Chapter 6: Beneath the Inn of the Damned

[OGRE MAGE]

Long Bo tosses all of the remaining crows some of his ration of hard biscuits to eat.

Let us use the cover of darkness to get back to the safety of that farmhouse. We can watch our backs as we move to see if we are being followed.

[Fulci]

Ingrid Esthof, cleric

"Yes, let's get moving. Besides, we have more chances to discover our pursuers in the fields than here, in this maze-like cemetery. Brave Bo, can your bird friends look after us from the sky?"

[OGRE MAGE]

The usually clean and tidy druid is still covered in the tunnels filth. His long white hair and beard are streaked with mud and his robes are a hot mess.

He still beams a bit after being called brave.

My magicks are completely spent and I am greatly weakened from that despicable endeavor below. I can try to relay my thoughts to the birds, but I can't give them any specific direction.

Hopefully, they are smart enough to sense our dilemma and they will just go by memory from the last time we spoke.

The giant druid pets Sephus's tiny head and whispers into his ear softly before tossing him lightly back into the air.

Let's move on and see if they react accordingly.

[Starbeard]

Moogeye is rather absorbed in the druid's crows. She would like some of those. A life spent wandering is much more amicable when one has faithful companions; perhaps she chose the wrong vocation.

"I might slip into the shadows and scout ahead, but I would need to be guided to our goal, which would negate my purpose. I will volunteer to stay at the rear and watch for followers, and cover our tracks if there is time and opportunity."

[ChubbyPixie]

Telkis remains silent. Now that they're out of the tunnel he has a chance to reflect on the stupidity of recruiting inexperienced mice to do dangerous work. When they arrive at the farmhouse he'll have to break the news to Finster's parents.

He will then run out to flank the group 20 yards to the left as they move, keeping an eye on them and his surroundings with his infravision. As he moves he tries to keep in mind that whatever watches them may not have a heat signature at all.

[Inferno]

Day Six.
Village of Briarsgate, The Graveyard (west of 4).
Sometime between midnight and dawn. Friday, October 21st, 576 CY.
Full moon, partly cloudy, damp, cold, misty.





The adventurers flee the graveyard, and then Briarsgate itself, as the Golden Grain Inn burns.



With a murder of crow sentinels overhead, the heroes fan out and watch for anyone trailing them. Or any thing.



Weary, wounded and hungry, they trek west, then north, then east across the foggy countryside by the light of the harvest moon. They don't believe they're being followed.



A grey, bleak dawn emerges as, one league east of Briarsgate, they reach the solitary, abandoned farmhouse of the hanged family.







Nothing seems amiss. Ingrid's horse still lives. The road to Hookhill remains quiet.
On their journey through the night, they saw no sign of any soul, living or undead.

And none of them spoke of the dread things they witnessed in those dark tunnels beneath the earth.


Actions? and please see Experience Points Award here.





Status:

• Avril Hollysword, Half-Elf Fighter/Cleric 1/1: AC 7, HP 4/9, Spells: 0/3 1st lvl
  Grothnak Uthglukh, Half-Orc Fighter 2: AC 4, HP 5/17
  Ingrid Esthof, Human Cleric 3: AC 3(1), HP 6/16, Spells: 0/4 1st lvl and 0/3 2nd lvl
  Long Bo, Human Druid 2: AC 6, HP 2/15, Spells: 0/4 1st lvl and 0/2 2nd lvl
  Moogeye Comcra, Human Monk 2: AC 8, HP 2/11
  Pelias Blanchflower, Human Paladin 2: AC 2(0), HP 8/19, Laying Hands: 0/1
  Telkis Brassfang, Gnome Fighter 2: AC 0, HP 3/19

Magic:

• Protection from Evil (Pelias): -2 to AC and +2 to saving throws against evil, in a 10 foot radius around Pelias.

Resources:

• Map of Briarsgate
  NPC List for Briarsgate
  The Story So Far (in words)
  The Story So Far (in pictures)

[AleBelly]

Upon reaching the farmhouse, Pelias finds a quiet corner of the barn and kneels in the corner, muttering raspy words while clutching his prayer beads. After 10 or 15 minutes he returns to the group, red-eyed. "After the travails of the past day, we all could do with some rest. I am happy to take first watch, for I do not feel we are entirely safe here. Rest well friends, and may a bountiful sleep lend some relief to our many wounds."

[Fulci]

Ingrid Esthof, cleric

Ingrid feeds her horse, then offers food to her companions - there's plenty in her baggage. She is tired. Very tired. She wants to sleep and has no strength to discuss plans. She is ready to take the last watch in the morning, when visibility is better for her feeble human eyes.

When all is settled, she prays - a wordless prayer, silent contemplation and dialog with Trithereon.

[Zhym]

"I will keep first watch with you," declares Grothnak, who, despite his wounds and the obvious pain in his back, seems as strong as when he went into the inn. He takes a long drink from his wine skin and bares his crooked brown teeth in a grin that would send guard dogs running away.

"This was a good night," he announces confidently. "We destroyed much that is evil. Risen dead now lie still. The inn of the wicked burns. We know more about this place than we did yesterday. We have been victorious in battle! As the old orcish saying goes, nar azat thrakug uruk! What does not kill us makes us strong!"

"If Hoom and Mouser escaped, we will find them," he adds soberly. "If they did not, they died with honor." He takes another drink and looks for a gap in the boards through which to keep watch against anything that might approach.

[dmw71]

Avril recalls the last time she searched this farmhouse, and how she and Bo made the gruesome discovery of the hanged family. Yet, once the group arrives, she wearily performs a quick inspection of its various areas again, hoping to avoid a repeat discovery. If or once her inspection is successful, she will allow Grothnak and Pelias to take the first watch, and will join the others in some much needed sleep. The elven maiden seeks out the shovel she used previously, where she dug out an escape route under a farmhouse wall, and, after saying a prayer to Corellon, crashes in the same spot she slept in previously.

[Starbeard]

Moogeye, coming to the farmhouse for the first time and not knowing what to expect, accompanies Avril to get an impression of the place and its various exits.

"Wake me when your watch is done, Grothnak," she says upon her return, "I will take the watch after you."

On her turn of the watch, Moogeye keeps her crossbow readied and her pole arm close.

[OGRE MAGE]

Bo again whispers something to Sephus, hoping the birds have enough energy left to watch over the group once again.

The giant man drops to his knees at the nearest hay pile just before tipping over like a felled tree. The old and completely exhausted human is asleep almost instantly.

Wake me for my turn at......zzzzzzzzzzzzz

[Inferno]

To be continued in... Chapter 8: Against the Cult of the Reptile God