Session XXV - A Midnight Undead Raid

Going from Worse to Horrible

General Summary

Undead, why did it have to be undead? Another enemy to handle, and perhaps a bigger threat than the goblins themselves. I wish they hadn't attacked that night. It made everything after it harder. In the aftermath of Session XXIV - A Woeful Interrogation, we had no desire to do anything more than head to the The Way Inn, but you can't argue with the undead.

Retreating, it's hard. And it's harder knowing your leaving people to an uncertain fate. Two scouts left behind, maybe they'll be food. Or maybe they'll be hostages. We wouldn't know until much later. It was late into the evening, travel had been rough as we avoided the roads and attempted to forge a path that would go unnoticed. And it did, to the Goblins anyway.
Not so to the undead that attacked late at night, almost at the witching hour. I doubt that was an accident, which makes me think they had been tracking us for a little while. Though we had little time to really think on what such an organized attack meant. It wasn't until after the battle, and the counting of the bodies, that we were able to work out the exact count of forces that had attacked us

• Eight Human Zombies
• Three Ghouls
• Two Deathlock Wights
• One Ogre Zombie
• And one Deathlock

The battle was rough, we've never really fought any undead before and some of their actions were a surprise. Some less so. And of course having little time to prepare our defences was unhelpful.
Hexan Dacciro, ever paranoid, was the first to attack. His ability to hit multiple targets is limited, so instead he focused on channelling energy into killing one of the zombies. Though the energy wasn't enough to kill the creature, it certainly did damage. Mueril Fenrir was more effective, I think her skill with attacks is improving as she was able to kill two zombies in fairly quick succession. Of course, the luck couldn't be all ours and Imrahil halfhalf suffered an attack by a Wright. Dillis Ergo Mossborn refused to stand for this and decided to attack, charging in with his longsword, it glowed a bright white light, he had clearly enchanted the blade at some point.
Imrahil halfhalf responds to his attack, blasting away with pure force though it does little damage it gives him enough time to retreat and get out of harms way. With the "twerp" out of the way, Hexan Dacciro and chains together two spells, green-flame blade and branding smite, attacking a Deathlock Wright and almost completely killing it.
One thing that was learnt is that you can't exactly grapple incorporeal forces, something that Salyth Zephite learnt the hard way when her grapple failed, and she got attacked by the Deathlock Wright. A fate that nearly befell me as I was attacked by a Deathlock Wright, had I not had my shield spell ready to deflect the attack. Something that I wish Mueril Fenrir had later.

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One thing that tipped us off about the nature of the attack was the casting of spells. An attack of darkest night struck us with a large area of effect. The Hunger Of Hadar. I spell I had heard of, but never used. Pure darkness. All creatures within 20 feet of the original casting point are blinded, unable to see. Creatures that continue to be within the spell are afflicted by cold from between the stars and the creatures that infest such place swarm, attacking you. A dangerous, dangerous spell.
It was cast against us at a point that may have ended the fight then and there were it not for a decent pinch of luck.

---

Mueril Fenrir fell under heavy assault. Relentless attacks just to the side of the darkness saw her get hit again and again and again. But it wasn't the attacks so much as the extra effect of the attacks that was the problem. Drain Touch, a staple of the undead, it drained her life force time and again, making her weak. Her attacks hit weaker. In the end it was those drain attacks that knocked her onto the floor and may have seen her dead.
With thanks to Malvagio however, she was saved. A supreme healing potion shoved down her throat, and some deep exhaustion later, she was able to pull back and let others take the lead. Something that I and Imrahil halfhalf did with gusto. His hearth spirit burnt a Deathlock Wright to dust, and it gave me cover to perform one of my most powerful spells. Wall of Ice.
The effect was suitably impressive, as the Wall of Ice bifurcated 2 Zombies, a Ghoul and a Deathlock Wright, heavily damaging the Ogre Zombie as well. The battle turned at this point, with the numbers getting closer to even. Dillis Ergo Mossborn heavily wounds a Zombie and kills it, reducing the enemy forces more as Malvagio unleashes firebolts upon another zombie, ending it.
It is at this point, that others report that the Deathlock retreats. The battle was going against him, but it takes a mind to know when to quit.
The battle largely became a formality after this, with our party showing the skill they've acquired. Dodging grapple attempts, dealing damage, eliminating the undead. Though the process was made more difficult because of their undead fortitude. The undead after all, are undead. The state of their bodies matters little to them, this is often reflected in them returning to their undead life after being knocked out. This proved a problem when attempting to clean up the remaining undead in the area. Several of us had to dump considerable portions of our blessed and magical energies into attacks in order to bring the monsters down.
Of particular note however is that Mueril Fenrir was able to kill a further two zombies ripping them to pieces in a blaze of fire, despite her current condition. With the fight over. It was time for the recovery. What little there was.

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In the aftermath of the attack we began to clean up the area. Not wanting to leave the corpses behind to reanimate after we had left. They were burnt, and then buried. Making them difficult to reclaim. While this was going on, Salyth Zephite  and Dillis Ergo Mossborn went around healing themselves and everyone else. In particular Hexan Dacciro  and Dillis Ergo Mossborn needed urgent attention.
The attack appeared to be the only one that had been prepared at the time, with no sign of undead reinforcements, which was good, we had used up more resources than we really had to repel it, and it had cost us a great deal. Consensus was quick to form within the group, moving on for a few hours before we continued to rest was advisable. There was no reason to make it easier for any follow-up attack by remaining where we were.
As we travelled, I realized what had been bugging me since the start of the attack. Undead are largely aimless. Most undead are followers, rather than leaders. Unable to think independently. And while the Deathlock Wights had acted with some intelligence, it was little better than the mindless ghouls. That left the creature that had run, the only body that we had not burnt and buried. The Deathlock.
More and more, this felt like a probing attack. Designed to see what resources and abilities we had to hand how we would react. And a probing attack requires a strategic mind. A mind planning something.
Fears that the undead were up to something, that our attack had not just been bad luck were confirmed when we returned to the Way Inn. It wasn't just us, it was everyone.

Rewards Granted

The Party Was Rewarded with the following

• Their Lives
• Keeping their equipment
• Knowledge that Goblins weren't the only threat
• That this was a hobbit parody

Character(s) interacted with

The party managed to complete the quest, return to the Way Inn alive with intelligence about the incoming Goblin attack.

Related Reports

Preceding Session - Session XXIV - A Woeful Interrogation
Succeeding Session - [TBD]

Party Members Involved

• Porta Strelitzia
• Hexan Dacciro
• Dillis Ergo Mossborn
• Imrahil halfhalf  
• Mueril Fenrir
• Salyth Zephite

Campaign

The Trollslayers of Trollskull Alley

Protagonists

Dillis Ergo Mossborn

Lawfull good Dragonborn (Acolyth)
Paladin 5

44 / 44 HP

STR
21

DEX
10

CON
14

INT
10

WIS
13

CHA
14

Hexan Dacciro

Porta Strelitzia

Lawful Neutral Tiefling (Cambion) (Waterdahavian Noble)
Wizard 10

52 / 52 HP

STR
19

DEX
14

CON
12

INT
22

WIS
14

CHA
14

Report Date

30 Jan 2021

Primary Location

The Way Inn

Secondary Location

Trollbark Forest

Supporting NPCs

• Malvagio
• Ranger Uewoo