Hey Reva, this thing nearly did you in. Want to take its skin and make yourself a nice3 belt or pair of boots?
Good progress on the wall. Saphren comments in contract to Magnus' input. I'v got a bit of meet for the stew if you do not mind snake. he adds. It tried to eat us so its only fitting that we eat it.[/b] he finishes.
Magnus goes and approaches the new construction and with his discerning eye, can tell that any additions likely just need to be torn down and done over again, the right way.
He sets to work dismantling the shoddy construction muttering dwarvish curses under his breath for the waste of time and materials.
Saphren offers the mighty snake as dinner and the hungry men take him up on the offer without complaint. "Bin eatin' rats or some such, so this here's a leg up, I reckon. Got any more, guvn'r?" he inquires politely before dumping the meat into the large kettle that sits on the campfire.
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I do," says Reva simply as she stares at the creature before pulling out a knife.
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Reva pads along silently behind Saphren, and eats a small helping of snake, feeling a little bit of revenge as she eats the sinewy meat. After dinner, she takes a good look around the camp, examining the people, and the surroundings for anything suspicious.
Reva does not like what she sees. Many of the men are obviously bandits, pirates, or worse, and while they still loosely follow Akron Erix's orders, it's only because they don't have a better plan for surviving here otherwise. She thinks if they had a way off the island, it might just be Zincher, Erix and her group left here while all the men bolt.
No one seems to be doing anything overtly wrong or illegal, but she can tell this whole lot is not constrained by the law or morality -- in other words, it's a typical Riddleport crew.
As night begins to fall on the camp, the crew banks the large bonfire, illuminating the half-finished palisade wall, where Magnus still works trying to re-erect the wall properly. Erix stalks over to the cursing dwarf, staying a safe distance from hammer's reach.
"You drew the straw for watch tonight, Master Builder. Want your shift or want to trade with one o' your mates yonder?"
"No. I vill do my part. These eyes are still sharp enough."
In private Saphren tells the dwarf Wake me when your watch is over. I'd have one of us awake then entire night and not depend on these slouches.
"You heff that right." he says, gruffly, winding up his crossbow and taking his post.
The snake stew turns out about like you'd expect, barely passable, but better than nothing. The groups eat in silence, no sign is seen of Clegg Zincher.
With the onset of full dark, the crew drifts off to their tents for sleep, and the heroes start to fade that way also, leaving Magnus alone on watch.
Hoisting his crossbow, the grump dwarf walks big slow circles around the perimeter of the camp, staying within sight of the big bonfire. Like the night before, an hour or two after all have settled in, Zincher appears from his tent. The man appears to be trying to be stealthy but does an exceedingly poor job, and Magnus spots him heading off to the west just as in the night before.
As much as every part of him wants to follow the strange nocturnal wanderings of Clegg Zincher, Magnus stays true to his duty and keeps the camp under watch.
Not long after Zincher meanders away, the sound of twigs snapping and limbs breaking startles Magnus. Peering into the darkness around the camp, he sees a bit of movement, then the lumbering forms of more of the long-tongued undead moving towards the camp. There looks to be a good number - maybe a half-dozen or more in all, and they are headed right for an opening in the palisade wall.
Zombie Attack - Round 1
19 Saphren (asleep)
19 Blue Zombie
18 Trig (asleep)
15 White Zombie
13 Red Zombie
13 Fiery Zombie
12 Reva (asleep)
11 Magnus
9 Green Zombie
5 Gold Zombie
4 Purple Zombie
1 Camo Zombie
As several zombies move forward directly at the camp, Magnus can now react.
Reva's eyes snap open as she hears the shuffling walk of the zombies.
"Inheritor save us..." she mutters.
Reva then quickly scrambles up and roughly awakens whoever is beside her and still sleeping.
"...zzzzzzzzz...*snort* What? Huh, wuzzat?"
Saphren is out like a light and snores soundly.
Zombie Attack - Round 1 - concluded
Seeing overwhelming numbers, Magnus retreats back to the camp to try to wake up some of the others.
The rest of the zombies continue their shuffle out of the woods and into the camp, some banging into each other in their mindless drive for flesh.
End of Round 1
Zombie Attack - Round 2
24 Akron Erix
19 Saphren (asleep)
19 Blue Zombie
18 Trig (asleep)
15 White Zombie
13 Red Zombie
13 Fiery Zombie
12 Reva (asleep)
11 Magnus
9 Green Zombie
5 Gold Zombie
4 Purple Zombie
1 Camo Zombie
Blue Zombie continues to move into the camp, ducking into the tent where Akron Erix has awakened from the noise of intruders.
Trig runs to the tent flap and looks out. "Magnus? What's happening?" she calls out.
-Posted with Wayfinder
Zombie Attack - Round 2 - continued
Saphren still sleeps through the infiltration of the camp, stirring a bit, but not fully waking.
Meanwhile Trig pops out of the tent and sees Magnus falling back to the tent, she sees shadows moving through the camp in the flickering firelight.
Reva begins to hear sounds that just don't belong. The moaning and grunts from the zombies clueing her in that something is woefully wrong. She rolls over and starts to wake Saphren
"Trouble no doubt. Zombies. Stay behindt me, leetle one." Magnus says, fumbling for the signal horn at his waist and wheeling back toward the fray.
Zombie Attack - Round 2 - concluded
As he sees Trig coming from the tent, Magnus turn and sounds his signal horn, announcing to all in the camp that something is not right. The booming noise of the horn fills the little camp, resounding off the partially completed palisades and waking all the living in the camp but seems to have no effect on the zombies, except perhaps to make them more interested in him as a dainty morsel.
While the rest of the zombies stagger into camp, Green Zombie actually closes with Magnus, and in the flickering firelight, he can see the grotesquely swollen and undulating tongue of the zombie, which marks it as unique to Devil's Elbow, not a normal undead.
End of Round 2
Zombie Attack - Round 3
24 Akron Erix
19 Saphren
19 Blue Zombie
18 Trig (asleep)
16 Zincher's Thugs
15 White Zombie
13 Red Zombie
13 Fiery Zombie
12 Reva
11 Magnus
9 Green Zombie
5 Gold Zombie
4 Purple Zombie
1 Camo Zombie
Asleep as a zombie storms his tent, Erix rolls to the ground still prone, trying to avoid an attack while he fumbles for his mighty maul. Blue Zombie's fist narrowly misses the unarmed leader of the work crew as his fingers just latch onto the haft of the big hammer.
Sapphire stands and pulls his trusted blade, 5' stepping protectively in front of Trig.
Zombie Attack - Round 3 continued
Gathering up his blade, Saphren exits the tent and puts himself between Trig and the slow-moving horde of tongue-wagging zombies.
Blue Zombie follows ERix into the corner of his tent, swinging his meaty fist at the crew leader who avoids the punch as he gathers himself from sleep.
Trig moves forward and conjures a layer of slipperiness to trip up the zombies.
Zombie Attack - Round 3 - continued
Despite Saphren's efforts to stand between her and the attacking horde, Trig skirts around him, and brings forth a layer of greasy goo that covers the ground in front of Clegg Zincher's pavilion. A pair of zombies who were just starting to nose around the tent end up taking a spill as the ground slips out from underneath them.
White Zombie continues to trudge slowly into the camp, but then he hits the greasy spot and his feet fly out from under him as well.
Seeing his cohorts falling all over the place, Red Zombie changes direction, circling behind Erix' tent.
Fiery Zombie tries to stand in the greasy goo,but cannot find proper traction, remaining prone.
Cursing himself for not remembering his horn sooner, Magnus tries to regain a cool head with some theraputic hammering, bashing at green with his hammer.
When last we left our heroes...
The Blot appeared over Riddleport just a couple of months ago, and things have only escalated since that point. Strange events have terrorized the populace of the pirate town, and until recently, it remained one of the greatest mysteries in this part of Avistan.
You came together by chance into the employ of one Saul Vancaskerkin and was pulled into the manipulative games of their employer, a former crime boss who had apparently 'gone legit'. Saul eventually turned on the group, his attempted murder failing. During that time, you met a strange elf named Kwava, an agent of an ancient elven society called the Shin'Rakorath, dedicated to preventing the coming of a second age of darkness.
With Kwava you defeated Saul, and plunged into the tunnels beneath the Gold Goblin. There, you discovered the drow. A creature of myth and legend, a race of evil elves of pale hair and dark skin, living below the ground. She was tinkering in some manner with the Cyphergate. You defeated her, and in her defeat, the Blot itself vanished, leaving nothing but strange stones that vanished as they hit the ground. Her notes indicated that some kind of great magical power had been organized on an island called Devil's Elbow, and there, 'charging the glyphs', had created strange magical side-effects, the Blot being one of them.
Then the star fell. Streaking through the sky, it slammed into Devil's Elbow itself. With falling stars comes skymetal, one of the most valuable substances on Golarion. Riddleport went into a mad gold rush of sorts, and working on behalf of the Shin'Rakorath you went out to the island to investigate the activity of the drow, and maybe find some skymetal yourself.
You arrived at Devil's Elbow to find it overrun with horrific, alien creatures called akatas. The akatas flooded the island in packs, implanting their larvae through their bite and turning their victims into horrific void zombies, walking corpses teeming with the larva. On the island, you met up with Cyphermages and an old friend Samaritha Beldusk, only to lose most of them, and your dear companion Blossom in a horrific akata attack.
Strangely, you then ran into an old enemy who had worked actively to kill you and Saul Vancaskerkin when you were in his employ. Clegg Zincher leads his own camp on the island, and you have been working for him hunting akatas and finding skymetal for the past day. Clegg has also been strangely disappearing at night... but this investigation must be looked at later, for you are under attack by void zombies!
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Magnus' hammer hits home, caving in the skull of a void zombie and killing it instantly! Reva rushes out of the tent, her sword bursting into white flame as she invokes a judgement and joins up with Zincher's henchman, Akron.
The zombies on the grease make a terrific mess as they attempt to stand and fall and more zombies join them as they mindlessly head for Magnus! Four zombies now lay prone beside Magnus.
Seeing no way to progress, another zombie turns, rushing for Reva and striking her across the face!
Akron
Saphren
Trig
Thugs
----
Zombies:
Blue
White
Red
Fiery
----
Reva (9 dmg)
Magnus
----
Zombies:
Gold
Purple
Camo
The two of you are recent recruits in the Shin'Rakorath, a strange, wide-spread elven society dedicated to preventing the return of the age of darkness. You have been told little beyond that you would receive your first mission shortly, and finally received the call to travel to the city of Riddleport in western Varisia. There, you have now met each other and have known each other for a few days.
The city is a stinking wreck of piracy and low-rent crime, rent by the dealings of various gang lords. There, a strange phenomenon called the Blot has hung over the sky for the past two months before abruptly vanishing. Shortly thereafter, a meteor shot down from the sky, crashing into a nearby island that has sent the city into a rush for skymetal.
You have now arrived, and stand in the Gold Goblin, an empty casino that looks like it has seen better days, and perhaps a few pitched battles recently. There, you are face to face with your contact, a white-haired elf named Kwava with a strange accent.
He greets you, pouring out some wine.
"Please, the strange events that lead me to call this casino my home are not worth going in to, but at least I have access to the wine cellar. I will explain what I can. Drow have been spotted in this city, and we believe are based out of Devil's Elbow. The Blot was a side-effect of some great magical activity of theirs, and we believe the falling star was the same."
He takes a sip. His accent is lilting and very strange, nothing like the elven accents you are used to.
"I understand you, Lyr, know the drow very well. Zoso, you maybe not so much. The drow are the evil that lurks in the heart of some elves come to life - for when an elf commits evil beyond his species he, or she may even transform and become these creatures. They are like us, but live underground and hate the light. Their hair is pale and skin is dark and they are utterly evil. The Shin'Rakorath are dedicated to elimating their activites on the surface, for it is they who caused the original age of darkness.
"Your mission is to go to Devil's Elbow. There, you will encounter five others. Magnus, Trig, Reva, Blossom, and Saphren - a dwarf, gnome, half-breed elf, Tien elf, and a half-orc. They are friends and allies who have been hired by the Shin'Rakorath to discover and eliminate the drow activity, and prevent skymetal from falling into the wrong hands. With the falling star came horrific, strange creatures, and the mission is far more dangerous than I had thought. A ship is waiting for you. Do you have questions?"
Trig starts summoning a creature from the Great Beyond to aid them.
"See how the very ground is svept out beneath them! Our leetle Trig is more dangerous than ten of you! Ha!" Magnus says, lurching forward to bring a flurry of hammer blows upon his foes.
Saphren charges to Reva's aid cutting deeply into the zombie thing and causing a debilitating injury.
Saphren rushes in alongside Reva, slamming down with his falchion and instantly killing one of the void zombies! Reva attacks with Saphren, but barely misses.
By Magnus, the zombies slip and fall all over the grease, one drawing an attack from Magnus as it stands but to no avail. Magnus then swings out brutally with his hammer, hitting two zombies in turn, although killing neither! As he slams his hammer into their faces, sending bone and gore to the ground, strange larval creatures fall onto the earth, squirm, and die. The sounds of battle continue from Akron's tent as he battles a zombie of his own.
The zombies continue to come on, one standing and attacking Magnus to no avail while another slips and falls. Saphren gets clocked across the jaw by the strangely quick, horrific creatures.
Akron
Saphren (6 dmg)
Trig
Thugs
----
Zombies:
Blue
White (9 dmg)
Fiery
----
Magnus
Reva (9 dmg)
----
Zombies:
Gold (9 dmg)
Purple
Camo
Continuing to team with Reva Saphren takes revenge for the hit he received. He tumbles around to flank with his ally and slices into the creature. Unfortunately his tumbling needs work and the creature gets to attack him.
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"It's a shame we came late to the party," Zoso cracks with a smile. "Is the island far? I may need to take a bottle or two with us." he gestures by raising the cup in his hand slightly.
Zoso looks to Lyr standing beside him, then furrows his brow and returns his attention to Kwava, "Well, Zoso finishes the wine in a hasteful manner, " ahh, that's quite a diverse lot you have out there. Since this all seems quite sudden I'll assume there weren't any maps or written orders that they were given? We'll just have the boat captain drop us off where the other five landed, he is familar with these details, yes?"
Saphren slips and falls as he attempts a neat tumble, and gets hammer on the back for his troubles with enough force to break a rib. However, he gets his revenge, standing up with a vicious falchion sweep and destroying another zombie.
Trig finishes her spell, and the grounds rumbles briefly before a small elemental climbs out, immediately attacking a zombie! The prone zombie takes a solid shot.
More and more people in the camp wake up, and several of Zincher's hired goons charge out! A wet thud sounds from the tent as Akron takes out the zombie that was attacking him.
One zombie tries to stand up, but is obliterated by the earth elemental. Another which is engaged in Magnus gets in a very lucky, hard shot across the dwarf's jaw!
Akron
Saphren (15 dmg)
Thugs
----
Zombies:
White (9 dmg)
----
Trig (holding)
Magnus
Reva (9 dmg)
----
Zombies:
Gold (9 dmg)
Purple
Camo
Lyr sometimes had a hard time remembering the language. Deciphering this elf's accent was a little tricky. He gave the bottle Zoso was drinking from a sidelong look. If Zoso was drinking it then it must be safe, but he still couldn't shake the hesitation and long-instinctive worry about anything that was stored in glass bottles. Or any liquid that he couldn't see through. Or that he didn't pour himself. Really, he only liked drinking from rivers and streams. He trusted dirty water more than anything that had been bottled up. Dirt just tasted bad and sometimes made you a little sick. It didn't make your flesh melt or your vision swim with nightmares.
He tensed at the mention of the Drow, but forced himself to relax and breath.
He ran the names over in his head, concentrating on memorizing the information he was given. He had many questions. He didn't ask any of them.
"No." he replied quietly.
On his arm sat a large hawk which preened itself absently. He fed it a strip of dried meat and scratched it behind it's feathered crest.
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A mischevious look takes over him then as he flips the bottle into his backpack, "All stacked together it sounds like a pretty grand time actually. I can hear the ring of it already," his smile wide and playful as he looks to Lyr, "the girls will be woed by this ballad, Lyr. Come on, let's get going out to sea."
Kwava listens intently, seeming to approve of Lyr's conservative response with a light nod. He then turns to Zoso.
"I will give you a map of Devil's Elbow. It was previously a human settlement and so there will be ruins in the place - apparently there is an impressive light hosue but I do not know much beyond that. However, the island is not large. I hope you will find the others quickly. They tend to attract attention. They have also arranged passage back from Devil's Elbow, so you should have a way back."
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Kwava bids farewell, and the two of you board a small, swift pirate ship called The Cutter where the crew are closed-mouthed and do not ask any questions. However, they are professional and courteous. Some basic information you gather from one of the gabbier crew members is that Devil's Elbow is bad luck and cursed.
It contains the ruins of a human settlement called Witchlight, which was founded by a man named Yaris. Yaris was seduced by a siren, and the bad fortunes of the town were laid to blame at her feet. The siren was murdered by the town, and seeing his lover dead, Yaris killed himself. Without Yaris' leadership, the village dwindled and died out, and to this day they say the island is haunted.
The trip to Devil's Elbow is short - the island is only a 18 miles away, and within short time you spot it on the horizon. The island is shaped like a cresent moon, a little over five miles from tip to tip. Even from here, a massive crater can be seen in the northeast of the island. A call goes out from the crow's nest.
"The lighthouse is gone! Where the hell did the lighthouse go?!"
There is some concerned muttering from the crew and the captain calls out. It's then that there's another call.
"I see it, look to port for the broken trees!"
Sure enough, you see the ruins of a tower sticking out from the lagoon. It appears to have fallen over from the top of a large hill, and rolled down into the ocean, crushing many trees as it went.
The captain approaches you, shaking his head grimly.
"I don't like this. We're landing on the south edge, you're rowing in. The main harbour will be trouble and we don't want none."
Spooked by the sight of the fallen tower, the captain provides you with a lifeboat, muttering something about getting payment from 'them elves'. You are dropped into the ocean and row to shore without any trouble, and turn around to see the Cutter
You are given a small lifeboat and without a farewell, dropped into the ocean. It takes a little while to row to shore, but you manage it, and finally land. A road crosses the beach east and west from here. This island itself is heavily forested. The hill that once held the lighthouse is to the west, and there is forest to your north and east.
From here, you hear the distant sound of fighting to the east, down the road.
Magnus continues his onslaught, repaying the slug to the face with a few slugs of his warhammer.
Magnus swings out his warhammer with all of his might, and there is an incredibly satisfying crack as he completely knocks off the head of a zombie! The momentum carries his swing through, and his hammer drives into the side of another zombie, breaking its spin. Two lie dead before him.
Akron
Saphren (15 dmg)
Thugs
Trig (holding)
Magnus
Reva (9 dmg)
----
Zombies:
Camo
Assuming the remaining zombie is standing, Trig will send a ripple of earth at it to knock it down.
Lyr drew four arrows as soon as he heard the fighting. Three went into his bow hand, the fourth notched back to the string in a smooth motion. He found cover and moved, hugging the shadows and silently heading toward the sound of battle. He glanced back to make sure Zoso was moving with him, but said nothing.
The oversized falcon took to the sky.
You creep your way towards the sound of the fight and find yourself at a sprawling encampment with a large pavilion and several smaller tents. The camp is a buzz of activity and several corpses lie at the ground. They have the half-rotted damage that one would associate with zombies, but upon closer inspection, strange little larva can be seen infesting the corpse!
Only one of the apparent undead remain. A small gnome quickly casts a spell, and it collapses to the ground.
Trig digs her hands into the earth, giving it a shake, and the final zombie falls prone!