Jael was looking to settle some roots, and given the experiences he's had with the Wyrmwood he was looking in another direction. In some of our previous adventures, we've been towards the Dragon Mountains and noticed it was surprisingly lacking of civilizations. Jael knew of a forest on the river and felt a draw to it.
Jael gathered a powerful group, including myself, Xeviouz, Dvarim, William, and Dubhan. We arranged transport on an airship to the Dragon Mountains, as we approached our destination, we could see a domed shape poking out from the treeline. We descended from the airship, a mass of steel wings, flying carpets, and animal companions. The floor of the forest was quiet, and we got a better look at the rest of the domed structure we saw from the airship. It was apparently some sort of temple that appeared in some disrepair. Further inspection revealed the door to the temple to be open ever so slightly. We entered cautiously and examined the structure more closely. While the temple had begun to be reclaimed by nature, with vines and trees growing through it, there didn’t seem to be any signs of taint in the astral. The temple appeared to have décor in theme with Floranuus, which we would later confirm.
We ventured deeper, we had seen the signs of other structures beyond the guard of the temple and hoped to investigate. The door leading to the rest of the village appeared to be barred from the inside. We again proceeded with caution and ventured into the grove that housed the town of Keathien. A path lead through the village, splitting at the far side, with one route leading to the river, and another leading to what appeared to be a fortified keep. We made our way to the keep to investigate the fate of this town.
Entering the keep, we were greeted by a rather horrific scene. Amongst the washout from beyond the keep door were piles of bones were scattered across the room, and scrawling scratches upon the walls. Written in blood was the following,
"Water drips a steady sound
Falling on this hallowed ground
Pieces of shattered lives surround
The broken bones we have found
Lying in uncounted mounds"
This led us upstairs, which was a stark contrast to downstairs, very clean and organized and minimal reclamation or damage by the elements. This seemed magical in nature, and our first suspicion was a bound spirit. I dumped a pillow from the bed to the floor, and we detected the arrival of a presence. We made our way down the hall and encountered what appeared to be the spirit of the upper floors, responsible for the cleaning and maintenance of the upper floors. It did not remember the name it had in life, but had some recollection of the happenings of the town. Apparently a creature had attacked the town, and the populace fell back to the keep to defend themselves. It had even breached the upper levels and hunted the children as they hid. The spirit informed us that it could not bring itself to clean those rooms. We examined the uncleaned rooms and found more signs of a massacre, including more bones. These ones scatter where the poor little ones were felled. In each room we found more writings, as we returned downstairs we found more and more.
"Paint stil bright
On wooden toys
Speaks of laughing girls and boys
But here there is no joy
Where silence holds no happy noise"
"By two small ruined beds
Lie two small broken heads
Brokens closet stand to tell
The story of how just these two fell"
"Two children still of tender age
Heard the nearing creatures rage
Doing as their elders bid
In their playroom closet hid
But their lives it did slay
And one was soon tender prey"
"Broken crockery tells a tale
Of fallen meat bread and ale
Broken shelves let you know
The size and strength of the foe."
"Over laughter they did not hear
The danger that was coming near
As I approached and slew
Away from the table they rose and flew
But faster were my claws"
The scene it painted was a hopeless and gruesome experience. Dvarims was struck by the gravity and quickly wiped clear the wall and scrawled a response.
"So proud was this horrid poet,
That was hunted but did not know it.
It reveled in its gruesome deeds,
Feeding its most awful needs.
But now it's time had finally come,
When it was struck blind deaf and dumb.
Brave adepts came to kill it dead.
That's what will finally be said."
William took up a beat and began to spout forth the verse with emotion. I provided lighting backup. We put forth the challenge and a response came. The door to the inn opened, inviting us into the obvious trap.
Inside we were greeted by three Gloomwings and spectral children. Jael and Xeviouz made short work of a pair of Gloomwings, with William and Dubhan cleaning up all but a single spectral child. Dvarims refused to strike the child, so I stepped forwarded and gave my best explanation of why the child should leave and who would be waiting for them. I must have struck a chord, because the child left of her own accord.
As we left the tavern we were greeted by Kaer spiders upon the walls. They scurried and dodged many of our attacks, binding some of us in webbing. The battle was relatively quick, with us walking away the victors a few moments later. We returned to the keep and advised the spirit that we had cleared some of the monsters and that we would return with others and work to reclaim the town. Dvarims advised that he would specifically send his apprentice Rose to assist with the spirit.Statistics:Posted by Xzandrate — Wed Jan 27, 2021 4:12 am
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