Oakwood had Covid.  However the rest of us soldered on. 

Briscoe healed enough to be conscious.  Briscoe and Terstegan moved back to the previous room while Clarissa and Xeeli explored the room where the Brownie mysteriously got slaughtered.  Used detect magic wack a mole.  Xeeli placed the brownie corpse into her magic sleeve.  She said it was to provide an honorable burial later… but the rest of us had some doubts. 

Clarissa Read Aura and Arcana on the gem and found it was the constructs power source. Then Briscoe, Xeeli and Clarissa went outside to explore the docks.  Briscoe went first and the pier collapsed exposing a Flckerwisp that attacked us.  It was immune to magic so the GM interpreted this to mean it was immune to stones thrown by magic and magic weapons.  It beat on Briscoe but on the second round it retreated.  Terstehgan ran up after the fight was done, stumbling through the uneven surface and broken glass of the room.

After treating our wounds we headed downstairs. We found a chamber for making constructs where Worbough's (the bird construct) body was floating in a large glass decanter.  We also found a journal.   Apparently this goblins master was a construct master and the goblin volunteered to have his soul place in a construct.  We found a doll construct with no limbs and were about to place the soul (from the gem) into the doll to question it when Briscoe found a secret door (look, a butterfly!) naturally we dropped our plans to rush to the secret door.  It led down stairs to a four way intersection.  A door to the east, a corridor to the west and stair going back up to the south.

Xeeli snuck ahead but didn't tell anyone that he was scouting ahead so we had a discussion on whether we knew if he was scouting.  We decided to wait since it seemed she was scouting.  In one direction of the corridor he found a library complete with librarians wearing blue robes actively placing books on the shelves.  We were not sure if they were constructs it being late we decided to look down the other end of the corridor to see the lay of the land without starting a combat.

The room at the other end was filled with thick mist, we were unable to determine any details inside.  Going up the stairs we found a "T" intersection.  South was what seemed to be an exit to the swamp, a muddy/moldy beach but it got so cold Briscoe and Terseghn took cold damage.  Now were didn't think it lead outside and the mold grew as it absorbed the boy's body heat.  We backed out.  Once again the girls escaped harm.

The room to the north led to a room full of bones that started to pull together into a giant skeleton about three meters with a bull's head with a large sword.  Rather than immediately closing the door Xeeli tried to determine what this was first.  We determined it’s a skeleton with a bull's head.

TerStegen was sad that Xeelie was unavailable to create his magic battle axe.  Maybe next time.  We decided to just head back out to the Cabin the Woods.  Immediately we noticed a body in the front yard, covered in a sheet.  The Spider Lurker.  We had locked the doors when we left but didn’t move any bodies.  A second body, a spider, was on the front porch.  In the parlor, we noted that the furniture was uncovered with an odd-looking doll on the couch.  Brian had also updated the map to reflect the web cleaning we did do.  Do we have squatters? More Spider Lurkers cleaning up? Ghost maid? We searched the bottom floor but found no one.  In the study, Oakwood pulled those 3 books and revealed a secret door that simply went into the hallway.  We saw more evidence of tidying.  In the kitchen, someone had prepared spider legs for cooking? We decided to go down into the cellar via the hatch in the kitchen.  In there were a couple barrels of booze, some wood and tools and general supplies for fixing the house.  Plus, a flying talking tiny snake named Ollie.  He was friendly enough and claimed ownership of the house, the cellar, in particular.  Mostly TerStegen talked to him.  He seemed willing to share as long as the booze, his bed of pillows and the cellar stayed his.  He talked about the spiders and a “ghost” but wasn’t too helpful there.  He was the one that had tidied up with his Mage Hand.  He seemed like a wizard familiar gone rogue.

We cleared the webs on the stairs and headed up.  There was a dark spot in the upper hallway that looked suspicious.  A Survival roll said it was a dangerous mold so we avoided it.  Something acidic might clear it but we had nothing handy. The master bedroom was a mess.  As soon as TerStegen went in, he was attacked by a Giant Spider.  Oakwood went first and flug some long-range throwing stars at him rather than plow into the webs.  Missed.  It shot a web, took a bite and then ran into the bathroom.  Clarissa tried to get around it by going into the next door but it was an unattached bathroom.  It has a tub that seemed to be steaming.  It had a rod in the bottom which we assumed heated the water.  (Note: we never retrieved that rod.)  People accused him of being BTO so he shut the door.  The spider hid behind an overturned tub which was a bit of a positioning problem but it wasn’t too tough.  TerStegen searched around while Brisco cast Detect Magic.  They found nothing.  Meanwhile Oakwood moved over to support Clarissa as she checked out the tub.  And she was attacked by a Grey (Clear really) Ooze.

That Ooze was tough.  It had +13 to hit, which then grabbed and then squeezed for more damage on a Fort save over 20.  It resisted damage, which probably depending on the damage type.  And once grabbed, that squeeze took no actions.  And then got 3 attacks/actions.  It crit Clarissa (with a bone chilling16 on the die) and knocked her out with the squeeze.  Oakwood could not help her since she was “in” the Ooze.  It moved a bit next round when it rocked TerStegen who ran in to help.  The next round, Oakwood got her out of there.  And then Brisco cast his AOE Cure to get her up before she bled to death.  TerStegen was also knocked out.  This time, Brisco dragged him out but stepped into the mold square.  Rather than slip or do damage, it exploded in an AOE.  Clarissa went out again and Ter Stegen took another dying level.  Brisco tried to First Aid him but failed.  On TerStagan’s turn, he failed his death save and was at dying 3.  But he used a Hero Point to stabilize at zero.  Oakwood crit it twice which was good since it resisted most of his damage.  He poured a healing potion into Clarissa, rather than risk a 50/50 Medicine roll.  And it was finally dropped.  The Ooze oozed and since it was acidic, he used his Mage Hand to clean the mold with it.  And then carried TerStagen to the front yard.  Dare we hope that was the "ghost"?   

Since everyone was down significant points, we figure we had a couple of hours of Treat Wounds ahead of us.  So, we might as well use our best healer.  On the first go around, Brisco only succeeded on himself.  The next one, he failed on all four.  The next hour, Oakwood tried on only succeeded on himself.  And then Brisco went again and succeeded on all 4.  We were ready to go again when two giant crocs attacked from the swamp.  Again, one of them went first.  It charged Clarissa and again crit her.  And she was grabbed for free.  TerStagen was hit as well and started hacking.  Brisco cast that Runic Weapon on his axe and he was doing a ton.  When it was Clarissa’s turn, Brian realized she was still prone from last fight which meant she shouldn’t have been critted.  But no retroactive play.  He then did the death roll and took her out again.  The players whined and he gave her 1 hit point instead.  Oakwood fought and TerStagen crit for 4d12 and Clarissa did 3 Magic Missiles and they were out.  That was followed by another hour of healing.  During that, we butchered the meat which would have some value in town.  Our only treasure.  We figured we could store the rest in the smokehouse.  That was our last goal for the night. 

But before we could get to the smokehouse, we had to go through the corral and past the barn.  In the middle of the corral was a single mushroom which we looked upon in terror.  We could also see that the earth in the barn was freshly dug up.  But as we surveyed the situation, a couple noticed centipede tracks near the hay in the opposite corner.  We decided to try to burn them out but didn’t want to burn down the whole house.  (Although that notion was gaining traction.)  We grabbed some buckets and pots and filled them with swamp water in case the fire spread.  And then Brisco used his Smoke Staff to lite the hay.  However, before he could get any flame, a Centipede Swarm attacked.  Brian had trouble remembering how it worked so the fight was a bit confused.  It basically moved onto 4 squares (it was large) and attacked 3 players.  It was a stiff Fort save or be poisoned.  No attack roll needed.  Oakwood saved but TerStegen and Brisco did not.  Despite its damage resistances, it was out in a round.  TerStegen made his next save but Brisco did not.  He did a Treat Poison but all that did was give him a +2.  He missed the 50/50 save again and the damage was getting worse.  So, he took Oakwood’s offered anti-venom potion.  Still, that only gave bonuses but he managed to save before he died.  Another hour or two to heal him up.           

It was pretty obvious there was a giant Centipede buried in the barn and we were pretty tired of life-threatening fights but we were here to clean out the monsters so it was back to work.  Oakwood volunteered to open the Cthulhu door, poking the dirt.  Sure enough, a Giant Centipede appeared.  It went first.  On action 1, it knocked Oakwood prone with no roll or save, then on action 2, it hit him for d10+6 for 12 and a poison save which he failed for more 10+ damage and then on its 3^rd action, a tail attack on Ter which missed.  However, TerStegen whacked it, spells were cast and Oakwood finished it off.  But then took more poison damage, thankfully saving after that.  Brisco missed two more Treat Wounds which gobbled up more hours but he crit on the next one.  It was getting late but we decided to get to that smokehouse or die trying.  Which had a Sewer Ooze in it.  For once, it rolled low and went last.  Its AC was like 8.  We attacked.  Clarissa wanted to keep her distance but couldn’t get a shot into the room.  She tried to climb through the broken windows and into the study but missed a DC12 Climb roll with her -1 STR.  If she tried again, she wouldn’t have two actions to cast so Brian gave her a deal.  If she took damage from the glass, she could do the move.  He did 8 on 1d8.  TerStegen killed it soon enough, but it released a filth wave as it died.  Clarissa and TerStegan failed and a crit fail for Brisco.  Oakwood had moved out of the way so wasn’t targeted.  It was only 1d4 damage but did another poison which caused speed to be reduced by 10.  It took 2 rounds to clean up with Prestidigitation.  We told Ollie we were leaving and took some Croc meat with us.  Two rooms upstairs, a storehouse and maybe the swamp area to go.  We made 3^rd.

GM Summary

Session 9 - Starday, 28th Gozren, 4719 AR
Our heroes arrived at the Cabin in the Woods.
     ■ TerStehgen, his tummy now full of delicious bacon, took a nap in the front yard. Attempts to rouse him were met with mumbles about "skewl" and being up in one men-mint". One men-mint never came, so he snored on.

     ■ Casting about with a look of desperation, Briscoe steeped off the path and into the deep woods. Several hours later on his return, a look of mild shame on his face, no amount of coercion was sufficient to force an explanation for his long absence nor how to use the 3 sea shells.
The remaining heroes girded their loins with thoughts of Loin of Pork with Potatoes. It was time to explore the Cabin in the Woods. Tammily's parting words came back to haunt the group, "The combat trainer His deepest thoughts now in hand Your key to enter".

Xeeli leapt into action and immediately ignored these words. Through observation, trial and error, as well as some spells a few things became apparent:

    ■ There was something magical near the front door. A sconce on the front porch had a torch that was bruning, perhaps forever. Thus the name "Torch That Was Burning, Perhaps Forever" was coined and trademarked for later use to consisely describe such a thing.

   ■ Spider webs were all over this house like stink on poop.

   ■ The front door was locked and wouldn't budge even after Xeeli jammed it full of metal shards and made claims of unlocking the thing. Oakwood, chewing on a blade of grass from the overgrown lawn area pointed out that the DMs description of a different thing in the front yard: "A disturbing fusion of scarecrow and combat practice contraption stands nearby in the front yard."

It could be the elusive combat trainer mentioned in session 7. With the care and precision of a bomb disposal team, the group gathered near the object. No amount of prodding or poking was sufficient for it to release even a small amount of hidden, deadly concusive force. His heart in his throat, Oakwood reached inside the "Combat Trainer" and found a key ring with 2 keys (one appeared to be a key for a common lock while the other was for a poor lock). Perhaps copies could be made later, but for now it seemed Oakwood was the victor and the new sole owner of the Cabin in the Woods. The law of Finders Keepers again prevailed.

Investigating the front door, it was confirmed something was jamming it shut. Force would be needed to get inside. Since dumb brute force was asleep, the group elected to circle the house. Breaking open a section of rotted flooring, the group found a +1 Dagger. A side door to the house was found and the common key unlocked the door, but it too appeared to be jammed. Closer examination suggested it was gummed up on all sides by a strong but fluffy white substance...spider silk.

Walking to the back of the property, the group ignored the nearby swamp skimmer (a raft with a sail), broken over turned rowboat (on the other side of a watery expanse) and a trail leading deeper into the swamp (past a collapsed foot bridge). An enclosed porch was found in the back. Someone or something was wrapped inside spider webs and laying on top of a wooden bench. Showing another burst of bravery, Oakwood unwrapped the...garden tools. Who or what would wrap these to look like a body? It's almost like a petulant and unruly child is in charge of the groups fate. Investigating the porch area, while there was a back door, it was also determined to be sealed shut from the inside, likely by spider webs judging by the amount of silk out here and on all edges of the door jam.

Skirting a well and a clothes washing basin, the group found what they believed to be, from Tammily's description, the kitchen entrance. While this door opened, it took effort and finesse to get through the thing. Another open interior door was blocking this outside door from opening fully. The room was indeed a kitchen. Scattered cooking and eating utensils as well as pots and pans greeted the group by doing nothing and laying where they were on the floor. Shutters on the kitchen window were slightly ajar and the window itself was open with a gap of several inches. Perhaps a cat had caused this mess? Hopefully a bag and a stick is around to address the issue.

There were S doors in the kitchen. The outside door they had entered. A door that contained little more than a cellar hatch. A butler's pantry with another door leading into the dinning room. Webs filled the bottom half of the room, but the top half was clear. Something had scrounged all sustenance from this room leaving behind a few broken pots. The second to last door was another small pantry. It was also well picked through with only empty bags, broken pots and empty bottles to hint at what might have been here before. The last door lead to a hallway that split the front half of the house from the back half.

Our heroes entered the hallway and peaked out the window to the outside on this end. It seemed there was some sort of enclosed side yard out there. Toward the other side of the house the hallway became somewhat clogged with webbing. A set of double doors to the right was wide open while a set directly opposite and to the left was closed. On the far side was another door that lead to the outside and the wrap around porch the group had previously used.

Investigating the Living Room area, it was obvious Tammily had prepared it for extended non-occupation. Perhaps the cloth covering the rug was too much. The amount of spider web sticking to every surface suggested a nearby spider den. No amount of peering about would overcome the secretly rolled 1 investigation. Stepping into the room, the group was immediately beset by a pair of giant spiders. Their nemesis from the spider cave was back at double the power...and the group was reduced in size. Surely death had leapt from the shadows. Or not...the giant spiders proved to be relative pushovers.

Some time was spent making a clean path past the office door through the web to the front door. Investigating the office revealed a somewhat weathered area. A large window to the outside from the office was completely shattered, glass strewn inside and out. With legs broken on one side, the cloth covering a large oak desk spilled to the side and onto the floor. A pair of overturned chairs and scattered books everywhere completed the decor. Several large book cases filled one wall, only a 3 volume set entitled "Absalom Trade Procedures: 4708 Edition" remained pristine and untouched on the shelf. Having no immediate need in this remote cabin to conduct trade in Absalom nearly 11 years in the past the books would likely forever remain pristine. A globe that was obviously some sort of disguised liquor cabinet sat in one corner. This was promptly ignored since:

■ No closet alcoholics were in this subset of the group

■ It surely did not contain medical supplies that Tammily used to address the dangerous and sometimes venomous wildlife.

Xeelie did a bit of investigation in the room disguised as tidying up. It was only when she looked back on this time and realized she had started to alphabetize the books that it occurred to her she might have done a bad job investigating, but an OK job of cleaning.

Having decided the moderate encounter with two spiders to have been quite the easy encounter, the group headed to the dinning room with the intention of finding a more severe threat. It was 2 more giant spiders accompanied by a Web Lurker (a hideous spider humanoid). Oakwood was stuck to one door before being sent unconscious. Xeeli was stuck to another door and nearly sent unconscious. However, the group did prevail against the much tougher opponents. Reviving Oakwood and dragging themselves outside, the group locked the house up and staggered back to town.

While in town, Xeeli spent a full extra day to transfer the +1 runes off the dagger and on to Oakwood's Bo-Staff. It was now Starday and the Otari Founder's Day Celebration would start 5 days from now on Oathday. As they were featured guests at the upcoming celebration, the group could not skip it to investigate their home for much longer. Pressure for each member of the party to get a job and become valuable townies was building. After the Founder's Day Celebration:

■ Clarisa will join her mom cleaning the Dawnflower library

■ Xeeli will be responsible for selling towels and wash cloths (whether alongside her mom or not is yet to be determined)

■ TerSteghen either needs to join the town guard alongside Derek Longsaddle (his rival and the son of the guard captain) or work alongside his father at the Lumber Mill

■ Briscoe can eek out a few more years of sleeping late and lazing around

■ Oakwood will continue to be a disappointment and thorn to his stepfather (who needs a constant reminder of his wife's infidelity)

Brian Wade's game in Pathfinder has started.  We're actually on game 4!  We are all learning the system so it's a bit slow and frustrating at times.  Also first level... yeah, you always forget what a drag that is.  Like a traumatic memory.  Can't hit, one shots and failed saves.  Oh, the failed saves.  Sigh.  We just made level 2, so I am sure I am a transformed man.

I updated the Archives to include the most recent games we finished.  I say "recent" with some irony since it hadn't been updated in years.  I mean the blogs were all there but after a few years they get buried in the stack of more recent ones.  What about all the poor innocents who are crying out for those titillating stories and can't find them?  Well, I've got their back.  Look in the Archives.

I had a few vacation days free, so what did I decide to do?  Upgrade my NAS's operating system!  Yay!  Or not.

It didn't go smoothly.  A while ago I had to downgrade from Maria BD 10 to 5.  I had thought it was an issue with symbols being forced to be used as passwords and Joomla not being able to handle it.  Maria DB 5 didn't have that issue, so that is what I used.  Nevertheless the new operating system for the NAS did not support Maria DB 5 so I buckled down and figured out how to upgrade it and then upgraded the NAS OS.  It was educational but there was more documentation on how to get the settings right for operability with Joomla.  I am no expert but I am now far more comfortable setting up the database than I was.  So, while it was time-consuming, it wasn't too bad.  

However, the upgrade of the NAS OS failed.  The data wasn't lost but for awhile, I couldn't access it on the local network.  Synology has a backdoor that allows it to connect to your NAS and reset or even re-install the operating system.  I'm somewhat ambivalent about it but it saved my butt from having to just do a complete wipe and start from ground zero.  I did lose all my settings though.  So off I went to reconnect to the network, then the ISP/WAN settings.  All the settings were wiped, including the SSL certs.  This is an incredible PITA.  Suddenly your own browser won't allow you to connect your website because it isn't trusted. No one else can get to your website either.  Synology has software that will automatically generate a license but it is only for their own backdoor connection, not your alias domain.  The method used for general certificates kept failing, stating the ports weren't open.  They were.  

So I go to another provider and find out that the CNAME method of verifying domain ownership isn't working.  They offer email verification, so I dive deep into a rabbit hole to install a mail server, that I can't get to work.  I actually know a lot more about mail servers than I ever did before!  Apparently not enough to get it working though.  The third option is pretty simple... FTP to your site and leave a text file at a specified location.  It verifies you have access to the domain's server and you have your license. This was pretty easy and I should have just done this in the first place instead of being dazzled by the possibility of free custom e-mail addresses.  Though I will figure it out someday.  Yesss, my precious...

So I finally get my license and after some issues with HSTST, my website is declared safe.  The world can rest easy.  Of course, then I go onto my website and find out that several web pages won't load!  Coincidentally it is the same pages that use the module 'Minifrontpage Pro".  Tah Duh!  It must be that module's fault!.  Not so.  Apparently, those pages also use a carousel module to display images and it got borked.  Maybe from the newer PHP 8.  It is an old module from about 15 years ago, so it seems possible.  Anyway 'Minifrontpage Pro" isn't the guilty party and that's good!  This module can be configured in several ways and one of them is a carousel display.  So now it pulling double duty!  I didn't reach that realization instantly.  At first, I thought the template was having issues.  It's old too.  Then a filter problem with a zero return crashed it and I had to figure that out.  It was a lovely time.  You'd think a program that has been around for decades (with updates) would figure out how to gracefully handle errors, especially a simple filter where there are no results.  Does Google crash if it can't find what you're looking for?  No!  It just blushes and looks shamefacedly at the ground!

Anyway, I am done for the moment with my 'tech spa experience' (TM).  Everything is up to date... or as up-to-date as Synology will let it get (they are a few years behind the rest of the world.  PHP 8 is NOT the newest version, nor is their Maria DB 10 the newest revision).  I think the next big thing on the horizon is figuring out how to update to Joomla 4.  One of my integral extensions, K2, is not compatible.  The very thought of writing my website from scratch makes me nauseous.  I dived deep into the rabbit hole that is "Community Builder" and since I haven't used it in years I would have to re-learn all the parts I set up (and then no one ever wanted or used).  If I truly had to do that I think I would just leave that out.  No one needs my integrated chat, messaging, forums, chat rooms, or all the other things that were cool... but useless.  It's the Sunk Cost Fallacy.  I spent so much time setting it up I can't bear to give it up even if it's truly useless.