It's day 17 of Ready'reat and party morale is low. Our last battle was a crushing one with the death of Grug and four party members falling in battle. Farro, Crassus, and I (Morwenna) had all been revived by magical means, but Zorla still lays unconscious. With Azra, Contristo, and Opelle, our pitiful party makes an attempt to drag Grug and Zorla's hefty bodies back to Hommlet. But first, there is the insulting obstacle of the cage blocking our way out. I blame Grug. He separated himself from the party, triggered the cage's fall, and impeded our assist by trapping several of us inside. That same cage was now halting our egress. Even in death the barbarian is a pebble in my boot! I'll be honest, our primary objective of hauling his large corpse out of the moat house is so that he is not turned into a giant zombie that we will need to fight in the future. But a part of me also owes a duty to a former member of our party for a dignified end of life ceremony. But before any of that can happen, we need to get past this cage!
We brainstorm about how to get the entire party past the obstacle. I muse about perhaps going back and toggling the switch Grug had thrown, but Contristo pooh-poohed that as not likely to work. I observe the the cage and notice that it is connected to some sort of mechanics that could lift and lower. We set about to search the area for a hidden switch that could retract the cage. Keen-eyed Farro spots a subtle catch on the wall. When it is thrown, a doorway opens up to a hidden room. This place has a history of vomiting out ogres from opened doors, so I am apprehensive. But Farro investigates and sees a winch with an unspooled and taut chain. I roll up the chain onto the winch and the cage raises. The winch catches and seems to hold the cage in place. Farro muses that this is a valuable piece of information that could potentially be utilized in the future to trap an enemy.
We are carrying both Zorla and Grug when Contristo questions why Zorla hasn't been healed yet. I point out that I have no more healing spells, but Azra recalls that she in fact does and heals Zorla. We now focus on the task of determining what to do with Grug. Several ideas are floated. We first attempt to burn his body in a spot where we don't think it will smoke up the place, but it becomes clear that we do not have enough oil to do a competent job. I suggest weighing him down and sinking him into the moat, but several of the party don't believe that will be sufficient and don't want to fight a bloated Grug zombie. We contemplate venturing away from the moat house and digging a grave in the forest, but the ground is sloppy and wet from the rain and we are short on shovels. Opelle suggests (too zealously and repeatedly) that we perform some sort of gruesome butchering to prevent the necromancers from being able to use his body, but I don't possess that level of cold detachment. It is a distasteful idea to me and I shut it down every time it is brought up. In the end, we decide to lug the lug back to Hommlet. Zorla and I do the heavy lifting, slogging along in the slushy rain.
On the way back, we run into a figure on the road. He is wrapped in a cloak with a lute over his shoulder and wears mismatched boots. This fellow introduces himself as Vince and offers to sell us "dry capes" for one gold piece each. These "dry capes" are wretched burlap sacks with holes cut out for the arms. I, for one, have not sunk so low and roll my eyes at the offer. I bet Grug would have been interested, though. Poor Grug! I'm trying to call up some fond memories from our short time together when I realize that Vince is singing. What's more, he's singing about Grug? That can't be right. I must've misheard. We trudge on as the rain turns to snow.
Back in Hommlet, the rest of us wait with the corpse as Farro and Contristo set off to visit the wizard. Vince turns to us and tells us that he knows secrets about the moat house and is willing to share them with us, for a price. Turns out that price is 50 gold pieces! We all stare at him a bit stunned as he says he will come to the inn for our answer and then disappears quickly into the woods. This guy is so mysterious! Even if we could scrape together 50 gp, could we even trust the intel he feeds us?
The wizard had given Farro and Contristo an order to take with Grug's body to the burial grounds. We left him there with some workers that seemed eager to earn money digging a grave, even on a cold and snowy night. We all make our way back to the inn, with Farro stopping to buy some warmer clothes first.
In the common room we meet up with a fellow that calls himself James Thomas. He seems keen to join the party. Well, we find ourselves with an opening at the moment. He comes with a hawk named Echo and an expensive-looking silver longsword. Of all the pets one could bring on an adventure, a hawk doesn't seem too intrusive, though Ostler didn't let the bird stay inside. JT is ready to earn some coin because he says he's broke. Then he orders a fancy dinner. Okay?
The atmosphere of the inn is a welcome respite. It's warm and friendly with good food and drink. Tonight there is even a half-elf singing as entertainment. She's not half bad! Everyone's mood seems to be lifting. Opelle pays for Farro's room because he has run low on funds and Azra drinks and chats with Gremag, Rannos, and Charles. I finish my dinner and sip my ale listening half-heartedly to the words sung by the bard. Then I listen closer. She is singing about the heroic escapades of the adventurer... Elmo? How does she know the specifics of his last stand? The details she includes are startling and specific. It almost feels nefarious. I need to speak to her to better understand how she knows what she knows (and if she is associated with Vince).
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