Balam, seeing the naga rise from the dead, run screaming from the temple, his mind having snapped at the horror of it all!!!!!
Vykral leaps backward out of range of the creature.
Sugit Init
Mahuman Init
So Dram, Crisk, Vykral, Sugit, Mahuman. We'll slot Ash in when he gets a chance to check in, for now lets say the sight of seeing a creature return to undeath has temporarily frozen his mind with terror :)
Map at start of round
Crisk yells "I hope your bad week continues Sugit!"
And I will move back towards the group a 5 ft step south.
As he moves into position, Dram's dagger hits the revenant with a solid "thunk", but the wound draws no blood from the pulseless creature. Crisk's curse fizzles as he falls back (Charm/Morale effect, yeah? Undead= Immune. DM= Neener neener :)). Vykral dodges the first thrashing of the creatures limbs and moves back, but is followed by the serpentine form. Sugit-that-was raises it's fists, now scaly, and attacks the halfling.
Attack THREAT!!!
Confirmation
Damage
If confirms +
Vykral please make a Fort save....
@DM Ender
@DM Ender ** spoiler omitted **
As Raj scampers off the the shadows, Ash draws his sword, and surges into place next to the little halfling. With all his strength he brings his sword down over his head, putting all of his strength into his blow.
Mahuman turns and yells for warriors...
Next round- Dram, Crisk, Ash, Vykral, Sugit, Mahuman
Vykral moves behind ash to get out of the creature's reach and begins to tell a story about a bad date with a halfling that had hands like ice.
You feel like something just tugged at your very life force, like his attack hit both your physical being and your spiritual one.
Dram stalks up behind the foul creature and slams his shortsword home.
Crisk begins to mumble to himself and lays his hands on Ash giving him guidance.
Having moved up on Vik's right, Ash now steps left to catch the undead monstrosity between himself and Dram. Again, the young man swings his sword in a powerful arc, this time horizontally, hoping to end the fight as quickly as possible.
As Dram and Ash's attacks rain down, the creature whips it's fists around, trying to connect with Ash.
Attack
Damage
Both bladesmen feel an odd resistance as their weapons slash at the monster, and the wounds they leave behind seem less deep, the damage less severe, than when fighting other creatures.
Vykral moves closer to the door, and maintains her performance. As she does, sunlight glints off of her armor studs, and alights on the Revenant. The reaction is immediate- Black smoke boils off the creatures skin where ever the sunlight fell heaviest, leaving wicked scorch marks across the pale flesh, and drawing an agonized shriek from the creature.
Mahumans cries for more warriors rouse the sleepy village, and several begin to assemble weapons and armor.
Dram attempts to stab into the undead thing. "Why won't you die again."
int check
Crisk mumbles under his breathe and lays his hands on Ash again giving him Guidance. +1 to next attack
1d20+7 vs ac, 1d6+1+2d6
Dram attempts to stab into the undead thing. "Why won't you die again."
@ Crisk
looks around for any polished object that could be used to redirect the sunlight at the beast.
Vykral sees a number of mirrors on the walls of the temple. Getting one down may be difficult, as they are hung for "full sized" creatures.
Ash yells, "Somebody get a torch!" as he keeps up the attack, pressing hard with all his strength.
@ Ash
Ash's Attack finally seems to drop the creature, it's slithery form falling immobile on the teak wood floor.
@ Vykral- You manage to knock the mirror off the wall, but it shatters into jagged shards. On the way down you notice something odd.
Ash watches with some surprise as the perverted form of what was once a proud Naga warrior drops to the ground. After a moment's pause, he prods the (still?) lifeless corpse with his sword, and then remarks, "We should probably burn the body, just to be safe."
"We should chop off its head and pull it into the sun, and then burn it. I'm just saying you can never be too careful with pscyhos."
As the party discusses what to do with the remains, the guards summoned by Mahuman arrive, along with a seemingly out-of-place human. He look like an ascetic, but carries himself like a warrior.
Holding my hands in front of my face in a traditional ceremonial greeting I say, "It is the grace of The Unbeheld that has lead me to this moment. I am Daiwik Acharya, Parsi in the Temple of Veiled Visage. At once, your equal and your servant."
As I move toward the corpse of the revenant, my muscles tense and a furrow knits in my brow. Having been taller than most in the monastery, I walk with confidence in a smooth, upright gait and my lean frame speaks to a life of healthy living as much as the lack of tan to my skin suggests a more sheltered upbringing.
I kneel next to the corpse in clothes that looked once to be of fine workmanship that have since been deconstructed both by force and their colors faded by exposure to sunlight and the elements. "Tell me of this man," I say as I crouch down and my blue eyes scan the body.
As I listen to an account of the Naga's demise and the circumstances under which he was found, I recall tales of creatures that may fit the description of what the witnesses describe. "No reflection..." I mutter to myself as I ponder the nature of this terrible resurrection.
Mahuman tells Daiwik the same information about Sugit, but includes his rise to unlife. Vykral explains about the reflected sunlight and lack of reflection, Crisk about the ineffectiveness of his curses, and Dram and Ash about Sugit's ability to shrug off damage. After considering this for a moment...
Daiwik is unable to discern between the new and old wounds, but...
I say a prayer that sounds like a deep, tonal chant over the body for a few moments then stand. Turning after praying over the body, I say to the assemblage, "This creature is no longer Sugit but something else entirely in it's unlife. It is like no other that I have read or heard about. It has the light weaknesses of the Baital (the half man and half bat) or maybe the Masani - called 'vampire' in the common tongue; yet, there is something more... You described that, in addition to the pain of it's blows, you felt a pull at your consciousness... your very soul. The touch of the Masani does not unseat the soul from the very flesh of the living. That property is found with corpses that have part of their decayed soul still in residence after death... they are commonly called 'whihts' or 'wights' in common. This is something new. Not completely wight... not completely vampire but but a hybrid of both... may The Everpresent be with us if something is creating more of these things for the would be a plague upon the living if allowed to grow in number."
I take a shard of the mirror that Vykral broke and step into a sunbeam to guide a shaft of light on to the body saying, "If the animus that raised Sugit's body is truly gone, it will not burn when the sun's rays strike it and Sugit should be able to be laid to rest without further need to defile his body.
...
"I don't like our chances if we come up against even a few of these..." "We are noticeably lacking on silver weapons, and the majority of my spells will have little to no affect..." "Our mission was to scout and report... we should involve the army to clear these out... If you wish the aid Mahuman"
I take a shard of the mirror that Vykral broke and step into a sunbeam to guide a shaft of light on to the body saying, "If the animus that raised Sugit's body is truly gone, it will not burn when the sun's rays strike it and Sugit should be able to be laid to rest without further need to defile his body.
The sunlight dances over the corpse, but there is no other apparent reaction.
Knowledge Religion = 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (19) + 7 = 26: Vampire Vulnerabilities (ex. DR/???, fire, etc.)
Knowledge Religion = 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (11) + 7 = 18: Wight Vulnerabilities (same as above)
Knowledge Religion = 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (17) + 7 = 24: Vampire Protection (ex. things that ward off vampires)
Knowledge Religion = 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (10) + 7 = 17: Wight Protection (same as above)
"I don't like our chances if we come up against even a few of these..." "We are noticeably lacking on silver weapons, and the majority of my spells will have little to no affect..." "Our mission was to scout and report... we should involve the army to clear these out... If you wish the aid Mahuman"
Mahuman, still reeling frpm the horror of Sugit's reanimation, shakes his head affirmatively. "Yes, yes, we need the help. I had no idea what we faced. You must find out where they are coming from."
"Have faith Crisk, The Unbeheld equips us with weapons against the living dead though they need not be silvered. They might not be influenced like the living, they can be fought."
"I would accompany any who would seek to rid the world of abominations like these. They are an affront to grace of the Everpresent and must not be allowed to propogate as they can reproduce themselves into a plague on the land."
"Mahuman, if you would accept my counsel, I would instruct you to have your people to use caution when outside of the community. Hunt by daylight and in groups for the lone hunter, no matter how great his skill, can easily fall prey to unholy beasts like this. Tell me, do you have a holy man who is strong enough in his faith to shephard your people should more like these attack? I would also ask where Sugit's body was found as that would be the most likely place to start looking for the source of these creatures."
"All we know of them is this: They come every few weeks, and raid the gems we are preparing for shipment. Pacha Bosh demands a certain number of amethysts every month, the rest we trade up and down the coast. They come only at night, by long boats with muffled oars. Between raids we find no evidence of their presence, so we have no idea how they know to strike our shipments."
Mahuman looks around nervously as the summoned guards crane their ears to hear. "Sugit was slain near one of the amethyst pits. I can have someone lead you there if you wish, but it will tell you nothing."
"I say we mark all of the relevant bits down on the map and make our report, a bigger force will surely destory the undead prescence easier than a small force."
Re dotting
As Ash listens, he bends over the corpse, and Raj scrambles over and climbs on to his back. Standing, he takes the monkeyin his arms, and pets his head. Listening to the others, he nods attentively, but adds, "Dram is right, I'm afraid, Manhuman. We are equipped to handle such a task, nor do we have time. An army marches behind us, and we need to provide for their needs first. We can send word to our commander, and perhaps they can help you, or free us to do so."
I am poor at hiding my agitation and confusion, I stand mouth agape for a moment, then I close my eyes to collect mysel with a deep breath. "Am I to understand that you would leave these people to the mercy of these monsters? Surely, this is some trick of language that I am too simple to understand. Does not the great Veiled Mother Xandria teach us in the Treatices on Courage, that the mettle of a man is not tested at a time of their choosing? True, we may not have silver weapons as Crisk mentions but this one died without them. Are we to abandon these people to their fate?"