Session 165: Bring Out Your Dead! Bring Out Your Dead!

 Day 15 of Ready' Reat

The group and I (Farro) gathered at the inn for some grub and to get cleaned up after dealing with those decomposing meat puppets. After I grabbed a quick bite, I saw Furnach and Charles playing some cards, so I had join in. I did pretty decent (if I do say so myself) last time I played these two. Grug of course had to join in as well. The forest fates weren't with me that hand because both Grug and I lost to Furnach. Grug went to bed after losing, but I wanted another chance at winning. A halfling I kinda recognize decides to join the next hand. I realize that I recognize him from similar thieving circles from the Duchy of Ulek. He keeps eyeing the patrons for marks to pickpocket. I play the second better and end up beating Furnach and the new halfling, Crassus for the full pot. I leave to go take a bath and then bed because man do I stink.  

Day 16 of Ready' Reat

Following a decent breakfast, the group and I head up to replenish some supplies from the local merchants. I buy a shovel, and some needed oil. When I asked about some thieves' tools, the shopkeeper directed me to his nearby companion who introduced himself and sold me what I desired. I will have to keep him in mind for future jobs. Once shopping has been concluded, the group heads back to the moat house. We decide to investigate a door in the northeast of the main room. I look and study it for some time, but I can't see any traps of any kind on it. Grug opens the door, and the room is full of rubble, trash, and grease. There is an area that clearly shows signs that some sort of a treasure has been unburied and moved from this room. I notice a hidden lever on the wall and ask in elvish to my elven companion if I should pull it. They respond: "of course".  I pull the lever, and it opens up a section of wall, and a set of stairs downward. Grug runs headlong down the stairs. I roll my eyes, and slowly walk after him, hoping he doesn't end up setting off a trap or getting himself killed because I'm not pulling his giant body up these stairs. Others of the group follow after me and we end up in a small 10 ft by 25 ft room with no apparent exit. Grug, frustrated, punches the wall, and heads back upstairs. Opelle and Constristo follow him soon after. Something catches Azra's eyes I think, because she sees a very hidden lever and pulls it. A door is revealed, and a low gutteral growl comes from the new doorway. A large creature, an ogre, comes barreling into view, with blade in hand. He stares menacingly at me for some reason. He seems to say something, but I don't speak weird hostile animal tongue. He steps forward to attack me, but Azra quickly hits it with some sort of magical spell. It clearly does damage to it, but also makes it very mad. It takes a quick strike at me. I try to dip and dodge out of the way, but he hits me hard. The last thing I see as I collapse to the ground is the group attacking the creature that just bested me...

Session 164 A Beautiful Day

Grug and Zorla were super brave and stood in front. The group was honestly so nice to let me borrow their water and cup to turn it into firewater. I’ll have to thank them later. This is crazy that this is my first official fight, and my hands can’t stop shaking from fear and excitement. I honestly just want to run away from the zombies, but I can’t leave my friends behind. They’ve done so much for me already, and I’m so grateful.
:
/ /
Oil flies by us after I cast firewater, and the zombies just go up in flames. It’s scary, but the group holds firm. After a while, Contristo throws some knives or daggers or something dangerous like that, and they accidentally hit Grug.

.

Poor Grug! I’m sure Contristo feels so bad about it, so I’ll have to ask if he’s okay and make sure he doesn’t feel too guilty. I’m quite worried about Grug, and the only thing I can think of is healing my friend.  

We stop the zombies, and my heart hurts when I think about how they used to be living people just like us.

.

They had feelings, emotions, and everything! I’m trying not to cry just from the thought of it all. The group is extremely respectful to the bodies and tries their best to find them a final resting place.

/

They place the bodies in a room and try to mark the door, so that no one else can get hurt. I never would have thought about marking the door. I remain quiet for a moment to say a silent prayer in my head for the dead.

/

We carry Elmo back to his father, and I nearly start sobbing with him when he breaks down in tears. I never knew how hard being an adventurer could be. People get hurt, and I just want to save all of them. I try to comfort him the best I can, but I don’t think it would ever be enough. He offers us money, but it feels wrong to take money for doing the right thing. He tells us he will pay us more if we return with Elmo’s things, but I don’t think I’ll take the money next time. I’ll probably just give it back to him or donate it to some sort of charity. I’m excited to help these people. I just really hope I can make a difference somehow.

/

We head back to the inn, and I have a super awesome conversation with Morwenna. She’s so cool! We talk about how her dad owns a shop that sells buttons and clothes, which I get super excited about. I love sewing and making clothes. I think that’s something we can totally bond over. I can’t wait to get to know my friends better throughout our adventure, and I feel like our first time as a group went pretty well. Everyone was extra careful when we set up our plan with the zombies. I think we all get along great!

/

To be honest though, I’m scared to go back to that mote house, but I know I need to learn to be brave. I can’t wait for our next adventure and for us to save Hommlet!

Session 163: Foray to the moat house

I (Morwenna) found myself in the village of Hommlet on the morning of Day 15 of Ready'reat. The local inn has good food and a mix of interesting characters. The first fellow who caught my eye was a large blonde guy who was trying to pet the dog curled up in front of the fire. I later learned his name was Grug. The animal growled at Grug and the bar maid asked him to leave the dog alone. He was undeterred, however, and fed the creature strips of dried meat in an attempt to win it over. Grug's efforts seemed to be paying off, time will tell though.

As I sat at the bar ordering breakfast and chatting with the barkeep, an elf approached me. I'm always excited to see another elf and was happy to speak to him. His name was Farro and he invited me to join his adventuring party. Farro mentioned that they were intending to visit the moat house. I was a little on guard about that because I didn't have any idea what goes on there. Was it a cult? Farro didn't have too many answers, but he gestured to a table where a third elf and a half elf were seated. What luck! If I joined up, we were sure to be the cleverest and quietest party to ever raid a dungeon! My mood was somewhat spoiled to learn that there was also a human, half-orc, and that giant barbarian, Grug in the group. I'm sure they have their uses. Regardless, I'm looking for adventure, and here were a group looking to head out today. So I joined and we headed out to this moat house.

The human, Contristo, had been to the moat house with his previous party who had mysteriously disappeared and were presumed dead. He guided us there with a mix of anticipation and dread. I walked alongside the elf Azra and found that we are both from Celene. I think she and I will be good friends! The half-orc, Zorla, kept mostly to herself. On the roadside, we saw the bones of some large herbivore. For reasons I can't articulate, I felt a little sad at the sight. Soon enough, we rounded a bend and saw a crumbling facade with a rickety drawbridge. Grug decided the bridge wouldn't hold his weight, so he ran and leapt the length of it (and actually cleared it!) while the rest of us walked over it one by one.

Inside, we explored a few rooms that Contristo explained he had already searched with his former compatriots, but we searched again for whatever reason. Grug came across a broad sword and added it to his pack. We stopped to eat lunch. Before leaving the inn, I followed the half-elf Opelle's example of purchasing a sandwich packed by the barkeep. It was good! As I looked at the others gnawing on dried fruit and meat, I made the mental note to try and bring fresh provisions as often as possible. I'm worth it!

Azra shuffled and dealt her tarot cards and placed an ominous one. I'm not familiar with the practice, but it caused a chill among the group. She mentioned that she felt something was below us. Grug, meanwhile, came across a scrap of a rug. Poor guy was so excited he leapt up and hit the ceiling, knocking down dust and rubble onto himself and Farro. Moving through the rooms, we encountered the skeletons of dead rats and some stairs that led down. With a feeling of dread, we descended...

The party noted a large smudge mark at the base of the stairs and a foul odor. There were large piles of trash that the group started to sort through when we noticed that Farro was not with us. Suddenly we heard the sound of doors opening and looked to the hallway to the south and saw a horrible sight: zombies! We still could not see Farro, but Contristo could see that the zombies were the reanimated corpses of his former comrades. What a gruesome spectacle! Suddenly, we could see that Farro had been hiding in the shadows and emerged to stab and kill one of the zombies. Opelle was terrified and immediately began retreating to the stairs. I attempted to call on Solonar to turn the undead from our presence, but in my terrified state, I could not connect with his spirit. One of the zombies hit Grug with a devastating blow and the entire party decided to retreat up the stairs. Contristo and Farro held the last position and Contristo poured some oil and went to light it as a fire-wall to guard our backs as we retreated. For one heart-stopping moment, the oil almost didn't ignite. Then it exploded in flame, catching two undead alight and killing one of them. Sickeningly, the rest did not stop where the flaming corpses lay. Instead they stepped over the moldering mounds and trudged their decaying bodies ever closer to us.