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Intermissive
Mini-Adventure: The Fiddler’s Lament
(31
July 2015)
Xiuj-Hak-Leyng,
having medicated himself, was feeling much better and was able to join the
party. Cain, on the other hand had taken
ill and remained at the Lorrimor home.
The General Store
Arising early, the party (minus Cain Coh) went to the
general store to purchase some items more appropriate to fight the undead. Fiddle music, apparently coming from north,
in the direction of the graveyard, filled the air. Upon arriving at the store, the party met the
previous owners, the current owner’s parents, as zombies attacking the family. The zombies were quickly dispatched, and the
family ran upstairs. The family’s
screams led the party to an upstairs bedroom, where they destroyed a ghost in
the closet with holy water.
The
party, while tempted, turned down an offer to guard the money lender’s
building.
Keep Your Hands off the
Children
Outside,
zombies were chasing citizens around town.
A group of children were being threatened by 4 ghostly disembodied
claws, protected only by Old River, the town’s beloved stray dog. Maligar and Cad were attacked, but the party
fought off the claws and saved the children.
The Bridge Crossing
At
the bridge, the group met a group of undead, one skeleton riding a skeleton
horse and two on foot, threatening a boy posting notes on the posting pole on
the outskirts of town. Taking
considerable damage, the party destroyed the undead threat. Brother Nesphebius also lost a finger and
thumb during the fight. The boy turned
out to be the son of an influential city councilman.
After
the battle, an acolyte of Pharasma approached the party, begging them for help
saving Councilman Muricar. Trying to
catch his breath, the young priest said that the Temple of Pharasma had been
overrun by zombies and that one of the priests—Jason—had been killed. He went looking for the other priests who
were out fighting the undead in order to bring them back to the Councilman’s
home, intending to then proceed to the cemetery.
The Councilman
As
the party approached the home of Councilman Gharen Muricar, he ran from the
home and hid unsuccessfully behind a large planter on the porch. Chasing him was an ectoplasmic creature,
which the councilman later identified as his grandfather, an abusive drunkard
whom the councilman’s father had murdered in the woods. The party defeated the creature, saving the
councilman. At his request, they agreed
to keep his secret.
The Cemetery
At
the cemetery gate, a ghoul wolf stood guard, a piece of a priest’s garments in
his bloody mouth. With some difficulty,
the group dispatched the beast. Brother
Rufio was in the bushes, still alive but paralyzed. After he recovered, Rufio gave Brother
Nepshebius a backpack full of scrolls and left again to look for the other
priests.
The source of the music was found in the middle of the
cemetery. An elf maiden danced about,
playing a fiddle, known as the Rebec Malevolenti. Eight skeletons protected her, and as she played,
more crawled up from beneath the earth. With
the late arrival of Brother Rufio, the party destroyed those and four more
skeletons. With several attacks on the
fiddle itself, the instrument fell to the ground, broken in two. The undead fell back into a state of eternal
repose, and the elf maiden, Alhindriosa ceased her dancing and was again
reduced to her melancholy state, her condition while she was interred at
Caliphas prison. The skeletons were
revealed to be her adopted kin, a band of gypsies that were massacred
eighty-five years prior.
Unfortunately,
Cad Rassendyll was killed in the final battle.
After performing an athletic maneuver in order to catch the fiddler, he
was mortally wounded. A bomb thrown by
Xiuj-Hak-Leyng missed its mark, killing a skeleton and severely damaging two
others. The splash also hit the dying
Cad, finishing him off.
The
city of Ravengro celebrated the end of the undead threat, re-buried their dead,
and welcomed the remaining party members as heroes.
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