A Stitch in Souragne: The Siege of Lac Noir

[steveflam]

Goren has an uneasy feeling. Moving as best he can near Papa Doc. Souragnien "Papa Doc, danger it viens*. Please, move middle boat away from dangers. We protect you, mon ami." Concentrating, he grasps his holy symbol in his right hand while his left wiggles and moves in intricate patterns. He mutters in an odd language as he does this. When his spell is completed, he has cast Mark of Doom on their approaching foe!

[Higginz]

Having nodded off momentarily from the heat, Nicolae's eyes burst open to the excitement amongst his comrades, and he realizes that danger is afoot. And he strains to assess the situation that is taking place.

[Rock of the Fraternity]

Papa Doc looks at the approaching ripple -- then yells and yanks his leg out of the water. The old man has the time to shout just one word -- "Zombi!" -- and then the creature comes bursting out of the water and lands on the raft, right in the middle of your group!

There is an eerie, frozen moment during which you are all standing still, watching each other. Even the zombie seems affected, even the zombie seems to be staring, despite the fact that its eyes and mouth have been stitched shut. Slimy gore drips from the cruel blades affixed to its hands and makes soft pattering noises as it strikes the sawed-through logs you are all standing on.

Zumba is first to act (OOC: Ail, you may take two standard actions when you post), but Goren is close behind.

The Cleric's spell goes off flawlessly, strikes the pale-skinned abomination standing among you... and sinks into his skin like water into parched earth. As before, the Cleric can feel a hideous tugging at his very soul, a vile force ripping at his essence. (Tarlyn, one Horror save to the DC of 17, please.)

You can all see the change in the zombie; it suddenly stands tall and straight, and the ichor falls off its finger-blades as it raises them. How the metal shines, and how the ghoul's mouth works as it tries to smile. In the end, it almost delicately runs a claw across the stitches keeping its mouth shut. A foul stench issues as the abomination breathes in, then breathes out for the first time in who knows how long. (Fortitude save, DC17 from each and every one of you, or you become sickened.)

Looking at Goren in its eerie, eyeless way, the zombie grins, black blood running freely from the holes made in its lips by the surgical wire that kept it closed before, as well as the corners of its mouth as the skin cracks and tears. The zombie speaks: "Zhthangssshh youuuu for the meaaaalll, falszh preeeessstt..."

It then turns to Vincent, still grinning like a ghoul. "Ghreee waaaantsss you deaaaad verrrrry maaaachhh..." And the zombie explodes into action! Darting forward, it rakes its shining claws over Vincent's midsection, cloth flying like chaff on the wind. It is only thanks to Vincent's swift reflexes that cloth is all that flies on the wind! The zombie dodges backwards, cackling like a lunatic. "Plaaaaay wiiiizsh the fooooood...!" it shrieks.

DM corner:

Goren casts Mark of Doom. The Stitched Man zombie eats the Mark of Doom and becomes noticeably stronger, but still manages to miss Vincent on its first attack.

Initiative sequence:

Zumba
Goren
Zombie: Boosted by absorbing divine magic
Nicolae
Vincent
Lucien: Offensive prescience in effect

[steveflam]

Goren recoils from the undead fiend.The priest grimaces as he is about to face another undead menace. He seems to recall his last attempt to turn went poorly so choses to cast a spell which should have a better effect, he hopes. Gripping his holy symbol in his right hand, he looks at the foul being and casts Searing Light at the Zombie.

[Ail]

Zumba turns away from the stench of the Zombi's breath, and while he does so he takes the silver longsword he has been carrying for so long. Using his 'ginga' [capoeira basic dance stance, more or less] to the most to confound his adversary, he strikes it twice with all his strength.

[Guzrath]

As Vincent is still reaching for his crossbow the Zombi jumps onto the raft. As the Zombie turns to look in Vincent's direction, Vincent seems to stare at the stitched mouth of the Zombi, frozen for a moment, holding his breath. As soon the stitches are cut Vincent exhales as if taking control back over his own body. The stench coming free is enormous. Nonetheless Vincent reaches for his weapons.
His eyebrows lift in wonder as he "Ghreee". Is that a name or did he misunderstand the word? He is just in time to react as the Zombi bursts forward to attack him.
He looks around, realizing that they are on a small raft in the middle of a swamp with a creature that can potentially explode with a nasty acidic by effect.



OOC: Fortitude save 20 I noticed I forgot to add my save bonus. Still made it though.
My Turn: Assign both Dodge bonusses to our Zombi friend (+2 AC) and draw weapons.

[Ken of Ghastria]

Lucien barely has time to blurt out, "Goren, NO! It's eating your spells!" before his stomach churns and his vision reels from the stench coming out of the zombie's mouth. "Turnabout is fair play, M'sieur," he says bitterly as he reaches out to touch the creature's disgusting flesh.

________________________________________________
Fortitude save (1d20+2=7). Blech. Hurl. Spew.

Lucien expends 1 pp to attack with destiny dissonance vs. the zombie's Touch AC. With offensive precognition and being sickened, he's got a -1 penalty: Destiny Dissonance (touch attack) (1d20+4=20). Heh! And now the zombie is sickened for 5 rounds.

[Higginz]

Startled, Nicolae reaches for his crossbow, and he his senses are instantly accosted by an overwhelming sense of nausea; he pulls the trigger on his crossbow and fires towards the foul creature that has emerged from the swamp.

Crossbow Shot=24; damage=3

Threatened Critical roll=9; extra damage if a hit=4

[Rock of the Fraternity]

Goren's spell blasts into the zombie. You can all see the blaze of light... and the zombie opens its mouth wide and sucks the magic down, its face twisted in an expression of evil delight. (Goren, another Horror Check, DC17.) Its skin starts to grow darker, puffier...

The zombie licks its lips, black ooze slopping down its chin as it cackles evilly -- and Lucien slips in under its guard, his fingers stinging its grey flesh. At once, the creature stops laughing. Roaring its fury, it turns on the Half-Elf, its bloat lessened, its skin lightening by a few degrees.

Nicolae's arrow strikes the monstrosity in the side, but it ignores him. "Hrrwaaaiiit forrrr meeee," it hisses at Vincent, waggling a finger-claw at his drawn steel -- and then it lashes out at Lucien. "Tooo trrrroublesssssome, you," it chides him, sounding annoyed if anything. Silver claws flash in the sun -- and blood sprays the deck as the zombie tears into Lucien. (Lucien takes 10 damage. Kindly roll a Fortitude save, DC12!)

Zumba's attack does not even draw the monster's attention, though the first strike cuts deeply into its flesh. Black blood sprays the deck to mingle with Lucien's red...

DM corner:

Zumba
Goren
Zombie: -11 hp. Boosted by absorbing divine magic twice; nerfed by Destiny Dissonance.
Nicolae
Vincent
Lucien: - 10 hp. Offensive prescience

[Guzrath]

Again, Vincent doesn't completely understand what the thing is saying, but he has no time to think about it.
Using the peddle as a pole vault in the swamp, he succeeds jumping (partly over de water) around the others to position himself next to Lucien. He tries to force the Zombi away from Lucien by attacking it, hoping he can place himself in between them if the space allows it. His mace swings down towards the creatures leg while his Rapier wants to stab in the shoulder.

OOC: Tumble 32
Rapier Attack 12, Dmg 9 if any.
Mace Attack 15, Dmg 8, if hit.

[steveflam]

For some unknown reason, Goren actually recoils from the undead beast. Frustrated that his spells and turning attempts keep failing, teh red haired man grabs his mace. Yelling at the top of his lungs, he moves forward and attempts to bash the undead's face in.

[Ken of Ghastria]

Lucien yells in pain as the metal talons slice through him. He hears Claude's voice, You surprised him, Lucien. He didn't like that. Press the advantage.

As Vincent deftly moves across the raft to help protect him, the redheaded half-elf staggers back a couple of steps, careful to make sure he doesn't step off the now-wobbling raft. "Goren, your magic makes him stronger!" he yells, holding one hand to his bleeding torso. Some healing prayers could make me stronger, too, he thinks.

Then he concentrates. A circular wall of icy-blue energy surrounds the deadly creature and a portion of the raft -- in fact, it materializes through the zombie. Lucien, Vincent, Zumba, Goren, and Papa Doc feel no energy coming out of it, but on the zombie's side of the wall, the experience is quite different.

_____________________________________________
Move: On the map, taking a 5-foot step from C3 to D2.
Standard: Lucien expends 5 pp to manifest energy wall (cold) around squares A2, A3, B2, B3. Since it's going through the zombie's square, it should take 2d6+7 points of cold damage: Cold damage (2d6+7=15). Fort DC 17 for half damage. If the zombie is simply inside but not in the wall, substract 5 points from the base damage.
If the zombie closes with Lucien before this occurs, Lucien takes a 5-foot step away and manifests force screen to protect himself.

[Higginz]

After seeing the futility of his previous attack, Nicolae reaches for his whip. After Goren's seering light goes off, Nicolae cracks his arm back and lashes at the zombie with his whip while trying to maintain his balance on the increasingly unstable raft.

Whip attack = 19

Damage = 3

[Rock of the Fraternity]

(OOC: Tarlyn, I have not found any attack or damage rolls by you in either the IC or OOc thread, just a stament of intent to bash the zombi's face in. If I've overlooked it, my apologies. To speed things along, I am rolling for you, but from now on please make sure to post all such rolls as part of your IC post, so NOT in the OOC thread. This request goes out to everyone.)

Goren's attack goes splendidly; his mace slams into the side of the zombi's head. Black gore goes flying as grey skin is crushed and rent.

The next moment, Lucien's wall of icy energy manifests itself, scything through the abomination's flesh. Howling with fury, the creature tears itself free. More black goo splashes the sawed-through trunks underfoot as the creature raises its claws against the half-elf.
(The zombi fails its save and takes the full damage. It stays with Lucien, however, pulling itself free. I am ruling that since the barrier was manifested in its space, it does not take additional damage for passing through.)

Nicolae's whip cracks against the monster's back, adding to its increasingly tattered appearance. Growling its anger, the creature plods forward...

... and suddenly finds Vincent in its way. Rapier and mace flash out, but are deflected by lightning-fast parries with the zombi's metal claws.

"Enough of you!" the creature snarls -- and launches into a brutal attack! The monster's claws rake across Vincent's chest, now shredding flesh instead of cloth, and adding red blood to the black ooze sizzling its way into the wood you are all standing on.


DM corner:

Zumba
Goren
Zombie: -29 hp. Boosted by absorbing divine magic twice; nerfed by Destiny Dissonance.
Nicolae
Vincent: -13 hp.
Lucien: - 10 hp. Offensive prescience. Sickened.

[Ken of Ghastria]

OOC: I've updated my crude map to reflect positions after Rock's combat post above. I've added labels for the rows and columns this time. Technically, the energy wall could have remained in place, but Lucien dismisses it as soon as the zombie gets through.

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