For Hooves the Bell Tolls - Full Part One

Prologue

A Smell from the Sewer

Quthbert, Volmak, & A.G.R.

653 Post Maelstrom

Quthbert, and his loyal lizard Spike, arrive in Oldetown, weary from their travels, and finds a nearby inn to spend the night. He ends up chooseing a place called the Creaky Floorboard - Inn. Quthbert gets a stable for Spike and a room for himself for the night before heading downtown in search of someone in need, and a little lunch. After eating he finds a message board that directs him to a local blacksmith that keeps hearing something in the sewers at night. The blacksmith shop, A Fresh Anvil - Blacksmith, is noted to be just across the way from the inn Quthbert is staying in, so he picks up a sausage for Spike in the market and heads back across town.
Volmak and his trusty donkey companion arrived in Oldetown, just a little behind Quthbert, on a secret mission for the druid’s council of Taesi Kaalsari. Volmak looking for a cheap bed for the night, talked to a local innkeeper and was allowed to sleep in the stables after cleaning them out. The stables were quite filthy, but not beyond what Volmak was used to, so he was able to make particularly good time cleaning.
Volmak met an interesting, and rare, lizard mount in the stables while cleaning and greeted it. While being friendly with the creature its owner, Quthbert, returned with sausages. While feeding Spike Quthbert and Volmak met for the first time and began talking. Volmak was looking for a bit of coin and agreed to help Quthbert out and split the profits.
The two went across the blacksmiths to speak with him, but found the shop deserted, something uncommon for the time of the day, and the door was locked. The two called a guard over that was up the street and asked him if it was normal for the blacksmith to be closed. The guard named the blacksmith Hendrick and seemed shocked that he’d be closed once he realized the door was locked. The guard agreed to help Quthbert and Volmak and took them around to the back of Hendricks house to use the key to the backdoor.
The trio was able to unlock the back door to the shop and found it dark with most of the store’s stock scattered about. After investigating the room Volmak realized there was blood coming out from under a door on the far side of the room. Volmak pointed it out to Quthbert who happened to have lockpicking tools handy. Quthbert began picking the lock. While he was doing that Volmak realized the guard never followed them in and turned to find the guard waiting in the doorway with his sword drawn.
Volmak yelled for Quthbert and moved into position to defend. The guard attacked, thinking them easy targets, but was surprised to find that both Volmak and Quthbert were secretly armed. During the encounter Volmak was forced to cast a spell revealing himself to be a druid, something that is mostly illegal in the empire, to the guard. After a brief, but volatile, fight Quthbert was able to knock out the guard and end the fight. The guard sustained a few wounds in the fight and Volmak began trying to stabilize the guard.

***

While this betrayal was going on, another wanderer arrived in Oldetown driven by a desire to explore a world that was long hidden from him. This wanderer, a warforged A.G.R. unit, was walking past a local blacksmith shop when he overheard what sounded like someone being attacked inside. A.G.R ran up and pulled on the door, but after finding it locked, he knocked on the door.
Quthbert and Volmak were both shocked by the knock and without fully thinking it through Quthbert opened the door. A.G.R saw into the room as Quthbert opened the door seeing what looked like a bleeding guard in the back of the room with another man standing over him. A.G.R burst into the room past Quthbert and demanded that Volmak step aside from the guard. Volmak and Quthbert tried to explain what happened, but A.G.R didn’t back down and Volmak decided to let him take the unconscious guard.
A.G.R. immediately took the guard outside and began heading for a local temple to get the man to a healer. However, with the help of the blacksmiths' note and the local innkeeper, Quthbert is finally able to convince A.G.R that there is truthfully a more serious plot going on. They think about telling another guard, but then realize that the other guard that was originally on watch, with the now unconscious guard, is nowhere to be seen. A.G.R leaves the unconscious guard on the ground outside of the inn and the trio returns to blacksmith's shop to check out the room with blood.
They finally get the door open and find this room ransacked as well, but there was no body to be found. This room was the blacksmiths forge. He had a grate in the floor that acted as a drain directly into the sewer. There were footprints leading from the blood puddle to the grate in the middle of the room, but the hole was too small for A.G.R or Quthbert to fit into. Deciding to stick together the three went back to the street to use the large sewer grate.
They found the bloody footprints leading away from the under the blacksmiths shop. They followed them for a while until they came across a fork with just the left footprint going left and the right footprint going right. They realized now that they must be in the Oldetown Sewers beneath the city. Volmak decided to go right, the others left.
Volmak turned himself invisible and stealthed down the old tunnels until he came across one of the blockages in the sewer. He inspected it, but began to hear a noise deep inside, a disgusting wet slapping sound. He backed off, hiding in the shadows when a large slime creature burst from the disgusting mass. It seemed to know someone was nearby but gave up after not finding anything for a few minutes. Volmak hurried to get back to the others.
Quthbert and A.G.R. followed the footprints to the left until they came across the footprint trail ending at a wall. Quthbert was able to uncover the lock and together they were able to push the heavy wall open. They found a recently dug muddy tunnel leading from the sewers deeper underground to an ancient catacomb. The pair followed the catacomb tunnel to a larger room where they uncovered what looked like the remnants of people camped out down here, but there was nobody around. Except for the statute of a man made of porcelain but dressed in relatively new clothing.
The two went deeper into the room until they were greeted to a wet slapping sound similar to the sound Volmak had heard. Three of the Sewer Slimes emerged from the darkness and began assaulting AGR with their poison. The two fought valiantly but were on the verge of being overwhelmed. Volmak, having followed their trail still invisible, snuck into the middle of the fight before revealing himself and summoning vines to grab the slimes. The slimes now slowed and weakened are much easier for the group to destroy. Their sickening bile caused Quthbert to fall unconscious.
Quthberts skin began to shift into the same porcelain as the statute they discovered. Volmak was able to cure the sickness from Quthbert and restore some of his vitality with a magic berry, but it sapped Volmak of much of his power. The three hurried back to the surface, eager to escape this place with their lives.
When they returned to the surface, they discovered the unconscious guard from earlier was gone and a group of new guards investigating the scene. The new guards were led by the captain of the guard himself. The three told their story to the guard captain, nearly getting themselves arrested in the middle. If the innkeeper had not backed them up about the guard, they would have been arrested as no guards had been stationed in the area. In light of this new evidence the guard captain reluctantly agreed not to arrest them. The captain told them he would come back tomorrow with follow up questions, but he ordered the three to stay at the inn for the night.
The three then immediately left the inn and headed into town to find a bath house to get cleaned up. They rinsed their body and cloths but couldn’t get all the stink out. Volmak wasn’t happy with this and tried desperately to find someone to go get his clothes professionally cleaned. After checking with practically everyone he finally found a man at the front desk, named Leon, that was willing to go get cloths for him for 7 gold.
Little did Volmak know that Leon was already planning on dipping town that night and with 7 extra gold in hand, on top of the 7 gold pay he got earlier, he grabbed his few important belongings and hit the road. Volmak waited for a couple hours, long after Quthbert and AGR had returned to the inn, before realizing that Leon wasn’t going to return. Wrapped in an old towel from the bathhouse he made his way back to the inn. The innkeeper feeling sorry for him gave Volmak an apron, but it left Volmaks ass hanging out on the bench.
The three, weary from their day, rested at the bar of the inn eating some food and enjoying a well-deserved short rest and pint of ale.

Chapter One

Strange things Happen in Taverns

Quthbert, Volmak, Marinus, Malbrix, & A.G.R.

653 Post Maelstrom

Malbrix and Marinus arrive in Oldetown weary from many days on the road and find an inn to settle into for a time. After a short chat with the inn keeper at the Creaky Floorboard - Inn, they came to an arrangement that they’d do a quick task for the innkeeper, clearing some rats out of the inn’s cellar.
The innkeeper turned towards the kitchen. “Hey, Tommy” he shouts cupping his hands around his mouth “get out here and help these two down into the cellar!”
A lanky young man comes out and awkwardly directs the pair down a hallway, past the kitchen, to an old door at the back of the inn next to a worn grandfather clock. The door creaks loudly as it's opened and the light from the hallway illuminates old well-worn stairs down.
The stairs aren't very wide, not allowing more than one person down at a time. Cobwebs and dust coat much of the stairwell on the way down, it looks as though people have been avoiding the cellar for a while, except for one pair of footprints heading down into the darkness.
Marinus heads down first with Malbrix close on their heels. At the bottom of the stairs Malbrix creates three blue-green orbs that illuminated the area around them. The cellar is long quite long stretching on into the darkness with barrels of ales and wines stacked against the walls. Just at the edge of the light was a bunch of sacks and crates shoved together to create a makeshift barrier.
“The rats are mostly trapped back here” said Tommy as he hurriedly walked past them towards the barricade. Without another word Tommy leapt over the barricade into the darkness.
Marinus and Malbrix followed a bit more cautiously, with Malbrixs lights trailing after them. As they walked towards the barricade the light began creeping over the edge, but Tommy didn’t come back into sight. Marinus turned to Malbrix with a shrug and leapt over the barricade with Malbrix following right on their heels.
The pair landed with a sickening splat and realized horror that the room was filled with hundreds upon hundreds of rats. Marinus began laying about with their trident while Malbrix attempted to gust the rats away from them.
During the chaos Tommy, who was sitting cross-legged on a crate in the middle of the room, began cackling like a mad man. Just as Malbrix and Marinus began making some space for themselves, Tommy jumped up and kicked the top of the crate causing the side panel to fall revealing two slimes trapped inside.
“Feed my children” Tommy choked out between fits of maniacal laughter “Devour them and grow!”
The Sewer Slimes began to slither and goop over the rats as they crawled toward Marinus. The rats screamed as the slimes crawled over them and their flesh was left shiny white porcelain. Like dozens of perfectly molded rat statues.
Marinus and Malbrix fought hard, but just the sheer number of rats was overwhelming without even considering the slimes. In a panic the pair began to fall back over the barricade headed for the stairs going up.
As the pair turned to run, Tommy took the opportunity to jump down from his crate and ran deeper into the darkness of the cellar screaming “I am the Slime King” between fits of insane laughter.
Marinus and Malbrix desperate to get away, bounded across the cellar and up the stairs. Marinus flung the door open at the top to find the grandfather clock had been leaned against the door as a trap for whoever opened it. It crashed down the stairs pulling Marinus and Malbrix down with it, trapping them under its weight.

***

Quthbert, Volmak, and AGR are still sitting at the inn discussing their recent escapade. When they hear a sound that sounds suspiciously like a grandfather clock falling down a flight of stairs. The bartender yells “All good back there, Tommy?!” as the innkeeper gives a panicked look down the hallway before darting into a side room.
The bartender shrugs, but the trio decides to go have a look at what the noise was. They walked down the hallway in the inn to find a partially broken door hanging on by one hinge dangling open over a dusty flight of stairs down into a dark basement. One of the steps looks freshly broken and there is a soft groaning, like someone or something, is wounded at the bottom.
The trio decide to head down the steps and find two unconscious adventurers trapped under a well-worn grandfather clock. AGR and Quthbert immediately begin trying to shift the clock and Volmak gives some good berries to both of those trapped.
As Marinus comes back to consciousness they mumble, “He’s gone deeper into the cellar.”
Volmak up on hearing this whipped off his apron, the only article of clothing he was wearing and immediately runs for the barricade attempting to leap it. Unluckily for Volmak his foot got caught and he face planted on the other side with a terrible shriek as he realized he’d just landed on nothing but a swarming mass of rats.
AGR and Quthbert are able to free Malbrix, but they couldn’t shift the clock off Marinus. Leaving Marinus for the time being AGR, Malbrix, and Quthbert assist Volmak. While the fighting rages on Marinus is finally able to shift the clock off and rises to help the others. Marinus leapt the barricade and moved in to help defend Malbrix, just in time to take an attack headed for their companion, but the poison from the slime was too much. Marinus fell unconscious again, but this time with the sickening porcelain whiteness creeping across their body.
The party was finally able to eliminate the Sewer Slimes and push the rat horde back. They clambered over the barricade again dragging Marinus behind them. Volmak is competent enough to stabilize Marinus, but they are still unconscious and in need of a true healer.
AGR scoops Marinus up and they head back upstairs. The party finds the inn eerily empty. Even the innkeeper and other staff are gone. Noting the oddness, they decided they still need to get to a temple to get healing for Marinus. The party headed a couple of streets over to a temple that some of them passed earlier.
The temple was a large golden hued building. Not the grand cathedral at the center of Vulanti, but a magnificent work of architecture regardless. The party carried Marinus up the steps into the front chamber. The clerics there are assisting the less grievously wounded, but upon seeing marinus the party is directed deeper into the temple to speak with a more practiced physician. The person the party was assigned turned out to be a particularly rude wood elven sun cleric healed Marinus and resuscitated them. The party wouldn’t tip the cleric since he was being such a dick and the cleric stormed off annoyed at the party for not paying him for his service.
Returning to the inn the party found another tragedy. Not only was the inn entirely empty still, but now their mounts and everything they had left with them were missing. Quthbert searched the sable and managed to find a note, left in Thieves Cant, directing any thieves left behind on where to head next to meet up.
Solemnly the group decides on what they must do. The plan is to rest in the inn overnight before AGR, Quthbert, and Volmak are required to meet with the guards. Then they will head into the sewers in search of their missing companions.

Chapter 2

The Descent into Slime

Quthbert, Volmak, Marinus, Malbrix, & A.G.R.

653 Post Maelstrom

Quthbert and volmak sit at the bar. Quthbert rolling himself some spliffs. They talk of the new ones to the group, Marinus and Malbrix. They also talk about how odd it is that the party are the only ones here.
As the rest of the group wakes, they see Quthbert attempting to make coffee. It's a bit crunchy with whole beans floating in water. They do their best to enjoy it, but it’s difficult. Outside where the group is sitting, taking in the morning and avoiding the coffee, they can see the forge across the street erupt into flames. Quthbert, with little hesitation, runs and jumps straight into the burning building.
Quthbert finds clear evidence of a recent murder. A murder that would look very suspiciously like it would have come from their group. Remembering that the guards were supposed to return soon, Quthbert dashes back out of the burning building.
After what seemed like only a few heartbeats for the rest of the party Quthbert dashes back out. He immediately directs the rest of the group to hide. They all rush back inside of the inn attempting to look more casual.
Back in the Creaky Floorboard - Inn, they are all sitting pretending to drink coffee. The guards arrived and AGR went out front to meet with them but, the guard captain kept asking where the others were. The guards break off from the conversation to go into the inn to get the rest of the party. The whole party was escorted out into the street. The guards skeptical of them try to pin the fire on them, but the group continues to insist they are innocent. Eventually the guards relent and take their words, especially since they are here to clean the slime problem in the sewers.
The guards allow the party to continue their mission, but they force them to take two guards along. The captain calls over two men, James and Jamesethon, and instructs them to go with the party to make sure they aren’t breaking any laws.
The party then heads off to the stable with James and Jamesethon to look for clues, but they find less than the party found the night before. Volmak casts a spell to locate the mounts and finds that they are only a little way to the north. Volmak can sense the mounts are that way, only it seems they are also a little way underground. Realizing this the party prepares themselves and heads back down into the sewers. The party delves down into the tunnels, finding it utterly disgusting, but they nevertheless press on.
Deeper into the dank tunnels they stumble across a group of vicious and angry rat men. A ratzurker and his gang. The ratzuker and his crew are vicious and cruel. During the fight James fell trying desperately to protect the party, but thankfully Jamesethon lives on. Marinus notes after the fight that they always thought Jamesathon would be the one to die.
Another rat sneaks slips out of the darkness once the fight dies down and approaches the party. “Thanks for dealing with those slobs,” says the rat with a bit of a natural hiss “as a thanks I’d be happy to help you. For a price that is.”
The rat then flashes open his jacket revealing several strange things in the inside pockets. “I’m sure I’ve got just the things your party needs” insists the rat man.
AGR and Volmak stare down the rat man for a few minutes before shooing him away. “Get out of here before you end up like them” declares Volmak.
The rat man seems panicked for a moment before collecting himself and scampering back off into the darkness.
Jamesethon, now the only guard left, with James dead, in the sewers. Jamesethon sobbing over his dead brother, trudges deeper into the sewers without even checking to see if the party is following. Volmak points us onward, to follow Jamesethon, but they never saw him after that. The footprints disappear at the edge of the slime, but only Jamesathons sword was still visible sinking into the murky depths. Solemnly the party continues into the depths of the Oldetown sewers.
As the group walked down the tunnel deeper into the sewer, they came across a small antechamber. The room was filled with several bedrolls and there was even a rough fire pit in the center of the room. While searching through the belongs left behind, In the back of the room, Malbrix finds a silver ring. Malbrix just puts it on without even being able to tell if it was magic.
The party headed out of the antechamber, continuing their journey. Volmak does start giving Malbrix some extra room while they walk, just in case the ring is cursed.
Deeper into the twisting depth of the tunnels the party found a door hidden in the wall. AGR attempted to beat that fucker up but was ultimately unsuccessful. Thankfully, Malbrix is able to find where the secret lock on the door is located. Quthbert comes through with some lock picking talent and managed to get the door to open. Malbrix and AGR have a bit of a disagreement over the door dilemma, but ultimately put their differences aside and carry forth.
They see a bunch of statues of people, all made entirely of porcelain, standing all around the room. Appearing as though stuck forever in some normal everyday activities. Volmak finds some magic junk while searching through the clothes of the trapped people and some others that were scattered amongst their belongings, while the rest of the party rests.

Chapter 3

The Slime King

Quthbert, Volmak, Marinus, & A.G.R.

653 Post Maelstrom

While the party is resting Malbrix attempts to investigate the area with magic only to find a strange interference. Pushing through the magical barrier she releases a power blast of energy. In the confusion Malbrix vanishes leaving behind only a potted plant.
While this is happening the rest of the party is being thrown around as the floor beneath them begins to shake and crack. After only a brief few moments it shatters, throwing the party deeper into the dank twisting tunnels.
Quthbert, Marinus, A.G.R., and Volmak tumble to the ground sprawling out across the floor with Marinus clinging tightly to the plant that Malbrix turned into.
The remaining party members rise, surveying the old cavern they've found themselves in. They quickly realize that there are multiple slimes down here as well, quickly approaching. Marinus also recognizes someone they didn’t expect to see here. The tavern worker, Tommy, who attacked Marinus and Malbrix. The who that called himself the slime King. As soon as Tommy saw the party, he started running for a large slithering mass just out sight in the darkness.
They part drew arms and prepared for a fight. Using some of the old ruins in the cavern, the party managed to trick the Sewer Slimes into coming at them to attack one or two at a time. However, by the time they were finished taking out the first wave, the large slithering mass revealed itself as a massive slime beast. It was at this moment that Tommy, jumping from the darkness, yelled “I am the slime king” then leapt inside the gigantic slime beast.
The mass began to twist and distort shaping into a half man half gelatinous creature. It bubbled and popped as it shifted making nasty wet sloshing noises. Like the sound of a bucket of spoiled cream being tossed out into the rubbish heap.
A humanoid shape rose out of the slime creature like a man rising out of the mud. It oozes and sloshes down the side of his form as he grew taller giving him shape. The creature drew a sword out of its body. The sword glistened in the torch light, coated in a thin layer of the semi-liquid substance that made up the creature's form. The slime King roared, and the slimes began attacking more ferociously like a dangerous creature turned rabid.
AGR defended against the onslaught valiantly until only the Slime King remained. AGR managed to disarm the Slime King before he had to fall back from the damage or risk being destroyed. Quthbert and Marinus rained damage from afar distracting the Slime King while Volmak ran for the sword. Taking up the great sword in two hands, Volmak leapt at the Slime King. Volmak brought the blade down with all his might, screaming “I’m the Slime King now,” as the old king of slime fell limp and lifeless.
The old slime king's body dispersed into the murk of the sewers, quickly indistinguishable from the liquid slime coating the dank cavern. The one remaining slime now follows Volmak around like a well-trained dog. Marinus and their clockwork companion SCUBA repair the damage to AGR to the best of their abilities while the rest of the group rests and recovers.
After a brief reprieve the group heads deeper into the cavern searching still for their lost mounts and companions. After roughly another hour of travel the group came across a large underground lake. Volmak magically searched for their mounts again realizing the party would indeed have to cross the lake. A canoe that would only fit two members of the party rested against the cavern wall nearby, but it appeared frequently used.
The party decides to use it anyways and AGR takes turns rowing people across being with Volmak. Volmak and AGR realize on the other side that this is the thief's hideout and they’ve been using the waterway to access the sewer to sneak around the city. Volmak finds some crates to hide behind and AGR goes back for Quthbert. Volmak manages to stay hidden, but a plank on the dock breaks under Quthberts foot as he attempts to climb out of the canoe.
The thieves are alerted and come running to figure out what caused the noise. It only takes them a few moments to find Volmak and Quthbert who take up arms to defend themselves. AGR uses the commotion to silently slip away and return to Marinus.
Volmak summons vines from the earth around the feet of the thief's guild members as the attempt to get onto the docks. Quthbert takes this opportunity to get in some lethal dagger throws killing two of the assailants. As the three remaining attackers finally get close to Volmak, AGR and Marinus row into the hidden bay. Marinus takes the one closest to Volmak with a trident in the chest. Allowing Quthbert and Volmak to easily finish off the remaining two attackers.
While fighting one of the two remaining thieves Volmak realizes with a shock that man in front of him is none other than Jamesethon. The two clash blades and then with a furious hiss Volmak chops of his head “traitor scum.”
Once the commotion of the fight dies down the group hears someone yelling from a closed door on the side of the cavern, built into the stone. Marinus, AGR, and Quthbert went to check it out only to find the door locked tight. Quthbert revealed his talent with lockpicking to the party and quickly dispatched the lock, opening the door. To their shock they found Malbrix inside. It turns out the plant was a red herring, and the thieves got ahold of her. Unfortunately, Malbrix blacked out during the event and isn’t sure how they managed to capture her.
While the rest of the group is finding Malbrix, Volmak searches in the other open room looking for his secret letter that he is travelling for the Druids of the Greenwood. He finds the letter right where he feared he would, on the middle of a writing desk surrounded by copies. His prototype firearm is nowhere to be seen either. After doing another search with magic he realizes that it must have been taken by the thieves that escaped as it appeared to be moving away high up and at roughly airship speed...
The cave system that the group is now in seems to slope upwards toward the surface. There is a well-worn path through the cave that passes several offshoots of the cave that all have makeshift wooden walls and doors blocking them off. Just a little further up the walkway, through one of the larger doorways, the group finds a makeshift stable and reunites with their lost friends.

Chapter 4

Guards & Thieves

Quthbert, Volmak, Marinus, Malbrix, & A.G.R.

653 Post Maelstrom

The party, finally reunited with their mounts, travel the rest of the way up the tunnel. Eventually they come out of the cave into a deep basement somewhere in Oldetown. The house appears to double as a thief's hideout, but it seems abandoned now. The basement of the house is designed like a small warehouse loaded with crates claiming to be from Precious Paticia's Perfect Porcelain - Shop. The upstairs rooms of the house are mostly personal rooms or bunkbeds to house dozens of people.
Volmak, Marinus, and Malbrix smashed up some of the crates finding what was indeed slime made porcelain inside. Meaning it all must have come from living creatures. The trio also broke off the side of one of the crates to take the logo with them.
Once sure that the house is clear the party looks through one of the windows out on the street only to find it quickly clearing out with a full strike force of guards headed directly for the hideout. AGR, with little hesitation, walks out into the street to parley with the guards. Followed closely by Volmak who rode out on the back of his donkey, Flintfeet.
AGR and Volmak tried desperately to convince the guards to stand down, but it quickly became clear to them that these guards knew exactly why they were there. It was all planned from the beginning, and this was just the cleanup crew.
The guards began circling around AGR and Volmak trying to box them in. Volmak began preparing a spell, but the guards' battlemage struck first with a massive fireball erupting from beneath the pair. AGR was thrown backwards by the force, but Flintfeet took the brunt of the damage. Volmak was thrown into the air as his long-trusted companion was torn apart by the force of the blast. Volmak dragged himself to his friend sobbing as the last breath of life left Flintfeet. The faithful donkey had wounds that nought but the most powerful of magics could heal. Volmaks friend was lost forever.
In the chaos Quthbert moves into one of the upper windows of the building stealthilly and is skillful enough to get a surprise attack on the battlemage before anyone notices he is there. Quthberts phantom blade flashed through the air taking the battlemage in the neck. As the woman collapsed with her hands to her throat, Marinus and Malbrix burst out of the building laying down cover fire and moving to aid AGR.
Volmak, in a daze from losing his friend, backs away from the fight. He slips into a side alley, falls against the wall, and sobs. The sound of the battle rages in the street, but Volmak cannot bring himself to rise.
AGR, Marinus, and Malbrix continue to fight the guards in the street while Quthbert dashes silently from window to window striking out at the archers to draw their focus. Marinus lashes out with their trident and dagger before recalling them again and again. Malbrix whips bolt after bolt of magically energy striking foes or using magical whips to pull targets off balance. AGR stands vigilant as always defending his companions, knocking attacks aside, and throwing guards to the ground. But still they come.
AGR reaches too far to knock protect Malbrix and is unable to stop the captain from approaching. The captain strikes while AGR is distracted, and he succumbs to a strike from the captain's axe. The captain rears up to cut the wounded AGR down like splitting a log. Just as the axe head is about to split AGRs faceplate and destroy his processor, Volmak dives into the fight narrowly deflecting the axe with the Slime Kings sword. In a fit of rage Volmak shouts “I am the Slime King” before beheading the captain with a single stroke of the massive sword.
Quthbert finished the remaining guards as they tried to run, striking them easily in the back as they turned. Then beginning with the battlemage that killed Flintfeet, Volmak went from body to body beheading them and he piled it up on the street, while the remaining party members watched in horror. Then Volmak took the logo from the porcelain crate and, dipping his hands in the blood, put a massive X over the logo leaving it leaning against the severed heads as a message.
Around this time alarm bells from around the city begin going off. Starting nearby quickly the alarms can be heard across the city. In moments everyone for miles can hear the clatter of hoofbeats on cobblestone.
The party scrambles onto their mounts, dragging them up the stairs of the house while the clatter of hoofbeats grows louder and louder. The party mounts as quickly as they are all able, with Volmak riding on AGRs clockwork horse ATU. In a furious panic the party begins galloping for the wall. They race down the main thoroughfare hoping the gates are still open only to see them closing as they approach. The party turns and gallops down a side street, leaping wagons, market stalls, and people clogging the side streets.
With the guards closing in around them Volmak realizes that behind them was a construction site where the wall is being rebuilt. The party dangerously maneuver their mounts through they crowed streets of terrified civilians backtracking past some of the guards. A guard with a halberd attempts to knock AGR off his horse, but Quthbert quickly takes him in the neck with a spectral blade. The party makes it into the construction site. The leap the low wall still under renovation and escape onto into the grassland outside the city.
A crossbow bolt from atop the wall comes dangerously close to Volmaks head. Volmak directs AGR to ride at the back of the group. Volmak turns sitting back-to-back with AGR, facing the crossbowman, and puts up a shield deflecting the incoming volley of bolts into the ground on either side of them. In a near miraculous feat Volmak holds concentration on the spell until the group reaches the tree line and is protected from the deadly rain.

Chapter 5

A Night to Remember

Quthbert, Volmak, Marinus, Malbrix, & A.G.R.

653 Post Maelstrom

Quthbert, Volmak, Marinus, Malbrix, and A.G.R. rode for two full days and nights before finally finding a clearing to rest. They rode as hard as they dared through the woods away from Oldetown into the Imperial Forests. While nothing compared to the Great Greenwood, the Imperial Forests were still a naturally expansive old forest that held many secrets and dangers.
Just as the party finished setting up camp and were groggily making food, they heard a long boom in the sky. They saw above as something like a meteor fall towards them. Until the last seconds it seemed to be directly above them until it rocketed into the forest no more than a mile away. There was no crash, no shake, no eruption of the earth as a crater formed. It was eerily silent, until the wolves began to howl.
While the party slept A.G.R. sat watch and listened to the night. Wolves howling was a normal sound these last two days, but not like this. No, never like this. The wolves all howled together, over and over, from all over the forest moving closer and closer to something nearby. Eventually AGR figured they had to go check out whatever it was and went to wake the party.
Everyone except Volmak woke easily, but Volmak trashed about in his sleep and refused to wake. After a few minutes of everyone trying to wake him Volmaks eyes shot open, and he only remembered one thing from his dream.

The death of the forest is coming. Shadow must not win. The forest must not die here.

The party sets off back into the woods with Volmak leading the charge. Leading with sword drawn Volmak uses druidic magic to guide them. Magic that Volmak wasn’t prepared to embrace before the death of Flintfeet. Volmak is finally ready to step up and accept the destiny that has been thrust upon him.
As their group gets closer to where the wolves are howling, they can hear the wolves battling something ferocious. The party bursts into a small clearing just to see a massive, twisted bear sweep out with one massive paw and shred three of the wolves throwing their mangled corpses to the ground. The bear roared through a skull that had most of the flesh striped away. Its body was cover it cuts and lesions that bled and from their wounds oozed thick black smoke.
The party circled the massive creature striking out at it again and again with little effect. Malbrix blasted it with fire that burned and enraged the horrible creature. The rest of the party chopped and cut it, but the creature easily shook off a lot of their blows.
The bear was agile for its size and every time its claws lashed out it came back thick with blood and oil. It cried a sound that came out like a screech, a grotesque sound to hear from such a creature. At this call the dead wolves rose and began driving Quthbert away. The bear then smacked down SCUBA destroying the bot, crushing it with a massive paw.
Volmak transformed into a wolf and leapt in front of Marinus defending him and attacking the bear. The Wolf and the bear fought for a moment. While Quthbert dodged and dove away from the wolves weaving in daggers taking the beast in the eye, the mouth, the neck. Driving the creatures back into death.
With a roar the bear struck out throwing Volmak away destroying the wolf form. In this stunning moment an entity tried to force a message into Volmaks mind. Volmak, in a moment of incredible will, pushed the voice aside to leap back into the fight. Only one brief line made it through.

Don’t let the forest die.

Seeing Volmak fall Marinus renewed their assault on the bear, but it lashed out taking them across the chest dropping them to the ground. The same swing forced AGR away lest he fall to the same blow. The bear reared up to come down on the unconscious Marinus with all his might. Volmak seeing this clears his mind of the message and leaps at the bear with his great sword slashing the bear across the chest. Opening a deep wound and forcing the bear to step away from Marinus. Volmak swung again driving his blade home just as the bear crashed down on top of him rending Volmaks chest open with a might swing of its paw. Volmak stumbled back bleeding profusely.
The lifeless carcass of the bear rose into the air and a voice not of the bear spoke through its body. “There must be a god of death and shadow, too long has the world gone without,” the voice rasped like it used a throat that had too long been dry “New powers rise in the world and the old pantheon is crumbling.”
With this decree the Moon in the sky above erupted into flames like a massive, brilliant torch lighting up the world like a red sun. The bears' body feel limply to the ground. Blood now flowed freely from its wounds as though some unseen force had been keeping the blood inside long after it should have leaked free. The strange black smoke no longer rose from the bear.
Marinus lay on the ground, unconscious, but stable. Malbrix was trying to assist Volmak, but she had little healing knowledge and was weak from the fight. A.G.R. attempted to resuscitate Volmak, but with a final shudder and cough the dwarf went limp in AGRs arms. Volmak passed from the world only moments later, joining his faithful Flintfeet in the next life.

End of Part One