Session 9&10 - S0E24 - Decline of Glory

After returning to the City of Strangers, Absalom, we bring the dire news of the shadow lodge to Drendyl Drang.

Venture Captain Osprey gives us orders us to the marshlands where Iadon Railford had created a winery , and other businesses like inns and such. The lands flooded, and it was not longer suitable for wine. Later, his son Becher Railsford took over and turned it into a distillery. It is a good place for a pathfinder lodge because people come through for hooch and bitches.

That is our mission. Roll in, tell Becher that its cool to open a lodge and shit, high five, and go smoke a bowl: nooch.

Trodding through the swamp, Skaar notices a campfire up ahead on the trail. Its time for Ash to do some of that nijna hibbity bibbity. There is pair of guards and a pair of dogs. Ash overhears the guards complaining about being stuck in the woods and preventing the villagers from defending themselves when their plan is to overrun the town.

Skaar fires an arrow into a dog, Ash sends a poisoned dart into a Taldorian Phalanx guard member. Combat ensues. The dogs are burnings hands'ed and a guard is banged up.

Then, out of fucking nowhere, our gnome rider bursts forth from the brush and skewers a guard through. Wide eyed, the party wondered where he came from . As we begin to ask, the gnome says "I gotta go!" and rides off to Disney Absalom.

Off in the distance, dogs are barking in multiple directions . The charred and pincushioned bodies are hastily thrown into the brush, and the party pushes on to the tiny town of Railford. The signs for the distillery are clearly marked. The town is quiet... TOO quiet. All the lights are off, no smoke in the chimneys. Hmmm.

Aegnor booms his magically augmented voice forth "Becher Railsford!" This has attracted some of the attention of the town.

And the Barbarian \*raps\* on the shutter door only to be greeted by a crone hurling a tomato.

A band of townsfolk rise to challenge the party, but Ash talks them down. Dallard tells us that apparently Becher left a couple days ago. He knows of the guards, and their plan. Grald arrived 3 days ago and demanded ownership of the town and the distillery.

The deed that controls the land is believed to be hidden in the barrel aging caves by Becher's father.

Bloodknuckles Inn - The large stone building at the end of the street. Which is entirely staffed by da hoes. Tons of hoes. Left to right, up to down, Hoeville. Jessup is recovering upstairs- A local healer works to cleanse horrid wounds via leeches. Apparently, he has Ghoul Fever. If you die from Ghoul Fever, you rise as a ghoul the next night. He had gone looking for the deed, and he found a lockbox. But the ghouls were all around.

Bloodknuckles apparently has a wooden case tricked out with everything we need to battle ghouls - whoda thunk it?: Cure Disease, Cure Moderate, and Cure Paralysis.

As the party traverses the marsh, and the water gets waist deep, Skaar feels a prick on his leg. Glancing down.... its LEECHES! Skaar pulls the leeches free and takes some damage tearing them free.

.. and we all got that shit too.

There is a mossy pool with a film of fungus around. Someone has pushed through recently. The barrel aging caves are a bit ahead. And a sign says "Beware of screamers!' There are purple mushrooms that as we approach within 10 feet, they begin to wail shockingly. And... the large purple mushroom begins to move. And this violet mushroom is downright tentaclular. It lashes out and brings the ninja to heel. Which requires the party to bring the ninja to heal. The team vengefully responds with arrows, fire, and frost.

As we approach, there is a body face down in the muck. Brayden pulls up a chair and chats with the dead chap. "Urdon Baker, who died yesterday ago, and he was killed by ghouls." We smile and feel camraderie with the dead man. In admiration, we lop his head off.

As we head further in, the downward staircases are blocked with rubble. Skaar searches for tracks and finds 2 sets of steps coming from stairwell: one died (our decapitated buddy), and another went off (meaning walked away. Not like goin OFF on some ho like "Dat bitch got up in my face and I went OFF on her bitchass.")

Skaar worked to free debris, but it gives way and he begins to fall. He avoids a jagged wooden post, but fortunately lands on... a jagged wooden post. Oh, and he lands on a ghoul that was just freed who had been trapped prior. Stupid, stupid Skaar. But boots and pants and boots and pants and ..... its initative time.

Skaar, obviously pissed, works himself into a berserker rage, cleaves the ghoul in twain, and severs the old cabesa before the rest of the party can even think to act. Well then...

(Brad recommends to repurpose Serv O'Beer into a remote nut shot in case anyone falls asleep)

The party follows into a large limestone cave filled with water... and old wine barrels. Brayden raises a skeleton who bursts forth from the wet ground brandishing a broken scimitar. He is sent out in the ever-deepening cave water. As the skeleton wades out into the water, unfettered by any resistance from flesh. 3 ghouls burst forth into view from the hazy limestone-laden water.

Clearly fucking pissed off at his inability to hang out with, or control the undead, the Gravity Bow jacked up longbow blazes forth a heavy arrow and CRITS, sending 21 points of ghould shattering damage into one of the foul creatures.

A little nibble nibble to Aegnor puts him into paralysis. Have fun waiting a while mage.. Your new game is called sit and watch for a while!

Ash has gone all \*poof\*, and a ghoul sniffs around to find him, groping and clawing about to find the a bite of the supple flesh well seasoned by Ms. Feathers's special sauce.

Clang, clang! Battle rages as the sounds of the ninja's blades ring off the partially exposed bone of the ghoul.

Skaar, having been resurrected, raging, and righteous.. power attacks the ghoul to scream of "ORCZ RULE!".

Aegnor snaps out of his paralysis. Happy to be able to cast burninig hands again. He shakes his hands to loosen the up, levels his hands and ...

The ghoul lunges at Brayden and strikes with a bite and a claw... Blood flows from the open wounds of the half-elf, but he is savvy to this undead mojo and doesn't let its insidious disease slip into his bloodstream.

Oh, back to Aegnor, yeah, about that... He got paralyzed again.

With his last round raging, Skaar slams his weapon home and drops the ghoul. Its chunky undead bits shear and split as body parts splash into the water.

Aegnor is.. right where we left him. paralyzed with his hands out.. Waiting. If his eyes could dart around while trapped in a stuck body he would.

Brayden has dropped his bow and is parrying an advancing ghoul with his hastily drawn longsword, but its undead might is overpowering. The claws and bites are knocked aside, but finally a bite sinks home into the Occultist's shoulder and he drops to the ground.

Ash swings visciously and downs the wounded ghouls. Now the party must tend to their fallen. Aegnor begins to feel his body unfreeze, and Skaar collapses to the ground exhausted from rage.

Aegnor begins to move around and tap his allies with healing as the soft blue light invigorates and closes seeping wounds. Again and again, the wand of infernal healing breathes life into the formerly weary and weakened.

Ghoul bodies are tended to and burned...

The party passes a heavy iron gate, and in a back room, passage downward yawns ahead. The team surveys their gashes and gnawed bodies from a ghoulish horde. They glance around to eachother wondering "Do we have enough in the tank to do this?"

.. but Ghouls Just Wanna Have Fun...

***Interlude***

... soooooo.

The team returns to plunge deeper into the cellars. Wulfbaela is heard trodding through the tall waters to join the party having slayed the Goblins of Disneyabor.

Ash takes to his stealthy ways and slinks down a ladder to find himself in a tunnel. The tunnel appears to be heading back to the directon of town. The rest of the party joins. It is narrow, accomodating less than 2 people wide, the party heads down for 2 hours and it ends with steps up and a door. The team oils the hinges to keep its old rusted weight frome announcing them.

The door opens into a basement. Inside, there is a pale man who is wounded. He is cradling a small wooden box. It is indeed Becher Railsford. He was overrun by ghouls and lost all of his men.

This basement is a stone cottage right next to the distillery. Aegnor uses a scroll of cure disease and he recovers well. He admits he is clinging to the deed. He is provided a cure light wounds, and should be able to stand and walk now. We arrive late at night into the town from the stone cottage. We move to the distillery, and a hear raucous sounds suspected to be from Grald in the town.

We collect ourselves in the distillery, and Becher runs to hide the deed at our behest. The sounds of soldiery gather through the town, but specifically outside the distillery. Ash gathers high-octane bourbon (Brad is corrected. They cannot make bourbon.. We'll call it just whiskey). Aegnor gets into burning hands range. Wulfbaela covers his lance in flammable oil. A furtive glance over to Becher and Brayden says "We're going to need a way to put this fire OUT." He nods and comforts us that there is a water source.

Aegnor blasts dudes with flaming hands.

Wulfbaela charges Grald.

Starting with +16 for the charge. Now the variables..

on a D6 - rolls a 6

on a D6 - rolls a 6

on a D2 - Rolls a 2

And... that's 30 damage to Grald. Lights out bitch..

His guard minions gather and flex.. Skaar runs out of the building, confused.

"They're coming! Get inside!" - screams 2 of Gralds guardsmen as they sprint inside. Ghouls cometh. The enemy of my enemy is my friend, and the battle is joined.

We kill the waves of ghouls and Becher is indebted to us. Those who are so inclined plug some double-wide trailer park hookahs. Double wrapped, bag on head.

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