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Gnoll Raiders (Session #2)
While Kerzog, Grundel, and Whistler were in the church of Oldarin, a young girl entered the church in hysterics. The local priest calmed the child and she explained that her father and older brother were missing. The characters offered to look into the disappearance and quickly gathered the rest of the party to travel to the farm house where the little girl lived.
When they arrived the farm was the very picture of serenity, so the group searched for possible clues. Everything in the area looked just as you would expect, until a group of four gnolls rushed from the crops to attack the group. The companions defeated the gnolls quickly and continued looking for clues. After searching for a while, Kerzog noticed that there was a knotted rope hanging into the well. Grundel climbed down the rope and found a rough tunnel leading to the south. He swam through the tunnel, which traveled about 30 feet before depositing him into a small subterranean grotto with two tunnels leaving the cavern. Grundel returned to the well and gathered the rest of the group so they could explore the tunnel system.
After the group was assembled in the cavern they all began a careful exploration of the cavern and the tunnels. At the end of the second tunnel was a wall of loose stones, obviously a half-hearted attempt at some sort of repair to an older wall. The stronger party members broke down the wall and were shocked that beyond the wall was a worked room, obviously some sort of jail cell. The group heard some moaning and realized that there were occupied cells nearby. They left the cell and found that there were three prisoners kept in intact cells in the same hallway as the cell they entered. They found out that one of the prisoners was the young girl's father, but her older brother was being used as a slave laborer on a higher level of the subterranean compound. The party told the prisoners that they would return to release them and continued their exploration. They found a refuse room inhabited by a gray ooze. They defeated the ooze and found a spiral staircase leading up.
On the second level of the complex, the group came across a dozing gnoll sentry. Carokk quietly approached and killed the gnoll with one swift blow. As the group peeked around a corner, they glimpsed a human boy serving some sort of soup to a small group of gnolls. The party rushed into the room after letting loose a volley of arrows at the gnolls. A tough battle ensued, but the companions were victorious.
The group searched the area, found that they had defeated the entire group of gnolls, and found an exit to a small cave in a copse of trees near the farm. The group left the family and headed back to the village of Elf Friend to prepare for the next leg of their journey.