An Unexpected Party

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.