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Yuuwa reaches an edge of the wreckage, places her trident aboard and looks for a helping hand. Finding none, but noticing the posture of Origen and Jonagher, she realizes that something is amiss... She clambers up onto the deck and grasps her trident.
I figure this would be round 3 or 4 by the time she is onboard.
Origen
Yuuwa
Isandril
Torden
Jonagher
Bran
- Origen [17]
- Yuuwa [15]
- Isandril [13]
- Jonagher [11]
- Torden [10]
- ??? [10]
- Bran [9]
Origen waits for Jonagher to go first, which Jonagher does while dancing up the mast gracefully. Yuuwa is in the water, trying to decide to enter the lower hold of the boat, or wait for her companions to fish her out. Isandril makes it up on deck, and begins to get a rope out to fish both Torden and Yuuwa out of the water. Torden sputters as he checks himself for bruises and all manner of parasitic fish. Origen shouts as Jonagher's head snaps back, and a gash opens along his face. Jonagher's eyes clear as soon as the attack is over.
Origen spots nothing amiss on the deck, other than his bleeding friend. He mutters for a moment, and his eyes glow as he scans for auras.
Yuuwa clambers up onto the deck and grasps her trident.
You hear Bran call out from the shore, "Be on guard! I see movement!"
Origen looks intently at Jonagher, trying to determine what magic has affected him.
It was in fact a haunt. I do not know if Detect Magic would pick it up, I personally think it would, with perhaps a faint necromantic aura...let me look it up and get back to you...if you know anything, please chime in.
Isandril draws his two short swords from their scabbards. Taking but a moment to decide, the elf calls out to Bran.
"Bran! Get up here! Jonagher is in trouble!"
Hearing Bran's call, however, he starts scanning the shore. "Movement? Where?"
Isandril draws his blades and shouts at Bran.
Standing aboard the Tattooed Lady, the rest of the group hear the moaning of the wind howling through the hold below, and strange bumps and creaks from the ship shifting in the storm waters.
"Haunted! The ship is haunted!" Jonagher calls out as he backs away from the stairs leading below. "And something is here..."
Origen looks at the stairs, preparing for whatever emerges from the lower deck.
Hearing the calls of the others over the wind and surf, Torden scrambles up the mast, more carefully this time.
"Haunted? Attacks? What's going on here?"
He moves close to Origen and studies the stairs as well.
Jonagher shouts and moves back from the stairs, as Torden moves closer to Origen and studies the stairwell.
The door to the stairs creeks one last time, the wind dies down for a moment, and for just a brief instance...there is no sound.
All of that changes in an instant, as lightning strikes just off the port bow. The thunder is deafening, and the wind surges and whips loose hair and clothing about. The sudden light illuminates the deck of the ship like high noon.
The door leading down shatters, being blown off it's hinges by some aggresive force on the inside, and two figures shamble out moaning a horrible moan.
They are both of average height, dressed in sailor's breeches and vests. The patches of skin that are intact are black and rotting, someplaces with mushrooms growing on them. Portions of bone stick out, and the things move forward with a certain inevitability.
One moves toward Isandril, the other towards Torden. As they come in, raised fists slamming down, another steps in view, and stares at Jonagher.
Both attacks succeed. Isandril and Torden, you certainly realize that these things are far stronger than they appear.
Bran shouts above the wind and combat,
"Three from the woods! Coming in fast!"
He looks back for a moment, seeing Isandril and Torden attack, and changes his stance, facing the trees. He sets his shoulders, and pulls his axe out in one hand, the longsword in the other.
- Origen [17]
- Yuuwa [15]
- Jonagher [11]
- Torden [10]
- ??? [10]
- Bran [9]
- DELAYED: Isandril, standard action from round 1;
Isandril winces visibly after the creature's blow and assumes a more defensive posture, using his left sword to deflect while attacking with his right one.
"What are these things?"
"Zombies! Use an axe if you can! They're slow, but we have to cut them apart to finish them!"
As he shouts, Origen backpedals away from the shambling corpse in front of Torden, stopping at the ship's weatherbeaten hull. He quickly casts a spell, and the area underneath the creature is coated with slippery grease.
"Nasty zombies to be sure," Torden hollers, staggering back to get away from the things.
At the sight of something tangible to fight, Jonagher springs into action. He draws his blade on the move as he darts into the fray, already spinning and weaving the weapon in a confusing array of defensive forms he picked up from the crew of the Jenivere.
He then takes a vicious slice at the zombie's arms, trying to dismember the sea-soaked undead before it can lay its hands on him.
Isandril goes on the defensive, attacking and defending at the same time. He strike is pulled off as he blocks another jab from the creature in front of him.
Origen shuffles back onto the broken mast, and casts a spell quickly. The zombie, while lunging again for Torden, slips on the newly greased deck, and slams hard into the creaking wooden boards. Some cracks appear in the decking around it.
Yuuwa clambers aboard, grabs her trident, and in a defensive posture, calls out to Gozreh. The wind whips around her, and suddenly rushes out in a burst of 30 feet, blasting the zombies with salt spray that smokes and sizzles when it hits their skin. All three zombies smoke and moan, writhing in the salt spray.
Jonagher slices quickly at the Zombie at his feet, cutting and separating several sections, until the dissected Zombie stops moving.
Torden cusses at the Zombies, and limps closer to Origen.
The zombie from the door rushes towards Yuuwa, its skin still bubbling from the positive energy, and strikes out at her. It catches her on her shoulder as the other zombie strikes out at Isandril again. Missing horribly, and moaning loudly in frustration!
Bran steps forward, hurling his axe at the three oncoming foes, taking the middle on in the thigh. It is knocked off its feet, as Bran drops into a defensive stance, his blade held in a high guard above his head. The other two figures close with him, and one swipes out and connects, spraying the sand with blood, as Bran blocks the attack from the other one.
As Bran grunts, the doors to the cabin on deck blow open suddenly. A single figure stalks out, cutlass blade raised high, and a keening wail as it points its blade first at Jonagher, then at Yuuwa. Blue balefire burns in its eye sockets, and the skeleton opens its jaws and howls.
MUTANY!
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Yuuwa clambers aboard, grabs her trident, and in a defensive posture, calls out to Gozreh. The wind whips around her, and suddenly rushes out in a burst of 30 feet, blasting the zombies with salt spray that smokes and sizzles when it hits their skin. All three zombies smoke and moan, writhing in the salt spray.
[ooc/]*Correction* subtract the +1dmg from the burst. it should be a straight roll with no mods.
Religion check [/ooc]
Spoiler:1)The positive energy burst granted by Gozreh is blocked by the decking and substantial walls like the boat. But I do not require a line of effect, so concealment does not block if within 30'radius.
2)And yes, DM Berwick, Yuuwa is indeed at AC10...
On her next round,
Move to better center herself
Channels another positive energy burst.
Positive energy burst 30'radius 1d6 (5) = 5 2:6 uses
Abandoning his defensive stance, Isandril strikes at the zombie in front of him with both swords and tries to keep the undead creature occupied and focused on him rather than on any of the others.
Jonagher draws his mace as he sees the skeleton arrive. "You! You're the one that marked me!" he proclaims. He sidesteps around the greased area of Origen's spell and closes on it. "I'll take this one, fellas!"
Origen glances back at the beach worriedly, looking at the three zombies attacking his friend on the beach. "Bran, we're coming!" I can't do much to help besides getting him reinforcements.
Looking toward his companions on the ship, he casts again, coating the deck beneath the other two zombies in slippery grease.
Torden chants to himself and places his hands on his chest.
Concerned that his abilities will be lost on zombies, he then prepares his hammer to fight.
Isandril slashes out with his short swords, the first slash swings wide, while the second carves a section of its blocking arm off.
Origen casts again, and the zombie to Yuuwa's right stays on it's feet, but the other goes down hard, cracking the decking below it as it does so.
Yuuwa focuses, and another blast of holy radiance flies from her position, washing over the undead and leaving smoking burns on the two zombies, and the skeleton wails as it is washed away like sand in the wind.
The skeleton's broken cutlass and and tarnished armor fall to the decking.
Jonagher rushes around behind the zombie attacking Yuuwa, and slashes towards its spine. The slick decking causes the zombie to pitch forward just enough to avoid being severed in half.
Torden heals himself and prepares to battle the zombies, drawing out his hammer.
The Zombies each swing out at the opponents in front of them. The zombie brings it's fist down hard on Yuuwa, and she slams back against the railing of the ship, blood dripping from her mouth. The other manages to land a blow on Isandril, the pain exploding from where the zombie hit him.
Bran blocks another blow from one of his attackers, but is tripped by the other as it comes in wrestling him to the ground. The other attacker previously knocked off its feet by Bran's axe, gets ups and moves quickly over to the grappling combatants.
Staggered by the zombie's hit, Isandril shakes his head to recover his bearings and once more retreats into a more defensive stance, wanting to avoid another such attack.
Seeing Yuuwa struck, Jonagher drives forward with his shortsword in an attempt to return the favor on the zombie attacking her.
"Bran, I'll help you! Don't resist my spell!" Origen clambers onto the mast, trying to get close enough to aid his friend on the beach.
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Yuuwa gasps in pain, her vision clouded briefly in a red darkness. She struggles away from the darkness, her hearing and vision restored. She thinks through the haze, Will another channel of positive energy send this evil back whence it came or should I heal myself to survive a bit longer?
"Gozreh, lend me your healing grace."
Healing Channel 30' radius 3 of 6
Isandril draws his blades back to a defensive position, and swings ever so slightly slightly missing the zombie as it stumbles away. The momentum from its wild swing almost knocking it off its feet, as Isandril slices where it just was.
Origen runs out along the mast, attempting to close with Bran to cast a spell. His balance is faulty for just a second and he slips from his precarious perch on the mast, and falls into the water. He tries to steady himself to cast, but slips below the waves leaving behind bubbles.
Yuuwa calls out to Gozreh, and everyone on deck is bathed in a radiant light emanating from her.
Jonagher slashes out with his blade, catching the zombie and severing some tendons in it's back.
"Aaaa . . . ." Origen plummets into the water below.
SPLASH!
Origen tries to fight his way to the surface.
"Confound it!" Torden yells. Fearing he'd do more harm than good, the dwarf has no interest in diving in after his friend.
He drops his hammer to the deck, unwinds his rope and drops it down to the man.
"Grab this Origen!" He shouts down.
His eyes flit back and forth between the splashing beneath him and Bran on the shore.
"We need to get to them fast," he calls over his shoulder, though he doubts the others need his encouragement to dispatch the undead more quickly.
Torden throws a rope over the side of the ship to Origen.
The Zombie facing Yuuwa turns on Jonagher, swinging with a rotting arm to strike him on the head. Jonagher easily dances around the swing, deftly avoiding any damage.
The Zombie in front of Isandril swings again, bringing its fist around in a hay-maker type punch. Isandril blocks it with a blade, and spins around the swing quickly, avoiding any damage.
Bran roars in rage, as the three figures finally wrestle him about, and pick him up off the sand, carrying him back towards the forest. They get about 10 feet before he bucks and kicks one of them in the lip, causing the third assailant to drop him temporarily.
Origen sputters and tries to stay on the surface. "Help!" He manages to catch sight of the rope and grabs for it wildly.
With the skeleton out of the fight, Jonagher drops his mace and draws one of his daggers, turning to face the zombie attacking Yuuwa.
Isandril maintains his defensive stance, attacking the zombie with the sword held in his right hand, keeping the left one back and ready to deflect any incoming blows.
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Yuuwa's pain diminishes significantly. She is no position to attack with her trident.
[ooc]Perception
She notices that Origen is missing and Torden is pre-occupied. her thoughts come into clarity all of a sudden...Cripes! Where is Origen!
Yuuwa channels Gozreh's grace yet again, and mutters "Origen please be within 30'!"
Healing energy to for us poor hurtin' folk
She will stand up as her move action after channeling.
Isandril slashes out with his sword, keeping his other blade to assist in defense. He swing severs the zombies upraised arm, and continues through its neck. The corpse drops to it's knees as the head plops to the ground with a wet squelch.
Origen's head pops up above the waves, right near the end of the rope thrown by Torden. He grabs the rope, and starts to haul himself up to the deck.
Yuuwa calls out, and a wave of light flows from her again, healing everyone.
Jonagher spins under the zombies last clumsy attempt, and slices through the zombies armpit, severing the spinal column as his blade continues through the rotting corpse. It staggers back, and falls to the deck with a wet plop.
Torden hauls heavily on the rope, assisting Origen back up onto the deck.
Bran cries out as the attacker that he just kicked hits him over the head with a club of some sort, and he goes limp. All three attackers pick up speed, heading for the trees, and make it just inside tree cover.
"Hah! Well, that takes care of those undead. We really are becoming a bunch of zombie-killers, aren't we, Origen?...Origen?"
Jonagher looks around at Torden, Yuuwa, and Isandril.
"Say, weren't there more of us here earlier? And where's Bran? Did we just lose a third of our party?"
"We need to regroup," Isandril calls out to the rest of the companions. Looking around, he sees Origen appear on the deck quite a bit wetter than last he saw him. As his eyes reach the shore, the elf moves towards the wrecked ship's broken mast to get a better look.
"They have taken Bran! But he is still alive, I think," he goes on. "We need to go after them, but running blindly into an unknown jungle does not sound particularly wise, yes? A bit of planning first perhaps?"
"Say, weren't there more of us here earlier? And where's Bran? Did we just lose a third of our party?"
Origen clambers onto the deck with Torden's help. "Only a sixth, Jonagher. I tried to help Bran fend off his attackers, but I slipped off the mast en route. If Torden hadn't been quick with the rope, I'd be waving goodbye as I floated out to sea."
As he speaks, Origen starts to squeeze the seawater out of his sleeves.
"We need to regroup," Isandril calls out to the rest of the companions. . . . "They have taken Bran! But he is still alive, I think," he goes on. "We need to go after them, but running blindly into an unknown jungle does not sound particularly wise, yes? A bit of planning first perhaps?"
"Yes. But let's be quick, or we'll lose them in the jungle. I suggest using a safety line to get over the mast, at least for me and Torden."
Giving up the attempt to dry himself as hopeless, Origen notices his companions' many zombie-fist-sized bruises. "Maybe Yuuwa or Torden can heal everyone's wounds too, or we'll be in no shape to face much of anything."
...Origen notices his companions' many zombie-fist-sized bruises. "Maybe Yuuwa or Torden can heal everyone's wounds too, or we'll be in no shape to face much of anything."
"What wounds? I'm fine."
Jonagher looks around at everyone else.
"Ohhhhhh...yeah, that might be a good idea if we're going save Bran from...from who, exactly? Were there more zombies on the beach? If so, they can't be that far ahead of us, considering how slow they move. But then again, zombies aren't usually the thinking-types to abduct someone. What's Bran gone and gotten himself into?"
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Yuuwa looks around the assembled crew, "I agree with you both. Guess playtime is over, since Bran can't keep himself out of trouble. I can provide Gozreh's healing grace twice more."
She takes a couple of deep breathes, visibly relaxes and...
"there ya go. I'll save the last for when we reach shore. While the waves are a bit rough, we can avoid the worst of it, by staying leeward of the boat. No ripcurrents, just waves pushing to shore and stormspray." She looks at them staring blankly back. "Leeward means opposite of the windy side of the boat, which coincidently the hull shelters us from the worst of the waves and disrupts the ripcurrents. Sheesh! Landlubbers want to get to land but too ignorant to leave the boat."
She ties a loop of rope around her waist, and hands it to Jonagher, "I'd rather swim than chance a fall off the mast, I'll go first. Tie yourselves to the rope, give yourself enough room to swim."
Swim
"Ohhhhhh...yeah, that might be a good idea if we're going save Bran from...from who, exactly? Were there more zombies on the beach? If so, they can't be that far ahead of us, considering how slow they move. But then again, zombies aren't usually the thinking-types to abduct someone. What's Bran gone and gotten himself into?"
"Hard to tell who they were through this rain. I thought that they were zombies at first, but they moved too quickly. And they weren't brainless."
"Looks as if we may have finally found some living natives. Let's hope that they want to question Bran and not make him into soup. But either way, we can't afford to let them get too far ahead of us."
Both Origen and Yuuwa go back into the water, a little less gracefully than planned, though no worse for wear. Both make it to shore with no damage suffered
The wind has settled into something constant, but not vicious, with a moderate rain behind it. The cooler winds accompanying this storm have cooled off the otherwise hot temperatures to create an environment that is more familiar to the group.
The waves continue to froth and churn out at sea, but closer to shore things are less chaotic.
Jonagher nimbly walks back along the mast, skidding his way onto the beach. When Origen and Yuuwa swim ashore, he examines the tracks alongside them.
"Looks like our friend Bran found himself some playmates."
"We've got to get after him," Torden calls above the rising storm and thundering waves as he quickly ravels up his rope and reclaims his hammer. "That boy's already got me out of a fix or two. I won't leave him to zombies or pirates . . . or zombie pirates."
Still befuddled a bit by so much happening so fast, he unsteadily makes his way down the mast behind the fleet Mr. Witt.
Origen swims after Yuuwa, making his way to the beach. After he clambers out, he turns back to watch Torden and Isandril cross over. He keeps his rope ready to cast a line to them.
Origen joins Jonagher at the tracks, leaning down to look at them. "These are human-sized." He puts his face to the sand and sniffs. "No rotting smell. Maybe natives, maybe other castaways."
Origen joins Jonagher at the tracks, leaning down to look at them. "These are human-sized." He puts his face to the sand and sniffs. "No rotting smell. Maybe natives, maybe other castaways."
"You're smelling their feet? Seriously? I'll take your word for it..." the half-elf quips as he scans the treeline in case more of Bran's attackers might still be lurking there.
"You're smelling their feet? Seriously? I'll take your word for it..." the half-elf quips as he scans the treeline in case more of Bran's attackers might still be lurking there.
Origen gets up, brushing the sand from his nose. "I suppose it does look ridiculous, Jonagher. But I'd taste-test the footprints if I thought that it'd give us an advantage getting Bran back."
"Isandril, you're the best tracker of all of us, I think. Can you follow these tracks?"
"And what were you thinking about for a plan? I want to hurry, but I'd rather not blunder into an ambush."
"I don't think there's a whole lot of planning that can go into this..." Jonagher observes, "With this storm and the wind, it's going to hide their movements because we won't easily be able to pick out any swaying underbrush ahead of us as they run away with Bran. Night's coming on, too. And they'll know this terrain better than us. So they'll probably make better time, too. The important thing is that we don't get separated from one another. Otherwise, they may add one more abduction before we find them."