Session Report: Wolves Upon the Coast C: Ghouls in Grindheim
The party resumes with one players in the moment of their entering Grindheim. They present the body of the dead soldier they found along the way to Svala, the leader of this place, and get positive reaction: He was one of theirs, named Senan, and they are glad to have him back to be buried. He lies in state in Svala's hall, and the party and the footmen of the town sleep on straw on the floor around it.
The random encounter for this day was a priest and 6 Cut-Teeth fanatics. Negative reaction. They tromp into the hall and testily demand hospitality, remaining the night in a corner. The party resist the urge to mock their dentition successfully, and violence is avoided. The night of 6/7 Goi (apparently a Norse month roughly equivalent to March) passes without incident.
7 Goi: It is obvious to the fishers of this place there will be a storm tomorrow. The party is solicitous and wishes to ingratiate themselves with this place, so undertake the tasks necessary for this place: They go into the woods near Grindheim to cut wood of the pyres that will be necessary to cremate the dead man (who has been temporarily buried to wait for his proper send off). The 7 members of the party are accompanied by a Grindheimer, Rurac.
After the wood is nearly cut rattling can be heard in the woods nearby: Hallr and Ruruc creep to observe, and see skeletons (they are from a necromancer's lair 2 hexes NW) - 5 of them, mossy and dillapitated, wandering aimlessly east. I have Hallr roll a dexterity check for stealth, and he rolls poorly: The skeletons notice and deviate south. They are very slow, and the terrified party flees to town. The militia of 10 foot and 12 skirmishers are quickly assembled.
Half an hour later the skeletons clank up. A shower of javelins from the skirmishers pierces them like pincushions, but per &Monsters they take only 1 damage from each piercing hit and thus come marching along. I have the Grindheimers deal with three of the and the party deal with two: Two ex-thralls, 'Heterochromia' and 'Big-Ears', are each reduced to 0HP (luckily. They would be downed and perhaps dead if reduced to negatives) and then the skeletons are bully-circled and battered to pieces with clubs. Easy. I consider the victory of the Grindheimers in their parallel battle a foregone conclusion, but roll d6 for a vibe check and get 1: There are screams of pain amidst their shouts of victory, for one of their number has been disembowelled: Dying Brodir tells his colleagues to tell his multiple wives and multiple children he said something meet, before succumbing, and he is carried to be buried temporarily in preparation for cremation.
The party heads back to the forest to retrieve the wood. As they prepare to haul away the wood a tenuous voice reaches them from a mossy cave. It suggests a business proposition: The recovery of flesh. Fish can only sustain, but would not be preferable. Neither would beef, or lamb, chicken or swine be preferred: Man-flesh is desired, and man-blood could be smelt over the air.
The voice asks Hallr to come closer (and is rebuffed) and slips into using 'We' when it talks: Big-Ears reports multiple other figures can be heard moving in the cave. The voice concedes that its colleagues are unable to speak at this time, they are too famished. Flesh will restore them.
Hallr makes his excuses to the ghouls, says he will attempt to procure flesh for them (which they accept) and the party hauls the wood to town.
They speak with Svala who, after supper, has her men and Hallr's draw lots for the first watch over the graves (lest they be desecrated): Two of Hallr's get first watch. He selects 'Big-Ears' (who still has 0HP) and 'Nose' - calling them the 'Sensory Squad' - for this dubious honour. The storm due tomorrow is come, and the night is abominable. They negotiate for a horn to borrow to be blown for alarm, set up their watch, and another ex-thrall remains awake at the hall. I roll a d6 to determine in what segment of their watch the ghouls make their inevitable attempt: 1. After less than an hour of sleep a horn blows alarm and all in the hall are thrown to a chaotic response. The door is thrown open to black night and driving rain, and men half-dressed in armour rush to the graves. I roll a d6 for outcome for the Sensory Squad (who would certainly not attempt to stand): 5. They noticed a number of ghouls approaching and fled whilst raising the alarm, suffering no damage. In full force the group comes to the graves and finds them dug at even during the brief interval of the response. I roll morale for the Ghouls: Organised retreat. Emaciated figures, too long in the jaw, clawed digits, naked or in tatters, can be seen in the poor light of the moon when the clouds part sauntering on all fours into the night.
The graves are inspected: Senac was dug to and a bite taken from his abdomen. Horribly, the dentition of the bite is blatantly human.
There is debate on whether the party should remain in place for the rest of the night. Eventually, both bodies are dug up under heavy guard and taken to the hall, where the remainder of the unpleasant night passes without incident. It was sufficiently eventful and miserable no one regains HP.
8 Goi. Storm. Cremation is untenable, further lying in state would be too gruesome, and burial would invite ghoulsih trouble. The two bodies are sewed into sheets, rowed a a few hundred metres off shore in the raging sea, and buried there with bent swords, armour & as offerings, and the boats return without disaster.
The ex-thralls are given a day of R&R. At some point the previous day an ex-thrall - 'Asthma' - was handed off an old couple looking for aid, and he relates how they are looking for their berserker son and willing to pay for his safe return. Asthma slept the night in safety in their home and was glad to dodge responding to ghouls in dreadful night.
That evening, Svala asks them of their plans: They may stay, but must do so as labourers, for her hall can not keep them longer. The party resolves to depart and Svala discussed the settlements that surround, suggesting they take the north road. The night passes almost without incident: Big-Ears wakes Hallr in the night to report he heard scratching at the door, and whispering: Hallr immediately raises the alarm and the door is thrown open to another night of storm. Nothing is there, but the bottom of the door has been scratched at and there are clawed footprints and handprints around the hall.
9 Goi comes. Storm continues. The party is given victuals (dried fish), fresh pairs of pants, and the horn. They depart. No encounters on this day.
10 Goi. Storm continues (!). The party vindictively thinks of those who remained with the boat, whom they consider fools and speculate that they have certainly neem eaten by ghouls at this point. They continue to make their way north, and see the ruined village of Brandval: Cold burned out houses, a collapsed pallisade, a bridge over the river. We call the session here.
Present Hallr
Absent DB
Time: 2.5 hours
I had pre-rolled random encounters for the party and applied them while they were in town - which is not, I believe, exactly proper. Consequently Grindheim seemed an extremely benighted village.
The skeletons couldn't talk and I didn't know their motivations: I think they behaved properly. The ghouls I rolled (there were 8) were more interesting as they could talk. The party was regrettably unwilling to enter unholy alliance with them as ressurection men, but oh well. And given the advantages of their situation during the nighttime raid it's a shame they ran, but that's morale for you.
I did some good voices this session for the ghoul spokesperson (sibilant, low) and the various ex-thralls (nasal, deep, or wheedling). I need to annotate the accents though as I forget to what NPC they are applied and think I transposed some.
The new combat system was barely touched but seemed suitable during the obliteration of two skeletons.