Billy rushes over to fight the Newtlings still alive.
Phillip and Edmon both miss wildly. Drot continues his assault, but his strikes find themselves unsubstantial. Tesswyn likewise has difficulty pinning the wraith down.
Charles' purity finds foothold burns through the shadow figure.
The newtling attacks Gärwin.
Its claws find nothing but steel.
The newtling on Charles continues to harass him.
Charles' keeps his guard up, and deflects the claws.
The wraith's eyes burn a hole into Charles and her hatred boils up inside her.
But Charles stands tall against her assault and continues to defy the witch.
Gärwin slaughters the newtling and rushes to help his new found friends.
Billy follows suit and charges a newtling, but misses.
Pellius and Sia save Tate from Fate's fickleness.
Barlog moves and heals Billy.
The newtling attacks Billy.
Wraith Damage
74
Tesswyn swings at the wraith again!
The Berserker howls in rage as he fails to land with the knife, as he begins more reckless attacks Drot seizes the opportunity to step in and do something! The orc's arm is flung out in front of him, snapping straight, pointing directly at the Wraith's head.
Alright! Take a breather, damn!... "Multae; Imperium; Iaculum!"
RAAAH, NOTHING! Well no, it was technically something, more then you've done in the last few swings so shut it.
Charles takes the moment to catch his breath, glancing back at the newcomers. "Phil, my sword, it's back there!" he said throwing his head behind him just a few yards. "Edmon get rid of the Newtling. The Hag is too dangerous!"
He continued to fight against the Hag with his shield, channeling his power as he shield bashed her in the face.
Billy is having a hell of a time killing this newtling.
Suddenly crashing into the scene comes Gärwin! His sword flies into the wraith, landing a heavy blow! "This blade beheaded yah once, and will do so again!"
Everyone pulls together for one last push, and as a team they take down the wraith. As she falls, the remaining newtlings collapse back into normal newts.
Covered in newt guts, mixed blood and swamp sludge, Gärwin really needs a bath. He sticks around for the immediate celebration but eventually slips away to get cleaned up. After a good bath and oiling his beard, the dwarf is ready to hit the town and join in the celebrations. He enters the local drinking establishment with a twinkle in his eye and hunger in his gut.
After eating his fill of roast boar and a couple pints of mead, Gärwin hits the tables, gambling away the hours. On occasion he'd flip his new little trinket whenever he felt he needed a little extra luck. He stuck by the tables as much as long as he could, blasting through cigars and money.
Not to worry for tonight, though, as almost everyone else offers to buy your alcohol and food for you.
Rampaging through town, he staggers drunkenly towards the woods, sword in hand. Passersby can hear him talking to himself as he moves past them."They... they... they swap'd 'em with teeny wooden toys while I t'aint lookin'. I'll... I'll get them, I will!"
He doesn't make it very far before the fatigue and drink catch up to him. Poor Gärwin collapses about ten feet into a forest trail, where he spends the night sleeping the rest of the weary. He never noticed that even the gold dust in his beard had turned to wood. Fortunately for him, his loud snoring kept the local wildlife at bay.
Tesswyn slumps heavily to the ground once the wraith is finally defeated. The pain from the hag's touch lingers, a wound that won't easily go away. She counts herself lucky she didn't die--she surely would have, were it not for her friends charging to her rescue.
"Thank you, Garwin," she says, using the dwarf's name for the first time. He's proven herself in her eyes now.
Her eyes drift over to Charles, lingering there for some time, but then she looks around to see the villagers recovering from the fight. She can see a mixture of fear, confusion, and anger in their eyes. Pellius kneels over Tate, the other boy badly wounded. It was their fault. They brought this terror upon the town. Any scorn the people felt towards Tesswyn would be well-deserved.
Bitterly, she climbs to her feet, waving off any attempts to help her. "I think I want to be alone for a bit," she says, walking away from the battle site.
She takes a long bath, washing the blood and grime from her body, then wraps herself in her blankets and lies down in bed. She turns the key of the music box, listening to its sad, sad, song, and if left to her own devices, eventually cries herself to sleep...
Charles let out a sigh of relief as the Hag fell from Garwin's sudden decapitation of the Hag.
He was tired and felt drained from the fight but he was still alive. The hag had laughed, telling him they were to be dragged down to Hell. He had corruption on his soul, yes. Even so The New God had not abandoned him in his time of need. He told himself it was time to get over his previous lull in maintaining his connection with the New God. More importantly, they'd kept the Hag from taking Tesswyn.
"Thanks for the assist Garwin. If you hadn't shown up when you did, I think I was going to die." He gave the dwarf a clap on the shoulder.
He looked at Drot'ook. "Drot'ook, I... think we need to work on your weapon arm. Your swings look powerful but you're too wild."
"Tesswyn, here let me help..." when she waved him off he watched her go feeling confused.
The townsfolk began celebrating the victory over the Hag. Before he could celebrate properly however, Charles knew there was things they had to do. First he had to help heal the wounded, he was almost out of magic but he had enough to help the worst of it.
There had been no time to properly tell people what had been happening as they'd only just discovered what had almost certainly been the truth of their most recent issues all along. The Hag's angry spirit was nothing short of a problem they had created for themselves.
He needed to find Hetti to start looking into creating a more specific antidote for blood bells and get Paul to start looking into treating the children not for disease but for poison and fever.
After the immediate problems had been dealt with, Charles went to his house and washed himself clean of the wounds, swamp muck, and blood.
Later that evening during the celebration, he found himself begrudgingly going to speak with Quinnet about coming up with a mandate for the town to begin construction for a wall to help with events like what had been happening.
It was late by the time he went out to celebrate but the mood didn't hold very well. It was their fault the town had been attacked after all. He found Garwin by the gambling tables but the Dwarf was well into his drink and seemed very drunk so he left him to it. Eventually he thought about Tesswyn leaving, he realized that she wasn't anywhere obvious.
He remembered that she had been reclusive until very recently and he decided to see how she was doing. He found his way to her house and though he hesitated some, he knocked on her door.
"Tesswyn. Tesswyn, are you home?"
Charles's voice rouses Tesswyn from her wallowing. She sighs and makes her way to the door to open it. Her blankets are still wrapped around her, and her eyes are red and puffy. "Yeah, I'm here. Come in, I guess."
She trudges back to the bed and sits down. She avoids eye contact with the priest and is silent, letting him say what's on his mind.
"Thanks." Charles said as he came inside, glancing around her house for the second time as he gathered his thoughts.
"Pretty harrowing day. I sort of expected beginning and the middle but not the end, you know? Dealing with that Hag twice in one day..."
He studied her for a moment.
"You left pretty suddenly. What, did you get tired of us suddenly? Thought it might have been to avoid any more work. Don't worry though, Drot'ook and I got things taken care of with the Blood Bells. Between Hetti working on a specific antidote and Paul getting proper care to everyone we'll have the poison dealt with.
No one died in the attack so everyone's celebrating the defeat of the horrible witch of the swamp. You should have seen Garwin, he's celebrating for all of us..." Charles let out a small chuckle but paused as he realized he was rambling and let out a sigh.
"When I didn't see you out there I thought I might find you here. Don't tell me you changed your mind about what you said before."
Tesswyn scowls when Charles suggests she left to avoid responsibility. "You're an idiot. I didn't change my mind about anything. That damn spirit left me shaken... Brought back some bad memories. Plus, it's our fault that she attacked the town at all. The others no doubt blame us for bringing danger to their doorsteps. Blame me."
She hugs her legs around her knees.
Charles blinked at Tesswyn's response. He shrugged uncomfortably at the mention of bad memories since the image of the Hag refused to leave his mind even now.
"I know, I know. It was my decision which put you and Drot'ook in there. I thought we could subdue her or talk her down." He shook his head. "Look, the point is, it wasn't your fault she blew herself up. It was mine more than anyone's.
No doubt there will be some blame put our way but only a few people were near enough to hear her call you out. But more importantly no one in town died because of this. I mean they're out there celebrating because of us Tesswyn, they're not mourning or angry like they were earlier. It wasn't the ideal outcome, but found the problem too. I think the town will be better for it and they will move on from this."
He looked at Tesswyn giving her a sheepish smile.
"So, if you didn't change your mind about anything then you don't want to be alone, right? You could come out and see what I mean with everyone celebrating. Or we could just talk? I've got a deck of playing cards I got from a soldier at Bleake's Faste. Taught me a few games I could show you.
Or whatever else you want. I won't leave, unless you want me to."
Tesswyn is quiet for a few moments, then she finally looks up and meets Charles's gaze. "No, I don't want you to leave. But I don't want to go out there right now. Cards, then. I promise I won't cheat too much." A hint of a smile teases at the edges of her lips.
She gets up them, extricating herself from her blankets. She's wearing a simple nightgown, one side slipping down slightly to expose the pale skin of her shoulder. The rogue clears enough space at the table to set up the playing cards and sits down opposite the priest.
After the first few rounds, Tesswyn brushes a few errant strands of hair from her face and looks at Charles again. "The way you confronted the hag's ghost like that earlier... That was very brave of you." It looks like she wants to say more, but she quickly looks back down at her cards.
The day the witch died was declare a town holiday. The celebration of the death went on past sunrise. Few people worked the next day.
Between Hetti, Barlog, and Paul, an antidote was quickly created and the disease soon passed with little to cause a remembrance. A few children were left with pocked scars, but no one died.
As the days went on, you were able to read through and analyze everything you found.
Garwin's coin was determined to be cursed. Any gold, silver, or copper within a yard of it slowly turned to wood as the coin absorbed the metallic essence.
The barrel was filled to the brim of well preserved eyeballs of all different sorts of creatures.
Lastly, the chest. It was stuffed full of paperwork. The vast majority of the paperwork was far too damaged to read or was simply blank pages to be used at some later point. But there were three sheets which could still be read.
All pages were written on eelskin in a messy scrawl.
The first two were incantations - magical scrolls which could be read to induce some form of magic. One need not be able to wield magic on their own to use it. Of these two, one granted the reader to temporarily see into the future (boon granted to all attacks and challenge rolls for one minute). The other would allow up to five people to teleport to a location of their choice - but there was a small risk to it.
The third was a documented account of a group of people who could cleanse a corrupted soul. These people called themselves "sin eaters." They were a small reclusive branch of a religion for a New God, but which the rest of the believers believed were heretical. The notes describe their location to the far north.
Lastly, A secret compartment was discovered within the chest itself. Inside a ring was hidden. The study of this ring revealed that it could make the wearer invisible for one minute. The invisibility could be canceled if the wearer harmed another person. It could be used up to three times before the magic would permanently fade.
---------------------------------------
Everyone level up to 5.
Roll 2d20 and 3d6.
Charles was glad that she hadn't told him to leave immediately. He felt a slight flushing sensation as he saw her pale shoulder when she made room for him but he rubbed his neck and looked away.
As she began commenting on his earlier actions, he checked his hand of cards but stopped playing and looked at Tesswyn for a long moment.
"When she said she came back and was going to take you to Hell I... I stopped thinking about what else I was going to do." he sighed then. "I tried to draw her attention but she flew right through me and I couldn't stop her from getting to you. After you called for help though, all I knew was that I wasn't going to let her take you away Tesswyn."
He chuckled but stopped with worried look.
"I really thought I was going to die right there at the end but everyone stepped in and stopped her."
It's Tesswyn's turn to blush. She tries to raise her cards up to her face to hide it, making a show of studying them. Eventually, she lowers them and smirks across the table at Charles. "Let's make a pact. You don't die on my watch, and I won't die on yours. Deal?"
As a reward for killing the witch and stopping thr curse (or finding the cure, at least), you are all rewarded a mixture of bits, copper pennies, and silver shillings adding up to two gold crowns.
If you want to reward Pellius or Billy, you may.
After the hag's death, Gärwin held true to his promise. He took young William under his tutelage as a squire. The next couple months were spent training the boy in various activities required for a knight. Horse riding, maintaining gear, talking to nobles, sparring and more were drilled into the young lad's head. It was tough on him, but he showed a surprising aptitude for a jumped-up village boy.
On occasion, the dwarf would call on Drot and Charles to spar with the two of them. "He's gotta learn to fight a variety of enemies, not just one shorter 'n 'im." Outside of training, Gärwin would occasionally invite Drot'ook out for cigars and dice, though he'd almost always be found gambling when he was in town. The knight eventually did get his dinner with Charles, though the food was unimpressive. "Maybe let Tesswyn do the cookin', eh?"Gärwin says with a wink.
As for Tesswyn, he didn't see her much. He was under the impression she was a relative loner type. Not to mention there was the awkward time he tried to get her to read his future. The dwarf is not sure where he heard she could do that.
The knight continued his patrols, through not as frequently as before. He would take Billy along with him and try to teach him what to look for when it comes to troublemakers. It was on one such patrol that brought him into the presence of Lord Felgrin. The lord and his entourage were passing through the area when they came under attack by trolls. Knight and squire work together to slay the trolls, to great success. The lord was grateful to the knight and demanded that he be given a medal for his bravery.
Lord Felgrin meets with Baroness Daedlus and a small ceremony is held in Gärwins honor. In preparation, Gärwin purchases new clothes and has gold dust infused into his beard once again, a sign of his new station. Drot'ook, Tesswyn and Charles are invited to attend, if they deign to. It's a small, private affair with a short ceremony leading to a dance. Afterwards, Billy is presented with a real sword by Gärwin, as both sign of the progress the boy's made and reward for his help.
Charles smiled with a nod. "Neither of us die on the others watch. I can live with that, Tesswyn. Deal." he says holding out a hand to her.
Tesswyn clasps Charles's hand. After they go back to their game for a while, she looks at the priest through half-lidded eyes. "Are you a virgin, Charles?"
Tesswyn's blunt question caught him off guard. He felt like his breath caught as he looked at her. He'd considered what she was suggesting but there had always been something else in the way.
"I... yes." he said as his cheeks went red for the second time in a short amount of time. What else could he say? But he couldn't just leave her to freely ask questions.
"Well since we're asking each other personal questions, what about you?"
"Yes," Tesswyn says. "I almost wasn't. On my birthday, there was this guy... But he turned out to be that cultist who tried to murder me. So..." She shrugs.
"I think it would be nice to do it at some point. But I learned my lesson about random strangers. When the time comes, I want to do it with somebody that means something to me..."
Charles listened to Tesswyn tell of her harrowing experience. "What an exciting way to end the evening." he said with a dry expression as she shrugged. Almost immediately he realized that his sarcasm was misplaced as she continued.
"That sounds like a good idea. Maybe I'll learn from you and skip the part about almost being sacrificed though..." he looked away down at his cards but then dropped them. He took a deep breath and he looked at her. "So what about me? Do I count?"
Tesswyn's breath catches in her throat. She stares at Charles, her mouth suddenly dry. "Um... I mean, we have been through a lot together... You, uh, you do mean something to me... But, um..."
She scratches at her arm nervously. "I mean, are you saying that...? Do you want to... With me...? I'm just some peasant girl and you're... Are priests even allowed to...?"
The girl seems flustered and incapable of finishing a complete thought.
"Oh." Charles said while blinking as Tesswyn became flustered. His own heartbeat was racing.
"I um, I think I may have read into things too much. I'm not entirely sure what I want Tesswyn but like you said, if it had to be anyone, I'd want it to be someone that I have feelings for.
Yes, I am saying you are special to me. Where you come from doesn't matter. Also no, I have never been told anything that restricts priests, not even in my brief time in an actual church." he sighed and adjusted his shoulders then.
"Well anyway it's getting late. I think I'll probably retire to my house. I'm not really feeling like celebrating with the rest of the town much tonight either. I'll see you later then, Tesswyn."
With that, Charles began collecting his cards and got ready to leave.
"Wait!" Tesswyn says, quickly standing up as Charles moves to leave. She closes the distance between them and throws her arms around the priest, pressing her body against his. "Don't go. Stay with me tonight. We don't have to...rush into anything, if you don't want to. But I... I want to be with you, Charles."
A few tears roll down her cheeks.
He winced from the pain as his body reminded him what sort of condition he was still in. But having Tesswyn this close was worth the discomfort. Charles looked into her eyes."Then I won't go." He said, putting his arms around her. "Under slightly different circumstances I would take you up on that offer. You're right though, Tesswyn. We don't have to rush into anything."
He then leaned down to gently kiss her.
Tesswyn closes her eyes and gives into the kiss. She relaxes in Charles's embrace, years worth of tension and anxiety slowly draining away. It feels right. It feels safe. This is where she is meant to be...
Everyone decides to head to the nearest major city - West Hold. Its original purpose was to be the Western defense against the desolation. The people here are the reason why the undead hordes and the Men of Gog have not completely overrun the Northern Reach.
But it has also served as a major trade hub of the western region.
The train ride is pleasant. You're given rooms that sleep four to a room and have to share with other passengers. The dining car is a series of benches, and the food is of decent quality. Mostly stews and breads, served with watered down wine. Occasionally, a fine one-day old dessert would be served, limited only to what was available rather than made to order for all the passengers. It's clear that it's the leftovers of first class that was served to them the previous day.
Third class likely receives your leftovers.
You arrive in West Hold near dusk. As the train nears the city, you get s better view of it. There's a decent sized town surrounding a citadel. The colors of the New God fly from multiple buildings.
The station is a bustle of activity. There's soldiers everywhere. Some are off duty, talking with merchants or drinking at an outdoor pub attached to the station. Others are unloading supplies from the train or patrolling nearby streets.
Gärwin emerges from the train first, he's looking eager to get to solid land. The poor guy is a bit green under the collar."Ah we're finally, 'ere! Billy, I trust you can help us find lodgin'?" Gärwin leans heavily on the nearby railing, taking a minute to recover.
The knight takes a big swig from his waterskin and starts looking better. He looks up at the city around him with a twinkle in his eye. "I think I've got an appointment with the gambling hall."
Yes sir. On it, sir. Billy says.
"I'm impressed you've been able to recoup the coin you lost to the wood curse but these dealers are likely to be more of a higher quality in terms of their skills. Don't get too deep with back up, and the boy doesn't count!"
Drot winks at Gärwin as he ducked under the threshold of the train. Once out in the open there a hint of nervousness appears on his face, you might recall he's uncomfortable around many people and more so around strangers.
"Oh, Charles, did you have have a lead or is our first stop the book-house?"
Tesswyn is in awe of the massive train. Aside from the clockwork Regulus, she's never before seen such a feat of engineering prowess. The crowds on board and at their destination make her nervous, though, and she is mostly quiet as they debark, following the others' lead.
Established by the orcs who supplemented the Northern Reach’s defenders when the undead first emerged from the wastes, West Hold has retained a high orcish population. Of the two hundred crusaders living here, over a quarter are orcs. The citadel’s commander is a brutal orc named Bloodfist, who took the position by force from his ineffectual predecessor, beating him to death with his bare hands.
West Hold’s crusaders are a violent, surly lot, often insubordinate when given what they decide are stupid orders. They wear the colors of their citadel — yellow and red — and some decorate their armor and shields with the setting sun that appears on the citadel’s banners.
After some hours, Billy returns.
There you are! I've been looking all over town for you! he says, exasperated. In a low whisper, he says, This place is overrun with orcs. Why'd we even go here?
Back to a normal voice, he says, I've found a hotel. But even better, I've found a mission for us. I met a halfling while looking for a place for us to stay. He says his kids are missing. He's willing to pay if we can find him. What do you think?
Tesswyn shrugs. "Sure, I could use more gambling money."
Gärwin shakes his head wearily. "You're gonna hafta get used to workin' with people you don't like Billy, It's part of the job. Now was a better time than any to get a feel for the surroundin' lands, with Lord Felgrin's men around to keep home safe. I figured it'd be good to start somewhere a bit familiar, been here 'fore about a year or two back."
The dwarf idly runs his fingers through his beard as he listens to Billy's proposition. "This inn't really our jurisdiction, but I suppose it can't 'urt. 'Sides it'd be good to make a name for ourselves."
Alright! This way! Billy says, as he turns down the street.
As you walk through the city, you see that Billy was right - there is a large orc population here wearing the official colors of the keep. But there seems to be few orcs not wearing those colors. It's as if every orc here was recruited to the cause of fighting the horrors from the dessolation.
Another interesting quirk is that you see a few sick people here and there, with their skin pocked as if from a disease. They have a weezing cough with it.
You reach a building with a sign that reads, "The Atheneum."
This is it, Billy says. He said to come by here and ask for Mr. Hatheen.
You enter the building, and the smell of pressed pages and paperwork fill your nostrils. The shop is absolutely full of books and scrolls and papers, all stacked on shelves and cases and in trunks. A female halfling sits at a desk, binding a stack of pages together.
When you ask for Mr. Hatheen, an older, plump, well dressed halfling comes out to meet you.
Ah. Just the man I was hoping to see, he says to Billy. Are these the folks you were telling me about?
Yes, sir, Billy says. This is Sir Gärwin and company. Sir Charles, Ms. Tesswyn, and Pellius.
A pleasure to meet you all, Mr. Hatheen says. Please, make yourselves comfortable and I will tell you what I am in need of.
He brings you to a sitting with with very comfortable leather seats, almost as if they were specifically designed to relax into. As you may or may not know, there is a pox in town. A very dangerous disease called the Shuddering Pox. I am quite surprised law enforcement hasn't started quarantine yet, but perhaps they are not aware of the dangers it posses. I only know of it because I read about it in some of my books. Needless to say, my grandchildren have contracted it. I have been attempting to cure them of this disease, but this morning they went missing. All three of them.
I am in need of investigators to find them. I can pay well. What do you think? Will you help an old halfling out?
Gärwin gives a low bow. "Certainly! Where should we start? I admit most of us are new around 'ere."
Tesswyn sighs. "Godsdamned pox again? They haven't been playing with berries lately, have they? How much coin are you offering?"
Well. That's the thing, the older halfling says. I don't really have any liquid assets. I was thinking of retiring anyways. So to pay for this, I'll have to sell my shop and my books. When it sells, I'll be able to pay you. After that, I'll need to find a new place to raise my grandchildren; this post is getting too dangerous.
He says all this with a sense of sadness at losing his library, but also with an assumption that the kids will turn out ok in the end.
As for where to start? I'm afraid I don't know. They have an uncle who lives nearby. Maybe inquire with him. I'll need to start seeing about selling this place.