the Kyri Chronicles - last updated 22 Oct

[Plane Sailing]

Shouting up at the shuttered window in the central tower, they eventually wake an elderly man who calls back, telling them to rest in the meeting hall, and he’ll meet them in the morning. They settle down there for the remainder of the night.

In the morning, they are met by a small deputation. Elder Murdows, who lives in the building next door and is the leader of the village, the elderly Dyson and somewhat more sprightly Tully, his bodyguard. Dyson is a retired adventurer, who never made much of a success of his adventuring career, and decided to set up home in this small village. His bodyguard and companion, Tully, decided to stay with him - as did a Shamaness whom he knew - although she spends most of her time down by the graveyard now.

About a dozen villagers also squeeze into the meeting hall, with pinched faces and ragged clothes. They seem happy to see the adventurers, and keep asking whether they have any food or news for them. There is something a little strange about the villagers manner - but nothing that being starving in a small village with the potential for a lot of inbreeding wouldn’t account for.

Dyson is happy to explain in more detail about the evil horseman that has been terrorising the village. He is very sad to learn of the deaths of the peasants in the road… he had hoped that the diversion which he and Tully had set up that day would keep the horseman away from the main road. So sad.

Dyson is convinced that the horseman comes from the barrow up to the North of here, where the woodlands become much thinner. It is a strange and evil place; something must have happened to disturb the unquiet spirit and send him out for vengeance, although Asura knows, it wouldn’t have been any of these simple farmers here.

The problem is bigger than just the horsemen though. Evil fey creatures, elves perhaps, have been killing farmers out in the woods for months now. Suddenly there is a flurry of arrows fletched with leaves, or a vicious trap. Four months ago, shortly after the problems started a truce party set out to the Meeting Stones, to try and find out what happened. All murdered horribly, of course.

“Still, if you were able to solve the problem of the horsemen, that would be really great” Dyson finishes. “I’m too old and feeble to go myself now, but I can give you a couple of scrolls with detection spells on” and he gives a scroll each for Dala and Arilyn.

Meanwhile Tully has been having a conversation with Trajan about swords. She is intrigued by the hand-and-a-half scimitar which he bears, and he is likewise impressed by her bastardsword, the blade of which sparkles with an unearthly keenness.

While the rest of the party wait for Dala and Arilyn to arrive, Trajan and Anne-Marie set out to scout out the barrow…

 

[Plane Sailing]

Coming soon - "don't touch that tripwire!" and the squirrels from hell...

 

[Plane Sailing]

Travelling through the woodland is eerie in the silence. Although the leaves are starting to come out on the trees plenty of light gets through to the forest floor, and they are wading through knee-high bracken. Anne-Marie is slightly more sharp-eyed than Trajan so she takes the lead, although an hour into their trek she feels her shin catch on something in the foliage.

“Watch out” cries Trajan - but too late.

Two huge logs come crashing together where Anne-Marie stands. She tries to twist out the way, but they catch her full on, and drop her to the ground. Trajan hurriedly kneels down beside her calls upon the name of Asura, and healing power flows through his hands and into her battered body - which breathes with life once more.

“****” says Anne-Marie. “Your turn to take point now!”

After resting for a couple of hours to enable Anne-Marie to get some of her vitality back, the continue on through the woodland.
Trajan notices something shiny and white off to one side, and cautious of an ambush they circle around a pile of humanoid bones, but don’t move close enough to investigate.

“Dead villagers, I guess” muses Trajan. They move on.

As the afternoon wears on they find their way out of the thick forest and into a more lightly wooded area - on the edge of which is a huge oak with no leaves - evidently it was deliberately killed by someone, since its bark has been stripped off in a ring around its girth. Getting their bearings better, they head off towards the barrow, rising like a low hill in the distance.

The barrow itself is huge - several hundred feet in diameter and nearly 80 feet tall. There is an alcove with a stone doorway, and inside they can make out an altar of sorts in an room empty apart from a decrepit old skeleton in the corner.

Trajan gets out his grapping hook and drags the body over towards him - it is an armoured skeleton, the parts all still bound together. The armour looks badly hacked up, and quite recently too by the shininess of the scratches. It is of a very, very old design, probably dating back to the late Imperial days when scale armour was popular. Interestingly the skeleton has a scabbard for a bastard sword, but no weapon in evidence.

Suspicious, Trajan hunts around in the long grass by the barrow and finds a discarded bastard sword - one well worn, but commonplace. His mind wanders back to the fine blade which Tully displayed to him - and her assertion that she had not been to the Barrow...


(last update for a couple of weeks I'm afraid - away on hols)

 

[Plane Sailing]

OK, I'm back.

Did you miss me?

 

[KidCthulhu]

Desperately. How were your hols? Do anything good?

Enough small talk. Post now.

 

[Plane Sailing]

Lots of nice sunshine, lots of nice people, visted interesting places on the French Riviera

Back to the story...

It is far too late to attempt an entrance to the barrow tonight, and Anne-Marie is still feeling somewhat battered from the trap she sprung, so they decided to set off back to the girdled oak tree and camp there for the night. Trajan takes great care to minimise the local damage to make a camp fire, collecting only dead wood and occasionally speaking into the night words of reassurance, just in case some leaf-fletched arrows are aimed in their direction.

A couple of hours after dusk, Anne-Marie’s attention is drawn by a cute little animal face peering at her from the branches of a nearby bush. “Prickit?” it says, evidently curious. Anne-Marie checks her bags for some little bits of food to tempt the creatures with. As she holds it out there is rustling from more of the bushes, and several more cute little faces appear - something like a cross between a cat and a squirrel. “hobyah, hobyah, hobyah” they chorus together. Trajan watches in amusement as Anne-Marie continues to attempt to entice them. “It’s nice food” she says.

“Food, food, food” they repeat. Then the little voices get harsher

“Food, Food, FOOD they screech and an unnerving wave of fear emanates from the creatures as they leap and tumble into the attack!

Trajan is unaffected by fear because of his close connection with Asura; his steadfast presence bolsters Anne-Marie and she holds her ground too. The creatures leap in, grab and bite; Anne-Maries first blow literally bounces off the creatures fur - her rapier is unable to penetrate its enchanted hide! Trajan fares somewhat better, and cuts at the neck of one of the creatures, but a blow that would have cleaved a man in two only slightly wounds the “hobyah”.

Three of the evil little creatures attack each of the heroes. Anne-Marie fights defensively, tumbling back and forth while the creatures tumble around attempting to grab hold and start biting. She has an idea and grapples one of them, easily holding its tiny form and thrusting it into the campfire. “Burn you little bastard” she hisses through gritted teeth - but while her own arm is scorched, the creature laughs at her from within the flames...

 

[Krellic]

Ooh unpleasant! I seem to remember that these critters are particular pests.

 

[paulewaug]

yay an update!!

Welcome back!

more story...vacation's over!!

ahhh... the price of an adoring public, eh?!

 

[Plane Sailing]

Hi paulewaug, I didn't know you were a reader!

I'll just get this pesky bit of work out of the way and then write up the next section

 

[Plane Sailing]

Trajan is faring a little better - his great strength and his bastard scimitar are occasionally getting past the damage resistance. Then while Anne-Marie flings away the grappled creature (which bounces to its feet and runs right back in towards her), Trajan decides to “Smite Evil” and lands a might critical blow, felling one of the creatures.

The remaining Hobyahs don’t like playing a game where they could get killed, and they quickly leap off into the undergrowth, chanting “Run, run, run” to each other. Battered and bloody, Anne-Marie is affected by the poisonous bites of the creature and some of her personality and will continue to drain away. Trajan is, by the grace of Asura, unaffected by the many bites he took.

They don’t get much sleep that night, as they warily watch the shrubbery for the hideous squirrel creatures, but they don’t reappear. In the morning Trajan makes a point of skinning the creature which he killed, and taking the pelt with them, back to the village.

Meeting up with their friends once more, they are surprised when Arilyn and Dala recognise the demon squirrel skin - apparently an elderly priestess by the old graveyard had one perched on her shoulder the other morning… Trajan and Anne Marie are joined by K’tan and they travel back up the road to the graveyard.

It takes them less than an hour, and they can see a low wall surrounding gravestones overgrown with long grass. In the centre of the graveyard is a mausoleum with the sound of low chanting coming from within.

Cautiously stepping over the wall, they approach the entrance to the structure, and inside in the dim light they can see an elderly woman dressed in rags who is apparently praying at various symbols around the walls. In one hand she clutches a staff of black wood. Trajans neck-hairs rise with the sense of supernatural evil in this place, but he can’t pin it down.

They attempt to talk with the old woman, but she seems clearly unhinged, moaning about appeasing the spirits and some such nonsense. Clearly she is no follower of Asura and thus a pagan, with no real god to worship. As they leave, a movement catches Anne-Maries eye - up in the rafters she is sure she saw a movement and glint of green eyes, probably the size of a large cat… or squirrel creature. They decide to do nothing further for the moment and head back to the village

At least, that is the plan… but the road back to the village seems to have disappeared! Rather, it ends abruptly, and several huge trees are now growing up right in the middle of the path, as if they have always been there! Hunkering down and watching out for elven archers they creep up to the huge trees and decide to gingerly squeeze past them - all the while calling out into the forest in general that they “mean no harm”. If only it was clear that the forest and its denizens felt the same about them...