The Town No One Remembers

Year 1482, Month 3, Day 29

Lofrir Wyvernfeet the bearded dwarven knight, Heiris Sagewatcher the quiet firbolg rogue, Kig the flashy aarakocra ranger, and Snatt the twitchy kobold druid walk along the main road into the city of Wintervale.

The city streets were bustling with traffic as merchants hawked their wares to anyone within earshot. Horse-drawn carriages battled for space on the overcrowded roads as children darted about with their kickball.

With coin pouches nearly bursting from a successful quest the party was eager to spend their new wealth. A visit to the local tavern was amongst the first of their long spending spree.

Hog and Bertha were a married couple that ran the establishment. Together they kept the party’s mugs full and bellies stuffed.

“They seem to be a happy couple,” Heriris commented as he smiled at the row of family paintings that lined the walls.

“You should get one done of yourselves,” Bertha suggested. “There’s a wonderful painter down the road from here. Edra is his name.”

“That’s a wonderful idea!” Lofrir bellowed, “Immortalize our heroics!”

With that decided the party left to visit Edra the painter. He was more than willing to paint a group portrait and assured the group the work would be done and ready for them upon their next arrival in town.

Year 1482, Month 5, Day 7

Lofrir, Heiris, and Snatt excitedly walked into Wintervale to visit their friends from their last visit. Their first stop was the tavern to see Hog and Bertha. They quickly grabbed a table and waved to Hog who was busy cleaning the counter.

Heiris frowned as he stared at the empty walls. “The family portraits are gone.”

“Where’s your wife?” Lofrir loudly asked across the room.

“Never been married before,” Hog said as he brought several mugs of ale.

“All the portraits on the walls though. Where did they go?” Heiris asked.

“Threw em out. Don’t know who that woman was or who would have hung them in my tavern,” Hog shrugged.

“Hmmm,” Snatt leaned in and whispered as he chewed on the lip of his mug. “Something doesn’t seem right with him.

“Agreed,” Heiris said.

The trio polished off their drinks and left the tavern. The streets were quiet as a few merchants attempted to sell their wares. The occasional child darted about as the party made their way for the painter’s shop.

“Edra, we’re back lad!” Lofrir called out.

“Ah, you’re back…” Edra said nervously.

“What’s the matter? The painting didn’t turn out grand enough?” he laughed.

“Well, there’s a problem with it.”

“Out with it!”

“There’s an extra person in the painting and I don’t know how they got in there.” Edra said as he pulled the sheet off the painting.

Depicted were four valiant heroes who each were epically posed. Lofrir the dwarf with his mighty battle axe raised above his head, Heiris the firbolg crouched in the shadows with daggers drawn, Snatt the kobold caught in the middle of a shapeshift into a horse to appear centaur-like, and an aarakocra flying overhead with a bow and arrows.

“Why’d you put an ugly bird in the portrait?” Lofrir asked.

“That’s the thing. I don’t know. I didn’t paint him but yet here he is,” Edra babbled.

“He seems… familiar?” Heiris said almost like a question more than a statement.

“Snatt doesn’t like this anymore,” Snatt said as he crossed his arms.

“Perhaps we should investigate? We could split up and meet back at Hog’s tavern?”

“Aye,” Lofrir nodded.

With an agreement made the party paid Edra for his time and departed. They scattered into the quiet streets as they each began their own investigation of the curious occurrences of Wintervale.

Year 1482, Month 5, Day 8

The trio returned to Hog’s tavern the next morning to report their findings. Lofrir grumbled as he searched about for the barkeep as he licked his lips.

“Where in the blazes is Hog at?” the dwarf peered into the back kitchen.

“I discovered something at the town hall,” Heiris said as he set a book down. “The census for the town says they should have a massive population but if you look outside there can’t be any more than a few hundred people living here.”

“I met a crazy person with no ears,” Snatt commented as he chewed on the edge of the table.

“So we kill the deaf person!” Lofrir declared with a fist.

“Do you think something is affecting our memories?” Heiris asked as he cast a glare at Lofrir. “It’s as if people are going missing and they are simply forgotten by everyone but physical evidence remains.”

“Maybe that’s why that guy was crazy. He couldn’t remember where his ears went,” Snatt laughed as he plugged his ears. A moment later his eyes went wide as he screamed and fell out of his chair.

“What in the hells are you yelling about?” Lofrir ironically yelled.

“Don’t plug your ears!”

Heiris and Lofrir both cast a confused glance at each other before they slowly reached for their ears. With canals blocked, the image of the tavern quickly changed before them. Blood and gore covered the walls as it dripped to the floor. Massive holes dot the wooden floor which led into deep and winding tunnels.

Heiris quickly ripped a page out of the book and began to write their discovery down.

Lofrir yelled in anger at the walls. “The sirens evolved to walk on land. Neither the sea nor my bed will be safe from those cursed beasts!”

“We need a deafening potion. Whatever it is that makes us forget must be singing some song or something we can’t hear… Or we forget that we hear it. There’s a potion shop nearby. Let’s hurry before we forget!”

The trio darted across the city streets with ears plugged with bits of cloth and their fingers. Mutilated corpses littered the streets and many of the buildings were crumbling from disrepair. The few dozen citizens that still walked the streets were unaware of what was happening around them.

Lofrir reached the potion shop first as he accidently yanked the door off it’s hinges. Snatt tripped over a body and sprawled out over the ground.

“Snatt!” Heiris slid to a stop and held his hand outwards.

“What are you doing?” Lofrir asked.

“Umm... I don’t know,” Heiris admitted as he stared at the empty ground in front of him. “I must have forgot?”

“Well, we needed something from this shop so let’s hurry it up!” the dwarf snapped.

Heiris nodded as they both entered to find the establishment empty. “Where is the shop keep?”

“Finders keepers?” Lofrir suggested as he eyed a shelf of healing potions.

“No, we should still pay even if the keep is out,” he said as he withdrew a few gold coins and dropped a folded note. “Oh?” he mumbled as he reached for the parchment.

Something is kidnapping the townspeople. It sings a song to make us forget. Plug your ears to see the reality before you. EVERYTHING IS A LIE.

“The deafening potion…” he muttered quietly.

“Huh?” Lofrir asked as he sniffed a bottle with swirling green liquid inside.

Heiris quickly scanned the shelves until he found the potion they needed. He took a swig and offered it to Lofrir. “Drink this!”

“But you’ve already drank from it!”

“Just drink it,” he argued while shoving the bottle into the dwarf’s mouth.

As the world around them fell silent the illusion dropped as well. The cracks in the walls emerged, the holes in the floor opened up, and the gore revealed itself.

Lofrir’s eyes went wide. His mouth moved as he tried to speak but his words fell upon deaf ears.

Heiris stepped towards one of the holes and pointed towards it as he palmed the hilt of his dagger.

The dwarf’s eyes lit up with excitement as he grabbed his ax and leaped into the darkness below.

Year 1482, Month 5, Day 8

Loose dirt and debris flew past their eyes as Lofrir and Heiris slid down the dark and winding tunnel. Quickly the ground rose up at them as they rolled to a stop at the bottom of the hole which opened up to a massive chamber room.

Heiris vomited as the overwhelming stench of rotting gore filled his nostrils. The walls were splattered in thick layers of blood while the floor was slathered in what could only be assumed to be fecal matter.

Lofrir gripped his battleax tightly as he stared in horror. He desperately willed his body to move but found himself unable to, whether it be by fear or another unseen force.

A corpulent mass of flesh breathed from the center of the room. Like an octopus, it was riddled with thin appendages that snaked their way up and out the dozens of tunnels that fed into the room.

The beast possessed a head that seemed to be in some sort of trance. Its thick fleshy face with undisguised hunger gently swayed back and forth as it slowly worked its jaw.

One of the monstrosities’ appendages retracted into the chamber. Clutched within its grasp was one of the townspeople, his face peaceful and unaware of the surroundings.

Then the head stopped its rhythmic sway and unhinged its maw.

The man blinked a few times as he looked about in horror. His face contorted as he was consumed by powerful teeth that ripped him apart. Blood cascaded down the pale flesh of the beast in a torrent of rain.

Heiris tried to call out to the dwarf to run. He screamed and begged for him to hear but to no avail. Desperately he staggered to his feet.

Then the beast turned its gaze to the duo. Its giant maw slowly opened with an insatiable hunger.

Lofrir dropped his battleax as he fell to his knees. He knew there was no escape. He closed his eyes and began to mutter a silent prayer to his dwarven gods.

They were not prepared to step into Hell.

Year 1483, Month 2, Day 27

Two merchants looked towards the town from the road. They sat atop their horse-drawn carriage with a look of hesitation and worry.

“I tell ya, the town’s haunted,” the first merchant said.

“It’s the fastest way to Ishlam,” the second tried to say with confidence but his shaky voice defied him.

“It’s a ghost town. Everyone’s just vanished and no one knows why. You want to risk that?”

“It would save two days of travel.”

“It’s not worth it!” he growled as he pointed to the bleak town.

The few dozen or so buildings that still managed to stand on their own were riddled with holes. Many roofs had long since caved in but the most unnerving of all was the lack of sound from nature.

“Just forget about the town. If we’re lucky no one will even remember it…”