The old owner of the Welcome Wench sits down next to you as the waitress brings over a drink. "Enjoy you drink! Now what was it your were asking about again? Oh the accursed temple? Saint Cuthbert, it been a long time since anyone asked about that.... Let me think... Yes it was in the year..." his voice and the drink take its toll and only so much of what is said sinks in.
This message was last updated by the player at 01:48, Thu 01 Feb 2007.

The Village of Hommlet - or merely 'Hommlet,' as it is commonly called - is situated in the central part of the Flanaess, that portion of western Oerik Continent which is known and 'civilized'.  The hamlet-sized village (local parlance having distinguished it with the greater term) is located some 30 leagues southeast of the town of Verbobonc, or thereabouts, on the fringe of the territory controlled by the noble Lord the Viscount of Verbobonc.  It is at a crossroads.

Ro the north is the mighty Velverdyva River, along whose south bank runs the Lowroad.  Many days' travel to the east, on the shores of the Lake of Unknown Depths (Nyr Dyv), is the great walled city of Dyvers.  The village of Sobanwych lies about halfway along the route.  Below that to the southeast and east are miles and miles of forest (the Gnarley), beyond which is the Wild Coast, Woolly Bay, and the Sea of Gearnat.  The road south forks a league or so beyond the little community, one branch meandering off towards the Wild Coast, the other rolling through the lower Kron Hills to the village of Ostverk and then eventually turning southwards again into the elven kingdom of Celene.  The gnomish highlands, passing through Greeway Valley about a day's travel distant and going onwards to the Lortmil Mountains far beyond.

Hommlet grew from a farm or two, a rest house, and a smithy.  The roads brought a sufficient number of travelers and merchant wagons to attract tradesmen and artisans to serve those passing through.  The resthouse became a thriving inn, and wheel and wainwright settled in the thorp.  More farmers and herdsmen followed, for grain was needed for the passing animals, and meat was in demand for the innfolk.

Prosperity was great, for the lord of the district was mild and taxed but little.  Trade was good, and the land was untroubled by war, outlaws, or ravaging beasts.  The area was free, beautiful, and bountiful - too much so, in the eyes of some.

Whether the evil came west from Dyvers (as is claimed by one faction) or crept up out of the forestlands bordering the Wild Coast (as others assert), come it did.  At first it was only a few thieves and an odd group of bandits molesting the merchant caravans.  Then came small bands of humanoids - kobolds or goblins - raiding the flocks and herds.  Local militia and foresters of the Waldgraf of Ostverk apparently checked, but did not stop, the spread of outlawry and evil.

A collection of hovels and their slovenly inhabitants formed the nucleus for the troubles where were to increase.  A wicked cleric established a small chapel at this point.  The folk of Hommlet tended to ignore this place, Nulb, even though it was 6 miles distant.  But its out-of-the-way position was ideal for the fell purposes planned for this settlement, as was its position on a small river flowing into the Velverdyva.  The thickets and marshes around Nulb became the lair and hiding place for bandits, brigands, and all sorts of evil men and monsters alike.  The chapel grew into a stone temple as it faithful brought in their ill-gotten tithes.  Good folk were robbed, pillaged, enslaved, and worse.

In but three years, a grim and forbidding fortress surrounded the evil place, and swarms of creatures worshipped and worked their wickedness therein.  The servants of the Temple of Elemental Evil made Hommlet and the lands for leagues around a mockery of freedom and beauty.  Commerce ceased, crops withered; pestilence was abroad.

But the leaders of this cancer were full of hubris and, in their overweaning pride, sought to overthrow the good realms to the north, who were coming to the rescue of the land being crushed under the tyranny wrought by the evil temple.  A great battle was fought.

When the good people of Hommlet saw streams of ochre-colored men and humanoids fleeing south and west through their community, there was great rejoicing, for they knew that the murderous oppressors had been defeated and driven from the field in panic and rout.  So great was the slaughter, so complete the victory of good that the walled stronghold of the Temple of Elemental Evil fell within a fortnight, despite the aid of a terrible demon.  The place was ruined and sealed against further return of such abominations by powerful blessings and magic.

Life in Hommlet quickly returned to a semblance of its former self, before the rise of the temple.  For five years afterward, the village and the surrounding countryside have become richer and more prosperous than ever before.  A monstrous troll which plagued the place for a time was hunted down by a party of passing adventurers.  Carrying the ashes of a goodly fortune as well, the adventurers returned to the village.  Before going elsewhere to seek their fortunes, the adventurers also returned a portion of the village's losses.  Other adventurers, knowing of the evil that had once resided in the area, came to seek out similar caches, and several did find remote lairs and wealth - just as some never returned at all.

After a time, adventurers stopped coming to the area.  I seemed that no monsters were left to slay, and no evil existed here to be stamped out.  The villagers heaved a collective sigh - some pained at the loss of income, but others were relieved by the return to the quiet, normal life - and Hommlet continued its quiet existence for four more years.

But then, a year ago, the bandits began to ride the roads again - not frequently, but to some effect.  To the good folk of Hommlet, this seem all too familiar, so they sent word to the Viscount that wicked forces might still lurk thereabouts.  This information has been spread throughout the countryside, and the news has attracted outsiders to the village once again.  Who and what these men are, no one can be quite sure.  All claim to be bent on slaying monsters and bringing peace and security to Hommlet; but deeds speak more loudly than words, and lies cloak the true purposes of the malevolent.
This message was last updated by the player at 21:34, Wed 31 Jan 2007.

Starting party:

Arek, Felicia, Peter, Vestan and Ronalt

The party met in Hommlet, and learned of the old moathouse, possibly the hideout of a bandit group. They decided to go exploring and investigate the possible bandit infestation for various reasons, some for good, some from greed.  On the way they were attacked by some giant frogs, which they dispatched with little trouble.

Inside the partially ruined moathouse they killed a giant snake, which Vestan proceeded to skin. They overheard the bandits and trying to chase them down only succeeded in scaring them away.  Having done this they then discovered a set of stairs leading to underground rooms, stumbling over a tied-up monk, Adia-Ny, who had been captured by bugbears working for the “boss”.

Continuing on they were attacked by a large group of zombies which they dispatched with little trouble other than a nasty wound that Ronalt picked up from the undead creatures and that refused to heal.  Vestan wished to skin the zombies but the others dissuaded him for the moment.

The party searched a pair of rooms that contained substantial caches of weapons, armour, rations and curious robes with a flaming eye motif. The doors and locks to these rooms and the state of preservation of the goods showed they were stored recently rather than from the original occupation of the moathouse. Realising this was a significant find, they took some representative items including a robe and returned to Hommlet to seek information on the symbol and medical assistance for Ronalt.

Having returned, Vestan possibly made an error when dealing with the village tanner over his snakeskin.  In addition to the snakeskin he broached the subject of supplying zombie skins for future work.  The tanner was horrified and brought the local militia out to arrest the halfling.  Only the timely intervention of Jaroo the local druid prevented this.  Peter Sygor the party’s paladin was so incensed with the idea of taking the skin off dead people that he left the party for good.

The adventurers were summoned to a meeting of the village council, which confirmed that the symbol showed that the moat house was once again home to the minions of the forces of elemental evil. These were possibly a remnant from the downfall of the great temple to the north-east or a new cult. The party were commissioned to investigate the moathouse further on behalf of the council.

Short in numbers the adventurers recruited a plainswoman, Yesil, to bolster their ranks  before embarking on the next foray.
This message was last updated by the player at 21:33, Wed 31 Jan 2007.

The party:  Adia-Ny, Arek, Felicia, Elmo, Ronalt, Vestan and Yesil

The council planned for the party to assist in removing the weapons and supplies found in the Mouthouse. To that end they arranged with Peter Sygor to take several militia with wagons to drag the stash back to Hommlet, while the group were clearing up the mess.

Leaving early the next day, the party was surprised to find the extent of the plundering expedition, three wagons, six militia, three teamsters along with the paladin were set to join them.

That party set off for the Moathouse leading the way ahead of the paladin’s wagon train. On reaching the place of evil it was agreed that the party would go ahead accompanied by on of the militia and make sure the area was safe for the others to join them.  As a result, the party were joined by a drunken villager, named Elmo who appeared to be an ex-fighter of some ability.  Whether this would prove useful was another matter…

As the party warily scouted into the courtyard of the Moathouse an ambush was sprung.  Initially they were attacked by bugbears and gnolls firing arrows from the half ruined side rooms of the courtyard.  These they disposed of without much of a fight before they found the main threat.  Inside the ruined reception area were more bugbears and gnolls alongside an ogre and an elven mage.  After a fierce fight both the ogre and the mage fled the scene leaving the remaining monsters to be mopped up.  Elmo despite his hangover proved quite a good fighter in this and subsequent battles.

Skinner, the halfling thief found a concealed trap door the mage fled down and the party descended to find a portcullis blocking their way.  The combined strengths of Elmo and Ronalt managed to lift this high enough that the party could crawl underneath.  As they were doing this, news came of renewed fighting from above.  It would appear that the wagon train had also been ambushed.

Hurrying to the rescue (OOC: well sort of...) the party joined the battle at a critical stage.  Again bugbears and gnolls formed the main threat as the bore down on the limited fighting abilities of the militia. This time however they were also joined by humans. The battle appeared to be directed by an elven cleric of some sort with a pair of bugbear shaman in attendance.  Even as the battle reached its height the cleric left the battle field only to return later with the mage and the ogre form the earlier skirmish.  On his return however it appeared the fight had turned against him and he with his remaining minions left the battlefield.

One thing seemed clear, to arrange such an ambush, somehow the defenders of the Moathouse knew they were coming. It is possible that the two battles were planned to run together under such strain, who knows what might have prevailed… However it was a victory.

Yes, it was victory, but at such a cost. Five militia men were dead, two including Elmo unconscious and almost everyone had wounds of varying degrees. In this sorry state the force return to Hommlet. The shock was almost more than the village could bare and blame was cast upon the party.  The villager elders alone understand that things would have been much worse. As indeed they became.
This message was last edited by the player at 21:32, Wed 31 Jan 2007.

The party:  Adia-Ny, Arek, Felicia, Elmo, Ronalt, Vestan and Yesil

That night the forces of evil struck within the village itself! The house of the tanner, one of the victims of the Moathouse assault was attacked.  His wife killed and children abducted. His house set ablaze! Panic in the village reached new heights at such close proximity to death.

The council met again and asked the adventurers to undertake a rescue of the children.  After a heated debate, it was recognized that there were no other alternatives.  The elders, capable warriors and magic users themselves had their hands full maintaining the morale of the village and could not be spared.

The party departed at dawn the next day to track the abductors.  A successful rescue would raise their profile within the village as a force for good.

The party tracked the abductors, identified as goblins, though they had a good start the going got easier when the struck a well trodden path leading towards the Kron hills. Closing the distance they suddenly heard a heated argument from a clearing ahead.  Those that could understand the goblin tongue thought that the children were being given as a gift to some evil creatures on behalf of a ‘Lareth’.

Moving to the rescue, the party surprised the goblins in discussion with three ogres and in a hard fought fight succeeded in rescuing the children and capturing two goblins alive.

Time was getting late as the party headed back to the village and the camped for the night just far enough off the trail to hide the fire they lit.  The evening seemed to be passing into dawn when disaster struck!  A crossbow bolt sped out of the darkness and killed one of the goblins outright. Examination of the wound showed that this was no lucky shot but a killing blow from an assassin….  The bolt was poisoned just to make sure, though the shot itself did the work. Clearly someone did not want the prisoners to return to tell tales.

The party protected the other goblin as best they could and made the village in the early morning. This should have been the end but an angry mod formed wanting to lynch the goblin. A few rocks were thrown and things began to turn very ugly until someone started a diversion that allowed enough breathing space for the party to reach the keep accompanied by Burne the mage and Rufus the warrior.

The prisoner was turned over to Terjon the priest of St Cuthbert and the party healed up.  After a few hours yet another council meeting was convened.  The results of the interrogation were unsettling, compounded by news form another source.

It appeared that the moathouse was invested by an elven priest of the Demoness Lolth named ‘Lareth the fair’ and his minions.  He was it seemed assisted by an elven mage and human warrior. The unfortunate goblin was dead, not from the interrogation but by poison.  Before he died he produced a map from his limited knowledge of the moathouse dungeon.

The other news came form a halfling spy named ‘Shaddowfoot’ came from Nulb with news that a warrior had been actively recruiting mercenaries and slaves.  It became apparent that these were destined for the moathouse to bolster its defense against the parties attacks.

Even more disturbing, it seemed common knowledge in Nulb that the old temple was coming back to life.

The main party:  Arek, Felicia, Ronalt, Yesil, Vestan, Drake, Tindo, Markus Sielaff

Second party: Rolf the Strong, Kalador, Elmo, Shaddowfoot.

The rescue of the innocents complete, the party sets out once more for the moathouse.  Electing to approach via the back entrance that Drake had found they circled around cautiously and approached.  The entrance was guarded by some ruffians identified as bugbears, fierce relative of hobgoblins.  These were quickly dispatched and the party started exploring.

Meanwhile back in Hommlet, Elmo had been getting nervous.  The previous battle had been such a hard fought affair with many killed he felt the party maybe overwhelmed by what they faced.  On his own initiative and with the druid, Jaroo’s approval he recruited two warriors, Rolf and Kalador, and the scout Shaddowfoot to assist the assault. Knowing he would be too late to catch the main party he elected to approach the moathouse from above hoping to create some sort of diversion.

The main party reached a branch in the corridors and elected to turn into it.  This unknowingly brought them directly to the domain of Lareth the Beautiful.  Pushing forward they reached a room which appeared to be a barracks.  Entering this they encountered an ambush! Several more bugbears and an elven priest, were waiting in a chamber off the main room and struck.  The cleric plunged the main room into darkness, then brought down a silence!  Only a few of the heroes were caught in this trap, the others having stayed behind but it caused mayhem.  Those in the chamber knew where the enemy were and pushed forward in ones and twos to confront them.  The others could only wait or worse explore in the darkness.

Those that found their way out, Ronalt, Markus, Drake and Felicia confronted the bugbears and their master. In the fight that ensued, Ronalt unfortunately was frozen and could only watch the battle unfold. It was a close run thing before the bugbears were killed, bar one that surrendered and the priest escaped.  The bugbear informed them that the priest was ‘Master Larry tha heid bummer’ or in other words Lareth.

Meanwhile the others in the party had been attacked by some dog faces, or flinds at the corridor end.  These had been dispatched except for one who had been charmed by Tindo.  Growing restless, with the exception of Vestan, they moved off into the darkness and by fluke avoided the priest coming the other way. He would have escaped except the flind had been left with instructions to make anyone leaving wait for Tindo’s return.  This seemingly innocuous request confused the priest enough to stall his departure to allow Vestan to try and backstab the priest.  Although successful, he failed to kill him and was, in turn, charmed by the priest and sent into the dark. Fortunately Drake and Felicia returned before the priest could escape and attacked.  Drake struck the final blow and the priest collapsed unconscious.  As the sounds of more pursuit could be heard from the south, Arek, Yesil and Tindo emerged from the darkness to the north.



While this was going on, the upstairs diversion went into effect.  Entering the courtyard, the party were taunted by a human behind a newly erected barrier.  For some reason this caused them to enter the half ruined tower next to the gateway.  They were attacked by a giant spider which killed the scout Shaddowfoot.  Rolf and Elmo remained outside to begin with but were driven in by a hail of arrows.  They dispatched the spider but this gave time for the defenders of the moathouse to bar the door and begin piling stones against it.  Trapped inside, the party were at a loss what to do next.  Rolf attempted to climb the stairs but only succeeded in causing further ruin.  Finally the three collected a wooden beam and using it as a battering ram managed to force the wall of the tower, falling though and into the moat with the tower collapsing further behind them.  Withdrawing to a comfortable distance Elmo, rolf and Kalador watched the moathouse to try and determine what was happening.

Attacks continued on the now recombined party.  A magic user of some power with an ogre and warrior escort arrived and began to make life uncomfortable.  The party were gradually getting weaker.  Drake was killed after coming under some form of enchantment which made him neglect his defense and become an easy target.  Just as it looked like they would succumb, the treachery of their foes proved their salvation as the magic user was assassinated by one of his own men! This attack staved off, the party faced their final challenge.  A warrior of great prowess entered the battle and started laying about him. None could stand with him, Ronalt and Marcus were both laid low. Yesil, severely wounded, finally dealt a blow which caused the warrior to call off his attack and retreat back into the moathouse.  It was confirmed, by Elmo, that several goblinoids and humans fled through the upper entrance in the general direction of Nulb.  One of them was clearly the warrior.

Whether the diversion had made any difference to the battle for the moathouse was never resolved.  The poor coordination of the attacks on the main party suggests this was the case but it may have been the chaotic tendencies of the defenders. What was clear, however, was that a coordinated attack would have overwhelmed the party resulting in disaster for all and the enemy free to subjugate Hommlet.

The menace from the moathouse was finally blunted.  Only pockets of resistance would remain.  The party however were too grievously wounded to continue and carrying their dead and injured returned to Hommlet to recover.