10/25/213 - Report of Herris Jensen
General Summary
[Written report of Herris Jensen as dictated to Gatefall Company employee Bernard Krieser for 1 Stuiver.]
Destroy Undead near Horde Hill
We approached Horde Hill. Eagrym wouldn't stop talking about his new steel tipped boots. He's going to bring a horde down upon us and blow any advantage of surprise. We entered the camp. Apparently things are getting worse. People who are killed rise up as undead. They must be put down before they rise. The first lumberjack casualties confirmed this. The undead's behavior is inconsistent. Sometimes they are mindless, sometimes they coordinate. We must find out what's special about them. The Ghasts show up when the dead are gathered in numbers. Perhaps they are the key? We spent the night. Ma'ago's familiar says that there are two groups of undead gathering idly, one to the south, one to the east. We are going after the one to the east.
We searched for and found a group of undead. The area seems darker and foggy. Like a fell shadow has fallen upon this place. There's a cluster of them standing there barely moving. We ambushed them and killed them all. One of the big ones cut me deep, but I axed him in the head back. We killed them all but heard gunshots. The other group of undead to the South moved on the camp. It was a distraction. They're intelligent. Or led by something intelligent. We killed the Zombies, Ghouls, and Ghasts in our area and sprinted back to Horde Hill.
We came back and started killing zombies to save the camp. As woodcutters and soldiers were dying, their corpses reanimated. The woodcutters became shamblers. The soldier who died became a ghoul, his eyes glowing a sickly yellow and he mutated right before Ma'ago's eyes. We killed them all, but I took another blow. Many woodcutters and soldiers died. But we survived and Horde Hill still stands. The Second Battle of Horde Hill was won.
I followed the ghast's tracks. It came from the southwest and met up with the other zombies. It's path was not rambling or aimless. It traveled in a straight line running on all fours. Eagrym deduced that the undead and tracks came from the graveyard. The very first landmark we visited. We will rest and go on the hunt again tomorrow.
We arrived at the graveyard and found graves disturbed and unturned. We followed tracks up a hill. We were attacked by arrows from the top of the graveyard's hill. A Wight archer. Plus a horde of zombies, ghouls, and ghasts. We killed them. There was a large hole containing a mass grave. There was a grate that has rusted away. We could see a tunnel going east from the bottom of the pit. The candelabras around the pit are fine and Copper. They were well maintained. Like this is a ritual site. We also found a Human corpse that had been torn apart. Dead for less than a year. It had a medallion with four hands gripping each other in an almost circular visual.
On the wight archer we found had (after splitting) 2 circle-holed silver coins, 4 bronze triangle coins, and a brass medallion identical to the eviscerated corpse. The wight's corpse was well maintained unlike the other undead, save for some teeth marks on her stomach. The wight also had a longbow and well-maintained studded leather armor.
We descended into the pit. At the bottom of the pit, we neutralized the corpses in the mass grave to ensure they wouldn't rise behind us. We saw a dark tunnel. We went through it and came into a large open chamber. Like a mausoleum. Sensing a trap, we waited at the entrance. I went and got Ivellios to cast detect magic, but Ma'ago cast an illusion of a person into the chamber. A group of Will o' Wisps appeared and attacked Eagrym. Eagrym was pissed and threw Ma'ago into the wisps, who didn't seem to attack him. We all ran due to the disadvantageous position, but Ma'ago didn't come out of the tunnel. He stayed in for some time. We waited by the entrance for him.
Ma'ago came back. He said he explored more of the mausoleum. He said that he encountered a more intelligent undead. He claimed they did not attack him due to his Lich Patron. He talked with the undead mage, who gave him a scroll case and parchment with a Latian message written down. A message perhaps. Ivellios cast his translation spell. He says it read:
"If thou shrinketh in the day
of adversity, thy strength is
small; if thou forbear to
deliver them that are drawn
unto death and those that
are ready to be slain."
The scroll was a scroll of animate dead. I am unsure of what We temporarily sealed off the tunnel, planning to come back at full strength to wipe out this scourge for good.
[Bernard here. Herris does not seem like the type to rat out his companions, but I can tell he's suspicious of Ma'ago. He seems to want to trust Ma'ago but is skeptical of how Ma'ago conversed with the undead mage and left the dungeon with no conflict or injury. I advise we watch them closely.]
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Report Date
13 Oct 2022
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