Cat and Oleen both hang back just slightly, there to support Vilod in this endeavor, but neither of them have a clue what to do if things turn sour with the widow Ymae.
But she grins at the elf, her mouth missing many teeth. "I do," she answers, beckoning the elf closer as she continues spinning the flame into a golden thread. "Enough to know it is not a Hell Hound, but a spirit of chaos. It cannot tread here."
As John turns back to keep watch over the rear, he hears the distant sound of stone scraping against stone echo slightly through the tomb. The others are too caught up in the struggle with the ghoul to notice. (From the front where Archer, Iraco, & Hadden moved the great stone circle.)
The tight quarters make for difficult maneuvering and the flailing ghoul's arm knocks Xepil's blade to the side. The rotted and decaying skin on its belly begins to rip, showing the first hint of the purplish-black scales.
But she grins at the elf, her mouth missing many teeth. "I do," she answers, beckoning the elf closer as she continues spinning the flame into a golden thread. "Enough to know it is not a Hell Hound, but a spirit of chaos. It cannot tread here."
As John turns back to keep watch over the rear, he hears the distant sound of stone scraping against stone echo slightly through the tomb. The others are too caught up in the struggle with the ghoul to notice. (From the front where Archer, Iraco, & Hadden moved the great stone circle.)
The tight quarters make for difficult maneuvering and the flailing ghoul's arm knocks Xepil's blade to the side. The rotted and decaying skin on its belly begins to rip, showing the first hint of the purplish-black scales.
I gulp heavily, walking steadily closer to her, repeatedly looking back to Cat and Oleen. I clear my throat, "Ah, forgive me. So, where has this spirit of Chaos come from? Is it here from an angry God, or perhaps some prophecy unraveling?" I fear talking too much or directly talking about her would anger her, so I tried to keep it simple, yet still to the point.
The widow's rheumy eyes slide momentarily to Vilod before returning to her spinning.
"It's been here since before the time of the Savage Kings," she answers in her cackling voice. "Worshipped by the tribes of old before the Ulfheonar trapped it. But your fool friends freed it from its prison so it emerges each night from its inky black pool in the Sunken Fens."
Cat and Oleen looked uneasily at each other. "Hey, I didn't do nuthin'..." Cat started to object and then immediately shut his mouth and gulped as Ymae's gaze shifted to him.
"Not you. The brothers Kej, Stein, and Ilham."
"It's been here since before the time of the Savage Kings," she answers in her cackling voice. "Worshipped by the tribes of old before the Ulfheonar trapped it. But your fool friends freed it from its prison so it emerges each night from its inky black pool in the Sunken Fens."
Cat and Oleen looked uneasily at each other. "Hey, I didn't do nuthin'..." Cat started to object and then immediately shut his mouth and gulped as Ymae's gaze shifted to him.
"Not you. The brothers Kej, Stein, and Ilham."
Why were those names familiar? They were vague, but still present in my mind. It scratches at the back of my head like a dog while it's master is not present. Then, it pops in my head. Cat had mentioned them when I had first arrived in Hirot. They hadn't returned for months, and I never saw them while working on the job. "What? How did they manage to do that? A-and why?!" I asked her eagerly.
"Because they were greedy fools!" Ymae retorts, her eyes wandering over Oleen and Cat, as if wondering if they might be cut from the same cloth. "By unearthing a passage into the Ulfheonar's tomb, they released it and it craves the bloody sacrifices of its past."
The mottled cat jumps down from the shelf and moseys over to the visitors in a circuitous route.
"Is that why you come, Vilod?" the widow asks. "To find what happened to them? They paid for their stupidity with their lives."
The mottled cat jumps down from the shelf and moseys over to the visitors in a circuitous route.
"Is that why you come, Vilod?" the widow asks. "To find what happened to them? They paid for their stupidity with their lives."
But of course, their greed. Something so powerful it could turn most beings to death of themselves or others. As a thief, greed is no new thing to me. It is how I stay fed and clothed, sooner or later it will provide a roof over my head. I had suspected that to be the cause of their sudden disappearance. "No, and that is the reason we came to you, Ymae. I want to..." I trail off looking for the right word that doesn't make me look like a real fool. I mean, no words could cover that up. I want to see the beast, kill it if I can, and look to see deeper into it's crypt. "Well, I want to find the beast. A fool I sound, I know, but I feel that I have the skill to at least get close to it. I wanted to know what it is capable of, other than ripping us mortals to shreds..."
"By Odin's beard," the dwarf grumbles at the sight of the bulging belly and then the tearing of the putrid flesh. She quickly bellows out, "Gimme a blade or fire! 'E's got a serpent in 'im!"
Rae eases her weight off the shield slightly, as she's not too keen on getting a snake bite to the face. She takes a quick glance upward to gauge the height of the vertical shaft.
Rae eases her weight off the shield slightly, as she's not too keen on getting a snake bite to the face. She takes a quick glance upward to gauge the height of the vertical shaft.
"Uh oh! Grr!" Xepil quickly moves away from the zombie and hands his knife to Rae.
In the Mad Widow's hut:
Ymae pauses and stares at Vilod for several moments before answering, as if judging her mettle. Her answer was less than direct. "Can you get close enough to shackle it, elf?" But she did not give Vilod time to answer that before continuing. "You know why it cannot come here? Enchanted threads spun from the hair of the dead! Pressed into the mud form an impassable barrier to it. These same threads could bind it so that it may be slain."
In the tomb:
The vertical shaft does not go far... only about 6 feet up. Rae can tell it opens into a larger space above that, but it's too dark to see any details.
As she shifts her weight away, the serpent fully erupts from the ghoul's stomach...
Ymae pauses and stares at Vilod for several moments before answering, as if judging her mettle. Her answer was less than direct. "Can you get close enough to shackle it, elf?" But she did not give Vilod time to answer that before continuing. "You know why it cannot come here? Enchanted threads spun from the hair of the dead! Pressed into the mud form an impassable barrier to it. These same threads could bind it so that it may be slain."
In the tomb:
The vertical shaft does not go far... only about 6 feet up. Rae can tell it opens into a larger space above that, but it's too dark to see any details.
As she shifts her weight away, the serpent fully erupts from the ghoul's stomach...
John being busy with the noise, he doesn't try to help in the small corridor where his magic would only have a nefast influence on the situation, and where one single unprecise shot would wound his allies.
He continues advancing in the direction of the noise, saying just before doing so : "We might have something from there!". He prepared to fight with spells.
He continues advancing in the direction of the noise, saying just before doing so : "We might have something from there!". He prepared to fight with spells.
I pause, gulping a bit. "Ah, well..." I thought deeply for a moment. Could I get close to it? I can steal a ring from a queen, but that is if she is sleeping and the guards are away. If the beast lays in a dark crypt, which I wouldn't be surprised if it did, then I might have a chance. The stories that I had heard about it tells me if it were to see me, I'd be a dead man. Yet still, I do think I am capable of it... with help of course. "I do not think I can do it alone. But what of this thread you speak of? Are you implying this may be a tale like the Nordic Gods? Fenrir, was it? I heard tales of the great beast being tied down with a certain rope and then being slain by one of Odin's sons... Víðarr was it?" I may be a thief, but having a contract in a priests hall can really pay off with the right amount of boredness.
Archer looks around nervously, before cursing softly.
"Damn it, Shara's still outside. I didn't even see where she went." He winced. "If anything happens to that bird, I swear someone's gonna have their head on a pike."
He examined what was around him, eyes adjusting to the darkness.
"Can't see an inch past my nose...Damn it. Iraco, are you there?"
"Damn it, Shara's still outside. I didn't even see where she went." He winced. "If anything happens to that bird, I swear someone's gonna have their head on a pike."
He examined what was around him, eyes adjusting to the darkness.
"Can't see an inch past my nose...Damn it. Iraco, are you there?"
Having given his knife to Rae, Xepil resorted to the only other weapon he could swing in such a small environment; his buckler!
"I'm sick of these freaking snakes, in these freaking tomb! Grraa!" He snarled and swung down on the snake bursting down from the ghoul's stomach.
"I'm sick of these freaking snakes, in these freaking tomb! Grraa!" He snarled and swung down on the snake bursting down from the ghoul's stomach.
rolled 1d20 and got a natural 8. After the modifier of +1, got 9
Attack
In the Mad Widow's hut:
"Perhaps like that, Vilod."
She tapped on her spinning. "I can spin the thread to make the rope." The widow's mouth crept up into a crooked smile. "If you bring me hair of the dead."
Just inside the southern tomb entrance:
"Aaagh... I'm here," Iraco answered, picking himself up and trying to let his eyes adjust to the dimness of the tomb. The only light here trickled in through the still-opened door. The dark, narrow passage is supported by walls of stone slabs. The low ceiling is made of similar slabs, each inscribed with dense spirals. The air is still and cool, and puddles of water have pooled on the hard-packed earthen floor.
"Bird won't do much good in here anyway," the hunter said gruffly.
"You think them folks was drowned then maybe?" Hadden asked nervously, not sure which answer boded better for his own personal future. He wasn't particularly anxious to either go deeper into the tomb or to go back out through the pool with the water spirit.
((I'm headed out of town for a few days. I'll give Vampire until I'm back on Tuesday to respond. Either way, I'll make sure to chime in for that story thread then.
))
"Perhaps like that, Vilod."
She tapped on her spinning. "I can spin the thread to make the rope." The widow's mouth crept up into a crooked smile. "If you bring me hair of the dead."
Just inside the southern tomb entrance:
"Aaagh... I'm here," Iraco answered, picking himself up and trying to let his eyes adjust to the dimness of the tomb. The only light here trickled in through the still-opened door. The dark, narrow passage is supported by walls of stone slabs. The low ceiling is made of similar slabs, each inscribed with dense spirals. The air is still and cool, and puddles of water have pooled on the hard-packed earthen floor.
"Bird won't do much good in here anyway," the hunter said gruffly.
"You think them folks was drowned then maybe?" Hadden asked nervously, not sure which answer boded better for his own personal future. He wasn't particularly anxious to either go deeper into the tomb or to go back out through the pool with the water spirit.
((I'm headed out of town for a few days. I'll give Vampire until I'm back on Tuesday to respond. Either way, I'll make sure to chime in for that story thread then.
))
I look back towards Cat and Olsen thinking, 'Great, as if this wasn't hard enough. Now i have to scalp a dead man!' at least Ymae knows how to make the rope. "Okay... Where is the nearest crypt? Surely finding a tomb shouldn't be too hard around here..."
Rae releases her hold on the buckler completely as the serpent bursts from its fleshy prison. Somehow, she finds Xepil's offered blade at about the same time and, with a wild cry, makes a furious plunge of the blade toward the wriggling creature's head. If she can't kill it, maybe she can injure it enough to keep it from coiling up to strike...
rolled 1d20 and got 13
Attack
Woohoo!
rolled 1d6 and got 5
Damage
Oleen and Cat exchange uneasy glances again as Vilod agrees to go fetch corpse hair for the witch.
"Too bad the Jarl's been havin' us burn all the folks the hound got," Oleen commented. There'd been a nearly continuous funeral pyre going these past few months over concerns and rumors that the hounds victims would become undead.
"Wut 'bout that tomb then?" Catkins suggested. "Iffn the hound ain't in it no more, couldn't we jest go in an get some?"
Rae's knife's tears into the snake, leaving a wide gash along its side as it slithers free of its ghoul. It strikes out toward the adventurers immediately...
"Too bad the Jarl's been havin' us burn all the folks the hound got," Oleen commented. There'd been a nearly continuous funeral pyre going these past few months over concerns and rumors that the hounds victims would become undead.
"Wut 'bout that tomb then?" Catkins suggested. "Iffn the hound ain't in it no more, couldn't we jest go in an get some?"
Rae's knife's tears into the snake, leaving a wide gash along its side as it slithers free of its ghoul. It strikes out toward the adventurers immediately...
rolled 1d2 and got 1
1-Xepil; 2-Rae
rolled 1d20 and got 2
snake attack
"If the Jarl is burning everyone who was attacked, then we just might have to. Maybe there will be some Draugr? Or the Hound keep some unlucky travelers it finds in its den..." I rise from where I had been sitting, dusting myself off. "Thank you, Ymae, for the help. We will hopefully be returning with some hair." I drop a bag of gold in front of her, a gift for the information she had given us.
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