by Dean Henegar
The pair lucked out and one of the alcoves opened as the two men inside it left the bar. Nitor led Smashem over quickly to newly vacated space, realizing it was a good vantage point to watch the rest of the tavern for their target. After they sat down a server quickly approached to take their order.
“What are ya having? I haven’t seen you two here before so don’t think you can camp out in there without spending any coin,” the server said harshly. She had that annoyed and downtrodden look that many folks dealing with the public have after working too long in their profession. Nitor had worked in many restaurants and bars while trying to pay his way through college, so he had seen that look far too often in the real world. He was constantly impressed with the game being able to come up with such small details that added to the realism.
“Oh no, my dear, we wouldn’t want to waste your time and cut into your potential for tips. Can we get two ales and anything to eat that you can recommend. Here, this is for you as we may be here for a while waiting for a friend and I wouldn’t want you to miss out on potential coin while we wait,” Nitor said, passing over a handful of copper and a few silver to the server. The amount must have pleased her, as her attitude immediately changed to a positive one.
“I’ll bring your drinks right out, sirs. The food tonight is seafarers stew . . . but I can’t really recommend it,” the server said as she leaned over in a conspiratorial manner. “I think there’s more rat than seafood in the stew, so I’ll bring you two out some sandwiches instead that I’ll make myself,” she said before leaving.
“I don’t want no rat sandwich, Nitor,” Smashem said with a look of concern.
“No, the stew is rat, the sandwiches are . . . well . . . something not rat, I would assume. Good idea though, we should use caution before we dig into them,” Nitor replied. The two began to look about the room, scanning for any player nametags that showed up as they watched for Darkfallow. There were very few players in the tavern, so he should stand out. The server came back quickly with some surprisingly good ale and two long sub style sandwiches that were a little suspect.
“Thank you, my dear. Here, this is for your trouble,” Nitor said, adding a modest tip on top of the bill. Smashem sniffed his sandwich and poked at the dubious looking cured meats on top. The sandwiches smelled foul and neither of them ventured to take a bite.
“I’m gonna just save mine and give it to Crunchy,” Smashem said, wrapping his sandwich up in one of the dirty cloth napkins they had been given.
“Here, save mine for him too . . . I’m not really hungry,” Nitor advised, passing his sandwich over for Smashem to wrap up as well. The rest of the evening passed with no hint of Darkfallow. The two left for the night after inquiring of Darkfallow’s whereabouts from the server.
“Yeah, that one is a bit of trouble sometimes. No offence as I know he’s your friend . . . but take my advice and don’t gamble with Darkfallow. He’s here most nights so you should find him sooner or later,” the server advised. They paid her a silver to hold their booth open for them the next night. The server looked nervous but took the coin anyway and promised to keep the alcove booth reserved for them tomorrow.
After staying and eating at the much nicer Jolly Basilisk, the pair left to find their companions in the woods the next morning. Soon after entering the woods, Ty appeared from his hiding place in the undergrowth and led them to the camp. Once at the camp, Nitor began to explain what they had found.
“We found where Darkfallow usually hangs out, but he wasn’t there last night. The server told us he’s usually there in the evenings, gambling and drinking. We’ll try again tonight and see what we find out,” Nitor told them as Smashem dropped the sandwiches from the night before on the ground for Crunchy. The beetle sniffed them for a bit and then scarfed the dubious sandwiches down quickly.
“Nothing we can do but wait. If anyone has any shopping requests, we can look in town for you. They have a decent market for basic stuff,” Nitor told everyone.
“Skreeeeee!”
Nitor’s next comment was interrupted by the screeching noise coming from Crunchy. The beetle let out another painful screech and then launched a stream of putrid vomit from his mouth. The stream hit Yendys, Kathala, and Jacoby. Ty dodged the liquid assault, and everyone held their nose at the pungent smell.
“Ugghh, that smells so bad. What did you guys feed to poor Crunchy?” Yendys whined as she brushed bits of the vomited sandwich off her armor. Kathala cast Clean and Tidy Aura, magically getting rid of the mess and the victims of Crunchy’s upset stomach were soon smelling good as new.
“I’m really glad I took that spell now. Didn’t know if it would ever come in handy. Were you guys trying to kill the beetle?” Kathala asked.
“No, not trying to murder the little guy. I really didn’t think anything could upset his stomach. Mental note, Smashem: never, ever eat at The Broken Cat. We promise not to bring any more leftovers to Crunchy. Sorry about that everyone. Maybe we should head back to town, Smashem,” Nitor advised as the pair left the camp, eager to get away in case Crunchy was sick again.
The rest of the day passed quickly, and the pair found themselves secure in their alcove table watching the bar as evening fell. The place was quieter tonight but business picked up as the dockworkers finished their labors. The server seemed surprised to find them back and Nitor had a nagging suspicion that she may have known of the sandwich’s aftereffects.
“Welcome back, sirs. Can I get you something to eat or drink tonight?” the server asked.
“Nothing to eat. Just a drink for us, please,” Nitor told her as he paid for the beverages. Their patience was rewarded near midnight when Darkfallow finally made his appearance. The necromancer was decked out in black robes with sigils that glowed a bit in the shadowy tavern.
Darkfallow, Necromancer Level 10.
“Looks like that guy’s been leveling up since he was in Hayden’s Knoll,” Nitor said as the pair watched what the necromancer would do. Darkfallow eventually settled into some card game with two npcs dressed in pirate garb at a table in the middle of the tavern. Darkfallow started out winning, but quickly lost to the pirate-looking fellows he was playing with.
Scallywag, Level 8, Npc.
Swashbuckler, Level 7, Npc.
“Remind me to never gamble with an npc that has the Scallywag class, Smashem. That guy’s taking Darkfallow to the cleaners,” Nitor said. Smashem nodded as they watched the pair of pirates clean out all Darkfallow’s funds. The necromancer shoved back from the table and stood, shouting angrily at the pair in front of him.
“You cheated! There’s no way you could win that many hands in a row. Give me my coin back now!” Darkfallow growled as dark tendrils of magic began to curl around his hands.
“No, my friend. You shouldn’t get so upset. Everyone has a winning streak now and again, and tonight just happened to be my turn at the helm. Take your losses like a man and shove off. Here, I’ll even stake you for a drink. Dredge up some more coin and you can have a chance to win your money back tomorrow,” the scallywag taunted and tossed a silver to the increasingly furious Darkfallow.
“You dare to taunt me?” Darkfallow began before the swashbuckler cut him off.
“Hold, fool! Look about you. We brought friends and you’re all alone. I advise you to cool down and leave . . . now,” the swashbuckler threatened as two more npcs stood to surround Darkfallow.
“Hey you! No fights inside my place. You have a problem, take it outside the tavern or I call the guard to lock up the whole lot of you,” the barkeep ordered. Darkfallow grinned and replied.
“No problem, my good sir. I’ll just meet these two outside and they can give me my money there. Follow along if you’re not too scared,” Darkfallow said.
“Let’s show this lubber what it means to cross us, boys. Outside,” the scalawag told his partners. The group left to go outside and resolve their fight.
“Okay, he’s moving out. Let’s go out with the crowd to watch
the fight. When it’s over, we’ll tail Darkfallow to see where he goes, or head to the respawn and follow him from there,” Nitor said. The skald had trouble pushing through the crowd; his diminutive avatar and low strength rating made trying to push his way through futile.
“Follow behind me, Nitor,” Smashem told him as he began to easily bull his way through the crowd.
“Thanks. You’re a pretty useful friend to have around, Smashem,” Nitor said as he followed in the big guy’s wake. Once outside, the necromancer stood silently as the four npcs circled around him.
“How ‘bout you hand over the rest of your money to me for our trouble and save my friends the hassle of killing you, Darkfallow? My friends are really nice guys who would hate to have to hurt you, right boys?” the Scalawag asked.
“That’s funny, my friends are not nice guys and would love to kill you all . . . and eat your corpses,” Darkfallow said as black tendrils rose from the ground behind his opponents. A breeze that felt like the breath of death flowed past as the tendrils resolving into four ghoul-like creatures which immediate began to attack Darkfallow’s foes.
Ghast, Level 8 (4). Ghasts are ghouls who have adapted well to their undead life. They hold more physical strength than their thin frames would suggest. Ghasts also exude a poisonous aura that affects all foes within five feet of them.
The four ghasts tore into their victims without mercy. The scallywag and his cronies were caught off guard and unable to defend themselves properly. Soon all four were paralyzed and poisoned, their health dropping quickly to zero. Darkfallow grinned and then ordered his ghasts to pick up the corpses.
“Heh, they made it just too easy for us. Drag them over to my lab. We have work to do quickly before the corpses despawn,” Darkfallow ordered to his ghasts. The group began to quickly make their way to the western gate with the ghasts gladly hauling the victims for their master. Still, the undead were not above sneaking a few choice morsels from the corpses when Darkfallow wasn’t looking.
“What were those ghast things, Nitor? They seemed pretty powerful,” Smashem asked.
“They are very powerful, but I suspect that due to their strength, summoning them is probably a once per day ability and not a something Darkfallow can spam over and over,” Nitor said.
Realizing their chance, Nitor and Smashem followed discreetly behind Darkfallow. Their target left the western gate, unaware of the pair trailing him. The necromancer and his undead companions moved through the nearby farmlands, and the few farmers out doing the last of their evening chores quickly ran inside and bolted their doors at the horrifying sight. Nitor had not been idle during his time in Bharga and had soaked up all the lore his class was able to find. It was well known in town that the necromancer was one of the favored companions of the overlord and could do as he wished with the peasants. Rumors abounded of him taking people from the outlying farms as raw materials for his experiments.
Once past the farming area, Darkfallow followed an old, neglected trail through the woods. The trail wound down to the shore, sand replacing dirt as the necromancer moved into a well concealed cave near the shoreline. Once they saw their target move inside the cave, Nitor sent Smashem back to bring the others.
It wasn’t long before the rest of the party was crouching down behind a pile of driftwood on the beach looking at the cave. Light leaked from the entrance and occasional disturbing chants and noises echoed from within.
“I checked on the way here and didn’t find any other exit from the cave. I think we have him bottled up in there,” Ty advised the group; he seemed confident that Darkfallow couldn’t escape them.
“He did have those four ghasts that Nitor saw him summon and who knows what stuff inside his cave. We outnumber him, but remember that he’s level ten and probably got a huge increase in power when he reached it,” Jacoby warned.
The party began their preparations. Kathala cast Life’s Defense, a protection from undeath spell that gave everyone increased defense against undead attacks as well as some resistance to necromantic magic. Nitor began the Death’s Lament chant he had used back in their battle with the ghoul lord, increasing their resistance to the ghasts’ paralyze ability. Yendys cast Empower Nature’s Ally on Crunchy, increasing his size and strength, while also summoning a half dozen dogs to assist them. Their preparations complete, the party advanced on the cave.
“There isn’t time for subtlety on this one. Yendys . . . release the hounds!” Jacoby said with a smile. Nitor was immediately jealous, he had always wanted to use that line in a game.
With a chuckle, Yendys sent her pack of summoned dogs toward the cave while an excited Crunchy followed in their wake. The pack nearly reached the cave opening when one of the dogs yelped and began biting at his feet. To the party’s horror, skeletal hands thrust up from the sand and grabbed the attacking dogs, damaging them and adding a movement debuff.
Skeletal Hand Mine Field, Level 8. This undead construct is made from the skeletal arms and hands of humanoid corpses. Necromancers use these to help protect important sites as they can delay and damage large numbers of attackers.
The hands showed in Ty’s interface as one creature, and he noticed the dogs biting at the bones reduced the health of the construct.
“They can be damaged like any creature, attack the hands!” Ty shouted as he charged to the first arm he could see and shattered it with a blow from his axe. Smashem was particularly effective against the hands as his hammer dealt extra damage against skeletal creatures. The party reduced the field to half health quickly with their combined attacks, but the delay and the noise had alerted Darkfallow to their presence. He emerged from the cave opening with the four ghasts at his side.
“What’s going on out here? Wait, I remember that bug kid and the one-armed half-orc. You guys are the ones that killed me in Hayden’s Knoll! You’re in my house now, chumps!” Darkfallow yelled as he ordered his ghasts forward into the attack. A small horde of lesser undead, including his latest four victims, also began to flow from the cavern entrance. Darkfallow began to cast as his creatures advanced toward the hindered party.
Ghasts, Level 8 (4)
Zombies, Level 3 (10)
Skeletons, Level 3 (5)
“This should help,” Kathala said, gathering her power. A moment later, a bright flash of pure light burst over the battlefield as she cast an empowered Turn Undead spell. The undead were burned as the light touched them; the skeletal hand mine field construct, the zombies, and the skeletons all were destroyed by the cleric of light’s ability. The ghasts were too powerful and resisted most of the spell, only taking small amounts of damage. Kathala slumped from the effort, the empowered spell cast leaving her stunned for thirty seconds.
Crunchy charged a ghast now that the skeletal hands were no longer grasping at his legs. The ghast tried to leap over the beetle and land on his back, but Crunchy was ready. The beetle thrust up with his horn as the ghast leapt over him, impaling the creature. With his enhanced strength from Yendys’ spell, the unicorn beetle easily held the ghast in the air, and the ghast flailed ineffectively as it tried to free itself. Crunchy’s mandibles began to shear off pieces of the undead creature’s body, trimming it down in size and health.
Jacoby activated his Taunt ability, gathering the focus of the three remaining ghasts. He was hard pressed by two of the ghasts and then the third leapt over him to attack from behind. Claws and bites dropped his health, and a poison indicator flashed as he failed his constitution save check, despite the increased resistances from the partywide buffs.
“Need some help here,” Jacoby yelled as he fell to the ground, paralyzed from the claws of the ghasts. A Nature’s Mending spell slammed into Jacoby, instantly healing him for a small amount and adding a little heal over time effect. Yendys’ healing spell wasn’t very effective, but it was the only one they had access to until Kathala recovered. Smashem activated his Rage, glowing red as he swung his hammer in a cleaving blow ability across the three ghasts. All three w
ere knocked back from the raging barbarian and took substantial damage. One ghast was destroyed as Nitor activated a Name of Power during his chant, nearly slicing the ghast in half.
Darkfallow finished his spell and a black cloud of necromantic energy flowed across the battlefield. Clicking and slurping sounds assaulted the party’s ears as the corpses of the fallen undead began to meld together into one large abomination. Darkfallow held his concentration, channeling more and more mana into his spell as he struggled to overcome the now hallowed ground the area had become after Kathala’s spell.
The spell broke as Ty reached Darkfallow, activating Multi-Strike and landing three quick and powerful blows against the distracted necromancer. Darkfallow stumbled back, his spell fizzling out as he tried to stay out of reach of the one-armed whirlwind of death attacking him. Ty didn’t let him. Ty pressed his advantage, watching as the necromancer’s health dropped to half, then moved toward one quarter as he inflicted bleeding wounds.
“Not again!” Darkfallow shouted as he activated a contingency spell and appeared to sink into the ground. The remaining ghasts fell quickly to the party as their master fled. The system revealed to Nitor what Darkfallow had done when his Glean Knowledge ability kicked in. He shared the results with the rest of the party.
Return to the Grave: This necromancer class ability unlocks at level 10. Once per day the caster can use this emergency ability to instantly return to any graveyard, they have previously designated. The spell is taxing on the caster and they will face a 10% debuff to all stats, health, and defense for one hour.
“Blast it, didn’t want that guy to get away. We need to work quickly. Head into the cave and look for the information we came for,” Jacoby said as the party rushed into the necromancer’s lair. The lair held shelves stuffed with scrolls and several worktables holding the remains of undead experiments. Jars of foul liquids were placed on shelves, bits of unmentionable things floating in them.
“Gross, ewww, look at that!” Yendys shouted as a jar full of eyeballs all blinked at the same time and then stared at her.