Chapter 13

In which the party keenly feels the absence of fighters and learns that laundry is not always innocent.

The party approached the huge doors, which were obviously maintained by some unnatural force, not wanting to spend too much time underneath the worrisomely sagging roof beams. 

Streaks of mold painted the walls of the foyer beyond and a big mossy growth covered the entire floor.  Each wall held at least one door, several more than one, offering multiple options.

From here the children’s footprints split, some going north through the doors and some through the single door to the east.  Deciding that the footprints could wait (or failing to notice them) the Magpie chose the first door to the west.  The fading light from outside slanted through a single small window, but otherwise the corridor, and the door at the far end was shrouded in gloom.

The rest of the party froze, noticing that the door Magpie opened seemed to be swaying back and forth ever so slightly.  Magpie frowned at the wood, placing a hand on the door, “It seems necromantic.”

Not seeming particularly bothered by his own observation, Magpie entered the hallway.  No one else seemed inclined to enter, though Yuri did take up a position at the door, ready to help in case something went wrong.

As soon as the Magpie crossed the threshold the door slammed shut in Yuri’s face.

“You okay?”  Valeria called.

“For now.”  Magpie’s muffled voice replied, “I guess I’ll try the other door....”

“Wait!”  Valeria called.  They tried to shove the door open but failed miserably.

Desperate to find a way to their friend, the remaining folk opened the double doors next to the jammed single door.  Through this door was a large room full of rows of stone benches, all spotted with various kinds of mold.  The benches all seemed to be facing the doors where the party entered.  This place had obviously been used as an auditorium if the rotting stage, or more likely a gallows, against the wall were was any clue.

Magpie, meanwhile, had pressed on to the doors at the other end of the hall and entered a small room full of shelves full of antique jars, some of which still bore labels.  He found a single wand which detected as magic and pocketed it.

In the larger room, across the gallows from where the party had entered stood another set of double doors.  Everyone but Yuri noticed the doors they’d passed through waggling as well and the temperature of the room dropped suddenly. 

Ever quick on the draw, Valeria unleashed her spiral of Pharasma, cancelling out the haunt; a cold spot centered on the gallows where hundreds of executions had taken place.

Valeria moved across to the other doors and opened them.  The room beyond was mostly empty save for a few old training implements for the guards.  The far wall was partially fallen into a pool of dark water.  A large hole surrounded by black scorch marks broke the earth.

Having collected all the items of value in his tiny room, Magpie returned to the first door, which opened easily now.  He joined the rest of the group in the execution room.

They ventured further into the training room.  Magpie immediately approached the edge of the pond.  As he neared the hole things began moving within the rubble.  Three flaming skulls emerged from the rocks, hovering and clacking their jaws menacingly.

First off the mark, the plague doctor hurled a bomb with unerring accuracy.  Unfortunately the flaming skulls were apparently immune to fire damage.  Cawing, Magpie swatted one of the skulls with his blade, cleaving it perfectly in twain.

Valeria cracked off a shot, exploding another skull.  Excited by his friends’ success, Yuri swung his sword, bonking the final skull but not killing it.  It rushed at Yuri, who took another swing, achieving only a glancing blow that was just enough to distract it from succeeding in its flaming headbutt.  The entire party took turns swinging at the thing, everyone missing.

Finally Yuri managed to nick the thing for a third time, sending it spiralling into a wall where it exploded.

Magpie picked up a rock, made it glow and dropped it down the hole by the pond.  The room fifteen feet below appeared to be a natural cavern and underground pond.

With nothing left to see Yuri managed to convince the group to return to the foyer and actually follow some of the children’s tracks.  They chose the single door to the west next.

This door opened onto a hallway with one window and six doors. With Valeria in the lead they followed the tracks, which looked like the child had been running, to a door at the far end of the hall where they disappeared.

The tiny room beyond the door contained nothing but a few overturned washbasins and a set of tracks which led to the only other door in the room; the privy door.  Inside the privy cowered a portly boy with red hair.

“Rorik.”  Magpie squawked.

“Get the hell out!”  Valeria screamed, waving her pistol like a madwoman, terrifying the child.

Olivine sighed and stepped out from behind the gunslinger, “I’ll take it from here.”  She took the boy’s trembling hand and guided him out.

The rest of them tried the next door in line.  The room looked like an office, containing a desk, chair and locked safe.  Davros moved to try and unlock the safe.  Before he got too far Magpie stepped forward and offered a set of masterwork thieves’ tools to the half-orc.  After a little finessed and jimmying the door popped open.

The safe contained some out of date legal documents, a box of five hundred gold, and a case of nine potions; some cure moderate wounds, remove disease, and lesser restoration.

The other four doors in the hallway led into a set of plain offices.  Other than old paperwork there was very little of value in any of the rooms.  Both Valeria and Magpie grabbed random sheaves of paper before the group pressed on.

They opened the last set of double doors leading off the foyer, revealing a hallway with several doors – and many different sets of child tracks.  Magpie pushed open the set of double doors immediately to their left, following a pair of tracks.

The doors opened into another hallway with two hallways branching off of it.  The first hallway was broad, with two sets of doors leading off it.  Magpie opened the first door on his right, following one of the two sets of footprints.

The door was just barely hanging on its hinges.  The room beyond appeared to be an old chapel, cobwebs coating every surface with gossamer threads.  Four spiders stirred as the group entered.  Three of them were about two feet across and the fourth was nearly four feet.

“Those are fuckin’ big spiders.” Valeria stated, staring at one of the smaller ones.  Then she noticed the larger one, “And that’s a fuckin’ huge spider.”

She stepped into the room and fired her pistol at the largest of the spiders, pissing them off.

With a hissing clack, the large spider shot a web, draping the Magpie in the sticky substance.  The three smaller ones rushed the cocoon, taking advantage of his immobility.

Davros hurled a stinking bomb at the feet of the largest spider, exploding it while failing to affect the others at all.

Struggling against his bonds, Magpie swung at one of the spiders.  He hit it but didn’t kill it.

Yuri failed to hit any of the spiders.

With a mighty yell Akura took a running leap, flipping over Magpie and landing between two of the spiders before moving past them, narrowly avoiding their attacks.  He slammed his fist into one of them, exploding it.

Valeria reloaded her pistol, looked around and took a step back.

One of the remaining spiders slashed at Magpie while the other missed Akura.  Davros responded to their attacks by failing to use his crossbow effectively.

Magpie sliced one of the spiders in half while Yuri moved into the room and whiffed.  Akura gave the final creature the old one-two and it exploded as well.

After a brief search Valeria found a thin, pale boy named Wendell cowering in a cabinet.

“Tell me child, why were you running?”  Valeria asked.

“Noises n’ ghosts.... We were exploring and... upstairs there were ghosts.”  The boy replied.  “When I hid in here I didn’t know the spiders were here, so I hid in the cabinet.  We tried to leave, but we couldn’t get out.” 

They pass the child off to Olivine who led the boy out, comforting him.

Behind Wendell in the cabinet were five vials of holy water, a scroll of lesser restoration, and a partially used wand of cure light wounds.

Leaving the room Akura moved to the door across the hall and pushed it open.  Beyond was a room in shambles, old wooden benches lay in bits, chunks of chain and rope peppered amidst the wreckage.  In the centre of the room were a set of manacles that gave off a faint magical aura.

Magpie entered the room, poking at the manacles with his blade.  The metal leapt to life, attempting to attach themselves to the bird-man and failing.

Davros pulled out a mysterious bag of popcorn and began eating it.

The bird-man dropped his katana, which promptly whizzed over to embed itself in the wall as he drew his cold-iron longsword and swung at the manacles, whiffing.

Valeria fired a shot, but it glanced off the metal and flew wide.

Akura, always thinking, hurled a vial of holy water at the manacles.  The water splashed all over the metal, doing obvious damage.  Yuri hurled his own vial, banking it off the ceiling, soaking the Magpie and only managing to splash the manacles.

Davros managed to finish them off with a final vial of holy water.

The group moved on, following the next set of footprints, stopping at a door that they passed along the way.  This room was full of washbasins and moldy piles of clothes.  One of the piles of fabric glowed faintly with magic so the Magpie, in his infinite wisdom, entered the room and poked the pile with his longsword.

A straightjacket leapt up and flung itself at him, slamming into him and trying to constrict him, but failing.

Valeria sauntered to the door, laughing, “That’s classic!”

Akura stepped forward, swinging his kama and striking at the thing.

Magpie followed suit, slicing at it.

The jacket, still active, slammed into the Magpie again.

After several failed attempts to put it down, it finally succeeded in wrapping around the Magpie, trying to squeeze the life out of him.  With a long-suffering sigh Yuri stepped forward and poured a vial of holy water on the vest.  It shuddered once and dropped to the ground.

The group moved on to the next door, following the childish footprints.  Akura pushed it open.

This room was full of workbenches, tangled mounds of fabric and various other tailoring tools.  A skeletal arm protruded from a mound of fabric in the western part of the room.  Seated next to that particular heap was a young, plain, dark-haired girl, she was chatting casually with a hovering spectre.

Chapter 12

In which the party discusses statutory rape at length and Yuri encounters a long lost cousin... ahem... father... ahem... let’s just go with family.

Once the Tengu was satisfied that everyone was well enough to get back to the orc camp, the group began the trudge home, dragging the dead ankegs and former-orc-commander-turned-corpse with them.

The rest of the night was spent in raucous celebration with the orc tribe, both in honour of their kills and to mourn the dead from the hunting party.  Magpie made out the best in the deal, managing to squirrel away and keep the orc leader’s falchion with no one the wiser.  Meanwhile Frelik smoked the wyvern’s tail he’d salvaged before disappearing until the first rays of dawn.  When later questioned about his adventures, he couldn’t remember a single thing.

The following dawn found the party mounting up and riding out for the borders of the hold of Belkzen.  Luck was with the party as they worked their way along the Sunwall, encountering nothing more dangerous than the rattlesnake that briefly took up residence in one of Valeria’s boots. 

In spite of this trial, Valeria managed to do some exemplary hunting while they travelled, acquiring an albatross and turkey for the party, which Yuri used in an old family recipe, cooking his famous succulent albaturk.

Off in the distance to the north, as they crossed what should have been the border between Blekzen and Ustalav, they noticed a windowless pillar of black stone rising silent and still on the horizon known as the Cenotaph.  Apparently, during the reign of the whispering tyrant, the gates to the fortress had stood open, allowing all manner of elite warriors and warbeasts to pass freely through.  Since the tyrant’s defeat the gates had sealed themselves and no one had been able to re-open them.

Later that evening the group found themselves entering a tiny Ulstalavian town.  A huge monolithic structure stood about a half-mile outside the sleepy little town.  It looked like it had been gutted by a severe fire. 

The sign next to the road declared this the hamlet of Ravengrow.

A small river ran through centre of the town, splitting it in two.  The town was quiet while still managing to teem with life.  A light rain started to fall as they passed the town limits and Yuri couldn’t help but notice that most of the townsfolk seemed to be shooting them nasty looks and closing their shutters as the party rode by.

In the centre of the town they found the only tavern.  A sign hung over the door, depicting a drunken, laughing demon.

“Ah,” Valeria sighed, “this looks like a fine place to find a bed out of the rain for the night.”

Glancing around the drab little town, the rest of the party had no choice but to agree.  They entered the establishment.

As they crossed the threshold, a robust, red-nosed man threw his arms wide and exclaimed in heavily accented Taldane from behind the bar, “Ah!  Friends!  Travellers!  I am Zokar!  Welcome!  What can we do for you!”

“Food.  Rooms.”  Valeria grunted, wringing her clothes out over by the hearth.

“Yes! Come in!  Rooms good!  Meals good!  Drinks too!”  The innkeeper bawled, “This local specialty, Liquid Ghosts!  It’s good, you’ll like it!”  He babbled as he grabbed some battered tankards and began pouring pints from the only tap.  The beer was pale and tinted green. Also, it glowed.

He handed them around with good natured slaps and winks.  Every single member of the party hesitated, poking at their drinks, unwilling to be the first to try it.

“Made from real ghosts!”  The barkeep chuckled, winking at Olivine before carrying on, “You want food?  We have special:  Vampire steaks! Ha! Get it? Steaks!”

The party stared blankly, “Hey,” he shrugged, “you know where we live?  If you can’t laugh at terror... you die!”

After a beat of uncomfortable silence, Valeria elbowed him in the ribs and grinned, “I’ll have one of those vampire steaks, extra bloody if you please.”

The ruddy little man laughed heartily, “We also have corpse chowder, extra chunky for you!”

“I’ll have some of that,” The bird man replied, smirking, “I’m feeling a bit... peckish.”

The barkeep let forth a deep belly laugh and patted Magpie on the shoulder, addressing the group at large, “Zo my friends, what brings you to Ravengrow?”

“Travelling east, on a delivery errand.” Magpie replied, a secret smile in his voice.

“Ah, passing through.” He replied sagely and with a little sadness, “Didnt’ think you’d be coming here.”

“Why?” Valeria frowned.

The man shook his head, “Ever since the prison burnt down, no one comes to Ravengrow.”

“Was it that big of a tourist attraction?” She asked.

“Lots of executions,” Zokar replied, “many famous murderers and criminals...”  He shook himself, “but you’re hungry, I’ll get your food now.”

After many more unmentionable puns about the food as Zokar served them, Valeria finally returned to the point, “So, Zokar, why does no one come here anymore?”

“Most people do not see the need to travel from Ustalav into the less civilized parts of the world.” He replied seriously before brightening, “But you stay here tonight, ya?  Very reasonable prices.”  He turned to Yuri, “I’ll put your wagon and horse in the stables... You look like nice fellow, remind me of my cousin Yuri.”

Yuri’s eyes flew wide and he grinned, “That’s because I am your cousin Yuri!”

“Oh!” Zokar bawled, “And how is your mother?”

“Dead.”

“Is she undead?”

“No!”

“Good thing,” Zokar chuckled, “always have to ask here in Ustalav.”

After much friendly yelling and backslapping the barkeep continued, “Don’t worry about the locals, they are bit intimidated by strangers, but once you spend money here they warm up to you.”  He waved a hand at a huge imposing structure across the square, barely visible through the haze of rain, “That is temple of Pharasma, always good to pay your respects when travelling in Ustalav.”

From there the rest of the night digressed into the group drinking more pints of glowing beer as they listened to Zokar tell stories about the history of Ravengrove.  The town grew up around the prison, known as Harrowstone, burned down around fifty years previous, killing the warden, his wife and all of the inmates.  The general consensus in the town was that the ruins were haunted by many, many angry, unquiet ghosts, with only the warden’s spirit standing between the souls of the murderous, lunatic inmates and the rest of the world.

“Has anyone been up to the prison since the fire?” Valeria asked.

“Mostly the children of the town play up there, also the odd scholar who wants to prove/disprove ghost theories.” Zokar replied.

Magpie’s spoon suddenly seemed to leap from his hand, drop to the floor and zip to the other side of the room.  Magpie watched it go and sighed, “Can I have another spoon, please?”

Zokar frowned, “Where is spoon I gave you?”

“Over there.” Magpie grumbled, pointing to the corner where his spoon gleamed dully.

Zokar frowned, fetched a new spoon, smacked the bird between the eyes with it and handed it over.

Zokar spent the rest of the night regaling them with story after story of the horrors in town, each story trying to one up the next.  Most of the group tapped out and went to bed somewhere around the story about the one-armed werewolf who defended the virgin mother of the count’s illegitimate child from an entire horde of banshees.

The next morning the group came down to a breakfast of wolf-balls, eggs sunny side up and black coffee.  As they ate, a dishevelled woman pushed her way into the common room, bee-lining to Zokar where she began to speak and weep at the same time.

Yuri tuned his ears, catching but a few words of the conversation, namely ‘Isabelle’ and ‘missing’.

Zokar’s face took on a grim expression and he shook his head as they continued to converse, denying having seen her.

The woman wept harder, looking outright distraught.

Yuri, thrilled by the sight of an attractive woman other than Valeria, approached them.

“Oh, Yuri my cousin, this is Marta, she runs the general store with her husband.”  Zokar explained, giving him a pointed look that told him plainly to keep it in his pants.

“Hey, I told you, thanks to that cleric, I’m harmless.” Yuri retorted.

“Don’t give me that, I know you... I raised you.” Zokar snorted.

Yuri ignored him and smiled at the woman. She looked him up and down once, “It’s personal matter, one of my girls, Isabelle, has been missing all night.  When people go missing around here they don’t usually come back.”

“Where was she last seen?” He asked, “How old was she?”

“Fourteen, and some other villagers say their children are missing too.”

Magpie tried to move towards them, but stumbled over a random stool.

Yuri tried another smile on the woman, “Are you sure I cannot be of help?”

She sighed, “Well, anything you could do we would appreciate.”

Yuri frowned, “Did she like to play near the prison.”

“We told them not to go, but they are children.”  She shrugged.

“What about the other children, do their parents know where they’ve gone?” Valeria asked.

The woman shook her head, “Not really.”

“We will help you find them.” Yuri promised gravely.

A brief check around town revealed that four children were missing: Isabelle, a slender blonde, Rorik, a portly red-headed boy, Wendell, a thin pale boy, and Gerty, a plain, dark-haired girl.

Valeria set to tracking at once, scouring around the edges of the village looking for signs of the children while Magpie and Yuri made inquiries, quickly discovering that the group of children had gone to spend the night in the haunted remains of Harrowstone.

Armed with that knowledge it was much easier to find their tracks.

As the group made ready to head out Zokar stopped them, “Hold on, are you really going to Harrowstone?” He asked.

“Yes.”  Yuri replied.

“It... It really is haunted.”  The inn-keeper said, “Maybe you should see the priests first; stock up on holy supplies before going?”

“Oh yeah... good idea.” Davros agreed.

So they headed for the temple of Pharasma first, Akura grumbling some rather blasphemous words in the background the whole time.

The church of Pharasma was a very well-kept building, probably the best-kept in town, boasting plenty of stained glass.  The group was met at the door by an ancient priest who introduced himself as Voron Grimboro.

“What brings you to the most holy house of the lady of the graves?” He asked somberly, obviously deadly serious about what he did for a living.

“We’re heading to the prison to search for the town’s missing children,” Akura explained, “we would like Pharasma’s help and blessing before we go.”

“You are entering the prison?” The priest asked, gaze settling briefly on Akura, “If you are truly here to help the town then Pharasma gives her blessing, these are spirals of Pharasma,” He offered a handful of swirling medallions.

Akura took them and bowed, handing them out to the group.

“We also have a few potions and oils if you need... as well as vials of holy water.”  The priest offered.

The party wasted no time stocking up on stuff they might need.

Once they were done they headed out towards the tower, trudging through the miserable drizzle.

On top of a barren hill south of the city sat the walled complex.  To the southeast the wall had long ago collapsed into a pool of water.  Inside the walls stood a massive two-story stone structure, looming evilly out of the mist.

An old wood and metal gate sagged between a pair of stone guard towers hanging wide open.  Valeria followed the children’s footprints through the open gate, shivering uncontrollably as she passed the threshold.  The rest of the group followed her in, experiencing nothing.

A small brick house, its wooden roof sagging ominously, stood in the courtyard between the wall and the main structure.  The tracks led to the main building.

The group peeked through the windows of the warden’s house first, but it looked like any disturbance would cause the place to collapse.

“It’s not worth going in, there’s nothing in there.” Magpie stated surely, kicking the structure and walking away.  A good section of the wall fell, landing where the bird man had just been standing.

 With a disappointed little sigh Valeria led the way through the main doors of the ominous, two story stone structure, ignoring the missing roof sections, barred windows and evil gargoyles.

The first room was clearly once a large hall with a smaller room on either side.  The beams overhead sagged quite a bit.  The oaken doors on the other side of the room were in eerily good shape, almost as though something supernatural were holding them together.

Magpie steeled his courage and pushed open the doors, following the children’s footprints. 

And into the belly of the beast they went.