Dolph fires off another bolt of force but his aim is still atrocious.
Wolf-eyes lands a bone breaking kick to the first zombie to close on him. Though the kick shatters ribs and would have dropped most men the zombie keeps coming.
Raidh yells at Kee-rik and the little grippli groans in pain and stirs, trying to fend off the grasping undead. Raidh then punches the zombie beside her in the mouth, knocking loose already rotted teeth but having little other effect on her assailant.
Morgtii, uncertain what to make of the cloaked figure calls out "Raise your hands and order off the zombies, or this one will shoot you!"
The zombies keep pushing closer and closer to the adventurers.
The one-armed zombie falls upon the prone kee-rik
= HIT;
While two more corner Raidh against the remains of the woodpile...
= HIT;
= HIT;
... And she falls under their relentless press
Wolf-eyes finds himself surrounded by three of them as he tries to defend the entrance to the house...
= HIT;
= Miss
= HIT;
...grasping and battering him from all sides
Inside the house, the cloaked figure raises his hands slowly. Both he and Morgtii can hear sounds of combat and cries of pain and dismay from the yard. Perhaps, the pale man says with a sneer, it is I who should be making the demands here, little bug. drop the crossbow and raise your ...limbs... if you want your friends to live.
Initiative Order, status and effects
Rudolpho (9/9 HP)
Wolf-eyes (0/15 HP) - disabled
()Dewall (17/17 HP)
Kee-rik (1/10 HP) - 10 temp HP, prone
Raidh (-3/11 HP) - dying
Morgtii (12/12 HP)
ZOMBIES!! - 7, 8 crushed in logslide, 1 badly wounded, 4 badly wounded
Cloaked figure -
Dolph waits to see how Morgti handles the situation, readying a blast if the undead continue to head his way.
Keeping its bow leveled, Morgtii addresses the cloaked figure-
"It appears your zombies have the upper hand, but this one is confident that it and the large angry dog can handle you before they bring us down. Call off the zombies and allow this one and its friends to withdraw, and you will be spared."
As the robed acolyte laughs away Morgtii's earnest threat, Morgtii glances over its shoulder at its beleaguered allies. Seeing that three of them are already on the cusp of defeat or worse, and worried for the courageous canine watching his back and the overmatched spellcaster, Morgtii lowers its bow.
Wise choice little bug. Now, outside. The hooded man backs Morgtii and Dewall out of the farmhouse then calls across to the barn. Master Varamar, we have guests.
A chalky-white skinned human emerges from within the dark barn behind five animated skeletons. The man wears purple garments decorated with a brooch and belt buckle fashioned in the likeness of a malevolent face. As he sees you, a flicker of recognition passes through his eyes and he speaks in a dismissive tone, Well done Viktor. I thought we might meet resistance from Eiren. He gazes about the yard and the zombies straighten up and back away from the beleaguered adventurers. To them he states, I will have the book, and you, clearly, will not stop me.
Dolph steps out as well. "Let us collect our falls and we will be out of your hair. What book are you talking about? First I've heard of it."
Bluff
Varamar smirks. Play not the fool with me student of Silion. It does not suit you. Your lives are nothing to me and I would happily leave your corpses here for the crows, but you may yet be of use to me. Soon I will have the book. But your master yet possesses the key. When our paths cross again, give me the key and I will spare you. If you do not, I will finish what I started here today.
He turns away dismissively and starts to stride away Come Viktor! He snaps to his henchman standing near Morgtii, and all the skeletons and zombies begin to shuffle off obediently after their master.
You are left, battered and bleeding, in the desolate blood soaked yard of the Norian farm.
"That went...poorly. Gather everyone together and I'll heal us as well as I can."
Channel Energy Twice
As the healing energy washes over her, Raidh's eyes open slowly and she sits up with some pain.
"Gaah....Wuh...Wha...What happened? Did the logs crush me as well.... [ shakes head groggily as it clears] Eughhh...they....Touched me!?!?!? What happened?" Raidh asks again. The young woman looks desolate, her longspear lies on the ground and her spiked gauntlet hangs by one strap. Raidh numbly releases the other strap and lets it fall also to the ground.
"I don't feel so good..." she murmurs as she hangs her head between her knees...
Kee-rik slowly gets to his feet. About 20 seconds later, he topples over again .
Rudolpho (9/9 HP)
Wolf-eyes (7/15 HP)
()Dewall (17/17 HP)
Kee-rik (-2/10 HP)
Raidh (4/11 HP)
Morgtii (12/12 HP)
Dolph steps forward and heals Keerik.
CLW
Dolph focuses his energies on Kee-rik, and though he is still grievously wounded, the little Grippli regains consciousness and enough strength to stand.
The last of the undead disappear into the treeline.
"Let's get out of here while all of us are still breathing!"
Raidh nods disconsolately, then seems to realise something.
"Run...where exactly?!?"
"Hiw about back to Silion's? We can tell him what we found," the Mage whispers.
Kee-rik, half-awake, mumbles "Grrrek-kk leep.."
Grabbing one of Kee-rik's arms and throwing it over a shoulder, Morgtii quietly begins helping its companions back to the mage's tower.
Unusually subdued, the little insect can't help but dwell on what it views as its failure and the repercussions it may have on the many friends Morgtii has made.
"Buck up, Morg," Wolf-Eyes says as he limps beside it. "Sure we got our collective bell rung but good. We're still breathin' though, ain't we?"
"Maybe Silion has some advice. And we can tell him that we have found a virtual army of undead with his book."
"And maybe he can explain what that fella meant by him having the key." Wolf-Eyes turns to Rodolpho; "You think your ol' teacher might not have told us all there is to tell?"
And so the party picks itself up and limps away from the Norion farm, turning their backs on whatever atrocities - and clues - may have been left behind by the undead raiders.
Upon returning to Silion's tower, Pruet clucks and fusses over the injured while Silion listen's gravely to your retelling of the defeat at the farmhouse.
Wait, you actually saw the book with this necromancer? Strange, the break-in had none of the hallmarks of the undead
Yes, the book requires a key. The book of Terniel is a powerful artifact and there is no other way I know of to open it without that key. Yes I still have the key. It was on my person during the theft of the book. I didn't mention it before because it was not relevant to the task of recovering the book.
"That necromancer said that he wanted you to bring the key to him. As powerful as he is right now, I can't imagine how strong he would be with all the powers of that book. I'm not sure we could beat him now, even on our best day!"
Raidh keeps quiet, not daring to make eye contact with Silion...
Kee-rik has thoughts, but he's not sharing them at the moment.
"Do any of you have any ideas how to separate the necromancer from his undead? There are so many, I don't know how we can best them."
"Well, we could make some kind of obstruction..." Raidh begins to mumble, then more clearly asw she warms to the idea..."a narrow defile or other space, either to separate the deaders from the spookster, or if he just sends them, to tackle them where they can't surround us again..."...
Sillion raises a hand. I think you all may be getting ahead of yourselves. He stands up from his chair and paces the room.
Why was he at the Norion farm? Do you know where he is going next? You didn't actually see him in possession of the book did you? And the facts found at the break suggest demonology, not necromancy.
He pauses in his pacing and taps his forefinger against his chin. No there is more going on here I think - more players involved than we had thought. He looks hard at each of the band in turn and concludes: You will have to consider your next move very carefully, but for now, rest, recover from you ordeal. We shall speak more again in the morning if you desire.
Dolph considers his former master's words. "Well, this one was clearly a necromancer from what we observed. But Silion is right, there was no evidence of undead at the break in site. Perhaps this is a full blown cult after all, rather than just a small group. We need to figure out next move carefully...do we want to try to stealthily follow the necromancer to see where his group might lead us? Hen we might get a full accounting of the players before deciding how best to deal with them"
By the next morning the small town of Eiren is abuzz with the news of the slaughter at the Norion farm. Lorin, his wife and all eight of their children were found brutally murdered. Details of the attack vary widely from telling to telling, but all agree that there seems to be no motive - though torn apart and searched, the valuables were all left behind.
By mid morning there is a demanding knock on Sillion's door and Sabatorm Ballister, Erien's Reeve is admitted to the study where you all sit. Before him he pushes a terrified boy of 15: His son Mathius. Mathius Ballister looks horrible. His skin is pale and his forehead sweaty. His body quivers and shakes with startling frequency. He cradles the stump of his missing hand close to his body.
Go on son, His father urges. Tell the wizard what you told me, and no lies this time.
Mathius, trembling and with eyes downcast mumbles,T'was the goblins sir, they attacked me and Walcott in the woods, then they must have followed Walcott back home and...and... he breaks off, tears running down his feverish face.
Sillion arches an eyebrow. Goblins, you say?
Raidh is having none of this. Though ostensibly not wanting to annoy the Reeve, Raidh is sorely in need of something. Resolution?
She prowls around the boy, then grips his arm, high up near the shoulder away from the stump. She asks very clearly and sternly.
"Where. Did. You. Lose. The. Hand?"
Mathius whimpers and sniffles. 6 Goblins, in woods, attacked Walcott Norion and me, chopped off my hand.
His father interjects. You told the sheriff it was 3 goblins. Tell the truth boy!
Mathius' last resolve crumbles in the face of so many authority figures...
Okay. Walcott and I were part of the Kaj'Talel. We snuck into Sillion's tower with the master to steal the wizard's book. There was a fight and one of the guards cut off my hand before....before the master's demon killed them all.
The boy grows more and more terrified as he tells his tale, glancing from spot to spot as if he expected this demon to bust from the shadows and punish him for his betrayal.
"Tell us everything. Who is Walcott? Tell us about your master. And tell us all you know about the Kaj Talel. Did they have undead with them?"
Wolf-Eyes had overslept - being pummeled within an inch of one's life can make a person appreciate little things like a cozy bed.
He enters Silion's study rubbing sleep out of an with the heel of his palm, Dewall trotting beside him.
"Sorry I'm late..." he begins to say but stops short when he sees the scene in the room.
"Oh, don't stop on my account. Whatever y'all are talkin' 'bout is bound to be more interestin.'"
Undead? Like zombies? No, the Master only ever summoned the demon. The boy shudders and mumbles That's all he ever needed
The Kaj'Talel - through knowledge comes power - its a simple enough message right? There are... were... six of us. There must always be six. But we all wear masks, see? Each member only knows the identity of the member who brought them in. For me that was Walcott Norion. Only the Master knows everybody.
Mathius pauses to wipe his nose on his sleeve. The Master wanted a book from you Sillion, sir, so him, Walcott and me broke into to get it. We knew you had hired guards, so the Master called his pet demon to kill the guards. When we broke into the library, one guard tried to flee at the sight of the demon; the demon killed that guard with a look - just a look I tell you! It was aweful. Me and Walcott attacked the other two, but I got my hand cut off and Walcott was clubbed about the head before the demon came up behind them and .. . tore them to pieces.
We stole the book. The Master ordered Walcott to bandage me up, and told us to create a cover story. Goblins was Walcott's idea. I've never even seen a goblin. Walcott helped me get home. I haven't seen any of the cell since that night, and now they say Walcott and his whole family are dead!
"There are two enemies, then" says Morgtii. "Two enemies at odds with each other. Perhaps this is still a situation we can turn to our advantage? This one suspects a demon should be capable of handling those zombies, while perhaps we are capable of dealing with two small groups of cultists? The trick is in arranging events so that the zombies and demon fight each other, instead of us."
Kee-rik is standing off to the side, thinking that this is all too complicated for him.
Indeed responds Silion to Morgtii. This "Master" has the book but did not know it requires a key. The necromancer knows about the key but possesses neither. A delicate balance to be sure.
"There are two enemies, then" says Morgtii. "Two enemies at odds with each other. Perhaps this is still a situation we can turn to our advantage? This one suspects a demon should be capable of handling those zombies, while perhaps we are capable of dealing with two small groups of cultists? The trick is in arranging events so that the zombies and demon fight each other, instead of us."
"Good thought. But, if we bring the key and the book together, and we are too slow, then we could be in real trouble. We have to keep them from working together. It might be easier to take on them separately, just so as to minimize the risks."