The morning dawned dreary and a light but steady rain was coming down as we headed north on the road out of town. I was glad I had purchased that waterproof cloak and that my crossbow and bolts were well protected from the drizzle. Aelfie was happy to get outside regardless of the rain and ran ahead and back to us tail wagging. After less than an hour, we reached a sturdy stone bridge over the Selka River. It was swollen with the addition of rain and rushed past in a torrent of white foam. The road was quiet, with no other travelers this far from town.
There were several paths leading away from the bridge. We followed what seemed like the main road to the northeast between some larger hills. After another hour or so, we could see what we suspected was what was left of Bleak Manor on one of the hills straight ahead of us.
There was a path that meandered up toward the manor which we followed. There no sign of anyone around.
Boyln suddenly exclaimed when he noticed something off the road to our left. He dashed off the trail and into the wooded area with Aelfie close on his heels. The rest of us followed more cautiously now noticing something flapping occasionally in the trees further into the woods. I was a little worried about Aelfie as she hadn’t been in the wilderness much, but she did not bark or growl. Something crashed into the woods just behind where Boyln had gone. I was afraid he’d be at the bottom of a heap of heavy tree branches, but it had missed him. On careful inspection, it was a trap set to presumably protect the camp. Clearly, it hadn’t worked. Nothing had.
The camp was ripped to shreds and the old blood on the canvas and around the area did not bode well for whoever had previously been here. Of course, it had been some time ago. We poked through the remains of the camp looking for some explanation or information, but time had erased most tracks. The attack on the camp must have happened several months ago by my estimation, so we all relaxed a little and headed back onto the road. I called Aelfie back to me after she’d run about the outskirts of the old encampment.
The path to Blake Manor was well paved with switchbacks to take us up the large hill to the manor house itself. The rain slowed and finally quit. The walking was easier on the paved road. We spied skulls adorned with beads and possibly paints along the road. They look like wolf skulls to me and I let the others know. I wished I knew more about goblin culture. I had always assumed they were just mindless monsters, but maybe they weren’t. I don’t know enough to know if this is something they would do. It was clearly a warning. But a warning of what and for whom?
We come upon the manor and there is really not much left of it. The walls were only up to 20 feet high in places, most of it razed lower than that. However, as Aelfie and I scouted the area ahead of the group, I found evidence of recent activity all around the old entrance of the manor and the grassy area between its derelict walls. There was a large fire pit recently used but consistently used maybe for years. From the blackened pit, we pulled out a fairly recent and only slightly damaged iron shield with the emblem of two swords through a crown. I don’t recognize it, but my knowledge of duchies far from my own was not good. When the group caught up to us, we decide to take it back with us when we head back. No soldier would willingly throw away such a fine piece of armor. Likely the owner no longer drew breath and it seemed best to let someone know. Emmon added the shield to his pack where it would protect his back.
What appeared to be a huge bird circled far above us and flew off to the North.
“I feel like we’re on a schedule now. Let’s get in and out of here quickly,” said Meig, as we watched it disappear from sight. I couldn't help but agree.
Pency called out that he’d found something. Slightly out of sight behind the shelter of an old wall, was a hole with stairs leading down into the earth below what had been the ground floor of the manor. I was pretty sure our manor only had a cellar below the kitchens where they kept food cool. Then again, I never liked going down there, preferring the open sky above me.
I commanded Aelfie to stay in the grassy area near the stairs, hoping if she barked we’d hear it from wherever we were under the earth and she’d be smart enough to run off if she needed to. I didn’t think she would like the dark much. I squared my shoulders and followed Meig who lit a lantern and we filed down into the darkness. Behind me the Boyln and Emmon’s head lamps bobbed around us shining unexpectedly on the walls as we headed down.
Along the dank, destroyed wall next to the stairs, I notice something smooth and out of place. I dug a little in the muck and found a pouch filled with some coin and flint and steel. I began to think there might be some hope of finding something valuable down here after all, although what I found seems likely left more recently than what we were searching for. The stairs ended into a hallway about mid calf deep with water. I groaned as my boots, ratty from long wear, allowed cold water to seep in and soak my feet.
“What is it?” Meig snapped, looking back at me.
“It's just my feet are wet now,” I complained quietly. Something about this place made me whisper.
“Oh… why are you glowing?” she asked and I noticed my necklace was letting out a faint glow. My mind reeled and tried to turn in all directions as I imagined goblins coming down on us. Meig had turned to the left and to the right, there seemed to be nothing but inky blackness in that direction. I turned and faced that direction, still walking slowly behind Meig.
“It could mean…,” I started, but Meig let out a shriek and the lantern swung wildly in her hand. I turned back to her, but she was looking down into the water.
“Ow! Something bit me!” she exclaimed, drawing her dagger. I can see some blood on her leg just below her knee. By now, the others have joined us in the water. Boyln dashed forward and struck the water his his hands around Meig’s ankles but hit nothing. I pulled out my dagger. Pency sent some balls of light to meander along the surface of the water both up and down the hallway, illuminating it somewhat. We were all concentrated on the water at our feet waiting for something to surface.
I felt something slither past my leg and tried to slash it with my dagger, but missed. Meig got in a good stab as something snake-like reared from the water and attempted to strike her. She swung at it just before the snake could bite and her dagger came back bloody. The snake dropped into the water and we all felt the water shifting around our feet as the large thing slithered past us into the inky blackness of the far hall way. When Emmon walked toward that end of the hallway, we could see the end of the hall had caved in although the water flowed on through the rocks and boulders and presumably further into the ground. The area above the water looked like a narrow cave heading upwards from where we hear the chitter of bats roosting.
My necklace no longer glowed. Meig raised her lantern to have a look at it.
“Does that mean it’s gone?” she asked.
“Honestly, I’m not sure. It does seem to glow when enemies are near, I just don’t know if it will work for any or what. It’s new to me,” I told her, shrugging.
“Good to know,” she said and I wasn’t sure if she was being sarcastic or not.
We headed into the only direction we could which is further down the hall. There was a step out of the water and to a rotten door on the left. It took a couple of us pulling and Emmon’s longsword to pry open the door since it has swollen shut and the leather hinges were rotted out. The chamber looked to have once been a storage room. An eerie glow illuminated a skeleton with an goblin arrow lodged in it wearing very rusted armor. The glow which appeared to be magically lit, called my attention, but as soon as I pulled some rotting cloth off of it to get a closer look, it fell apart and went out. There were a couple chests which have been smashed open and the room looks to have been plundered before.
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We continued down the hallway and found a similar storage area across the hall. The back of the room has collapsed, but Meig found a shiny new dagger buried in a corner which, since it looks untarnished despite the condition of the room, seems like it could be magical. She tucks it away in a leg strap I hadn’t noticed before.
There were other doors leading off this corridor, but the hall ends in a T with a hallway to right and left. To the left, the hall ends in debris, but to the right, there was a faint blue green glow. Meig turned and quickly but quietly moved to look through what we discover is a broken door where the glow is brighter.
“Let's try this one,” hissed Meig, no doubt thinking about that eagle we’d seen earlier. The group agreed and we opened the door on to an odd six sided room. There are six stone diases each holding a well-made oak chair around a large oak table. The glow is coming from the ceiling which has glowing stones set in the ceiling in the shape of a constellation. One large star with eight others surrounding it. We were disappointed not to find our prize, but I found solace in noting the room was not water logged and so things were in good repair. Since we were looking for books, it would be a shame to find they had all molded into oblivion. I doubted Annui would pay us for a moldy pile of paper.
We continued down the hallway and opened a door into what must have been a library. My heart dropped to note that a fire has taken out half the room and the shelves, apart from some ash and broken book bindings are bare. The burnt half of the room revealed a secret door had been smashed open and the small niche it revealed was now completely emptied.
On the opposite wall, a break in the shelves has an eight star constellation with a large central star, much like the stars in the other chamber although glowing much less brightly. One of the stars' enchantments seems to have run out and gone dark. Boyln stepped up to the display and began to touch the stars in turn. He chuckled and flashed a grin as one of the stars, when pressed and turned caused a shift in one of the book shelves. Emmon strode forward and shoved the bookshelf aside to reveal another secret niche.
The group sighed collectively knowing we have found our prize. There were six bound, handwritten books, some observation equipment, and a heavy round chunk of rock that was black with lines of silver and grey running through it.
“I believe this is what we came for,” exclaimed Boyln.
“Indeed. Let us make haste from here before we overstay and find out who was alerted to our entry,” said Meig. We split up the items between our packs and head back out into the hallway. Emmon slid the secret panel closed again before we leave. Before we can dash back the way we came, Pency, who has taken a few steps further down the hallway called out.
“Wait, there is something evil here,” his eyes zoned out and I could tell he was hearing Baldric. “We have to help,” he said and turned taking large strides down the hall not waiting for the group.
I could tell the group would much rather head out than continue forward, but knowing Pency and Baldric, I sighed and pushed through the group to follow him. As I walk down the hall, my necklace begins to glow.
“There's something down here. I think we should help,” I said taking out my crossbow and hoping someone with a lamp will follow or I’ll be dependent on the little balls of light Pency is flinging in front of him as he walked. Unfortunately for me, they began to peter out behind him making me step blindly forward.
Luckily, I heard and could see some light coming up behind me as I walked. The hall started to slope downward and I could feel something unpleasant in the air. If I could hear Baldric, I’m sure he’d be yelling. I wished I had my own light spell to cast. Although my necklace was glowing more brightly, it did not illuminate more than my neck.
I gasped when I noticed the light ahead of me winked out and now all the illumination in the corridor is coming up behind me. I worried something had happened to Pency already, but as we get nearer, the hall turned sharply to the right into a large chamber. Emmon was just behind me with the others close behind him and we all nearly collide with Pency who had stopped dead only a few paces into the room.
The room is so large that our lights did not shine on all of it. Pency’s light globes were dancing around and reaching farther than the weak lantern and headlamps could penetrate. We stood quietly, watching their progress and taking in our surroundings. I couldn’t quite put my senses on it, but there was something evil in this room. It wasn’t quite a smell or a feeling, but something telling myself to flee this place. Only my stubbornness and the desire to not leave my group kept me in place.
The globes of light had reached the back of the room. It ended in a pile of debris like so much of this place. We began to spread out, weapons ready, still looking for whatever was putting us on edge. I thought to pull a scarf from my bag and wrap it around my neck to hide the necklace since it occurred to me it would not be great to have a glowing target at my throat.
I moved through the room with Meig, thankful for her lamplight. She had her new dagger out and I had my crossbow ready. We stopped and looked at each other. I felt a shiver down my back.
“It's close,” I said to her, glancing in her direction again. She put the lamp down and nodded to me. We looked around warily, circling apart from each other. The others are doing the same throughout the room.
Suddenly, a whooshing sound comes down from above and an immense form drops between me and Meig. I loose three bolts at it, but I’m pretty sure at least two have passed through it, possibly through it’s cloak.
“It's here!” I called hoping to get the groups attention as Meig grunted in surprise as well.
I didn’t know what it was, but the malevolence from it was intense and a terrifying hiss escaped from it. I hoped it was injured, but it sounded more menacing than hurt.
A cry from Meig indicated maybe it had managed to hit her. I cocked three more bolts into place on my bow hoping I can take better aim now and avoid hitting my companions. I heard Emmon charging from the left and Pency some distance away on the right was creating a sphere of light around him with his casting illuminating more of the room. I couldn’t see Boyln, but I hoped he’d be near Meig to help her if her could.
Another cry from Meig concerned me, but Emmon swung at it hard with his longsword, clearly hitting it. The creature shrieked and turned to face him. It had a skeletal face and glowing red eyes set deeply into it’s head. It raised huge claw-like arms to swipe at Emmon. It towered over the tall man and I had the sense it could take his head off with a solid hit.
I loosed my three bolts into where I figured it’s center mass was, hoping it was not heavily armored. At nearly the same time, light energy seemed to penetrate it from behind and Emmon hit it again with his back swing. The hiss turned angry and then the eyes seemed to fade out in slow motion as the huge form crumpled to the ground. I watched it hit the floor and then looked up to see Boyln next to Meig both in close range to it. Emmon heaved out a sigh of relief and wiped his sword before putting back into its scabbard. Meig also wiped her dagger clean.
“Good work everyone,” said Emmon wiping his brow. “Everyone okay? Are we clear?”
I pulled the scarf away from my neck and it was dark. Pency informed us that this was the evil thing he had sensed.
“He hit Meig,” said Boyln, turning to her.
“I can help,” I said. “Someone give me some light.” I skirted around the form and got to Meig. Pency had some of his light orbes hover around and Boyln and Emmon’s head lamps were also looking in my direction, so I quickly sorted through my pack for a bandage and some herbs I thought might be helpful. When I looked at Boyln, I noticed he was bleeding, too.
“You took a hit as well,” I informed him. He seemed surprised to find a trickle of blood running down his arm. Meig had a deep cut on her shoulder and Boyln had one on his arm. I bound them quickly with some lime mint leaves for the pain. “The herbs are a little dried, but it will help a little until we get back to town.”
“We should go,” said Meig impatiently. I nod and snatch up my crossbow bolts that I could find quickly and reload the bow, just in case.
We headed back to the wet hallway and up the stairs where Aelfie barked and wagged her tail jumping on us in turn. I was happy to see her and more so to see the sky above me even though a rain had started to fall again. We covered our heads with our cloaks and walked briskly back the way we came.
When we hit the main road just before the bridge, we met a group of hunters who seemed overly interested in our activities. We vaguely tell them that we killed an evil entity that had taken shelter at Bleak Manor. I hoped they were convinced of our story and also that they don’t choose to go to the Manor now since we still think something got a signal about our entry there. We hadn’t mentioned that.
The rest of the walk back to the inn is uneventful except I have to squelch along in my wet feet the whole way. I know what my first purchase will be when I have some money to spend.