Having completed most of the menial tasks that Dugan set the heroes out to do, there was one final ceremony to complete... the funeral pyre for the dead. Night was rapidly closing in and they decided to begin preparations. Vyreth and Doc headed out to grab some fuel, but soon realized they didn't know where it was being stored so turned back to ask Dugan for directions. On the way to the militia house, Doc realized he'd be more valuable out with Talos chopping wood for the fire and split from Vyreth. Fhasys, meanwhile, headed over to the Golden Coin to assemble the remaining townsfolk. The people huddled in the tavern were tired and traumatized and not entirely receptive to direction, so the barkeep tried his hand at garnering their attention. Finally, Talos conjured his mage hand to snap its fingers loudly and this combination was enough to shake the villagers into action.
The townsfolk slowly gathered around the old wagon, piled high with the bodies of departed friends and loved ones, as the heroes piled chopped wood beneath, poured fuel on the wood, and lit the fire (courtesy of a dazzling light display from Talos). Doc, relatively new to the whole "funeral rights" thing, stepped up to the plate and spoke for the dead. At the end of his speech, an old woman made her way through the crowd and gave the heroes a parting gift--a magical sword passed on throughout the generations. Apollo then made an appearance, soothing the crowd with his warm aura, and offered advice to the heroes on their coming role in a larger drama. His speech, however, was quickly interrupted by a foul visitor.
A huge, ancient undead dragon descended upon the scene, putting out the pyre and kicking up a major dust storm. The dragon had come to see what the huge bonfire was all about, but upon discovering the heroes in his midst he realized what role they were to play in his plans. Instead of disintegrating the entire lot right then and there, he took flight and left the heroes a going-away present. The pile of corpses wriggled and writhed forming a giant flesh golem. Combat ensued. The fight with the golem was brutal and slow, and it took a while for the heroes to realize that their normal attacks weren't having any effect. Finally, the golem went down and the party turned in for the night.
In the morning, after an extended discussion regarding the sword and Doc's fears of visiting Quanlo, the crew headed out for the long journey on foot. After 6hrs of walking in the hot, arid foothills, they crossed paths with a badly injured rancher and his horse. Talos and Doc managed to bring him back from the brink and the man began babbling about an attack by "strange creatures", his horses being slaughtered, and his wife and daughter having gone missing during the chaos. The group, being kind of heart (and seeing an opportunity to finally get mounts), headed South into the foothills toward the ranch to investigate. What they found was a grisly scene involving three giant centipedes happily munching away at horse corpses in the corral. Using a sphere of invisibility, Vyreth stealthed the entire party and they made quick work of the bugs. They managed to save three horses from the attached barn, but it was too late for the mother and daughter who had been dragged behind an outcropping and eaten alive. The bad news was relayed to the rancher back at the crossroads, and the party continued their journey to Quanlo.
Monday, December 29, 2014
Monday, December 1, 2014
Episode 6, "A Fresh Start"
The troublesome trio made their way downstairs for some breakfast after a harrowing day's worth of slaughter and ichor-vomiting ogres, and ended up meeting a fellow traveler with a turbulent past. After sharing their tales of adventure in and around Lehren, Doc felt a pang of compassion for the stranger's tales of loss as he introduced himself as Vyreth. Shoveling down the last of breakfast, the crew was joined by Dugan once more. He explained the current state of things in town and pleaded for help in some rather non-heroic rebuilding tasks, and was delighted to hear their acceptance. Dugan presented a laundry list of options: dousing smoldering embers, recovering bodies from the ruined homes and shops, restoring an old lumber mill just outside of town, locating a missing flock of sheep, orchestrating a funeral pyre and last rights for the departed, and building temporary shelters for displaced townsfolk. There was quite a bit to be done, but the heroes--connecting with their more humble roots--stepped up to the plate. As a gesture of gratitude, Dugan promised the original trio (Talos, Fhasys, and Doc) each a cottage in town once the rebuilding was complete, and Vyreth was offered free room & board at the Golden Coin.
The crew set to work, first tackling the chore of putting out smoldering embers amongst the wreckage. Dugan had suggested they grab some buckets and use well water for the task, but Doc had a better idea... shovels. The barkeep at the Golden Coin hooked them up with some worn gloves and shovels, and they set out scouring the town for hot spots. Finding them proved a bit tricky, but they managed to put most of them out over the course of two hours.
Next came the bodies... Taking a moment to huddle, the party discussed options as to how to carry a load of dead bodies around as they searched. Someone had the bright idea to find a cart, and Dugan just so happened to have an old one laying around. Unfortunately, he had no beast of burden to pull it. Vyreth offered his services in bear-form, and Talos helped Doc tether him to the cart as best they could. With bear-Vyreth holding up the center of the cart and one hero holding up either side, they awkwardly made their way through town searching for corpses. In all, they found 9 bodies, most of which were pinned beneath fallen beams and rubble. Since the strongest of the group was preoccupied with the cart, it fell on the rest of the party to free the bodies from the debris. Doc and Talos struggled with the effort, trying to apply brute force to shove and lift the debris off of the corpses to no avail. Fhasys, taking a moment to stand back and analyze how all of the pieces had fallen together, discovered several leverage points and was able to free the bodies from the mess. After another hour or so of gathering corpses, they hauled the cart to the outskirts of town, Vyreth's bear-timer ran out, and they set out for the next task... Fixing up the old mill.
After another short debriefing with Dugan regarding the mill, it was made clear that the structure has lay idle since the founding of Lehren some 90-100 years prior. Dugan assumed, at minimum the generator would need some fuel, but there might also be need for cleaning and light repairs. The heroes set off toward the boundary of the forest just SE of lake Saun and Doc played a merry tune on his flutes to lift their spirits. Soon, the mill was spotted jutting out of the timber line and the party agreed to let Fhasys scout it out. Sneaking up upon the side of the mill, Fhasys discovered that the windows were too dirty and clouded to see through so she hopped up on the entrance ramp to peek through the door. As she stood on her tippy-toes to peek through a small window in the door, her weight unlatched it, swinging open into the mill and banging against the metal wall. So much for stealth. Several bandits had been using the mill for shelter, and having already been alerted to her presence had their crossbows at the ready. Fhasys became a momentary pincushion before finally ducking back outside and taking cover. Combat ensued. The impact of the initial volley caused Fhasys to scream a chain of obscenities, which the rest of the heroes heard and came running to her aid. After a major battle involving 6 bandits, 1 leader, an epic thunder clap, several streams of magic missiles, and a perfectly thrown axe, the mill was finally cleared. Talos, in an attempt to see if the mill equipment was still functional, walked around banging various pipes and hoses with his sword. Fhasys instead turned to the generator itself and made quick work of repairs. She flipped the "on" switch, the generator began to rumble, and then died... out of gas. Weary and tired of menial labor, the crew decided to return to town and bargain their way out of the remaining chores for the sake of a hot meal and ale.
The party met up with Dugan once again, and after short debate agreed to give him the chipped ruby they'd found in the mill as a token of their dedication and support... And, hopefully to make Dugan forget all the other stuff he'd asked them to do. Of course, Dugan was in no place to refuse or press the issue... He acquiesced and handed Talos a sealed letter as a final request, a plea to the mage's guild of Quanlo to seal the Embershard mine for good. The mention of Quanlo alone spooked Doc, and for good reason. The dwarf suddenly found himself much more amenable to sticking around for more menial labor, and the others had a difficult time sorting out his change of heart as Doc kept a stiff upper lip about the whole thing. During their back-and-forth about Quanlo and Doc's sudden enthusiasm for manual labor, the old lady who had snapped Fhasys out of her sleepwalking session the night prior came to check up on her. She suggested that Fhasys talk to an "occultist" named Terin who might be able to both provide sleep aids as well as recall the contents of her dreams.
As dusk fast-approached, the crew headed back to the Golden Coin for some grub and drink. Feeling refreshed, Doc and Vyreth hopped back into the action and decided to use the last remaining daylight to find the missing sheep. Talos and Fhasys, enjoying the warmth of the tavern and the ale in their bellies, wanted none of that and instead opted to stay at the bar.
On Dugan's recommendation, the duo set out toward the South end of town to hunt for sheep tracks. A cursory search revealed nothing, and the two started discussing options for tracking. Doc had the bright idea for Vyreth to transform into a bird to scout from the sky, but they didn't see any birds in the immediate vicinity. Thinking on it for a moment, Vyreth chucked a stick into a cluster of nearby bushes and his dog, Vulkan, dove in after it letting loose a flock of sparrows. But, no matter how hard Vyreth concentrated, he couldn't muster the power to transform into a flying animal. Clearly bummed by Vyreth's lack of ability, they decided to simply start walking South. Sure enough, after 15min or so Doc noticed some tracks and was able to discern that they were, in fact, sheep tracks. They followed the tracks for another 20min or so and, just as the sun was starting to set, stumbled upon the missing flock. Something, however, was amiss. Most of the sheep stood in a tight cluster, bleeting nervously and eyeing a strange, hulking brown mound a few feet from them. Doc, channeling his sheep-talking abilities, managed to convince several of the dim-witted animals to run for their lives but most simply stood in place, paralyzed by fear. Slowly inching closer, Vyreth noticed that the brown mound was, in fact, slowly moving in place. It was at this moment that his dog panicked and bolted back to town. Vyreth decided to try and entagle the thing so they could get a closer look, but this only pissed it off. Rising up on its hind-quarters and dropping a half-eaten sheep, it quickly became clear that this "mound" was really a carrion crawler! Combat ensued. Doc was immediately struck by one of the crawler's tentacles and paralyzed from the poison, which cast a shadow of heavy doubt on Vyreth's confidence in the outcome of this fight. Vyreth cast poison immunity on himself and Doc eventually shook-off the paralysis. The trio had exchanged blows for a few rounds when Talos and Fhasys came hurtling toward the scene on their pony, lead by Vulkan. When in range, Fhasys loosed a bolt from her new crossbow, impaling the crawler and sending it into the dirt.
The heroes managed to corrale the remaining sheep back to town and began preparations for the funeral pyre, agreed upon by Dugan to take place shortly after dusk.
The crew set to work, first tackling the chore of putting out smoldering embers amongst the wreckage. Dugan had suggested they grab some buckets and use well water for the task, but Doc had a better idea... shovels. The barkeep at the Golden Coin hooked them up with some worn gloves and shovels, and they set out scouring the town for hot spots. Finding them proved a bit tricky, but they managed to put most of them out over the course of two hours.
Next came the bodies... Taking a moment to huddle, the party discussed options as to how to carry a load of dead bodies around as they searched. Someone had the bright idea to find a cart, and Dugan just so happened to have an old one laying around. Unfortunately, he had no beast of burden to pull it. Vyreth offered his services in bear-form, and Talos helped Doc tether him to the cart as best they could. With bear-Vyreth holding up the center of the cart and one hero holding up either side, they awkwardly made their way through town searching for corpses. In all, they found 9 bodies, most of which were pinned beneath fallen beams and rubble. Since the strongest of the group was preoccupied with the cart, it fell on the rest of the party to free the bodies from the debris. Doc and Talos struggled with the effort, trying to apply brute force to shove and lift the debris off of the corpses to no avail. Fhasys, taking a moment to stand back and analyze how all of the pieces had fallen together, discovered several leverage points and was able to free the bodies from the mess. After another hour or so of gathering corpses, they hauled the cart to the outskirts of town, Vyreth's bear-timer ran out, and they set out for the next task... Fixing up the old mill.
After another short debriefing with Dugan regarding the mill, it was made clear that the structure has lay idle since the founding of Lehren some 90-100 years prior. Dugan assumed, at minimum the generator would need some fuel, but there might also be need for cleaning and light repairs. The heroes set off toward the boundary of the forest just SE of lake Saun and Doc played a merry tune on his flutes to lift their spirits. Soon, the mill was spotted jutting out of the timber line and the party agreed to let Fhasys scout it out. Sneaking up upon the side of the mill, Fhasys discovered that the windows were too dirty and clouded to see through so she hopped up on the entrance ramp to peek through the door. As she stood on her tippy-toes to peek through a small window in the door, her weight unlatched it, swinging open into the mill and banging against the metal wall. So much for stealth. Several bandits had been using the mill for shelter, and having already been alerted to her presence had their crossbows at the ready. Fhasys became a momentary pincushion before finally ducking back outside and taking cover. Combat ensued. The impact of the initial volley caused Fhasys to scream a chain of obscenities, which the rest of the heroes heard and came running to her aid. After a major battle involving 6 bandits, 1 leader, an epic thunder clap, several streams of magic missiles, and a perfectly thrown axe, the mill was finally cleared. Talos, in an attempt to see if the mill equipment was still functional, walked around banging various pipes and hoses with his sword. Fhasys instead turned to the generator itself and made quick work of repairs. She flipped the "on" switch, the generator began to rumble, and then died... out of gas. Weary and tired of menial labor, the crew decided to return to town and bargain their way out of the remaining chores for the sake of a hot meal and ale.
The party met up with Dugan once again, and after short debate agreed to give him the chipped ruby they'd found in the mill as a token of their dedication and support... And, hopefully to make Dugan forget all the other stuff he'd asked them to do. Of course, Dugan was in no place to refuse or press the issue... He acquiesced and handed Talos a sealed letter as a final request, a plea to the mage's guild of Quanlo to seal the Embershard mine for good. The mention of Quanlo alone spooked Doc, and for good reason. The dwarf suddenly found himself much more amenable to sticking around for more menial labor, and the others had a difficult time sorting out his change of heart as Doc kept a stiff upper lip about the whole thing. During their back-and-forth about Quanlo and Doc's sudden enthusiasm for manual labor, the old lady who had snapped Fhasys out of her sleepwalking session the night prior came to check up on her. She suggested that Fhasys talk to an "occultist" named Terin who might be able to both provide sleep aids as well as recall the contents of her dreams.
As dusk fast-approached, the crew headed back to the Golden Coin for some grub and drink. Feeling refreshed, Doc and Vyreth hopped back into the action and decided to use the last remaining daylight to find the missing sheep. Talos and Fhasys, enjoying the warmth of the tavern and the ale in their bellies, wanted none of that and instead opted to stay at the bar.
On Dugan's recommendation, the duo set out toward the South end of town to hunt for sheep tracks. A cursory search revealed nothing, and the two started discussing options for tracking. Doc had the bright idea for Vyreth to transform into a bird to scout from the sky, but they didn't see any birds in the immediate vicinity. Thinking on it for a moment, Vyreth chucked a stick into a cluster of nearby bushes and his dog, Vulkan, dove in after it letting loose a flock of sparrows. But, no matter how hard Vyreth concentrated, he couldn't muster the power to transform into a flying animal. Clearly bummed by Vyreth's lack of ability, they decided to simply start walking South. Sure enough, after 15min or so Doc noticed some tracks and was able to discern that they were, in fact, sheep tracks. They followed the tracks for another 20min or so and, just as the sun was starting to set, stumbled upon the missing flock. Something, however, was amiss. Most of the sheep stood in a tight cluster, bleeting nervously and eyeing a strange, hulking brown mound a few feet from them. Doc, channeling his sheep-talking abilities, managed to convince several of the dim-witted animals to run for their lives but most simply stood in place, paralyzed by fear. Slowly inching closer, Vyreth noticed that the brown mound was, in fact, slowly moving in place. It was at this moment that his dog panicked and bolted back to town. Vyreth decided to try and entagle the thing so they could get a closer look, but this only pissed it off. Rising up on its hind-quarters and dropping a half-eaten sheep, it quickly became clear that this "mound" was really a carrion crawler! Combat ensued. Doc was immediately struck by one of the crawler's tentacles and paralyzed from the poison, which cast a shadow of heavy doubt on Vyreth's confidence in the outcome of this fight. Vyreth cast poison immunity on himself and Doc eventually shook-off the paralysis. The trio had exchanged blows for a few rounds when Talos and Fhasys came hurtling toward the scene on their pony, lead by Vulkan. When in range, Fhasys loosed a bolt from her new crossbow, impaling the crawler and sending it into the dirt.
The heroes managed to corrale the remaining sheep back to town and began preparations for the funeral pyre, agreed upon by Dugan to take place shortly after dusk.
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