The Lost Vineyard: Session One

My friend mellonbread has been toying around with Skerples' Monster Overhaul. He recently used it to write up a little adventure, which I thought was really cool. So my regular Delta Green group (plus some other folks) is taking a break to play some OSR.

Out in the middle of nowhere was an abandoned winery. The land was still in perfect condition for making grapes and wine. Four adventurers had hiked through the wilderness to arrive at the location, each with a different goal in mind.

• Gwimbly, Neutral Thief, lured by the promise of treasure from a bygone age
  
• Aedric, Lawful Cleric of the Grain Goddess, here to uncover why humanity had abandoned perfectly good farmland
  
• Simon Rouse, Neutral Thief, hoping to restart the lucrative winery, or failing that, recover some vintages
  
• Márta Benedek, Neutral (but religious) Mercenary, here to ensure the sinful beverage would be enjoyed responsibly

The adventurers first approached the ruined tower. Before they could get too close, Simon noticed something large and scaly was lounging inside the partially collapsed walls. They decided to investigate the other ancient building instead. Wary that the site might be home to dangerous monsters, the party cautiously circled the Megaron. A glint of reflected sunlight in the exposed cellar caught their eyes. Simon volunteered to scout out the area. It had three walls and a roof, making it defensible and a decent base camp. He screwed the three pieces of his ten-foot pole into its full length, and advanced into the cool darkness. 

The shiny object was a bottle of wine. However, before he could take it, he noticed a shape lurking on the ceiling. A massive sea star; it seemed to not have noticed him. Simon beat a hasty retreat and discussed what to do with the rest of the group. Márta suggested tossing in a ration to trick it into dropping down. Gwimbly offered to secure the ration to his grappling hook so they could pull it out in the nick of time, so as not to waste the food. They soaked the ration of cured meat in water from their waterskins to make it extra tempting and tossed it in on the grappling hook like a heavy-duty fishing line. The sea star took the bait, and Simon was able to reel in the rope before the creature unstuck itself from the ceiling. Márta waded in through the sea star's thrashing tentacles and struck the central "head" with her shamshir. This confused it long enough for the rest of the party to hack it to pieces.

They searched the cellar and found nothing but a mysterious dearth of bottles. Aedric marveled at the wine presses. The machines were common today, but to find such well made ones in such an old site? Truly, a testament to human ingenuity. The party resolved to investigate the rest of the Megaron. They peered into the kitchen but decided against heading inside, put off by the ominous pile of blades heaped in the corner. The courtyard looked more promising. Aedric surmised from the palimpsest-covered walls that this structure used to be a nunnery of some kind, teaching unwanted daughters how to read and write. This was further reinforced by the discovery of a mural in one of the adjoining rooms. A headless robed figure leading a group of frightened children out of a dark forest, using her own flaming skull as a torch. Aedric identified the figure as Saint Lampiã.

Curiously, the floor of the mural room was covered in dried leaves. However, it was summer, not fall. Simon poked the leaves with his ten-foot pole, revealing a layer of broken glass underneath. So that's where all the missing bottles had gone. Gwimbly climbed up the wall, wedging himself into a corner, and peered into the next room. He could see six large rubbery shapes. They rose and fell in a regular rhythm, like they were asleep. The party carefully cleared away the leaves and broken glass. After a half-hour of fervent discussion, held in the courtyard so as not to wake the monsters, they had decided on a plan. 

Simon lit a flask of burning oil, ready to toss it into the room where the monsters slept. Aedric and Márta stood at either side of the door, ready to cut down anything that fled. Gwimbly hung further back, aiming his crossbow into the darkness. It was a slaughter. Two trolls managed to escape, despite being crushed by their own boulder trap. The adventurers picked through the ashes charred remains to claim the trolls' treasure hoard as their own before burying it in a hole in the cellar.