Chapter 14

I promised to tell about the house on top of the hill and what we find there.

We look at the house as we are about to enter it.

As I look at, I notice magical dusk that surrounds it, keeping it in twilight.

While I am formulating my thoughts I hear Anneli say "This place is shrouded in evil, so we need to be cautious"

Then I comment on the magical dusk around the house.

After a brief discussion where we come to the conclusion that there is nothing we can do about it, we press onward.

On approaching the door I sense some magic so I hold up my hand and say "Stop, some magic" and start to concentrate on it.

I feel that there is some warding magic on the door but cannot detect the type.

So I tell the others that the door is somehow protected but that the magic is cloaked so I cannot detect how.

I concentrate a bit and do not detect any warding magic in other parts of the house exterior strangely enough. I am a bit surprised by the lack, but still on second check cannot detect any such, so I suggest that we enter through a window.

So we gleefully smash one of the windows on the side of the house and climb in to what appears to have at some point having been a bedroom. Now there is only a bed frame and and open but empty closet.

We search the ground floor slowly and do not find any thing special. In fact we do not find any signs of recent occupation.

We find stairs leading up so we decide to go up.

Upstairs is more of the same as we start exploring it slowly and carefully. There seems to be a hallway going in both directions and from to look of it, it likely goes around the house. It is however much smaller than the downstairs hallway, only being maybe a yard and half wide.

We find several abandoned looking rooms with nothing interesting and the rooms look more like they used to be servants quarters. The rooms on the outside have low sloping ceilings and the rooms in the inside of the house have high sloping ceilings. Both have a single small window set in roof of the house.

But suddenly about halfway down the side of the house we hear an inhuman screech from several directions and a group of grotesque humanoids charge us from both sides and ahead.

They look like withered humans with empty eye sockets, some long wispy hair and long claws on both hands and feet.

I swing at the closest with my staff, but it jumps back dexterously so I miss.

I see that the same thing happens with Garis strike, but Anneli manages to cut off the hand of one of the creatures at the wrist with a vicious strike, but there is no real effect except that the cut of hand falls on the floor and the creature jumps back. There is no blood and no shock evident as the creature readies for attack.

Anneli yells "Ghouls" and indeed, that seems likely from the signs.

The small hallway is working to out advantage as we hold off their attacks as only one or two at time can attack us after we back up a bit. That allows Garis to hold the corridor with Anneli standing close behind him and stabbing with her sword at any that get too close.

I turn my back to them and watch behind us in case some try to get around us.