Old Ways IC

[MeanMrsMustard]

When Alanna hears the note from Lord Bost read, it gives her pause.
"Complete our task, whatever the effort takes?" Wasn't our task to find and save, if possible, the workers? And didn't they get turned into zombies?
She leans over and whispers her thoughts to whoever's nearest, probably Nathros.

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All right, I'll be gone all day tomorrow. Should be able to post on Friday, but if I can't, I'll be back Saturday for sure.

[Matthew]

"Well, that is that, then. Best get our gear together, looks like we are heading back in tomorrow."

[Koren n'Rhys]

"No Miss Alanna, it wasn't quite that simple. We need to clear the whole place out and make it safe for the workers to continue their job of building the watchtower, and even using that cave complex down below. We need to go back, kill that creature, and anything else we find inside."
He looks over to Nathros."Yeah, we need to rest and regroup, then get started early. Should we post guards for the night, do you think? Or will Lord Bost's men do that?"

[Nevaera]

ASHALA

"We'll need at least one armored guard for each portion of the night. I suppose that's all we can even spare in our condition.
"It'll have to be Nathros and I. He doesn't seem to have suffered any wounds that I can tell.
"We shouldn't count on the guards helping us with watch and we shouldn't keep the prisoners here over night. It's too hard to be sure they don't escape while our guard is weakened. Though... I can't say the idea of a few more men at arms bothers me any...
"I suspect a counter attack in the night. We're sitting ducks here and they were alerted to our presence.
"We should move the camp next to that hill there for better cover and a better vantage point - shouldn't be too hard. We aught to keep our fires out too. But keep a torch or oil flask and some flint near each of you just in case."

Ash will help the workers move their tents and things to a more secure location.

Hopefully their enemies will be sleeping or too lazy to persue them tonight. Hopefully... Ash won't count on it. She'll intends to be ready so long as they come on her watch. She'll rest next to her weapons tonight. She'll have a couple oil flasks at hand as well. If anyone wants one, she'll share. She has five more.

Ash sighs and says to herself, "If we weren't so worn out, we could have set an ambush for them..."

[Roland St. Jude]

After the curiosity wears off, the workers return to their tents to await the all-clear signal. Snippets of conversation can be heard from the workers, particularly as those who braved the cave tell the others of "Bost's rangers" and various versions of what happened below. What is clear to them is that they hauled out their decayed fellows now dead and two dingy crossbowmen now asleep. But the rest of the tale is filled in by the block and tackle workers close enough to hear at least some of the combat below.

The workers move the camp at Ash's instructions with neither great energy or complaint. They are able to move the simple camp very quickly to the far side of the indicated hill, allowing watchers to take a position above the camp on the hilltop to watch the brigands' cave. As night falls fully, they all return to their tents, save the single guard who stands just close enough to hear whether anything is needed of him.

The town guardsmen become increasingly anxious as night falls, finally asking point blank whether they should stay or go. They also ask whether there is an update or message they should deliver to Lady Aleena or Lord Bost.

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Any pre-sleep preparations or further watch setting should be done now. Then we can move ahead to any night encounters or morning.

[Nevaera]

If there was an opportunity to speak to the guards shortly after they arrived, Ash would confront them and say,"Perhaps Lord Bost will have better luck with interrogations than we soldiers. You'd best return before it gets too late. Maybe he'll glean something from them we were unable to."

"I have a message for m'lord:
"We've found evidence of a necromantic mage, the prisoners' confessions of association with 'The Dark Magi' and 'The Fangs', and there are other... things down there. We'll be on the offensive tomorrow after some recovery time.
"On a side note, if you have any more faith healers, don't hesitate to send them our way. It's been effective so far."

"And, for the three of you... don't get caught by anyone. These words are for Lord Bost's alone. I don't want to find that there is an inside agent keeping our foes in the loop either."

Ash will let Nathros pick whichever watch he'd prefer, the first or the second. Ash will be on guard for the other of the two. If he's indifferent, she'll choose second watch. She'll have her armor fully donned for her shift.

[Frivolous]

Brandon Bor

Bran says he is okay with standing guard but he'd prefer to stand guard with at least one more person, since he is so wounded.

He also says, "I'd really like some healing magic in the morning. I feel way too much like I did at the goblin for for comfort."

[Nevaera]

"Brandon, you'll need your rest. No sense aggravating your wound. Just keep your weapons at the ready while you sleep."
She adds with a wink, "I hope you're not the groggy type when you wake."

[Matthew]

Nathros takes the first watch, and keeps out of the firelight. "Most likely they will hit us before dusk or after dawn, when there is enough light so as not to be fighting in the dark."

[Nevaera]

Ash recommended not having fires tonight, but keeping oil flasks, torches, and flint near by.

[MeanMrsMustard]

Yawning, Alanna sets up a small area to sleep. Right before she goes to bed, she tells everyone that she can take a watch if they need her to.
"Like, if only a couple people offer. I'm used to this sort of thing-- we'd go out in the woods at night all the time. If you don't need me to watch, though, I'm sleeping through the night."
If anyone accepts her offer, she tells them to just wake her up when she's needed.
I hate first watch… she thinks as she squeezes into her pilfered bedroll.

[Nevaera]

Ash will not ask for Alanna's help as she hopes she'll get her rest and that she will pray to her god for the power to heal once more.

[Roland St. Jude]

Not overly long into the second watch, Ash spies a pair of of dark shapes flying in the sky above. Maybe a hundred yards out, with moonlight flickering off their giant bat wings. It's hard to say at such a distance in partial moonlight, but they appear to be the man-sized bats from the cave.

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PCs win initiative.

Remember that your movement (and that of your foes) switches to yards when outdoors.

[Nevaera]

Ash alerts everyone as soon as she sees the threat. "Everyone! Looks like we've got company!"

She'll use her bow if she gets a shot and fire at a giant bat. She hopes they're the only threat to her camp tonight, but suspecting something a little more elaborate as a counter attack...

"Watch for other enemies about. I'm sure this isn't all they've got."

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Alertness for other enemies that may be approaching DC13: (1d20)[17]
Bow Attack (Thac0 17): (1d20)[5]
Bow Damage: (1d6)[6]

[Frivolous]

Brandon Bor

Brandon groans and pokes his head out of his dwelling to look at the situation. Then he starts to pull on his armor.

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I guess it will take some time to pull on his armor, but with so few hit points, he feels it is necessary that he wear as much protection as possible.

[MeanMrsMustard]

Alanna groans as she squeezes out of her bedroll.
"Ugh, fighting at night?" she mumbles, pulling out her sling and making a shot. Without looking to see if the shot landed, she turns around and begins to don her armor.

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Attack: (1d20)[8]
Damage: (1d4)[2]

[Tsunamiatunzen1]

Artanis, who had been moving around the camp gathering the rumors about the adventure that had happened, had been up for the first watch in order to keep gathering as much information as possible about the cave and its inhabitants. As such, he was still armed when the attack came. Blast, I haven't had a chance to review my spell book yet... I will just have to make do with the normal means.

He nocked an arrow and fired on the closest bat.
YOU SHALL NOT PREVAIL FOUL CREATURES OF EVIL!

As he shouted this he reached for another arrow and paused as he felt the fletching of the arrow.
Wait... this can't be a natural attack... bats travel from their nests at night but this shouldn't be close enough to warrant such an attack even in these few numbers...

Artanis immediatly looked around for any enemies that were attempting to hide, trusting in his infravision to illuminate anything within sixty yards of him.

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Thac0 (bow: med. range) 18: (1d20+1)[2]
Alertness DC 14: (1d20)[15]
HP: 3/3
AC: 2

[Matthew]

Nathros readies himself for combat.

[Koren n'Rhys]

Mycah rolls from his bedding and grabs his bow. After a moment to clear his head and size up the situation, he calls out "They may not be attacking us, maybe they are just out hunting for food like regular bats. If we don't attack them, they might just leave us alone..."
Nonetheless, he'll ready an arrow, but hold his fire unless it's obvious they are attacking.

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Mycah, Level 2 Thief:
HP: 2/3 AC: 6 Thac0: 19 (18 Missile)

ATTACK:(1d20+1)[16] DAMAGE:(1d6)[3]

[Roland St. Jude]

Artanis hears tales from the workmen of battles against mighty bat-men, a hideous paralyzing tentacled-horror, shambling undead, and a pair of crossbomen put into a magic slumber by the party mage. Other tales tell of giant rats, rat swarms, fiendishly difficult traps. The numbers, size, and exact description of the various things vary greatly by the teller.

All the workers retire at dark and none remain awake through the first watch. Artanis may continue to watch in his armor, however.

---
Ash and Artanis loose arrows at the bats but neither strikes. Mycah has better luck, piercing a wing.

Brandon and Alanna begin putting on their armor, a process they know will take a few rounds.

Nathros prepares himself as the bats approach.

It becomes clear that the man-sized bats, if they ever were on a hunting errand, are certainly focused on the camp now. They fly forward, claws raised and fanged mouths open. They move quickly, but jerkily, through the air, covering over half the distance to the camp before veering off in opposite directions, one toward Ash and another toward Artanis. If anyone or anything else was out there, it was well-hidden or beyond the elf's infravision distance, or both.

---
Drawn by the glinting armor in the moonlight or perhaps simply backtracking the arrows shot their way, the bats make diving attacks on the armored archers. As they close the final few feet, lurching awkwardly, it becomes apparent to both Ash and Artanis that they are facing zombified creatures.

Ash again finds the bat sinking its fangs into her shoulder plate. It makes a horrible sound of teeth on metal and the thing flaps its decaying wings surrounding her with a stench. Artanis is less lucky as the bat finds his neck and sinks in its bloody fangs. It wraps its wings around him, threatening to take the elf to the ground, but he maintains his footing.

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Foes won initiative. Both their last round action and this round action are given above. PCs' go.

Artanis -2 hp; Artanis is not really grappled in any sense, but he is in melee.

One unharmed zombie giant (vampire?) bat; one somewhat injured zombie giant (vampire?) bat.

[Nevaera]

Ash drops her bow, startled by the swiftness and the decaying nature of these foul undead bats. Quickly, she'll draw her sword and shield to combat the one wrecking her nice armor. She shouts at it as she attempts a swing, "Killing you twice in one day... a little redundant, don't you think?!"
After her swing, she growls the following, "You're wrecking my armor - Again!"

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AC: 1
HP: 11/11
Thac0 with Sword: 18
Attack: (1d20)[7]
Damage: (1d8)[6]

[MeanMrsMustard]

Hearing the sounds of combat, Alanna looks up and watches the two fights for a couple of seconds each.
She endeavors to don her armor more quickly, though she knows it'll still be several minutes before she can join the battle.
Darn it! Why do they keep getting hurt? I can't wait until I get good enough to cast two spells a day…

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I'm not sure what the ratio of combat rounds to IRL time is… is it 10 rounds a minute?

[Tsunamiatunzen1]

As the bat's fangs pierce his neck he got a good look at the creature and its zombified state.
So the tales are true! There is a foul necromancer using the bodies of the dead to advance his plans! There shall be a reckoning soon!
Any further coherent thought vanished as he saw nothing else but his current adversary and his blood began to boil as he dropped the bow and reached for the blade slung on his back.
He whispered savagely through his torn throat his elven war-cry: Avel niemel sikki mor hiedoso welsa, op avel inorum nekra. Drink deeply Solahel.

Having said that he unsheathed his greatsword, brought it down for a better swing, and continued its momentum to strike at the bat from below.

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Thac0 (greatsword)19:(1d20)[4]
Damage: (1d10)[3]
HP: 1/3
AC: 2 (as always)

[Frivolous]

Brandon Bor


Bran keeps putting on his armor. His movements are hurried and clumsy from anger and fear.

As he arms, he screams, "What is it? What are y'all fighting?!"

[Nevaera]

ASHALA

"The same darn bats we fought before! - And they're still dead!" Ash shouts for Brandon to hear amidst the sounds of battle and armor clanging.

[Koren n'Rhys]

"We killed them once, we can do it again - hold on Ash!"
Mycah takes a deep breath and aims for the creature attacking Ash. He needs to focus on saving her before he can help the elven newcomer. Just don't hit her, he tells himself.

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Here goes nothin'!
Mycah, Level 2 Thief:
HP: 2/3 AC: 6 Thac0: 19 (18 Missile)

ATTACK:(1d20+1)[21] DAMAGE:(1d6)[5]

[Roland St. Jude]

Ash and Artanis both manage to get their swords free and shove themselves free of the zombie bats, but neither strikes a telling blow on the beasts. Mycah's shot strikes into the face of a bat, and it staggers back using its wings to try to stabilize itself. Mortally wounded, it's a wonder the thing remains upright.

Nathros hurls his axe at the other bat, slicing a hole right through its wing and drawing its attention away from Artanis, at least a little. {dm action}

Alanna and Brandon continue to put on their armor. The camp guard has awakened and stands outside his tent, sword drawn. Some camp workers begin to poke their heads out of their tents, before ducking back inside.

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I think 6 rounds (1 minute) is a reasonable time to don one's armor, so feel free to jump in on round 7.

I wasn't sure whether Nathros' "prepare for battle" included armoring up or not, so I selected not and had him open with his usual...axe throwing.

One mortally wounded bat and one badly wounded bat.

PCs win initiative! Go PCs!

[Koren n'Rhys]

"Yeah! Take that you big dead bat!" Emboldened by two successful shots in the dark, Mycah turns his aim to the second bat that threatens Artanis and shoots again.

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Mycah, Level 2 Thief:
HP: 2/3 AC: 6 Thac0: 19 (18 Missile)

ATTACK:(1d20+1)[19] DAMAGE:(1d6)[4]

[Nevaera]

ASHALA

Ash growls out her words again, "Wretched unnatural beasts..."

"Great shot, Mycah!" she hollars back as she sees an arrow sink into the bat that was gnawing on her armor.

Ash will charge the remaining animated bat with her next attack. (Unless the one that was on her still poses a threat.)

"Rrah!"

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AC: 1
HP: 11/11
Thac0: 18 (sword)
Attack: (1d20)[2]
Damage: (1d8)[1]

[Tsunamiatunzen1]

Artanis, unable to speak much due to his throat tried to convey a short message of thanks in Lawful: Thank you for the short respite.

Now that he was out of the akward position, Artanis brought the greatsword close to his lips and coughed up a small bit of blood, now dripping down his plate mail. He brought it into a ready stance and whispered to it in elven as if it could hear his words: Lida inorum saenes, Solahel. Sharti tra fanil, niffa orisa.

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Translation:
Strength is in the heartwood, Memory of Tears. Where the tree fails, the seed grows.

Having given his own type of prayer or what he is sure are to be his final words, he charges after his attacker and swings down from above in an attempt to knock the creature from the skies onto the ground so that he might gain the upper hand.

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Thac0(greatsword) 19: (1d20)[12]
Damage: (1d10)[9]
HP: 1/3
AC: 2