It is nearing 2am the day of their mission. Their actions later this night may turn the tides of Dorne – perhaps the world. A few actions by a few people. Many good soldiers, good people, will die as a result of their success, but such is their mission. They have just determined which reagents summon which colors.
Shadowsilver sets up some wildfire pots in strategic hallway locations so that she may fire on them to destroy many attackers at one time – or as a distraction, if the need arises.
Knowing their mission is to light the fire later that night, they continue to explore the tunnels.
Soon, they discover a spiral staircase going up, much higher than just above ground. Burton decides to take the lead to explore this path while the others wait.
The spiral staircase is surrounded on all sides by walls as it approaches over 50′ of ascent, at which point, the spiral staircase leads to a straight flight of stairs with a wall on either side. The wall along the left side ends as the stairs take a turn to the left. Looking up, there are many of these staircases attached to the inside of four walls.
After climbing the first flight very slowly and making the left turn, Burton looks down over the wall and realizes this must be the inside of the tower. He notices that there are no paths from the ground floor inside the tower to this staircase; the tunnel system must be the only route to the top of the tower.
The inner footprint of the tower’s ground floor is about 25’x20′. A table with 5 chairs takes up an entire 25′ wall. A few inkwells can be seen on the table near the wall.
Burton descends to tell the group about what he’s seen. Shadow and Burton decide they should follow the staircase to the top, using Burton’s minor illusions to disguise themselves. Each minor illusion takes 6 seconds to cast, and Burton casts it with every step, resembling some sort of “wall-centric picture book” rather than a moving image of a wall. By continuing in this manner, pausing between each step, then casting minor illusion to look like the wall he is about to be in front of, they finally make it to the final staircase after an hour.
The right-side wall they had been following ends at the top of the stairs, giving him a great view of the keep to the east. If it had been daylight, they could see the Sea of Dorne beyond the keep.
A wall on the left side of the stairs blocks his view to the west, but this wall does not go all the way to the roof of the tower, and it does not appear to be designed to move at all.
Directly in front of him, as he ascends the final step about an hour after beginning, is a nook with a small cauldron sitting on a small table with the same sign seen in the reagent room with the pneumonic device for the color codes.
| Orange | On Alert |
| White | Withstand |
| Blue | Backup |
| Green | Go |
There is a 5′ gap between the wall on the left and the left wall of the nook. Burton peers around the corner and sees the beacon firewood in a large very shallow stone bowl, about 10′ in diameter. After carefully poking around, they feel they’ve learned anough and descend the stairs, this time using only their skills in stealth, which takes them about 2 minutes.
Once reunited, the group decides they should fill one of the small cauldrons with the black crystals and use the wildfire to ignite it and keep it lit.
First, they agree that a long rest is in order so the discussion turns to which of the rooms would be most appropriate and how far away Burton’s Alarm should be. Given the fact that they have some time to kill, it is not so surprising that they spent much of it deciding on these two points.
They awake from their rest at around 2pm and continue exploring the tunnels. They eventually find their way back to the weird floor tiles and that putrid smell.
Burton says he wants to dip a toe in the weird floor, but decides against that, as is his nature. He explores it nonetheless, without the toe-dipping, and realizes it is a hidden spike pit. He tries to disable the trap but needs to rely on Shadow’s consistently strong abilities to complete the disarming.
After a few more turns, they arrive at a very faintly glowing green iron door. Qarzdaq knows that doors can be protected using the arcane arts, but he doesn’t know anything more relevant for this particular door or this particular hue. He shares his hunch that this may be a magically protected door with the group and then casts Dispel Magic on the door, not really knowing what to expect.
There is a light woosh sound as the green essence fades from the strong black iron door.
Shadow attempts to open the iron door and finds it is locked. She picks the lock with ease and enters the room slowly and lays her eyes on her first ever Wight.
Shadow shoots it with a silver arrow dipped in giant scorpion poison and it sears through its “flesh” with a shimmer.
They continue to beat it to an ashy pile — Qarzdaq’s arsonist tendencies being responsible for the ashiness — and they each gain 140XP for their trouble.
Finding nothing of interest in the remains, they continue their exploration, finding mostly dead ends, until it appears they’ve explored the entire tunnel system.
They re-enter the wight room (…with black curtains… thanks Jim…) to decide what to do next.
QARZDAQ: So now we wait…
BURTON: You guys hear the one about the Dothraki and the pony?
QARZDAQ: No, I don’t think so…
BURTON: Me neither…
Burton attempts to cast Tasha’s Hideous Laughter on Qhortho – on the inside. On the outside, he just stares into space for a few moments. He suddenly snaps out of it and uses his trickery to make Qhortho look like he hath shat within his pantaloons. Qhortho is unfazed.
Shadow cuts off 2′ of her 49.5′ rope to get three 2’x¼” cables and soaks one of them in oil to prepare the slow fuse for lighting the beacon.
They take another long rest and awake around 11pm. Luckily, no one seemed to notice the disheveled parts of the shed during this entire day – very lucky indeed!
Knowing it’s time to ready the beacon, the group makes their way back to the reagent room. Shadow takes 2 of the wildfire pots with her. Burton takes the nearby cauldron and fills it with antimony crystals and leads the way up the stairs. Shadow follows Burton, with the others remaining at the base of the stairs in case someone shows up behind them.
Burton and Shadow move carefully and stealthily up the staircase to arrive at the top after about 15 minutes. The coast is clear. Guards can be seen at their posts down below, but none of them appear to notice anything awry atop the tower.
Burton spreads the cauldron of antimony among the dry wood in the shallow stone bowl. Shadow follws that up by pouring a container of wildfire across all of the wood, taking care to generously cover the black crystals, then places the reside-ridden pot in the middle. She then pushes a 1′ segment of the slow fuse into the wood, leaving 1′ hanging out. She then dabs a bit of wildfire about halfway up the rope so it will ignite quickly once that point is reached. Preparing for events soon to come, Shadow carefully inserts a 1′ segment of doused rope to create a fuse into the second clay pot she has with her.
Burton lights the end of the fuse in the wood pile and both of them quickly duck behind the shielding wall by the stairs. Nothing happens. Burton double-checks that the fuse is lit, and it is, so they make their way down the stairs.
A few flights down the tower and they hear the beacon fire erupt, green light filtering into the tower from above, followed by muffled shouting from outside the thick tower walls.
Everyone gains 500XP for selecting the correct color for the mission.
Shadow immediately, but carefully, places her wildfire pot on the stairs and they both begin to run down the staircase.
Tholannan hears the commotion and uses Thaumaturgy to make a gruff voice outside the tower, “The order came from the Lord himself!” The shuffling outside seems to lessen, but it’s hard to tell what that means without being able to see outside. Perhaps it has bought them a few minutes of time due to the confusion.
Tholannan, Qarzdaq, and Qhortho all run up the stairs to meet up with Shadow and Burton so they can climb down the wall inside the tower and make their escape.
Qarzdaq shoots fire from his fingertips into the staircase above causing the wildfire pot to explode into green flames, engulfing the stairs and destroying any way up the tower to douse the beacon.
Burton and Shadow attach their grappling hooks to the top of the wall and everyone repels down the wall. After everyone is on the ground floor of the tower, Shadow and Burton simultaneously grab their ropes and flick their wrists. The grappling hooks simultaneously disengage from the wall and fall right into their respective hands. They store the gear and turn to the others.
Shadow makes her way to the door and realizes it’s locked — and quickly changes that. Knowing the entire military district must be running around the yard, based on the levels of commotion going on just outside the door, Shadow doesn’t open the door just yet.
Burton dons his stilts and disguises himself as a guard. As he does so, shouts from inside the tower above them, “You there! HALT!”
Burton causes a fireworks burst in the sky as a distraction and the group floods out the door of the tower. Many of the soldiers scrambling in the area look up in the sky, but a handful notice the fleeing party and chase after them.
The Assembly runs as quickly as they can out of the military district, but are closely followed by 15 guards and 3 officers.
Both rogues drop caltrops and ball bearings, and Burton jumps on Qhortho’s back so he doesn’t get left behind. He then proceeds to whip Qhortho as if he were a stallion. Qhortho goes into a rage.
Weaving through the desolate streets, Qhortho’s view is disrupted by a flock of pigeons. Burton’s whipping keeps Qhortho enraged, giving him the strength to run faster than he ever has before. Soon the duo loses sight of the others and approach the inner gate near the stables. Arrows fly down all around them from the gate battlements, but they seem to just glide right through the stream.
Upon reaching the other side of the wall, they head toward the stable. Burton dismounts as Qhortho moves to gather their horses. Burton sets the structure ablaze, so Qhortho lets all of the other horses loose. Now mounted, they enter the middle of the street to await their friends.
Qarzdaq, Shadowsilver, and Tholannan continue to follow Qhortho’s tracks through the streets and to the north. Along the way, the guards slip on the rogues’ traps and are soon out of sight. The group makes their way to the gateway, avoiding an overturned vegetable cart along the way. Arrows rain down around them but luckily miss each of them. They see Qhortho and Burton up ahead in the street with their horses in the flickering firelight from the nearby stable.
They deftly mount up and ride north, exiting the town of Wyl as quickly as possible. No guards can be seen behind them, but there’s no reason to believe they’d give up the chase that easily. Moments later, this is confirmed by shouting in the distance, though no figures can be seen. The overcast sky seems to amplify their voices.
They ride towards the shore to follow that along to their extraction point, and notice a potential shelter up ahead to the right that might be a place to lie low. They decide this may be too easy a spot for guards to check so they pass it up and continue their ride. After another minute, as they enter grassier and hilly terrain, they are able to make out riders behind them about a quarter mile. It does not appear that they are gaining ground, but it is obvious that these men will need to be dealt with.
They plan to set up an ambush. They weave into the hills to lose sight of their pursuers then hide behind those hills, spread around the point where visual contact was lost. They wait. After 5 minutes, the pursuers, now surrounded by small hills, slow down as they attempt to figure out which way their prey went.
Less than a second after stopping, the guards are dropped with fatal precision as each member of the Assembly targets a different guard as single coordinated attack before they even know it’s coming. They each earn 25XP.
The triumph is cut short as several more riders can be seen in the distance. Before mounting up, Qarzdaq notices a rocky outcropping near the shoreline that is likely to be a cave with the mouth facing the water’s edge. They decide to make the horses of the recently deceased run in different directions and take the bodies to burn them in the cave. It would also give them a place to wait this out if they can remain out of sight.
They enter the cave through a narrow entrance and toss the bodies on the ground. After what feels like an eternity, the sound of heavy galloping swells and then begins to fade – the riders have passed. They wait. After another few minutes, the riders are heard again, slower this time, before fading out towards the west — towards Wyl. Each member of the party earns 150XP — it appears that the Assembly has escaped yet another dire circumstance.
Or have they?…
They scan the dark cave as the tension releases. First they have to figure out who should lead that task. They begin to talk about their “bonuses,” the additional effects imparted by the creators to perfomrm certain skills, and determine Qarzdaq should lead the charge since he has “dark bonus.” Burton announces that he sometimes gets morning bonus, which is met with laughter and immediate dismissal. Qarzdaq’s dark bonus leads the way.
He notices some movement and can make out a giant slug-like creature with a beak and tentacles – they’re first encounter of a Grick.
Qhortho charges it and slices it to pieces, each of which fall to the floor of the cave with a thud.
Not a second later, a giant thick tentacle flies out of the darkness and slashes Qhortho, followed by a bite from a beak, and a slash from a tail. The entire group now sees that this is a larger version of what they just faced… a Grick Alpha.
A short battle later, the great beast falls after Qarzdaq launches his chromatic fire orb through its carapace and exploding its entrails and tentacles around the cave.
The cave goes silent. They each gain 580XP.
They investigate the cave for any more of these things, but the cave is shallow and it doesn’t take long to complete the search. Once the sense of danger is gone, they begin to notice some items:
- 75gp scattered around
- Silk handkerchief
- Black velvet mask stitched with silver thread
- Carved Bone Statuette of the Mother (of The Seven)
- 3x Small Gold Chain Bracelet
- Pair of engraved bone dice (2 d6’s)
- A small plain wooden box
Shadowsilver leans over to pick up the wooden box and notices a 3″ wide jar of what looks to be 2 “standard doses” of some thick uncommon mixture. This is probably an ointment of some kind. She stashes the jar away before anyone notices it is there.
Everyone wants to know what is in the box. Shadow says I’ll show you, but whatever’s in here is mine. They all agree and she opens the box, revealing five animal figurines carved from turquoise: a Wolf, a Lion, a Stag, a Dragon, and a Horse.
Based on the diverse and scattered items in the cave, the group concludes that a number of people who entered this cave must not have been able to fend off the Gricks. WHo knows how long that had been going on.
Shadow peeks in her coin pouch as she drops her share of 15gp inside and notices that some of the coins look green. She does not let on to this fact to her companions, but she knows she must have received some counterfeit coins at some point along the way.
They look outside, ready to carry on with their journey, but daylight is fading. They all decide the cave is the safest place to rest this night.
The next morning, they gather their gear and continue their travels. They remain within sight of the coast to ensure they remain on course to their rendezvous point. Over the next 10 days, benefitted by mild weather, they continue to travel with very few interactions from other travelers. On that 10th day, the wind picks up from the east accompanied by light rain. Although the visibility is not great, a wide river can be seen in the distance. As they get closer, they can make out a large town just across the river along the shore with large black and white towers. This must be Stonehelm.
They continue towards the town and before too long, they are within the city walls. The streets are very busy and there is a definite sense of law and order. The guards don’t seem menacing but they are always within sight.
After some squabbling about sending ravens and whether they should go to the blacksmith, they decide to check in at the closest tavern/inn first. They make their way through the crowds and park their horses at a stable, then weave through the sea of people until arriving at the tavern. Given its name of The Prancing Pony, they wonder about the experience they are about to walk into. Undeterred, they make their way to enter, but as they arrive at the door…
STRANGER: Ahem.
An angular-faced man in a dusty dark green cloak leans against the building… He would have gone unseen if he hadn’t made his presence known. But this is no stranger…
Jonah makes eye contact with each member of the party.
JONAH: I have some information that I believe you are going to want, but it’s going to cost you 500 gold.
QHORTHO: All I want is your blood on my blade! You’ve got a lot of nerve showing your face.
BURTON: Hold on, hold on, we’ve had run-ins for sure but if he can help us out, I think it’s worth hearing him out.
Qarzdaq and Burton discuss how they do not have that kind of money themselves, but they may be able to each contribute.
THOL: Why would this be worth it to us?
JONAH: All I do is deliver high quality information and results for a fair price. But if you also want my aid for helping with this information, that will be another 500 gold, to be paid after we’re done of course.
QARZDAQ: We don’t need your aid, but I think we would like to purchase the information.
QHORTHO: Who the fuck do you think you are?!
THOL: What does this information pertain to exactly?
JONAH: I’ll put it this way… it’s definitely some information you are going to want.
THOL: Is there any profit to be made for us? Why would we pay 500 gold for this?
JONAH: Because it is something very dear to all of you, I’m sure.
They discuss how to pay for the information. Qhortho and Shadow decline to pay anything. Burton chips in 200gp, Qarzdaq is good for 150gp, and Thol throws in 150gp to shore up the 500gp total that Jonah is requesting.
BURTON: Alright, we have the gold for you. The three of us (he points to Qarzdaq and Tholannan) will go inside to parlay and get this information.
JONAH: How about you give me the gold here and I tell all of you this information at once. I’d rather not do this inside the tavern.
They hand over the gold, Jonah puts it in a coin pouch on his belt without ever diverting his eyes from the adventurers.
SHADOW: You’d better not be wasting our time.
JONAH: Remember, after I tell you this, if you want my help with using this information, that will be another 500 gold, due after the deed is done. It involves the red priestess you’ve been after. She’s just inside the tavern, and doesn’t know I’ve been tracking her for some time. I figured anyone that unusual would be worth something to someone. She’s a bit skittish, so don’t go in there like dragons seeking a meal, got it?
Qarzdaq and Shadow ask about his plan for dealing with Andrea Redmess.
JONAH: We go in, we lay low, we find our opportunity, then we strike. If we do this my way, we actually have a shot. She’s no lightweight as you may recall.
QHORTHO: You’re merely leading us into a trap! Of course she’s going to recognize us as soon as we go in there!
JONAH: It’s quite busy in there, I doubt that.
QHORHTO: You mind your poison tongue and tell us only what we need to know or else it will be your head on a pike.
THOL: Hold it Dothraki. He has offered his aid, let us hear him out.
There is a mild uproar within the group.
BURTON: Whoa whoa whoa. Let’s not be so hasty.
THOL: She has a very powerful amulet that we’ve been seeking. So we would want to take that.
JONAH: Listen. I provide a service. That is all. I care not for any loot, including the amulet of which you speak.
The group discusses how they might pay for Jonah’s service to fight or subdue Andrea, and they decide that 100gp each is the best way. Qhortho is notably silent. Qarzdaq mentions that he does not have another 100gp. Tholannan suggests that since a few of them had already paid more for the information, that the others should now pay more for this round of collections. Shadowsilver immediately disagrees…
SHADOW: We are not evening the entire transaction out. You guys made a decision on that first round and that is a done deal. This is a new round with new information and I am willing to put up 100gp on this round.
BURTON: This helps all of us and someone has to at least cover what Qarzdaq cannot.
SHADOW: Well that’s fine but I’m not leveling out the entirety of the two transactions.
Burton convinces her to throw in an extra 50gp.
QHORTHO: I do not need his help. I will go in there right now and slay her myself.
They continue the discussion of how they pay for Jonah’s service, with Qhortho flat out refusing to pay any amount to Jonah. Knowing they are a bit short, Qarzdaq manages to convince Qhortho to throw in 50gp, but he does so with disdain in his eyes.
JONAH: Alright. Now that I know you have the funds, if I survive and we are victorious, I will collect.
They agree with the terms and enter the tavern together.
The biergarten-style tavern is quite large and very busy. Following Jonah’s lead, they manage to find seats at a table near the front of the tavern.
JONAH: Don’t look all at once, but the woman is in the back at a table not talking to anyone. She’s wearing a red cloak.
After everyone slowly looks around and takes note of Jonah’s target, eating a meal of stew and wine by herself. There’s no way they would have noticed her without Jonah’s help. After looking at her, it’s tough to be certain this is even THE Andrea Redmess.
JONAH: I can take the lead on this if you’d like. Break the ice, so to speak.
The group submits to this.
JONAH: We need to get most of these people out of here and then block the door so the guards can’t get in. We don’t need all these corpses littering the floor while we take her down. I’ll go over there, I’ll get her attention calmly so she’s not so quick to burn the place down. And I’ll expect you (points across all of them) to get people out quickly and then barricade that door by any means necessary.
QHORTHO: What exactly is your grievance with her? Why are you after her?
JONAH: This is not personal.
BURTON: He’s in it for the money Dothraki.
QHORTHO: I don’t believe it. We just happen upon you in front of this tavern? You’ve been tracking her not just to deliver her to us…
JONAH: You are right. I have not been tracking her to deliver her to you. I have been tracking her to deliver her to anyone who would pay the price.
The group agrees that there is no issue here and they agree to move forward with the plan.
JONAH: I’ll need you in this fight as quickly as possible – I don’t think I can take her down alone.
The group reassures him that they have his back.
Jonah slowly walks over to the woman he pointed out, making his way through the crowded biergarten. Their visibility of the interaction is blocked by the patrons moving about. He can be seen speaking to her, but the words cannot be made out over the random chatter. No need, as her reaction says it all.
The woman looks up at Jonah slowly. Her face slackens as she recognizes the man in front of her.
Shadow and Qarzdaq stand up and begin to usher people out of the tavern. Burton yells for everyone to leave.
She looks up and notices the group looking in her direction and preparing for the encounter.
She jumps up onto her bench, “You fools!”
Everyone remaining in the tavern turns to look towards her.
ANDREA: Don’t you know who that is?!
She shrugs her cloak behind her shoulders and, for the first time, they see the beauty with such an unfortunate name. It is clear why Tyrone was so taken with her. Jonah cautiously backs up while Qhortho moves towards him.
ANDREA: You think HE is on your side??
Her palms begin to glow a soft red and white as if pure energy is coursing through her.
ANDREA: He is on no one’s side but himself.
The remaining patrons make haste for the exit and the group barricades the door at once with benches and tables.
JONAH: Don’t allow her to distract you and divide us! We have a plan here, let’s stick to it!
He turns to Qhortho, “I don’t know that we’ll survive this without each other, but you turn on me, I’m gone, and you’re dead. If not here, then later, by my blade. Got it??”
Qhortho looks at Jonah with eyes of obsidian as he draws his strength from the Horse God. His muscles flex and ripple as a rage boils in his blood. He draws his arakh, rushes Andrea Redmess and roars, “FOR MAX!”
With his first step, Andrea summons a cloud of insects in the middle of the tavern that pierce and lacerate The Assembly and Jonah where they stand.
Shadow goes to fire an arrow and Andrea flashes a light in her face. The effect is not great enough to throw Shadow off her game, and the arrow pierces Andrea’s flesh.
Burton runs up and shouts, “Hey Miss Redmess, don’t make a brown mess now!” This is followed by Burton waving around some tiny tarts and a feather… and nothing else… absolutely nothing else… He looks around and notices no one is Laughing Hideously. He stashes his tarts and feather — and the battle continues.
Tholannan throws up a sphere of Silence around Andrea.
Qhortho slashes the shit outta Andrea’s ass.
Qarzdaq paralyzes Andrea with Hold Person. She falls to the floor and the insect plague dissipates. She awakens just a moment later.
Shadow lands an arrow.
Andrea flashes a light in Burton’s face as he attempts to fire at her, causing him to hit a wall instead.
Tholannan hits her with a guiding bolt.
Jonah steps up and slices her with his poisoned blade. Had the area not been silenced, her screams would pierce the walls.
Qhortho slices his arakh through her right-to-left. Qhortho holds his stance as he watches her fall. A split second later, she rises. Qhortho backhand swipes his arakh through her again. And again, she falls. This time, for good.
QARZDAQ: Thol, Stabilize her! She is a red priestess – we can’t just let her die!
This is met with much outrage and the group overrides his sentiment.
Each person gains 580XP and feel like they have learned great knowledge!
Qarzdaq walks up to Andrea’s body, but Shadow runs up to her first. She grabs the glowing amulet and holds it up. The glowing dims quickly then fades out. Qarzdaq uses his mage hand to pluck the amulet from Shadow’s hand and have it taken to him.
Shadow’s ruse worked… as she held up the glowing amulet, she was able to pocket 50gp without anyone but Qarzdaq noticing – and Qarzdaq does not seek wealth, and cares not for snatching gold.
SHADOW: Hey Qarzdaq, it looks like her cape held up to the damage pretty well too.
QARZDAQ: I’d certainly like the cape as well if no one else has a desire for it. It’s also my color!
No one contests the amulet and cloak going to Qarzdaq.
JONAH: Alright folks. The deed is done. I’ll take my payment and be off.
Qarzdaq begins the conversation of getting the coin together for Jonah, but that is soon derailed when Qhortho wonders aloud where Andrea’s coin pouch is. Shadow posits that it may be in her hotel room and perhaps they should all go look for it.
JONAH: I have no desire to get in the middle of this. Anything on her body is yours to split however you choose.
They gather the coin and Shadow hands it to him. In the process she gets close to him and uses her sleight of hand abilities to take Jonah’s coin pouch without him noticing. He takes the payment and moves to place it in his pouch, which is nowhere to be seen. He looks back into Shadowsilver’s face with annoyance for a moment before is dissolves to a respectful smirk.
Burton backs up, seeing what just happened. Shadow gives the pouch back to Jonah with a smile, “it’s all in good fun, right? One of these days I’ll get ya.” He takes the pouch, looks it over, tosses it an inch in the air to sense the weight, then nods to Shadow with approval.
JONAH: I wish you all the best.
He backs his way to the door, never turning his back to the group.
SHADOW: I’ll let you live this time Jonah!
Jonah looks at Shadow and bursts a single laugh that acknowledges the playful banter while simultaneously conveying his rote arrogance with a note of wariness. He looks over at Qhortho, raises his hand to his brow in a sort-of half-salute.
JONAH: And Dothraki… Always a joy…
He moves the blockade from the front of the door, opens it just enough to get out, steps outside and shuts the door behind him.
SHADOW: Well, I think it’s about time we get our horses and get outta here. We can’t hang around here after this.
Everyone agrees and they head out as inconspicuously as possible. No one stops them; no one follows.
After a couple of days’ travel, the plains of the Stormlands give way to increasingly dense forest, though the main road remains perfectly.
One evening, seemingly no different than any other, maybe just like the very night that you are reading this. The group sits around their cozy campfire, chatting about the new ways they’ve learned to dismember their foes. Soon after the sun sets, a light fog rolls in slowly without notice. The fog grows denser everywhere except within about 20 feet of the campfire. The Assembly continues their banter until they hear a gurgling moan from somewhere in the darkness.
It is only then that they realize the dense foggy ground cover. A form lurches into view, dragging one foot as it raises bloated arms and broken hands to reach out to the living. As it gets closer to the group, they see its decomposing face peeling away from its jaw and chin. Behind that one, another comes into the firelight. Another two pair of these grotesque forms move into view, lurching towards the Assembly… but they ain’t afraid of no ghosts… or Zombies for that matter.
They all stand up and draw their weapons, still standing in a circle.
THOL: Hey guys, I’m a little conflicted about it, but I can reanimate the deceased now, but are these things corpses?
SHADOW: I’ve never seen a corpse do that (she uses her thumb to motion over her shoulder). Maybe at one time they were – I predict they will be again, very soon…
BURTON: They look like corpses to me!
QARZDAQ: When is a corpse not a corpse?
QHORTHO: When it’s undead…
Together, they all turn look at the creatures coming towards them.
Qarzdaq motions with his arms for the others to move out of his visibility, “I got this.” He then launches a massive fireball that takes out all of the Zombies at once.
QARZDAQ: And that’s how you do that! (he blows some air across his knuckles)
But he speaks too soon. Four more Zombies make their way from the darkness, stumbling through the newly-left corpses.
Burton and Shadowsilver launch arrows at the closest ones, ripping through their rotting flesh.
As the fight continues around him, Tholannan raises his holy symbol and begins to chant. He closes his eyes, and the world slows down around him. About a minute later, he opens his eyes at once and points to a nearby fallen Zombie. While concentrating on his target, he raises his arm. The corpse rises slowly and, once it has its footing, begins to attack a nearby Zombie.
Qhortho finds his way behind a couple of Zombies, and takes down the first one. He gets behind a second Zombie, but once he gets there, he is surprised that he still feels up to taking his second attack! Turns out that a single Action consisting of 2 Attacks CAN be split by movement!
The group makes quick work of the remaining Zombies and there is much rejoicing.
A matter of seconds later and four huge Ogre Zombies close in on the camp.
One of them stumbles and falls prone on the corpses with a loud crunch. The others continue their advance.
Qarzdaq runs up to the one that fell and first 4 scorching rays directly into its head. It angrily groans in response.
The group, including Thol’s Zombie, continues to cause damage to the undead until they finally prevail with Qhortho getting the final blow and shouting, “Dothraki Domination!”
The forest falls silent, but The Assembly dare not claim victory just yet…
All of the Zombie bodies on the ground start to squirm… and they slowly get to their feet.
The Assembly is in temporary shock as the Zombies stand up.
Having the foresight to load create a spell slot at the end of his last attack, Qarzdaq is ready to launch a massive fireball into the middle of the Zombie crowd.
QARZDAQ: Get away from them by any means necessary!”
Just after his friends are out of range, Qarzdaq lets the fireball loose, burning all of the bodies to a crisp. The silence lasts this time until morning…
On this segment of their journey, each member gained 2,435XP to arrive at a new total of 14,770, and are now Level 6. They awake on the morning of Day 205 since leaving Essos, with an estimated 5 day ride to their extraction point.