Once he finished with his scroll, Sylvester began to prepare for the trip to the Barrow of the Moon Druid. Unfortunately, it was a week away from town so they would need to take a long trip on the wagon.
Kurt and Karrank were both excited to raid another dungeon, especially when Sylvester confirmed he knew what was inside of it. Val, of course, demanded that she be allowed to tag along. Sylvester wasn’t going to leave Bask behind, and Neil had already asked to come along so they made a pretty full group.
Sylvester, being the de facto patron of this trip, bought two weeks of supplies for everyone, which ended up costing 77 silver. It took up most of the wagon, so other than the person driving it only one other person could fit inside.
They didn’t let that get in their way, however, as the group set off with high spirits. The trip went down main roads but even they weren’t well maintained, which made for an unpleasant walk.
Despite everyone’s protesting feet they did manage to reach their goal without any trouble. It was an ancient and muddy road which cuts through nearby moorlands.
Had they bothered to stop and ask, most locals would say that the road, if not itself haunted, led to an enormous haunted mound. They avoided it like the plague and would never be caught on the road after dark.
They did not, however, ask the locals anything and Sylvester didn’t volunteer the information either, so everyone was content to finally be on the last stretch of their journey.
Following the muddy road across the moor, the party were surrounded by scrubs and rocks peeking out of the settling fog. In the middle of the moor, far away from any potential help, they saw a large mound of rock and grass rising from the moor. Perched atop it like a vulture was an enormous and twisted grey tree. It had been visible for several miles as it was the only tree on the moor.
This mound was the barrow they were searching for, and they group quickly set up camp on the road. While they did, Sylvester began to brief them on what was ahead.
“Alright, as we approach the barrow, we will need to pass through all of these brambles.” He explained, gesturing the plants which would try to block their path. “Halfway through, six creatures known as Stingy Jacks will attack us. We will have Bask to help us, but this will be rough.”
“What’s a Stingy Jack?” Val asked curiously, a sentiment shared by the rest of the group.
“Something between undead and plants. They are dressed like beggars but have jack-o-lanterns for a head. Their hands are burning hot and they like to throw coals to burn people.” Sylvester answered.
“Ok, anything else to watch out for?” Kurt asked, thinking about how this fight would go.
“Like I said, they throw burning coals and don’t wear armor. Our goal is to take them out as fast as possible. Gang up on them and whittle down their numbers, even if it means that they aren’t all being attacked.” Sylvester directed.
“Oh!” Neil, the gnome wizard new to the group, exclaimed. “I have burning hands prepared!”
“Good, you will be in front then.”
“O-oh.” Neil deflated a little on hearing that response. Unfortunately for him, burning hands was a spell that was not known for its long range. It had great ability to cover anything the caster saw, but only up to 5 or so feet away.
“Everyone ready to go?” Sylvester asked, looking for confirmation from everyone. “Bask, Follow!”
Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.
The group set off toward the barrow and its now visible door. Just like Sylvester had warned, six Stingy Jacks rose in a fan shape in front of the party to block their path.
Neil began to cast his spell while Bask immediately began to glare at one of the Stingy Jacks. It quickly began to gray and slow its movements, but it wasn’t entirely petrified yet. Val stepped back and away from the fight when Sylvester began to swing the weighted chain of his Kusarigama at one of the jacks still away from the party. The blow connected with a sickening crack, partially caving in the Jack’s head. It didn’t seem very fazed, however.
Bask charged at the petrifying Jack, drawing the attention of several others who tossed their coals at it. The target of the charge managed to move enough to dodge the charge, but not enough to escape Bask’s gaze.
Karrank shot at the Jack Sylvester had hit, sinking his bolt into its chest. The Jack fell to the ground dead, but not before it managed to hit Karrank with coals, which burned his fur causing him to cry out in pain.
Two of the other jacks tossed coals at Sylvester, but he managed to avoid both. While all of this was going on, Kurt went to help Bask with its Jack, managing to land several solid blows on the petrifying pumpkin person.
And then Neil finished his spell. An enormous gout of fire shout out of his hands, covering the entire area in front of him with a wave of flame. It hit most of the Stingy Jacks but wasn’t enough to heavily injure any of them. It did draw their attention, unfortunately.
The flames also gave the petrifying Jack enough cover to avoid being completely petrified, allowing it to try to grab at Bask who contorted itself like a snake to avoid the burning grasp.
Sylvester stepped in front of Neil now that he had used his spell and began to attack the petrifying Jack, to keep it off Bask. Neil moved forward slightly to help attack the Jack as well.
Two jacks finally began to approach Sylvester, grabbing at him with their burning grasps, but they couldn’t penetrate the protection of his internal energy. The other two jacks stayed back and began tossing coals at Neil, who cried in pain as they landed on his thin robes.
Kurt abandoned the petrifying jack to attack one of the ranged ones, but the brambles slowed him down. Karrank shot at it as well but ended up missing. Bask, taking advantage of Sylvester and Neil’s assistance, charged the petrifying Jack and completely bowled it over. The jack was down, but not out, however. It didn’t matter though, as the Jack finally finished petrifying, removing it from the fight.
While Kurt continued to harry his target, Sylvester tussled with the two melee Jacks. One managed to grab him and burn him, but Neil came in with a surprise blow with his staff, managing to beat the Jack back.
Karrank saw Kurt’s jack move in to attack, but his crossbow jammed instead of firing, allowing the Jack to burn Kurt as well.
The last unassailed jack was Bask’s next target, but the lizard unfortunately tripped on brambles, causing it to stumble and break its charge.
As Neil continued trying to help Sylvester, he ended up getting even more burns, but continued to fight. Sylvester and Kurt were both struggling, and the free jack was still dancing around Bask. Seeing all of this, Karrank gritted his teeth as he drew his serpentine dagger and moved into melee.
He managed to force back one of the Jacks attacking Sylvester and Neil, managing to slice off one of its hands in the process.
Bask’s target finally began to petrify while the trio in the middle finally began to make progress. Karrank ended up fumbling his own dagger, but Neil covered him with a solid blow to a Jack’s head as he retrieved it.
The Jacks struck hard against Sylvester, burning him more, but Kurt managed to trip his and force it to the ground. Kurt took advantage of this and quickly moved to mount the creature, beating it with his bare hands.
Sylvester was beginning to run out of steam, but Bask was able to bowl over its target, beginning to draw the fight to its conclusion. The blow nearly shattered the partially petrified Jack, but it somehow held on.
The Jacks all managed to stand up again, but in that time Karrank managed to decapitate one with his blade.
Bask’s target finally finished petrifying too, leaving only two Jacks fighting. Sylvester was still trying to catch his breath while Karrank and Neil got pushed back by the attacking Jack.
The fight between Kurt and his Jack turned into a slugging match, the two of them exchanging blows with solid thwacks.
Bask charged at Sylvester’s Jack, stumbling but catching itself and managing to slam into the Jack. Sylvester, Neil, and Karrank were all caught off guard by this and didn’t manage to capitalize on the sudden opening.
As Sylvester’s Jack began to grey and slow, Neil came in and managed to smash its head with his staff, killing the Jack. Suddenly free to act, Sylvester immediately began to help Kurt, whipping his chain at the Jack, drawing its attention in time for Karrank to arrive and slay the thing.
Everyone unanimously made their way back to camp and laid down to catch their breaths. Sylvester casted Cure Light Wounds on himself, Karrank, and Neil. Neil ended up completely fine, but Sylvester and Karrank were still covered in blisters. Sylvester used the last of his internal energy to cast Cure Light Wounds again, curing both of them.
“Everyone ready to keep going?” Val asked, completely unaffected by the fight that she had taken no part in.
“First, we need a plan. The first room of the barrow is filled with skeletons which will attack us. We need to be read.” Sylvester shook his head.
“Wonderful,” Karrank snarked. “Could we burn them out? Like with the black pudding we faced?”
“No, the tree on top of the mound is actually a treeant. We want to avoid antagonizing it if possible.”
“Fair point. Plan B?”
“Ideally, we would flood this place with holy water, but that isn’t practical at the moment. Instead, we will have to lure the skeletons back to the staircase. Kurt and I will hold them back while Karrank shoots from further up. Neil can get any that get past us.” Sylvester explained.
“That sounds like a plan, but another fight like that last one…” Kurt shook his head.
“I know. We don’t have a lot of options unfortunately. Still, the Skeletons are generally weaker than the Stingy Jacks were, so we should be fine.”
No one looked very confident at that statement, but they all knew that there wasn’t much to be done about it. Bask was set up as the camp’s guard, and everyone settled into fitful sleep.