Chapter 23: City of the Dead and Damned
Haschenal, another red dot on Fennic’s map. No one knew anything about the town or what might have happened there. Considering the track record we had with places of interest so far (an invisible town, a village of zombies, another village of ghouls and town that had become a feast for cursed godlings), we had absolutely no idea what to expect. It wasn't a shock to find a black plague marker outside town next to a toppled sign
Black means “Certain Death” so it definitely set the town for our investigation. To make matters worse, it had been raining the entire trip and I was feeling the stirrings of another wave of sickness. I am going to have to find some form of magic to acclimatize myself to this region. But I digress…
The town was completely deserted and showing signs of disrepair and neglect. A general feeling of hostility filled the air as we started to investigate some of the buildings. Lily led us to the Inn, which was mostly intact. She immediately found a trap rigged inside and I detected the presence of magic – something illusory but I was unable to pierce the glamor.
Shane called our attention to another building further down the street: one of the larger houses which obviously belonged to someone of importance. He told us that it was radiating a steady evil aura. Deciding to bypass the evil for the moment, we continued search specifically for a temple. The place was completely desecrated and Lily again detected a trap which would have brought the entire building down on us if we entered it. The sun was going down and with it a sense of dread filled the air.
A voice called out to us from the graveyard at the edge of town and we spotted a man dressed in cleric’s vestments. I recognized the symbols as belonging to the local goddess of death and he was in the process of trying to consecrate the graveyard. Shane could tell that the man wasn't successful, but we couldn't detect anything sinister about him. His name was Kaleb and he warned us against being outside at nightfall and offered to let us stay in his hovel. Seeing no other options, we did so after making sure our horses were safe and secure.
As soon as the sun went down, two things happened. First, Kaleb faded completely from view. Outside the hovel though, the town came to life, so to speak. Peeking outside, there the dead were walking: spectres, ghouls, wraiths and in the distance I heard the unmistakable wail of a banshee. Shane struggled with the urge to do something, but Lily and I knew that we would have no chance of surviving against that many powerful undead. All we could do was wait quietly and hope they didn't find us.
At one point we heard the raspy voice of the banshee and found the withered form standing in the graveyard, looking toward the hovel. She didn't let out her deathly screech but she did say that we weren't the ones responsible for this - that we didn't kill them all. She wore the tattered remnants of a cleric’s robes and when she turned away, I spotted a kitchen knife stuck in her back. She had been murdered and knowing how Banshees could create various forms of undead, it was likely that her rage was responsible for the horde out there now.
The rest of the night, though completely unnerving, passed uneventfully and in the morning, Kaleb appeared again and told us about his situation. His brother had been the mayor of this town and after what had happened; he vowed to do whatever he could to help. Since that day and every day since, he had appeared in the graveyard and was compelled cleanse the evil over the formerly hallowed ground. As the sun went down, he would fade away and find himself back in his home in Reese. Not wanting to keep him from his task, we mounted our horses and went to find out more of what happened in the town.
Our investigation did not take long. Almost immediately, we were set upon by unseen assailants. Something in the heavy rain caught Lily’s attention in one of the narrow alleys and when we moved over to the alley, a knife flashed out from somewhere and struck my horse in the leg. We leaped from out mounts and rushed into the alley to find the attacker, but a flare of magic from across the street caught my attention. What I thought was a lightning bolt never came however. Instead, it was a wall of force, sealing Lily, Fasa and I into the alley and cutting us off from Shane who was standing in the street, weapons drawn.
Something large and heavy pounded straight toward him, but another knife sunk into my leg which demanded my attention. Pulling the wand I had traded with Heratha, I shouted defiantly as I unleashed the spell. A surprised, naked man covered in strange painted-on sigils suddenly appeared as the dispelling magic washed over him. The symbols were similar to those used by worshipers of the “Devourer”, a particularly nasty deity bent on chaos and destruction. The wild man screamed in surprise and anger but before he could effectively attack, Lily and Fasa dispatched him.
The battle raged in the street between Shane and his attacker and our friend bellowed in pain as he was wounded. I looked to find a blood-streaked axe suspended seemingly in mid-air and I was struck by a strange similarity to Shane’s recent role as executioner of the slavers. The attackers were from Riverton! (or had at least been bathed in the waters from there.)
I found that the application of my minor prestidigitation spell allowed us to see the cultists. Splashes of whatever color I chose appeared on them and let us effectively target them. The unarmored men and women didn't last long under our assault and soon the street was quiet. But only for a moment, as something very large and angry smashed open the door to the house where Shane had detected Evil. He detected evil now and could detect magic as well. Heavy footsteps rushed toward us and I threw a splash of color at it.
A massive, four-armed fish-like creature appeared before us and would have been much more fearsome had it not been lime-green with bright pink polka dots. Even with the garish colors it now wore, Shane and I recognized it as a Sahaguin. It wielded a club that was larger than I and even though it was ridiculously colored like the rest of him, it was still quite frightening. He whirled the tree-trunk around to great effect, wounding me, Fasa and Shane before we managed to take the beast down.
After that, the town was silent. No other cultists rushed out to attack us and we were free to explore the town thoroughly, but carefully. In the house where the four-armed beast had come from, we found the altar that they had been using, along with the desecrated remains of many of the townsfolk. We called Kaleb over to us and though he was unhappy to have his ritual interrupted, he was willing to help. Dumping an entire bucket of holy water over the altar had the desired effect. Dark, malignant energy crackled and sputtered until a sense of peace settled over the room.
In the graveyard, the townsfolk were laid to rest and Kaleb was suddenly filled with a burst of divine energy. With a wave of his hand, the graveyard was consecrated. After healing our wounds, he thanked us for our efforts and presented us with gifts. I didn't get a good look at what the others received, but he gave me a violin that had belonged to his brother. (It seems the Mayor was also a bard) The instrument was a work of art, but what made it even more interesting were enchanted silver strings. After the gifts were given, he faded from view and we were free to move on. The people of Westbrook and the Regent were pleased to hear that the town which had almost been forgotten was now safe to resettle and the story was well-received in the tavern. Tomorrow we head north to Hammer Fell.
Chapter 24: City of Dwarves
Though not as large as Storm Guard or the cities of my homeland, Hammer Fell was a bustling, noisy place. Anvils rang like bells while heavy clomping footsteps rivaled the beating of hooves and the rumbling of carts. Loud raucous voices, both in celebration and conflict added to the cacophony. In short, (no pun intended) the city is wonderful. We secured rooms at one of the nicer inns and went into the town to do some shopping. Before leaving our headquarters in Spearrow, we had loaded our stash of gold bars into the wagon so we had plenty to spend.
After asking around the city, I found Glyph, a weaponcrafter and enchanter to start a project: I wanted to have my grandfather’s scimitar re-crafted into a masterwork weapon. Then I wanted to the Spell-storing enchantment from Fennic’s wizard staff transferred into the blade and have the violin strings worked into the hilt. We worked out a price that I felt was quite reasonable and after securing the money for the project, I left my equipment and went off to find other gear, specifically some form of protective gear which would not interfere with my sorcerer spells.
I found it at a wondrous shoppe filled with an amazing array of enchanted gear. Unfortunately, Lily had gotten there first and purchased the only high-quality armor bracers he had. I did find a well-made armored robe that could change colors at my command. In addition, I found a bracelet that could project a shielding effect similar to the Shield spell. I was not going to be talked into buying a garish hat with spell-storing bells dangling from the brim. As useful as the item sounded, it was simply too hideous. Also, it seems that it belonged to an old associate of Shane’s and though I consider the large man a friend, I wanted nothing to do with anything related to his old group. They were a scourge on this part of the world and everywhere we go, it seems that we have to either undo the terrible things they did.
Finally, we moved on to our primary business in the city and contacted the Miner’s guild. They were amazed that we had secured the deed to Iudor’s mine and after haggling with them, we managed to sign a deal for 25% of the mine’s yield. To begin the operation we are going to lead a team to the mine itself. Tomorrow we begin our travels south again with all of the equipment and personnel needed. I am a bit nervous to leave without my sword or staff, but this operation is too important to delay.
No comments:
Post a Comment