Race to the Reef

General Summary

Finding Melos in the bedroom of the abandoned home left the party in a difficult position. With the sun going down and Melos barely alive, there was no way to get back to Reef’s Edge unless they wanted to travel in the dark.
But darkness left them exposed to whatever disaster had befallen the village of Crunan.
Exploring the house, the party found a hatch to a root cellar. Deciding that would at least provide them some safety until morning, the group helped Melos into the cellar, Stensune straining his back lowering the large man down the stairs. After patching up Melos as best they could, the party hunkered down in the cellar to wait out the night. While gathering some vegetables off the shelves, Walker caught movement in the shadows behind some crates. Before she could scamper away, Walker grabbed hold of the child, a young girl named Darlee (her friends call her Newt (only joking) (maybe).
In shock and unable to tell the group much, Darlee was able to explain that her parents were dead and she had been hiding in the cellar from the creatures for several days. Before they could question her more, the party heard footsteps above their heads. Someone or something was moving about the first floor and around the house as if searching. The party stayed quiet and eventually the footsteps moved away and silence returned.
With the morning sun breaking over the horizon, the party commandeered a hay wagon and loaded Melos and the girl into the bed. With Stensune pulling and humperdink and Heimdall pushing, the wagon rolled toward Reef’s Edge.
Walker scouted ahead but, still shaken by the events of the previous night, did not notice the two creatures trailing the group until it was too late.
With unnatural speed and ferocity, the creatures attacked. Stensune met the charge, his weapon slicing deep into the creature’s torso. Unfortunately, Stensune could not recover his balance in time to parry the other monster. The vicious bite of the creature knocked Stensune from his feet and out of the fight. With the fate of the party hanging in the balance, Heimdall and Humperdink killed one of the ghouls. Walker, brandishing a burning torch, drove the other into the forest.
Safe for the moment but with Stensune now lying in the wagon beside Melos, the party gathered what strength it had left for the long walk back to Reef’s Edge.

Report Date

25 May 2023