Ghouls are tough

I had a recent session where I knew in advance that only two players could make it. Since the group was back in their hometown at the time, I told them I would quickly write something for those two players. During much of the session, one of the two players had to drop off, making it a one-on-one session. I quickly wrote up something to fit some Heroic Maps (TM) I had purchased early. These are great-looking maps for VTT play.

The group consisted only of three fighters, so I expected a relaxing session with few NPCs to manage. I was not expecting the fighters to have a lot of issues with the opposition, consisting of human brigands/slavers and some greater ghouls. Then the ghouls TPK'ed the group. As the ghouls killed the last character, one of them said, "What about my ring of regeneration?" Good question. I decided that if the ghouls did not eat him immediately, he had a chance to recover. I rolled a few dice, and that is what happened.

I did give the players some options to pick up temporary henchmen. I used some NPCs from a Small Niche Games product.

I tried something a little different in the write-up this time. Since most of the session only had a single player - I have written it from his perspective as a short story.

Session 158: Ghouls

Eathwund (human fighter), Aldus (human cavalier), Ian of Darkhollow (human cavalier NPC).

Eathwund reigned in his horse and stood tall in the saddle. Just over the hill sat the Restless Knight Inn on the banks of the Dolm River. The familiar and friendly two-story Inn. He saw a few horses just outside the stable and a covered cart parked in the yard.

“It’s early, but I think we should stop at the Inn for the night,” he said.

“It’s the last chance to have a good meal, and we are in no hurry.”

“Sounds good to me,” his companion Aldus agreed. “Let’s go, Ian,” Aldus said, speaking to his squire, a young man still in his early twenties.

Eathwund thought about what had brought them here. The Castellan of Edgerton requested to see them and informed them that the Black Choke slaver they captured at Darkvale Monastery had been convinced by the guards to talk and had revealed the location of a Black Choke hideout. There was no guarantee that the information was good. The captured slaver would have been ready to say anything to stop the questioning he was undergoing in the Castellan’s dungeon. Even if the information was good, the slavers may have moved on. But the Castellan wanted it checked out, so he asked the Company of the Black Dragon to do it. Lakima, of course, asked how much they would be paid. Eathwund had offered to do it for free since Lakima was busy anyway. Aldus had decided to join him. Eathwund had asked his companion, Domago, the cleric, to accompany them as well, but he had been too busy. Eathwund hoped that they would not run into a need for a healer on this adventure.

The trio made their way up to the hitching post outside the Inn. Ian expertly took hold of the three horses and began removing the saddles while Eathwund and Aldus headed for the double doors leading into the stable. Eathwund paused to look at the covered wagon. The covering was a garish purple color and a silver writing had been stitched onto the covering declaring “Donnal the Silver Sorcerer” in large bold letters.

“I’ll get that, sire,” a young ostler arrived from the stable and began helping Ian. Ian waved him off.

Eathwund watched the ostler for a moment, recalling that on his first visit to the Restless Night, the ostler turned out to be a wanted thief. The new ostler looked like a well-meaning young man, so he turned and entered the Inn following Aldus.

“Stars above! It’s my young hero, Eathwund!” a middle-aged woman cried out.

Lotti Fielding, the owner of the Inn, came out from behind the bar and rushed toward Eathwund with her arms outstretched. Clumsily, Eathwund endured her crushing hug. Lotti had once been an adventurer like Eathwund. Years ago, Eathwund and the adventurers he was with at the time, including Lakima the grey, had helped Lotti fight off a pack of stirges led by a strange werestirge. Lotti’s husband Tevan died in the fight, and Eathwund worried that Lotti would struggle to manage the Inn on her own.

“How are things?” Eathwund asked.

“I am in fine health, and the girls are growing fast!” Lotti replied.

As if echoing that, one of Lotti’s twin daughters ran up to Eathwund and grabbed hold of his leg, smiling at him.

“Presents? Uncle Eathwund?” the girl asked hopefully.

Thinking quickly, Eathwund handed the girl two small gems.

“One for you and one for your sister,” Eathwund said.

“Are these from a dragon horde!” the girl asked breathlessly.

“They sure are,” Eathwund said.

“Eathwund, what are those worth?” Lotti admonished him.

Eathwund assured Lotti that the gems were nearly worthless while secretly knowing they were each worth about 50 gold in Edgerton.

“Aldus, isn’t it?” Lotti asked the tall knight.

“Indeed, young lady, Aldus the Confident at your service,” Aldus bent on one knee and kissed the back of Lotti’s hand. Lotti blushed and scolded Aldus, telling him to get up.

“Any friend of Eathwund, our hero, is a friend of mine,” Lotti said.

“I hope you are staying for a few days?”

“I am afraid we have things to attend to down the road, but we will stay the night. I would not miss your stew for all the gold in a dragon’s horde.”

Ian entered the Inn, “The horses are stabled. Their man is brushing them down.”

Eathwund unbuckled some of his armor and sat at a table where Aldus had already deposited his shield and two swords. The inn did look to be doing well; there were several people sitting at the tables, and it was not yet sundown. A middle-aged woman who looked to be a merchant sat at a table near the hearth. Sitting near her on a stool was a man wearing a white cloak and hood. Somehow the man had managed to find the only shadowed corner in the Inn with sunlight still streaming in through the windows. Eathwund eyed him warily. Old habits made him notice the longbow, quarrel resting against the wall, and a long sword belted at the man’s waist. Eathwund evaluated that he was too well dressed to be a bandit. More likely, he was a woodsman. At a table near the bar, three people who took to be locals were enjoying a meal. A man, a boy, and a young woman. The man had broad shoulders and wore a leather apron. Eathwund judged him to be a smith. Near the front door, under a window, one of Lotti’s twin daughters sat enraptured in the simple tricks that were being displayed by a strange fellow.

The man wore a purple robe with silver stars sewn onto it in a random pattern. His hair was a shocking silver with streaks of blue. To the girl's delight, he waved his hands above the table in elaborate motions and produced bright pyrotechnics of sparks and stars. Eathwund watched for a few seconds; he judged that the motions were exaggerated, but the man was no fraud. He had spent a few years adventuring beside the master wizard Lakima and recognized the magic. The man was no master, but he appeared competent. It was worth keeping an eye on him.

Kendra, the barmaid, came over to the table and politely greeted Eathwund. She had started at the Inn after the incident with the stirges, but Eathwund had met her a few times when he had stayed the night. Aldus ordered the finest bottle of wine and the stew.

“And you, good sir,” Kendra asked Eathwund.

“I’ll be having Lotti’s stew, some bread, and an ale,” Eathwund said.

“I got us a bottle of Golden Lion wine, Eathwund. Live a little.”

“I prefer the ale; you and Ian share the bottle.”

The meal arrived, and as always, Lotti’s stew was excellent. Eathwund enjoyed two ales while Aldus took the bottle of wine to the table where Donnal sat. Soon, the two were engaged in tall tale-telling.

Darkness fell, and Kendra lit the lamps at the tables. The merchant went up to her room. The white-cloaked stranger slumped further back into the shadows, and Aldus entertained Donnal and a man who looked to be a mercenary with tales of his adventures.

“This red dragon we killed had no treasure. Get this, we had Domago speak with its spirit, and it said that the books were its treasure!”

“Where are you off to now?” Donnal asked.

“We are hunting Black Choke slavers up around Swift Falls,” Aldus boasted.

“I hear there is a good bounty on them. Perhaps I could be persuaded to join you,” Donnal said.

“Isn’t nothing up near Swift Falls but Toxin,” the mercenary said.

“Toxin?” Donnal asked.

“You know that big green dragon. They say he is an old one, and they get mean when they get old.”

“I heard he killed an entire caravan and ate all of the men and their horses,” the mercenary said. “He must have a lair somewhere near the Wyrmstream.”

“Really, a green dragon where you are headed,” Donnal said nervously.

“You know I have to be at a gathering in Edgerton tomorrow, but otherwise, I would join your company, Aldus. Seriously, I would.”

Eathwund snorted. The so-called sorcerer appeared to be one who had learned his trade from books and not from adventuring.

“Did you say something,” a sleepy Ian asked.

“I said let’s go to our room and make sure you pick up Aldus’ gear,” Eathwund said to the squire, “I think Aldus is going to be up for a while.”

Eathwund helped Ian by carrying Aldus’ shield, and the two entered the courtyard. The inn's second floor was accessed by a stair to a balcony on the outside of the building. Upstairs, Eathwund turned the key in the lock and looked over a clean room with fresh new sheets. Four beds sat in the room that had two windows. Eathwund checked the windows to be certain they were securely locked from inside. Turning about he saw Ian already asleep fully dressed lying on top of one of the beds.

“Eathwund, Ian, and I will take the watches,” Aldus said as he entered the room.

“I figured you would be up awhile,” Eathwund asked.

“Well, Donnal passed out, and the staff are taking him to his room, and I don’t care for Nosk,” Aldus said, referring to the mercenary Eathwund assumed.

“I’ll take the first watch and wake Ian when I get tired; you get some rest,” Aldus said.

Figuring that the Inn was a pretty safe place to rest, Eathwund agreed after checking that Aldus was alert despite all the wine he drank. The big knight had proved on more than one occasion to be able to hold a surprising amount of wine without affecting his senses.

The next morning, Eathwund was awakened by sunlight streaming in through the window above his bed. Looking over, he saw Ian sitting on the edge of his bed, cleaning and oiling the straps on Aldus’ armor. The knight was snoring loudly in the other bed.

“Awake, sir?” Ian said.

“Yes, let’s make an early start of it. Give Aldus a few more minutes, and then wake him up. I’ll be downstairs getting breakfast.”

Downstairs, Eathwund found that the tavern room was deserted. He sat down at a table. A young woman he did not recognize came out of a door to the kitchen.

“Would you be wanting breakfast?”

Eathwund nodded. The woman went back into the kitchen, and Eathwund heard her calling out the name of Melor, the cook. Soon, Eathwund was eating a plate of eggs, bacon, and bread with cool ale to wash it down. As he scooped up the last of the eggs, Ian and Aldus entered and joined him.

After Ian and Aldus finished their breakfast, Eathwund sent Ian to the stables to prepare the horses. Stepping outside, he found it was a bright, sunny day. It did not feel at all like a day for hunting slavers, but he mused, they were sure to be holed up in some dank, dirty hole in the ground.

“Eathwund, you weren’t leaving without giving me a hug!”

Eathwund turned to see Lotti standing in the doorway of the Inn. Lotti came up and hugged Eathwund.

“Be careful, and if you get banged up, come back and see me.” Lotti said, “I still have some of the old healing magic.”

The three men waved goodbye and set out along the river's wilderness road. The road was well-travelled and led all the way to Larm and, from there, over the mountains through Icefang pass to the dwarven realm. Eathwund had traveled it several times. As they came to the ford where the Wyrmstream entered the river, they turned and followed the stream north. The sun passed noon, and the company heard the distant roar of Swift Falls in the distance.

“We should proceed cautiously from here and check for signs of passage,” Eathwund told Aldus.

Eathwund watched the path carefully; there were some indications of footprints on the path, but Eathwund had no idea how old they were. The falls drew closer, and they made their way up a low hill to the brink of the falls. A ford crossed the stream just above the falls.

“More tracks,” Ian said, pointing at the footprints in the dirt. Eathwund dismounted and examined the tracks. There were some boot marks of human size but also some small, clawed footprints.

“Kobold,” Eathwund murmured.

“What is that!” Aldus said, pointing across the Ford.

Eathwund looked up and saw a man dressed only in dirty long underwear hanging in a tree. He was hanging upside down, his long brown hair pointed at the ground. A rope circled his ankles, and his arms hung limply toward the ground. At first, Eathwund assumed he was dead, but then one of the arms moved, and the man scratched his behind.

“I think we can cross here, but be wary,” Eathwund said.

Aldus dismounted and tied his horse off to a tree. He unsheathed his sword and splashed carefully across the stream.

“Woo, it is cold and a little slippery but only a foot deep,” Aldus said. Then walked toward the tree the man was hanging in.

Eathwund handed the reigns of his horse to Ian and followed across the stream. Ian waited on the other side. Eathwund approached the man. As he approached, the man opened one eye.

“Good day, sir. Is it not a fine morning.”

“Indeed,” Eathwund said, “You seem to be in a bit of a predicament.”

“Yes, I have to agree with you there. Sorry about my appearance. I was awakened last night to find kobolds stealing my pack. I grabbed my dagger, chased them through the woods, and stepped in one of their snares. I feel quite foolish.”

“What brings you out here?” Eathwund asked.

“I was hunting kobold bandits for the bounty; I am afraid they have managed to turn the tables on me. I should have known not to chase kobolds through the woods after dark.”

“My name is Jon Wallis, by the way. Who do I have the pleasure of speaking with?”

“I am Aldus, the Confident Knight of Edgerton,” Aldus quickly announced. “That young man is my squire, Ian.” He pointed at Ian, who was leading their horses across the Ford.

“I am Eathwund,” Eathwund added.

“Well, Eathwund, I seem to be in a bit of bother. Would you mind handing me my dagger? I seem to have dropped it.” Jon Wallis said, pointing to a dagger lying in the grass just beyond his reach.

Eathwund thought for a moment. This is suspicious. A man just happens to be hanging from a tree near a slaver hideout. He could be a spy. Hanging from a tree seems a little much, though. He looks honest, and having a lookout hanging from a tree would be silly. Eathwund approached the man and chopped through the rope above his feet with one swing of his sword. The man toppled to the ground and rolled quickly, breaking his fall. Eathwund noted how effortlessly the man had picked up his dagger while rolling.

Meeting Jon Wallis

“Thank you, Eathwund,” Jon said while standing on one foot, wincing a little as his other bare foot landed on a stick.

“Show us where your campsite is. We can escort you there,” Eathwund said.

Aldus raised an eyebrow in a silent query to Eathwund. Eathwund quickly signaled with his hands that he was suspicious of Jon.

Jon led them through the woods, crossing a path and then up to a campsite in the hollow of a hillside. A cold firepit sat next to a blanket lying on the ground.

“They cleaned me out. Did not even leave me a pair of pants or a shirt,” Jon said angrily.

Eathwund knelt close to the ground and examined the tracks. There were several kobold tracks and a place where the grass was pushed down like a man had been sleeping on the grass. It did appear that Jon Wallis was telling the truth.

“Have you seen any sign of bandits or slavers hereabouts,” Eathwund asked.

“Bandit, of course. I was after Kobold Bandits for the bounty. But not human bandits or slavers. We are too far from the wilderness road here. It is several hours to the south. No bandits would hide out this far from the road,” Jon said.

“Although.”

“I did see some giant tracks not far from here, nearer to the falls,” Jon added.

“Giant tracks!” Aldus said. “I would not mind matching my blade against a giant.”

“These were from a big one, that is for sure,” Jon said. “Let me show you.”

With that, Eathwund followed Aldus and Ian's footsteps as the group followed the barefoot and bare-chested Jon back toward the falls. Eathwund hung back a little, still wary of an ambush.

“Over here near the trail,” Jon said, waving them toward a trail through the trees. “See, that is a big footprint!”

“And look, I did not notice this before, but they seem to lead toward that cave,” Jon said as he pointed toward a dark cave entrance shadowed by trees.

Eathwund looked down at the track. There was a very large, bare, human-like footprint in the dirt and a few more heel prints leading back to the cave. The footprint looked genuine but a little bit big for a hill giant. Unless he was a giant amongst hill giants. It could have been faked, though Eathwund wondered why giant footprints would be faked this far from the road.

“You made camp for the night after seeing a giant footprint?” Eathwund asked warily.

“Yeah, to be honest, I only saw the one footprint, and I thought it might have been faked by the kobolds to scare away hunters.”

“Now I am not so sure,” Jon added.

“Do you want me to scout the cave,” Jon asked, “Mind you, I am not equipped for a fight, so I am going to just take a quick look and then come back.”

Eathwund nodded. Jon Wallis hitched his drawers and walked carefully up to the cave mouth. He walked with surprising grace and disappeared into the shadows once he entered the cave.

“Sneaky fellow, isn’t he,” Aldus said.

“Yeah, watch your purse around this guy,” Eathwund said.

Ian immediately frantically checked for his belt purse and hidden purse about his neck. “All here,” he said with relief.

A minute later, Jon Wallis returned.

“It’s a big cave. There is another tunnel not far in. I swear I heard something big breathing, like a bear, and the smell is terrible. I never smelled a giant before, but I reckon that is what they smell like.”

“Okay, you wait here, and we will take care of any giants,” Aldus said.

“Wouldn’t think of joining you.”

Aldus took the lead, and Eathwund and Ian followed. The cave was indeed a large one. Once they cleared the low entrance, the ceiling was a full 15 feet high. The air was humid, and some slickness covered the stones. The sound of the thundering waterfall could be heard close by.

“WHO YOU. WHAT PASSWORD!”

An enormous giant stepped from the side chamber. Even in the 15-foot-high chamber, it was bent over, or its head would have struck the ceiling. The giant wore only a simple fur loincloth and held a wicked-looking tree trunk as a club.

The three adventurers stood stunned for a moment.

“Of course. We know the password. Why are you shouting at us?” Eathwund hastily said.

“I bet you have forgotten the password, haven’t you?”

“I KNOW PASSWORD MOON,” the giant said proudly.

“Ahh, good. It is good to see you are up to the task. I was just checking. The password is, of course, Moon. We will be going past now.”

Eathwund stepped forward boldly and walked past the puzzled giant, carefully keeping a hand on his sword and his shield angled toward the giant. Once he stepped past, he quickly motioned for Aldus and Ian to follow. The giant continued to watch them stupidly with its mouth hanging open. They walked down some large natural steps to a lower cave. Here, they could see the sun streaming in through an opening. While Ian and Aldus looked about the cave, Eathwund stepped to the opening. It was an opening in the cliff face just below the falls. The rocks nearby were covered in bright green moss. He looked about for a path and saw that he might be able to leap to a nearby ledge. The ledge widened as it went downriver and was choked with vegetation. Eathwund leaped and made it to the ledge. From his new vantage point, he was looking directly at the falls. There was no indication of any passage or path. The rocks were slick and covered with moss. He had to take each step gingerly.

Eathwund heard a roar from inside the cave, muffled by the sound of the waterfalls. “They’ve angered the giant,” Eathwund thought, and he hurriedly moved to jump back into the cave. He heard another yell as the giant shouted for help. Eathwund leaped and sprawled on the floor in the cave. Jumping to his feet, he saw Aldus square off against the giant on the ledge. Below the ledge, Ian stood, trying to free his sword from its sheath. Pushing past Ian, Eathwund ran up the steps and slashed at the giant. The giant turned and swung its club at him, which he easily leaped aside from. Seeing an opening, Aldus stabbed his sword into the giant’s side, killing it. The huge giant toppled to the cave floor on the edge of the ledge.

There was another huge roar, “KILLERS!” Another giant entered the cave from the side tunnel. Eathwund and Aldus went to work again, slashing and stabbing at the giant while it attempted to crush them with its club. Eathwund stabbed it deep in the side and withdrew his sword. The giant dropped its club and put up both hands to protect itself.

“No, stop, you win, no hurt me.”

Eathwund lowered his sword warily. He noticed Jon Wallis looking very out of place, clad only in his underwear, holding a dagger behind the giant.

“We won’t kill you if you tell us what you are protecting,” Eathwund said.

“Protect the door for men,” the giant said. They pay with food for me and my friend,” he said, pointing at the dead giant.

“Where is the door,” Aldus asked, holding his sword in a threatening manner.

“Door in wall,” the giant said, pointing to a small stone wall in the cave that they had not noticed before.

“Go if you want to live,” Aldus said.

The giant crawled away on all fours into the side passage, whimpering in pain.

“Sorry about that, I guess I put my foot in it again,” Jon Wallis said with a shrug.

Eathwund looked at Aldus quizzically.

“He entered and messed up the password before Ian and I could warn him,” Aldus said.

Eathwund moved over to the stone wall and scrutinized it. Now that he knew where to look, he easily found the outline of a door and its trigger. Pushing the trigger, the door rotated toward them, and flickering orange light lit up the cave. On the other side of the door was a narrow crypt filled with a stone coffin. Past the coffin was a large stone-walled room. Three disreputable-looking men sat at the table playing cards. As Eathwund watched silently, the youngest man, really a boy, looked up and into Eathwund’s eyes.

“Aiee! Intruders!”

Eathwund, Aldus, and Ian quickly leaped over the stone coffin and charged into the room. The boy threw his chair in their path and ran up a staircase. Aldus and Ian fought the two men at the table, and Eathwund charged down and stabbed the young man in the back as he fumbled to open a door. Turning, Eathwund ran back down and struck one of the slavers over the head with his sword, knocking him out. Aldus stabbed the other in the stomach, killing him. Aldus busied himself, checking the contents of the two men's pockets and finding gold coins. Too many gold coins for mere bandits. Pulling down the collar of the unconscious man, Aldus pointed at the braided rope tattoo about his neck.

“Their Slavers,” Aldus said quietly.

Eathwund nodded and then proceeded to bind the unconscious man. Grabbing a jug of wine on the table, he splashed some on the man’s face. The man sputtered, and his eyes snapped open, glaring at them.

“You're dead men walking, and you don’t even know it,” he said, pointing to his tattoo. “Do you know what this means, the Black Choke? You are messing with something you don’t understand. Let me go and run. We will track you down.”

Aldus slapped the man with his gauntlet-covered fist.

“Shut up with your threats. We have killed tougher than you. Talk. How many are in this place.”

“Two dozen, and we got allies, more than enough to kill your lot.”

“I don’t believe him,” Jon Wallis said. The slaver stared, puzzled, at the nearly-naked Jon.

“Mind if I help myself to some clothes?”

“Have at it,” Aldus said.

Jon proceeded to remove the dead slaver's boots, followed by his pants, shirt, and leather armor.

“You better close that door up there,” Jon pointed at the corpse of the young man Eathwund had killed at the top of the stairs. The body lay half in the doorway. Eathwund walked up the stairs and checked the corpse of the young man. Dead, he looked older. Still, Eathwund felt a pang of disquiet. Then he noted the Black choke tattoo about the man’s wrist. He had no pity for slavers. They were the worst of humans. Eathwund quickly checked the boy’s pockets and found gold coins.

Dragging the corpse into the chamber, Eathwund motioned to Ian to open one of the stone coffins along the wall. Inside, it was clean and empty. He tossed both bodies in the coffin and closed the lid.

“What about this one,” Aldus said, “My code does not allow me to kill an unarmed man.”

Eathwund pointed at the stone coffin where they entered.

“Hey, wait, I’ll suffocate in there,” the prisoner said.

“You’ll live.”

They opened the coffin and dumped the tied-up prisoner inside. Eathwund added a gag over the man’s mouth.

“Which way,” Jon said. Eathwund regarded Jon, the funny man was gone, in his place was a fully clothed man wearing armor. Two daggers and a sword swung from his belt. In one hand, he held a wooden club with metal studs on it. He checked about the chamber. Beside the door at the top of the stairs, a hallway entered on the other side of the room. Three burning braziers lit the room. The smoke from the braziers curled up through holes in the ceiling.

“That way, I think,” Eathwund pointed at the hallway.

“You guys can really fight. You took out those three in a blink of an eye. Impressive,” Jon said, then turning to Ian, he slapped the squire on the back, “Even you, boy.”

“Hey, knock it off.”

Eathwund ignored the banter and took the lead into the hallway. Torches lit the hall every dozen feet. Empty barred cells lined one wall. Up ahead, he saw a door.

“Want me to check it out,” Jon Wallis whispered to Eathwund. Jon looked a little flushed.

“Go,” Eathwund said.

“I let him know to stop bothering Ian,” Aldus growled lowly.

Jon Wallis tip-toed quietly up the hall and listened at the door. He signaled with his hands that he could hear the voices of five men. Eathwund realized that Jon knew the adventurers’ hand signals and probably had read all the signals that he and Aldus had sent to each other. He made his way up to the door. Nodding at Aldus and Ian to be sure they were ready, Eathwund swung the door inward quickly and leaped into the chamber. He surprised five men standing around a huge circular oak table covered in maps, paper, jugs, and glasses. Before they could react, Eathwund shoved his sword through the stomach of the nearest man. Aldus slashed at another as he stood up, killing him instantly.

“Stop them!” one man yelled and then ran for a door on the far side of the chamber. Eathwund followed him, figuring that Aldus could handle the rest. He noted Jon Wallis diving under the table as Aldus and Ian traded sword blows with the surprised slavers.

Jumping through the doorway, Eathwund entered a hallway and looked both ways. To his right, the hall went twenty feet and turned south. To his left, he saw two slavers running into a larger chamber. Eathwund took up the pursuit.

Running into the large chamber, Eathwund saw a sight that made him pull up and stop. Arrayed across the chamber were five slavers with their swords drawn and ready. The two men Eathwund had chased had found reinforcements. Eathwund advanced toward them slowly. Three of the men were in clumsy stances, and he felt confident he could defeat them easily. But two had settled into a proper sword-fighting stance. Five-on-one was not a good idea. He paused. Just then, Aldus, Ian, and Jon Wallis ran up behind Eathwund. The odds had evened up a good deal. Eathwund smiled at the slavers and moved forward.

“Hold them off,” the slaver who had run before yelled and ran from the room down a hallway. The four remaining slavers looked at each other uncomfortably. Eathwund advanced quickly, tipped his sword under a clumsy swing from his opponent, and brought it up, slashing through the slaver’s neck. The man collapsed in a heap. Eathwund noted Aldus dispatching a slaver on his right while Ian and Jon Wallis squared off with another.

“I’m going after the leader,” Eathwund yelled, running for the side passage. The passage had no light, and Eathwund quickly slowed to a walk, tapping the wall on his right with his sword point. He heard whimpers from a woman in the darkness.

“Be silent,” a voice hissed.

Reaching out to his left, Eathwund felt iron bars. In the dim light, he could just make out a cell door in the bars. More fearful whimpers echoed from the darkness. Just then, light flooded into the hallway. Looking over his shoulder, he saw Jon Wallis atop a table in the other chamber, holding a torch high. The light spilled into the dark corridor. He was next to a large chamber with iron bars across its front. In one corner of the room huddled five humans, three men and two women. Captives of the slavers. In the other corner, the slaver boss stood holding his dagger to the throat of a young man.

“Back off, or I will kill him,” he swore at Eathwund.

Eathwund instead swung open the cell door and entered. He heard a scream from down the hallway and saw Ian drawing his sword from the dead body of one of the slavers.

“I’m not bluffing. You are going to let me get away, or I kill the slaves you came to rescue.”

Eathwund thought for a moment. Lakima always had a clever word to say when these situations came up, but he could not think of one. The slaver waited impatiently. Then Eathwund sprang forward and drove his sword into the neck of the slaver boss. The slaver fell dead to the floor, harmlessly dropping the dagger.

“Thank you!” the captive said.

The rest of the captives looked concerned at Eathwund and his blood-drenched sword.

“Not to worry. I was here for the bounty on the slavers. You are free to go.”

“Go where?” one of the women wailed.

“My son, they have taken my son. You have to save him,” the other woman said, grabbing Eathwund’s arm.

“I am a little busy right now.”

Eathwund left the cell and looked down the hallway to the large cave. Jon Wallis and Ian were both looking away from him; he did not see Aldus. Walking into the cave, Eathwund saw Aldus finish off a plate mail-clad dwarf with a sword thrust. Aldus paused and wiped the blood off his sword onto the dwarf’s pants.

“Is that all of them,” Aldus asked.

“Possibly, I found some captives they should know,” Eathwund replied.

Eathwund questioned the captives further. He learned they had been taken from the road, farms, and even one merchant from his bed in Edgerton. The roster of slavers changed all the time, and they were unsure of their numbers. Only the dwarf, whom the captives assured them was the meanest of dwarves, was a regular. A quick search revealed no hiding places for more slavers besides a wooden door leading from a ledge above the large cave. The entire complex seemed to have once been a crypt. Eathwund noticed statues of a robed man who looked like the statue he had seen once in the past. He would have to ask Domago about it.

“My son, you must rescue my son,” the woman again grabbed Eathwund’s sword arm.

“I am afraid your son is gone, good wife,” we have checked almost everywhere.

“You haven’t checked in the crypt; they took him to the crypt.”

“Eathwund, is it? I am Hume,” the old merchant from Edgerton said. “The slaves they don’t think can make the trip are tossed into the crypt.”

“They said that something down there needed to be fed,” another man added helpfully. The woman sobbed and began crying.

“Michael is down there,” she said. It has only been a few hours. He must still be alive; he is a very clever boy.”

“Okay, I will look for him,” Eathwund said.

Hume showed Eathwund a metal grate in the stone floor before a pair of barred doors. After checking the doors, they found they led to a ledge behind the waterfall. A large iron brazier rested on top of the grate.

“It took four of them to push that onto the grate,” Hume said.

Eathwund nodded, then reached down, picked up the brazier, and carried it across the room to set it down.

“My word,” one of the captives said in awe.

“Wow, Eathwund, you must have muscles on top of your muscles,” Jon Wallis asked.

Eathwund just nodded. Then he pulled the grate up out of the floor. Stone steps led down into darkness. Cobwebs blocked the way, and the smell of death floated up from below.

“Smells like a charnel house,” Aldus said, wrinkling his nose.

“Ian, give me your torch. You and Jon stay here and protect these good people,” Eathwund said, leaning close to Ian. He whispered, “And keep an eye on Jon.”

“Hey, I heard that!”

Taking the torch, Eathwund led the way, Aldus, a short distance behind him. Below was a large stone-walled chamber. Stone coffins occupied alcoves to either side of them. Some appeared to be broken open. A scattering of yellow bones lay on the floor, but it was difficult to identify them. The bones were broken and gnawed on. I don’t like this at all, Eathwund thought. The chamber opened into another stone-walled room with square stone pillars holding up a vaulted ceiling. The entire place felt like a forgotten place of worship. More stone coffins lined the walls. More bones lay about on the floor, and Eathwund could see some human skulls among them.

“Michael?” Eathwund said nervously.

He thought he heard a low whimper from one of the coffins. Heading toward it, Eathwund lifted the torch high. He could just make out a 12-year-old boy hiding in the shadows of the coffin.

“Michael, come out of there; your mother sent us to bring you back.”

The boy peered fearfully at Eathwund, and then his eyes opened in terror. He ducked his head back down.

“Eathwund, we got trouble!” Aldus shouted.

Whirling about, Eathwund saw six hideous ghouls slinking toward them out of the shadows. Their skin was a strange bluish tinge, unlike any ghouls he had seen. Their claws were encrusted with dried blood.

“Back-to-back!” Aldus shouted.

Eathwund rushed to Aldus, and the two heroes squared off against the ghouls. Eathwund swung at one and cut open its chest, but no blood poured forth. A horrible stench exuded from it. It swung a claw at Eathwund, and he dodged, but the second claw stuck him in the arm, and he felt the iron-hard claws of the ghouls penetrate through his mail into his arm. Eathwund felt his arm go dead to him, and then, more alarmingly, the lack of feeling spread up his arm and into his chest. He struggled madly but found he could not move at all, though he could see and hear.

“Eathwund!!”

What seemed like an eternity later, Eathwund lay on the cold stone floor, staring at the ceiling. One of the ghouls had removed his chest piece and slashed open his stomach. He had watched in horror as it chewed and spit out his entrails. Apparently, the taste not appealing to it. It had then moved on, and Eathwund could only stare upward. He heard hideous slurping and crunching nearby for what seemed like an hour.

Wait, the floor was cold again. He could feel it! Tentatively, Eathwund tried to move his hand. Nothing. But then his foot twitched. Slowly, the feeling began to return to his extremities. He stretched out his right hand and felt the comforting grip of his sword. The chamber was still lit, but his torch must have gone out a long time ago.

A crunching noise like teeth on bone could still be heard a short distance away. Turning his head, Eathwund saw a horrible scene. Dead berserkers lay strewn about on the floor. Three of them lay on top of Aldus. Near Aldus lay Ian, and his lantern sat on the floor, lighting the room. Eathwund rolled quietly to his side and reached out to steady himself with his hand. A blue glow radiated out from his hand. Looking down, he saw the Ring of Regeneration glowing blue. It had never done that before. Of course, the ring had saved him, perhaps even lessening the effects of the ghoul’s paralyzation. 

Twenty feet away, a lone ghoul squatted on the floor. It had its back to Eathwund. In its mouth was a human arm. It was crunching away on the arm. The ghoul had a deep sword cut in its back. Getting to his feet, Eathwund approached the ghoul as carefully as he could. But something alerted it. Just as he swung his sword at the hated creature's head, it spun around, hissed, and leaped to one side. The ghoul staggered to its feet, clearly injured. It took one swing with a clawed hand, and Eathwund hurriedly stumbled back, stepping on a dead berserker. Eathwund leaped forward with a bold swing and connected with the ghoul’s throat, chopping its head off its shoulders. The body fell in a heap while the ghoul’s head rolled along the floor, coming to rest beside the body of Jon Wallis.

“Ahhh!” Jon yelled and leaped to his feet.

Jon proceeded to pat down his sides. “I’m alive.”

Eathwund went to check on Aldus. The corpses of the berserkers from Valhalla suddenly vanished, their last opponent dead. Aldus lay staring up at Eathwund. The eyes blinked. Eathwund leaned down and checked on Aldus, feeling a low heartbeat.

“You are okay, Aldus. The poison will wear off soon. Try to relax.”

Ian also proved to be alive. As soon as everyone could move a little, they staggered toward the stairs. Then Eathwund remembered the boy. Going to the stone coffin, he saw the boy staring fearfully up at him. Eathwund reached down, grabbed the boy’s collar, and tossed him over his shoulder.

“Let’s get out of here.”

After climbing out of the cellar, Eathwund handed the boy to his grateful mother. Eathwund closed the grate, went over, and picked up the brazier. He placed it down on the grate, blocking the exit.

Hume came up to him. “You were down there for two hours. That’s a long time. It was so quiet we gave up hope.”

Eathwund regarded Hume, “I don’t want to talk about it.” Hume nodded.

Despite the horrors he had endured, Eathwund joined Aldus, Jon, and Ian in searching the hideout. They found a treasure chamber with five chests. Jon proved adept at opening locks. Inside was a horde of gold, silver, and copper coins and the silver service from a church.

The four adventurers led all the captives out into the sunshine. It was four hours until sunset and too far to make the Inn before nightfall.

“We will travel to the road and then make camp. We will take you to the Restless Night Inn on the Wilderness Road. From there, you can make your way.” Eathwund said.

That night, the adventurers quietly discussed what had happened around the fire away from the camp of the freed slaves. Ian told Eathwund and Aldus that they grew worried when they could no longer hear swords clashing, and he and Jon had rushed down to see both fallen before the ghouls. Ian remembered Aldus had the Silver Horn of Valhalla, and he told Jon to grab it and blow it while he tried to hold off the ghouls. The horn summoned eight berserkers.

“It went well at first,” Ian said somberly, “Then I got cut by a claw and was paralyzed.”

“I went down soon after that,” Jon said. “Two of the berserkers were still fighting when I fell.”

“It is a miracle the ghouls did not eat any of us,” Jon told the group.

A miracle, Eathwund thought, remembering what the ghoul had done to him in horror.