My friends hurry back we are under attack from the sea He Who Dreams in Darkness ret-
Now only a few hours out of Hannsport, they raced back to the village. As they approached, they could see an infernal red light emanating from deep within the storm clouds that hung over the bay. When they entered the village, they found the streets deserted, the windows of the buildings seemingly shattered by the gales driving in from the sea.
Upon moving deeper into the settlement, they heard the church bells of the martial orders tolling an alarm, and as they arrived at the fortified strongholds, they were greeted by a dreadful sight- the Academy of the Whispering Wind was a smoldering ruin, and many of the buildings nearest the explosion had been leveled. Calgrot managed to find an intact Constable Dreng sleeping off a hangover in the fortified sub-basement beneath the jail of the guardhouse, and the groggy lawman joined the others above ground.
Following the emergency protocol, they mustered in the village square, only to be mobbed by the emerging villagers, who had been horribly mutated into wretched, alien creatures from the deep.
Transformed Guardsman
As the masses gathered, a great, fiery pillar dropped from the clouds into the sea. And where the sky had once glowed hellishly, it was the sea that now frothed and churned with the same illumination, as He Who Dream in Darkness was birthed into the world.
With that, a wave of grotesque Deep Ones emerged from the sea, an advance force to invade the world of men.
Deep One
At that moment, Lord Kell and his retinue arrived on the scene, with the bard Josie Nightingale in tow.
The combined forces of Hannsport delivered ruin to the creatures before they could do any harm, bringing them low with steel and searing, divine light.
They could not savor their victory for long, however, as a fearful din emanating from the sea pierced through the howling winds, calling out to the mutated villagers and drawing them toward the waters of the cove.
The Doom of Hannsport
Ascertaining that the summons was intended to draw the infused villagers to He Who Dreams in Darkness in order to serve as a source of fuel, the party swung into action.
The bard went to the docks to perform a countersong, while Professor Malort created a long wall of stone from the granite pilings of the great pier to the base of the rocky promontory, sealing off the northern shore and funneling the villagers toward the bard's countersong.
On the south shore, where no magic was available to redirect the horde, Lord Kell and his retainers charged their coursers up and down along the beach, their lances impaling any who were not trampled outright. The adventurers spotted the telltale shapes of Brother Markus and Magda Vyrlich amongst those shambling toward
As Sir Donaghast, Yorik, Calgrot and Moghash dashed to the south to seek some means of sparing the villagers from Lord Kell's ruthless solution, the hellish light in the center of the cove launched toward the great pier, right where Josie was performing her countersong.
The submerged glow rammed directly into the pier at high speed, shattering the structure and throwing Josie into the cold waters of the sea.
The waters churned, and one at a time, four immense, gaunt limbs took hold of the remains of the pier and heaved up the dread form of He Who Dreams in Darkness, a fell aspect of the Great Old One that men dared in whispers to name Dagon.
He Who Dreams in Darkness
A battle worthy of legend then unfolded. The heroes assembled before the massive nightmare, smiting it with holy power and eldritch might. In return, it smote them with a breath weapon of inky blackness, shrouding them in darkness while simultaneously draining their life energy and poisoning them all at once. The villagers caught in the wide blast were instantly turned to dust, and the newly birthed horror drew their life energy into itself, doubling itself in size and power.
The battle raged on across the shoreline, as the great creature moved from location to location to absorb the life energies of the converted villagers. Each time the party had nearly brought it low, it replenished itself at the expense of the denizens of Hannsport.
The party was able to fight off the monstrosity before it could absorb their friends, Brother Markus and Magda Vyrlich, but they had suffered devastating amounts of damage, only staying in the fight therough the healing powers of Yorik Mori and Sir Donaghast.
With one last group of villagers available, the unworldly thing raced toward the villagers in the north to replenish itself. In the ensuing mayhem, It grabbed the paladin and rended him, tossing him backward into the sea as it then focused its attention on Lord Kell. The lord of Hannsport charged in to attack the creature, holding it at bay as the party moved up to assist. The actions of Kell might have saved the village, but only at the cost of his own life, for the creature soon breached the knight's defenses and smashed the half-elven warrior into the ground.
With their assembled might, the party was able at last to bring the cosmic horror to defeat!
As they milled about, surveying the damage, they noticed Josie Nightingale kneeling next to the fallen Lord Kell. She reached into her tunic and drew out a silver medallion that hung from a golden neckchain nearly identical to that worn by Lord Kell as his signet of rulership. She drew off her own necklace and took the signet from around the fallen knight's neck, and as she prepared to place the Lord's signet around her own neck, she hesitated at the last.
She stood up and looked out over the sea. After a moment's contemplation, she tossed the jeweled chains to Yorik Mori.
"I think the people of Hannsport have had enough of the Kells," she began. "I do not carry my father's burdens, but I fear I would be just as poor a steward of these lands as he. I am a wanderer, and the weight of rulership would only make all of us miserable."
"I will bury my father with my mother in the hawthorn grove. I leave it to the people of Hannsport to select their own Lord, as they deserve."
They helped Josie load the knight onto his horse, and the bard led them off. The party then collected the remaining villagers, who had all fallen along the beach as if seized by feverish dreams. They moved the villagers to Yorik Mori's stronghold. As he tended to the fallen, he realized what he must do. The great calling he had felt long ago suddenly revealed itself to him in full.
The priest began a great, inspired ritual of the stigmata, releasing bursts of channeled holy energy into the hall of the wounded, healing their otherworldly wounds and drawing them into himself. After several bursts, the priest fell as if dead, but the villagers had been healed of the alien infection. His acolytes took up the body and wrapped it in a funerary shroud, as the priest had previously instructed them to do.
They placed his body into the chapel crypt and with the coming of the dawn he arose and returned to the world as a celestial being, Saint Yorik the Untainted.
With much work to be done repairing the village and seeing to the continued restoration of the remaining villagers, the council of Hannsport once more assembled, in order to select a new lord. Professor Malort immediately nominated Sir Donaghast, and within moments, the vote had carried unanimously. And with that Lord Donaghast's rule had begun.
Evening drew on and the assembled feasted in celebration of their victory, and at long last the sea was calm as the threat of Dagon, He Who Dreams in Darkness, was forever ended.
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