Earlier – Ingot smiles, showing a wide mouth of pointed, surprisingly white, teeth, and says, in Goblin, “Ac nic, gora gora usjaghamini,” which Luca understands as meaning, “Yes, I can Ican,” but the last word is a derivative that is hard to understand and could mean either, “lots of fun”, or “lots of trouble” but as she is a Goblin it probably means both.
Yes, leather, and your hammer.
Moralane nods, understanding what Hallister has asked, and she sets off to collect all of the chain that had been used to bind the slaves.
Luca knows that there are three or four more days of work on the bloomery before it would be ready to process any ore. There really isn’t a forge, here, but with some funds, and hard work, maybe after turning out some smelted iron, one could be built (the bloomery can produce sponge, or wrought iron, a smaller furnace, bellows, anvil, and shop, acting as a cohesive “forge”, was not Exanames intention for the project). The bloomery is large, even larger than any bloomery any of you have ever seen before, and if it works it could turn out as much as 60 to 100 pounds of iron with a single firing. But there are some peculiarities. The building adjacent to the bloomery has a pair of larger than normal bellows, and these are connected to a series of gears and shafts culminating in a single shaft that goes up and out through the roof. There was something about a windmill, Exanames ranted about it often but never gave anyone instructions on how it was to be built or supported. There are also a complex set of hammers, manually driven by cranks, that are supposed to beat the sponge iron from the crucible, but they haven’t work correctly either. Looking at the whole structure critically, and it might give the impression that the bloomery could produce as much as 500 pounds of iron a day, if it works they way it should.
Stropos, sighs, and says, “You’re probably right. I’ll ask for volunteers, but it’s unlikely anyone will go back to the mine as long as there is a threat the place is still crawling with zombies. It’s half a day’s walk, there, and then it would take another day to drag that box here, even with six and some heavy ropes, but yes, your right, we need to get it.”
A fire begins to burn near the northwest corner of the camp, a few yards from the wall, on the inside of the camp. Thirty or more assorted Dwarves and Goblins are gathered there, and most hang their heads as an older Dwarven woman (one of the former slaves that none of you know) begins to sing a funeral dirge. It is an old song, and it invokes the Dwarven god Mafolin. The song mentions the community of former bandits and their slaves and asks mafolin to forgive them for their transgressions. It is not the song of Freeda Songwind. It is not a song to sing a Dwarven Hero into the Dwarven Kingdom of heaven, but it is a song that begs Mafolin to take his prize, deliver Exanames to his punishment, and asks that the dark god’s eyes do not fall on anyone else among them. At the end of the song she sings, there is an even older Dwarven hymn and all around the fire know the words and join in for this prayer,
“From the dust and to the dust, of the ever and all of Karuk, from this life to the afterworld, forever and for all, for travelers we are in life to the last journey bring us home,”
The last word is repeated in an older Dwarven language, and has a significant meaning to all Dwarves, as a place of all belonging, the word is spoken, and then the last syllable hummed, “Lorathulm.”
The crowd breaks up, and people go to the walls, and wait for the night to come.
Moralane returns to Hallister with three of the bandits, and in their arms they all carry lengths of chain. There are 21 lengths of chain, each about two feet in length and the links are stout, being half an inch in thickness (the metal thickness, each link is about three inches long and one and a half inch wide).
While the chain is dumped on the ground just outside of the Long Hall, the old Dwarf you had met earlier, comes close to the building and he is struggling with a long ladder. He refuses any assistance, angrily, and leans the ladder up near the pole on the front of the building where the flag, seen earlier, flies. The old Dwarf climbs the ladder slowly, he is shaky but confident. When he reaches the flag, he steadies himself with one hand while with the other he tears the flag from the pole. He climbs down the ladder with a kind of hurried confidence, and then marches across the camp toward the fire where Exanames burns. The old Dwarf throws the flag on the fire, turns his head and spits, then kneels, and looks as though he is praying.
Azram, meanwhile, has searched the furs and blankets where Exanames used to sleep, and has found two small vials, and a small sack holding four gold pieces, and three small blue stones that look like rough, uncut, corundum (blue sapphire), and they may be valuable, but will be very hard to sell or trade in this economy.
Night falls. It is quiet in the camp. Most of the population (the total population of former bandits, Dwarven and Goblin Slaves, is fifty seven) sit around small fires, waiting, and occasionally given each other reassuring nods, glances, or even 0occsional slaps on the shoulder or hugs.
HP: 3/12, NL: 0 | AC 11/11/10 | F+4 R +1 W+1 | Per: +1 | Init: +1
Yes, I believe so.
---With Ingot--- "Oi, I better not 'ave tae teach ye that threatenin' tae brand tha ones that annoy ye is wrong."
Even if they deserve it.
Luca gives Ingot a wink before continuing. "A'right then, we'll git started when we git ye home."
---With Hallister--- "I guess it would." the dwarven smith sighs and rubs the back of her neck. "Still gonna take a few days tae get that blasted bloomery workin'. Guess Ingot's gitten an early start."
By the way, post number 451 is officially the end of the prolog. Chapter One, "Beyond King's Fall" begins with post number 452. Wish I could change the stoopid title of the game thread. Stupid me.
HP 38/38 , AC 15*, CMD 18, Fort +5, Ref +2, Will +4, Init +0, Per +0
"If there's Zombies in th' mines, we might be stayin' longer'n we planned. Fer now, all we need is the fires. We're not smelting, just cutting an re-fusing chain. As long as th' bellows works we're fine."
HP: 3/12, NL: 0 | AC 11/11/10 | F+4 R +1 W+1 | Per: +1 | Init: +1
"A'right, jus' lemme git me apprentice."
A few minutes later, Luca shows up with Ingot and begins surveying the bellows, trying to determine what they need to get it working, and teaching Ingot about how the things work and how to maintain them.
"Okay, Ingot, this is yer first lesson. A forge is nothin' if it don't have a fire. It's tha soul o' it, an' the bellows is tha 'eart."
With the night approaching Can we say the sun is setting? Luca and Ingot inspect the bloomery, while Stropos goes from campfire to campfire asking for volunteers to return to the mine.
Luca can attempt a Knowledge check (untrained, DC 10 results are all she can hope for, but if she succeeds she made figure a way to run the bellows.
“There’s no one willing to return to the mine,” Stropos says after finding Hallister. “I could draw a map for you. It isn’t difficult to find. There are a few buildings in a narrow gorge where a river once ran. We even have a forge there, and some supplies, coal, a few tools, blankets, but there’s no food up there, and since those things were removed from that box the place is overrun with the walking dead. If you go, I’ll even give you directions to where we left the box. It’s deep in one of the new tunnels we were digging, about a hundred, maybe a hundred fifty feet down, but you can’t get lost looking for it.”
Galana over hears Stropos talking to Hallister and steps up, with anger in her voice she says, “You people wanted us to show you the way to Eight Fountains Springs, and Turrand died trying to do that. We didn’t ask for your money. We didn’t ask for any part of your great adventure, just wanted to try and do something good, something right, for a change. Now I don’t, and I won’t, hold a grudge against you, any of you. This was our decision, Turrand’s decision, but I’ll be damned to a blighted field out of Denarri’s sight, before I’ll follow you to a mine full of walking dead. Tomorrow morning I’m taking Tanner to her mother’s home, and then I’m going back to my own. You do what ever you want, but don’t ask us to follow you.”
She turns away but before she takes a step, she turns back, with a tear in her eye, she apologizes, “I’m sorry. Please try to understand. This Exanames, he’s not the only one like this. Turrand, well, he was headed this way. Each day we talked about how much farther we’d go to keep us in food, cloths. It’s getting worse as more soldiers are turned out. There’s no work. There are farms, but no pay. And the dead are growing.”
Galana steps closer to Hallister and lowers her voice and her eyes, “Look, if you people work for a knight, the King, a patron with a deep pocket, then bless you for trying. We’re out of luck and out of options. Exanames planned to run this bloomery, which itself takes wages, supplies, food, he was mad in more ways than one. But if the mine could be reopened, if there was a knight with the resources, with the King’s blessings, maybe this camp could put us all to work. Understand that Turrand would have wanted his daughter to be reunited with her mother and that’s what I intend to do. You can go with us to the village, or stay here, but we are leaving tomorrow.”
There is no forge here, and the Bloomery is just not configured to act as a forge. In a few days the bloomery will be ready to smelt iron ore into wrought or sponge Iron. To build a forge would take a week. There are enough locks and chains to secure a box that will hold the scimitar and the necklace. A cart can carry Turrand’s body and the box, but it will have to be pulled by two. There is a donkey in the camp, but the ex-bandits will not give it up. It will be DARK soon, and undead will attack the walls. I think you should decide what you will do tomorrow. You have about two hours time before the undead will attack.
Male Dwarf Fighter (Lore Warden 2)/Cavalier(hunt master1) HP 36 / Init +3 / AC 15 / Per +6
"Looks like we either go ourselves or make due with what we have here. Maybe we can destroy enough of the monsters tonight that we won't have to worry about them troubling these people any more. I don't feel comfortable leaving ghouls loose and free to hunt especially with a settlement nearby."
HP: 3/12, NL: 0 | AC 11/11/10 | F+4 R +1 W+1 | Per: +1 | Init: +1
"Bah! E'en after two damned 'oors o' looking this blasted thing o'er, I still can't tell ye how tae make it bloody work!"
Luca throws her hands up in disgust before moving off to get ready for the night and make sure Ingot is safely out of the way. She approaches the group wearing leather armor that leaves her shoulders bare. Her previously bare feet are shod in tough, well-worn boots. In a ring on her belt hangs a masterfully made hammer, the symbols for Lorenze and Bescourt etched in its sides.
HP 38/38 , AC 15*, CMD 18, Fort +5, Ref +2, Will +4, Init +0, Per +0
"Aye. This is exactly th' sort o' thing our mission pertains to. We ain't goin' at night though. Git some sleep. We leave at dawn."
Hal continues to work with Luca for another few hours, fixing up the forge and cutting chain with pliers and chisels, getting everything ready for their return with the box.
The very minute the sun has set the corpse hanging from the gibbet next to the bloomery comes to life. Unable to lift its arms, the thing claws pitifully with its hands pressed against its sides at the iron cage. It twists and turns its body, moaning, grunting and growling.
As if it is a call to others of its kind, the sound of similar growls and grunts is heard from the other side of the wall.
Atharessa approaches Hallister. Azram is with her.
“I was sitting by one of the small fires with a few of the slaves that we freed and one of them,” she begins to say, ”well, one of them has this idea about why the undead are attacking us. He says, his name is Aloroz, he says, well, he thinks that the undead are looking for those things that Exanames took from that box and if we give them those things, they might go away. It sounds funny, but what if it is true?”
“It could be true,” Azram adds. “The bandits say that in years past this camp wasn’t attacked by the undead. Most of them remember that as soon as Exanames took those things out of that box, that was when the undead showed up.”
While Atharessa and Azram talk with Hallister the first wave of undead assault the barricade. Six Bandits, with long poles, stand a few feet behind the barricade and through holes in the barricade the push the undead away, while on the raised wall to either side of the barricade, two other bandits, one on each side, throw rocks down at the monsters.
There is moonlight and starlight, and a few torches burn on the wall all around the camp. Looking past the wall the most unusual thing about the undead attacking is that they are not exclusively Dwarves. The undead seem to be made up of a ratio of seven or eight Dwarves to one human or elf. And this is the first time any of you have ever seen an ELF! The undead humans and elves in the mix (there are about eighty undead!) stand out from the Dwarves not only in height but in dress. All of the Dwarven undead are dressed in common attire of the simple folk of the island. But the ten or so Humans and Elves are dressed in garments that are nearly impossible to identify. The clothing is obviously old, but it is also made of strange materials, and a few of the undead even wear elaborate dresses, now reduced to shredded flowing rags.
The undead move slowly. The first impression you all have is that they are some kind of zombie. All of the undead appear to be in a similar state of decay, none are worse for the wear than any other. There seems to be something you recall that was said earlier about the monster in the gibbet. That each day the corpse appears in the morning in the same condition that it was in when he died, and decays through the day gradually. At night the monster in the gibbet is animated, and it has been dismembered, and attacked, but beyond anything you’ve ever heard about the nature of a zombie, it was said that once the sun rose, no matter what had been done to the corpse, it appeared once again, whole and as dead as any normal corpse.
The bandits will tell you that they have not found anything that can permanently destroy these undead, and that brings back something the Oracle back in the capitol had said, about there being a ‘curse’ of the ‘forever dead’.
The undead do not climb, and their attacks on the barricade seem useless, futile. If not for their moans, growls and noise, you might think it meaningless to fight them off. But there is something about the noise they make that chills the blood and pushes you to want to drive them off. Just when you are sure that the bandits have made the issue of the attack more of a concern than it needs to be, something terrible happens. The barricade is breached.
Four of the undead push through the breach and the Dwarven Bandits defending the barricade scramble away from them. Some of the bandits drop their poles and flee, yelling at the tops of their lungs, “Run! Run!”
One of the bandits charges forward and lifts a heavy wooden plank from near the breach and struggles to close off the hole, but he is pulled down by three of the undead. The unfortunate dwarf is killed by the rending claws and teeth of the undead, but for a moment the horde is stopped at the breach.
there is no need to establish initiative, unless there should be a disagreement among the players as to who can take an action, or wants to take an action, before another player. The undead will always go last in the round. There are four undead “Monsters” in the camp, and a breach in the barricade. Three undead and one dead bandit block the breach. The players may begin a round of combat, and it is assumed all the players are within thirty feet (six squares) of the breach. The barricade is twenty feet wide and is composed of saw horse like wooden pieces, random planks, and bits and pieces of wagons, walls, and furniture. The breach in the barricade is a single five foot opening. There is a huge number of undead. I expect Hallister to give orders to Moralane, Mazrim to give orders to Atharessa, and Rowning to give orders to Azram. Luca can be on her own, or if the player is comfortable with the idea, she can give orders to two of the bandits (two who have stayed near the barricade. Any player can give orders to Galana, Voranzil and Orson, if they need help with something.
HP: 3/12, NL: 0 | AC 11/11/10 | F+4 R +1 W+1 | Per: +1 | Init: +1
Luca had grown up with stories of mine collapses and the fortunate who survived. The claustrophobia, the heat, the dizziness, and the gnawing dread that characterized what happened cemented a death like that was being the last way the young smith wanted to go.
The way the brave dwarf just died pushed that to second to last.
Praying for victory, the priestess looses a bolt of fire at the closest of the four skeletons that made the breach.
Male Dwarf Fighter (Lore Warden 2)/Cavalier(hunt master1) HP 36 / Init +3 / AC 15 / Per +6
"Atharessa! We can really use a hand keeping the bandits from breaking, can you sing us a war chant or something?"We got a bard might as well use her "Aye, Hallister I'm on it but someone's gotta deal with those four!" pointing to the four already in the compound. Mazrim will then charge the breach stopping just outta reach of the undead bringing his ranseur down upon the closest undead.
charge attack:1d20 + 6 ⇒ (5) + 6 = 11damage:2d4 + 3 ⇒ (1, 3) + 3 = 7 You never really answered whether this was a standard weapon or masterwork Terquem
HP 38/38 , AC 15*, CMD 18, Fort +5, Ref +2, Will +4, Init +0, Per +0
"We gotta block the breach first, or they'll just keep pourin' through!" Hal yells, still looking for anything to help cover the broken spot in the barricade.
“Me, sing? If you think it will help,” Atharessa says. She twists her face up in a contorted scowl as she tries to think of something that will bolster spirits. Suddenly, her face brightens into a smile, and she begins to belt out a traditional Harvest Fest Drinking song. This particular song sings about the hardy nature of the Dwarven people and their ability to face the most difficult challenges. While she sings, she draws her short sword and circles around one of the shambling dead (Flanking with Rownig).
Azram lifts the small stone hammer on the chain around his neck and channels positive energy, calling upon Denarri to strike down the monsters. There is a shimmer, as if heat is rising from the ground, and in the shadowy darkness, visible in the moonlight, images of stones and pieces of the ground rise up and swirl around the undead pummeling them with magical energy. The effect catches three of the undead but does not reach the fourth (the one that is being attacked by Rowning and Atharessa).
damage from positive energy channel1d6 ⇒ 5
The song Atharessa sings fills the bandits with confidence, and some of them return to attack the undead with spears, while a few others are seen hurrying to collect wood from the scaffolding by the bloomery. It looks as if it will take a few moments for them to get to the breach, and more of the undead may pour through.
Mazrim charges, he worries that his running has thrown off his aim, but to his surprise, and delight, his weapon falls upon the neck of one of the undead that is prone and cleanly severs the head. The body rises, the arms lashing out wildly and without aim, and the monster staggers back away from the breach, out of the camp.
I don’t want to give the wrong impression here. The headless Dwarven undead creature is not defeated. Of course you wouldn’t know anything about hit points, but just to keep the players informed, the monsters have more than 7 hit points, and even if beheaded, or de-limbed will continue to fight, until they have been reduced to 0 hit points.
Turning and looking for something, anything, to force into the opening, Hallister is distracted by a sight that jogs his memory.
Hallister:
One of the undead that has come through the breach is a tall imposing human male. The undead creature has a pallid and wet appearance. He is bald and the skin on his face is rotting around his eyes. You have seen humans before, and that is not what jogs your memory. No, strange as it appears this human wears a uniform you have seen before. You have seen the uniform in a painting. Many years ago, when you were a boy, you attended a festival honoring the Knight of house Vessocho (the father of Sir Henri, Sir Oscar Vessocho) with your parents. You were awed by the size and splendor of the painting, and it was explained to you that the scene in the painting represented a very important episode in the history of the empire, the signing of a peace treaty between two human countries, Burova (to the east, and still exists as a country), and Goverta, to the north. It was Emperor Hinola Revindez Pescona II who brokered the peace between these two nations, and the treaty was signed on the island of Isla Martine Sandoval, to the west. Goverta no longer exists. It was concurred by the country of Wathrhonne two hundred fifty years ago. In this large, fully covering a single wall of the festival hall, portrait there are Officers of the navy of Goverta standing near the table where the treaty is being signed. This undead human wears one of these uniforms, in every detail. The human looks for all you can tell as if he was an officer from that mural, and that would make him a corpse from a time three hundred years ago.
HP: 3/12, NL: 0 | AC 11/11/10 | F+4 R +1 W+1 | Per: +1 | Init: +1
Round 2: Firebolt (2/6), begin to move to where she can smash anything coming through the breach.
Firebolt Attack:1d20 ⇒ 4
Rage burns hot in Luca's eyes as she recovers her senses from the magical mishap.
"BURN! BURN TAE CINDERS!"
Her battlecry rings out as she again tries to hit one of the abominations with divinely gifted fire, but her aim is off and the bolt sails harmlessly above the shambling corpses. She is undeterred and moves up to help Hallister hold the breach.
The sight Hallister sees, momentarily distracks him, but then he is immediately reminded of the task at hand
The Breach!
In front of him, Rownig and Atharessa attack another of the walking dead, this one, a Dwarven farmer, from the look of him. To the left another undead is attacked by Galana and Voranzil, and then Hallister wonders, “What has become of Moralane?”
Glancing about quickly, Hallister sees Mazrim dispatch one of the undead by the breach. The monster doesn’t fall, but luckily, it staggers back out of the camp. Then an arrow strikes one of the undead in the breach, with little if any affect and Hallister looks to see who has taken the shot.
It is Moralane, and she is on the wall walk space, six or so feet above the ground to the right of the barricaded opening, and then he sees it.
There is a ramp placed to allow the Dwarves access to the wall walk height . it is made of thick planks, nailed together with stout runners below. The plank is four feet wide and eight feet long. Perfect.
Hallister could run to it, and back, in no time at all, but he might need a hand carrying it.
Hallister can run for the plank, 15 feet, and back to the opening, 20 feet, if all he does is move in round one. Carrying it himself he will need to make a DC 10 strength check, but if he gets help, success is automatic.
Rownig and Atharessa circle the undead Dwarf in front of them. This brings Rowning around to face the opposite direction that Hallister is looking, but as he swings his axes at the monster, he, too, spies one of the ramps. This one is to the left of the barricaded entrance, facing it from the inside. It is thirty feet from Rownig.
The combination of Atharessa’s and Rowning's attacks, with Azram's call upon divine aid, are enough to bring the Dwarf undead they are fighting to the ground, and it appears to be motionless.
There are three undead in the camp, two Dwarves and one Human. One of the dwarves is being harassed by Galana and Voranzil, but the other two make it 15 more feet into the compound.
Mazrim, wielding his weapon like a dwarf possesed swings left and right, taking an arm here, and a hand there as the zombies at the breach press forward. he is having an affect on them, but they press forward in too many numbers for him to stop.
At the breach, two more undead are poised to push in, and will be inside the camp at the end of round two, unless they are stopped.
HP: 3/12, NL: 0 | AC 11/11/10 | F+4 R +1 W+1 | Per: +1 | Init: +1
Round 3: Move to the breach, introduce a zombie to Luca's hammer
Attack 2H:1d20 + 3 ⇒ (16) + 3 = 19 Damage 2H:1d8 + 3 ⇒ (2) + 3 = 5
"RARGH!"
Luca takes her hammer in both hands and swings hard at one of the zombies in the breach as she reaches it Unlike her fiery bolts, her solid hammer is much more accurate.
Moralane jumps down from the wall walk height, and picks up one end of the ramp that Hallister is dragging. Together they reach the breach in the barricade holding the ramp from opposite ends.
Atharessa rushes off to the other ramp, singing loudly, and sringing her steps with enthusiasm. As she passes one of the bandits, cowering with fear, she takes hold of the man’s arm and pulls him along with her. The two of them lift the ramp, and hurry back to the breach.
Atharessa will arrive at the breach immediately after Luca’s attack
Luca’s blow falls upon one of the undead already wounded by Mazrim and the creature falls to the ground.
The breach is now beginning to fill with corpses. There are two undead, and one bandit corpse on the ground.
The ramp is long enough to span the breach, without either Hallister or Moralane being at risk from attacks. They must hold the ramp in place against the pushing of the undead for a portion of one round, until Atharessa arrives and places the second ramp as a support, firmly against the ground and at an angle to the other ramp.
Moralane and Hallister must make Strength checks (with a +2 bonus because each of you is helping the other, DC 12. Moralane’s (strength 13) 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (10) + 3 = 13. If both fail there is a chance one zombie will push through. If both fail by 5+, they are knocked prone by the onslaught, and it will take another round to attempt to block the breach.
The two undead who moved 15 feet in round two, will continue to move toward the Long Hall, and it appears no one is trying to stop them. The other undead swings both of its arms from one side to the other, attempting to knock Galana out of its way.
Azram Follows after the two undead shuffling toward the Long Hall, and when he is withing a safe distance, he calls upon Denarri to smite the eveil creatures.
1d6 ⇒ 5
The force rising from the ground buffets the undead, and gets their attention, they stop in their advance and turn to face Azram.
Male Dwarf Fighter (Lore Warden 2)/Cavalier(hunt master1) HP 36 / Init +3 / AC 15 / Per +6
If the two roaming undead are within charge(40ft) distance Mazrim will try to take one out. If not he will assist Hallister and Moralane with the impromptu repair.
A look of fear spreads over Azram’s face as it becomes clear to him that the undead have realized, in some unholy way, that he is the source of the attacks upon them, but as he struggles to draw his weapon he feels someone brush past him in the near darkness. It is Mazrim, charging with his ransuer held with both hands outstretched in front of him. The large blade pieces the human zombie below the rib cage and drives it backward five feet. Mazrim comes to a stop, braces his feet, and pulls back on the weapon expecting the animated corpse to fall to the ground, but it does not. The Human zombie staggers relentlessly forward, closing the distance between them.
Meanwhile, with a crashing sound Hallister and Moralane throw the ramp against the barricade and then throw their shoulders against it. The undead press forward, but cannot overcome the strength of the Dwarves. The press continues, grows as more and more undead push against the wooden ramp. Just before the crush of the undead becomes to great, Atharessa and another Dwarf (one of the bandits) arrive carrying the other ramp. Atharessa holds her end against the ramp already in place as the other Dwarf drops his end onto the ground. With a holler and a hoot, Atharessa rolls her body onto the ramp and scrambles to her feet. She continues to sing the song she is singing, and begins jumping up and down in time with the rhythm of the song, driving the bottom of the ramp into the earth and pressing the other ramp hard against the remains of the barricade. She is a sight to behold, Atharessa, a large, but attractive Dwarven girl, flinger her arms about, and dancing in what appears to be ecstatic joy as she sings out at the top of her voice.
Between Hallister and Moralane, Rownig and Luca swing their weapons at the arms of the undead that reach across the barrier. Rowning cleaves hands from arms, while Luca’s hammer shatters an elbow with such force that the lower arm of a human undead is ripped from the joint.
the new barricade is four feet in height, and it is clear that it will hold. The undead do not climb over it, but they continue to reach across it. That is the end of round three. There are two undead in the camp, thirty five feet from the barricade. Azram is exactly half way between Hallister, Moralane, Rownig, and Luca and the undead. There is five feet between Mazrim and Azram, and another five feet between Mazrim and the undead.
HP 38/38 , AC 15*, CMD 18, Fort +5, Ref +2, Will +4, Init +0, Per +0
"Ropes! Chains!" Hal yells to the bandits as the other ramp is wedged into place. "An' fire! Just like we did wit' Exanamus! Go!"
As soon as the ramp is settled, Hal pivots on his heel and charges toward the tall deathless soldier pressing Mazrim, sliding to a halt and hooking the once-living creature's leg with the beard of his axe.
Seeing the new Barricade in place, the rest of the Dwarven ex-bandits regain their confidence and charge the remaining undead who have entered the camp. The tall human undead, the one wearing a uniform of some kind, is tripped and falls to the ground, and is quickly dispatched by Mazrim, Hallister, and several other Dwarven ex-bandits.
Galana and Voranzil continue to circle the other two undead as more of the ex-bandits arrive. With Spears, swords, axes, and clubs, these two are beaten down until they too are no longer moving. Torches are brought up, and small bags of oil. One of the ex-bandits looks toward Hallister with despair and says, “We’re almost out of lamp oil. We can spare this, but no more.”
Hallister:
Are you certain you want to set fire to the undead human now that it is apparently destroyed? You believe it will regenerate, once the sun rises, but for now it is harmless.
The undead continue to push against the barricade and the walls around the camp. It will be a long night, but it looks as though the defenses will hold.
