Drûr 21-22, 652 DR: The group discovers half of a peasant militia listening to the screams of their dying in the cemetery tunnels below. Jak fights a large Grū. The Ghûls lure more Grū with a cunning trap. The party searches deep into the dark corridors until the Ghûl leader and his skeletal henchmen are found.
Continued from Terrors of Cenotaph, Part 2.
Irídor, 21 Drûr 652
As dawn’s first shafts of sunlight burned away the morning cold, the hillside fog stirred and began its lumbering retreat into the Seereth’s Swell. Approaching cautiously, toppled tombstones and small stone structures could be seen along the shore. Among these were high piles of loose earth and hundreds of gaping black tunnels. In the distance Mishara could hear conversation and the barking of dogs. Tressta and the Anàhlāen moved forward to investigate. Hiding behind a berm of grave-dirt they found a gathering of townspeople exploring the shore-side Ghûl tunnels armed with peasant weapons. A scream issued up from a nearby grave. Jak raced through the defiled graveyard toward the cry. Reaching the tunnel entrance, he and Mishara climbed into the tunnel but found it too dark to see. Mishara was able to discern vague a figure hunched over another making flailing motions. Once Tressta lowered a lit lantern, a grisly scene unfolded. At the tunnel’s end a Ghûl crouched over the eviscerated form of a peasant. Bent-over by the low ceiling, Jak charged forward and skewered the foul creature, which curled-up and perished. Grabbing the victim, Jak dragged it to the surface, viscera slipping from an abdominal cut trailing behind. Alcèrra and the others were called. The priestess arrived to confirm the man’s death. Nothing more could be done.
As the group talked, Dammon noticed two people set around a near by earthen mound, viewing the party. The magician stepped forward and introduced himself, as did Harmus and a woman, Yalla. At Dammon’s prompting, the two explained that the town of Dolor had been ruthlessly attacked last night, with adults and children having been ripped from their homes by the Ghûls. Yalla explained further that nothing on this scale had ever happened to their town before and that they couldn’t understand what could have prompted it. When asked about the dogs, the two explained that the villagers were using the dogs to find the Ghûls. About then, more screams were heard. Jak raced to where the sound came from and found a dark grave with several passages leading away below. Climbing down, he was instantly knocked out of view as a monster charged him from behind. The party reacted as best it could to the tearing sounds emitting from hole. Mishara fired arrow after arrow into the monster’s back, while Tressta held onto Alcèrra’s legs, allowing her to lean forward and stab with her trident. In time, the rubbery monster shuddered and collapsed into an oozing heap. Jak, severely battered and clawed, climbed out across the body of the beast and was assisted out of the grave. The screams below faded and were gone. The priestess, claiming to be “leaking magic”, cast a healing on the spear-man which closed some of the bite and claw wounds. The group decided to regroup with the other peasants, so they walked carefully between the open graves toward the shore.
Near the water’s edge they spoke with townspeople who had gathered near a larger hole, waiting for their friends and dogs to return from within. There had been no response for several minutes they explained worriedly. When asked about the Grū the townspeople shrugged collectively. Eventually, one peasant related a children’s tale that warned that if you’re frightened when the lights are snuffed, the Grū would come to take you away. Keeping this in mind, the people they’d sent into the tunnels may have unwittingly summoned the monsters. Dammon returned then and Wove a spell which only Jak seemed to notice. At the spell’s completion, a gory eyeball flew from his hands and darted into the dark tunnel. After a minute or more of standing silently, the magician announced that he’d found the girl Tana, and the others but that they were dead. This confused the townspeople, who hadn’t noticed the animated eye. When Dammon explained his Orádra, the people looked appalled. The magician ignored further questions, explaining instead to the group that he could lead them to where the dead lay. Using one lit lantern, the group filed into the hole while Aren remained behind to calm the townspeople, and instruct them in how best to make bandages for Jak. Inside the low tunnels, Ghûls could be heard scampering away into the distance. A few times as they descended, the tunnels widened into chambers. In the second chamber a pile of bones and two dead townspeople were found lying in the dirt. To the displeasure of Bear, Alcèrra used their remains to raise three skeletons and two zombies from the fallen. Using these mindless servants as a shield wall, the group moved through the cramped tunnels.
At the next chamber, Alcèrra’s minions emerged into an area filled with Ghûls. The monsters advanced, tearing viciously into the zombie guards. The priestess instructed her servants to fight those that attacked them, and with slow mighty swings the zombies commenced to clobbering their assailants. Jak and Mishara pushed into the room through the skeletons and the Ghûls were swiftly vanquished. Exploring the chamber, they found three small mountains of old leather shoes. Following the Chamber of Old Shoes, the group explored several tunnels that ended in bone deposits, but found no further Ghûls. Following Dammon’s directions, they found their way into an upper room filled with the shredded remains of missing townsfolk. The magician’s spell had led them unerringly to the victims. Pulling dirt and stone down from a small hole above, the group emerged from the tunnels. After calling the townspeople from the shore, they began the gruesome task of excavating the dead. One by one the bodies were hauled from the grave-room and laid in a row upon the graveyard ground. Alcèrra began rituals of passage. During Alcèrra’s prayers, Jak returned into the grave-tunnels with the uneasy Mishara in tow. Finding their way back to the shoe room, Jak began grisly task of harvesting rotted Ghûl brains for Eg Dar, the alchemist of Dolor. Climbing from the tunnels, it was decided to return to Dolor for the evening, and return in the morning. A wagon was brought to carry the dead. The group wandered into the Town of Dolor in the late afternoon, filthy with blood and grave dirt.
In town, the group was given complimentary accommodations at The Bloody Inn. Jak carried the large bag of Ghûl heads to Eg Dar to discuss the potion manufacture. Unhappy with the alchemist’s response to leave “some” of the Ghûls alive to sustain potion sales, Jak returned to the inn with the heads still wrapped in the sheet. Mishara listened to the spear-man’s account and returned to Eg Dar with the heads; juices from the bag seeping down his back as he walked. The Eylfāe made a deal with the alchemist and returned to the inn. Meanwhile, Tressta luxuriated in a pleasant hot bath. Later, the companions gathered, ate dinner, and retired for the night.
Roydor, 22 Drûr 652
In the morning, the group returned to Cenotaph Cemetery with a mangy dog in tow. The townspeople had explained earlier that they were using dogs to find the Ghûls, but that the dogs had not returned from the tunnels. Entering the large shoreside entrance, the group explored the branching tunnels they’d passed the day before. In one tunnel, Jak fell into a hole. As others tried to help him, they heard a scream further down the tunnel. Jak scrambled out of the hole and advanced in a crouch down the low corridor. Around a bend he found an unknown man tied and bound against a wall. The man stopped screaming as Jak approached. Grabbing him, Jak returned to the group and ushered them outside so that Alcèrra could tend to the man’s injuries. With a small healing, the man became conscious, screaming where’d he’d left off. After being calmed, Jak pieced together that the Ghûls were probably using the fear of captured Yrūn to summon the Grū.
Returning again into the warrens, the group came to a blockade of broken caskets. As Jak and Mishara hacked and kicked away the rotting boards, Bear’s crossbow began its tell-tale clicking. Charging from the darkness, the teeth and claws of a Grū carved mercilessly into Bear. Plugging the creature with his crossbow, the Grū cut deeply again and again through the large man’s maille. Dammon’s strands of lightning arced through the air above the cramped crowd, at a foe he could barely see. Within a minute the Grū slumped lifeless to the ground, its ichor forming foul puddles along the tunnel floor. The grievously wounded Bear chopped the monster into pieces and each member of the group carried a piece out of the tunnels. Returning, Jak and Mishara were able to break through the coffin barricade. As they broke through, Jak’s nostrils were assailed by the stench of the Ghûls. They had chosen the right path.
The tunnel eventually opened into a large chamber. Zombie and skeleton guards stood at attention as Ghûls streamed from the darkness. A zombie pushed forward and sideways but fell amid snarls and growls. The closing Ghûls tore the remaining skeletons to the ground. Pushing into the room, Jak turned and engaged the hiding Whuld, cutting deeply into the dried flesh stretched across its ribs. The wolf-like monster bit back and then let forth its unearthly howl. Once again, Jak screamed and fled across the room, reminiscent of a few nights before. Mishara stepped reluctantly forward from the side, peppering the waiting Ghûls. Across the room, on a large throne of tombstones, sat a much larger Ghûl who directed the others’ attacks. Stepping into the chamber, Dammon fired another Lāllan’s Lightning at the monster. Other Ghûls pressed around the Eylfāe, who saw fit to switch to the notched sword Shakal. Dodging the electrical barrage, the Ghûl leader took long steps toward the cowering Jak, and raked an offhand claw across the warrior’s neck, paralyzing the peasant ðard. Bear charged forward but the Ghûl leader exhaled a cloud of dust that dropped the mailed soldier to the floor. Alcèrra finished her circle of protection, etching a wide circle of silvery fire through much of the room. As the circle flared to life, the Ghûls shrieked and fled, but many perished as swords and tridents cut them down from behind. One last series of lightning burned through the air, sending the Ghûl leader reeling backward onto the dusty floor. The remaining Ghûls cowered piteously against the far wall, unable to cross the circle etched in silver fire. Mishara and Tressta advanced and cut them down the shrieked abominations.
Alcèrra moved to the bodies of Bear and Jak. After casting a few spells she explained that they appeared dead, but were not. The leader’s breath attack had induced a cataleptic state. Dammon Shroudson cast a spell and found a quiver of arrows that he handed to the Anàhlāen, claiming some within were magical. The magician then pulled the boots off of the largest Ghûl and put them with his things. Tressta searched in the corner where the Whuld had been skewered by Bear’s quarrel, and found a large green gem. After the room was searched the group left for Dolor, dragging the bodies of Jak and Bear behind them.
Arriving in Dolor that afternoon, they found themselves welcomed once more at the Bloody Inn, beneath the plaque of the wavering red river. The inn was filled with townspeople talking about the heroes who’d returned to the cemetery to finish the Ghûls once and for all. Jak and Bear were carried to their rooms, to sleep-off whatever strange magics had befallen them.
Continued in Assassin of the Moon.
Characters
- Alcèrra Nàdrelan
- Dammon Shroudson
- Jak of Cænden
- Mishara Mythdaras
- Tressta Drynsval
- Aren Zarad
- Bear Nogrodd
- Cergus
- Familiar
- Dana
- Deatra
- Eg Dar
- Gurswerg
- Harmus
- Kurra
- Maav
- Masnur: killed
- Sorros: killed
- Tamullan
- Tana: killed
- Veldur
- Yalla
Played: 08 May 1999