"What's goin' on oe'r ther!?" Colberg dashes into view from around a bush whipping out his short bow and assessing the situation, he quickly fires an arrow into the fray at the zombies.
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-2 = 9
-2 = 13
Shield raised, Sigrun steps forward egaging the horror before her with a shout as she brings her axe to bear.
Sigrun swings and connects with the axe giving a meaty thud. The zombie gives a groan and slams down its fists...
Catching a rotting hand on the frame of the carriage.
Colberg looses an arrow that thuds into the side of the carriage, vibrating from the impact.
Kirridell offers a prayer to Iomedae and a barely visible burst of positive energy buffets the zombies, eliciting another groan.
The other zombie rushes forward at Sigrun...
But is easily shunted off to the side by her.
Round 2
Votun continues to give the first zombie the Evil Eye hoping that it will stick.
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«Oh, I love these things!» Jorgo roars with a grin when he sees the zombie coming out of the wagon «They burn so well!» he makes for one of his bombs, then stops.
mmm… I’ll burn both myself and the warrior woman if I throw now…
though a bit reluctant, Jorgo abandons his idea for a bomb and swings once again his axe at the undead in front of him.
As she shrugs off the attempt of the second zombie, Sigrun's axe blurs as she brings it around, hacking into the her first opponent with a snarl of ferocity.
Jorgo and Sigrun's attacks slice into and through the zombie. A trail of ichor and rot ribbon behind the weapons as they exit the decrepit body.
Colberg drops his weapon and charges at the zombie pulling out his trusty Falchion.
Seeing the effectiveness of his companions' assaults against the undead, Kirridell decides to hang back from the fighting and prepare to heal anyone who becomes injured.
Round 2
Squawk! Munin continues eating some small pine cones on top of the snow-covered pine tree and surveying the field.
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Colberg's attack swings wide, his Falchion whishing through the air.
The zombie's attention is brought to the dwarf and raises its hands...
Which is too slow to hit the dwarf.
Votun's Munin continues to watch the battle and the surroundings for any surprise visits, which it does not see any.
«One is down, let's finish these filthy monsters!» Jorgo maneuvers around the zombie until he finds himself in the most advantageous position, then strikes again.
+2 if flanking
Jorgo's axe tears the remaining zombie in half, diagonally from left shoulder to right hip.
As Jorgo drops the second zombie, Sigrun moves forward to inspect the rest of the wagon.
"I think we should take our time here. Maybe we can learn something about the attackers." Votun starts moving around the area looking for any clues.
You find a small jewelry box under the seat that must have been missed by the bandits. Upon looking inside you find a pair of earrings worth 25gp, a set of pearl inlaid bracelets worth 90gp, assorted gold and silver necklace worth a total of 75gp, a sapphire necklace worth 50gp, a signet ring.
Jorgo quickly cleans himself of rotting flesh and zombie’s blood «Well that was easy enough…» he sheathes the axe after cleaning the blade «Although not at all expected… those don’t seem bandits to me, nor winter monsters. Father, do you know something more ‘bout them?» he addresses Kirridell.
He then looks at the corpses – trying to figure out how they died. A bandit’s sword leaves a different mark then a zombie’s claw after all.
After that he starts looking into the other carriage – holding his axe, just in case. «Does anybody knows of someone coming into town? This makes two convoys, after that noblewoman, right?»
Colberg scowls at the dead zombies, "Hmph, well this don't look good, two convoys and zombies, and a frozen statue. Somethin' made obvious tracks ta follow south, could be the killers, 'specially if there be more zombies. Or it could be a trap too. Witches be tricky, ya never know. Also there is a longsword over yonder by the poor frozen fella if any of ya need it." Colberg moves to grab his bow and clean all the snow off of it before returning to investigate the surrounding area a bit more. "I'll see if I can find anything more about what were up against."
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"This is the ambush site of Lady Argentea of Taldor. I wonder what else we can learn here."
After examining the first carriage, Votun attempts to understand how the tree got knocked over.
Then, he tries to understand how the second carriage crashed.
Then, he slowly examines the ice sculptures. He lets the good father examine the bodies to determine their causes of death.
Ultimately, Votun wants to understand who, what, when, and how of the ambush.
«Umpf... if it is where that lady got ambushed, then that bodyguard got hit in the head, let alone the frostbite. Colberg, didn't he sign a point on your map a lot farther from the woods?» says Jorgo, not really convinced «Are we sure this isn't a second convoy that got attacked?»
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He coughs and clears his throat, "Aye, I kin mark well enough where we were attacked." He takes the map and a bit of charcoal and circles a place about 6 miles north of the Border Wood, still outside the town of Heldren.
About a mile from the farm and half a mile from the Border Woods you see he road ahead littered with debris and the corpses of slain humans and horses
"That these poor fellows have been left here as carrion for so long...", Kirridell fumes, "It is not right...these people deserve their mortal vessels to be treated with respect...not left for the beasts". Seeking to gain the approval of his travelling companions, "In my country, it is customary to light a pyre for the dead...I would do the same for these people in honour of their lives, these trees and the carriage would make an adequate fire and I will say a short prayer...would you help me in this matter?"
"There is also this poor fellow", Kirridell points to the remains of the person encased in ice, "Should we get him out of the ice or let the pyre melt it and the flames consume him?"
Anyone inspecting the bodies' wounds: The wounds that were received by the soldiers look like tiny, round, puncture holes. No materials are left in the holes, but there is water in some of them and the flesh around the puncture is slightly blackened, almost like frostbite.
Jorgo finds,The broken chests and boxes strewn across
the ground contain the handmaidens’ spare clothing,
including three courtier’s outfits worth a total of 90 gp.
Sigrun has searched the carriage with the zombies (waiting on her reaction).
Votun, the wounds remind you of the icicle spell, but the holes are much smaller and did not travel along the ground. It almost feels like tiny icicles were...breathed...at the people.
Colberg, it looks like there are more than 5 sets of tracks and something being dragged, but the shifting winds have blown snow around and made it too hard to identify more than that.
The trail leads south, into the Border Woods.
The ice statue is definitely the work of magic...it feels...wintery. Judging by the various states of melting on the statue and its bits on the ground...this person was probably made an example of.
The carriage looks like it was overturned by force of strength. It is likely that since the Lady Argentea's carriage was left standing this one was housing less important people, and it didn't matter what happened to them.
Colberg gets up from examining the tracks and calls out to the others, "Hmmmm, so we got some witches work here, these ain't no ordinary wounds." Pointing to the mounting pile of bodies that Kirridell is moving. "Looks like she gots a few minions with her and that Lady e'eryone be talkin' 'bout. Likely the drag marks. He minions could be some more zombies too, not quite sure with all this wind making it hard follow these tracks."
Colberg then moves to help Kirridell move the rest of the bodies over to the Ice Statue to prepare for the pyre. Whilst moving the bodies COlberg casually says to Kirridell, "We should make sure we're gone 'fore the fire really starts ta get going, Don't wanna stick around incase the witch decides to come back."
[ooc]I'm loathe to use up any of your spells, so I didn't cast detect magic for you. You can certainly assume that it is ice tomb. It is very unlikely that this fellow is alive inside the ice. The knocked over tree appears to be the same...it is uprooted.
"Dwarf, you are correct. This Ice Tomb is the work of a powerful witch. She appears to have a very strong friend who can tip over carriages and uproot trees. If we meet them, we should run." Votun says banging away at the ice tomb with his new club. He eventually cracks the victim out and drags the body to the pyre after checking his body for useful items.
"Whoever did this was either inept at robbery, or did not care for wealth" Sigrun says, stepping out of the caravan and displaying her findings.
"Banditry does seem quite a bit beneath the power of a witch who can cast Ice Tomb. My guess is that the Lady is needed for a ritual. Votun suggested.
«That other carriage was for the handmaidens… there’s plenty of fancy clothes thrown around.» says Jorgo emerging from the toppled carriage.
Then he starts collecting the bodies and the wood needed for the pyre «That’s good thinking, father. Don’t lose my sleep over honoring the dead myself, but any situation involving zombies and other kinds of walking dead needs a good old funeral pyre!»
The comment about the ritual unsettles Jorgo a bit. While preparing the bodies, he looks for the handmaidens’ corpses, strongly hoping to find them among the others…
With the pyre taking light, Kirridell begins a slow incantation, praying for the refuge of these souls and offering promises of justice for those who have perished here. The prayers are necessarily short though.
"Colberg is correct, the smoke from this fire will draw attention to our presence and any element of surprise we may have will be lost. Although my place would normally be here watching over the transition of these souls, I fear that, on this occasion, we must go".
Hoisting his backpack over his shoulder and drawing the hood of his cloak snugly around his face, Kirridell indicates to his companions that he is ready to leave.
Between the two working on the funeral pyre, thirteen bodies were found and stacked. Ten were guards, all stripped of armor and arms, and two were handmaidens. The captain in the ice statue makes for the thirteenth, and after the ice melts you find a masterwork breastplate and masterwork longsword on him.
The smoke rises thickly as fire burns.
"I can use the captain's longsword if no one wants it. It looks better than my new club." Votun offers.
Whilst his companions bicker over who carries what and who takes the captain's longsword, Kirridell feels a sense of injustice rising. It is too much for him and he pipes up, "Are we bandits ourselves that we should take this finery and treat it as our own? This jewellery almost certainly belongs to the very lady that I intend we rescue...Of course, let us take it with us, let us keep it safe...but let us not assume that it is ours for the taking".
Hoping that he hasn't pinned the hopes of Lady Argentea's rescue on the worng kind of people, Kirridell starts to follow the trail into the woods...."This fire will have been seen for many miles around...let us be gone...".