Edge of Darkness Campaign Pt 1.

Haven't posted on here in a while, but I started a BRAND NEW campaign and want to share. Maybe I'll have time to continue this one, unlike some of my previous campaigns.

Renholder is a traveling priest, spreading the word of his heavenly father to all who will hear.

Bjorn and Gandr are both “giant-kin” and are traveling together by sea. Gandr is a child whose parents were recently killed and is now in the care of his uncle, Bjorn.

Andron, the Orc, was on his way back from an outpost to find his village ravaged by plague. With nowhere to call home he took to the road.

They all descend upon a small Nordic-esque fishing village. The two giant-kin arrive by trade ship from the north. Once docked, a member of the ship’s crew frantically yells something to captain in a foreign tongue then points towards the village. The captain pulls out a telescope and spies the area. He drops the telescope and begins barking orders to his crew. The crew quickly ushers the passengers off the ship, raises the gangplank and rushes the ship back out to sea. The other two players enter the town from different ends, one from the east and the other from the south.

As all players enter the village they soon realize that there are no people in the village. Intermittently they run across buildings and homes that have large red X’s painted on their doors. It doesn't take them long to realize that this town has been afflicted by a plague. As the individuals attempt to find the center of town, they stumble across one another. After introductions and a brief discussion, they decide that there may be survivors holed up in a church or some other building in the center of town and head that way.

They soon enter the town’s center, a large open “square” with a large statue in its center and what

looks to be a large meeting or banquet hall. After many attempts to knock or gain the attention from someone inside they realize that the thick wooden double doors are barred from the inside. Does this dissuade our group from trying to enter… heck no!

The elder giant-kin busts through the door to find the large hall with empty benches and long tables. On the far wall they find two doors leading into a kitchen type area. More looking around finds this void of life. Beyond the kitchen they find another door, again locked. When Bjorn busts through this door, most of the group (all but Gandr) hear the rustling of something in the room above. This pantry type room has steps leading both up and down. Renholder and Bjorn head up stairs while Andron heads down. He is stopped by another locked door and not the strength to open it.

Upstairs, Renholder and Bjorn hear moans and groans as if the place were haunted by some malevolent spirit. Despite this, something about the noises did not seem quite right. “Yoooooouuuuuuu must leeeeeeeave” the voice cried. “Ooooooorrrrrrrr be cuuuuuuuuuuurrrrrrrsed, for a thooooooouuuuuuusaaaaaaannnnnd years!”

The acolyte did not believe that what he was hearing was as it appeared. He then attempted to talk to whatever was making the noise. Eventually, he convinced it to come out of hiding to find that it was a pre-teen girl. They soon found out that her name is Brunhilde. She is the daughter of the cooks of this feast hall.  She was pretending to be a ghost to scare away intruders. She is the sole survivor of the town. And finally, the town has been plagued for hundreds of years (of course, they didn’t believe this). 

After that, the group decided to head to the basement. They asked the girl to stay in the attic until they came back. Andron stood watch at the bottom of the stairs while, the rest ventured down. The basement was a wine/ale cellar with barrels and barrels filling the dank room. Upon closer inspection, Renholder saw that one of the barrels has been moved more recently than any of the others. He slid the barrel a little, following the previous pattern in the dust. This triggered a slight click in the wall behind and opened a door to darkness beyond.

It was at this time, Bjorn and Gandr noticed the light green glow of Renholder’s eyes. They tried to question it, but the slick tongue of the acolyte quickly diverted their attention. Venturing into the darkness they notice that the walls are not like that of the previous room. These walls seemed to have a strange patchwork covering. Closer inspection led them to find that the walls were covered with skin. Patches of human skin in fact, stretched and tacked to the walls from floor to ceiling.

Gandr, being as young as he is, couldn’t handle the macabre scene and fled upstairs. Bjorn and Renholder continued their investigation. Scrawled on the floor was a large intricate diagram of circles and lines within a greater circle. At each intersecting line looked to be pools of dried blood and at the

diagrams center looked to be the remains of a desiccated corpse. At the far end of the room was a table with various tools and utensils, assumed to be used in the creation of the grotesque wallpaper, a
book shelf with a few “trophies” and books of strange origin and language. Our group could not let such a place of diabolical evil continue to exist. With righteous abandoned they decided to purge this unholy site from the earth. Bjorn and Renholder broke apart the bookshelf and table and set the place ablaze.

Renholder ran upstairs to rescue Brunhilde but was stopped in his tracks when she wouldn’t leave. She appeared to be scared and felt that this was the only place she was safe. After a bit, she reached for Renholder’s hand. Although hesitant at first, he gave in, grabbed her hand, and headed downstairs towards the front of the great hall. Meanwhile, Bjorn ensured that Gandr was safe and pulling it together. The two giant-kin and the orc ran outside as smoke began to bellow from the stairwell.

When Renholder reached the others outside, he realized that Brunhilde’s hand must have slipped from his grasp. He asked the others about her, but they claimed to not see her. With smoke boiling out from the openings of the great hall, Renholder ran back to the building. He saw Brunhilde standing just inside the door. He pleaded for her to come but she continued to cry that it was not safe outside.

Meanwhile, Andron notices some dark humanoid figure moving toward them from the opposite side of the town square. As the creature got closer he saw that it must be some Demon spawn as it had short brown fur covering its body, cloven feet and a head of a horned goat. The thing bellowed and began to charge. Bjorn and Andron met the foul beast in the square.

With outstretched hand, Renholder reached for Brunhilde. She held out her hand but as the acolyte went to grasp, his hand slipped right through her incorporeal form. He silently mourned for the moment it took her to tell him her story. He learned that she was the very first sacrificial victim which let loose the plague and brought the horned beasts upon the town. The flames engulfed the building as Brunhilde faded from view. Renholder ran to help defeat the fetid beast, hit it once, then switched his attention to a previously unseen ship in the harbor.

At this time, more of the goat headed demon beasts began funneling through the buildings into the town square. Filling the group with fear, their bleating and baying filled the once silent town. The group dispatched the beast in front of them as Renholder directed them towards the docks. They ran as fast as they could and reached the at about the same time the ship lowered the gangplank.

Seeing the horde of beastmen on the group’s tail, the captain ordered his men to the ready and help the group embark. The ship then sets sail as the horde of beastmen flood the dock and spill over into dark harbor waters.