"Dame Gracella Malduin Orcslayer!" Sees breaths. "She once left a party bound for Gorlaug's den on principal. Her faith in Enoreth barred her from striking at another timeless being. She may be here to-" She turns, only to realize there is no one beside her to speak to. She may be here to quash those who would take advantage of Gorlaug's vacancy, she continues internally. Perhaps not an ally, but a being willing to listen to reason.
As the party catches up, Sees scrambles down the mountain.
"Thunk, Hegh, before I even get started, there is a delicate situation over that rise. Many things to thump, many things not to thump. If either of you think you might not be able to show some discretion, we're better off waiting here for one side to win out against another." She turns to Fssst and Flung, "We've got humans fighting the undead over the rise. The things are coming up out of the river from a stone structure, like a temple. Dame Malduin is leading the humans, she has stayed her hand against our kind in the past, and might listen to reason. We must act quickly if we are to affect the outcome. I defer to your judgement."
"I don't care if they kill each other to the last one standing but if you say this Dame Mauduin has a level head toward our kind? Maybe we should hear her out.
-
Did you say the undead are pouring out of some tomb nearby? If we are tipping the scales in Maudin's favor we probably should stop that source."
Pork watches the conflict below with keen interest. He had not told his kin of his sleepless nights on the trail, or of the Pallid entity who had invaded his thoughts and smothered his dreams with images of death and rot. He had not told them of her promises of power, if he would but only believe and had have faith.
He had not told the others he had sworn his soul to this Pallid being, in exchange for the promises she whispered.
He had felt himself changing. It was something..diffrent. Difficult to describe. Where before he viewed the undead as unnatural creatures, he now felt small sense of affinity to them. Why, he could not say.
He kept low, and listened carefully to the plans being made, though his eyes never strayed far from the shrine the zombies seemed to have come from...
"Many things to thump, many things not to thump."
Hegh seems undisturbed by the implication underlying Sees' words. Direct my blade, Speaker, and I shall bring Gorlaug's vengeance down upon your foes.
Flung climbs the rise to quickly assess the battle going on between the humans and the undead. He uses his prior experience in battle to assess the tactical strength of the human party and their ability to hold off the undead while also observing where the undead are coming from and how they are dealing with the humans to formulate his battle plan.
*What here is useful/valuable to me?
| 4 people marked this as a favorite. |
To thump or not to thump. Aye there is the rub.
Is it more good to let thump go? Or thump all in sight.
To thump. To die. No more and by a thump to say
We end the pain and lack of thumps that flesh is heir to.
Two thump. To die. But when in death what thumps will miss?
This hard to get. And makes us keep what thumps we have,
Than race to thumps we know not. For who would the no thumps bear
To thump and thump in a sleep time, but that the dread of thump to come,
Scare all?
Thunk responds reverently.
Sees is going to need a minute to recover from that... maybe a towel.
As Thunk regales the kobolds with literally the most words he's ever spoken to you all at one time, Flung analyzes the scene below. It's difficult to judge the adventurers' full combat strength without knowing the magical abilities of their spellcasters, but judging from the injuries that many of the humans have already sustained on their weak soft flesh, you don't expect them to hold out completely. They might break the tide of undead, but they would only enjoy a Pyrrhic victory.
You see that the Dwarf is wielding a shield and warhammer, and seems to be the main frontliner. The elf is some kind of cleric, based on Sees' description and the magic she's already wielded to drive the zombies back. The humans seem to be largely footmen, wielding mundane weapons. Fear can be seen on their faces as the undead continue to emerge, dripping, from the river, and more undead emerge from the stone shrine on the river's island to walk into the watery current.
Smoog squints at Thunk intensely.
.
Out of the beaks of hatchlings...
.
.
... Words from this simpleton are hiding something.
Crawling forward Grick looks over the hill. "EXCELLENT, those nasty long legs look like they are about to be killed. I can force one of their spirits to be our slave forever, keeping them from whatever they think they go when they die,"Grick says as he rubs he scaly hands together gleefully.
Suddenly a thought comes to him, I bet there's a necromacer around here some place. His spirit would be even better.
Grick taps softly on his ever present drum as he calls to the spirits of the place looking for a necromacer and any edge that the kobolds go use against her.
Grick: the necromancer that was part of the party that slew Gorlaug is responsible for these undead automatons. His spiritual mark is on the stone island temple. The angry spirits of the land confirm this.
Grick excitedly shares his news about the necromacer that slew Gorlaug being behind the undead. "The god slayer must be avenged. We must take and destroy whatever is in that stone temple!"
Over the sounds of battle Hegh draws his sword and tests the blade. He whispers to it, Soon.
"Excellent, Grick! I say we head straight for the temple and take out that dirty necromancer. If the Elf and Dwarf and their hirelings survive then we can Parley with them later. If they don't well they were probably not strong enough to be much use to us anyway.'
"Excellent, Grick! I say we head straight for the temple and take out that dirty necromancer. If the Elf and Dwarf and their hirelings survive then we can Parley with them later. If they don't well they were probably not strong enough to be much use to us anyway.'
"Yes, yes right away but remember the old saying 'a sneaky glorious kobold is a smarty glorious alive kobold. We need to get there without having to fight all those nasty zombies and such...
Still agog, Sees barely turns from staring at Thunk. "Uh, temples... temples and clerics... we should make sure-" Sees wipes something from her mouth with her sleeve. "Uhm... make sure she can't seal us in or something. I dunno."
Maybe the Spirit of Padler can help a few of us enter unseen.
The green gloves will help with sound.
Then the rest of us can rush in, draw attention to the enemy and let the infiltrators take out the necromancer from behind.
I can cover our approach with some fog; fog around a marshy river should not seem too strange.
Can anyone who was in Gorlaug's main hall when he fell remember anything important about this necromancer villian? Flung? Hegh? Sees?
Hegh looks up from his blade for a moment. The Necromancer. Hmm.
We already established that Sees saw a little of the necromancer's work during the attack on your Mountain - the necromancer reanimated the bard's family members and was using them to keep her distracted while the adventurers killed Gorlaug.
Hegh, you had your own experience fighting the necromancer. You battled the adventurers as they fought to gain entry to Gorlaug's sleeping chamber. You attacked him first, reasoning that the thin human wearing cloth robes was a good target to take out of the fight first. You struck him with your sword, but he didn't bleed - and when he grabbed you by the throat with his naked hand, you permanently lost a level from his energy drain. You still bear a small bruise on your throat from his deathly cold fingers.
He has cold hands. I suggest you don't let him touch you.
Maybe the Spirit of Padler can help a few of us enter unseen.
The green gloves will help with sound.
Then the rest of us can rush in, draw attention to the enemy and let the infiltrators take out the necromancer from behind.
I can cover our approach with some fog; fog around a marshy river should not seem too strange.
"Hmmm...I'm not sure that Padler works that way but it's worth a try is someone wants to be a rock rolling downhill."
:-)
<<Once Thunk comes over, Grick explains "I can call on the spirit of Padler the clan trickster and camouflage you so the long legs or the stupid dwarfs won't notice you.">>
Hegh finally pops his head up long enough to see what all of the fuss is about. I could try to freeze the river long enough for us to cross, and hopefully trap some undead at the same time.
Fssst nods. "Do it Hegh. It will signal both our power, and our willingness to address these lesser beings. Should they fail to show the proper deference, we may end them. Otherwise, they are not the foes we seek."
Sees shakes herself clear of Thunk's enchanting poetry. "Smoog, Hegh, Pork, Flung, get around back and get Flung into the temple from behind. Smoog can provide cover, Hegh, an ice raft, Pork, something quick in the water- that mire wyrmling would work. Fssst, Thunk, Grick and I will work distraction; pushing into the zombies like a wedge. Once Flung is in, Smoog, Hegh and Pork, take them from behind. The anvil to our hammer. Flung, you are the only one of us who can get in and out of danger quietly. Don't think we're leaving you alone in there. If you can't find an opening, hold tight, our combined groups will storm the temple... Don't be afraid to diverge from the plan, we have to be able to adapt. If you get lost, follow the sound of my horns. If you hear three blasts, back to back, fall back. One long blast is regroup. Converge on me. Flung, you i'm giving you to a gross count (144) to reach the rear, then we charge."
"Hegh, remember to call on Felix's spirit through his skull to grant you the strength of the ogre when you need it."
Pork grunts and attempts to focus on the form of a crocodile...
Smoog starts his steam machine on low and starts a small blanket of fog towards the river; using any available cover to hide from the current battle.
Yes. Thump.
Thunk gives his gloves to Flung so he can be quieter.
Then he does as he was instructed
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Sees turns her head, looking at the emerging creature. "You don't have to close the gaps. Concetrate on the basic form, if you've got zombies on the brain, just let it happen. The camouflage should help."
Sees slaps and tugs at Pork's form, Exposing herself to the wyrd magicks, unaware of the sacrilege she is suggesting.
Following the plan, Hegh approaches a portion of the water upriver of the island. A torrent of air as cold as Gorlaug's heart erupts from his mouth, focusing on a single point several feet from the water's edge where the river deepens.
When he finishes, Hegh hops into the water next to the raft to ensure it does not float away. He helps the others aboard so they need not touch the frigid waters.
At the riverbank, Smoog continues to urge fog out of his machine aiming it towards the beachside battle. Not so much as to seem stormlike; he tries to simulate a low fogbank rising from a cold river.
-
Smoog climbs aboard the ice raft and scans the far bank for a good landing spot.
Sees, when you touch Pork you get a flash of a vision. The vision depicts rotting flesh. Disease eating away at healthy tissue. Flies laying their maggots inside still-living hosts. You stagger back, repulsed. Another second of touching Pork's skin would have been too much.
Pork isn't even hearing you. For the past two days he hasn't shapeshifted, staying in his kobold form and occupied with his thoughts of the dead Mire that was his home. His grief is too great, his lust for vengeance tossing him out of balance. When the mud falls away from Pork once again, he is a koboldodile, but this time it looks and feels wrong. The stench of decay rises from the druid's scaly and mud-covered body. Beneath the filth are exposed ribs, giving the animal an emaciated, near-death look. Pork, you have the moves Deathroll, Ambush Strike and Sprint, but only 1 Hold.
Smoog's fog machine whirrs as it kicks out a steady stream of fog. The undead are not perturbed, but you hear shouts of dismay from the adventurers as their visibility drops. From within the fog can be heard sounds of continuing battle and the boom of a rifle's retort as the adventuring party fights against the onrushing tide of the undead. Before it's covered by fog, you see that the adventurers are trying to reach a dinghy moored on the shore.
The kobolds have no need for such things. Hegh successfully creates an ice floe solid enough for the rest of you to comfortably climb on, and Flung, carrying Thunk's gloves, is delivered to the island. Hegh holds the half-ogre Felix's skull out of the rushing water as he pushes the ice raft along.
Within a few moments of tense silence through the fog, you abruptly land on the river's island. The stone temple, small and unassuming from this close, is still belching forth the occasional zombie or skeleton warrior that marches toward the far shore with single-minded purpose. They emerge from the temple at irregular intervals, through the one entrance. Above the temple door is a defaced holy symbol of Enoreth, goddess of the harvest, growth, renewal, and of traveling. It's been smeared with some kind of black substance.
The undead that are emerging from the temple aren't noticing the kobold party that's landed on the island. What do you guys do?
And what about the kobolds that remained on the shore? What do you guys do?
Smoog flits from rock to mound, using any available low cover to mask his semi-circular approach to the temple.
Still puffing out a small amount of fog, the temple door is a hazy black hole.
-
Smoog takes up a hidden position on the right side of the doorway and waits for the others to get into position.
Sees-Death sounds Gorlaug's Woe in the dual paird tones of a charge and crests the hill at a run, a horn in each hand.
Thunk runs in step with Sees waiting to be unleashed like the cruise missile that he is!