Session Narrative
Grumpy’s full name, offered gruffly over breakfast in his small but well-kept house in the Shambles, is Grumpy Ironside, and he has been in exile from Germonia for eleven years for reasons he summarises as ‘told the wrong person the truth.’ His wife, Heloise, serves them tea and says nothing but hears everything.
Grumpy’s assessment of their situation is blunt: they cannot enter Queensport through the gate without papers, and obtaining papers takes two weeks at minimum and requires connections they do not have. However. There is the Underrun.
The Underrun is Queensport’s sewer system, expanded over centuries into a network of tunnels broad enough to walk upright, used by smugglers, fugitives, and anyone else with good reason to avoid official attention. Access points exist in the Shambles. Grumpy knows where.
In the Underrun, the party encounters Otyughs — three of them, large and hungry and settled into the main junction tunnel like particularly enthusiastic toll collectors. The combat is foul-smelling and enthusiastic, and the party emerges victorious but absolutely requiring a change of clothes.
The cobbler’s house above the tunnel exit belongs to a man named Wick and his wife Patience. In their cellar live four brownies — small, quick-fingered fey who regard the party with the calculating assessment of people who are always in need of something and always have something worth trading. After negotiation involving a fox (Kuso’s companion) and a saddle of unspecified origin, one brownie named Gimble agrees to carry a message to Corster Fre.
Sable is left in the safe — if perhaps slightly judgmental — care of Wick and Patience, and the party heads to the Split Crown tavern to wait.
Key NPCs
- Grumpy Ironside — Exiled dwarf. Eleven years outside the city, still angry about it, still connected. Protective of Sable for reasons that will become clearer.
- Heloise Ironside — Grumpy’s wife. Does not speak much. Notices everything. Provides sandwiches at structurally important moments.
- Gimble the Brownie — Small, sharp-eyed fey. Brown-skinned, quick-moving, perpetually calculating trade value. Has run messages for Corster before.
Encounters & Mechanics
Three Otyughs in the Underrun
3 Otyughs (CR 5 each). Tunnel is 10 ft wide — limits formation. Otyughs attempt to grapple and drag to their nest. DC 15 Con save after combat or gain the Poisoned condition for 24 hours (sewer exposure).
Loot & Rewards
| Item | Notes / Value |
| Tunnel Access to Queensport Interior | Structural. Opens city access for future sessions. |
| Brownie Network | Gimble’s goodwill. Brownies know everyone and move unseen. Future information source. |
DM Notes
The Otyughs are disgusting and should be described as such. The brownie negotiation rewards creative trading — accept unusual items as currency. Gimble is a reusable NPC for information exchange within Queensport. The Split Crown becomes the party’s operational base for Sessions 16-17.