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27 Patchwall, 580 CY, Delcouth
Oliver and Darcius were arranged comfortably, barely breathing and horribly burnt, and the group settled in to await the morning. Every single party member was wounded in some fashion and Cedric tended all as best he could.
Prayers to respective gods were offered, Cedric to St. Cuthbert, Isaac to Hextor, Galen to Olidammara.
28 Patchwall, 580 CY, Delcouth
Dawn broke and discussion centered on what needed to be done next. Galen wanted to report the town clear and head for the Keep outside town. Cedric and Isaac wanted to assure the town would stay dead, rather than rise again next night. All agreed the wounded needed looking after and Galen assented to waiting a day before claiming victory. The guards at the gates were noticeably shaken but clamored for news as to what went on in the town overnight. Everyone got comfortable and waited for nightfall.
The party rested for the day and a traveler approached the town. It was Prince Herrell's footman, Pern. He carried word that Herrell was en route to Munevar and Galen should report to Errantkeep on completion of his mission before returning home.
At nightfall the group separated and Isaac, Cedric and Galen went into the town to assure nothing rose during the night. And nothing did, so they snuck over the wall and woke Captain Draelin, much to his consternation. Their explanation satisfied him and he seemed happy enough to recall his soldiers and send a message to Errantkeep.
1 Ready'Reat, 580 CY, Delcouth Keep
Cedric healed Oliver and Darcius but Darcius was slow to recover. Cedric then checked the square for any sign of undead presence, of which he found none. Galen pressed for a foray into the Keep.
The guards near the Keep pushed open the gates halfway before their progress was stopped by a blockage. It turned out to be the heaped bodies of men and horses, long since passed into an advanced state of decay. Oliver poked through the piles, checking for any leavings worth scrounging. Our estimates placed more than fifty men(DM: around twenty, I really don't know where this 50 number came from) and a dozen (3) horses lay in tangled heaps. Galen and Minn pushed open the interior doors. Inside the courtyard there were a few small corpses of animals, mainly rodents. A group of ravens took flight at our entrance. Some of the corpses appeared freshly killed while others had been picked clean. Cedric pointed out that the animal appeared to have been killed by some kind of bird. We kept our eyes on the sky and on the blank windows of the inner courtyard. Further investigation revealed that the well in the yard had been used very recently, some time in the last day or so.
We explored all the outbuildings and found a grill which had been used to torture small animals, cooking them alive over flames, but it had been done nearly a week ago. Every other building had been picked clean, nothing of interest anywhere except the barracks, and the dirty grill. Our searches also uncovered tunnels from the outer towers to the main keep that ended at closed doors we chose not to open at this time.
Eventually, we headed into the main building, and came to the bedchamber of Delbin. Like every other room in the place, it had been ransacked by previous visitors and nothing was in one piece. There was a smashed body, more work of the Slayer in our opinion, and no sign of recent inhabitation. Cedric inspected the fireplace, which was strange because there was no scorching inside the recess. Inspection revealed a loose brick on the chimney which operated the locking mechanism that opened the secret door.
The door opened up a staircase to a hidden library. It appeared untouched. At this juncture, order broke down. Everyone spread out, looking for anything that might be valuable to them. Cedric repeatedly reminded us of our mission and the ownership of all these items: Prince Marinn of Errantkeep. He was pointedly ignored by just about everyone. Isaac mentioned that the raven's we've faced to date have been intelligently controlled and may be an early warning system for something or someone. Galen went to watch the courtyard and Oliver soon joined him after having his knuckles rapped. He was peeved off enough to go back later and smash a lacquered box in petulance, an act he later regretted.
Minn: Oliver seems to act before thinking more often than not. He doesn't seem to appreciate the fact that his actions have consequence. This is a skill he will need to learn if he is to be successful in his chosen profession.
Ryvvik found a group of scrolls which turned out to be the Journals of Delbin of Delcouth, a most interesting read, as it turned out. The last entry was the day of the ritual, and Delbin seemed excited about it.
<A copy of Ryvvik's discovery is here>
Our further explorations took us to the kitchen where we hit a bit of a snag. A few doors had been barricaded from the other side, like something had been blocked out. Throwing caution to the wind, we broke through the doors and searched the kitchen and down into the cellar. First impressions showed an empty room, but further searching led us to a wizened old man, Sarin by name. He claimed to be the Head Castellan of Delcouth Keep. He said he'd been hiding in the cellar since spring. He also asked if we'd killed the Slayers. That caused a small stir. Multiple slayers on the loose?
Sarin told us what he knew. Yes, there were multiple slayers. Nagon brought them. He explained that Nagon was a trainer and creator of the Knights of the Raven. Isaac corroborated the tale. Sarin also said the Slayer would follow the directions of Nagon, who also was seen in the company of Delbin's familiar. The familiar, another puzzle. It was a raven, of course. But it had glowing green eyes, and a more than average intelligence. Nagon and the Slayer looted the treasury and claimed to have left a surprise for the next poor saps who opened it. The slayers had the willing assistance of the Knights of the Raven, who apparently were more loyal to Nagon than Delbin. DM: Nagon Felltouch was hired by Delbin to train the Order of the Raven on suggestion from his familiar. These "slayers" were later described by Sarin to be raven like creatures not at all like the man Tehlei the Slayer.
At this point Oliver went back to the stairs and heard noises up in the kitchen. He pointed it out to Isaac who proceeded cautiously into the doorway to the dining room and discovered what made the noise: a half-bird, half-man demon! Unfortunately for him, it was when it jumped from hiding to attack.
Throwing himself into the fray, Oliver called out and the others responded, charging up the stairs and leaping to battle. The bird things attacked quickly using their claws and beaks for weapons. Isaac dealt out a vicious blow and one of the things stumbled back. It cawed loudly and another bird demon stepped from the shadows. Most of our attacks seemed to either bounce off or be absorbed by the monsters feathers. Even the wounds we dealt them seemed to be healing. Fortunately, Darcius and Isaac managed to crush one of them into the ground. Another one fell to the onslaught of the rest. Once killed it writhed and changed on the floor, turning into a small bald humanoid form without feathers, claws or beaks. The last one retreated to the other tower, being chased by Oliver and others. They dropped a field of impenetrable blackness to slow us down and fled. We broke off pursuit and took Sarin out of the Keep. He was quite pleased to make it out of the Keep alive, since most of his friends who started their imprisonment were killed in the last few months.
Minn: One thing I can say about this party is that they are skilled in combat. Individually they are at least, with still some work to do on their group tactics.
2 Ready'Reat, 580 CY, Delcouth Keep
We prepared to attack the creatures today, with torches and other tools we thought necessary. Sarin filled in the missing rooms on our map and explained the mechanism that opened up the door to the basement. In we go!
Our first order of duty was to try and eliminate the darkness advantage the creatures had. The bundles of torches Oliver carried were helpful, if a little clumsy. We looked through several empty rooms, before finding our quarry in a larger chamber.
We had hoped it would be alone, but our worst fears were realized. It had friends. A worm like creature, with four tentacles around a toothy maw. It charged into us, ignoring all but the most potent of blows. As soon as we had all joined the general battle, the bird-demon made it's appearance. Emitting an earsplitting shriek, it caused such fear in many of our group that we fled in all directions. Darcius maintained enough wits to throw a torch into the face of the creature. It retreated into it's lair and the group came around quickly to slaughter the worm creature. Turning to the bird demon, it fell back into the doorway hoping to cut down the number of ways we could come at it. In doing so, it opened itself up to Oliver who grabbed it's arm and slid a knife into it's heart. It died the same way as it's comrades.
