After finding the Worm Wraiths horse and pack pony, Thunderheart combed the area looking for some kind of tracks. Although the Worm Wraith had covered his tracks, Thunderheart was able to get a bead on where the creature had come from. It had come from the south and a little west. Everyone in the party, except Roger, had a genuine interest in finding out where the wraith had come from, but more to see if they could find anymore of those high-quality weapons.
Roger, however, agreed to go along, but grudgingly (Mostly since Jung wasn't here to play his character, but since his character probably wouldn't have gone on by himself). The party started making their way towards the direction in which the tracks lead.
They continued south until they started to smell something wrotten and decaying. They looked around and spotted a mound off to the side of the trail. Dirk went over to investigate. Thunderheart heard buzzing coming from flies and saw the flies covering the mound that Dirk was approaching. He started saying that it was just a dead animal when Dirk cried out that there were 16 dead bodies layed out, all naked with their clothes piled neatly at their feet. Dirk started rummaging through the piles of clothes and found a sheriff's badge along with six deputy badges. The bodies all shown signs of strangulation along with gaping holes in their chests that were cauterized by the energy weapon used to shoot them at close range. The bodies were layed out along a hill, but because of the way the grass grew, it looked like the land was flat when in fact, there was a gulch there and the bodies were layed out down into the gulch. It was getting dark, so the group said that they would camp for the night, up the trail a bit and come back in the morning and bury the bodies if there were any left. The night passed, and in the early predawn morning of the next day, Ralph heard some unquieting howls.
The party woke up and headed back to see how many bodies were left. They found the place without a problem and discovered that there were only ten bodies left. After some debate, they figured out that Roger could just lift the earth instead of them actually digging the graves, so that is precisely what they did. One mass grave and then they were heading south in the direction of the trail.
It wasn't long until they cam to a dirt path intersecting the trail they were following. Thunderheart went across the path and discovered that the trail didn't extend past the dirt of the path. Thunderheart then determined that the wraith had ventured from the east, so they group set out towards the east much to the dismay of Roger. It wasn't an hour past when they spied a small village with many outlying buildings within a 100 feet.
The party rode in on their steeds and tied them off after dismounting in front of the first establishment. The sign up above had a picture of a full and foamy beer mug and the words -- Javorin's Saloon -- burned into the wood. Ralph and Dirk walked into the place through the swinging saloon doors and saw three men gathered around the bar. One man appeared to be around 80 years old, the other next to him was about 60 and the third man was the bartender and he was about 40 or 45. Ralph walked up to the bar and ordered a whole bottle of whiskey and then sat down. Dirk followed a few paces behind.
Meanwhile, Thunderheart was outside across the street peeking his head into the Sheriff's place with the star badge burned into the sign outside. Nobody was there, all he saw was a empty desk with some scattered pieces of paper and door that led to the jail cells. Thunderheart then walked outside and next door to Cassie's Coral (pronounced like corral, just misspelled). When he entered; he was unimpressed with the twelve girls he saw standing there. One of the girls stepped forward while the rest giggled and made eyes at him. Thunderheart simply asked, "Who's in charge here?"
"Why, I am sugar," replied the girl who stepped forward. "Welcome to Cassie's Coral, how can we help you," as she motioned with her hand the other girls standing behind her.
"No, I mean, who is in charge in this town?" asked Thunderheart.
" Oh, silly, that would be the sheriff, but he isn't here."
"Oh, then who is second in command then?"
"Well, that would probably be the Doc."
"Where's the doc then?"
"Well, he went with the Sheriff, for sure."
"Then who's in charge after him?" Thunderheart was getting impatient.
"Well, that would be Javorin."
"And where is he?"
"His place is right across the street." She pointed in the general direction.
Thunderheart turned and walked out. The girls had a look of disappointment in their eyes that nobody saw save themselves.
However, while Thunderheart was busy with the girls, Ralph had struck up a conversation with Cletus, the 80 year-old looking man that was sitting at the bar in Javorin's. Ralph started asking questions about the Sheriff and found out about him, the Doc, and the deputies and the scouts who had gone with them. He also found out about the stranger who stayed on the outskirts of town and how he did his disappearing act and how that is why the Sheriff is gone because him and the doc and the preacher and the deputies and the scouts had all gone out looking for him and tracked him out north of town. Ralph was very impatient, and started getting bored, so he pulled out his red liquor and gave a shot to each guy in the place. Cletus took it and stayed seating while the 60 year-old looking man got a shit-eatin' grin on his face and Javorin, who was the bartender, passed out cold behind the bar. Ralph was bored, so he decided to start running around town and up and down the main street; rising a whole lot of dust doing so. Dirk remained inside talking with Cletus.
Earl walks in and starts talking to Cletus and about what's going on. He asks where the Sheriff is since he saw his horse outside. The party tells him that the Sheriff is dead along with the other members in the posse that went with him. They tell him about where the dead bodies are and how they found them. Earl asks where Javorin is and finds him passed out behind the bar. Earl helps himself to a drink and starts rambling about what the town should do. Earl then starts planning a party to go and retrieve the dead bodies for a proper burial. The party plus Earl go talk to the blacksmith who happens to have a wagon that they can borrow but needs to be fixed before it is taken. The wheel needs to be put on. After they get the wheel on, Earl decides he needs to run home quick to get his gear. On his way back, he stops off at the church and tells the Preacher's wife and son what happened. The wife starts crying while the son is firm and recognises that he will have to fill his father's footsteps earlier than anticipated.
Earl gets back and meets the party, which is everyone who is going, and they start off on the way back to the bodies that they had found. They get back to the bodies, but are ambushed by Simvan. This time, the Simvan are better prepared but launch their ambush to far away to get to the party quickly. The party protects Roger while he unearths the bodies and loads them onto the wagon. The Simvan are easily killed and looted. With the bodies loaded and the Simvan dead, the party starts on their way back to the town of New Hope.
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