Head further into town, keeping a wary eye out and also trying to find any survivors.
You head into the heart of the town, passing by several burned out buildings and more than a few that were clearly broken into, you assume by the same type of creature you just fought. Several obvious large bloods stains in the street indicate that many people have died here, but there are no bodies.
As you get close to the center of town a man wielding a massive greatsword and wearing a breastplate walks into the center of the street-Stop right there mister. Come any closer and my men will fill you full of arrows.
“Easy friend, my name is Ang, I serve Torag and I am here to offer my help against the zombies that ravage the town.”
How many men? Any signs of sickness?
The man seems a little less hostile, but clearly is distrustful of you as an outsider, especially given the current situation. You see three groups of men on three different buildings with bows drawn aiming down at you; maybe a dozen in all. In addition, you see that there are a half dozen men armed for melee in the building that the man you are talking to just came out of. No one appears to be sick, but you have no idea what the symptoms might look like anyways.
Well you are certainly dressed like a servant of Torag, Ang, but what I'd like to know is how you slipped past the army patrols and why you would want to come to Gillamoor in the first place. Most of the new faces we've seen since the recent trouble have been nothing more than looters. For all that you've a friendly face, you wouldn't be the first person claiming to be here to 'help' that I'd have put in the dirt.
"I'm surprised that looters would risk the zombies and sickness. But I am not a looter, I convinced Colonel Rodak to let me in. I told him that Torag protects me from disease and that I thought I could help out the townsfolk, I can fight and have some ability in healing. Though it looks like you are pretty well organized without me."
The man seems impressed by your name drop of Rodak. It's amazing what people will do to try and find free stuff in times of trouble. You look stout enough and if the Colonel let you in he must have had his reasons. We few who are left have banded together to keep our families safe from both looters and the diseased. Looters have been much easier to dispatch than the dead. There used to be quite a few more of us....
What are your intentions then Ang? The creatures seem to come mostly at night, and we have done our best to barricade ourselves against them. If we are quiet enough, the creatures seem to prowl about and then return to wherever it is they inhabit during the day.
“Maybe I could spend the night within your barricade and then try to follow the creatures back to wherever they stay during the day. Once the lair is located, maybe we can find out more about them and come up with a plan to destroy them? Do you have any idea of how many of them exist? Have you found any weaknesses in them?”
The man looks at you doubtfully-Sorry stranger, you with us behind the barricade sounds like bad soup to me. If you want to follow the creatures back to their lair, that's your business. My business is to keep the remaining families alive until they lift this damn quarantine or grow some balls and actually send in the troops to clean up this mess.
I know there are at least a half-dozen that we have seen during our night watches. We haven't seen any real weakness besides doing LOTS of damage to them and then burning them. We found if they don't get burnt they tend to reanimate again.
He seems genuinely uninterested in letting you into their safe zone, although some good diplomacy rolls and role-play might change that.
"I will find some other place then, good day."
Head back to the first three structures encountered and burn the remains of the zombie if still there. Do I think the zombies are capable of climbing? Any trees or rock formations or anything that I could climb up and sleep in. Ang wants to make a tree house.
You think you make it back to the 'corpse' just in time as it appears to be knitting itself together and starting to twitch just as you arrive. The zombies seem more than able to climb with their extensive claws and strength. You could sleep on the roof of one of the buildings maybe or rebarricade one.
Smash the zombie’s head and then burn. Re-barricade the stoutest looking building. Settle in for the night.
Any specific actions during the night?
Any specific actions during the night?
sleep with one eye open, get up before dawn to see if he can spot some zombies headed to their secret lair
Perception roll please.
Your one eye open technique works quite well. During the night you wake to the sound of several 'somethings' shnuffling about on the street below. You peer over the edge and see three creatures, humanish but much larger than the creature you fought earlier with more pronounced claws and fangs and rippling muscle.
They pause from time to time, listening and sniffing. You note that they enter the house where you fought the creature earlier and search about where you burned the corpse.
What the? Zombie ogres?
Watch what direction the head off towards and follow at a safe distance.
The creatures continue to examine the buildings, slowly making their way into the center of town. You observe them spending a fair amount of time around the buildings where you saw the people barricaded in earlier.
They seem to be trying to catch a scent of something but are not able to for some reason. After several tense moments they move off into the darkness. You can follow them, but there is a decent chance that they will hear you if you are not stealthy enough.
Wait until morning then head north to try to pick up their trail. If no trail found then just head north looking for anything that piques my interest.
Whatever trail the creatures left has gone thoroughly cold by the time you look for it in the morning. You head north and hope for the best, eventually espying a small copse of trees that appears to be surrounding a very irregular formation of boulders.
Move in for closer look.
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From what you can tell, it appears as if the boulders have recently (less than a year) burst up through the ground. There is a low opening in the boulders that appears to lead underground.
Move forward into the opening and detect evil and look around.
It's a little difficult for you to get in through the opening and you surmise that the creatures burrow their way through on all fours.
After about 15' the tunnel opens up into a small cavern with an opening on the far side. One of the creatures was nestled in a bed of bones on the far side. It senses you and races to engage!
You get first action.
Your hammer slams into the creature, but it appears much more stout than the one you fought yesterday and its wound immediately begins to heal. You think they may get stronger as they 'age'.
The smell of putrescent death washes over you as the creature engages.
DC 18 FORT or be sickened for 5 rounds.
If bitten DC 20 FORT save or take 2d4 points of CON damage.
What manner of devilry is this?
Activate Smite Evil: +5hit/+5dam/+5AC/bypass DR
Your hammer lands with great impact, staggering it for a moment, but the thing comes ever onward.
Bite save still required if hit
Second chance
Your hammer mashes through the skull casing of the creature ending its 'life'.
Burn the creature. Search the area.
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The smoke from the burning thing is dark and oily, filling the cavern as well as spilling down into both tunnels. You search about and find 500GP worth of valuables among the remains as well as a set of gloves of swimming and climbing.
You hear a loud and guttural hooting coming from opening you have not explored yet. It sounds like whatever is making the noise is coming closer at a rapid pace.
Move back outside as quickly as possible.
You retreat back out of the cavern, scrambling through the rough tunnel and out past the upturned boulders and trees. The hooting you hear earlier continues to follow you and turns savage and louder. It appears that whatever it is has found the burned body of the creature you just killed.
Whatever is hooting sounds like it is coming out the cavern towards you.
Try to get in a position to get the drop on the thing when it comes out.
Should have saved that smite evil!
You take a position behind a boulder and watch the opening. A set of glowing eyes peer out and you can see at least one other form pushing about behind the first creature. The creature takes several deep breaths (trying to make your scent?) but makes no move to exit the tunnel.
Do all the creatures have glowing eyes or is this something different?
Two would be very risky, best be quiet and live to fight another day.
From what you can see as you peer around the boulder it appears as if all the creatures have glowing eyes. You aren't sure if it's the contrast of the light of the outside against the dark of the cave or something else but the eyes are definitely appear to be glowing.
The things continue to sniff and search from their position in the cave but make no move to exit. After several tense moments the retreat back into darkness.
Wait a while longer to be sure they are gone then head back to town.
You wait what you think is long enough and head back towards the town. In short order you are on the outskirts.
Announce myself to the villagers.
“It’s Ang, I have news.”
The same man in breastplate with greatsword moves out of one of the barricaded buildings. Although you can see some archer activity on the roofs and some men ready to deploy behind him, there appears to be significantly less hostility towards you than you experienced yesterday.
Still alive, and in a good way. I'm impressed Ang. For all you look like a formidable warrior you just never can tell. What's your news?
"I tracked the zombies back to an underground lair, there is a small copse of trees surrounded by an irregular formation of boulders. There is a low opening amongst the boulders that leads into their cavern. I entered and destroyed one but there were others coming and I did not want to risk an engagement with multiple creatures at once. Perhaps you and some of your stoutest warriors could join me tomorrow, or after we next meet with and inform the Colonel, so we can destroy the remaining zombies?"
Explain the location of the zombie lair rock formation in relation to their buildings so if something happens to me they still know where it is located.
While I appreciate your enthusiasm Ang, and am encouraged by your discovery, I don't think any of us will be following you to some hole of death. Too many of us have fallen already, and while none of us like it, keeping our families safe here and now seems like a more reasonable way to stay alive than accompanying you.
There can't be many of the things left, what with the army patrolling and all, and we have not had anyone fall sick in quite some time. Soon enough they will lift the quarantine and we can get to setting things right again. As right as we can make them anyways.
“I guess you need to do what you think is right.”
Head back to my lovely quarters to spend another night.
When is the scheduled meeting with the Colonel, is it the next day or two days away?
The meeting is scheduled for the next day.
The man looks at you hesitantly for a moment and then, By the way, my name is Cheros. It may not seem like much, but if you'd like we can probably find you a cot inside for tonight. I'm sure it's better than whatever you did last night.
You hear some objections from folks behind the barricade, but a quick growl from Cheros is enough to silence them. For now.
“That would be most welcome Cheros.”
Cheros leads you through the makeshift barrier and into the large building that must have once been an inn. In the poorly lit room beyond there are almost 30 faces visible; six sturdy looking men man the barricade while the rest are women and children. Everyone present looks poorly fed and exhausted and you hear more than a few grumbles about one more mouth to feed, but those are quickly and quietly hushed by others.
Cots and other makeshift beds line the floor and Cheros leads you towards one on the far side of the room in the corner. It used to belong to one of the fellows that didn't make it back from the last forage mission. Hopefully Desna likes you better than him. You can rest here for the night, and although we don't have food for you we can certainly spare you water and some sense of community before you head back out tomorrow to do whatever it is you are planning.
“I will meet with the Colonel before taking any further action against the creatures. Thanks for the spot to rest. Is anyone in need of healing?”
Several of the huddled masses need healing, although most of it is minor. It is very clear that starvation and malnutrition will be the primary issue before to long.
Any other actions before the next day?