The town of Hardwheat has been plagued recently by insanity and madmen. Kas the Bloody has called for foolhardy adventurers to find the cause, which he suspects is coming from the fortress he has been using as a prison. Excitement, good booze, and hopefully, good pay as well.
Horrible rumors fly through Hardwheat of terrible things in the prison, things which are starting to work their way out of the wall. Animals go missing in the night, cattle are found mutilated and chewn to shreds, those of a sensitive nature have terrible dreams. Panic has risen, and bounties have been posted for any willing to investigate.
The gaol is a circular keep, with an outer curtain wall which has been repaired in a piecemeal fashion. The entrance is blocked by an iron portcullis, thankfully the winch that lifts it seems mostly intact. No guards are visible on patrol or stationed outside the building. The stables just inside the ruined wall have been in use recently, but it only contains the decayed corpses of horses, some of which have been butchered. All of the feed is missing, and so is the tack and harness. Near the stables, a pigeon coop has been smashed open and ransacked. A few of the birds are found with their necks wrung and with chunks of flesh torn off, most seem unaccounted for.
What do you do?
Takesh frowns at the scene, feeling grateful (and not for the first time), that her several strong legs remove her need to ever use a horse.
When Kas had sent word, she initially anticipated that it was being blown out of proportion. Small towns like Hardwheat, rarely experiencing any kind of change, or excitement - it was easy to imagine the people being superstitious, easy to imagine them concocting a story. Some kind of bogeyman to scare the younglings.
Takesh's many eyes flick around the scene, her legs gripping the door frame of the stable as she leans in, and she thinks to herself that there is no way that this is something that villagers concocted. Turning from the scene, Takesh skitters over towards the coup, narrowing her red eyes at the pigeon corpses, as well. She pushes a long strand of white hair from her face, and considers what would have done this.
Taking a few moments, Takesh studies the scene before her, realising that she would have to talk to the villagers soon, and wanting to have an idea of what to ask them. With luck, they wouldn't think she was a demon and try to light her on fire. She laughs, but without amusement. You never really knew how people would react.
In the meantime, she'd ask the coup if it knew anything. It would probably prove to be more useful, anyway.
Yizid looks at the scene. The case was difficult and he wishes he had asked Kas more questions at the beginning. He looks around to see if there were anyone who seemed to know anything about the jail, or, for that matter, about anything.
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Gorn nods at Yizid. He speaks, and though he keeps his voice low, the words still sound like two boulders trying to slowly crush each other into gravel. "What think you, Yizid? The pigeons seem to indicate that murder was done here, but the lack of harness and riding kit indicates that someone got away. This remind you at all of the Elephant Tower in Shadizar?"
The big man stalks closer, following Takesh. He never had a problem with how she looked. She could be orange and wear funny hats for all he cared. You are what you do, and she is competent. No more need be said. "Whatever did this...why would they only take a bite out of a pigeon? I've eaten pigeon before. Didn't care for it, but it was all we had. It's not hard to eat a whole one, so why stop?"
Gorn thinks to himself, 'What happened here recently?'
"I don't think we can conclude that so easily. He could just as easily have walked. The Elephant Tower is not at all similar, because it's impossible to reach it by foot."
Yizid takes in the scene again to see if he can figure out what the situation in the gaol is.
Takesh
You spot a few bloody handprints on the wall of the coop. Four fingers, thumb, human-sized. The footprints all look to be human as well, some are wearing shoes, most are barefoot. Lying in a corner, a broken club seems to be discarded. It's very makeshift, apparently fashioned out of a table leg bound with strips of leather with metal buckles studding it. Certainly not the standard weapon for a prison guard. Also sticking out is what isn't here. There's no seed for the pigeons, no empty sacks either. Anything remotely edible is gone.
Gorn
Looking around, you see a number of bloodstains spattering the dirt around the coop and stables. Scuffs in the dirt, overlapping footsteps, all signs of a struggle. Some of the stains are covered by dirt and footsteps, they were definitely made first. Something was eating the animals, and was attacked by a second party.
Yizid
Though the riding gear is missing, along with the horses, you don't see any hoof tracks leading away from the gaol. You find a few scraps of leather that were cut from the tack and harness. Rather than escaping, something repurposed the gear for a new purpose.
Your finely-tuned instincts are screaming of an ambush. You know from previous prison experiences that observation posts are common in gaols, and you're certain that something is watching you currently.
The animal feed is missing, probably eaten. The animals themselves have been butchered. Whatever is eating all the supplies is running out of edible stuff, and will almost certainly need to move on soon. Reports have already come from Hardwheat that livestock have gone missing.
Yizid becomes alarmed.
"There's a... umm..."
He tries to communicate his bad feeling to everyone else, but doesn't feel successful.
Ropetail's instincts pick up on the uneasiness of Yizid's voice. Not knowing what the cause of this concern could be coming from, the small duelist moves toward the stables...both to look for additional clues, and to find cover should something bad happen. Ropetail is the kind of operative who is constantly scanning for an exit in case things go wrong - paranoia is a way of life for her people.
Daggers out, she peers out of the stables. "What clues can we glean from all this?" she asks of Gorn and Takesh, or at least of their general direction. "Everything looks to have been pretty thoroughly picked over. Can anyone find a trail left by who did this?"
Takesh leaves the club where it lies, studying it (and the handprints) with her many eyes before straightening up. "A curious amount has been stolen." she mutters, noting the difference in foot prints as well. "Looks humanoid." She remarks, casting her eyes back to the others, quickly looking at the sizes of their feet and counting the fingers on their hands. It wasn't anything personal, she just didn't know them very well. And one never could be too sure.
Ignoring Yizid for his inability to speak his mind, she cocks her head towards the small mouse. "Picked over is right." She points with one of her many legs into the room, keeping her hands near her weapons. "Both the feed and sacks are all gone. There are many footprints, a handprint in a pool of blood." She gestures to the club. "There's also that. Some kind of fight, perhaps?"
As Yizid tries to get everyone's attention, five people dressed in prison rags rush from the central keep. The prisoners have been strangely mutilated, with scars running down their arms and markings suggesting open mouths covering their chests. The most striking feature is the horrific removal of their cheeks and lips, leaving a slavering, insane mouth dripping with blood. They charge towards you waving crude clubs and short chains, screaming half-intelligble phrases. "Kill! Eat! Blood! Flesh!"
What do you do?
You hear the blowing of a horn, and see a man with an arrogant look on his face stride in, acting like he owns the place. He gestures toward the prisoners Looks like you guys need some help...
"What an unholy lot." Yizid snorts in disgust.
He throws a dagger towards the closest zombie.
Taking advantage of her stealthy positioning gives the mousefolk an advantage over the tall wilders. She takes the opportunity and flanks the nearest one, her daggers glowing blue as she calls upon her innate magic. Her unexpected angle of attack allows her to get into Hand range safely.
Humanoids, she thinks to herself as she approaches. They probably rely heavily on vision...let's work with that.
✴ On a 10+, deal your damage and apply 1 technique.
✴ On a 7-9, deal your damage and apply 1 technique, and your opponent attacks you.
+ low visibility in Hand range
"Something wrong with their mouths!" she calls out to the others after withdrawing to Close range from her initial strike. "Don't let them bite you!"
Ramonde, you may own the place, but these madmen don't seem to agree with you. One of them closes with you, flailing about with the scraps of chain still shackled to her fists.
Yizid, the dagger buries itself in the prisoner's shoulder, but it doesn't phase him too much. Ropetail's arcane technique kicks up a small dust cloud around a nearby prisoner, leaving it rather disoriented. A good chance to slip in unnoticed with a quick blade.
Ropetail, the dust and stab wound infuriate your foe, and he begins flailing around blindy with a broken tool handle. His wild swings are undirected, but if you stay still you're likely to get hit simply by sheer chance.
The mutilated prisoners continue to close in, raging and shouting.
Everyone, what do you do?
Ramonde's smirk falters as the prisoner runs toward him, but it quickly reappears. Taking out his rapier, Ramonde points it towards the enemy and attempts a quick jab.
Yizid quickly shifts to the confused prisoner to try to get an advantage against it.
Oh, missed that this was open...
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Gorn hefts his shield and draws his STEEL. He roars a challange as he wades into the maelstrom of battle.
"Yes. YES! Come! Come little princesses! Come and claim your red red crown! Feel the sweet kiss of STEEL! All this thinking about half-eaten birds and stolen saddles was making my head hurt. So come and know that at least your deaths gave me some small distraction!"
Seeing Ramonde begin to fence with his foe, Gorn closes the distance to help the bard.
He lifts his massive sword one hand and swings it in great arc, cleaving down on the insane prisoner's head.
Seeing the disgruntled prisoners charging towards them, Takesh narrows her many eyes. "You should have stayed in your cells." She mutters, throwing up one of her hands. A blast of force flies outward, throwing one of the prisoners back.
Ramonde, that irritating human bard that is always cracking jokes about cheese, is nonetheless in trouble from one of the madmen attacking them. Ropetail notes that Yizid has taken down the prisoner she enveloped in a dust storm, and decides that setting up her enemies for him to backstab them to death was a good strategy.
With a challenging scream, both daggers bared and glowing a bright blue, she leaps at the madman attacking the bard and attempts to move the dust devil to his feet instead.
Unfortunately, her attack fails much like Ramonde's does.
Before the prisoner sent flying by Takesh have a chance to land they are hit once more by a second blast of force, but this one smacks it straight into the ground.
Troublemakers must be punished. Guests are greeted A disembodied voice rings out, seemingly coming from everywhere before you realise it's coming from inside your head.
Before you appears a massive figure, a Gorilla dressed in leather with some sort of ornamental necklace. It strikes its chest with both of its fists as it roars.
Tublat roars in greeting, or is he saying you should thank him for his aid? You're not quite sure.
Tublat steps up to the nearest madman and strikes with a backhanded fist, knocking the weakling off his feet.
STAY DOWN!
Ramonde, the prisoner knocks your rapier away and shouts in your face, "Ajan hungry!". Blood and spittle sprays onto your shirt as she slams you into the dirt with surprising force.
Yizid, you expertly slip your blade into your foe's heart. Blood pours into the dirt as he expires. The man with your dagger stuck in him appears at your side, drooling insanely.
Gorn, once the bard is knocked down, you have a perfect opening to strike. The keen Aquilonian blade splits Ajan's head in twain easily. Another of the madmen springs forward with a twisted poker, swinging it into your arm.
Takesh and Ropetail, the last foe is blasted off her feet by your spell. Unfortunately, the mousefolk chose that moment to leap to Ramonde's aid, getting caught in the blast as well. Both Ropetail and the prisoner are lying by the keep door now.
Tublat, you spike the prisoner tossed away by the drider into the ground with a harsh crunch. Stepping up next to the shifty-looking man, you backhand the drooling maniac with a big furry fist. Your heightened awareness picks up extreme feelings of hunger and confusion, along with something unnatural and starving clinging to these wretches.
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The prisoner, eyes red with bloodlust and brain fogged over in martial fury, strikes at Gorn's arm, but it's the arm with the shield. The poker rings off the defending metal with a loud CLANG!
The big fighter turns slowly at the man and chuckles. It is a deep, heaving sound. It is the sound the roaring sea makes as its churning vortex grasps the exhausted swimmer as his head drops below the surface for the last time. "You have gumption. I'll give you that. Of course I'll also give you three feet of steel. You at least will die with honor." The other arm, thick as a tree trunk, lifts the sword that is not yet wholly covered in blood and it descends with lethal swiftness.
Ramonde is knocked down on the ground, and sees black spots all over his vision. As he sees Gorn rush over to help him and absolutely decimate the opponent against which Ramonde failed badly. A smile on his face, Ramonde thinks THATS who I want to write ballads about.....
Yizid turns back to stab his drooling adversary.
His blow seems to be accurate, if weak.
They starve from magic. They are confused over hunger. Dispel magic and they will not attack anymore.
Tublat grabs the nearest prisoner by the leg and slams him into the ground.
Ropetail snarls as she rolls over to the side, avoiding the madman's swipes as the gorilla snatches him.
Having mostly succeeded at that, the duelist will try to finish the job that the gorilla started, lurching up to sink both daggers into the madman's neck as soon as Tublat finishes ground-smashing him.
Gorn, Keeping your sword in hand might compromise your defenses slightly.
Yizid, You easily avoid the madman's swings and riposte with a blow of your own, but it doesn't faze him much.
Tublat, You ignore the man's blows as you smash him into the dirt. After a swings, he grabs you around the wrist and yanks his leg free, then bludgeons you in the face.
Ropetail, You roll back to your feet and stab the prisoner lying next to you. Getting in close means getting near the mouth though, and she bites you repeatedly before expiring.
Ramonde, you look up as Gorn brings his sword down on the prisoner, but the madman remains standing. He doesn't seem to have noticed you lying there, this might be your chance.
Only two of the attackers remain standing, both on their last legs, but they show no signs of stopping. What do you do?
Yizid takes another blow at the prisoner next to him.
The blow seems to be deadlier this time.
Silly little man's teeth not made for biting living prey.
Ow!, there's more than a little bite to this one's bark.
FINISH HIM!
Ramonde springs up and smashes the weakened prisoner before him with the edge of his horn. He reaches out a hand towards Gorn. Well met! I'm Ramonde, whats your name?
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Keeping his grip on the sword, one of the prisoners manages to almost accidentaly draw a thin line of blood from an unarmored lower leg. Gorn won't know that he's been hurt until an hour later.
As the bard advances and casually stabs the prisoner he had sourly wounded, Gorn nods at the introduction and grunts out, "Pardon. Bide a moment."
The large man takes a few great strides toward the murderous prisoner that harries the gorilla and the thief and thrusts his sword forward with the force of a driving piston.
The fighter's blow lands simultaneously with Yizid's, and between the two they carve the man into thirds.
Seeing no more moving targets, the red haze of battle clears from Gorn's vision. He leans down and wipes his gore-covered blade on the rags of a swiftly-cooling corpse and re-sheathes the blade.
At last he extends a hand to the bard, his voice grinding out a greeting like precious metals mined greedily from a dying planet. "Greetings. I am Gorn, a wandering warrior." He extends the same greeting to Tublat, and follows it up with questions. "How have you two come to join us in such opulent surroundings? And what is your mission here?"
All of the gibbering maniacs are slain or incapacitated. What do you do?
Tublat, You sense some new minds nearby, just inside the keep. You see the tiny monkeys of your homeland, skittish and paranoid. Whatever or whoever they are, they are being extremely cautious.
What do you do?