Game #5: Permanent Funeral

We could hear the rain trickling over the rocks in the partially collapsed room Moira led us to. The men who had attacked us earlier could be seen hiding amongst the trees at the edge of the valley. One came to investigate and was taken by the water-snake. After taking stock of the situation, Varg! seemed to go into a fit of some sort, chanting and waving his hands in the air. The shadows gathered until a wolf stood solid before us. It seemed normal enough, bringing a welcome breath of the forest to this dank crypt, except for the quick way it responded to Varg!'s commands. The others bickered over a plan, something about pretending to be killed by the wolf so the enemies outside would come inside to check. I hid myself close to the entrance and began calling out for help, playing the role of the helpless damsel. The others fell over themselves screaming and clashing their swords as if facing a terrible foe, and Varg! sent the wolf out. All of our enemies began to approach but one. I continued to call out and crouched over my spear to wait. Moira clambered onto a shallow ledge next to the entrance. She waited until several filed past her, then threw herself shield-first into the mix. The man who seemed to be the leader was directly in front of me, and Paug's dagger sped from the darkness to slice his arm to the bone. I took advantage of the man's distraction and rose up, impaling him on my spear. All my anger from the last several years released in a rush, and I did not realize I was laughing as I gutted the man until I saw the others' horrified looks. Several of the other attackers had fled during this, and Kain and Slim went after the cowards. Varg!'s wolf helped Slim dispatch one, and Moira finished the last with a well-placed hammer throw. After looting their bodies, we headed back to town to hole up in the inn and rest.

We found two boys inside the inn. They were tasked to take care of the day-to-day workings of the inn, and they seem to take the news of their former employers demise and our appropriation of the space well enough. I retreated to one of the rooms above with food and water enough to wash the blood from both myself and my clothes. It is an uneventful night.

A loud knocking the next morning pulled me from bed, and I nearly forgot to braid my hair over my ears before stumbling down the stairs. One of the acolytes had arrived and was demanding our names for the lottery. For once I blessed Paug's rude tongue as he blistered the ears of this spineless minion until he left. We had barely finished breakfast when a louder knocking sounded at the door. This time it was four of the Jarl's men. Judging this to be a better time for diplomacy, I invited them in, and we offered them drinks. They seem displeased with the lottery and deaths, but were too invested in their petty power to help us. Fools.

Several of the others went into town to sell off our spoils and try to procure better armor for the dwarves. While the rest of us were waiting, Varg! related the details of the witch's proposition, namely that she wanted him to marry her. Paug opened the inn for business, and villagers began to fill the room to taste the bizarre concoction he was selling, claiming it was food. I hid myself in a dim corner as best as I was able, but a high-pitched ringing could be heard even over the cacophony inside. On the verge of going mad, I broke from the crowd to go outside and find myself side by side with Kain. The priest had commandeered a portion of the square outside, and was haranguing passersby with his loud nonsense. The dwarf and I took great pleasure in breaking his damn bell. Back inside, I heard the others remarking on a red beam going from the ground to the northern sky, and a comet of some sort. It sounds very odd.

Moira, Paug, and I went to visit this witch. I knew not what Paug had planned, but simply went along to see if I could get a better idea of her power. Moira waited outside. Once in the strangely large interior of the witch's hut, Paug began claiming to bring her greetings from Varg! and tried to flatter the woman. I noted her warning that the Hound must be bound before it can be killed, and that it could be wrestled to the ground by the 'right' man. The witch gave us twine she spun from fire, then asked Paug to marry her. He handled it well enough, but she grew impatient with his constant talking and we found ourselves abruptly outside. No matter how hard we tried, we could not return.

The inn emptied once it was time for the lottery, and we followed the villagers to their town square. The Jarl was conspicuously absent. No one objected when we volunteered to go. The mob escorted us to the standing stones, then left us to our task.

The others had tried to press one of the recovered spears on me, but I could not bear the foul touch of the iron weapons for very long. Moira ended up with the wolf-spear and Kain had both the magic twine and the backup spear. Bartimus' hands glowed and seemed to wither away to mere bones. He warned us not to touch him. Slim began passing around a drinking horn, and it was quickly determined to have healing qualities. Just then we heard the Hound howl.

Branches began thrashing as something came towards us through the trees. After Varg! was attacked I retreated beneath one of the menhirs. It was difficult to see what happened, but Varg! pointed to the edge of the clearing and cried out just before a glowing ray struck him down. Everyone scrambled for cover, and the Hound went after Slim while Moira saved Varg! with the healing horn.

Moira managed to smash the Hound over the head with her hammer while the rest scrambled into the woods. She pinned the beast to the ground, and I swear the dwarf seemed to grow larger as she wrestled with the thing! I threw myself at the Hound and tried to help hold it down, and soon everyone else was piled on us both. Kain managed to wrap the Hound in the magic twine, and the beast howled in pain when Bartimus merely touched it. It tried to turn to smoke. It was most unsettling, feeling something turn from solid as you were trying to keep hold of it, but the twine worked to keep it from fading. Moira seemed to be giving it great blows with her hammer, and the Hound died a pitiful death.

We returned, triumphant, to Hirot, and share the news with the villagers. I ignored their celebrations for the most part, as the others were discussing going to the Hound's lair. It seems someone remembered the witch mentioning it might be worthwhile...

Game #3: Sketchnotes