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Chest Thumper and Francis are also quiet on the trip down the river, the former watching the shoreline and studying it for effects from the storm, the latter sitting languidly at a spot that seems calculated to be as much in the way as possible, but was just comfortable. He did what he always did when he had nothing else to do, pick at his fur and eat any parasites or food particles he found there.
Korir island is one of those places where people who worship nature wonder why. Low and ugly, it does not have the lush vegetation much of the jungle does. Useful when watching out for attackers, but somewhat bleak and depressing to just look at.
"Well...mostly humans," Chest Thumper replies to Pious' statement, looking around at his traveling companions. Only a couple were entirely human though he and Iradyiel had some claim to that ancestry.
"Not too many provisions, Jit," he says, nodding to her bottle of wine.
Neither Chest Thumper nor Francis do much to prepare for the night. They gather some of the palm leaves and make a nest, though not a very comfortable looking one.
The half-orc will take the watch after Pious, since his eyes are nicely adapted to the dark and that should be the darkest part of the night. He will look out to sea, expecting any trouble to come from that direction.
Francis did not take a watch because...well...you try to wake up a 350lb ape up in the middle of the night and convince him to take a watch.
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Chest Thumper's normally confident gate slows thoughtfully as they walk along the beach until he stops altogether. Squatting down, he places 2 fingers just above the sand, not quite touching it. He'll show what he finds to anyone interested.
"Someone was walking along here. And relatively recently. At least I assume. The tracks have been washed away but I assume they would be entirely gone if they'd been made before the worst of the storm hit here."
Both the half-orc and his ape brother are drawn to the site when they see the carrion birds circling. They've both lived on other's kills before and were always on the lookout for free, or at least easily obtained, meat.
They are both disappointed when they see the source, though. It is too close to cannibalism for Chest Thumper and too close to Chest Thumper for Francis.
But the Half-Orc is also disturbed by the find.
"This was done by humanoids. I can't tell exactly what but someone on this island, or who was here recently, is comfortable with hunting people. We'll have to be on our guard."
Enjoying the scenery from the boat ride, Iradyiel keeps to himself taking in the sights from his fathers land. As the are walking on the beach he notices Chest Thumper kneeling and looking at something. Hearing Chest Thumpers analysis he asks, "Can we tell who or what they killed?"
As they are setting up camp Iradyiel offers, "I'm happy to take the last watch."
Covered in his waterproof cloak, Iradyiel his back against the cliff, sleeps on his blanket waiting for his watch. When he is wakened, he spends his time moving about watching the island more than the beach.
"Actually I th-think most of us aren't humans," Aza giggles as she adds onto Chest Thumper's statement. The drizzle of rain gathers in beads on her black poncho and hat, and she stifles a sneeze. The coastline here was certainly much different from the riverfront back home, everything squat and dangerous. Certainly the rain was not as intense as the previous storm, but it was a grim reminder of what they had pushed through. She leans heavily on her staff, leaving soft holes in the wet sand as they move.
As their half-orc companion points out footsteps on the beach, Aza perks up - maybe it could be someone they're looking for? That seemed as likely as anything else, in Aza's mind, but as she followed to the carrion birds and their scavenges, the oracle puts a hand over her mouth. "A... a h-h-humanoid?" She questions, not wanting to get much closer. She turns her head back towards the jungle and does a sweep around their immediate area. "Of course, the l-l-lizardfolk would be my first guess, but..." She steps forward, her eyes glowing yellow as she examines the kill site with detect magic, out of some sense of comfort - maybe it was because she couldn't do anything more.
In the salt marshes
Can Chest Thumper tell if the tracks came from the direction of the wreck and if the ones from the shore ended up at the bloody mess?
The tracks along the shore were found maybe an hour before the grisly discovery in the dunes. It is possible that the first tracks were either the victim or one of the attackers, they were headed in the right direction. At the site of the kill, the attackers’ tracks could have come from the direction of the wreck.
Hearing Chest Thumpers analysis he asks, "Can we tell who or what they killed?"
Examining the grisly remains more carefully reveals a clump of bloodstained hair that could be consistent with a human. It’s hard to tell – whilst the sand is stained with blood and viscera, the body has been removed – carried it would seem as there are not bloodstains on the sand beyond 10 feet or so from the attack.
She steps forward, her eyes glowing yellow as she examines the kill site with detect magic.
Nothing here registers as magical, or, any residual aura has long since faded.
A bivouac on the beach
The party settle in for a night camping by the shore amidst the smell of the salt marshes, the constant patter of the rain on their shelter, and the occasional shriek of a sea bird. Korir Island is a desolate spot and even the warm glow of their campfire does little to lift an oppressive mood.
Exchanging watches regularly the group have an untroubled night. Those on watch do not see anything out of the ordinary, although those not familiar with the noises of jungle wildlife have occasional moments of apprehension as strange calls echo across the flat island.
The Cobalt Eye
The next morning they break camp after a light breakfast, and resume their trek, cutting inland towards the western coast. It is late in the morning before they crest a final sand dune and return to the shore, and a tragic sight greets their eyes. Only just visible through the light rain lashing the coast is the faint outline of the Cobalt Eye leaning hard to one side, wrecked on the sands ahead.
Travelling closer with a heavy heart they see scraps of flotsam and jetsam turning over in the breaking surf and soon after, spot the first of many bodies - a nameless human sailor, his body swollen by time in the sea and his flesh ravaged by either fish whilst in the water, or by something else on the shore. But this one is only the first: there are others, maybe a dozen others, cast onto the sands and rock pools by the storm, or bobbing a little further out in the water.
Walking down the beach the ship comes into clearer view. At a guess she wallowed in the storm, not sinking but out of control in a near hurricane. The masts are shattered and the decks have been swept clear, but she appears to have avoided much structural damage when she was cast up onto the beach. Although waves still crash against her sides from the wind-driven surf, she appears immobile. From beneath the hull appears intact; entrance to the vessel would require scaling maybe 20’ or so up her sides to reach the deck.
The other fact revealed as the party approach the wreck is that there appear at least to have been some survivors of the disaster. A number of tracks (some barefoot, some wearing shoes) maybe half a dozen or more in total, lead up to the ship and stop at the hull, and sand on the vessel’s side suggests they climbed aboard from there. Some footprints lead away off into the sand dunes behind the beach, but they are fewer in number.
Jit’s heart sinks when she sees the wreck of the Cobalt. It was one thing to lose a ship, but the scattered bodies bode even worse for the chances of finding anyone alive here. “Oh no…” she mumbles as she approaches the nearest fallen sailor. “I knew there would be bad luck...” she mutters, tears welling up in her eyes and her mouth stretching into a frowning grimace. She sits down on the sand and starts to cry, letting out a few sparse sobbing wails as snot and tears run freely from her face. It takes a little while to calm herself down, but she eventually manages to take a deep breath and wipe her coat sleeve across her face.
She stands slowly, and turns red-rimmed eyes toward the wreck of the ship. “We should… (sniff) ...see what’s become of the ship. Maybe there are people still in there… (sniff)” She clears her throat and takes a swig from her wine bottle before heading off toward the wreck. “Anyone wanna give me a boost?”
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'Wow that's horrible I hope Galinila's father is ok.' Iradyiel keeps a keen eye out as the approach the beached boat. Nodding his head in agreement with Jit, "Bad luck indeed Mistress Jit."
'I don't really know her that well do I?' Pausing for a moment as Jit sits down, he decides to leave her alone in her grief, and carefully look around the wreck. Looking away from the bodies and instinctively covering his nose, he focuses on the wreck itself and the tracks leading away. 'We should be able to climb this to see what's left inside.'
Hearing Jit echo his thought Iradyiel turns, "I can give you a boost." Iradyiel waits until Jit puts her bottle away then gives her a hand up, holding her as high up as his six foot frame will allow. He then follows after her.
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Chest Thumper aspires to a natural understanding of death, that it is a part of a natural cycle and that all things live on in the things that they feed after their deaths. Francis has a more primitive feeling towards death. He largely cares only about the passing of members of his troop (which is now the Kaava Heroes/Papaya Knights.)
Still, they are both somber as they approach the wreck of the Cobalt Eye. Francis grows even moreso as Jit sits and lets the tears flow. He sits next to her, patting her tiny back with an enormous hand and making little grunts of comfort.
Chest Thumper is all for climbing aboard but he pauses before trying to clamber up the side.
"Ahoy the boat!" he calls up, cupping his hands around his mouth.
"'Ahoy' is a boat thing, right? No point in surprising the survivors. Don't want to get mistaken for pirates, do we?" he asks his companions.
The then spits on both palms and starts the trek up. Francis joins him, now that Jit seems comforted, or at least focused on something other than the tragedy.
Pious, sword drawn allows the others to mount the hull. Whilst he himself searches around the wreck, looking for any sign of what might have happened to any survivors.
Chest Thumpers' loud "Ahoy!" does not elicit any response from the looming hulk above them - only the cry of alarmed gulls which alight from the broken spars above, and soar away before silence once again falls.
Clambering up the curving battered hull of the Cobalt Eye ought to be a straightforward task. First to reach the top is Iradyiel, closely followed by Jit. It seems however that Francis has a dislike of seaweed, and both he and Chest Thumper take an age to ascend up the wooden side of the ship to the deck. By the time these four haul themselves past the broken stumps of what used to be the guardrail, Iradyiel is nursing a nasty cut from running his hand over some sharpened razorclams on the way up, and Chest Thumper is smarting from a clumsy ten foot slip on the way up.
Meanwhile Pious circles the wreck from the ground. Wading into the surf on the seaward side of the vessel, he spots an area of damage on the hull by a porthole which might enable access to the vessel's cabin deck. It'll be simple to reach but tight to wiggle through . Pious can't see inside the hull except to say it's dark and it smells.
Standing on the deck above near the bow, CT, Francis, Iradyiel and Jit see that it suffered more structural damage in the storm than the hull. A number of the ship's hatches have blown from their hinges as the boat floundered, and rigging and shards of mast are entangled across the deck. A sailor's body, swollen from immersion in the water, is hanging 10 foot up caught in the rigging and another another prone body is visible trapped underneath debris at the stern. Memories of the busy activity of the deck of the Kaava Cutter on their journey here contrast with the stillness of this deck, interrupted only by the niose of the surf below and the gulls calling above.
The darkened cabin area of the ship beneath can be accessed via either stairs amidships, or through any one of the open hatchways. The large cargo hatches down to the hold appear to be still shuttered
Jit takes comfort in Francis’ gesture, leaning into the back pats to soothe her pain and calm down.
Once on top of the deck, Jit digs through her pack. “Umm… does anyone have a good length of rope we could toss down for Aza and Pious?” she asks, not finding any in her bag. “And don't even think about using some of the Cobalt’s rigging. First of all, it could be weakened by the storm. But more importantly, that kind of bad luck will curse all of us into next Wealday,” she warns.
Taking a deep breath and looking around, she grimaces at the carnage. Jit casts a simple spell and four orbs of light pop into existence. She mentally directs them through one of the wrecked hatch openings into the dark belly of the ship below. “Take a look what's below,” she tells the others. “I'm going to get this one down,” she asserts, pointing at the rope-suspended body. Jit heads for the rigging and starts to scramble up it, intent on cutting the late sailor loose.
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Chest Thumper's pride is injured as much by the fall as his body, especially with the way his brother silently, but obviously mocks him for it. He takes a look at Iradyiel's injury but does not consider it severe enough to expend magical healing on, yet.
The deck of the ship is just as bleak and unpleasant as the beach and the island in general. As Jit sends some light into the ship and moves to provide some dignity to the poor individual stuck in the rigging, he goes to assist their fellow explorers.
He pulls his rope out of his kit and ties it off to the sturdiest piece of wood he can find. He'll also haul on the rope, if needed to help pull either Pious or Aza up as they climb.
Once everyone is on deck, he goes to join Iradyiel or heads for the stairway if the half-elf has not picked a route down into the belly of the beast.
Pious hesitates for but a moment, drawing his hand along the blade of his sword and leaving a sickly white glow streaked there. Then ducking and squeezing into the dark and damp hold of the ship. One had clasping the hilt of his glowing sword.
"and fear not the dark and it's denizens. For where I dwell in the hearts of men, there to doth they march in the shadow of my wrath."
Pious's eyes mist as if he were almost blind with cataracts as he looks about the hold.
One of the clerks inspected it (pay the cost for a level 1 'Identify') then called in the Banker to see it for herself. Raising one eyebrow in quizzical interest, she handed it back to you. "I know not how this came to be enchanted, for I recall this same *!!*x battered sword on your person before. It has since been touched by something not of this world, or even of this plane, something... elemental. And not benign, I'll guess. I continue to watch you with interest, Inquisitor Shephard."
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'A good length of rope? hhhmmm.' Pulling off his pack, Iradyiel nods his head. "Good idea Mistress Jit.I have rope."
While the others look around Iradyiel pulls his knotted rope out of his pack, tying it to a broken mast, he tests it quickly and tosses it over the edge for Aza and Pious. "Here you are! Master Shephard if you help Aza up I will explore with Master Thumper!"
Turning Iradyiel shoulders his pack once again and follows Chest Thumper at the stairway into the belly of the beast; club in hand, keeping a keen eye as he goes.
Like a lithe eel Pious wriggles through the damaged porthole and into a cabin beyond. The dark interior of the ship is oppressive, but the Inquisitor’s Light spell, coupled with the permanent writhing electrical arcing along the length of his longsword, combine to illuminate the interior to a normal level. He finds himself in the officers’ cabin – a basic room suiting the unglamorous scale of a small merchant barque. There are a few hammocks to one side and a chart table to the other. When the ship floundered, it appears that this room remained relatively dry – some seawater has splashed in through the split-open porthole, but mostly the papers, charts and log books here appear dry and unspoilt. A closed door from this room leads out to the main crew deck. Pious begins to cycle through his ‘detect’ spells, initially revealing no magic auras in the cabin around him.
On the shore outside, Aza begins the task of ascending up the side of the hull using the rope lowered from above. Rope climbing is not her forte, given her wasted hands, so begins the climb from the sandy beach slow and steady, sacrificing time for safety.
Up on the deck, Chest Thumper, and Iradyiel advance towards the stairway, whilst Francis stands behind them, watching Jit clamber up the rigging towards the entangled swollen corpse of the unfortunate sailor. The two of them halt however, when they hear a noise, a step, thump, step, thump, coming from the crew deck below.
It is at that point that a number of things happen in short succession:
- Francis wrinkles his nose, detecting something foul in the air, and screeches a warning of danger;
- At the foot of the stairs, a bloated humanoid corpse moves into the light, looking up blearily at the figures above through glazed eyes. It is dressed in the torn remains of a sailor’s clothes, a tricorn hat still perched atop his head and a wooden peg supporting one leg. The body has swollen to maybe twice its original size and the flesh has split open in repulsive folds in several places. It is pierced through and studded with chunks of flotsam – spars of wood, pieces of rope, a tin bucket. Rancid water is constantly running off it despite the dry deck it stands on. It opens its mouth and shrieks a high, wailing cry similar to that of the gulls you have heard before;
- Jit hears this and looks down from 10 foot up in the rigging in alarm. So does the swollen corpse next to her… it launches itself at her, swinging with the ropes into her side and pummelling her with fetid fists edged with claw-like talons;
- At the bow, the crushed body rises up, dripping foul water and lifting hunks of wooden debris with it. It too emits a shrill seagull-like cry, then starts shambling up the deck towards the stern. Two other corpses (one by the mast, one at the stern) burst from the damaged deck, rotten arms flailing as they fight to emerge as if from their very graves;
- In the officers’ cabin Pious switches to detect evil just as he hears the peg-leg footsteps beyond the door. There are other noises too, rustling, then crashing, tearing, and a piercing shriek. He senses a strong evil presence here, coupled with a taint of Outsider extra-planar influence;
- On the beach, a mouldering hand emerges from the sand where Aza’s foot was a moment before, clutching in her wake as she clings to the rope above…
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Halloween action anyone ? You should not be surprised to hear you are in combat! I have added a new battle map (see above) and an image of the creature down the stairs on the loot sheet.
Some tactical points first. The creature down below is not within reach of anyone at the top of the stairs. Climbing or jumping up or down provokes an aoo. Movement across the tangled debris on the deck is difficult terrain (again! sorry…). The creatures emerging from the deck / beach (squares E8 and D1, and next to Aza) are currently prone. Jit and the body next to her (squares C9 and D9) are 10 foot up in the rigging.
No-one on the deck knows where Pious is; please act as though you assume he is still on the beach with Aza.
Jit has sustained a terrible 8 points of damage from the creature attacking her, but with her sailor-training has retained her grip on the rigging rather than fallen to the deck.
If anyone has Knowledge: religion they can attempt a free knowledge check to identify these horrors. Due to the timing of this, whilst this is all rather surprising no-one is surprised except Jit who was caught off-guard by an excellent sneak roll.
Initiative order:
Pious, Jit, CT, Francis, Aza, Iradyiel, the living dead x 6
Actions / reactions?
Z rigging, Z2 deck, Z3 beach, E stern, E bow, E below
Round 1
“AaaaaaaaAAAA
Jit clings desperately to the rigging as the sailor’s corpse slams into her. She puts her head down to protect it, but still takes a lacerating pounding. “I knew it! I knew it!” she shouts to no one in particular.
With the bloated creature next to her, her next scream is silent; it instinctively turns into a spell, blasting the sailor with a personal wall of sound.
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yuck, undead. I don't want to get too close!' Seeing the undead, Seamus rages as he moves up the stairs toward the one of the aft deck. "Gosh I hope none of these are Galinila's father." As he nears he drops his fathers club and draws his glaive. Keeping the creature a distance away, he thrusts the glaive at it.
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"Unnaturalness abounds!" Chest Thumper declares as the rotting but moving corpses make themselves known. He looks up at Jit but she is too far for him to get to. Besides...
Francis roars in fury as the dead body Jit was trying to cut down moves to savagely assault her. He wastes no time in scrambling up the rigging to assist her, or, more accurately, punish her attacker and defend her.
Chest Thumper moves forward toward the dead man moving before him. He pulls his axe free of it's strap as he does so and takes a big swing at it.
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Know: Religion: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (13) + 9 = 22 Slightly confused by the lay of the land here... pious is in a room? And he can hear a sound outside yeah? And he's on the floor bellow everyone else. Is the B4/5 boarder a door? Sorry for all the questions.
Pious is in the officers' cabin, one level below the deck above. There's a wall and a door (B4/5) between you and the rest of your level. The sounds are coming from the other side of the the door.
I'll post the results of your knowledge roll once you can see some of the creatures directly.
-Posted with Wayfinder
And where there is evil you shall act, you shall push back. Before you let there be no obstacle
Pious kicks through the doorway and like lightening from a dark sky his sword blade spears towards the undead hulk.
Ten foot up in the rigging Jit struggles to evade the creature’s attacks whilst blood from her wounds spatters the deck below. Her arcane assault on the creature appears to have limited effect; the sonic soundwave bursts both ears and one side of its skull from its head, but it continues to lunge at her regardless, until Francis’ huge paw pulls much of its spinal column out from behind. As he hurls it spinning into the waves below, the rest of the creature sags back into the rigging, inert once more.
Below them, Iradyiel struggles over the cluttered deck to use his glaive on the undead horror at the stern. Swinging his weapon at the maximum extent of his reach he carves a huge transverse cut across its belly causing its overripe flesh to split open, collapsing onto the deck in a heap. It’s down, but still wiggling. Across the deck Chest Thumper swings his axe down at the corpse in front of him. It hacks a slough of flesh from its side, but without visible affect.
Below decks Pious crashes through the panel door to the officers’ cabin. His eyes adjust to a horrid sight; maybe 4 or 5 stumbling, lurching figures are ahead of him, some struggling up through the deck above, others now starting towards him. He plunges his longsword through the bloated monster at the foot of the stairs, causing grievous but not terminal damage.
On the side of the hull, Aza clambers desperately higher up the rope as an undead figure emerges from the sand and grasps the rope below her. Shockingly, Aza recognises this corpse – slender and dark-skinned, it is (or rather, was) Umuzu, the friendly Zenj explorer the party met on the deck of the Kaava Cutter. Now a murderous snarl has replaced the lively smile Aza recalls, as the zombie starts to climb after her with murderous intent…
Above decks: The zombie attacking CT slams into him with violence, knocking him back . Fresh zombies burst up through the upper deck at E14 and B6, and gain their feet this turn. The bloated horror at D14 braces itself and projects a flood of fetid, stinking seawater at Francis in the rigging. It hits him square in the chest which almost knocks him from the rigging.
Below decks: Two zombies lurch up to attack Pious . The undead at the foot of the stairs turns and flails at Pious with an arm studded with driftwood and debris, but misses, shattering the stairs instead with a crushing blow.
Round two: Actions, reactions?
Above deck: Z rigging Dead, Z E8 0, Z B6 0, Z E14 0, Z hull 0, E stern dead, E bow 0,
Below decks: Z B6 0, Z C6 0, E D6 13, Z D11 0, E D13 0
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Francis is obviously pleased with himself for saving his little friend. Right up until the moment he is splattered with disgusting ocean water that has been inside of a bloated corpse for an unknown amount of time.
The shock and disgust is almost as bad as the pain and it almost knocks him from the rigging. He's so angered, he almost charges down the rigging and across the deck at the thing, but instead, he helps his little friend get down.
He does climb down after helping her though and moves toward the creature.
Chest Thumper is more than a little nonplussed by the way the creature he hit seems to shrug off the damage he did. Still, Francis has his own agenda and there isn't much he can do at the moment but keep attacking until he can coordinate with his brother. He takes a swing but then steps away toward the ape, getting ready to support him once he can catch up to Francis.
Round 2
After casting her spell and seeing it not stop the creature, Jit closes her eyes tight and waits for the end. She opens them again when she feel a large warmth near her, just in time to see Francis tear the thing apart like wet paper. She beams at him, still trembling a little, and gives him a quick one-armed hug around the wait. “Go get ‘em!” she tells him, patting him on the arm. As she does so, a line of static leaves her hand and starts to run through Francis’ fur. Unfortunately for him, the fur around his wrist and hand start to poof out again. More fortunately, he can feel a bound up energy in his hand, ready to be unleashed on the next corpse foolish enough to get in his way.
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'ugh, that is so gross...what's that? Where do they keep coming from.' Iradyiel turns away, as the slashed undead things guts spill onto the deck, releasing with them a putrid stench. As he turns he sees another creature rising from the deck.
Seeing Chest thumper and Jit in trouble he calls towards where they dropped the rope for the others. "Be careful Aza and Master Shepard, there are undead up here."
He then step onto the stairs, and slashes downward at the newly appeared undead abomination.
"You shall not touch me, scion of the grasping waters, spawn of Tychilarius! For my flesh is touched by another, I am holy."
Hampered by attempts to defend himself Pious swings once again at the bloated freak he struck before.
Before backing away to bit as much of the wrecked doorway between him and his attackers as he can.
Near the bow both Chest Thumper and Iradyiel deal devastating blows to their opponents. Chest Thumper’s greataxe unseams one zombie from chops to navel, the remains falling inert back through the hole in the deck it emerged from. Iradyiel turns back to the top of the stairs and with his extended reach neatly decapitates his foe, sending the head spinning off into the surf below. As they fight, both hear the unmistakable sound of Pious’ scripture-based ranting, mixed with the snarling of the undead below deck. Meanwhile Jit clings on above them after supercharging Francis with her thunderstick ability.
Amidships, Francis leaps down from the rigging and advances towards the two undead ahead of him, clambering over the wreckage of broken side railings and ripped sailcloth . As he moves up he sees more undead lumbering around on the crew deck beneath him.
Beneath them all, Pious make a strategic retreat back to the officers’ cabin. A hopeful strike before he leaps backward fails to connect, and as he backs away parrying desperately with his longsword, all three opponents lunge at him, attempting to rend him apart. Only one connects past his defences, but it deals a heavy blow
Outside on the hull Aza continues to clamber slowly up the rope, but on pulling herself up on the deck turns and with her hand bursting into flames, burns through the rope below her. Zombie Umuzu tumbles 20 foot back to the sands beneath and lands heavily on her head before pulling herself back to her feet and resuming her climb up the hull.
In response the undead horde surge forward towards the party. Behind Francis, another large bloated creature hauls itself up onto the deck just below Jit . This one has a slighter build and, Iradyiel’s hopes drop as he sees it, a distinctly elven-shaped face. In front of Francis, the less hefty zombie steps forward, putting itself between the ape and the swollen creature behind it, which once again spews foul water at Francis. This time the blow is more effective: it hits the ape hard () and sends him crashing over onto his back , narrowly avoiding falling through the deck to the level below but not evading more damage from the zombie’s pummelling attack ().
Below deck two of the zombies stumble slowly after Pious, one moving into the doorway and the other scrabbling at the wall nearby, trying to claw its way to him. Finally, the bloated creature at the foot of the stairs moves across () to sight Iradyiel silhouetted against the sky through the hatch above; he vomits disgusting foul water upward at the halfelf, who see the spray coming and ducks.
Round three: Actions, reactions?
Wow this is intense. The stern deck has been cleared but the midships, bow, and lower deck are still infested. Jit and Francis are critically wounded, CT is seriously wounded, and Pious is boxed into the cabin below. On the map, red zombies are dead zombies.
Above deck: Z rigging dead, Z E8 dead, Z B6 dead, Z D13 0, Z hull 4, E stern dead, E D10 0, E bow 0,
Below decks: Z B4 0, Z C4 0, E E6 13, Z D6 0
"See, the very trace of your corruption doth fade from my mortal flesh."
Pious' blade is a bolt of lightening in the darkness and all above can hear a cacophonous boom as one more zombie is left a smoking mess.
"And the lord blessed me once more! You are all honoured, blasphemies that you are."
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Chest Thumper can only watch as his brother charges into the fray and gets himself knocked down and surrounded. He can't really rush to Francis' aid, both because rushing on this ruined deck is impossible and because there is one of the walking dead between him and Francis.
The best he can do is try to eliminate the nearest one to keep Francis from being attacked from both sides. So that is just what he does. He moves across the deck and takes a swing at the only one he can get to.
For his part, Francis realizes he is in dire straits, as well. He's also angry at having been knocked down. He's not so foolish as to vent his rage fully. Instead, he tries to protect himself as well as he can, first slashing at the same one as his brother before getting to his feet in a self protective manner.
'Oh, there is Aza, I wonder where Master Shepard is...uhoh' Almost drenched in vomited water and hearing the ruckus downstairs Iradyiel moves to the hatch. seeing the undead below deck he calls out "Watch out there are more downstairs!" He then thrusts down the stairs at the zombie there.
Round 3
Seeing Francis waylayed, Jit’s face is stretched out grotesquely. He mouth widens in a panicked grimace, and she frantically pats herself down looking for something useful. She finds something in her pocket and draws it out - a glass flask with a clear liquid inside. She hurls it toward the zombies bearing down on her furry friend with all her might, smacking the creature right in the face.
Eventually a sound catches her ear, and, still quite panicked, she shouts to her allies, “Is Pious below decks? What the hell is he doing down there?”
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Above deck: Z rigging dead, Z E8 dead, Z B6 dead, Z D13 0, Z hull 4, E stern dead, E D10 0, E D14 4
Below decks: Z B4 dead, Z C4 0, E D6 13, Z D6 dead
It’s a brutal battle, with terrible blows falling on all sides.
Aza moves up the deck and casts Bless] on all in the party. Jit rains acid down from the rigging above. Iradyiel leaps down from the stern, runs to the head of the stairs down to the crew deck and skewers another zombie with ease, before copping a face full of putrid, debris-studded waters from the creature below (). Then everyone (bar the undead) jumps, as a sudden detonation of thunder bursts from below; Pious’ longsword scattered chunks of wet zombie in a ten-foot radius. And just in time: as the chunks are still landing, the second zombie facing him rends the doorframe off and slams into him, raining blows upon him with unnatural strength ().
Up above near the bow, Francis fends off the zombie standing over him and successfully regains his feet; however behind him the apeman druid is not so lucky. After carving one arm off the bloated monster ahead of him, it strikes him with a crushing blow to his chest, which is then followed by a fetid jet of water from the creature at the bow ().
This last injury washes him, unconscious and bleeding badly, across the deck, through a gaping hole and down to the crew deck below.
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Turn 4 is up
Things are looking grim. The Loot sheet is up to date with the party’s HP. CT is down, Pious, Jit and Francis are badly wounded, and there are a number of the enemy still standing: what will you do? We need sound plans and good rolls here people.
Over to you…
Pious' eyes grow wide as CT fall from the deck above in a spray of blood.
The lord give them, and the lord taketh away
The smell of burnt flesh rises struggles against the all pervading stench of rot as Pious once again strikes
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This is what I get for trying to save Francis! Chest Thumper thinks a moment before a torrent of putrid water knocks the consciousness out of him and washes him to a lower deck.
Francis fury is mingled with fear as he sees his brother sorely assaulted. He moves closer to where Chest Thumper went down, lashing out at the walking corpse keeping him away from the Half-orc in a flash of fang and claw.
'Yuck, that's so gross and it burns.' Iradyiel looks around the deck quickly, 'We gotta get to Master Thumper, he looks like he's in trouble.' and then calls down the stairs, "Master Shepard are you down there? We gotta get to Master Thumper, he fell into the hold and I don't see him." He then slashes at the putrid perversion down at the bottom of the steps.
Round 4
Jit’s heart jumps at the burst of thunder below, clutching the rigging with white knuckles. Seeing Aza crest the lip of the ship’s hull, she allows herself some hope for things to turn for the best. When Chest Thumper goes down, though, she starts muttering to herself. “No, no, no, no, no, no, no…” She surveys the deck and looks over the shambling corpses, trying to spot some weakness and an opening, then fires off a little zap of electricity with more of a scared shout than her usual jovial “Zap.”
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Three of the undead go down in as many seconds. Pious coolly dodges a lunge then butchers his zombie in two strokes whilst his divine judgement continues to heal his wounds; Iradyiel pins the bloated creature at the foot of the stairs, jumps down and finishes it, and above Francis rends the swollen undead elf which had been attacking Chest Thumper into messy chunks. As Jit fires an electrical jolt down from above, Iradyiel is followed by Aza as they run to their fallen companion. Aza drops to one knee and invokes her divine powers, casting CLW in the form of a warm yellow glow all about him. It’s enough to stabilise his wounds , but the big halforc is still unconscious.
Up above only Francis remains on deck to face the undead. The remaining zombie staggers forward; the bloated creature first seen under the debris at the bow aims a second spew of water at Jit, aiming to knock her from her perch. The zombie misses badly, its teeth and fingers failing to find grip on the ape’s matted furry leg. The watery spew, however, hits Jit full on . The last thing she can do as she blacks out is entwine her legs in the rigging; spinning, twisting in the ropes, she now hangs upside down, deathly pale, precariously dangling above the ravening undead below…
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Turn 5 is up Only two undead remaining above or below deck, but two of the party are down and out…
Iradyiel, Aza: you can see the two zombies above through gaps in the cargo hatch, or you could climb up through the gaping holes in the deck they pulled themselves up through. With your glaive’s reach Iradyiel I’ll say you can attempt to hit enemies above through the hatch at -4 to hit.
Over to you…
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Francis flinches as the creature unleashes another spew of water. He is surprised to discover a moment later that it did not hit him. He looks around in relief to see the results. Until that relief turns to dread as he sees Jit dangling from the rigging, unconscious.
The great ape gives a great roar as he moves toward the one that injured his little friend, ignoring, for the moment, the one nearest him.
The waterlogged, walking corpse receives the full brunt of his rage.