The trio of adventurers wake up to a beautiful morning and the smell of eggs and bacon. They pack up, eat, and say their goodbyes to the Carver's, and start along their way to Trostenwald. They spend the day talking and continuing to get to know one another whilst taking in the beauty of the Marrow Valley waking up from its winter slumber. There aren't many travelers along the road and the ones they do meet have been snide and rude; seemingly judging Hung for being an Half-Orc. Hung is very conflicted in regards to his monk teachings and his feelings of injustice that arose in these interactions. Malkey feeling a little bored and paunchy sees a woman hanging laundered clothes out to dry and as she reaches down for another garment from the basket, Malkey has his mage hand unclip the clothespin and gives a little chuckle when she turns around and stops in confusion before setting it right and continuing with her work.
The sun sinks lower in the sky and the two Exandria moons are on the rise when Sai sees light from an oil lantern in the forest. They decide to check it out, in case there are hospitable people like the Carver's. Just in case, Malkey sends Nutbag ahead and it returns with grave news … "yuck, blood." Malkey translates to the group and Sai points out that someone might need help and they approach what they find to be a cabin. Smoke is rising from the chimney and light is coming from a little window in the door. Hung quietly goes up to knock, but pauses when he hears a grinding noise and takes a peek through the window. Sai stalks along the left of the house and finds a locked window while Malkey circles around the right. Hung and Sai's eyes lay upon a horrific scene!
Hung sees blood pools and smears, a severed foot, and a thigh with a femur protruding from it. Sai sees a large creature sitting close to the fire, eating a human leg. As she watches she sees it roast the flesh and bone in the fireplace before each bite. Disgusted she turns away and meets up with the others on the porch trying to decide what to do when …. Footsteps … the door opens.
An Ogre! Malkey finally sees his witchbolt in action and giggles maniacally to himself as he concentrates. The creature lets out a yell as it’s struck and clubs the nearest thing to it … Hung; a crippling blow! Hungs rib cage cracks and he struggles to breathe, his vision closing in. No Babushka this time, but he finds comfort in the familiar blue light that comes into view as he takes his last breath before falling unconscious. Sai sees her friend fall and dislocates the creature's club arm with her axe strike and Malkey continues to assault it with lightning then sending Nutbag in to heal Hung; (‘Batteries Not Included’ style). Hung in his fury gets up, strikes the creature with a two-handed quarterstaff blow dislocating its jaw on the left side, and coming back through with his fist to the other side leaving the creature with a slack jaw hammock. The monster is overcome soon after, and the adventurers take a moment to catch their breath and soothe their adrenaline before going back into the house of carnage to see what they could deduce.
It seems to have been a family of three, by the looks of it a young child maybe 5-7 by the foot size. They take a look around and Sai gathers the remains of the former residents while Hung and Malkey drag the dead monster to a clear area and burn it unceremoniously. Sai finds a shovel and digs a grave and lays the family together for their forever sleep before they themselves turn in for the night. Malkey comfortably on the child's bed, hung by the fire, and Sai against the front door. They continue their journey the next day, the road feeling a tad more somber.
About midday, Malkey points out that he saw a glint of white to the east. They decided to press on, it was too far off the road. Eventually, they see a wagon coming along the road towards them, a man dressed all in black. They stop and chat with the man, he is out from Trostenwald, she’s always wanted to see the sea. He gestures to the back where there is a coffin. The adventurers offer their condolences and ask what happened. It turns out she was by the grain silos and was mauled by a beast in broad daylight, and he mentions that the wounds were very odd for the typical beasts around Trostenwald. Hung, being curious yet tactful, requests to see the body as he had some medical training in the Monastery. He takes a look and tells the party that the wounds are necrotic; Malkey pipes up and lets them know that’s usually a fiendish trait. The trio thank the grieving man and say their goodbye’s mentioning that the Carver’s trading post would be a safe spot to stop on his travels southwest.
Night falls and they find a place to camp, Sai is fast asleep as soon as she hits the bedroll. Malkey takes the first uneventful watch and wakes Hung for his turn. Hung confused and groggy tells Malkey “It’s not light yet”, and Malkey tells him just to take watch. Unfortunately, hung gets lulled to sleep thinking of the ocean and listening to the night noises. He awakes to a feeling of tightness and not being able to breathe! Startled, he breaks free and looks around to see some writhing vines moving away. Sai pops up and sheds some light on the situation with her Dancing lights and nobody sees anything … until they do, a trio of blights (though they had never seen or heard of creatures such as this) were closing in around them and the vine one was retreating. They eventually take down the foul creatures and pass out from exhaustion and the trauma of the past 2 days of travel.
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