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<blockquote data-quote="Altalazar" data-source="post: 3405144" data-attributes="member: 939"><p>Notes – Chapter Seventy-Seven – I make some new friends</p><p></p><p> We headed back to the small town near the mountain. After dispensing with the fungible goods we had liberated, we had nearly seventeen thousand gold coins for each of us. We also had a fair number of items that were magic. I had no use for any of them, save a small necklace of beads that allowed me to bless and heal. I ended up with two suits of full plate armor that were enchanted to better protect the wearer. They were too restrictive for me to do my magic, but one suit fit on Blackberry quite nicely. The other suit I will get to in a moment. </p><p> My biggest portion of the booty was the five bodies of the men, the harpy’s body, and the sphinx’s body. I made two new zombie friends out of the harpy and sphinx, and then I made my very first personal bodyguard out four of the other bodies. It was a fascinating ritual. First, I had to cut holes into one of the bodies. Then I had to drain all of the blood out of three of the others, and magically channel all of it into the first body until it was bursting at the seams with blood. It was a veritable blood hulk. I named him Rankin. He is my first bodyguard. And so I gave him the other suit of full plate armor. He looks quite handsome in his armor. He does me proud. But there is something missing. </p><p> I returned to our keep, and gathered together all of my friends. I introduced my new friends, including four new human alabaster beauties that I created for the occasion. About half of them could only stand there, their faces blank. I could almost hear them screaming to be released. I knew what was missing and what I had to do. </p><p> It took some time, but I marched all of my friends to the Great Old One. I again offered him one hundred ninety one platinum to do his great ritual. And thus the eyes of more friends were opened, including my new alabaster beauties, my new bodyguard, BR, my new harpy friend, and my new sphinx friend, whom I named Tessa. </p><p> When I was on the road back to the keep, Willow came running up with Breeze. </p><p> “I was looking everywhere for you,” she said. “Where is the sphinx’s body?” I pointed to the wagon, where Tessa was busily pulling it forward. Willow stepped forward and touched the sphinx, weaving her magic. </p><p> Suddenly, another body appeared next to the sphinx, to meet the sphinx’s essence. It was a large spidery form. The form held there a moment, then resolved itself into a humanoid. </p><p> “Welcome back,” said Willow. She then introduced the new-body sphinx to her old body. “This is Tessa – is that okay with you, that name?” </p><p> “That is not me,” said the spider-turned-humanoid sphinx. “I have nothing more to say on that.” </p><p></p><p></p><p> Notes – Chapter Seventy-Eight – Balor misses his mark, we redeem our hammer</p><p></p><p> When my friends returned to the keep, I heard a sad tale from Balor. Apparently his new friends had asked him to provide a service for someone that turned out to be the halfling we had met. Only he did not realize the halflling (who apparently was an ogre magi) was the one he was supposed to provide the service for (or was it on?) Balor tried to track him, but could not determine his path through the woods. </p><p> “Don’t worry,” I told him, “you can make more friends.” </p><p> We prepared ourselves for another expedition. I finally was able to obtain my skull-rod of friend mastery, and so greatly increased the number of friends I could have at one time within my circle. I also obtained another rod to extend how long my enchantments would last, and so I can now make Blackberry my lieutenant for two days at a time. Blackberry is proud to serve. </p><p> Our affairs in order, we returned to the town near the keep. There, we gave the hammer, Whelm, to its former owner and told him the tale of how we got it. He was very sad to hear that the former owner was a vampire. </p><p> “I know, it is a tragedy,” I told him, “we had to destroy a vampire.” </p><p> “Well, at least he’s not roaming the land as undead,” he replied. Before I knew what I was doing, I was about to touch him and drain the life out of him, but Rankin stopped me. Good bodyguard. Willow was standing behind him. </p><p> We returned to the street, Rankin following behind me, his features hidden well by his full plate armor. We ran into Reg, out on the street patrolling for the festival. I had not realized there was a festival. Everyone was dressed as if they were one of my friends. They called it the Midsummer parade. The one day of the year when all of my friends could walk the streets without worry of the horrible bigotry of the cattle. </p><p> “What wonderful costumes,” Reg said, referring to my friends. He looked carefully at them a moment, before returning his eyes to crowd control. Reg seemed more concerned about order than the fun of the festival. He needed a vacation, I think. Or the freedom of being one of my friends. </p><p> “Did you manage to take care of Riikan Dack’s needs?” Reg asked. </p><p> “Yes, we did. Unfortunately, we were forced to kill a vampire,” I said, echoed by the Marshall. </p><p> Reg managed to roll his eyes at us without looking at us, a feat I found particularly impressive, as he said, “you guys are becoming a really good group of heroes.” </p><p> “Thank you,” we said. “If there are any other needs, be sure to let us know.” </p><p> “Have you noticed how the woodland creatures have returned to the land?” asked Willow.</p><p> “I did not notice the critters were missing,” Reg replied. </p><p> “How could you not know??” Willow retorted, and this time it was I who restrained her from pummeling the Paladin. I had to remind her that the land would return regardless of Reg’s notice. Reg must not have noticed the sign we posted, which read: </p><p> </p><p> Hunting for food only. </p><p> No Hunting Animals. </p><p> </p><p> As we were about to depart, Reg voiced a need. “We have a training program for youths who are to join the city guard. I was hoping to give them a test run of their skills. Might they find some good training at the keep?”</p><p> “Why of course,” the Marshall said, “there is a lot of training they can get done there.” </p><p> I hoped that they would not hurt my friends. But then maybe they can be good practice! If anything happens to the youths, they can always join my ranks. </p><p> We returned to the road to the keep after enjoying the festival. </p><p></p><p>Book VI</p><p></p><p> Notes – Chapter Seventy-Nine – Puppy runs, Pixie plums </p><p></p><p> When we were almost back to the keep, one of Willow’s puppies suddenly ran away from us and headed off the road and into the woods. We quickly ran after him, finally catching up to him in a small clearing, where the puppy had trapped underneath his paws a small creature. </p><p> The creature was less than three feet tall, wore bright clothes, had curly-toed boots, and had small wings that were pressed into the dirt underneath him as the puppy held him down. </p><p> “Fluffy, what do you have there?” Willow asked. </p><p> “Help me, get him off me,” the small creature said in Sylvan. </p><p> “That’s not much of a meal,” I replied helpfully to Fluffy. </p><p> “Get off him,” Willow said to Fluffy, and Fluffy let him go. </p><p> “Are you the one that made the animals reappear and the forest bright?” the little being asked. </p><p> “Yes,” said Willow, “I am. What brings you here?”</p><p> “Something has been hunting my kind,” the little pixie said. </p><p> “Are they hunting animals too?” I asked. </p><p> “Other creatures that speak my language,” he said. “We keep finding them dead. We find tracks leading back to the village nearby. I’m afraid that it is trying to convince us to go after the village.” </p><p> “Humans do a lot of damage,” Willow said helpfully.</p><p> “I don’t think it is the village,” said the Marshall. “I think this creature, whatever it is, is just trying to trick you.” </p><p> “We will help you,” Willow said. “Lead us to your friends.”</p><p> “They won’t talk to outsiders,” said the pixie, “But I will lead you to our wood. I have been watching you for a while. That was why I let your puppy catch me.” </p><p> Though it was only two days through the woods, we took the long way around on the roads so I could bring my two carts. Midsummer festival was over and I needed to have my friends with me, free of bigotry. After a week’s travel, we made our way to the pixie’s wood. </p><p></p><p> Notes – Chapter Eighty – Woods outside Pearl Glenn</p><p></p><p> Dusty the pixie took us all the way to the scene of the latest body, a dead dryad. He said that they had tried to raise her and failed and tried to reincarnate her and failed. </p><p> “I bet I can raise her,” I said, but Willow suggested I wait on that. </p><p> The next body he showed us was of a nymph. Like the dryad, there was little left of her. The tracks from the scene headed back toward the nearby village of Pearl Glenn. </p><p> Willow thought that the damage to the bodies could have been done by one or more very large bears. I think she was right, but only because of what happened later. </p><p> Dusty asked me how I could raise them. I explained about zombies. </p><p> “Zombies live in harmony with nature. Humans aren’t so good with nature (though they are good sources of food). But zombies are good and in perfect harmony with nature. They don’t consume anything. They don’t have any need to venture beyond their basic duties. The world would be a much better place if there were more zombies in it.”</p><p> Dusty listened with eyes wide. I think I got through to him. The Marshall also tried to convince him, but he told the Marshall, “your words dripped in sugar won’t change who I am.” </p><p> We turned toward town. Dusty said he would not come with us, but, “come to this tree here and leave something of yourselves. I will find you.” </p><p> Willow suggested leaving some of her blood, but I told her we could just leave a ghoul. </p><p></p><p> Notes – Chapter Eighty-One – Pearl Glenn – Home of the Shrine of the Feathered Serpent</p><p></p><p> The village was surrounded with a wooden stockade. It looked rustic, but quant, nestled in the middle of the vast woods. It was just the sort of village that Willow would happily burn to the ground. But I would not let her do that. Fire tends to ruin the bodies. </p><p> “Halt travelers!” yelled a guard at the gate as we approached. “You must pay one silver per person and animal and three silver per cart.” </p><p> “How much per un-dea…” I started to ask before Willow elbowed me. Such bigotry is everywhere. </p><p> We told him we were here because something was killing things out in the forest. He still asked for a toll.</p><p> “Why pay a toll? Why is there a toll?” the Marshall asked. </p><p> “To support the civic project,” he replied in that nice vague manner town guards everywhere have perfected. </p><p> “What project?” </p><p> “I don’t know what it is,” the guard replied. “But people also come here to see the great feathered serpent statue. Don’t you know the story of it?” </p><p> “No, we do not,” said the Marshall. “Please tell us.” </p><p> “Well, I don’t have time, there are others waiting in line!” said the guard, gesturing to the long line that had formed behind us. </p><p> “Here, take this,” said the Marshall, handing him a handful of four gold coins. “That ought to cover us.” </p><p> “Well, if you put it that way, then I don’t think I’ll be needing to look in the carts, either,” said the guard. My dozen special friends huddling in the two carts breathed a sigh of relief. Or was it disappointment? “And as for the shrine, some say it has miraculous powers. You might find out more at the inn, the Village Tapp.” </p><p> We then bid our good bye and headed into town. A few moments later, Balor joined us, and then handed each of us a gold coin. “Here’s your money back, Marshall, and then some,” he said. “Now I just have to get rid of the guard’s pouch, lest he notice it on us when he comes looking for his gold.” </p><p> “Here, give that to me,” I said. </p><p> Balor handed me the small pouch. I handed it to Rankin, who then opened his full plate visor and put it in his mouth. </p><p> “Rankin will eat it,” I told Balor. And he did. The belt pouch vanished down into his massive girth. </p><p></p><p> Notes – Chapter Eighty-Two – Village Tapp</p><p></p><p> Just outside the inn was a centaur, begging for coins. Willow stopped to talk to him. He looked pretty mangled and downtrodden. “Would you like a new life,” she asked him, “you can join us.” I wondered if she was referring to giving him a whole new body. </p><p> “Leave me alone,” he replied. Everyone but Willow went inside the inn. </p><p> We found lots of travelers inside. We started to talk to them. The Marshall heard that the main village priest, a priest of Pelor named Kalina, left about a week ago. </p><p> “Did she destroy undead,” I interrupted, but the tale continued. </p><p> The statue of the feathered serpent tale then followed. </p><p> “The statue is watched by the wardens,” we were told. “The statue was built to honor a feathered serpent, a Coutl, who came to our village in its darkest hour. There was a plague across the land, and our small village had no clerics to protect it. Then the serpent came, and he cured us and sequestered us, and helped us bury our infected dead, who lie still in the huge cemetery on the other side of town. His name was Tlanextic. After saving our town, we built a magnificent wooden statue in his honor. The plague gone, he left, but he promised to look in on us from time to time.” </p><p> Another patron interrupted his companion’s tale, “And now he has! Tlanextic has returned!” </p><p> “When?” we asked. </p><p> “A week ago! That was also when the warden was killed.” </p><p> “Hmm,” the Marshall said quietly, “that seems rather convenient. When can we go see the shrine?” </p><p> “Well, the wardens put the kibosh on seeing the shrine a week ago. Ever seen the undead in the graveyard rose up and killed the head warden.” </p><p> “What? What undead?” I asked. </p><p> “Plague victims, rising from their graves, I hear!” whispered one patron. </p><p> “Who is the new warden,” asked the Marshall. </p><p> “That would be Larius, he’s at the blockhouse, where the wardens are housed.” </p><p> Time to visit the shrine. </p><p></p><p> Notes – Chapter Eighty-Three – Shrine and Blockhouse</p><p></p><p> The shrine turned out to be a large wooden building. Once we were inside, we immediately noticed a discrepancy. </p><p> “Where’s the statue?”</p><p> “Oh, we had to move it,” answered a voice behind us, a voice attached to Hetagg of Pelor, the acting head of the shrine. I noticed his prominent holy symbol of Pelor around his neck. I wondered how many poor, innocent undead were slaughtered by that infernal thing. I wondered how many potential friends had that cursed symbol be the last thing they ever saw. I leaned over to Belor and whispered in his ear. </p><p> “Since you are here to help, there is no harm telling you this. Tlanextic came back to help prevent something, some great evil, much like he did before. He needs to create a great ward for us, and so we have been gathering all of the gold that we can to give him for this task. He is holed up in the ancient temple near town. If you want to help us, the first thing you can do is take care of the undead in the graveyard.” </p><p> “Oh, we can do that,” said the Marshall, “and what do you want us to do for the second minute?” </p><p> “What is this ward stone supposed to do?” I asked.</p><p> “Protect us from the great evil, of course!” Hetagg replied. “We appreciate your donations at the gate, by the way!”</p><p> “Oh, we’d be happy to give again,” replied Balor. Balor then repeated, under his breath, “and again and again and again. The same gold, even.” </p><p> “What about the wardens,” I asked. </p><p> “Oh, the blockhouse is off limits to the public. But perhaps he can make an exception for you.” </p><p> We then left the shrine and headed for the blockhouse. On the way out, Belor came up to me and handed me something. I looked down and saw I was holding Hetagg’s holy symbol of Pelor. “He won’t be needed this anymore,” I said. “Here Rankin,” I said as I opened his visor and Rankin took it into his mouth and chewed it into tiny bits before swallowing it. </p><p>At the blockhouse, we met Larius, the new warden leader, a gnome. Along with him was a wolf. Breeze made an introduction. The wolf’s name was Atraeus. Larius seemed particularly interested in Rankin, trying to look beyond his visor. Rankin was unrattled and did not let him see his face. </p><p>We told Larius we would help, starting with the graveyard. </p><p>“I believe there were skeletons there that took down the warden,” he said. “Do you need an escort to get there?”</p><p>“Oh no, we don’t need an escort,” the Marshall replied, not wanting our whole party to be seen by the gnome. With that, we left. </p><p></p><p>Notes – Chapter Eighty-Four – Graveyard Shift </p><p></p><p>The graveyard was easy to find. We set up watches that lasted all night and then proceeded to search the whole place. We did find many graves recently dug up and then recovered, including the warden’s grave. I had my ghoulish friends dig into the loose dirt to see what they could find. All of the graves were empty. </p><p>Waiting all night was a disappointment. No one was there. No friends. No enemies. No visitors. By the break of dawn, we were all tired, so we slept, then we returned to town. </p><p>Balor had a separate tale to tell from the night. He went to the shrine to search it for all these donations. While he was inside, searching, the priest came and asked “who is in there? Are you a ghost?” The priest then apparently began to prepare to turn, “by the power of Pelor, I… where’s my??“ and then Balor heard his rapidly retreating footsteps. </p><p> After we were gathered up together, we set out for the ancient temple outside of town. </p><p></p><p> Notes – Chapter Eighty-Five – Narrow Path to the Temple</p><p></p><p> The path through the woods was narrow and difficult. We had to leave the carts behind. It was uneventful, until the temple was almost in sight. Then we saw three large dire bears blocking the path. They were eating a large pile of berries. They did not look like they would share. </p><p> Willow ran forward, her instincts telling her that they were about to attack us. Unfortunately, her instincts did not warn her that three dire bears could pretty quickly rip her to shreds, which they proceeded to start to do. I sent Blackberry ahead to cover her retreat while Balor sent a few arrows into the side of the largest one. Willow and Breeze pulled back into the thicket off the trail, barely alive. </p><p> The bears then proceeded to shred Blackberry’s poor flesh, and so I had Blackberry retreat soon after, and sent up three of my ghouls to engage the bears. I had already cast zombie haste on my zombies, and so then I proceeded to weave one of my newer enchantments, granting a blazing fire to my undead friends that they could use as they struck. Blue and Benson ripped into a bear, tearing out its flesh and burning it, though it still did not go down. The Marshall tried to flank it, but could not get around the thick brush. Then an arrow came from our left and struck Blackberry. There was someone else here!</p><p> I sent Tessa up into the sky to deal with our sniper. She found a wooden platform, enclosed, in a tree nearby, and proceeded to begin to rip the roof off of the structure. Whomever was inside could not see her, so he or she kept shooting arrows at us. </p><p> The bear on Blue and Benson quickly ripped both of them to shreds, and the other bears rushed forward. We finally took one of them out as Selena sent lightning through several of them. Then, when there was only one left, he rushed forward and managed someone to sniff my scent out of all of the others on the path, and attacked me. I nearly died from the wounds it quickly made. Fortunately for us, where it moved left us to surround him, and he quickly died. Then the huge ball of fire erupted from the berries, killing ghoul Stabler, and nearly killing several of my laboratory assistants. </p><p> Tessa finally ripped open the bunker, but found no one inside. Whomever it was had fled. </p><p> I surveyed our group after the fight was over. We had expended half our magic. We had nearly lost four of our primary numbers, and we had lost three of my dear ghoul friends. By the time we were fully healed, we had almost nothing left in reserve. It looked like the temple would have to wait. I mourned the passing of my friends. It is sad when you lose a friend. Especially three all at once. I looked at the three large bear corpses and began to think.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Altalazar, post: 3405144, member: 939"] Notes – Chapter Seventy-Seven – I make some new friends We headed back to the small town near the mountain. After dispensing with the fungible goods we had liberated, we had nearly seventeen thousand gold coins for each of us. We also had a fair number of items that were magic. I had no use for any of them, save a small necklace of beads that allowed me to bless and heal. I ended up with two suits of full plate armor that were enchanted to better protect the wearer. They were too restrictive for me to do my magic, but one suit fit on Blackberry quite nicely. The other suit I will get to in a moment. My biggest portion of the booty was the five bodies of the men, the harpy’s body, and the sphinx’s body. I made two new zombie friends out of the harpy and sphinx, and then I made my very first personal bodyguard out four of the other bodies. It was a fascinating ritual. First, I had to cut holes into one of the bodies. Then I had to drain all of the blood out of three of the others, and magically channel all of it into the first body until it was bursting at the seams with blood. It was a veritable blood hulk. I named him Rankin. He is my first bodyguard. And so I gave him the other suit of full plate armor. He looks quite handsome in his armor. He does me proud. But there is something missing. I returned to our keep, and gathered together all of my friends. I introduced my new friends, including four new human alabaster beauties that I created for the occasion. About half of them could only stand there, their faces blank. I could almost hear them screaming to be released. I knew what was missing and what I had to do. It took some time, but I marched all of my friends to the Great Old One. I again offered him one hundred ninety one platinum to do his great ritual. And thus the eyes of more friends were opened, including my new alabaster beauties, my new bodyguard, BR, my new harpy friend, and my new sphinx friend, whom I named Tessa. When I was on the road back to the keep, Willow came running up with Breeze. “I was looking everywhere for you,” she said. “Where is the sphinx’s body?” I pointed to the wagon, where Tessa was busily pulling it forward. Willow stepped forward and touched the sphinx, weaving her magic. Suddenly, another body appeared next to the sphinx, to meet the sphinx’s essence. It was a large spidery form. The form held there a moment, then resolved itself into a humanoid. “Welcome back,” said Willow. She then introduced the new-body sphinx to her old body. “This is Tessa – is that okay with you, that name?” “That is not me,” said the spider-turned-humanoid sphinx. “I have nothing more to say on that.” Notes – Chapter Seventy-Eight – Balor misses his mark, we redeem our hammer When my friends returned to the keep, I heard a sad tale from Balor. Apparently his new friends had asked him to provide a service for someone that turned out to be the halfling we had met. Only he did not realize the halflling (who apparently was an ogre magi) was the one he was supposed to provide the service for (or was it on?) Balor tried to track him, but could not determine his path through the woods. “Don’t worry,” I told him, “you can make more friends.” We prepared ourselves for another expedition. I finally was able to obtain my skull-rod of friend mastery, and so greatly increased the number of friends I could have at one time within my circle. I also obtained another rod to extend how long my enchantments would last, and so I can now make Blackberry my lieutenant for two days at a time. Blackberry is proud to serve. Our affairs in order, we returned to the town near the keep. There, we gave the hammer, Whelm, to its former owner and told him the tale of how we got it. He was very sad to hear that the former owner was a vampire. “I know, it is a tragedy,” I told him, “we had to destroy a vampire.” “Well, at least he’s not roaming the land as undead,” he replied. Before I knew what I was doing, I was about to touch him and drain the life out of him, but Rankin stopped me. Good bodyguard. Willow was standing behind him. We returned to the street, Rankin following behind me, his features hidden well by his full plate armor. We ran into Reg, out on the street patrolling for the festival. I had not realized there was a festival. Everyone was dressed as if they were one of my friends. They called it the Midsummer parade. The one day of the year when all of my friends could walk the streets without worry of the horrible bigotry of the cattle. “What wonderful costumes,” Reg said, referring to my friends. He looked carefully at them a moment, before returning his eyes to crowd control. Reg seemed more concerned about order than the fun of the festival. He needed a vacation, I think. Or the freedom of being one of my friends. “Did you manage to take care of Riikan Dack’s needs?” Reg asked. “Yes, we did. Unfortunately, we were forced to kill a vampire,” I said, echoed by the Marshall. Reg managed to roll his eyes at us without looking at us, a feat I found particularly impressive, as he said, “you guys are becoming a really good group of heroes.” “Thank you,” we said. “If there are any other needs, be sure to let us know.” “Have you noticed how the woodland creatures have returned to the land?” asked Willow. “I did not notice the critters were missing,” Reg replied. “How could you not know??” Willow retorted, and this time it was I who restrained her from pummeling the Paladin. I had to remind her that the land would return regardless of Reg’s notice. Reg must not have noticed the sign we posted, which read: Hunting for food only. No Hunting Animals. As we were about to depart, Reg voiced a need. “We have a training program for youths who are to join the city guard. I was hoping to give them a test run of their skills. Might they find some good training at the keep?” “Why of course,” the Marshall said, “there is a lot of training they can get done there.” I hoped that they would not hurt my friends. But then maybe they can be good practice! If anything happens to the youths, they can always join my ranks. We returned to the road to the keep after enjoying the festival. Book VI Notes – Chapter Seventy-Nine – Puppy runs, Pixie plums When we were almost back to the keep, one of Willow’s puppies suddenly ran away from us and headed off the road and into the woods. We quickly ran after him, finally catching up to him in a small clearing, where the puppy had trapped underneath his paws a small creature. The creature was less than three feet tall, wore bright clothes, had curly-toed boots, and had small wings that were pressed into the dirt underneath him as the puppy held him down. “Fluffy, what do you have there?” Willow asked. “Help me, get him off me,” the small creature said in Sylvan. “That’s not much of a meal,” I replied helpfully to Fluffy. “Get off him,” Willow said to Fluffy, and Fluffy let him go. “Are you the one that made the animals reappear and the forest bright?” the little being asked. “Yes,” said Willow, “I am. What brings you here?” “Something has been hunting my kind,” the little pixie said. “Are they hunting animals too?” I asked. “Other creatures that speak my language,” he said. “We keep finding them dead. We find tracks leading back to the village nearby. I’m afraid that it is trying to convince us to go after the village.” “Humans do a lot of damage,” Willow said helpfully. “I don’t think it is the village,” said the Marshall. “I think this creature, whatever it is, is just trying to trick you.” “We will help you,” Willow said. “Lead us to your friends.” “They won’t talk to outsiders,” said the pixie, “But I will lead you to our wood. I have been watching you for a while. That was why I let your puppy catch me.” Though it was only two days through the woods, we took the long way around on the roads so I could bring my two carts. Midsummer festival was over and I needed to have my friends with me, free of bigotry. After a week’s travel, we made our way to the pixie’s wood. Notes – Chapter Eighty – Woods outside Pearl Glenn Dusty the pixie took us all the way to the scene of the latest body, a dead dryad. He said that they had tried to raise her and failed and tried to reincarnate her and failed. “I bet I can raise her,” I said, but Willow suggested I wait on that. The next body he showed us was of a nymph. Like the dryad, there was little left of her. The tracks from the scene headed back toward the nearby village of Pearl Glenn. Willow thought that the damage to the bodies could have been done by one or more very large bears. I think she was right, but only because of what happened later. Dusty asked me how I could raise them. I explained about zombies. “Zombies live in harmony with nature. Humans aren’t so good with nature (though they are good sources of food). But zombies are good and in perfect harmony with nature. They don’t consume anything. They don’t have any need to venture beyond their basic duties. The world would be a much better place if there were more zombies in it.” Dusty listened with eyes wide. I think I got through to him. The Marshall also tried to convince him, but he told the Marshall, “your words dripped in sugar won’t change who I am.” We turned toward town. Dusty said he would not come with us, but, “come to this tree here and leave something of yourselves. I will find you.” Willow suggested leaving some of her blood, but I told her we could just leave a ghoul. Notes – Chapter Eighty-One – Pearl Glenn – Home of the Shrine of the Feathered Serpent The village was surrounded with a wooden stockade. It looked rustic, but quant, nestled in the middle of the vast woods. It was just the sort of village that Willow would happily burn to the ground. But I would not let her do that. Fire tends to ruin the bodies. “Halt travelers!” yelled a guard at the gate as we approached. “You must pay one silver per person and animal and three silver per cart.” “How much per un-dea…” I started to ask before Willow elbowed me. Such bigotry is everywhere. We told him we were here because something was killing things out in the forest. He still asked for a toll. “Why pay a toll? Why is there a toll?” the Marshall asked. “To support the civic project,” he replied in that nice vague manner town guards everywhere have perfected. “What project?” “I don’t know what it is,” the guard replied. “But people also come here to see the great feathered serpent statue. Don’t you know the story of it?” “No, we do not,” said the Marshall. “Please tell us.” “Well, I don’t have time, there are others waiting in line!” said the guard, gesturing to the long line that had formed behind us. “Here, take this,” said the Marshall, handing him a handful of four gold coins. “That ought to cover us.” “Well, if you put it that way, then I don’t think I’ll be needing to look in the carts, either,” said the guard. My dozen special friends huddling in the two carts breathed a sigh of relief. Or was it disappointment? “And as for the shrine, some say it has miraculous powers. You might find out more at the inn, the Village Tapp.” We then bid our good bye and headed into town. A few moments later, Balor joined us, and then handed each of us a gold coin. “Here’s your money back, Marshall, and then some,” he said. “Now I just have to get rid of the guard’s pouch, lest he notice it on us when he comes looking for his gold.” “Here, give that to me,” I said. Balor handed me the small pouch. I handed it to Rankin, who then opened his full plate visor and put it in his mouth. “Rankin will eat it,” I told Balor. And he did. The belt pouch vanished down into his massive girth. Notes – Chapter Eighty-Two – Village Tapp Just outside the inn was a centaur, begging for coins. Willow stopped to talk to him. He looked pretty mangled and downtrodden. “Would you like a new life,” she asked him, “you can join us.” I wondered if she was referring to giving him a whole new body. “Leave me alone,” he replied. Everyone but Willow went inside the inn. We found lots of travelers inside. We started to talk to them. The Marshall heard that the main village priest, a priest of Pelor named Kalina, left about a week ago. “Did she destroy undead,” I interrupted, but the tale continued. The statue of the feathered serpent tale then followed. “The statue is watched by the wardens,” we were told. “The statue was built to honor a feathered serpent, a Coutl, who came to our village in its darkest hour. There was a plague across the land, and our small village had no clerics to protect it. Then the serpent came, and he cured us and sequestered us, and helped us bury our infected dead, who lie still in the huge cemetery on the other side of town. His name was Tlanextic. After saving our town, we built a magnificent wooden statue in his honor. The plague gone, he left, but he promised to look in on us from time to time.” Another patron interrupted his companion’s tale, “And now he has! Tlanextic has returned!” “When?” we asked. “A week ago! That was also when the warden was killed.” “Hmm,” the Marshall said quietly, “that seems rather convenient. When can we go see the shrine?” “Well, the wardens put the kibosh on seeing the shrine a week ago. Ever seen the undead in the graveyard rose up and killed the head warden.” “What? What undead?” I asked. “Plague victims, rising from their graves, I hear!” whispered one patron. “Who is the new warden,” asked the Marshall. “That would be Larius, he’s at the blockhouse, where the wardens are housed.” Time to visit the shrine. Notes – Chapter Eighty-Three – Shrine and Blockhouse The shrine turned out to be a large wooden building. Once we were inside, we immediately noticed a discrepancy. “Where’s the statue?” “Oh, we had to move it,” answered a voice behind us, a voice attached to Hetagg of Pelor, the acting head of the shrine. I noticed his prominent holy symbol of Pelor around his neck. I wondered how many poor, innocent undead were slaughtered by that infernal thing. I wondered how many potential friends had that cursed symbol be the last thing they ever saw. I leaned over to Belor and whispered in his ear. “Since you are here to help, there is no harm telling you this. Tlanextic came back to help prevent something, some great evil, much like he did before. He needs to create a great ward for us, and so we have been gathering all of the gold that we can to give him for this task. He is holed up in the ancient temple near town. If you want to help us, the first thing you can do is take care of the undead in the graveyard.” “Oh, we can do that,” said the Marshall, “and what do you want us to do for the second minute?” “What is this ward stone supposed to do?” I asked. “Protect us from the great evil, of course!” Hetagg replied. “We appreciate your donations at the gate, by the way!” “Oh, we’d be happy to give again,” replied Balor. Balor then repeated, under his breath, “and again and again and again. The same gold, even.” “What about the wardens,” I asked. “Oh, the blockhouse is off limits to the public. But perhaps he can make an exception for you.” We then left the shrine and headed for the blockhouse. On the way out, Belor came up to me and handed me something. I looked down and saw I was holding Hetagg’s holy symbol of Pelor. “He won’t be needed this anymore,” I said. “Here Rankin,” I said as I opened his visor and Rankin took it into his mouth and chewed it into tiny bits before swallowing it. At the blockhouse, we met Larius, the new warden leader, a gnome. Along with him was a wolf. Breeze made an introduction. The wolf’s name was Atraeus. Larius seemed particularly interested in Rankin, trying to look beyond his visor. Rankin was unrattled and did not let him see his face. We told Larius we would help, starting with the graveyard. “I believe there were skeletons there that took down the warden,” he said. “Do you need an escort to get there?” “Oh no, we don’t need an escort,” the Marshall replied, not wanting our whole party to be seen by the gnome. With that, we left. Notes – Chapter Eighty-Four – Graveyard Shift The graveyard was easy to find. We set up watches that lasted all night and then proceeded to search the whole place. We did find many graves recently dug up and then recovered, including the warden’s grave. I had my ghoulish friends dig into the loose dirt to see what they could find. All of the graves were empty. Waiting all night was a disappointment. No one was there. No friends. No enemies. No visitors. By the break of dawn, we were all tired, so we slept, then we returned to town. Balor had a separate tale to tell from the night. He went to the shrine to search it for all these donations. While he was inside, searching, the priest came and asked “who is in there? Are you a ghost?” The priest then apparently began to prepare to turn, “by the power of Pelor, I… where’s my??“ and then Balor heard his rapidly retreating footsteps. After we were gathered up together, we set out for the ancient temple outside of town. Notes – Chapter Eighty-Five – Narrow Path to the Temple The path through the woods was narrow and difficult. We had to leave the carts behind. It was uneventful, until the temple was almost in sight. Then we saw three large dire bears blocking the path. They were eating a large pile of berries. They did not look like they would share. Willow ran forward, her instincts telling her that they were about to attack us. Unfortunately, her instincts did not warn her that three dire bears could pretty quickly rip her to shreds, which they proceeded to start to do. I sent Blackberry ahead to cover her retreat while Balor sent a few arrows into the side of the largest one. Willow and Breeze pulled back into the thicket off the trail, barely alive. The bears then proceeded to shred Blackberry’s poor flesh, and so I had Blackberry retreat soon after, and sent up three of my ghouls to engage the bears. I had already cast zombie haste on my zombies, and so then I proceeded to weave one of my newer enchantments, granting a blazing fire to my undead friends that they could use as they struck. Blue and Benson ripped into a bear, tearing out its flesh and burning it, though it still did not go down. The Marshall tried to flank it, but could not get around the thick brush. Then an arrow came from our left and struck Blackberry. There was someone else here! I sent Tessa up into the sky to deal with our sniper. She found a wooden platform, enclosed, in a tree nearby, and proceeded to begin to rip the roof off of the structure. Whomever was inside could not see her, so he or she kept shooting arrows at us. The bear on Blue and Benson quickly ripped both of them to shreds, and the other bears rushed forward. We finally took one of them out as Selena sent lightning through several of them. Then, when there was only one left, he rushed forward and managed someone to sniff my scent out of all of the others on the path, and attacked me. I nearly died from the wounds it quickly made. Fortunately for us, where it moved left us to surround him, and he quickly died. Then the huge ball of fire erupted from the berries, killing ghoul Stabler, and nearly killing several of my laboratory assistants. Tessa finally ripped open the bunker, but found no one inside. Whomever it was had fled. I surveyed our group after the fight was over. We had expended half our magic. We had nearly lost four of our primary numbers, and we had lost three of my dear ghoul friends. By the time we were fully healed, we had almost nothing left in reserve. It looked like the temple would have to wait. I mourned the passing of my friends. It is sad when you lose a friend. Especially three all at once. I looked at the three large bear corpses and began to think. [/QUOTE]
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