Side-Adventure: Marcus and Gizzy are headed home.

[PyroArrow]

Tokioso 'Gizzy' Gizmoebius [AC: 12 HP: 5/5]:

I am in as well for the sake of the urgency!

1st Constitution Check (17): [1d20] = 5

[Pulpatoon]

In the deep of night, pickings are slim for Villagers willing to go face danger in the woods, when most are more immediately concerned with keeping the village and their families safe.

In the end, Bris and Helga are able to rouse four NPCs, I mean, villagers:

Eighter: a tough old veteran. He's not the most inspiring sight, in his decades-old armor which rattles loosely on his withered frame. But his mind is sharp, and he knows his way around danger. Armed with a halberd and a short sword.

Ebba: a brawny, middle-aged woman who lives deep in the woods, in town visiting her brother's family. Carries an stout axe, and a hunting bow.

Maya: An aging retired mercenary. Still spry, with hard muscles from doing the brunt of the chores around her homestead. Carries an impressive sword (apologies ahead of time, MW, for anything that might happen to Maya, or for my playing her differently than you imagine her).

Hake Glennross: The town blacksmith. Short, strong, and a terrible father to your friend, Simon. Armed with a hammer and a shield.

[MonkeyWrench]

No worries Pulp, you know how I play her in the other campaign and people change in their old age.

[Pulpatoon]

No worries Pulp, you know how I play her in the other campaign and people change in their old age.

And honestly, I'm allowing myself to think of her as a different character who just shares some familiar resonances with the other. After all, there are no Caves of Chaos in this world!

Also, let's have a CON check for Marcus.

Any gear or provisions you want to collect, arrangements you want to make, or information you want to gather, before heading back into the darkened woods?

[MonkeyWrench]

Makes complete sense to me.

And as reckless as it is Marcus would waste no time in getting back to his friends after getting the help he needed. The only extra stuff he will bring is food for them.

Marcus Constitution Check(CON:15): [1d20] = 11

[Pulpatoon]

The six of you head off into the cold night, back towards the Grove. The woods continue in their unnerving silence, without the slightest hint of game, birds, or even insects. You do come across some more of the giant goat tracks, however.

Dawn breaks as you march, and about an hour later, you arrive in the campsite. There is the smell of recently prepared food, and the more powerful smell of gas-bloated corpses from where Hag Sal, her horse, and a couple other cultists still lay where they fell.

"Roasted Hell," grouses Hake the Blacksmith, "What butchery 'ave you lads been up to? Jus' leave your offal scattered about, don'tcher?"

Maya inspects a body and gives you a hard look. "I knew these boys. We all did. You... If your story is true, this must have been a harrowing night. But if it is exaggerated even one whit, you'll all hang." She pulls aside some clothing, revealing the incised markings, and releasing a potent gas of corpse-stink. She gets up and steps away, spits on the ground and adjusts her sword. "Anything more to see here, or should we move on to the Grove?"

[MonkeyWrench]

Marcus looks around, a moment of grief on his face, "We all knew them... They came at us and we had no choice." He looks at Maya, the person that first taught him how to fight, "I don't mind hanging for what I did, but first I'm killing whoever made them like this." He gives her a determined look before pointing to the grove, "Lets go find the others."

Whenever you need the roll: Marcus Constitution Check(CON:15): [1d20] = 17 damn!

[Pulpatoon]

Oh, yeah, I meant to ask you for a CON roll in the last post. Thanks for rolling that. And, -2 for you!

Pyro, would you mind rolling CON, too?

You head over to the Grove. Ebba, who knows the Grove well, is aghast at the state of it The black sludge that had marked strange sigils yesterday is now dried into a filthy crust everything looks blasted and dead. Ebba goes over to one of the three standing stones in the clearing and scraps some of the crud off with a knife. "This is foul," she mutters, "This's s'pposed to be a good place. There's words on these rocks, and the words is got magic in'em that s'pposed to keep this place safe."

Maya goes and inspects the additional bodies, human and animal, lying around the tree.

You hear a whoop and a holler from near the tree, where the opening of the stairs are. There Hake Glennross has found several corroded tin buckets filled with treasure—silver and bronze trinkets, like coins, buttons, cloak pins, brooches, and so on. "Found yer loot, boys! This whatcher pulled off the bodies, innit?"

[MonkeyWrench]

Marcus walks over to the found loot, a slightly confused look on his face, "I suppose it is. We should take all of this back to the village, that is probably where it came from anyway." He walks over to Maya, as his teacher he holds only respect and admiration for the veteran warrior, "Can you make anything out from the bodies or animals ma'am? have you ever seen anything like this before?"

[PyroArrow]

Tokioso 'Gizzy' Gizmoebius [AC: 12 HP: 5/5]:


2nd Constitution Check (17): [1d20] = 6

[Pulpatoon]

Maya inspects the dead wolf. "I'm a soldier, same as Eighter. I fought armies of men. Sometimes of other things, but near enough to men. Things that swung swords and died by them, at any rate. This isn't an army. There'll be no battle, no siege, and no generals meeting to discuss terms when enough infantry are dead. This is... it is Nature turning on itself, and us. These animals, and our dead friends, they aren't the enemy, are they? They're just... ah... the first shoots of new growth, poking up from poisoned ground."

Maya stands up and walks a few paces away. Shrugging, she adds, "Well, if you keep hacking at weeds, I suppose you can eventually kill a field. Any weeds pop up, boy, you hack 'em down, aye?"

Mr. Glennross, meanwhile, has selected a few choice coins from the stash, and slipped them into a pocket. He is about to keep rummaging when Eighter shoots him a scornful look. "Stop being an ass, Hake." Hake Glennross shoots a furious look at Eighter, and then busies himself adjusting his equipment.

Ebba looks past Mr. Glennross and says to the two of you, "Those're stairs? Who made 'em? You been down there?"

[MonkeyWrench]

Marcus give's Maya a nod of his head, answering in kind to her own euphemism "Weed's destroy fields. I'll always keep hacking them away." He looks towards the stairs going under the tree, "Yes, we went down there... It's hard to describe what we found... The last I saw of the others they were going back in, chasing some kind of black ooze that burned in the sunlight. we had burned it to the point that it was retreating, they went after it and I got Gizzy to safety."

[Pulpatoon]

Hake Glennross scoffs, "And you let 'em go, while you scampered off to home? Oh, that's some hero, you are. Feeling yer water, wassit?"

Eighter puts a hand on Marcus' shoulder. "Nevermind the blacksmith, boy. You did the right thing, bringin' yer friend and that girl back. And from the looks of that campsite, Hake's boy and the dwarf passed the night there. Think they'd 'ave gone back in this morning?"

[MonkeyWrench]

Marcus looks down, ashamed, Hakes words hit right in his guilt. He speaks softly, words only Eighter could hear, "I wanted to go with them, I wanted to make sure they were alright... But Gizzy... I couldn't leave him.... I.. Couldn't..." He sighs once, recovering himself before looking towards the root steps leading down, "Let's go find the others." He heads towards them,lighting a torch and descending down, spear in hand and torch in the other.

[PyroArrow]

Tokioso 'Gizzy' Gizmoebius [AC: 12 HP: 5/5]:

Says,

"Yes, let's get down there & help clean this mess up!"

[Pulpatoon]

Alright, time to rejoin the parties! This calls for a new thread.