging of several weapons and attempts to subdue the invisible pixie, Clinker Bell finally yielded to the assembled group and paid for the bottle of wine which he had drunk.

After sleeping for the night, the patrons awoke to a meal and discussions of traveling to Fellan when after their meal, a little girl no older than 12 came crashing into the inn. Her breathing was erratic, and she choked out the words between tears and breaths:: "She's dead" "the woods" "alive again" "home". Struggling to make sense of it all, the group gathered there decided to lend there help to the young girl named Laurie Anna. After Dalthar, the wizard of mysterious magic convinced her that Clinker Bell was not going to eat her she accompanied the group to where she lived.

Her home was a simple mud brick house with a wooden door. Inside a small fire pit adorned the far wall, a simple iron pot kept a stew warm above it. A small table rested against the wall, 3 chairs placed by it, while 2 straw beds were arranged by the other wall.

The party scoured the room while Tristan the student mage stood watch outside as a curious crowd began to gather to see what was going on at their neighbor's home.

Part 2: Encounter at the Berry Bushes

After a complete search of the building, the likely heroes had a new problem to deal with, it seems that Laurie Anna's mother, who was assumed deceased, came home after doing the laundry. Angry that a bunch of people were assembled outside of her house, and strangers were in her house with her daughter, she threw a fit. It was about this time that 2 more strangers arrived: a traveling cleric named Nori and a Centaur in tune with the world around himself called Dale Rain. Both joined the group assembled there as the Sheriff and Deputy arrived on the scene to see what was going on.

After explaining the situation to the sheriff, he allowed them to continue their investigation under supervision to the berry brush. As they left, they encountered a traveler coming into the village; an elven warrior of noble birth, hailing all the way from the elven capital of Celandar. He decided to join the group in their investigation and soon they were at the brush.

They arrived shortly at the brush and began to search the area for any signs of where a body was, or should have been, and only the newcomer to the group, Jovvu found any sign of where anything may have been, but there search was cut short as the rains began to fall again, soaking the grounds with their sweet nectar of life. Distraught, the downtrodden adventurers returned back to the village.

Part 3: Clinker-Bell makes a discovery

The heroes soaked to the bone from the heavy rains of day returned to the inn in Grovewood to discuss their thoughts. It seemed apparent that they suspected Sara Prinn, Laurie Anna's mother, of being a shapeshifter but had no proof that it was true at the time. Clinker-Bell deciding a little bit of lawlessness was in order managed to appropriate the innkeeper's key from his pocket and made his way into his basement. What he discovered there shocked the young pixie. Bundled in a corner were 5 burlap bags. 2 of which contained food stuffs and the rest contained corpses... one of which was the innkeeper's.

Part 4: 2 days and the evidence is gone

Clinker-Bell raced back to the party assembled in Tollers's cramped little room where he told of his discovery within the depths of the basement below. Nori, volunteering himself as a diversion for the innkeeper granted the group enough time to sneak downstairs into the innkeeper's basement to view the bodies for themselves. Meanwhile Nori and Clinker-Bell made a realistic leak in Nori's ceiling using a mug of water, though they failed to think of the floor that lay above them in their planning. The innkeeper, upon opening the upstairs door put it together what exactly was going on and immediately raced downstairs to cover up anything that the group would find. Nori, in an attempt to stop the innkeeper threw his staff at his legs tripping him on the dinning room floor. In the battle that ensued, Sara Prinn, the mother of the little girl Laurie Anna Prinn, escaped from the inn without notice as the innkeeper was being flogged by the angry adventurers. Unable to penetrate Nori's defenses, and suffering from several wounds from the pixie's war arrows, he fled into the streets with Nori right behind. As the innkeeper raced for the gates, fate turned against him as he crashed into an elven warrioress who was traveling to the village. Pleading for his life to the woman, she dragged him back to the inn where after hearing the story of the adventurers, began delivering justice of her own by beating the innkeeper. She then began to assemble the bodies outside and proceeded to burn the group's only other source of evidence.

With this they ended their first adventure with the escape of Sara Prinn and the destruction of the bodies that they could have used as evidence to a greater threat to the little village. Hence this is where the tale of the Mad DM ends as well for a new tale of the heroes misery and suffering at the hands of fate has been borne unto this world, describing one man's plunge into the darkness that awaits and the hardships that they must endure to discover the truth within the walls of Grovewood....

The Journals of Tristan of Fellan