First meeting of the Outlaws

Four people on the run end up in the same tavern, and take on the task of freeing a village from evil forces.

28th day of the 7th month of 1286   Dais Reeves, Emily, Julian Chamberlain, and Markus Millner, found themselves drinking in the Thristy Moose in the village of Oakcrest. There they were presented with an opportunity from the owner of the inn, who happened to also be the Mayor of the village. The village had been plagued recently with goblin attacks, if the four could make them stop, they would be rewarded with five hundred gold pieces, plus whatever they could take off the goblins.   The four accepted the task, and at the direction of the mayor, headed to his Aunt's home, which was the last place the goblins attacked. Aunty McPherson was a farmer, and raised moose as well as growing crops for a living. The group spoke with her, and she explained that the goblins had killed much of her livestock and cut down a sizable portion of her crop to draw a strange magical circle.   The group made their way to the circle, encountering goblins on the way that they slayed. Each goblin had a strange black crown tattooed on their forehead, and they repeatedly chanted "All Glory to The Black King!", even as they lay dying. No one was quite sure who the Black King was, but they assumed he was trouble. Finding the magical circle, they were unable to decipher the magical runes, but could tell it was some type of conjuration magic. The group then elected to follow the goblin tracks into the forest. A little ways into the forest, they found a dead courier in a pit fall trap. The courier was stripped of all his valuables, but clenched in his hand was a letter. Retrieving the letter from the pit, they found a sealed enveloped addressed to a "Lady Sarah". Markus was able to recall that there was a Lady Sarah in the city of Leann, about forty miles north of Oakcrest.   They lost the trail a few times, but after four hours of walking, they found the hamlet of Rosebriar, a community of halflings. Unfortunately, all the halflings were dead, and the only thing remaining alive was a giant bat, which seemed to be waiting for them, and attacked. After defeating the bat, the group proceeded (over Julian's objections) to loot the dead villagers and their homes, but found only a few gold pieces and a cheap ring. More interesting than the treasure was that all the graves were upturned, and that humanoid tracks joined the goblins at this point. The tracks led further into the forest, and after a hour of walking, they found themselves at a mine, sized for halflings.   The group was able to sneak and squeeze into the mine, and there they fought more goblins, as well as skeletal halflings, the reanimated corpses from the graveyard in Rosebriar. They fought their way through the mine into a makeshift chapel, where they a humanoid in black robes, leading the goblins in chants to the glory of the Black King, when they attempted to stop, the man and several zombies stepped through another arcane circle like the one in the farm, and disappeared. After killing the goblins, the group heard moaning from another room, and decided to investigate.   Inside the room, they found a naked halfling lass, a bloody crown carved into her stomach, tied to a table, clearly the victim of some dark ritual. They were able to heal her up and free her. She explained her name was Salia Quickfoot, a cleric in the service of The White Lady and the leader of the halflings of Rosebriar. She explained that the man in black robes used her blood to fuel his necromatic rituals, and that he was planning to invade the human village next. The group, realizing the arcane circle was likely a portal, stepped through it, and found themselves back in the village.   Over Julian and Salia's objections, the group decided to go back to the mayor and get their money for having killed the goblins, as that was the job they accepted. They found the village under attack, villagers trying to drive off zombies, and the inn in shambles from an attack. Begrudingly, the mayor gave them their coin, and when they made to leave, offered another five hundred if they could kill off the source of the zombies, which they accepted. Salia elected to stay behind to help the villagers.   Heading back to the farm, they did battle with a zombified moose, and snuck up on the house, finding that the man in black was an evil priest and that he was torturing the elderly woman. Dais and Markus decided that the woman was probably going to die anyway, and decided to try and burn down the house to kill the priest. They shoved the corpses of the dead moose in front of the door, and then they through makeshift fire bombs through the windows. Julian dove into the now burning house to try and save the woman, and was successful in freeing her and bringing her to safety. Markus, Dais, and Emily made their way on to the roof, where the priest and several undead halflings were, and killed them all. After saving the old woman, Julian attempted to join them in the martial combat, but was berated by Markus for his inferior fighting abilities.   Unfortunately two of their number had contracted a disease from the zombies, but under the care of the the priestess Salia, they recovered with a night's rest. They collected their reward from the town mayor, who wasn't impressed with them burning down his aunt's house but belligerently admitted they did do the job. The group decided to head north to Leann as Markus, who had assumed the leadership position of the group, to finish delivering the courier's letter. The four then sold off their loot at the local trader, and used the money to purchase a horse and wagon for their journeys.