steinulfr's Reign of Winter (IC)

[TheMiningDwarf]

Spoiler: OOC

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I don't believe that actually did damage to me as the attack roll didn't beat my AC
Knowledge Religion Roll: (1d20)[10]

Husk raises his shield and blocks the creatures attack. Though clearly no longer human enough to save Husk isn't sure what's happened to the man. Hefting his trusty Morningstar Husk attacks back. "What in the world are these things?" Husk shouts.

[TheMiningDwarf]

Spoiler: Attack Rolls

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Because I wanted to see if I'd pass the knowledge check before seeing what I'd do.
Attack Roll:(1d20+3)[14]
Damage Roll:(1d8+3)[5]
(Haha Yeah right)
Crit Confirmation:(1d20+3)[20]
Crit Damage:(1d8+3)[5]

[~Celestine~]

Aledis looks at the undead not impressed she tries looking for the tracks but keeps an eye to the undead.

Per (1d20+7)[14]
Hide [roll1d20+8[/roll]

[mostly_harmless]

Yoren shakes his head and reels from the hit, swinging at the creatures with his Earth Breaker.

Spoiler: Rolls

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Attack: (1d20+4)[13]
Damage: (2d6+5)[15]
Critical confirmation: (1d20)[11]
Critical damage: (3d6)[9]

[Segrain]

"Alive". "Warm and breathing". Terhe just was thinking these words, but, after seeing those to whom they were applied, she was no longer so sure about her phrasing. Nobody with wounds like that could had been alive; yet, they were obviously moving, and quite aggressively as that. As far as she could see, they were not breathing either; but, as the witch had to remind herself, in these weird lands she could not even see her own breath, much less those of others. And as for being warm... she would not had been surprised to learn that they were as cold as the nearby statue, but she had no desire to touch them and check. And even if they were not, she was not going to feel any remorse remedying that.

"I do not know what they are...", - Terhe took one hand off her staff and pointed at the strange humans, - "...but they are no fey. They... should not be like this!" - young witch's voice, confused and uncertain at first, rose to shouting, and the answer to dwarf's question was followed by few more words in a language much more foreign than what she used before. The chill in the air grew stronger for a moment, ran down her extended arm - and flew off her pointing finger, like an arrow flies from the bowstring.

Spoiler

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Ranged touch attack for ray of frost: (1d20+2)[17], reduced as necessary for shooting into melee combat and over others in the way if Terhe cannot have an unobstructed line. If hits, (1d3)[2] cold damage. If possible, aimed at a zombie that gets no cover, or just at the closest one if there is no difference.

[Farmerbink]

Spoiler: Mellio, Round 1

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Mellio Moss
F NG Halfling Wizard, Level 1, Init 11, HP 7/7, DR Cold Resist 2, Speed 30
AC 15, Touch 15, Flat-footed 11, CMD 11, Fort 2, Ref 5, Will 3, CMB -3, Base Attack Bonus 0
Sling (10x bullets) -1/+5 (1d3-2, x2)
Dagger -1/+5 (1d3-2, 19-20, x2)
(+4 Dex, +1 Size)
Abilities Str 7, Dex 18, Con 10, Int 18, Wis 10, Cha 11
Condition Prescience: 7/7

"Yikes!" Mellio jumps about double her height in surprise as the zombies burst from the carriage. She steps backwards, almost tripping on the tiny rabbit perched between her feet. She draws her sling and loads it, swinging the leather strap menacingly- at least as menacingly as a woman less than 3 feet tall can be.

Spoiler: Actions

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1st of all, I'm assuming my allies can pretty much handle this without one of my 3 spells per day. 2nd of all, I'm all-but useless without my 3 spells per day. If you guys prove incapable, I'll have to set them on fire.

5-foot step back as a free action
draw my sling as a move action
load the sling as another move action.

[neriractor]

Aeghis shoots his crossbow hastily, piercing trough hide and bone as if it was nothing and looking seriously badass while doing it, then he flew towards the top of the carriage to get into higher ground.

Spoiler

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1) spend one grit to attack touch armor, towards the zombie that lest people are attacking, grit left 2/3.

Ranged touch attack (1d20+6)[21]
Damage (1d8)[8]

2) fly to the top of the carriage to take advantage of higher ground, fly roll if needed (1d20)[1] +6

As he shoots a hole trough the mad men's skull and positions himself atop the vehicle reloading his crossbow, he winks at the halfling woman slinging stones at them "mine packs a bit more punch"

[ylvathrall]

Husk's morningstar connects with the male zombie, but doesn't seem to do much; its flesh simply yields under the blow. Yoren's earth breaker is more effective, bashing the thing hard enough to shatter bones; a moment later Aeghis's bolt slams into its throat and tacks it to the carriage, where it twitches a few more times before going still. Meanwhile, Terhe's cantrip connects with the other zombie, freezing its flesh.

That one is not dead yet, though, and with a groan it swings one arm in a lumbering strike at Husk.

Spoiler: Attack

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Slam attack: (1d20+4)[11]
Damage: (1d6+4)[7]
Critical confirmation: (1d20+4)[18]
Critical damage: (1d64)[38]

[TheMiningDwarf]

Whatever this thing was it refused to go down without one hit. When it swung it's arm to strike at him Husk raised his shield to meet it and blocked the hit. Tough little buggers but not very good at fighting back. With his shield arm still raised Husk lifts his Morningstar high before swinging it down on the creature's head hoping to crack it's skull.

Spoiler: Attack

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Attack [roll0]
Damage [roll1]
Crit [roll2]
Crit Dmg [roll3]

[TheMiningDwarf]

Spoiler: Attack Roll

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Because I tried to preview the post to see if I'd done everything right.
Attack (1d20+3)[6]
Damage (1d8+3)[4]
Crit (1d20+3)[11]
Crit Dmg (1d8+3)[7]

[Segrain]

Terhe watched the effects of her magic with just a hint of a smile. Whatever this creature was, it still could freeze like any living human. Wherever this land was, it still could be snowed like any proper place. However her fate turned, she... no, that was never under any question or doubt. She was a witch, and the cold itself was hers to command.

These creatures were no fey. This land was no Irrisen. She had nothing to fear. And if these humans by some bewitchment retained their lives, but lost their minds, it was only right for her to show that northern magic could make them truly dead nonetheless. Earlier or later, any warm body had to succumb to the cold. Even by tiniest gust, the winter could take anything. It only needed some time.

And so, one more time, the witch recited the same spell.

Spoiler

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Attack: (1d20+2)[21].
Damage: (1d3)[1].

[ylvathrall]

Husk misses the zombie, but Terhe manages to freeze it again, and Yoren's earth breaker puts it down for good.

Looking into the carriage, you can easily see that someone's rummaged through it. It appears to have been looted, and then the zombies did more damage to it while they were locked inside.

[mostly_harmless]

Yoren pants, eventually slumping against the carriage, thumping it loudly with the handle of his earth breaker shouting "Oi there! Anyone else?" Without a word, he strides toward the bodies and grabs a leg in each hand, dragging them over to the side of the road. Towards the party Yoren asks, "Oi, anyone 'ave a clue who these two are?"

Spoiler: OOC

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Yoren will wait for someone to identify the bodies before gathering kindling to prepare a pyre.

[TheMiningDwarf]

Husk walks up to his fellow dwarf and takes a gander at the bodies. "Well they were locked inside this carriage so they were probably with the rest of the caravan. Though if it were the fey that did this to them then there's no reason why they would seal them in. I say let the fire cleanse them and everyone else here for that matter."

Spoiler: OOC

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The dwarf with the fire domain may be a bit of a pyro who would have thought?! -

[neriractor]

Aeghis flies around the area for a bit, while the rest explore the corpses he makes a couple of rounds to find more clues from the earth.

Spoiler

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fly check if needed: (1d20)[2] +6
Stealth: (1d20)[17]+2
Perception: (1d20)[7] +4
Search: (1d20)[17]

He is going to fly in a 180 ft of diameter circle around the site and land back when he ends.

[Farmerbink]

Mellio frowns at the destruction wrought by both the fey and the remains of their prey. She shakes her head to the negative, with just a hint of tears welling up in her eyelids. "I don't recognize them, but I can't imagine they deserved this." She nods emphatically at the suggestion to burn them. "Yes, put them to rest for sure."

After a few moments, she looks back around. "Guys? That lady Argentea isn't around here anywhere. I think we need to get a move on!" She points towards the obvious trail of blood and destruction, and lets out an audible gulp. "Anyone else want to go first?"

[Segrain]

"Do people in this land burn their dead?" - Terhe looked at her short companions with some confusion, but it was not even that surprising compared to seeing walking dead. - "If that is what you usually do, go ahead, but it is probably going to take some time... and there are more urgent things to do. We are not that far from the village, and their companion knows that their bodies are still here. If they died in battle, I am sure that he will see to it that somebody gives them a proper funeral; until then, they do not seem to move anymore..."

But dead people, even if they were twice dead now, were not the only thing in sight. Now that short battle was over, Terhe's attention quickly returned to the ice statue. Leaving others to discuss what has to be done with corpses, the witch approached the frozen man, carefully walking around other bodies on the ground. Stopping at her staff's length away from the statue, she gave it - and scattered pieces of it - a better look, trying to understand just what could have done something like that.

[mostly_harmless]

"Do people in this land burn their dead?" - Terhe looked at her short companions with some confusion, but it was not even that surprising compared to seeing walking dead.

As the aftermath of the fight purged the last remaining influence mead had over Yoren's body, he turns to Terhe.

Spoiler: Skald

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"You don't want these two comin' back for ye'," as his tone nearly dropped into a whisper.

[ylvathrall]

Spoiler: Aeghis

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You don't really see anything of note beyond what you've already noticed. There are no real signs of life in the area; it seems like the local wildlife is mostly avoiding the frozen area.

Spoiler: Terhe

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It looks as though the man was encased in ice and then someone took a knife to the resulting ice sculpture. He might have been alive when he was frozen; it's hard to tell with any confidence. He certainly isn't now, though. Some of the pieces missing are merely disconcerting, like the fingers and lips, but where his throat is cut away to expose the spine would be lethal even without the rest. The ice is melting only very slowly, but it seems like that might be just the cold of the area at work.

You do notice that the man's armor is considerably more intact than the man himself, and looks to be of good quality. If you were to extract it from the ice, it might still be usable.

[Farmerbink]

Mellio shakes her head. "Usually, they are buried. Often marked with a stone or some other commemoration, but burning is something of a superstitious rite with the undead. It's hard to argue with, really. Better safe than sorry, I always say!"

She follows the witch as the taller woman moves closer for a better look. "That looks distinctly unpleasant," she comments with an expression of disgust. "Blech!"

[neriractor]

Aeghis swoops down near mellio, seeing nothing of interest he leans down a little closer to mellio's height, he looks at the statue confused for a bit and then turns to her "Mmm... What is that thing?

[Segrain]

Terhe let out a relieved sigh. That was not a pleasant way to die, but at least it was over for the man - and, unlike those strange bodies from the carriage, he was not going to be moving again, at least due to being frozen in place. In a certain sense, - a sense that she was not glad to have at all, - it was a sight more familiar and understandable than walking dead were. And trail of snow, continuing into the direction of allegedly frozen forest, only reminded here about home even more. Not that it was a pleasant memory.

But it was the time to head forward and come back. Almost the time: if she was going to walk over snow again, there were preparations to be made. "If you intend to burn anything, do it quickly", - Terhe shrugged, taking off her backpack and sitting in front of the statue to rummage through it. Her furlined boots already looked sturdy enough for any winter, but the witch nonetheless spent some time tying to them a pair of netlike soles. Next to come out was her heavy cloak, which, after giving a glance to her companions, Terhe threw on for now.

Standing up and grabbing her staff, the witch once again looked like a traveller from faraway land. With the owl still perched on her shoulder, she made the first step towards the trail - and turned around to look at her companions. "Are you ready yet? I can go first, if you are afraid of a little snow..."

[Farmerbink]

"Mmm... What is that thing?

Mellio gulps. "Well, it was a man. I think it's a corpse, now. Hopefully, it'll stay that way..."

She turns to follow Terhe, still wary about their surroundings, but unwilling to leave the task unfinished.

[TheMiningDwarf]

Husk digs through his pack as well, pulling out some firewood he had been carrying with him. "If there are no objections, I'll start the fire." He turns looking around at his companions. Provided no one objects Husk begins dragging the two zombies over the stack of wood before lighting the wood underneath them on fire with his flint and steel.

He has few words to say for the strangers except a simple prayer. "May the fire cleanse you of worldly sin. Both your own and those visited upon you." He takes a flask out from his shirt pocket and takes a pull on it. No one deserved to die like these men did. Locked away and starved to the point of mindlessness. It was disgusting, these fey need to pay.

"If anyone else has anything they'd like to do, do it now." Husk says grufly

After turning from the fire Husk takes a cue from Terhe and fishes out his winter coat. Stripping off his armor before donning the coat and putting the armor over top of it. The collar of the coat spilled out the head hole of his armor and going up to just below his ears even with the hood down.

Spoiler: OOC

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That rhymed and I didn't even mean it to! So not sure how much firewood a funeral pyre would take up but I do have 20 pounds of the stuff so take what you will.

[neriractor]

Aeghis saddens when he hears about the dead man and is a little curious that the dwarf knows the Stryx´s rituals for the deceased in combat, he kneels before the body before they set it on fire and speaks soft words while painting marks on his face with the snow, a small gulp sounds as he finishes chanting and he proceeds to follow Mellio and the rest.

Spoiler: Strix

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"from the ashes of peace and well being a warrior is born, dead by weapons, famine or disease brings warriors closer to the core. May the ashes of they flee by air and when they hit the earth be reborn to fight for the sky queens again..."

[ylvathrall]

The fire burns hot and fast, and it doesn't take very long at all before the former zombies are reduced to ashes.

Continuing on along the path, you soon get into snow. It lies on the ground in a blanket half a foot thick, or deeper where it's formed drifts. The air gets steadily colder as you enter the snowy area, until it's just below freezing.

After slogging through the snow for about a mile across the open field, you reach the Border Wood proper. As it enters the forest, the trail passes through a small clearing before continuing uphill and out of sight. A large chest lies half-buried in the snow, apparently dropped or discarded by those who hastily passed this way.

Spoiler: Perception DC 20

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There's a rope under the snow, leading from the vicinity of the chest up into the trees. Looking up, you see a spiked log up in the trees. It seems the people who attacked the caravan left a trap for anyone looking to get into the chest....

Spoiler: OOC

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The area is now treated as snowy for purposes of travel. Unless you've got snowshoes, you're probably moving at half speed.

This area is also under the effects of cold weather. In an hour, you'll have to start making your Fortitude saves against the cold.

[Farmerbink]

Mellio shivers, unused to the suddenly frigid temperatures. "Th- th- this is wh- wh- what you're u- u- ussseed to?" she grumpily asks of the cloak-bound witch. "H-h-ho-ow h-orr-ible!"

She plods warily through the snow- piled up to the thighs of the diminutive arcanist. Seeing the chest in the clearing, she squints. "Wh-why would th-they b-be worr-ied ab-out be-ing fah- fah- foll-owed? This is f- f- fissshy."

Spoiler: OOC

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(1d20+2)[4] perception

[mostly_harmless]

Mellio shivers, unused to the suddenly frigid temperatures. "Th- th- this is wh- wh- what you're u- u- ussseed to?" she grumpily asks of the cloak-bound witch. "H-h-ho-ow h-orr-ible!"

She plods warily through the snow- piled up to the thighs of the diminutive arcanist. Seeing the chest in the clearing, she squints. "Wh-why would th-they b-be worr-ied ab-out be-ing fah- fah- foll-owed? This is f- f- fissshy."

Spoiler: OOC

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(1d20+3)[20] perception

"I doubt there be any more reason for us to consider the same," Yoren pondered.

Spoiler: OOC

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Perception: (1d20+3)[20]

[neriractor]

Aeghis is freezing but he took it okay,he was having a tough choice between exposing his wings or walking trough the snow at a slower pace.

He charged his crossbow and shot at the lock in the chest, afterwards seeing as Mellio was shaking he extended his wings around her trying to provide some warmth "I hope y-you don´t mind, I left my cold gear back h-ome" he said, his breath visible in the air.

Spoiler: rolls

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attack roll: (1d20+6)[16]
damage roll: (1d8)[6]
perception: (1d20+3)[19]

[ylvathrall]

Aeghis's arrow hits the lock of the chest. It doesn't do much more than scuff the metal; the chest itself is still intact.

It also, quite by accident, cuts through a rope that was attached to the chest and buried under the snow. The now-loose end of the rope flies up into the trees.

Instants later, a tree trunk covered in spikes swings down and along the trail, damaging or knocking aside anyone in its path.

Spoiler: OOC

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So I don't know quite what you were hoping to achieve here, but I don't think this is it. The spiked log trap makes an attack against all creatures by the chest or on this section of trail (i.e., all PCs).
Attack: (1d20+10)[26]
Damage: (1d8+3)[6]
Critical confirmation (19-20): (1d20+10)[11]
Critical damage: (1d8+3)[4]