"The Voiceless Village" (RTx04) is the fourth episode of The Re-Slayer's Take. Following a lead about travelers disappearing in swampland far to the west, the newly-formed Re-Slayer's Take travel to the backwater town of Josgren's Hollow where nothing is as it seems.
Synopsis[]
The adventurers talk among themselves in Timpani's messy apartment, and the firbolg mentions to them that two days before meeting them a deaf tabaxi told him his companions had been kidnapped while they were traveling through the swampy area south of the Marrowglade Loch, on their way to Josgren's Hollow. Farah, when asked about her professional opinion, determines the fog is probably an amalgamation of ghosts known as whispers, and clarifies to Idrin that those spirits aren't living again, just taking a new collective undead form. Timpani declares it a rescue mission, and after they prepare and Poogs brings them some cupcakes made with his literal sweat (which Idrin considers using as weapons against ghosts, given the high salt content), the druid leads them all to a part with a tree, casting Transport via Plants to bring them to the swamp.

Fan art of the Re-Slayer's Take in quicksand, by Elaine Tipping.[art 2]
They appear in an area with quicksand and start sinking, with Poogs, the shortest of the group, being completely covered by the substance. Farah shares some instructions with her friends, and using a rope, they start freeing themselves one by one, with Farah herself being sent to safety by Idrin's Vortex Warp; a Marrowglade dire frog tries to attack the wizard, but he throws a cupcake at it, distracting it long enough to flee. After some walking, the Re-Slayer's Take reaches Josgren's Hollow, and they find a very deteriorated settlement, with weathered houses, mold stains everywhere, and polluted air that shows traces of necrotic magic. Heera and Idrin inspect the local processing plant, finding only some abandoned potions, and the tiefling notices a little girl watching them from a window. She makes some faces to make her laugh, but then the father appears and tell the adventurers to go away, warning them about the whispers; as an answer, Heera writes on a paper that they're there to help, gaining the man's trust. Frog, who has been examining the mold, theorizes that maybe it is isolating, preventing sounds from inside the buildings to be heard outside; Timpani then tries to stomp very loudly in the street, causing many neighbors to open the doors to gesture asking him not to make noise, just to go back inside when Farah sneezes. Whispers start to be heard, and suddenly the adventurers see Igor from the Slayer's Take, approaching and telling them not to meddle in his guild's affairs. Heera, enhancing the sound with Thaumaturgy, shushes him, but the wereboar doesn't listen. Suddenly, a strange fog formed by spores appear and engulfs Igor, making him disappear, after which it starts approaching the Re-Slayer's Take, creating forms of maws and eyes as it does.
Featured characters[]
"Re-Slayers"[]
Returning[]
New[]
- Delphine, a child from Josgren's Hollow (unnamed)
- Her father
Mentioned[]
- Gurt Stumpstuck
- Pelor the Dawnfather (indirectly)
- Rimefang
- Pumat Sol (unnamed)
Quotations[]
Trivia[]
References[]
Art:
- ↑ Re-Slayer's Take promotional art, by Elaine Tipping (source). Used with permission.
- ↑ Fan art of the Re-Slayer's Take in quicksand, by Elaine Tipping (source). Used with permission.