Meeting Magpies
Thursday's group also chose to start at a dungeon. I picked Winter's Daughter, rotated the map, restocked the dungeon a little and placed it in the hills near Lankshorn.
They reached the barrow and immediately found signs that somebody had beaten them there. Fresh tracks, the stone slab sealing the entrance pushed aside and tools still lying outside. In the first room, a sack was stuck beneath a knocked over plinth. As soon as they started talking, something inside began screeching in Liturgic and trying to get free.
Brave Shale carried the screeching sack outside, where it promptly fell silent. It contained three moldy church items, which Old Jasper the undertaker buried near the barrow for safekeeping.
When they returned, someone shined a bullseye lantern in their faces. Two men in black-and-white feathered coats and beak-shaped hoods started questioning them. They introduced themselves as Noel and Rennick of the Magpies, a gang of bandits working for the Magpie King. They were looking for fairy silver.
Things hadn't gone particularly well for the Magpies. Giant stone dogs had killed one of them, skeletons had injured another, and Noel's sister Mara was missing somewhere below. They still wanted the fairy silver, though, and offered to share whatever they found if the group helped them get past the dogs.
The group agreed to help and followed the bandits to their camp in an old underground chapel. That's where we stopped.
The encounter with the Magpies wasn't really planned this way. I only realized at the table that the screeching would obviously alert them, so they came investigating. I made two reaction rolls. The first suggested they'd confront the party rather than ambush them. The second, after some talking, suggested they might be willing to make a deal. Which seemed fitting for Noel.
I'm not entirely sure about the screeching sack, though. There wasn't really any way for the players to anticipate setting it off just by talking. Maybe I should have foreshadowed it somehow. On the other hand, they already knew somebody else was inside the barrow, so attracting attention wasn't entirely out of nowhere either. Not sure there's much to fix here. I like how it emerged.
Just like with Wednesday's group, I probably should have put a little more effort into the starting hook. This group actually wanted to do some proper character introductions beforehand, which turned out to be pretty quick and helpful despite our limited time. I'm glad they did.
Anyway, we'll see what comes of it.