Kawrock grasps as the necromancer with his talons once again.
"GOT HIM!" Kawrock shouts with a shrill cry. "I'll bring him down to you guys."
Eldon head starts spinning when Vrood casts his spell. The heroic halfling then starts screaming and runs off. "AAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
It doesn't take long for Eldon to exit the tower.
Urbar keeps standing around, throwing up.
"When will this end?!"
Kawrock swoops in on Auren Vrood, snatching the necromancer in his claws! Meanwhile, Wren's keen eye watches a basic protection spell come off of the necromancer, and she and Lena both start laying in magic missiles, blasting him repeatedly.
Auren Vrood (-81) (acid arrow) (flying, 30')
(fl, ma, ss, fl, pog, re)
---
Arval (-5, nauseated 1, PoE, haste)
Eldon
Lena (PoE, haste)
Wren
Kawrock (flying, 30')
---
Whiskeyjack (PoE, haste)
Seeing Kawrock grab a hold of the necromancer, Whiskeyjack moves in and keeps his hammer high, waiting for Vrood to get into range.
As Kawrock grabs a hold of Vrood, he feels a suddenly paralyzing sickness come over him, coupled with an incredible urge to flee. Vrood then tries to start casting a spell, his voice booming with authority. However, as he pulls some black dust from his belt pouch, his hand unclenches from the acid arrow, spilling his components onto the ground below. He lets out a shriek of despair.
The spell Vrood just failed to cast was a 'circle of death'.
Auren Vrood (-73) (grappled, flying, 30')
(fl, ma, ss, fl, pog, re)
---
Arval (-5, nauseated 1, PoE, haste)
Eldon (panicked)
Lena (PoE, haste)
Wren
Kawrock (flying, 30') (grappling) (panicked)
---
Whiskeyjack (PoE, haste)
Arval throws a rock at Vrood with his sling.
Round 11, Init 10
Wren blasts Vrood with a charge from her wand.
force damage
She then moves again, trying to keep spread out.
HP: 49/49
AC: 17 (3 dex, 4 mage armor)
Arcane Bond: 0/1 used
Open spell slots:
Left Hand: none
Right Hand: wand of magic missile
Sage Advice: (2/8 used).
:
Wand of Magic Missile (lvl 7) 15 charges left - force damage.
Two magic missiles slam into the necromancer, and Arval finally moves in, whipping a single sling stone. The stone cracks into Vrood's head, crushing his skull. The necromancer spins in air for a moment before his spell cancels, and he crashes to the ground, dead.
End of Combat
There is a moment of eerie silence as you look over the ruins of Feldgrau. In the distance, you hear the howls of the Prince's Wolves as the drive off the remaining Demon Wolves. The smoke billows upwards from the flaming mill and inn. The evil has been driven from Feldgrau.
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While there's an eerie silence inside you can all hear Eldon's distant screams outside. The scream stop a few seconds later, and after half a minute's passed Eldon casually walks into the building.
"There were more enemies outside. I went outside to dispose of them. They're gone now."
An awkward silence ensues, and Eldon quickly adds, "Really."
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uh huh. Well in that case you better work on your singing. It sounded like you were screaming.
lena shakes her head, as the post combat high fades. he'll never change. Always wants to be the hero.
She kicks the corpse, to make sure it is really dead, then casts detect magic.
As she does that, she asks you feeling better, arval?
Wren clucks over the fallen body of Vrood, firing another volley of magic missiles into the necromancer's head.
"Oh, we should burn his body. We need to be sure he's not just dead, but dead-dead. These types can find ways to prolong their lives, you know."
Wren will join Vladlena is scouring Vrood's body for magics...and eventually for a spellbook.
She barely listens to Eldon's explanation, but continues to cluck over the dead and what she finds there.
Eldon assures the group of his unending heroics, which nobody is buying,m but it doesn't really matter. Vrood is dead. He also has shiny things on him, and in a chest which Lena opens with her knock spell.
- lesser silent metamagic rod
- wand of animate dead (10)
- +1 quarterstaff
- amulet of natural armor +1
- cloak of resistance +2
- ring of protection +1
- 50 pounds of silver dust (worth 250 gp)
- 2,000 gp of onyx gemstones
- a scroll of control undead
1: alarm, chill touch, mage armor, protection from good, ray of enfeeblement, shield, magic missile, mirror image, gentle repose
2: acid arrow, command undead, false life, ghoul touch, glitterdust, spectral hand, protection from good - communal
3: dispel magic, fly, protection from energy, ray of exhaustion, vampiric touch, create undead, slow
4: animate dead, enervation, greater invisibility, stoneskin, arcane eye
5: cloudkill, telekinesis, waves of fatigue, symbol of pain
6: circle of death, eyebite
Examining the tent he had been living in reveals a leather satchel beneath a table, which contains several cryptic notes and an elaborately carved bone scroll tube. The notes appear to be written in a strange code, but could be deciphered by a linguist. Inside of the tube is the following poem.
Arval wipes his mouth and grins.
"Lots!"
He grabs his flint and steel, some tinder from the necromancers stockpile and starts making a fire at the top of the tower. He then follow up by first chopping the man's head off before burning the two body parts separate on the fire.
Whiskeyjack watched with triumph and pride in his companions, no call them friends, as together they managed to take down the necromancer.
"Lad, how ye be feelin' now? If'n ye be needin' some healin', be callin ou'. Good call on beheadin' and firin' th' thing. Bu' wha's 'e go' writtin' down there? Look like a buncha hen scrathin' t' me!"
Whiskeyjack helped with the disposal of the remains and gathering and identifying the loot. He was less than useful with deciphering the notes, which was odd given that most of the time he viewed all writing as hen-scratching wastes.
After identifying the magics and thumbing through the spellbook (with several audible squawks and chirps), Wren reads the poem aloud (assuming many of the party are too loutish to read) and begins to work on the cipher.
Linguistics
Wren harrumphs as the initial take on the notes fails.
She goes to watch Arval build the pyre, only stopping the man from burning the yet just yet...insisting that the head be brought to the ghost (if it is still there after the fire).
"Yes, we should save the head for now," Eldon comments as Wren stops Arval from burning it, "but do go ahead and set the rest on fire."
Eldon scrapes his throat. "Ahem! I do believe I have deciphered the cipher! Which shouldn't surprise anyone, of course, seeing as I'm an expert when it comes to linguistics. Or to anything else, for that matter."
Wren quickly grabs Vrood's head before Arval lights the rest of the body on fire to ensure it doesn't come back as something even more ghastly. Eldon stares a good while at the notes, trying to figure out their meaning. Eventually, he is dead certain it's a list of some kind, but can't tell much beyond that.
Merrily, you all take the head over to the crackling bonfire that was once the ghost's home. With a moan of dismay, Ulcris the innkeeper materializes before you. He looks annoyed.
Sighing, he floats over to the head.
He pauses.
Ulcris raises his hands and lets forth a hideous moan that stands the hairs on your body on end. Your sight begins to swim... and bright flashes of light blast before your eyes. Soon, you are seeing - through the eyes of Auren Vrood himself.
... a furiously darting ink quill that dashes out a stream of words reading, "My Master, I shall stay in Feldgrau and build an army of corpses for our risen lord" ....
...hands place the the letter in an envelope, and strike it with the seal of the Whispering Way....
.... cultists scurrying in the Feldgrau town square, exhuming bodies and raising them as skeletons...
... Vrood's hands place three strange items in a chest: an iron-and-glass vial containing a grey mist, a piece of a bloody heart in a glass bottle, and a fragile skull composed of hundreds of bone fragments. Into a second chest he places a strange statuette of a tentacled creature...
....the chests are given to two riders in dark cloaks on pale horses. "Ride to Thrushmoor," says Vrood. "Our agent will exchange the Seasage Effigy for the relic we need." ....
After another flash, the visions fade.
Arval scratches his head as he tries to put his fears away and talk to the ghost, seeing that it's fairly friendly.
"I think that was somewhat unnecessary indeed."
He shrugs and adds.
"But it's happened and nothing we can do about it now..."
His vision begins to swim and he goes out, going through what everyone in the party is going through. Once back again he remains on the floor for a bit before he tests his legs again.
"Well, we are getting closer... But we aren't there yet it seems..."
Kawrock who was silently looking over the notes looks up. Guess we don't need to translate this anymore?"
Kawrock morphs into tengu form so he doesn't light the papers on fire and takes a little bit to look them over. He quickly manages to connect the symbols to lettering and sorts through the cipher.
The notes are instructions to Auren Vrood from an unnamed superior. They instruct Vrood to steal the heart of Shudderwood's packlord, as well as construct a skull from the bones of corpses buried in Feldgrau. They also direct him to send the Seasage Effigy to the town of Thrushmoor as a part of a trade for a second object, whose nature remains undisclosed. Finally, Vrood is commanded to raise an undead army in the Furrows (your current location) for later use.
Wren avoids any hotly smoldering embers as she lugs the head to the ghost. On one wing, she feels bad about the fire. On the other wing, they had slain two powerful enemies that day and if a ghost-infested bar was lost in the effort, she was okay with that. As long as no birds were injured.
After another flash, the visions fade.
Wren's mouth opens a bit bigger.
"Oh, we are very close to getting our hands on the Sausage Effigy," Wren drools, quite hungry at the moment. "And it appears we must get to Thrushmoor."
Know (Geography)
"Oh, right, Lena...Thrushmoor is..." Wren will explain what she knows of it.
Wren does know a little about Thrushmoor. Thrushmoor is geographically noteworthy as the northernmost point of Lake Encarthan, the massive inner lake that dominates northern Avistan. It is a large town of a few thousand of austere, old buildings and curiously puritanical residents. It lies on the border between Versex and Caliphas.
Versex is perhaps the strangest county Ustalav, not an easy competition. It is a sparsely populated land with little to offer its residents, who are famously aloof and stiff. Wandering mad prophets are a cliche in the area, and people like to say that is where the fabric of reality is at its thinnest. Outsiders who go to Versex go mad.
It is also a long ways away. Roughly a hundred and twenty miles, as the Kawrock flies. The best road would take you past the dead city of Carrion Hill, and then eastwards around the Hungry Mountains before cutting towards Thrushmoor. The journey will take around 12 days.
Thinking on the visions given to you - it is also fairly clear the rider carrying the remains of the Packlord's Heart did not leave long ago at all, considering you followed the delivery of the heart to Feldgrau to begin with.
Finally, you have a decision to make with what to do with the piece of the heart you now possess, whether to keep it for yourself, destroy it, give it to the Prince's Wolves, or something else entirely.
"Shall we deliver the heart to our friends, the wolves?" Eldon asks.
"It will stop the feud between the wolf clans, and they did help us."
The party did not pass off the Packlord's Heart yet. The situation is this:
- The Whispering Way apparently carved the Packlord's heart into three pieces. One went to Mathus Mordrinacht, one was kept here, and the other went to the Thrushwood for their evil plan.
- Mathus was killed by Cybrisa Dorzhanev, who now claims the title of Packlord.
- The Demon Wolves and Prince's Wolves were both chasing down the rest of the heart, and the Demon Wolves are now out of the picture. Any other pack who gets this other piece of heart will probably contest Cybrisa's rule. If you keep or destroy the heart, or find some way to get it to Cybrisa, her rule will be unquestioned.
Eldon recalls the fine details and draws a new conclusion: "Let's reduce the heart to ashes and say Vrood destroyed it to thwart us. Then no one can question Cybrisa's rule, and peace will return."
Eldon strikes a pose and delivers an impersonation of how Vrood would have addressed the party while about to thwart them: "Alas, brave Eldon Appleton and his assistants! You have come to stop me, and to reclaim the heart, but with my dying breath I will assure at least half of that plan will fail!"
"And then he destroyed it, leaving absolutely nothing," Eldon dryly adds.
Eldon recalls the fine details and draws a new conclusion: "Let's reduce the heart to ashes and say Vrood destroyed it to thwart us. Then no one can question Cybrisa's rule, and peace will return."
Wren nods, thinking that it is a good plan.
"We should also hide and scatter the ashes, lest even those potential problems are removed," Wren agrees.
If there is nothing more that can be found or recovered from the town, Wren is happy to move on. She will direct the party to any major or notable towns as they travel the 12 days to Thrushmoor so they might buy and sell and resupply.
"Ain't havin' a problem wit' burnin' th' thing, bu' there be no reason t' hide wha' happened. Been tellin th' truth straight since th' day they found me drinkin' th' company wishkey, an' I'd rather fight a whol pack o' angry werewolves than start down th' lyin' road now. I's all good fer Eldon, whose grasp on th' truth is slickery a' best. Bu' as fer me, th' Lord o' Battle is more fer tellin' i' straigh' and' takin' any fuss abou' i' t' th' combat fields. Burn th' thing if'n ye must, bu' dinnae be hidin' i'. A' leas' if'n we destroy i', Cybrisia'd be tha' much more secure in her rule, givin' a' least some order and control o'er the werewolf packs."
Having fulfilled his end of the deal the ghost - still grumpy that you destroyed his inn - offers a grudging word of thanks and vanishes, having been finally laid to rest. With the Prince's Wolves scattered around town, it is little effort for Kawrock to blast the last piece of the Packlord's Heart with fire, scorching it to nothingness. A wind picks it up, scatters it out to mix with the ashes of the ghost town of Feldgrau. Cybrisa's rule over to the werewolves of the Shudderwood is secure, and perhaps there will be peace at last.
With no time to waste, you strike out southwards. The rider for the Whispering Way would have only left the day before, and although you are on foot, you won't be too far behind. Thrushrmoor awaits.
You strike southwards, leaving behind the desolation and ruin of the Furrows and towards the strange county Versex. However, your first stop is the city of Carrion Hill, which is within a day's march from your location in the Furrows. It is built upon an island on the south side of the great Kingfisher River.
Carrion Hill is a strange city of densely packed houses, and dozens upon dozens of temples to every god imaginable. The locals are strange, suspicious, and absolutely fit the character you were lead to expect of the residents of Versex. It is, however, a small city and you find the time and place to sell the incredible bounty of equipment you recovered in the clearing of Feldgrau. Curious, strange objects, and the bizarre seem to have found a home in this city and you find willing merchants for your items, and a comfortable in with warm beds for the night.
Wren clucks excitedly as they travel. During the first overnight of travel, Wren lets loose with a loud squawk of discovery and insight as she is working in her spellbook. If questioned about it, she announces the following with great excitement: "I was pondering the nature of these hawk feathers that I've had for a long time, seeking to find a way to weave them into my magics...and last night, it came together! I had assumed that hawks feathers would be useful for quick or strong magics, but I was wrong to assume that to be their nature. In fact, those birds of prey are meant for soaring and flying...and applying that insight has lead me to a remarkable discovery!"
Wren clucks merrily. And in the morning she can be flitting from tree to tree, flying as if she might never come down (and she probably won't for another 9 hours or so).
"Oh this flying is wonderful, just wonderful! I'm just like a real bird, I am!"
Wren will lead the way to Carrion Hill, and trust others to help her sell and unload the goods.
"We should again put aside money for healing and preventatives."
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Arval brightens up as they start travelling again, remembering the old days.
"You are just like a real bird Wren..."
He says, trying to get her to calm down a bit. Suddenly a 'bright' idea wells up inside him.
"Wren! Is that a bird over there in the forest?! It looked really big!"
The burly warrior adds jokingly as the party slowly moves on to town.
----------
In town Arval nods to Wren's proposal.
"We're burning through quite a bit of healing, I agree."
"Ye say we, bu' i' seems t' me tha' one o' us be gettin' int' more trouble than th' rest combined. Ne'er ye mind, lad. Ye jest keep knockin' down th' enemy an' I be keepin' ye standing, one way or t' other. Ain't like these old bones be keepin' up wit' ye on th' damage front. Angradd set me forth as a protector an' healer, no' as a warrior, though I be likin' t' smash kneecaps as much as th' next dwarf!"
Arval looks at Eldon as Whiskey says that one of them gets more into trouble. After a moment he realises that in fact it might be himself that gets hurt the most often. He smiles at the dwarf.
"Someone has to keep the blows off of everyone."
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After doing your shopping and bedding down for the evening in Carrion Hill, you are off the next morning. The distinct sensation that something is badly wrong with that city lingers, but that is another story for another time.
The journey south through Versex is strange as you leave the farmlands beholden to Carrion Hill and strike southwards, keeping the Hungry Mountains to your right. Rather than the usual array of towns, brigands, monsters, and other interesting dangers you encounter nothing. After a couple of days it's relatively pleasant to not be attacked for once, but after several days it has become eerie. Also Eldon won't shut up.
Wren, however, has the time of her life. While in person she may have an annoying voice and a funny smell, she is instead an explosion of bright colour over dead brown plains. The late autumn weather is a little chill, but mild enough and the long miles of the march just don't matter. Occasionally, Kawrock spies two black riders in the far distance, far too far to catch up to reasonably.
Finally, after circling around to the south of the mountains, Kawrock and Wren spy the massive body that is Lake Encarthan. The immense, beautiful body of water that is the lifeblood of northern Avistan. And on its northern most point off Avalon Bay, a cold, grey town. Thrushmoor.
Exhausted and weary, having had no comfortable bed in the last twelve days, you step into the town, which is unwalled.
Whipped by frequent storms and rough seas, the old town looks worn and rugged, no amount of care or paint erasing the wear upon the spume-blasted docks and mossy quays. While the homes and structures upon the lake show the damage of lashing waves and frequent flooding, they have a pristine, carefully kept-up quality to them. Nothing is new, but everything is maintained with care. This is a town that likes to keep up appearances.
You come here seeking the black riders, who likely arrived a couple of days ago. What do you do?
Wren looks pleased to have successfully made it back to civilization.
"I'm going to find myself an inn, then see to selling some of our goods. Why don't the rest of you see if you can track our prey? We'll meet back here for dinner, mayhaps?" Wren proposes, thinking that everyone seems to have forgotten what city life was like.
Arval scratches his head before agreeing with Wren.
Arval starts combing the entrances of the town, trying to look for tracks going in from their side and going out on any other side.
If he comes across people talking whilst on his business he will try and listen in on their conversations, to see if anyone is talking about the riders. If they ask him what his business is he will tell them that a friend lost something precious and that he is searching for it.
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Before leaving for carrion hill, lena casts a spell, creating a chariot with 4 horses. She laughs and jumps for joy when it appears. spookily, the chariot and horse make no noise, and are a bit see through.
It worked! Come on, room for all.
She hops on, placing her pack by her feet and taking the reins, and once the party is on, goes. Or if they don't.
In town, Lena has a hot bath. And a big meal. After that she tags along with arval, in case he gets into fun (trouble). She also talks to people to find out if the riders came through.
Whiskeyjack purchased their healing materials, and a few other things besides, but not wihtout frustrations. He was telling Lena all about it as they began to leave town.
"Ain't no undersandin' some people. D'ye know tha' th' apothecary where we go all tha' healin' stuff weren't e'en up t' a little hagglin'? Downright uncivilized. 'E jest gave a fair price an' tha' were tha'. Unnervin' sort o' fellow."
----------------------
Whiskeyjack enjoyed the trip on Lena's magical chariot. It saved him from a lot of walking. There was something not quite right about his left sabaton, which made walking uncomfortable. He should have had it attended to back in Carrion Hill, but it was too late for that. He would have to remember to do so when they went back through there, if they did.
"If'n i' be information ye be wantin', best ye have Eldon chatter a bit. Jest be sure t' remind him tha' 'e needs t' stop talkin' long enough fer th' people t' actually ge' a word in edgewise if'n 'e wants any answers."
The dwarf set off for the nearest bar to spend some silver and wet his dry mouth. His mouth felt stuffed with cotton since they left Carrion Hill and he was sure it was because the barkeep there served him water at least once.
Wren will sell stuff and shop, happy to let others search for their prey while she gets to know the locals and pick up local gossip. Wren has an ear for gossips, delighting in talking details of other people's personal issues, personal problems, and making judgements base on insufficient information.
Hopping off of Lena's magical chariot you all head into the town intent on finding out what you can about the Whispering Way. Eldon leads thew ay, talking to anyone who will listen. The townsfolk here are... peculiar, as you get a strong sense that they are very unhappy to see outsiders, but also can't help but shut up and gossip about everything. As you make your way through the village you see shutters open and close depending on if people want to gawk or pretend you don't exist.
It's easy enough to tell that the locals are practicing a local version of the Pharasman faith. As you walk through town, everyone seems to be making the spiral of Pharasma over their chests.
You don't get much information about a rider, but you do get information about how Betsy Maple sat a pew further up in church than is best for her, or how Donner Dilton's young brat was running around out at night when it ain't safe.
Eventually, your questions lead you to The Stain, an honest watering hole popular with the fishermen and dockworkers. Here, the people appear to be talking shop rather than gossiping about church, which is an improvement. You all settle up at the bar to flag the barkeeper, and Eldon asks the same question. This time, you get an answer and only Kawrock gets funny stares.
"Ooh arr, well met there little Eldon. I's Rodrik - this here's the best whiskey you'll find in Versex, order a few and we'll 'av a chat."
Without waiting for an answer, he lines up some whiskey shots.
"Two strange riders came t'town a days past, they weren't much for speaking and stopped at the livery stable for fresh mounts. Their old horses are probly still there. One of them headed out of town down t'coast to Illmarsh, Other one, not sure."
"Illmarsh? Doesn't sound like the kind of place one would want to visit. What's out there?" Kawrock asks. His curiosity getting the better of him despite the odd stares from the local patrons.
"Excellent question, Kawrock," Eldon comments as he nods appreciatively. "I was just about to ask the same."
"The Illmarsh?" Wren quizzes up as the name is mentioned.
Know (Geography)
"Oh, I know something about the Illmarsh, I'll tell you what..." Wren rattles on about the Illmarsh and how, this one time, she had to go there with some strange and weird companions that she suffered in near silence.