Trevor nods in agreement and makes for the stairs, only too happy to leave this place and return to the light and the living...
Restlands, round 2
The male zombie moans and flails his limbs at Alison while the female does the same to Arasmes.
Zombie 1 vs. Alison: 1d20+4;1d6+4
Zombie 2 vs. Arasmes: 1d20+4;1d6+4Arasmes sets his spear and jams it into his assailant. While the point breaks her tough flesh with a thump, it feels more like stabbing a piece of wood than something that was alive.
Alison pulls off her gloves to reveal long, hard nails and swings at her assailant.
"Back up! I've got another bomb!", she shouts to Arasmes.
Claws round 1:
Confirm:
Claws round 2:
She scratches a gouge into the male zombie before they take another swing at the adventurers.
Round 3
Zombie 1 vs. Alison:
Zombie 2 vs. Arasmes:
Arasmes hears Alison's orders and is happy to follow her lead. He stabs at his opponent and then moves back 30 feet from the creeping dead.
Attack of opportunity vs. Arasmes:
As Arasmes withdraws, the female zombie lashes out with a meaty fist, just missing the scholar.
Alison pulls out another vial of metal shavings and alchemical solution, shakes them together and tosses them at the shambling dead.
Alison's bomb vs. Zombie 1:
Crit confirm:
Alison's alchemical explosive hits the male zombie directly in the chest, exploding in a plume of fire that spreads to its companion. It thrashes briefly, limbs aflame, before falling to the ground in a smoking and blackened heap. The woman staggers forward, flames consuming her chest and face until she falls to her knees and drops face-down on the ground.
Evelyn, Luka and Trevor emerge from the crypt to see two smoldering long-dead bodies in the grass before the mausoleum, their companions a short distance away.
Arasmes squints at the incinerated corpses as they emerge out of the squirming terrors that lurk just at the border of his vision. "Something tells me that I should have left the theology to others and studied chemistry at the university," he says to Alison. Hearing the others emerge from the crypt, Arasmes turns to them. "I hope your escapade went well. Alison and I made friends with the locals. Can any of you tell me where these things came from?"
Trevor runs to Arasmes and Allison: "By the Lady! What happened here? Zombies?! In broad daylight!?"
"I take back what I said downstairs," Luka says as he looks over the remains, "apparently they do have problems with undead." Looking to Arasmes, he adds, "We didn't see anything like that below. Just a couple of bugs. But I do think it's time we were on our way. Back to the Professor's house?"
Evelyn shake sher head "I've certainly never encountered undead in the day light. We should tell the sheriff, much as I dislike him, but let's not mention our plans and what we were doing here."
Evelyn begins examining the the zombies and the surrounding are, to see if she can track where the zombies came from.
Evelyn finds it a simple thing to track the zombies back to a pair of graves a short distance from the false crypt. From the mound of dirt and the shattered coffins it's obvious that the undead had clawed themselves out of their graves.
Arasmes inspects the graves, while listening to what any of the voices in his head whisper about these graves, . "I'd like to investigate these graves a bit more, but I've a feeling that we were spotted in our recovery efforts."
Trevor follows the other, trying to figure out something clever to say, but they always seem to get the question out before he does, and often, they simply give answers to the questions he didn't yet have. They know their stuff!"
He decides to keep a look at the area, so that if anything else comes crawling out of a tomb, they get a fair warning...
Arasmes finds that there is an aura of necromantic energy about the graves, but nothing else of significance. The two open graves are three rows south of the professor's and several yards east.
The mourners in the Restlands seem to have cleared out.
Obviously nervous, Trevor offers: "Let's not linger longer than necessary. We want to have a look at the old prison, no? I say we head there right away."
On the way there, once far enough from the Restlands, Trevor will ask: "Do we want to split the equipment we found in the crypt?"
"Perhaps we should take a few minutes to identify the properties of these items," Arasmes suggests.
"Sitting around near open graves checking out loot might be suspicious, let's make our way back to the professor's place and see what we have"
Trevor nods and follows the group. Keeping an eye on their rear.
Your party exits the Restlands, heading south on the path back into Ravengro. Trevor doesn't see any threats sneaking up on you, fortunately. The birds sing in the trees and the sun continues to shine, indifferent to the walking dead.
Down the road, you can see two figures approaching. While Arasmes only notes them as blurry shapes amidst the shifting forms at the end of his vision, the rest of you can see that it's a gravedigger from the Restlands and old Father Grimburrow approaching. They are perhaps sixty feet away.
This could get interesting, Luka thinks to himself intent on walking by the pair. {i]Should we discuss the zombies with them?[/i]
Feeling the slight rise in tension among his compatriots and seeing the two blurs beginning to emerge from the miasma that forms the limit of his vision, Arasmes begins to grasp his spear: "What is it? More of those walking corpses? Are these beasts related to the professor's demise in some way?"
Realizing that Arasmes has a vision problem, Luka whispers, "Relax. It's Father Grimburrow and a gravedigger."
"Oh," Arasmes relaxes his grip on the spear, "Good to know. Um, do you have a good explanation as to what you all were doing in there?"
Trevor, standing tall behind the group, waives to the priest.
Nope, I plan on forgetting about that part. Though a general warning about that open grave might be in order. 'hello father, mind the open grave, and the zombie corpses', how's that sound? "
Father Grimburrow and the gravdigger draw closer as you continue. The dour old priest's face is creased with his omnipresent frown. Without preamble he says:
"What is this I've been told about the five of you disturbing the Restlands? As if that mess yesterday wasn't enough!"
"Father, it is good to see you again. I am not sure what you mean about disturbing the restlands. Something is amiss, however; I will agree with you on that. We were paying our respects to the professor when we were attacked by two walking corpses. It is fortunate that these friends of the professor were there to deal with the abominations and no one else was hurt," Arasmes pauses, hoping that his reasonable tone has mollified the angry priest. "I fear that whatever threat the professor encountered in Harrowstone may be spreading. Perhaps Pharasma's archives could shed some light on these matters."
"But I seen 'em, Father! You three," the gravedigger says pointing to Luka, Evelyn and Trevor,"broke in the crypt and you two stood outside watchin'! Brazen as ye please, like the Restlands was a market an' our folk the goods!"
The Father listens to both sides, still frowning.
Trevor looks intently at the back of Arasmes' head.
The Lady would not tolerate lies! Surely Arasmes will provide accurate information when asked directly. We are paying our respects to the Professor's memory by getting tools to find and fight his murderer. This is a test. I will remain true to my callings, true to the memory of the professor and Rafan.
Still thinking, he waits to see whether his companions will make the right choice.
"Father, perhaps we could talk in private? We could use your assistance," Luka chimes in. "It relates to a possible menace to Ravengro that the professor was looking into when he was killed. The two smouldering zombies back there seem to be evidence of the same."
"Let me see these 'walking corpses' of yours first and we will speak at the temple.", says the Father.
Well done Luke, lets get his attention on the zombies
For now, Evelyn stays quiet. waiting to see how Arasmes and Luka play things. When they get to the zombies, Evelyn will point out their trail and where they seem to have risen from.
"Let me see these 'walking corpses' of yours first and we will speak at the temple.", says the Father.
"Of course, sir," Luka replies, turning to lead the priest back to the scene of the fight.
Trevor follows the group back to the Restlands. He wished they'd just go the prison, but the Father's doubts should be answered first.
Father Grimburrow follows silently to the graves, noting the trail the corpses left. The gravedigger points out the mausoleum you entered and the Father takes note of it. The severe priest says a few prayers to Pharasma and looks over the graves. After an uneasy few moments, he turns to the gravedigger.
"Gregor, get Priven and two coffins. Return here and dig out these graves. We will reinter them this afternoon when I have consecrated the ground anew... and not a word to anyone, do you understand?"
The gravedigger nods and runs to the small church in the Restlands. With the laborer running to his duties, the priest gestures that you should follow him. Father Grimburrow leads you back down the path to Ravengro and the cathedral to Pharasma. He is silent on the walk, giving you no clues as to what his intentions are. In the large stone building, he leads you between to the pews toward his podium, taking a right and entering an office with a wooden door carved and burned with black roses. The office within contains a large oak desk and several leather chairs along with shelves and shelves of books.
"Now.,"he says,"I want to know what you were doing at the Restlands- besides paying your respects- and why you believe the unquiet dead have something to do with Harrowstone."
Trevor, having inflated from unleashed guilt during the silent walk, bursts out: "WE ARE INVESTIGATING THE PROFESSOR'S DEATH. WE'RE CERTAIN IT'S NOT AN ACCIDENT. The professor's notes suggested we arm ourselves against ghosts and such. That's why we went to the Restlands. To borrow some equipment. We should have asked perhaps."
Trevor looks down at the floor. Somehow, he feels he's failed both his companions and the Father...
" Father, news of the udnead would not go over well with the townsfolk and the sheriff is not exactly happy with us for defending ourselves and the professors daughter. We thought it best to keep things quiet, though our next stop was to be your church."
"And just what is this "equipment" you found? Is this something Professor Lorrimer knew about? Something interred with the dead?", the Father presses. "Young lady, the last I heard from the Sheriff he gave those men a stern talking to and promised more than a night in jail if they continued their harassment. If he's reason to dislike you, that's your own affair."
Trevor tries his best to calm down a little and explain as clearly as possible the situation: "We found equipment against the spirits that could haunt Harrowstone. We simply followed his instructions. On this matter, we should say no more, until we have investigated and figured what all this is about. I hope you understand Father."
Arasmes listens to the others while carefully considering the father. What is his stake in all this? He seems more concern about us than those zombies.
"Father, I can assure you that we have the best interests of the town at heart. As these disturbances in the restlands demonstrate, something is wrong, something that is spreading from Harrowstone. Hopefully, we can count on your help in completing the professor's work."
Arasmes listens to the others while carefully considering the father. What is his stake in all this? He seems more concern about us than those zombies.
"Father, I can assure you that we have the best interests of the town at heart. As these disturbances in the restlands demonstrate, something is wrong, something that is spreading from Harrowstone. Hopefully, we can count on your help in completing the professor's work."
Arasmes:
The priest sighs.
"Harrowstone does not rest easily and remains a dangerous place. I knew the Professor and he attended my services. I feel he was reckless in his life, but he was a good man and I believe he had the best interests in mind for this town."
He looks you all over. Even shadowed by his heavy brow, his eyes are piercing.
"You entered a crypt without permission. And may have taken church property, though it was property of which I was unaware. But you have also dealt with a threat I did not foresee and you have been honest. If you swear to Pharasma that you will do all in your power to put the spirits of Harrowstone to rest, you will have my assistance and the use of whatever cache the Professor discovered."
With a loud metal crashing sound, Trevor drops clumsily to one knee, a little too eager and intense: "I SOLEMNLY SWEAR FATHER!"
He blushes as he notices he's the only one who so jumped quickly...
Though Desna guides my aim, I swear to the lady of the graves, we will stop the undead and those allied with them."
"I'll do my best to help figure out what's going on. And I'm sure that these other folks will do a fine job of putting any undead they discover to rest."
Though," Arasmes mutters, "I'm not sure what hope we have of succeeding when the professor failed."
"Perhaps," Arasmes speaks up again, "you could be of further assistance, Father. What do you know of the fire that consumed Harrowstone? I know a bit of the local history: a prison revolt, fire, heroic intervention by the guards. But perhaps the church of Pharasma knows a bit more? Maybe there is some information lurking in your records?"
"You have the truth of it, young man. All I can add is that it is likely the five terrible prisoners brought in prior to the riot had quite likely contributed to the disaster."
The Father rises, opening a door on the opposite side of the office.
"Between my office and these records we have a great deal of material on Ravengro, Harrowstone and mystical traditions in the Principalities. So long as your aim is to aid Ravengro and put Harrowstone to rest, our records are at your disposal."
"Thank you, Father Grimburrow. We will do our best, and will be sure to let you know what we find. I also personally promise to replace any of the equipment that we use," Luka says, "and we appreciate your opening your records to us, as well."
Once outside, Luka turns to the others. "Well, that went better than I expected. So, do we search the records today, which could take quite a while, or move on to the prison and leave the records for another day? I say the latter. Whatever haunts those ruins is not likely to be detailed in the journals and histories."