After a half days hike through the woods they reach the edge of the woods. Stretched out before them is a bush filled plain. In the far distance they can make out the walled town of Sommeville. Closer by is a small hill with a ruined watchtower on top. This is the rendezvous point.
The party approaches the hill and locate a worn path carved into the hill. They also notice carrion birds circling the hill top. Alane cloaks herself in magic and goes ahead to scout. She finds signs of a viscous fight and beastmen corpses are strewn round the base of the ruined tower. Inside the ruined tower (one of its 4 walls has collapsed) she spies a staff stuck in the rubble with a piece of white cloth tied to its top.
Alane fetches the rest of the party who start to investigate the hill top. Paranoid that the beastmen may rise from the dead Grim Gorgson and Alexa start decapitating and de-legging the corpses. Alane having detected magic around the staff is eyeing it up cautiously when Urgim pushes forward and tries to grab the staff.
As his hand nears the staff a ghostly figure of an older man in robes rises from the rubble and says:
Well met,
We have been forced to leave, the forces of chaos were growing too numerous. Milo has entrusted you with the most precious and dangerous thing in this world. Alas my brothers and I are now no longer able to relieve you of this burden.
You will have to be the ones who destroy it and save our world.
The box must be taken to the Plain of Bones and thrown into the rift that has formed there. This will seal the rift. If this is not done and the rift is allowed to grow then chaos will gush into this world and all will be lost.
Under no circumstances open the box. The power unleashed will merely feed the rift and rip our world asunder. The power of the box must be released on the far side of the rift to seal it.
We will attempt to distract chaos. Hopefully your small band can make its way unnoticed to the rift.
Take this cloth its markings will show you the way.
Good luck. Hopefully we will meet again.
Urgim backs away and waits for the others to gather. They quickly determine that the message is triggered whenever they are near the staff. Grim Gorgson takes the cloth with its magical marker, which appears to always point in a particular direction and and wraps it around his wrist.
Alexa destroys the staff to ensure that no one else sees the message.
Taking up the grave mission thrust upon them party then makes their way to Sommeville to resupply. The farmer's market is on and the group splits up to buy supplies. Alexa and Grim Gorgon also acquire a supply of holy water from the church for a small donation.
Enquiring about buying mules and horses they are informed that old man Jenkins has some for sale and his farm is a few hours south of the town.
Since it is late the party decides to take advantage of civilization and spend the night in the local inn. Urgim and Grim Gorgson share one room, Alane & Alexa another and Andreus & Falandar share a third.
In the middle of the night Grim Gorgson awakes to find a cold blade pressed to is throat and a cloaked figure looming over him. The figure demands in a whisper that Grim Gorgson hand over the box. Grim Gorgson refuses loudly, which wakes Urgim. With the intruder momentary distracted by Urgim, Grim Gorgson attempts to grapple him. This fails and Grim Gorgson receives a nasty slash.
Urgim leaps up and grapples the intruder throwing him to the ground. Grim Gorgson then proceeds to stake the intruder's hand to the floor, with one of his vampire stakes, in an attempt to get the intruder to talk. The intruder promptly starts screaming.
Woken by the screaming, Alexa and Alane leap out of bed (Alexa wearing some rather skimpy night clothes by all accounts). Alexa grabs her axe and flings open their room door, surprising a second intruder. Reacting first, Alane blasts the second intruder with a magic dart, doing critical damage and knocking him to ground. Alexa pins him to the ground and demands to know who he his. The intruder merely smiles and then starts to convulse, after a few seconds he goes limp, apparently dead. A think oily black substance leaks from his clenched jaws.
Another scream (as Grim Gorgson stakes the first intruder's other hand) causes Alexa and Alane to rush towards the boy's room. Alexa bashes down the door with a mighty axe blow.
Unfortunately before the party can further interrogate the intruder he too convulses and dies with a thick black liquid dribbling from his lips.
By this time the other patrons of the inn and the constabulary arrive to found out what is going on. The party claim ignorance and bamboozle their way out of town to avoid any tricky questions.
With the sun rising they take the road south and head to old man Jenkin's farm. A few hours later and after a brisk negotiation, the party is equipped with two mules and a pair of ponies.
Saddling up the party continue southwards...
GM's Notes
- Falandar's and Andreus' players were not at the game so they did not feature that much in this episode.
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