The Valley, Part 1: The Search for Corby

Farmer Corby has gone missing!  This is kind of a big deal, since there aren’t many farmers in Rockton.  High Priest Landis gathered you together and sniffed disdainfully that since you haven’t selected spouses yet, you are expendable, whereas Farmer Corby is not.  He did not tell them anything else or provide any clues.

All the characters know Corby.  He runs one of the five farms associated with Rockton.  He’s a large standard brown man with more gray in his hair than brown.  He married an elf named Hally and they have has 2 sons and 2 daughters.  One son, one daughter have moved north after getting married.  Cletus, aged 14, still lives and works at Corby’s farm.  Lissa, aged 12, recently passed away from illness.

Corby’s wife Hally was convinced to give out the following:

Corby was more angry about Lissa’s passing than grieving.  He would often mutter things under his breath like “find her,” “fucking priests,” and “took her east.”

Corby seemed especially angry that the Priesthood took Lissa away.

Cletus confirmed that Corby seemed especially angry about the Priests taking Lissa away.  Cletus revealed that Corby took a fighting hammer and several days worth of food when he left.

Common knowledge regarding funeral rights: the Priesthood will take the deceased to “meet the Trinity.”  The priest in the group will know details regarding burial shrouds and the fact that there is a very real (not spiritual) journey involved, as each ritual requires a pack animal and a cart.  They will be ignorant of the final destination.

You tracked Corby until it became obvious he was headed dead into the Ancient's Waste.  You gathered supplies and allowed Bigpalla time to craft Radaway and Rad-X.

You lost Corby's tracks on the way, but picked up the tracks left by Lissa's burial cart.  They were much easier to follow, and it was found that the cart came back from the journey empty.

During the 3 day journey, you had minor encounters with radroaches and molerats, adding a little fresh food to your supplies, and also discovering a pre-war knife.

You made it to the Waste, resisting the ill effects of the background radiation.  You discovered the site where the priests stopped and found signs of a fight there.  Reading the tracks and other clues, you found that a fight happened between a person wearing boots, and 4 Ghouls happened.  There was not enough blood shed for such a fierce battle.  You found strands of Lissa's fine, dark hair and bits of burial shroud.

You were able to pick up Corby's trail once again.  His tracks led to a simple camp made in the shell of an ancient passenger jet.  Nearby was a pitifully small burial mound.  You could tell that Corby did not sleep well, vomited, and left.

The second day into the Waste, you were ambushed by a group of ghouls - including one that glowed a sickly green, and set off a burst of radiation!  Bongo and Rufus nearly died, but Farmer Corby rushed in to help.

After the fight, it was revealed that Farmer Corby was turned into a Ghoul!  His appearance was somewhere between burn victim and walking corpse, but he was still in better shape than the mindless abominations they just put down.  After this reveal, Corby had a rant:

“So, Landis called you ‘expendable’ and sent you to find me, didn’t’e?”  His voice is roughened from his transformation.  “Well!  Fat chance of him wanting me back now, isn’t it?

“I’d say I’ll be joining my sweet Lissa soon, but I saw her final reward!”  He whirls on the Brother Snoopdoge, obviously and dangerously furious.  “Did you know what they did to her?  DID YOU??”

Brother Snoopdoge did not, in fact, know that the Priesthood fed the remains of Valley dwellers to ghouls.  Corby turned his back, clenched his fists, and visibly calmed himself before continuing.

“They feed us to them,” he gestures at the dead Ghouls.  “I been watchin’.  Groups of ‘em like this, they check the spot where they took my Lissa – they check it every day.  There’s wagon tracks all over.  There’s bits of burial shroud in their teeth.”

There was discussion about curing him and bringing him back to the village, but while he did allow you to feed him all their remaining Radaway (which did not work, as he vomited it up) he flat out refused to consider coming back to Rockton.

It's unlikely that the Priesthood would allow Corby back in the Valley.  Brother Snoopdoge related that Ghouls are Ancients, cursed by the gods to live forever as a mindless monster.  The fact that Corby is now a Ghoul, even if not feral, would lead a priest to believe that the gods have cursed him for some reason.  Brother Snoopdoge knows that Landis would expect the characters to kill Corby.

In the end, you took some of his clothes and personal effects, intending to tell a story that he died fighting ghouls.  Corby turned and began walking east, further into the Waste.

You took Corby's things back and lied to the high priest about what happened to Corby. Brother Snoopdoge considered the whole affair to be a religious epiphany, and determined that the Priesthood lies. If they lied about this horrible, horrible thing, what else are they keeping from you?