Somewhere around Canaslan, there is a large area dominated by wild free range angry aggressive chickens. They have grown to larger than normal size and have hunting tactics that remind one of Velociraptors. And the group made the mistake of encountering a few of them, thinking they were going to get a fast meal.
Did...not...happen.
Hardened adventurers ran for their life from the chicken mob, and as the DM, it was the best decision they could make. :)
Write up follows:
The group wanted to get ready to leave and we split up, Shim and Brading went to the public well to fill the water skins while the rest of the party went to the provisioner to gather food. Shim did note that at least 1 of the 2 that had been watching the group earlier was watching us again here, being on line a few places behind Brading. And further, he also noted a frantic looking stringy dwarven female come charging into the town square and have an animated conversation with one of the guards. She gave an animated description of a number of people who Shim felt looked too much like us, talked about an assault on two members of the town, and eventually placed a large amount of coins in the guard’s hands.
The guard then went to another one and the two of them went up to the parapet on either side of the main gate, heavy flatbows loaded, and proceeded to look over the crowded town square.
Fuck – 2 sets of problems.
Shim made the mistake of mentioning to Brading to hurry up as we were being watched which had the dwarven priest grow furious and blame the guy behind him on line of spying on us (the wrong guy!). While this was going on, the rest of the group had come back to the town square and seeing Shim’s waving hand and eventual pantomiming to wait – Thalin stepped out to talk to Shim while Barb and Darius went to the street merchants and got roped into a conversation about potatoes with one of the sellers.
Thalin and Shim shared information and we had to get out of town, through the only gate being watched, but NOT as a group as our combined descriptions will tip off the guards. What to do, what to do…
Bum fight was the solution.
Through a number of deceptions and some well placed smatterings of coins given to the local down trodden we cycled through the gates in 3 sets as Town Square degenerated to at least a dozen men fighting over a number of coins and the local guards and merchants taking odds on the outcome.
Once outside we decided NOT to walk right to Ixitch’s Manorhouse and instead pretend we were heading back to Erylond. It was a good call because one of the tails who had followed us out made sure we were heading back for home for a good 10 minutes before heading back to Paxian.
From there we travelled overland north through harvested fields and furrowed lands, and then east again after some distance until we crossed the Canaslan Northern Byway and then eventually the Canaslan Northeastern Highway – a muddy and rutted patch of raised puddly dirt almost 25’ wide stretching off into the distance.
We were on our way.
As we traveled down the highway, we passed more of the questionable homes and pseudo-poverty that seemed to define Canaslan. The people though were happy and each town we went through was smaller and a bit dingier than the next. We had broken for meal and pressed on, watching the mile markers count upward. Just before mile marker 5, we came up the smallest and last hamlet of hovels; a group of miserable homes in a place called Ditch, and commented the place was aptly named.
Getting close we were going to camp for the night and assume that Ixitch and company would be celebrating the new years – hoping to find a barn or farm we could use. In an effort to further our stores, we did note a number of free ranging wild chickens in the area. Feeling good about the prospects of fresh chicken, Darius loaded a stone and let fly…
Thud. The bird pitched over and fell, got up, flapped around and then died. The other half dozen chickens in the area all stopped and stared at the dead bird, and then as one – back at Darius. They took a few steps towards us, heads bobbing as he casually loaded up another stone, whirl whirl whirl…THWOCK! Took the head off another one! It ran about half a dozen steps and fell over spurting blood dead.
At this point the remaining 4 chickens all started clucking and “bokking” rhythmically and tilting their heads back. And from the tall winter grasses around us – other answering chicken calls came. Like, a lot of them.
Fuck… The party ran.
We ran hard and fast, heading for an abandoned farmstead not too far from here, trying to make it to the barn. Meanwhile the chickens were gaining ground on Shim and Brading, the two of them the slowest in the group. Shim dropped a darkness spell behind us causing the pursuers to roll into the globes and lose some momentum and others to circle around it. It was getting closer as he hit the farmstead and Barb, Thalin, and Darius tried to get the barn door open in time. The chickens were getting closer and closer. Finally it was open and the 5 of us ran in and slammed the door closed behind, barring it as 30 plus angry oversized chickens tried to force their way in. We latched the back door to the bard and Brading took care of the loft door.
They continued to beat at the door for almost 5 minutes before eventually slowly fading away. We opted to wait almost an hour before daring to open the door and making our way to the house. The shutters were closed and the door locked. Using a javelin, we managed to pry the bar aside from the outside and entered. It was a peasant’s hut, dusty from lack of use. Some food stuffs had dried and rotted, and there was faint sweet odor from the huts only other room. Inside we saw two figures in the bed, dead for the better part of a year, an elderly couple fingers entwined with one another. As a show of respect we covered them with a blanket and shut the door.
From the kitchen we lit a fire and ate our meal, boiling some potatoes and getting ourselves ready to rest. We wanted to sleep and early in the morning, head off the Ixitch Barrowman’s Demesne and Manorhouse and reconnoiter first if at all possible.
After a long night we awoke early, broke our fast, and before we had left, Brading had cast Invisibility to Undead on the group. It would have no effect on the living – but we had to remember three things that would end it: an aggressive action against an undead, the passage of four hours, and the willing end of the spell if need be. In addition, if you allowed an undead to walk into you, it would also break the spell.
We left the farmhouse, closed the door and locked it, and making sure no chickens were around us, we finished our walk past mile marker 5, only a short distance now from the border of Grimyria. Following Gerry Rockbottom’s directions, there was a side road that led north to at one point was supposed to be a haven for the wealthy new landowners of Canaslan. However, the location never took off and the homes had been left to fall fallow.
Ixitch was ensconced and owned the 5th Manorhouse – a walled in area about 4 acres total, with only 1 double wide gate in and out. We walked by slowly and looked in. The Manorhouse was stone construction, at least 12’ tall and had a crenellated wall that ran along the top of the structure. A stables was to the right but was a bit out of view for us. No large windows, the grounds were overgrown and had three very large trees where at least half a dozen fat crows was cawing in and watching us. A spike was near the gate on the other side, a severed orc’s head was planted on top. The faintest tingle let Brading know that the Invisibility to Undead Spell was working as we passed in front of the orc’s head – someone was “watching” us through the dead skull.
We kept going past to the next homestead and picked through the wall. The property here was worse than the other side, and we followed the wall perimeter northward the full length to the end. The wall on Ixitch’s side was solid and unbroken. The top of the wall (8’ or so) also had busted glass mortared in place to further prevent anyone climbing over. Finally at the top of the wall along the BACK of the homestead was another severed orc head on a pole. Watching back here as well.
We heard the cawing of a crow and hid along the wall, hunched down in the scrub as a fat black crow flew up and circled around for a while before heading back to Ixitch’s side. Ok – we assumed both the stationary undead head and the crows were the watching warning for Ixitch’s people – Necromancer and probably Druid.
The group went to the house here on this Homestead to get out of sight and to see if there was a tunnel running between the two properties. It was almost an hour of looking before we accepted the fact that there wasn’t any. The thought was to climb over the wall, scout the place out, and make our way to the front door.
But when we left the place and went to the wall to look over (Barb) – we noted there were at least 2 large mastiff guard dogs in the area. A mass of salami and cheese in a ball of bread was thought to be given to the dogs to make them pliable but we didn’t want to risk it.
Then it was 9:30 and we heard the ringing of a bell at the front of the Homestead and the dogs’ with the ears perked up ran for the front. Breakfast bell. It was time to climb. Barb went over first, blanket draped across the glass, and one by one, the party went over the wall until finally we pulled the blanket down and took stock. Overgrown grounds, sparse trees, building – seems quiet. We went up the building’s walls and decided to walk around the back of the place first. What few windows we did see were narrow, 4’ tall, curtained from the inside, and deeply set in the stone almost 2’ – no chance of us using them to get in.
Around the back of the building we proceeded about until we came to an overgrown and choked herb garden – where a variety of plants were growing – including Lion’s Leaf and Eye Bright. We continued exploring, going south now and then heard something coming through the tall grasses. Dog? No – a half-ogre zombie plodding along. 8’ tall, 400 plus pounds – it wandered north and our invisibility held as it passed - went beyond the herb garden and then turned sharply to the left and continued in that direction and out of sight.
A little further south just before the stables one of the narrow windows gave us the sounds of men (and women?) eating breakfast and laughing. Ok – kitchen area here on the east side of the building.
We wanted to get in and figured with no other doors visible – we’d have to entice them to come out. The thought was to go to the herb and drug garden and burn it. But the plants were green so we’d need to use oil to get it to light. Darius and Barb stayed by the garden to prepare it with oil and rags, while Brading, Thalin, and Shim when back around the side of the building and to the first large alcove to hunker down and hopefully surprise the bad guys when they came out.
It didn’t go to plan.
As Darius was getting ready to light the place on fire, oil and rag everywhere, he had a torch lit when something went terribly wrong and the fire in his hand EXPLODED. It then caught the oil on fire and he was suddenly engulfed in flames as he tried to roll around to put them out. Barb ran out to tackle him and drag him back to the building when crossbow bolts were shot and she was hit. They staggered towards the building as more flatbows fired, hitting the two of them again and then a trio of magic missile flew out and scored Darius just as they made it to the building – both of them bleeding hit points.
Had to go and meet up with the rest of the group and now. – They were hurting but ran east along the building’s edge while from above they could see two, maybe three figures peering over trying to get another shot in at us. Another magic missile went off and Darius was going to run OUT from the wall and sling up there while Barb went into berserker rage and tried to climb the wall.
Meanwhile the rest of the group saw TWO ogrish zombies coming along – still unable to see us, but they could hear some sort of problem going on around the corner. Brading snuck the edge and the Shim and Thalin know the two friends were bleeding badly and Barb was climbing up to some figures up there on top.
Thalin and Shim then drew scrolls and stepped back, pointing to the roof and each of them called out a summon monster spell – one ended up was a gnoll wielding a two handed sword and the other with a goblin sporting a sling. And then Barb was up there just as Darius sling bullets one of the crossbowmen. Two crossbow men and a mage type.
Excellent.
Barb changed one of them and proceeded to beat him to death and then lift him overhead and HURL him off the building. One dead. The gnoll ran towards a crossbowman who dropped his flatbow and had his sword out – but the gnoll was stronger and the battle was on. The goblin kept firing sling stones in the combat, whittling hit points away. Brading ran to Darius to heal the wounded fighter and Barb chased one of the men who tried to make it to a trap door to escape but failed.
The combat on the roof ended after this and Barb tried to hack the trap door open but it was too thick and well made and although she jammed the gnoll’s sword through the crack – she couldn’t open it up.
As the summoned monsters faded away we all gathered again and doled out some healing, taking into account what happened and that they know where here even if the zombies can’t respond to us. This was it, we were going to the front to bust the door open and take the fight to Ixitch and his men.
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