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Addermarch Campaign - Session 15

Addermarch Campaign - Session 15

The Haunted Cottage: in which the party confronts a ghost and gathers clues

Featuring: Yvan Greenrabbit, Drou, Fazoth de Brune
In Taelgar: May 19, 1715 DR - May 21, 1715 DR
On Earth: Sunday November 16, 2025
Haldrenn and Roscombe

The party investigates Duncan of Haldrenn’s cottage, defeats a haunted shade, gathers clues, and returns to Roscombe to speak with Caradoc.

Timeline

Cast of Characters

  • Yvan Greenrabbit — Halfling sorcerer whose sharp perception and spellwork prove vital in uncovering clues and surviving the root-cellar haunt.
  • Drou — Battle-hardened warrior and musician, quick to spot physical evidence at the cottage and devastating with Shatter when the shade appears.
  • Fazoth de Brune — Warlock whose keen insight pieces together the corpse’s wounds and who helps destroy the enraged spirit.
  • Helen of Haldrenn — Temple administrator in Haldrenn; provides Duncan’s history.
  • Alewyn — Hearthkeeper and informal tavern host; a reliable source of village gossip and Duncan’s winter habits.
  • Bran — Child of Haldrenn who witnessed strange lights and shouting on the ridge weeks ago.
  • Karl — Father to Bran; inspected the ridge the morning after the shouting.
  • Duncan of Haldrenn — Missing shepherd whose cottage, root cellar, and hidden hoard spark the investigation.
  • The Haunted Shade — A vengeful spirit rising from the corpse in Duncan’s cellar.
  • Caradoc — Hermit-alchemist and former traveler of the Feywild, now offering guidance and warnings.
  • Owen Tavish — Priest of the Sibyl, scholar, and antiquarian in Roscombe who identifies and contextualizes the ancient coins.

Places

  • Haldrenn — Small rural village where Duncan lived and where the investigation begins.
  • Duncan’s Cottage — A lonely stone shepherd’s house on the ridge; site of a struggle and scattered clues.
  • Duncan’s Root Cellar — Burned-out underground storehouse containing the corpse and the lurking shade.
  • Brantor — Waypoint village on the road between Haldrenn and Roscombe; home of Caradoc.
  • Caradoc’s Cottage — Remote dwelling of the hermit-alchemist; repository of lore about the Feywild and the past.
  • Roscombe — Larger settlement south of Haldrenn; destination for identifying the coins and gathering more history.
  • The Traveler’s Rest — Inn in Roscombe where the party ends the session.

Narrative

Wednesday, May 19th, 2 Robert I

Returning to town, the party stops to speak with Helen of Haldrenn, the temple administrator at the Temple of the Mother in the village. She tells them the basic story: Duncan lived alone in a small stone cottage on the edge of the village; he was a shepherd and would spend the summers up in the high moors with his flock, but in the winters he spent most of his time hanging out at Alewyn’s, whose hearth served as an informal pub in the winters. He was boastful, and most people thought he just talked big, even when he kept talking about a secret treasure. So the village was surprised when, last March, he said he had had enough sitting around and left, never to return. Most people think he died in the big late storm that came through in April. She also tells them that Duncan’s cottage (now empty) sits on the ridge above the coppice wood, and the charcoal burners might have seen him when he left.

The party then gathers information. First they talk to Alewyn, who is excited to see them having heard the tale of their defense of the village from worgs, and feeds them lunch of stew and sauteed apples. She tells them the same basic story as Helen, but says that this past winter, something changed, and Duncan sounded more serious about actually having information about a secret treasure, and about planning his journey. Yvan gives her 1 gold piece for her trouble, for which she is very grateful. Next, the party speaks with Bran and Karl, on their way to Duncan’s cottage. Bran says that a few weeks ago, he saw a fire up on the ridge, and heard shouting in the middle of the night, but the next morning Karl checked it out (briefly and cautiously) and didn’t see anything.

Duncan’s cottage is a simple one room stone and thatch affair, with a hearth, a table, and a straw bed. There is blood on the doorframe, though, that Yvan notices, while Drou finds smeared ash from the hearth suggesting a struggle and a heavy body being dragged, and Fazoth notices that the shepherd’s crook is broken and hastily mended. Concluding that there was a fight in the cottage, but the body was dragged out, the party goes to search the root cellar. The latch on the door is broken, and inside are the signs of a fire: burned apples, turnips, and straw. Beneath the burned straw is a dead body, from which a vengeful spirit rises to attack. Though it immolates Yvan at the beginning of combat, it cannot leave the root cellar and between Fazoth and Yvan’s Witch Bolt spells and Drou’s Shatter spell, it is defeated, though Yvan is nearly killed.

After the haunt is killed, the party searches the body. Fazoth deduces it was likely killed by an axe, though there is also evidence of blunt force trauma. The party also finds scattered ancient coins and treasure (120 ancient gold coins, 300 ancient silver coins, a pendant that looks like a amulet of The Warlord), and burned scraps of notes, which they take. Yvan, with his painter skills, makes a painting of the dead body.

That evening, the party warns the town and gets a good night’s rest.

Thursday, May 20th, 2 Robert I

In the morning, the party departs for Roscombe. On the road, and at camp that evening, they piece together bits of the fragments of paper. They seem to mostly be the rantings of a madman: “It needs me to find a new heart for his master” or “Must go home, get the heart from the old stories” or “The axe will help me with my quest”. But there are occasionally moments of lucidity too: “It haunts my dreams, and I cannot make it stop”.

Friday, May 21st, 2 Robert I

The party arrives at Caradoc’s cottage in the early afternoon. They speak with him for a while. He reveals that indeed he went by Aurenxis when he traveled in the Feywild long ago, to keep his true identity safe from mischief. He reminds them about Morlaith and the dangers of the Feywild, and tells them that if they are venturing into the wilds after Duncan, they should stop by his cottage first. He has some old adventuring gear to give them. He also suggests they speak to Owen Tavish in town about the old coins.

The party returns to Roscombe, and meets with Owen Tavish before dinner. He tells them that 300 years ago, a war was fought in these parts against the armies of the Dominion of Avatus. He claims the old coins found on the corpse in Duncan’s cottage are dated from the reign of Derik I, who ruled during the war against Avatus; indeed, these coins are from the same era as those found with the Serpentine Dagger, he says. Owen suggests that the coins could plunder and to investigate old forts and battlefields from the ancient wars to find more.

We end as the party returns to The Traveler’s Rest to sleep.