Amadi, Leif & Magus meet up @ the Green Lantern Inn in Talbot & even though Amadi is a bit under the weather, by evening are all enjoying brews together in the bar where they chat up the barkeep, Goody Threeshoe. Goody tells them about the new undertaker, & how something just doesnt seem right about him, how he saw him @ twilight a few weeks ago hangin' from a tree by his legs... He also warns them about speaking of the actual Black Dog in public... lastly, before leaving, possibly to test their reaction, he mentions a rumor he'd heard about a group of Talbot thieves that were masterminding an assassination of Lord Dimmings. The party learns that though Goody doesnt care much for Lord Dimmings, Lyla Dimmings, the daughter, is a sight to behold. Other things @ the Green Lantern: Magus inquired about finding work in town & Goody suggested Delly, the stonecarver, across the street. A table of townsfolk agreed w/ this, & also told Magus that while a lot of folks think the Black Dog attacks livestock, there are also rumors that a family of werewolves lives in the Enchanted Waste & has been feeding off Talbot livestock. After discussing the new undertaker w/ Goody a bit more, the party decides to head to the morgue @ the north edge of town near the cemetery. But first, Amadi goes upstairs to study his spell book for Enlargement.
Nearing the white morgue, the party notices how the trees nearer the cemetery gates (about 100 yards north) are in worse shape, dying... They lurk around a grove of trees near the house until Leif spots a possum hanging from a tree limb by its tail. He casts his SPEAK TO ANIMALS spell & has a conversation w/ the possum about the undertaker & the cemetery. The possum used to live in the cemetery but due to the death there, has moved out. He also speaks of the undertaker as someone he likes to watch, & that the undertaker sometimes also has smaller people w/ him @ night... coming & going... he speaks of him as being tall w/ white hair.
Leif approaches the large, metal door of the morgue, & knocks. There is no answer. Magus lurks around the house & locates a few curtained windows, as well as a wooden door in back that is locked by inner chain. After discussing their options out front, the party decides to enter the cemetery to the north. With Amadi's lantern bright, they search the SE & E sides of the cemetery a bit, glancing tombstones for death dates around when the Black Dog killed D. Mineral. They finally locate a grave that matches the dates, 40 years ago, to one Sloppy Jims, "best known barkeep & fisher"; however, what is odd, is that the dirt on the grave appears to have only recently been placed there, i.e. a loose mound sits atop. Magus decides to start digging into the dirt w/ his axe. It is then that the party notices 4 zombies approaching from the west. After a brief battle, they conquer the zombies, search them to no avail & Magus continues his digging of the grave, finally locating a wooden crate which he ends up smashing up w/ the axe. Inside the crate is a human-like creature w/ a sticky, yellow substance (mucousy mustard) all about... It could be a midget, but it is hard to tell due to the axe slicings... but clearly it is not of normal human size & the face looks aged. Next, Magus tries to dig further w/ axe but locates nothing. Amadi then stabs around w/ his staff & eventually hits on something hard... Magus reaches his arm down there & grabs onto it, trying to pull it up... As he grabs it, something attaches his hand to it quickly. It is a root, or stem of some kind... Magus pulls it up & they see how his hand is tightly tied to the bright green stem that trails back into the dirt in two different places. Leif tries to rub the stem but gets his hand stuck as well, but then is able to free it w/ a precise knife cut. Magus on the other hand is still stuck. Amadi tries hacking into the root but only pisses it off, it begins rumbling & shaking, moving Magus w/ it... Leif tries to free Magus' hand but just pisses the thing off worse... Finally, Amadi pours a vial of oil around the two areas where the stem trails back into the dirt & then lights it... The flames cause the root/stem to retreat back into the ground, first pulling Magus down into the dirt, pulling his arm... but then releasing him & disappearing. Magus sits up, catching a scent from the dirt, crammed in his nostrils & beard, remembering that scent from down south around Moloch, the soil there... A smell that generally doesnt permeate the soil in these parts...
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