Chapter 22: The Horror at Vicar's Head

[Inferno]

Chapter 22: The Horror at Vicar's Head

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






And so, it had come to this. The heroes' doom-laden path had brought them back to the village of the damned. They consign themselves to enter the forsaken desolation of Vicar's Head, a hamlet seemingly accursed by all the gods of Men.

Brevos scans the fog-shrouded village without pleasure. The darkness of night has overtaken the land and no candle glows within the eerie silence of the abandoned ghost town. The grim ranger believes visibility might be less than 20 feet with the waning moon obscured by thick clouds.



Girding themselves for what fate they know awaits, the doomed heroes pass a scrawled sign at the main gate that faces toward the Hookhill Road:

KEEP OUT!
PLAGUE!
THIS PLACE IS DAMNED!

Ignoring these dire warnings a second time, the heroes cross the threshold into Vicar's Head freely and of their own will. Below the bridge is a river choked with dark shapes that cannot be identified from this vantage. They continue on, into the empty village of darkness and mist.

With the exception of young Jerome, their minds swim with terrible memories unbidden:

• • • 
      
      "Let's get out of here!" Urdur had whispered in terror to his fellow gnome, three days ago in this very place.
      
      
      
      “We should have stayed together! This town is a living nightmare!” the grey druid had exclaimed here.
      
      
      
      "We need to get back to the group - and get the hell out of this town! We are dead here!" Mouser had cried.
      
      
      
      "Curses and splashes, is all lost?!" Rudolf had sobbed after watching Pyotr murdered here.
      
      
      
      "Please, Holy Tritherion! Do not refuse your benevolence to these good people who will die without your aid!" Ingrid had prayed here, to no avail.
      
      
      
      "It was nice knowing you, Urdur." Telkis had said here before both of them were eaten alive.

Nearly all of the heroes had died in Vicar's Head.

They are all of them haunted by the dreadful sensation of someone walking on their graves. And that someone is them.


Actions?


Map:

X = the PCs.




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
  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)

[rredmond]

"Well that turned quickly," Rudolph murmurs under his breath. "Hey Ingrid," he says this time out loud before they enter the town, "what's the prevailing wisdom on evil unalive creatures being able to see folks invisible?" Then back to murmuring "at least we haven't split us up... again. In then out, in then out, quickly." Rudolph stays near the front of the party, and keeps his eyes and ears open and attentive to anything that comes from the air or mists. He also stays far enough from the party so he doesn't get trod upon.

[SocraticLawyer]

Let's get the scroll, and check the secret room, and then be gone from this place! says a seemingly-disembodied Urdur. He tries not to think of himself as a ghost.

[ChubbyPixie]

Telkis leads the group as quickly and quietly as he can back to the spot where he was devoured last time around and where he dropped the ivory scroll tube in the street. With every step he questions the wisdom of what they are doing here and wonders if perhaps he is harboring some sort of death wish now that all seems ultimately lost. He does feel a twinkling of hope, though, that perhaps the scroll is the kind that cures lycanthropy. At least he assumes there are scrolls like that.

[Scott308]

Ingrid Esthof

I do not know what fell powers creatures that walk though they be dead possess; it is beyond the ken of mortal man. I'm sure mighty Tritherion has such knowledge, but has not shared it with such a pitiful unworthy as myself.

[Urson]

Jerome
Jerome stays near the front of the group, one hand on his sword-hilt and the other on the holy symbol around his neck. He is muttering under his breath- anyone close enough to hear will know he is praying, a constant cycle of calls to Cuthbert to guide him, protect the group, and keep the undead at bay.
There's a new look in his eyes- he's clearly realized that he's in deep, dangerous waters, and he may not make it out alive.

[wolfpack]

Brevos will draw Brood and lead the way at the front of the group, quietly eyes and ears open for surprises.

[ravenn4544]

Mouser follows silently - his boots also barely making a print. He plies his skills where needed as he scans the area constantly, waiting for the inevitable to happen...

[OGRE MAGE]

Bo looks around at the dirt and other surroundings as they enter again, wondering if he can spot any tracks or signs of others moving around here since we were away. He keeps his eyes and ears wide for any sounds of distant movement as they advance.

"What is dead shall never die", he mumbles to himself, not really sure why.

[Inferno]

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





By the cold light of Brevos' magic sword, the heroes advance into a small square where none of them have before set foot. Jerome murmurs an endless prayer as Bo searches in vain for fresh footprints in the dark.

Here, familiar posted notices, ravaged by the weather, demand that all witches in Vicar's Head be exposed by their families, friends and neighbors and turned over to the church and the magistrate.

Here, thick fire-blackened posts bear silent witness to atrocities committed against the young women of Vicar's Head thus brought forward, accused of witchcraft.












Nothing stirs, except dark imaginings and memories unwanted.

Here, shattered storefronts and burned buildings stand gaping. One is a smithy, for which Telkis had been searching before he perished.

The church they seek, where Telkis and Urdur died, is on the opposite end of the settlement, many dim, winding, fog-choked lanes away.


Actions?


Map:

X = the PCs.





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
  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)

[Scott308]

Ingrid Esthof

Do not tarry. Let's get our items and get out as quickly as we can.

[wolfpack]

Brevos takes the directions to where the scroll was dropped and grimly heads that way.

[ChubbyPixie]

Telkis glances in the direction of the blacksmith's shop, remembering a time when, weaponless, he'd vainly hoped to find a replacement for Cranach, then continues on without giving it another thought.

[SocraticLawyer]

Urdur sticks with the group, hoping to pick up the scroll soon. Not for the first time, he wonders if retuning to this damned village is worth the risk. He'll soon find out...

[Urson]

Jerome

Jerome gives a military salute with his sword (the equivalent of crossing himself for a follower of Cuthbert) atn the site of the blackened posts.I have been told that with every group of witches killed, there are always innocents killed by someone else's hatred. Cuthbert protect those innocents.

Beyond that, the young paladin says nothing.

[rredmond]

"Still in the van," Rudolph whispers back to the ranger and gnome. He doesn't say it loud and truly doesn't care if they hear him or not he is so frightened, but he keeps his eyes and ears open and continually scans the town and the skies for any incoming threat.

[OGRE MAGE]

Bo continues to follow the others as well, hoping that they aren't making a huge mistake by coming back here again.

We were here for a while before the dead arose last time. Lets get this over with as quickly as possible and maybe we wont run into any trouble."

[Inferno]

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





Passing beneath the grisly remains of a hanged witch, the young heroes move swiftly and silently through the dark winding streets of the doomed hamlet. They pray their presence goes unnoticed this night by the evil powers that hold sway in poor Vicar's Head.

They lurch eastward, trying to find a church on the far side of the village, and enter a silent square holding more ingenious devices of public torture for use against suspected werewolves.



No rats or carrion crows feast here, but the unsettling feeling of being watched is felt by all.

They hurry on, northward through dim meandering lanes, their footfalls on the stones the only sound in the forlorn night.



They become lost.

After some time, they suddenly emerge from a crooked alley directly before the church they seek.

Like every structure in the village of the damned, no light burns within.



At Telkis' direction, they cautiously creep around the back of the temple of Pelor. Here they find macabre evidence of the gruesome deaths of Telkis and Urdur; cobblestones dyed deep the color of their blood.

Unseen and ethereal, Urdur fights the belief that he is a ghost haunting the site of his own ghastly murder. Standing where they died, the horrific memories assail Telkis and Urdur both:

• • • 

By the thin cold light of Brevos' sword, the heroes search for the lost scroll case in the blood and the muck and the mire until it is found!

Brevos also discovers large frightful tracks of a creature that is both man and beast!

Then suddenly, the spine-tingling howl of a wolf breaks the eerie silence of the night. The fog distorts the chilling sound, concealing its direction and distance!


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
  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)

[wolfpack]

Where is this room you want to search, wherever it is we est make haste

[OGRE MAGE]

Bo attempts to determine if the howling is coming from a normal wolf in the wild.......or something more.

"Great find! Now, lets hurry this along as quickly as possible and get back out of here. All these dead bodies give me the willies."