The Fortress

October 10, 2006

The group is asked by Byron to check out a disturbance in the nearby village of Hackby. Some of the locals have seen lights by the abandoned fortress. They haven't found anything themselves and want someone who can look into it. The group agrees and heads out to Hackby.

They arrive late, talk to the person in charge, Thorin, and decide to check it out in the morning. The fortress was used about thirty years ago for a few years but then abandoned. It is made up of an outer wall that has some holes in it and several buildings, made from the looted stone of the original building. When they search the place, it is obvious one building is being used. Further, the cemetary shows signs of rituals of some kind being done. Finally, there is an obelisk near the building being used that looks new. Finding no one there, they decided to wait for night.

Night finds them all in various hiding places. Duece is the one that sees the lights approaching. They look like fireflies circling a person. However, as he gets closer, Duece notices a skeletal hand on this person, and that puts him on edge. The man goes up to the obelisk, looks at it for a while before going into the building. When he comes out, having left his packs behind and starts writing on the obelisk. Where his finger touches, red lines outlining what he is drawing flare on the obelisk and stay there even after he is done. He writes several characters on each side of the obelisk near the top before stopping.

The figure heads back inside for a while then comes out, holding a lot of items and heading to the cemetary. Victor watches this and is wondering what is happening when he noticed the skeletal arm as well. He goes out and tries to talk to him but gets called Terry and ignored. When Eric comes out and see this as well, and gets called Jack, he attacks, taking the creatures head off.

It keeps talking to them, admonishing them for what they did and telling them to help.

They hack it to bits. Reece investigates the things belongings, finding only strange things and not sure what any of them are. They put the creature in a sack and talk about what to do. The obelisk flares up and the sack starts moving. Some good swings of the sack to the ground stop that. They decide they have to get out of there. They head back to Hackby where Thorin helps them burn the body. They decide to contact the priests of Chauntea in Hightown tomorrow.

When the priests arrive, they agree with what the group did with the body and also agree the obelisk should be pulled down. The group works with some locals to do that and then breaks it up further with sledges and pick axes. The group then returns to Hightown.

Notes

• I think the character's were scared when they saw the undead but the player's didn't say much. It didn't help when it kept moving after losing its head, arms, etc.
• We had a good discussion about PK vs CK and how we all need to play to the characters not the players. It was very interesting and enlightening.