Zombies, ghouls and prophecies! Oh my!
The secret word for today is ... comradery.
We would also like to dedicate this episode to all those horror films where someone wandered off into the woods alone and set the mood for the rest of the film.
When last we left our intrepid adventurers, Kelios was talking with the strange hermit man and trying to figure out how to steal his liquorish. Although the hermit seemed very intent upon making Kelios look at some books, she stubbornly refused the offer of free information and formulated a plan to loot the old man's house. Sensing her reluctance to learn, the old man showed her out.
Fearing something had happened to the innocent Kelios, the rest of the merry band had spent some time searching for her and coincidently encountered her just after she had emerged from the hermit's house. Realizing that it was getting late, the group decided to head back to the inn and prepare for the coming night. Once again, the tasks were divided between the group, with Bernard and Tyro checking out the barn while Kelios and Peotr went to prepare food for the night.
Tyro had just climbed into the hayloft and was helping Bernard up when the masked villain appeared and attempted to stab Tyro. Bernard quickly jump to one of the knotted ropes, thus allowing Tyro to freely fight the beast. However, the evil beast had sabotaged the rope and it gave way beneath Bernard. A quick twist and a roll and Bernard was on the ground unharmed. He quickly moved back and prepared his crossbow. Meanwhile, the villain had stabbed Tyro many a time and Tyro was wisely retreating down one of the ropes. Tyro had gotten some solid hits in, but was bleeding badly enough to consider retreating. But the villain was not about to let his victims good so easily, with a quick jump, he/it was on the ground, knife slashing at Tyro again. However, he was quickly chased off by a flurry of blows from Tyro and a few shots from Bernard. As the villain fled into the town, Bernard gave chase, with a now exhausted Tyro following as best he could. Although Bernard's aim proved true, the villain was of hard stoke and managed to escape, wounded though he was. Bernard and Tyro returned to the inn to find that Peotr had provided a most excellent meal, but that Kelios was nowhere in sight.
Unbeknownst to them all, Kelios had decided that now was the proper time to find herself an animal companion to guard her while she slept. After searching the entire town, she managed to find a small frog. Although catching the frog would take more effort than finding it. After many a futile grab, she finally managed to grab ahold of the frog. At this moment she noticed that she was deep in the woods, far away from everything that she knew. It was also at this time that she noticed the hidden villain, as he stepped in and stabbed her. Sadly, she was unable to make her escape, the villain's blade struck home and darkness closed around her.
Meanwhile, her companions had taken up their positions in the barn, eagerly awaiting her return. The sun fell, the stars rose and the sun rose again and still no sign of Kelios. The only comfort through the night were the light from other houses burning in the night. But, sadly, even this was of little comfort. For the night brought many terrors and one of the light faded from their sight. Even the church was not immune from the terrors. Sounds of combat and screams split the night for sometime, although the light in the upper floor managed to stay on.
As dawn broke, our heroes roused themselves and went to survey the nights damages. When they came to the church they heard cries of help from upstairs and found 2 of the foul undead lurking in the church proper. The heroes quickly dispatched the evil beings and rescued the church dwellers. But disappointment came again, of the dozen souls who had taken refuge in the church, only 4 remained. Luckily, the good father Brushin was one of those who stilled lived.
Bernard was able to quickly convince the survivors that they should abandon the church and stay in the barn where it would be easier for us to provide them with protection.
As they headed off towards the inn, the companions started searching for Kelios. After many hours they had found no sign of her and could only hope that she was in the abandon mayor's house. After gaining entry into the house and searching, Kelios was not found. However, they did manage to find the cloak of the hooded villain and a strange scroll. The cloak had many stashes of red liquorish in it and the scroll contained some strangely worded prophecies. During this time, the albino Luc tried to wrestle the scroll away from everyone, but a quick struggle ensued. The heroes maintained the scroll and Luc once again gained his freedom. The attic held the most interesting of discoveries. A painting, of twin brothers, in front of a large house, who bore a striking resemblance to Luc seemed to indicate that something was not right in the town. After conversing with father Brushin, it seemed that one of the brothers had killed the other and then moved to the plantation house outside of town. Since the house was a short-ish walk away and seemed like a Kelios place to visit, the heroes set off towards the plantation house. Night was creeping closer, but they were assured that they would have enough time to travel there and back.
Arriving at the house, strange sights greeted them. The house was well kept and had signs of very recent habitation, but no one was to be seen. A full table, with warm, covered serving trays, recently lit candles and a still smoking cigar were all found. As the heroes searched the house, calling for Kelios, a shadowy figure was seen to dart down the stairs. Heading down, the group arrived in the kitchen, with no sign of the figure. Continuing their search, they threw open the door in the kitchen revealing the cold storage room....and the bloated, decaying corpses of many of the townsfolk hanging from hooks. Kelios was there as well, although alive or dead they were not sure. The sight of Kelios was too much for the good hearted to stand; Bernard had to get away from the sight while Tyro could only kneel and wretch. Peotr seemed strangely unaffected and moved into the cold room, towards Kelios.
And then the Tarascon family introduced themselves.
the Tarascon family had been cursed in some manner, for they were no longer truly of the living. Their flesh was gaunt and pale, their eyes wild with evil and hunger. Truly, these were the ghouls that were spoken of in hushed whispers and in dark nights beside a warm fire.
The door to the cold room slammed shut, trapping Peotr, the barely living Kelios and a ghoul inside. Bernard encountered 2 more of the creatures in the main hallway and Tyro failed to see 2 more of the foul creatures sneaking up upon him as he tried to smash his way through the door to save Kelios and Peotr. Peotr called forth his strange magics and threw them at the ghoul, he
managed to circle around and make it to the door, only to find his way blocked by the 2 that were now in combat with Tyro. Having little option, he rushed into the creature and his plan worked perfectly...almost. As he rushed forward on of the filthy claws managed to catch him and he stiffened and was unable to move. But in the confusion, the ghouls managed to damage each other. A quick hit from Tyro and the ghoul ran screaming away. Meanwhile, Bernard had called forth his divine magic to hide him from the sight of the undead and was very cautiously making his way back to the kitchen, lighting the curtains on fire as he went. The fires managed to distract the foul beings long enough for Bernard and Tyro to finish off the last 2 beasts. Using their foul bodies, Tyro smashed out the window and ran to rescue Kelios and Bernard pulled Peotr through the window to safety. With a quick jump, Tyro was out as well and everyone started running back towards the town. The ghouls did not give chase, apparently deciding to save the house.
Night is closing in upon our heroes. Will they manage to make it back to town before the night closes around them and the swamp spews forth it's evil? Will Kelios succumb to her wounds and walk the earth as one of the Tarascons'? Only time will tell...
Join us again next week when we'll hear Kelios say;
'But I can climb trees with this ball and chain attached to my leg!'
We would also like to dedicate this episode to all those horror films where someone wandered off into the woods alone and set the mood for the rest of the film.
When last we left our intrepid adventurers, Kelios was talking with the strange hermit man and trying to figure out how to steal his liquorish. Although the hermit seemed very intent upon making Kelios look at some books, she stubbornly refused the offer of free information and formulated a plan to loot the old man's house. Sensing her reluctance to learn, the old man showed her out.
Fearing something had happened to the innocent Kelios, the rest of the merry band had spent some time searching for her and coincidently encountered her just after she had emerged from the hermit's house. Realizing that it was getting late, the group decided to head back to the inn and prepare for the coming night. Once again, the tasks were divided between the group, with Bernard and Tyro checking out the barn while Kelios and Peotr went to prepare food for the night.
Tyro had just climbed into the hayloft and was helping Bernard up when the masked villain appeared and attempted to stab Tyro. Bernard quickly jump to one of the knotted ropes, thus allowing Tyro to freely fight the beast. However, the evil beast had sabotaged the rope and it gave way beneath Bernard. A quick twist and a roll and Bernard was on the ground unharmed. He quickly moved back and prepared his crossbow. Meanwhile, the villain had stabbed Tyro many a time and Tyro was wisely retreating down one of the ropes. Tyro had gotten some solid hits in, but was bleeding badly enough to consider retreating. But the villain was not about to let his victims good so easily, with a quick jump, he/it was on the ground, knife slashing at Tyro again. However, he was quickly chased off by a flurry of blows from Tyro and a few shots from Bernard. As the villain fled into the town, Bernard gave chase, with a now exhausted Tyro following as best he could. Although Bernard's aim proved true, the villain was of hard stoke and managed to escape, wounded though he was. Bernard and Tyro returned to the inn to find that Peotr had provided a most excellent meal, but that Kelios was nowhere in sight.
Unbeknownst to them all, Kelios had decided that now was the proper time to find herself an animal companion to guard her while she slept. After searching the entire town, she managed to find a small frog. Although catching the frog would take more effort than finding it. After many a futile grab, she finally managed to grab ahold of the frog. At this moment she noticed that she was deep in the woods, far away from everything that she knew. It was also at this time that she noticed the hidden villain, as he stepped in and stabbed her. Sadly, she was unable to make her escape, the villain's blade struck home and darkness closed around her.
Meanwhile, her companions had taken up their positions in the barn, eagerly awaiting her return. The sun fell, the stars rose and the sun rose again and still no sign of Kelios. The only comfort through the night were the light from other houses burning in the night. But, sadly, even this was of little comfort. For the night brought many terrors and one of the light faded from their sight. Even the church was not immune from the terrors. Sounds of combat and screams split the night for sometime, although the light in the upper floor managed to stay on.
As dawn broke, our heroes roused themselves and went to survey the nights damages. When they came to the church they heard cries of help from upstairs and found 2 of the foul undead lurking in the church proper. The heroes quickly dispatched the evil beings and rescued the church dwellers. But disappointment came again, of the dozen souls who had taken refuge in the church, only 4 remained. Luckily, the good father Brushin was one of those who stilled lived.
Bernard was able to quickly convince the survivors that they should abandon the church and stay in the barn where it would be easier for us to provide them with protection.
As they headed off towards the inn, the companions started searching for Kelios. After many hours they had found no sign of her and could only hope that she was in the abandon mayor's house. After gaining entry into the house and searching, Kelios was not found. However, they did manage to find the cloak of the hooded villain and a strange scroll. The cloak had many stashes of red liquorish in it and the scroll contained some strangely worded prophecies. During this time, the albino Luc tried to wrestle the scroll away from everyone, but a quick struggle ensued. The heroes maintained the scroll and Luc once again gained his freedom. The attic held the most interesting of discoveries. A painting, of twin brothers, in front of a large house, who bore a striking resemblance to Luc seemed to indicate that something was not right in the town. After conversing with father Brushin, it seemed that one of the brothers had killed the other and then moved to the plantation house outside of town. Since the house was a short-ish walk away and seemed like a Kelios place to visit, the heroes set off towards the plantation house. Night was creeping closer, but they were assured that they would have enough time to travel there and back.
Arriving at the house, strange sights greeted them. The house was well kept and had signs of very recent habitation, but no one was to be seen. A full table, with warm, covered serving trays, recently lit candles and a still smoking cigar were all found. As the heroes searched the house, calling for Kelios, a shadowy figure was seen to dart down the stairs. Heading down, the group arrived in the kitchen, with no sign of the figure. Continuing their search, they threw open the door in the kitchen revealing the cold storage room....and the bloated, decaying corpses of many of the townsfolk hanging from hooks. Kelios was there as well, although alive or dead they were not sure. The sight of Kelios was too much for the good hearted to stand; Bernard had to get away from the sight while Tyro could only kneel and wretch. Peotr seemed strangely unaffected and moved into the cold room, towards Kelios.
And then the Tarascon family introduced themselves.
the Tarascon family had been cursed in some manner, for they were no longer truly of the living. Their flesh was gaunt and pale, their eyes wild with evil and hunger. Truly, these were the ghouls that were spoken of in hushed whispers and in dark nights beside a warm fire.
The door to the cold room slammed shut, trapping Peotr, the barely living Kelios and a ghoul inside. Bernard encountered 2 more of the creatures in the main hallway and Tyro failed to see 2 more of the foul creatures sneaking up upon him as he tried to smash his way through the door to save Kelios and Peotr. Peotr called forth his strange magics and threw them at the ghoul, he
managed to circle around and make it to the door, only to find his way blocked by the 2 that were now in combat with Tyro. Having little option, he rushed into the creature and his plan worked perfectly...almost. As he rushed forward on of the filthy claws managed to catch him and he stiffened and was unable to move. But in the confusion, the ghouls managed to damage each other. A quick hit from Tyro and the ghoul ran screaming away. Meanwhile, Bernard had called forth his divine magic to hide him from the sight of the undead and was very cautiously making his way back to the kitchen, lighting the curtains on fire as he went. The fires managed to distract the foul beings long enough for Bernard and Tyro to finish off the last 2 beasts. Using their foul bodies, Tyro smashed out the window and ran to rescue Kelios and Bernard pulled Peotr through the window to safety. With a quick jump, Tyro was out as well and everyone started running back towards the town. The ghouls did not give chase, apparently deciding to save the house.
Night is closing in upon our heroes. Will they manage to make it back to town before the night closes around them and the swamp spews forth it's evil? Will Kelios succumb to her wounds and walk the earth as one of the Tarascons'? Only time will tell...
Join us again next week when we'll hear Kelios say;
'But I can climb trees with this ball and chain attached to my leg!'
posted by groodude at 2:54 p.m.
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