Session 090 - Split Investigations

General Summary

30th Planting

Tear woke early, false dawn just beginning to lighten the night sky to the east. Glancing around, he saw that Janora had joined them once more. Nodding to himself, he tiptoed through the bedrolls of the party over to the ladder and dropped down to the ground. There he found Jilken keeping watch and cleaning her crossbows, while Forest snored nearby.
The young goblin waved to the Aiel warrior, but moved over to the remains of last night's campfire. There were still a few smoldering coals and Tear took a few minutes to stir up the fire and add some more kindling. As the wood began to catch and burn, he called, "Miss Jilken, would you mind gathering some more wood. I need to get this fire nice and hot to get the bacon the right amount of crispy."
"Of course," said Jilken with a laugh, "for bacon, I would do a lot more than gather wood." Setting aside her crossbow, the elf pushed herself to her feet and stepped outside of the Tiny Hut. The small copse they had chosen for a campsite had quite a bit of deadfall around so it was easy to find plenty of wood. The Aiel had collected almost an armful when she saw something that made her halt in her tracks. A very familiar looking ragdoll was resting, propped up againist the trunk of a tree and tucked between two large roots.
Glaring at the thing, Jilken stalked past and finished her woodgathering. She delivered two armloads to the small goblin who was whistling quietly to himself as he set up his small camp stove over the fire and started pulling out the ingredients for a hearty breakfast.
The Aiel warrior stayed by the fire long enough to poke a larger branch into the flames long enough to alight. She pulled the makeshift torch and with a muttered, "I'll be back," to the puttering goblin. She returned to where she had found the doll, half expecting it to be gone. It was still there however so using the butt of her spear she knocked it away from the tree and into open ground. With a grim smile she held the flaming branch down to the ragdoll. Dropping the branch to the ground, Jilken tossed a couple more pieces of kindling onto it to increase the blaze, before settling onto her heels to watch it burn.
Eventually all that remained was ash and a handful of scorched teeth. As Jilken had been watching, the smells of bacon and fresh pancakes had begun filling the clearing, and as she stood and turned in that direction her stomach growled hungrily. That smell had also drifted up into the workshop above and the rest of the party had all been roused and Jilken found them all gathering around as Tear began dishing up plates.
"Oh good," said the Aiel with a tight smile, "you're all up. That ragdoll came back. I found it leaning up against a tree and I burned it, but I don't know if we want to bury the teeth again or one of you casters had other ideas."
"Well that's not a great way to wake up in the morning," deadpanned Janora before sighing, "but you said you burned it already?" At Jilken's nod, the witch looked down her plate, "Let me think about it over some bacon."
"Agreed," said Ranunkel, "Tear made a delicious breakfast and we don't want it to get cold."
Ell looked puzzled, "What is with that doll? Why does it keep popping up?"
"Fucker is cursed," muttered Janora around a bite of fried pork.
"But how?" asked Denye, spreading jam on a pancake, "we both looked at it and it doesn't have any magic?"
Janora shrugged, "It didn't show any, but this is what, the third or fourth time it's shown up...so clearly it's got something and has attached itself to one of us. Such dolls are often used in different forms of witchcraft and not usually in very not nice ways. I try not to mess with such things, too dangerous." That last was said with a glare at the young man and he blushed and looked down at his plate. Eventually the witch sat her plate aside and said "Let's go look at what's left of this doll."
Ell volunteered to help Tear in the kitchen cleanup, so Jilken led the others over to where she had burned the doll. It didn't look like anything had touched them. Ranunkel and Janora settled to their heels to examine the teeth while Denye quickly began to set up a ritual spell. The stone druid picked up a twig and poked at the double handful of teeth. It wasn't quite enough for a full mouthful and all were blackened with age and soot from the flames.
Janora pulled a silk cloth out of a pocket on her cloak and used it to pick up one of the molars. The witch used a corner of the cloth to remove the soot and found that the tooth was carved with odd looking carvings that seemed to shiver if you looked directly at it.
Denye finished ritually casting Detect Magic and came over to stand by her friends. Extending her arcane senses the Corva wizard brushed them over charred remains. "Oh," she chirped, "the teeth do have something. It's almost gone, but it's definitely a dirge."
"Can you tell what the spell did?" asked Jilken.
"Beyond that it was a necromantic spell, no," admitted Denye, "it's too far degraded, there is just enough to get a signature so I should be able to recognize it again." Looking around she muttered an oath before saying, "Janora, I hate to say this but there is a little bit the same spell on your hands."
Janora dropped the tooth and cast Detect Magic for herself. It took a bit of glaring, but Janora was able to make out a fine tracing of black smoke that wrapped around several fingers. "Well that's not good," growled the witch."
"It could be worse," offered Denye, "if I had to guess, it doesn't look like it's doing anything to you. Maybe it's just the anchor for the primary spell."
"That's soo comforting," said Janora, snidely. Seeing the look on Denye's face, the witch hurried to add, "Thank you for letting me know. If that is the case, I should be able to remove it with the Remove Curse spell, but that will have to wait until tomorrow. For now, I'll just keep these."
Ranunkel looked appalled, "Are you sure that's safe?"
Janora shrugged, "The teeth are inert now and maybe keeping them wrapped in silk will keep them from reforming into the doll." Bending over, she used the cloth to sweep the teeth into a pile and into a makeshift pouch, which she tied and dropped into a pocket.
Ell wandered over at this point, sipping a steaming cup of kava. "So we should talk about what happened yesterday."
"I will remind you that they did that to themselves," replied Janora haughtily. She pointed to the mug and asked, "Is there more of that?" Without waiting for an answer she stalked off toward the cookfire, the others trailing behind.
"Be that as it may," insisted Ell, "the confrontation isn't going to help our reputation in Dreford, and I would hate to lose access to such a profitable market."
"Well do you think the Watch is going to be looking for all of us," asked Jilken, "or are they just going to hunt for Janora?"
"Either option is something I would like to avoid," winced Ell, "now what I'm hoping is that I can get to either Commander Rimes or even the Tyrant and smooth everything over."
"Better you than me," muttered Janora.
"Exactly," agreed Ell with a cheesy grin, "but beyond that I think you should be elsewhere at least for a couple of days. So what I was thinking was that Ranunkel and I stay here to take care of things while the rest of you go out to that last town that got attacked."
"That actually makes a lot of sense," agreed Jilken, "what was the name of the town again?"
"Kessforte," supplied Ranunkel, "I also got a map to the place. It shouldn't take you more that a days ride, maybe two."
"Forest and I can fly there faster than that," boasted Janora.
Jilken frowned, "but what about the three of us? I've got Ironheart, but we can't fly."
"I'll stay here with Boss," said Tear at the same time as Denye brightened and blurted, "I have an idea." She fell silent and offered the floor to Tear. When he motioned that he was finished she went on, "Jilken, if you keep Ironheart in her demiplane, you can ride with Janora. I think I can hold onto the tail and use a combination of my ability to glide and a slow-release Fly spell."
"I think that would work," began Janora. She stopped at the sound of a large cracking sound and turned to stare at the egg Baba Yaga had gifted her. Several large gaps shown in the shell and as she watched the entire thing broke apart and fell to the ground. A small dark oak cabinet, mossy and weathered, stood on large chicken legs, shaking and twisting around. A door on the front was carved with a small crescent moon and although the hinges looked like it would creak, they made no sound as the door swung open and closed a few times.
Clearing her throat, Janora got the attention of the others and said, "Everyone, this is Hut. Hut, these are my friends...don't eat them." The Hut had been making small movements toward Tear, but stopped and turned to look at the witch.
"What exactly is that?" asked Denye, "It's almost as tall as I am."
"Like I said, it's a Hut," explained Janora, rubbing one temple, "the Yaga gave it to me. I am not exactly certain, but I believe it is a young version of her own traveling house on chicken legs. Whatever it may grow to be, she entrusted it to my care, so we're just going to have to get used to each other's presence." The witch started to reach out to pat the cabinet, but caught herself and dropped the hand before repeating, "Yes, we'll get to know each other."
Ranunkel reached out and made to stroke the side of the cabinet. As soon as his fingers touched the wood, he pulled it back quickly, as Hut whirled and tried to slam its door on the hand to trap it. Janora raised an eyebrow and muttered, "Good to know." Whistling to the Hut seemed to work and the small cabinet turned and rushed over to the witch.
The cabinet didn't seem to have the same reaction when Janora attempted to pick it up and put it into it's space on Forest's saddle. That hurdle passed, it seemed it was time for the party to head out. Denye had collected her Ring of Homesteading and then settled down for some frantic scribbling and calculating.
Waving goodbye to their friends who were staying in Dreford, Janora led the way out of the copse of trees and after some quick but careful spellcasting from Denye, Forest spread his wings and took off in a whirlwind of dirt and leaf mold. It seemed the plan was working and the group vanished northward using the road below to guide them toward the town of Kessforte.
After their friends were gone, Ell and Ranunkel helped Tear finish cleaning up and the trio headed into the city to see how much trouble they all were in. The stone druid suggested that they try the morning markets, just to listen for gossip and see if anything about Janora's prison break had made it out into general knowledge. That seemed like a good idea so the urban party spent a couple of hours wandering through a bustling open-air market, not far from Heathrow Yard.
Most of the gossip was local and of little interest, although they heard several reports of undead creatures roaming in the nearby countryside for the last season or so. The Tyrant was trying to keep it quiet and had hired a small merc company called the Falconeers to deal with the problem.
They also heard about a new religious compound that had established itself just outside of town. They seemed to be buying up a significant portion of debt for the poorer people of the city. Those who could not pay off those debts went to work in their workhouses. The Ministry of Idle Hands said they provided room and board for their workers, so that said workers could focus on clearing the debt and saving their souls, but no one had ever seen anyone come back.
Comfortingly, they heard nothing about the incident at the watchhouse. There were a few mentions of the fires in surrounding villages, but no nothing about the perpetrators or their motives. As a cold drizzle began coming down, Ell suggested that they find someplace warm and make some decisions.
It didn't take long and they found a cute little teahouse called the White Lotus. Tear was thrilled to see that they also had pastries and he got a bear claw that was the size of his head. The three adventurers discussed what they wanted to do next, eventually deciding that it would be better to speak to Commander Rimes first.
"Rimes seemed like a sensible fellow," said Ell, biting his lip, "and I'd rather not bother the Tyrant, but I'm not really thrilled with the idea of just walking into the watchhouse and asking to speak to him."
"I didn't really have a problem yesterday," pointed out Ranunkle, "but maybe it would be better to find a neutral place...just so we don't have any surprises."
Ell nodded, "That's a great idea. Any idea where we should meet him?"
"I don't know," replied the dwarf, "here?"
Tear suggested, "What about the Three Bells? That's the inn we stayed in last time, they had some private rooms."
"Maybe," said Ell slowly, "My father always told us to use another inn if we did business in Dreford, something about violence not being possible there, now if I could only remember the name of it."
Ranunkel looked puzzled, "How would they stop such a thing? And would that stop Rimes?"
"No idea," Ell said, distractedly, "to either question. Just that the owner has declared it neutral territory and nobody crosses him, what the hell was the name. Oh I got it! The Split Yew, that was the name of the place."
"The Split Yew," repeated Tear, "where's that?"
Ell's brows knitted before he admitted, "I'm not sure, but I'm sure we could ask around."
"That's fine with me," said Ranunkel, "do you want to write a note and I can deliver it?"
"I'll write a note," agreed Ell, "but I'd rather use one of the messenger boys, keep it as anonymous as possible for now." Pulling out paper and ink, the young man took a few moments to compose his thoughts before offering his apologies for yesterday's misunderstanding and expressing an interest to help in any way they could. He invited the Commander to meet with them at the Split Yew, but respectful of Rimes' schedule, Ell asked him to set the time of the meeting.
As Ell busied himself folding and sealing the note with a bit of wax, he said, "Tear, would you mind following the messenger and then keeping an eye on the watchhouse for a bit, just so we're not surprised." He looked up and realized that Tear wasn't sitting beside him.
"He went to get something else to eat," said Ranunkel, pointing over to the counter where Tear was talking to the elderly gnome woman at the counter.
The goblin returned a few moments later with some sort of grilled pastry, wrapped in a waxed paper. "I was still hungry," he said as he sat down, "also Eliewise says the Yew is about a 30 min walk from here." Taking a big bite of the croissant filled with ham and melty cheese he added, "She gave me directions."
Ell just shook his head and repeated his question. Tear nodded and took the time to swallow before saying, "Sure Boss, I good at hiding. I follow, just let me finish this." It was only a half dozen or so bites and Tear was licking the crumbs from his fingers. "Okay Boss," he said, standing up, "I ready. I go out first and find a place to watch. Count 100."
Ell chuckled as the goblin ran over to the door and slipped out, but he did as Tear asked and slowly began counting under his breath. When he reached 90, he pulled out a couple of gold pieces and asked Ranunkel to get them another pot of tea. He pushed his way through the door to find that the rain had stopped, although it looked ready to start again at any moment. He strode up to the nearby crossroads and to a small round pavilion where a handful of boys, all between 8-13, and dressed in homespun tunics and trews with a red tabard of the messengers guild. An older boy, probably 16 or so, was schooling them, but set it aside as Ell approached. He was happy to call one of the smaller boys over and promised the lad was one of the fastest.
A few minutes later, Tear reported that the messenger had gone into the Yard, but hadn't come out right away after. Ell nodded and explained that he had paid for a reply, just in case Rimes responded right away. It seemed the Commander was in, for less than 10 minutes later, the boy left the watchhouse and started heading back toward the teahouse.
Tear asked if he should follow him back, but Ell asked him to stay watching the watchmen. The goblin was happy to comply and hid on the roof he had found. Nothing else happened for the next 10-15 minutes and eventually Ell gave the order to come on back and meet him and Ranunkel as they needed to soon start heading towards the Split Yew, the Commander had agreed to the meeting.

---

The rural party's flying gambit worked well...for the most part. While Forest had carried both Janora and Jilken before, it hadn't been for long distances and he wasn't making quite as good a time as the witch had hoped. Denye's slow release modifications seemed to be working, but they did have to stop a few times for the wizard to recharge the spell. At the first stop, Jilken had proposed tying a rope around Denye's waist so she could concentrate on the spell and not worry about holding on.
The weather also didn't seem to want to cooperate. Winds coming down from the north meant that Forest was doing a fair amount of banking to keep them headed in the right direction. Denye on the other hand seemed to enjoy those winds, using her wings to glide on the wind, like a kite tied to the saddle.
The rain that started mid-morning wasn't very welcome either, but the party persevered and by mid-afternoon Jilken spotted the town walls on the horizon, signaling they were drawing close. The Aiel warrior saw something else, to the east of their current flight path were a number of running creatures.
As they got a little closer, it was clearly three large wolf-like creatures being chased by a dozen or so humanoid figures. There was something wrong about the way they ran and as the wind turned, Janora announced, "Those are undead!"
"If those are undead we should definitely put a stop to that," said Denye, decisively.
Janora had already commanded Forest to turn in that direction. Jilken, meanwhile, had pulled up her heavy crossbow and was already fitting a bolt. As the party got closer, they realized that the wolves were actually Kyree and all three bore deep scratches and looked as if they had been running all day.
The creatures chasing them weren't all that pretty either. Most seemed to be missing limbs and all had gray, loose skin...except for those who seemed to be covered with large red boils filled with a greenish pus. As the dogesus dropped down, Jilken took aim and put a bolt through the eye of one of the largest of the ghouls. She followed it with a second shot from the Rainbow Reaper that broke a kneecap, causing another ghoul to stumble and slow.
Janora meanwhile pulled the Charmer from its pouch and channeling her magic through it, she enhanced a Charm Person spell over the ghouls chasing the most injured of the kyree. Two of the undead continued to chase after the injured kyree, but four of them came to a halt and stared up at the flying witch.
Another of the kyree threw up his head at the sound of the bell and in a gravely mind voice called, "Strangers, please aid us. If you can save my sibs and I, I will be in your debt." Without waiting for a reply, the kyree turned and bit one of the nearer ghouls, breaking a forearm.
Denye had untied the rope from her waist and glided down to land on a nearby rock. Raising her talons she called, "This will be bright, but won't hurt you. With that she began to cast a spell and as a bead of fire appeared she threw it between two of the kyree. As the Fireball exploded and caught the surrounding ghouls, webs of golden light surrounded the kyree as the wizard sculpted the spell around them.
Another ghoul, this one eerily stretched and with a crown of bones piercing its skull, stepped out from behind a tree and fired off a bolt of black, necrotic energy at Denye's back. His aim was off and the magic bolt flew off harmlessly. Undeterred, the ghoul shot another bolt at the wizard. This one would have hit her but the first bolt had drawn Janora's attention and she simply closed her fist in the air and the necrotic bolt vanished as the witch used a defensive craft to protect her friend.
One of the other kyree seemed to get a burst of energy, they whirled and leapt on two of the boil covered ghouls. Both were already injured by Denye's Fireball and they fell beneath the claws of the desperate kyree. As they did, many of the boils burst with a green and black pus. Some of that mess hit the kyree and he reeled away, coughing and looking woozy.
Several of the remaining plague ghouls tried to attack the kyree, but they just weren't quite fast enough. The larger armored ghouls had better luck, with one of them getting a bite in Ha'aash and another managing to knock out one of the other kyree. Jilken leapt off Forest's back and into one of the trees. With a flurry of crossbow bolts, she dropped one of the plague ghouls and severely weakened another. Using her Commander voice, the Aiel shouted at the badly injured kyree to "Get over here to the tree and get some cover." The kyree managed to find another burst of speed and got under cover of the low-hanging branches.

---

Ell, Ranunkel and Tear arrived at the Split Yew just as the lunch rush was starting and managed to secure a booth off to one side that granted a bit of privacy while still remaining in view of the filling taproom. As they entered, Ranunkel pointed out a sign hung above the hostess stand that read, "All are welcome and peace for all, breaking the peace will be your downfall."
As they settled around the table, Ranunkel asked, "What do you think that sign meant, besides the obvious?"
"Don't know but let's not find out," replied Ell with a shrug, "but if I were to make a guess, I have a feeling that the bartender has something to do with it."
All three turned to take in the bartender, a 7 ft gray-skinned tiefling with twisted copper horns, who was currently pouring drinks and laughing with a customer. He was clearly well muscled, wearing a pair of loose pants, cuffed at the ankle, and a beaded and embroidered vest. As he moved his skin glittered (almost like mica) and he wore a number of necklaces and a pair of copper wrist bands.
Before anyone could say anything, the server bustled by to take a drink order and drop off a bowl of boiled peanuts. The young vanished for a minute or two, but was back fairly quickly to deliver the drinks. Just as he was asking if they wanted to order meals, Commander Rimes walked in and headed in their direction. The Watch Commander was accompanied by another watchman, or rather watch woman in this case. She was dwarven, but she didn't have a beard, her hair was curled in ringlets, and she was wearing makeup. Still she was wearing the uniform of the Watch and she was carrying a folio under one arm.
The waiter had waited so that he could take the watchmen's drink order, kava black for both of them. Slipping into the booth, Rimes introduced his companion as Corporal Smallfanny, one of his detectives. After the initial pleasantries were over, and the server had returned with the kavas, Rimes came straight to the point and asked if this meeting was because of the incident yesterday. Ell tried to play it cool and ask what happened, but Rimes was having none of it and explained that in the witch’s escape, she had killed one of the watchmen and injured several more. Rimes also agreed that Captain Tato was hasty, but he will not apologize for one of his officers pursuing his investigation. On the other hand he knows how stubborn women like Janora can be and is willing to drop the charges if they agree to assist in the investigation.
Ell agrees, but takes a moment to point out that Janora had been trying to do the same before the unfortunate arrest. Rimes nods but explains that Tato had only been trying to get her story and didn’t want to taint it with any of the information they had already discovered. That seemed to be a cue for the Corporal and she pulled out a file. After reviewing it for a moment, she began to ask questions such as if either had ever been to such and such a village or had ever met this person. Once it was clear that Ell, and by extension the others, weren’t involved, the Commander was willing to share the little they had on the fires, but admitted that with the distance and randomness of the attacks, they didn’t have many leads.
There was very little to tie the fires together, all were roughly a day's ride or so from Dreford, and all were committed by five individuals who looked like Denye, Janora, Jilken, Ell and Tear. Even going so far as to use their names! Beyond that there didn't appear to be any other similarities. The first fire was in a small village called just after Longest Night. There the inn and half the stables were burnt down, allegedly because the innkeeper asked them to pay for room and board. The second town was hit n late Kindling when a candlemaker's house and workshop burned down in Wickderry. The five suspects weren't actually seen starting the fire, but they had been in town earlier in the day and had spoken with Roxgarel Beesinger, the candlemaker. Unfortunately, no one knows what was discussed and Roxgarel died in his bed.
Three houses and a blacksmith shop went up in flames next in the village of Bellême. This happened in early Planting and was actually the first the Watch had gotten to examine. "Jilken '' had been seen arguing with the blacksmith that morning and the fire was definitely started in the forge. The five were also gone from the inn the next morning, no one had seen them leave and the palisade gate had been closed all night. And finally there was Kessforte, the town that Ranunkel had learned about and the others had gone to look out. The Watch didn't have much yet, just that a school/orphanage, several shops and a dozen or more houses had burned down and the ersatz party had been seen at the scene. There was also a note that an investigative team had been sent out and should be returning in a day or two.
Ranunkel noticed that the dates were roughly all three weeks apart and seemed to be getting bigger. But that seemed to be the only real new clue. Before they left, Ell also asked the Commander about getting back the arm covered in mushrooms that Janora had had and asked if it could be sent to Black Pearl Ink. He also made an anonymous donation to help the family of the watchman who had died. That act seemed to soften Rimes a bit and he promised to see to it.

---

Janora sent her Spiritual Weapon to slash at one of the zombies as Forest continued his dive. As he neared the ground, Janora jumped off to land next to the unconscious kyree. Forest continued his stoop and bit into the shoulder of one of the plague ghouls and proceeded to lift him into the sky. Meanwhile the witch turned and laying both hands on the unconscious kyree she cast Spare the Dying. The large wolf-like creature had been struggling to breath, but settled into a steady rhythm as Janora's magic poured over it. A moment later the kyree was surrounded by a translucent crystal sphere as Denye cast Resilient Sphere. She called, "That should protect them for now, nothing can get through the sphere."
Ha'aash used his teeth to rip the rib cage out of another of the plague ghouls and it fell to the ground as the kyree coughed and spat out the poisonous pus. He tried to take a swipe at another ghoul with his claws, but his movements were slow and the undead creature ducked out of the way. The ghoul spellcaster appeared out of another shadow and shot off two necromantic bolts at Janora, but both of them passed harmlessly over her head. The other injured kyree moved around behind the tree to put the large trunk between himself and the ghouls. Unfortunately the movement drew the attention of a pair of plague ghouls. They rushed him and while one of them missed with both claw strikes, the other did not and ripped large slashes into his flanks causing the kyree to drop unconscious.
The ghoul that Forest had grappled took a swipe at his muzzle, but the dogesus did a mid-air barrel roll causing the monster to miss. Another of the ghouls rushed Janora, managing to slice into her arm with its claws. The cuts burned with some sort of poison, but the witch ignored the pain. From her perch in the tree, Jilken saw the kyree go down. Pulling out her shock spear, the Aiel warrior jumped from the tree, sparking blade aimed at the head of one of the ghouls, killing it in one blow. She wiped her spear around and struck the other ghoul in the back of the head with the butt end. When that didn't kill it, she brought the blade around and slammed it into the creature's back. It still wasn't enough to end the ghoul, but it was definitely enough to draw its attention.
Janora blinked at the crystal shield surrounding the kyree, but quickly turned her attention to the ghoul who had attacked her. With a flick of her wrist she brought her Spiritual Weapon over to rake at the back of the ghoul's head, tearing away large strips of skin. Up above, Forest flew as high as he could before opening his mouth and dropping the ghoul. The unlucky creature fell 100ft to the ground where it splashed into a pile of guts, fluids, and pus. It almost hit another of the larger ghouls, but it managed to duck out of the way at the last moment. Frustrated, Janora cast Vampiric Touch and slapped the ghoul in front of her. The ghoul's head exploded and while the spell healed the witch as well, the explosion of sickening mucus and pus got into Janora's mouth and left her stunned for a few moments.
Seeing that the fight had started to turn in their favor, a grateful Ha'aash called, "Thank you strangers, bless you for your courage and strength." As he spoke he rushed one of the larger ghouls and lashed out with his claws twice. The first strike went wide, but the second struck, ripping huge gashes in the monster's chest. Meanwhile, Denye rushed over to the second fallen kyree. She began casting a spell, digging her talons into her chest feathers. As the spell ended, there was a loud cracking sound as Denye's eyes went white and her hands began to glow. As she touched those talons to the kyree, the wizard used Life Transference to sacrifice her own health to help the kyree.
Visibly the kyree groaned as his flesh knitted back together and his eyes fluttered open. Looking up to the wizard and warrior who stood above him, he sent a weak, "Thank you," Pushing himself to his feet he shook all over before adding, "We had not expected to encounter such abominations."
On the other side of the battlefield the arcane ghoul rushed up to the stunned Janora and wrapped its arms around the witch, sinking claws deep into her back. Janora's wyvern armor made his skin sizzle, but he didn't seem to notice. More of the ghouls rushed Ha'aash, Jilken, and Denye. The wizard blocked the attacks with Shield, large golden feathers swirling around her. Jilken blocked her attackers, using her spear to knock them away. Ha'aash wasn't quite as lucky as one ghoul bit him in the flank and another clawed his foreleg.
Jilken slammed her spear into the chest of one of the larger ghouls and with an upward jerk, split open it's chest. Whirling, she ran over to the foes attacking Ha'aash, used the butt of the spear to sweep the legs out of another plague ghoul. She finished the creature off with a spear blade to the throat. Janora shook off the stunned effect of the poison, only to realize that she was trapped in the grip of this alien and disturbing undead monster. She noticed a coldness begin to seep into both her body and her mind, her very thoughts slowing as if drained of vitality. Up above, Forest went into a dive and as he neared the ground, he released a Terrifying Bark, causing many of the remaining ghouls to become frightened of the dogesus.
Ha'aash took a running leap to knock over one of the plague ghouls near Denye and ripped at it's back. He tried to bite it in the shoulder, but he had gotten too much of the pus in his eye and missed. Some of the mucus and pus also splashed onto Denye and she coughed and spit as she leapt down to run over to the kyree in the Resilient Sphere. The other ghoul tried to claw at her as she ran past, but the golden feathers still swirled around the wizard. protecting her. With a thought, Denye dismissed the sphere and laid a taloned hand on the kyree's head to cast Cure Wounds.
The abyssal ghoul dug its claws deeper into Janora's back and he tried to bite her, but the witch headbutted him in the face. Several of the frightened ghouls bolted, scattering and running as best as they could. Jilken, still defending Ga'ragh, attacked the remaining plague ghoul. With a single strike she brought it down, but as it died, it exploded over both the Aiel and the kyree. With her mask in place, Jilken wasn't bothered by that, but it was enough for Ga'ragh to start coughing and fall over on his side. Looking over to the eldritch ghoul that had grappled Janora, she picked up her heavy crossbow. In Abyssal Jilken shouted, "Shit for brains, go back to the Abyss!" As she spoke, the Aiel warrior enchanted the bolt and shot the abyssal ghoul in the face with a Banishing Bolt. With a shriek, the creature vanished, releasing Janora who sagged to her knees.
Jilken warned, "He's only going to be gone for a few moments and he'll reappear in the same spot if you want to prepare something. Janora, you might also want to move." The witch stood and backed into the shadows under a couple of trees where she blended into the shadows. Lifting her hands she began to cast a spell, waiting for the return of the ghoul who had assaulted her. Forest meanwhile, landed near the downed kyree and began to lick his snout, giving healing kisses to this new friend.
Ha'aash looked around to see all the ghouls dead or vanished, but at Jilken's warning he ran down to prepare to attack when the abyssal ghoul returned. Denye began casting a Scorching Ray spell for his return as well while Jilken prepared her crossbows. When the ghoul did reappear, Janora struck it with a Withering Gaze, weaving a curse of pain into the spell to cause maximum damage. As she gazed into it, over the link she warned, "This thing is resistant to acid, cold, and fire and he is immune to lightning and poison and as well as being charmed exhausted or poisoned."
Ha'aash slashed at the ghoul with his claws, but the monster was too fast. Over the link, Denye muttere, "I chose my spell poorly, oh well." As she did, she threw her three rays at the abyssal ghoul. All three struck, burning away skin, but doing little other damage. Jilken shot him with the heavy crossbow before picking up the Rainbow Reaper and choosing Fire, charged the second bolt, with both striking him in the gut.
Seeing that the abyssal ghoul was still up, Forest bounded over and barreled into the ghoul, knocking it to the ground. Baring his teeth, the dogesus ripped out the monster's throat. Bringing it over to Janora, he dropped the mass of flesh at the witch's feet. With that, the fight seemed to be over for the immediate moment.
Denye looked around and said, "We shouldn't let those ghouls get away, they will just attack other people. If you two take Forest, you should be able to pick them off from a distance. I'll stay here with the kyree and make sure that none of them are going to drop."
That seems like a good idea so Janora and Jilken spent the next 15-20 minutes tracking down the half-dozen or so undead monsters. When they returned to where they had left Denye with the kyree, they found that the wizard had cast a new spell, conjuring a small garden bursting with scented blossoms and a large fruit bush in the center. Denye was laying on her back in the space but looked up and said, "That was exhausting, come relax for a bit. Not only is this pretty, it's also reinvigorating."

Character(s) interacted with

Ha’aash, Ga'ragh, and Reg'oooh - a trio of kyree saved from a ghoul attack
Eliewise Butterball - (she/her) elderly gnomish owner of the White Lotus teahouse.
Corporal Cheryl Smallfanny - (she/her) dwarven detective of the Watch

Report Date

23 Feb 2024