With Kilarra already in melee, she decides not to cast a spell this time. Instead, she unravels her greatsword, looks to the red zombie, and smites it into oblivion!
Baldhart makes her way to the party, but tries to avoid being seen by the enemy for now.
Garrosh shifts his position slightly, and feeling the blessing power from Winter, fires two arrows in quick succession at the foe attacking Piotr.
"Juju? That's an odd name for zombie's." Piotr points out before grimacing in pain as his leg is ripped open. As Kilarra shifts to the one behind him, he keeps hacking at the one in front.
IF Kilarra dropped her foe…
Hanako moves to the safest place she can reach Piotr, and sings to him.
His odd name brings shame
What a shame what Juju did to you
I’ll heal your boo-boo while you kill that juju
Or maim him ’til he’s lame as his name
____
Baldhart manages to get to the party unseen.
Kilarra cuts the juju zombie into two with one slash of her greatsword, but Garrosh, trying not to hit Piotr, aims the first arrow too high, while the second arrow bounces off yellow's armor. Piotr tries to hack at the one facing him but it dodges to the side then retaliates.
"I don't know how many of these undead horrors there are here...if it's a whole fort full of them...I can lay them to rest...but there are limits on how many times I can invoke Pharasama's powers." Winter says worriedly as she moves up to grant Kilarra guidance.
Kilarra shifts around Piotr in an effort to not fight the last zombie while it's hiding around the corner. Though no longer aided with her smite, Kilarra uses her momentum to hack into the zombie with her giant sword.
Kilarra doesn't do so well in trying to avoid the last zombie's longsword, as it slashes at her as she moves past, though she cuts into its chest deeply, though not as deeply as she would have expected.
Hanako’s heart sinks as the zombie cuts into two of her friends.
What is your problem, zombie?
Why don’t you stay dead?
How important to you
Is this miserable life you’ve led?
Guarding a fortress
Seems like such a bore
You think you make it better
With all this blood and gore?
Yeah,
Well,
Those of us with heartbeats
Will go out and get plastered
After taking you out
And any other bastard
Who devotes his unlife
To causing people pain
In hell you and your friends
Can talk of what you gained
But for now let’s cure you
Of your appetite for brains!
Garrosh steps inside, and fires again.
Garrosh fires an arrow at the remaining juju zombie but it clanks off its leather armor.
"These things are nasty. And just sitting up here putting the town in danger. Doesn't give me a good feeling about the rest of the place." Piotr says as he hacks away at the thing.
Piotr manages to cleave the final juju zombie down.
The party finds on each a masterwork longsword, a masterwork longbow, 20 arrows and studded leather armor
"Those juju zombies look quite dangerous - would you rather I attempt to put them to rest, or save the divine energies for healing all of you?" Winter asks the party.
"Which are you better at?" Kilarra asks as she searches the bodies. While holding one of the bows, she looks at Hanako with a blank expression.
Hanako sings,
I can’t save the zombies’ souls
I can only save my friends fulla holes
She heals Kilarra with the song…
…and whips out her viol, healing Piotr with the instrumental.
To Winter, Hanako says, “I suggest we use magic for our survival, but Winter, if these juju zombies contain tortured souls that cannot rest, then your magic will be needed when we are no longer threatened.”
Piotr nods his thanks to Haniko for the healing. After the others have given their opinions to Winter, Piotr shrugs and adds "I'd say use what works best at the time."
He takes a moment to concentrate on letting Ann out, a greenish young woman comes out in a swirl of skirts and dark hair. Smiling to be free, she gives them a proper curtsey and a "Good Morning"
Piotr concentrates on protecting his sister, letting a layer of force surround her.
"Hey." Kilarra says as Ann comes out. "You already know what's up, yeah? No need to explain it."
"I can do both, but not at the same time." Winter furrows her eyebrows. "No to prevent them from rising as undead we can pile the bodies together so I can conduct last rites, but what I meant by laying them to rest is when they're attacking us."
"Hello, Ann...as you can see we're in a bit of a pickle here - we've been attacked by juju zombies. And these need a necromancer to animate them - it could mean that the necromancer is residing in this building." Winter adds. "I just hope that Accuser Omari managed to find out that something was amiss and got away before all this..."
"Those juju zombies look quite dangerous - would you rather I attempt to put them to rest, or save the divine energies for healing all of you?" Winter asks the party.
"I think we can assess on a per case basis Winter - if the wounds pile up, healing would take precedence. Otherwise, using Divine power to do away with these monstrosities is a worthy action" - Garrosh offers his opinion then goes to peer down the corridor.
Hanako places a hand gently on Winter’s shoulder (unless Winter’s body language suggests she shouldn’t). Hanako recalls the grim expression Miss Werntz had after seeing her vision.
“I am sorry, Miss Winter.”
Not that Hanako knows Omari is dead, but she would be pleasantly surprised to learn the accuser is a prisoner or holed up behind a barricade—anything that makes a rescue possible. But undead puppets have no sense of self-preservation. Hanako doesn’t think the barricade situation is realistic, nor can she fathom why a necromancer would keep a live prisoner.
Garrosh listens at the door but hears nothing. He doesn't smell anything odd either.
"I will use my own judgement, then," Winter replies. "And why are you sorry, Hanako?" Winter asks curiously. "It wasn't your fault that Accuser Omari came here."
Hanako shakes her head. “It was not my fault… but it did not occur to me until last night that I have the ability to sing to you, and you can ask questions of Omari.
“I sang for Miss Werntz. I was too ill from the poison to find out what she learned. Did she not share her visions with you?” As much as Hanako can control her facial expressions, which is a skill she had used regularly on the stage, right now her expression is heavy with guilt. The guilt is heartfelt, and Hanako’s expression is not a show… she simply makes no effort to conceal it.
She says, “I should have been clear when I sang the spells. What is learned should be shared. The spells give relevant information, and there is a responsibility…” Perhaps Hanako has been told this sort of thing by Miss Mizzola, or whoever taught her this magic. She doesn’t remember. She trails off, then redirects. “That is my fault.
“Chiding myself will change nothing. Miss Winter, I can sing to you now. Or I can sing so that I see the visions. They may be harder on you than they will be on me.”
"Hey it's time to ruck up and get s*~@ done. Girl talk comes later." Kilarra commands. She points to Piotr "You up front, I'll be at your side. Ann, do ghost stuff. Open up that door and let's move."
"Do... Ghost... Stuff?" Ann repeats with a Vast rolling of her eyes, before she goes through the door and starts looking around for enemies.
Piotr just chuckles, bumping Kilarra's shoulder in good-natured comradery and then opens the door his sister ignored the existence of.
"Miss Werntz did not tell me anything except being insistent that I waited for the party before I set off for Fort Hailcourse." Winter answers. "Perhaps she chose to conceal it from me so that I wouldn't have rushed over sooner, or perhaps for other reasons," Winter shakes her head. "We'll need to go back to ask her about it, but there's no point now."
"The spell you're using shows you what happened in the past, correct? Or what is currently happening?" Winter asks Hanako.
On being offered to see visions for herself, Winter shakes her head. "We're already here - we must as well save our magics for finding out what happened to Accuser Omari."
This room is furnished with a wooden desk decorated with the Ustalavic coat of arms. The walls are almost completely draped with warm, woolen tapestries.
Hanako nods, agreeing to save her magic for battle and survival. Considering her Biting Words spell will do more harm than arrows, she asks, “Can the undead understand whatever language they spoke in life?”
"Ask Garrosh," Winter frowns. "These aren't the usual run out of the mill undead."
"We can loot after. Let's move to the right." She points to the door for Piotr to open.
Hanako decides not to cast any spell for now. As for Baldhart, she tells her, “You need a magic sword to harm those things. Please stay as you are for now, so you cannot be hit easily.”
As soon as the door is a crack open, Baldy peers inside, taking advantage of her size to avoid being spotted.
Ann simply goes through the door again before anyone opens it to see if there are enemies. She hasn't run into anything yet that can hurt her when she is in this form so doesn't know if anything can.
If there are no screams of anything, Piotr opens the east door.
This room contains a long wooden table and a dozen chairs. A pair of decorated chests and a display case featuring a collection of creations from some of Thrushmoor’s artisans sit against the walls.
The table settings are well crafted, but not overly elaborate; the chests in the room contain high-quality tablecloths and banquet supplies.
Four hunchbacked, green-skinned humanoid with wide, frog-like head but a mouth more akin to that of a toothy fish stare at Ann as 3 of them move to attack but the fourth one opens the western door and calls out in a gurgling tongue.
Their tridents pass through Ann harmlessly causing their eyes to bulge out even further.
"Ask Garrosh," Winter frowns. "These aren't the usual run out of the mill undead."
Garrosh takes a moment to look through the desk they have just encountered, then moves off to check the door for traps.
Ann sticks her tongue out at the creatures then rushes through the door, back to her friends and family.
"Four ugly green frogmen with tridents, and yes they saw me. Get ready." she twirls to face the door, green daggers coming out, as Piotr wills her into existence.
"Frogmen?? What?" Kilarra stammers
Hanako readies her bow.
She sings, Let’s make some frog men croak!
Baldhart grows tall until she is a lanky giant! She readies her bow.
Garrosh realizes that the desk is trapped with a poison needle. Opening it with the proper key would bypass the trap, alternatively it could be disabled. The door is not trapped.
Kilarra can't think of anything that might be froggish, unless it might be a Blindheim, but again the description didn't seem quite right, since Blindheims don't use weapons.
The door does not open.
Garrosh readies his bow, in case these frogmen come for them - "This is becoming weirder and weirder"
Ann fiddles around with the trap but botches the process, resulting in a poisoned needle being shot at her, but it bounces off her ectoplasmic flesh.
Garrosh steps into the next room, before having a chance to check the contents of the desk.
He shoots a single arrow at the first frog like creature.
Winter casts guidance on Garrosh. "I don't remember frogmen being part of the Fort's retinue..." She remarks.
Garrosh hits the first frog like creature in the ribs.
The creatures attack Piotr, with those who are in his immediate reach stabbing him with their tridents while biting and clawing at him, and those who are not in their immediate reach throwing their tridents at him.
One trident hits Piotr on his thigh, the rest being sent too high or wide.
Out of the mirror steps Ann, glowing green and all, except that in her hand are two shortswords, and her hair is parted to the left instead of the right.
Garrosh identifies Ann's doppelganger as a soulsilver - they have fast healing and can crawl into any mirror as if it were a door or window, instantly transporting itself to another mirror within 500 feet as if using dimension door.
"Ann!? Why are there two of you?" Kilarra says as she strikes the ugly toad front and center.
Hanako sings to inspire the others:
So many frog-men
If not for the looks o’them
I’d think ’em a joke
Instead o’ laughing
Let’s start slice-in-halfing
Make these froggies croak
You warty bastards should be
Eating flies,
Bathing in the mud
When we get through, flies will be
Eating you,
Bathing in your blood
Baldhart sidesteps to flank Evil Ann with Garrosh. Though drawing her sword may be reckless, Hanako must be protected!
She draws her sword, and if Evil Ann doesn’t cut her down in a single blow, she strikes!
But no matter how big she is, controlling a blade that is seven fairies tall is not easy!
Piotr shifts his weight to his good legs, trying to keep his shield ready to protect the two women to his sides (though he knows perfectly well they do not need protecting). His own sword stabs out told the frog man's throat.
Ann's eyes narrow dangerously at the fake Ann, the grip on her own daggers hardening, but her brother is in danger (his leg bleeding pretty badly) so she stays by his side to fight. Green dagger slicing in a whirl to the frogman that dared hurt Piotr.
Kilarra severely wounds the red bordered skum as Piotr stabs the Green bordered skum, killing it, as Ann finishes off the red bordered skum with a single strike of her ectoplasmic daggers.
Baldhart's sword stroke just bounces across a blue shield.
From the North door another skum wielding a trident shows up as he points his claws at Piotr, 3 blue missiles streak towards him.
Both Garrosh and Piotr recognize the spell as magic missiles.
Winter walks to Piotr, getting stabbed badly by evil Ann as she does so.
She gives a grimace of pain then casts a healing spell on Piotr.