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A decrepit barn is the only shelter between remote stops in the refugee trail called The Ramble. As the sky's clouds darken and the winds pick up, weary travelers must seek refuge before the weather takes a turn for the worse.
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Shynaria, cheerful bard of the Myreque, led an expedition of the crippled and infirm northward out of the Burgh to escape the coming storm. Their progress, however, was mired by the sheer reach of the deadly storm. Caught in the gale-force winds a day's travel outside of Mort'ton, they found themselves in a grove of ancient, sickly cyprus trees. As the branches fell about them, they found their supposed salvation: a sturdy barn in a clearing.
After forcing their way inside with all their might, they found that they were not the only occupants of the barn. A strange, crazed man by the name of Bolek called the place his home, along with his seven goats. There was tense conversation as the trekkers became accustomed to the unsettling interior of the barn.
A tenuous silence came over those gathered, but it was broken by shrill screams inhuman in nature. Bolek assured them it was simply the goats he kept in the shed attached to the barn, and that someone needed to quiet them down. Instead of drawing lots as Bolek suggested, the trekkers decided to head to the shed and discuss plans in private - they did not trust the fidgety Bolek. But did they think killing him was the best? They were, however, distracted by the fact there were but six goats - not seven.
A nearby tree groaned as its roots began to fail, threatening to be taken by the wind and smash the small shed they occupied. Wasting no time, they returned to the barn proper only to find Bolek acting even more strange. He spoke in a droning tone and lacked his distinct accent. Unnerved, they kept close. The infirm old man, Fredrick, found the tattered skin of a goat inside the barn.
Bolek, or more specifically, what was wearing the remains of Bolek, skittered out from behind a haybale. A large beetle, its thorax and abdomen bursting from Bolek's tattered hips, beset upon the trekkers. Frederick set fire to the hay in the barn and rushed the monstrosity, but was quickly impaled and partially eaten. His dying act was to give the survivors a chink in the beast's armor, a deep gash in its mandible. Now trapped in a creeping inferno with the giant bug, the surviving trekkers attempted to batter down the barn door to no avail.
Jacques, the one-handed thief, tried his luck at attacking the beast. While able to break some of its plated chitin, he was unable to deal enough damage to force the creature to skitter away and regroup. He was quickly impaled after freeing Bobby, the one-legged captain, and was dispatched shortly after.
Shynaria spread the fire to the barn door, and with Bobby's help, was able to shatter a portion of the door just large enough for someone to crawl through. The hurricane winds burst through the opening, assaulting the beetle and giving them just enough time to let one person out. Bobby expected Shynaria to take the lead, but quickly found himself being forcibly thrown into the storm.
With a few parting words, Shynaria was pulled deeper into the smoky barn by a pair of black, chitin-clad legs. Disoriented and defeated, Bobby tried to crawl his way across the ground to the treeline. Before he could make it, the tree that threatened to uproot and destroy the shed finally broke free of the earth and began tumbling across the clearing at the barn. There was a great crash as the tree collided with the barn, and Bobby was swept up by the relentless winds.