The Eye of Anubis: Book Seven

[The Whistler]

Otto freezes, unblinking; shivers all over, expression too disbelieving to be properly terrified. When circumstances progress past "thirty walking corpses," even a brain working multiple circuits in parallel will find it difficult to properly process matters.

The point at which his mind realigns itself entirely (backup routines taking up the extra slack, crowding out everyday thoughts) is not immediately visible; if it were, one might expect steam to shoot from his head. As it is, the only indication that a change has occurred is that, suddenly, the surgical mask is back on.

Might die horribly at the hands of a thousand shambling abominations...but damned if you're going to catch a zombie-borne disease.

One hand rummages through the saddlebag and one hand shoots to the holster (always keep a flaming bullet loaded) and draws and positions and KA-BLAM to the left where Charles' rapier was a second ago and the thing to his left has no head now.

The gunsmith salutes M. Martel once, with his pistol, then (other hand has been busy) draws a neatly packed brace of three bombs out of his pack.

OOC: Figure it's a good idea to get the hostiles right next to us out of the way first (23 attack on the zombie next to Charles, for 25 total damage), but next turn the splash weapons start a'splashin'.

[Kaitou Kage]

Kuzan winced and recoiled as the zombie sank its claws into him. He belted out a spell, then raised his holy symbol above his head, shouting "Om!"

A divine sigil flared over his head, the symbol for Om, the holiest of words. Holy light radiated from the sigil, cascading down onto the battlefield and the zombies around.

Quickened bless on the defensive. Passed with retardedly flying colors.

Turn attempt.

Turning check 12 (up to 5HD undead)
Turning damage: a whopping 7 HD. Go me.

[Rock of the Fraternity]

Lia holds on to her braying camel with her knees -- and then purposely lets go. Pure white wings spread from underneath her cloak, and the Wizard launches into the air, flying over the other members of the Expedition and putting herself out of harm's reach.

'We need to clear them from our flanks,' the Wizard thinks, mind somehow managing so be cold and seething with rage at the same time, 'before the others arrive.' Turning back and to the right, Lia surveys the battlefield ... and turns away from her comrades. 'Let them deal with the ones close in,' the Wizard thinks to herself, instead targeting a party of zombies coming in from the right.

"Ex manu sphaera ignis expadens evolat," the Mordentishwoman intones, and a tiny sphere of flame goes shrieking across the desert, there to impact with the clutch of zombies.

(I'm probably best deployed keeping the incoming parties off our collective backs before trying to fire too close to melée. You guys hold down the fort, okay? Fireball at BG 26 for 34 damage to all zombies in range.)

[lostboy]

Khalil mutters somethign to the effect of "I knew this would be bad" only muhc less plesant. But his eyes widen as he sees Toma's Camel go down "We need to protect the mounts, they are our lifeline out of the wastes" he shouts to the others, then pursing his lips blows two quick whistles.

Then deciding that war camel or not, he felt better being on his own two feet, he slides forward off the mount, drawing both scimitars as he lands and slashes twice at the corpse in front of him.

[OOC: caling Small-star & Karsh to attack, then dismoutning to square
BH14 and giving the zombie some scimitar action.

Attack: to hit 30 / 23
Damage: 7 / 11 total 18 + another 6 / 9 for DK total of 32)]

Small Star growls loudly her hackles raised, despite her size when angered she was quite fearsome. Lunging forward she sinks her teeth into the nearest thing that smelt like an enenmy, biting and pulling as hard as she can.

[OOC: Attack zombie at BI12 to hit 17 damage 2 + 10 for DK total 12
Then as shes a wolf she gets a trip attempt: 16 to hit and gets a 10 on the STR check, no AOO though - wolves are cool!]

Whilst Small star is attacking the creature, Karsh screeches in with talons raised to rake the face.

[OOC: Karsh alos attacks zombie at BI12 to hit 15, so misses]

[yalenusveler]

OOC:Dark Knowledge applies, yes. And it also applies to your animal companions, as wonder of wonders, there is no requirement they understand me. Though that reeks of the gouda, and I fully understand if the GM chooses to use his allmighty veto upon that.[

[DocBeard]

"Vas?!" Tomas manages before he sees, to his horror, his camel devoured beneath him! Tomas tries to keep himself together while the beast starts to fall, but ends up face down in the sand, the weight of the camel shoving into his side.

Swearing, Tomas kicks at the remains of his camel, while making a vicious swipe at the zombie to the right of him-Tomas uses the weight to drag himself forward and pull his body up, because nothing makes a better impromptu ladder than the unliving corpse of your enemy. "...you ate my camel!" Tomas roars at the other zombie, perhaps assuming that the monster he hit is handled.

(OOC: Failed the ride test, took 1 point of damage. I figured it cost a move action to stand up, and took a swing at the zombie to my right; I got super lucky, not only hitting, but getting, get this, an 8 and two 6es from the Dark Knowledge. Plus my normal bonus, that's 24 points of damage...19 after the damage resistance, which I believe just finishes off Thing One over there.)

[NeoTiamat]

Southern Outskirts of the Jackal's Ruse, Sebua
July 13th, 761, 7:52 PM; Day 118 of the Menetnashte Expedition
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PC Actions
Charles attacks the zombie beside him, damages it for 6.
Andre Flame Strikes four zombies, kills two, chars two.
Ishaq dismounts and attacks the zombie beside him, killing it.
Otto headshots a zombie.
Kuzan Blesses the party, and turns a zombie.
Lia Fireballs a bunch of zombies, killing two and charring three.
Khalil dismounts, kills a zombie, Small Star wounds one.
Tomas kills a zombie.

Due to space concerns, I am not going to even try to run a play-by-play. Instead, I'll simply choose a smattering of individual exchanges and describe them.

...you ate my camel!" Tomas roars at the other zombie!

The zombie didn't bother to roar back, simply swiping at Tomas with its long nails. It was an ugly-looking thing, chunks of skin and muscle sloughing off its flesh as it moved. Still, however much strength there was in those resurrected arms, nails are not the best tool for piercing dwarf-made adamantine chainmail. The talons failed to do more than scratch the surface. It was not going to defeat Tomas that way.

Then it bit him.

===============================================

Up ahead, more zombies were joining into the fray, loping into battle. They ran on all fours, skittering along the surface of the sand with a perverse skill, their speed belying their clumsy movements. There were a lot of them, and they were covering the ground fast.

One the rushing zombies caught Small Star by a paw, holding the wolf in a harsh grip, even as it clawed at the wolf's torso. Small Star yelped and tried to pull away, but the zombie pulled at her paw, dislocating it and causing the wolf to whine in pain.

===============================================

"Gyaaaah!" Dieter yelled as an undead monster tried to pull him off his mount. The Lamordian lad clubbed it with his rifle, forcing it to let go of him and fall back, even as his camel reared back nervously. Dieter fumbled with his sword, suddenly stopping to yell forward to the main body of the Expedition. "There's too many of them back here! They're getting at the camels!"

===============================================

"Form a perimeter!" Samael yelled over the din of battle, shooting a zombie in the chest with his pistol at point blank range. Unfortunately, despite having a huge hole in its torso, the undead entity tried to slash at the Borcan, giving him a vicious-looking cut along the leg. Samael swore through clenched teeth. "If they get among us we're done for!"

===============================================

So busy with the fight everyone was, that it was only Lia who spotted what happened next. Flying high above the rest of the Expedition, scanning the oncoming ranks of undead for the best place to land another spell of destruction, Lia saw movement from the shattered hull of the Blausteiner craft.

More zombies. They poured out of holes in the hull of the ship, scrabbling over each other in their hurry to get out, scabrous bodies and yellowed nails tearing to emerge into the day. They were near-mad with feral hunger, gnashing teeth as they burst into sight.

Kuzan had once mentioned that the largest war ships could have crews of half a thousand. Even smaller craft could have a hundred crewmen easily.

There were dozens, maybe hundreds of ships in the Jackal's Ruse.

Sense Motive or Handle Animal DC 20
Spot DC 20

Notable NPC Actions: I'll keep it brief. For the sake of ease-of-writing, NPCs either kill a zombie or they wound it (10 HP lost), nothing in between.
Guy dismounts and kills a Flame-Struck Zombie, Loup finishes off the other one.
Michel draws a pistol and fires, missing.
Harris dismounts and kills a zombie.
Jervis dismounts, kills two zombies.
Dieter wounds a zombie
Samael wounds a zombie
Carter wounds a zombie
Sarari kills a zombie.
Professor Pelletier casts Greater Invisibility upon himself.

Enemy Actions:
Zombie attacks Tomas 3 times, hits once, deals 7-1=6 damage.
Zombie attacks Charles 3 times, misses all three times.
Zombie attacks Small Star 3 times, hits twice, rends, deals 21 damage.
Zombie attacks Carter 3 times, hits once, deals 4 damage.
Zombie attacks Samael 3 times, hits once, deals 6 damage
Zombie attacks Harris 3 times, hits twice, rends, deals 17 damage.
Zombie attacks Harris 3 times, hits once, deals 5 damage.
Zombie attacks Jervis 3 times, misses all three times
Zombie attacks Jervis 3 times, hits once, deals 5 damage
Zombie attacks Jervis 3 times, misses all three times.
Zombie attacks Dieter 3 times, hits once, deals 6 damage.

Zombie moves and attacks Otto once, misses.
Zombie moves and attacks Kuzan once, misses.
Zombie moves and attacks Carter once, misses
Zombie moves and attacks Charles once, hits for 8 damage
Zombie moves and attacks Guy once, hits for 4 damage
Zombie moves and attacks Dieter once, misses.
Zombie moves and attacks Khalil once, hits for 4 damage
Zombie moves and attacks Khalil once, hits for 7 damage
Zombie moves and attacks Small-Star once, misses.
Zombie moves and attacks Mary once, hits for 2 damage.
Zombie moves and attacks Mary once, misses.

Anyone who is hit must make a DC 5 Ride Check to avoid falling off their camel. If you fail, you fall off and must make a DC 15 Ride check or take 1d6 damage.

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Expedition Overview: Bless (+1 Attack, +1 vs Fear), Dark Knowledge (+2d6 on Weapon Damage vs. Zombies).
Kuzan: -16 HP
Tomas: -7 HP
Otto:
Charles: -8 HP
Lia: -8 HP
Ishaq:
Khalil: -11 HP
Small Star: -21 HP
Andre:

Professor Pelletier:
Professor Carter: -4 HP
Professor Devereux:
Professor Marchand-Renier:

Samael: -6 HP
Lily:
Fassahd:
Mary:
Remy:

Guy: -4 HP
Loup: -4 HP
Michel:
Harris: -22 HP
Sarari:
Dieter: -6 HP
Jervis: -13 HP

Monster Overview:
I am not going to bother tracking the HP of every single monster here. I've not the room. As such, I'll simply tell you the AC, HP, and DR here, and only list zombies that aren't fully killed.

One Dot Zombies: Wounded (9 HP left)
Two Dot Zombies: -17 HP
Three Dot Zombies: -12 HP
Diagonal Zombies: Turned

AC 16; HP 19; DR 5/Slashing



Key! Going from the top, roughly:
SS - Small Star
Kh - Khalil al-Atim
Mc - Mary Collins
T - Tomas Eisenwald
F - Fassahd al-Muharin
I - Ishaq Rafiq
L - Liability Mournswaithe
C - Charles Martel
A - Andre Theroux
O - Otto Schultheiss
L (Green) - Loup
Mr - Sebastian Marchand-Renier
R - Remy Lessard
K - Kuzan
G - Guy Benoit
P - Jean-Jacques Pelletier
Li - Lily D'Envers
C - Thomas Carter
M - Michel de Angelis
D (top) - Charles Devereux
S - Samael Maleagant
Sr - Sarari
H - Edmund Harris
D (lower) - Dieter Haulfstead
J - 'Jervis'

PCs are the red circles.
NPCs are the green circles
Zombies are the letterless blue circles.
Camels (and Kesjer) are the brown ovals.

[Rock of the Fraternity]

Lia feels her blood run cold at the sight of the additional undead forces scuttling out of their hiding place. Cupping her hands around the muzzle of her mask, she shouts down to the rest of the Expedition, her voice cutting through the din: "More of them are coming out of the ship! Twenty to thirty! I suggest you kill the ones closest to us and pull back, while I hold off the ones approaching from afar!"

[Nathan of the FoS]

Dropping his rapier as the zombie just arriving at his left rips at his thigh, Charles grabs Kejser's reins and attempts to spin the horse to the left and ride down the two zombies. Kejser proves difficult to persuade--the smell of blood and the noise have him extremely rattled, and he all but throws Charles from the saddle. Grabbing another dagger from his boot top as Kejser descends after rearing, he slashes at the neck of the nearest zombie.

Move action to spur Kejser to the left gets an 11 on the Ride check and fails. Check to stay in the saddle succeeds automatically. Free action to draw the boot dagger, then one attack. Attack roll is 28, damage is 5 slashing plus 7 from Dark Knowledge, 12 total.

[lostboy]

Khalil makes a low hissing noise, and small-star responds limping backwards out of range of the shambling corpse. Her escape covered by a sudden flurry of feathers and razor sharp talons as Karsh divebombs the zombie with a hihgpitched shriek.

[OOC: calling small star down and withdrawing to BJ15 or under Fassahds camel as its known

Karsh attacks the 3 dot zombie at BI12 to hit 17 damage 10]

There is a fury but no fear in Khalils eyes as he faces down the now 1-2-3-4-5 corpses standing in front of him. Sucking in a breath he pirouttes on the spot, bringing a scimitar slashing across the face of the foe in fornt of him.

Then he's gone in a flash, ducking low and spinnign to avoid blows he manouers past two corpses, comng up form behind the fourth dragging the blade across its back, before leaping theatrically in the air and bringing a backhand slash into the final corpses face. Unfortunatlye the last was theatrical only as the blade skips away without finding purchase.

[OOC: Go go gadget Dervsih Dance, moving BH13 / BI13 / Bi14 and attacking zombies BG14 / BG13 / BI12

to hit 22/21/11 damage 17 / 18 / miss (forgot the +1 for the dance)

Finally Khalil will have his dodge ac bonus against the zombie he totally missed, and he also has +4 ac agaionst any AoO]

[steveflam]

Ishaq's blade slices through the Zombie and he takes stock of the present situation. He realises that , Mary, though he is opposed to her being with them, is in dire straits. Yelling at the top of his lungs

"YOU WON"T HARM THIS YOUNG LADY ANY MORE!" His hatred of Zombies becomes very evident as he moves to help Mary, uncaring if the undead get a free whack at him. Swinging his massive blade through the air it slices down and cuts the Zombie in half!

MOve to square BI 18, attacking BJ 18 Zombie. Ok so I rolled a 13. MY Bab is +13. I get a +1 for Bless, +1 Magical Sword Bonus, +2 Rage bonus for +17. I use Power Attack of 5 so it's an attack of +12.

Damage is a 2d6 +6, +3[2 handed], 1d6 Crystal, 2d6 Dark Knowledge, +5 Power Attack so it's 5d6 +14( Er Ouch?). I rolled a 23 total adding 14 makes 37. Hmmm ya think the Zombie is gone?

I moved to this spot knowing I would take two attacks of opportunity. I do have uncanny dodge by the way. So this round I take two AoO but next round they're gone and Mary is safe [ Though I doubt she's uncapable of dealing with zombies. *There's Something About Mary - sue me!*]

[Nathan of the FoS]

As sometimes happens in the middle of pitched battles, everything grinds to a a halt as the knife crosses the neck of the zombie--once a man with long mouse-brown hair worn in a queue, with tattoos now baked to indecipherable blots on the leather of his forearms, and a single, innocent gold tooth in a mouth of fangs--and passes through, jerking the head back but not decapitating it.

My, what a blue sky.

The coppery smell of blood--his own? Kejser's? Gunpowder from Otto's shot, the smoke still hanging in the air, Kejser's muscles tensing as he tries to take the bit in his teeth and flee...

From behind, a shrill bugling of one of the camels, and Jervis' hoarse shouting, in which only the word stampede can be made out; if Kejser wants to cut and run surely the camels will break soon, and do their best to flee in whatever direction is simplest...

And then a glint of light, like a heliograph, from the ship stabs Charles' eye, and everything regains its normal speed. There's someone else there.

"Lia!" Charles shouts. "Someone on the ship! Not a zombie. Watch him!"

[NeoTiamat]

Alright, since several people made their Sense Motive, here's the story:

The camels, understandably, are getting highly restless. Lots of bad smells, lots of camel blood (since Tomas's animal got eviscerated), generally not good.

Furthermore, while Jervis is doing fine so far, he's also getting swamped by undead. Some are getting past him and are attacking the camels. If camels start dying in the back, then there is an excellent chance that the camels will stampede away from it, which most likely means up and to the left. This will be bad for anything that gets caught there.

You can stop this by someone taking a Full Round Action and succeeding on a DC 25 Handle Animal check, or by somehow keeping the zombies at back from killing camels.

This doesn't apply to the riding camels, which are much better trained. Only to the pack animals.

[Kaitou Kage]

A spark entered Kuzan's eyes as he saw how the zombies were arranged before him.

"Lord Varuna, Lord Indra," he petitioned. He raised his hands over his head. Blue-white lightning crackled between his fingertips. Around him, the static charge became almost palpable, a tingling, hair-raising aura enveloping the priest like a cocoon.

"As the darkness covers the sky, your flashing sword pierces it." As he continued his supplication to powers unseen, the electricity building up in his hands, crackling along the priest's body, illuminating him in a halo of raw, stormy power.

"I ask you now, deliver us from this darkness! Om, Vajra, OM!" He threw his hands down furiously, pointing at the zombie near Otto and swinging his arms in a wide arc in front of him, stopping to point at the zombie by Sam.

An instant of still silence encompassed the priest. The calm before the storm.

Then, the battlefield lit up sharply, followed immediately by a peal of thunder as a bolt of lightning shot from the first zombie, straight through the others, and arcing into the last before dissipating into the ground.

Satisfied with his handiwork, Kuzan snapped his head up to get another look at the battlefield. Is that...? He squinted off into the distance, then shouted.

"There's someone over there on the ship!" he called, "Trying to hide, whatever it is, it's watching us!"

Then, a sudden agitated grunt from the camels caught his attention. "Camels!" he cried, "We have to keep them off the camels or they'll stampede! Sam! Sarari! Come on!" He reined his camel around, sliding toward the rear in hopes that the elf and Borcan would follow.

Okay, here's what happened.

Spot Check: 20.
Sense Motive Check: 24.
Cast Arc of Lightning targeting the zombie by Otto and the zombie by Sam. The line hits every one of the zombies in-between (yay for lucky positioning!)

EDIT: Forgot to mention that I DID do this defensively and rolled Concentration successfully. I don't remember the exact number but I sent the email out.

Total damage: 35.
Reflex save DC 20 for half.

Moving back to BW-BX 20, I think. My camel should be right below where Sarari's is at the time of this post.

[yalenusveler]

Andre heard Kuzan shout. Dealing with a Camel stampede, a horde of zombies, and apparently the owner of said zombie horde. NOT a good mix. And unfortunately, although he was rather good at taking down single targets now, a mass of them...not so much. But he could perhaps assist in other ways. He concentrated, calling upon the energies that now surged through his blood, and focused on the camels nearest to Jervis, trying to calm them. Sure, it was making them docile for the slaughter...but it was also making them far less likely to stampede and get everyone killed.

OOC:Calm emotions on the rear camels by Jervis (And most assuredly NOT catching Jervis in this). DC 15 Will save for them to resist.