Chapter 1: A Wizard's Amulet

"I say camp is a prudent proposition. Very well can't keep dragging the poor fellow around being all properly punched full of proboscis holes!"

"I fully agree; it would be fool's business to march on with wounded at this time of night. Let us rest." Faionn looks back the way they came. "With any luck, that wizard and his beast will be doing the same."

Olaf wipes the blood of the stirge -- and Galdar -- off his axe in the glass, then gestures to the woods the flying terrors came from.

"Aye, I'm tired too... but what if there's more of these bloodsuckers to come?"

Ryenne grimaces, both at what the man had endured and what he had yet to endure in the wizard’s tower.

"Rest, and gather your strength. Eat meat and drink wine, if you have it. It will dull your pain and replenish your blood!"

She stands from examining the man.

"I’ll take an extra watch tonight. Let the man rest! Let’s hope they suck the blood from the earth, if more come tonight!"

"This is probably as good a place to camp as any, I'll make a fire!"

Datura gets to work gathering wood and looks around for a good camp site while she works.

Trigger warning: This post includes the results of acts of violence against a family including the children. These are not just set dressings, otherwise they would not have been included.

The Wizard's Amulet
Grand Duchy of Reme
Tradeway, two days from Fairhill
Mid summer
Early evening

You have traveled two days and nights since the demonic bird disturbed your camp, drawing within two days travel of Fairhill. Finally, you feel as though your enemies have lost your trail. You see a farmhouse off in the fields, near the woods, and you decide to see if the farmer will let you rest in his barn for the night. As you approach the small dwelling, you notice that something is terribly wrong. The farmer—or what is left of him—lies in the front yard of the home, half eaten and missing one arm. His wife, and three small children lie in various contorted positions, the smallest boy completely disemboweled. Blood covers the hay in the yard, and a chicken pecks at the corpse of a young girl lying in front of the barn.

A simple farm dwelling with one door and several windows, as well as a barn, with an open front and small three-foot high wooden-fenced pen enclosing the front area. The gate in the wooden fence is open allowing the animals out of the barn and pen. The farmer’s body lies in front of his home. His wife’s body and two of their children lie just inside the door to the farmhouse. Their young daughter’s body is inside the animal pen in front of the barn.

Datura runs up to the grizzly scene and gasps,

"No! Not the children too! What kind of evil would have done this Ryenne?"

She runs up to each body in turn in a desperate hope that one may yet live, though she knows it isn't likely. The gnome checks over the corpses as she inspects them, looking for signs of animal attack or the clean cuts of blades.

When the party come within sight of the destruction, Faionn freezes. Her heart plummets, and she swallows a wave of sickness. As she walks closer to the bodies, tears sting her eyes and she blinks them away. This was needless, she thinks. Nothing but the purest evil would do this to children.

As she dimly hears the others talking, Faionn is looking for the same clues as Datura.

Upon catching sight of the horrific scene, Nebbleshuven flashes back to his childhood. Images of his family's slaughter are juxtaposed with the tragedy in front of him. He begins to shake with rage. Through gritted teeth, he says, Who did this? He goes from building to building, shouting, Who did this?! Come out, you bastards! His sword is drawn as he seeks to avenge this family's death as well as his own.

"Killing helpless children?" Ryenne starts to answer, but watching the wizard darkly.

"There are many creatures of Chaos hat would inflict suffering like this. Yet, it’s to the lair of a Lich that we draw closer." she spits, not keeping up the facade the wizard had conjured for himself.

She looks about and then closes her eyes to it all:

Thyr, Lord of Justice, guide me to the answers for this injustice. Give me your strength…

Monaghan rests a clenched fist over his heart and lowers himself to a knee.

"Heavens above, these poor souls," he sighs, misty-eyed. After taking a moment of silence, he approaches the raving Nebbleshuven from behind and gingerly places a hand on the man's shoulder. In the other hand, he grips his shovel.

"Nebble, my boy, would you help me bury them? It may be the perverse perpetrators of this pitiless act are long gone; yet, in properly laying the victims to rest, perhaps we can speed their souls onward to everlasting peace. That much is within our power."

"Were it not for the livestock, I’d say we burn the whole thing down, and cleanse it." she says as she looks about at the animals.

"No butchered cattle, or pigs?" she notes, aloud.

What to do with them?…

Not the most talkative of the party by a good margin, Olaf is still worryingly quiet as they come upon the frightful scene, and as the others fall upon the victims. The big fighter does not -- instead, he warily eyes the property, the doorways, the shadows, the edges of the woods. Whatever or whoever did this... it or they might still be present, lurking just out of sight.

The man does not like the sight of dead innocents, so he passes by them without much study. "They were slain by what?" he asks the others as he readies his axe and shield. "The fangs of beasts, or the weapons of men or the like? Clean cuts from spears, axes, blades..."

"It’s hard to say. They’ve been picked at, for certain. Depending on how long the animals have been untended, they may have been hungry."

Ryenne leans in for a closer looking, trying to determine how long they’ve been dead, and what may have killed them.

It is clear that the bodies were slain by men. Swords and spears and bows. Recently, too. The livestock was not touched, nor did the house look looted. As you bury the bodies, each is examined in turn before taking their final rest in the ground. Axes seem to have done most of the work, and the cuts seem enthusiastic. Two of the children show strange dagger-like punctures that drip a strange poison. Soon you have finished burying the poor family, and have heard no responses to the calls for vengeance.

Galdar and Corian oversee this, the former assisting the burial itself and the latter standing dumbstruck by the scene. The wizard seems horrified at such as slaughter, and it is clear that he is unprepared for something like this. Galdar seems more familiar with this type of butchery, but there is pain in his eyes as he blesses each grave.

The house stands empty of life, while the barn holds several livestock.

"These poisonous punctures, were they performed with a weapon's point, or could it have been a beast's appendage, I wonder?"

When Monaghan approaches Nebbleshuven and asks for his help with the victims' burial, the rage drains out of him. His shoulders sag, a nod barely escapes him. He follows Monaghan outside, drops his sword and shield, and picks up a shovel. He begins to sob as he digs their graves.

Upon realizing that men were responsible for the horror at the farm house, the gnome begins to search for their tracks. She looks for trampled grass or crops that might tell of where they came from, how many there were, or where they went.

"Cleric!" Ryenne calls to Galdor.

"I mean to search the house! Thyr speaks to me!" knowing that he will understand a guiding hand from elsewhere.

She looks to the others, and gestures to the house, inviting their aid if they choose to give it. Then she steps inside and waits for Thyr to guide her hand.