We last left our heroes in the bowels of the Misty Monk Monastery and Brewery. They had encountered several monks with bloated stomachs and twisted, demonic faces who spewed forth animated ale that then attempted to worm its way down the throats of the nearest humanoid. The monks and the ale monsters were dispatched, and Ripley the thief (a rogue by class, but a thief by some poor life choices) unlocked a door to a hallway lined with many large barrels. As the company proceeded cautiously down the hallway (much to the displeasure of Graela the barbarian, who disdains caution) Several of the barrels fell off the shelves and coalesced into a humanoid shape with glowing eyes.
Without waiting for a consensus on whether or not to act, Graela and Bolo the fighter proceeded to try to chop the barrel monster into kindling with their massive swords. They made short work of the beast, but not before Graela was dropped once to the floor, bleeding profusely. Thanks to some healing from Witch Hazel, the barbarian was quickly back on her feet but still low on hit points. Mixx the alchemist lobbed a bomb into the fray, expertly avoiding setting any of her teammates on fire.
No treasure was found on the vanquished abomination, but the hallway did have two closed doors to examine. The one to the right was locked (and trapped, much to Ripley’s chagrin). Ripley narrowly avoided becoming a Halfling shishkabob by virtue of his quick reflexes, just missing falling into a spiked pit. After rigging the platform to stay put, Mixx listened at the door and heard voices discussing the noise outside. ‘Something activated the trap,’ said one. ‘Get ready for whatever comes through the door,’ said another. Deciding to leave the paranoid denizens of the monastery well enough alone, the party elected to try the door to the left, which was not locked, trapped, nor did anything jump out at them when they opened it. How dull, thought the DM.
Before they could proceed down the next hallway, Hazel (whose player had heretofore been occupied with a squalling real-life baby...) allowed as how she wanted to talk to the people in the trapped room. So they went back down the hallway and let Hazel wave a white flag on a stick poking through the door. (The flag was fashioned from fabric from one of the poor fallen monks in the entry hall.) After a bit of brief negotiation, the group learned that the bank hiding behind the trapped door was the Father Superior mentioned in some of the letters Hazel had read earlier in the adventure.
The ale at Misty Monk Brewery, it seems, was possessed by demons who were summarily dispelled by a priest from the Temple of the Five before it was shipped out and consumed by the general public. This process gave the ale a taste that no other brewer could replicate. Unfortunately, something had gone wrong with the latest batch, and the ale had escaped it’s magic circle and began pouring itself down the throats of the hapless novices involved in aiding the ritual possession and exorcism. The party’s aid was entreated and they consented… in return for some platinum pieces, a magic sword to help defeat the main demon in the summoning room (who might even now be attempting to gate in more of its brethren), and the title of ‘count’ would be bestowed upon one of the lucky adventurers. Mixx thought to give a hard look at the Father Superior to see if he was on the level, for his methods of ale making were suspect at best, but her powers of sensing motives were dim, and so far as they could tell his offer was on the level.
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