A Fleshripper.
Persons mentioned in the text:- BOCCE, a level 1 Barbarian
- ADORRA, a level 1 Cleric of St. Katharine the Merciful
- KYLE, a level 4 Halfing; a hero of the Battle of Fennburgh
- RANDY, a level 1 Elf
- ORION, a level 1 Elf
- ERIC, a level 1 Cleric of St. Bartholomew the Just
The month of BLOODSTONE, third month of the year 1120 Anno Daedalus
The place:
TRISKELE, the capital city of the THUNDERMOOR, nestled where the RIVER GREEN meets the RIVER UR
A SHRINE in the THUNDERMOOR, a frozen wasteland in the southern reaches of KATHON
Kyle survived his ordeal, but suffered horrific deformity: he lost his nose, ears, and a few of his fingertips to frostbite. Undeterred, he swore to return to the shrine and loot every last nook and cranny. Sitting two astride each mule, Our Heroes rode North and came across the shrine a little after the sun reached its zenith.
Our Heroes spent a little time poking around previously-explored areas to make sure their map was accurate. Eric the cleric made quick work of a roving band of zombies, rebuking them with an incantation to St. Bart. Satisfied that their map was accurate, Our Heroes moved to the northwest area of the shrine and timorously made their way to a door they’d inspected last week.
As Kyle the Halfling listened at the door, it swung open to reveal a totally nude man covered in viscera and wielding two flensing knives. Behind him, a scene of indescribable charnel debauchery unfolded, with a dozen other men partaking in a grisly orgy. Horrified, Our Heroes slammed the door shut and leaned against it as Orion the Elf frantically spiked it shut. The man who had opened the door managed to slip through before it was shut, but slipped on some gore and cracked his skull on the floor of the shrine.
As Our Heroes caught their breath and processed what they’d just seen, they heard a shuffling and groaning coming from the other end of the hall. Expecting a zombie, Eric the Cleric raised high his holy symbol and banished the undead, but a flash of holy light revealed it was not a zombie he turned, but a ghoul. In the meantime, Our Heroes had devised a plan to deal with the men in the locked room…
In the room to the northeast, there was a frozen lake with a small perimeter of walkable area. Most of Our Heroes would be hiding out of view on this area, while Kyle would lure the men from their room into the “lake room.” As Kyle would shed his armor and belongings, he felt would be light enough to slide across the ice without risking breaking it, at least enough to make it to another safe area. As the men piled in after him, Adorra would bring her hammer down upon the ice to shatter it, drowning the men.
Our Heroes helped Kyle out of his platemail and bid him good luck before heading to the lake room to hide. Kyle ripped the spikes from the door and sprinted down the hallway, chased by a gaggle of gibbering, naked men with knives. As Kyle neared the lake room, he heard Bocce the Barbarian roar for him to “JUMP!” so he did, and narrowly avoided being tripped by Bocce’s greatsword.
Kyle sprawled to the ice and slid across to safety, while his pursuants tripped over Bocce’s sword and fell onto the ice in a heap. Adorra and Eric brought their weapons down on the ice and cracked it, and with a loud crack it gave way, dumping their enemies into the freezing waters. Bocce dispatched the stragglers, and on one of them was a lovely cloak and scintillating amulet, which Our Heroes pocketed.
Our Heroes visited the Critterlings again, to update them on how their exploration was going. They got what information they could about the naked men - Fleshrippers, as the Critterlings called them, and headed back to the north-west corner of the shrine. In one room, they found a small group of Fleshrippers feeding carrion to ghouls encased in ice. They overwhelmed the Fleshrippers and dispatched the ghouls, and headed to the last room they had not yet explored in the north-west wing, where they found a group of bandits who the Fleshrippers had been slowly flaying alive. Adorra brought the mercy of St. Katherine to all but one, who was still healthy enough to be left alive. He introduced himself as Caine, who was grateful for his freedom and pledged to spread tales of their mercy and strength, and convert to the faith of St. Katherine.
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