On leaving the save point, they stumble into a courtyard playing home to a swarm of rats, and also some cursed skeletons. One skeleton looked to be that of a half-elf. There had only been one half-elf in Firestrong while they had lived there - the mayor. Surely enough, on inspection, the skeleton appeared to be wearing the mayoral seal. Enbel snatched it.
After cutting through the rat swarms, the party stepped out of the courtyard into the town - or rather, what is left of the town. The entire town as it was has been levelled. Staring around, it can be seen where there are certain ruins. However, there are not nearly enough ruins - it's as if all the townhouses have disappeared. Looking north and west from the save point a large walled area is visible - probably the gnome settlement. It seems to be where all of the "missing" ruins have gone. The blocks of old houses have been cobbled together to build the gnome fortress, in the area where the "good side of town" had once been.
From their current vantage point, Enbel, Echo and Altus can see only three structures standing in the town, other than the save point - the temple, the town hall, and the tavern. They decide to head south and west to the temple. The sky is beginning to lighten - dawn is approaching. As the temple becomes clearer, it looks not just like it has been kept in pristine condition, but as if it has been fixed up and renovated slightly. They can't make out anything through the windows, and don't hear any noise.
They remove the chain on the outside of the main temple door and slip inside. It is quite dark, too dark to see much. There is a torch beside them, so they light it. Immediately the room is illuminated, as though they were inside a kaleidoscope - the light from the torch reflecting off the coloured crystal floor. They notice that despite the fact that the temple is in great repair, it is filled with bats. As well as the swarms of bats in the room, Enbel can recognise 2 shadowhunter bats. There is one more larger bat at the back of the temple - seemingly guarding the door to the back room - where people would once ready themselves for giving a performance or sermon. The shadowhunters attack the intruders, while the smaller bats swarm, and strike, and continue erratically. A small pocket of bats seem to be concentrated on a small area. On investigation, Echo finds that they are tearing theflesh off a freshly deceased goblin corpse.
As the intensity of the battle increases, Altus decides to risk an action to even the playing field - or tilt it in their favour. He drops into a near meditation to perform a ritual to banish vermin. On its completion, the bats are whipped into a frenzy. The swarm splits - part leaving through the door, part retreating to the back, and a small pocket dashing themselves continuously on the crystal windows trying to break them - and eventually expiring when the torch below the window is lit.
This action caused the battlelines to be redrawn, the staging area - where the worst of the bats are - and the body of the temple, containing Echo, Altus, Enbel, and Ranger. The battle continues with the larger bats attacking when able. The largest, unfurls its wings, revealing itself to be a large firebat. It uses its wings to fling benches at Altus and Enbel - safe in the body of the temple. Echo and Ranger rush back into the fray, and with help from their comrades ranged attacks, eventually took the last of them down. Altus had climbed to the balcony for a better vantage point, and aim. The party were then able to rejuvenate themselves with the stone of healing that the firebat had been protecting.
The inspect the goblin corpse. They find a note -
Dearest Set,
Good luck on the trials. I hope this helps you.
Mother.
There is nothing else. They head into the back room, where they see a posting on the wall. They learn from this that the trials are for the goblin younglings to prove their battle acumen. They complete the trials as a passage into adulthood. They have to survive 1 night, and have collected the head of a shadowhunter bat at the time when the goblins come back for them.
The group prepare the temple to be slept in, but first they sever the heads of all the large bats, as well as butchering them for edible meat. They make a meal, noting that the temple has power. Further inspection on the power cells, and #7 informs the party that these are the cells which have been stolen from the save point. #7 tells the party that this must be the reason the power was running out to begin with, causing their awakening from stasis, which has in turn caused them to be here. The party decide to cover their tracks, as the population of the surrounding area had no idea that they even existed, and for the time being, they decided to keep it that way. They made efforts to make it seem like the goblins had a traitor in their midst. The window which had been broken out before the battle would make it appear that a breakout happened. They then taped a note up to the wall -
The time is coming, beware
Set.
I speak in the language of my people
After this the group settled down to rest - just as the sun was coming up.
*end of game 2*
An excellent game - a DM's dream. The party were engaged and did very well. The improvisation at the end with Set was very well thought out by the players. They leave a feasible excuse for what they've done - covering their tracks. I had nothing to do with this, of course, but it was really fulfilling for me to see the players engaging with the world as if they cared about it. I hope to get to this level of play regularly - if possible.
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