Kelll lays there in a pool of his own blood...

Bran hacks at the stubborn horror2 again...

Attack: 12 Damage: 1

Seven tries to bash the horror2 as well...

Attack: 21 Damage: 8

Lucius mutters under his breath, prompting Merric to move forward. "Sire says it is good fortune that our first battle has separated the whey from the wheat. Rejoice, peasants. Sire's leadership has guided us to victory." Bobbert groans, but offers a smile toward Lucius. Merric moves to loot the bodies of his slain allies, seeking a better weapon for the cheesemaker.

The vine horrors, once human, crack open as they die. They split violently, spilling out thousands of small seeds slick with some sort of mucus. They slowly ooze out of the host bodies and slowly spread. Something deep inside you tells you that this is gross and you should move away. The vine horrors attacked with their limbs, but there is a short sword, a dagger, and 5cp on their person.

AREA C - THE GATEHOUSE

The dark, moss-eaten gatehouse towers above you, grim and forbidding. Murder hole, fashioned in the likeness of looming toads, threaten to gout forth flaming oil and tar. Black arrow slits pierce the high stone walls. You can hear the flap of the heretical banner above, hidden from sight by the vine-draped battlements. The ancient drawbridge has long since fallen away into ruin, leaving only a few rotting planks placed across the ditch. The heavy iron portcullis stands half-raised, the rusty spikes a mere four feet above slots cut into the stone floor.

Who dares cross the portcullis first?

Marcus will move forward to check out the portcullis 

It's sharp and rusty, about half way down.

Marcus can hear, faintly, animal like sniffing and scratching sounds coming from above.

Lucius nudges Merric who, in turn, nudges Bobbert. The cheesemaker reluctantly moves to the gate, leading the other 2 of his group.

You pass through. You can't believe you're alive. Still.

Logan kneels before his fallen servant, says a few quiet words, then rifles through his pockets and takes a locket, a sack and 21cp off the body.

"Fair warning....it seems there might be beasties above...." and he'll point upwards with his staff as he passes under the portcullis followed by Logan.

Bobbert lets out a sigh, ushering the others inside and in between him and anything beyond. "That's my brave deed for the day, people."

Bran and Seven follow the others.

So far, everyone cautiously goes through the gate with the rusty half way down portcullis. So far.

CAST OF USUAL SUSPECTS
NOPE: Lucius the Noble(AC9/HP3), Merric the Trader(AC11/HP3), Bobbert the Cheesemaker(AC9/HP5)
DAVE: Fool the Jester (AC9/HP1), Rist the Minstrel(AC10/HP4), Tom the Gravedigger(AC11/HP0)SLAIN
DRAGONDENN: Seven the Ex-Slave (AC1/3HP), Bran the Woodcutter (AC11/2HP), Kel the Chicken Butcher(AC11/HP0)SLAIN
MERLIN: Herb the Mushroom Farmer(AC10/HP3), Grengrun the Blacksmith(AC10/HP2), Knack the Indentured Servant(AC10/HP1)
ARGENT: Tony the Indentured Servant(AC10/HP0)SLAIN, Logan Gold the Smuggler(AC11/HP4), Marcus Skinner the Forester(AC10/HP2)

Fool retrieves his darts, and takes the short sword from the corpse of the horror, and the 5cp vanishes while he does so...

Rist unceremoniously loots Tom, taking his money and equipment. ‘We’ll drink in your honour Tom.’ he says, followed, under his breath, by ‘If we survive...’ They then both accompany the rest of the group.

1

CAST OF USUAL SUSPECTS
NOPE: Lucius the Noble(AC9/HP3), Merric the Trader(AC11/HP3), Bobbert the Cheesemaker(AC9/HP5)
DAVE: Fool the Jester (AC9/HP1), Rist the Minstrel(AC10/HP4), Tom the Gravedigger(AC11/HP0)SLAIN
DRAGONDENN: Seven the Ex-Slave (AC1/3HP), Bran the Woodcutter (AC11/2HP), Kel the Chicken Butcher(AC11/HP0)SLAIN
MERLIN: Herb the Mushroom Farmer(AC10/HP3), Grengrun the Blacksmith(AC10/HP2), Knack the Indentured Servant(AC10/HP1)
ARGENT: Tony the Indentured Servant(AC10/HP0)SLAIN, Logan Gold the Smuggler(AC11/HP4), Marcus Skinner the Forester(AC10/HP2)

Suddenly, as you all are passing, a massive boulder from above comes careering down upon Grengrun.

LOOK OUT Attack: 3 Damage: 6

The boulder smashes into your head, creating an interesting blast pattern on the floor. Then, from above, you hear a loud bell ringing, and you can hear animal howling above and something(s) running away.

CAST OF USUAL SUSPECTS
NOPE: Lucius the Noble(AC9/HP3), Merric the Trader(AC11/HP3), Bobbert the Cheesemaker(AC9/HP5)
DAVE: Fool the Jester (AC9/HP1), Rist the Minstrel(AC10/HP4), Tom the Gravedigger(AC11/HP0)SLAIN
DRAGONDENN: Seven the Ex-Slave (AC1/3HP), Bran the Woodcutter (AC11/2HP), Kel the Chicken Butcher(AC11/HP0)SLAIN
MERLIN: Herb the Mushroom Farmer(AC10/HP3), Grengrun the Blacksmith(AC10/HP0), Knack the Indentured Servant(AC10/HP1)
ARGENT: Tony the Indentured Servant(AC10/HP0)SLAIN, Logan Gold the Smuggler(AC11/HP4), Marcus Skinner the Forester(AC10/HP2)

Merric looks deeper inside, looking to see what lies ahead, motioning for the others to be quiet. "Let's not invite danger, people. Sire doesn't want to die today due to peasants' ignorance."

Seeing the rock smash the others, Merric looks for cover, motioning for Lucius to do the same while pushing Bobbert out of the way.

Marcus looks at the party with one of those 'I told you so' looks that doesn't help the situation. 

AREA D - THE COURTYARD

The courtyard is overgrown with sickly weeds and thick brambles. A deathly silence hangs in the air, as if even the frogs and insects are afraid to draw attention to themselves. The smell of rotting vegetation is pervasive, and the ground sucks at your boots with every tentative step. Nearly all of the courtyard's building have fallen into ruin. A single burnt-out shell set against the keep's east wall is the only remaining structure. Set near the heart of the courtyard is a well, framed with a crude pulley system. To the east is the keep's sole standing tower.

You can easily see on the ground a muddy trail leading from area C through the brambles to the south tower AREA H. A small side trail runs to the well AREA F.

The muddy prints indicate a wide variety of creatures: human footprints, the tracks of large creatures with only three toes, hawk-like talons, and perhaps even the slithering trail of an enormous snake.