Vecna's Chosen IC [3.5 Undead Gestalt]

[NotScaryBats]

SET

"The Mindless have no place here..." the ghost whispers softly. It isn't a command, but a suggestion.

You have never before been summoned to the Temple of Vecna. This huge building -- the only real temple to the God of Secrets -- is one of a kind in many ways. Its iron gates seem to hold back a roiling sea of slate gray fog that churns and wails as faces and appendages periodically form and dissolve along its perimeter. The gates part before you as the ghost in a blank silver mask floats forward to escort you. The ground is frozen black gravel that crunches beneath your heavy boots.

You leave your controlled undead behind you and pass beyond the threshold, led by the ghost. After a minute of walking, the fog parts suddenly.

Crucified, and split open from head to toe, you see the bloated form of Orcus, the Demon Prince of the Undead. His decaying form is being messily devoured by ghouls, who crawl about the great demon's body like maggots.

This grisly sight is at the base of a dark stone pyramid. Vecna's Temple is one of few buildings built by undead -- it represents ancient style long forgotten, tempered by the cold logic of the grave. The ghost leads you inside.

Silence of the grave, quietus, awaits you inside the Temple. Your footsteps fall vulgarly upon the stone floor tiles, as masked ghosts float between tasks. The deeper you go, the more oppressive the silence, and the greater the air pressure gets.

At long last, you are brought before a large pair of double doors, cast in iron. They depict scenes of mystifying specificity, showing you your Fall and subsequent rise; they show your entire story up to this point. The ghost whispers softly "Stare not. The Herald awaits you inside..."

Opening the heavy iron doors, you enter a room. Like the previous hallways, nothing illuminates it. Your Undead Darkvision pierces the darkness, revealing a short figure standing upon an unadorned five foot wide Dias in the center of the otherwise lavishly appointed room.

The Herald of Vecna is cloaked in a dark gray wool cloak. The simple garment hangs loosely on the skeletal form of a Lich that may have been a gnome or halfling in life. It is motionless, already facing the door you entered from.

"Set, Paladin of Vecna. Our god has called upon you to annex the mortal kingdom of Mourne. You will desecrate their great Sol Leon -- temple to Pelor -- and pave the way for our forces. Use discretion. A full invasion has resulted in the armies of Dominaria of the north coming to their aid. If you can sever ties between the two nations, all the better.

"The Maimed God has tasked you with this mission. You will go about it as you please. Failure is not an option. Use this Bell of Summoning to deliver your updates every three days. Should new objectives arise, they shall be delivered to you through the Bell.

"In His Infinite Wisdom, the God of Secrets has seen fit to bestow His Favor upon you. Take these soldiers -- some pulled from the Ruby Teeth of the Dread Lich Himself.

"Come forth!" She commands. A door on the side of the room swings open, and a troupe of powerful undead enter the room.

"Learn your minions' strengths and weaknesses. Use them well."

With that, the Herald of Vecna Teleports away, leaving a shield and a silver bell behind on the Dias.

[CowMasterTrojan]

Before you stands a individual who appears to be a human male. He is average height for a human, but does appear a tad on the thin side. He is draped in black from head to toe, whether it be black leather boots & gloves, a black longcoat or black shrouds he wears about is body. Much of his clothing is long, ragged, and is frayed at the ends. The effect is obvious however, as when he moves it becomes very difficult to estimate where is arms and hands are located. A hood is pulled over his face, revealing only the lower part of a face that seems normal enough. On his side is a long sword, on his wrist a mithril buckler, around his neck a holy symbol of Vecna that would be very easy to conceal. When he speaks, he speaks briefly and concisely with a voice that is raspy and cold.
http://t0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQPgxe0shfn2piSK07tju27lxAAVkvWU 0r_Z7gbF_jvfZlWH6d0


"Minions and Slaves of Vecna, come forth. Gather here now, I command it. I am Set, faithful servant of Vecna. Our master has assigned me a task to destroy Mourne and it's temple of pelor, and to complete that task you have been ordered to aid me. You are bound to our lord, and therefore while my task is uncomplete you are bound to me. From this moment on you shall obey and serve me."

As he speaks, he picks up the items that were dropped to him.

[NotScaryBats]

The ghost attending Set floats forward and whispers to him as he examines the objects. "A Silver Bell of Summoning that I am bound to. Ring it, and I shall come...

"The Black Buckler is the house of the Lich Lean's soul. It will aid in your relations with him..." A tiny silver bell hangs from a collar about the female ghost's neck -- though it has yet to make a sound. Her face is completely covered by a blank silver mask. Her clothing is as drab an unremarkable as any servant.

[Pazzo]

A silhouette of a figure walks forward, cloaked in a darkness not even the eyes of the dead can see through. As he steps to towards the dias, the darkness peels off him, pooling at his legs and rolling behind him into the rough shape of a shadow, where there is no light to cast one. Reveals is a unnaturally tall elf, of pale ashen skin and snow white hair. His flesh is shifting, while one area appears pale but otherwise normal, other spots seem decayed or rotten. Taken to an extreme, his right hand is skeletal. A pale icy blue flame seems to leak out slightly from behind his unnerving eyes, above a cruel grin. He wears the robes of a priest of Vecna, with the arms torn off. Shadowy tendrils leak out from the corners of his robes, shaking in a wind that is not there. A single gauntlet, made of mithral plates covering scaly black leather covers his left hand and lower arm. When it moves it seems to leave a brief pale afterimage of itself.

"'Minions and Slaves' you say? I am quite afraid I am neither. I am Lean, and I am a weapon of my Lord, Vecna. My purpose is to see his enemies to their deaths, and turn what remained into more weapons of war for our master. He has judged you fit to wield me I am told, so I shall follow you in your campaign. Pick up the Buckler, and guide me to your targets. Just make sure you take very good care of it. Should something happen to it . . . well . . . A sword can become quite dangerous with a damaged sheath."

With a silent smirk, a shimmer over his shoulder turns into an Imp, his body covered in runes and diagrams, who takes in the room before watching Set carefully.

[Eiko]

Those long dead were silent here, perhaps their voices were quelled by the presence of the Dread Lich's temple or perhaps they were scared. Vander simply took the time to enjoy the silence. Pulling the battered form of his long coat tighter around him he strode behind the chaotic form of the Lich, one hand idly kept behind himself never straying far from the haft of his weapon. A cruel weapon at that, a large pitted and chipped block of sharpened metal firmly attached to a simple long pole; it looked as if it would smash a man apart before it cut through him. In contrast to his weapon his own form is, though poorly kept, surprisingly pleasant to behold. A well formed mane of yellow blonde hair clings to itself in the gloom framing a face built of well defined bones and sloping lines that give him an heir of regality. His skin is almost worryingly pale save for the odd patch of almost blackened scar tissue, some visible dotted around his form with a large swatch on his chest. A sturdy pair of gloves adorn his hands, with matching boots and a traveler's pair of pants, all of good quality though stiffening with age. His expression appears distracted, often staring into a place that is most certainly empty, though he reacts to any small movements or sudden noises.

"Quit posturing Lean," His voice is even and smooth, though with slight faltering as if he is not used to it "However you look at it we're all slaves in some way. We're all here because the Big Lich demmanded we do this and none of us have a choice in the matter" He gestures loosely at the others assembled. "At least have the guts to admit your in a cage rather than ignore the bars"

He then strides over to Set and pulls himself into a formal military salute, blatantly ignoring any reply. "Adrian Vander at your service"

[Soliloquy]

A tall man, wrapped in bandages, leaving only his sunken eyes visible, black and dull, as though any undeath in them had been destroyed long ago. Despite this, when he spoke, with a voice that could only be described as dark, his eyes flashed with life, as though he was eager to act like a living creature once more.

Let us leave the pleasantries here and go at once. As long as you can be served with death, you can know that your enemies will breath their last. There is a note of pleasure and excitement in his voice which is somewhat surprising, considering he was once one of the heroes opposing the Dread Lich whom he now served.

[Pazzo]

I do not posture, little thing. I simply clairify facts. Slaves serve against their will in hopes of survival. Minons server their masters in hope of gaining their favors. I am neither, I am a weapon. I serve for I am an instrument of my Lord, created to be used correctly to fulfill a purpose."

The shadow at his feet falling back and enlarging to give a shape of a cloaked figure with a large pole. Lean's voice changing tone slightly, as if echoing in reverse, a quieter voice projecting briefly before the real thing is heard.

"I am not a prisoner, trapped in a cage. Nor am I the Warden caging him. I am the bars on that cage. I have no place to escape to, or any desire to be anywhere else, for I am exactly where I am meant to be."

[SCARY WIZARD]

With the others, walks a half-elven woman. She wears adventuring gear of earthen colors, the "centerpiece" of which is a long brown robe. The bottom has all sorts of unsightly stains along it, some of which look like simple dirt, while others look like algae or water stains. The soles of her boots have "matching" stains. Beneath the robes one can see loose-fitted pants and a shirt, both of which appear to be incredibly faded, their original colors barely identifiable.
She herself is tall for one of her race, at five feet and nine inches. Her features are a bit "off", as if something is not quite right with her, and this aside, she has a disapproving glare plastered on her face that would cause small children and adolescents to quake. Her hair is long and dark and worn back in a loose tail.
She has a very "earthy" smell, accompanied by that of cold air and alcohol.

Unlike the others, this woman says nothing. She just stops when they do, and glances around the chamber for a moment before settling on Set.

[darkbuu_1]

A grey figure, long and wisp-like, floating about a foot off the floor, is almost suddenly noticeable among the gathering group, having made his way through the building with the other two outsiders, though his ghastly image barely takes any form. At a glance he materialises as only a tall grey wisp of smoke with what take enough shape to resemble two long gangly arms and a prominent single eye with a piercing gaze, his mere presence capable of sucking the joy out of a room.

Years of not caring about himself have taken their toll on his visible form, his body no longer able to retain his true shape to others that would not linger long enough to seek it.

While this wisp remains blurry at a casual glance, should you manage to force your gaze to linger, you can start to make out a more detailed shape, and eventually his true form will show through. A fair haired, smooth skinned half-elf, with a large stab wound in his chest hovers before you, his stance poor and wilted, his face seemingly locked in a single expression, showing the eternal sorrow that he harbours in his undead soul. A small ornate violin and bow are affixed to his back, the shrill notes of its music, although not currently being played, seem to linger on the breath and in the speech of the ghost, adding to the chilling effect of his existence on those around him

“I , Elros, come to do the bidding of my lord, ” his hauntingly smooth voice lingers as it echos through the air “I'll do as you wish, though all is but fruitless wanderings without the greater heart’s purpose...” He hovers, shifting gently in the air as he takes in the others, his expression unchanging and his eyes coldly and sadly penetrating those that would care to stare.

[CowMasterTrojan]

"I care little for what you consider yourself. We serve the will of Vecna. Whatever you consider yourself is irrelivant because that is what it boils down to in the end. Now, let us leave this sacred place. As we do, you can explain of what use you will be to me in serving the dark lord's purpose"

With these words, Set turns quickly and begins to leave the temple, expecting the others to follow.

[Pazzo]

"Yes, My Commander~" Lean says with a single arm crossed bow as Set walks past. Reaching into his belt, he draws out a small handful platinum coins. Handing them to the Imp, he whispers something infernal to him. With a nod, the Imp is off, vanishing with a flap of his wings.

Lean gathers himself up, his shadow assuming an expected shape behind him, and follows Set casually.

What was whispered (In Infernal)
"I like this one. Alright, go and purchase my standard light gear and have it rushed over to B3. Have him saddled up and meet us at the gate. Take the extra coin as a bet, I think this young fellow might just make it over a month, deal?"

[NotScaryBats]

The ghost leads you out of the Temple. Outside, the sky is completely obscured by the pervasive fog. You make your way through it, and reach the gates without further incident.

As you pass the gates, you feel a tingling sensation. The doors slam shut behind you, and the Temple fades from existence, taking the strange fog with it. The ghost nods her head to Set, whispering, "Do you require anything else...?"

The city sprawls out around you. Large and small building of no unified architecture stretch as far as you can see. This is the City of the Dead, the Necropolis. You are in the District of the Lost, one of the largest districts, near the center of the city.

Now that the fog has cleared, a gang of ghoulish children can be seen meandering through the road. They pass your way, moaning and pawing at you with dirty mitts. "Feed us... So hungry..."

You know Mourne lies to the west, and have access to maps if you want to plot your course now or get somewhere quiet to do that. The Temple vanished, depositing you several miles from where you entered it (you are now in the middle of the city).

The children are not harming you yet, but mobs of Lost Children have been known to attack if not appeased or driven off.

[CowMasterTrojan]

Set's mood seems to worsen as he notices his location. His minions and Familiar are now a decent distance away.... It did not please him.


As he hears the ghoul's pleas he answers coldly without stopping, showing no fear of the pack.
"As you wish..."

Set gathers forth negative energy from the air, his body, and his very soul. Holding up the holy symbol around his chest and channeling it into the nearest one, he keeps it concentrated and focused.

Rebuke Check [roll0] (Max hit dice to be affected is 8.)
Rebuking Damage [roll1] (So 10 normal ghouls can be affected.)

To those that he now commands, he commands them "Lay down and allow yourself to be eaten."

[NotScaryBats]

A full half of the gang of child-ghouls lays down under the command of Set. Like a school of piranha, the remaining undead leap upon their fellows, tearing them apart with their filthy little claws and fangs. You understand that their actions are meaningless; undead flesh will not satiate their hunger, even for a little while.

It is a messy and prolonged process, and the road is now clear of all apparent obstacles.

[CowMasterTrojan]

Although very true, the only threat is too busy eating each other to bother us. That is all that matters. :smallwink:

[SCARY WIZARD]

"Brat's bones aren't even worth decorating the handles on my picks..." Thianne mumbles as she walks past the ghouls, her lip curling in contempt.

[Eiko]

Adrian's expression is tight, obviously uncomfortable with what had just happened, killing in battle was just fine. Killing to get ahead was acceptable too, even these days killing because you were starving. Killing children because they were in your way... and making them kill each other. Whatever kind of man Set was, the bar's of his prison were open to some really twisted sights.

Adrian swiftly places himself in front of Set weapon in hand, his expression cold.

"I may have to work for you, but Vecna as my witness I will not stomach that." He pauses for a moment, thrown off by the insertion of the lich's name something he had not consciously done. "What was there to gain in that?"

[CowMasterTrojan]

"And what would you have done? Let them attack us and then we all would be slowed down as we would have butchered a similar number. My solution was fast, kept from delaying us, and lowered the number of those who were suffering." Set's hand moves into his garments, reaching for something.

[Eiko]

Adrian flinches, an eye kept out for whatever Set might be drawing.

"You had control over the children, you could have just sent them away. They followed your orders to their deaths just as easily as they would have followed them away."

[CowMasterTrojan]

"You are mistaken. I controlled SOME of them. Not enough to make all of them go away. And this way they will no longer suffer eternal hunger pains. I have done them a favor. Tell me, does this pity you have in your heart extend to humans children? If so, I will summon the ghost to have you returned to where ever you were being kept. The ruby, was it not?" He says with a arrogant smirk.

[Eiko]

Adrian stiffens on the spot, fangs bared on reflex blood screaming to take action before he slumps down in resignation. Weary hands transfer his weapon back to the straps on his back.

"Killing for a reason I can understand, if you are going to kill for convenience then I want no part of it. If the reason you're giving me is to do it or die then I'll have to take that for now."

That doesn't mean I like it, and it doesn't mean I'll save you when you get yourself killed

"I'm a soldier, I kill people for the benefit of my employer. Then my employer went crazy. As long as I work for you, you treat me like the lich likes to pretend he is and I'll pretend I'm one too"

[darkbuu_1]

“They seemed all too happy to eat each other," Elros says matter-of-factly. "They weren't friends, and they evidently wont be missed.” Elros stares longingly to the sky, recalling things that he missed “They've been freed from their physical and emotional hunger, and their souls are now able to travel to the other side, to find reprive, to breathe.”

“Not that it really has anything to do with me," He says somewhat rushed, snapping out of his staring daze, "as they wouldn't have gotten any flesh off of my non existent bones.”

[CowMasterTrojan]

"As you wish. But don't you ever threaten me again... Or else you will find us having a long discussion under the high noon sun. Do I make myself clear?"

Slowly he removes the hand from within his garments, leaving whatever is hidden within still there. After a brief moment he pushes past Adrian, and begins walking towards the Library again.

"What of you ghost? What can you do? Can you possess people? Move things with your mind?"

[darkbuu_1]

Elros pulls the beautifully crafted violin and bow from their carrier along the length of his back and begins to play a few bars of haunting music, a slow and depressing melody echoes eerily around the city. He speaks, his chin settled daintily on the rest attached to the instrument, his eyes fixed on the strings and his expertly moving fingers.

“Music has more strength then people allow it credit, it can influence a man's heart and mind, with both the living and dead alike unwittingly dancing as mere puppets to the tune of my song. It can gently push and pull their emotions, filling them with false courage or fearsome dread, or if played in a certain way it can even overwhelm a person, completely overshadowing an individual’s true desires and replacing them with mine, for a time.”

Or yes, I can possess and have some small buffs and debuffs

[CowMasterTrojan]

Nodding at the ghosts word, set turns without comment and begins addressing the mummy. "And what of you? What abilities do you possess?"

[NotScaryBats]

As the child-ghouls continue to crack bones and lick the marrow from their former comrades, the group of powerful undead begin to talk among themselves, heedless of the grisly acts occurring around them. The street is mostly devoid of passers-by -- perhaps Set's show of power has caused the usual pedestrians to rethink their routes.

Soundlessly, a ghost approaches the group. This one seems to have a better grasp of its physical manifestation than the wispy Elros, and appears almost opaque and tangible. It stands six feet tall, and has the features of a citizen of Mourne, with blonde hair and blue eyes, a strong jaw, and simple, unadorned clothing. He speaks in a rich baritone that commands your attention.

"I am loathe to interrupt your pleasant gathering, but could not help but notice your ... display. Most impressive. I am called Ryan, and if I am to understand that you are Set, the Paladin of Tyranny most recently appointed with the annexation of Mourne, then I have a proposal for you, and I do believe that you should find it lucrative." A thick prayer book hangs loosely from his chain belt, but you see no visible holy symbol on the ghost. On his other hip, a fine longsword and exotic-looking pouch hang.

[CowMasterTrojan]

Lore to know more about this ghost [roll0]

Set stops once more, a frown upon his face. Trying to keep his hatred in check, he secretly wondered if normal Paladins were bothered this much walking down normal cities.
"Fine. Make it quick."

[NotScaryBats]

The ghost smiles humorlessly, and continues.
"During the last few skirmishes with the Pelorites of Mourne, a corps of ghostly warriors has been seen working with the enemy. We wish to know more about these apparent traitors to the Cause.

"Harvest their ectoplasm -- the ghostly remains they leave behind in the Ethereal -- and catch it in this bag. You may take this Ghost Touch blade to aid you in the task. Our seers will be able to divine just what is motivating undead to stray from the True Path and you will be doing Our Lord Vecna a service." Ryan removes the sword and bag from his belt, offering them to you.

[CowMasterTrojan]

Set carefully takes the sword and bag from the ghost, and draws the blade from it's sheath to examine it. After holding it close to his face for a moment, he swings it about a few times to check the balance and then re-sheathes in a smooth motion. As he begins putting them onto his person, he once again speaks.
"Very well Ryan. The ghost and I shall make it a point to return the ectoplasm to you. But I offer you a easy solution as well. Pelorites would never work with undead, even if they had some powerful magic item that allowed them to control them. Thus, the Ghosts work with the Pelorites of their own free will. Pelor dictates that all undead must be destroyed, yet the Pelorites do not destroy them. So they must feel that the ghosts actions are acts of redemption. Therefore you can conclude that these warriors likely were tied to service of Pelor in some way in life, and died in dishonor or something akin to it. They likely are trying to rectify the wrongs of their life. Consider that until I return."
With that, Set turns and continues onward to the Library.

Obviously we can look at each other's characters, so we have an idea of what each other can do. I propose that unless you would like to tell Set something specific of your abilities, we just assume he asks everyone a little something on the way so he knows what he can expect from you.

[NotScaryBats]

The group continues onward to the Library, discussing their strengths and not their weaknesses. Where they tread, the streets empty of the lesser undead that make their homes here, unwilling to draw the ire of Vecna's Chosen -- it seems even in the domain of the God of Secrets, word travels fast.

The Library itself is an impressive sight. The signature black iron gates that sprout everywhere in the city separate the grounds from the rest of the city. Knowledge is guarded in this domain, and a huge stone golem stands before the gate. It appears to be made of fused tombstones, with various names and dates carved all along its vaguely humanoid surface. Dwarfed by the enormous golem, a humanoid form stands, completely obscured in a black hooded cloak.

As you approach the gate and its guardians, the hooded one looks at you appraisingly and asks, "State your business."

[CowMasterTrojan]

Stopping, he looks up almost challengingly at the guardians. He holds his holy symbol up once more like a badge of authority.
"We are on official business of the Scared One. We need maps of Mourne and lands in-between."

[Pazzo]

Lean paces slowly at the steps below the building. His mind ablaze with thoughts, whispers and questions.

"It's just a Libr- House of Books, go it with the others."

"You are a weapon, you have no business in there."

"You must go in, knowledge is the greatest weapon of all"


"You cannot, quickly, find HIM and prepare your tools"

"But Set is my Commander, I should follow him unless told otherwise yes?"

"Yes, and he is in the Library, go and find him, and have a look around"

"NO"

Lean turns as the thought echos in his mind and his ear, turning around to see a familiar pile of bones, wrapped in black leather strips. What was once a bear is steers by a small familiar figure uptop it's skull.

"No . . . need to worry, my master. I am here, and I brought you what you asked." The imp says, motions to a pack strapped to several of the bear's ribs. "Why not put them on, I trust I got the sizes right?"

"Yes, Yes of course." Lean says, forgetting the mental turmoil of earlier, and begins to check his new gear in solice. Not even noticing the threatening gestures his shadow is making to the imp, the small grinning imp that serves his master oh so well.

"Yes, I will gear up and wait for my commander, it is my duty." Lean says self assured, pulling the chainshirt over his head and tightening straps.

[NotScaryBats]

"... Official business? Very well. Enter." The golem opens the door for you. Inside, the Library is enormous, and you are immediately intercepted by an ancient mummy. It's bandages are withered and yellowed with age, covered in a scrawling, arcane script. Bright white eyes peer suspiciously at you from under a simple scribe's skullcap. Ioun Stones whiz about the creature's head.

You suspect that this is a -- or perhaps the -- head librarian. Your reputation must proceed you.

"What do you want." It demands.

[CowMasterTrojan]

Set becomes increasingly annoyed. It was true that he spent very little time here since his transformation... but this visit was finding him more annoyed than usual. Every single being seemed rude and demanding. But perhaps it was not just them, perhaps it was the thought of going back to Mourne that left him irritable.
"We need maps for here, all the way to Mourne." He almost found himself saying more, but Set reminded himself. Those here would use any information they could get against you. Say only what needs to be said, and not a word more.

[NotScaryBats]

"Mourne?" the mummy responds laconically, turning without another word and moving deeper into the library.

You pass several doors under lock and key, through hallways and finally into a seven-hundred square foot room. A table-sized map dominates the heavily shelved area, depicting the world in exacting detail.

The librarian removes several scrolls and a large dusty tome from a particular shelf, arranging them gently on the table.

"The Encyclopedia of Mourne is outdated, but may have useful bits on the longer-lasting of Mourne's towns and practices. These scrolls contain the maps you seek. Do you have any specific queries, or would you like a brief overview?" The mummy says, gesturing at the indicated items.

[CowMasterTrojan]

"No, we don't need..." Set begins to say but pauses and looks around, realizing his companions may need more information than he. "On second thought, give us a brief overview with any and all knowledge you have on Sol Leon, temple to Pelor."

Then a sudden thought courses through his head, and he looks around once more. Double checking what he thinks he didn't see. Indeed, he did not.
"Where in the nine hells is Lean?"

[darkbuu_1]

Elros absent mindedly thumbs through a couple of the scrolls laid out before them. His wisp of a hand infuriatingly passing through the thin parchment constantly as he tries to unravel the various documents.

“Why are we even reading up on this place?" He finally says irritably. "As far as I can see, we just walk in, kill everything, and walk out again. Maybe plan an ambush while we're there...”
he gestures in a blase manner, shrugging his shoulders up as he turns from the scrolls.

Bardic Knowledge on Mourne
[roll0]

[CowMasterTrojan]

"Your folly is thinking that we could just walk in there and kill everyone. Imagine how dangerous each one of you are to a normal person. Now understand that every priest of pelor in mourne is equally as dangerous to you! So, just as a normal person could hope to defeat one of us with careful preperation, we too must be prepared to defeat them.".

[NotScaryBats]

"The land of Mourne is the oldest human kingdom on the continent -- it was settled when the human's first made landfall upon our shores. Their land is mostly fertile valleys, and farming is common. That said, it is true that Pelor worship is an incredibly important part of their day to day life, and many powerful priests wield the Bright God's Light.

"The Sol Leon is one of the largest temples to Pelor. It was built to be part castle, part temple, and part crypt.

"The castle houses the Theocratic Senate, where old bureaucrats interpret the law in open court. The temple is enormous, containing a library wing, living quarters, and a central worship room. The crypt houses countless Saints of Pelor who have died over the past thousand years. It is said the Sol Leon temple was 'built upon a great power that none could contain' and if this is true, I find it likely such power would be in the crypt somewhere. I mention this because the crypt also houses the Kurobon, a dark tome from a forgotten land to the east, kept under wards and locks because it cannot be destroyed.

"Is that sufficient to get you started with your planning?"

[CowMasterTrojan]

"That should suffice unless one of you has a question." Set murmurs grimly, already leaning over and examining the scrolls on the table.
The path I traveled all those years ago was too indirect to use, but I didn't have these maps. Perhaps we can make this a quick journey after all. Set begins plotting the path they will take, trying to gauge ease as the most important factor with speed as a very close second.

[SCARY WIZARD]

Thianne had been giving a disinterested look at everything around the library up until the mummy mentioned the Kurobon.

"Kurubon..." She scratches her chin and casts her gaze upwards. It sounded vaguely familiar...during her time hunting spellcasters, the half-elf had seen and stolen so many books of "forbidden lore" and "dark secrets" that she could write a series of volumes about her impressions of them at a glance, but "Kurobon" sounded familiar enough to at least give her pause. Then again, there were so many books that ended with "-on" that Thianne was surprised some upstart mage hadn't trademarked it.

[roll0] (Knowledge (Arcana), first!)

[NotScaryBats]

Bardic knowledge:
You know that the Theocracy is not above corruption, and in your time several prominent politicians have faced allegations of bribery and even treason.

You also know that there has been a strict policy of response with overwhelming force against perceived undead invasions by the Knights Templar. These mounted soldiers are very skilled in destroying undead, and ride out from Sol Leon as a first response against attacks.

Knowledge check
The Kurobon sounds like a foreign language title, but you are unaware of which language, and haven't heard anything specific about the legendary book.

There are three distinct paths to take to Mourne, the first goes through the Spellbomb Badlands, an area devastated by a weapinized arcane device detonated at the height of the War of Apotheosis 120 years ago. Warped creatures stalk the craggy landscape. This would be the most direct route, at one and a half days, but would also be the most difficult.

The second would take you past the Lake of Blood, the cursed former school of Vecna, the Dread Lich. It is allegedly not dangerous unless you attempt to enter the grounds (though none have successfully returned from such a sojourn). It is the longest route, meandering to the north and through the town of Sorrow, Demesne of Wraiths. This is a medium town that respects Vecna's authority. A three and a half day journey.

The final route covers the south, and involves treacherous mountainous paths that have fallen into some disrepair. Joh the Heartless rules a keep there, but she rarely interacts with the rest of Vecna's Scourge. A two and a half day journey.

[CowMasterTrojan]

At some point if you could provide a rough map, that would be really awesome. I have plans of what I want to do, but it's hard to explain them without points of reference.

It sounds like the only path that you could take with a wagon would be the second choice, correct?

[CowMasterTrojan]

Staring hard, a plan began to form in Set's mind. He smirked slightly with thoughts of what they would say if he pulled it off.
"Librarian Mummy, do you know of any Dragon's in the mountains of this area? Or perhaps a nest of Wyverns?"

[NotScaryBats]

"Looking to fly your way in? Not inconspicuous, but certainly stylish. There are no dragons in this country, but wyverns...?" The librarian scratches his chin. "The southern mountains have been home to numerous flying beasts since before War -- perhaps some still make their homes there?"

The mummy seems concerned that he did not know the precise answer to your query, but makes no further comment.

[CowMasterTrojan]

"Thank you. You have been most helpful. You may leave us now."
Once the mummy has left, he turns to the others.
"So this is the plan that I propose. It is the path I wanted to take the least, however if things work out it will be worth it. We take the southern pass through the mountains and keep an eye out for Wyverns. If we can find a few of them, we will turn them into zombies. From there we can have them fly us up very high, and only during darkness. We should be able to make our way into the farmlands. Once there we will create a large amount of undead, and let them loose on the area. With luck, we may be able to slip into Sol Leon before the knights Templar respond to the undead force we created. If we can pull that off, they will be at their very weakest, and that is when we shall make our move. Do any of you have thoughts on the matter?"

[SCARY WIZARD]

Thianne appears to not be paying attention. However, upon the completion of the champion's plan, she turns to him. "Sounds good to me... Not to mention the wyverns will make for a good distraction."

[CowMasterTrojan]

Set, who is not a mummy, looks at the wight with pleasure that someone appreciates a good plan.
"We shall see how many Wyverns we can acquire. If we can get more than 3, we shall leave a couple behind. Wyvern's may not be the fastest creatures alive, but it would be easier to be unnoticed than riding in on a wagon."

[NotScaryBats]

The team assembles the relevant maps and leaves the library, feeling confidant. Outside, the air is frigid and a light snow has begun to fall.

Are you headed straight to the road, or do you have anything else you wish to accomplish in town?

Please note that I assume you have no spells active on you unless told otherwise.

[CowMasterTrojan]

@Lean
Upon seeing Lean, Set storms up to him. "Where have you been? We all walked inside to look at the maps and make a plan! What made you think you shouldn't be a part of that venture?"

@Everyone else once he is done yelling at Lean
"This may be the last city we're inside that we're not burning down for a while. If any of you would like to get some weapons or supplies, we can meet at my camp. It's several miles west of here, but shouldn't be hard to find as it was on the outskirts of the city. Be there within six hours."

@Psiclone

Welcome back. I will have Set's memorized spell list completed for proper traveling, and will note any active spells on his sheet under notes.


Upon returning to his camp, he would use the bell to summon the ghost and inform him of the plan.

[Soliloquy]

I turn to Elros: We should get some food. Don't want to starve to death now do we?
Roll for sarcasm [roll0]

[Pazzo]

Pulling his steel helm over his head, his grey ears sliding out the grooves, Lean snaps his fingers, while shouting something in Undercommon. "B2 Lever!" The 12 foot tall mass of bones and leather lumbers onto it's hind legs, towering above Lean and the others. Reaching into a pack tied inside of it's ribcage, Lean draws forth a Silver Morningstar with skull sculpture. Turning to Set with a calm look, as the dire bear crashed to the ground behind him, Lean explains.
"I was mearly gearing up with some tools of war, anticipating the need to leave swiftly. Did you really need another pair of eyes on the map? As I understand, Mourne is pretty large, should be hard to miss. Sorry if my assistance was needed, my commander."
Climbing up onto the saddle of his beast, using the ribs as steps, Lean turns to look back down. "So what have you decided as our path, Commander? Something interesting, I do hope. Been itching to get out of these walls for a while, and days of walking through fields is not what I consider pleasurable. Plus, we should raise out forces as much as possible before we get their."

[CowMasterTrojan]

"Very well. At least let me know next time you wander off unannounced. When I reach for my weapon, I don't like to find an empty sheath. Our plan will take us through the mountains, and hopefully we will find some Wyvrns to take us through the border unnoticed. Come, if you are ready, let us go to my camp."

[NotScaryBats]

The group move out, having nothing in particular that they need to get from the town. The snow continues to fall heavier and heavier, and by the time the group reaches Set's campsite, visibility is reduced to about 30 feet due to the blinding white snow.

What sort of a camp have you set up? Are your minions there or in their coffin?

The storm that has moved in covers the sky -- for now. It is currently about 2 in the morning. You may move out either now or wait until nightfall again (but while the storm lasts you are in no danger of sunlight).

When you move out, you are taking the southern route to the southern mountains -- route 3 -- correct?

[CowMasterTrojan]

Set's camp is nothing to brag about. It's basically a parked covered wagon with a coffin in the back. Two horses in leather barding and decorative cloth sit attached, not bothered by the raging storm. No fire is made, and besides the wagon there is nothing to see except the living wolf that must have been hiding. As it appears from no where, it runs to greet Set. He makes no motions of attachment, as he just speaks to it as if it were one of you.
"Has there been any trouble since I entered the Temple?" The wolf makes no response or motion, just stares at him. "Good. I was worried with me gone and the minions if the coffin that there might be some trouble. These are our comrades for now. Yes, I am aware of the imp. It would be best if you didn't. Fine, if it will make you feel better." He then walks to the wagon, opens the coffin and turns to the others. Yelling over the storm he says "This is a magical coffin, for those of you who die from sunlight you may need to get used to being inside it. For those of you who can't pass yourself as a human on a casual glance, you may need to be in here on certain parts of our mission. Accept these facts. Oh, and before I forget Lean, from this point on I expect your imp to keep itself hidden or disguised. Nothing personal. If any of you have any navigational abilities, I suggest we make use of the storm and travel in it. But if none of you are skilled navigators, I'm afraid we will have to wait the storm out! We can't risk being lost in this storm, and I can hardly even make out the road anymore.

Correct, path 3 was our choice. Now that I know there is a raging storm, I'm even less excited about the idea.

[Pazzo]

With a bow filled with such sarcasm it would get a child expelled from school, the imp shimmers away between the snow, vanishing from air. Lean rides forward to inspect the horses. "Perhaps you were right about buying food, Ban. Looks like we just add three mortal mouth to feed. This may be . . . troublesome. If the plan is go unnoticed, I guess I should patch up this vessel a bit."

Raising his one skeletal arm, watching the snow fall between the bones, his fist clenches. Dark bolt of energy surge across his form, as the edges of the decay glow dimly, and begin to regrow grey pale flesh. Working off the fact that a Lich who stops taking care of themselves turn into nothing but a floating skull, the reverse must be true. Cosmetic healing, as it were. Should be done in a dozen or so hours, sans combat.

"As for tonight's plans, I see no real need to wait. It is merely a snow storm. What do we have to fear of the cold and the dark? Not as if we are going to catch a cold." Turning to the Vampire, Lean bends down to ask. "And if we get lost, can't you call upon some beasts of the night to assist us, Eiko?"

I hope other's remembered to stock up on Onyx, Lean is a little strapped for cash, and only has a small stash himself.

[CowMasterTrojan]

As Lean carefully inspects the horses, his eye catches the eyes of the horses. They're eyes he's seen several times before. Eyes of a zombie. It is then that Lean would realize that these horses have been specially animated to pass with casual inspection as real horses. Someone who knows undead well, such as a lich with a long history of animating or say... A priest who has spent his life destroying them, would see through the clever ploy quickly however.

"I was unaware that winter wolves could find the road in a blizzard. Getting lost or getting the wagon stuck in a ditch would slow us down more than leaving early would gain us. Better to take our time and do the job right than hurry and chance doing it wrong."


I think Lean and Set are the only ones that need onyx. Set has onyx, but as you said, not much to spare. If we find enough wyverns, Set will only be able to animate two.

[darkbuu_1]

Elros raises a trance-lucent eyebrow, then turning to Ban with a tone of great longing in his voice he says, "I wish I could once again enjoy the tantalizing sensation of food, but nowadays whenever I eat something it seems to go right through me."


As it becomes apparent that the party has to travel through the increasing blizzard he shrugs his ghostly shoulders and sighs "I wont be much use without an audience I'm afraid, so I'll just be refining my songs until there is something I can do." He turns and floats into the back of the wagon and lays down, floating eerily above the coffin, settling his violin to his chin as they trudge onwards, a haunted melody drifting through the air from the wagon's interior before disappearing into the sleet and hail.

[CowMasterTrojan]

I have looked over everybody's character sheet to see if anyone had any relevant skill. No one has ranks in survival (Not surprising) or knowledge (nature or geography). To me that says we're going to get lost in the storm. So if the others feel that strongly about the matter, they can just say they convince Set to leave now. But there will be a 'I told you so'. Otherwise, we're hunkering down at least for a little bit.

Making sure to hold his hood down, Set walks into the wind of the storm, heading about 100 ft west with his wolf following. He then stays there for a minute or two and wanders back. Hopping in the front of the wagon, he sits down and leans against the side to allow his legs to stretch out. He seems to have no intention of moving for the time.
"It's not the cold that's the problem. It's the poor road conditions and total lack of visibility that have me concerned."

[SCARY WIZARD]

Thianne stretches, as well, though it doesn't really mean anything coming from her, dead as she is. "Well, I don't know about any of you, but I have nothing but time on my hands...and I'm sure once everything's been said and done on our end, somebody would love to hear an account of it. Perhaps some starry-eyed bardling fresh out of the academies, or some farm-boy with heroic delusions. I'll be taking care of that." She scooches herself into a place of fair visibility, and one where she can write without much interference from wind. Outstretching a hand, she collects a small quantity of shadows in it, and pulls a book out of her coat. She flips through it single-handedly until she finds a blank page, and begins to scrawl into it.

Using liquid night to chronicle events.

[SCARY WIZARD]

Thianne stretches, as well, though it doesn't really mean anything coming from her, dead as she is. "Well, I don't know about any of you, but I have nothing but time on my hands...and I'm sure once everything's been said and done on our end, somebody would love to hear an account of it. Perhaps some starry-eyed bardling fresh out of the academies, or some farm-boy with heroic delusions. I'll be taking care of that." She scooches herself into a place of fair visibility, and one where she can write without much interference from wind. Outstretching a hand, she collects a small quantity of shadows in it, and pulls a book out of her coat. She flips through it single-handedly until she finds a blank page, and begins to scrawl into it.

Using liquid night to chronicle events.

[Pazzo]

Annoyed, Lean mutters "Fine, if a little sleet and snow is deemed too dangerous to an elite unit of Vecna, I guess I will have to stay put for now. If you need me, well, look for the bear skull." Setting out a handful of yards away from the wagon, Lean instructs B2 to carve into a nearby snowbank, then crawl inside backwards. Lean slips into the bears ribcage, and spends the night looking over his tools and gear, the cold being a pleasurable experiance.

[NotScaryBats]

The storm is a furious as it is short-lived, and by early morning, it has blown itself down to a light smattering of tiny snowflakes. The temperature has continued to drop, and the top inch or two of freshly fallen snow has frozen into a sheet of crunchy white.

In all, about seven inches cover the ground, and your undead joints are stiff with the chill in the air. The zombie horses have a heavy coat of smooth snow on their backs and the tops of their unmoving heads. The light is dim enough to walk in unburnt and visibility has increased substantially.

Your path lies ahead of you, and though you will be the first to plough it, you should be able to proceed at a decent pace.

[CowMasterTrojan]

Coming out of a minor trance, Set stretches out his body. The cold made it feel still and brittle. He wondered if that's what it felt like to grow old. He supposed he would never know.

After slowly getting out of the wagon, he begins brushing things off. The zombie horses included. He spends a large amount of time carefully removing snow from places where normal horses would not have or tolerate snow. Such as their eyes. He even goes so far as to remove their barding, clean it off, and then reattach it.

Finally finished, he looks around at the others to make sure they are okay. Finally he moves over to the bear cave and leans in.
"The storm is finally clear. Given that we are a great deal away from anyone who would care of our undead presence, I feel it wouldn't hurt to leave now and travel through the night. Hopefully the sun will melt the snow some, and keep the wagon from becoming stuck."

[NotScaryBats]

The group sets out, a sombre procession of hulking undead animals and deadly humanoids. The wagon creaks and groans, but holds the road remarkably well. You make good time, passing several small haunts and villages where the servants of Vecna make their home.

Due to the cloud cover, you are able to travel rapidly from dawn to dusk. The hour grows late and the night begins to fall as the mountain foothills begin to get steeper. The road has obviously not been used by any but yourselves since the snow has begun to fall.

You are entering the mountains and it is nighttime. Do you take any special precautions, change your routine, or continue moving ahead as quickly as possible?

[CowMasterTrojan]

Other than having the ghost scout ahead, I cannot think of any special precautions that we could take. We keep an eye out on the skies and try to keep quiet, so to better hear trouble.

[Pazzo]

Lean would Ride B2 (with the Shadow in floating along in the ribcage) ahead of the cart, pushing a path through the snow for the horses. He should be lighter, yet strong, and could test the path. The Imp would fly overhead, shrouded and keeping an eye on the sky and our backs.

[NotScaryBats]

The grim caravan moves forward along the snowy mountain roads. In the lead, Elros scouts ahead. Behind him, the great Dire Bear corpse plods through the snow and ice, ploughing the way for the zombie-drawn wagon. You feel confident and powerful, using your undead minions to secure your passage.

In the Ethereal, Elros gloomily floats along.
Elros.
You are scouting ahead a moderate distance from the caravan, your Ethereal form impervious to the winds and cold. Up ahead, you catch a glimpse of a pearlescent brownish-gray shape, not unlike the shimmering of a moonstone. Before you know it, a creature lands before you.

It is an approximately man-sized dragon, with needle-like teeth and large, intelligent eyes. Powerful wings that almost seem vestigial in this plane fold along its back and it sits upon its haunches. A pointy snout opens in a draconic grin.

"*chirp* ¿Que pasa, mi amigo? Soy Herñez. ¡Encantado!"

[darkbuu_1]

Elros whisks quickly off scouting out the path up ahead, he effortlessly floats above the ice covered floors and passes through the ragged peaks.

Despite a dragon staring him in the face Elros starts a soft but audible monologue to himself “Ah Draconic, there has always been something unmistakably elegant and ancient about it. It's times like this I wish I had learnt it.” He pauses, his fingers on his chin in a pose of careless contemplation, then suddenly remembering the massive dragon standing before him Elros calls up to it in a loud, slow and clear voice “Do you speak common? Ummm. . . ¿ Soy. . .” Elros thinks for a second before giving up and shrugging “...Common?”

Bardic knowledge to know what colour it is.
[roll0]

Elros causes his violin to manifest in his perfectly placed and waiting hands, and an evil smirk sneaks into the corner of the innocent smile he then tries to give “Would you like to hear a song, perhaps? Music is the dialect we all share...” He draws his bow elegantly down the fine tuned strings of the instrument and low mournful notes start to fill the air, winding their way through the surroundings and permeating every eardrum lurking to hear the haunting melody.

Fascinate
DC [roll1] Will save (Fascinate is an enchantment (compulsion), mind-affecting ability.)

Note: If I succeed in fascinating I will suggest that the dragon follows me back to camp.

[NotScaryBats]

The dragon looks back quizzically; you are unsure if it understood you or not.

Though you are unsure what type the dragon is you are fairly certain you know what it is not: the dragon does not seem to be either Chromatic nor Metallic, and is certainly not White or Silver.


At the mention of music and the appearance of the violin, the dragon, Herñez, looks ecstatic. It happily watches you play, taking no action other than bobbing its head slightly to the music.

You have Fascinated the dragon. It will follow you back to camp.

You play your fascinating tune and lead the dragon away, back to the others. Ethereal travel is swift, and it isn't long before you arrive, the caravan and riders' Material forms appearing shadowy and dark.

[CowMasterTrojan]

When Set hears the sound of the violin, Set immediately stops the horses. Standing up from the driver seat, he readies his blade and looks eagerly for Elros. As the ghost leads the small 'dragon' into his dark-vision range, his smile fades.
In common he calls out to the others. "No one kill it! It's too small to be useful for our purpose. But we may be able to use it to find others...."

Knowledge Arcana [roll0]

[Pazzo]

Seeing the Ghost and his new found friend approuching, Lean tuggs on B2's collar, commanding him to halt. Dismounting and slenderling walking though the snow, Lean walked to greet the new arrival.

"Saludo Elros, y que es su nuevo amigo aquí?"

Knowledge Arcana to Identifty the Dragon's Species,
[roll0]

[NotScaryBats]

Both
You recognize the creature as an Ethereal Dragon, a rare breed that, as the name suggests, is native to the Ethereal Plane.

Lean
Ethereal Dragons are greedy, even for dragons, and are easily bribed with material goods.

The ghostly bard leads a pearly gray dragon into visual range of the group. You can tell the creature is under some sort of spell, as it does not seem to acknowledge the dire bear, the wagon, or any of the riders. Its head bobs in tune to the music, and a silly grin is in place on its draconic face.

[SCARY WIZARD]

Thianne studies the dragon. "Funny, it doesn't look like it's in much a condition to do anything but bob around like an addled child."

Knowledge Arcana! [roll0]

[NotScaryBats]

Thianne
Unfortunately, you can discern nothing in particular about the Dragon's species or abilities.

[CowMasterTrojan]

Well at least if we have to kill it, I have the right kind of sword...

Getting off the wagon, Set begins walking aggressively towards Lean.
"Lean, you obviously speak it's language. Can you ask it if it knows where any Wyverns are located on the mountaintop?"

[Pazzo]

With a sly grin, Lean replies, "But of course, my commander."

Turning to the young drake, Lean clears his throat, and pulls on a warm smile, as the fleshtones continue to return to his face, the scars fading.

"Una escala joven, ¿sabe usted de los nidos de cualquier Wyvern cercano?"

[NotScaryBats]

The dragon looks about the area distractedly.

Draconic
"Yes, some great big wyverns prowl around up here -- they attack and eat travelers -- not that there are a lotta travelers around here. Most of 'em are dead like you guys though (the travelers and not the wyverns, but can you imagine?) and so they don't always have good stuff to eat and steal so they leave them alone. If you wanna attract them you gotta look more appetizing but I guess that'd be pretty hard for you because you all smell so gross." Herñez, the dragon, prattles on in an excited voice. The dialect is a little different than you are used to, but you still understand it all.

[CowMasterTrojan]

I apologize if I jump the gun, but I get the impression Lean wouldn't screw me over on the translation. If he does, this doesn't happen.

As the lich translates the words of the dragon, a scowl forms over Set's shrouded face. He looks around at the others, the anger in him almost accusing each of his new comrades. After a moment he begins to pace.

Of course! The horses are the obvious problem. Zombies stink, you just can't change that. I may have put hours of time patching up their scared flesh, and tried to mask their true nature, but inside they're still rotting like the rest of us. I may still take care of myself, bathe regularly to get the dirt and gore off me, but the others do not. A wight, a mummy, and a vampire... they'll stink of the ground no matter what we do. Whatever the hell Lean is doing to himself... he might be okay. But the others... they will be a problem. As will the horses...

"Lean... I don't know if it will help. But ask it which of us smell the absolutely strongest of the undead. Maybe even get it to check if you and I smell that strongly. If it doesn't cooperate, feel free to remind it that failure to cooperate means the music stops."

[Pazzo]

Hey now, Lean won't betray you till he feels he is being wasted. We are plotting to go murder some dragons, that sounds perfectly suits to a weapon of Vecna~ :smallbiggrin:

Turning to the young one with a clever grin, Lean asks, "¿Cómo le gustaría jugar un pequeño juego? Lista de nosotros desde que huele más mal menor. No te preocupes, nadie más aquí realmente te entiendo, pero debe ser divertido. Después, tal vez le gustaría unirse a nosotros en una cacería, estoy seguro de que será recompensado en gran medida de que la criatura del tiempo, noble, además de que obtendría una comida agradable y cálida."

How would you like to play a little game? List us from most foul smelling to least. Don't worry, no one else here can really understand you, but should be fun. Afterwards, maybe you would like to join us on a hunt, I am sure you will be rewarded greatly for you time, noble creature, plus you'd get a nice warm meal.

[NotScaryBats]

"Okay, I guess that could be fun," Herñez says slowly, sniffing the air and squinting its eyes. "The bear, the horses, those two," it indicates the wight and vampire, "you two," the necropolitan and the lich, aaaand, these guys are really good -- you should ask them how they do it," here, the dragon is looking at the ghost and mummy.

"Wyverns hunt by sight, then smell. So, you could fool 'em into making a dive by looking delicious but they'll figure out something's up if you don't smell right. I know you can't really smell anything as a humanoid, so I understand if this is difficult to you -- is hard only having three senses? I mean, three that you use? I bet it is, huh." Herñez continues to look about, scratching itself absentmindedly. It still seems to be enamored by the music.

[SCARY WIZARD]

Thianne scoffs, "Well, excuse me for not smelling like cinnamon and Spring daisies like you do, but part of this smell is because of something that made me happy when I was alive, and it just works so well. Keeps the memories alive. Don't you see how happy I am?" She looks like she is on the verge of thrashing and screaming.

[CowMasterTrojan]

"Calm yourself Thianne. You should be no more be upset over how you smell than you would be over how you look. We cannot help what we are."

Tapping his foot impatiently, Set looks around a moment before looking at the others.

"I have a spell that may aid us in attracting their attention. It would summon some nice tasty horses for them to stalk and eat. However it will be several hours before I will have it prepared. Should we wait for the spell before proceeding? Or just go forward and chance that we miss the creatures because they will likely overlook us? I find myself impatient from waiting for that blasted storm to pass. But I WANT those wyverns! What do you fellows think? Furthermore, what should we do with ethereal dragon?"

[SCARY WIZARD]

Thianne grumbles, and reaches into her coat. "I suggest cows, I knew a farmer once who kept losing his to wyverns." She pulls a bottle of wine out of her coat after much digging, and uncorks it. She sighs, content, upon smelling it. All the anger seems to melt away from her face, replaced by a bittersweet expression.

Her voice is easier. "And while they're eating whatever you cough up, I can weaken them with my shadow magic...possibly kill some weaker ones. And if you like that suggestion, like you should, then I'd also like to add that it's a lot easier for me to do when they're all in a biiig clump...with the right positioning, this sort of thing is easier than..." She looks at her bottle. "Cheating at a drinking contest with antitoxins."

[Pazzo]

Lean is noticeable shaken, turn towards his Dire Bear he mutters, "B2 . . . smells? Worse than those horses? She is just a pile of bones, with straps of leather. I cleaned the corpses myself, bleached the bones, and put her back together bone by bone. He shouldn't have more of a smell to him then a sword or book."

Inspecting his steed closely he has an annoying realization. "Then again, sword can gain a stench if you never clean it after battle. I guess chunks of foolish flesh from beast and men getting wedged between hers teeth and claws do build up after a while."

Turning back to the group. He coughs and composes himself. "It is a sound idea, the summoning of beast to fool their scents. If I may, here is my suggestion for a tactical plan.

Commander, take rest in your cart and refresh your arcanium as soon as you can.

Meanwhile, Vander and Thianne, unhitch the horses, in preporation for the new summoned ones.

Gread, Helyanwe, The Dragon, and myself will scout ahead, looking for an ideal place to stage the battle. We will look for a 'camp site' that we can later arrive with the summoned steeds, and set of a visible and noisy camp. Hoping for the Wyverns to attack us while our guard is down.

Ventis, I know you are around here somewhere. Clean down B2, but try not to damage her too much, I don't want to take forever fixer her when I return.

Is that agreeable, Commander?"

Mutter something unintelligible, to the Bear, it rolls on it's back and stand perfectly still, while a crimson flame with streaks of black appear in the air above of it's paws, and begins to burn away the grim in between.

[CowMasterTrojan]

"Acceptable.... if you think you can control the dragon well enough. Otherwise let's keep it here. You have six hours to be back." Set barks, and returns to his wagon.

The wolf approaches him once more, seemingly from no where. He annoyedly looks down at it. "Yes, go airborne and keep an eye on them." The wolf nodds and once more disappears from sight.

Set's quasit shall be invisibly following the scouting group, flying roughly 50 ft above them.

[NotScaryBats]

I am still learning that in PbP Silence Means Consent.
I apologize for the delay.

The group divides itself among the tasks that the lich Lean has set out.

Before long, Set is quietly resting in his wagon, the zombified horses are unharnessed, and the most mobile party members are on the road.

After forty minutes of trudging along the icy, windswept road, you find a shallow cave that is somewhat sheltered from the elements. This appears to be a popular rest point, due to the smoke stains on the rocky ceiling and various discarded items found scattered about the area.

Okay, you have found a campsite, is everyone just waiting for Set's Summoned Horses, or is there anything else that you want to accomplish?
If the former, you are free to post whenever, Set.
If the latter, let me know.

[CowMasterTrojan]

I cannot speak for the others, as they may wish to continue scouting around. But Set has to wait til midnight to re-prepare his spells. Once done, he casts regal progression. (Ironically I originally considered memorizing it but decided the zombies would be good enough). It basically gives us seven well decorated mounts identical to the spell mount. The zombie horses go in the minion casket, perhaps with Lean's bear as well.

We hook up two to the wagon, and let the other horses ride ahead of us. They last 14 hours. We then wait and hope to be attacked.

[Pazzo]

"Hmmm, this will do nicely." Lean says, looking over the cave entrance. Turning to the others he ask, "If any of you are able to prepare a battlefield, or set traps, stay and begin your work. Otherwise I'd suggest returning to the others, so we do not draw too much attention to this area yet. If any of you do return, please shout 'Ventis, report to Lean and drive B2.' I miss my steed. Now if you excuse me, I have ruins to plant. Try not to step around the roof or sides or the cave entrance."

Lean begins to slowly crawl to the top of the lip above the cave, and draw several glyphs in dark sticky soil.

Lean will cast Ghoul Glyph 8 times in likely points around the entrance. So if a large creature were to attempt to enter through any way beside the middle of the ground, or landed above it, the traps would trigger. They last until discharged, and give a short term paralysis (1d6+2 rounds). With a successful fort save (DC 18) , they avoid smelling of foul carrion, causing themselves and anyone within 10 feet to suffer a -2 penalty on attack, damage skill, save, and ability rolls.

[CowMasterTrojan]

Seeing what Lean is making, Set recognizes it and immediately tries to stop him.

"Lean, what are you doing? All Dragons, including Wyverns, are immune to sleep and Paralyze effects."

[Pazzo]

Lean is visible shocked "What are you doing here, I thought you were in the cart resting?" :smalltongue:

While the Paralysis effect will indeed be useless, the secondary debuff still is a powerful tool. Lowering their offensive and defensive abilities, and giving us a easy way to track them should they flee. Plus any left over glyphs will protect us in the night as we rest and animate our new tools.

As well, it will serve as a slight alarm in case they try and sneak up on the cave.

[CowMasterTrojan]

Apparently I was just being oblivious and didn't see the point. Sorry.

"I need time more than I need rest. However I am concerned that these runes present more of a threat to us than to the Wyverns. Is it truly worth it?"

[SCARY WIZARD]

While everybody else makes their preparations, Thianne clambers into the wagon and patiently waits, milky eyes almost unblinking.

[NotScaryBats]

Does Lean scribe the runes, after Set's protest, or stop?
Have you summoned the horses?
Besides Thianne, where is everyone going to be and what are they doing (tending a campfire, playing music, pretending to sleep, or whatever)

[CowMasterTrojan]

The problems with the runes was my fault, Set figures it out and goes back to the cart letting Lean continue with his plan. After midnight, the horses are indeed summoned.

Once that is done, Set will attempt to appear as if he is sleeping in the wagon. His quasit will stay 60 ft outside the cave entrance, invisible and keeping watching. Being Tiny, they shouldn't smell it unless completely by accident.

[NotScaryBats]

As the night falls, the weather calms down. The overcast night is still and quiet for a few hours. It isn't long after the midnight summoning of the horses that those with an eye to the skies detect the approach of a wyvern.

The large creatures break through the cloud cover in a tight formation, with a Huge, dark red wyvern in the lead, followed by five brown and gold ones. Their precision is impressive.

The wyverns broke out of cover, but you all being aware of them robs them of a surprise round to dive bomb. So here we are:
Initiative Order:
Thianne
Adrian (if you are still playing. I haven't seen you post in awhile)
Ban Gread (same as above)
The Huge wyvern
Lean
The other wyverns
Set
Elros
You can post your action whenever you have time, and I will sort them out and do a recap post. IE, Elros doesn't have to wait until everyone goes if he wants to "on my turn, cast x" "ready an action to jump on a wyvern its next attack run" etc etc.
If you have an active pet or minion, it can go on your initiative count.

[CowMasterTrojan]

His familiar tipping him off, Set immediately gives the signal that the creatures are coming. Leaping from his hiding spot, he waits briefly to see what they creatures do. He knew their flying ability was less than graceful, and the surprise attack would catch them off guard. They may not even flee after some of their comrades were captured. The thought of a good plan coming together made set smile.



If none of the Wyvern's have landed when Set goes, he summons his mount to take chase. He then mounts it.

If all (or most of) the Wyverns have landed at the moment and he can get to within 60 ft of most of them with a move action (30 ft move), Set moves 30 closure to them and presents his holy symbol of Vecna and Rebukes them.
Rebuke check [roll0]
Turning damage [roll1]
If their alignment is Lawful or Evil, they are treated as having turn resistance +2. If they are lawful evil, they are treated as having turn resistance +4.
(So he can rebuke anything with 10 HD or lower. First 25 HD of creatures. Anything successfully rebuked cowers for 10 rounds until attacked).
"By the unholy power of the god of Secrets, I COMMAND YOU TO BOW BEFORE THE SIGN OF VECNA!"


If there are more than two on the ground, but Set cannot get within range to Rebuke them, he cast Black Tentacles centered on the horses (provided he can get two Wyverns.).
Grapple Check [roll2]

[NotScaryBats]

These are living wyverns -- can you turn living creatures?

[CowMasterTrojan]

Yes, the ability is called Rebuke dragons. It's from dragon magic, pg 14.

[NotScaryBats]

But that should replace your Turn Undead class feature, unless I'm mistaken.

[Pazzo]

Psi is right on this one, iirc.

In other news, while waiting in the night, Lean will sit mounted on B2, who is half buried in the snow above the cave mouth. Employing his Spectral Glove periodically while keeping an eye out.

Since it is hard to tell when the fight started, I'll just randomly roll the remaining duration and current HP lose.

HP [roll0]
Duration [roll1] Minutes remaining


"Heh, Dibs on the Big One~"

[Pazzo]

Oh and Queing up my turned.
"Steigen und rippen, B2!"
B2 will burst from the snow, revealing their location quite intentionally. Her standing order to attack anything that lands nearby
"Howl und Jagd, mein Schatten!"
Lean's Shadow will grow and stretch behind him, forming a dark silhouette of a crowned figure in robes before lifting into the air, and swirling into a maul of twisted arms, flying towards the Big Wyvern.
If the target is withing 40ft at this point, the Shadow will attack.
Attack Roll:Touch [roll0]
Strength Damage[roll1]x1.5
"Sentir le froid de votre propre corps!"
Letting loose a glowing blue image of his hand from his glove that flies towards the Big Wyvern, attempting to grasp it.
Attempted Shivering Touch via Spectral Hand.
Range 130ft.
Concentration Check [roll2] DC 18
Attack Roll:Touch[roll3]
Dexterity Damage[roll4]
(No Save~)

[CowMasterTrojan]

you are indeed correct. However the fact that is being overlooked is that set is a cleric/dread necromancer. He gains turn undead from both classes. Which is why I took the alternate class feature for the cleric side. It specifically allows for powering divine feats. I didn't actually think it would come up in game play to actually be useful. But hey, you gotta take the small opportunities when you have them.

[SCARY WIZARD]

Thianne bursts out of the wagon, eyes darting around for the most convenient distribution of wyverns to blanket with shadows. After finding one, she begins to make some gestures, and her shadow begins to make other gestures, eyes fixed on the beasts... Those made by her shadow appear to have more passion to them, and more meaning.

Thianne will be casting an empowered killling shadows on the tightest group of wyverns. It says that it targets all creatures in the area, and not just enemies, so I'd like to aim it in such a way that it doesn't end up cleaving hit points out of whoever isn't a wyvern or summoned horse.
Nooow, as far as area spell damage goes, I've had DMs/GMs do things all sorts of different ways...one guy had me roll per creature, the other just once. How, DM, would you like me to scatter my d8s?

[NotScaryBats]

For Area attacks we can roll damage once, then apply to every target. I think that makes sense.
As I said, the five wyverns are 'in a tight formation' about like this
X
X X
X X X
With about ten feet between them. I don't know how big your spell is, but the triangle is roughly 50' across. As the first act in initiative, you can hit them before / during their dive, so they are not near any allies yet.

The Big Wyvern is going to try to pluck up a horse and run off with it.
The Small Wyverns are planning on the same thing.
It seems they were unprepared for the ferocity of your trap.

I'll give everyone else another day before moving along. I don't really know where everyone's at, but it seems we've lost 3 players...?

[SCARY WIZARD]

Killing shadows is a 30 foot cone.

[roll0] Aaand we multiply that by 1.5, was it.

[NotScaryBats]

So that is 81 damage to three wyverns, then? Is there a save involved?

[darkbuu_1]

Elros lays in wait beneath the hard ground, crouching silently, unmoving, trying not to think, striving not to become distracted by anything outside of this state of hiding. He notices the floor around him bow and feels the most oppertune time to make his reappearance has arrived.
He takes his chance and makes his move, rising out of the floor and straight into one of the brown dragons.

Malevolence (Magic Jar)
DC 23 Will save

If I fail I get pushed out, if he fails I get to go for a joy ride for 10 hours.

[SCARY WIZARD]

derp, sorry! It's Will half.

[Soliloquy]

I attack with my bandage(s)
Not sure if I'll have to move to attack
Attack: [roll0] Damage: [roll1]
if I don't have to move: [roll2] [roll3]

[NotScaryBats]

The Chosen, accustomed to the flow of combat, see several things happen at once.

Clearly, the wyverns did not know what they were stepping into by assaulting the carriage. They swoop from the sky in perfect formation, each wyvern assigned to a horse, their talons ready.

Then, Thianne bursts from the wagon, instantly slaying three of the smaller beasts with her shadow magic, their weak wills unable to resist the power of her spell.

Ban Gread savages one of the remaining wyverns with his war bandages, seriously wounding it, but not driving it off course.

The Huge, lead wyvern effortlessly grabs a horse, and cuts it loses. Does it care for the fallen allies it is leaving behind? Will it return to exact revenge? Such thoughts are cut short as Lean's Shadow assaults the creature. Taking his opening, the lich grasps at the impressive wyvern, draining the life and heat from its body. It falls to the ground, frozen to death.

Seeing their leader slain so effortlessly and their comrades dropping around them like flies, the remaining two wyverns fearfully grasp at horses and attempt to fly away. Nauseated by the magical traps they trigger, their dive carries them only a short distance off the ground. Equines in talon, the beasts might have gotten away, but Set rushes to the scene and once again invokes his god, Vecna.

The wyverns are unable to resist the command to bow, and they drop their prizes, clumsily landing upon the snowy ground. One is bleeding readily from the lashing it received, while the other is unharmed.

Elros floats out of the snow he was hiding in, and sees the two creatures taken care of. If you wish, you may possess one, but you don't have to.

The Ethereal Dragon has long since disappeared, but you are unsure when.

[Pazzo]

Technically, it isn't dead, just drained for it's dex to the point of being unable to move except to breath and such. (who said Dragons can't be paralyzed? :smalltongue: ) Not that it matter for long seeing as . . .

The shadow follows the drake to the ground, pouring itself into it unresistant throat. As its strength is drained away the creature can only gasp till it's eyes darken, and the shadow pour out from under it, sated and somewhat larger. A pair of battered clawed wings are mixed in with the twisted arms as it sails back to his place behind Lean.

Lean walks up to the corpse and eyes it over, trailing his fingers around it like a sculptor would look at a fresh block of marble. Counting the measure of it's wings, tails, neck as if he were tailoring a suit.

"Yes, this will do nicely~"Turning to the others, he shouts, "If you would like me to animate any of the others, say so now. I'll have B2 bring them closer for the ritual to take it's most efficient effect."

Can I get the HD, NA, Str, Dex, Speed and gender of the meat mountain? Also if anyone else has some onyx to spare, now would be the time.

[NotScaryBats]

The Huge Wyvern is a 10 HD Wyvern, with a +10BAB, AC 17 (8 Natural Armor), 20 Str, 12 (0) Dex, Spd 20 ft, Fly 60 ft (poor), Female

The other 5 are all straight out of the Monstrous Manual I Wyverns.

All possess several natural weapons, a Bite, Sting, Wing, and Talon attacks


The Huge Red Wyvern is a fine specimen, clearly the leader of the flight. It has red scales with dark highlights on its wingtips and horns.

[CowMasterTrojan]

"I believe we have to kill some of these quickly and cleanly first Lean. However we should split the control in case something goes wrong. I will take three, you take that big one and one more. Unless you would prefer to take over one Elros? Then I will only take two."

If anyone other than Lean would like to one shot a Wyvern, step right up. Just feel Set's wrath if you fail. You get a +2 to hit. If not, Set will follow Lean's cheesy lead and Shivering touch them both. At least that way we can Coup de grace.

[CowMasterTrojan]

After a short conversation between Lean and Set about the uselessness of zombies, The two determine that killing the cowering wyverns is completely unnecessary. However, Set is a curious individual and is not above trying something new. Walking over to one of the living ones (the one that hasn't been hurt), he casts Shivering touch on it.
Touch attack [roll0]
Dex damage [roll1]

"Thianne, would you like to help in an experiment here? Drain the life from this one. I've never heard of a wight dragon before, but it doesn't hurt to try. And even if it doesn't work, at least it keeps you well fed."


"Ban Gread, being one of the strongest here, would you please start breaking apart the wagon. I'm going to quickly build an alter to better animate these corpses. Good work everyone. Our lords power has been well demonstrated through you this night."

[SCARY WIZARD]

Thianne nods and trots over to the cowering wyvern offered to her. As she does this, she pulls the same bottle of wine that she was drinking earlier, out of her coat and takes a swig. After determining that the beast truly is helpless and terrified, she strokes its snout with her free hand. "It's alright, I was just as scared as you were before I came back. My vision was going dark, I was feeling cold and weak... Granted, I had a lot more lacerations on me, and all the gnomish spirits I'd drank beforehand kept me a little warmer than you're probably feeling right now, but you get the picture." Thianne looks the wyvern over between drinks, trying to find a place to hit it to get the job done fast. She was used to feeding on humans and the occasional demi-human, this would be one of her first dragons.

"Wish I'd studied your kind, more, I don't know where your heart is. That's all my second mother had to hit before I was out. I guess you could almost say I died of a broken heart, but it's better than alcohol poisoning or age, if you were to ask me." Thianne snickers. "Pity you're going to die of a fractured skull..."

Her exposition done, Thianne begins her work, thrashing at the wyvern's head with her supernaturally strong limbs.

These are going to be regular attacks until I get at least two energy drains in. The DC to resist Thianne's Energy Drain is 19.
Damage [roll0] (slam), [roll1] (cold)

[NotScaryBats]

Are you slowly beating it to death, or using coup de grace?

[Soliloquy]

I start disassembling the wagon.

[NotScaryBats]

Thianne kills the wyvern. Its will broken, its bones frozen, and its lifeforce stolen, the beast's pleading eyes close just before the wight lands her skull-crushing final blow.

Meanwhile, Ban Gread makes short work of the wagon, his incredible strength quickly rendering it into planks and canvas.

If you have a specific plan for your altar, feel free to describe it. Otherwise, you can 'make an altar' and desecrate it and move on with the reanimation.

If anyone else has anything to add, feel free.

[CowMasterTrojan]

Provided Elros manages to take over the body of the last remaining wyvern, Set doesn't do anything other than quickly build a simple alter to Vecna. Using the canvas as a cover, he uses Thrianne's ink to make the symbol of vecna repeatedly on all sides. He then desecrates it, and animates two of the Wyverns before waiting for Lean to do the same with his catch.

Having finished with his business, he removes the silver bell and rings it, waiting for the ghost to appear.

[NotScaryBats]

As the silver bell rings out, a ghost instantaneously appears before you. She wears a long, flowing white gown. Around her neck, you see a delicate chain with a silver bell that matches the one you sounded. A featureless silver mask obscures any idea of who or what she might have been in life.

The ghost floats a foot above the ground, motionless.

"We have answered the call." She declares in a sibilant voice.

[CowMasterTrojan]

His face still shrouded, Set stands upright still, almost as if he is trying to look the ghost eye to eye. His voice speaks confidently, not showing any doubt that he may have.

"I was instructed to report in using the Bell every few days. This is my report. We have secured flying undead, and shall fly around Sol Leon into the farmlands of the west. Once there, we will create an undead scourge unlike anything they have ever seen. We should arrive in the farmlands in roughly [Estimate of travel time via flying]. Once the scourge has been made, we shall move into Sol Leon and begin the attack. If an attack would like to be coordinated against Dawne, then would be the time as their forces will be too spread for reinforcements." Set proclaims, speaking as if his goals had already been accomplished.

[NotScaryBats]

"Recall that your mission is not one of open warfare, Set. Were it so, you would be at the head of the army marching upon Dawne. No, you must walk the delicate line between provoking the Templars without drawing the attention of Dominaria." The voice of The Herald rings out from the ghost.

A scourge unlike anything the land has ever seen might provoke too strong of a response. Or, it might not. For now, it appears The Herald trusts your judgment.

[CowMasterTrojan]

"I do not need to be reminded of my mission ghost. Regardless, the forces of Sol Leon will be well divided when we begin our attack. And By the time Dominaria hears of the attack, it will be too late. However do with this information as you wish, that is all I wish to report." Set barks, and turns his back to the spirit.

Sorry Pazzo, I know we discussed it but I deleted many of my PM's. where were we gonna put the minion casket again?

[Pazzo]

Ah, so the legion is meant to be defeated, eventually? Well I guess I don't need to worry too much about supplies to raise a True army of death.

Load any minions needed into the Coffin, then load the coffin into the empty ribcage of B2, which can be secured via the dozens of leather straps tied between her ribs and my packs. Then the freshly born F7 will grip B2 by the shoulder blades and carry them off.

An Undead Turducken~

Also Psiclone, you seem to have forgotten a step in the Advancement to the Huge Wyvern. You gave her the HD, BAB, and stat updates, but forgot about they changes with a change in size class. (Namely less Dex, more Str) Mind if I update that on F7's sheet?

[NotScaryBats]

oh my, I suppose you're right. sure.

The ghost does not reply and vanishes into the Ether.

[CowMasterTrojan]

Psiclone, would you make the will save for that Wyvern that Elros he was going to possess? I don't know if we've lost Dark Buu just yet, but for the time being it would be convenient to know what happened to the last Wyvern.

[NotScaryBats]

The wyvern already failed his will save, its what I meant when I said he could possess if it he still wanted to.

Let's assume that he did.

*****

The Chosen have gained control of the flying beasts, according to their plan. The zombie wyverns are very well intact, save the one brutalized by both Ban Gread and Thianne. Still, their powerful wings are more than capable of taking the group to their destination.

[CowMasterTrojan]

Alright, well if Elros has control of one them, there is a mount for everyone. We each mount one and take flight, heading west along the mountain range. The eventual goal is the farmlands.

We have zombie Wyvern 1 & 2, Possessed Wyvern 3, and Lean's huge F7.
Set rides ZW1.
Lean and B2 ride F7.
Thianne should ride ZW2
Leaving Bann Gread to ride PW3.

[SCARY WIZARD]

Thianne examines the wyvern she has been assigned, or will choose. She pauses after finishing, and then says, "You'll do."

[NotScaryBats]

Under Set's direction, the Chosen mount their wyverns and move out. The air is stiff and frigid as it howls past you.

It is about two o'clock in the morning, and the storm has died down significantly, allowing you to fly safely for now. There is cloud cover still. How high do you fly? How late into the morning do you fly? If you stop, where do you do so (look for a cave, forest, house, etc)?

At this point, you could make it about halfway to the border by sunrise, and you might be able to reach the border by about three in the afternoon.

[Pazzo]

Lean would suggest riding above or within the cloud line. The cold and low level of air would be only a mild discomfort to this parties particular members.
And any delays would just increase the chance of them being discovered.

[CowMasterTrojan]

Set listens to Lean's suggestions, then when no one else suggests anything he simply thinks for a moment.

"We fly till sunrise, then we start looking for a cave or hiding spot. We lay low until Sunset, and don't stop flying after that until we hit the farmlands. The only reason we stop at sunrise is because the border will be watched the best, and it's too important we get by without being noticed."

Taking silk rope out of his pack, he offers it to Thianne and Lean. "If you have no experience riding, then I suggest you tie yourself to your mount. We have no saddles for these things, flying creatures ride rough, and zombies are worse. Better to tie yourself to it than fall to your death destruction. If you do fall for some reason, I will do my best to save you, but that is no easy task. Anything that you do to slow your fall would be wise. Also, if that coffin gets dropped... you will see wrath from me like you have never seen before."

Set will attempt to fly the Wyverns at a height he feels looks right. In darkness, it shouldn't be easy to tell such a creature has a rider. This will only be for the first night however.

The second night, when we cross the border, we fly above the clouds.

[NotScaryBats]

The wyverns prove to be a reliable method of transport, and the Chosen make excellent progress. It feels as though the icy breath of the Maimed God is on their back, as the wind pushes them ever closer to the Mourne border.

As the light of day begins to creep over the mountains, Set calls a stop. The zombified mounts obey his command and stiffly set down near a mine, high in the mountains.

The area is covered in unblemished snow, and you see an old, frozen mine cart near the squat entrance. The mine is dwarf-sized, but a human could stoop and enter it without much trouble. None of the usual huts, campsites, or periphery dwellings are visible, which might lead you to conclude that the area has been abandoned. Besides the howling of the wind, there is no sound to be heard.

[CowMasterTrojan]

Seeing the mine and considering the time, Set promptly lands. "This will have to do."

Set orders all of his Wyverns to lay down near the entrance to the mine, trying to make it appear as if they were sleeping. He leaves his Quasit on watch, orders it to keep invisible and alert him of anything sentient in the area.

"Alright, everyone into the mine. There's no way we're fitting that bear in there, do you have anything to conceal him Lean? Otherwise, put him in the coffin and we'll hide it"

As the others enter the cave, Set scatters their footprints and the snow of the surrounding area. His goal is to make it look like some large creature laid here. With some of the extra snow, he throws it onto the zombies.

[Pazzo]

"Bear?" Lean says with a smirk, mutters something under his breath. B2 rumbles and rolls on his back, her legs and head going slack and twisting in awkward angles till she is lays still as a pile of bones. "I see no Bear Commander, just a bunch of Wyverns resting after a large meal.

Leans shadow trails in front of him, utterly vanishing in the darkness of the mine.

[CowMasterTrojan]

Set gives a nod of approval, and moves into the mine.
"It's best we all have a chat before we set off anyway. The next time we stop, hopefully it will be the farmlands."

They wouldn't go too far into the mine, just enough that you couldn't see them from the outside.

[NotScaryBats]

After all is said and done, the area does look natural enough. The brutalized wyvern hides in the rear of the flight, and the illusion of normalcy seems successful.

Inside of the mine, the Chosen's darkvision illuminates the inside of the mine. A railroad track is set into the ground to carry wagons of minerals from the heart of the mine to the outside. It goes about thirty feet before the tunnel bends out of sight.

[CowMasterTrojan]

Once out of sight, Set makes himself comfortable, sitting down and leaning against the wall. Once the others have done so, he clears his throat and calmly begins to speak..

"Alright. So this should be the last time we really speak before we unleash hell on the farm lands. Does anyone have any thoughts on a plan of attack? Any questions? Does anyone want to object to murdering every living thing? Better to get it out now than once we're there."

[SCARY WIZARD]

Thianne eagerly enters the cave, the expression on her face when she enters the darkest nearby regions similar to the expression of a child seeing its first rainbow. She snaps out of her reverie when the others begin to speak, but remains in the darkness, raising her voice if necessary.

Thianne pulls her bottle of wine out of her coat and begins to play at the cork. "No objections. As a matter of fact, I've got a bit of experience hunting and working with mages and priests, as well as the odd mage-priest, from when I was alive... I say we go for the priests, first. That painfully obvious tactic aside, I would greatly appreciate it if we could somehow scare a large amount of adults into an small space, so I can finish them off." She tears the cork out of the bottle, producing a loud noise.

"Myself." A swig. "Do I have to explain how wights reproduce to all of you, or are we all good...? Because our birds and bees aside, having a healthy amount of wights under our belt could easily turn the tide in our - Master's - favor, even if they're nothing but farmers and fishermen. Much smarter than zombies, we wights, and from personal experience, our mere presence can make for good psychological warfare."

"I also have some casks of ale I'd be willing to part with, but only if we could produce poison to make our job all the easier. Humans love ale, but they do not love poison."

[Pazzo]

"Kill them all? That seems a bit . . . poorly planned." Lean says with an odd look on his face, as if he himself is surprized by the words that he just said. Regaining his composure with a cold calmness not seen before, "After all, the idea is for this to serve as a distraction, is it not? What good is a distraction that no one is around to see? We should leave some survivors to run off and tell of the horror they witnessed, and call for help. Seeing as they would be of little use in combat, for either side, I would suggest we let their children act as our heralds. After all, when people would distrust the worn words of a group of children so far from home all alone without help? People trust chil-"

Set might feel a dull rumble in his pack briefly, or where ever the Black Buckler was stored.

He stops midsentense, as if he lost his train of thought, and pauses. Soon he regains his normal smirk of cruel intentions. "Anyways, speaking of superiour Undead, I would ask that my Shadow is allowed to spread as well. Thianne perhaps should take the strong of body, while I take the strong of soul. While Wights are indeed and fearsome and formidable foe to face on the field of battle, is there not also a dread for an unseen enemy. One that could slip through your camps in the dead of night, completely silent and unstoppable. One that, for the majority of poor mortals in this world, that you could not even possibly hope to harm?"

[CowMasterTrojan]

If he has the shield on him, he gives no indication that he notices it.
"I'm glad neither of you object to what must be done. But understand, the farmlands will not have any mages. Perhaps a stray priest or two. But there will be nothing there that threatens us."

"When I said we kill everyone, you were correct Lean. We will leave a handful to flee to the city. Let their legs carry them quickly along with their terror. But consider this. Those who live long enough to be the messengers must leave early in the attack. If we take the town effortlessly, and then just let a few go, the information they bring with them is that the farmlands have been completely wiped out. They have to bring a message of attack, not defeat. We want those in Sol Leon to rush as fast as they can to the farmlands, hoping to save as many as they can. We don't want them to know there will be none to save."

"So with that in mind, after the initial attack, myself and Bann Gread will guard the path to Sol Leon. So the carnage will be left to you two primarily. Make as many spawn as you can. Your shadow is welcome to make as many as he can Lean, I know mine will be happy to come out of the coffin and feed freely. But no more than half of them should be made into shadows. We want the undead presence to been seen. That means we both should summon some ghouls, and let them have their fill as well. Then let the plague spill over. Thrianne, make as many children as you can. Encourage your children to do the same. I have room in my coffin for four of your favorite if you would like to take them with."

"Finally, conserve your magic. I don't know how much down time we will have between our attack on the farmlands, and our attacks on the temple. But it may have to last. The farmlands will offer us little to no threat unless fate has arranged something out of the ordinary for us."

[NotScaryBats]

Their plan set, the Chosen spend the rest of the daylight hours in self absorbed silence, the only sound to be heard is the blowing wind. Night falls, and the time for action is upon these agents of death.

After flying the rest of the way to the border, you notice the cloud cover fade a bit; the storm has not yet hit Mourne. You navigate along the sparsely settled mountains, and find yourselves overlooking several loosely packed settlements. The Crescent moon overhead does not illuminate everything, but you can see a church, a cluster of shops, and many outlying farmhouses scattered about the town's periphery.

it is late at night, the air is brisk, and you seem to be unnoticed.

[CowMasterTrojan]

Just to be clear, we are currently above the area marked "Southside" on the map, correct? Provided this is true, the below post is true.

Set looked down at the tiny community and smiled. His instincts had been right to wait. Not being spotted was too important to risk. But he hoped desperately that they could make enough time between here and the farmlands, that tomorrow night they would be able to begin their attack.

Signalling to the others, Set's mount takes up higher altitude and continues flying west by northwest. No longer binding themselves to the mountain range, they should be able to reach the farmlands much faster now.

[NotScaryBats]

Passing up the seemingly unprotected community of Southside, some of the Chosen may feel pangs of hunger -- a desire to do evil that is difficult to restrain. Nonetheless, the zombie wyverns push themselves onward, and the group continues its macabre flight.

The light of dawn threatens on the horizon, and you find yourselves high in the sky and apparently unnoticed. Do you land somewhere and hide for the day? Continue moving and attack the farming communities during the day? Somehting else?

[CowMasterTrojan]

I believe the plan was just to stay really high in the sky, so noticing us would be very difficult. And we should be far enough away from Sol Leon, and not heading in their direction, so they shouldn't feel threatened by us even if they do see us. At least thats the plan.

When the attack on the farmlands begins... I was hoping for dusk-ish. It seems like that with the distance we have to move, that should be possible. Or would we arrive before then?

[NotScaryBats]

You stay high enough to be barely noticeable dots in the sky, and by about dusk you arrive at the farming communities. These little communities are a loose latticework of farms and auxiliary buildings that are spread out.

[CowMasterTrojan]

Set casts lore of the gods, which imbues him with knowledge of the area.

Knowledge (local) [roll0]

Specifically he wants to know the locations of any small tavern or church they would have for the area. Theoretically he may know this anyway...

[Pazzo]

An invisible fiendish voice whispers to Set among the wind.

"Weapon Lean would like to know the plan of attack. If need be he is capable of causing quite the distraction by dropping B2 into the ground, or perhaps on top of a building. He is confident in her survival, and it would draw the eyes and ears of all those in the area quite certainly.

In addition, or perhaps as an alternative, His Shadow is prepared to sneak into any house unseen, and convert all those inside with the utmost stealth."

His voice lowering, as if afraid of being heard by the air itself.

"Your Sword is itching in it's scabbard, Master Set, I suggest for both our sakes we find a way to solve that. I like this job, hate to see it end short.."

[NotScaryBats]

There is a small church that serves as a hub for the immediate area, it is flanked by a general store, small cemetery, and an inn/tavern. Buildings are made of wood, which is plentiful in these verdant lands.

You see lights on in the church and tavern.

[CowMasterTrojan]

Set turns to the invisible imp. What can been seen of his face seems anxious.
"The skeletal bear is holding my Coffin, so he will do no such thing. But I do like the weapon's idea. Do you see the small building right there in the central of the hub? It's the church. I want him to fly above it and summon a zombie ogre or two on it. If we can aim it right, we can drop them on the church at terminal velocity. Whether they survive or not is irrelevant, it should destroy the church, severally hurt any priests inside, and draw quite the crowd.

Myself and Thrianne will then land just outside of the hub to the east. I want the coffin dropped off with us, and then the rest of you fly to the west side of town. We'll box them in and start the massacre. You will stay with me imp, and my wolf with stay with Lean so that we may remain in constant contact of each others situation."

[Pazzo]

"Summons, yes a much more disposable and practical idea indeed.As for the idea of having your Pup tail him, I would suggestion against it. The Weapon tends to be a bit . . . casual about his abilities in the heat of battle. Anything will a pulse should keep their distance, if they want to keep their hearts beating. I myself will be more than happy to stay around you, for the same reason."

"So when shall we being this little farmside harvest?"

[CowMasterTrojan]

"Yes, the weight of a zombie ogre will do more collateral damage as well. The wolf will remain flying and invisible, well out of the range of anything Lean could harm him with. But if he calls out, or I command it, the wolf will come to him and that way we can transfer messages between us."

"It is dusk now. It is my hopes we can have these lands filled with undead by an hour after midnight. So as soon as Lean is ready, begin the attack."

Set readies his wyverns to dive to the outer part of the hub, on the eastern side. His goal is to dive at the same time as the summon.

[Pazzo]

"He wants WHAT?" Lean exclaims upon the Imp's explanation.

"What kind of backwater hole did he crawl out of to have never pick up a novice's guide to conjuration? You cannot summon a creature into an area that could not support them. That is the sole reason you don't see celestial whales falling from the sky in every wizarding collage around."

With a sigh, he collects himself.

"It's fine, it's fine. I'm sure my Lord see some good in him, if not for his mind. He gave his approval for my air drop idea, and he wants undead summoned on the roof of that church. He wants his precious coffin delivered to him as the attack beings. Okay, this can work. What matters is he has giving me permission to attack."

Sporting a blood thirsty grin, he chant in a foul tongue orders to his undead.

B2Once released, sever the bounds of leather keeping the coffin within, then come to me, my beast of bones.

F7Spiral downward to the air above the church, leveling out around 100ft in the air. Afterwards, land B2 next to where Set's dismounts, and come to me, my wings of rot.

The ShadowFollow me, like any good shadow should, and feast upon those who fall before me.

As F7 begins to spiral down to the church he evokes a glow of crackling black lightning of negative energy across his hand.

Inflict Critical Wounds (Charge Held)

Concentration: [roll0]

"Let him watch the Weapon of Vecna follow his orders~"

With a near silent laugh, he rolls off F7 grinning as she levels out above the church. Falling with a deep laughter holding his crackling hand in front of his chest.

The Fall and Ride of Lean

Starting Hit Points: 72/72
Fall Damage: 100ft = 10d6 Damage [roll1] Damaged Dealt.

Minus 15 due to Damage reduction (Unless this is a magic weapon roof)

The Spell (Trigger when the charge is discharge upon impact into his chest):
[roll2] Healed.

Damage Dealt to roof. [roll3] Minus hardness of course, don't know if he punched though or not.
Total HP as he starts to crawl back up is . . . 72/72, completely unscratched, how about that~? :smallamused:


Time to Harvest the Crops . . .

[CowMasterTrojan]

Set's Wyvern's dive slightly delayed to Lean, not expecting him to do exactly what he told him not to do. However they still dive to the eastern part of the hub, and land. Set dismounts next to Thianne, dusting himself off. He begins to speak, but whether it is to the imp or Thrianne is unclear.
"And this is why intelligent weapons are a bad idea. A weapon only purpose, by nature, is to seek out blood and destruction. An intelligent weapon does this well, I do not argue that. But it's too eager. Had I known he was going to dive into the middle of things, I would have just summoned the zombie ogre onto my mount, and then let it fall. I asked him to do it because he had the bigger one and it's flight wouldn't have been disrupted...."

Watching the huge wyvern fly over to them with the Coffin, Set taps his foot impatiently. Anger fills his voice.

"He's lucky he didn't damage that. The goal was to cause a loud commotion by something that would disappear in seconds. It would lead the lambs right to the rubble of the church, where we could sweep in and destroy them as they were clustered together. Lean has made the commotion, but on top of the rubble will be a bloodthirsty Lich. People will not go to that, they will run from it. So Thrianne... I hope you don't mind doing a little running for your meal today."

[SCARY WIZARD]

"Not at all," Thianne shrugs. She pulls a crossbow out of the bag stitched into her coat, and sets a bolt. The device is of good, human craftsmanship. "I'm not averse to shooting my food in the knee, either."

She then pulls a strand of red beads of varying size out, and puts it around her neck. "On the much less interesting and appetizing subject of reducing churches to rubble, I could see about burning it or something else, if you're interested."

[CowMasterTrojan]

"Burning a church? Well I'm always up for a good bonfire, but I don't think liches are resistant to fire... And we don't have time to let him reform. So wait till he walks clear at least. I think our coordinated attack has kind of gone to hell though... So until I say otherwise, feel free to slaughter at will. I'd prefer if you spawned as much as you can however."

[Pazzo]

"Help, Help!" Lean shouts out at the top of his lungs with a tone of pain and fear. "Call the guards, call the priest, help me mighty people of Mourne!

Gasping and limping, he drags his bloodied self up to meet those who heard his call, clutching one arm as if it were broken.

"Please, help me there has been a terrible accident, you are all in grave danger. The forces of Dominaria have plotted against you!"

Bluff (Acting like a Hurt humaniod): [roll0]
Bluff (Claims and Lies): [roll1]

If he didn't break though the roof, he will just roll off it.

Can I get a status on how well this works? And any questions they throw to Lean as he lumbers and shouts.

[NotScaryBats]

Alright, you did break through the roof, and a natural 1 on your lie roll means that no one believes you (I enjoy the natural 1 fail natural 20 success even for skill checks)


The lich flies through the sky and falls through the roof like some fallen angel from heaven. Timbers do little to cushion his fall, but Lean's tough undead flesh and clever use of negative energy enable him to get up from the wreckage without a scratch upon him. Feigning injury, he calls out to the gathered faithful inside the church.

A small group of about a dozen humans worriedly hurry over to where Lean is getting up. Leading them is a priestly man in the white and gold of a follower of Pelor.

"What has happened, my --" he cuts off his inquiry as the lich stands up and those gathered around see what has fallen into their holy house. As realization sets in on them, all but the priest begin to panic and flee.

*****

Set and Thianne calmly discuss their options as screams begin to emanate from the church. The tavern's doors spill open and concerned citizens begin to investigate the uproar.

[Pazzo]

"Awww where is everyone running off to?"

With a flick of his wrist, Lean activates his glove, causing a cool icy glow to trail behind it. Spectral Hand HP Lose [roll0]

"Did I forget to breath? It is always the little things, you have no idea how hard it is to be alive, when you have to do everything manually, so many things to keep track of."

Lean casually stroll around the priest, standing between him and the door, looking him over. His shadow stays where he landed . . . just sitting there.

"So tell me father, what is your name?"

He is stalling for time, waiting for others to become curious, maybe try and save the priest, or attack the lich when his guard is down. Give them time to think, time to plan, time to be 'brave.'

His fear aura(s) is/are down, and appears to just be trying to have a thoughtful conversation with the priest.

Bluff [roll1]

[NotScaryBats]

"Creature, you are a blight upon this holy house." The priest says simply. You notice that his thin frame does not indicate combat training or physical prowess. "Please, leave this hallowed house "

[Pazzo]

"Really? Reaally? A man falls from the sky, crashes through the roof of your church, then stands up completely unharmed. He shouts for your help, and warned you of an upcoming attack from your supposed allies, and on top of all that, you find out he is undead? He asks your name, and all you have to say, with what might very well be your last words, is "Please go away."?

Lean shakes his head with a mixture of shock and disappointment and sighs. he wakes toward the door, then turns back to the priest with a spin on he heels.

" 'Who are you? WHAT are you? Where did you come from? What attack? Why would you help us?' Honestly I'd be happier with any of those. But instead I get old tired words from an old tired man, who cannot even manage a civil conversation when asked of it. They call it a Fight or Flight survival instinct for a reason, you know. And as me for being unwelcome in your Holy house . . ."

With a twist of his ring (of Desecration), the air grows still and colder, as the flames on the candles dim and lose colour.

"I feel quite at home, actually."

[NotScaryBats]

You counter and dispel the consecration on the altar.

The thin priest shakes, repeating his previous statement like a mantra. From behind the altar, a door opens and a stern looking man enters with a 'what is this commotion' look about him. He is wearing a gold color stole and white robe, with short, black hair. He brandishes a holt symbol of Pelor, and a thin ray of sunlight shoots from it and hits the stunned priest.

"Go to Ichabod, now! " Father Raymond commands his subordinate. He then turns to you and purses his lips. " What brings a Child of Death to my church? "

[Pazzo]

"Ah, now THAT is a man of worship! Run away now, you little thing." Lean says with a smirk to the frail priest. (and to his shadow who rapidly fades though the floor, off to stalk some sleeping prey in the night) Lean calmly smiles as the priest runs past giving him a cruel wink and a hushed "See you later hot shot~"

Turning back to the man of the hour he smiles warmly.

"Greetings good man, I assume you are the one in charge. So happy to see a man worth a conversation. You see, I have been locked up for quite some time now, you know how it is, read this, fix that, study those, and so on. Finally got a little vacation from the books, and saw this lovely little town. This place looked to be the best bet to get some information so I thought I would drop in."

He can't but take an aside glance at the hole in the roof.

"So tell me, what is the big news of the day? I believe you are Pelorian, so I assume you are up to date on the latest plagues, wars, treaties and the like. Anything of interest happening? Oh! Sorry, were are my manners? Lean Obe- . . . Hmm, well something with an O. And you are?"

He keeps a trained eye on the priest, watching his hands, his mouth and his symbols. Prepared to strike if he makes a move with a a very painful touch or counterspell.

[CowMasterTrojan]

As the skeletal bear drops the coffin off nearby, Set rushes over to it like a treasure chest. Carefully untying the ropes, he finally opens the coffin. An empty dark void awaits inside, and set reaches into it like it was swallowing him whole.
"My minions, It is time. Leave this coffin. Come and serve my will. I, your master, command it!"

For a moment he looks like a fool, then the first zombie horse pulls it's way out. An odd site since the coffin is sized for a medium sized humanoid. The comes the second horse, which Set helps pull out. The come the skeletons. First a troll. Then a pair of orcs. The a centaur, and finally four elves with bows. All skeletons. Finally two small shadows climb out of the coffin, and move to Set's shadow. After that, nothing emerges. Set looks around.

"Oh. Right. Gary requires people." Leaning inside the coffin, Set's upper half disappears for a moment. When it reappears, he drags a humanoid corpse out of the box. It doesn't even move, but small flakes of ice begin to fall off it. Set throws it onto one of the zombie horses, and turns back to the others barking out commands.

Basically the four archer skeletons are ordered to shoot anyone that flees east. The orcs attack anything that gets within 20 ft of the archers. The wyvern zombies are ordered to attack any living thing that gets east of the archers.

The shadows are sent out as a team to pick off people by themselves.

After setting up the instructions, Set mounts one of the zombie horses, the one holding gary. Turning the direction of Thianne, he says "Well I'm going to go pretend to be a priest of Pelor. Want to come? or would you prefer to slaughter indiscriminately?"

[NotScaryBats]

THE CHURCH
Father Raymond studies you with his piercing blue eyes. His holy symbol is still held prominently between him and you, but he has not taken an offensive or defensive action, yet. "Quite an entrance you made, Lean O__. Are you alone? How long were you imprisoned? Why?"

Altar
Father Raymond
x
x
Lean O
x
x
x
Door Outside

The Father begins to circle you as he talks, and it is clear he hopes to move between you and the door. You sense actual compassion from the stern-looking man, and feel that he has believed at least a part of your story.

OUTSIDE
North is up here


GraveYard
.. Church
.....crowd of people
Tavern ... General Store ..... Set et al



The undead minions begin to do as they are told, moving into position, and Set mounts his horse, cutting an impressive figure against the dark sky. There are about eighteen people of various ages in the open area between the buildings, some from the church and some from the tavern.

Like an arrow, a thin priest wearing the robes of a Brother bursts out of the church, shouts at everyone to board up the tavern, and sprints to the south. He is fleet of foot, as though aided by magic.

[Pazzo]

"Alone? Yes, well at least the majority of me, for the moment at least. Excluding you, of course. Sorry, it is a bit confusing I know. How long have I been under lock and key? Well, you know how it is, time flies when you are on a rack of books, or the other kind of rack. What year is it these days? They haven't changed the Pelorian calendar again have they? As for the why, well it quite sim . . simple?"

A look of doubt crosses Lean face, as if he just misplaced his script while giving a speech.

"Hmmm, well I do remember asking, and I remember them telling, but for the unlife of me, I cannot recall what they told me. Isn't that just the oddest thing?"

Noticing that the priest is moving to the door, Lean casually stroll backwards, to prevent it. The nervous look on his face becoming washed with a thin mask of bloodlust.

"Regardless, I am here, and that is what matters. I have answered your questions priest, now I implore you to return the favor. Who are you? What year is it? And to keep things interesting, what do you know of Sol Leon? I've been thinking of taking a tour to all the big temples around, and don't want to waste my time with any places that just strive for tourism rather than religion."

'Why hasn't he attacked yet? He is pelorian, he should have run away or tried to smite me into dust by now, how odd. And why can't I remember such simple things as why I was chosen to become My lords weapon? I feel like my brain is rotting like a zombies. Something is just off about this whole night, I can't quite put my finger on it . . .'

The Black Buckler would hum slightly in Set's pack, on and off like a slow pulse.

The Shadow would phase through walls and floors till he found a sleeping victim to drain and spread.

[CowMasterTrojan]

The man running south. Does he have a base movement faster than 50ft?

If not, he steps out of the church and before he can begin to move, he feels the sharp teeth of a wolf tearing into him. (Provided the attack hits) A snarling wolf appears out of no where, shreds of his cloths still in his mouth.
Attack(v. his flat footed)
Damage
Free trip attempt 1d20+4

Whats the hurry? Where's the fire? He hears in his mind.

[CowMasterTrojan]

Just noticed I messed the trip attempt up
[roll0]
Edit: Wow, got some serious dice roller hatred for me right now.

[NotScaryBats]

THE CHURCH

"I think Sol Leon would be a good place for you. Great libraries you could get lost in," the priest answers. He glances at the door, and finds it slightly ajar. This seems to bother him, but when you move to stop his circling, he stops as well. "You may call me Father Raymond, and it is the year 1366."

Father Raymond does not relax his stance, "You do not seem well, child. Do you think perhaps you have fallen here to begin a journey of recovery?"

OUTSIDE

The laypriest is waylaid by Set's wolf, which takes a sizable chunk of hamstring and cloth out of the poor man's left leg. He stumbles a few more feet before succumbing to his wounds, his warning reduced to a cry of "The tavern! Board--!!"

This displays causes some heavy panic among the populace, some eighteen people. Over half rush to the tavern, which seems to be the most defensible building. Two go to the general store, and four run to the east, directly towards Set and Thianne.

When the small group gets within Darkvision range, you see them clearly, a man, a woman, and two teenage girls. They are all humans wearing simple homespun peasant clothes, with the builds of farmers.

Do the skeletons attack anything that flees past them, or are they already shooting the people that are 60 feet from you?

[CowMasterTrojan]

The archers attacks anything that flee, so once they hit 60 ft, the arrows start going.
Skeleton 1[roll0]
Damage [roll1]

Skeleton 2[roll2]
Damage [roll3]

Skeleton 3[roll4]
Damage [roll5]

Skeleton 4[roll6]
Damage [roll7]


If the people get within 30 ft of 'Gary', the lifeless corpse jumps up, feeling their life force and seeking it out. All within 30 ft need to make a DC 16 fort save or take 2d6 damage. [roll8]
Gary would charge the nearest one. [roll9]
Damage [roll10] plus [roll11] Cold Damage.

Set, now on his mount, rides into town yelling out to everyone. He produces from his possession a symbol of pelor. Once it shined golden like the sun from being polished daily, but now it has grown dull in appearance. Much like a badge of importance, Set holds it out to all who could see it.
"Listen to me. I am a priest of Pelor. Everyone needs to get inside the Tavern this instant. Do not flee, or you will be in more danger. Gather in the tavern and await further instruction from myself and the other priests. Go now!" He commands.

Set has yet to unveil his face, but it seems relevant to note he is skilled in disguise and has spent significant time making his appearance human looking.

At the Church
The wolf goes invisible once more, leaving the man to bleed to death in the street.

Moments later the slightly cracked door to the church creaks open, just a tad but nothing appears to be there. A telepathic message to Lean immediately follows.

I do not know if your wretched imp conveyed the message, but Set has ordered me to stay close so that you two can stay in contact. If you would like a distraction, I would gladly attack this priest so you can get close. Just say the word.

[Pazzo]

"Ugh, just what I always wanted, another whiny voice in my head. Sorry Father, this will just take a moment." Lean says with a polite bow before turn towards the door. "Look you slobber hound, you seemed to have miss some important info. The reason that Imp is always running away from me isn't just because we lack a bound, it is because when I am in battle, my spawn and I have but one purpose. Find everything with a pulse, and stop the beating. So unless you want your pulsing insides to meet the cold outsides, I suggest you keep your distance. Feel free to watch from afar and report of and to me, but don't expect me to be very chatty with a mutt. So, I highly suggest you put your tail between your legs and scamper off, unless you want to end up like her."

Leans eye spark with pale blue flames as his fear aura is awoken from sheer frustration. (Will Save: DC 20) Meanwhile a dull thunderous noise increases as B2 tumbles through the roads, knocking carts aside and turning baskets into splinters, breaking everything that stands between her and her master's side. Only taking the time not to run into Set and his steed, instead running directly aside them. Regardless of being able to shake off the Lich's aura or not, it may dawn upon the wolf that he is currently standing between the pile of bones and her creator, and that being invisible is doing the opposite of providing protection in this one case.

Lean closes the door with a slam, to stop the flooding in noise of the outside chaos. Turning back to the Priest, Lean smiles as his eyes return to normal and sighs. he walks away from the door and to the priest and whispers to him in a a hushed concerned voice, "Look like we are running out of time, I'm afraid. So here is the good and bad news. The Bad news is, your town is under attack by legions of the dead, and many of them are going to die tonight. That is just a fact, I'm sorry. The good news is, you, unlike many in this town, have some choices to be made. Look, we don't intent to murder everyone and burn your town to the ground. Think of us like bandits, we will sack and pillage, kill any who resist, and be on our way. You can choose the role of a warriors, and fight me till you die quite spectaculary. You can choose the path of a hero and try to run past me, try and help your villagers, and die in glorious battle. Hell, you might even hurt some of the attackers before you fell. Not me of course, I am utterly invincible, but you know that. Or you can choose the role of a scholar, and do as I say. Lock yourself in the back room and hide. Don't make a noise, don't try and escape, and when this is all over, you can try and help the survivors. My beast will guard you until the attack is over.

Personally, I hope you choose to hide, I would quite like to continue our conversation later, I am quite interest in those Libraries, and might even take you up on your offer to help pull this poor bag of bones back together. So what will it be Father?"

Diplomacy: [roll0]

[SCARY WIZARD]

Thianne chooses the path of "indiscriminate slaughter". She carefully, quietly assesses the situation...and trains her eyes on the tavern.

She thinks to herself, Give it a couple of minutes, those peasants will all be in the tavern like fish in a barrel.

She makes her way there as quickly as possible, taking the safest route, and when close enough attempts to step into shadows. With any success, her body will briefly sink into the Plane of Shadow, where she will navigate into the darkest - Prime Material - parts of the tavern, possibly the cellar, or some similar storage room. Once there, she will wait in hiding.

Hide: [roll0]

The tactics are in the text, Tad! This is all dependent on whether or not she successfully steps into shadow. Whatever the "darkest part" is, Thianne will hide there until she's satisfied there are as many people in there as possible and/or satisfactory, and then drown the place in shadows. Just like Xena and her warriors did to Callisto's family! Except with shadows instead of fire. Black fire is likely to be used depending on the number of people to enter, because of the area of effect. Sure, Thianne could just cough up her big mystery, but who knows when we'll be able to rest like we just did.

[NotScaryBats]

trying to progress everything at once occasionally makes me late. In the future, I will just do what I have time for and hopefully will be more regular.

THE TAVERN
Silent as death itself, Thianne Steps through the Shadow and emerges in a dark cellar. The door is open and a man who looks to be the owner in on the steps calling behind him "nails'll be down 'ere, then. Work on those boards, eh? "

He is unaware of your presence.

THE CHURCH

Father Raymond considers your ultimatum with a heavy heart clear upon his face. He opens his mouth to speak, and Set calls out loudly and clearly.

" If the Templar are here, I believe the tables have turned." without mirth or condescension, he continues "I can offer you the same amnesty you extended to me. Cast the Usurper behind, leave evil behind you, and use your power for good. Why destroy, when you can create? Please."

OUTSIDE
THE people are confused and easily herd able. In no time, you have them cloistered in the perfectly safe Tavern, with tables and the like being used as barricades.

[CowMasterTrojan]

The church
The door once again swings shut, whatever had pushed it open seems to have passed. Or flown off....

Set
Set continues to herd people into the Tavern, insisting that it is the best place to go to avoid the danger. He makes note of the number of doors going into the tavern.

When the area looks to be clear, he does a quick circle of the town before heading to the Tavern where he can cull the flock.


"Imp. I assume you are still there somewhere. I notice Lean still has not come out of that church. Is he actually encountering trouble? Or is he playing with his prey?"

[Pazzo]

"Why destroy, when you can create?" Lean mutters in an echo. "Why . . . indeed?"

The Seal Check

Vecna's Check: 20 (Max roll) + 30 (Seal DC) + 20 (Vecna's Charisma Bonus) + 25 (Buckler Carried by Follower) - 5 (Buckler Not Held) - 10 (Buckler Not Within 60 Feet) - 5 (Outside of Temple)

Total: 75

Lean's Check: 1d20 + 1d20+10 (Will Save) +6 (Lean's Charisma Bonus) + 10 (Not in Combat) -20 (Shadow not Present) + 15 (Imp not Present) + 5 (In Other God's temple<+10 if Boccob or Wee Jas>) + 15 (Trigger Words) Total:

Slim as hell change, but might as well roll it to keep things interesting.

Lean seems to struggle and bit, and pauses as if to catch his breath. He mutter noises like he is trying to say something, but the words are trapped. Clutching his chest as if in pain. Small wisp of indigo light escape his rapidly blinking eyes. He suddenly lurks up, straightens out, and opens his eyes slowly, back to the cool icy blue.

"I am Lean, Weapon of Vecna."

The doors behind him erupt in splinters as B2 barges in and stand beside her master.

"Feel the Maimed God's Blessings"



Fear Aura(s) Activated once eyes open.

If the shattering doors is enough of a distraction, Surprise round.

Otherwise, Initiative Roll [roll]1d20+8

Shivering Touch: Ranged Touch Attack1d20+12
Dex Damage3d8

[Pazzo]

Right, cannot add rolls after.
Fear Aura(s) Activated once eyes open.

If the shattering doors is enough of a distraction, Surprise round.

Otherwise, Initiative Roll [roll0]

Shivering Touch: Ranged Touch Attack[roll1]
Dex Damage[roll2]

Some wind passes by Set's ear. Mori whispers "I wish I knew, Commander. I'm not actually his familiar, you know that right? I know his shadow has left him, and that his beast are returning to him, so I would guess he is playing with his-" he pauses suddenly. The Black Buckler shakes violently for a few seconds, then stops, with a small smell of water and brimstone lingering.

"Okay," the nervous imp sputters, "The good news is, the seal is fully intact. The bad news is, I have no clue what caused that. Sorry kid, but my real job calls. Good luck with the blood bath." The wind increases briefly and then is still.

[NotScaryBats]

OUTSIDE

After a pair of stragglers is ordered inside, the area seems secure and Devoid of life. Thianne is also nowhere to be seen.

THE CHURCH

Father Raymond is struck full force by your Shivering Touch, his bones numbed and fingers blue, he manages to extend his holy symbol and attempts to Turn you and the bear, but you are too strong. "P... p... " He stutters through chattering lips gone numb.

He is at 2 dexterity, it is your turn. The bear may also act, if you wish.

[Pazzo]

Lean rush towards the priest and (tries) to press a finger to his lips.

"Shhh shhh, none of that now. Why don't you lay down and rest?"

Lich's Paralyzing Touch.

Touch Attack[roll0]

Fort Save DC 20 or Paralyzed

He turns to B2 and gives him order in some fiendish gutter tongue.

"B2, Find anything breathing larger than a halfing, slay it, and bring the body to the door."

Shouting up to the rafters, assuming correctly that the unintelligent F7 is perched on the roof, trying to figure out how to fit through the hole.

"F7, find living targets bigger than a halfling, pick them up and drop them in front of the door from some great height."

He then turns back to the priest to see the state of him, and if he needs a good night kiss.

[NotScaryBats]

CHURCH
THE good priest succumbs to your paralyzing touch, entering a near-death state. His skin is cold to the touch.

Your minions obey you and move out into the night, searching for prey.

[Pazzo]

"There's a goood mortal. You won't be needing this anymore" Lean says calmly, plucking off his holy symbol and casting it aside.

"Let's see what other tricks you have up your sleeves Old Man."

Search Check (On the 'body')
[roll0]

[CowMasterTrojan]

Tavern
Looking around, Set's eyes scanned the area. They had hopefully all followed directions into the Tavern. Those who didn't would die soon enough. Turning towards the tavern, Set approached it with a degree of anxiety. Thinking of his mother and father, the thought occurred to him that he had come almost full circle. But to be a helpless farmer again, he would never be, so this was as full circle as it would ever be.

Master, the lich has decided to spare the priest and set the mindless beasts loose. What do you wish of me?

If he let the priest live, then he surely has a purpose. Thank you for the warning. Now continue to watch him. He is useful, but a time may come when his craziness out weighs his usefulness. I need all the warning I can get. If you see Thrianne, tell her to move to the Tavern. I have a full course for her I am preparing.

Placing his larger skeletons guarding 50 ft from each entrance, he approaches the door. He knocks first. "This is the priest of Pelor. I'm coming in now. Do not be frightened." He then lets himself in, or insists they let him in if they were smart enough to barricade the door.

Once inside, he once again displays his holy symbol as a badge. He yells for them to quiet down. Once quiet, he begins to speak.
"Ladies and gentlemen, I know you are all scared and terrified. I am sorry to say the next few hours will be the most terrifying of your lives. Whether you saw them or not, this small village is being attacked by undead. Intelligence right now indicates they are a preliminary force sent by Dominaria but I can't be sure at this time. But don't worry, I am here and will take care of everything. I have no intention of letting anyone getting killed by Dominaria forces. But I need everyone to stay calm. First and most importantly, I need the fastest runner here? Whomever that is, please step forward."

[NotScaryBats]

THE CHURCH

As the priest was hastily roused from bed, he has on only his Holy Symbol, mundane robe, and Ring of Protection +2.

THE TAVERN

By now, about twenty minutes have passed since Lean's fall from the sky. The villagers are freaked out, but have a modicum of order in the cramped tavern. You notice mostly adults, but there are also two teenage boys and an adolescent girl there, making a total of fourteen people -- all humans.

"The fastest runner was Brother Michael -- and he didn't get one foot out the door 'afore some demon tore im up! No way I'm goin' out there. No way." The sentiment seems universal. No one appears to notice that you are a Necropolitan.

THE BASEMENT

Thianne remains in the shadows, all but invisible to the tavern-keeper. He rummages for the box of nails he was looking for, hooks a hammer into his belt, and makes his way back up the stairs. You hear Set declare himself a priest of Pelor. Several voices inform you that the house is packed up there.

If you want to ambush the keeper, or do whatever, you may, and I'll retcon the post.

[CowMasterTrojan]

"Well I cannot help those who have already fallen. I have a spell that will protect exactly three people from the undead. They will be unable to see you. It should last you until halfway to Sol Lean, more than enough time to get away from them. BUT if no one volunteers to go, I guess I will have to go. A pity, I wanted to stay here, but with no volunteers I have little choice..."

[NotScaryBats]

THE TAVERN

"We'll go!" one of the teenage boys, a rascally young man with unruly blond hair and a red bandana around his neck volunteers himself and his slightly more reluctant-looking friend. "I reckon I can make it there on foot, right Todd?"

The other boy does not look too sure, and his mother faints at the idea. Two men catch her and try to revive her as people begin to talk all at once.

"You can't send a boy -- that's suicide!"

"Stayin here is suicide!"

"What're you talkin' about? The Templar'll be here in no time."

"How do they know? Ichabad hasn't been warned!"

Et cetera.

[CowMasterTrojan]

Tavern
"ENOUGH" Set shouts, trying to bring order back to the mob. He had forgotten how full of emotions it was to be alive.

"These two boys have volunteered. If they are willing, I don't care that their parents object. Once they leave the borders of the community, they will be safer than everyone here. So don't fear for them."

Set looks at the boys expecting them to rise up to this challenge.
"Boys, you're young. But that just means you're in better shape than anyone here. You can do this. Once I open that door, start running for Sol Leon, and don't stop until you reach those gates. Don't look back. When you get there, you tell them that what's happening."

"Now about this spell. The undead won't be able to see you, but only as long as you don't touch them. Don't interact with them. Just run past them as best you can. Just focus on running, and try to keep your emotions in check. Just tell yourself that when you get back, everyone here will remember you for the rest of their lives."

With that, he has the two boys follow him to the door. He makes sure they're ready, casts 'Hide from undead' on them, and opens the door so that they can run out.

Because Set's will save is so high, he makes this as long as it's not a natural 1. [roll0]
"Go NOW!" He commands, and steps outside after they leave. He slams the door shut, but not before commanding them to keep it shut until he returns.

Lean
Lean once again hears the voice in his head. Weapon Lean, my master would like you to know that he has gathered all the sheep at the Tavern and is taking care of the herd as we speak, once a messenger is sent out. Since they were so willing to gather together, he suggests you find any drifters and do what you wish with them while he handles the flock.

[Pazzo]

"Hmmm, hold onto this for later to figure out what it does." Lean says, somewhat bored, slipping the ring into his pockets. Leaning down to whisper into the frozen father's ear. "You never really stood a chance, did you? I so wish you just went and hide like a good mortal."

Hearing the voice, he walks annoyingly signs and pay it little attention. "I've already started that, do they really think this is my first time harvesting a village?" He pauses a bit and mutter, "Wait, isn't it? Ugh I need drink, a murder, and a good book."

Shaking the confusion off like water, he opens the door to see his creature's progress.
How do you want to handle the mortal hunting of The Shadow, B2 and F7?
Counting his onyx gems while humming, he turns back inside and begins to search the play up and down. "You wouldn't happen to have any onyx around here father? Hmmm? Cat got your tongue?"

He search the temple and it's rooms for three things: Potions and other Magical Items that may prove useful tools. Treasure, but mostly focusing on jewelry and gems for spell components, and finally books and records about Sol Leon, and the recent deaths of the village itself.

"Oh, I should keep an eye out for a shovel too~" He giggles to himself as he begins the hunt.

Search Check: Take Ten for 10+12=22

[SCARY WIZARD]

Thianne hears the tavern keeper and considers attacking him, but thinks against it. It's never a good idea for somebody to turn up missing when heading into a place that's out of sight! ...that's just asking for trouble.

She elects to wait, though she is itching to clothesline somebody. She pokes her head out of her hiding place and looks around for anything that might help her out when she decides to strike.

[NotScaryBats]

THE CHURCH

Lean finds several things of interest to him in the priest's office and living quarters:

A detailed ledger of the burials in the adjoining cemetery, the three most recent being one this year, and two three years ago.
A lockbox with 50 gp in it (tithes not yet sent to the church, according to the meticulous record-book also in the box)
Several vials of holy water, two potions of cure moderate wounds, and one of lesser restoration
The priest was clearly a man of temperance; and owns no jewelry

Two horses are brought to the church's door, one from the wyvern, which whinnies pitifully on the way to the ground, and one mauled to death by the enormous bear.

THE TAVERN

The people here are extremely pious, and bow to the 'priest of Pelor's' commands. The two boys run out the door obediently, and the woman remains unconscious.

Thianne hears Set command the people to bar the door until he returns, hears the door slam shut, and hears a heavy cabinet scrape across the floor, ostensibly to bar the door.

It would seem that the fish were in the barrel, so to speak.

OUTSIDE

The boys run off at full speed, the bear's and wyvern's grim gifts to their master spurring them into sprinting for their lives.

Is Gary an intelligent undead? I don't remember what type he is, but if it is intelligent, go ahead and roll its Will save, since the boys head east, to Sol Leon.

[Pazzo]

Lean carefully pack away his new supplies deep in his pack. Hearing the sickening thud outside, Lean smiles and walks to greet his beast. Seeing the horses, he reaches out and strokes the snouts of both his mighty steeds.

"Such good girls, Go find me more, would you?"

He returns to the Father, and carefully drags him outside of the church. "Hmmm now where can I keep my new friend safe?" Lean says aloud to no one, looking over the nearby buildings for any shop or house besides the Tavern. "And where is that Shadow of mine, he better not be browsing books again, we have a job to do."

[NotScaryBats]

As if in response to his musing, four Shadows stalk out of the general store: Lean's, Set's, and the two villagers who were separated from their fellows, trying to raid the store's weaponry and arm themselves against the undead invasion. They silently float from the store and make their way into the night.

Where is the imp, and what is it doing?
Is the wolf your Quasit familiar? I... never got that until I just looked up Quasit on the srd. f('.'<)
Regardless, where is it and what is it doing?

At this point, Ban Gread and Elros are NPCs. Ban Gread is now a standard Mummy under control of Set, and is either in the Coffin or guarding the archers (your choice).

You aren't sure where Elros is, or what he is doing, but you don't see the wyvern he was possessing.

Do any of you three have any spells active on yourselves?

[CowMasterTrojan]

You are correct, the wolf is actually the quasit. Which is why he's always badmouthing the Imp to Set. :smallbiggrin: The quasit is currently invisible, about 30 feet of the ground and 50 feet behind Lean at all times.

If you recall, Bann gread was ordered to the west end of the hub to stop stragglers. If he's now under Set's control, then at least some body did as they were told.:smallwink:

Gary is indeed intelligent, and Set has very little control over him. However if a living creature isn't within 30 ft and he doesn't see anyone, he goes back to corpse mode. Set would have tried to get him out of the path before he went in the Tavern, but as I mentioned, he doesn't really control Gary that well.
Will save for gary [roll0]
Edit: Looks like he failed it.

Set currently has two persisted spells on himself. Divine Power and Mass lessor vigor.

[NotScaryBats]

So, Lesser Vigor has Target: Living Creature touched, while Mass Lesser Vigor has Target: One Creature/Two levels.
I'm unsure whether Mass Lesser Vigor is intended to be able to effect undead. What are your thoughts on this? (Anyone)

What type of undead creature is Gary, again?

[CowMasterTrojan]

Mass Lesser Vigor is oddly worded. Ironically the version I was looking at from complete divine doesn't even base it off lessor vigor. But I notice that the spell compendium version does. Ultimately I don't see anything that prevents it from working because it is worded differently in targets, but it was just a spell i picked because i thought it would be useful. I'm not attached to it, so if you don't think it should work on undead, that's fine. It's your call.

[SCARY WIZARD]

[/LIST] None that I know of. Thianne is biding her time until Set is either out of harm's way, or gone. Though the thought has crossed my mind to use the mystery that generates a small amount of damaging shadows and then just lope around at the peasants with her slam attack, possibly keep the really young alive so Thianne has a Callisto or two to deal with later on.

[NotScaryBats]

Thianne has heard Set leave the tavern, and heard the door outside be closed and barred.

I am not intimately familiar with many D&D 3.5 rules questions (except for TO, which I read a lot about on these forums, lol).
I think CMT and Pazzo are both more knowledgeable about such things.
So, if you say it should work, I will believe you.
Is it cast on your fellows as well, or just yourself?

[CowMasterTrojan]

The spell would be on Set, Bann Gread, and Thrianne. I don't have the spell in-front of me though, but I think they have to be in range for it to work. So basically it's only on Set right now.

Set see's to it that the boys make it out of the village safely. Once he's sure they have made it, he summons his mount and flies around the hub looking for Thrianne. All the while cursing the fact that he didn't send the wolf with her.

[Pazzo]

"Ah, there you are." Lean says warmly to his shadow. "I see you have made some new friends and found me a good place to store mine. Off you go now, leave this one alive for now. Go and introduce yourself to the rest of the town."

Walking to the shop, still dragging the priest, Lean figure it is a safe enough place to store the priest, as well as fulfill other ideas. He shouts out a short word in infernal, effectively saying "Come" and moments later, Ventis appears before him. "You called, my master?"

"Time to do some shopping, I trust you have the list."

With a puff of hellfire, a small scroll appears in the Imp's hands.

"Right here."The Shopping List:

Armor (Equip the Dead)
Barrels (Trap Material)
Binding (Undead Horses)
Chains (For F7)
Chalk (Spell Material)
Clay Pots (Ritual Material)
Diamonds (Spell)
Gold (Binding Trade)
Hides (For B2)
Ink (Spell/Note Keeping)
Leather (B2)
Nails (Ritual)
Oil (Traps)
Onyx (Spell)
Paper (Note Keeping
Pearls (Spell)
Potions (Always Good)
Quills (Notes)
Rope (B2, F7 and Traps)
Scrolls (Always Useful)
Sewing Kit (B2 and new Disguises)
Shovel (Personal Hobby)
Silk (B2 and Disguises)
Silver (Ritual)
Tools (Always Useful)
Weapons (Equip the Undead)

Magic Items VERY useful for the Binding Trades.


After pulling the priest in, sitting him in a seat and shutting the door, the too begin to search the store and rooms up and down for their "groceries".


Lean's Search = 24 (With the Imp helping)

Lesser Vigor should work fine, it is Fast Healing iirc, not starting a positive or negative source for the healing, so I would say it just works on the bodies natural healing abilities, which all intelligent undead have.

[SCARY WIZARD]

Move Silently: [roll0]

Fluffy stuff upcoming!

After a while, Thianne pulls a bottle of wine out of her coat and makes her way out of the basement as quietly as possible - though door hinges may still interfere with things - and gestures as quietly as possible, with any success causing shadows to reach out of the cracks in the wood and immobilize whoever is in the area.

She takes a swig, making sure to produce suction between her lips and the bottle, so as to make as much noise as possible.

"Hey, how's it going? I'm Thianne."

Clinging darkness, cast on the largest group of humans present, and out of her way. It's a 20-foot radius emanation, with Reflex negating. Failure results in Immobilized status for whoever is in the radius when the mystery is cast, or whoever enters the radius. Immobilized is on page 140 of Tome of Magic. It would appear that the save DC is 18!

[NotScaryBats]

Thianne's presence is undetected until she gulps her drink, which causes heads to whip around and stare. Here, in their midst, an undead creature had appeared!

The wight's Mystery works quite effectively on the villagers, restraining all in its reach. A girl that was out of range runs up the stairs in terror, and it appears that she is the only one who isn't now immobilized and screaming.

[SCARY WIZARD]

"Spoilsport!" Thianne shouts. After about two seconds, she throws up her shoulders and turns her full attention to the villagers.

"I know that big guy kind of promised you all you'd be safe, here, but it looks like he lied to you." She points to the villagers' feet. "It's to be expected of a Paladin, though...they're all about keeping their word, but they really only do if it means they'll get to bask in all the gooey warmth of their god's bosom when they die. They can swear, left and right, that they'll do otherwise, but they're as about as trustworthy as a halfling covered in honey in a room full of diamonds." As Thianne says "left and right", she shakes her bottle and her head in the corresponding directions.

"I'm not going to lie to you, like that: I hate you all. The majority of you are going to die, but in the name of fairness, I am going to give some of you a chance to live. We haven't got the time for cards, my best friend Vaunea inherited my dice, and I think Rafaias...?...inherited my cupcake recipe, so those are all off the list. So are drinking games, none of you are dumb enough to fall for that.... How about a guessing game?" The wight looks at her captives inquisitively.

[NotScaryBats]

The responses Thianne gets are varied, but all are full of acid and hate. It seems the townspeople all possess their guardian diety's hatred of undead, and in most cases, this overrides the fear you originally saw paralyzing their plebeian faces.

"Pelor curse you, undead!"

"The Templar are here, they'll burn you to ash."

"Celeste would never abandon us!"

Mixed in the outcry of vitriol, you do hear the occasional whimper for help, but it seems your question has fallen upon deaf ears.

From the upstairs, you hear a door slam, and the pattering of feet, not unlike a terrified rodent escaping extermination.

[SCARY WIZARD]

Thianne opens her mouth to say something, but curls her upper lip in disgust.

The noise that she makes is mocking, as she begins to speak over the clamor. "Just take your lives and be glad I spared them. I can imagine you'll lose them soon enough, anyways. Bunch of boring simps, you all are." Thianne's words are full of just as much acid as the villager's. Of course, as the wight speaks, she makes her "gestures"...

With any luck, the shadows will thicken and burst into "flames" of a sort beneath the feet of some unlucky villagers.

[roll0]

One order of Black Fire on the largest concentration of villagers, please! This'n deals 1d6/two levels worth of cold damage to anybody in the area. It's shapeable, and Reflex negates; lasts 1 round/level. If at all possible - unlikely - I'd like it to affect individual squares beneath the villagers...but this is highly unlikely, as mysteries and spells do not generally allow the caster to go "that guy, that guy five feet away from that guy, that girl sixteen feet away, and that one guy ready to walk off the cliff with the big green hair and blue robe". Page 142 of Tome of Magic.

[NotScaryBats]

the Tavern

{table]|a|b|c|d|e|f|g
1|x|x|x|D|
2|x|x| |x|x
3|S|x| |x|x
4| |x| | |
5| | | | |C[/TABLE]

Door is at D1
Cellar is at G5
S is the Stairs up A3
x is a Villager, the cluster in the corner are surrounding the fainted woman, and the cluster by the right side are a group of men
Thianne can be wherever she wants to be.
How do you want to target your spell? Are you trying to kill all of them, or only some of them?

[SCARY WIZARD]

B1 - 4, please! Unless I can split the curtain up into segments, in which case I'd like to target whatever other people you'd like -- you can decide! Just don't target the unconscious woman, Thianne does have some standards. I would also like to leave at least one other person alive, to tell the story. Stairs Girl will also be left alone. ...how Thianne will tell her babbys spawns that is going to be worked out, for sure! But, long story short, stories.

[NotScaryBats]

Thianne becomes a conduit for the Plane of Shadow, drawing black fire in a jagged line across the room, instantly killing eight of the villagers. All that are left are the unconscious woman -- saved by some quirk of the Wight's 'honor' -- and two men at the edge of the effect. Their eyes wide, they begin to scream like they too are on fire. Though they struggle mightily, they are still unable to escape the sticky shadow that roots them to the floor, and can only bear witness to their loved ones' terrified deaths.


You effect 8 squares, making all of them but a1 and e2 and e3

The affected villagers all die.

[SCARY WIZARD]

Thianne makes a fanning motion with her hands, dismissing the dark fire, but keeping the sticky shadows intact. She looks at her handiwork, much like a tired parent would a macaroni-painting from a blind-folded child. Finally, she purses her lips and folds her arms across her chest. "Oh [REDACTED], I lied!"

Dismissing black fire.

[NotScaryBats]

The fire returns to the Plane of Shadow. There are now eight lifeless corpses, held in macabre stasis by the sticky shadow substance; a wight's statue garden. Over the terrified screams of the two might begin to wear on your patience - it has been a long time since you were reminded how loud the living could be.

You can't be sure, but you might have heard more noises from upstairs.

you need to kill with your energy drain in order to create spawn, right? So these folks are just dead, right?

[SCARY WIZARD]

I checked multiple resources, they all seem to just say "slain". I take that as that it's all up to the GM's discretion. If it's actual wight-spankings that lead to spawning, then it'll be a "Well, that was quite the experiment!" by Thianne.

[NotScaryBats]

Moments pass, as Thianne contemplates the corpses around her. One, two, three...

She feels the dark, twisted divine energy of Vecna course through her, and enter the slain villagers. , the fel power that animates her twists their flesh and bind them to her will. As her consciousness expands to handle the nascent wights, Thianne becomes aware of eight motes of Shadow in her mind's eye.

[SCARY WIZARD]

Thianne watches as these corpses rise, her eyes darting from wight to wight, and then to the living villagers. She takes a step back as she feels the necrotic and shadowy energies course through her.

"Good morning, sweeties!" Her eyes do not leave the living villagers.

Alright, I would like the appearances of these now-undead villagers, if you will! Thianne is going to give them "pet names" based on physical traits. If empathic commands are at all possible for these wights, the first would be not to attack the living villagers.

[CowMasterTrojan]

A loud bang erupts on the front door.
"Citizens, I have returned. Open the door." Set commands.

[NotScaryBats]

The eight wight's are stiff and jerky in their movement, unused to their new existence. Their hunger and hatred is palpable, but you manage to will them nor to destroy the adjacent living beings for now.

Of the three females, one was a young woman in her twenties, proud of her long blond braid. Another was an old spinstress with long, delicate fingers and knitted clothing. The last woman is older than the others, poorer than the others, uglier than the others, and spent most of her days drinking.

There are five male wights. Two were cousins, in their twenties and strong. They are in overalls and ran a farm together. One has red hair and spoke with a foreign accent. Another was an older gentleman, with spectacles and nicer clothing than the others. Finally, you have a strong armed man with a thick black mustache, the bar keeper.

[SCARY WIZARD]

Thianne makes a gesture, as if she were brushing mist aside. This dismisses her thick blanket of shadow.

"Coming!" She calls out to Set. Stepping past her creations and helping what ones she passes up, she prepares to shove the barricade off to the side. "In just a short moment, you'll get to meet your Uncle Set!" It is apparent to all but the dimmest of people that she is engaging in most of her idle banter just to further play with the heads of the remaining peasants. "...and you two, Set willing, will be allowed to leave, as well as the lady..." she nods first at the unconscious woman, then at the two men, and finally upstairs, "...and Gloria, upstairs."

[CowMasterTrojan]

After being let in, Set slowly enters, surveying the room. "Thrainne, I had no idea where you had run off to. I was starting to worry. I see you found my gift wrapped snack. Looks like you haven't finished it all though."
Reaching into his pouch, he once more takes out the holy symbol of Pelor and waves it around the room. "It may be too late for you fools to learn this, but no real priest of Pelor would EVER let his symbol get this dull. They are trained from an early age to make them shine like the sun itself. And now you know." He shouts with a laugh. His plan was coming together perfectly and it had made him arrogant.

[NotScaryBats]

The men, freed of their bonds, quickly scramble as far away as possible from the reanimated bodies of their friends and loved ones. One of the wights, having not been explicitly told to leave the living alone, takes a swing at the fleeing farmer, but misses.

Set enters, and may find sadistic delight in the hope and faith he sees illuminate the two living men's faces. After his speech, something visibly breaks inside them, and one breaks down, wailing, while the other flees blindly into the basement.

GENERAL STORE
The general store is poorly stocked, being in a farming community that has little need for anything above and beyond tool replacement. Your search yields 300 gp of mundane equipment (You may choose what)

Unfortunately, there are no magical items, potions, or gems.

[Pazzo]

"So what have we found, Ventis?" Lean ask, seeming to be a tad bored.

Flutter across the overturned piles of good, the Imp replies.

"Of possible use to the plan, we have: Large Iron Nails, a dozen. One Backpack. Two Hundred feet of common rope. A shovel. Five waterskins. A Dozen clay pots. Twenty feet of chain. Half a dozen vials. Two Empty Barrels. Very well made Craftsmen Tools. Fifty square feet of hides and leather. Thirty of Linens and cloth. Ten Torches. Charcoal and chalk, and finally a sewing kit."

"I Guess that will have to do for now, pack as much as you can into the barrel, I'll fetch B2 if she is not busy. Keep an eye on the father, we need him breathing ... for now."

Strolling out the door, Lean pauses and takes a step back, looking over the shop one more time. "Grab the Scythe hanging from the ceiling too, it may come in handy." With that he is off to see what prey his pets have added to the pile.

[CowMasterTrojan]

After watching the man flee, Set turns to Thrianne. "Are you going to eat that? Because if not, Gary would be happy to finish your food for you."

[SCARY WIZARD]

Thianne sounds less sugary and condescending than she has been, and more like her old, exasperated self, flat tone and all. "Oh, yeah. Forgot to tell you: I can slip between the Plane of Shadow and the Prime Material. Comes with mysteries, after a while. As far as your 'gift', I want the people I've left alive, to stay alive," she says. "At least for now."

She kneels and gives the wailing man a comforting pat on the back. "Because you've seen enough, haven't you? We need a few more people around to have a first-hand account of what's happened today."

[CowMasterTrojan]

Set stays silent for a moment pondering the situation. Although her defiance was unacceptable, they were too close to the goal for a confrontation. The costs would outweigh the benefits. So be it, he thought, let her have her way. At least most of it....

"I'm not sure that I agree. Witnesses can only be used against us. However I don't really care. So keep some alive. But you don't need four when two works just as well. This one here, his will seems to be broken, go kill the one in the basement."

He then turns and begins heading up the stairs, attempting to make the new wights in his way step aside. "I want this unconscious one dead as well. That way her child will know he left her to die."

[SCARY WIZARD]

Thianne ponders. Set was right, in that too many people with reports might be a bad thing...

She trots over to the broken man, holding her hands up to her spawn as if saying "hold it", and fakes a sigh. "You heard the big guy, I don't want to do this, but I've put you through enough as it is, and in hindsight he's probably kinder for the order than I am. You'll thank me in the long run, because at least in undeath you'll know that there's life after death. No empty promises."

She regards the fellow wights. "Right? These three are for me. You'll get your meals later, I promise. Also going to come up with names for you...but, first things first."

Cowering peasant first, unconscious peasant second, fleeing peasant third. Would you like rolls?

[NotScaryBats]

Rolls are unnecessary -- these are commoners. You may dictate your action as you please. The remaining man is running around in the basement, where you know there is no other way out.


Upstairs, Set finds himself in a small hallway with three doors. Two are open, and you see sparsely appointed rooms with a bed and bedstand. The final room is closed but not locked. You hear the heavy breathing of a terrified mortal on the other side. It would seem you've found the teenage girl who fled.

[CowMasterTrojan]

Set grabs the handle of the door, and forces it open, expecting her to be there. He has no weapon drawn. He just stands there and stares her down. Set readies a touch attack at her if she does anything offensive.

"It's time for you to come back downstairs." He says coldly.

[NotScaryBats]

There is a terrified girl -- maybe thirteen or so. She has dirty blond hair and wide, blue eyes. Freckles cover her frightened face. A trembling sword is held in two tiny hands, like a medallion to ward off evil. Your expert eye immediately can tell the blade is dull and hasn't ever seen use; a display piece for above the mantel and not for war.

The girl stares at you, her feet planted firmly and the sword looking heavy in her weak arms. You could probably bat it away with minimal effort.

[CowMasterTrojan]

Set gives a small smile at the girl. Not a friendly one, but one you give to those who are being very stupid. "Listen carefully, for I will only give you one warning. The wight has decided that you shall live to play witness to what has happened here. So one of two things will happen. You will come downstairs willingly and without trouble with me, and likely be locked in the cellar until the templars arrive. OR you can try and use that dull piece of garbage. I will disarm you with my superior skill and in turn, I will then make it so you will be unable to see for the rest of your life. The last thing you will forever remember will be my face. The choice is yours."
He then places one hand out to her for her to take, and the other on the handle of his blade.

[NotScaryBats]

She squeezes her eyes shut, the sword falling from her grasp. "G-g-g-go awayyy..." she cries weakly, not moving voluntarily.

[SCARY WIZARD]

Thianne makes her way from the unconscious woman to the fleeing man, striking them in ways that she knows lend to quick kills. No need for any more unnecessary suffering.

As the fleeing man falls, she catches him by his wrist and drags him up the stair, saying, "And that, as they say, is that. Better hope the big guy's merciful enough to let you live, friend," she says to the wailing man. "I certainly am. That aside -- ahh, I'll leave you to your thoughts."

Well, no need for any more unnecessary suffering...except for the wailing man. That man must have been born under a bad sign, and to the disfavor of most luck-gods in existence.

[NotScaryBats]

As the two additional wights are born, two more motes of darkness burst to life in Thianne's mind.

[CowMasterTrojan]

Set eyes her for a moment. This scene felt... oddly familiar. Yet, he couldn't place it. Where had he seen something like this before? No matter...

Set grabs her by the arm and begins leading her back down the stairs. "I'm afraid we both know that's not going to happen. Bad things don't just go away because you want them to go away. You have to make them go away, and frankly you don't have that kind of power. If you did, think of all the lives that could have been saved today. While you're waiting in the cellar, why don't you ponder it."

[NotScaryBats]

You are able to drag the poor girl down the stairs. Her skin is soft and warm to the touch. The reanimated corpses of her parents and loved ones hungrily gawk at her, but make no attempt on her life. All but paralyzed by fear, the girl's legs stiffly carry her behind you.

You reach the cellar door, with the cowardly man still bawling inconsolably and Thianne appearing callous and gorged with necromantic energy. Two new wights have been born, you notice.

The girl tries to stop at the cellar door. In a harsh whisper, around her tears, she says to Set, "M-my name is... My name is Lisa."

You don't know why she felt the need to share this information with you, and may take it however you wish.

[CowMasterTrojan]

Set laughs for a moment, and then responds to her much more cheery than is called for. "Well nice to meet you Lisa. I'm Set. Spelled S-E-T. You should remember that."

"You're smarter than I thought Lisa. Telling me your name. That's trying to establish a link between us with introductions. No longer a faceless Victim, now you're a person with a name. Quite clever. Quite clever indeed. Unfortunately the time for that to have a chance to work was upstairs. Not here, in front of the wights. But don't worry, you get to live. And compared to this sniveling little worm" He says, motioning towards the bawling man " you actually deserve it. He doesn't."

With that, Set leads her onto the stairs going to the cellar and begins to close the door. Suddenly he stops for moment, and opens the door once more, looking at her face. He had realized where he had seen it before. In a mirror years before. The parallels of the situations were quite similar.

"Huh? Well Lisa, I just got a hunch we'll be seeing each other one day. Maybe you're be there to kill me for this. Maybe you'll be seeking power. I don't know. But I look forward to it."

With that he shuts the cellar door, and ponders to himself. He had pushed so many memories to the far edges of his mind. He had almost forgotten the last night he visited his parents at the cemetery.

[SCARY WIZARD]

"Ahh, ignore him, I think you're worth letting live," Thianne tells the weeping man, giving him a pat on the shoulder.

She finally stands and cracks her knuckles, bored of harassing the cowering man. She now regards her creations. "What are your names? I'm going to need something to call you, and so are the others. My name is Thianne. Thianne Geldaris, to be exact. If it helps, think of 'thigh', and then add 'ann' to the end. For the last name, think of 'gel', as in 'gelding', and then 'air' and 'iss'. The other one is called Set."

Making one final jab at his expense, Thianne speaks to the cowering man. "Are you taking notes?"

[NotScaryBats]

OUTSIDE
Lean finds a total of three horses, a large dog, two men, and what seems to have once been a chicken coup smashed in front of the church. The zombie is likely responsible for the 'misunderstandings.'

One man is wearing simple peasant's clothing, and is unremarkable. You notice the other one is wearing a suit of hide armor, a leather belt with a sheath, and a quiver with no arrows. Perhaps his weapon was lost on the ride back here.

The peasant has 1 HD, the other man has 2. The horses are all light horses.

INSIDE
The door is shut, and the girl, now crying softly to herself, is alone in the darkness. You seem to have dealt with all the villagers.

[Pazzo]

Affectionally stroking their snouts, Lean cheerfully says "Good girls, who are my good good girls? You've done well. Now, B2 head over to that shop and wait by the door. Ventis will fit you with new gear, be careful not to break anything.

F7 follow me to the graveyard, we have some other 'shopping' to do."

Strolling off to the hallowed ground, shovel in hand, he shouts to the area in general. "Oh Puppy Dog? If you can hear me tell your master I have got our key into Sol Leon."

Strolling above the graves, Lean consults his notes, looking for any buried priests, warriors, mercenaries, hard laborers, or maybe even a retired adventurer.

[NotScaryBats]

It looks like all the good ones were taken to Sol Leon to bury -- all you find here are the poor and destitute that couldn't afford a proper service. You half expected some paragon of humankind to have wanted to be buried in his hometown, but alas, it seems that is contrary to the tradition here.

8 on d 100, ouch.

[Pazzo]

"Such a dissapointment . . . Well you work with what you have."

Walking back to the church, he begins to push the benches to the side in a rough circle. Walking up the alter, he cloaks his hand in crackling bolts of negative energy and begins to darken the wood. Getting some prep work till Ventis sends B2 back. Once B2 and F7 are ready to guard the pile and the Church, and Ventis is secure in guarding the Father, Lean wander down the ruined streets to see what everyone else is up to. He could use some help with the heavy lifting after all.

[CowMasterTrojan]

"I will leave you to your pets Thrianne. If you change your mind, and decide to kill that worthless sack of flesh, don't kill the girl. That's an order." Set says, passively making a goodbye motions to everyone.

Walking out, he remounts his steed and heads off to meet the Lich.

@Lean
You see a horse headed towards your position at a very fast rate of speed. The horse is jet black, and it's feet and head appear to be on fire. It appears to be riding not on the ground, but just off the ground. You cannot make out the rider clearly, but it's quite certain there is one.

[SCARY WIZARD]

Thianne watches Set depart. Then, she turns to the wights. "You heard the man, leave the girl, and leave the...other man. There'll be meals enough for you outside." She then leaves the tavern, as well, gesturing for her wights to follow.

[NotScaryBats]

is there anything you all wish to discuss, or are we mounting and flying to Sol Leon or what?

[CowMasterTrojan]

I would love to skip ahead, but I think lean and Set have a a argument brewing. Lean wants to stay, Set does not.

[CowMasterTrojan]

Pulling up on the nightmare, Set carefully dismounts and looks around at what Lean has been working on. "So I'm told you claim to have the key to Sol Leon. May I ask what you think that is?"

[CowMasterTrojan]

After some discussion, Set returns to Thrianne riding a nightmare. "I have spoken with... the Lich. He feels we should wait and complete arcane rituals to corrupt a priest he caught. I tried to explain to we don't have the time, but he is very insistent. I figure I will leave him behind to cause hell, while we go forward with the plan. Once he dies, he will reform at my location anyway. Any objections from you?"

[SCARY WIZARD]

Thianne shrugs. "None, whatsoever, if he's got a way to crawl back to us. Would you like me to leave any of our new friends behind to protect him?"

[CowMasterTrojan]

"I will leave Bann Gead here with him, as well as most of my skeletons. My magic coffin can hold 18 creatures inside it. I will keep 3 of my corporeal minions, the other 15 can be of your choosing. The rest must be left behind. Of course this plan requires you be riding my flaming mount. Hopefully that's not a problem. Do you have any way to darken the area around it? It would mean we could fly much lower to the ground."

[SCARY WIZARD]

Thianne tilts her head, thinking. "I'm only good for hit-and-runs as far as that sort of thing goes, but I've also got some potions on hand that could cover its tracks if it needs to go it on foot, for whatever reason. Of course, we could - with preparation - see about a brief detour into the Plane of Shadow. It's more useful than you might think, that's how I got into the tavern under everybody's nose." Thianne gestures to her spawn, smirking at them.

[CowMasterTrojan]

A smile crosses Set's face. The wight quickly had quickly taken to his liking once she demonstrated her use. "How much preparation would you need and how far can you get us?"

[NotScaryBats]

A brief incantation from Set conjures an ethereal blue chariot which attaches to the Nightmare, Quietus. The translucent chains rattle silently as the great Stallion stamps its flaming hooves impatiently. A gift from Vecna to his Paladin of Tyranny, Quietus is a massive example of his race. Thianne may feel a twinge of nervousness as she mounts the infernal creature, but it's wicked orange and red flames do not burn her, and it's strong back feels sturdy.

The nascent wight troop created by Thianne march grudgingly into Set's Minion Coffin. She feels their orbs of unlike fade as they enter the extra dimensional space.

Their preparations complete, Quietus takes to the air with a mighty neigh and a leap.

As the biting night air flows past the powerful undead creatures, they feel the distinct, crawling sensation of being watched. They are hundreds of feet in the air, and have been traveling for about an hour. Clouds surround them, frigid droplets of water sticking to their unfeeling dead flesh.

Set and Thianne cast about, but see nothing. Quietus senses your alarm and makes a grunt, but continues his breakneck pace through the sky.

It is now an hour til midnight, are there any specific precautions the pair take, or so they simply press on?

[SCARY WIZARD]

Aside from shooting down Set's hopes of any sort of secrecy, all Thianne has to offer him is the prospect of hurling exploding beads at anybody dumb enough to attack them. She otherwise suggests nothing else to the fallen knight.

[CowMasterTrojan]

Quietus... Does this make Set a assimite? Because I think I could see that based on the picture I picked for him.:smalltongue:

Tying the coffin down with rope, Set mounts the chariot eagerly. Things have been going... relatively well. Sure the subordinate vampire had abandoned me, the lich is too crazy to follow orders, and several of the other subordinates are useless. I could take them temple myself! I know that better than anyone. And I don't even have to, I have the wight. Possibly one of the most powerful wights around. And a small group of more wights, some of the deadliest and fastest spawning undead in existence. Not too shabby, he thought to himself.

As the chariot races across the sky, Set waits patiently for midnight. When the time comes, he will then pray for his spells. With luck he would be at full potential, and his enemies would be at their weakest point.

[NotScaryBats]

"For who would bear the Whips and Scorns of time,
The Oppressor's wrong, the proud man's Contumely,
The pangs of despised Love, the Law’s delay,
The insolence of Office, and the Spurns
That patient merit of the unworthy takes,
When he himself might his Quietus make
With a bare Bodkin?"
I love the word Quietus, and thinks it makes a neat name.
If Set were a vampire, I'd imagine he'd be a Dark Ages Brujah, since he's LE and a paladin, but he is currently on an assassination mission...

lol I think we can all agree that Thianne is a Lasombra, though <3


The Nightmare, Wight, and Paladin of Tyranny are intent on reaching their destination as quickly as possible. They ignore the feeling of being watched, and are surprised when two aquamarine shapes wink into existence a short distance in front of them.

The first resembles an old, bald man. His ethereal blue form is clad in a monk's vestments and skullcap. Flaring with arcane magic, a scroll bursts from his hands as he materializes, its held dweomer unleashing a massive hammer which flies unerringly towards the group. It hits Quietus squarely, attempting to destroy the groups' means of locomotion.

The second apparition is a younger man with a martial cut his vestments. He brandishes a polearm and charges at the group, flying with the perfection of a ghost.

Two enemies manifest nearby, taking you by surprise. The first casts Hammer of Righteousness from a scroll, which deals 35 damage to Quietus, Fort save DC 17 halves.

The second enemy charges the Nightmare, striking with an weapon attack that deals 20 damage to it.

Please roll initiative, make a save for the Nightmare.