~Date~
Three of us went to investigate the burning tree, by the time we got there, the tree was nothing but a pile of ashes. At the outer edge of the woods stood a black demon that looked much like a Balor, but it's tracks didn't match up. It laughed at us and turned, disappearing as it stepped towards the barrier of trees. We checked the tracks, but did not immediately follow, especially since they just… ended. For all we knew it was a trap to divide and conquer our party. We set about making devil's traps and setting them up at the entrances of the barn where the kids were being kept… who all snuck out while we worked and played in the village unsupervised. I could tell Fleer and Varadiel were upset, I could hear them yelling from the barn… I don't think whoever Varadiel was yelling at in the Trade tongue knew the dialect. After several hours of protective measure on my end, with the aid of several others, including hiding the traps, we were ready to follow the tracks from the other day. Arguing seems to be a common trait with some of my group and the villagers, who seemed less concerned for their children than they should be. I went and got the children's caretaker, who watched just the very young. I told Varadiel how to look for my trail markers, letting him forge ahead while I gathered the rest up to follow. Getting back to the trail was simple and fairly fast, I then followed the tracks until I came to a fork in the game trail, the tracks going onto either side. I followed the most recent trail and found my way to an eerily quiet clearing with a small pond and a cliff opposite the trail. I gave the hand signal to stop and tried sneaking quietly around the edge, to ensure no one would ambush us when we investigated it. I made it just a few feet into the thick underbrush and could hear a light, metallic clinking behind me. Bob was walking after me… WALKING. I asked her to stay, trying very hard to not let my exasperation show… I am not sure I succeeded. I turned back to continue to check the edges and heard a splash… Potter, our newest member, the gnomish wizard, threw a rock into the pool. I must try very hard to remember I am not with an experienced group of hunters, but a mixed band of adventurers flung together by fate and Father Matthias. I hissed, "What are you doing?" and was answered by a small, black metallic disk being flung from the pool, all but embedding itself in the petite wizard's forehead. It was an amulet of some sort.
Varadiel walked up to the pool, (fine, whatever, throw caution to the wind) and stepped into it, sinking immediately out of sight. Bob and I ran up and looked down, clearly seeing the bottom of the pool, but no Varadiel. I had no choice and dived in after him, an act I am sure caused some consternation with some of the others. The other side of the surface of the pool turned out to be a cave with a less than giving floor. Marcus showed up shortly after, his fall arrested by a rope tied around his waist. I stood and looked at him, before watching as he was dragged back up, to which he said, "I guess I'll be right back." Looking around showed a small chamber illuminated by some bioluminescent fungi on the walls, a staircase leading up to a mirrored surface for a ceiling and another chamber with… knickknacks just sort of piled up on the floor. I head up the stairs, poked my head through the surface and told the rest they needn't bother with the rope, there were stairs.
This place did not have the unease or chilling, corrupt feel of a demonic lair and more the whimsical, arcane touch of the Fey. Anything we picked up, we were compelled to leave something in return, so I decided to try to follow the tenets of hospitality for my friends, leaving some food on the floor for the owner of this magical pocket. I found a simple cold iron longsword on the floor that looked like it needed some care, but it called to me somehow. I picked it up, and, to not offend the Fey, I left my older sword in its stead. We left, to get back on the trail of the heavily booted figure and my old sword was flung out of the pool to me. Apparently the food counted as payment.
The other fork of the trail eventually led to a somewhat rundown manor house, a lad almost my age was skinning a deer nearby. He glanced in our direction as we approached and I felt a non-threatening approach was best, holding my hands away from my arms and walked slowly towards him and the manor. He ran to a small iron bell, ringing it, though it's sound could not carry past the edges of the clearing, obviously intent to let anyone else on the premises know of our arrival, before running to the manor and entering.
I continued my slow pace, hearing my friends follow behind me, stopping maybe ten paces from the entrance, waiting. The lad reappeared with a logging axe in hand and I told him I was not here to harm anyone, I was looking for the missing children. He replied, stating they were all there, staying with Greywind. Intrigued, I asked to speak to Greywind, but he said to leave my weapons behind. I made the counteroffer of hospitality, vowing to not draw steel to him and his without being assaulted first during this visit.
There were some mixed feelings about my offer with my group, several refusing to make the vow to enter, so I bade them stay and if they hear our battlecries, then enter, but to wait for us in the meantime. Roughly half of us entered, the lad not wanting to say more, stating Greywind would be able to explain more. He led us up the stairs to a small, but clean nursery where a large armored man stood, feeding a baby. He turned as I said, "Greywind, I presumed" his countenance made me take an involuntary step back as this was no man, but an abomination before Anubis, his head, obscured from behind my his hood, was a skull. I clenched my fist to not break my vow and draw my blade. He set the baby down and told us his story, at our prompting. His name is, or was Sir Alexsey, though he went by Greywind now. In life he was a loyal knight who followed his lord's orders without question, no matter the moral rammifications and was damned by his actions to suffer an unlife as a Deathknight in the service to a Demon Lord. It took a while, but he woke up and freed his mind from his shackles and now wanted to atone for his misdeeds. The villagers were sacrificing their firstborn to a demon in the employ of his lord, a Hellknight baron of Darax-us. He saw my ankh, and knew what it meant and gave me a vow, if we were to help him stop this Knight of Darax-us, send it back to whence it came, it would redeem him and he would finally be able to allow his soul to move on for final judgement.
We called out the window to let the others know we were OK, and that our mission had changed, I would explain outside. My original plan was to explain things to my compatriots prior to Sir Alexsey coming out… he followed me right out. I forestalled Varadiel as he reached for his hilts and told him I would explain and that the undead -would- go on as he should. We made some plans, and in the ends we had a workable plan, one the two paladins didn't like, but, so they wouldn't have to lie to the villagers, I told them to not speak to them and let me do all the talking. I have no qualms about lying, especially to end a demon's reign of terror and blood.
The Plan:
Laash looks remarkably similar to one of the girls taken, Willamina. We dressed her in little Mina's closed and I bandaged some of us, using deer blood to make them seem more authentic. Once we neared the town, Alexsey, Marcus and Varadiel were to wait in the woods by the standing stones, where the villagers performed their sacrificial ritual. I know, this was a great danger to Laash, but she agreed to it and it kept the children from harm.
How it turned out:
I carried her to the village elder and spoke somberly of a vicious fight were two of us fell, our resources exhausted, but we were able to save one child. The elder ate up my story with gusto and we gathered up our gear from the stables and headed out, saying that we could not bear this place any longer and wanted to get some leagues between us and here, wishing them a good harvest. Away we left, we did go several miles before setting up a false camp, then circled, in the woods, back around to where the others waited by the stones. The ritual did not start that night, nor the next day, but the second night, shortly after the sun sank below the horizon a torch lit up in the town, followed by another and another until it was clear all families in the town had lit torches, making a procession towards the standing stones. I told Marcus and Varadiel to wait with their gun and bow until the sacrifice was about to occur. It was hard waiting with an obviously drugged Laash being so close to us, chained to the stones as the villagers swayed, a cultist with a unique walking stick led the ritual. I remembered the stick belonging to the mayor of the village, the others looked like they were there, but not… enspelled, I assumed. The elder's voice rose in pitch and fervor until, with a crack of lightning, the demon knight appeared. Conspicuously absent was the village children's caretaker.
"Now" I breathed, starting the attack on the demon. The next minute was chaos, my band of hunters charging this denizen of the pit, attacking it as it unleashed dark bolts of energy first against Laash, then others. It screamed in outrage, a wave of raw terror washing over us like in a vast tide of dread. To my companion's credit, only one bolted in that instant of fear, Bob. Unfortunately for her, it took her turned back as an invitation, striking her down before she could take more than five paces. The villagers still swayed and hummed, the village elder kept twisting the rod in his hands back and forth, like the workings of a waterclock and I guessed that is what he used to hold sway over the others. I asked Anubis to grant my next blow a guiding hand. I readied my strike, but a powerful blow from one of the others caused the knight of Darax-us to pulse and shriek in defiance, Sir Alexsey tackled me to the ground, covering my body with his as the demon erupted into a huge burst of fire and agony. The villagers lay burnt to a crisp, my friends all lay on the ground that were nearby and the village elder looked like he was going to cast a spell. I flung my sword at him, my throw aided by the divine grace of Anubis, impaling him on its length. He started casting what he'd prepared, but was shot by Marcus, the arcane words interrupted and the spell fading. The elder was cut swiftly down, ending the nightmare.
Seraphim had healed Bob, so she was out of the blast, thankfully, when it went off, so the only ones of us who were hit were Sir Alexsey, Viktor, Fleer and well… not myself, thanks to Alexsey. As we looked around, Varadiel sank the Spike of Undead Destruction into Alexsey's skull, ending the magicks sustaining the knight. His shade appeared before us momentarily, to thank us for our help before fading away again as he went on to judgement. We took what gear the Elder had on him, though Viktor ensured the destruction of the Rod of Rulership he used to control the people. We then searched his home, getting things out of it we may need in the future, exiting to see that the rest of the village was aflame, Varadiel said he was 'cleansing' it of its evil. I am starting to question the stability of that elven hunter…
I heard snippets of talk with the children who came to thank us, Seraphim offered to take them in to be sheltered by the Church and cared for… now if only she actually said it that way. Her actual words were, "The children will go to service the church and be taken care of" After the experience they had, I am not shocked that they declined and ran away to the forest.
Our trip back to Thraben was uneventful, we'd had to hallow some ground for the burial of the dead and healing some of the wounds from that demon. We gave Father Matthias his report and he promised to vet any future requests to weed out such occurrences of clashing with villages in the future. The twin smiths told us our gear we ordered would be ready within four days. During our wait, the lovely ladies of our group decided to... bond.
I was sitting in the common room of the Bottle and Blade and saw them come down the stairs in what looked like poorly cut out tunics made from silken bedsheets, the tunics were short and belted, barely keeping them decent. Their hair was… done up I think and they may have let children do their makeup. They'd clearing been drinking and announced, loudly, that they were going to search other bars for more drinks and a good time. No good could come of this.
I quickly finished my mug of mead and waited a few seconds before slipping out after them. They were unarmed, unarmored and drunk… our luck was not the best so I followed them to make sure they'd be safe, Marcus came with me.
I admit, I am partly to blame. Fleer came to me earlier in the day, requesting a salve to remove hair. I mixed her up some and explained it's use. The first tavern they hit, everyone seemed interested until they asked them to buy a drink for Laash… who looked like a child Fleer and Bob were trying to sell to others. In fact, guardsman were summoned, unbeknownst to the girls, and I had to explain to them that they were fresh off an adventure, no she wasn't a child, she was in fact older than myself or the guards and was a gnome. I then had to explain what gnomes are, as they are not ever seen in Innistrad. The girls left to go to another bar, Marcus and I his around the sides as they left. The guards stayed with us, following the girls. They drew their weapons when Laash changed to a fox, leaving her tunic behind, picked up by Bob. I had to hastily explain she was a druid, not a lycanthrope. My headache mounted and I was sure my flask was not going to last the night. They went bar, to bar, the guards following us until their shift ended. I'd tried to sneakily watch them in the guard's cloak, but they were more perceptive than I gave them credit for. The only two bars left was an upperclass tavern called the Boar's Head, or a rough and tumble dive where barbarians and possible lycanthropes visited. I guided the girls to the more upscale establishment, but they were turned away at the door. Fleer gushed at how soft and smooth her legs... and elsewhere were, asking me to feel them. I obliged, but since she was not in her right mind, I abstained from more. They dragged us to the last tavern, the people there obviously not from Thraben, barely wearing clothes themselves. They girls fit right in and my flask was empty. Marcus and I took a seat at a table where we could watch them flirt, but also keep any from trying too much with our friends. They made quick friends with someone claiming to be a Jarl of their clan, speaking openly about shifting… speaking of shifting, our resident petite druid got wrapped up in my cloak, changing back to gnome on my lap… I was not quite comfortable with that. By the time the girls were ready to go, they could barely walk. I hoisted Fleer onto one shoulder, Laash on my hip as Marcus carried Bob. They loudly proclaimed their want to find Viktor and tell him of their new friend. They started yelling for him in the streets, not listening to us beg for their silence.
We were arrested for breaking the peace, but released after an hour on the word of Father Matthias. The bad part of it was, the girls were going to resist arrest, so Marcus and I had to carry them to jail with us. We eventually got back to the Bottle and Blade and I am positive by the racket being made downstairs right now that they woke up most of the people here. I politely asked for a bath to be drawn in my room, since Fleer had vomited on my cloak from where she was draped over my shoulder. I took the two I had and put them in by bed to sleep things off, doffing my cloak and removing their clothes so they wouldn't get choked by those ridiculous tunics in their sleep. Fleer passed out mid-sentence, possibly having hit her head on the wall when she sat up to try to call out for Viktor again. Either way, I have not slept yet and the kitchen crew, wait staff and even the patrons are making the worst racket possible. If it's to punish the girls, then they are misguided as I made the foolish decision to give them all doses of my alchemist's friend for the nights when my nightmares are the worst.
