"Andrezi, move aside! You humans don't have the stomach to get so close to something so rotten smelling."
Andrezi nods as he steps back into the cornfield and unleashes another burst of positive energy - intent on destroying the ghouls.
Korghym runs up and swings a bit too soon, failing to get his full weight behind the axe head.
Move Movement
Free Draw waraxe
Free Drop longhammer
Standard Attack (red)
Korghym calls for a reposition, and Andrezi gives him a nod as he fades back and releases more of Desna's grace into the undead before him.
Both ghouls manage to simply shake off the holy effects of Andrezi's blessing, but its still too much for the red jacketed ghoul to take. He crumples to the ground, needle sharp teeth still gnashing.
The other stands just long enough for Korghym to dash forward and split it in half!
Suddenly, the remaining ghoul snaps its bonds and with another ear splitting shriek jumps from the pole and turns towards you!
"Bold May Post"
Ghouls
~Yellow- 10 dmg
Kiera- 5 dmg, 2 DC 13 Fort saves
Volkar
ROY G
Andrezi
Korghym
Kiera rushes back past Korghym and Volkar and draws her knife in preparation for a chancy snap shot.
Volkar turned on towards the shrieking ghoul that had freed itself with the scream. He pushed forward and shouted at the guards, [/b]"another volley, quickly, another volley."[/b]
He readied himself with his ax and yelled over his shoulder, "Coming cousin?"
Kiera moves in to engage the remaining Ghoul, while Volkar rallies the Watchmen.
As one, the watchmen turn and draw, hoping to end this fight quickly!
The volley of arrows arc through the air with results similar to the last few attempts by the watchmen. One arrow however, slams into its target, dropping the ghoul into the dirt where it squirms for a few moments, gradually growing still.
Out of Combat
Kiera- 5 dmg
Kiera lets out a breath and catches her thrown dagger, then puts it away. She holds a hand to her chest as she regains her composure after the unpleasant surprise.
"This is... awful," she says. "Someone's doing this deliberately. The ghouls didn't tie themselves up! How many more poor people-turned-ghoul are we going to find?" She glances at the fields, gazing at the unending rows of stalks, and morosely says, "If they were in the fields we wouldn't even see them. This isn't even a good battle strategy. It's just... sick."
"That is a very large understatement, Kiera." Andrezi says, walking up and tapping the wizardess on the shoulder twice with a curative wand.
"I pray to Desna that we find all that have suffered such a fate and that the numbers will be few."
"Um, we still have another one of those accursed scare crows there," Volkar pointed down the path to the other non-moving scarecrow. "So, how about we head that way, the guards get an aim ready and a few of us toss a pebble at it to see if..."
Volkar nodded signalling that the rest could be like the unmoving creatures about them.
"May want to search these just to see if we can figure out who they were before all of this."
Korghym beheads the nearest ghoul, the begins walking to the next and shouts at Andrezi, "I'd be much happier if you prayed that we don't find anymore of those ghouls."
The team banters about trying to release the building tension of their dismal findings within the close confines of the corn tunnels. Korghym moves through ensuring that the dead do not rise.. again.. but little of consequence is found on any of the bodies. They are all dressed as simple farm and country folk.. rough homespun and weathered and much patched field clothes.
Volkar suggests testing the next scarecrow, and the watch stands to once more.
Several arrows fly through the air, more of a danger to the corn than the scarecrow, until one finally thunks into chest of the form on the pole. There is no reaction as the scarecrow hangs from the pole motionless.
"So, nothing," Volkar said with a sigh. "Well,then we need to find who or what is infecting these people and tying them to posts.
Forward then?"
He took a few more steps towards the junction of the paths, while keeping a close eye on the scare crow ahead of him.
Kiera follows the dwarves, then stops at the latest scarecrow with arrows sticking out if it. She hmms for a moment, then she pulls up the scarecrow's shirt to see if it's actually stuffed with straw, or if it's a corpse.
"Every time that our mysterious killer has struck, he - or she - has left some kind of note," she says. "I half-expect there to be a note pinned to a body under a shirt, or something."
"Woah!" Korghym puts both hands on Kiera's shoulders. "Nobody told me anything about this. Dying in battle with your axe in hand is one thing. Maybe somebody should be telling me about this mysterious killing spree."
The dwarf plants his feet shoulder width, with hands on hips and a stare on his face that could stop a herd of elephants.
"So when you first arrived in town... " says Kiera, "we were in the middle of a murder investigation. Someone had brutally murdered two people at the sawmill. There was a horrible stench and bloody notes left behind. And... a small group of travelers had been killed outside of town within a day. Also a note left. Our current theory is some kind of undead madman, but... we've never seen the killer. I think the killings are connected. And he uses the notes to taunt us - to taunt me specifically - and umm..."
Her lower lip quivers slightly and she swallows hard.
"So, yeah. It might be the same person, doing all this. And we have to stop him."
Kiera hesitantly steps in on the remaining form as it rests tied to the pole.. and gently lifts its shirt to reveal a burlap bag stuffed with straw. It seems that this one at least was what it appeared to be..
Continuing along the path around the field, it is not long before another scarecrow is seen in the distance. The form hangs from the pole opposite another turn off, just as all the others have been.. but this one moves. As you approach, the head listlessly lolls in your direction, burlap hood hiding the contents.
"Another one ahead," Volkar noted as they approached a scarecrow on yet another pole. When the lolled in their direction, he paused. "So do we just shut it, or at least wait to see if it jumps down to attack us?"
Kiera calls out, "H-hello?"
She turns to Volkar and says, "We still can't tell in advance if they're undead or people. We don't want to accidentally feather a helpless victim who's been tied up alongside a bunch of ghouls."
"You're the magicians, can't you do something?" No wonder they wanted my help. They need it.
Korghym points to one of the guardsmen's bows with two fingers, then slowly and stiffly curls them toward himself a single time, like a steel bar being pounded into a horseshoe. He holds out a thick fingered hand for the bow, while looking at Kiera. What did I get myself into?
Volkar studies the scarecrow ahead.. the figure moves listlessly on the pole, just as some of the others have. He has no way to discern what is on that pole from where he stands. Meanwhile, the group discusses their options and Korghym calls one of the guardsmen over to hand him his bow. The man steps forward abashedly and hands over the longbow and a couple of arrows.
"I'll try the spell I know that only hurts undead," says Kiera. She steps closer, to about 35' range, and points. A scintillating ray lances out toward the figure on the pole. "Stay close to me in case that thing leaps off and charges at me!"
"Bah. Missed."
Kiera cautions the others to stay back and then steps forward to test the current theory. Her hands are trembling, making the first shot narrowly miss the target.
She takes a calming breath before releasing the magic once more. This second ray strikes the creature a glancing blow, but the figure does not react in the slightest.
Korghym watches Kiera's bolts fly at the scarecrow, then turns to her and cocks his head sideways a bit, "So what's your spell saying?"
Andrezi lets out a relieved sigh. "It means what ever is on the pole is not undead."
Kiera nods in affirmation at Andrezi.
"Let's see who it is, then," she says.
Korghym tosses the bow back to its owner, then moves closer to the scarecrow. He pokes it with his longhammer from several feet away, and says, "Now would be a good time to explain yourself."
Volkar followed Korghym and stood at the ready while Korghym talked to the bundled form on the pole. "Anyone awake up there?"
The group tentatively approaches the figure on the scarecrow, and Korghym tests it with a poke, eliciting a pain filled groan in response, but nothing much.
Try as hard as they can, neither dwarf can tell much from their position and the fact that the figure is covered head to toe..
"It's not a ghoul! Get him down!" says Kiera urgently.
Korgym turns to look back at Kiera, then rams the haft of his longhammer several inches into the ground to hold it in place. You better be right, it's not your life at risk here.
It takes a couple of tries, but Korghym frees the scarecrow with little difficulty and then inspects her wounds. "You've been bitten, lass. And it's infected. Best make peace with your gods, then I can offer you a quick death, before you turn into one of those that attacked your family."
"Hold up, hold up," Volkar turned to Andrezi. "Is there anything you can do to help her, before he goes into his form of mercy?"
Volkar looked about and then back to the freed woman. "Who took your family and where did you live?"
"Stand down, Korghym. What you propose is to only be a last resort." the normal affable cleric says moving closer to examine the woman. "She is speaking, clearly she's in better shape than Grayst was."
"Try and calm yourself, madame. We will deal with the rest but you are our first order of business."
Korghym gets the lady down and offers her the Last Mercy, but the rest of the team objects. Moving in closely, Andrezi looks over the woman and recognizes that she is indeed suffering from Ghoul Fever. It seems that she was bitten recently, but may not have the fortitude that Grayst had..
The lady thrashes around, mumbling incoherencies about home, being dragged away at night, and having to return to her family. There is not much to be made of this, but at one point she does give you her name. "Lettie.. Lettie Guffman" she responds to one of your questions. "Guffman Farm.. please.. the husband.. Children.. dragged away..."
At this, one of the watchmen stifle a short cry. When asked, he responds "Me families farm is down the way from tha Guffmans. Good folk.. I just didn't recognize her." He shakes his head sadly. "If'n shes here, there ain't likely ta be much left out there.."
Turning to his companions Andrezi says, "Her situation is dire, but not yet beyond hope. While I may not be able to cure her of this disease, I can buy her a bit more time until Father Zantus can."
"Lettie, we will do what we can to recover your family, but for now you must rest." he says before uttering a prayer over the woman.
Following the casting, Andrezi shakes his head. "I may have bought her a short amount of time, but her situation is still dire. We need to find someplace safe for her to rest while we investigate the situation."
Turning to the disturbed guard, "Perhaps you can take her and keep watch over her. Given the proximity to your family's farm, this may be for the best...we will all need to be focused and you may most understandably distracted."
The guard looks shaken, but steadfast. "If'n it be mi Lords order, I'll stay, but ah'll have no man a' callin me a coward fer staying behind with her.."
He darts looks between his fellows and the individuals of the group, unsure of how to proceed.
"If you're going to leave a guard behind, leave two so they can watch each others' backs. And perhaps they can construct a litter to get this lady back to town."
"I agree that she needs to be watched over, yet, I have to wonder, where your family farm is in relationship as to where we are," Volkar interjected. "I don't think we need her to come along with us to her farm, but we need to head there next."
The guard shakes his head at Korghym's suggestion. "Nay, I kin see 'er back to the last farm and get help back to town. Twill be faster that way, an it looks like yall will need all tha help you can get."
He bends down to heft the woman up, one of her arms over his shoulder and grasped at the wrist in his hand, his arm around her waist supporting the rest of her weight. Glancing at Volkar, he says "When I left home this morning, me mam an paw were just fine.. These attacks have been pretty random, and one farm a night. I will send word or go back me'self to check on them when I get back to town.. yall just take care of here fer now!"
Forging ahead, the team returns to the hunt as the watchman and Lettie hurry off to find succor and help. It is not long before the team comes upon another grouping of scarecrows standing tall and quiet in the field.. three on the right and a 4th on the left.
"Give me a moment to try my ray on these..." says Kiera, and proceeds to try her undead-disrupting magic on the latest scarecrows.
Volkar nodded in agreement with the guard. "Yea, help may be warranted. Check on your kin after you get her to the Good Father. Let him know what we are finding as he and some of the acolytes may be able to come help here."
Volkar watched as the guard left with the ill woman over his shoulder. It would be a long walk, but the lad looked stout enough to carry the load to the cathedral.
As Kiera spoke, Volkar followed her and moved a bit closer towards the collection of bootzemon ahead on the trail. As he walked, he shifted his ax to his right hand, and he pulled one of the iron bound casks and held it in his right hand. He watched Kiera flick her hands towards one of the hanging forms.
Korghym moves up beside Volkar, his longhammer resting lightly on the path. "What are those flasks and bottles around your waist? The last time I saw that many chemicals on a warrior, he used them to set things on fire from a safe distance."
He points at Volkar's wound from the last battle. "Might be a helpful skill to have right now, seeing as how they can't bite you from afar."
Andrezi moves up along side Kiera, behind the dwarves, ready to unleash a burst of positive energy should more than one of the scarecrows come to "life" as an undead creature.
The group moves forward, covering Kiera as she launches another ray at the scarecrow ahead. The bolt of energy strikes the form tied to the post, causing it to emit a horrid and blood chilling scream!! Suddenly, all four figures on the posts begin to scream and writhe, straining at their bonds!
Kiera Videns
Volkar Glanral
Korghym
Watchmen
Ghouls
Bold May Post
Andrezi
Volkar
Kiera
Korghym
Ghouls
~Red
~Yellow
~Green
~Blue- 1 dmg
Watchmen
Andrezi rushes ahead to try and destroy the ghouls with positive energy before they can get free.
DC 16 Will Save for half
Volkar watched as the creatures on the poles began to howl and twist against the bonds that held them, at the moment, on the poles. He looked over at Andrezi, who's hands flicked forwards toward the scare crows. He looked at the bomb cask in his hands and then at the space on the other side of the two scare crows that stood opposite of each other on the path ahead.
Andrezi rushes forward to try and end this fight quickly with channeled power! Mos of the ghouls just shrug off the wave of holy power, but the yellow one seems to take the brunt of it!
Volkar steps forward, drawing and mizing a bomb. He tosses it into the middle of the road and catches the middle on the one side and the only scarecrow on the other side in the burst of heat and flame! As some of the smoke clears, you see two motionless husks burning on the posts!
Bold May Post
Andrezi
Volkar
Kiera
Korghym
Ghouls
~Red- 4 dmg
~Green- 4 dmg
Watchmen
Kiera adjusts to a position from which she can fire unobstructed at one of the nearer ghouls while leaving room for Khorgym and Volkar to maneuver.