Encounter-a-Day

After investigating the matter, the characters determine that the giant chickens and pigs did indeed have one common denominator which the pigs and cows lacked. They were both given drinking water from the well, while the cows and horses drank from a stream.

Checking the well, they find a small chunk of black granite. It is relatively simple to determine that the black granite is not very common in the local area. A character with knowledge of the local geography however can determine that there’s a cave system about twenty miles to the northwest which is known for just this kind of stone. Otherwise, one of the Osgoods or someone from town could tell them.

A bit of travel later and the PCs find themselves walking through a granite canyon riddled with cave entrances. As they wander about, wondering which cave to check, the answer leaps out at them in the form of a giant salamander the size of a large dog, madly attacking the characters.

Inside the cave, they find more giant (and enraged) animals of the types one normally finds in caves… Insects and spiders and bats (oh my!). Finally, in one cavern, they find a make-shift lab which appears to have been ransacked. Phials smashed, books strewn about carelessly, and a poorly-made wooden desk is currently sitting in two heaps.

Follow-up: What do they find in the trashed laboratory? Who destroyed it, and why?