The sound of despair

Tandrel: What the fuck was that!?

Other smaller explosions can be heard in the distance.

THUD!

The party looks up at where the loud noise came from. One of the drunkards from above is heard struggling to get up, knocking some of the glasses from a table. Soon after, a screaming hoard of people is heard running into the tavern.

Woman in distress: Quick! Grab the table and put it against the door. Hurry!

The party hears a few people’s panicked and disorganized footsteps run above them. As they do, Tandrel tries going up the stairs. Only a few steps up, Faith dashes towards him and grabs Tandrel by the back of his vest. She looks at Tandrel dead in the eyes and with a serious face, shakes her head and signals him to keep quiet. Faith looks back at the group and with hand movements, tells them to also keep silent.

Faith: Shh… It sounds like they’re trying to keep something out. Let’s wait for a better opportunity.

As she says that, an upset man exclaims:

Upset man: Wait, my wife is still out there! Don’t block-

The other people are heard struggling with the man, trying to keep him from moving the table blocking the entrance. Meanwhile, the drunkard asks:

Drunkard: “W-what in Torell is hap-happenin’?”

The woman in distress replies to the drunkard while hyperventilating:

Woman in distress: The King is- the King’s gone mad!!! The King’s gone mad!!! The baby, he killed

The woman is interrupted by a wailing woman’s voice coming from the outside.

Wailing woman: Orsik!! Orsik!!

The upset man is heard again, begging the other people to allow the wailing woman in:

Upset man: Diesa!! In here!! Please!! That’s my wife!! Diesa!!

The wailing woman’s cries can be heard closer. She struggles to squeeze between the table and the bar’s entrance. A couple of heavily armored footsteps are heard marching closer.

Wailing woman: Please, the guards are coming, I don’t want to die!! Orsik!! Plea

As the sound of sheathing swords “schwing”, the woman’s pleading voice turns into screeches of pain and gargles of blood. The muffled voice of a guard on the outside of the tavern is heard alerting others.

Guard: Shit! There’s a lot of live ones here, go, go!!

Down in the basement, all our party can do is listen in pure horror to how the events above unfold. They all stare into each other's eyes, scared and unsure of what to do. Corso, holding his composure, whispers:

Corso: Well lads, looks like we’re all fighting tonight. Everyone grab a weapon, quickly.

Corso tries to silently speed walk across the basement. He lifts a sheet that is covering a large object, revealing a wooden display cart engraved with a Griffith sigil. Corso quickly grabs a rapier, followed by Faith, who without hesitation picks up a heavy crossbow from the cart. Tandrel stalls a little but settles for grabbing a basic bow. Brielle grabs an easily accessible quarterstaff that leaned against an old barrel next to her, and Vahl’a nervously grabs a dagger that happened to be by her feet. As the party gathers their courage to head up, they hear the sound of shattering glass, followed by a rolling object that travels across the tavern. Before they can react, a white flare of light creeps in from the cracks of the floor above, followed by a deafening boom. Everyone falls to the floor unconscious.

Silence.

Darkness.

……………

Vahl’a slowly starts to feel conscious again. She tries looking down at her hands but sees nothing. She lifts her head; Brielle, Faith, Tandrel, and Corso are all with her, standing in a circle in what seems like infinite black space. They’re all trying to look at themselves but confusion paints across their faces. Suddenly, a faint voice of a little girl is heard. It feels to be coming from everywhere at once. As the voice speaks, the party looks around, trying to find the source.

???: Help me……This is… the only path that can save me… please….

Vahl’a starts feeling heat against her skin. Slowly, she can feel her sense of smell coming back. Her lungs feel heavy as if struggling to breathe. The voice of the little girl is heard again, only louder. The voice drills inside her head:

???: Please wake up.

The sound of her voice turns into a loud, long ring in Vahl’a’s ears. Vahl’a gets up from the tavern’s basement floor while holding her ears. She looks around and everyone in the party also is just waking up, doing the same motion of covering their ears. They quickly realize the situation they’re in. The top floor seems to be burning down. Trying not to cough loudly, Vahl’a follows the party up the stairs. Without thinking too much, Corso lifts the basement door open and rushes everyone to come up. As they do, they notice that a huge part of the tavern is blown up. The full moon illuminates the path out of the flames as well as the pile of mangled bodies that splattered all of what remains of Twincrest tavern.

As the party makes it out of the flames led by Faith, she signals everyone to crouch down and look towards the left side of them, where three, heavily armored guards and two mastiffs walk circles around the vicinity. The party is trapped between a deadly cliff looking at the dark ocean to their right, a burning tavern behind them, or guards. Looks like their only escape is forward into a seemingly unguarded patch of woodland ahead. The party stealthily proceeds into the dark woods.