"Alajos, If I may be so bold? Would you perchanse be a member of the Order of the Sword of Retribution?"
"Ah, I see from your expression that this means nothing to you. It is just that recently I hapened to be passing through Bards Gate and heard tell of this Order,a union of Paladins, good clerics and fighters
who one day hope to return the faith of Thyr to the north. It appears that they are aided by the faithful of Muir as well. A Paladin by the name of Bofred leads them from The Exalted Temple of Thyr the Lawgiver. This, I am told, is a smaller replica of the faith’s original basilica to the north where I have heard that there is a shrine valley in the foothills of the Stoneheart's"
Alajos.
Everyone:
it’s eyes glow with red fire. You jump up, frightened,
as the raven flies off into the night with a shriek. This
must the the bird that Ottos mentioned earlier.
You fear that your enemies are near at hand.
Spot: 13
"Yegads, there is the fould creature now, quick slay him!" Too late the bird caws and flies away into the shadows, Otto shaking with rage, he hates this menacing beast. "I fear whoever the master of this raven is may be spying on us. I have an idea who it might be, another mage, let us call him a competitor, could be laying in ambush ahead."
Otto asks that we move a little slower and keep a good look out for anything watching or following the party. He does not know the full story of the raven, but is pretty sure he is connected with the amulet in some way.
Lyssa jumps up with her crossbow, then swears colorfully and long as the raven gets away. "How did the thing get so close without us seeing?"
Gives War a strange look at them mention of Orcs.
Spot check 12
"Damn......... that was a damn ugly Bird."
"hmmpf...... So what your saying, Saa is that it may look like a Blackbird but I don't really want to make it into a pie."
" So Belfin, this order of retribution, is it? How does one join such a group and what do they do exactly other then spread the word of mightly Thyr?"
Otto stares at Saa uncomprehending. "Of course it wasnt a duck! And it didnt take glowing eyes to figure that out. Its a raven, black feathers and all! Oh my oh my..." He looks away shaking his head. "Why even our orcish brute here could see that!"
Alajos listens to the Ranger and shakes his head. “The Shrine Valley is known to me. All that remains is in ruins however. What you would now find there are tombs and catacombs. The faithful of Thyr and Muir at rest. It would be an honor to be bur …” Alajos stops in mid-sentence, “Evil is about,” he quickly says as he turns his head. The raven takes flight and the Paladin unsheathes his sword. “Foul bird!” he exclaims as he turns his head from the sky to look at Otto. “And I mean no play on words, Mage. Tell us who is this competitor you speak of?”
"we must needs keep a sharp lookout for possible spots to be waylaid before we get to the town ......... and when he confront this Competition,as you so eloquently called it, I ask you one and all, do we ........ play fair or do we, ....... go in weapons raised and spells flying? ..........Now is the time to decide for this is what fate will give us in return for our actions."
"Good question, Osric, we go in fireballs and featherd bolts flying of course! They are a bad pair, that raven and dark mage, Vorti-worm or somesuch, he is but an apprentice, no match for us, but he is a foul one, he may be tricky! Beware his traps and deceptions, they are something I do not doubt he excels at, the dark-hearted rogue."
(OOC: Otto is not the brightes tool in the shed, nor is he the sharpest tack. He lacks even wisdom, but his charisma has carried him thus far, who knows how, luck?)
" So Belfin, this order of retribution, is it? How does one join such a group and what do they do exactly other then spread the word of mightly Thyr?"
Good friend Osric, all i know is that a priest of Thyr is leading them. His name is Bofred and he resides in Bards Gate. Of how one were to join...I know not.
The next day brings a light drizzle as was predicted the day before. Afer an undisturbed night you break camp and make good headway. it seems that Fairhill will be reached by morning.
You travel onwards for most of the day making small talk.
It seems that your enemies have lost your trail.
Towards late afternoon yoe come to a break in the trail.
Ahead and off to the right of the trail you see a farmhouse, off
in the fields, near the woods, and you decide to see if
the farmer will let you rest in his barn for the night.
As you approach the small dwelling, you notice that something
is terribly wrong. The farmer—or what is left of
him—lies in the front yard of the home, half eaten and
missing one arm. His wife, and three small children lie
in various contorted positions, the smallest boy completely
disemboweled. Blood covers the hay in the
yard, and a chicken pecks at the corpse of a young girl
lying in front of the barn.
Alajos quickly unsheathes his sword, "Away foul bird," Alajos shouts as he runs up and chases away the chicken. "What evil has done this?" the Paladin booms. "Belflin, what do your Elf eyes see? Do you see any tracks? Quickly, let us find this evil and eradicate it." Alajos peers around looking for signs of monsters. He also looks at the bodies to inspect their wounds and try and determine what killed them.
Lyssa is instantly alert. "Alajos, quiet!" she hisses. "They may still be around."
Cocking her crossbow, Lyssa starts to advance cautiously toward the scene.
Lowering his voice, but still nowhere near a whisper, he says, "And I hope they are. Then justice will be found shortly." His youthful appearance gives way to the serious way he grips his sword.
"Carefully now, we don't know what did this, he may still be around." Otto will grip is spear and prepare to cast magic missile. He will move forward towards the house, but will come no closer than 20 ft or so. (He likes to stay in his hurled spear "sweet spot" of 20-30 ft, still short range and a +1 hit/damage point blank shot bonus.) If anyhting comes up, that is. He will scan likely spots for a raven to perch and if seen will fire MM immediately.
Osric stands at the edge of the farm looking around"This is as Vile a thing as I have ever seen. Walk softly my new friends."
Osric sniffs the air looking for anything smell other then the metallic smell of blood.
You see a simple farm dwelling with one door and several windows, as well as a barn, with an open front and small three-foot high
wooden-fenced pen enclosing the front area. The gate
in the wooden fence is open allowing the animals out
of the barn and pen.
The farmer’s body lies in front of his home. His wife’s body and two of their children lie just inside the door to the farmhouse. Their young daughter’s body is inside the animal pen in front of the
barn.
A low ground mist is starting to roll in from the surrounding forest adding to the eeriness and unatural quiet of the scene. No birds can be heard in the trees.
"I like this not a lot. I can see nothing at the moment but I can feel the spectre of deaths shadow hanging over the farm. We must be cautious!"
Belfin holds his bow ready although no arrow is notched.
"Band together," Lyssa whispers. "Something is happening."
War:- "Wat creature kills and dont eat? Tis not natural. Even Orcs eat their kills! My axe thirsts for vengance!"
Alajos peers deep into the approaching mist.
Detect Evil
Otto moves forward to stand in the open fence gate. His back is to the house and he stares outward, towards the woods. He grips his spear in both hands, but his fingers tingle with the urge to loose his magic. He makes sure his other two spears are within easy reach on his back and scans the tree line for an unusually wretched raven.
Walking past the others, Osric looks into the open door.
"The evil of these actions pervades me. By Muir and her divine justice, let us put an end to this horror before us." With sword and shield grasped, Alajos enters the barn searching for any perpetrators. "Evil, show yourself and prepare to be sent back to the Abyss."
Otto is so excited he can almost taste the magic missile bubbling within him to come out.
He glances over at Loyd. "Mayhap we ought to bury the poor family. Osric, do you see anything inside? Check for survivors!" He will glance over to the garden and see if there are any ripe fruits or other edibles.
Osric Looks all round the room checking for anything of interest, any survivors, or things that could be the cause of this families woes.
"humpf talk less my friend and be wary."
Otto nearly passes out from the heat, and sits down to rest, hopefully finding a long piece of grass to chew on, in the process.
"Does anyone have a shovel? we must needs get these poor people buried and consecrated so that their bodies do not get used for any further vile acts, or be set upon by wolves" Osric makes loud banging noises as he looks around for any farming implements to use to give this family a descent burial.
"Show yourself beast and prepare for justice."
"You talkin' to me? I said ARE YOU TALKING TO ME?!?!"
"Yes, I am Speaking to you. Now will someone please help me put this poor soul in the grave." Osric wipes sweat of his brow as he continues to dig a mass grave for this poor family.
Otto will attempt to use his cantrip Mage hand to scoop out clods of dirt or rocks under 5 pounds in weight. He will not lift his own hand in the endeavor however. "These things are my livelihood!"
"It's a farm find a shovel, I did."
War surveys the scene with squinted eyes. "Ah doont nu bout u, boot ah thin tha we shou take a look ahroond." he says to noone in particular. With that the dwarf shakes his burly head of hair and begins a search around the perimeter of the place (mainly to see if anything of interest turns up SEARCH CHECK: 12+2= 14).
(Sorry for the delay folks, took a while to get back in the groove after vacation)
A low shallow grave is prepared and the bodies are laid to rest. No ritual disfigurement can be seen on the bodies.
It does appear that they were all killed with swords or axes and that the murderers were enthusiastic in their work.
Heal check (DC 15) on the bodies
Heal check (DC 28)
Searching inside the House reveals the following:
The house and barn have several animals running around: 4 pigs, 30 chickens, and a draft horse. In the trees a few hundred feet away to the South are 3 cows.
There is little of value in the house, but an old short sword is
hanging above the fireplace.
Search check DC20
Two lanterns and numerous other dry goods are about as well as the spade.
As you move about the farm, Otto suddenly hears a
familiar voice. He looks over and sees an evil,stooped and hooded man and two larger men with bows drawn, just inside the cover
of the surrounding woods some 60 feet away to the North. The man
has a familiar devil-eyed raven—perched
on his shoulder and he is reading a scroll. As he finishes reading the scroll, the raven transforms into a
small, devilish, winged creature and with a hideous
shriek flies off the mans shoulder and immediately
goes invisible. Instantly, the ground comes alive.
Lloyd and Belflin scream in terror as skeletal hands claw through the
ground and begin to encircle the members of the party still outside.
Ottos fingers are throbbing with magical energy
war comes sprinting back as fast as his little legs will carry him from examining the cows to the South
War yanks his axe from its place on his belt, thumbing the grooved handle and begins humming softly. He sturdies his steel shield and begins banging his axe against the hard metal standard of a bloody skull. (INITIATIVE: 8+3=11) "Ahm reedy foor ya!" he yells in a lion-like roar.
Yes Please.
Roll Initiaitive!