Chapter 20: Hungry Are The Dead

[wolfpack]

brevos stops and waits for Bo.

I wonder if perhaps there is a curse that prevents them form leaving the city, why else would they not follow us.

[SocraticLawyer]

Urdur stops and faces the crazed man, waiting for him to respond to Telkis. He draws a dagger, fearing the worst.

[ravenn4544]

Mouser replies to Brevos "Maybe those living corpses found the rest of our group...?"

[wolfpack]

Mouser replies to Brevos "Maybe those living corpses found the rest of our group...?"

We could make noise, try to draw them out

[Rusty Tincanne]

Hothhil looks at the crowbar and shakes his head. Ingrid, can you show Pyotr to the armory? Bring spears quickly. I will draw them to the to of the stairs where we will have the advantage.

If they leave, Hothhil waits a moment (so they have a head start) before attacking Z4 from behind. He backs up the stairs, hoping to draw the zombies away from Rudolph('s corpse).

Sword: [1d20+1] = 11+1 = 12; sm [1d8+1] = 4+1 = 5/lg [1d10+1] = 7+1 = 8

Is that actually a hit!?!?

[OGRE MAGE]

Bo

”Lets circle around and head back in closer again so we can get a better look at what we are up against here. I think you might be right, Brevos. Perhaps they can’t leave.”

The grey druid ponders that thought for a moment longer before continuing.

“We can’t stay out here tonight. We must find a way back to our group. We can’t control the....change and who knows, we might wake up 100 leagues from here by morning. We must go back and see if our friends yet live. It was foolish of us to do otherwise.”

With that, the old man heads off in a southeasterly direction back towards the doomed town.

[Scott308]

Ingrid Esthof

Let's go get you a real weapon, the cleric whispers to Pyotr before turning away, heading to the armory.

[ravenn4544]

Mouser shakes his as he follows... “will the horror ever end?”

[Inferno]

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







Beyond the borders of doomed Vicar's Head, in the dank gloom of the woods at the foundation of the dark mountains, the grey druid thinks upon the dire fate of the friends they left behind and turns back, steeling himself to return to the village of the damned. Mouser reluctantly follows, asking, “...will the horror ever end?”

In the hamlet of sorrow...



Undead fiends press against the bars of Rudolf's dungeon cell as he exclaims, "Curses and splashes... is all lost?"

Not 60 feet away, Hothhil strikes! As Ingrid and Mondegreen retreat to the armory above, the elven warrior drives his blade into the back of one of the heinous cadaver-men! (Z4) He cuts rotting flesh to the bone! The horrific thing reels, shrieking in agony and hate, and Hothhil evades its dead cold fists!



In the forsaken church, the madman says, "No! Don't go in there!"

“Why not?” says Telkis, hesitating on the threshold. “What’s in there? Speak plainly, now!” Urdur draws a dagger, fearing the worst.

With guilt, the clean shaven man stares at the shattered mirrors. "It's not what you think... I am a man!"

Then his body violently convulses as it begins to change!





Actions?!


Non-required reading (rolls and rulings):

Iron bars Save vs normal blow (2): [1d20] = 10 Rudolf's bars hold.
Hothhil surprises Z4? (1-2): [1d6] = 4 No.
Z4 attacks Hothhil: [1d20] = 2, damage: [1d8] = 3 Misses.

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: 4/5 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: 5/30
  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:

• None currently

Player Resources:

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

[Rusty Tincanne]

Hothhil steps backwards up the stairs while still swinging the foreign sword, which finds no purchase.

Sword: [1d20+1] = 3+1 = 4; sm [1d8+1] = 4+1 = 5/lg [1d10+1] = 10+1 = 11

[Urson]

Pyotr

Pyotr nods to Ingrid, his face becoming more animated and alert with each second. Da, poydem.

[rredmond]

Hearing the shrieks, but seeing that his bars are holding Rudolph grips his rock and ensures that his daggers are ready to throw. All's not well in the land of the dead it seems, he says aloud, which can only bode well for our stout hero, he adds with a quick smirk. He doesn't get closer to those bars to see what happening, but that doesn't stop him from wondering what's going on.

[OGRE MAGE]

Bo tries to lead the trio back to the outskirts of the town. He looks far an area that might give them a good vantage point to observe what the hoard of undead monsters outside are doing. If he can find a suitable place, and there is a nearby tree that could be climbed for a birds eye view, he nods his head towards the ranger.

"We must find a way back to the others......and those horrid cells again before nightfall. Can anyone see anything through all this damn fog?"

[wolfpack]

With a nod Brevos finds the highest perch and begins to climb to the top

[Scott308]

Ingrid Esthof

Less concerned with stealth than with speed, the cleric leads the way to the armory at a hurried pace.

[ravenn4544]

Mouser keeps watch as Brevos climbs the tree.

[Urson]

Pyotr

Still sore and wounded, Pyotr follows Ingrid as quickly as he can.

[ChubbyPixie]

Telkis, worried that the two of them alone will not be able to defeat this creature, throws his dagger while yelling to Urdur: “We should move into the room! We can barricade ourselves inside!”
Dagger, thrown (THAC0 16): To Hit:[1d20] = 8, Damage: vs s/m [1d4] = 1, vs L [1d3] = 1
He then moves to the doorway if Urdur has already done so. (If not he’ll stand his ground.)

[SocraticLawyer]

Urdur nods in agreement. If he can attack and barricade in the room this round, he throws two daggers and shuts the door after Telkis.

Throw dagger [1d20+2] = 18+2 = 20

Throw dagger [1d20+2] = 9+2 = 11

Assuming that first one hits Damage from dagger [1d4] = 1
"Veiðir fisk," says the gnome.

Translation: This is indeed a dire situation, friend, made all the more so by my need to pee.

[Inferno]

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







The clean-shaven madman in the church is wracked with pain as he undergoes a terrifying transformation! His urgent rantings have become bestial growls and screams!

In terror, Telkis and Urdur lunge through the door, slam it, and begin barricading it with whatever they can lift in the hopes of keeping the horrific creature out!

There are fearful snarls and howls as the monstrous thing throws itself against the shut door! The gnomes don't know how long it will hold!



Meanwhile, on the graveyard road, the grey druid and the grim ranger scale trees to gain a better vantage. For 75 feet, the road is clear; none have followed them. Then the path is swallowed up by fog.

Below, the condemned village, accursed by witchcraft and black magick, also remains veiled from their sight by the shroud of mist. But echoing up from it they can faintly hear the howling of a wolf. And the guttural vocalizations of what once had been men.



Safe in his prison cell, Rudolf laughs with frightened bravado as a roar erupts from the southern end of the dungeon. The grotesque wretched undead cease pressing against his bars and lumber southward!

Out of Rudolf's sight, Hothhil's borrowed blade slices the air and crashes into a stone wall as the elvish warrior backs up, up the stairs.

Tortured restless dead out of darkest nightmare fill the hall before him, lurching after him, grasping, reaching up to drag him down into Hell with them. One icy hand gets ahold of his throat and almost crushes his windpipe! (-6 damage to hp!)


One square = 5 feet

Above, on the main floor of the tower, Ingrid, Mondegreen and Pyotr search the ransacked armory again! Spears, shields, knives and shortswords remain.

Noting the chamber is a dead end, Mondegreen urges, "Hurry! Those things will be here soon!"


Actions?!


Non-required reading (rolls and rulings):

Z4 attacks Hothhil: [1d20] = 17, damage: [1d8] = 6 Hits for 6hp damage.
Z5 and Z6 cannot attack this round because they used movement as their action.

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: 9", AC: 1, HP: 8/20
  Ingrid Esthof, Human Cleric 4: Move: 12", AC: 9(7), HP: 17/22, Spells: 4/5 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: 5/30
  Rudolf Rassendyll, Halfling Thief 3: Move: 12", AC: 6, HP: 1/12
  Telkis Brassfang, Gnome Fighter 3: Move: 9", 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:

• None currently

Player Resources:

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