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I laugh and give Catkins a half-hug. "Nice to see you again my friend!" I tell him with a big smile on my face. I turn to Oleen with a confused and shocked look, "What made you think I was dead?! I was only gone a year!" I laugh and give him a pat on the back. "Now, how is everyone? Good, I hope, Hirot looks empty. This place though, this place looks the same. Home sweet home, I say." the rats scurry around the walls and one crawls on my foot, "A little too much like home, heh." I jokingly say.

As Xepil's knife plunges into the ghoul's head, it staggers momentarily, then collapses to the ground. But the once-human form is merely a husk. Its belly heaves, then bursts! A large serpent erupts forth from corpse...

"Huh.. how about that? Grrrr."

"You shoulda stayed gone, Vilod," Catkins tells her, returning the hug. His breath smells of alcohol. "Bad news here."

"Too true," Oleen the Imp chimes in. "Ain't never seen nothin' like it 'fore. Some kind a monster ... a devil hound they say, been attackin'. Killed a bunch a folks. Mighta even got Josh last night. I dunno. But he went out and didn't come back."

Josh, she'd know, was the youngest member of the crew. A teenaged boy who'd be about 14 now.

"Ain't seen the brothers in months. Figured maybe they went to find you," Catkins chimed back in.

The brothers referred to the siblings Kej, Stein, and Ilham. But they certainly never found Vilod when she was away from Hirot.

Shock came over me, I sat down in a chair and sighed. "I never saw them," I told Catkins and Oleen. "But a monster? What, did the witch get to you? I have heard many things, but never have I heard of a 'Devil Hound' before." maybe they were right, the town of Hirot seemed to be ghostly and I could see the fear in Oleen's eyes as he spoke of it. "Wait... Josh? The kid, Josh? How do you know he is dead, is he not here?" Josh was the youngest, as far as I knew. What would he be... 14 now? Still just a kid.

Archer refused to acknowledge Lloré's words and instead carried the boy forward...before stopping dead in his tracks.

"Hell no." He stated, before turning to Iraco. "Hell no! He seriously wants us to do this?!" He sighed. "Damn, I really need a drink if I'm gonna get through this."

He glanced around but saw no sign of Shara.

Where could she be?

The Three Rats:

Catkins shook his head and shrugged. "Could be that old witch, I guess. She's still kickin'," he said, then spit on the floor, as if even talking about the old widow was distasteful.

Oleen climbed down off the table. "He ain't here, that's all I know," he said, speaking of Josh. "Jenks sent him off last night to go check out some newcomers to town." There was little doubt that meant Jenks was hoping to find a way to part said newcomers from some of their money. "Guess the hound showed up too. So..." he let the statement trail off, jumping to a conclusion about why Josh hadn't come back.

Just then Jenks himself came striding down the stairs, eyes finding Vilod immediately. "You're back," he said simply, almost suspiciously. He's always been a rather nasty grouch. "Thought you were too good for us now, Elf."

---

Outside the Tomb:

The forest breaks at the edge of a steep slope, revealing a narrow vale below. Set in the center of the valley is a large earthen mound topped with tall grasses and shaped like a long serpent.

Two silvery streams cascade down either side of the serpentine hillock, joining to form a shallow, glittering pool at the head of the enormous mound. Across the pool, set into the earthen mound, is a large circular stone, decorated with serpentine spirals worn by time.

The adventurers are no where in sight. Shara rests on a high branch and gives a loud cry.

Iraco grimaced. As did the two guards. None of them were particularly keen on the idea of going into the tomb either.

"You think they went in there?" Iraco asks Archer. "Might be they're good as dead already."

---

Inside the Tomb:

The serpent slithers from the corpse, sliding toward John with its mouth gaped open, displaying its sharp fangs.

Galiena, now back on her feet, swings her mace down toward it, hoping to crush it.

Edit for die roll: Her mace slams into the floor beside it harmlessly.

((John and Xepil each have time for one action before it gets a chance to strike. Rae wouldn't be able to get out of the tunnel until Xepil is out, if that is her plan. ))

A sigh escapes me once more, "Hope he's good... A fate to a devilish dog wouldn't be a nice one, from the sound of its name." I lean back in comfort, relaxing my back. Just after Oleen finishes his sentence, Jenks walks in. "Jenks! Been looking for you!" I say as I get up and approach him. "Looks like you woke up on the wrong side of the bed, friend." I jokingly say to him with a warm smile. "No, just got caught up in work and things got... Shall I say, nasty? It's complicated, I'll spare you the story. How are you, by the way? I heard what's been happening around town, tragic, I must say."

Jenks scowls to Vilod's joke and her smile. "What're you lookin' for me for? Not a job, I hope. We gotta lay low for awhile. Least until the Jarl takes care of the Hound. Cat tell you how they been sacrificing folks? Tyin' 'em up out at the Standing Stones for it. One every 3 days to keep the beast away. Was Sylle Ru's idea, I hear. Better 'en it was at first. Hound was coming every night and killin' folks."

Sylle Ru is a seer who's been in the employ of the Jarl of Hirot for years. The Standing Stones are a bit outside of Hirot, an altar from the time of the ancient kings.

"Anyways, they been doin' a lottery to pick who gets sacrificed. But if one was to get caught stealin' somethin', well, not hard to imagine they might just skip the lottery, huh?"

"Shit! Shit! Kill it! KILL IT!" Xepil curses as he jumps out the tunnel and gets back on his feet. He knows he has no time to trade weapons and reach for his axe or his atlatl. However, he still has his knife out and he knows that he's a much better thrower than he is a melee fighter. Therefore, applying all his throwing techniques, he pulls his arm back and hurls his hunting knife at the snake.

I take a step back from him, "That's horrible, but no. I didn't want another job, not yet. I found a bit of extra stuff on my last one and wanted to give it to you since you're the leader and all. Here, it should catch a pretty penny." I toss him a medium sized bag full of jewelry and gems.

The knife leaves a wide gash in the serpent and it twists in pain, then coils quickly and raises its ugly head...

((John and/or Rae's turn to act before it gets to attack... ))

---

Jenks catches the bag and opens it, eyes widening with a glimmer of greed when he sees the loot inside. "You're doin' alright for yourself, huh, elf?" he says. While certainly glad to have the valuables, he's suspicious too, of why she'd just hand it over so easily. She wanted something, he thought.

"Shades, Vilod!" Catkins says, giving an appreciative whistle as he came up behind them and peeked over their leader's shoulder into the bag. Jenks pulled it closed quickly. He'd share a little, of course. But would want to keep the bulk of it for himself. "Where'd ya get all that?" Cat asked. It was more wealth than was usually seen around a remote village such as this one.

Rae smacks at the back of Xepil's calves in frustration at not being able to tell what exactly is going on outside the tunnel. "'Ey, mate! What's the problem?" Eventually, she decides that something's turned up, apparently not for the better of the party. Once Xepil is (finally) out of the way, she scootches her way forward to the entrance.

The serpent isn't what she expected to find, although it really should be no surprise. In her disgust toward the creature, she almost tosses the lantern down on it before realizing that it's their only light source if they want to use the tunnel.

Her hammer, however, rests just barely under her right side. Instinctively she rolls enough to free it and shoves it forward with the intent of dropping it directly onto the coiled up snake.

Archer winces as well.

"We can only hope...but you know the Jarl won't let us come back without every single one of their heads." He frowns, before reaching his arm out for Shara to come back down on. Once she was perched safely back on his arm, he took a deep breath.

"If you want to go back, now is your chance. It's probably the only one you'll get." He presses his other hand to one of his daggers out of habit, the one at his side. "So? Are you coming?"

Rae's hammer slams hard into the tomb floor just beside the serpent.

---

Iraco ran a hand through his beard, leaning on his spear for a few moments as he considered. "Guess you're right. Ain't no goin' back without 'em."

Drogo and Hadden exchange nervous glances. "What if we just wait 'til they come out?" Drogo suggests.

"Yeah," Hadden adds, trying to cover his own unease by giving the excuse, "can't just leave Lloré and the kid out here without protection from the Hound."


There is, as well, the problem of how to get into the tomb. There is a pool of glittering water at the head of the serpent mound, created by two slender silvery streams that run down the east and the west sides of the grassy mounds. The bottom of the pool is a white sand bed flecked with mica. It's obviously been disturbed recently. There are several tracks through the sand bed to a large circular stone that is set into the earthen mound. It is decorated with serpentine spirals worn by time.

Several hide-wrapped bundles can be seen in the water.

A grin creeps among my face, "Like what you see? I caught a merchant caravan a couple days back on the way here. Also, it is what you wanted, correct? Sent me on that sweep job, this is most of the best stuff I found." of course I'd keep some for myself, even if that little bit was 20 gems and some nice jewelry pieces. "Now, what of the Hell Hound? Do you know where it lurks? Maybe a cave, or in a mountain? If they sacrifice people to it, it must be in the area."