Chapter 12: Shadows in the Dark

[Dave B.]

"I'd be more than happy for someone else to take the lead for a while. I'll join the rear guard for a change." Shorak says to Belarin and Syrdan.

[Joe]

Streko turns back toward the shop almost immediately after leaving it. A deep, welling sadness momentarily consumes him before he allows the rain to wash it away.

"Sometimes, the thought of settling down, experimenting with new herb-lore and quietly working the will of Olladra throughout my life is immensely appealing."

He turns to Condign, then to Adamant. "Seeing my fellow Halflings here in this strange place has allowed me to feel some of you must feel. The aloneness separating you. I shall attempt to never take such separateness for granted again, my friends."

His next look goes to Kal. "It is times like these I miss my sister most. Moments to reflect, fleeting images and thoughts, with the rain pelting down upon me. I am glad I am here with you. To you as well, my elvish friends, and to you Belrain, though you mutter more tha nI do at times, which is saying something, I might add."

He puffs out his chest. "So, let's find our necromancer friends and discover a way to help the Sphinxes, whilst simultaneously dodging murder attempts by numerous other groups attempting to locate the same potential deadly artifact we were kidnapped and brought here for AND looking for a way to destroy, once and for all, not just an evil Vampire and his Emerald Claw cohorts, but a certain Inquisitive who always appears in the wrong places at the wrong times."

He turns back to Belarin. "Did I get that all correct? Forget something in there?"

[Ken]

Belarin barks a laugh. "Oh, well, there were the mysterious people whom Shorak, Adamant, and I battled!" he says with wry amusement. "Now, THAT was a fun fight, not all like that messy business last night. And as for our 'necromancer friends' - Ha! - I've no idea what Thestra is offering to bring to the discussion. Let's find out!" He leads the way toward the indicated entrance to Delera's Watch.

[Jeff]

As you gather in the street the rain lets up almost completely. Yet the clouds overhead are dark, and the sky still resembles a gray twilight. With Belarin and Syrdan in the lead, you approach the iron gates of the outer wall of Delera's Watch. The gates hang open, invitingly, and you step out onto the muddy track that crosses the grave-filled mini wasteland.

Rinti inches closer to Kal. Starg stars at the roiling clouds. Larest and Sem both fix their eyes on the groves across the muddy expanse. This way and that you see ad hoc gravestones jutting from the uneven earth: sticks, angular rocks, even thick bones.

From across the way you see a single figure walking steadily, if slowly toward your group, moving through the field, not the path you're on. There is a glint of metal on its person.

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A map might be coming soon.

[Brian]

Condign sees the figure approaching. "We have company," he says to Shorak, his hand dropping to his sword hilt. "And he is coming not from the path, but from the field. Do you know if this place has a watchman or guard of some kind?"

[Dave B.]

Sept 20, 2014 6:26:01 GMT -4 Brian said:

Condign sees the figure approaching. "We have company," he says to Shorak, his hand dropping to his sword hilt. "And he is coming not from the path, but from the field. Do you know if this place has a watchman or guard of some kind?"

Shorak peers out at the figure approaching. "I'm not sure. There could be a groundskeeper, I suppose. But, just in case..." Shorak's hand moves under his cloak, ready to free his boomerang.

[Ken]

Belarin is aware of the approaching figure, but he purposefully avoids doing anything more than glance at him. He mutters to Syrdan, "Perhaps I should have availed myself of more healing magic before seeing out today."

[Darren]

Kal pushes Rinti behind him with one hand, then steps forward to stand between the approaching figure and the girl. The blade of his tall sharrash extends over his head and his cloak catches the wind, giving him a grim appearance like a reaper about to set to work.

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I couldn't help it.

[Joe]

Streko doesn't notice the approaching figure at first, but he does notice his friend's reactions. Suddenly, Rinti is directly in front of him, blocking his line of sight.

"Sometimes, I wish I were taller," he mutters. He grabs hold of his sickle and decides being prepared would be prudent. After all, when was the last time a dark and mysterious figure approached his band of merry men and NOT attack?

"Then again, Olladra is nothing if not a trickster." He glances down at his domino. "Deepest respect meant, of course."

[Dave W.]

Sept 18, 2014 23:04:13 GMT -4 Joe said:

[Streko] turns to Condign, then to Adamant. "Seeing my fellow Halflings here in this strange place has allowed me to feel some of you must feel. The aloneness separating you. I shall attempt to never take such separateness for granted again, my friends."

"Ah, you shouldn't worry on my account," Adamant bends down to gently place a hand on Streko's shoulder, "as long as my strange friends are about I am content to also be strange and in strange places."

When Streko mentions his sister, Adamant adds, "I would like to speak to Varna again. I feel I let her down back in Sharn. I may not have trusted her friends but I should have trusted her. "

As the figure approaches the group Adamant notices his friends reactions. "Friends, let us not assume this creature is hostile. We are looking for help, we should appear friendly."

[Jeff]

The figure quick resolves itself from the gloom: A man with an obvious limp in a gray, mud-caked longcoat, a thick sword slung across his back. He throws his hood back, revealing an unshaven face; human, middle-aged, lean, but strong.

Coming up alongside him is a second, taller figure. A warforged with unusual, wedge-shaped blades along both arms. While you do see the three-fingered hand at the end of each arm, the overall effect is that the arms resemble bladed shovels. While they can probably dig through soil, they look like they could cleave through bone equally as well.

Attached to the warforged's waste by a chain is a skeleton, marching awkwardly with feeble resistance, facing partially away, not at all in synch. The skeleton has remnants of clothing and a shroud on, but no weapons. Skeleton and warforged are also caked in mud, just as your own boots already are just walking out here. The straight path to Delera's Watch proper fails to keep the slick soil away.

"Good morn, friends!" the human calls out with a gap-toothed smile as they draw nearer. "You all looking for a place to dig and drop, or might you be needin' to retrieve a body or something on one? Name's Pike, and this here is Spade. At your service."
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When I updated this map this morning, I overlooked Rinti. She's currently behind Kal, not in the lead.

[Mike]

Belarin: "Perhaps I should have availed myself of more healing magic before seeing out today."

"Perhaps," Syrdan says agreeably. "But there's no use worrying about it now. I'll make sure our approaching friend brings no harm to you. Or to any of us."

Syrdan moves slightly, putting himself more firmly in between Belarin and the mysterious approaching figure. He raises a gloved hand in acknowledgement to the figure, nodding as he announces himself.

Sept 22, 2014 11:25:11 GMT -4 Jeff said:

"Good morn, friends!" the human calls out with a gap-toothed smile as they draw nearer. "You all looking for a place to dig and drop, or might you be needin' to retrieve a body or something on one? Name's Pike, and this here is Spade. At your service."

"Or something on one," Syrdan replies, as he slows to a halt. "Are you the man in charge here, Pike?"

[Dave B.]

Shorak stops when the groundskeeper (for that is what he obviously is) hails the party. He relaxes slightly, but not completely. He scans the immediate area, just in case there is any other potential threat. He keeps silent, though. Syrdan and Belarin are definitely better suited to speak for them in this situation.

[Brian]

Keeping his hand on his sword hilt, Condign eyes the exchange, content with Syrdan and Belarin handling Pike.

[Jeff]

"In charge?" Pike echoes, then laughs—an ugly, wheezing sound. "Nahh, if anyone's in charge, it's the smartest of the dead what won't lay still. But I am here to help the new folks who come by...which I can see you are." Closer now, you realize it's hard to determine his age. He might be a great deal older than he first looked; the mud makes it hard to tell.

"What can I help with, then, sir elf?" he says to Syrdan, directing his attention to your group's obvious leader or protector. "Need to reclaim a jewel from someone? A locket? A wedding ring?" He grins. "Or if you prefer to do the digging and cracking, maybe just some directions?"

The warforged beside the man remains silent, but the pale green light of its gemstone eyes flickers. It jerks the chain, and the tethered skeleton tumbles into the mud—but the bones hold together. Slowly it climbs to its feet again, awkwardly.

"You're friend there is much too skinny," Sem says to Pike. "And unsteady. Needs some meat on his bones."

Pike squints and looks at the skeleton. "Oh, I'm pretty sure this here is a girl."

Rinti shrinks further behind Kal.

Shorak fixes his senses in the gloom around the field. There are many disturbing shapes, lumps of earth, makeshift graves, and open pits. But nothing seems to be moving or making any telltale sounds.

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Shorak's Perception check (1d20+4=10)

[Ken]

Belarin issues a childlike giggle. “Help... help... HELP?” he says in a sing-song, high-pitched voice. He suddenly snatches something invisible hovering near his left shoulder, examines it, and then tosses it away. “Thank you kindly, but help is as handy as comfy slippers right now. Ha! A vision I’ve had... yes, a lovely vision... I get them all the time...” He points a finger into the sky and then slowly turns in a full circle as he continues to babble. “Take me to interesting places they do. Seer, they call me. Or madman. These others here – some pay me, some I pay, and some---“ He squints at Condign. “Huh, I forgot why HE’S here.... Never mind! HAHAHA! The vision I do follow / Into regions not quite hallow / In memories will I wallow and ... oh that’s a bug that I did swallow.” He spits and takes a couple of skipping steps in the direction provided by the halflings. “Come along, you lot! Come along! Sorry, must dash.”

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Belarin wants to see whether Pike takes any action to stop him, as that will be a clearer indication of Pike’s “helpful” intentions.

Performance roll: 1d20 (13) + 3 = 16.

[Brian]

Ken wrote: Belarin squints at Condign. “Huh, I forgot why HE’S here.... Never mind! HAHAHA!"

Condign cocks an eyebrow at his theatrical friend but otherwise doesn't react to Belarin's capering. Instead, he scans the graveyard, taking in the monuments and the tombstones and the terrain. Pike and his 'forged--and their boney friend--may not be the only curiosities in the dreary place.

[Darren]

An embarrassed look comes over Kal's face. "You'll have to excuse my cousin," he says, jerking a thumb at Belarin. "We have to take him out on walks sometimes, or he gets really bad. Believe it or not, graveyards seem to soothe him..." Kal shrugs, a helpless gesture.

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I don't know if this version still has assists on skills, but Kal will try to help Belarin out.

[Dave B.]

Shorak is impressed with Belarin's performance. He laughs inwardly at this new side the obviously insane warlock. Well, new for Shorak.

[Joe]

Streko moves up to Kal's side. "I will eliminate the skeleton quickly should it come near us," he tells Kal in his home tongue. He keeps his sickle close, as well, but makes no outwardly threatening moves, content to watch Belarin play out whatever game he's instigating.

[Mike]

Syrdan looks curiously at the skeleton as Belarin rambles on. His arms folded across his chest, his gloved fingers tap restlessly against his biceps as he silently reminds himself of the greater good and other nonsense like that, as he stifles the urge to summarily cut down the undead creature out of hand.

"He likes to dash," Syrdan adds as Belarin finishes. "I'm one of the ones he pays. So I follow."

With that, the elf follows the skipping warlock.

[Jeff]

The gravedigger's eyebrows raise as he watches Belarin cavort. He then looks over to the mixture of reactions from the rest of you—surprise, impressiveness, embarrassment. Pike shrugs mildly, as though he's seen many strange things in this place and Belarin is just one of them.

"Aye, then," he says, looking to Kal this time. "You folks have yourselves a pleasant good morning. If you be needin' anything, call out nice and loud." He taps his head, then jerks a thumb toward the warforged. "Spade's got better hearing than I do."

[Darren]

"My thanks, my good man," Kal says, reaching into his pouch and flipping a silver coin to the man. "Say, do you get many visitors here? Regulars, I mean?"

[Dave W.]

Adamant shifts from foot to foot, uncertain at Belarin's performance. "Umm, perhaps I should follow our eccentric friend... make sure he doesn't fall into a pit ... or climb a tree for that matter..."

He sets off after the human. When he draws adjacent, Adamant whispers to Belarin, "Are you well? Is this a dissembling? You often seem to have more voices in you than is traditional, but this one I have not seen before... shall I prepare for an exorcism?"

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That was unique Ken...

[Ken]

Belarin pays no apparent heed to Pike's comments - although he pauses and crouches down to investigate a particularly fascinating rock.

When Adamant covers over and speaks, he looks up and wiggles his fingers. In a whisper, he says, "No exorcisms today."

[Dave B.]

Shorak just shrugs his shoulders, shakes some of the rain from his face and continues after Belarin, when the rest of the party does the same.

[Brian]

Condign follows a pace behind Shorak, his long tail leaving a line in the muddy ground behind him.

[Mike]

Syrdan follows alongside Belarin, stopping when the warlock stops.

The elf picks a smaller pebble, white and round and smooth, off of the ground. He holds it towards Belarin.

"This looks like it could be an excellent squire for Lord Stone," Syrdan says in a weary, beaten tone. "Shall we take him home to Castle Dirtpile, along with all his other prized servants?"

He coughs uncomfortably, and gives Pike a resigned look.

[Dave W.]

Sept 25, 2014 7:31:02 GMT -4 Ken said:

When Adamant covers over and speaks, he looks up and wiggles his fingers. In a whisper, he says, "No exorcisms today."

"Hmmm," Adamant stands tall and holds his arms behind his back, imitating a commander contemplating a battlefield, "well, today is still new... we will see, we will see..."

[Jeff]

Sept 24, 2014 13:59:21 GMT -4 Darren said:

"My thanks, my good man," Kal says, reaching into his pouch and flipping a silver coin to the man. "Say, do you get many visitors here? Regulars, I mean?"

Pike catches the coin clumsily. He pockets it without really even looking at it. "Sure, plenty. Many folks go in. A few less come back out." He eyes the group as Belarin and the rest of your party start to file after him. "See you're heading in to Delera's place proper. Be respectful, and keep your eyes open. And may the Keeper overlook you today, eh?"

The Keeper is one of the Dark Six, the Sovereign of Death and Decay. It is said he also represents greed and gluttony, and is associated most with Dolurrh. In Sovereign Host mythology, he is said to waylay souls in the the Realm of the Dead, snatching them up and binding them to his service instead of letting them make their own journeys.

The strange gravedigger, the warforged, and their skeletal companion are now behind you.

Belarin and Syrdan are the first to pass beneath the boughs of the thin grove of trees that encircles the necropolis. The conifers give way to a cluster of more overtly tropical trees with curling branches. Vivid red creepers spiraling up the stone outer wall like veins. White and red flowers are the only thing that contrast with the general gloom of the day. The red ones almost seem to glow.

The path you're on runs right up to the open stone threshold. The moment you peer in, you can see the path you're on goes straight up to some sort of statue, where there seems to be a junction. Trees, mausoleums, and the hilliness of this place keep you from gauging the full size of the place.

"This will be a maze," Starg says, and you hear something like enthusiasm in the minotaur's voice.

Larest pauses. His voice is quiet, but easy to hear in this place. Even the rain has fully stopped. "When I first...observed you," he says, looking first to Kal and Streko, then Belarin, Adamant, Condign, and Syrdan. "It was Histra who controlled the undead that tested you. I feel very safe in your company. I just...wished to say this now. Though I have earned your resentment, I also know that I chose well."

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I imagine the entrance looking sort of like this but at night, and both gloomier and more colorful at the same time.