Act 1 - Chapter 14 - A Knife in the Dark - Part 1 - Report

General Summary

With the Hags of Grimmfrost dealt with, the long journey home begins. Victory may have been won, but a close friend was dead.  Aoife had lost a sister, Tyrus a mentor.  This could not stand, something needed to be done.  And, thankfully, the witches of the Isle of Omens had ways of coaxing back the souls of the dead... for a strange price.  In exchange for the Zombie Staff they acquired from the Linnorm's Lair, and the Heart of the Young Linnorm they just killed, a Witch accepts to bring Saoirse back using the Reincarnate Ritual.  Afterwards, she even taught the Ritual to Finbor, in exchange for some Linnorm teeth.   After spending time on the Isle, the Hunters return home, where Saoirse, now recovering and getting used to her new Tiefling body.  It seems there's no rest for the wicked however, as only after being back in Hunters' Quarry for two days, the town was ambushed by a large army of Skeletons.  The attack was sudden, chaotic, and with no immediate answers to what exactly was happening or why. But, reacting quickly, the Hunters manage to mount a counter-offensive, and begin retaking the town, and looking for the Town Leaders.   Retaking the Hunters' Outpost, Finbor and Poppy come across some clues as to what may be happening, while Tyrus and Gus move to retake the Docks.  Finbor and Poppy discover the bodies of some town huntsman, and while their wounds weren't exactly out of the ordinary, it did appear that the bodies were entirely drained of blood.  What Tyrus and Gus found would reveal why.  The Archer and the Alchemist found Aoife standing over a wounded Saoirse, surrounded by bodies of their friends and other sailors, as a pale woman approached with deadly intent.  A vampire, hidden amongst the town, secretly leading the skeletal troops.   Tyrus and Gus managed to quickly dispatch and stake the Vampire, Natasha the Flayer, and help Aoife and Saoirse recover.  However, the battle still rages on, and there is still too much unknown about exactly what is happening.