Session 2

Fear of the goblin's return, the villagers and the other two who's still conscious refined their barricades using the goblins' dead body. They impaled them, line them up in front of the wooden barricades. A horrifying scene to watch, yet very effective to ward things off. Thou their captain did not share the same fate. His head, chopped off, put on a pike, waiting to be turned in for mission well-done. While do so, the duo noticed of some weird bruises and black marks on the goblins' bodies but other than that, they showed no bother and carried on with the work. Having done that, Valar and Alistair came back inside to check on their comrades. The boy was stable, but Valar felt something not right. So he searched the boy, pressed on Yuldra's body here and there, carefully not to worsen the wound. Interestingly, he found a pendant with a human finger bone inside. He would inspect this peculiar amulet more, but Yuldra's mumbling in slumber startled him. It looked like Valar was just overworrying. On the other hand, thou suffering casualty, this was a victory non the less. So the villagers took some food in stored left to celebrate this not-in-hope occasion. The team now can ease up their mind and take their well-earned rest.

The sun shines on the village again. The smell of the new-cooked chowder woke the team up. Valar took the plate to a corner near the wooden wall so as to make his trophy out of the goblin captain like a kid playing his toy in meals. While the other two took their breakfast as well, just a little focus on it more. The old farmer, after trading a few words with them, left them in peace so that they can enjoy their meal. Valar came back afterward, presenting Alistair with a mask reassemble the goblin captain made of wood and painted with the goblin own blood. When the team discussed about their next move, Valar revealed to them that he read a couple of letters read by the goblins, and showed that to them. The letters were written in goblin language, so to the other, the words were just worm crawling on papers. Valar gave them a rough translate: "Food lost, disease not lost, goblins hunt goblins die, hope lost, tribe not survive winter." Though the goblins seem like uncultured, somehow they learned to write. They even traded letters like these as well. And from their writings, Valar learned of a plague's wrecking among them, no cures were found. The team decided that they had no choice but to return to The Bitter Chestnut to report. So they did. As their promised, the villagers reward the team with coins in return for their works, and among them, a ring of pearl and gold may be worthy of a house heirloom. They bid farewell to the villagers and back to the inn.

Back at the inn, the Entourage went in, no hesitation this time. They noticed some changed in the decoration around the wall, and there also seems to be more crowded than the last time they went here. The same bartender welcome them:

- Ah, you are back! So I would assumed that the job is done!

- Yes, It is, kindly sire - answered Yuldra, with a spark of joy in his words.

- We have done it indeed, heh heh! - Said Valar, tossing the head of the goblin captain on the table. We also found a bad news. There was a plague among the goblin there. It may bring us some trouble as well if not contained properly. - He continued.

- Bah, no worries. Those bastards were just so prodigal. They don't restrain on anything. They just eat, break stuff, sh\*t, f\*ck, sleep then wake up and break stuff again to find things to eat then sh\*t. They brought this on themselves. Anyway, you've done your part, now it's my turn I do mine. Give me your allowance papers and I will sign them up for ya. It should be done soon. And, uh, welcome to the Guild team!! - the bartender said, with a frown when Valar tossed that horrible thing on his table, and quickly returned to his joyful smile.

- We notice some changes around here, is something wrong, Mr .... - Yuldra asked.

- The name is Balin, senior operator/bartender here. And no, nothing's wrong. The lord lady just want new decoration for the merge. ah, I should not say that. Anyway, things are fine now. Don't ya worry, boy. - Bartender replied. Ooh, yeah, I got a mission for you three. "the Clean up" if you want it. I will need your deposit for the mission fee. Just take it as gear supply guarantee. Five gold each, so fifteen gold should do.

- Oh right, we take it. Here's the money. - Valar replied

- Thank youuu! I will also need some times to arrange this. Come back in the afternoon, okay?!

- Will there be potions for us in the supply gears?? - Asked Alistair

- Yes and no. There would be but you just joined so I can't grant you accessibility. Not yet, I'm sorry.

- So where can we buy them?

- The Graphy Vines market. - Balin responded

- How about inspecting some magic items.

- The Graphy Vines market. - Balin said. That place got literally anything you can think of, even the thing you did not think of.

- So where is it exactly?

- Lemme mark it on your map here.... oh, I'm sorry. You don't have a map, do you. Alright, just head north toward the port, followed the smell. You will see it when you see everything in the world are on the purchase shelves.

- Thanks, we'll come back latter.

- Aye, don't keep me waiting, boys!

Clear minded, The Entourage set for the market to replenish their supply. Valar searched for an jewelry store, while Yuldra tried to find food and Alistair seek potions. The team hit the jewelry first to identify the ring. The ring came out not as worth as it look, about 75 gold and 5 gold of identification fee. Valar wanted to see if it contains any magic to raise it value so they took the risk. They visited another shop. This time, the shop turned out to be a network of inspection and purchase. Unfortunately, it was just a normal ring. So down the price. They got 15 gold of interest for selling that ring, which should have been 6 times worth. The others' search turned out successfully though. They got a health potion and some rations for the road. It's time to return for the mission. As simple as they are, those task took them almost half a day to finish. They returned to the inn just in time for their very first mission. Balin, standing in his station, cleaning a mug, saw the band walking in. He sighed, a relief of stress. He welcome them:

- Ah, you're back! Wonderful, wonderful! I thought you'd never comeback. That would be very distressful. Well, here's your mission. "The Clean up". Truth be the name. We have a storage, which was abandoned for a time. We're planning on reuse it for another purpose. This is where you three come in. Just clean it up, remove anything disposable. We don't know the present state of the warehouse so we sent someone to lend a hand as well. His name's Jisnu, You will know him when you see him, don't worry. Now, get dress and hit the road. Chop, chop!

The team searched through the supply gears, decided that they have had the best gears on them already. So they each took a patch for themselves. It was the patch showing that they works for the Gullin Guild. (seen as picture beside) And off they go. Strolling through town, heading toward the direction. They saw a man of middle ages, seem drunken and waiting for someone. They approached the guy, asking if he was the guy. He confirmed the name and they all set for the warehouse. On their way, Jisnu suddenly stopped. The others was taken by surprise, drawn their weapon, readied for a fight. But Jisnu just awkwardly looked up the sky and the surrounding:

- Wait, waittt. I swear this is the place. It must be somewhere around here. I swear they told me it's here. Oh wait, they didn't. I didn't listen to what they're saying. The mead was way better than their words. Anyway, It should be closed by. heh heh. Search for it, boys!

- For the lord sake, old man. We thought you found a threat. - Valar grumpily yelled back.

   Then, the team split up to find to place. Just as Aslistair and Valar were walking off, Yuldra yelled he saw something on the north, tree collapsed around it. So they headed that way. And the site hit them hard. The whole place was covered in ashes and dried blood. There were many fresh footprint on the ground, non from the animal. The warehouse was a cave system carved in a giant mound. The door was busted open from the outside, showing a great threat whatever it is. It looked like a battle field more than a warehouse front yard. Some might say it's was a war here, and all the fallen has been burnt to ashes. And it made the band reconsider their strategy of approaching. While they're still fighting over how to safely travel the tunnel. Jisnu was like "bah, another day, another crap job" and walked in. Afraid their guide may die, they rushed to his back. Following a straight hallway, there was a three-way. Valar used his skill to scout the way generally before they take their decision. After a bit of listening, feeling, and a lot of hunch, he suggest the left side. They all go down the left side to found a room at the end of it. The echos inside the cave reached them with the sound of others footstep over water puddle. And the band tried to enter the room stealthily. They reached to room. To their surprises, there was no enemy, just a little water stream run through the crack on the ceiling. There was only one hall way to their right, so they pressed on that way. No enemies found yet, just a bunch of dead bodies, not yet decomposed. Jisnu burst his word:" Ah, another bodies clean out it is", and started to drag out the bodies, one by one. He also suggested the band to do the same. But the curiosity has already captured their attention. They found a wooden door right in front of them on the other side of the room, seemed like holding something greater beyond.

Yuldra reached for it but the door was locked tight. So he told the others about it. Valar walked up to him and put him aside, then brought his axe on the door. Thuph. The axe dug deep into the door. Valar put his weight on the axe to pull it out. Yet the blade has not gone through the wood. The door seemed too thick to break open so Valar returned to the dragging. Yuldra did not give up that easily. He used all the strength in his body to punch his way through it. One punch, two punch, and another come right after it. The door shook, yet no sign of breaking down and Yuldra started to feel pain on his fists. Now, it's time Alistair took his try with the door but nothing seemed to work. Giving in to his comrades' stubbornness, Valar bring the axe back on the poor door. He aimed for the hinges. And this time, the door's broken before them. Beyond that unbelievably strong door, a man-made small pool of liquids, thick and shiny under the dim light of the torches.

The team made their approach, slowly. At the same time, Valar and Yuldra got a cold crawling up their spine. Weapon drawn, just for caution. They stopped at a distance as for their experiences of getting to close to something suspicious had always lead to ambush. Valar's quick thinking was to cut off a hand from a dead body nearby, lit it up as a temporary torch and tossed over the pool for a inspection. Which also went against Yuldra's despite as that was an act of dead body violation, the most blasphemous act of all. Anyhow, the hand was tossed and it lands on the other side of the pool. The light it carrying had confirmed their suspicion. A pool of blood. And the more terrifying was yet to come. The dead body was new and quite fresh, so there was some blood left in it, and so was in the severed hand. Its blood splattered across the pool as it was being thrown. The remaining blood inside it, somehow was sucked out and drenched into a small trench right bellow it. Fearing the worst, the team backed out, but it was too late. Yuldra and Valar were struck from behind while they were still being stunt by sight of the blood drenching. The dead bodies had come back to lives and put their claw onto the naive adventurers. One walking corpse swiped at Yuldra's back and badly wounded him. The other make its swing at Valar but the armor had lessen the impact. The team made their retaliation on those dead walker. Axe was swung and staff was sweep. so fell the first undead one. Right behind the two was an angry Goliath-bear hybrid charging toward them. The bear hybrid claws were swift and sharp. Those claws shredded the other zombie to pieces. Valar was about to swing his axe again at the giant creature but spotted the familiar greatsword on the creature's back. It turned out to be our beloved Goliath, Alistair, who seemed to have waken his beastial power from his numerous training back home. His beastial sense kicked in again as a new threat has risen. Hovering above the assumed blood pool, a gas-like figure was heading right toward them, trying to backstab them again. Alistair saw it through and made his swipes. His claws flew right through it like it was nothing. Young Yuldra made an attempt with his bo staff and again went void like trying to hit a smoke. Valar made his run thou. He run back a few feet, trying to access the opponent's weaknesses with all his knowledge. Unluckily, nothing viable to bring the creature down came through his mind. Then he made a seemingly idiotic action. He dashed right at the vapory thing and tried to grab it, just to fell on his back. The creatures wasn't materialized at all. Feeling outnumbered, that thing tried to escape by flying into the nearby wall. Yuldra's reflex was quick and he quack it with the staff, trying to not let it flew away. His swing though did not seem to harm it but still stopped its movement. The creatures promptly recover its shape and flew to the wall on its other side. The band rain down everything they have with their weapons, but could not stop it this time. The heat of the fight had cool down a bit, and so the Entourage. They lessen their grasp on their weapons.

A shout of Jisnu, who just came out of nowhere, startle the whole gang. "WHAT WAS YOU THREE IDIOT DOING?! We was to come and clean, not toying with this bodies. Don't you know every single one of them is able to bounce back up and claw you to death?!" Jinsu shouted angrily, VERY. The team told him of theirs encounter but he just sigh and pull out a silver sword, carefully stab each body in the heart. Afterwards, he told them of how to make sure the dead don't come back to bother the living. For fear of another unwanted battle, the gang joined hands to carry those dead bodies outside with Jisnu. They made a pile of the rest of the bodies out side the cave just as the sun was setting on the horizon of the trees line. So the whole gang decided to make camp for the night and continue with the task in the morning for safety. Valar proposed burning the bodies for further assurance of the deads' not rising up and whooping them later. Alistair suggested not to as the burning would attract more unwanted attention and Jisnu has alreay made sure of that prevention. Moreover, the smell of burnt dead bodies is not a pleasant savor. That persuasion made quite the sense that they all agreed this line of Alistair had to be the best line he has given ever. Drunken and not giving a sh\*t anymore, Jinsu left the others planning their guard shifts and went to sleep on his own. When they're about to take their rest, Valar noticed something strange about the young boy's wound. It was just a flesh wound at first but Yuldra seemed abnormally uncomfortable with it. So Valar asked to examine on the wound and the boy denied it, claiming it's fine. So Valar and Alistair had to taken force onto the boy. Two big dudes pinned down a little boy. Valar made a quick look on the wound and was stunt as the similarity of Yuldra's wound to those on the goblin they had slain the other days. Valar then did was he was taught to do. He took out a knife, sterilized it on the fire and carefully apply it the wound to cure the infection. It wasn't enough to make the situation better. So he had to go for the hard way, tried to cut deeper into the wound, got rid of the infection or the boy's life would be at risk. Maybe even worse, become those zombie and they would have to put poor Yuldra down. The infection was worse than expected, it has eaten deep, deeper than Valar could cut out of the lad without flaying him alive. He told the rest about the dire situation. They decided to go for help right after the job, maybe back to the church of Highmother Ursulla. So to prevent any unwanted turns in the night, Valar tied the boy hands to keep him from hurting anyone else and himself as well. Just for caution, said the big bird guy. Then they took their needed rest. Valar took the first guard. The sleepiness and the tiredness of previous battle got the better of him. He fell deep in to the dream world. And the whole team was out cold. May be too cold for danger always lurks in the dark. Always.