Chapter 19: Ghost Town

[rredmond]

Rudolph adds his voice to Telkis', the sun is setting he says with urgency. If we aren't locked in I hope I eat a bunch of these useless crows and rats, he murmurs under his breath as he uses the thieves' tools, and anything else he can find to construct a way to lock them in, or even better to lock an actual lock. We need something paws won't be able to open, are there any other viable options... a cell or smaller room, with a lock, perhaps, nearby?

[Urson]

Pyotr

Pyotr looks around inside the doors of the tower. Are there interior rooms? Stairs up or down? Useful timbers to help block the doorway?

[SocraticLawyer]

Urdur helps his fellow gnome, by jamming as many short swords into the closed door as possible. He will also pile up shields and such on the inside if possible.

He hands out extra torches he found to other party members. Similarly, he gives the dagger to one of the fighters, knowing that any of them can put it to better use.

Urdur also suggests using the rope to tie the doors shut.

If he has time after the party is secure in the tower, Urdur meditates on his mystical training, hoping to recall the arcane knowledge of his missing spellbook.

[Rusty Tincanne]

Hothhil picks up a short sword (or longsword if available) and a shield. He joins the others inside. Mouser, none of us like this place, but if we transform again, we may wake miles from here, without provisions again. At least we have supplies here. And we might find clues in this building about what happened. He points out that a rope will be little impediment to a wolf. He scans the area for a more securable room.

[Scott308]

Ingrid Esthof

The cleric looks for a basement or some other area that may be more easily used to lock in their lupine forms.

[Inferno]

Vicar's Head, Gran March, Greyhawk
Day Three. Late Afternoon. Monday, November 14th, 576 CY
Cold, foggy, cloudy






The heroes harvest weapons and shields from the frozen mutilated cadavers of the vermin-plagued carnage, as the sun begins to set.

Telkis and Urdur pry shortswords from the tenacious grip of cold dead men, and gather them into a heap of iron and dried blood.

Brevos, Rudolf and Telkis enter the small tower and find the lock was ripped from the interior side of the open door, splintering the surrounding wood.

Pyotr ventures a few steps further, finding a stone hallway, a stairwell, and a corpse whose grey tongue is being devoured by a rat.

Hothhil delves deeper, looking for a room in which to lock themselves before they undergo their frightful transformation into otherworldly things.



The elven warrior peers into an overturned barracks, a half-empty armory of chainmail and spears, and a vandalized courtroom.

Ingrid descends the stone stairwell and finds bleak, dank dungeon cells beneath the tower.



Every cell door stands open, and a ring of iron keys lies discarded on the stone floor. She shouts to share her discovery.

The sunlight is dying.


Actions?!


Map:

X = the heroes.





PC Status:

• Brevos, Half-Elf Ranger 3: Move: 12", AC: 10, HP: 11/31
  Grey Mouser, Half-Elf Magic-User/Thief 2/3: Move: 12", AC: 6, HP: 7/15, Spells: 2/2 1st lvl
  Hothhil Thornbush, Elven Fighter 3: Move: 12", AC: 7, HP: 13/20
  Ingrid Esthof, Human Cleric 4: Move: 12", AC: 10(8), HP: 16/22, Spells: 5/5 1st lvl and 4/4 2nd lvl
  Long Bo, Human Druid 4: Move: 12", AC: 9, HP: 18/30, Spells: 5/6 1st lvl, 3/3 2nd lvl and 2/2 3rd lvl
  Mondegreen Cindereye, Human Magic-User 2: Move: 12", AC: 9, HP: 2/8, Spells: 2/2 1st lvl
  Pyotr Whitetip, Half-Orc Fighter 3: Move: 12", AC: 9, HP: 9/30
  Rudolf Rassendyll, Halfling Thief 3: Move: 12", AC: 6, HP: 5/12
  Telkis Brassfang, Gnome Fighter 3: Move: 12", AC: 6, HP: 10/32
  Urdur Shimmerstone, Gnome Illusionist 3: Move: 12", AC: 6, HP: 4/9, Spells: 2/2 1st lvl and 1/1 2nd lvl

PC Magic:

• None currently.

Player Resources:

• Tale of Terror (the story so far)
  A Dark and Terrible World (maps)

[Rusty Tincanne]

Hothhil grabs a spear and rushes toward Ingrid. He sets the spear in the corner of the cell he occupies. We can use the spear to reach the keys in the morning. Quickly, lock the cells.

Actually, it's a tough decision whether to keep the keys in the cell or leave it out. Either way, he has a spear, if it's needed.

[rredmond]

Rudolph goes running as well. Mouser and I can get us out in the morning, with the thieve's tools, even if we can't reach the keyring. He'll grab the keyring (if Ingrid hasn't already) to quickly start checking the cells where keys might work or not, and which cells seem to lock the sturdiest.

I'd say we shouldn't keep the keys with us. Just in case. I think the creatures we turn into are more of a rip the door off the wall type, but who knows what things they can accomplish with their paws.

[Urson]

Pyotr

Glad to see that they're not totally cursed, Pyotr picks a cell and closes the door behind him, letting whoever has the keys handle locking up. He settles on the floor, hugging his knees and muttering a prayer to Pelos.

[SocraticLawyer]

Urdur runs to join the others in the cells. He enters an available cell, locking it behind him if possible. If there is time before he feels the sun sets completely, he helps the rest of the party into cells as well. If there is more time after that, he continues meditation on his mystical studies.

[wolfpack]

Brevos joins the others in taking a cell

Good idea hothil you lock everyone in and save yourself for last so you cn drop the keys just outside your door.

[OGRE MAGE]

Bo is happy to go along with the others locking themselves in for the night. He picks a cell that doesn’t adjoin with any of the others, if it’s possible.

Once inside, the druid communes with the Shalm for guidance during what is certain to be a long night, whether the cells hold or not.

[Rusty Tincanne]

Hothhil agrees to locking himself in last, taking the keys. On the chance we don't change, we ought to all have weapons with us in case something else comes to find us.

And deciding on the best of both worlds, he leaves one cell empty between two party member-filled cells, but locks it all the same. Once he is locked into a call, he drops the keys and his quiver into the locked-but-empty-cell.

Hothhil has a spear from the armory, and a short sword and shield from outside.

And for clarity, the keys (K) are in a locked cell between a cell with party members (X): XXKXX

[ravenn4544]

Mouser finds a cell as well and shuts the door to lock himself in.

[Scott308]

Ingrid Esthof

The cleric locks herself in one of the cells before sitting against the wall at the back of the cell where she awaits what the party believes to be inevitable. She has her helm, shield, and club with her.

[ChubbyPixie]

Telkis locks himself in his own cell and waits.

[rredmond]

Just to be clear, after helping folks get locked up Rudolph locks himself in a cell as well.

[Inferno]

Vicar's Head, Gran March, Greyhawk
Day Three. Sunset. Monday, November 14th, 576 CY
Cold, foggy, cloudy






Ingrid's urgent call echoes up from the dungeon beneath the tower as the sun sets over abandoned Vicar's Head. With time running out, the heroes quickly follow the her shouts, descending into a dark, forlorn place without hope.

Rudolf finds one iron key that fits every cell door lock. The heroes swiftly make preparations and lock themselves into the dungeon's prison cells. Then the keyring is dropped into a locked, adjacent cell.

Pyotr settles on the floor, hugging his knees and praying. Urdur meditates, hoping against hope to remember the spells of his lost tome. Long Bo prays to his god for guidance and forgiveness. Ingrid sits against the wall at the back of the cell and awaits the inevitable.

She doesn't wait long.

Suddenly, the pain hits them like the torturer's knife. Their bodies are wracked in excruciating agony as impossibly, horribly, they begin to transform again!



Musculature warps and distorts, defying all laws of human anatomy.

Bones crack and snap beneath writhing, bulging flesh.

Teeth lengthen into bestial fangs. Fur sprouts. Faces painfully deform and lengthen.



Their harrowing screams become the mournful howls of beasts.

The howling of wolves.



They are no longer themselves. They have become unspeakable things devoid of humanity. Their identities are smothered by forces savage, subhuman, wanton, and far older than Man.

Mercifully, darkness overtakes them and they remember nothing of the dreadful nightmare that unfolds next.

Then suddenly...



They all awaken in their cells.

They are themselves again, and weak with hunger.

Glimpses of morning sunlight leak into the grim dungeon. The prison bars are bent and distorted by a fury unimaginable. But they held through the night. It worked, their gambit worked.

But the third and final full moon of the month still awaits them, in a mere 10 hours.



Actions?! (Everyone healed 1hp overnight and may roll to heal a second hp as per the House Rules.
Only Bo and Urdur used spell slots yesterday. Urdur cannot restore any spell slots without a spellbook. Long Bo may attempt to pray to restore a spell slot.)


Map:

The heroes are beneath the tower near the X.





PC Status:

• Brevos, Half-Elf Ranger 3: Move: 12", AC: 10, HP: 12/31
  Grey Mouser, Half-Elf Magic-User/Thief 2/3: Move: 12", AC: 6, HP: 8/15, Spells: 2/2 1st lvl
  Hothhil Thornbush, Elven Fighter 3: Move: 12", AC: 7, HP: 14/20
  Ingrid Esthof, Human Cleric 4: Move: 12", AC: 10(8), HP: 17/22, Spells: 5/5 1st lvl and 4/4 2nd lvl
  Long Bo, Human Druid 4: Move: 12", AC: 9, HP: 19/30, Spells: 5/6 1st lvl, 3/3 2nd lvl and 2/2 3rd lvl
  Mondegreen Cindereye, Human Magic-User 2: Move: 12", AC: 9, HP: 3/8, Spells: 2/2 1st lvl
  Pyotr Whitetip, Half-Orc Fighter 3: Move: 12", AC: 9, HP: 10/30
  Rudolf Rassendyll, Halfling Thief 3: Move: 12", AC: 6, HP: 6/12
  Telkis Brassfang, Gnome Fighter 3: Move: 12", AC: 6, HP: 11/32
  Urdur Shimmerstone, Gnome Illusionist 3: Move: 12", AC: 6, HP: 5/9, Spells: 2/2 1st lvl and 1/1 2nd lvl

PC Magic:

• None currently.

Player Resources:

• Tale of Terror (the story so far)
  A Dark and Terrible World (maps)

[Rusty Tincanne]

Hothhil is glad to see the cells held for the night. We can only hope these cells will hold for one more night. He gathers what little is left of his clothing, as well as the sword and shield. Let's get out of these cells. I found an armory on the first level, still stocked with chainmail and weapons. Once we are armed, we can search for clues. And food. He waits for the key to unlock himself, then leads the way to the armory.

[Urson]

Pyotr

When he wakes up, Pyotr lies still for a moment, taking stock. He breathes a prayer of Thanks to Pelor, Gruumsh, and any other gods he can think of. He dresses and gets ready to explore more of this Gods-forsaken town.