The Stone Ward | Dark Invasion of Lani

The rain drove downwards, hard, providing a constant percussion against the cobblestones before them. It was easy to stick to the shadows and conceal their approach, what with the dim moonlight, the driving rain, and the lack of street lighting in this neighbourhood. A flash of lightning suddenly lit the street, highlighting two figures slowly moving across the slick roadway. It was time.

Tanthalas charged forward, out of the shadows, hoping to use the element of surprise to his advantage. Blades swinging, he slashed into one of the shambling figures, driving it to the ground as the others charged in behind him. It took only seconds to silently eliminate the figures in the street, but there had been one small, teensy, insignificant issue with this plan: these weren’t the only wandering figures in the streets this night!

The snarling faces of the undead charged from all sides, converging on them in the intersection. One, still dressed in the torn remains of a baker’s apron and hat, lunged for the elf’s throat. A small one, once a child, clambered over a wall and dropped down on Brylla, its tiny hands reaching for her throat. The dwarf beat back the creature, smashing its small body until it stopped moving.

The five of them stood, back to back, cycling around and working in practiced tandem as the creatures tried to surround them. It seemed that for every creature they dropped another would clamber over the body and take its place. Soon, they were surrounded by a pile of the former residents of the ward, blades bloodied and covered with the remains of the townsfolk. Audak wiped his blade on the baker’s apron before peering around.

“Is that all of them?” he grumbled quietly, doing his best to scan about.

“I’ll check” replied Brylla, sneaking forward along the side of a nearby house. She started to peek around the corner to see what lay in the courtyard before them, but her eye caught sight of something in the window to her right. Was there someone inside the house?

Silent Scream

Brylla shielded her face from the rain as she pressed against the glass pane, looking into the dark room inside. Her eyes adjusted to the pitch black of the interior and revealed a wide table with a centerpiece. At that moment, the lightning flashed, momentarily lighting up the room before her to reveal the shape of a man, tied to a chair at a dining room table.

“There’s somebody in there” Brylla whispered, struggling to keep quiet but still be heard above the rain. She pointed a thumb at the window as Audak looked at her quizzically.

“Inside” she mouthed.

Audak came to look at the window, judging whether or not he could bash through it with a single swing or if he might be better to use his shoulder and force through. As he considered the strength of the frame, Brylla tapped him on the elbow to get his attention. She pointed at the door a few feet to his right. The goliath nodded his head, understanding the dwarf’s meaning, and moved toward the front entrance. Audak was a little disappointed, though. He had really been looking forward to bashing through the window. There really was nothing quite like making a dramatic entrance!

That said, it was a smart tactic to try to minimize the noise they were making. It was bad enough with all the commotion they had made in the street that perhaps it was safest not to be calling any more attention to themselves. The barbarian reached down for the doorknob, testing it first, only to find it unlocked. The door opened easily, albeit with a quiet creak indicating the hinges probably needed some oiling.

Ducking his head under the doorframe, he stepped inside, enjoying a moment without the rain pounding down upon his hairless head. There were no lights in the main foyer, only a dark hallway leading towards the back of the long house. The dining room was to his left, lit from outside by the moonlight and lightning entering the window. Audak could see Brylla still outside the glass, peering in and occasionally checking back on the others.

Audak stepped into the room, walking past the long dining table. It still seemed to be set for a meal, as if the residents had left in a hurry. The barbarian approached the silent figure in the chair, taking little care to be stealthy as Audak could tell immediately that this man was not one of those shambling things outside. What he had here was a simple dead man who would be tearing no throats out tonight. The goliath got down on a knee to examine the human more closely, noticing the way the corpse’s face was frozen in a look of absolute terror. The eyes were still open, as if staring off at some unbeknownst horror. The mouth curled in an expression of fear. There were cuts upon the arms and chest, but nothing fatal. Somebody had toyed with this man, tortured him perhaps, but what had killed him? And why just leave him behind?

It’s a Trap!

Audak went outside to bring the others in from the rain. A search of the home didn’t turn up much evidence. The normal home decor, food, books, and signs that at least four other people must have lived here. The one unusual piece was a carefully folded cloak stored away in a wooden trunk. It was made of a fine cloth and was unusual only in that it had clearly been set aside carefully and stored to protect it, unlike most of the belongings in the household.

“There is something different about this cloth” murmured Al, his draconic eyes glowing with intense radiance from behind the dark lenses of his circular frames. “It has an aura about it. Why would this have been left behind?”

“Stow it for now” Tanis said, shrugging. “We can take a closer look later. What is over there?”

The elf was pointing out one of the kitchen windows that faced out into the yard behind the house. While the rest of Stone Ward was in darkness, lit only by the light of the moon piercing through the storm, the court behind the home was filled with a dim light. The light revealed a forest of trees framing an open shared court. The light source appeared to be to the south of the yard, flickering dimly, casting long shadows along the ground.

Brylla slowly moved to the back door to investigate, the elf at her side. The small creak of the wooden door swinging on its hinges was the only sound as the two slipped outside into the court, their faces once again pelted by the driving rain. There seemed to be nothing out here but the trees rustling in the wind and the sound of the storm slamming against the hard walls and roofs of the homes. The flickering light appeared to be shining from the back porch of a neighbouring house just a few doors down.

The pair stepped forward and then heard the noises. Twigs snapping. The rustling of a bush. The slapping of feet upon wet stone. Before they knew it, the pair were surrounded by creatures rushing from the surrounding tree cover and alleys. Their eyes burned with white fire, glowing as their twisted forms descended on them. They were armed with long curved blades, though the claws holding them seemed to be just as sharp as the weapons they held. If these were once men, they were now corrupted forms of their previous selves, bent on destruction. Tanis dodged to the side as the first of them came at him wildly, unworried but impressed that they had hidden so well from his highly trained senses.

The creatures moved in a more practiced way than those dead villagers in the street, parrying attacks and trying to break through defenses in a coordinated and tactical manner. These things were something different, yet no less bent on killing them. Brylla felt a sting in her shoulder as one of them landed its claws upon her, a strange feeling of weakness spreading where the thing had left its mark.

Whatever type of monsters these might be, they clearly had waited in ambush, hoping for some unsuspecting person to investigate the back porch light, before pouncing upon their prey. They had not expected hardened warriors though, or they would have brought more of them! Tanis and Brylla pushed them back, bringing the pressure to them, as Audak and the others rushed from the house to join them in the court. Outnumbered and clearly outskilled, the glowing white eyes of the monsters seemed to hesitate in their all-consuming rage, looking about for an escape. One ran for cover, sent to the ground with an arrow in its back. Another tried to make a break for it into the woods, but was quickly chased down and removed of its head.

“Those didn’t look like residents of Denn” stated Al, wiping his cleaver clean as they walked back from the forest to the yard. “In fact, they didn’t look like anything I’ve seen in Lani at all.”

“But why? Why all this?” questioned Tanis, pointing around. He was right, of course, there was no need to set up an ambush if all the residents were already part of the Dark’s army.

“People hiding still?” suggested Boblin, thinking of the man they found in the chair. “Boblin not want to leave people behind.”

Brylla laid a comforting hand on the little goblin’s shoulder. “Don’t worry, we won’t” she said, her smile somehow giving a little light into the dark and gloomy storm-filled night. She turned her attention to the others “Is everyone okay?”

The priestess was met by shrugs and nods, a non-committal response. At least it didn’t seem like anybody felt they were seriously injured yet.

“We press on, then! Let’s find some answers.”