Bone Dust and a Farmhouse

Backing away from the Ghouls, the group used clever tactics to prevent the ravenous ghouls from feasting on any single hero.  After destroying the last of the ghouls, the group piled them together while searching through the remains.  Dora, while looking inside the tent, discovered a handful of gems, most of which she secretly pocketed, and a potion of healing.  After deciding to move forward, the group headed back onto the road and reached the edge of the forest by dusk. The

When the tree line opened up, the walking path became lined with chest high crops on either side instead of trees.  Further up the hill, the horizon was dominated by a two story farmhouse, boarded up from the inside.  After coming out of the trees, the whole area was covered with a dense white fog, which Wyndham and Dora identified as not actually fog but pulverized bone dust!  The entire air polluted with bone dust! To Thorm's surprise, he recalled training in the Temple of Moradin about Doresain, the Exarch of Orcus and King of the Ghouls whose White Kingdom was similarly filled with this bone dust.  Informing the rest of the group of the connection, they realized all may not be fine in the small town of Hampstead. Rather than strike ahead to the town, they decided to cut through the crops directly for the farmhouse to check it out.  Unwilling to try the front door, they entered a nearby crop storage building.  Although it appeared empty but for a small number of harvested crops, there was a chute about twenty feet up that appeared to connect to the main building.  Although the ladder was broken, Dora performed a Make Whole ritual and repaired the ladder, which the group used to climb to the chute and crawl through.  Hailing the whispering voices on the other side and identifying themselves as allies, they were ushered into the building.  While a middle aged man identified himself as Byron Westfield, his father Ollin and wife, Alissa and two daughters, Gwen and Salla, shouts from downstairs that the group was followed interrupted their conversation!  Byron explained that a younger man, Nik Harwick, was downstairs keeping watch. Password for a

The group rushed downstairs to see a twenty-something man holding back the door as forces rushed against it.  Although the windows were also boarded up in the furniture cluttered farmhouse, they could hear creatures scurrying all around the house.  While Leucis went to help force the door closed, the group spread out to watch the other entrances.  Ghouls crashed through the front door, but Dora dropped a illusory zone over the area outside of the door.  This area constantly knocked the ghouls prone, while she pelted them with Phantom Bolts and Riswynn supported her with blasts of Sacred Flame from his Holy Symbol. Seventh level item is Although they were successfully holding off ghouls from the front entrance, they were surprised to see them breaking through windows and screams from upstairs indicated some had climbed the farmhouse and broken through the upstairs windows.  Wyndham ran up the stairs and began striking the ghouls with lightening until he effectively destroyed this second wave of undead creatures.  Meanwhile, Leucis and Thorm held off the advances of more ghouls downstairs.  As it seemed the battle was ended, the group tended to their wounds and began to question the family about their situation and the fate of Hampstead. Metallica