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Ingrid Esthof, cleric

Ingrid finally finds the time to start putting on her splinted mail armor.

Bo continues his paranoid window viewing.

Pelias! We should not split up again!

Why don't we finish searching this charming little tavern of death and then we can all go check on the farmers. I'm sure they would let us hole up in their barn for the evening until we can regroup.

The tall druid rushes up the very stairs that nearly did him in to check out the upper rooms and get a better window view of whoever is obviously about to storm the place any second now.

"Yes, let's stick together." agrees Telkis as he continues to secure villagers. He'll keep at this until his rope runs out, prioritizing the living ones. "Enough of us are grievously wounded that it would be a betrayal to split up. Let's finish up our business here and then go help the couple together. Oh, and as far as questioning goes, I propose the rat faced cook. He's a sniveling coward. We should be able to learn much from him."

After several minutes of lifting money pouches, Mouser goes to the back area to find the inn office where room keys and, perhaps, other valuables may be kept.

"I understand. I will depart for Felicity and Killian's alone. I can see now that they risked their very lives to provide us information. The scoundrel that backstabbed me fled these premises. I must protect our only allies in this town. I will meet you there soon."

Duty-bound, Pelias leaves the inn and makes his way in the miserable rain back to the family's house. He will rap on the door with the cadence that Grothnak laid out earlier.

Grothnak emerges from the basement to see Pelias about to leave. "Pelias!" he calls out. "Do not be a fool! Talkis speaks wisely. We should finish searching this place before we return to Felicity and Killian. We made a promise to them, and we shall keep it. But you also have a duty to us. Do not split the party."

Hoom Feethos:

Once every scrap of paper has been stuffed between his armor and padding Hoom joins the other back in the main hall.
He announces to the group in the hall "There are two doors in the basement in the dungeon room below where our comrades were held captive. One leads to the upper floor and the other one is unexplored. I though it best not to explore it alone."

Day Four
Village of Briarsgate
Evening. Wednesday, October 19th, 576 CY
Cold, Thunderstorms





"Pelias! We should not split up again!" implores Long Bo.
"Yes, let's stick together," agrees Telkis. "Enough of us are grievously wounded that it would be a betrayal to split up."
"Pelias! Do not be a fool!" Grothnak says as he emerges from the basement. "...Do not split the party."

However, against the urgent pleas of his friends, Pelias Blanchflower prepares to leave the Golden Grain Inn. "I understand. I will depart for Felicity and Killian's alone. I can see now that they risked their very lives to provide us information... I will meet you there soon."
Duty-bound, Pelias leaves the inn and makes his way east, through the lightning storm and the night, toward his final destination, the Gade family farm.

After Pelias departs, 15 more minutes pass as…

Ingrid Esthof dons her splinted mail armor as Telkis Brassfang ties six more villagers to chairs.
Grey Mouser finds room keys hanging on a board in Beswill's den (room 4). He thoroughly searches the den and finds nothing of worth. From what little coin he's found so far, it's hard for the disgusted thief to believe that this inn is a real, functioning business, or that any of the villagers in it are actual customers.
Long Bo takes room keys and a candle and ascends alone the stairs to the darkened, second story of the Golden Grain Inn.



He finds an empty, winding hallway with creaking floorboards and nine wooden doors. (see map)



Long Bo cautiously opens each door in turn. One of the rooms (room 12) is a private dining room with six dirty plates and mugs on the table. The other eight shadowy rooms are guest rooms, some with signs of recent use. There is no one here. But there had been. One of the guest rooms (room 13) has a window open to the raging elements with a rope dangling out, its other end tied to the bedpost. The druid looks out the window and sees no one on or near the rope. KRAKABOOM! The thunder and lightning have begun to move west, but the rain still falls. Long Bo peers from each window he finds, and sees no one advancing through the storm upon the inn.

Hoom Fethos announces to the group in the common room, "There are two doors in the basement, in the dungeon room below, where our comrades were held captive. One eventually leads to this floor, and the other door is unexplored. I though it best not to explore it alone." The first door that Hoom refers to is a secret door that Grothnak didn't detect when he was in the cellar. (see map)
The second door in the dungeon has a thick bar across it.



Actions?



Status:
The Grey Mouser, Half-Elf Magic-User/Thief 1/2: AC 4, HP 1/10, Spells: 1/1 1st lvl. Groggy
Grothnak Uthglukh, Half-Orc Fighter 2: AC 4, HP 1/17
Hoom Feethos, Elven Magic-User/Thief 1/2: AC 3, HP 6/8, Spells: 0/1 1st lvl
Ingrid Esthof, Human Cleric 3: AC 3(1), HP 14/16, Spells: 1/4 1st lvl and 2/3 2nd lvl. Very groggy
Long Bo, Human Druid 2: AC 6, HP 5/15, Spells: 3/4 1st lvl and 0/2 2nd lvl
Pelias Blanchflower, Human Paladin 2: AC 2, HP 2/19, Laying Hands: 0/1
Telkis Brassfang, Gnome Fighter 2: AC 0, HP 15/19 Groggy

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

Map of Briarsgate
NPC List for Briarsgate

"There are two other doors in the basement, to the west," adds Grothnak.

"Let us lock up the survivors in the basement. The door in the secret room is barred from this side; it is no immediate threat. But let us see what is behind the western doors. Who will come with me?"

Bo pulls the rope up and into the window. He takes a third look outside before returning to the main floor to join the others.

I haven't found anything but at least we aren't being attacked, so far.

I will help check out the cellar doors, but then we need to get the hell out of here!

Grey Mouser, thief

Not finding anything of worth, Mouser returns to the main room.

"I'll interrogate now," he says, dragging one villager down into the dungeon room and closing the door behind him.

Hoom Feethos:

Hoom Feethos grabs hold of Mouser's captive and assists him in dragging him to the dungeon below. Along the way Hoom speaks softly to Mouser. "We are spending too much time here. I should have torched this place when I had the chance."

Grey Mouser, thief

"I know," replies Mouser. "We can still burn it down. What did you find back there?"

The thief splashes water on the villager to rouse him.

Telkis Brassfang, Gnome Warrior

Telkis watches Pelias go, incredulous. "Hmmmmph," he says before tying up more villagers, pushing further thoughts deep down, deeming them unproductive. He thinks Grothnak's suggestion wise, plus he is running out of rope, so begins hauling villagers downstairs to put in the cells. He'll put dead and living villagers in seperate cells as he fully expects the dead ones to rise any minute now, given their recent experience in the woods. He'll put as many in each as it can comfortably hold.

Day Four
Village of Briarsgate
Late Evening. Wednesday, October 19th, 576 CY
Cold, Thunderstorms





The severely wounded Pelias Blanchflower leaves the Golden Grain Inn (6) in haste and moves swiftly through the sinister shadows of Briarsgate towards his final destination.

Pelias, and Pelias alone, without reading anything further here, please go directly to the private thread: Chapter 5: The Doom That Came to Briarsgate





"Hmmmmph," Telkis says as he watches Pelias go, incredulous.

The young heroes continue to linger in The Golden Grain Inn (6), even as they keep saying they need to leave immediately. More time passes as:

Grothnak says, "There are two other doors in the basement, to the west. Let us lock up the survivors in the basement. The door in the secret room is barred from this side; it is no immediate threat. But let us see what is behind the western doors. Who will come with me?"

Long Bo answers as he descends the stairs back to the common room, "I will help check out the cellar doors, but then we need to get the hell out of here!"

Grothnak and Long Bo open the southwestern door in the cellar and find drygoods storage (room 17), filled with crates and boxes of platters and utensils, and sacks of grain and flour. They open the northwestern cellar door and find wetgoods storage (room 16), filled with kegs of ale and casks of wine. There is no one in either dark, damp, chill chamber.
The party has now opened every door they've found in the Golden Grain Inn... except one:



Mouser says, "I'll interrogate now," as he drags an unconscious villager down into the dungeon room. Hoom assists in moving the villager below, whispering to his fellow thief, "We are spending too much time here. I should have torched this place when I had the chance."
Hoom and Mouser try to awaken the bound, unconscious villager (16), one of the leather armored, sword-wielding marauders from the second floor, to no avail.

Ingrid Esthof remains on the main floor, in the common room, guarding the inn's front door and standing vigil over her friend Vodarte. She hears the storm's ferocity abate. KRAKABOOM! The thunder and lightning move to the west but the rain still teems down without mercy.

Telkis Brassfang thinks Grothnak's suggestion wise, so he begins hauling villagers downstairs to lock in the four hanging iron man-cages, separating the dead from the living.



Telkis can force five or six bodies in each 6' x 3' cage. Betram Beswill, and Grothnak's and Hoom's victims share the furthest cage, reserved for the five murdered villagers of Briarsgate. The rest of the party, seeing how long it will take to drag 23 bodies downstairs and across the cellar, help Telkis (I can only imagine).

By then, Mouser's interrogation subject (16) begins to finally rouse. The grim, mustached villager sees he is tied down to a chair in the dungeon beneath the Golden Grain Inn and violently writhes and jerks as he begins to yell with all of his might. No words, no message, just an animalistic, raging scream of bloody murder and wrath at the top of his lungs that doesn't stop! He seems in the grip of a seizure as he wriggles one arm free! But, rather than use it to untie himself or to strangle Mouser to death, he points accusingly at the strangers, the others, the outsiders, those not of Briarsgate that are within his baleful sight, his face transformed into a perfect mask of hatred as he roars:

"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUGH!"
The demented, deafening, ear-splitting cry begins to rouse a few of the unconscious, caged villagers.


Actions?



Status:
The Grey Mouser, Half-Elf Magic-User/Thief 1/2: AC 4, HP 1/10, Spells: 1/1 1st lvl. Groggy
Grothnak Uthglukh, Half-Orc Fighter 2: AC 4, HP 1/17
Hoom Feethos, Elven Magic-User/Thief 1/2: AC 3, HP 6/8, Spells: 0/1 1st lvl
Ingrid Esthof, Human Cleric 3: AC 3(1), HP 14/16, Spells: 1/4 1st lvl and 2/3 2nd lvl. Very groggy
Long Bo, Human Druid 2: AC 6, HP 5/15, Spells: 3/4 1st lvl and 0/2 2nd lvl
Telkis Brassfang, Gnome Fighter 2: AC 0, HP 15/19 Groggy


Map of Briarsgate
NPC List for Briarsgate

Hoom Feethos:

Hoom will remove the bar that secures the door leading to the basement to allow the movement of prisoners easier. While he does he answers Mouser's question.

Grognardsw wrote:Grey Mouser, thief
"I know," replies Mouser. "We can still burn it down. What did you find back there?"
The thief splashes water on the villager to rouse him.

"Papers from the innkeeper's room. Hopefully they contain useful information and not just leaves for the privy."

With the bar removed and door open Hoom will assist in helping Telkis in stacking bodies into cell. When the Mouser's captive becomes concious and vocal, Hoom quickly covers his ears from deafening cry, for unknown to humans elven ears are quite acute to loud noises.
"Mouser, do something!"

Grey Mouser, thief

Mere seconds after the mad villager starts screaming, Mouser slams Cat's Claw hilt into his head to knock him back unconscious. A few times, if necessary.

"Touched in the head, likely the lot of them," comments Mouser. "Probably under enchantment given the numbers. We should look for a sorcerer behind all this."

Mouser tries again with another villager, stuffing his mouth with cloth this time.

Telkis Brassfang

Telkis startles at the sound of the screaming. "I take that as a sign we'll get no coherent information out of this lot. Perhaps we'd best go now? While we still freely can." he suggests.

Ingrid Esthof, cleric

Hearing the scream of the roused villager, Ingrid hurries over, just in time to catch the Mouser's comment -

"Probably under enchantment given the numbers. We should look for a sorcerer behind all this."

"Indeed. A sorcerer, or an alchemist with a good array of will-bending potions... The poor fools..."

She utters a few words, more fitting for a village superstition than a cleric or scholar:
Are you a puppet,
who holds the strings?
Trithereon's kindness
revelation brings...

Ingrid casts Detect Charm and checks as many villagers as possible, including Betram.

Bo is sick of ducking down in this cramped cellar.

Lets investigate this last door and get the blazes out of here. These insane people aren't going to give us any valid information.

Pelias will most certainly be doomed if he runs into trouble and we aren't there to help him. Might serve him right though, the damned fool!