I swear you said start a fight

General Summary

Add to the list of things you shouldn’t touch without care, strange glowing orbs. Milli has spent the past couple of hours staring into this glass orb, and I'm pretty sure that’s a bad idea. Finally, Cap figured out how to drop a lasso over her, and Thor knocked the orb out of her arms and it rolled across the floor. “This thing be lookin’ at me!” Cap yelled. “Drop something over it!” I screamed back. He draped his cloak over it and between the group of us we got it back in the bag. “What did that do to her?” I asked. Lili waved her hand and said something, but Milli didn’t respond to the spell. “Well,” she said, “We’ve got one last broken chain potion. Someone hold her nose as I pour it down.” Thor held Milli still as I plug her nose and Lili poured the potion down her throat. Milli shuddered and fell asleep. Nothing was going to wake her up. “Let’s see what else is in the box. Cap shall we?” The two of them took turns pulling vials and coins out of the bag. By the end of the night, we had collected a sizable collection of ancient coins and four unbroken vials. “I’ll smash that box for you,” Thor said as he picked up a boulder, “We don’t need something laying around throwing off fear from it.” He threw the boulder as hard as he could, but nothing happened. Cap threw acid splash at the box, but it only slightly melted, so he spent the next hour throwing acid at it as I wandered through his store looking for rock salt and iron filings. You never know when those might come in handy for something. Thor peeked at the bodies we’d found in the sewers and found holes carved in their heads and th bodies were stripped of any wealth. It was not a pleasant sight. “I don’t think we should return to our inn tonight,” Lili said. “Perhaps they’ll let us stay in the cathedral for the night.” It took a bit of doing, but they let us sleep there for the night, but Cap spent the entire night talking in his sleep about the legion and angry mobs. “I thought I would sleep better here, but all night I dreamed of mobs attacking the legions, throwing rocks at them and the Legion killing them all,” Cap shuddered. “It was not pleasant. Can you pass me my shield Addie?” I pulled it out, and he grunted as he picked it up. “That’s especially heavy, I wonder why.”

WHY FAIRIES?

“We need to regroup,” I said as we entered our room. “It feels like the events are becoming more urgent than ever.” I stopped as I saw the floor. “Stupid fairies. Why did it have to be a fairy ring?” “What are you ranting about again?” Milli asked trying to shoulder past me. “The ring Ezra gave us. The stupid fairy ring is on the floor and there’s flower petals in it,” I sniffed. “Our room smells like jasmine. Why?” Lili rolled her eyes as I ranted a few more minutes and she sat down at the desk. “I’m sending a note to the Duke and Lady Cassandra. I think we should ask Thor to come with us. He could be helpful and give us an official stamp to what we’re doing.” I nodded and two hours later we had an official note from the Duke detaching Thor to travel with us and a packet of introductory letters. the rest of the day was spent gathering supplies, buying horses, and all the materials needed to travel across the country in cold weather. Sigh, there went our windfall. Poor again.
FARMS WITH NO FIRE ARE A BAD SIGN For the most part, the countryside is boring. We found some farms and met some people. They were nice enough, and then there was that one farm. “That’s odd,” Milli said. “There’s no smoke.” We walked up, and the door was wide open. Claw marks scoured the door and the hard-packed floor. “I’ll solve this,” and I shifted into a hunting dog. I smelled several different smells including one that made me absolutely sure I needed to be in charge. After a few minutes, I found a strong scent of several people, I use that term loosely, and followed it for a few hours. Eventually, I smelled wolves with a faint hint of orcs, maybe riding the wolves? They crossed past them, but didn’t join the group. I circle back and everyone follows me. We ride for the rest of the day and finally run into another stone-cold farm. “There are kids in there,” Lili said. “Draw your weapons, but let’s creep up on them quietly.” Lili tries talking to the horses, but all they will tell her is how Cap’n keeps sneaking them more apples. I sighed, “I’ll go find out what’s going on,” and I shifted back into a dog. I snuck up to the house and nosed the gate around the yard a little more open. The area felt colder than the bottom of the hill had been. Inside the farmhouse, I heard moans and young kids crying. Maybe a boy and girl? There were two voices talking in an unknown language. Then in my head, I hear, “Do you smell fear?” I thought back, “Of course, I smell fear.” Just as I think that the conversation changes inside. I look across the field and there is Cap standing in the middle of the field shining bright as the moon. Three figures stepped out of the house, but they didn’t feel warm. I try to tell Cap, he’s glowing, but there’s no answer, so I start running back towards the group in a wide arc. Lili asked Cap, “Why the light spell?” That would be when I gave up trying to be sneaky and threw a spike growth on the farmyard. Two zombies shambled through the yard and two creatures just floated over the ground. Lili yelled and chains reached up grabbing the zombies and the figures who ran through the spike growth. A shadowy cloak figure floated over the ground and gestured at me. I was enveloped in cold and he seemed to grow stronger. Thor ran across the field trying to get to the creatures. Cap yelled across the field,” Mine!” and a burst of lightning flew out. I caught a glimpse of movement and a ghoul jumped OVER the fence hitting me in the chest and a second leaped over the fence to Thor biting at both of us. “That’s it,” I said and gestured and the earth in the area of the zombies and other creatures leaped up and smashed back down throwing the zombies and ghouls to the ground. The resulting smell from the gross ichor caused me to wretch and throw up. Lili threw flames at the wraiths and the ghoul, and they writhed in pain. The caped figure hits Cap and throws down a small jar and cloud of sand coalesces into a vaguely human figure and throws me into the ground. I go down. I wake up to Cap healing me, and flashes of lightning around me as Lili throws lightning at the creatures. Cap throws another healing spell at the group and in retaliation the Caped Shadow throws something at Cap and I, but Cap’s shield flares and he stays up. The sand whirlwinds at Cap and I, and I only stay up because of Cap’s healing. “That’s it,” I growl and shift into a bear. Thor hit Cape and I sprayed acid on the Caped Shadow and it finally goes down. Cap and I go into the farmhouse and the kids are crying there, but otherwise are fine. There are two more adults who are sick and pale looking and look to be infected with the same thing Lili and I saw that one-day several months ago.

Report Date

21 Dec 2021