Valley of the Dead Campaign Thread

When Lirander calls out, two dwarves by the tavern stop what they're doing and look back at him, and then at the rest of the group. The one that was pointing around at the various people moving asking for Merdath to back him up speaks first, 

"Ah!! Finally!! Reinforcements!!! Do you have any more ammuniti-" 

The other stands from the kneeling position she was in, and cuts the other off loudly, "-OF COURSE YOU CAN!"

She lowers her voice afterwards, but continues, "Welcome to our humble harbor, Prince Lirander and company. I am Merdath as you've overheard and this is Urtskeck."

She bows, and nudges Urtskeck to do the same. The goblins they were overseeing who were loading fish into the tavern for them see them bow, and they stop in their tracks and do the same. One of the large fish they were carrying smacks onto the dirt floor with a slap. 

"DAMMIT!" Urtskeck spins and shouts at them, but waves you all inside without looking at you, "Yes, right, a drink." 

He heads towards the tavern, the goblins resume their loading of fish, without wiping it off, and Merdath just short of shakes her head at everything going on. 

"Please forgive him, its been a stressful time. People have been going missing in the hills beyond town on the way to the Keep and we're all on edge. He's been barricading himself in the back of the tavern most nights, stacking the wall high with supplies, and I don't blame him for the fear..." 

She trails off, and for a moment looks...ashamed?

Lirander smiles and looks back at his companions. "See, nothing to worry about. They just didn't see us arrive."

Turning back to Merdath, the Prince nods. "My team and I will certainly appreciate the drink, but then we must head straight to the keep ourselves. What can you tell me about the disappearances? Were people traveling alone? Any details about attacks or some such?" He pulls out a gold piece and starts playing with it in his fingers.

Rhoc scans the town-turned-prison, or whatever this place is now. The hairs on the back of his neck stand up straight and Wind Dancer looks around nervously. It's a familiar feeling for him; a primal fear that occurs before battle. Many warriors love battle. They crave it. It excites them in a way that no tavern activity could ever match. But Rhoc, despite being quite good at fighting once upon a time, had always been terrified of battle.

It is a hard thing for a young warrior to admit that he has been terrified of every shouting army he has ever faced. That he ran into his first battle ahead of his army not out of excitement, but because he was trying to outrun his own mortal terror. Rhoc vomited the first time he killed a man, battle still raging all around him. It wasn't at all like he had heard of from old soldiers in the tavern, speaking of glory. It was horrible. He knew right then that he never wanted to kill a person again, but by that time he was fighting for his very survival and sworn to serve the crown in killing until the crown told him he was finished. The crown commanded him to kill for 15 years and for all that time, Rhoc was always afraid.

This quiet about the town. These rushing few while everyone else is hunkered down somewhere, prepared for the worst. It all reminds him of the coming of death. He hopes he is wrong, but he squeezes his shield tight and rests his free hand on the pommel of his sword.

"Yeah...smells like a trap."

The elf woman shrugs and follows the rest of the team. She didn't have to jump ship, but the guys need her more than the crew do. 

Merdath takes a moment to respond. The woman is cautious, and seems a bit shocked at the question. The shame on her face turns quickly to anger and then back to confusion and settles on resigned sigh before she says, "I suppose that means you aren't reinforcements and the Crown is unaware then. People have been going missing in the hills at night for sometime, and recently travel has not been safe during the dusk and dawn hours either. Our last resupply from the Keep came almost a month ago, and as we're not exactly a hot commodity out here, you're the first from outside the valley we've seen in over half a year, and they went missing beyond the hills as well." 

You've been told the last Royal envoys were sent here roughly six months ago, which lines up with what she's saying. 

She places a hand across her forehead to squint at the sky, and finishes while motioning towards Wind Dancer (Rhoc's Horse), "If you plan on visiting the Keep, keep her close with you. Whatever stalks the woods doesn't seem to care for animals and they feel the same. It won't protect you, but it will give you a warning that its time to run."

Rhoc nods, placing his hand under Wind Dancer's jaw and giving her a scratch. "Has anyone seen what hunts you?" Rhoc then scratches his own jaw. "Anyone that may have survived an attack?"

This town if you could call it that anymore sure wasn't like any others Vyrrak had been around recently. However he sure knew what captivity and prisons felt like, he'd taken countless people to them throughout his life. There was far more going on here than he cared to admit.

Vyrrak perks up at Kimryn's observation and responds in a hushed tone, ""Interesting... Can't imagine what he'd be trying to track from over here. We'll certainly have to keep a watchful eye once we leave town. Good catch."

Following the group towards the tavern and the raucous Dwarven yelling Vyrrak says to Lirander, "At the least we get a full belly, but some more information would be far more tantalizing."

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Hearing the words from Merdath about a vicious creature loose in the wild makes Vyrrak's brain rattle for a brief moment. Even more missing people, a Lord not tending to his flock, and what of the druids? They must know such a creature is stalking these woods.

He then jolts out of his thoughts and looks to the Dwarven woman then says, "Apologies, we had just recently been asked to investigate and have been at sea. We will certainly figure out why communication has been lacking, I can't imagine the Crown or even the Druids wanting people to deal with this alone."

[OOC: What time of day is it? Morning? Afternoon? Wondering if we want to head out now or stay if it is soon to be dark.]

Merdath answers Rhoc, "No to the first, but in a way, yes to the second. Unfortunately, that individual is no longer in the village. Grant left for the Keep in the middle of the day about a week ago with the rest of our elderly and young. We know for certain they at least made it to one of the farms beyond the hills-

She points to a large man with a ponytail hauling something from one of the basements and placing into the doorway of another shop.

"-because Dain over there saw them off that far. Grant is the reason we know about the animals. He was coming over the hills around dawn when he says something spooked his horse while he was riding through. He didn't bother to wait, but he said his steed's panicked cries seem to have alerted whatever was lurking and the rushed rustling sounded more like a group than a single big creature." 

She looks to Vyrrak and places a hand on her chin, "I was beginning to wonder if anyone had heard from the Druids. We haven't seen any from their delegation in quiet some time, though they rarely voyage as far as the sea from their mountain so that wasn't surprising. I wonder what they make of all this..."

There is a loud and dismissive tsk from inside the Tavern a moment after Merdath finishes speaking. Urtskeck shouts out from behind the smudged windows in the tavern, "Hey! We ain't got all day!! You want a drink or not?"

The noon sun passes just beyond the middle point in the Summer sky, you've got roughly half a day left before sundown. 

"I think it is too late to head out for the keep, so we shall stay here tonight," Lirander says. "Merdath, can you arrange for some rooms for us?" 

Turning to Rhoc, the prince says more quietly, "After a drink, big fellow, would you mind making a quick scouting trip to the ridge to see what all the fuss is about? I think your fine pony there will be swift of hoove if I'm not mistaken, and after so long aboard ship, I am willing to bet she'd like to stretch her legs. What say you?"

Merdath nods at Lirander, "Yes, absolutely we can do that. I do think you could probably make it past the hills, but I doubt you could make it all the way to the Keep itself before nightfall. That would be quite the trek and the farms along the road aren't the friendliest to strangers these days as you can imagine." 

She palms the window at Urtskeck, and shouts back, "THEY'RE COMING! Good luck to us as well, they sound like they might stay the night. If you've need to make yourself useful, start a fire, we'll have soup later." 

Urtskeck groans, mumbles and then moves away from the window towards the back of the tavern, "Soup. Its always soup. Soup soup soup..." 

Merdath shakes her head, and says more quietly, "We've just started to get potatoes in, so it'll be fish chowder most likely if the creams still good. Hope that's alright." 

"Fish chowder sounds magnificent!" Lirander says enthusiastically.

"A meal and rest sound good, but I wouldn't want any of us to go out into the wild alone." Kimryn points to the path/road "They just said people disappear mysteriously. Sounds dangerous."