Into the Night

The shapes were approaching slowly, marching in a tight group. They were about a mile out, moving along the trail purposefully and silently. Even with the sun low and the snow falling, Tanis could tell that these figures didn’t move like the creatures of the Dark.

“I told you, it’s fine” said the barbarian to his left, who was staring down the road, his arms resting on the head of his greataxe which was planted on the trail like a resting post. “Just a few travellers. Nothing to worry about. We should help them.”

Tanis frowned, knowing that Audak was right but not able to shake the cautious nature that had kept them alive since Haust.

“Let’s set up camp here, then” the elf replied. “I’ll find us some wood.”

The ranger disappeared into a nearby copse of trees, scanning for some kindling or hopefully a fallen trunk that could be dried out. There was safety in numbers and hopefully these travellers would not pose a risk greater than the risk of letting them pass. He ran his fingers over a fallen branch, checking for rot. It was so difficult to find good dry wood in the winter. Flynver probably would have summoned a roaring bonfire with a wave of his hand, but that was a luxury they didn’t have anymore.

Returning to the camp with an arm load of kindling and a few larger pieces, Tanis found the travellers had already arrived and were chatting with Brylla and Audak. Al was sitting off by himself, sharpening his large blade, eyeing the new arrivals attentively. The elf couldn’t blame the dragonborn, it was hard to trust these days, and at least one of them had to be ready with a blade. Just in case.

“Not much that is still dry, unfortunately” announced Tanis, as he set down his armload of kindling. “Well met! Where are you headed?”

“Somewhere safer?” replied a tiny halfling woman who was bundled up in a cloak four sizes too large. “We heard Denn was a safe zone and welcomed any and all. Have you been there?”

The firepit suddenly roared to life as Brylla set it ablaze. The sudden light and warmth of the fire made their little gathering immediately cozier, though the shadows cast by the flames distracted the elf from the question. Returning his gaze to the woman, Tanis nodded his head as he took a seat on his bedroll. How long had it been? 20 days? 30 days?

“When you get there, you need to visit Valor’s Rest” offered the elf as advice. “That’s where you’ll hear the best stories!”

Tanis thought back to those days in the Dock ward and the horrors they had experienced. Stories, yes. Not all happy ones, though.

Valor’s Rest

They had arrived in Denn in late afternoon, having followed Jordan’s directions to safely get to the Dock ward. The city was quiet, the late afternoon sun falling on empty streets and houses with barricaded doors and boarded-up windows. Their arrival brought some interested glances from upper floor watchers, but most people seemed to be fortifying their homes and only exiting to transport items from one building to another.

At the door to the Valor’s Rest tavern and inn they were greeted by several goblins brandishing blades, but smiles of recognition set on their faces almost immediately as they excitedly ushered the group inside. The smallest of them ran towards the back of the inn, shouting something in a series of grunts and hollers that undoubtedly was in the goblin boy’s own native tongue. Al scanned the room, comparing it to the last time they had been here. The long wooden tables still filled the main room, but no longer were they covered in the heavy trays of ale steins and plates of mutton. The inn itself was packed full of people, some armed, but mostly just city residents hiding here for the safety of numbers. While the tone of the room wasn’t jovial, the number of Denn’s people that were here did create a warmer and more pleasant ambiance than any of them had experienced recently.

At the very back of the main room, a small figure’s head lifted, hearing the goblin boy’s call. The warrior wore an ill-fitted shirt of chainmail, its hood awkwardly covering protruding ears. A heavy scar ran across the green-tinged skin on his left cheek and as he rose to greet the new arrivals there was something familiar about him…

“Boblin?” asked Al, his head tilting in confusion as he noted the talisman of Sif hanging around the goblin’s neck.

“Friends! You is alive!” shouted Boblin, his face suddenly coming alive with the energy and hope of the goblin they had met in the City Below. He beckoned them forward with a gloved hand. “Come, come! We talk!”

As they approached, a small cloaked figure came down the stairs to enter the room, heading straight for the table at a rushed pace. The tiny halfling had made it almost all the way across the room before noticing the seven foot goliath standing next to her.

Looking up, Echo’s face lit up with a smile as wide as the Spine Mountains. The little druid gave a massive hug to the tree trunk of a limb that was Audak’s leg and then proceeded to greet all of them in kind.

“I’m so glad you’re here! We haven’t gotten much news from the outside, but I had really hoped we’d see each other again!” blurted out the hafling, giving Brylla another warm hug. “Have you met Boblin yet?”

“These is good friends, friend Echo!” shouted Boblin, interrupting Brylla who had been about to explain. “Please, sit, sit!”

Al sat down across from Boblin and Echo, looking down at the table’s surface before him. It was covered in maps and parchments, seemingly detailing the layout of the city. There seemed to be many markings around the current ward which Boblin explained were guard positions.

“You can help, yes?” the goblin asked Tanis, pointing to an area of the map. “We protect ways into Dock ward, change every few hours, but not real fighters like you. But we survive, we learn, we fight. We not give up!”

While the folks of Denn were not soldiers by any sense of the word, they were fighting to protect their homes and family and had now all seen some form of combat, at least those that had survived. As they shared a meal with Boblin and Echo, the goblin explained how he had come about to become the leader of those who had remained.

When the invasion had started, the council of nine had fled. Some had seen them leave on boats, escaping by water to look for somewhere safer. The few members who called themselves the Denn guard stayed to fight but were among the first casualties as the army of the Dark had descended upon the city. As the wave of destruction spread throughout the wards, some merchants sailed their ships, loading up whomever they could carry, but none have been heard from since.

When his people had left the sewer to help push back against the Dark, Boblin had found the people of Denn in disarray, running and fleeing but having no guidance on how to coordinate. While Boblin had never asked to be a warrior or a leader, he had always found himself protecting his own people in the City Below and it was quickly noted how efficient he and his people were at rallying others to safety. The Dock ward had been established early as a point of refuge, with the sea at their back as an escape route should it be needed.

Folks from across the wards flocked to Valor’s Inn, looking for safety in numbers. It was then that Echo had arrived and had started helping establish the Dock ward as a safe space. Those that stayed and fought back called themselves the Watch. Al looked about at the rabble that was enjoying their meal in poorly-fitted armour and weapons that had not been balanced or sized for them.

“We must free city” continued Boblin, pointing to the other words that had large skull faces drawn on them. “There are lots of people still hiding, Boblin thinks. But more of Dark keep coming here, keep with the killing. We can’t push back like yous can!”

“The people here are scared, but brave” piped up Echo, looking about the room at those gathered in the inn. “You’ve seen what these creatures do, how they can affect you, but even still they stayed and protected each other. With you here, there might be a chance.”

A Knock at the Door

As night falls and the sound of the storm outside got louder and louder, a loud banging suddenly began, coming from the front door of the inn. Boblin, strangely, didn’t even seem to react to it, nor did the other patrons in the inn. None of them even moved to go and open the door.

“What is going on with the banging?” asked Brylla, curious as to why nobody was reacting.

“Just one of shuffling ones, it will be gone soon” he explained calmly, as if it were a regular occurrence. Perhaps for them, it was. “Opening door is mistake, but if ignore it go away.”

The banging did not stop, however. Instead, it intensified and then multiplied. The calm reactions of the moment before were replaced by surprise and fear. Boblin looked up from the map to stare at the door, causing Audak to turn his head as well and follow his gaze. The front door, barricaded as it was, was buckling. Whatever was out there wasn’t moving along and was definitely trying to get in.

“Sorum, windows! Bald and Krieg, door!” shouted Echo as she began rushing from the table to start getting people to a safer location upstairs. Several folks in the common room, likely those Echo had named, started rushing to find things to barricade the door and windows with. Tables, chairs, whatever was at hand to keep the door secure.

Audak rushed towards the stairs, eager to see what danger lay outside. Having stayed there recently, Audak knew that several of the rooms on the second floor had windows out onto the street. Even with the rain coming down this hard, he should be able to see something. Reaching the street-facing shutters, he pushed one open just enough to see into the street below, one hand up to shield his eyes from the rain slamming into the room.

Below, lit by a single streetlamp, was a throng of creatures advancing on Valor’s Rest. He counted a dozen of them or so, most of them shuffling about oddly. Before the fall of the Tower of Lighting, Audak hadn’t seen this type of creature before, but after visiting other towns and villages where the Dark had made their impact, he recognized them immediately. Most of them looked very much like people, even in clothes that he would have found common in the streets of Denn. They moved oddly, though, heads held at strange angles or limping along. They filled the street, all of them advancing on Valor’s Rest with a singular purpose.

Audak rushed down to tell the others what was happening and get the others moving. In response, Tanthalas rushed upstairs, bringing most of the others with him. Noticing the front-door continuing to buckle under the strain, even with the reinforcements, the barbarian charged across the room and leaned his massive shoulder against the door. Boblin, who probably was about a quarter of Audak’s height, strapped on a shield and rushed to join Audak at the front door. The little guy leaned against the barricaded wooden portal and smiled.

“Nice of you to visit, big friend”, his sharp teeth showing in what was likely the goblin equivalent of a smile. “You always bring much fun with you!”

The wooden door cracked, a small hole forming just above Boblin’s head. The goblin held his shield up, trying to hold back the hand that was clawing through the hole. The noise outside was mostly the hard slamming of rain upon the street and walls of Valor’s Rest, but Audak could swear he heard a wailing sound. The hair on the back of his neck stood up, a wave of primal fear filling his heart at hearing that noise.

Audak could tell that the others had begun their assault. Flashes of light and tearing noises in the street outside were coming through the holes that were forming in the door. Multiple hands were now shoving through the broken bits of the double-doors, clawing at the inside and trying to get in. Boblin swung his sword, trying to force the creatures back out, but they kept coming.

The door in front of Audak was suddenly ripped open by several pairs of hands. Large chunks of the boards came loose, revealing the snarling faces of the creatures on the other side. If they were people once, they weren’t anymore. They spilled over themselves in a pile, scrambling to get at Audak, who shoved one to the side and then snapped the neck of another. Still, they came.

Outside, Audak could now see that as the creatures moved towards them something was ripping them apart from the ground. No doubt one of the elf’s tricks! However, even with limbs torn open or ripped off completely, they crawled, limped, and shuffled toward the door. Several other creatures seemed to be climbing the walls, trying to get to his companions at the upper floor.

Channeling the power of his people, Audak drew himself up and swung with all his might, bringing his greatsword crashing through the remaining barricades and what little was left of the door. The thick oak shattered as his blade came down hard, crushing and slicing through the advancing minions of the Dark. The creatures climbed over each other, no regard for their fallen, throwing their bodies forward in a mindless attempt to feed on the living.

Beside him, the little goblin steeled himself and then thrust outward with a blade, joining in the battle to hold the doorway. The little leader of the City Below seemed to have changed a lot since they had met him in the sewers. He battled with confidence and the look in his eyes had no fear, only purpose. So tiny, but there was an aura around him that made Audak feel more confident, more sure of himself. No wonder Boblin was leading these people.

He still had hope.

Audak smiled as he looked out into the pouring rain at the dark shapes advancing upon them. Hope had power. Let them come!

The Power of Sif Compels You

On the second floor, chaos was breaking out. While the shuffling things below were dragging their way to the door, creatures straight out of nightmares were clambering up the walls or flying through the air at the the heroes upstairs. Brylla had studied in the halls of the Temple of Sif where the priests had taught any who would listen about the horrors of undeath. She saw the grayish skin, the razor-sharp teeth, and the claws digging into the wall of the inn… ghouls! Their eyes glowed in the dark with a sickly green fire, advancing toward her as they struggled to claw into the walls and climb.

From her vantage point at the bedroom window, she had seen the creatures assembling in the street below and had thought to bring down the radiant power of Sif upon them. It had worked, destroying the creature of shadow she had spotted near the rear of the pack, but this had drawn attention to her and her companions. Tanis and Al were doing their best to intercept the ghouls, but something else, something far more deadly, had focused itself on Brylla.

The incorporeal form swiftly flew through the air, the hard, driving, rain passing through it. It was like a cloud of darkness, not unlike the shadowy creatures they had faced before, but something was different here. Where the others had seemed like a shadow come to life, this creature felt more like the concept of darkness and death had been given form. Glowing red eyes bore into her soul as it advanced upon her, hovering in the air outside the window as it reached forward. Brylla, unable to escape its touch, felt the cold chill surge through her as it’s ghostly claws somehow grabbed her arm tightly. She felt her knees buckling as she became weaker, her swings seemingly doing nothing to the incorporeal creature.

She could hear Tanis shouting from the next room, his blades swinging through the air as he tried to destroy the creature that was set upon her. The wraith ignored him, though, choosing to pass through the wall and keep swiping at Brylla to drive her into the ground and smother her light. It was just the dwarf and the creature in the darkness of the room now, the hard rain pounding against the sill of the open window behind her.

“Lady Sif, shine your light upon this darkness” the dwarf whispered, grasping onto the symbol of Sif hanging around her neck.

The air around Brylla seemed to shift, a brilliant radiance beginning to emanate from the dwarf and spreading outward. The light swirled and began to form into more solid shapes which flew around the room, swiping at the creature in front of her. Brylla stood strongly, holding her ground as she spread her arms out towards the spirit of death before her, guiding the forces of Sif towards their target. The red eyes of the wraith seemed to rapidly shift from left to right, as if it was looking around itself for an escape. Again and again, the forces of the light tore into it, tearing large chunks of the creatures incorporeal shape apart as it wailed in fury.

Brylla could almost make out faces in the light, and she swore she saw one of the shapes holding a sword and wearing a helm. She had never summoned power like this before and the energy coursing through her gave her a resolve to survive, despite her injuries and the chilling touch of the creature.

In the doorway, through the cloud of darkness and swirling shapes of light, Brylla could see Tanis assessing the situation, trying to find a way to help. Brylla admired his bravery as he waded into the storm of light and began chopping at the creature. She pressed her attack from the other side, the two of them circling around it as the forces of light slashed it apart.

When it had wailed its last sound, Brylla turned her attention to the rest of the invaders. Where she walked, the creatures fled. The aura around her was so bright that it emboldened those seeking refuge in the inn and drove out the creatures of the dark. Without even a word, she walked out towards the front door, her power tearing the creatures apart as they screamed in agony.

The minions of the Dark would not enter this haven tonight!

When the danger had passed, Echo immediately began directing the folks within the inn on repairing the doors. It would take days to get a proper set of doors installed, but they needed a barricade for the rest of the night. Once up, no-one would be going in or out for the night, so the heroes knew they had to make a decision.

Boblin passed over the bodies of the creatures upon the ground, examining their clothes and weapons.

“Boblin know these ones” he stated sadly, kneeling over one of the forms that looked not unlike a young man. “They are Watch, were guarding tower nearby.”

He called for some help and a few of his goblin tribesfolk came to help remove the valuable weapons and armour that they were wearing.

“Boblin must go, find out what happened. Will you come with Boblin?”

“Of course, friend” said Tanis, placing his hand upon the goblin’s shoulder. “We should gather up what we need, tend to our wounds, and then find out what happened to your patrol.”

While the others rest, Al started walking the perimeter of Valor’s Rest, looking for anything that might help them understand where they came from. Aside from some rats, crates, and a broken magelamp, there were no immediate signs. Further down the street, however, the dragonborn’s eyes spotted something slick in the darkness. The rain was already washing it away, but it had that unmistakable metallic smell that Al remembered. It was a blood trail, possibly from the members of the patrol who had been attacked.

Al called out to Tanis, bringing the ranger’s attention to his findings. The elf bent down, examining the direction of the splatter and the other smears across the ground.

“Good find, Al. They definitely came from this direction” whispered the elf, pointing up the staircase. “What’s that way?”

“That is Stone ward” Boblin replied, coming to stand beside them. “Old residential area, many houses and people. Very dangerous.”

Brylla came out of the tavern, holding the packs that everyone had left by the table. She tossed one towards Audak and then flung another at the dragonborn.

“Found something?” she asked as she slid Tanis the elf’s pack. She held her shield up above her head, trying to shelter from the hard rain as much as possible. Her and her companions were soaked through, so it seemed a pointless act, but the dwarf hated water blasting into her eyes when she was trying to talk to somebody.

“Boblin says these stairs go to the Stone ward” replied Tanis, pointing up the long and wide stone staircase. “As good a place as any to look.”

Stepping quietly, they formed up and tried to stay in the shadows, slinking along the walls and using only the moonlight to light their way. Boblin took the lead, his feet quietly slipping across the wet cobblestones as he moved from building to building. So far, everything had been quiet, but Tanis’ ears perked up as they rounded the corner if what must have been a bakery not too long ago. The elf put his hand on Boblin’s shoulder to halt him and held up his blade in the air to signal to the others to stop.

He could hear it all around, a low moaning and shuffling of feet. He squinted through the rain, using the back of his hand to wipe away the water on his eyebrows. Up ahead, shambling about in the streets, were more of the creatures. He counted a half dozen, more or less, but his keen hearing told him something else. There were others, seemingly in all directions. The shuffling ones, as Boblin called them, did not seem to have noticed their group yet, but they could not hide here forever.

A slowly-moving humanoid in a nightgown came into view from down a side-street to the left, slowly meandering its way across the street, its movements seemingly without purpose. It turned its head, as if it had sensed something. Tanis locked eyes with the long-haired creature that had perhaps once been one of the residents of Stone ward. Did it see them? They stayed in the shadows of the bakery doorway, holding their breath.

—-

“So, did it see you?” came the excited question from the young little gnome seated across from them at the campfire. Unlike some of their campmates, she had been listening to their stories with rapt attention as each of them had filled in their own view of the events that night. Audak laughed, his voice rumbling like an avalanche of stone. Tanis smiled, happy for the interruption. He had been going too deeply into his memories of the night. The intensity of those milky-white eyes of the dead, glaring at him, still haunted him.

“Patience”, replied the elf. “We’ll get to that part next!”