Chapter 20: Hungry Are The Dead

[rredmond]

Choking back a sob, Rudolph positions himself in the far back corner of the cell and prepares for the onslaught. He lays his sword and daggers in front of him and looks to see if any of the wall is crumbling that he can use as a missile weapon.

[Scott308]

Ingrid Esthof

Did anyone find a key? whispers the cleric.

[ravenn4544]

Mouser keeps an eye on the rear as Bo works his magic.

[wolfpack]

Brevos stoically joins mouser with sword and shield wishing he still held Brood.

[Rusty Tincanne]

Hothhil shakes his head, then whispers that he can hear Rudolph (faintly) shouting in fear in the distance. We must get to him and Pyotr. Mondegreen, do you have a spell that can get us past whatever is out there?

He lets his companions prepare themselves, then charges out the door to attack the growling creatures.

Sword: [1d20+1] = 7+1 = 8; sm [1d8+1] = 4+1 = 5/lg [1d10+1] = 4+1 = 5
Surprise creatures through the door (93 Nope.

[Inferno]

Vicar's Head, Gran March, Greyhawk
Day Four. Midday. Tuesday, November 15th, 576 CY
Cold, foggy, cloudy





In lost Vicar's Head, the dead do rise.




"Canst thou see?!" the raving man in the church cries to Telkis and Urdur.





"They walk unseen and foul in lonely places where the Words have been spoken and the Rites howled through at their Seasons!"




In the hidden arcane library, Mondegreen returns a sorcerous volume to the shelves, and readies a magic spell that requires no earthly ingredients to cast. Hothhil grips his sword, braces himself, and throws open the door. The room beyond is filled with the growls and snarls of the damned, emanating up the stairwell from the floors below.

"The wind gibbers with their voices, and the earth mutters with their consciousness!" the madman in the defiled church rants.



Mercifully, Rudolf is spared the sight of Pyotr Whitetip falling beneath the horrific onslaught of the living dead. The little hobbit grasps a palm sized stone and trembles in the corner of his locked dungeon cell, waiting for the inevitable end. Suddenly, a pack of hideous, living carrion swells outside his cell; the stench of death is thick, dead hands grasp through the bars, trying in vain to reach him and strangle the life out of him!



"They bend the forest and crush the city, yet may not forest nor city behold the hand that smites them!" the distraught man in the church insists.

Meanwhile, as a chill crawls up their spines, Bo, Brevos and Mouser see the hanged witches coming for them out of the mist!




While behind the three heroes, a swarm of massacred dead stalk them still!





The grey druid prays to the god of Nature, and the trio dart to their right into a thin alley, as the ground behind them explodes upward with grasping roots and vines and feelers!




They ensnare the wretched undead long enough for the heroes to escape into the fog-choked lanes of the doomed hamlet. (Please each roll an Intelligence check on 1d20 to find your way through the fog and out of Vicar's Head)

"They were, they art, and they shall be! Not in the spaces we know, but between them! They walk serene and primal, undimensioned and unseen!"


Actions?!





PC Status:

• Brevos, Half-Elf Ranger 3: Move: 12", AC: 9, HP: 13/31
  Grey Mouser, Half-Elf Magic-User/Thief 2/3: Move: 12", AC: 6, HP: 8/15, Spells: 2/2 1st lvl
  Hothhil Thornbush, Elven Fighter 3: Move: 12", AC: 1, HP: 14/20
  Ingrid Esthof, Human Cleric 4: Move: 12", AC: 9(7), HP: 17/22, Spells: 5/5 1st lvl and 4/4 2nd lvl
  Long Bo, Human Druid 4: Move: 12", AC: 9, HP: 19/30, Spells: 5/6 1st lvl, 2/3 2nd lvl and 2/2 3rd lvl
  Mondegreen Cindereye, Human Magic-User 2: Move: 12", AC: 9, HP: 3/8, Spells: 2/2 1st lvl
  Pyotr Whitetip, Half-Orc Fighter 3: Move: 12", AC: 8, HP: -2/30
  Rudolf Rassendyll, Halfling Thief 3: Move: 12", AC: 6, HP: 1/12
  Telkis Brassfang, Gnome Fighter 3: Move: 12", AC: 0, HP: 12/32
  Urdur Shimmerstone, Gnome Illusionist 3: Move: 12", AC: 6, HP: 5/9, Spells: 2/2 1st lvl and 1/1 2nd lvl

PC Magic:

• Locate Plants (Bo): Mistletoe. Duration: 10 minutes.

Player Resources:

• Tale of Terror (the story so far)
  A Dark and Terrible World (maps)

[rredmond]

Rudolph shrinks back against the concrete wall, his weapons splayed before him within arm's reach. He tries to see if they've left Pyotr's body unmolested, and hope the brave sailor wasn't bleeding to death. Gripping the stone, he'll save it for a more opportune moment, he feels and checks the concrete of the corner he is in. Old habits die hard, and if there's a way out of a dungeon... well he's found them before, he thinks smiling to himself. He never takes his eyes off the undead and the bars, except in brief stints, but he does check to see if there are any hidden parts in the stone wall and floor in his immediate vicinity. He continually checks back to see if the cell bars start to buckle... not knowing what he can do, but at least he'll have notice of his impending doom.

Check the walls and floor around him for secret compartments, passages, ways out. Not likely in a dungeon, but a man can dream that a jailor was so paranoid there might be a way. Also is there any way to move between cells? Like to the cell directly next to him? Not that he'd want to, no, and again not likely, but just in case.

[ChubbyPixie]

"I think this one's seen too much," says Telkis quietly to Urdur. "Are you living here? Alone?" he then says to the man, pushing past the rambling man in order to make his way back towards the alter to look around.

[wolfpack]

Brevos stumbles in the mist, his haste leads him astray as he loses his sense of direction

[1d20] = 20

[Scott308]

Ingrid Esthof

Gripping her spear haft, follows Hothhil, looking for the source of the noise.

[ravenn4544]

Mouser trots away from the horde of undead trying to keep with his comrades.

Int (15) [1d20] = 15

[SocraticLawyer]

Urdur follows his fellow gnome, staying out of arm's reach of the rambling man. He drops the Fireball charade, as this insane man clearly isn't intimidated by it. Urdur keeps his hands near his daggers, in case the man makes any aggressive moves. If not, he helps Telkis search.

[OGRE MAGE]

Bo actually remembers the layout of the streets rather well.

Int Check (9) [1d20] = 4

He softly speaks to the others through the fog.

"Lets keep together and get through this mess. Everyone sound off. Lets use our voices to help stay together. I think the woods is right through here. This way!"

The druid keeps his eyes peeled in front of the group, hoping they don't run into anything else in the fog.

[Rusty Tincanne]

We can get to the drawer later.Hothhil makes sure the secret room is closed as they leave, then he urges the others down to the prison level. He stops occasionally to listen ahead so they don't turn a corner and find themselves in a nasty fight.

[Inferno]

Vicar's Head, Gran March, Greyhawk
Day Four. Midday. Tuesday, November 15th, 576 CY
Cold, foggy, cloudy






As murderous dead hands reach for him through iron bars, Rudolf feels vainly for a way through the stone wall of the dungeon. His efforts are to no avail.

The little hobbit wonders if Pyotr the half-orc yet lives, and how long before he joins his unlikely companion beneath the horrific onslaught of ghastly undead.



In the forsaken church, Telkis and Urdur search the desecrated altar and find nothing of worth.

The raving lunatic follows their every step, ignoring their questions and urgently warning them.



"Nor is it to be thought that man is either the oldest or the last of earth’s masters! Nor that the common bulk of life and substance walks alone!"

Meanwhile, outside in the winding lanes of Vicar's Head...



Turned around from their flight through the fog, Brevos the ranger is certain he knows the way out of the village of the damned. But Long Bo believes salvation lies in the opposite direction. Mouser is unsure, but he thinks the grey druid might be right.

"None knows where they have trod Oerth’s fields, and where they tread them still! Nor why none can behold them as they tread!" exclaims the man in the church.

Hotthil, Ingrid and Mondegreen creep from the safety of the secret room and pad wordlessly through the empty tower's upper floor.



They descend the stair and the unspeakable sounds of the wretched undead grow louder with every step. On the ground floor, they peer out the tower's open door and find the gruesome remains of the massacre in the square gone! Heinous walking dead can be seen at the edge of the fog, moving away! (Thanks to Bo, Brevos and Mouser)

The three heroes retreat inside. They move to the other stairwell and slowly descend its spiraling steps toward the dungeon as the bloodcurdling snarls of deathless men grow louder and louder!


Actions?!





PC Status:

• Brevos, Half-Elf Ranger 3: Move: 12", AC: 9, HP: 13/31
  Grey Mouser, Half-Elf Magic-User/Thief 2/3: Move: 12", AC: 6, HP: 8/15, Spells: 2/2 1st lvl
  Hothhil Thornbush, Elven Fighter 3: Move: 12", AC: 1, HP: 14/20
  Ingrid Esthof, Human Cleric 4: Move: 12", AC: 9(7), HP: 17/22, Spells: 5/5 1st lvl and 4/4 2nd lvl
  Long Bo, Human Druid 4: Move: 12", AC: 9, HP: 19/30, Spells: 5/6 1st lvl, 2/3 2nd lvl and 2/2 3rd lvl
  Mondegreen Cindereye, Human Magic-User 2: Move: 12", AC: 9, HP: 3/8, Spells: 2/2 1st lvl
  Pyotr Whitetip, Half-Orc Fighter 3: Move: 12", AC: 8, HP: -3/30
  Rudolf Rassendyll, Halfling Thief 3: Move: 12", AC: 6, HP: 1/12
  Telkis Brassfang, Gnome Fighter 3: Move: 12", AC: 0, HP: 12/32
  Urdur Shimmerstone, Gnome Illusionist 3: Move: 12", AC: 6, HP: 5/9, Spells: 2/2 1st lvl and 1/1 2nd lvl

PC Magic:

• Locate Plants (Bo): Mistletoe. Duration: 8 minutes.

Player Resources:

• Tale of Terror (the story so far)
  A Dark and Terrible World (maps)

[Urson]

Pyotr

The half-orc sailor valiantly seeps blood and provides an unsteady footing for the walking dead. ( )

[rredmond]

Weapons splayed before him, the little hobbit slowly stands, stone in hand, trying to appear brave - but his back melds with the comfort of the cold stone corner. "You just wait," Rudolph yells at them, "in a couple hours the situation will change... yes change! Hopefully I retain enough of myself to repay you the ills you've done my friend!" He's hoping, likely fruitlessly, that he can keep the undead at the "fresh meat" as opposed to the "dead meat" of Pyotr. Not sure that will keep him from bleeding out, but being eaten certainly won't help.

[Rusty Tincanne]

At the sight of so many shambling-dead, Hothhil briefly wonders about the nature of the evil that taints this region. He guesses that he will see more zombies in the cellar with his companions.

He leads the trio down to the cellar, steeling himself as he sees Pyotr on the ground, freshly gnawed upon. Leaving the others to tend to the half-orc's wounds, he continues quietly to the next corner and peeks around, hoping Rudolph has fared better. He tries to avoid drawing the zombies back toward himself.

On the map above, there are zombies and question marks. What are the question marks indicating?

[Scott308]

Ingrid Esthof

The cleric quickly attempts to staunch the bleeding, hoping to keep Pyotr alive. Whispering to Mondegreen, We should bring him to the hidden library. He should be safe there- for the time being, at least. Quickly peeking around the corner, she believes Rudolph may be ok a little while longer inside the safe confines of the cell. Will you help me move him?

[SocraticLawyer]

Urdur whispers to Telkis, "Hrolfgr jerðrsn."

Gnomish for "My friend, let us leave this place.
The human is clearly insane and the rest of the group may need our help."

If Telkis agrees, Urdur heads out, hoping to meet back up with the group.