It's the start of spring in the mountainous Feudal Kingdom of Coeth, The nation's farmers are starting to plant this years harvest. but the land has been shaken by a controversy. The Royal court wizard has been murdered, His apprentice, a man by the name of Linton has been charged with the crime, As well as Necromancy, and Treason. He fled the capital and a bounty was placed on his head. A Sizable 2000g has been put on his head as well as the Return of an Ring he stole, A trinket typically awarded to the Royal court wizard as a badge of office.
Two bounty hunters have taken it upon themselves to claim this reward, The Bounty hunters picked up his trail and would remain on his tail, always seeming to be a few days behind him. The two have deduced that he is sticking to the back roads as to avoid patrols and knowing eyes. But he did not go unseen and with a mixture of questioning peasants who seen hims sulking around, and tracking the traces of his trail. Finally the trail would again grow cold as the two would come to a small mining village of Davestunnel , A backwater in the mountains.
Even such a small village like this still needs a place to gather, and a small Hutch with tables set up all around is what passed for a Tavern in these parts, And sat strategically where the country road and the village proper met.
The Wood and Thatch single store building had the words Lynals Place crudely scratched into the door frame, With a stable large enough for two horses, though there was only one horse stabled there, A Large stone fireplace built into the side of the building, And a muddy yard that indicated heavy foot traffic.
It's an hour past high-noon and the Bounty Hunter's would have been trecking since before light, few could resist the siren call of even the quaintest tavern.
Seraxiss steps heavily, his feet almost dragging to the tavern door. A hiss of pleasure echoes in the back of his mind. Even with her...esoteric thoughts, Seraxiss knew better than to doubt the wisdom of the ancients. After all he was a mere hatchling compared to them. This proved all the more true when he first called upon her spirit to catch the trail days ago. The knowledge of gleaning truth from snapped twigs and the taste of long passed tracks flooding into his mind. Already he knew what he should order. Roasted pheasant if they have it and mead.
There were none among the Lizardfolk as well-travelled as Serenthia Worldtrekker. She left the clans at a young age to walk as an outsider and only returned as an adult whose experience could be counted on. She did as she liked, went where she liked, and was beholden to no one. Her experience encompassed a little of everything, but she was unparalleled in the hidden arts.
Seraxiss smoothly enters the tavern and takes a seat. He places a few coins on the counter and places both arms on the counter as well.
Money first, arms shown. Shows the warmbloods you mean no harm and no squatter.
Brunkk stoops as he enters the tavern, taking in the rough surroundings. It's not the worst tavern he's been in. Not by a long shot.
He scoops up three chairs in one hand and arranges them next to each other, sitting precariously on all three at the bar.
Dropping a few coins on the counter with a heavy *THUMP*, he orders.
"Ale. And whatever you've got to eat." he seems to take pleasure in any fear or discomfort he causes in the innkeeper just by his appearance.
He looks over at his companion and frowns slightly.
"You think we'll catch up with 'im soon? We've been followin' a cold trail for days and we're not any closer to catchin' up." he rumbles.
"Ssssomeone will have ssseen him. If not...I may need to commune with..." Seraxiss hisses a response but cuts himself off. He has a darker expression on his face for a moment but it disappears almost instantly.
"Do not worry. He cannot hide forever. He will tire or think himself sssafe. Then we will be hisss end." Seraxiss pulls the wanted poster from his bag and pins it to the counter with a knife.
"Uhn. Maybe you're right." he says.
He taps a thick finger on the poster and points at the bartender.
"You seen this man? He would've passed through a few days ago."
The Tavern is almost empty, The only occupants are a circle of 6 elderly humans at a table near the smoldering fireplace, 5 of them are old women, each one in the process of knitting the same long blanket of some sort, The 6th is an old man who slowly moves himself over to you. A concerned look on his face at his strange guests.
"Oh yes, I have some pheasant left over, If you don't mind a little left overs, I can warm it up, And I have both... Uhh, Drinks that is."
he said eyes dropped on the counter on the coins, His concerned melting away at the sight of gold. Going behind a simple counter, and pulling out two wooden mugs, filling them with the requested drinks, as well pulling out some already roasted pheasant, Handing the mugs to you both before going to the fire to drop the meat in a empty metal pot that hung over the fireplace.
"Seen a man? well let me see."
He said coming back over to take the wanted poster and look it over.
"You think this man came through here? I don't know... He sort of looks familure"
He scratches his head looking over it for a few more seconds.
"Oh, I think I might of seen him, A man sort of like this but he didn't have a beard. He came in here asking about finding that old village, the one in the mountains...Oh what was it called?"
This would be a story you already heard, the wanted picture was expertly drawn, but every one you've spoken too has mentioned the man they saw had no beard, Most likely having shaved it off
The Tavernkeeper turned to the circle of old woman.
"Hey, any of you remember that old place up in the mountains, where the old deal lord used to mine all that Iron?"
The women all start to mumble with each other attempting to recall the information.
Seraxiss leans a little down and closes his eyes, trying to blot out distractions and listen for Serenthia's whispers.
When none come, he lets out a hiss of frustration.
"He's a dangeroussss man. A necromancer. Anything you can tell us can help sssstop him."
An ancient woman turns from her knitting, clearly the oldest lady in the group easily in her late 80's.
"We used to call it Ironside, I liked there when I was a wee little girl, But we got overran by that gray plague and most the people there passed on."
the old woman struggles for a few seconds to recall the information.
"I was a little girl I don't think I could find that place again, Oh It was terrible, that sickness..."
the old woman begins to ramble off about her childhood among her friends, While the old man pipes back up.
"yeah yeah yeah, Ironside, the only people who know where that old place is would be Percy and his kid, They are hunters, I know I heard them talking about how they found the old place during their hunts, and like to camp in some of the old buildings there... I ain't seen them in a few days so they must be out hunting, they never spend more then a week out so we should see them back here in a day or two, You could wait here if you want, We have a cot we can set up near the fire..."
The man looks at the ogre
"I don't think we have a cot big enough for you, Sir."
The Woman is quietly gabbing with her friend, not really addressing the two bounty hunters anymore. She reminisces about her childhood, talks about how bad the plague was and how it killed most of her family, she sadly talks about how the village got so bad that they started resorting to burying everyone in a mass grave and how she regrets that father and brother where buried there and not in a proper grave, This ends with her cursing the Elves who brought this plague down upon them.
The Gray Plague was a Disease that ravaged the land several decades ago, It was deadly and turned the persons afflicted Lungs a dark gray, and in it's later stages it caused the afflicted to cough up a smoky ash like substance from the lungs. The sickness burned out after a couple a years but not before killing a great many people.
The Disease seemingly only inflicted humans, And was resistant to most common forms of Disease treatment, Most uneducated people believe it was made by elf witches, There is no proof of this belief.
It is a little known fact that the Gray Plague was found to be magical nature and almost certainly artificially created, Oddly enough the uniformed belief that Elves made the plague may be closer to the truth then most people realize. Though anyone educated enough to know this fact, Will also know the peasants tend to blame all their problems on elves and should not be taken that seriously.
Seraxiss nods slowly in agreement with the man.
This is good. This will give me time to commune with the Champion and...
Seraxiss waits until the middle of the night and away from prying eyes before attempting to commune with his people's ancient foe.
What direction is my prey, Zomranug?
Unfortunately Serenthia does not take kindly to communing with their old enemy and Seraxiss feels her wrest a bit more control from him.
"Makes sense. Old village full of dead people is the perfect place for a Necromancer to set up shop." Brunkk says, then waves off the statement about the cot.
"Nobody does. I'm used to sleeping outside. Or in a stable or barn if you've got one."
Hrn. Elves killed the village?
A Necromancer walks into a Mass grave... Sounds like the start of a s~$$ty joke.
Also gotta get used to passive perception, I think you should of even needed to roll for that.
After a about twenty minuets the man removes the pheasant from the pot, It's a bit charred around the edges but it's hot. The women have resumed their knitting and gossiping.
"If you folk wish to stay and wait you're free too, The stable has an empty space with plenty hay, Ain't been a horse in there since last summer so it's clean. Just mind the other horse. That gold could buy half my Lauder so I'll keep the drinks coming as long as you folk want, Outhouse is out the back door behind the trees...It can get crowded here around dusk, But no one should bother ya, I should hope."
He goes behind the counter, Sits down and leans back.
"Oh and if you're looking to be resupplied we have a provisioner in town, He's got basic goods, Mostly mining equipment but he keeps rations for the odd road traveler. He's a bit of an ornery young fella, but he means good."
Seraxiss tears into the pheasant with gusto. A side benefit of having a spirit in the back of your head is you tend to be happy eating anything.
"We'll need food for the road Brunkk. I won't be foraging tomorrow." Seraxiss speaks in between bites. He raises his mug of mead and a forked tongue darts out to taste before drinking in eagerly.
"Yeah. I'll get it."
"You sell travelin' food here? Or is there another place to buy around here?" he asks the bartender.
"Yeah, If you go into town, his is the big house with the forge on the side. His name is Jared, He's a younger feller. "
"Any crittersss on the pathsss we should be wary of?"
"No, it's hardly a stone throw's away."
The Tavern is at the villages entrance more or less, The village consists of mostly thatched hovels made out of stacked logs plastered with mud, The Provisoners place appears to be the only places made with nail and timber. You can actually make it out from the tavern, It's easy to spot simply because of it's size.
Brunkk goes to buy some food, and packs it into his backpack.
So you both finish up your drink and your meal and head out towards the Provisoners house, It's about a 15 minuet walk, As you head that way you see basically no one in the town, It's only a few hours after noon, and Everyone is either working in their fields or in the mines.
As you approach the only two story home besides the Tavern, you hear what sounds like the shrill screams of a woman, as you get closer to the house it gets louder and is clearly coming from the building, You can also make out the sounds of glass shattering and when you're about 20 feet from the building, you can hear the sounds of heavy objects hitting the ground.
From the direction You approached you could make out one side of the house and the front. You see two doors one is the front entrance, the other is a side door. The doors are closed, You can also see one window at the front of the house but it appears as if something is covering it from the inside. You can make out several windows on the second story. There is a cold forge in a slightly enclosed work area on the side of the house adjacent to the side door, It's a simple smithy with a roof.
The Screams are only getting louder and now you're sure you can hear hard banging as if someone was bashing against a hard surface coming from inside the house.
Brunkk's eyes narrow as he hears the sounds of what's either a break-in or domestic violence.
Either way, sounds like it's time to bust some heads.
Brunkk rushes up to the door and slams his foot into it with great force.
"What's goin' on in here!?!" he roars.
The Door was simple enough and unlocked, so it breaks easily under Brunkk's foot.
The Shop is cluttered from every corner, Standing Shelf's align every wall, each one cluttered with mundane tools and equipment, in the center of the room there is a clutter of barrels, each one filled to the brim with iron stakes. There is a counter directly adjacent to the door and behind the counter is a wooden stairwell.
There are 5 skeletal figures currently in the process of looting, one of them only a few feet from the entrance, having emptied a barrel of iron stakes and filling it with assorted tools, two other where in the process of pulling down one of the shelves on the opposite side of the room, One looked like it was in the process of clambering up the stairs. And the final one is standing over the body of a man who has recently had his head carved into with a hatchet.
The skeleton climbing the stairs are both armed with wood hatchets, while the other three are currently unarmed as they worked. All five skeletons turn their heads to look at the newcomer, Letting out a simultaneous rattling as they all sprang into action.
Skeleton 5 (Unarmed)
Skeleton 1 (Barrel)
Seraxiss
Skeleton 4 (Unarmed)
Brunkk
Skeleton 2 & 3 (Hatchets)
DC 13: The Hatchets they wield do not appear to be well made, most of them are rusty, They look old.
DC 18: A more trained eye the hatchets are not old, but rather they are badly made, the metal is impure and the handles are untreated. Whoever made these has only the barest knowledge of toolcraft. The toold will make inferior weapons and will break easily.
Bad Luck
Skeleton 5 Releases the shelf he was holding and it clatters to the floor, spewing it's contents all over the already cluttered floor, The skeleton reaches and grabs a well made pickaxe from the floor and begins to make his way to Brunkk but has difficulty maneuvering due to all the clutter and debris on the floor. And is unable to attack, but does stand beside Brunkk
The main store floor is so cluttered that it is considered difficult terrain
Skeleton 1 drops the barrel he was holding, Sending supplies and iron stakes scattering into the walkway, and then reaches back to pick up a rusty hatchet on the floor. And then walks up to the nearest person, In the case Brunkk. And swipes at him
vs AC 19
The attack bounces off Brunkk's armor.
You hear the bashing and screaming coming from upstairs, the screaming does not stop, but the bashing does.
Seraxiss calls upon the evil spirit within to empower him as a full-round action.
Skeleton 4 at the back of the room grabs its hatchet and starts to shuffle his way over to Brunkk, It's starting to get real crowded, there is only enough room for two skeletons to stand side by side in front of Brunkk, There is some uneasy footing beside him that could accommodate Seraxiss, but the footing would be uneasy, (Acrobatic 12 To maintain footing while fighting there.) As there are loose goods and clutter occupying the space beside him.
Brunkk forehands, then backhands the skeleton. If it dies to the first blow, he steps in and whacks a different one.
The first Seketon's brittle bones fall apart at the first slap, Dropping it's pickaxe, and then the second one collapses too. The two skeletons near the stairs run at Brunkk, Bone a rattling. Clambering over the counter in a mad rush to draw blood, Both of them clumsily swinging their hatchets as they lay with their rib cages pressing into the counter top.
Skeleton 2
Skeleton 3
Both clatter weakly against Brunkk's armor.
NEUTRAL LUCK
The Clamber of rattling bones can be heard as even more skeletons come clambering down the stairwell. A horde of Unarmed Skeletons, Another four of them. As they lurch at the same counter the two other skeletons are strewn over, Empty hands outstretched as they all make attempts to grab at the Hulking Ogre.
Three of the skeletons are able to clamber over their ally, While one of them tumbles back with a rattle.
Two of the skeletons fail to grab at the Ogre, but one Manages to get a good grip on Brunkk, and begins to clamber up over the counter.
Brunkk power-slaps the first skeleton to try and grab him.
Seraxiss delays until Brunk can make some room for him.
"Brunkk, make a path!"
Once he does so, he'll move in and lash out with a claw.
[ooc]Claws are Bludgeoning and Slashing
Brunkk grunts in assent and moves to shove the little skeletons out of the way.
There is a wooden counter between Brunkk's and the horde, But it's not masterfully made to start with and it was starting to creak under the weight of all the boys. So it smashes apart as the Ogre charges through it.
The skeletons are mindless and are only concerned with spilling warm blood, As far as their empty skulls are concerned, The warm blood is only willingly getting closer, none of them know to leap out of the way. And they all clatter to the floor, Many directly prone under the ogre.
Sadly Brunkk's fist smashes into the wooden floor with a crack, It's hard to hit a vital bone when they are piled all over the floor.
GREAT LUCK
Out of the pile up of skeletons Both of the armed ones find themselves directly under Brunkk, they will have a hard time getting up from under the hulking ogre.
All of the remaining skeletons begin to attempt to stand up. Two of them are able to just get up, While the four trapped under the Ogre and need to attempt the heft Brunkk's off them.The skeletons all collectively try to heave-ho the ogre off, Even a big man like Brunkk might find four skeletons able to move him.
They're not even strong enough to throw the ogre off balance.
Seraxiss steps lightly into the room and tears into the skeletons near him.
Seraxiss' eyes dart about the room for hidden enemies or oddities.
Even with the undead skeleton's being resistant to slashing and biting, The first one crumbles under your claw, and the second one clearly on the verge of crumbling after your second attack.
As for what you perceive, There is nothing particularly special in the room, but you only just notice the faint smell of smoke on the air.
Brunkk stomps all over the place, crushing skeletons under him.
One skeleton smashes to dust, the other three start to claw at Brunkk's legs.
But their brittle bones are no match for the ogre's thick skin.
And another one is smashed to bits.
Brunkk keeps flailing around himself with fists and feet, satisfied by the faint crunching of bone.
Brunkk Stomps away at two more skeletons, Only one more remains, he is prone and alone.
Seraxiss rolls over the counter and decides to put the last skeleton out of it's misery.
Then if the immediate threat is dealt with, some spiritual kleptomania has him snatch some extra rope before he goes up the stairs to investigate.
There is no immediate threat, The screams from upstairs stopped during the fight, And the smell of smoke strong enough to be detected by Brunkk now
The shop is full of mostly mundane Items and tools, None of it would be worth carrying to the rare shop that'll even buy them for the few measly coppers it'll get you. There is plenty of rope.
As Seraxiss shuffles around for rope, he catches a glint of yellow out of the corner of his eye, Where the now smashed counter once stood, there is a small chest that also got smashed open in the process, It's contents a broken glass that held a silvery fluid but now it's spilled on the floor, As well as a few gold pieces and a lot more silver and copper. About 10 gp worth of it.
Seraxiss hears a hissing purr of pleasure in the back of his head as he scoops about 4 gp worth into his sack and then climbs the stairs. He looks side-long at Brunkk and shrugs.
"Sssavior feesss."
Brunkk looks at the narrow staircase.
"I'll stay here. Not worth the trouble."
When you go up the stairs you you come to a an empty hallway with two doors, The nearest one to the left is split partially and covered in gouges, The other door is undamaged. At the end of the hallway you can see a window.
You can see through the crack in the door as you approach it and hear someone sobbing. If you peek through the crack you can make out what looks like a lavishly decorated room in ruins and you can even make out a small blonde human girl cowering in the corner of a room, If you attempt to open the door, it bangs against something blocking it, and the person in the room lets out a scream.
"The Ssskeletons are dead downstairsss, girl. Are there more elsssewhere?" Seraxiss looks at the girl in the crack and frowns.
Children are difficult.
"Lynal sssent usss here. To help." Seraxiss adds hopefully.
Seraxiss
It takes a second or two of deep breathing, but she does calm down.
"Lynal? She asks confused. Oh There where a bunch of them out side my room, I saw them attack my father, is he ok?"
Once she talks it's clear the child is easily in her late teens, she steps up to the door and starts to push something out of the way. You can hear something heavy scraping across the wooden floor, she Quickly opening her door and runs out into the hall, Pushing past Seraxis and runs down the stairs, less then a second later you can hear her began to openly weep again.
Brunkk
You see the girl come down the stairs, first she looks at you terrified, then she see's the dead man and starts to wail. You can also hear distant shouts coming from outside the building now.
Seraxiss turns to watch the girl go, unsure of what to do for her and simply checks the other door.
Brunkk turns and curses at the voices outside, basically ignoring the little girl.
"I'm getting blamed for this." he sighs.
Seraxiss
The other door goes into a master bedroom, Despite that the bedroom is more humbly decorated. It's empty. As you went closer to the second door, you also can see out the window, You can see smoke in the not too distance, You can also hear the shouting now.
Brunkk
Man she's really wailing, perhaps you should hug her, that'll probably end well.
Seraxiss steps lightly down the stairs and jabs a finger up.
"Houssse is clear. We should go let people know what happened."