Blogger's Note: This is the third and final episode of the "Ghost Hunters" chapter of "The Deathly Hallows" before our game. Tomorrow we write the next chapter together by playing the game. Read on and enjoy. Perhaps I'll see you tomorrow in the house of Zarek Ral.
Solomon Rayne and Ana
Karithon made their way through town to the gate at the bottom of the hill and
the path beyond it that led up the hill to the house of the wizard Zarek
Ral.
The left gate swung
slightly and somewhat precariously on a single hinge near its bottom. It creaked as it rocked slowly back and
forth. The right gate stood wide open.
The last time Solomon had
passed through these gates, they had been locked tightly with a guard posted
just inside them. The guard decided to
allow passage or not. Now, however, the
elaborate gate was unmanned and unlocked.
“Must have taken a lot to
make Ral leave this place,” said Ana as they stepped through the gate.
Solomon did not acknowledge
her. He was carefully scrutinizing the
trees along the path ahead. He motioned
for Ana to stop, and she halted immediately.
The path up to the house began to curve up and around the hill several
yards ahead. Solomon and Ana stood
silently as Solomon looked and listened for any sign of trouble along the
path. After a few moments, he motioned
to Ana to move ahead, and the two of them began to walk slowly towards the
house.
Neither Solomon nor Ana
spoke. Both understood the seriousness
of the task they were undertaking and the danger that might jump out at them at
any moment. Both of them stepped softly
and lightly on the path so that their footsteps could not be heard over a great
distance. Slowly, carefully, the two of
them advanced up the hill, toward the house.
Down in the village, the
sounds of music and laughter could still be heard coming from the direction of
the inn which Solomon and Ana had left a few hours before. More than once Solomon signaled to Ana to
stop because the sounds from the village broke his concentration and he needed
to regain his focus before proceeding onward.
Once, before they started
forward again, Ana heard him mutter, “Idiots,” under his breath. Then they began again.
The high-pitched creaking
of the broken gate could also be heard all the way up to the house. It was a nearly constant cadence…a short,
high creak, followed by a long, low creak.
Only once had the pattern varied as far as Ana could tell. The creaking gate only amplified the anxiety
she felt as the two of them made their way through the trees, in the dark, up
to the haunted house on the hill.
When they had
almost reached the courtyard of the house where the trees began to thin and the
path began to level out, Solomon again suddenly motioned for Ana to stop.
“We’re being
followed,” he whispered to her.
“The Shadowfell?”
Ana whispered back.
“No. They followed us from the village.”
“Who followed us?”
“Eladrin, I’d
guess.” Solomon’s voice was suddenly
full and loud. He turned around, looking
back down the path.
Several yards
behind, almost out of sight around a corner of the path, two hooded figures
emerged from the edge of the woods onto the path.
Ana drew her
staff, but Solomon put his hand on hers and shook his head.
The two hooded
figures glanced at each other and then began walking cautiously toward Solomon
and Ana. Their footsteps made no sound
at all. As they drew closer Solomon and
Ana could see that one of them was taller than the other and wore a heavy, dark
green cloak. He had a long sword at his
side and a bow hanging across his back.
The other wore a light grey cloak, carried a dagger on his belt, and
held a bow in his hand.
“I don’t care much
for being followed, gentlemen. State you
business.”
“Our apologies,
Mr. Rayne, but we weren’t sure of your intentions here,” replied the figure in
the green cloak, apparently the leader of the pair. “After all you did work for Zarek Ral.”
Solomon took a
step forward and interrupted forcefully, “I don’t work for wizards.”
The green-cloaked
figure, unbothered by Solomon’s aggressive response, nodded slightly.
“As you say,” he
replied.
“And I said,
‘State your business.’”
The green-cloaked
figure nodded slightly again.
“I am Faron. This is my brother, Ordon. We, like you, have devoted our lives to the
defense of the mortal realm against the forces of the Shadowfell. We are here to join you on your quest.”
“Thanks, but no
thanks. I work alone.”
“Ahem.”
“Present company
excepted.”
“Thanks,” Ana smirked.
“We understand
your reluctance, but…” Faron cut his
statement short and stood listening for a moment. “I believe we are about to have company.”
Instinctively the
four slid off the path to hide in the edges of the woods, Solomon and Ana to
one side, Faron and Ordon to the other.
Both pairs crouched motionless, listening carefully.
The noise of the
inn seemed to be closer now than it had been before. In fact, the sounds seemed to be getting
closer. Voices and laughter could be
heard on the lower path.
“Six…maybe seven,”
Solomon whispered to Ana. “Human…for the
most part. Some of them are louder than
the others.”
The glow of
torches began to appear on the path just below them. Then a few moments after that, they could see
torches being carried by six or seven people walking up the path. They spoke loudly, laughing and joking, and
lit up the night with their torches.
Neither Solomon and Ana nor Faron and Ordon had brought torches.
“Idiots,” Solomon
groused.
When the loud
group was almost to them, Solomon motioned silently to Faron and Ordon then
drew his crossbow.
“I can’t even see
them across the path, how do you expect them to see that?” Ana asked.
“They’re Eladrin,”
Solomon replied.
When the group was
directly between Solomon and Faron, Solomon said, “Get ready,” to Ana. He put up three fingers, then two, then one,
then he closed his fist. Instantly
Solomon and Ana jumped out into the path, weapons raised. Faron and Ordon did the same, Faron’s sword
at the ready…Ordon’s bow drawn.
Several of the
group in the path began to reach for their weapons.
“Uh uh…I wouldn’t,”
Solomon warned.
“There’re more of
us than there are of you,” said a man in the front. He was wearing an animal skin as a cloak and
a helmet with horns on it. He had a
grisly face, and the tone of his voice hinted at the fact that he was looking
for a fight and he wasn’t too particular about who was on the other side.
“I assure you,”
Faron added, “you would not get your sword drawn in time.”
The man glanced
over at Faron.
“We mean you no
harm,” said a voice from the back of the group.
It was a Dragonborn female who spoke.
She moved toward Solomon and spoke again, “My name is Roheryn. My brother Rhogar took a job for the wizard
who lived in this house, but he has not been seen since. My friends and I are here to find some clue
about where he is or what has happened to him.”
“Not me,” said a
short, bearded man. “I’m here to hunt
ghosts!”
“You’re that bunch
that was giving the serving girl such a hard time at the inn,” said Ana.
“Please,” Roheryn
pleaded, “We just met them at the inn.
They said that they were coming up here anyway so we came together. I just want to know what happened to my
brother.”
“Your brother’s
dead,” said Solomon coolly.
For a moment, the
only sound was the crackling of the torches.
“Dead?” she said.
“I’m afraid so,”
said Ana.
“How?”
“The Shadowfell,”
Solomon answered. He lowered his
crossbow. Ana, Faron, and Ordon followed
suit. “Your brother…” Solomon paused for moment and then continued,
“fought valiantly.”
Roheryn looked up
at the house looming before them. The
flickering light revealed a mix of sorrow and hatred on her face.
“I’m so sorry,” Ana
added.
When Roheryn spoke
again, her voice was unwavering and stern.
“I’m going up there. I don’t care
if it’s a wizard or some horrible ghostly monster. I don’t care.
I’m going up there.”
Solomon glanced
around at the group gathered along the path, studying each of them in
turn. He looked back toward Ana, who
nodded slightly.
“Okay look,” he
began, “I normally work alone, but I’ve learned recently that sometimes having
a little help can be…good. But…if you’re
going up there to that house, then you’re doing it my way. And if any of you idiots step out of line and
put my life in danger, I’ll put you down myself. Understand?”
“I don’t take
orders from anyone,” shouted the man with the animal skin cloak.
“Well that’s just
fine. Then you’re free to leave. Now.
Cause if you’re not doing what I tell you to, you’re not going up there.”
The other man
growled lowly.
“Valguard, let it
be,” said his female companion. “That’s
Solomon Rayne. Let’s just do what he
says. He knows about ghosts and
stuff. Maybe he can help.”
Valguard looked
back at Solomon. “Fine. We’ll do it your way.”
“Good,” Solomon
replied. “Then the first thing we’re need to do is put out those torches. We can only hope that they haven’t noticed them
yet.”
“That who hasn’t
noticed them?” Valguard asked.
“Whatever’s
inhabiting that house,” Roheryn said softly.
“Put them
out. Right now.”
Blogger's Note: Here's a look at a few of the custom cards we'll be using tomorrow:
The figures for the two Eladrin brothers who followed Solomon and Ana are custom figures made from D&D figures. Ordon and Faron are a Greycloak Ranger and a Deepshadow Elf respectively. I haven't had time to make full-fledged Heroscape cards for them yet, so they have temporary testing cards to use for tomorrow.
Roheryn (below) is a D&D Female Dragonborn Rogue. She's a custom I made some time ago, so she has a Heroscpe card made. She's not terribly exciting, but she's also not terribly expensive.
As for the ghosts that the brave adventurers will face...you'll have to wait until the game begins to find out what ghostly spirits the Caller in Darkness has called to the house of Zarek Ral.
Happy Heroscaping.