Wine Cellars: The restless Un-dead...

 This short adventure finds a pair of players teamed up to put to rest the rumors of the undead roaming about in Hemlock Hamlet.

Players:

Mark E. - Gunther the Warrior: 2nd lvl fighter

John L. - Fredrick IV, Vicar of Tardome: 4th lvl Cleric

 Having successfully retrieved the sword Requiem Aeternam from the Chapel of Saint Brigid, Gunther finds himself paired up with an adventuring Cleric of Tardome who has been previously employed by Sir Atherol of Hemlock.

  The pair are sent to the graveyard just outside of the small village and are tasked with securing the property against any who would commit foul acts there or upon the souls of those laid to rest within. 

Hemlock Hamlet

As the sun rises the duo make a quick stop in the small village to let the inhabitants know that Sir Atherol is taking action to protect his people. While there they pick up a couple of items from the Chapel. 

The pair decide to walk the short distance from the village to the cemetery, and are asked by a local herdsman to look for his brother who failed to come home the prior evening. 

The morning is overcast and a slight chill drizzle of rain falls from the sky. At about the midway point in the journey the pair catch sight of movement in some brush just off the road. Taking a closer look reveals some crows scrounging something in the tall grass. The men move closer and are greeted by a terrible sight!

Missing man

The ravaged body of the missing herder no doubt! Whatever has done this must still be near as the blood is still wet. Then without warning something large swoops down upon the pair and let's out a high pitched screech!

Gunther quickly loads his crossbow while Fredrick cover the warrior using his polearm. A trio of large hideous bats come swooping down at the men grasping at them with blood soaked talons! The Cleric is able to bring down one of the beasts as he sings praises to Tardome! Gunther is harried badly by the other two and his quarrel shot goes amiss as the older man is knocked to the ground. 

Giant Bat!

"Mess with Fred, you be Dead!" cries the armored Cleric as he smacks another foul bat with his weapon. The creatures wing is torn and it crashes to the ground and is dispatched with a dagger thrust from Gunther. 

The third creature dives in to attack and is neatly speared in the tip of the Cleric's polearm and brought down so the men can kill the evil thing. 

Knowing that evil is afoot, Fredrick calls upon Tardome to watch over the dead man's corpse until they can return and give him a proper burial.

Fredrick asks Gunther to join him prayer and after a few minutes a small falcon lands upon a branch just above the corpse. "Tardome is with us today Gunther, his blessing is upon us." 

"Yes, it seems he is. We should get ourselves to the graveyard I have not seen creatures like this in the hamlet for over twenty years easy." the old fighter mutters as he reloads his crossbow.

The pair set off along the road again with a bit more haste and head to the cemetery all the while on the lookout for more giant bats or any other foul beasts that might appear.

Upon arrival the pair are greeted with a gateway that has been forced open and a sense of overwhelming dread. Fredrick spies many large centipedes crawling about in dark earth. 

"Hmm, Vicar Osrin provided me these keys for the gates. would seem someone couldn't wait to get in." Gunther produced an iron ring with three thick keys on it from his vest.

Fredrick still looking intently about the grounds raises his hand and points deeper into the graveyard, "There Gunther just now in the fog I swear someone or some-thing moved!"

Hemlock Graveyard

Rather than enter the cemetery the men decide to stay outside and skirt the wall until the can find a secondary entry and hopefully sneak up on whatever the Cleric saw.

Quickly the pair find a section of the stone wall that has collapsed and the men can easily cross to gain entry to the grounds. The morning mist clings heavily to the ground and provides good cover for their actions. The pair are soon creeping up upon a pair of figures that seem to be milling about just outside a small stone shed at the back of the graveyard.

It is at this moment that Fredrick notices the sword Gunther carries has a pearl set in the pommel and it is glowing and pulsating softly. He motions to the Fighter who looks down and then grips the sword.

"This sword is blessed and made to slay undead." Gunther whispers to the Cleric. The men then both look over at the figures near the shed. They step closer and through the fog are able to discern that they are indeed shambling corpses! Fredrick swings his polearm down and smashes the skull of one of them, as Gunther draws forth the sword and the second one turns towards him mouth agape and uttering a moan! 

art by Mike B.

 The pair of zombies are dispatched, and a power of the sword revealed the men look about to see what the creatures were up to. It is soon determined that they seem to have been roving about the grounds perhaps set on guard.

"We need to check the tomb of Father Sigmund." says Gunther.

"Who was he?" asks Fredrick.

"Sigmund was the Elder of Hemlck when my father was a boy. Osrin took over for him when he passed and he is buried here. His Tomb lies at the heart of the cemetery." Gunther then motions in a direction  off to his right.

"Let us go then." nods the Cleric.

Much to their dismay the pair discover that indeed the tomb of Sigmund has been broken into and the men bolster themselves for a confrontation as they head below ground.

Gunther leads the way torch in hand and sword in the other, followed by Fredrick his polearm ever ready to strike the unclean! They use the key to gain entry to the tomb but can see that the way has already been trod by others.

The pair are penetrate the darkness and soon confront more shambling undead and Fredrick turns them from them with holy power! The men discover that Sigmund alone was not interred here but also other warriors of goodly virtue as well. it is a group of these that the men encounter who supply the pair with a set of magical elixers that they say will help them cleanse the evil that roams these halls. 

Fredrick communes with Tardome and drinks one of the potions and turns invisible! Then the men head deeper into the tomb and find that the resting place of Sigmund has been defiled and the skull has been removed from the Elder's grave! This spurs the men onward and they enter the last chamber of the tomb and confront a hooded figure and a pair of hideous Orcs!

the Orcs!

The orcs see only a lone grizzled man with a sword and attack! Gunther however is quite seasoned and engages the pair of creatures holding them at bay! The hooded figure however is holding a skull which our heroes surmise belongs to Sigmund and he begins an evil enchantment as the skull becomes wreathed in a spectral fire!! 

Now the still invisible Fredrick moves in and attacks the hooded man with surprise and stops his spell as well as causing him to drop the skull.

As Gunther battles the pair of orcs, and Fredrick squares off with the hooded man the men know this is who must be responsible for all the rumors of shambling dead lately! In a comedy of errors the Orcs end up practically killing each other through inept martial skill and Gunther is able to fell them and then come to aid Fredrick in his battle! 

The Hooded One!

The Hooded one attempts to be-spell the heroes and though Gunther is overcome for a moment it is by the grace of Tardome that the men are able to finally overcome the vile creature and defeat it by force of arms and Holy might! 

The men are able to put right what the Hooded one had defiled and restore the sanctity of the Hemlock cemetery. Items of note recovered from the evil doers and thier corpses are properly disposed of and everything that happened is reported back to Sir Atherol.

However something darker is afoot in the Duchy of Marqest and more investigations must be made...

THE END

for now....