Lililinda kneels down next to Innis's bag and pulls out a flask of oil. She opens it and places it where the changeling directs.
ROUND 3
The creatures begin to rush through the entrance way frenzied with the prospect of more delicious 'meals'.
The first one steps in five feet and attacks the injured Nicias. The second one squeezes past the first and Cassandra's glaive attempts to cut it down but the creature ducks under the strike and bites at her. The third and final creature tries to follow the route of the second one not anticipating the speed of Cassandra's glaive. With effortless ease she resets herself and hacks the third creature opening a large enough wound in the creature's cranium that it falls down.
vs Nicias
vs Cassandra
Merelda will call out to the woman crying.
"You should be safe for now. Stay there until we can come get you!"
Merelda will attempt to squeeze past Cassandra again, back to her original corner, but her move might draw attacks!
Merelda squeezes past Cassandra and the creatures try to tear their teeth into the elf, but Cassandra's glaive is able to hold them back from hitting Merelda.
vs Merelda
Innis hones Cassandra's aim all the while disappointed that the engagement has descended into an unruly brawl.
Nicias drops another the arrow taking it in the throat.
And then Boros takes out the last one its jaws clamping on the rotting flesh.
"I do hope we don't intend to respond to EVERY call for help that plagues this city. We'll die of exhaustion as we chase kittens up trees before the disease has its fair chance at rotting us." Innis says clearly displeased.
Merelda will move to try and convince the woman to come out of hiding.
"Come out! We have eliminated the threat for now!"
When the zombie bit her Cass yelled out, "Ow!" She seemed more determined than ever to take out these zombies and save both the woman they'd found and her charges. Fortunately they managed to kill the things before she had to worry about which to focus on. She rubbed her wound gently and moaned as she said, "That bastard damaged my clothes!" She gave the offending zombie one last strike in anger before she said, "We should probably get out of here, just in case there are more unaccounted for."
Cassandra the disease sets in quickly and you can already feel the fever set in. You brace yourself against the wall hoping that it will pass but you already know it won't. Moments later you cough into your hand and see a few speckles of blood.
From the room you see a woman curled up shaking uncontrollably. Even when she seesaw you are 'zombies' she doesn't move. All she can say is "Car..oleen. Where is Caroleen? And Anver. Did you see them?!" Her whole demeanor begins to slow change almost screaming at you.
Merelda shakes her head negatively at the woman.
"Brain-lock. Nothing for us. Let's check for clues or more of these things. If we find nothing, lets get out of here."
Innis sneers at the helpless woman "Pathetic
Innis will cast charm person on the woman to see if she can 'befriend' and thus make her more coherent
"No! NO! Da and Gavin threw me in here when those things burst in! They went looking Caroleen and my nephew Anver."
Innis asks the woman if there was a reason her home might have been attacked, as the rest of her team investigates the area.
"I don' know what happened..my pa and I were just here to to stop in and see my sister and her family when all of sudden Anver came running as white as a ghost crying out for my sister. I didn't think much of it and let him run off to find my sister.
Before I could think anything about my da and Gavin went storming out of the front door. I was going to ask but they told to hush and they'd explain when they got back.
Only when they came back they had a look of fright on their faces and then we heard Caroleen and the front door burst open with those things. My da threw me in here and told me to lock the door. All I could hear was my Da telling Gavin to get Caroleen and Anver. It was the last I saw of them!"
Cassandra nodded in agreement as she heard the story, "Yes, we'll try and find them, I promise." She looked at the others in worry though as she had a bad feeling about these zombies and who they were. Looking back at the young woman, her glaive now at rest, Cass asked her, "How will we recognize your family? Are there any identifying clothes or jewelry they were wearing?"
She looks at Cassandra thinking for a moment and then adds "My da always wore his ring from the days as a Riverguard. It has the image of a ship on the face of the ring and a lion along the base of the ring. Gavin umm I think he was in his Riverguard uniform. That's how my sister and him met. He served under my father."
She heeds Kirzon's advice and begins to scrummage through the parlor room for a weapon of any kind. "I'll wait by the front door and lock it I ain't going out on the streets without my family!"
Cassandra nodded and said, "Thank you, that will help hon." Cassandra knelt then and began to check each of the zombies for the identifying items. She hoped she was wrong about this, but she suspected she wouldn't be.
Searching through the zombies you don't find anything noteworthy on them however your search takes you over to the corner where Nicias mentions he first saw them when he entered the room.
In that corner, the area is stained with blood and you find the partially devoured remains of a body. Picking through it carefully your instincts are unfortunately correct and you see the Riverguard signet.
Merelda will open the next room door and see what is beyond, unless it is locked. She also shakes her head and comments only to her companions close-by at the bloody remains.
"When do zombies EAT people! They are just mindless automatons, not ghouls! This artifact-disease is very unnatural,
and must be crushed quickly before it spreads! Somebody keep watch on the front door! We don't want more of these things
wandering in behind us."
Cass waited until the youg woman had left the room and then held up the ring as she said quietly, "I found one of them. I think we should check all the bodies in case some of these zombies were her family. So far I can only prove that they ate one of them."
Choosing to search the bodies to see if you find any more members of the woman's family can be found you do not see anyone dressed in a uniform so you doubt her brother in law is here. Nor do you find anything resembling a woman or child. The 'zombies' are dressed in commoner clothing from the looks of it. While a few of you are doing this the rest of of you watch the watch the doors in the library.
From the other side of the door you hear something crashing against the ground that is followed by the sounds of boots dragging against the floor and then what sounds like a sharp high pitched cry from a child.
The dwarf opens the door slowly and looks into what is obviously a bedroom. In the room are two beds one a little bigger than the other. On the floor rests a once beautiful rug now ruined with a large bloodstain in the middle. A desk resting in between the beds as well as other furniture has been overturned creating a scene of chaos in the room.
In the room you watch as five of these zombie like creatures gather about a door in the south wall. Like before you see the zombies are trying to tear down the door to likely get at the childlike voice you just heard. There is also another door on the west wall.
A lady in the room casts a protective eye on Boros.
Seeing the room full of zombies and hoping to again keep them back so her companions could slay them, Cassandra waited for her companions to attack the things from a distance and then stepped into the room with her glaive ready and called out, "Hey! Walking dead, you look hungry! Why don't you come and EAT ME!"
Kirzon hurls his alchemist fire at the pack of zombies. The fragile instantly breaks upon impact creating a small explosion of fire that reaches out and hits several zombies.
Cassandra steps by Boros and enters the room announcing their presence to the zombies.