The man shakes his head, "no. At least a fifth of us are wounded. If we were well enough to travel we would have made a break for it already. That's why we needed the garrison. I sent a messenger to Sonatide. I pray to the gods we can survive longer for him to deliver his message." He puts the stopper back on the bottle, setting it on the bar top. "My name is Paten Elway. I was one of the councilmembers of Feycrest, when we had a council that is."
"I'm afraid we don't have any rooms for you to stay in, but you're welcome to find your own place to camp out on the floor." He pauses, then mutters, "if you can sleep through the screams." Outside, the undead continue to beat on the walls, howling as more and more seem to join in.
Setting his gear next to the counter, Kal takes a quick look around the room. Sleeping on the floor? Was still better than what he was accustomed to. "I don't think we'll be able to get them out of here on our own. There's simply too many undead out there, we could never protect all of them."
Regarding the elf, he says "we were given vague instructions. No one seems to have the faintest idea what's going on. I think we were just hoping to stumble upon something in the mines."
"Are you from here? Or were you sent by someone like us?"
Silthras nods, "A fifth of you? So around eight? I will do what I can for them. It might take a few hours, but perhaps by morning they will be ready to move -- if they are not too grievously wounded?"
Setting his gear next to the counter, Kal takes a quick look around the room. Sleeping on the floor? Was still better than what he was accustomed to. "I don't think we'll be able to get them out of here on our own. There's simply too many undead out there, we could never protect all of them."
Silthras frowns, "Perhaps. I was thinking that in the morning our gnomish friend and Maud could reprise their roles, lead the undead away from the road Silverfair, while we made our escape towards it. Of course that depends on the ability to get there in one day...which may not be likely."
"Eight to ten, hard to keep track of. We would appreciate that. The wounded are resting upstairs, save for one down here...But Velyra has her taken care of." Paten lets out a short laugh, shaking his head. "Get to Silverfair in a day? We are not all so young as you lad." He slaps his bad knee to make a point. "I doubt we could get halfway there by nightfall."
Caring for ~40 people, defending them or avoiding undead, helping the older/younger move - it will not be travel at a Normal Pace for the party, more like Slow. Would take 2 days + 4 hours to reach Silverfair.
Velyra shakes her head, "No, I'm not from here. I was sent to find someone specifically. I'm fairly sure they would have gone to the mines...If that's where you intend to go, I'll accompany you if that's acceptable."
Glancing around the room again, Silthras nods at Paten's remark. "Very well, we stay here for now. I will do what I can for the injured nonetheless -- perhaps someone can show me where everyone is, and let them know I mean no harm? Sammie, perhaps...where did he go?"
"But first...do you think there might be value in trying to thin their numbers...at least the clawed ones? Perhaps from the roof or some windows we might be able to reduce the threat a little..."
Although curious about her mission, Kal merely nods instead of questioning. "I can't say we're really in a position to turn down help."
To Silthras, he'll say, "it was a decent idea. We could still make it work possibly. Just have to find a good place to hunker down off the road somewhere when night hits. Or we could try going back to Silverfair to recruit more help. Now that we know the situation here, it might be easier to convince the garrison to come."
"Aye, I can show you around. Sammie will be with his sister - the lad has had quite a day, we'll let him rest." Whenever Silthras is ready, Paten will begin showing him into the rooms of the wounded upstairs. To his other suggestion, the man shrugs. "Could be some value yes. Or you could just piss them off and attract more. Hard to say. If you want to try, there's some windows in the attic you could use to get onto the roof."
Following the group around, Usul points under a table and says to Muad ‘Go rest there. It’s just like when we were back at Mom’s’ and the dog goes to curl up and get some rest, still tired from the run.
He then reaches into his pack and pulls out the stack of letters they’d found from the messenger, and pokes Kal whispering ‘the locket..’ Then to Paten he says “We... may have some bad news about your messenger...” as he hands the papers up to him.
Kal nods, internally grateful for the gnome's reminder. He pulls the locket from his pockets, handing it over to Paten. "We recovered what we could, but as Usul implies...They didn't make it very far."
Silthras nods at Paten's offer, "I need to rest a little first, but will be back soon."
With that he moves to the upper room with the windows, and opens one a crack, keeping the room dark. He watches the undead for a time, trying to assess their numbers and how many of them are of the 'clawed' variety. Know your enemy, learn their habits, he thinks. He continues watching for several minutes before locking the window and returning to the tap room and relaxing, just listening to the conversations around him.
When he is rested he walks over to Paten and says, "I am ready, take me to the first patient or two."
With each person he tries to heal he will ask them question about how they were wounded and their symptoms, trying to assess whether he thinks there might be other complications (eg. disease). He will then tell them to relax and heal them as best he can. Once he has done what he can (( 2 spells on 2 people or 1 person)) he will chat to them for a time, making sure they are on the improve, and trying to build a level of trust. From time to time he will ask questions about what happened, also trying to gain some understanding of how the undead behave, and potentially gain information abut the mine and surrounds. If they need to rest, he will leave them to rest and return to the tap room, then repeat the procedure.
Paten lets out a great sigh, taking the letters and lockets from the both of you. He covers his eyes with his hands for a moment, massaging his temples. "We knew it was a long shot. And he was a good man. Wouldn't let anyone else volunteer for the job." He pockets the items, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "I'll tell his wife in the morning. Did you...Take care of his remains?"
Kal nods to Paten's question, "he'll be able to rest quietly now."
((I don't really have anything for Kal to do for the rest of the night, most of the people down here are sleeping yeah? He'll just rest until tomorrow probably, unless something comes up.))
"Thank you. I was dreading trying to find a way into the cave system on my own. I think I might have...related information to what's happening here. We can discuss it in the morning while we figure out next steps." Velyra says. Feeling an end to the gathering, she'll then move off back into the common area. Throughout the night, she'll periodically move around to check on Nina.
After handing over the documents, Usul starts to feel the exhaustion of the day’s events come over him. He heads down to where Muad is curled up under a table, and joins his big, furry friend in trying to get some sleep.
Paten nods, thanking the group once more before walking upstairs.
Silthras Looking out from the attic window, you can't see the undead gathered directly below the overhang of the roof(would require getting on the roof, but you were trying to be stealthy about this in a dark room so I figured you didn't want to do that), but you can easily make out those wandering the area around the inn. The slow, lumbering undead have finally returned to the area in some substantial number, checkered on the road, fields, and around other buildings. You're able to count out dozens of them, though you're aware some are merely out of sight behind other buildings. The clawed zombies continue to rake against the walls of the inn, screeching intermittently. They're out of your site, but from the sound you figure at least a dozen have gathered. Occasionally you catch a glimpse of others darting between buildings, or hear their distant howls. They seem to be driven by something resembling intelligence, methodically searching the area, looking for people.
After having seen enough, you return to the second floor to find Paten waiting for you. Once you're ready, he takes you from room to room of the wounded. Most of these people are either extremely old or extremely young. You spend the evening healing fractures, breaks, gash wounds, and the occasional bite. A few ailments are beyond your capabilities, life-long conditions unrelated to the undead scourge. Most people receive you quite well, happy to see that some manner of help has arrived, and appreciative that they're being taken care of. As you go from room to room, hearing more about what happened, it becomes clear that most of the "young" and "fit" of the town's citizens have already perished, doing their best to push back the undead. What remains are some lucky enough to escape the inadequate defense effort, and those too weak to fight that were hidden away for protection.
Throughout the night, you pick up the following pieces of information:
Giles, an elderly halfling whom you cured of a broken hip, swears to you that this all started shortly after he saw a star fall from the sky, landing somewhere on the eastern rim of the Shining Peaks.
Favian, a relatively young man in his early 20s, was one of the miners who first saw the undead in the mines. He claims he heard the foreman, Arthur Cartwright, talking about a mental break one of his other workers had after following a natural tunnel in the mines. The mine itself is west of town, about an hour away.
You fixed the broken ankle of a little dwarf girl by the name of Luri. She tells you there's other survivors in the town, and that she saw them heading into a big manor at the southwestern edge of town when she was fleeing with her dad.
You're able to get through all of the wounds you're capable of healing, though by the time you finish nearly everyone else - including Paten and your companions- has gone to sleep. Exhausted from the days efforts, you find yourself an open space downstairs in the common area, and let sleep take you.
For everyone, the night's rest is a fitful one, constantly interrupted by the howling, scratching, and banging of the undead outside. The others in the inn seem to have grown accustomed to the noise. They eventually retreat sometime shortly before dawn, and shortly thereafter daylight begins to leak in through cracks in boarded up windows. Velyra is already up and about by the time the rest of you come to. Nina. the woman whose medication you retrieved from the apothecary is up and well, though still looks a little pale.
Paten and a few others appear shortly, handing out carefully rationed portions of bread to everyone in the inn. After returning the sack of bread to a stockroom on the west wall, you can see the councilman start going from window to window, checking to make sure the barricades are holding up.
The four of gather at the bar top with your own rations, ready to figure out your next moves for the day...
((if anyone still needed to do something this past night, let me know)).
Silthras wakes after the others, still a little groggy, but pleased the exhaustion allowed him to sleep through the night. When he has had a chance to gather his thoughts and clear his mind, he recounts the tales he heard to his companions, "I am not sure about Giles' tale, but the other two are interesting. If the manor is more defensible, we might be able to move people there...and if this Arthur Cartwright is here or at the manor, he may be useful" he says.
With that he seeks out Paten and asks about both: first the manor, and if he thinks it might be more or less defensible, or have more food; then second about Arthur Cartwright.
"We've been around town quite a bunch yesterday." Usul says, munching disappointingly on cold rations, as they discuss where to go, thinking back "We may have passed it... though didn't get a good look in our rush. Ah... should we ask Paten about the idea to BOOM the mines?"
The man shakes his head, "no. At least a fifth of us are wounded. If we were well enough to travel we would have made a break for it already. That's why we needed the garrison. I sent a messenger to Sonatide. I pray to the gods we can survive longer for him to deliver his message." He puts the stopper back on the bottle, setting it on the bar top. "My name is Paten Elway. I was one of the councilmembers of Feycrest, when we had a council that is."
"I'm afraid we don't have any rooms for you to stay in, but you're welcome to find your own place to camp out on the floor." He pauses, then mutters, "if you can sleep through the screams." Outside, the undead continue to beat on the walls, howling as more and more seem to join in.
Setting his gear next to the counter, Kal takes a quick look around the room. Sleeping on the floor? Was still better than what he was accustomed to. "I don't think we'll be able to get them out of here on our own. There's simply too many undead out there, we could never protect all of them."
Regarding the elf, he says "we were given vague instructions. No one seems to have the faintest idea what's going on. I think we were just hoping to stumble upon something in the mines."
"Are you from here? Or were you sent by someone like us?"
Silthras nods, "A fifth of you? So around eight? I will do what I can for them. It might take a few hours, but perhaps by morning they will be ready to move -- if they are not too grievously wounded?"
Silthras frowns, "Perhaps. I was thinking that in the morning our gnomish friend and Maud could reprise their roles, lead the undead away from the road Silverfair, while we made our escape towards it. Of course that depends on the ability to get there in one day...which may not be likely."
"Eight to ten, hard to keep track of. We would appreciate that. The wounded are resting upstairs, save for one down here...But Velyra has her taken care of." Paten lets out a short laugh, shaking his head. "Get to Silverfair in a day? We are not all so young as you lad." He slaps his bad knee to make a point. "I doubt we could get halfway there by nightfall."
Velyra shakes her head, "No, I'm not from here. I was sent to find someone specifically. I'm fairly sure they would have gone to the mines...If that's where you intend to go, I'll accompany you if that's acceptable."
Glancing around the room again, Silthras nods at Paten's remark. "Very well, we stay here for now. I will do what I can for the injured nonetheless -- perhaps someone can show me where everyone is, and let them know I mean no harm? Sammie, perhaps...where did he go?"
"But first...do you think there might be value in trying to thin their numbers...at least the clawed ones? Perhaps from the roof or some windows we might be able to reduce the threat a little..."
Although curious about her mission, Kal merely nods instead of questioning. "I can't say we're really in a position to turn down help."
To Silthras, he'll say, "it was a decent idea. We could still make it work possibly. Just have to find a good place to hunker down off the road somewhere when night hits. Or we could try going back to Silverfair to recruit more help. Now that we know the situation here, it might be easier to convince the garrison to come."
"Aye, I can show you around. Sammie will be with his sister - the lad has had quite a day, we'll let him rest." Whenever Silthras is ready, Paten will begin showing him into the rooms of the wounded upstairs. To his other suggestion, the man shrugs. "Could be some value yes. Or you could just piss them off and attract more. Hard to say. If you want to try, there's some windows in the attic you could use to get onto the roof."
Following the group around, Usul points under a table and says to Muad ‘Go rest there. It’s just like when we were back at Mom’s’ and the dog goes to curl up and get some rest, still tired from the run.
He then reaches into his pack and pulls out the stack of letters they’d found from the messenger, and pokes Kal whispering ‘the locket..’ Then to Paten he says “We... may have some bad news about your messenger...” as he hands the papers up to him.
PbP 🎲: Tyekanik; Moneo Noree; Korba Muris; & occasional DM:
Kal nods, internally grateful for the gnome's reminder. He pulls the locket from his pockets, handing it over to Paten. "We recovered what we could, but as Usul implies...They didn't make it very far."
Silthras nods at Paten's offer, "I need to rest a little first, but will be back soon."
With that he moves to the upper room with the windows, and opens one a crack, keeping the room dark. He watches the undead for a time, trying to assess their numbers and how many of them are of the 'clawed' variety. Know your enemy, learn their habits, he thinks. He continues watching for several minutes before locking the window and returning to the tap room and relaxing, just listening to the conversations around him.
When he is rested he walks over to Paten and says, "I am ready, take me to the first patient or two."
With each person he tries to heal he will ask them question about how they were wounded and their symptoms, trying to assess whether he thinks there might be other complications (eg. disease). He will then tell them to relax and heal them as best he can. Once he has done what he can (( 2 spells on 2 people or 1 person)) he will chat to them for a time, making sure they are on the improve, and trying to build a level of trust. From time to time he will ask questions about what happened, also trying to gain some understanding of how the undead behave, and potentially gain information abut the mine and surrounds. If they need to rest, he will leave them to rest and return to the tap room, then repeat the procedure.
I'll resolve this after everyone else finishes their conversations/settles into what they plan on doing for the night.
Paten lets out a great sigh, taking the letters and lockets from the both of you. He covers his eyes with his hands for a moment, massaging his temples. "We knew it was a long shot. And he was a good man. Wouldn't let anyone else volunteer for the job." He pockets the items, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "I'll tell his wife in the morning. Did you...Take care of his remains?"
Kal nods to Paten's question, "he'll be able to rest quietly now."
((I don't really have anything for Kal to do for the rest of the night, most of the people down here are sleeping yeah? He'll just rest until tomorrow probably, unless something comes up.))
"Thank you. I was dreading trying to find a way into the cave system on my own. I think I might have...related information to what's happening here. We can discuss it in the morning while we figure out next steps." Velyra says. Feeling an end to the gathering, she'll then move off back into the common area. Throughout the night, she'll periodically move around to check on Nina.
After handing over the documents, Usul starts to feel the exhaustion of the day’s events come over him. He heads down to where Muad is curled up under a table, and joins his big, furry friend in trying to get some sleep.
PbP 🎲: Tyekanik; Moneo Noree; Korba Muris; & occasional DM:
Paten nods, thanking the group once more before walking upstairs.
Silthras
Looking out from the attic window, you can't see the undead gathered directly below the overhang of the roof(would require getting on the roof, but you were trying to be stealthy about this in a dark room so I figured you didn't want to do that), but you can easily make out those wandering the area around the inn. The slow, lumbering undead have finally returned to the area in some substantial number, checkered on the road, fields, and around other buildings. You're able to count out dozens of them, though you're aware some are merely out of sight behind other buildings. The clawed zombies continue to rake against the walls of the inn, screeching intermittently. They're out of your site, but from the sound you figure at least a dozen have gathered. Occasionally you catch a glimpse of others darting between buildings, or hear their distant howls. They seem to be driven by something resembling intelligence, methodically searching the area, looking for people.
After having seen enough, you return to the second floor to find Paten waiting for you. Once you're ready, he takes you from room to room of the wounded. Most of these people are either extremely old or extremely young. You spend the evening healing fractures, breaks, gash wounds, and the occasional bite. A few ailments are beyond your capabilities, life-long conditions unrelated to the undead scourge. Most people receive you quite well, happy to see that some manner of help has arrived, and appreciative that they're being taken care of. As you go from room to room, hearing more about what happened, it becomes clear that most of the "young" and "fit" of the town's citizens have already perished, doing their best to push back the undead. What remains are some lucky enough to escape the inadequate defense effort, and those too weak to fight that were hidden away for protection.
Throughout the night, you pick up the following pieces of information:
You're able to get through all of the wounds you're capable of healing, though by the time you finish nearly everyone else - including Paten and your companions- has gone to sleep. Exhausted from the days efforts, you find yourself an open space downstairs in the common area, and let sleep take you.
For everyone, the night's rest is a fitful one, constantly interrupted by the howling, scratching, and banging of the undead outside. The others in the inn seem to have grown accustomed to the noise. They eventually retreat sometime shortly before dawn, and shortly thereafter daylight begins to leak in through cracks in boarded up windows. Velyra is already up and about by the time the rest of you come to. Nina. the woman whose medication you retrieved from the apothecary is up and well, though still looks a little pale.
Paten and a few others appear shortly, handing out carefully rationed portions of bread to everyone in the inn. After returning the sack of bread to a stockroom on the west wall, you can see the councilman start going from window to window, checking to make sure the barricades are holding up.
The four of gather at the bar top with your own rations, ready to figure out your next moves for the day...
((if anyone still needed to do something this past night, let me know)).
Silthras wakes after the others, still a little groggy, but pleased the exhaustion allowed him to sleep through the night. When he has had a chance to gather his thoughts and clear his mind, he recounts the tales he heard to his companions, "I am not sure about Giles' tale, but the other two are interesting. If the manor is more defensible, we might be able to move people there...and if this Arthur Cartwright is here or at the manor, he may be useful" he says.
With that he seeks out Paten and asks about both: first the manor, and if he thinks it might be more or less defensible, or have more food; then second about Arthur Cartwright.
"We've been around town quite a bunch yesterday." Usul says, munching disappointingly on cold rations, as they discuss where to go, thinking back "We may have passed it... though didn't get a good look in our rush. Ah... should we ask Paten about the idea to BOOM the mines?"
PbP 🎲: Tyekanik; Moneo Noree; Korba Muris; & occasional DM: