Chapter 22: The Horror at Vicar's Head

[rredmond]

"Great, now our wolf friends return," Rudolph says with an I-told-you-so sigh. "Hey, third times not the charm,more than likely it's the curse! We aren't going to get away from that pack of talking wolves again. If we can't find get our hands on what we seek in the next 5 minutes we really gotta get out of here!"

[Scott308]

Ingrid Esthof

The hidden room is upstairs in the building with the cells in the basement...the building many of us died in most recently. Let's hurry!

[wolfpack]

Grumbling under his breath Brevos leads the way to the jail house

[Urson]

Jerome

The young paladin listens to the group's chatter, growing more nervous and concerned as he goes. I shall stay with you- there is safety in a group- but I must ask- "The building many of us died in most recently"? I must know what you mean by that!

[ravenn4544]

Mouser's eyes shoot all around knowing trouble is just on the other side of the darkness. "Didn't we get what we came for..?" He'll follow along if they are continuing further into the town...
OOC: sorry for delay, moving my daughter to school..

[SocraticLawyer]

Urdur says We'll tell you everything you want to know about it, Jerome. After we're done here.

Could one of you tall folk light a torch? I'm worried that we might not see danger until it's too late, searching only by Brood's light.

He follows the group to the secret room, dagger in hand.

[OGRE MAGE]

Bo takes the good advice from Urdur and lights one of his torches as they continue the search.

(one torch removed from sheet)

[Urson]

Jerome

Jerome nods, reluctantly. He returns his attention to their surroundings as they proceed.

[ChubbyPixie]

“Let’s go. Urdur and I know the way - we came here from there last time. Or, we just take the scroll and go,” says Telkis, looking questioningly to the others. He trusts Ingrid or Urdur will know what to do with the scroll they’ve found and entrusts it to them, then, if the party are not inclined to leave, begins heading back to the city hall.

[Scott308]

Ingrid Esthof

Taking the scroll, Ingrid tells Telkis, Lead the way to city hall, please, Telkis.

[Inferno]

Vicar's Head, Gran March, Greyhawk
Day Seven. Night. Friday, November 18th, 576 CY
Cold, foggy, cloudy





In the village of the damned, behind the desecrated church, young Jerome wonders if he has unknowingly befriended a company of ghosts. And what dread tasks must these doomed revenants yet perform before they can return to the peace of their graves?

A bloodcurdling howl cuts through the eerie silence again. Even distorted by the fog, the grey druid knows it is not the sound of any natural animal. He and Brevos both know the wolf creatures are communicating across long distances.



Had their scent been discovered? Were they being hunted right now?

With such thoughts and the howling of wolves echoing around them, the heroes break south, racing through the winding lanes of Vicar's Head, to the low stone tower where Hothhil, Ingrid, Pyotr, Mondegreen and Rudolf had died, murdered by a ghastly legion of the living dead.

• • • 

The haunting deja vu of ones own death chills the blood and unsettles the mind.

Beneath the waning moon, surrounded by spine-tingling howls, they reach the square of the stone tower alive, and are immediately attacked by the sickening stench of death. Ravaged battlefield corpses serve as a grisly feast for crawling vermin and scavenging crows.



The dead do not rise.

The heroes enter the tower and, by the druid's torchlight and the priestess's recollection, pass the shattered armory and ascend the winding stair. Mercifully, within these stone walls, they find a momentary sanctuary from the sound of the wolves.

On the tower's second level, Ingrid leads them through wantonly savaged government offices, barracks and apartments to a hidden door set into the back wall of a ransacked apartments. Ingrid pushes the concealed door open, revealing a secret library of the occult and the arcane.



Books and papers are strewn everywhere. Ingrid indicates a table holding many open tomes, a chaotic scattering of aged parchment, and a single locked drawer with one keyhole.

"Hurry," she implores.


Actions?!


Map:

The PCs are near the X.





PC Status:

• Brevos, Half-Elf Ranger 3: Move: 9", AC: 2(1), HP: 31/31
  Grey Mouser, Half-Elf Magic-User/Thief 3/4: Move: 9", AC: 5, HP: 19/19, Spells: 2/2 1st lvl, 1/1 2nd lvl
  Ingrid Esthof, Human Cleric 4: Move: 6", AC: 3(1), HP: 22/22, Spells: 5/5 1st lvl and 4/4 2nd lvl
  Jerome, Human Paladin 3: Move: 9", AC: 3(1), HP: 20/20, Laying Hands: 1/1
  Long Bo, Human Druid 4: Move: 9", AC: 2(1), HP: 30/30, Spells: 6/6 1st lvl, 3/3 2nd lvl and 2/2 3rd lvl, Torch
  Rudolf Rassendyll, Halfling Thief 4: Move: 9", AC: 3, HP: 16/16, Invisible
  Telkis Brassfang, Gnome Fighter 4: Move: 9", AC: 0, HP: 34/34
  Urdur Shimmerstone, Gnome Illusionist 4: Move: 12", AC: 4, HP: 11/11, Spells: 3/3 1st lvl and 2/2 2nd lvl, Invisible

PC Magic:

• Invisibility x2 (Urdur): Targets: self and Rudolf.

Player Resources:

• Tale of Terror (the story so far)
  A Dark and Terrible World (maps)
  Blasphemous Iconography (the story so far in images)
  Desperate Struggles (clues and player notes)

[ravenn4544]

Mouser will, if no key is offered, to examine the lock for traps before trying to open it or pick the lock. His eyes dart around the secret knowledge stored in this tomb...

[rredmond]

Rudolph let's the Mouser take the desk. But, after scanning the ceiling, he walks the perimeter of the room looking for anything else that may hold secrets, and quietly checks for secret doors and compartments. He is only going to take as long as it takes Mouser to get that drawer open, no longer, he won't waste his time in this room, but neither will he be left behind alone in it! "We've already added the stench of our deaths to this place," he says as he enters the room, "I'd prefer not to double my contribution to the perfume of this place. Let us hurry as the priestess says!"

[SocraticLawyer]

Urdur searches the table of arcane tomes. He uses his ring to determine whether any of the books or papers is magical. Regardless of the result, he skims as many tomes and writings as he can, hoping for some clues regarding the undead, the village, the wolf curse, or anything similar that might help.

[wolfpack]

While the others are in the secret room Brevos waits outside the room at a window keeping watch.

grab what you need and let us be off

[ChubbyPixie]

Letting the more knowledgeable in such matters conduct the search, Telkis, too, will stand guard, protecting the doorway to the secret library, ready to leave immediately their business is done.

[Urson]

Jerome

Jerome makes a slow round of the room, then joins the guards outside the door. Clearly, a mage's lair, not a priest's study.

[Scott308]

Ingrid Esthof

Having been in the room before, the cleric remains outside, ready to channel the holy power of Tritherion if the undead should return.

[Inferno]

Vicar's Head, Gran March, Greyhawk
Day Seven. Night. Friday, November 18th, 576 CY
Cold, foggy, cloudy





Deep within the lonely stone tower of the accursed hamlet, the heroes search a secret library with mounting urgency.

Rudolf's eerily disembodied voice counsels haste as his nimble, knowing fingers probe and feel for secret doors beyond the secret door. He finds none.

Suddenly, as if haunted by some scholarly specter, the papers in the library move of their own volition! Aged dusty tomes turn their own pages...




...as Urdur the invisible conjurer quickly scans them for anything of use. The old volumes and letters are steeped in talk of deviltry, witchcraft and werewolves.




One cursory glance harvests these few lines...

• • • "Werewolves and witches art the pawns of the Devil...
      
      The wolf is the archetype of ravin, the beast of waste and desolation...
      A wolf is no less a wolf because it is dressed in sheepskin...
      
      Witches art the brides of the Devil. Trading virtue for power and fluency in the black arts of necromancy...
      They must be dealt with severely as an example to other presumptuous harlots..."

It comes clear to Urdur that the mysterious owner of this hidden library was studying Evil in an attempt to destroy it. Urdur's ring identifies no sorcery among the table's parchments and books.

The Grey Mouser, distracted by this treasure trove of forbidden knowledge, discovers no deadly traps lying in wait for him near the table's lone drawer. He expertly administers slender delicate tools to the task and suddenly yanks his hand back as if it had been bitten! His lockpicks clatter to the floor. A bright jewel of blood blossoms upon his finger tip.



An insidious needle juts out from the drawer's keyhole. And Mouser suddenly feels lightheaded. (Save vs Poison please Mouser, or die.)


Actions?!


Map:

The PCs are near the X.


Non-Required Reading (rolls and rulings):

Mouser: Find Traps: (40%): [1d100] = 95 Almost a fumble.

PC Status:

• Brevos, Half-Elf Ranger 3: Move: 9", AC: 2(1), HP: 31/31
  Grey Mouser, Half-Elf Magic-User/Thief 3/4: Move: 9", AC: 5, HP: 19/19, Spells: 2/2 1st lvl, 1/1 2nd lvl
  Ingrid Esthof, Human Cleric 4: Move: 6", AC: 3(1), HP: 22/22, Spells: 5/5 1st lvl and 4/4 2nd lvl
  Jerome, Human Paladin 3: Move: 9", AC: 3(1), HP: 20/20, Laying Hands: 1/1
  Long Bo, Human Druid 4: Move: 9", AC: 2(1), HP: 30/30, Spells: 6/6 1st lvl, 3/3 2nd lvl and 2/2 3rd lvl, Torch
  Rudolf Rassendyll, Halfling Thief 4: Move: 9", AC: 3, HP: 16/16, Invisible
  Telkis Brassfang, Gnome Fighter 4: Move: 9", AC: 0, HP: 34/34
  Urdur Shimmerstone, Gnome Illusionist 4: Move: 12", AC: 4, HP: 11/11, Spells: 3/3 1st lvl and 2/2 2nd lvl, Invisible

PC Magic:

• Invisibility x2 (Urdur): Targets: self and Rudolf.

Player Resources:

• Tale of Terror (the story so far)
  A Dark and Terrible World (maps)
  Blasphemous Iconography (the story so far in images)
  Desperate Struggles (clues and player notes)

[ravenn4544]

Mouser, shakes his hand and sucks the blood from his finger....

Save vs Poison (13) [1d20] = 20


... he then continues to investigate the mysterious box...


whew!