Jakobi, quiet and gentle, kneels down and tries to soothe the old halfling woman's fears.
"Don't worry. We have skills the others did not. We can protect you. Please, what is your name?"
Lacera Thimbledown. I'll stay up here, thanks all the same. She settled in in the crawlspace and watches you. They won;t see me up here, while they're dragging you down.
"When we are done, you'll be able to leave safely. Just, stay in your hiding spot for now."
Nar looks at the others, ever more eager to find out what happened here.
There is nothing more to find here. Lacera grabs a jar of pickes off the shelf and starts eating them hungrily up in her crawlspace. Organ jumps in a barrel of wood and hisses at you when
Warland's yard has 9 points of ingress that are intact (not broken ot rotally destroyed). You can spend 1 hour to reinforce 1 barrier with a crafting check and do NO OTHER activities during this time.
You cannot reinforce the doors unless you're barricating yourselves inside.
It's getting on to early afternoon. You should decide to spend several hours here or finish exploring town / looking for survivors and then come back.
"I do have some training in building things. How many of you also have such skills?"
"Building people, not things. We have a good place to hole up, perhaps we spend the remaining light looking for more survivors?"
"I do have some training in building things. How many of you also have such skills?"
We can accomplish this when the time comes, Zher'myeh replies. But I have not yet given up hope of finding others alive.
"I have been known to tinker."
"If there are other survivors, we need to find them, and bring them here."
Jakobi votes to continue the search while there is still daylight.
You move along the South road. To your left is a hovel — its front door has been barricaded from the outside with wooden boards and planks. Next to it on the wall, someone has painted a crude skull. The back door has been smashed from the inside. The inside is a mess, with dirt and mud all over the floor and the heavy smell of rot hanging in the air.
⚰ ⚰ ⚰
Ahead lie the charred ruins of a huge barn. Charred timbers rise from the crumbled walls of this ruined structure, giving it the appearance of some great beast whose flesh has been stripped to its bones. A great fire consumed this place, obvious from the blackened walls and melted lead pooling along the base of what must have once been beautiful stained-glass windows.
Facing the road, the building’s facade stands like an empty mask. A bow symbol, with its arrow pointing down, remains above the once-grand entry, covered in soot and ash. Barely visible beneath the grime, the lintel bears an inscription reading, “All are Welcome at Erastil’s Table.”
The blackened double doors to the building are closed. You try to pull them open them and find them stuck fast. There are pitons hammered in at the threshold — a crude but effective way to jam them shut.
None of you hear anything inside.
"Grr... those charred timbers are going to soil my nice clothes, aren't they?"
Artemis assesses the stability of the structure, and whether then can get in between the burned out walls structures.
Artemis can find a way to slip into the burned-down temple without using the doors.
He then realizes the pitons on are on the outside!
He pulls out his crowbar and removes the pitons. "Or we just use the doors."
"Grr... those charred timbers are going to soil my nice clothes, aren't they?"
How could you tell the difference...?Zher’myeh mutters underneath his breath as he moves to inspect the collapsed walls of the temple.
The Grippli doesn't notice anything.
"From the outside? Maybe they got some of the ...whatever? inside, trapped them, and burned them. We might actually be able to learn something if we check it out."
Jakobi slides his mask down over his face, and gives Vengeance a nod to be alert as the doors are opened.
Nar isn't sure what might be inside.
⚰ ⚰ ⚰
Artemis slips in through the side. He sees the stumps of a long oak table. Likely a place where once friends and families celebrated over shared meals.
Charred bones clatter to the ground when the rest of you pull open the front doors — nothing inside moves or attacks.
Graax sniffs around and smells a chemical inside the temple.
You can inspect the bones:
DC 16 Religion:
You can inspect the doors:
These people were desperately trying to get out while being burned alive.
Jakobi takes a closer look at the doors, and grimaces beneath his mask at the discovery of fingernails in the wood.
"People were burned alive inside, and desperate to claw their way out..."
Nar looks around, "Definitely set on purpose. I don't know engineering, but I know fire, and this was set purposefully to burn fast. The horror here as that these were humans who died within. That's.... extra horrible. They... they were burned alive. Whoever did this is evil, and they know it."
|
"They were the priests of the Old Deadeye," Too-tuk says as he removes a charred, wooden shape from among the bones. He wipes it with his fingers and hands the burned symbol of Erastil to Nar. "Too-tuk wonders if the Tyrant's army had allies in the town before the assault or if this is the result of fear and paranoia after the assault."
There is fire elsewhere in town, Zher'myeh observes, but nothing burned like this one. This was both cruel and deliberate.
Whoever or whatever is responsible, Zher'myeh has a new target for his fury.
"Whoever did this is monstrous, it is true, but don't be so quick to decide they are beyond redemption. There is always room for atonement through sacrifice, humility and suffering in the name of fighting greater evils. We must find those responsible and ensure they bear the weight of this one way or another."
You move on. The bones aren't going anywhere for now (though having all the flesh burnt and marrow boiled away means they are light and compact enough to pack and take with you for later interment if you wish to do so).
⚰ ⚰ ⚰
You explore the SouthWestern part of town, finding more homes. one has a broken-in barricade; two others are intact and have holes in the ground and empty beds.
⚰ ⚰ ⚰
You head to the Northwest. More looted homes with sinkholes and barricades and empty beds. At the end of the road, you finally find what must have been Jacra's house.
Inside, the furniture has been tossed about, and there are clear signs of a struggle. The kitchen floor is partially collapsed with a sinkhole. Nearby, in a pool of dried blood, rests a low-grade silver shortsword whose crossguard is sculpted to depict a flock of doves.
You search carefully. There are bird perches throughout the building, many of which are surrounded by droppings and the occasional raven feather. The books in this home mostly cover arcane subjects such as the nature of magic and research into boundaries between worlds. While the library alone is easily worth 100 GP to a collector. However, Jacra’s spellbook is nowhere to be found.
On the floor near the desk is a torn piece of parchment.
— gone. It’s too late. Do not come for me or this town. By the time you get this, we will already be dead. I love you, my dear friend. Take care of Coal. That old bird means the world to me.
The bloodstains and the rip perfectly match the letter fragment Agrit gave you. You put them together to read Jacra's final, despairing message.
"It would seem we did not get the most important half of the message."
Too-tuk's beak clatters. "Indeed. The bodies we have found should be laid to rest and preparations made for the night."
You can make out what seems to be gracestones to the South. The town graveyard must be there. how convenient!
"Agreed. Let us do this. I also worry about what we may find there."
"Agreed. Let us do this. I also worry about what we may find there."
Perhaps, Zher'myeh says with a nod, but the only way now is through.
Zher-myeh will recommend coming back for the remains of those they've found and putting them to rest when they find a suitable plot.
You move on to the graveyard, which lies on a slight hill West of town.
This large cemetery is accompanied by a small shrine and mausoleum. A simple stone path winds up the hill to the graveyard, worn smooth by countless steps made to honor the dead. A simple signpost next to the path reads “The Lady’s Hill,” below a spiral symbol.
Though rain and mist shroud the cemetery, it’s clear something is amiss. The soil has been upturned in several places, and many of the headstones lean at dangerous angles or have fallen to the tumbled earth.
Nine graves in the cemetery have been disturbed.
Five of the graves appear to have completely sunk into the earth. More sinkholes.
The ninth disturbed grave is toward the back of the cemetery.
Black roots covered in an oily residue surround its hole. Of all the graves in the cemetery, this one has the most recent headstone, reading:
“Harlo Krant, Merchant and Councilmember of Fiorna’s Faith, b.4678 d.4722.”
DC 18 Arcana, Occultism, or Religion:
At the bottom of the grave is a coffin, but it looks like it was hastily tossed back into the hole and partially buried.Igf you want to see what is inside you can spend 30 minutes of work to dig it out. There are probably shovels in storage near the mausoleum.
"Nothing much to these graves except this one."
Graaxyn pulls out a small leather pouch he found containing a mysterious black onyx gem. He also points out the black candle stubs around the site.
"These look like the components for animating the dead. It seems that these foul creatures were brought back intentionally. We have a necromancer to deal with, I suspect."
Grim information, if not necessarily news, or unexpected, Zher’myeh says as he looks over the opened Graves.
Hmm, these three were disinterred maybe two weeks hence. No bodies. And all dead within the past year or so.
Now this one, it was dug up longer ago than that. So it seems the former Harlo Krant was first, followed by these others.
It's getting on to sunset by now.
The long building next to the graveyard is a shrine to Pharasma. While the base of the building is made from stone, the walls and roof are wood and straw. Two rows of pews lead up to a simple dais with a stone plinth bearing Pharasma’s symbol, giving a place for the living to pay respects before burial. The doors to the shrine have been torn open, and its interior is covered in filth. Someone — or something — has intentionally profaned this shrine.
In one corner near the entrance, the floor collapsed entirely and there is actually a small hole going down below.
In a small alcove behind the dais, a simple stone font stands filled with clean water. This is the only place in the entire shrine that hasn’t been defiled. The font is filled with holy water. Sitting on the lip of the font is a silver chalice; the spiraling base transforms into a flight f whippoorwills that circle the cup. Jakobi and Too-tuk instinctively know it's a relic of the Lady of Graves. Even in a desecrated shrine, she imposes her will.
--
Too-tuk pauses buy the sinkhole; his hackles rise. He can hear something. Faint… weeping? He motions for quiet just as a distant howl emanates from the ground:
Nononononono pleeeeease! Just… just kill me! Please I —
The voice degrades into a whimper before being cut off. The sinkhole is silent. Lacera's mad ramblings come back to mind:
"…the land's voice, whispering in my ear… begging for death in the voices of the taken…"
— how many days, how many weeks — has this been going on?
The shadows are getting long. The sun is going down and it's getting dark fast…
"That relic is known as a Lady's Chalice."
Hmm the warrens below town seem extensive. Might take some time to explore them and find whoever is down there.
You head back to Warland's yard as the sun sets.
⚰ ⚰ ⚰
Lacera is hiding but you hear her voice whisper from the crawlspace: The dead hunger… they're waking up…
You have some time to prepare.
:
---
Jakobi, Nar, Too-Tuk, and Zher'Myeh each one thing about the undead tactics you can expect. Here is what they tell you:
- Nar knows Undead will swarm the weakest barriers.
- Too-tuk knows that leaving even one open entrance (with the barrier broken or destroyed) will let undead enter with no impediment, which is very dangerous.
- Zher'Myeh knows that it’s useful to have barriers reinforced, but more important to have them all intact.
- Jakobi knows that you can disguise yourself as undead by using the cosmetics in a disguise kit to imitate the grey pallor of the unliving, which will make the walking dead think you're an ally.
⚰ ⚰ ⚰
The last rays of the sun peek through from below the rain clouds as you slam the doors to Warland's yard. It's time to prepare.
It's now 8 PM. How are you spending the first hour?
"Assuming we are holing up in the main room, we can concentrate our efforts there. If they come forth before we are finished we can always bottleneck them behind the bar and seal up the door to west wing to the southwest. Sealing two entrances will be much quicker than four. For now we should concentrate on sealing these windows first so we aren't outflanked. If anyone wants to lay traps, we could make that West wing a killing ground.
Graaxyn sets to work on sealing one of the windows in the main room (as per position on the map).
Graax has a hard time reinforcing the barrier — too much mud and rain splatters in his eyes — but manages to finish the job in 2 hours.
Artemis grumbles "We should have started this hours ago."
He starts working on reinforcing the southern entrance. He starts out more worried about damaging his clothes, then realizes what the undead will do if they get in!
He then moves on to reinforce the northern door. It proves a little difficult.
Nar, at first, seems unhelpful. He goes to the center of it all and simply sits down.
He closes his eyes.
Is he sleeping?
Dawnflower, let me guide the forces of light against the incoming tide of darkness. May I see the paths, and may the paths be bathed in your glory.
He gets up and walks towards Artemis with such verve that the gnoll is worried that the fellow ifrit's about to slap him. [b]"don't worry about your cloths. DO worry about the way an undead will view these fortifications. They don't truck with subtlety. Go where it's obvious.
While Nar doesn't actually help, somehow he inspires Artemis to actually get dirty. Maybe it was that he doesn't much care for religious types, or maybe it was that he was that worried about the undead coming in. To him it didn't matter. He just finished the job.
Nar, Too-tuk, and Jajobi can do something in Hour 2.