"Well said, Franc."
"This undead will be a corrupted demon encased in an innocent vessel, whose soul has already departed. Here's to Victory, in the name of the light," Darren's sword and shield are ready, and he walks up to the outside of the house and waits for Karl to draw the creature out.
Initiative
Karl fires a shot through the window that strikes the wight in the chest. With a horrid shriek, the creature leaps to its feet and rushes out the front door, only to meet Franc, Darren, Shanoa, with Faradir supporting their combat line. In short order, the wight is destroyed by the combined efforts of the group. Before you lies the decaying body of a child. But you have
With the wight's destruction, several other screams echo around the village. Three more can be heard from nearby buildings, while another voice, much louder and deeper than the others, sounds out from the top of the large hill to the south.
"Indeed. Hack them as they enter. These beast no nothing of advanced tactics."Franc moves in clearing the house of danger then setting up on one side of the entrance.
Karl nods grimly. My thoughts exactly.
He positions himself at the same window from which he shot the child-wight, careful to stay as well hidden as possible and keeps a lookout for the approach of the unquiet dead.
Professor Rokannon approaches Franc and casts Protection from Evil on him. He seems likely to engage in close combat with the creatures.
"Stay strong, my friends! By the Inheritor's will, we will smite these undead down!"
Darren takes up the position across the door with Shanoa, completing her flanking position, and smashes heavily at whatever enters the house first with sword and shield.
Attack Longsword
Damage
Attack Shield Bash
Damage
Franc readies his empowered strike.
With and urgency borne of experience, you rush into the small house and take up defensive positions. Karl peers out the window, while Franc, Shanoa, and Darren prepare to attack anything that enters through the doorway. Faradir casts a spell on Franc, then moves behind the priest, preparing himself for combat.
With unnatural screams, the wights race toward the house. Surprisingly, they do not immediately rush the house - but you catch glimpses of them sprinting around outside, hiding behind trees or ruined walls, voicing their hatred of your living forms through wails and brutal shrieks. The louder voice echoes across the abandoned village, and the smaller wights charge the house in response.
Only your experience in facing such horrors allows you to retain your composure as the wights fling themselves at you. Karl emerges from his position to fire at one of the monsters, putting an arrow through its skull. The lifeless form crashes to the ground and tumbles into a broken fence.
Another wight leaps through the front door, only to be met with Franc's sword. The undead horror is nearly cut in half as the priest's blessed strike tears through its body and takes the remaining life from the wight. Stepping to the side, Franc opens the position for Darren to take up the post opposite Shanoa.
The last wight follows close behind the first as Franc adjusts to the side, but Shanoa's morningstar crushes the monster's hip, while Darren steps up and bashes away its claw while decapitating it with his longsword.
In mere seconds, your defensive preparations have allowed you to destroy the attacking wights.
With a sound of frustration and anger, the other voice lets out a roar of defiance, then goes silent. After several moments, it becomes apparent that whatever else remains outside is not heading toward the house.
As you consider your next plan of action, you cannot help but allow your gaze to take in the small forms of the wights you have destroyed. Like the first one you found in the house, these three are the physical remains of children... all killed by a wight, not the Beast of Lepidstadt.
"Brutality has been justly served, my friends. Well done. Shall we hunt down that last creature and put it to the sword?" Darren emerges from the house and scans the area, weapons still ready.
Perception
"In my opinion, we still have most of our resources. If we have enough daylight remaining, we should at least try to pursue and finish it."
"I must sanctify these poor souls before we move on. I shall exact due vengeance upon the fiend responsible for the damnation of these children and the Beast."
Gathering the fragile forms of the lifeless children together,Franc sprinkles holy water upon their bodies before removing his vermilion cape emblazoned with the holy symbol of the five winged lord and covering their forms. Kneeling before the departed and raising his sword, he says,"Lord Ragathiel, I plead with you to give me the strength to exact your divine vengeance upon one most foul and of corrupt nature who would despoil children. Please care for their restless souls. May they ride under your protection to a land of joy,free of the terrors they knew in their short lives." Bowing his head for but a moment before rising, Franc says, "Vengeance shall be ours. We hunt."
Karl bows his head as Franc administers last rights to the children of the village.
I don't like the looks of that cloud. 'S positively unnatural. Won't be easy to put an arrow into anything through it, or see anything for that matter...
Karl looks around at the others before shouldering his bow and drawing his greatsword. How shall we proceed?
Gazing up at the unnatural cloud, Professor Rokannon absently takes his pipe out, fills it with pipeweed and lights it with a flick of a finger.
As pipesmoke wreaths around him, he mutters; "Hm. You don't see that every day."
Darren nods. "We go into the cloud, we kill what we find that will cause evil to this world."
He waits for everyone to be ready, and pushes to the edge of town and forward up the hill, weapons drawn. ]
Karl nods, and falls in behind Darren, eyes wary for more wights, or other traps.
Once they close to the cloud, Karl takes pains to silence himself, his gait taking on a hunter's quiet, measured stride.
Franc follows several yards behind Karl as even magical full plate is not the first choice of the stealthy man.
Professor Rokannon follows along behind.
The group closes in on the top of the hill, some moving silently, while others clank behind. Reaching the edge of the strange cloud, you can see that vision inside seems to be extremely difficult, restricting your vision to only what is directly in front of you.
From inside the cloud, a distinct growl startles everyone, but due to the dense fogbank, nobody can see what made the sound.
"Interesting. I don't think it's an actual spell. More of a supernatural effect; or side-effect perhaps."
"Something evil is in there, my friends. Is everyone ready? We must face it and put it down once and for all."
When the group is ready, Darren wades forward into the swirling mist, mentally steeling himself for the horror that waits inside.
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Shanoa nods. "Give me a moment to prepare." Kneeling, she quietly whispers a prayer to her godess. As she prays, the mark on her back begins to glow with a pure white light, and she gets up and moves to the side to be able to flank with Karl. With a deep breath and a nod, she steps into the cloud, reaching out with her feelings to sense the presence of the enemy.
Franc calls on his lord's favor for his next strike to be true and just then follows Darren into the mist.
Karl stays by Shanoa's side and moves to flank with her. Once he spies the creature, he focuses on it, channeling his emotions into a deadly strike.
Darren moves into the mist, cautiously walking forward as the darkness surrounds him. Only a few steps in, he finds the scarecrow leering down at him.
To his side, he feels the rush of air as something closes with him. A hundred bright lights flit around a shape even darker than the cloud, accompanied by the sound of buzzing bees. The darkness lashes out at him but misses. As the creature's appendage passes by Darren, the very chill of the grave washes over him.
Franc casts a spell and follows behind Darren.
Shanoa pushes forward, and seeing the creature emerge, attacks with all her might. Her weapon grazes the monster, but not enough to cause any damage.
Karl moves around once Shanoa takes her position to flank the undead monster. His movements go unnoticed as the wight focuses on Darren, and his strike is deadly and true. The buzzing lights begin moving around in a frenzy as Karl's blade bites deep into the monster's body.
Franc seeing his chance launches his heavenly assault. In a whirring fury he puts all hs divine strength behind his magic sword.
Darren lashes out at the scarecrow viciously.
Attack Longsword
Damage
Attack Shield Bash
Damage
Karl swings again, hoping to fell the dark foe.
Professor Rokannon, coming last, spots the creature, quickly mutters a word of power and tosses an Acid Splash at it.
for a possible acid damage.
With a roar fueled by righteous anger, Franc moves around Darren and releases a strike that cleaves through the center of the darkness. The flitting lights begin winking out as the buzzing ceases, and a hollow scream starts at a high pitch, then quickly recedes.
The darkness surrounding the top of the hill disappears, and the remains of an undead creature lie in a heap, its body slashed and hacked apart by your assault. From the age of the body, this must have been the wight that killed the children.
A strong gust of wind blows across the top of the hill, and as the grass pushes to the side, a dark opening is revealed - a small cave.
As the energy gifted him from his lord, Franc again gives thanks to Ragathiel for allowing him to be a conduit for just vengeance. "We have done a good thing here this day, my friends. Let us seek out what we may and attend these precious souls. The beast is looking far more innocent with each step I take in this dark country." The knight sheathes his mighty sword and takes on the role of chaplain administering rites and healing those of his companions who are in need.
Karl hurriedly cleans the ichor off his blade with loose dirt from the hilltop, a look of disgust on his thin lips. What was that thing? Was it the same as the childlike abominations we fought in the town? And those buzzing lights. Clearly, those were the "wasps" but what were they?
Once his blade is clear, Karl examines the small cavity in the hilltop. He disinters the remains of the children and looks to the others. We should bring these back to Lepidstadt. The condition of the bodies will lend weight to our words. He grimaces sadly and looks back down at the sagging structures of the town. Let's find something to cover them with. I'd rather not ride back into the city with the bodies of children draped over my horse's withers.
Karl heads back into the town and searches the buildings for tarps, blankets, ropes or other materials to use as shrouds for the corpses. He also keeps an eye out for any thing else of note.
Karl looks through the remaining houses but doesn't find anything of note. It seems that the people took everything of value when they abandoned the village.
Luckily, he does spot several more bear traps that were apparently set and forgotten about, but he manages to alert everyone and avoid another repeat of the first encounter.
Given the noise, it's likely this is the creature that the Beast fought when he heard the "bees".
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Shanoa looks up at Karl after examining the corpse. "It's a wight, likely the origin of the rest of them in the area. This one probably died from bees or wasps, and became undead due to some curse or horrible thing he did. I suppose he manifested the cause of his death as part of his power.
"When this thing killed those children, they became its spawn and rose as wights themselves. This kind of evidence should be taken as a whole. Let us gather the bodies in one of the houses and fetch a wagon or cart to bring these back to aid in the investigation - and for proper burial."
"I agree. These children must be freed from wandering the land of torment. I shall officiate the burial when the time comes."
"Hmmm... the Beast's word stands true so far. It seems the Judge may have been" right in assigning us to this case, after all."
"I agree, we should bring the children's bodies in when we have a wagon or cart and something to cover them with. Perhaps we should warn someone in Lepidastadt about it as well, so we know where to go with them..."
"Let us enter the village and see if any items of comfort may be placed with them. From wight to ghost is not a transition I want to see take part."