[This continues the story of Rogier the bard, a warforged called Gravedigger and a goliath paladin known as Uthmar Shatterstone. They have arrived at the mysteriously deserted town of Everaska and have just recently been mucking about with standing stones in a graveyard.]
DAY 15
Our brave heroes returned once more to Everaska, having healed and rested overnight.
Their next building to be investigated was a large inn. They started by going to the bar. Strangely candles were still burning, emitting light, but not flickering. Gravedigger took a close look and saw that the flames were not moving.
'Check for pink fleshy nonsense!' he told the others.
There were no "mimic" signs though, all appeared normal, even the food and drink seemed fresh. Past the bar, in another common area, there were four weirdos sat at a table, two men and two women. They were dressed in robes and seemed to be engaged in some sort of ritual.
They had their hands on the table, muttering in an unknown language as their heads nodded. They were all in their mid-thirties, their eyes were open but glazed over.
Gravedigger checked the pockets of one of them, who grabbed him by the wrist and stated into his eyes with a powerful gaze.
'Sorry mate,' apologised Gravedigger. 'I'm not looking for loose change or snotty hankies, I'm looking for clues as to what happened to the town.'
Whatever his motivations were, he had interrupted the ritual and the people could now be talked to.
In answer to Gravedigger's questions he was told;
'Oh don't worry, the people are perfectly safe, they followed the Guide.'
'Who is that?'
'He is our saviour. The Guide to Beyond.'
'Who are you?'
'We were out of town at the time of the "happening" so we are trying to reconnect
with the guide, we were in a trance trying to reconnect, yes.'
'what does the guide look like?'
'Oh, he's hard to describe , he most often appears as a well dressed gent in a stove pipe hat and a long blank coat. As a human, but he's supernatural , a guide to beyond this mortal realm.'
Gravedigger was baffled by all this. Demons? Deities? Outsiders? Who knew. He mentioned the giant mimic house, the man seemed surprised but thankful for the warning.
'I guess the townsfolk are never coming back?' asked Gravedigger.
'Yes, they have gone to paradise.'
'Did people set their affairs in order, like send letters to their auntie?'
'Some may have, I suppose.'
While Gravedigger was, you know, advancing the quest, the other two were looting the inn, taking anything they could find that looked valuable, including sets of weights, ribbons, herbs, cheese, buckles and flasks, sausages, perfume apples and papers.
Our three heroes met for lunch, then Gravedigger went back to where the cultists were, while the other two went to drink and play the piano in another room.
Gravedigger watched the four cultists as the chanted. The chanting grew faster and faster until it reached a crescendo. They then snapped upright and all looked over at the startled warforged.
They're eyes glowed green and they started levitating from their chairs. Gravedigger backed away from them as they came towards him with their arms out.
Gravedigger went to where the others were and said, 'they're floating!' But when they went back to the common room the four were sat at the table as normal.
Rogier played a tune on his lute, then passed the cap around. The four cultists seemed to vaguely acknowledge his presence.
After that they waited to see what was going to happen next. By six o'clock though the cultists got up and went downstairs to get some food.
Gravedigger stayed in the common room. He found it all very baffling. He tried to listen to the "voices" and received a vision of blood running down the walls.
He began to think that half the things that were going on in the town was the result of some sinister force causing hallucinations.
Gravedigger focused again on the "voices" but this time they inflicted him with a murderous rage - just as had had happened at the standing stones. He ran out of the inn and rampaged around for a minute or two until he calmed down.
He was at the end of his patience now and told the four cultists that they had to come out of the town and talk to Lady Viers - or else!
Once at the Lady's pavilion, two of them made a run for it. Uthmar chased and battered one of them, Gravedigger shot the other with a Sacred Flame. At that point the other two ran for it. Our heroes then gave chase. Once the dust had settled, three were knocked out and one had been Charmed.
Gravedigger took the charmed one over to talk to Lady Viers. He told her about the 'Guide' and how the townsfolk had gone 'Beyond'.
'That is not what ... I have heard ...' she said. 'How confident are you this is accurate?'
'Not very,' admitted Gravedigger.
'Where did you find them?' she asked.
'In the pub...'
Gravedigger gave a metallic sigh. Trying to figure out what had happened in Everaska was turning out to be like trying to grasp hold of smoke. He looked over to where Rogier and
Uthmar were having an animated argument about what leg you should put in your trousers first when dressing in the morning.
There would not be much help from that quarter, he realised!
