Iren's PbP - Chapter 2

[DemoGraph]

Felix cries: "Run! Inside!"

He tries to push @Kal into the chapel and lock (or barricade) the heavy oak door from inside.
If Kal struggles and tries to stay, run alone. Five to one aren't good odds. And dagger is definitely a wrong weapon to cut walking dead with.

After that he begins to look for something heavy - staffs, ceremonial halberds, long sticks, something bashing or slashing that can damage meat lumps long dead.
Meanwhile, Felix calls for father Altanis (loudly!), tells about undead, urges him to close the other doors to the chapel (if there are any) and give us weapons or more holy water to throw.

Edit: And here's the strength roll in case Felix has to pick up Kal and carry him kicking and screaming inside the chapel.
Edit 2:

► OOC

No homo.

[Stack of Turtles]

Since I'm last in initiative order I will be PERFECTLY poised to hide behind Ostgar again.

[swbgtoc]

As Milo was walking his dog Cnut, he made a quick detour by the church to offer a prayer before heading back to his host's home. As they approached and the sun disappeared, the mastiff began growling in the direction of the church. About ninety feet away, Milo saw two men surrounded by five undead monstrosities. He picked up a rock and loaded his sling, aiming at the monster farthest from the two men to help them out.

[Irenaeus]

When Holy Ground Breaks in the Church - The Graveyard Exhales

Skeletons 5 HP, -1 AC (DEX Penalty) There are 3 skeletons walking towards the duo of Kal Arion and Felix and 2 Zombies slowly lifting themselves off their graves. Twilight is almost dark enough to become Low Light and give everybody except those with Sharp-eye (Kal Arion) a -1 penalty to hit.

Flipping Felix lunges at Kal Arion and with a grunt and a spectacle of leverage, moves him in one brutal yank, grabbing the collar of his **** with his gloved hands and drags him bodily through the chapel door. What an act! All that done before Kal could even conclude his thoughts and plans.

The cleric stumbles, robbed of his righteous posture by the sheer animalistic force of survival instincts not his own. For a heartbeat, the holy dark inside the chapel is silent. Then, clarity floods Kal like cold water over hot iron. He finds his center again and terror becomes fury. This is what will drive him this turn.

Outside, bones rattle and rotten muscle strains against the sacred threshold. Kal’s hand closes around a wooden post and he turns, jumps out of the open door because a cleric of the Light does not hide! Wait, is he? Kal is back out into the graveyard. His axe gleams wet as he quickly anoints it in one practiced sweep, consecrating steel with half his vial of holy water. The skeletons seem unaffected by the simple sight of that, maybe they haven’t registered? Or maybe they are just that mindless?

A skeleton plods forward towards him. Kal meets it with his anointed axe: bone immediately bursts, and the ill-fated bones fall like broken pottery.
A flash of motion behind Kal is seen and a slingstone whistles by. A second skeleton’s skull detonates, and there, in the failing light, Milo the Beast Master stands on the chapel path, with Cnut growling low and eager for the command to charge.

Felix had vanished inside the Church, bolts thudding, his desperate voice already ricocheting off stone: “Father! Weapons! Holy water! Bar the other doors!” From within comes the scuffle of sandaled feet and the scrape of a lock hastily thrown.

Outside, the other undead keep coming.

One skeleton rattles toward Kal, sword-arms jerking like a marionette in a bad dream. He attacks. Despite his imposing presence, Kal's swing leaves him open. Seizing the opening, the remaining skeleton uses his limbs to hit him through the robe. The cut isn't deep, but sharp pain shoots up his arm (1 damage).

The pair of zombies had hauled themselves free of the soil, spines cracking as they find their feet and moved to encircle Kal. The cool air felt good on his robed chest “I HATE UNDEAD” He thought, and the small cemetery seemed larger than it did a minute ago.

From inside the Church, Kal and Milo hear Father Altanis shout: “Back, back! By the Light!” With Felix’s assistance, he had opened an old and richly decorated secret chest, and then the clatter of metal on stone is felt. Father Altanis brings outside his divine tools, a silver aspergillum, a flask of holy water and his great processional cross.

(Players actions now)

The Slithering Doom in the Forest - Steel and Sinew

Slugs 6 HP, -3 AC (DEX Penalty) There are 8 slugs encircling the group. Twilight is almost dark enough to become Low Light and give everybody except those with Sharp-eye (Osgar and Stein) a -1 penalty to hit.

Stein’s sword does its grim work in the space of a held breath and carves a wide crescent; a slug’s head sloughs in two and the forest floor hisses where its ichor spatters in a burst of sizzling mucus. He lets a strangled, panic-born cry of the “ratkiller”...

Gunthard’s axe attack follows, landing with a woodcutter’s certainty of a farmer felling a diseased tree. The eyestalks of the slug snap like reeds and the monster starts dissolving on the spot.

Hrod’s axe swing is a powerful bell toll in a grim execution; a third horror collapses into a shuddering, steaming heap.

Three kills in as many heartbeats, and the woods answer with sap boiling under acid.

Ostgar sets the point and checks his footing, but his first thrust skates uselessly across rubbery flesh.

Behind him, Alfwine folds tight into his silhouette and shadow, breathing with the pathetic discipline of a scribe caught on a battlefield.

Zollo is simply… gone. One blink and *swosh* the Manhunter is but another shadow between trees, the bag with the rat fleshling ticking its slow, abominable pulse.

What remains does not break. Five black bodies flow to fill the gaps, gliding with a dreadful, deliberate intelligence.

Two ooze toward Gunthard in a coordinated attack. Despite their efforts, they both fail to project their enormous radulas in an efficient way to hit the fiery fighter.

Two slugs fan wide to pressure Hrod and Stein. They attack but were also unable to hit them largely due to their sluggy sluggishness.

And the last one veers toward Fergal, as if a buried thought decided the tracker animal must be unmade too. It attacks and the wolfhound masterfully evades the aberration.

Somewhere beyond the tree trunks, something watches through them. Tillomar’s eyes narrow. He sees it not in the clearing, but beyond the tree shadows. A man draped in black, face in a firm scowl, hand lifted in a slow, terrible motion, holding a fine silvery thin tube as it were a wand. He is pulling invisible strings. He screams to the group: No natural life lurks inside these slugs: a human mind commands them magically!

A puppeteer. A master of corruption.

(Players actions now)

[DemoGraph]

Felix quickly looks around. Altanis would need his possessions, so no point taking them. And he can't see anything inside the church itself that could serve as an improvised weapon. He cusses under his breath at cleric's foolhardiness and runs back to help Kal... And in a bout of panicked fury he crashes screaming into the last skeleton. His hammer punches right through the skull sending it flying, his shoulder crashes through the skeleton's rib cage and spine, Felix falls on the ground sending bones flying everywhere and then jumps back into action.

► OOC

I forgot about -1 to attack due to twilight, but it shouldn't matter, right?
Edit: also, damage wasn't from dagger (Felix doesn't have it), but rather from small hammer, same 1d4

[Val the Moofia Boss]

Gunthard's face flashes in alarm upon processing what he had just heard. He quickly glances at the treeline before returning his attention to the work right in front of him. He shuffles around to a good angle of attack and hefts his axe up.

[SpellSword]

There is the smallest sense of relief as Stein Von Steiner's sword succeeds in penetrating the slithering beast's hide. His blade is effective, these monsters can be killed! Pivoting away from the dying slug, Stein sets upon the next slimy foe and strikes.

[Kalarion]

Taking a step back to keep the Church door within reach, Kal raises his axe over his head and puts the full force of his faith in the Voice into his intonation: "Go back!"

The axe glows with a painful incandescence, sending its light out over the mob of skeletons and zombies, as his voice takes on a booming echo.

[ERYFKRAD]

Hrod axed the slugs some rather forceful questions..

[swbgtoc]

Now assured that the men were fighting back, Milo sent Cnut to support them in melee. The sound of his voice had barely left the back of his throat that the mastiff sprang into action, charging at full speed toward one of the skeletons. Meanwhile, Milo was loading a new rock to aim at the menacing zombies.

[Irenaeus]

When Holy Ground Breaks - And Holy Light Answers

The graveyard quivers beneath the last rays of dying light.

The final skeleton lunges toward Kal Arion, clawing for his throat...
..and Flipping Felix comes screaming out of the chapel like a thrown hammer.

He strikes the skeleton.
The hammer caves the skull clean through; bone fragments arc into the twilight like a burst of white-hot sparks. Shoulder blades smash the ribcage apart and send the entire spine pinwheeling across the graves; the rest of the skeleton collapsing into splintered heaps.
Felix hits the ground, tumbles, springs back up with a feral breath! He is half-instinct, all survival. He has obliterated the skeleton. A man reborn through panic and will.

But even as bone settles on the earth...

Milo and Cnut join the fray

Milo’s voice cracks across the yard:

“Cnut… GO!”

The mastiff doesn’t bark, he launches.
Cnut barrels across sacred ground, a blur of animal muscle and fury, aiming for the nearest zombie with a wolfhound’s reckless courage. The undead barely has time to lift its ruined face before Cnut reaches the sacred grounds.

Meanwhile, Milo is winding another stone into his sling, eyes switching between the encircling zombies with measured judgment.
For a moment, even the undead seem to pause.

Kal Arion turns the tide

Then Kal steps forward.
He plants his heel. He raises his axe.

His voice deepens, doubles echoes as though shouted from transcending the material world:

“GO BACK!”

Light explodes from the holy-water-soaked steel.
The cenotaphs blaze with sudden radiance; shadows flee.

Both zombies freeze mid-stride, stiffing, their rotted jaws working silently as though trying to form a denial. And then they break, turn back and stumbling backwards in frantic, mindless retreat.

They flee, clawing at the earth, dragging themselves back toward their ruptured graves with mindless desperation to escape the Voice of the Light that cast them out.

The graveyard exhales again, this time like a wound closing. Cnut the mastiff returns to Milo’s side, rumbling with triumph.

Only the wind remains.

Father Altanis reacts

The priest has emerged from the Church door at last, trembling. He is clutching his silver aspergillum in one hand and the great processional cross in the other. For a moment, then, he simply stares at Kal… not with fear, but reverence.

“For the first time in years,” he says in relief, “the Light has answered so swiftly.” Then, more practically, he asks Felix to close the chapel door. The dead will not cross consecrated ground while his light still burns, but they shouldn’t tempt fate.

The group looks over the disturbed graves. Father Altanis and Milo and most likely even Kal Arion do not know that it was Felix’s looking for Mad Orla’s talisman and touching the ground that might have set this grisly event in motion. Or was it?

“The bodies on sacred ground here… were forced to act. Someone woke them. Someone near.”

He grips the aspergillum tighter.

“We should not remain exposed.”

Every adventurer gets 33 XP for defeating the monsters.

(Players actions now)

 
The Slithering Doom - And the Man Behind It

Slugs 6 HP, -3 AC (DEX Penalty) Of the original eight slugs, five remain encircling the group. Twilight is almost dark enough to become Low Light and give everybody except those with Sharp-eye (Osgar and Stein) a -1 penalty to hit.

Three slugs already rot in steaming piles.
Five still remain, but not for long.

Stein pivots cleanly into his next swing, confidence surging now that he’s seen them die. His blade cuts deep into the nearest slug, splitting flesh like wet ****: another one collapses in a heap of boiling mucus.

Hrod follows, axe rising and falling in a brutal, uncompromising arc. Slug-flesh parts under his strike like a curtain made of rotten meat. Yet another one dies, twitching once, then falling still.

Gunthard swings wide but the slug manages to duck low at the last moment, and his axe whooshes through empty air. He snarls and resets his stance, boots planted, ready for the next opening.

The battlefield shifts.

Remaining slugs (3 total) react

The three black worm survivors recoil from the sudden carnage, but focus on each of the frontliners as targets for their hideous wet mouths and their hidden radulas to feed on.

The first remaining slug attacks Stein. The disgusting radula, a strong tongue-like weapon covered in rows of chitinous teeth, manages to hit Stein on the arm, bruising and cutting through his armor and skin. He is damaged for three (3) hp, precious wound. He is hurt twice in two days in a row, but now there is no cleric nearby to heal him!

The second remaining slug attacks Hrod. The radula barely moves out of the slug's mouth, must have been a confused order from the sorceror controlling it.

The third remaining slug attacks Gunthard. Yet another whiff of the radula, their success rate continues to be very low.

Tillomar and Fergal focus on the truth

The ranger’s warnings keeps cutting the wooden battlefield like a blade through the clearing:

“No natural life lurks in these slugs. It is man with a wand that commands them magically!”

And there he stands. A figure draped in black, barely visible between the trees, face twisted in silent fury. A thin silvery tube, a magical wand, gleams in his outstretched hand, trembling with the strain of directing so many monstrous bodies at once. The cloaked figure steps back into deeper shadow, but not before every adventurer sees him raising his wand again. What is he planning?

Ostgar shifts his stance, bringing his spear up again. He is comfortable in the rear, not advancing, but holding position, eyes narrowing.
Alfwine shrinks further behind his protector, clutching the straps of his pack and muttering half-formed arcane phrases under his breath.
Zollo is hidden somewhere beyond sight. Is he watching the events with predatory interest or is he long gone from the scene?

The slugs pulse.
The wand glows.
This fight isn’t over.

(Players actions now)

[Kalarion]

The immediate threat ended, Kal consults with Felix and Milo, more certain than ever that his path now leads into the deeps. The evil being awakened here must be quelled... and whoever was wakening it must be stopped.

Kal heads back to the Inn to complete preparations.

EDIT: Fixed, sorry swbgtoc!

[Val the Moofia Boss]

Dismayed by his far swing, Gunthard recovers and takes a step back. He whistles for his loyal companion Badeux, then readies his axe for yet another swing.

[SpellSword]

As he knocks the striking slug's sawtoothed appendage away, he can feel the wound it left is much more than a graze, but he refuses to look at it. Instead, directed by @Tillomar's cry rising above the sound of the melee "...man with a wand that commands them...", the cloaked man with a glowing object in his hand catches his eye.

The smell of acid interacting with the forest floor and the shining wand triggers a flash of recollection, past explosive failed alchemy experiments and a riot riotous mob's inferno detonating his distillery. The slugs pulse seeming in response to the cloaked figure's movements causing him even greater concern.

The thought of acid filled slugs exploding solidifies in his mind into a dire warning as Stein bellows "GET CLEAR ACID!" and abandons the slugs. Rushing instead towards the unidentified assailant with the intent of burying his bronze sword in the man's chest.

[DemoGraph]

Felix dusts himself and turns to Altanis.

“We should not remain exposed.”

"Indeed, father. Let's return to the chapel and talk."

In the chapel Felix:
1. asks Altanis, who were the corpses that rose? Are they old? Two zombies are probably fresh. How did they die? Were they sinners or good men? Is there anything common between them at a first glance? Would the relatives come and ask for compensation for destruction of the bodies? Or the fact that they rose and were buried again properly (with holy light and hammer time!) makes the deceased bad enough to ignore possible arguments?
2. warns Altanis about Madgen and Bennick, urging him to investigate the children and ensure their families kept them home.
3. and let's try it again.

He also tries to confront Altanis with the following: The town is in danger. Locals are packing and running away. The know something that we don't. But we know that you, father, know. We're going to try to help this town, but we're going in blind. You are here to protect the congregation. It seems that you need help. Help us help you do it. Tell us what's going on.

Since we've demonstrated that there's a danger and we're trying to handle it.
Also also, what does Altanis know about the other graveyard?

► OOC

FFFU that roll, maybe I'll just shut up and let others talk.

4. Consult with Kal and Milo.

After the talks, Felix gets back to the Inn to meet kid army.
On the way back joke about Kal probably being great at parties. Custom illumination and all should be great with ladies. (-2 CHA)
And who the hell is Milo? Haven't met him before. We have to get acquainted on the way back if not earlier. Pet his doggie. (-2 CHA again)

► OOC

At least the doggie didn't bite off my hand.

► Oh, I forgot

CHA mod is -2, not -3. Doesn't change that much, but still.

[swbgtoc]

Milo runs toward the chapel to join the strangers who are consulting together. Cnut joins the conversation first, sitting down and speaking in low woofs.

"Is everyone okay? Does this kind of thing happen often around here?"

He then introduces himself and his dog, who already seems to be getting along well with the others.

[ERYFKRAD]

Hrod keeps the axe busy.

[Oyster Sauce]

Ostgar pokes at the nearest slug

[Irenaeus]

The Slithering Doom Breaks

The forest is louder than ever. The last rays of twilight bleed between the pines as the raging melee churns onward, rapid breath and metal against the moist skin, mucus, and slime. The earth itself is melting and recoiling beneath the weight of unnatural life.

Stein’s Charge and the Death of a Sorcerer

Stein Von Steiner doesn’t hesitate as he barely feels the forest around him anymore.

The slug’s saw-toothed radula had raked across his arm moments ago, branding him. The burning wound, blood runs free down his arm, and every instinct in his battered body screaming “pull back”.

Then Tillomar’s warning cuts through the clearing and Stein’s head snaps toward the treeline. The sight of the wand’s glow and the mixture of memory and flashes of senses: acid, smoke, riots… failed alchemy. It ignites a deeper, fiercer impulse.

The cloaked figure is the real danger. “End the man”.

Stein abandons the melee entirely, and the slug sluggishness prevents it from taking advantage. Sprinting across the clearing, his boots tear through wet bracken and molasses, mud spraying from each stride.

He sees the cloaked figure’s silhouette, half-concealed in the shadow of firs, wand raised, glowing with cold, silver-blue light. The robed man trembles at the sight of the powerful warrior coming at him, as though he senses death immanent.

Indeed, Stein’s bronze sword is already extended in front of his body, ready for the thrust he intends to bury in the wizard’s chest. The cloaked man begins to turn away, but it’s too late.

Bronze meets flesh.

Stein slams into him like a battering ram and the blade sinks deep, cleaving. The cloaked figure jerks as the wand slips from his grasp. A gasp escapes him and he collapses on his back. The sorcerer dies at Steiner’s feet.

In one last magical act, a sudden surge bursts from beneath the roots with violent force, as though the forest floor vomits a river. This cold water column, in erupting, engulfs Stein completely, lifting his body and drenching him to the bone, the fall nearly knocking him senseless as he slams into mud and wet leaves.

Stein loses breath, nearly consciousness.

(roll a Saving Throw against Blast & Breath – 1d20 with target 16+ to evade full 1d6 damage, also roll 1d20 for WIS check - important consequences)

Hrod the Mountain Stands in the Frontlines

Hrod sees the wizard die, Stein fall and the slugs advance. His axe rises again.

Unmoved by the events, he drops his axe with grim resolve on the nearest slug.

“Not today.”

This time, though, he misses. Is it the first sign of fatigue or just bad luck? "**** things".

Gunthard with the Axeman’s Fury

Gunthard’s whistle brings Badeux circling, teeth bared, but the fighter takes the front again. "Now we do it". His axe cleaves downward and and cuts off the slug. It collapses in a hiss of dissolving bile.

Gunthard is not stepping back.

Ostgar finds Courage in a Corner

Ostgar’s spear thrust has bitten into a slug, though not killed it. There is some surprise in his eyes that he actually hit something.

Now another slug writhes toward him, its mouth opening, its weight dragging grooves in the earth. He steps back, spear between clenched fists.

“Ah, no…no, no, no…”

He backpedals but he does not run. He holds position behind Hrod and Gunthard. His heart is pounding, eyes locked on the slugs, ready to stab whenever he sees an opening.

Tillomar and the Ranger’s Eye

Tillomar sees it all.
He sees Stein felled by water, the wand drop, the silver medallion at the wizard’s neck gleaming faintly.

Fergal snarls. The ranger does not advance. He plants himself, weapon raised, guarding the backrow. He shouts to the others. “Don’t let these **** things circle you!” His wolfhound mirrors him, hackles raised like a small ridge.

Alfwine is Frozen by Two Terrors

Behind the group, Alfwine shakes in dread. His eyes are fixed on the dead sorcerer, the fallen wand, the medallion... He thinks he might have seen that symbol in a book no apprentice should read. He also remembers the vision of the sigil in the alley at Vertidor. He does not move forward or act but does not flee. He just watches.

The Slugs Fight On

Their master dies.
Their command does not.
The three surviving giant slugs continue lurching forward, driven only by the last imprint of the dying sorcerer’s will: Devour.

The slug that was fighting Stein moves to Hrod and attacks him.
The slug that was hit by Ostgar also moves to Hrod and attacks him.

Both slugs miss the scarred warrior.
The wizard is dead, but his magic lingers, and something beneath the roots seems… displeased.

[ERYFKRAD]

A little irritated by the turn of events and the damned slugs picking on him, Hrod continues the assault with especial prejudice.

[Val the Moofia Boss]

Gunthard moves to Ostgar's aid and swings at his assailant slug.

[TKVNC]

Tillomar recalls Stein's warning - these slugs, made of acid?

He calls out to Fergal...

"Keep your distance boy! These are nothing for you to hunt... "

Tillomar gestures towards where Stein is now laying, and lets out a sharp whistle - Fergal paces over toward him... Then drawing his bow back, he nocks another arrow...

"Steady..."

He seems to reassure himself before loosing an arrow - it whistles through the air...


The ranger's arrows finds its mark - it shoots straight through the head of the slug struck by Ostgar! Dealing 2 Damage!

The slug appearing to be heavily wounded - but still, undefeated - continues on it's path!

Tillomar calls out...

"How do we stop these fiends?!"

[Oyster Sauce]

More pokes

[Irenaeus]

AT THE CHURCH OF THE UNRESTFUL DEAD

The last tatters of holy fire fade from Kal Arion’s axe, leaving the air warm with the sting of ozone and incense. The graveyard outside lies quiet again: disturbed soil, broken coffins, and the half-buried retreat marks of two turned zombies dragging themselves desperately back into their own graves.

Milo quickly approaches, sling still in hand, Cnut threading by his side. The mastiff gives a soft woof, sniffing the broken skeleton shards. Milovoices a gentle, earnest concern and introduces himself and Cnut. The big dog presses his head into Kal’s hand, earning a small, quiet smile from the cold cleric.

Felix pets the doggie, who sniff his hands neutrally. He awkwardly tries to make small talk: “You handle that dog well. Better than I handle most things.”

Milo, half-smiling: “Cnut doesn’t spook easy and he listens better than most men. Easier to trust.”

Cnut woofs once, as if in agreement.

Milo begins, “…I’ve seen wolves tear a man open before, but never dead men walking. Where I come from, the dead stay where they’re put. If they don’t… something nearby’s very wrong. I’m not from Vertidor, but I know the smell of fear on a place. Something evil is stirring under the ground.”

Father Altanis welcomes him as “another faithful defender to the region.”

Felix uses this opportunity to approach the priest with the same breathless energy he used on the skeletons. He is big and blunt:

“Father, listen. People are leaving town. Folks are packing their goods and running to the monastery. Things are not right. You sit in here with the keys to the chapel’s undercroft and the answers. You don’t get to stay behind pulpit and pretend you don’t know what’s wrong. We’re going in blind, help us. Tell us what’s going on. Tell us what you know about these corpses. If anyone can stop this, it’s you. Help us help you.”

Father Altanis stands framed in the Church doorway, aspergillum in one hand, heavy processional cross in the other. The priest studies Felix for a long, cold second. Altanis didn't like him before and despite seeing the man in action against the undead, he still doesn’t like him. His fingers tighten around the aspergillum and his face is not unkind, but it is closed. He answers cautiously, a hair away from scolding rather than consoling.

“You raise your voice like a man who wants to be heard… and so you shall. But understand: I am a shepherd, not a magistrate of facts. Two things first: those bodies you fought were forced to move, not 'punished' by Heaven. Their rising is not a judgment, it is defilement.”

The zombies were fresh burials, both from the last 4 days. One was an old farmer who died of fever. Another was a stonemason’s apprentice, crushed in a work accident. Both good men, nothing evil. The skeletons were much older, possibly decades dead.

“Look at their bindings, the freshness of the soil turned. Some are old graves disturbed; some are recent burials dug from earth that should have kept them still. Whatever woke them was not picking sinners by name: it wrenched them out of sleep. I do not know the cause, but I suspect it is some malignancy stirring beneath Vertidor. Perhaps the same evil power twisting the rats.”

He looks at Kal Arion as he says it, but the cleric just nods through the discussion, his attention drifting to his own conclusions.

Felix presses on: “What about their families? Do we tell kin? Will they object to the bodies having been smashed to bones? Is the other graveyard in Quiet Hill involved?”

Father Altanis is firm, yet evasive:

“No, they rose. That ends all earthly claims. No one blames a cleric for defending his own graveyard. Besides, the Light already reclaimed what was defiled. As for Quiet Hill, there are places in Vertidor men do not like to go or even talk about. Yes, it is the old burial ground outside town. It is centuries older than the chapel cemetery. When I arrived here I was told by my predecessor that it had long been abandoned because the soil is ‘wrong’. Unconsecrated. The bones left to the moss there are from before the Word of the One True God reached these valleys. Their dead there belong to another age.”

He lowers his voice:

“Folk whisper its stones do not always hold their dead as they should. However, I have no parchment proof, only parish gossip and old tales. I will not send people into witch-madness with half-answers. So hear me: holy water soothes and repels, it does not make fools saintly. Also, if you want to investigate graves, do it under witness and record. This town answers to the bailiff, I will not be party to sacrilege or an illegal desecration.”

The priest taps the aspergillum as if emphasizing the point. The negative reaction has left him suspicious that Felix might be reckless rather than righteous. He’ll only help him grudgingly and under conditions.

Felix warns him about the two odd children: Madgen the Weaver’s Daughter, Bennick the Rat-Cleric aspirant. At this, Altanis’ mask slips, as he looks genuinely alarmed.

“Keep them away from the dark,” he says immediately. “Do not let them near this graveyard. Or the old hill. Or anything older than the Church’s stones.”
He rubs his brow with trembling fingers. “I knew the children were… troubled. But not touched.”

Milo lingers near the chapel threshold as Felix speaks with Altanis. As the others debate theology, graveyards, and mysteries, Milo does what a skilled frontier ranger would: he walks the graveyard boundary, checking for footprints, drag marks, disturbed earth. Lets Cnut sniff and circle the terrain. He finds a cold patch of air near one grave. He then interferes in the conversation to defuse the tension and get it moving on. “Back west, I helped guard a burial crew once and the bodies didn’t move. It was better that way. Where do we head now? Is there more you need to do here, Father?” And he turns to Kal Arion, “That light you used… I assume that’s normal for clerics of the One God?”

Kal is still thinking of the echo of the Voice. The memory of the wind at the belfry. The sense that something below is screaming… and something above answered.

He turns to the others, solemn:

“The dead rose because something deep wants them to move. And something higher wants us to go down. We are meant to descend.”

His conviction settles the group like a hammer blow.

The three men, Felix, Kal, Milo, step away from the Church towards the inn to rejoin the others and complete preparations. Behind them, Father Altanis stands alone at the church door. He grips the cross tighter and says, almost pleading. “I cannot hold this town alone.”

By the time they leave, the evening light has turned dark violet. Felix and Milo walk beside Kal Arion as they return toward town, but Kal moves in silence, like he is listening to a sermon only he can hear. Felix cracks a dry joke about Kal being “great at parties” with his built-in illumination. It lands… poorly. Kal merely looks confused. Milo clears his throat.

The rat army ("Mossy" Jarlo, Rikko "Ratbreaker", Little Clem, Leno and Ionus) is waiting the group at the doorsteps of the The Mountain’s Last Light Inn and they all greet them cheerfully as they arrive.

[SpellSword]

(roll a Saving Throw against Blast & Breath – 1d20 with target 16+ to evade full 1d6 damage, also roll 1d20 for WIS check - important consequences)

*Rolling*

[DemoGraph]

Felix greets his gang, gestures everyone to a table to discuss business and
- checks what gear his team managed to gather,
- checks whether others agree to share profits equally with his gang,
- and it's time to talk to Rikko.

Rikko told Felix that later they could talk more about local stories of of what lies beneath certain parts of Vertidor and unsettling rumors about hidden stashes and strange local groups and odd behaviors — places people avoid due to stories of disappearances or strange occurrences.

► OOC, to sum up, people who remained in the town are as follows

Tavern folk
- 1 lvl cleric Norman (Logincrash, NPC)
- 1 lvl magic-user Wolfgang (Lord of Riva, NPC), spells: shield, magic missile
- 1 lvl ranger George (maidenhaver, NPC)
- 1 lvl mage Da great green prophet (asf, NPC, permadrunk), spells: charm
- 0 lvl Linno Aldwick, town militia (NPC), joined on command
They have:
- a dozen torches, flasks of oil, coils of ****, hammers, and spikes. Their inventory also included two hooded lanterns for stealth, a pulley for lifting gear, a sturdy crowbar,
- and four skins of holy water, personally filled and sealed by Father Altanis.

Undead folk
- 1 lvl ranger Milo (swbgtoc, plays) + Cnut
- 1 lvl cleric Kal Arion (Kal, plays), spells: feather fall; 1.5 more vials of holy water
- 1 lvl thief Felix (Demograph, plays)
- 0 lvl Jarlo (NPC) + frog, joined for profit share
- 0 lvl Rikko (NPC), ratbreaker with sling, joined for profit share
- 0 lvl Clem (NPC), small guy, joined for profit share
- 0 lvl Leno (NPC), joined for profit share
- 0 lvl Ionus (NPC), joined for profit share

their own weapons – prioritizing shields, short spears, javelins, nets, and anything flammable or holy. Rags to cover faces and any available armor were also mandated.

Possible formation
- shieldwall: Kal, Linno, Leno, Ionus + probably Norman, George
- second row and shooters: Felix (whip), Milo, Rikko, Clem, Jarlo + maybe Wolfgang
- dogs: Milo + George? (don't rememer whether he has one)

DGGP is comatose, Wolfgang might've fled town on family business.

I think we don't have healers.
5 dozes of holy water should be enough for two undead encounters? Maybe more, because we probably don't need to swing them left and right - we have two clerics for shotgunning undead.

If we'll wait for something and in the next morning we won't go below, Felix would probably head to check that old graveyard.

[Kalarion]

Taking his seat back at the inn, Kal is simple and parsimonious. "I suggest we take stock and organize our supplies with an eye towards descending first thing tomorrow morning. I am open to other suggestions, but I will not wait long."

[swbgtoc]

Milo, still confused about the situation, would rather flee to the monastery like everyone else but now that he is in what he assumes is the group tasked with dealing with the problem he can't step back.

"What are we looking for down there? More zombies? And is it really safe to spend the night in town?"

[Irenaeus]

THE DEATH OF A WIZARD IN THE FOREST

The Brink of Doom for Stein

Stein is thrown upward and backward like a rag doll. He hits the ground hard, so hard the breath is smashed from his lungs. The world goes black and collapses unconscious, bleeding from his ears and nose.

Even as he fades, his mind clears rather than cracks. (Result from Wisdom roll of 19). The alchemical memories return not as nightmares, but as lessons (Stein gains +1 WIS). He finally recognizes the slugs and their connection to the wand’s movements, and even the wizard’s dying spell.
He realizes: “It was twisted Alchemy what birthed these things.”

Whatever was happening here, used corrupt chemical-corruptive rites, and it might not be an isolated case.

The wizard died with failure boiling in his eyes. Stein comes out of this shaken but sharpened. If only he can physically survive this now.

The Fall of the Slugs

The wand’s magic died with its master, but the last three mutated creatures won’t stop. Whatever the sorcerer’s final command was — “Devour them all” — it clings to their mindless nerves.

Hrod has had enough and with a grunt of disgust and fury, he hacks downward. (Attack roll 14, Damage 11). His axe splits one of the monsters clean in half, spilling boiling mucous across the ground.

Hrod kills one slug cleanly.

Ostgar stabs again. The little man’s aim is steadier this time and the blow is sure. (Attack roll 17, Damage 6). The spear punches through a mass of pulsing tissue. The slug shudders, collapses, and goes still.

Ostgar kills another.

With that slug out of the way, Gunthard moves to attack the last one, but his fiery blow goes wide. (Attack roll 4, misses). Still catching his rhythm in the fight, his axe whistles past a writhing mass by inches.

Tillomar sets his bow to shoot his arrow. He had warned Fergal away, and now the dog stands guard over Stein’s fallen body as Tillomar draws, breathes, and fires. The arrow slashes through main mass of the final slug, a clean shot. (Attack roll 17, Damage 2). The monster trembles and falls.

The last slug dies.

Silence returns to the clearing.

Tillomar checks the perimeter, eyes scanning the trees for any sign of a second attacker. None come.

Fergal trots to his side, whining sharply. Hrod, Gunthard and Ostgar pull back, breathing hard. They all look to Stein with worry.

Stein is pale. Cold. Barely breathing. The water-blast nearly drowned him and cracked his ribs. His pulse flutters weakly.

Stein is at 0 HP — immediate aid is required or he may die.

The dead mage lies half-submerged in a spreading pool of mud and blood.

NIGHT FALLS ON VERTIDOR’S REST

By the time Felix, Milo, and Kal return from the Church, the sun has slipped behind the western wall, leaving Vertidor’s Rest hollow and uneasy. The streets are nearly empty now: window shutters barred, doors locked & latched, wagons creaking toward the monastery by the lake. The cold wind sweeps up the main road like an unwelcome evil spirit.

The Inn is Nearly Deserted

Where once the common room buzzed with gossip of the townsfolk, now only five souls remain:

Olwin, the innkeeper, stiff-spined and wiping the mugs over and over and watching the room. His wife Brenna, bustling silently between tasks, unable to hide her fear.

Alfred the bard, polishing his lute with distracted motions and humming a tune that he can’t quite decide if it’s supposed to be hopeful.

Ryre the mercenary, leaning against the wall, sharpening a sword that’s seen too many hard days. He’s also drinking ale, calm as a resting wolf.

Da Great Green Prophet, sitting cross-legged on the floorboards next to a wooden wall, his mossy cloak spread like a nest around him. Like always, he’s muttering predictions to no one.

Every other patron has fled and the hall feels even larger for its emptiness. The warmth of the hearth is the source of life, preventing the cold from taking the room and the men’s hearts.

The party checks the gear gathered:

• A few coils of ****
• Twelve torches
• Some spikes, chalk, waterskins
• Some Holy water
• A crowbar and shovel
• Many sacks
• Many blankets

The beginnings of a delving kit that is might be enough to go under the Church’s undercroft.

Olwin explains:

“Aye… Master Wolfgang, Brother Norman, George, that militia lad Linno… they came through an hour ago, before the streets went fully dark. They were weighed down like mules and took most of everything, but left this equipment for you. They said the Bailiff had approved their descent into the undercroft too. Brave fools...”

Felix and Rikko’s Rumor-Talk

Once Felix settles, Rikko finds him near the bar. The boy was eager to share what he’d promised. He whispers fast:

“There’s places under Vertidor folks don’t talk about… For example, there are ground holes behind the tanner’s yard that the boys swear someone or some creature… comes out from time to time. Another, there is a room in the abandoned house of the old cooper where the floor sunk, people have seen things moving inside from the windows. About people missing, we have that sometimes. But usually it’s people leaving town for their own business, or so we think. Only occasionally a kid will disappear to what everyone might think is a wolf. We had a bandit attack a couple years back that was thoroughly repelled and since then people feel safer, it was much much more terrifying the thought of leaving the walls…”

Felix lets the kid yap all he wants, but aside from clues it’s a bit lackluster on specifics. Kal is also listening sitting straight-backed at the long table, and he comments:

“We take stock now to descend in the morning. If there are any objections, speak them.”

There are none. He thinks to himself, "I will not abandon this town to its haunt. If the Voice has sent me here, then this is where I am meant to delve.”

Milo’s Uncertainty and Answers

Milo sits with Cnut at his feet in the long table, the dog resting its head on its leg, guarding the whole party.

“What exactly are we looking for in those tunnels? More zombies? And… is it safe to sleep in town tonight?”

Olwin, overhearing, answers from the bar:

“Safe? No. Nothing’s safe anymore in Vertidor’s Rest. Look at our own cellar. But staying together is better than hiding alone.”

Alfred chimes in, smiling carefree:

“The dead don’t walk twice in one night… usually.”

Da Great Green Prophet simply murmurs:

“The rats sleep lightly. The stone does not sleep at all.”

Milo looks between them, trying to understand that Vertidor's Rest is haunted.

(More NPC Interactions Optional)

Profit-Sharing with the Boys

Felix announces his expectation plainly:

“Profit shared equally, right?”

The boys answer without hesitation with an unanimous yes. Kal gives a curt nod of assent. Milo shrugs. Brenna overhears and mutters, “Whatever loot you bring back, just don’t bring the trouble with it.”

With this, Felix’s gang of street boys (Jarlo, Rikko, Clem, Leno, and Ionus) are going for the night but promise to return at dawn. They will leave behind only the memory of their excited chatter.

(The Party must decide if they are spending the night at the Inn or returning to the Church to try and meet with the NPC group headed that way, and see if they really reached it.)

[DemoGraph]

Felix: I say we sleep. I had enough excitement for today.

► OOC

Endless adventuring is all well and good, but I assume that fatigue would kick in soon. This's the main reason why I don't send Felix creeping out on a heist or such, even though he could.
Besides... When Wolfgang et al. get eaten, we could loot their boots.