Aska follows Ian's lead, drawing her Guisarme and moving quietly. She keeps her eyes and ears open in case they've already been spotted.
The two of you have been quieter, you're certain. The closer you get to the small collection of buildings, the more details you can make out. It is fairly obvious in your advance that the town seems to be uninhabited. There are no people that you can see, and no livestock that you might normally see, either. No sounds greet your ears of people working, or children playing. Of the several buildings that you can see, all are headed into a state of disrepair, though they could serve as shelters still. No smells of life come to your noses of food cooking or even that of recent waste.
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"I smell rot." At Aska's concerned look he elaborates. "Normal rot. Decay from time. I don't think anyone is here." Ian makes another once around the village, checking for tracks to see if there are any besides the ones that brought them here.
If he finds none he comes back to Aska, scratching his head. "No tracks leading away. I guess we have to wait."
"We could search the houses. At the very least we might find out what happened here. If we're lucky we might find some passage that our target took." Aska gestures towards the houses. "Worst that happens is we get attacked, but that would at least tell us we're on the right track."
"Right. Cause that always works out well for us." Why is it something almost always jumps out? Despite the comment, Ian moves to one of the shacks and stands to the side. Using the long reach of his weapon, he cautiously opens the door from a few feet away.
The door opens easily, if with slight difficulty due to the amount of time that it has been closed, subjected to the weather and its effects on roughly-assembled wood. A waft of the air on the inside brings the scent of decomposition, long since begun and almost ended. The light is dim on the inside, save for where the light from the outside is let in, aged and worn shutters poorly blocking the windows. The air is stale and dry save for that tang of decomposition.
This house is one of several, barely more than a handful haphazardly strung around a well that stands, but whether or not there is still water in it remains to be seen.
Well, nothing popped out. That was good. Ian moves away from the door and circles to face it from several paces away. He picks up a small rock and holds it tightly. After a moment of concentration, he opens his palm and the rock shines bright like a torch. He tosses it into the house.
Aska cocks an eyebrow at Ian's actions but says nothing. 'This is being a little more cautious than usual. I guess it's better to be safe than sorry, but this could take all day...' Aska thinks to herself. Unfortunately, her talents lie in a different direction so all she can do is follow along and keep her eyes open. In particular for anything magical Ian may not recognize.
Inside the house, all that the Light-ed pebble reveals is a long-decomposed corpse, skin stretched thin and dry, slumped over as if leaning against the wall, seated on the dirt floor. No other details stand out. The house is old, no obvious footprints, and no damage to the structure beyond the weathering that occurred naturally. Possessions in the house are meager, wooden utensils, otherwise nothing of value.
To Aska, nothing stands out in regards to the arcane, no odd signs that could have been caused by magic— save for the glowing pebble that was haphazardly sitting in the corner of the house.
(After careful checking...)
Only one of the other houses on the other end showed signs of a corpse, just about as aged as the initial one that they found. Without thorough examination, it may be hard to tell. The evening has well and truly arrived by the time that their check is completed. There was little in any of the houses beyond some left behind items of little to no worth. No traps were found in any of the houses, and even the grass is well underway in reclaiming the hard-packed dirt.
"I'm going to check out the two corpses. The has to be some kind of clue here." Aska will move to check the first corpse(giving time for Ian to stop her if he really feels necessary).
The corpse is desiccated, the results of time and exposure, with some parts of the body being picked clean. There is barely a smell of decomposition, you can catch hints of it, but even those are faint. At a guess, it has been more than several months since the body was there at a guess, though the cause of death is uncertain. The remainder of items in the house would leave you to conclude that anything of value has been taken some time prior, though whoever took the items did nothing for the body.
Ian scratches his head. This was a new one, that was for sure. A cursory glance showed nothing. They'd have to get more in depth. "Long abandoned village, no tracks leading away and no culprit. We're missing something." Ian picks a house that doesn't seem to be falling over just yet to rest in. They'd have to pick things up in the morning it seems.
"Agreed" Already tired, Aska doesn't complain in the least about the sleeping arrangements.
Ian shifts back to what qualifies as a normal human. The protective padding of hair retreats back to that of the average man. After the shift back, he pauses a mount in concentration, then shifts again. The facial features return but this time they are accompanied by the slightly sunken, deep brown eyes of a bear. "I'll sniff around during the night and keep watch. You can take over in the morning if I don't find anything."
Already fatigued, Aska is asleep almost as soon as she settles into her comfortable bedroll.
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Ian first checks over each house again and the corpses within. Maybe he could determine cause. Unlikely considering how desiccated they were but still.
He then searches the grounds and houses for things out of place, maybe arcane runes or circles like the one that lead them here. He also switches between different moral spectrums, even checking for good and law.
No real direct sources of death can be determined, given the amount of time that the corpses have been exposed. There is everything from weather exposure to signs of vermin and insects. Your best guess is that it has been a couple of months at least that it has been unattended. The corpse— and for that matter, the house— does not register to any of your modes of detection, though perhaps the lingering smell is a bit worse than you thought. While working on the thorough examination, a shroud of black registers on the edges of your perception.
Something is out there.
_________________________________
,
,
*Snooooore*
Ian was scanning the last house. Switching between the spectrums was starting to give him a head ache but it had to be done. They needed clues. Then it happened. He was looking at the dead body, trying to seek out evil, holding for a half minute to see if their were any wisps of the black fog. Just as he switched to chaos, something caught his attention. He switched back to evil and looked again. There, not in the house but out in darkness beyond his darkvision, a stray wisp of black fog. Ian immediately ducks to hide and moves to the door. He peers out into the darkness. It doesn't take long to spot another...and another.
He takes moment to consider his options. Could be the culprit, could be undead wandering in, could be the ghouls. In all those cases, drawing attention was bad. Zombies moved slow so there was plenty of time. Ghouls were fast so moving would get him in a fight. But Aska was still asleep and he had no means of silent communication.
Shit.
But he was the only one moving around. Maybe they only knew his location. He decided to wait in the house, keeping his eyes still and focused in the direction of Aska's house to make sure nothing came from that direction.
Just as Ian freezes upon catching the hint of something being out there, a faint snore could be heard as well. The darkness that he detected had not moved that he could tell, but when he moved, he could almost feel its attention.
"There", a rasping voice could be heard hissing. It was raspy, and rough "—and there..."
The sounds of scuffling footsteps approach the open door to the house that Ian was currently occupying.
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Tired from the previous day Aska is out like a light and oblivious to the world around her as danger creeps ever closer.
Shit. They know, Ian thinks. The first "there" was bad enough but the second meant they had somehow divined Aska's place too. Ian steps around the corner and gets ready for a fight.
Coming around the side of the doorway, Ian can make out two figures with his darkvision, one slightly different from the other. Standing near the well, is a form that once could be called humanoid, but is obviously dead and radiating darkness to Ian's senses. The remnants of a tattered robe could be seen on its body, aged but not rotten. It looks more aware and composed, its body language seeming calculated.
Closer to him is the undead form of a more feral humanoid crouched slightly as it advances on the doorway. Nearly naked save for the tatters of rags on its body, its claws are long and ragged. Closing on him, it attempts to bite at him, but cannot connect.
No other creatures could be seen from his viewpoint.
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MAP HERE
Ian:
?:
??:
?
Round 1
Ian spins out of the doorway in time to see an emaciated undead charging for him. He is momentarily stunned at how fast they were able to pinpoint his location and time the attack. Thankfully, his shield stopped the creature in its tracks. That's when he he takes stock of the situation. Ghoulish creature up front and something far more intelligent in the back. Thinking quickly, Ian spins out of the doorway, letting the undead stumble forward. Then, in one smooth motion, he collapses his axe into something close range and brings it down on the creature. As he does so, he roars out louder than necessary in an attempt to reach Aska. It felt like there were more than just these two waiting out there.
One swing was all it took to return the undead to death. It crumpled as Ian's line of sight was blocked by the wall he was using as cover. The body that was just cut down seems to have all of the hallmarks of a ghoul, though there was something different about the other figure that had been seen by the well. Most notably, it was not as feral as the one that was just dealt with.
You hear footsteps retreating away from where you last saw it, heading generally in the direction that you know Aska is sleeping.
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Ian rips his axe out of the ghouls back and quickly retreats behind the wall of the house, expecting some spell of fire or lightning. When nothing comes immediately, he darts his head out and back for a look. All he saw was the figures back retreat into the darkness. Shit...again. Ian steps over the re-corpse and gives chase, yelling into the night as runs. "Aska! Incoming!"
Getting out of the house over the body takes some attention, but Ian pursues the figure, seeing that the direction that it is running is towards the house where Aska was asleep.
Aska, something wakes you up out of your sleep, though you're still tired.
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Still groggy, Aska just manages to grab her weapon and get to her feet. "I seriously hope Ian just tripped over something..." Aska says trying to shake herself awake.
Having moved a short distance away, the figure that Ian was chasing turns with a grin on what would be a face, if it was not rotting and twisted with evil. One clawed hand makes a gesture as the other turns to point at Ian. , the raspy voice echoed, larger than life and backed by magic. Suddenly, it seems larger than life and twice as scary.
Something tickles at Ian's mind, reaching for purchase and fails. For all he knows, the ghoul tried to cast something, though he was not sure what.
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Round 2
A niggling doubt creeps into Ian's mind. One that he recognized should not be there. He roars at the ghoul out of instinct to protect his mind. His teachers had told him the calm mind of or the furious one was the best defense against mental manipulation. They preyed on doubt and fear. "Not today," he yells as he leaps in the air and brings the axe crashing down.
Aska, finally hearing the noise outside will quickly move to the door and open it. Carefully checking for a waiting ambush before stepping out into the night.
Despite the foul smell coming from the creature this close up on it, Ian manages against the smell to connect with his attack, eliciting a screech from the ghoul as it reeled backwards. In an attempt to prevent any further damage, it tried one more time, the same gesture channeling its magic.
Aska, you can hear the fight, but in the dark, making any sort of detail out is nigh impossible.
Ian shrugs off the spell again, the magic failing to find purchase once more.
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Aska panics a bit at the surrounding darkness. She knows Ian is fighting, but has no way to help him without being able to see. She has a couple torches, but it would take to long to light them. "Screw it..." Aska pulls out one of her Alchemist's Fire and tosses it at the wall of a nearby house. Even if the old wood somehow doesn't catch, the fire should still last long enough for Aska to do SOMETHING.
Round 3
Ian catches a whiff of an unholy smell emanating from the undead caster but does not stop. The smells he had to endure in the crypt that he trained in were several times worse. He had to learn to fight while emptying his stomach quickly. Another spell washes over him and tries to invade his mind but he through up a wall of rage yet again and muscles through for another attack.
Aska sets one of the empty houses ablaze, and that gives her enough light to see Ian in mid-swing, the strike cutting down a clothed form that looked somewhat odd. The fire begins to creep up the structure, taking to the old wood quite well. There is barely enough light to make out another form in the doorway of one of the houses that was not there the first time. What seems like the beginning of a horrible smell reaches her nose, but it is not strong enough to force a reaction.
The form crumples under Ian's axe with a hissing gurgle and does not move. It still smells terrible, though. The light of the now-burning house provides enough illumination to determine that there are no other hostile forms that can be seen immediately.
Ian shields his eyes from the bright light of the fire. He is visibly relieved to see Aska is standing in a doorway, more annoyed and tired than anything else. "Ghouls. Some smart. I think there may be more," he says walking over to her. "That house will burn out fast. Get some more light." He stands near the door and begins scanning the surroundings again for evil.
Minutes pass, but nothing else shows to Ian's sight. The house, once aflame, provides light out as far as the well. Thankfully, the night is somewhat calm. The way the house burned, it might have been possible to catch one or two of the other houses alight, or start another brush fire.
"Gods...I need sleep." Aska shakes her head a bit to clear it. "But, at least it seems like we're on the right track. Think you can track where those ghouls came from?"
"If we go now, maybe." Ian scans the surroundings once again but nothing seems to be out there. If they were going to get swarmed, it would have happened during the ambush. He looks over at the undead caster. That thing was frighteningly powerful. Ghouls were smart but not smart enough to cast spells. At least as far as he knew. "Check the body. That one was different. Maybe there is a clue as to its origin. I'll see if I can't find a trail."
Aska moves to examine the ghoul's body. As it's still dark, she first drags it closer to the fire so she can see better.
In the light of the burning house, Aska can find little of interest on the body of the ghoul— which still smelled so bad that it was difficult to remain nearby— besides a few golden bracelets and a pair of rings inset with small gems that were difficult to make out. The robe that it was wearing was ruined, though it was not that high quality, either. The way this thing smelled, once Aska had taken everything of value off of the corpse, it would be better to probably toss it into the burning building.
Ian finds the tracks easily, almost without looking. The two sets of tracks originate from the dry well in the center of this small town. The rope and bucket have since been removed or fallen apart, but the beams seem sturdy enough. There is no smell of water from the well, or much of anything besides the same stench that came from the one ghoul. The bottom cannot be seen currently.
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"So that's what happened," Ian says. peering down the well. He whistles to get Aska's attention and points down the well. "Found the burrow I think. Want to hit it tonight while he have surprise or head to town and get better prepared?"
"Honestly? I'd like to get some sleep." Aska grunts as she tosses the corpse into the burning building. "But I don't want to give this...whatever he is, more time to prepare. Let's go tonight."
"Right," he says, looking suspiciously down the well. It was going to be a long night he supposed. Ian ties off some rope to one of the beams and tosses it down the well. He listens for a moment to make sure that didn't startle anything at the bottom. Then he vaults over and starts descending.
It is dark and the well is deep. There are no sounds but your breathing, and the light from the burning building does not reach further than five feet down. Even so, after fifteen feet, your low-light vision is showing you nothing.