Chapter 20 The Haunted House and The Deadly Forest

I felt like we had barely returned to our sleeping quarters when we all decided to get up. In reality I knew that it had at least 6 hours, but I dozed on and off for that time. Even though I had just slept like the dead the past day, I was still tired. No nightmares came to great me, just the sudden realization that I had woken from sleep. A sound of general bustle was coming from below us, as others woke up from the revelry.
Once the others had completed their morning rituals, and we gathered all the possessions from our room, we immediately decided to set off for breakfast. It didn't take long for us to complete this quest, as the noises coming from the common room turned out to be a massive array of food. Splayed out on multiple table, a veritable cornucopia of vitals was present. Sausages of every variety, eggs made nearly every way. Buns, both sweet and savory, enticed us with smells. Odd pastries with fruits and some sort of cream were piled high on platters,and turned out to be pretty good. Pancakes were offered for a bit extra coin, and When Rorin balked at ordering some, Melfina bought us all a stack. I had several plates of food, as I turned out to be pretty hungry.
While savoring all the good food, I notice people coming down from their rooms, placing various items of their liking onto plates, and going back up to eat in private. Most of them seemed to not enjoy the sunlight, nor the noise. I for one wasn't paying any mind to the noise around us, to engrossed in the delicious food before me. Leaning back and closing my eyes, I savor a sausage bun. Only with opening my eyes do I notice Aurane has stopped to listen to something, Fork halfway to his mouth. Before I can look around he has started eating again, looking thoughtful. Between bites he tells us of a Haunted house he has just heard about. It seems there is a House on the east side of the town where families have entered, or even lived there only to be found dying or dead in months, gasping for air, seemingly no reason.
While I want to get this trip to the forest over with as fast as possible, Aurane wants to check this house out. We have known each other for a good amount of time, and he has helped me out with a good deal, so I agree that we can go see this house. Hearing no complaints from others, we finish breakfast, gather the mounts at the local temple to Kuzco. The priests there seem to be slightly relived when I take mittens off their hands, one of them handing me a small bag. Telling me to put some in his meat to keep him happy. I'm not really sure how catnip is going to keep him happy, when he is at his best over a fresh kill. No matter. I'll find a use for it sometime. Mounting up, we head east.
Finding the house isn't that hard. Either good directions or Aurane natural sence of cities leads us right to it. Laying on top of a flat hill, it looks like a nice place to live, complete with a few out buildings and a separate kitchen. The house would have been on a prime location, safe from flooding, and far enough from other housing so fires wouldn't easily spread. A small fence is the only guard to the house, with a sign on the gate saying stay out. Melfina makes quick work of the old lock, and as soon as the gate is open Rorin goes in. Melfina makes a grab for him but being just slightly off balance, and Rorin being much shorter than her, her hand misses. As he trots in, we follow him up to the front door where he knocks. With no answer, he tries the handle finding the front door to be locked, and as Rorin starts to work on it, I briefly think about the fact that we are effectively committing a breaking and entering crime, but then again, we have two clerics, and one of them is a city cleric. The other one is of course scary as fuck. Between the two of them, we should be good. I'll let them do the talking if there is a need for it.
Once the front door is open, we enter the house, most of us with drawn weapons. Half done projects scatter the house. The only noise heard is us stepping on loose tiles. Rorin voices that is creeped out by the vibes of the house, and he isn't the only one. The Silence of the house is Daunting. Melfina had thrown out a little prayer, and found that something was off about the house, but she couldn't tell what it was. We looked around the entire House, and out buildings with nothing to show for it. We were about to chalk everything up to an ancient curse, when Aurane tells us about a new fireproof insulation that was tried out in a couple of places. Upon closer inspection, it is here too, and he tells us that is what killed everyone. Prolonged exposure to this insulation apparently killed the inhabitants, clogging lungs, and leaving them unable to breath properly. After learning that, I really don't want to stick around this place anymore.
We all head back out to the mounts, and while Aurane writes up a report, muttering about “Magical asbestos” Melfina takes out her dagger. Thinking she is just going to admire the fine craftsmanship once more, to my fascinated horror, she slices open her hand, blood oozing out of her opened palm. Taking a deep, satisfied breath, and clenches her fist. The blood drips out of her hand for a moment, and when she opens it, there is only a single drop of blood which slowly dissolves into the air. Oooookay. I guess some people have different methods for getting rid of the hebbie jeebies.
After Aurane has completed his report, we set off, at last, for the forest. While heading out of town, Marda points out all the landmarks that she hasn't seen for a good amount of time. A few hours out of town, she is nearly the only thing audible, as the forest has started to close up around us, growing thicker, and some sort of vile feeling comes into play. Not the feeling of someone watching us, but the feeling that something is off. Rotten. Only two groups of people are seen coming out from the heart of the forest. Quite, tired looking soldiers. They carry no fresh game, nor do they seem to be looking for food from the woods. We had been told that wild game was nearly nonexistent. The oddest thing about the groups is the carts. An ooze or scum of some sorts seems to have coated the wheels, and leaves a trail. It looks almost like the wheels are leave a trail of pus. The armor of the soldiers is also scuffed up, and somewhat scummy. The demoralizing effect seemed both mental and physical. Something we should be aware of. We decide to make camp not long after the second such party passes us, before we get too deep into the forest. Much like the camp close to the hydra den, the night is near silent, with only a few sounds creeping out to us. As Marda, Melfina and Rorin scout a bit ahead, I set up the Tent, and Aurane makes sure the mounts will be safe. While it was a bit hard to think of whimsy here, I got the tent up before the others came back. Not wanting to go far, Melfina tells us she was able to sense consecrated ground. Aurane asks if it would be like a holy spell. Melfina says no, or at least probably not. She also sensed Both Evil and Undead. Well. We sort of knew that, but here it is with us.
Marda and Melfina seem a little disturbed by this fact. Well, Marda at least. Melfina doesn't really show anything. Ever. Any normal person would be bothered by it, and I have to assume she is to. She just doesn't show it. Even when pulling me out of my own mind, she showed very little, but something was there. I'm just not sure what it was.
Sitting around our small campsite we talk of the woods, of what they used to be. Hunting was easier here, and with Marda's small garden, and Melfina's foraging, they lived well. Marda's home was a small, efficient place, cozy and almost welcoming. Melfina's was set up more with just the bare requirements, and sounds almost like a one room hunting shack. Living about half a day's ride from each other, Marda would normally host, but for a group as large as us, there probably wouldn't be room for everyone. Of course, I could just pitch the tent out front of her house, and that would be fine for us, but what would we do with the mounts?
I take first watch with Melfina in the unsettling night. I can look out into the darkness, and see for a good distance, plant matter black and white in my vision with the lack of light. Branches sway back and forth, and I can only hope it is the wind. I don't see anything moving. Knowing there should be Undead out there somewhere, maybe I should look at the things that are still.
“You seem to be doing better now.”
I wasn't expecting much conversation from her tonight. While very helpful to me the past few months, I hadn't really come to see her as a social person. By commenting how I was doing, I think this is the closest to small talk I have seen her make. “I am doing much better than when we were on the way here, yes. Thank you. Are you doing well yourself? I know that you were having trouble with some things yourself.”
“I have been learning a little about my past” She seems to be struggling with what to say next. Having no ability to read her, I am at a loss for words other than offering aid in whatever she needs. Telling her that she has helped me greatly, I only want to help her if I can. We do not get into anything more during the watch, and Rorin gets up the relieve us for second watch.
I suppose nothing happened through the rest of the watches, as I wake up just after dawn. We quickly pack up the camp site, and check on the mounts. The horses are all very subdued, and Mittens is a little upset, but with a little attention, he is willing to set out. The magical mystery murder kitten crew takes up the back of the group. We head deeper into the woods.
As we travel through, I remember the tricks we learned to pick the best path we can, to be attentive to our surroundings. Being like this makes the forest seem more peaceful, as I'm not looking for any one things, just noticing odd occurrences. I notice of course the sever lack of noise besides the breathing of the mounts and the group. And Eventually I notice the same exact tree as I had seen just a short time ago, with that same pattern of Burls that go all up the side away from the sun... It's then that I notice the face of Hatred and Malice on the tree and I try to warn the others. Aurane says it is a Treant, but I could see holes in the bark were the pale color of long dead wood poked through. As it stepped in front of us, Marda slips off mittens.
Marda runs up, Rorin at her side, and they start getting hits in. Splinters fly from Rorin's impacts, and the quick successive chops of the blades. Some sort of sticky material sticks to Rorin's knuckles after the hits. Melfina steps up, holds her dagger aloft and calls down power into her. Phantasms and spiritual forces surround her, but these are different from those tiny demons she has called before. What ever these new things are, they are just staying close to her. She calls forth a radiant flame to strike at the creature, which in retaliation slams down on Rorin, who is right in front of it. Roots also come up out of the ground, trying to snare and strangle the dwarf, but he slips from between them and escapes. The long branches come down and try to hit Melfina and Marda, and while they look to be damaging, nothing too heavy that they can't handle. I turn to make sure nothing is behind us, and I'm glad I do. An Eyeless humanoid stands there, freakishly still. Large black pustules cover most of it's body, several of them pulsating or wriggling. As I eye this new thing I can hear more hits from behind. The heavy crunching impacts of fists on old wood, the sharp chopping sound. Then with a flash of green and gold light, I can hear and Feel the impact of the large monstrous tree hitting the ground. And still that body just stands there. A bolt from a crossbow flies past me as Aurane fires a crossbow. It connects with the body, hitting right onto one of the small pustules. Pus and ichor spew out, and the whole body spasms slightly. I fire off two blasts from my arm, and still the thing stands. Trying to back mittens away from the thing, the movement of the big mount must cause something in this new foe to snap. It rushes forward and unleashes some sort of breath weapon on us, noxious gases and phlegm. Covered in the stuff, I'm not sure if I breathed in any of the gas, but the foul formula probably isn't good for me, and it has hit Aurane and both our mounts as well.
I can hear Marda running up somewhere to my side, and only then do I notice that two more of these undead creatures have crept closer to us, trying to surround us. She hits the fetid corpse, but it doesn't go down. As she steps back to take stock of the situation, I can hear the Wraith in my mind, a sound like bones grinding together, telling us to stay away from these things as the will explode when killed. Chanting to her divine power, Melfina steps forward, Holy dagger held aloft, and turns the undead from us, causing the two on the sides to flee. With instructions to let them run, Aurane and I hit the original one, a divine bolt from me, Aurane praying for hellfire to heat the metal crossbow bolt. The fire burns the creature, but instead of going down, it rushes forward again, slamming Aurane with a rotting fist. Marda slashes at it again with the swords, causing it to fall to the ground, and we all wait in anticipation for it to rupture. Instead, it just gets back up, lumbering to it's feet just in time for Rorin to put it right back down with a final punch. He was somehow able to dodge behind a tree before the thing exploded, coating plant life around it with a steaming ooze.
As we wait to see if the other two will come back, we all try to catch our breath. With nothing coming back, Aurane pauses to examine me, and Melfina looks to the remains of the corpse. Noting blisters forming, I can feel them now, swelling out of the bottom of my tongue. We find the same on the mounts. After examining the split body, Melfina says I would only have two days before I turned into one of them if not healed. Luckily, both Aurane and Melfina say they can remove the disease. With a quick prayer, both of us are cured, and we decide to figure out what we want to do next, and take a quick rest. What I am worried about is what if those patrols we saw leaving the forest have this disease and don't know it. The last thing we need is for this to spread to a town.