LOST TRAILS: THE HARROWDALE HORROR PART 6

[ewancummins]

With Periele acting as guide, the party heads for the Temple of Oghma.

Marching through the deserted streets with eyes peeled for danger, the adventurers encounter no green men nor any more human survivors.
Some smudged prints in the drying mud of a vacant lot look as if they might have been made by dogs, maybe, but it's hard to tell for sure.
Crows fly overhead, seeming to trail the party as if expecting to be fed...


Taking a shortcut across a field to the north of a built-up area near the docklands, Periele points out the temple as the party draws near to it.


The dome of the two story white masonry structure rises higher than the woods that grow between it and the fields toward the sea's edge.
A thin plume of smoke rises over the rooftop.

Getting closer still, the party sees bas-reliefs decorating the facade of the building: hands, quills, scrolls, open books, and scenes of a scriptorium or library of some sort.
Several rondel windows set in the walls show rims of shattered glass where the panes had been.
Bronze-bound double doors stand slightly ajar in the great archway at the front of the temple, and smoke wafts out the gap between the heavy door panels.

Cautiously investigating, the heroes discover the temple-library scorched and wrecked, with toppled shelves and the charred remains of dozens of books and scrolls strewn about the floor of the large central chamber. Smoke obscures some details, but they can make out three closed doors, one to the left, one to the right, and one in the rear.
The stink of burned meat lingers under the stronger odors of incinerated paper and charred wood.
The floor feels warm.
Embers still smolder in a few spots.

Alain spots a sooty hand and arm protruding from under one of the collapsed, blackened shelves on the floor.

THEN...

Anyone looking to the right spots it:

One of those green creatures. Not your prisoner, who remains bound.
The thing is staring at you with its black, dead-looking eyes, and edging toward the door on the right-hand wall. It carries a pitchfork, which looks like a pole arm compared with the monster's diminutive stature.

[Adam]

Bennedict snaps his crossbow up, pointing it at the individual but not firing.

[kintire]

Katrin snaps a swift glance at the way the others are staring, then looks the other way. This looks like a diversion to her... she watches the other routes in for a surprise attack

[alhoon]

Raen falls into quick spellcasting and a blue halo condenses around him and disappears after a moment. The protection equivalent of a sturdy armor remains though.

[ewancummins]

IN THE TEMPLE OF OGHMA

The green man sets up a big racket by smacking its fork against the closed door.

Sir Clive strides over and cuts the creature down.

Thumping and tapping sounds rise from behind closed doors and from someplace outside the front doors...

[ewancummins]

...

Doors bang open and a horde of green-skinned humanoids rushes in, coming from three directions at once.

Mercy shears limbs and necks among the knot of enemies surrounding Sir Clive, who still stands near one of the open doors.

Benn fires a bolt through a monster coming straight at him--to no effect!

In the last fight with these things, Katrin's rapier seemed to have little real effect, even with thrusts that would have slain a true man.

The monsters close rapidly, but the party stands forewarned...

[ewancummins]

Raen hurls a magical web across one of the open doorways, catching several of the creatures and blocking the ones behind them.

Alain launches a sickle at the third open door, the bright crescent flying down a short hall where more of the green plant-men fall flat or leap sideways to avoid it.
The blade flips over in midair and comes whirling back to the gunslinger-mage's open right hand.

Thunderous roaring echoes in the vaulted main chamber. The monsters slow their rush a little at the sudden, unexplained noise, but then press on with their attack.
One swings its spade into the stony cord that Klokulf has used to bind his prisoner, but the magic rope does not break.

The heroes fight hand to hand for a few seconds, driving the stunted savages back from Periele.

As suddenly as the green tide rushed in, it rolls back.

Only the dead and a handful twisting slowly in Raen's web remain in view. The rest have hidden outside or retreated into interior spaces and pulled the doors partly shut.

As everyone catches his breath and prepares for attack, counterattack, or perhaps escape, the thumping rises again from behind the door near Sir Clive.

It sounds like only one creature making the noises, not a bunch of them.
The tapping sequence repeats, mixed with some reed-like whistling.
It's not much louder than a raised human voice.

The prisoner tugs a bit, leaning in the vise-grip of the stone rope.
It tilts its top-knotted head sideways and stares at Klokulf with its big, black, dead-seeming eyes.

[Adam]

Bennedict walks to the door from which the tap-knock-whistling is occurring, attempting to mimic the sounds as best he can.

[ewancummins]

Bennedict walks to the door from which the tap-knock-whistling is occurring, attempting to mimic the sounds as best he can.

Benn does his best, but his mouth is dry and his whistle comes out as a cough. His fingers shake a little and he doesn't quite get the rhythm right the first time.

Still, the noises he's just made seem to have provoked some kind of response.
More taps and soft whistles from behind the door, as if several of the creatures are conversing...

Then, the original sequence is repeated.

[Adam]

Bennedict looks to the prisoner creature, seeing if it reacts to the noises.

"We don't mean you any harm," Bennedict says through the door. "I doubt you can understand us, but we just want to protect this town. If you tell us why you're here, what you want, maybe we can find a way to help you."

[ewancummins]

Bennedict looks to the prisoner creature, seeing if it reacts to the noises.

"We don't mean you any harm," Bennedict says through the door. "I doubt you can understand us, but we just want to protect this town. If you tell us why you're here, what you want, maybe we can find a way to help you."

The prisoner creature emits a low whistle, wobbling its bulbous head from side to side.

It wriggles a little in the petrified rope bonds.

[Wolfglide of the Fraternity]

"If you wish to experiment, we could put it close enough to knock back with its feet," says Klokulf, indicating the prisoner, "but until we can understand what it says, I find the use in that dubious."

[alhoon]

"Let's get to cover, Periele" Raen says, wary of the sounds. As he moves, he looks for anything that he could use to assist the others hit easier in case hostilities re-ignite. A pole, even a spear of the dead creatures would do, while a curtain to blind some of them or a discarded cloak would be useful too.

[kintire]

Katrin sorts through the debris and locates the best blunt instrument she can find, eyeing the prisoner suspiciously and glancing swiftly at the door

"Should we be finishing off the ones in the web or would that be an issue for your peace offer?"

[ewancummins]

The efforts of some of the adventurers to communicate with the green men prove difficult and frustrating, but at least they do not provoke a resumption of hostilities.

The ones caught in the web still attempt to wriggle backward, away from the party, but without much luck in getting free.


Then, one of the doors creaks slowly open. A lone green man emerges from the shadowy hall beyond, pushing a wheelbarrow.

If no one attacks it, the creature begins the work of picking up the dead, one by one, and carrying them deeper into the temple...