Welcome to Vathirond

With the sounds of a nearby explosion receeding, Avalon, Hawk and Vaelas emerge from their rooms to find a dwarf stood on the landing peering out of a nearby window. The orange glow of a mushroom cloud gives the dwarf a ruddy complexion and makes his merchant garb look even more gaudy than it is.

"Its a distillery" the dwarf says, referring to the explosion, without looking around. "What seems odd though is those three people stood in the street just staring at it." Avalon, Hawk and Vaelas crowd around the window to observe the scene.

Avalon quickly dashes down the stairs, out the inn's backdoor, across the inn courtyard and into the stables to check on D-Ablow, his dinosaur mount. He spends a minute whispering soothing words.

Janin, finally having donned his armour, emerges from his room and joins the others around the window, observing the spectable of the burning distillery. Gargamadua opens his rooms door a crack and peers out at the others.

A large hulking figure emerges from the side of the inn and heads over to the people stood in the street. "Thats my bodyguard" the dwarf informs the others. A few eyebrows are raised as the figure is revealed to be a seven-foot tall bugbear.

As he approaches the three people stood in the street, they turn to him and savagely attack him, pulling him to the floor in moments and tearing him open. They quickly start to eat him, before he even stops moving.

"Nooo!" cries the Dwarf, "I've known him since he was a pup, what will I tell his parents?...He was a combat-trained experienced solider, we don't stand a chance!". He introduces himself as Dirk Shanwin and spends a moment to gather his thoughts. "One thousand gold if you get me out of here alive!" he exclaims.

Eyebrows are raised again momentarily, before a rush of planning and tactics are discussed. Several minutes are spent assessing the situation and tools at their disposal. The inn and courtyard are scoured for resources, two more people are spotted stood in the street, staring vacantly in to space.

The group gather in the inn courtyard. "Right, what do we have?" someone asks. Various replies are offered up...."Two old nags in the stable....five dead bodies in the inn, killed by magic....no-one with local knowledge of the area....a fire spreading nearby....undead wandering the streets eating people....a desire to get out of town."

Suddenly Vaelas senses Psionic activity in the area, and it's aimed at him. Not sure what it is, he attempts to resist the manifestation. The being manifesting easily batters through Vaelas mental defenses and forcibly establishes a mental comminucation channel with him.

A voice inside Vaelas head speaks to him with a hissing, slurring voice. "Avoid the town gates, they are swarming with undead." Unsure who, or what is speaking to him, Vaelas takes the advice onboard but doesn't tell the others about the psionic contact.

The group decide to use the horses and D-Ablow to try and ride their way out of town, avoiding the gates where possible, and using the horses speed to outrun the undead on the streets. The group mount up, and head out of the inns courtyard and into the side alley, preparing to head onto the street.

Avalon and Dua on D-Ablow lead. D-Ablow peers out of the alley way, scents the undead and decides he doesn't like the look of them. He turns on the spot (banging his tail noisily on the side of the alleyway), and heads back into the courtyard and stables to try and find an alternative exit.

"Avalon, I can't help but notice that we're back in the stables.", Dua remarks, much to Avalons embarassment.

Having heard D-Ablows noisy maneuver, two of the undead lurch towards the mouth of the alleyway. Janin steps forward, holding aloft his holy symbol; a silver flame, and intones a prayer. The undead turn around and beat a hasty retreat from the display of divine power. Hawk turns and spits on the floor but says nothing.