Seraxiss goes outside to see what the hubbub is all about.
"Let'sss go Brunkk. Nothing more we can do here."
As you both go outside, you can hear yelling, the smoke in the distance is getting thicker and you can make out fire, There are people running around, and you can see one man being dragged away from the fire, having received some kind of injury.
"Where did the dead men go?"
"They ran back into the forest."
You hear two men shouting at each other. After a little while, people start to notice the two strangers coming out of the shop.
"Monsters! More of them!"
shout the peasants, none of them are warriors and being already panicked they start to run away, scrambling in all directions.
Brunkk rubs the back of his head awkwardly.
"T'ink they're in the mood to argue semantics?"
You could probably try and convince the ignorant masses that you are clearly alive and had nothing to do with this, you could assist in the fires, that might also help make your case. Though with this talk of dead men fleeing into the woods, These must be a connection to the Necromancer. You could always follow them.
Your options as they seem to be are to either
1) Assist here and wait for the hunter to return as a guide.
2) Follow the Dead men into the woods, track them through the woods, hopefully back to their place of origin.
"Let'sss follow the undead. Who knowsss if the huntersss are even alive?"
Brunkk grunts in agreement.
"Better than tryin' to convince that mob the Ogre's not responsible."
The mob that assaulted the provisioners left a easy trail to follow up till the forests edge, You pass by a few thatch houses that have been set ablaze but the peasants seem to have it under control. Once you reach the woods it's a little harder, But Seraxxis is able to pick up skeletal foot prints in the underbrush. And you follow them into the forest, as the forest gets denser the tracks become more difficult to spot and progress slows.
It was an hour and half past noon when you left the village. several hours pass without incident and it starts to grow dark, With a thick canopy over your head, it's almost pitch black. before long you all are trudging in the dark, At which point you lose the trail.
Seraxiss claps his claws together and taps the Buckler on his arm which promptly begins to produce Light.
You spend a good twenty minuets looking for signs of the tracks in the thick underbrush, You feel almost convinced you'll have to give up till morning. But Brunkk is able to locate suspicious scrapes on the trunk of a tree, that would of gone unnoticed otherwise. They are artificial and indicate a direction, you are able to get back on trail.
After you regain the trail you travel again for several more hours by magical light, Soon the trail starts to head up the slope at the base of the mountain, It is nearing Two past midnight before anything changes, As you go up another slope you hear the whistle of air and a thud as an arrow lands in the dirt right at Seraxiss's feet, The arrow soared from outside both of your visions but you can tell from how landed that it came from ahead.
You never count as an ally for the purpose of gaining benefits from another creature’s abilities, nor do you count as a willing target for spells. Anyone attempting to target you with a touch range spell, even a beneficial spell, must succeed at a melee touch attack, though you need not attempt saving throws against harmless spells. You gain no benefit from another creature’s aid another attempts, as you are too busy making sure they aren’t secretly tricking or sabotaging you.
Seraxiss follows the tracks the best he is able until nightfall, upon which he calls upon the Trickster's aid, despite knowing the dangers involved. A sharp spike of pain lances through his brain as his psyche becomes muddled.
Serenthia, no wait, Seraxiss hisses a curse and snaps her jaws open and closed again.
"Dont touch me!" The Lizardfolk clutches his head with one hand and winces.
"Brunkk- no, who are you? No, I know who you are. Sssorry, pleassse bear with me until morning. I should have the tracksss now." Seraxiss eyes Brunkk with no small amount of suspicion and occasionally looks over her shoulder at the ogre before scanning the rest of the area.
When the arrow hits the ground, he immediately dives behind a tree for cover and goes silent.
Brunkk takes a look at the trees around him and decides taking cover is futile.
Instead, he moves towards where he thinks the arrow came from, collecting a few nice chucking rocks as he does, and readies himself for the next arrow.
He looks back briefly at his scaly partner to make sure he's not trying to sneak up behind him, but otherwise keeps going until he sees who's shooting at them.
If another arrow comes flying at him, he casually flicks it out of the arrow with his meaty fingers.
As Brunkk approaches foreword he does not get shot at, And as he goes up the slope he see's that the trees break into an opening at the top of the slope. He can make out the crumbling walls of two buildings just in the at the edge of his vision.
Serenthia sits tight behind cover, partially convinced Brunkk has abandoned him and lead her into a trap. Also partially convinced Brunkk is simply leading the charge while Seraxiss sticks out like a sore thumb.
"I don't know what you want bandit...or perhapsss you are the elves I heard about in town...but you will not find me easy prey!" And with those words, Seraxiss drops the light spell.
"Hrn. Blacksmith?" Brunkk mutters to himself, and heads toward the sound at speed.
As you walk to the edge of the clearing.
"Skkkt, Skkkkt, Hey stop."
hisses a voice from above your heads. They are clearly trying to be quiet but having noticed the party they want to get their attention.
"Don't go out there, there are dead things there."
the voice hisses from the darkness, now being able to pinpoint a voice, you can make out the human in the tree, He is squinting in the darkness and seems to be having trouble seeing who he is speaking too, but he does seem to know you are there.
"Who is that?"
he asks.
Seraxiss slips closer, moving from tree to tree.
"How do I know you're not with the Necromancer?" Serenthia calls out, clutching the tree and digging his claws in with a bit of tension.
"Huh? You the one who was shootin' at me?"
"Necro what? I ain't working with no one. Me and my pa came here while hunting and there where dead things, They attacked me and pa and I got away... I think They got pa though. So I stuck around to see if I could get his body back."
Said the young hunter, pausing for a second.
"I saw your light, I thought you might of been from the village, I just tryin to scare you away... But you don't sound like you're from the village too different sounding. "
He pauses again, shuffling around.
"Look, Y'all gotta be careful, This is my third moon hiding in the tree and I've been watching all the dead men, there are more of them every night, They attack anything livin that gets near them, not just folk like us, I've seen them picking fights with darn near any animal that gets close to them. They just wanna kill."
"We're here to nab the guy that's makin' all the undead."
"Well, It must be the man we brought here then, I knew that man seemed weird, all jumpy and stuff, but he paid pa in gold so we brought him... There are dead men in the town. And just to the west of the town they dug a big hole to get at the dead people in the ground, There are some there too. I see them taking the bones through the day. They take them all to the old mine just a little ways up the mountainside. I think that must be where he is, Ain't no one in the town but dead men."
He pauses for a second to think.
"One of the dead men in the town ain't the same as the others. it looks like any other deadman, save for the beard. but I've seen it attack the others that get close to it, and it spends day and night working at the old forge. But It is probably don't matter, I can guide you to the cave if you want, it's just a little east of here."
Seraxiss pops up out of a bush near the two.
"Thisss blacksssmith sssoundsss interesssting. If it killsss the other bonesss then perhapsss it can be of use. Mossst undead lack the ability to sssmith."
"Yup."
Brunkk keeps walking the way he was going before.
"Ok...If you think that's wise, My name is Percy By the way, Percy Jr. to be exact... If you're gonna go in there then I wanna come along, I'm well enough with a bow and I can be real quiet like, I wanna see if I can find my pa's body."
Said the human, holding out his hand to both Seraxiss and Brunkk for a shake.
"The ones in town have been stripping all the wood from the old houses, I'm not sure why, but they ain't good at spotting so if we're real quiet I we can walk circles around them."
Kill him, he already tried to shoot me once. As soon as we get into a fight, he'll turn on us.
Seraxiss nods slowly, but refuses physical contact.
"I can be quiet...but Brunkk isss a bit...notisssable"
The Human nods.
"He does look pretty big, He'll knock some skulls real good I bet."
As you both continue on into the village, Percy keeps a few paces behind you two, taking quiet careful steps even though Brunkk's stomps thunder into the night.
You three go between the two crumbled buildings and continue on, there are a good dozen or so shacks in this dead village,
As you approach the center of you village you come up to a large central well, Circular and about five feet in diameter.
From here you see two distinct buildings.
One is a large wooden building, One story tall but compared to the shacks it's huge, and could easily fit 10 of the tiny shacks inside it. It has big double doors that are wide open. It's an old warehouse.
Across a overgrown ruddy track from the Warehouse you see what is clearly the smithy, It's made out of stone and unlike the rest of the buildings, does not seem to have fallen into disrepair in any noticeable sense, you can see smoke coming from a stone chimney at the roof, and the faint red glow of a fire glows around the cracks of the smithy's door.
As Brunkk Lumbers over to the Smithy where the bangs can be heard, The noise is suddenly interrupted by the sounds of bones rattling, as from the darkness of the warehouse.
From the Shadow of the Warehouse Emerges a Skeleton wielding a Long spear in it's hands.
And right behind it comes along a skeletal creature of some kind
It appears to be a mass of mismatched humanoid bones that have been bonded together to create some kind of squat six legged abomination. It's central body is four rib cages that have been attached spine to spine in a circle with the rib cages points skyward. Six human legs jut out from it's central body at strategic points on the edges, It's has four arms coming out of the front, and two human skulls snaking from just above it's arms, The pair of skulls are attached to the body by long separated spinal cords. The closest creature it seems to parody is that of a crab.
It is squat standing at only about four feet high, but it's wide base takes up the space of a large creature
The Skeleton charges straight at Seraxiss Long Spear out, and attempts to plunge it into him
But the bumbling skeleton just drives it into the ground instead.
While the Clattering Six footed monster lumbers in an awkward path towards Brunkk.
Seraxiss hisses at the skeleton and for a moment has a clear mind as his combat instincts kick in. He proceeds to try to tear the bones apart.
Brunkk quite delicately, and with finesse BASHES THE SKELETON THING OVER THE HEAD WITH HIS FISTFUL OF BIG ROCKS
Seraxiss's Teeth scrape harmlessly against bone, and his first swing bounces off the monster, but his final swing causes the bones to crack sickeningly.
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Brunkk drumps a whole heap of stones onto the skeletal crab, Bones and rib cages crack and splinter, but the creature still stands.
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Percy who is still somewhat blinded by the darkness draws his bow and takes a shot at the big bone crab.
What a shot!, the arrow strikes the crab in it's most structurally vital point. But the pointed arrow just bounces off.
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A skeleton also wielding a long spear comes out of the Workshop, and he charges up to Seraxiss thrusting at him.
But it misses
The other skeleton drops his spear and tries to slash and bite at Seraxiss.
Miss
Potential Crit
Miss
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The Skeletal crab raises it's self up and uses the full force of it's dense body to slam into Brunkk, While it's hands reach out to grab and claw at the ogre.
Miss
Miss
Miss
But all of the large ogre holds his ground well.
--------------------------------------------------------
Seraxiss keeps trying to pull the skeleton apart.
After the first two hits the skeleton falls apart.
Full-Round Action: A full-round action consumes all your effort during a round. The only movement you can take during a full-round action is a 5-foot step before, during, or after the action.
Seraxiss steps forward and slashes the other skeleton too.
Brunkk smashes the skele-crab again.
Brunkk clearly wanting to show Percy how you actually defeat a giant enemy crab. Hits him in the same weak point for maximum damage, It falls apart into chipped bones and crumples to the floor.
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While Percy draws his bow and shoots at the last skeleton.
the shot hits but again just clatters off him, Percy curses realizing that his bow is not very effective against these creatures.
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The last skeleton just thrusts at seraxiss
Weakly bounces off his armor.
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There remains only one skeleton, He's five feet in front of Seraxiss. The Crumbled bones of the Crab start to clatter as individual bits of him begin to lose their connection to undeath and return to regular dead.
Seraxiss crouches low and lunges for the skeleton mid section with his teeth and tries to rip the legs off with his claws.
The last skeleton looks on the verge of crumbling, He clatters with hatred in his black empty eyes.
Brunkk doesn't feel like moving, so he just casually throws two of his rocks at the skeleton.
"Hrn. Skinny target's hard to hit."
Percy Takes a shot at the skeleton.
*plink*
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The Skeleton thrusts, He puts his backbone into this one.
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Seraxiss bats at the skeleton with his claws before going in with his teeth.
The first two claws miss, obviously enraged at the idea of another round of misses, Seraxiss actually bites into the bag od bones and rips it apart.
The Last skeleton falls to bits, and the area returns to silence, except the metal banging noises coming from the Smeltery, It had never stopped the whole fight despite all the odd noises.
"Good. Let's move." is all Brunkk says, before heading into the Smeltery.
Seraxiss crushes the bones between his teeth before spitting them out.
"This is why you should eat your dead."
At Brunkk's words, Serenthia snaps her head in his direction and eyes him warily before following.
As Brunkk, Seraxiss, And Percy open the door they are struck by a searing heat, not enough to injure, but enough to make the warm blooded immediately sweat. It's a small building, and Brunkk finds himself needed to squat just a tiny bit to avoid scraping his head on the roof.
The Building consists of one central room, the walls looks like they where lined with wooden shelves at some point but they have all either rotted away or been ripped right out of the wall, Littering the floor at the furthest point from the forge you see a pile of discarded bits of weapon bits, Arrowheads, Spear Heads, Blades, and Axe heads freshly forged and ready to be hafted.
At the floor near the center of the room you can see a scattering of bones, three Skeletons worth of skulls and rib cages, Though they all have been smashed up a bit. Among the bones you also see a severed hand, It looks fresh compared to the bones with only the beginnings of decay.
There is a smelter and a forge, Both are lit and both glow white and are the source of the extreme heat. Leaning on the forge is a wicked looking great axe, it's haft and head are masterfully decorated with runes and images of beer steins.
At the Forge stands a squat skeletal figure bashing at a white hot bit of metal, And dipping it in the water with a hiss, he looks at the bit of steel and suddenly flings it at the wall, Cursing in dwarven, what was clearly a blade slams against the stone wall and clatters to the ground among the other bits of weaponry. The Skeleton then looks at the three new guests, looking about as surprised as a skinless face could possibly look.
He's clearly a dwarven skeleton, if she short squat nature didn't give it away, The fact that his braided beard is still attached his jawbone. He looks at the guests, his glowing red eyes jumping to Seraxiss and Brunkk suspiciously, and then he looks at percy and suddenly his stance changes.
"By my beard! Grayne! Long time no see lad, you've gotten so big! Who are ye friends, odd fellas for a human lad to befriend?"
Shouted the skeleton, his voice seeming to echo from his skinless mouth, While Percy looks at him confused.
As Brunkk, Seraxiss, And Percy open the door they are struck by a searing heat, not enough to injure, but enough to make the warm blooded immediately sweat. It's a small building, and Brunkk finds himself needed to squat just a tiny bit to avoid scraping his head on the roof.
The Building consists of one central room, the walls looks like they where lined with wooden shelves at some point but they have all either rotted away or been ripped right out of the wall, Littering the floor at the furthest point from the forge you see a pile of discarded bits of weapon bits, Arrowheads, Spear Heads, Blades, and Axe heads freshly forged and ready to be hafted.
At the floor near the center of the room you can see a scattering of bones, three Skeletons worth of skulls and rib cages, Though they all have been smashed up a bit. Among the bones you also see a severed hand, It looks fresh compared to the bones with only the beginnings of decay.
There is a smelter and a forge, Both are lit and both glow white and are the source of the extreme heat. Leaning on the forge is a wicked looking great axe, it's haft and head are masterfully decorated with runes and images of beer steins.
At the Forge stands a squat skeletal figure bashing at a white hot bit of metal, And dipping it in the water with a hiss, he looks at the bit of steel and suddenly flings it at the wall, Cursing in dwarven, what was clearly a blade slams against the stone wall and clatters to the ground among the other bits of weaponry. The Skeleton then looks at the three new guests, looking about as surprised as a skinless face could possibly look.
He's clearly a dwarven skeleton, if she short squat nature didn't give it away, The fact that his braided beard is still attached his jawbone. He looks at the guests, his glowing red eyes jumping to Seraxiss and Brunkk suspiciously, and then he looks at percy and suddenly his stance changes.
"By my beard! Grayne! Long time no see lad, ye gotten so big! Who are ye friends, odd fellas for a human lad to befriend?"
Shouted the skeleton, his voice seeming to echo from his skinless mouth, While Percy looks at him confused.
Seraxiss pauses for a moment, feeling Serenthia's attention wane. Her experience with the dead was fortunately not as useful as Seraxiss' own. The suspicions lingered in his thoughts however.
"Greetingsss honored dwarf. This one isss Seraxiss. We are hunting thisss man. He isss criminal." Seraxiss holds up the bounty poster.
Seraxiss glances at the flames and whispers under his breath.
"Embersss dancing in the flame."
The Dwarf skeleton lumbers up closer, and puts hit face almost right up against the poster, almost as if he was blind.
"You're hunting for a criminal, Ahh I recognize that face, That's that layabout Lenny, the whore's kid, He don't do any work, and I'm certain he's the one stealing from the warehouse."
he continues to stare at it then looks back up at Seraxaiss, His red glowing eyes suddenly dimming for a split second, then relighting.
"Wha...You! You have a lot of nerve coming back here, Where is my money?"
the skeleton suddenly screams at Serraxis.
Seraxiss draws his head back and is confused for a moment...that is until Serenthia steps in.
"You are sssilly, I don't owe you anything anymore. And here I wasss hoping to drink together tonight."