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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Old One" data-source="post: 1374267" data-attributes="member: 83">InterludeGreetings Gang,Thanks to Darklone for the *Bump* and thanks to Rowan (Tortoise) and Quintus (Tormenet) for stopping in.  The following is the Interlude I post on our Yahoo!Groups after Session 22.  The cursing of the DM was long and loud <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f600.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":D" title="Big grin    :D"  data-smilie="8"data-shortname=":D" />!The Long Trip Home…Spirits were high after the rescue of the trading caravan, peaceful contact with potential gnoll allies and the survival (if barely) of all party members.  Even the insufferable Junior Tribune Lucius proved to be a valuable asset in battle and has been a bit less obnoxious since.  The rest of the trip back to Glynden was rather anti-climactic…no ambushes, pitched battles or other untoward events.  That all changed the eve of your last bivouac prior to reaching town…Rowan called an early halt, since immense black thunderheads were building to the North and a chill wind was blowing…quite odd for summer, even in the Lost Northern Provinces.  Barely was camp made before a fierce storm descended.  Your ears and eyes were assaulted by thunder and lightning.  Sleep came fitfully and with it, nightmares.  Röse dreamed of his young son screaming in pain…the Scipio brothers saw the agonized faces of their youngest siblings blanched in terror…Rowan was haunted by the ghostly visages of his dead friends, Marcus Tiro and Garrick, who tried to speak to him, to convey some manner of warning before turning into fearsome spirits.Dread and unease were your companions upon awakening and a terrible, unknown fear either pulled, or drove you, towards Glynden.  Cragen and the Emorians seemed unaffected by the night terrors, but they too shared the gnawing, nameless fear.You arrived to find the town in an uproar…At the height of the storm, when the Abbey bell chimed the midnight hour, two figures appeared at the town gate.  Clothed in crackling black energy, they smote the gate guard with fearsome dark magics and strode into town.  Fear flowed before them and most folk shuttered their windows, bolted their doors and quaked before their hearths.  The pair made for the burial catacombs and disappeared within.  The ground rumbled and shook, either from foul magic or the anger of the storm.Kyndalyn, Father Thomas and others gathered to confront the dark ones.The pair reappeared a scant hour after descending into the catacombs and an army of walking dead strode in their wake.  Father Thomas called upon the Lightbringer to aid them, but the power of the dark magic was too much.  Crackling beams of blackness smote the priest, laying him low and scattering the rest of the defenders.  The unnatural horde swept through Glynden, battering their way through shuttered windows and barred doors.  They tore every child of less than seven winters from the grasp of terrified mothers and fathers that resisted in vain.Those that opposed the dark ones and the undead were cast aside, some dead and others witless and senseless.  The Abbey bell did not call the 2nd hour after midnight, for the bell ringer lay in a crumpled heap, lifeless face drawn in a rictus of horror.  The horde and their struggling, weeping charges swept out the ruined gate and disappeared into the teeth of the storm.  The morn found virtually every family in Glynden riven by death or kidnapping.  Kyndalyn managed to rally a few brave souls and set out on the trail of the unholy army.  Father Thomas lay in the Abbey infirmary, barely clinging to life and tended by shaking acolytes.  Militiamen moved about, half-heartedly attempting to repair the sundered gates.Above all, the wailing of mothers rose above the wreck of the town, lamenting the loss of their children.Welcome home…~ Old OnePS - This will probably be it for updates for a week or so.  I head out tomorrow for an extended business trip that, happily, includes a guest spot at Pkitty's table on Thursday evening.  I aslo plan on participating in the SH author's chat on Wednesday evening, although I will be late.Feel free to talk amongst yourselves while I am gone <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f609.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=";)" title="Wink    ;)"  data-smilie="2"data-shortname=";)" />!</blockquote>

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