The Temple of Elemental Evil game thread

Yes - I'll keep things moving as you have many more locations to visit!

A few hundred feet down the east road lies the carpenter's shop. The sign before this place shows a saw and hammer. The building appears newly constructed.

You enter inside, and he appears very busy. The carpenter often works for other craftsmen in town, and is currently at work on barrel staves. Another man, perhaps his younger brother, is with him.

The carpenter realises you were just curious, and returns to his work. You head towards the tower. The last building on your left is well-crafted stone dwelling seems recently built. It is set off from the road by a low stone wall. No animals are seen, but some children are playing in the yard.

You can see a number of poor-looking fellows in the distance, along with various tradesmen and skilled workers, who are gathered in tents before the woods. These must be the workers who are building the castle. Some are returning from the site, some are returning, and others are working.

Here are the beginnings of a smallish castle, being built around a new tower atop the low mound. Workers have dug deep trench lines about ten feet wide and as deep, down to a hard clay. They seem to be in the process of mortaring the foundations of the wall to be built above. Work has barely begun, but the outlines of bastions, towers, a gatehouse and a keep can be noted.

The keep is atop the second hillock, and considerable excavation has taken place. The earth from this digging has been used in the walls around the whole. Some dressed stone blocks are visible, but not similar to local stone. On the nearer hillock, you see a completed tower.

This structure is some 55 feet tall, a smaller tower rising inside the greater at about 35 feet above the ground. Its entrance is accessible only by going up a curving flight of stone stairs which terminate in a landing about 10 feet above the ground. The outer door of the tower lowers to form a bridge to the stone landing. There are numbers of arrow slits around the tower, and it has a splay around the base to about 6 feet in height. The lower and upper battlements are machicolated, the merlons being pierced for archery as well. Two men-at-arms watch from its roof.

Pursuasion if needed

"Yes, m'lad. You'll find the two up in tha' tower. I wouldn'a go rushin in though. Burne's Badgers. Burne pardoned a bunch'o brigands, now bein' in his employ. Havin' a'revelries t'day, an' any who cross th'badgers come back with scar or two. If y'have important business with them you'd best get th'word of the Elder o' the village, an' they be sure to assist fer a good cause".

Now he mentions it, you can hear the whistle of a flute coming from the tower, and muffled chatter and clanging tankards. The workers outside, however, look less than celebratory.

"Better they be protectin' us than robbing us. I can't speak for them but they hung around an' follow orders'n'all so I 'spect they are paid well. Hard work, these trenches, but 'tis fodder on table and our lives are guaranteed, which may not be true in th' walls o' Greyhawk".

"Much obliged friend. Rufus leads the militia here, and a man called Ostler is some kind of officer. P'haps go speaking to him? He owns th'Welcome Wench. Som'times goes there late even'n when t'evening dies down."

"Aye, there be many militiamen in town, in case be problems w'the Temple one day, or bandits. Not all of them have their youth, but a fellow with a sword an' chain mail is better than none. Many fought in the great battle ten years ago, an' now they go about their normal purposes, bu' ready to defend when th'time comes!"

Your visits were not all as fruitful as you had hoped, but the smell of cooking meats from the Welcome Wench is inviting, and makes the several minutes walk back to the Inn more pleasant. The darkening sky tells you it is time for retreat, to recover from your very lengthy journey so that adventures can begin tomorrow. When you arrive, a second warhorse, along with a mule, appear to have been stabled as well. There appears to be a little more commotion inside, but it is of the more civil kind. The sound of clacking plates, low chatter and hearty laughter draws you inside.

Just over two dozen Patrons fill the bar. About half appear to be local folk, and the other half are merchants, tinkers, peddlers and other travellers. Not many appear to be adventurers. One man in brown robes appears to be studying a scroll carefully, alone on a bench away from the tables. You also spot a hulking fighter at one of the tables, but what is more peculiar is a small but thin Bakluni fellow beside him. He has the trademark Bakluni features of golden skin and slightly chromatic hair and eyes, and is also holding a quarterstaff as if waiting for an attack. You catch the tail end of his conversation: "Something must be done soon!"