Bruden whistled at the gnome. He took quick inventory. He got a scratch, and Tyr did too, they had one injured and one dead wolf. It was safe to say they won at this point. Those wolves would think twice before attacking a camp again at night. He lifted his spear and flung the blood off of it before setting it upright.
So we let them go, to attack the next unwary traveler to pass this way?We're less than a days walk from Kassen. The next person they hunt could be someone we know.
The gnome considers the point of view: Possibly, or they might think better of it next time they want to attack people. They're not fighting out of malice or anything, and if we press the attack it could be one of us they eat. I'd just as soon let sleeping dogs, if you pardon the pun, lie.
It's not like I have much choice in the matter. It would be stupid of me to try and fight it unarmed like I am.
Fine. If it's gonna go it should go, but you tell it that if it trys to harm any other people in this area It won't be the only wolf that gets hunted down and killed.
I am all for having allies in the forest and showing mercy to the weak, but these creatures attacked us unprovoked. I doubt this one will recover properly anyways after being burned and slashed. Malzuket does seem to have some power over these animals. Perhaps he is right, although I am skeptical. Heavens help them if they try it again, there will be no mercy.
Rale speaks,
If we all agree, then I concur, let them go. Make sure to tell them that I will personally dispatch them towards the light should they not honor this agreement.
Bruden goes over to the wolf corpse and starts dragging it into the woods. When he gets a little way off, he begins gutting and cleaning the corpse and hangs it to bleed out. If it is still there in the morning, then he can take the hide. If it isn't then the hungry animals out there found something besides them to eat. Either outcome would be good.
The wolf lowers its head and tail in submission and slinks away.
The rest of the night passes without incident. The group wakes up, breaks their fast and continues on, following the map. Early in the day, 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. Approaching the group can see the swollen decomposing corpse of a man. His upper body is covered in huge bite marks. Much of the man’s gear has rotted to worthlessness.
There is a fine looking short sword and a small leather bag containing 87 GP lying nearby the body. The coins look newly minted from the capital city of Tamran; they bear the likeness of Forest Marshal Gavirk, nominal leader of Nirmathas.
This man is not from Kassen—his clothing is in poor condition from exposure, but it is obviously of a kind purchased in larger cities.
Bruden picks up the bag and the sword. "Not from here" he said, referring to the corpse. "Capital maybe. Some big city for sure."
Before bedding down for the night, Rale gathered Bruden and Tyr close together to heal their wounds by channeling the energy of Sarenrae.
Rale stared quietly at the waning moon through the hole in the roof of his new tent before drifting off to sleep.
In the morning Rale quietly completes his meditative ritual, before checking over his gear and adjusting his armor.
Rale stretches his hand out towards the corpse, mumbling something.
Tyr helped Bruden deal with the body of the slain wolf, then goes back to bed. He stands his watch with his crossbow loaded and ready but there is no more excitement.
Finding the body the next day is interest and a more than a little disgusting.
He was definately not from Kassen, but how do you know he is from a big city? Tyr prods the corpse with the point of his pole-hammer. The smell of the rotting body makes Tyr a bit nauseous but he doesn't want to let the others know.
I wonder what killed him.
Bruden points at the clothes of the man as an explanation and pulls out the coin bag he had and tosses it to Tyr to inspect. "New coins, fancy clothes." He states simply. He figured it wouldn't take more than that, but the shiny sword was also an indicator. Not a whole lot of people were swinging something this nice in the militia. He had stowed it near his new wolf pelt, and would give it up if he had to, but it sure was a lot nicer than anything he had.
When he mentioned something about what killed him, Bruden could only shrug.
Oh, I see. Tyr examines the coins breifly and then returns them and the pouch to Bruden.
I am going to refill my waterskins up the shore aways, does anyone want me to refill theirs? Tyr takes any the waterskins the others want refilled and moves several dozen yards along the shore to refill them.
The gnome lends his eyes as well, but can't quite place the cause of death.
Hmm, not sure what got him, but we probably shouldn't linger here.
He moves closer to the others, anxious and wary.
Rale gives his waterskin to Tyr.
Thank you, Tyr.
We should at least cover his body, if not bury it. Who's with me on this.
Bruden nods a bit. Then he pads his pockets. "Shovel?"
Good point. Let's at least cover the body with stones and then we can report it when we get back to Kassen.
Tyr refills the water bottles with little trouble.
Water bottles filled Tyr returns to the group and helps cover the body with stones from the shore of the lake.
Rale thinks to himself.
That seems like an awful lot of money to be carrying around. I wonder if this man was important, perhaps an emissary.
What was he doing out here?
When they finish stacking stones over the man's corpse, Tyr puts his pack back on. Shrugging his shoulders to settle it into place.
We should go. We need to get to the crypt and get the everflame. Besides if we stay here much longer the stink is going to sink into our hair and cloths.
Good idea. Let's head out.
Bruden helps with the corpse and when they are ready, he will lead the way toward their destination using map and compass.
Leaving the Gray Lake behind, the heroes must travel for about 3 hours to reach the valley that contains the Crypt of the Everflame. The trees in this part of the forest are very old and quite gnarled. 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. Their map marks the Crypt as being as the bottom of the valley.
Descending first with everyone in the group watching, he tries to handle it all with little issues.
Rale cautiously descends the hill behind Bruden and Tyr. Sword drawn and shield readied with gear attached, Rale takes it slow, keeping an eye out for anything remiss.
Bruden makes it down the ridge no problem.
Rale trips, falling and sliding down the first twenty feet of the ridge, slamming into rocks and stumps along the way. One particular rock stops his descent, and he regains his footing, making it shakily the rest of the way down without any more trouble.
Rale stands up and mumbles some curse he heard from Breggar. He adjusts his gear and calls to Bruden,
You had better take this lantern Bruden before I destroy it and get run out of town.
He hands the ever-important lantern to the sure-footed Bruden.
Malzuket also slips and slides through two thorny thickets before thumping hard against a rock.
He makes it the rest of the way down the slope unharmed.
Tyr gets a few steps down the incline and then starts to slip, sliding a few feet in the mud while pinwheeling his arms. He regains his footing for a second before the place he's standing on turns into a small mudslide. It carries him down a hill and over a twenty foot tall cliff, he hits the ground rolling and tumbles down another short hill before slamming into a tree stomach first.
The wind is blown cleanly out of him, and he's rather battered and bruised from head to toe. It's a miracle he hasn't broken anything.
The group picks themselves up and dusts themselves off, now safely (more or less) at the bottom of the gorge. Looking around they see that 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.
Everyone ok? Tyr!
Malzuket rushes over to where Tyr fell, relieved to find him still breathing.
Rale, Tyr needs your help. And maybe next time we should use a rope?
Rale gets to Tyr quickly and lays his hand upon him muttering some divine incantation.
You find nothing amusing in going down the hill with the rope wrapped around me Malzuket?
Rale politely smiles, but swallows his pride as that could have saved a lot of trouble.
I need to be less anxious and more focused.
Tyr lays wrapped around the tree trunk for a minute before slowly rolling on to his back. He lays there looking up into the rainy autumn sky for a few moments more before he groans and climbs to his feet and leans against the tree he collided with.
Thank you for your concern Master Cobblebarn, but I believe I will be okay. A little bruised and muddy but nothing seems to be broken.
What happened here? he asks as he notices the slaughtered animals. As the others investigate the scene Tyr stays where he is leaning against the tree. When the others are ready to continue he picks up his pole hammer and follows. He moves a little slower than before.
Bruden, check out the saddle bags.
After watching the others take a tumble down the hill, he does take the lantern from Rale. It seems to be less damaged than the rest of the crew. He is particularly surprised to see Tyr still standing after all that. He certainly is tougher than he looks.
Bruden takes inventory of what is in the saddlebags of the dead ponies. He pulls out the rations and gives them a quick sniff to see if they are still good before stowing them amongst his things. He attaches the quiver to his belt in case there might be a bow left somewhere in the crypt. The pillows he checks to see what they might be filled with before he stows them in his pack as well. A bunch of feathers or cotton might come in handy sometime. He stowed the pints of oil in the pillows to help keep them from breaking.
After they had taken inventory, the half elf grabs a torch from Tyr's pack and gets it lit up and prepares to go in the crypt.
Before entering into the crypt, Rale attempts once again to improve Tyr's health by channeling his diety.
Tyr lays wrapped around the tree trunk for a minute before slowly rolling on to his back. He lays there looking up into the rainy autumn sky for a few moments more before he groans and climbs to his feet and leans against the tree he collided with.
Thank you for your concern Master Cobblebarn, but I believe I will be okay. A little bruised and muddy but nothing seems to be broken.
What happened here? he asks as he notices the slaughtered animals. As the others investigate the scene Tyr stays where he is leaning against the tree. When the others are ready to continue he picks up his pole hammer and follows. He moves a little slower than before.
Malzuket looks at Tyr with more respect after he shrugs off a deadly fall. He then looks around nervously as Rale and Bruden inspect the slaughtered horses. He weaves the shadows around him with a wave of his hands before crouching to inspect the bodies on his own.
I thought this journey was supposed to be 'symbolically' dangerous. Wolves are one thing, but a dead man and now more freshly slaughtered animals? Not sure if it's another animal that did this, or something worse, but we'd best be on our toes before going in there.
When the others are particularly interested in the corpses, Bruden hops back over to take a look. He looks at the skeleton and then the pony. Then back at the bones and then at the pony again. He scratches his head. He pulls out his silvered light mace to go with the torch. He takes a look for some tracks to and from the entrance to the cave. He had a bad feeling about this.
There are many sets of tracks going to and from the doors to the Crypt. They are a mixture of booted feet and bony impressions all over top of each other. It's too muddled for Bruden to really make sense of it.
Rale thinks to himself, What an elaborate hoax. Surely they canot have staged this.