As Katia approaches, the wet, red ground starts to roil and undulate. First a skeletal hand erupts from the ground, then another, then another. The mud gives way to four bloody humanoid skeletons clawing their way out of their shallow graves.
As if that wasn't terrifying enough, one of the flayed skins nailed to the longhouse wall begins to move. It tears itself off the wall and comes flying at you, moaning a haunting, terrible moan. Its upper half is mainly intact but its lower half is a tatter of torn, bloody skin.
Oona (38/38 hp)
Mac (36/36 hp, 2 dex damage)
Skeletons (0 damage)
Katia (30/30 hp)
Skin (0 damage)
Freyja (43/43 hp)
Bold may act.
Oona's initial horror subsides just enough to let her speak. "The flesh! It's a shredskin! Don't let it attach to one of the corpses!"
She points to the skeletons and commands Mac, "Attack!"
Then she steps to the side and touches Freyja's arm. "Magdh guide your shots."
Mac utters another growling whimper, but leaps to obey the command, rushing one of the skeletons and chomping down on its leg.
Mac's reluctant bite lands directly on the skeleton's pelvis, tearing it right in half. It falls.
The remaining three skeletons all swing their makeshift weapons at Mac, but only one manages to land a hit, barely causing a scratch .
Oona (38/38 hp)
Mac (35/36 hp, 2 dex damage, -2 AC [1 round])
Skeleton #1 (9 damage, dead)
Skeleton #2 (0 damage)
Skeleton #3 (0 damage)
Skeleton #4 (0 damage)
Katia (30/30 hp)
Shredskin (0 damage)
Freyja (43/43 hp)
Bold may act.
The shredskin shrieks in pain and anger as the snowball hits him. The chill runs through its skin and covers it in a thin layer of frost.
It moves forward and wraps itself around skeleton #2. The skeleton resists briefly but ultimately the shredskin wrests control of it.
Oona (38/38 hp)
Mac (35/36 hp, 2 dex damage, -2 AC [1 round])
Skeleton #1 (9 damage, dead)
Skeleton #2 (0 damage, controlled)
Skeleton #3 (0 damage)
Skeleton #4 (0 damage)
Katia (30/30 hp)
Shredskin (12 damage, controlling #2)
Freyja (43/43 hp)
Bold may act.
Freyja steps a bit closer to the skeletons and fires two arrows at #3. She knows they won't do full damage but she's hoping the sheer force behind them can disrupt the skeleton's weak integrity.
Seeing the first skeleton crumble to her first shot, she adjusts the second shot and is satisfied to see #4 fall apart as well.
The shredskin shrieks in pain and anger as the snowball hits it. The chill runs through its skin and covers it in a thin layer of frost.
It moves forward and wraps itself around skeleton #2. The skeleton resists briefly but ultimately the shredskin wrests control of it.
Oona (38/38 hp)
Mac (35/36 hp, 2 dex damage)
Skeleton #1 (9 damage, dead)
Skeleton #2 (0 damage, controlled)
Skeleton #3 (8 damage, dead)
Skeleton #4 (7 damage, dead)
Katia (30/30 hp)
Shredskin (12 damage, controlling #2)
Freyja (43/43 hp)
Bold may act. (#2 cannot act on its own so Katia can go too.)
Oona touches Freyja's shoulder again, granting her another shot of power over Fate, then hurries forward to join Mac in the melee.
Mac snaps at the shredskin, hoping to bring it down to the ground.
Mac's bite lands, but it seems to damage the skeleton underneath as much as the creature controlling it.
The shredskin unleashes a flurry of attacks at Mac, a whirlwind of teeth and claws. Mac dodges the bite but both claws connect with his face .
Oona (38/38 hp)
Mac (29/36 hp, 2 dex damage)
Skeleton #1 (9 damage, dead)
Skeleton #2 (3 damage, controlled)
Skeleton #3 (8 damage, dead)
Skeleton #4 (7 damage, dead)
Katia (30/30 hp)
Shredskin (15 damage, controlling #2)
Freyja (43/43 hp)
Bold may act.
Freyja moves closer to the fray, drawing a single arrow back on the bowstring. She holds a moment longer to ensure the shot is true, then looses.
Freyja's arrow passes through the shredskin, doing minimal damage to the skeleton underneath, but tearing a huge hole in the shredskin. It looks like it is barely maintaining control of the skeleton.
Oona (38/38 hp)
Mac (29/36 hp, 2 dex damage)
Skeleton #1 (9 damage, dead)
Skeleton #2 (4 damage, controlled)
Skeleton #3 (8 damage, dead)
Skeleton #4 (7 damage, dead)
Katia (30/30 hp)
Shredskin (21 damage, controlling #2)
Freyja (43/43 hp)
Bold may act.
Oona strides forward and bears down on the shredskin with her scythe.
Mac gnaws on whatever is left.
Oona's scythe blade passes right through the shredskin, severing its head from the rest of its gruesome body. It falls away, leaving the skeleton underneath standing.
Oona (38/38 hp)
Mac (29/36 hp, 2 dex damage)
Skeleton #1 (9 damage, dead)
Skeleton #2 (4 damage)
Skeleton #3 (8 damage, dead)
Skeleton #4 (7 damage, dead)
Katia (30/30 hp)
Shredskin (25 damage, dead)
Freyja (43/43 hp)
Bold may act.
Both of Freyja's shots miss :(
Oona (38/38 hp)
Mac (29/36 hp, 2 dex damage)
Skeleton #1 (9 damage, dead)
Skeleton #2 (4 damage)
Skeleton #3 (8 damage, dead)
Skeleton #4 (7 damage, dead)
Katia (30/30 hp)
Shredskin (25 damage, dead)
Freyja (43/43 hp)
Bold may act.
Freyja fires another two arrows.
Oona puts all the force she can muster behind her scythe, hoping to overcome the skeleton's damage reduction with brute force.
The final skeleton breaks under Oona's sycthe, falling into several pieces on the ground.
Oona places a healing hand upon Mac before continuing.
She then moves forward to inspect the remains of the longhouse for supplies or survivors, though she has little hopes for either.
Oona finds no survivors. It seems most of the tiny settlement is either in the shallow mass grave that the skeletons crawled from or gone (most likely as slaves to the Ironfang Legion). She finds a small mummified hand on a chain hanging around the shredskin's neck.
You also find a 10lb sack of coffee beans, a masterwork kukri, a healer's kit, and a canister of nondescript gray powder.
The shallow grave is in terrible shape. It is muddy and blood-stained and various body parts have unburied.
"Me neither. As to the bodies, I don't know that we have the time. We need get to the Chernasado as soon as possible."
She puts her hands on her hips and purses her lips. "Then again, if the dead rose once, they could again. If we had a scroll of consecrate, I'd feel better. As it stands, our hands and intentions will have to do."
She helps Katia start filling in the mass grave with sod, and gathering stones to make a burial mound.
You take an hour or so to make the mass grave as suitable as possible for the victims. Perhaps Aubrin can return with you later to properly put these souls to rest.
It is now early afternoon.
Oona mutters a brief prayer over the burial stones before dusting herself off and nodding. "Let's get moving."
You turn southeast to head towards the Ranger's redoubt. You cross the road without incident and reach the edge of the forest after another two hours. It is nerve-wracking covering the half mile of open ground between the forest proper and the small forest "island" that contains the redoubt, but you also pass it without any trouble.
It is nearing dusk when you reach the redoubt. The forest grows thick here, trees pressed close together with their branches intertwined. A gloom hangs in the air. Foliage around the base of the trees is sparse, stunted by lack of sunlight. The songs of birds and noises of small animals have ceased, adding to the eerie atmosphere of the ancient woods.
Oona keeps her scythe out, but rests it against her shoulder as she walks, not brandishing it but keeping it in easy reach. The unnatural silence worries her. "Stay close, fur-face," she mutters to Mac.
When they reach the bridge, she stops the party and inspects it.
Mac lets out a very low, almost imperceptible growl as he pads forward, ears twitching as he moves, nose snuffling at the air.
"STOP! There is a web across that bridge."
Once Freyja points it out, the rest of you see it immediately: a large, nearly transparent web constructed across the bridge. It looks like you could make it across without becoming caught in the web if you crouch and move slowly.
Oona shimmies across the bridge more or less on her belly, then turns back to Mac once she's reached the other side, trying to get him to emulate her.
Mac, looking adorably silly because of his immense size, squeezes down low and shimmies across the bridge, his face looking very serious, until he reaches the other side and prances up and down a little, wolf tongue lolling out the side of his mouth as he pants happily.
|
Katia, shaking her head in amusement, shimmies along the bridge as well. Once she reaches the other side, however, her face darkens. "I don't like this," she says once Freyja has joined them on the other side. "Who put that web up? It doesn't seem like the kind of trap a ranger would use. I have a bad feeling about this."
Right as Katia mentions her unease, both her and Oona notice the spider and the ... other creature in the trees. Unfortunately, they don't notice all of the creatures in the trees. A gross squishy, squirting sound comes from another nearby tree, and a large web shoots at Mac. Fortunately, it misses him.
All the creatures are up in the trees, about 12 feet up.
Oona (38/38 hp)
Mac (36/36 hp, 2 dex damage)
Freyja (43/43 hp)
Spider 1 (0 damage)
Spider 2 (0 damage)
Katia (30/30 hp)
Other creature (0 damage)
Bold may act.
Oona draws her scythe and sends a rush of adrenaline through her body, focusing on the power and strength of the bull. "Ettercap. Beware its webs and venomous bite."
Mac hurries to the other side, looking for the thing that attacked it with a low growl. Spotting it, it rushes at it, but it's high up in the tree. He scrabbles at the bark with a frustrated whine, but can't reach the creature.
Freyja moves through the marshy ground, heading for the spider that tried to web Mac.
The ettercap pulls its legs up out of Mac's reaching jaws. Freyja's arrow hits spider #2, directly through one of its many eyes.
In response, both spiders shoot webs at Freyja, but they both fall short.
Oona (38/38 hp)
Mac (36/36 hp, 2 dex damage)
Freyja (43/43 hp)
Spider 1 (0 damage)
Spider 2 (12 damage)
Katia (30/30 hp)
Ettercap (0 damage)
Bold may act.
Both spiders are able to dodge out of the worst of Katia's flames; however, the tree they are in sets on fire, threatening to burn them if they stay where they are . In addition, the spider with an arrow sticking out of its eye looks like it's on the verge of death.
The ettercap turns its rear end towards Mac and fires a sticky mess down at him. The web covers Mac and sticks him to the ground. The ettercap looks hungrily down at its newly trapped prey.
Oona (38/38 hp)
Mac (36/36 hp, 2 dex damage, entangled)
Freyja (43/43 hp)
Spider 1 (4 damage)
Spider 2 (16 damage, disabled)
Katia (30/30 hp)
Ettercap (0 damage)
Bold may act.
Freyja fires two arrows at #1.
Freyja's first arrow goes all the way through #1, and it drops from the tree.
Oona (38/38 hp)
Mac (36/36 hp, 2 dex damage, entangled)
Freyja (43/43 hp)
Spider 1 (17 damage, unconscious and dying)
Spider 2 (16 damage, disabled)
Katia (30/30 hp)
Ettercap (0 damage)
Bold may act.