"Look at Grayface in there. Reminds me of when boar bears square off over a sow during mating season," the druid mutters under his breath to Yasmin, in a joking tone.
"The other boar seems like a pretty good match for Grayface!" notes Yasmin, as the man rises.
But her attentions are focused on the skeletons. "Well, I bet these are straight from the spire. I wonder if this necromancer is infusing his skeletons with the spire's energies. It might explain how he's growing so powerful."
- looking in the snow for trails, you follow a curious collection of unbooted footprints out to the east...definitely off towards the Echo Wood and certainly not from normal humans (possibly, no probably, skeletons).
- it isn't unheard of for necromancers to use strange energies and crystals to power their creations. Your theory seems plausible.
Well, it looks as though they came from this direction. Rallos points to the tracks.
Shall we follow or see if there is a second attack? If there is a necronancer behind this, they might attack again. Hard to tell. I think I know what way Gray is leaning towards.....judging by his.......inquisitive demeanour.... Rallos muses.
I think we should press on. The wizard might not suspect that the fort would send out a party with their forces spread thin. What say you?
His blood pumped and adrenaline rushed at the implied challenge. The fighter wasn't used to looking upwards at anyone, but height and size weren't everything. He was confident in his abilities but he had no intention of fighting here unless the fight was brought to him. Squeezing the budding hate inside of him, he practiced restraint and decided that he could be perfectly satisfied, as he got exactly what he asked for -- some answers. Not backing down an inch though, Gray said through clenched teeth, "Thanks to you, friend."
A true warrior knew how to use his wits as well as his steel. In truth, he was delighted at the encounter. Tense moments of chaos where consequences teetered on the edge of a knife were exhilarating. After maintaining the stare for several uncomfortable moments, the warrior slowly turned toward the door and moseyed out.
Doing his best to wipe away a silly grin before his friends could see his delight, he joined Rallos at the edge of the woods.
"They came from the woods eh? Is there anything more here to investigate, or shall we resume our trek to the spire?"
Ea speaks to the 7 feet tall man, with a respectful tone, as Grayface
tries the macho attitude
Thank you for your answers, friend. We'll do our best to end that threat, or we'll perish. Pharasma and Ustalav are tied, the Lady of the graves is respected in your lands, and I don't need or care to know on which country his mother gave him birth to defend him from the scourge of undeath. One last thing before we go: we've heard at the Fort that some of the undead displayed magical abilities. Do you have any knowledge about that? Was it maybe another group of the unliving? Skeletons are mindless, so a coordinated attack was planified by someone with necromantic abilities.This one, living or not, is our real target.
"Ea, I wonder if the use of these crystals in the skeletons can also make them vulnerable in some way? Maybe something to look into at the temple of Pharasma?"
-Posted with Wayfinder
"Miss, the bags of bones tottered over from the east... The Hellknights smashed them up then went back to their devotions... Weren't no other creatures to be seen - if there some master villain behind all of this, he's staying well behind enemy lines - nice and safe. Don't get me wrong though, I wish you the best of luck if you do intend to end this... "
Thank you for you good wishes. I'll pray for you and your family, may Pharasma look at you kindly when she must decide your Fate.
I think we should investigate this further. I don't think Ea is going to be dissuaded from this. Besides, anything that puts us in the good graces with the Hellknights is a good thing, right?
Rallos moves to the edge of the trees towards where the tracks came from.
There is something amiss here. If there is a link between the undead here and the Spire, it needs to be investigated. Two birds, one arrow I think.
Grayface looked around him, back to the wooden building where the bones lay, and then to the waters where the ferry would arrive. There didn't seem to be much more to see or do, at least in close proximity. They'd gotten all they could from the man inside, so it was time for further exploration.
"I say we walk from here--" he pointed to where the skeletal footprints emerged from the wood --"and make our way deeper into the wood. We can try to track them, but if we get off course we'll try to make for the spire. I have a feeling that is where they came from anyway."
Joining Yasmin
I think -even if I hope to be wrong-that the Spire might strengthen the skeletons and other undeads, and don't make them vulnerable. Maybe the crowned skull works as an arcane link between the mad pupeeter and its tools, alowing him to control them from a distance, maybe even allowing him to use his magic through them, as a channel of sorts.I've seen nothing in the temple library that could be related to this kind of undead. I doubt it's some kind of weaker lich. But maybe the power behind is one of these foul creature.
Ea - you have heard of necromancers using arcane marks or symbols to control their creations over large distances.
The trail leads away from the ferry crossing, across the Crusader Road and, within a few miles, into the Echo Wood. The midday sun provides a welcome warmth until you start to trek through the thick vegetation of the woods, what little daylight does make it’s way through the trees is barely sufficient to light your way in some places – let alone warm you nor melt the snow. As before, the woods remain unnaturally silent throughout your journey – you do see the occasional tracks from wild animals but not once do you see anything move.
...and then you come to a small clearing - by your reckoning, some two miles west of where the spire lies in it's wide open Glen. With snow drifting up the side of their construction, it takes you a moment to notice the two tents built up against the large trees at the periphery of the clearing. In front of the tents, the long cold remains of a camp fire stands...
The Pharasmin stops walking
There's something in these tents, probably eating..beware.
Ea takes her morningstar and readies herself for a fight
"Let's sneak closer and get a good look. They could be friendly, but it's strange that they're eating at this hour."
"Really? I can't hear anything. The cold usually dulls my senses. Shall we take a closer look?"
Gray readies his longbow by knocking an arrow from the edge of the clearing.
Rallos sneaks towards the tent, rapier in one hand, mace in the other.
Rallos moves, as silent as the night, towards the tents...
...within twenty feet of them he notices the blood spatters and savage tears along one of the tent canvasses. The crunching noises, sharp and ominously wet, continue as Rallos, despite himself, shudders.
- in the strange silence and frigid air, you can hear everyone's breathing...yet, from the tents, there is no such sound...just the sound of something brittle snapping followed by wet chewing.
- your spirit sense is going wild...something unnatural is within the tents.
Rallos heads back to his friends. He whispers...
The noise from the tent is a few creatures eating....whom or what i know not. Most likely undead. Any ideas? I think advancing as a whole is best if we take them on. Perhaps Ea can use her powerful essence to blast them?
Ea will pray for Pharasma guidance, seeking to perceive the unseen.
Whatever was eating in this tent will show its lifeforce..or lack thereof, if its undead.
- there are three streams of pulsating necromantic energy emanating from the tent...streams of unseen energy diffusing into the ground below. And, nearby those signs of the undead...two recently dead bodies.
Rallos readies his rapier and mace, unsure which weapon would be needed to combat the monstrosities in the tent.
Ea, I assume you want to take care of these creatures?
Two dead people, and three undead.Let's give everyone what it deserve.
Pertreeko hunkers down when he senses the presence of something unnatural. "Try to get them all in your initial area-of-effect attacks at once, for greater efficiency," he whispers. He had read about it in the library he had been studying in the past few days.
The cracking and shuffling within the tents suddenly stops...all is deathly quiet for a moment - your warm breath hanging in the air in small clouds of vapour...and then, with a sudden explosion of violence, two figures tear their way through the ragged tent and start running towards the group...
...Quite obviously the unquiet dead, the pair of frost-covered humanoid figures...still bedecked in the remnants of darkened leather armour...howl ravenously as they run at you, blood-reddened teeth glistening in the winter sun...
"Burn!" Without hesitation, Yasmin shoots gouts of fire from her hands, enveloping the tents and the emerging ghouls in flames.
.
If possible, she then scampers back behind beefier characters.
TWANG! Gray loosed the arrow he was holding toward the slavering monsters. Something about those bloody teeth were unsettling...
Ea tried to assess the situation. It was her duty to recognise theses unliving abominations, so they can be destroyed
– the creatures look exactly as you, from your research, expect ghouls to be – apart from the ghoul-creating disease that their bite imparts, the other thing to be wary of is their paralysing claws…
As the creatures tear their way free of the tent, Yasmin pours fire down upon them – the sudden blast of heat sets the canvas alight, vapourises some of the fallen snow and scorches the frozen dead flesh of the undead.
…as the tents go up in flames, another ghoul staggers from the tent and starts running towards you – with the same frost-covered ragged clothing and burning red eyes, this third ghoul was never human – it’s serpentine head and long sinuous tail tell of it’s monstrous ancestry.
Grayface’s arrow spears the fastest of the ghouls through the head and it drops, flesh and clothing still smouldering, to the floor.
The ghouls cover the distance between the burning tents and the party in no time and fall upon Rallos and Grayface – blood soaked teeth snapping at the friends…
The humanoid ghoul stumbles into Rallos missing with it’s slathering jaws – but the serpentine undead is far less clumsy and slams into Grayface – the force with which it does so is surprising - the creature is exceptionally strong - and when it’s jaws bite down on Grayface’s exposed wrist, he feels as though icy tendrils are clenching his muscles…
Ea tries to position herself to help Grayface, as the most potent foe is obviously the serpentine horror
She uses her morningstar with grim determination..but little effect
Her cold, emotioneless voice issues orders, as usual in battle
Yasmin, arcane darts on the ghoulish scaly one.It's really powerful. Pertreeko, either use your magic or trip the ghoul attacking Grayface so he can take his axe without being biten. The ghoul's bite can disease you, and their filthy claws can paralyse the muscles of their foe so that they can eat them alive. But if Pharasma allows, that won't be our Fate.
Rallos tries to skewer the "normal" ghoul with his rapier.
Taken aback by the ferocity and sheer strength of the bite, the fighter knew to never again underestimate these once-mighty serpentfolk despite their feral degradation in recent centuries. Gray dropped his bow to the snowy forest floor in favor of his finely-honed bastard sword.
"Watch your step!" the druid calls, gesturing at the earth beneath the corpses' animated feet. At his command, the earth magically moistens, becoming thick mud that sucks at the zombies' feet, causing them to trip!
Yasmin is surprised to see a snake ghoul emerge from the tents as well. "Screw the darts! This calls for some real firepower!" Yasmin shoots out another blast of fire, although the need to spare her friends means she's only able to hit the lone serpent.
Rallos and Ea both miss with their attacks, their weapons swiping and slashing against thin air - Grayface at least finds his target but his sword merely bounces and scrapes down the hardened scales of the serpent.
At Pertreeko's command, the ground beneath your foes liquifies - but somehow they manage to keep their footing in the resultant quagmire... Things are looking pretty grim until Yasmin, having skirted around to a better vantage point, once more creates a barely controlled inferno.
Ea - Neither of the undead is dangerously close to their final reckoning yet - although the necromantic energies flowing into the ground are definitely weakening.
With the last vestiges of clothing burnt from it's long dead body, the serpentine ghoul scratches and bites at Grayface... It's dead eyes roll back in their sockets when it, once more, finds exposed flesh...
Rallos's sparring partner, clumsy and mindless, land one single blow...
Both Grayface and Rallos feel the clenching tightness of paralysis as the ghoul's attacks splash their lifeblood into the pristine snow.
Rallos tries to reposition himself to set up for a vital strike.
He then tries to run the ghoul through with his rapier.
[ooc] rolled sneak just in case...second +2 is for flank if applicable
The gouts of fire flowing from Yasmin's hand seem unending as she's determined to turn the serpentine ghoul into grilled snake meat.
Grayface felt heinous energies trying to arrest him, like a poison going through a wound. Not only was this monster incredibly strong, but his claws packed a supernatural payload.
This creature had dealt some serious damage in a very short few seconds. Gray knew that if he fell, his friends would be next. He switched to a more defensive posture.
As the wounds on her comrades accumulate, Ea will change strategy, and unleashes a wave of energy to disrupt the undeads link to the Negative Plane
Adopting his defensive pose, Grayface presents a hard target to hit - yet his attacks are reduced in effectiveness - the Serpent glides noiselessly around his slashing blade.
With a flourish, Rallos cuts the head clean from the ghoul's shoulders...the decapitated body falls to the floor but no blood issues from the gaping wound...
Once more Yasmin's pyrotechnics produce searing hot flames - the serpentine ghoul writhes in agony within the inferno yet, somehow, staggers on. When Ea calls on Pharasma's judgement, the residual will of the ghoul prevails and it is untouched by the cold tendrils of fate...
Ea - the channels of energy linking the Serpentfolk ghoul to it's necromantic source are very faint now - the creature is nearly vanquished.
With her otherwordly senses, Sister Zalinsel feels Grayface has took some serious damage, and so tries to get the serpentine ghoul attention, putting herself in danger willingly and without emotion
It's nearly done... Your grave has awaited you for too long, flesheater. You will soon rest in peace, by Pharasma's will. Accept it.
"Time to finish you off. TASTE YOUR FINAL DEATH, EVIL CREATURE!" Summoning the local magic of the ley-lines nearby, the druid channels the force of nature into his lightning strike, connecting his finger and the undead abomination. Cast Aggressive Thundercloud on the ghoul! DC 17 Reflex to negate, otherwise take damage!
The smell of ozone fills the air as Pertreeko summons a perfectly spherical storm cloud - with a detonation of electricity, it arcs into the ghoul...the undead is silhouetted for the briefest of moments before it literally explodes over a wide area...fragments of tissue are spread across the clearing and, appallingly, creates a cloud of airborne material that you, inevitably, breathe in...
...across the clearing, the tents are in full flame - the branches in the tree above starting to catch fire...
Rallos dashes over to the trees catching fire. He tries to knock down the embers before they catch fire.
We must move quickly so the fire doesn't spread to the rest of the forest.
Yasmin is seen admiring the charred remains of the ghouls, until Rallos points out the fire. "Whoops - looks like I got a bit carried away there. Don't worry, this problem is easily solved," says the sorceress dismissively. Yasmin blasts the tents once more, this time with frost!
"The rest should be easy enough to take care of."
Once the fire is put out, Rallos sits down to gather his breath.
I have no idea what effects those beasts can have on a person. Ea, is there anything I should be concerned about? Disease or something worse?
After he has a chance to relax a moment, he heads towards the tent.
These two poor souls should be buried. Ea, I think you should say a blessing over them. I am going to try to find out who they are.
Rallos checks the remains of the tent and checks for anything that might indicate who they were.
As the flames threaten to engulf the entire tree, Yasmin steps forward and calmly sprays the area with a chilling frost...the fire is extinguished in seconds leaving a slightly blackened tree and the burnt remnants of the camp.
Picking through the embers, Rallos finds two partially burnt...and eaten corpses - their clothes have been burnt away to the extent that you can't really tell much about who they may have been however, in a leather satchel that has been mostly untouched by the flames, you find two brass and silk masks - identical to those you previously found in the Splinter's hideout.
...whilst Rallos is examining the remains of the camp, the others look around the clearing - and find the partially covered entrance to a cave...disguised by bushes growing around it, the tunnel winds off into the darkness...