While still in the woods, they were alerted by screams and shouts to impending danger. Just as they took up defensive positions, a young woman in a torn dress burst out of the woods. She pleaded for the adventurers to protect her from evil men chasing her. As if on cue, a hunting party of several men-at-arms and hunting dogs emerged as well.
The adventurers tried to untangle the situation. The men accused the young woman of witchcraft. The woman pleaded mercy, accusing the local lord of wanting to steal her land by eliminating her.
I expected the party to help the woman, by playing the hunters as boisterous and aggressive. However, they did the unexpected[1]. The cleric wanted to assert that everyone was what they seemed, and found out through magical means that she was actually a fiend. Being an adept of Lliira, he still tried to defuse the situation. The woman, seeing that she would not get immediate help, raced off into the woods.
The druid and the rogue were the only ones who managed to keep up with her, loosing the others in the thick forest. When they caught up to her, she revealed her true nature - a hideous demon. With a slice of her clawed hands, she wounded both adventurers, knocking them out, then escaped.
The adventurers rode into the village, escorted by the hunting party, to meet the local lord.
Lord Jandar proved to be a reasonable man, horrified by the turn of events. He promised his full support to Lady Sienna, on the condition that the adventurers solve his witch problem.
The party laid to rest at the local inn[2], then left in the morning to visit a hill fort/outpost where the sister of the girl chased in the woods had been imprisoned a couple of days before. The lord gave them a guide, and off they were.
They reached the hill fort in good time, and noticed a conspicuous lack of of soldiers on the walls. Not to mention the gates left open.
They approached cautiously and opened the gates, Solid leading the way. They were greeted by the signs of slaughter. The guards were all dead, they remains scattered, gore smeared on the walls. They had not died well. And yes, that is the demon expecting them.
And yes, that is her sister, also a demon. And yes, they did raise the corpses as zombies.
Zombie fight! It was epic, but of course, the details are lost at this point.
Except this roll, which featured in several pictures, so it must have been important (or just very disappointing). I'd guess this was a damage roll for Khara, who was dual wielding short swords.
In the end, the adventurers prevailed. The demon woman tried to escape by jumping over the wall and running away, but she was chased and shot down.
The demons did go up in flames and left no trace of their passing, so the adventurers had nothing to show for their success. Other than the dead guards at the fort. And their dead guide. Nevertheless, they managed to sway Lord Jandar. He would make good on his promise, after a couple of days have passed of course, just to make sure that the witches really don't return.
[1] As in the previous session. And almost all sessions ever since.
[2] Kicked out in the morning due to the rogue stealing money from the bartender.
No comments:
Post a Comment