Maenir (and anybody else with low-light vision) can see that the two humans are wearing similar clothes to the other natives you saw - hide and leather based apparel. Their clothes, however, are quite tattered and torn visibly in many places. One of the men is missing an entire arm, while the other limps along with what looks like damage to his leg.
I have Maenir hiding in some bushes, Rorse on Vero slightly north of the party (and up on the grass) for a better view. That little embankment fluctuates between three and four feet higher than the cobblestones of the beach.
Hickory's eyes snap open instantly and before she's even sitting up, she has daggers in her hands. Niesen nods approvingly as he scrambles to his feet.
Landis silently arises, and straps on his armor, then grabs his hammer, and shield, and begins some loosening stretches...just in case.
As you prepare yourselves, uncertain as to whether the approaching men are friend or foe, they continue their advance. As they reach the point indicated on the map, the hair on Vero's neck goes stiff and a low growl escapes his lips.
Rommin:
Initiative:
Rommin:
Rorse:
Lilo:
Niesen:
Hickory:
Landis:
Maenir:
Zombie 1:
Zombie 2:
Zombie wolf:
Initiative order:
Niesen
Zombie 2
Zombie 1
Landis
Rommin
Hickory
Maenir
Lilo
Zombie wolf
Rorse & Vero
Niesen quickly dashes over to the beached boat and ducks down behind for cover.
Niesen stealth:
The two human zombies advance forward. It's hard to tell when looking at non-intelligent decaying undead, but you don't think they have noticed you. At least, they aren't heading towards any of you. That changes for zombie 1 when Niesen's readied action goes off and he hurls a dagger from his hidden position.
Niesen attack:
Niesen damage:
Zombie 1 looks over and notices Niesen. Zombie 2 continues to remain oblivious.
Up next: Landis, Rommin, Hickory
Round 1
"What is this". I could swear I hit him more squarely than that". "That blow should have smashed his head in".
Landis moves up to I9 and takes a serious whack at the zombie with his hammer, which doesn't do as much damage as he thought it would. Rommin squeezes up next to him and shows him that a blade gets the job done (though the zombie is still up).
Even while Landis was moving up at the zombie, it didn't seem to him that the zombie noticed him, but as soon as connected with it, the zombie turned its attention towards him and began raising a rotten fist to attack.
Hickory begins to sing something inspirational, granting everybody +1 to attack, damage, and fear saves.
Up next: Maenir, Lilo, (Zombie wolf), Rorse & Vero
Maenír whispers a brief supplication, then bursts into a run, moving towards a flanking position around the rotting fiends.
Maenir darts forward towards a flanking position, just as Lilo calls out for everybody to help herd the zombies together and clear away for his fire spell.
The zombie wolf advances another 30' to K9.
Up next: Rorse & Vero, Niesen, (Zombie 2, Zombie 1), Landis
You'll need the website access to see the map. For now, I'll switch the site to everybody can see it, but I don't want to leave it like that, as there are copyright issues.
Rorse great sword
Vero bite.
Zombie reflex save:
Wolf zombie reflex save:
The human zombie goes down, the smell of burnt rotted flesh filling the air. The zombie wolf stoically endures the searing heat.
Rorse and Vero charge the far human zombie, Rorse missing with his swing, while Vero latches his teeth into the undead ripping of shreds of putrid flesh. Rorse and Vero in H8.
Niesen pops up from behind the boat and lets fly with a pair of daggers at the wolf.
Dagger 1 attack: ; damage:
Dagger 2 attack: ; damage:
Niesen then attempts to hide again. Stealth:
Both daggers thunk solidly into the wolf, penetrating deep.
Zombie 2 takes a swing at Vero.
The fist glances harmlessly off of Vero's barding.
Up next: Landis, Rommin, Hickory.
Round 2
With a mental note to use a blade if he has to fight these things again, Landis steps forward and growling loudly swings with even more ferocity (Rage)
Critical Warhammer damage (3d8+16=28)
[ooc]Not sure if bardic music damage multiplies on critical or not, so I didn't include it
"Hammers work too"! "You just have to hit them a little harder".
Landis steps up to the other human zombie and knocks its head down into its torso. The entire zombie splits apart, littering the beach with noxious meat and bone. All that's left now is the wolf.
Up next: Rommin, Hickory, Maenir
Rommin's sword neatly decapitates the zombie wolf. For a moment, it seems as if the creature will continue fighting, even without its head, but then it topples forward onto the cobbles, finally and truly dead.
Rorse swings off of his mount quickly grabbing his canteen and washing the wolf's mouth out with water. "You could have scratched it you knuckle head. putting that nasty thing in your mouth. SO! apparently our new home comes complete with zombies. The Locals won't like this at all, they'll appreciate us sending their souls on their way. but I hope they don't blame us for the way they got like that in the first place.Good work! You new guys are alright by me."
"Hmmm... seems I need to be on my toes with this group. I was a hair too late."
Landis still breathing hard takes a deep breath as he sees the zombie wolf fall. He then drops to one knee before realizing he is kneeling in some part of a rotten anatomy.
He quickly runs over to a nearby thicket and empties his stomach.
"That is the vilest thing I have ever smelt". "Was that really a walking dead person". "I had heard of those before, but always believed them to be a myth".
He then hurries to the stream to wash himself, his clothes, and his weapons.
Ooh, the mosquitoes are loving that, and given the appreciative whistle, so is Hickory Coopersmith, much (no doubt) to Lilo's chagrin.
"No worries Maenir, There will be more where that came from,we have a whole new world to explore.
Vero pads over toward where landis is, and plunges his head under water shaking his head violantly under the water with his mouth open before pulling it back above, seeming to agree with Landis's disgust.
Rorse however is more amused." AH your first whiff of the undead? You've lead a charmed life up to this point. THey are real and, yes disturbing but so long as they end up in pieces and we are no worse for wear, they are just another enemy."
With a smirk as he passes Hickory. You go for the green ones do ya?
Hickory gives Rorse a wicked grin.
"Oh no, I just prefer my men well-equipped."
"Fair enough. I suppose the vomiting would send me off the trail of any lady. But to each there own." Rorse says with a bemused chuckle, he can't help but being found of Hickory in a platonic sort of way any how.
As Rorse heads to camp and passes the view of the others and towards his tent his expression darkens significantly as he ponders upon His love and the loss of her. It had to have been at least two years now...never again
As you attempt to settle back into your camp, you quickly realize that the stench of the zombies is too much to bear without disposing of the remains somehow.
|
Lilo's lips tighten at Hickory's comment...his answer to the stench is to incinerate the corpses using all the flaming hands he can muster lkeaving nothing but charred bone
2 burning hands on the two corpses together
a further 2 on the single corpse
He then settles down again to rest considering a few uses for enlarge person that hadn't occured to him before
"But what caused the dead to stir?"
Maenír casts Detect Magic in the direction that the zombies approached from.
" wicked folk, typically.I'm sure with time that question will be answered, and righted with the weapons at our disposal."
"But what caused the dead to stir?"
Maenír casts Detect Magic in the direction that the zombies approached from.
Maenir, I need a will save from you please.
Landis is through sleeping for the evening. He can't get the thought of living dead out of his mind, and his clothes are wet, so he sits by the fire with a blanket pulled around him, and waits for his clothes to dry. When they dry (Spread out by the fire) he puts them on, don's his armor, and waits out the evening, keeping an eye on the activities around the camp as he waits.
Maenir, I need a will save from you please.
Maenir, I need a will save from you please.
Not normally.
1d20+2
A will save. I'll use that roll
Maenir will save: 14+6=20.
Maenír clutches his throbbing skull.
"Aaarrrrgh! Valon's Ghost, that hurts!"
"It's okay - there is something very powerful out there. When I reached out with my senses, I was unprepared for such a powerful aura."
The rest of the evening passes uneventfully. I believe upon the morrow, you were intending to cross the river to examine the clearing Rommin saw.
It's easy enough to cross the river by taking the boat into the ocean and around the frothing mouth. You pull the boat up on the south side of the stream and make your way into the forest. After following the river for a few minutes, you see a spot where the river curves around a spit of land. From that spit rises the largest oak tree you have ever seen, the trunk of which must be at least fifteen feet across. No other trees or bushes are able to grow underneath its enormous canopy.
Does the lack of response indicate that nobody wishes to examine the humongous tree and instead continue on to the clearing?
Since he has never seen such a gigantic tree in his life, Landis decides he should go check it out...Wrap his arms around it, walk around it looking at the roots, and up into the branches...etc.
He will take 20 for a 25 around the parts of the tree he can reach without climbing.
As you make your way towards the tree, you notice, all along the riverbank, hundreds of fish skeletons lying on the ground, all pointing towards the huge oak tree.
It is a truly immense tree. Thick, gnarled roots stick up out of the earth all around the base of the tree; six-inch high grass is the only plant life that's been able to grow in the deeply shaded area. At the base of the tree, on the western side, you find an area where the grass has been flattened, as if by some large creature lying there. Various animal bones litter the ground here, as do large white feathers. A large hole descends into the ground, spiraling downwards in a steep passageway.
The grass all along the western side of the tree is littered with fist and head sized rocks and debris. Landis finds a few pieces that look smooth and flat on opposite sides, like it had been worked with tools. Along the edge of the hole, you find places where it appears a stone door once hung there.
Rommin spots many tracks like those the eaglebear made back at the other clearing. He doesn't seen any signs of human travel, although he does find what looks like a rabbit print leading down into the hole.
"Hey Rommin". "Do any of those tracks look recent"?
Landis peers at the opening listening, and smelling for any signs of habitation.
"Hey Rommin". "Do any of those tracks look recent"?
Landis peers at the opening listening, and smelling for any signs of habitation.
Must, wet fur, and decay greet Landis' nose.