As the group began to make the final arrangements for their trek, certain logistic challenges cropped up. Kang Razorfrost was too heavy for a riding horse to carry him and his longtime dwarf companion, Bangor Winterhowl was no friend of horses himself either. The Black Tower could not spare warhorses which would be strong enough to carry Kang. Ultimately they resolved the matter by having a wagon drawn by two horses. The wagon would be driven by Rasvahn and along with provisions it would carry Bangor and Kang. Andrion, Orecius, and Vass would ride on their own horses.
Orecius could not be sure how long it would take them to reach the point of impact of the large meteor that passed over the fortress but extrapolated from its trajectory that it should take them a few days. They had decided (much to Orecius’ appeasement) that they would make a stop to his tower. With all that taken care of, the men left Black Tower.
And so, the individuals who would become known as the Immortal Lords began their first adventure together.
During the journey the companions did not talk much. Andrion and Orecius exchanged some theories regarding the Blood Moon while the rest listened in, some out of genuine interest, while others due to not having anything better to do.
A few hours out of Black Tower, the devastation was starting to become visible. The meteor shower had left the area around the fortress mostly untouched, but the more the adventurers travelled onward, the more they saw its effects on the land. Tiny pieces of what they assumed to be lunar rock littered the area in small craters. Many of these craters were still on fire, but the fire itself was most unnatural. It was of a crimson red color and did not seem to emanate heat, or much light for that matter. Orecius tried to ascertain its nature and deduced that it was saturated with energies common to the Warp.
Trees were cut down by the small meteors, and large tracts of land were devastated. Even if one was to ignore the magical implications of the Blood Moon, the shower had wrought more than enough damage to make this event one that stressed special attention.
At some point the travelers stopped to better examine the lunar pieces. They noticed that they were cool to the touch and of a strange substance. While their outward appearance was stony, the material was malleable like soft clay. However you could not rip it apart—in that regard it was more like rubber. Orecius took a sample to study it in his tower.
About a day later they reached Heathglow; a small community of about a hundred and fifty farmers. The community essentially consisted of a series of small houses with thatched straw roofs which littered the countryside. The village was situated on the eastern base of a hill and on top of the hill the men could see a manor. Orecius and Vass admitted that though they knew of the community they never paid much attention to its comings and goings and thus could not tell who the lord of that area was.
While they approached the village they could see people coming and going but as soon as they passed what one might consider the village’s edge, the people rushed off locking themselves inside their homes, shutting their windows and shutters. By the time the adventurers were passing by the village center, the streets (muddy paths really) were completely empty.
“Not very friendly, are they?” Bangor commented.
“Hold on,” Andrion said. “Can you hear that?”
“What?” Orecius asked.
“Sobbing,” Bangor replied instead.
“Yes, I can hear crying and not just from one house,” Andrion confirmed.
“I can hear it too,” Vass said as he dismounted.
“What are you doing, Lord Draracle?” Andrion asked. “We should be on our way.”
“Gut feeling,” the paladin replied, approached the nearest house and knocked on the door. There was no response but he could hear gasping sounds from within. “Open up in the name of the Ascended King!” Vass demanded.
“Hush, they’ll go away soon,” Vass could swear he heard from within the house.
“There’s something fishy going on around here,” the knight said to the others.
“Is it our problem?” Kang asked and Andrion seconded the question.
“I don’t know yet,” the duke replied and then went to the next house and knocked on the door again. “I’m a Repulsar Knight on the authority of the Ascended King. Open this door!” Again he heard similar sobbing coming from within the house. “We are here to help you,” Vass added. “You have nothing to fear—the meteor shower is over, you are safe,” he elaborated. Still no response.
“People don’t want you here,” Kang commented, bored.
“People cannot just choose not to want a Repulsar in this Empire, jiax,” Vass replied and looked at the door thoughtfully. “Rasvahn,” he called out. “Would it be too much to assume you can pick a door lock?”
The revenant smiled and got off the wagon. He approached the door and produced a set of lockpicking tools from his belt. “Only be a moment,” he said and indeed in three seconds the door was unlocked.
Vass opened the door only to have someone from within slam it to his face. Vass cursed and kicked the door so hard that it opened with such force that the person holding it closed—a woman as it turned out—was shot tumbling away on the floor. Rasvahn and Vass could see within the small house now, and aside from the young woman there was also one much older poor lady. Both were crying and were obviously in a state of great fear.
“Yes, an excellent job to appease them,” Andrion remarked but Vass ignored him. He could tell there was more to this.
“There is nothing to fear,” Vass said. “I am a Repulsar Knight, you are safe.”
“We are safe?” the old hag asked. She must’ve been in her mid-90s.
Vass tensed. He could tell something was very wrong, but all he could see was scared people. “Everything will be alright,” he said in a calming tone.
“You hear that, young one?” the old lady said. “Everything will be alright.”
“Everything will be alright,” the younger woman repeated and stopped crying.
“Everything will be alright,” the hag repeated in what Vass could swear was a mocking tone of voice.
“Yes, no reason to worry,” the young woman said.
“No reason to worry at all,” the old woman added, and punctuated the statement with a shrill laugh.
“Oh, fuck,” Vass said and pulled his shield from his back and placed his hand on his sword’s grip.
“Hi hi hi hi hi hi,” the hag laughed, “no reason to worry,” she said as she stood up. “Come here brave knight,” she said and extended her arms.
“We got Foulspawn, here!” Vass yelled to his comrades.
“How did you reach that conclusion?!” Rasvahn asked him and then noticed the hag’s fingers twisting, extending, and warping into tentacles. “Oh, never mind.”
Orecius could hear doors opening from houses all over the village. “Your Highness,” he said, “purging this village is not our mission, we have more important tasks.”
“I will protect you, wise old man,” Kang said standing on the wagon.
“No, Orecius is right,” Bangor said, “I think we’ve outstayed our welcome here.”
Vass wanted to stay and fight the abominations, but Orecius had made a valid point. A series of priorities, plans, contingencies, and information raced through his head. It appeared these two creatures in front of him were not the only warped aberrations—the whole village had succumbed to the Warp, likely a result of the Blood Moon. Vass was capable and as far as he could tell so were his comrades. Fighting an entire village of Foulspawn did not entail guaranteed success but he reckoned they had what it takes, but probably not without losses that he could not afford so early in the mission. Furthermore he was in no position to be aware of any innocents in the area. As the women slowly approached him, Vass boiled down the entire situation into two choices: fight the village, or move on to their main objective.
Official Chronicles paint a legendary battle in Heathglow. How the Immortal Lords faced off against a village of monsters and prevailed. As I’m sure by now you’ve noticed the pattern of my Chronicle, things did not go like that in reality.
Vass decided to follow his companions’ suggestion. Before the crazed and warped women could reach him, he closed the door and went for his horse as Rasvahn ran to the wagon.
Kang sighed and slumped back down inside the wagon. “Great,” he said to Rasvahn, “follow the brave knight,” he said mockingly.
The group sped away from the village. Behind them they could see villagers with torches and pitchforks. They had no chance to catch up to the horses of course.
“I’m making a note to order a purge for this place,” Vass said as they rode away. “Orecius, spark some fire on a rooftop.”
Orecius didn’t heed the paladin’s command but Vass did not push it. The group made its way to the manor.
“Question,” Rasvahn said, “after the warped village, are we to also investigate the creepy mansion?”
“Since we decided to conveniently ignore this problem,” Orecius said riding, “it would be rather erratic of us to get inside that place now wouldn’t it?”
“Yes it would,” Vass said, “And we can’t exactly barricade ourselves inside there. There’s currently nothing for us here.” His statement was rendered obsolete the moment he noticed a little girl signaling them for help from a window on the ground floor. Vass sighed. “Then again,” he said and pointed towards the window.
The group halted its advance and everyone carefully studied the girl.
“She seems normal,” Andrion noted.
“Looks like our priorities just shifted,” Vass stated.
“Agreed,” said Orecius. “Abandoning crazed villagers to their own devices is one thing, but we can’t just leave a normal girl helpless here.”
“Rasvahn, with me,” Vass said and approached the window.
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