A Raven in the Roost

The Road to Connsford Edwin and Sorrell joined our happy band and they continued to make their way down the winding (and increasingly long). After a couple of days, they stopped off at a wayside inn which, despite Sigismund's enquiries, was remarkably chaos free, for a breather. Their journey continued until, as darkness fell, they reached the town of Connsford. Stopping off at the inn (when will they learn), they had a pleasant meal and chatted to some locals, discovering that the woods around the town were protected by some form of druid called the Guardians and that some farmers were expanding their fields into the woods without their blessing. A short time later, the door burst open and, instead of thinking 'Oh, not again', our heroes stepped forward to offer what aid they could. Two travelers burst in, their clothing bloodstained and filthy. They told the story of finding a badly wounded shepherd lad on the road and of an old, battle-scarred boar with a crow on its shoulder that stood watching them as they aided him. The boy was carried into the inn and swiftly healed by Sorrell. Once healed, he spoke in his delirium of a mad hermit and a theft from a tomb. Various messengers were dispatched to the outlying farms, with The Mighty Fred volunteering our heroes to go and warn Craconix (aka Cacofonix). The team set off cautiously to the north. On the road, they were distracted to see an owl by the roadside, which appeared to hoot at them in warning and follow them down the trail. Just round the corner, a wolf pack was feasting on sheep and the adventurers skirted round them, wary of yet more battles. Soon, they reached the farm, a sturdy building in a stockade. They were greeted and made welcome, despite their dire tidings, and invited to stay overnight. During the night, with The Mighty Fred and Edrith on guard, sounds of stealth and squeals of terror from the animals could be heard - despite the noise, the other heroes slept like the proverbial. The Mighty mad his way to the gates of the stockade and Edrith opened them - before them was a mighty wolf, which howled at The Mighty, causing him to review the tactical situation and run off towards the stables. This left Edrith with the difficulty of facing the immense wolf alone, and, even with others coming to aid her as they woke up (apart from Sigismund, who appeared to have taken a very powerful sleeping draft). For some time, the battle went badly, as one by one our heroes fell to the wolves powerful jaws, the pack gathering for the kill. At this point, Sigismund finally woke up and The Mighty decided that the fear he had felt was just a waste of time and the tide swiftly turned, the remaining wolves fleeing in the night. The wounded were quickly stabilized and the stockade gates shut. After a nights rest, the healer was sent for from the village and quickly did all she could for the wounded. The farmers wife explained that her husband Craconix was missing, and requested the aid of such mighty warriors in finding him, as soon as they could walk again. Sigismund went with one of the lads to a shrine in the forest, were the lad explained that he was making offerings to the Guardians to try to seek their aid. While they were there, they caught a fleeting glimpse of an owl and, looking in its direction, saw an old man briefly, before he vanished in the undergrowth. Moving to where he had been seen, they could find no trace of him, but they did find Craconix, nearly dead in the bushes. Sigismund sent for the other heroes and, between them, they healed the man and returned him to the farm, where he muttered in his delirious sleep about mad men and walking dead - all good stuff. A few days later, a messenger arrived from the village, asking that they accompany him back. Doing so, they were met by Gamax, the headman's (or headsman's) advisor, who told them that Yronix, the headman, was missing and requested their aid in stopping the threat to the village. Sigismund negotiated a fee, which was that the village healer teach Sorrell magical healing in return for their aid. Gamax asked Yronix, the healer, if this was acceptable and she readily agreed for the good of the village. The Mad Druid The party began to investigate, each in their own individual way. Sigismund started working through everyone in the village, asking them if they knew anything. Edrith headed to Craconix farm, to interview him and then returned to the village when he realized that Craconix was still under the care of the healer. The Mighty Fred headed to the south eastern long barrows and, climbing atop a standing stone set in the top of one of them, started shouting at the top of his voice in the hope of annoying the mad druid into doing something. After some time, they reconvened in the village and shared what they had learned. They found from the blacksmith that the two workers who had disappeared had tried to sell ancient gold artifacts to him, but that he had refused as he suspected they had stolen them from a barrow. It was apparent that no-one could understand why Yronix had been kidnapped and that Deotrix and Cracionix were the most aggressive expanders of their lands. They then visited each farm in turn, finding that several displayed banners of the various guardians. At Theophilus place, Edrith left an obscurely worded note and an offering at the shrine, asking the sane guardian to meet with him. Some time later, they were approached in the village by the blue guardian, who offered to find the mad druid for them as long as they did not kill him, but handed him over to the blue guardian for healing. After some faffing, the blue guardian lead them to a barrow with one end opened up. They moved in, only to be confronted by skeletons, with The Mighty Fred nearly isolated from the rest of the group. A very difficult battle raged, with the party having great difficulty in harming the skeletons. Fortunately, the blue guardian aided them and they finally managed to defeat the undead horrors. Sigismund lead the group further into the barrow. leaving the blue guardian recovering from his magical exertions at the entrance. As they rounded the corner into a larger area, they were alarmed to see another skeleton at its centre, with the feet of the mad druid rapidly disappearing through a hidden exit halfway up the wall. As the party member most lacking in stature, Sigismund immediately ran to the exit and tried to grab the druids ankles, missing by inches. Sorrell swiftly joined him but was also unable to get a hold, as the others engaged the skeleton. Sigismund made a dramatic and acrobatic exit from the cavern and attempted, unsuccessfully, to grapple the druid. Sorrell joined him and the two of them made several attempts to grapple the druid, who cast a spell to summon a brown bear. Meanwhile, the skeleton was giving a good account of itself until first The Mighty Fred and then Edwin got in good strikes, removing one of its legs and leaving it scrabbling on the floor. Eloise ran outside to aid Sigismund and Sorrell and they managed to wrestle the druid to the floor, after Sigismund had stabbed him in both legs with his rapier. The blue guardian finally caught up with them and healed his brother, calming him down, as the skeleton was finally laid to rest. The party returned to town victorious and had several days rest as Uleris taught Sorrell the mystic secrets of the healers arts. A Recipe For Disaster