Session 3: He's not dead, he's my brother. Report

General Summary

As the unliving horror arose from the pile of bodies, necrotic flesh tangling from it's jaws, the group moved quickly. Roisin was the first to react, calling on Roy to launch magical fire at the creature, and Roy conjured a magical bonfire at its feet, burning it. Kaalam fired an arrow, which missed, and stood back. Trysor consumed a magical herb, then transformed into a giant spider and launched a web, which restrained the creature. Jeeves fired a hand crossbow, but also missed, and another creature arose from the bodies to rush forward and attach Roy, but it missed with it's claws. Quirico struck the smaller creature next to him, and connected with his morningstar, then moved forward and awoke more of the creatures hidden amoung the dead, including a large, creature that resembled a humanoid twisted and refomed into some horrific unliving mount. Roy summoned a blade of shadow and threw it at the creature in front of him, connecting and shattering the thing's mind, leaving it completely destroyed. The webbed creature broke free of the web then leapt upon the back of the large mount-like creature and spurred it on, causing the mount to leap upon Jeeves, but thanks to Roisin's distracting cry, it failed to find purchase. Boris threw a sacred flame at one of the creatures, burning it with holy energy. Another creature rushed at Trysor and tore at the giant spider with its claws, the spider resisted the necrotic energy in those claws, however. The mount-like creature bit at Jeeves again and found purchase once, but failed on the second bite. Roisin called on Trysor to bit the creature next to him, and he did with some effect, although the creature seemed unphased by the dripping venom of the spider's fangs. Kaalam stepped forward and struck the mount with an arrow, then returned to the back and disappeared. Jeeves struck the mount and interfered with its humors, causing exhaustion. Quirico summoned his echo, then struck out at the creatures directly and with his echo, but both missed, so he surged with action and struck a creature while his echo struck the mount creature. Roy then threw his shadow blade at the mount creature and both struck the creature and left a lingering doom upon it should it attack Jeeves again. The creature attempted to strike Jeeves, but still distracted failed, while the lingering doom tore at its mind again. Boris stepped forward and called upon the power of The Source to abjure these unliving abominations and all of them were forced to flee, but Jeeves struck the mount as it turned to flee, allowing it to remain. The mount attempted to bite Jeeves, but missed and jeeves pierced it again. Kaalam punctured the mount creature with another arrow, Trysor missed again with a spider bite, Quirico struck the mount yet again, then took a moment to catch his breath. Roy send his shadowy blade flying again, and devestated the creature's mind, destroying it, then Quirico chose to strike another creature before it could flee, striking powerfully. The creature turned to attack, but missed. Boris attempted to burn a creature with holy fire, but failed. Roisin ordered Quirico to strike again, but he missed and had the wind knocked out of him by the butt end of his own weapon. Kaalam missed with his bow and tried to hide but everyone saw him clearly. Trysor failed to bite another creature, and Jeeves managed to hit with his hand crossbow. Quirico missed with the morningstar, but Roy hit again with the shadowy blade, killing another creature. Boris struck another, now cornered and dodging, creature with his siege crossbow, then Jeeves struck with his shadowy blade, and Kaalam finished the last creature off with his bow.

The group now turned to examining the room, and determined the pile of corpses was a mix of very old and more recent, that this appeared to be a town grave pit. Some of the bodies were burned terribly, and almost all were partially eaten. Some thought was given to burning the corpses, but in the end this course was abandoned. The group returned outside and explored the area a bit further afield than earlier, looking at farms and homesteads, finding all empty and abandoned. The did finally determine that the bandits had appeared as if from nothing, indicating teleportation may have been used. The wizard from earlier had teleported away, so it made sense they might have teleported in a day or so before. The group realized they had neglected to keep track of their cage of mice, and had to replace that, but a pet cage from a nearby farm and a few fieldmice fixed the problem. The group also gave some thought to magically constructing a cage, but decided this was excessive.

The group headed north, then, and after about six hours found themselves approaching a town, unfortunately it was the same town they had recently left. They tried again, going south, and again returned to the starting point. Then, as it was near midnight, they decided to rest the night and try again in the morning. They chose to rest within the large house across from the inn, and once inside Jeeves took the bedroom, Roy conjured a magic tent for Roisin and himself, and Kaalam used a paper shelter to protect the rest in a dome of force resembling a large pile of laundry. The night was mostly uneventful, although Boris did see a figure enter during the last watch, seeking to enter the master bedroom, it was prevented by the, apparent, large pile of laundry, and finally left. Through all of this the sun remained steadfastly stuck at the mid-morning position. When the party awoke, refreshed and restored, they chose to attempt an overland trek to the east, and after about an hour and a half, heard a bird. Turning back toward the sound, they saw a farmer working the field they had just passed, and he yelled at them to get out of the field. They did so, and proceeded back to town where the town, and road, were bustling. Continuing north on the road again, they arrived by evening, at the last town before entering the mountains, and chose to rest at the tavern and inn.

At the tavern, after a large and very fine meal, Roy and Trysor shared a bottle of whiskey, which left Trysor quickly unconscious, and Roy quite inebriated. The companions helped Trysor to bed, Roy and Roisin headed to their single rooms, and the others headed upstairs to their shared rooms. Roy instructed his familiar to watch over Roisin, but his drunken instructions came across as watching Roy did not cause the Princess harm or discomfort in his drunken state. The owl-cat hybrid watched over Roy dutifully through the night. Waking in the morning, the party ate an excellent and very large meal, then Roy conducted a series of magic rituals to protect and sustain the party for a long journey ahead. Thus fortified, they set out upon the slowly rising mountain road, towards the mining towns deep within.