Haven: The Elf Eater Den

On April 14th, not wanting to get into more trouble with Margrim’s Tower, the maturing party follows up on a satyr report of the massive wolves known as “elf eaters” being found in large numbers at an elven structure in the northeast of satyr lands, near the Vale:

• Finnigan Farl (CoB): Level 4/2 Halfling Bard/Chemist
• Aurum (TrS): Level 3 Elf Magic-user (Elementalist)
  • 2 water elementals, Squish and Squash (1 and 2 cubic feet)
  • fire elemental, Sizzle (1 cubic foot)
  • lightning elemental, Spark (1 cubic foot)
• Will (CaB): Level 3 Human Monk
• Thurston Thwarton (AlB): Level 3 Lizardfolk Nature Cleric

There is heavy fog that day, but it doesn’t deter their travel much as they travel west into satyr lands, knowing that even under good conditions, the journey would be a little over a day. However, as they day starts to come a close, the fog is dispersed by heavy winds and they see a column of darkness ahead. They want to investigate, but the sun is setting soon, so they resolve to wait until morning.

In the morning, the column of darkness is gone, so they proceed toward where they think it was, which also happens to be in the direction of the elf eater den. On the way, they encounter a band of elves with several caged elf eaters. They quickly learn that these elves are from Zanehdreq, the enclave of ancient elves that escaped the Dragon Empire genocide by means of time travel. The elf king himself is with them, but out on his morning walk.

Before the king returns, they extract from the elf leader that the king was the source of the dark column using his weather magic to scatter and panic the elf eaters and capture them; that the elf eaters were not indeed created by the dragon empire, but by the elven nobles as a means of controlling the populace; and that King Mistershem has captured these elf eaters as part of a breeding population to revive the program and tame the now wild wolves.

They offer to go in and finish off the elf eaters and the elf leader indicates that they were planning on doing so today now that they have had a chance to return to their den and is grateful for them to do it instead. The King returns from his walk and agrees that he would like to return to Zanehdreq with his elves, and gives them his blessing to deal with the remaining elf eaters while they depart.

The party continues on to the manor where the elf eaters were denning and start by checking the barn, where they happen upon an elf eater, getting the jump on it and quickly killing it. They pass through the barn and on to another outer building on the manor grounds, finding it locked. Finnigan applies an explosive to open the door and they enter to the rank smell of rotting meat (Will is so sickened by the smell, he waits outside).

While they search the room (finding it to be a butchery with apparently a magical preservative in the meat, which has allowed it to rot slowly enough to be rank now), Will outside is attacked by two elf eaters responding to the sound of the explosion. The first wildly misses him with a leap and he ducks the second allowing the others to come to his aide. He fares well, dodging the wolves, but taking some splash from his allies’ fire blasts and bombs. One of the wolves lets out its signature howl, paralyzing Finnigan with terror before Will goes down to a powerful bite, leaving only Aurum and his elementals to finish them off before healing Will.

With the elf eaters that Finnigan previously heard moving in the manor dealt with, they loop around the other side of the manor to see where the back is open (it being gated off between the butchery and manor). They find the other back gate broken down and go into a back courtyard full of dozens of deteriorated wolf pens where the wolves have apparently continued to den.

They enter the manor through the back door, finding a modest dining room including a magical fireplace that seems to teleport filth to and from a different location. Sending Will through with Sizzle and the filth, he sees another dining room before they bring him back. They proceed to search a kitchen, pantry, sitting room, the dining room Will was teleported to, and a stairway room before coming to the entry room where the front door raises the alarm about intruders and statues start to shoot deadly magical beams at them. They retreat and continue up the stairs.

Up the stairs and through one of three doors, the follow a corridor and through a second door find a store room with sundry goods and a ladder to the attic, which they ignore to go through the door across the hall to a bedroom suite after Will takes a pewter statue. They proceed toward a door off the master bedroom, but Aurum, leading the way, is attacked by a living tapestry. They manage to get it off him and kill it and continue to explore, finding servant quarters and other bedrooms with mere trinkets in them until they open one cabinet to find that the papers inside animate and attack in a flock of paper-cutting birds.

They withdraw from the room, Finn leaving last and closing a bomb in the room behind him. The paper birds that followed them into the fall flutter to the ground and they open to the door to find the cabinet and the other furniture destroyed.

Having looped the second floor, they climb the ladder in the store room up to a store room with some more valuable goods, including jewelry, which they take. Up the stairs to another part of the attic, they find household storage. As they search it, they slay some giant rats, find some collectible items and hidden coins.

With the house mostly searched, they go down to camp the night in the servant dining area, expecting more elf eaters to return. One does indeed come and they confront it. Finn leads the way, but is tackled and pinned by the beast. He attempts to shove one of his bombs down its throat, but drops it, catching them both in the blast. The others quickly help to slay the wolf and Finn is healed.

In the morning, they return to the Vale and sell most of what they found, except for a magical counseling toad statue and the pewter statue taken by Will.

A little late to the punch here. I thought they were much later, but the random encounter indicated elves, so it made sense for them to catch them just after the act.