"I saw Galt. Not much beauty there, except their wine."
Over the next hour, the howling seems to grow closer before becoming eerily silent.
I think this is to notice something on Nadab's watch, meaning we're asleep, hence the higher difficulty level.
Perception:
"ZZzzzzzzzzzzzz..."
" Wolves! Wolves! "
Nadab springs up from his sitting position brandishing his Longspear at the lone wolf he can see.
Initiative:
Venedictos sits up straight, looking about for the source of the warning.
A lone wolf stalks the edge of the firelight. Its ears perk up and its hackles raise when the party takes notice of it.
Zane
Bern
Venedictos
Nadab
Wolf
Wolf 1 - 11/13 HP
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"This animal is extremely hungry. As crazy as it sound, I would hate to simply needlessly kill such a magnificent creature. Let me try and share my dinner with it. Please do not attack...yet." - Zane talks in an even voice and moves with slow deliberate moves towards the wolf. He takes one of his trail rations and throws it towards the starving wolf, in an effort to appease him.
The wolf growls at Zane as he approaches, showing its yellow teeth and raising the ridge of fur on its back even higher than before. For a moment, it appears the creature is going to lunge at the ranger when Zane tosses his trail ration at it. However, as soon as the loosely wrapped package of dried meats hits the ground, the wolf nabs it between its teeth and darts off into the woods with its tail between its legs.
The rest of the night is quiet, except for the rattling of the bare tree branches and the howl of the chilly Neth winds.
"Nicely done. I tried that trick once with a starving street urchin in Galt. Kid let me 'lure him closer' until he and his seven hidden buddies jumped me and robbed me blind."
He shakes his head. "Still, it's nice to find a place where kindness pays off, even if it is with wolves in the wilderness."
He takes a swig, albeit a smaller than usual one, of his brandy and goes back to sleep.
"Children rob grown men? Sounds terrible." Nadab turns to Zane, "That was brave. Thanks."
After the nights rest and a quick breakfast Nadab packs his things and checks his map. "Well lets hope today will be quieter than yesterday."
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"Thank you guys. The animal was simply hungry, nothing else. And wolves do have their place in natural order of things. Venedictos, I am really sorry that you had such a bad experience in Galt. I truly do not know how I would react in such a situation."
In the morning, Zane would try and search vicinity of the campsite for tracks. First and foremost, he is interested if that was a single wolf, or there's a pack of them nearby, in which direction the creature left, are there any other tracks etc. Finally, if possible, he would like to try and see if he can supplement their diet with something else, if available. Fresh water, berries, nuts, mushrooms, perhaps even a small game, if it can be easily found. But he does not plan to spend more than half an hour, maybe one hour max, in order not to loose too much time.
After the encounter with the wolf, the rest of the night passes uneventfully and the next day the volunteers continue their journey through the Fangwood. Early in the day, Zane manages to find a trail to lake where the party may refill their waterskins and stop for a quick rest.
The trees begin to thin, revealing a field of short, green grass that leads to the shores of a wide, calm lake reflecting the overcast sky above. A dense fog hangs over the center of the lake, obscuring the far side. Near the shore of the lake, a dark form lies next to the water.
"Hey what's that over there?"
The dark form is actually the decayed body of man with huge bite marks all over his upper torso. The black-greenish hue of his wounds speak of some kind of poison, likely making his corpse unsuitable for scavengers.
"This guy's been dead for months, hey anybody want this short sword?"
"Poor fellow," Venedictos says, performing a short requiem chant over his remains.
" Never mind the sword, look at all this gold! " Nadab starts pulling the pieces of gold out of the mans purse and looking at them one at a time but when Vene starts performing the religious rite over the corpse he stops. " oh... Er, anybody recognise this guy? Maybe he's got a family around here? "
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"Judging by his clothes, he is not from Kassen. Prolly from a bigger city, perhaps Tamran, where the coins are from."
Zane inspects the body and the surrounding in more detail in order to try and find any potential clues as to what killed this man.
"Venedictos, sorry for interrupting your chant, but I recon we should do the following. The sword looks of fine craftsmanship, I'd take it if no one else wants it. We should take the money and any papers or items could help us find his kin. We note exactly what we have found. If any day we locate next of kin, we return the sword, whatever items he might still have, and the money. If not, than it's finders-keepers. Anyway, we'll report this to mayor Uptal once we return. Let him decide." - Zane looks around, giving a chance for any of his comrades to voice his (dis)agreement.
After a while, he adds: "Now, if it is safe to touch him..." - Zane looks at the priest questioningly - "...we need to bury the body. At least half a meter of depth, so the scavengers do not get him. And to properly mark the site, so his family might find it. Who's gonna help me dig the grave?"
Venedictos nods. "Should be safe to touch him, though probably not pleasant. I will help bury the man."
Venedictos, Zane, and whoever else spend an hour burying the man beside the lake. They mark the tomb with a traditional array of twigs, fill their waterskins, and then take a look at the Map to Crypt of the Everflame. The lake is easily identified as Gray Lake, putting the volunteers a mere 3 hours away from their final destination.
As they move on, the trail leads ever deeper into the Fangwood, through a twisting maze of trees and confusing ravines. As it tops a small rise, a broad valley spreads out before it, the opposite side of which looks like a writhing serpent. Yet between the two lies a steep hill sloping down into the valley. A cold rain starts to fall, making the ground slick and treacherous. Another look at the map identifies this as Serpent Gorge, and at the bottom lies the Crypt of the Everflame.
"I'm not very agile in this armor, I should probably take it it off and carry it down or we should rig a rope or I'm going to be tumbling down this slope.." Bern takes his armor off and then carrying carefully makes it down the slope were he puts it back on.
Nadab watches Bern and Zane begin to remove their armour and then begins to carefully inch his way down the slope using the butt end of his Longspear to brace himself.
Are there trees? With regular trees and a length of rope, the group can spider walk down the hill for extra stability.
Through a combination of careful climbing, Venedictos's suggested rope work, and some luck, the volunteers manage to make it down the slope and to the entrance of the crypt within the small valley without incident.
An archway of stone is set into the side of a small hill at the bottom of the valley. Moss has overgrown many of the details, but one is still quite clear. The keystone of the arch is carved with a flame symbol with a stylized rune in the middle. Beyond the archway is a darkened tunnel that leads to a pair of massive wooden doors, one of which is slightly ajar.
A pair of horses and a trio of ponies lie slaughtered next to the archway, each corpse still tied to a post set into the ground nearby. A swarm of flies hangs lazily in the air above them.
Outside the Crypt of the Everflame
" Woh, this doesn't look good. " Nadab crouches next to one of the slain horses and gingerly opens a saddle bag. " Do... I guess the owners are inside maybe... And whatever killed the horses too. " he pulls a few things out of the saddle bag, some lamp oil, a quiver and some wrapped food. " What? Who brings pillows out into the wilds?"
"I don't know, if I had a little extra space, and a horse to carry it, a pillow seems like a good idea. You do spend about a third of your life asleep after all."
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Zane asks his friends to stop moving, so they do not destroy any potential tracks. "Please, let me look at those"
He crouches next to the corpses and after few long moments, he speaks again, in a much lower voice: "These horses were slain about two days ago. They were killed with crude blades, maybe even claws. I would guess goblins or orcs, but could be some creature also. Stranger than that is there are scattered bones, looks like human bones bellow this horse here. I'd wager that the bones are older, or have been picked clean by some magic. They were also maybe loaded onto a horse already, when it was slain. let me check if I can find some tracks."
And Zane proceeds to try and find some tracks, hoping to shed some more light to the mystery ahead of them.
Nadab stops standing still in his tracks. " Oops, sorry Zane. " Nadab watches Zane as he surveys the scene. A look of revulsion flashes on his face as Zane talks of the human bones but he says nothing about it. Instead focusing on the creature that killed the horses. " You think whatever did this is using the crypt as a lair? "
"Cheerful, Nadab, you are ever so cheerful. Such pleasant thoughts you are always ready to share,." Bern draws his sword "let us now consider the really unpleasant things that might want to live in what is basically a giant grave."
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After several long moments of studying the ground in detail, overturning branches left and right, checking blades of grass and alike, Zane turns to his companions: "There are some barely visible footprints all around here near the corpses of the horses. They seem to be heading both in and out of the crypt, but unfortunately I can not tell you more. I do not have any idea as to what creature might have made those, or how many there were."
" Well there's only one way we're going to find out... Are we ready to go in. " Nadab says hefting his pack and spear and heading for the crypts entrance. He looks inside.
Close to the heavy wooden doors to the crypt, the stench of mold and rot hang heavy in the air. The doors are unlocked, but heavy and require some effort to get open.
Venedictos will cast and recast as necessary light spells on the blade of his glaive.
Nadab heaves against the stuck doors legs and arms straining for a minute before he rests against it panting. " Few, come give us a hand with this Bern, it feels pretty stuck. "
"Hang on let me get a good grip." Bern heaves. "Huh, you must of loosened it up".
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After Nadab and Bern loosen the door, Zane helps them to push them all the way inside. Holding a torch high, he casts the light in order to get a better view of the room.
"There seem to be two bodies, as well as some skeletons inside. Let me take a closer look." - remembering what little he knew about the undead, Zane sheathes his dagger and pulls a club, before approaching the bodies to study them closer.
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" Thanks Bern. " Nadab says as he steps inside with Zane. He moves with caution holding his spear at the ready. Glancing about nervously he looks for the creature responsible for the carnage outside. " I guess those two escaped the carnage outside only to die in here... Or maybe they were dragged in here for food! Look at all these bones. ". He shivers involuntarily.
Does Nadab know anything about undead?
The two bodies are badly mauled, and you manage to find a pair of backpacks near them. One of the packs contains a large pillow and two quivers (each containing 10 blunted arrows). The other pack has 2 days’ worth of rations, a full waterskin, and a pair of smokesticks.
http://beta.ditzie.com/50990/52cc6c9e4be88
Perception:
Pointing in the wrong direction, Venedictos says, "That way."
As the volunteers enter the dark first chamber of the crypt and investigate the bodies, the piles of bones around them begin to tremble and rise. Before they know it, six skeletons wielding rusted scimitars lumber toward them.
Bern
Skeletons
Zane
Nadab
Venedictos