Nothing came of the rumor of a mysterious monster eating sheep. Another werewolf pack was eliminated with the heavy cost of Nate being slain while magically held.
Sheep Snatcher
The day after the discovery of Geda’s Drop (3/13), a shepherd shared a tale about a supposed monster eating his sheep. “Listen close, master, and listen well. Amalgus is too busy to care about what’s snatching our livelihoods in the dark. Seven of my finest ewes were taken last week. My land is northwest of town, across the river. I followed a trail of upturned earth that meandered northward to the hills. Under the light of early morning, I saw patches of shiny ichor. Fearing some devil from the depths of the earth, I hurried myself back home. Now, each night, I place offerings of offal to appease this demon of the underworld. Sometimes the buckets I leave are licked clean. Other nights, the buckets are smashed.”
A party was assembled to investigate: Nate, Mirana, Jerker, Elaria, Ollie, and Caol. They crossed the river and then headed north of the fields into the hills, just a mile away (hex 0806). They searched all day and had no encounters. All but Elaria stayed up through the night, anticipating a fight and watching a bucket of offal. Near dawn a pack of raccoons raided the bucket. No monster was seen.
Into the Tomb
The rancher admitted it has only been three nights and the buckets were only smashed once. Caol drew a knife on the bucket and left the rancher 5 platinum pieces. The team felt they could waste no more time there and headed to Muleshoe in the morning (3/14). They were given directions to speak with the rancher who’s spotted wolves with intelligent eyes. They were reminded that the oak with fallen limb was the Ebahi family tomb (hex 0311), and they made for it straight away.
Along the way, Jerker noticed Caol’s hand on his dagger. The thief was scolded for his attempted theft. He explained it away as mere practice.
They found the tomb much as they had left it years ago. The boulders that once clogged the crack opening were will strewn about. Rats scurried around the entrance. They all marched single file down the steep incline over loose stone, and presently a shower of rock fell upon them. Only Nate and Elaria were hurt, and Nate immediately healed them both.
Ollie went alone into the former burial chamber of the vampire and was swarmed by rats. Most of the party helped stomp on them. The coffin that formerly held the vampire was still empty, after the events described in Session #57 – Vampire Vanquished. For good measure, Ollie pushed the coffin into the nearby pit and burned it up.
Confronting the Guards
The party paused near the entrance while Caol crept forward, invisible as he melded with the shadows. From a distance, he could see a faint light. As he drew closer, he found seven raggedy men huddled around a small fire. They spoke little until one reminded another that it was time to make a patrol. This second man took up a torch and headed for the entrance. His hair was disheveled and he wore a leathern patchwork coat.
As the guard rounded a corner, Caol sprung from the inky shadows and deliver a crushing blow, knocking the man unconscious. He tied him up and dragged him to the others, and they all made their way carefully out of the tomb and into the daylight. When he was roused, an interrogation began.
The man called himself Ash. They accused him of being a werewolf, but they were uncertain. Ash said he never felt threatened by the werewolves in the time of the mists. He was called a sympathizer. The discussion was somewhat argumentative, but it was plain this man was indeed in league with the werewolves, at least benefiting from their protection in months past.
Elaria sat down with her crystal ball and gazed at the men at the fire. They remained there, not doing much of anything interesting.
Ash was tied to a tree and gagged. His provocative taunts had become annoying. They left him there while they returned to the tomb. This time, Jerker approached the men at the campfire while holding a torch. Behind the men, he saw the silhouettes of wolves. The men cried out “Hey-yo! Hey-yo!”, then ordered the massage wolves to attack. Elaria cast haste.
Ollie and Jerker engaged in battle with the canines. Ollie struck a mighty blow that produced a shimmering blast of magic. Instantly, he saw every magical item in view with a glowing halo. The wargs were easily killed, but the men slipped off in the darkness, going deeper into the caves.
Elaria cast a light spell on Jerker’s chest. Caol took up a torch. Nate wore a glowing rock hung from his neck. Caol made to pursue the men, but the others would not follow. Instead, Elaria sat down to peer into her crystal ball again. She focused on the men, but saw only darkness.
Splitting the Party
With two directions to explore, the party dived into two. Jerker, Elaria and Mirana took the fork to the west. The other three went east. The pentagram with the candles discovered years before was still there as the southern end of the western caverns near profane cave paintings of fishmen and the phrase “Never Sleep”. Jerker looked down a deep hole at the end of this passage and pondered a descent. At 30 feet was it too far to simply jump down. Despite holes in the wall suggesting that a ladder once allowed easy access, nothing remained now.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the caves, Ollie, Nate and Caol came to a statue of a elf maiden that weeped real tears, which they left alone. They then spied a tapestry hanging from the cave ceiling behind which seemed to be a disassembled machine. It depicted an Elven lord astride a white stallion in a field filled with fallen Dwarves. Caol remarked of it being distasteful, and Ollie pulled it down.
Standing behind it were the raggedy men, several werewolves, more wargs and some sort of werewolf shaman. They were clearly laying in wait. With no time to react, the shaman cast a wicked spell over the three of them. Caol and Ollie shrugged off the effects, but Nate was not so fortunate. His limbs became stiff and he was unable to move.
“Werewolves!” cried Caol as he dashed off in retreat. The other three companions heard the call. Elaria paused to transform into a dragon. Mirana and Jerker ran ahead. It would take them nearly a minute to rush all that way. Meanwhile, the werewolves attacked. One jumped on Nate, instantly killing him with a vicious slash to his throat. Three other werewolves rushed after Caol. The remaining enemies converged on Ollie.
The rugged dwarf, along versus many enemies pushed forward. Making no secret of this destination, he cut a path through the crowd towards the shaman. The wargs tried to defend their master, but Ollie was able to spoil the second spell of the Shaman, painting a bloody gash over the beast’s furred hide. In those few rounds, Ollie suffered a few bites but kept pushing onward.
The werewolves that had initially gave chase to the fleeing Caol stopped short as they heard approaching boots. They ducked into side passages and readied to flank. When Jerker and Mirana came into view half a minute later, two of them rushed to intervene but were unable to spoil Mirana’s spells. A third werewolf attacked Elaria in dragon form, also failing to prevent the unleashing a lightning bolt that cut through the enemies, killing two werewolves and the shaman.
Destroying the rest of the enemies was no trouble after this. Meanwhile, outside, Caol cut the throat of Ash, still tied to the tree. Rest of the party soon emerged from the tomb, carrying Nate’s body. All except Ollie who stayed back in the cave for some time.
It was still early in the day, and they made for home. The next day (3/15), Nate’s body was taken to Lah, hoping that he might be raised from the dead. The ceremony was performed with haste, and Nate’s soul returned to his body, alive once again. He gratefully donated 500 gp to Lah’s Retreat.
When the party returned home the next day (3/16), Ollie told them how he’d gathered loot from the den of the werewolves. He laid it out on a table. The coins had been counted, and he made good estimates of the values of the gems and jewelry. Also, there was a potion, a shield and a pair of boots, all of which Ollie was convinced were magical, and he expected to have first pick of them.
End Notes
- Days
- 3/13 Rumors of a slithering monster eating sheep
- 3/14 Werewolf pack killed in the Ebahi family tomb
- 3/15 Nate is raised from the dead by Lah
- 3/16 Ollie displays the werewolf treasure
- Treasure:
- 15300 cp
- 4000 sp
- 3400 ep
- Diamond (500 gp)
- Fire Opal (150 gp)
- Malachite (1000 gp)
- Malachite (500 gp)
- Statuette (1100 gp)
- Aventurine (10 gp)
- Aventurine (50 gp)
- Scepter (800 gp)
- Comb (700 gp)
- Buckle (300 gp),
- Necklace (900 gp)
- Chain (1300 gp)
- Comb (1400 gp)
- Brooch (1300 gp)
- Potion
- Shield +1 (human-sized)
- Boots
- Combat (5105 xp)
- 9 Worgs 240 xp each
- 7 Werewolf Scouts 280 xp each
- Werewolf Shaman 915 xp
- 7 normal men 10 xp each
- Characters (6 shares of 851 xp)
- Caolan (human, misanthrope, liar) 953 xp
- Elaria (hireling) 426 xp
- Jerker (human, fight) 945 xp
- Mirana 851 xp
- Nate (human, fight) 945 xp
- Ollie (rugged, underground, greedy, fight, in front) 894 xp