Resurrectionist Escort Part 6

Log Info

• Title: Resurrectionist Escort Part 6
• Emitter: Whirlpool
• Characters: Dirk, Slixvah, Zofija, Shilde
• Place: North of Alexandria
• Time: May 23rd, 2022
• Summary: After freeing the halfing they came for, the party and company abscond the descending wights by mounting up and making a run for it. They end up making it to the city gates, them breathlessly explaining to the city officals what's going on. Wights from Dragonier. This is grave tidings.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=    The Players    =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Dirk         20m     4'11"    295 Lb     Mountain Dwarf    Male      
    A rugged old dwarf, dressed for the outdoors.                                               
Shilde       4m      4'4"     160 Lb     Khazad-Aul        Female    
    Tall for a dwarf, long blonde hair in a thick braid, big blue eyes.        
Slixvah      0s      5'8"     130 Lb     Eaglefolk         Female    
    A rust red and white Egalrin covered in veils, ribbons, and shawls.                         
Zofija       11m     5'8"     225 Lb     Hobgoblin         Female    
    A well-dressed Arvek-Nar with a big hammer.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=  As the GM  =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Whirlpool    20m     5'0"      Lb        Otyugh                      
    I am stinky!                                                             
-=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=

GAME: Slixvah rolls athletics: (19)+-1: 18
GAME: Dirk rolls Athletics: (10)+2: 12
<OOC> Slixvah says, "Slix will also shift the Hex: Ward over to Trizia, will put that in the pose"
GAME: Zofija rolls athletics: (13)+7: 20
GAME: Shilde rolls athletics: (5)+9: 14

Run.

That's the right move. Just get out of there. Trizia, the goblin,a nd the other halfling you've come to meet with fall right in line with that decision, too. Back the way you6 came, back up into the forest.

It's quiet again. Too quiet. And then rustling sounds -- a single wight staggering out of the trees. You make short work of it, exhausted or not, because it's just the one.

And then you're off. Fast. There are more. You can hear them, here and there, lurking in the trees. Two, three, four...

Run.

Dirk doesn't stop to shoot the wights. His rifle is too slow, and despite his performance only moments ago, he's failed to hit his mark far more often than he's succeeded. He'll let his comrades and their surer weapons deal with the deaders. All his efforts are focused on getting one boot ahead of the other. His hand over his tricorne to keep it from flying away as he trundles through the woods as fast as his tubby stride can carry him. "Let's go let's go let's -go-..."

Once the ones inside were slain, Slixvah swooshes a hand to the side to move the protective luck from Zofija to Trizia. "Alright lets... lets book it, lovvies," she pants, already tired at the thought of it.

Once they get out, she starts to book it, wings held out wide to her sides as they catch some air. Not enough to give lift, being enough to do wide, bounding steps forward. "Ya'll think we all can... can get up on ya'll's doggies and birdies?" she pants as she goes.

They had quite the entourage but... maybe they could make it work?

Zofija could make decent pace, but she was also lugging around a massive hammer, and needed to keep an eye out on the shorter, and less nimble folk in their group. Still, they could put themselves in front, so that when the one wight appeared, it was smashed quickly beneath said hammer, so they could continue on. Screech looks down from up in the tree (how did they even get up there?), and hops down without so much as a command.

"I don't like this at all." Zofija grunts. "Dirk's got the right of it, keep on, put as much distance between us and them as possible. Any of you who need, hop on screech, they'll help speed things up."

Shilde runs like only a dwarf can. that is to say, slow and steady. Initially. Once they're out of the hidey-hole-tree, she takes a moment to... change. Those who have spent much time with Barclaiigh are no stranger to this, for others.. well, the bone-popping, flesh-stretching, hair-growing process might be a little disturbing. It's over in a matter of seconds.. soon, there is a wolf much the size of Rocky moving along, the pair of them running vanguard and rearguard to the group, communicating spotted wights with barks and howls.

GAME: Slixvah casts Alter Self. Caster Level: 3 DC: 15

Escape.

Once you're all on the mounts, it's a lot easier to outrun the wights, flat out. There's more of them. Eventually, you're being followed by dozens at a distance. That would've been ... bad.

All of them with pale, hungry and yellow eyes and skin, long nails and dessicated bodies, flaking and tightened flesh. Hungry.

So hungry.

They follow until you lose sight of them, and presumably, they're still coming, if they don't get distracterd by another danger. You have to warn someone. Within the same stretch of time, the mud starts to dry and the skies start to clear, assisting you in your return trip. Soon, the city gates are in sight.

Slixvah hops once up high as they hightail it. Once again. Then she curls her wings and tucks into a feathery ball. It bounces once, then she pops back up. A poof of feathers vanish behind her as running along everyone is a gobber with rusty red skin and long white hair. They patter along quickly, grabbing onto the side of Rocky's fur and clambering on. "C'mon, we're gonna lose 'em!" she shouts over running and huffing in a scraggly voice. <Goblin-Talk>

Eventually, they get to safety, a feathered figure flops off from Rocky and ruffles her plumage. "Well that was an experience and a half..." she coos to herself. "C'mon loves, we gotta warn the Watch!"

Shilde gives a shrug of her lupine shoulders, indicating her passenger to disembark.. whether he does or not in the following seconds, she begins the change back to her natural body. Gear which had melded into fur reappears, joints rearrange themselves, and shortly she is a dwarf again, panting from the effort. "Aye," she croaks out, in agreement with Slixvah, leaning on Rocky when he rushes to her side to support her after his own passenger has hopped off. "Get them eyes in the air. Close the gates."

"Alright, come one, up you get." Zofija grunts, helping Dirk up onto the back of Screech's saddle. And she too climbed onto the griffon, who was quickly barreling down through the forests. Slowing down when needed to keep up with the others while she scanned for any more wights.

Finally reaching to the gates, Zofi and screech slow down to take stock of the situation. She nods back to the others. "No one should be caught outside at the moment, and the gates need to be closed." She agrees, moving her mount to continue on to the gates.

Approaching the gates is easy enough, especially once everyone is on foot again and not looking like a weird horde of random animals.

And goblins. Those are the worst.

In any event, it isn't long before you're at the gate and beginning to share your story, the urgency of which is indisputable. Before long, you're being shuffled to the watch house near the gate, where you're waiting. First, a city official arrives. One of the people who wroks for the Council directly, it seems, and then an officer in the Alexandrian military proper, and of course, a guild rep. You're going to be sharing it all with them before long. Trizzia lets you do most of the talking just yet, but the news of Dragonieri wights in the area is producing grave expressions.

And explain they do.

Slix repeats once more for the umpteenth time. "Yeah sugar, Wights from Dragonier. Damn thing hit me and sucked the life outta me. Still feel like shit from it to. Ya'll writing this down? Gettin' tired of repeating it."

She glances to the grave expressions. She sighs, "... alright, spill it. Why ya'll look like ya'll ate a lemon from a gobber garden."

Back in the gates, Zofija is finally able to hop off her mount, but Screech remains nearby as they explain to all the people who are questioning. The arvek-nar is a bit irritable for the time being, but she's at least able to hold a conversation.

"Because we're pretty far from Dragonier, is my guess." She grunts. "And that wasn't just a couple wandering stragglers. Unless they know something they weren't saying earlier, it's easier a large movement travelling from Dragonier, some form of scouting party even sent out, maybe even something sending them out. There's nastier things still in that place from what I heard, so it wouldn't be that surprising."

Shilde grunts, arms folded when delivering what knowledge they have to the various representatives. "The deaders are movin'. An' what we saw was probably just a small samplin' of what's out there. Don't know the goals of whatever's drivin' 'em... an' doubt what we saw can get through th'gates.. but the outlyin' communities are goin' t'need help if they keep comin' this way."

They exchange looks.

"I'll tell the Council. They'll put out a general alert."

"We're going to need to call in additional irregulars. We'll get skyships patrolling the routes."

"Call in the outlying villages for a few days, get them in the city walls. Leaving isolated villages, as spread as they are, will just leave them vulnerable and then we'll hve more wights to deal with. We'll need patrols and messengers at once. We've anticipated that this mig ht be coming."

Slixvah raises a feathered brow at the notion of 'additional irregulars.' "'pose that's better being called somethin' worse," she grumbles to herself before shaking her head. "Ya'll anticipated this?"

She's eyeing the door, tired and drained as she looks. "... gonna be a bloody massacre if thems gets the regular folk," she points out the obvious. "I ain't even that versed and I'm fuckin' shot..."

"Ah, don't let that get to you. They mean people not part of their military, not that we're weird. Well, they still might think we're weird, but that's their judgement to make." The Arvek-nar explains. "But that also means, you aren't confident in your ability to deal with this with your standing guard and army. That's a bit concerning. Especially if you were anticipating this."

"Yeah, it'll go to shit if they get at any of the villages. You all have your fancy wards here, so maybe you should set up a waystation just out of the wards, where people can reach the city safely via teleportation for supplies and the like."

"You're definitely weird," remarks the guild official, straight-faced.

"It just means you're not a regular miltiary unit," agrees the office, rubbing his face.

"We've been training for this day, but it's untested, and most soldiers don't have, say , the ability to call down the wrath of the Gods or banish undead with but a thought. We can handle it, but every time they kill one of us, they get a new one of them. It's a problem. What we have is skyships, but I understand some advanced wights learn to fly."

Shilde nods once.. then shakes her head. "Rocky'n I'll be leavin'... back to th'circle t'help the elders there defend th'sacred grove. We delivered yer halfer and the warnin'.. time for me'n him t'go'n help the other druids with their preparations." She half turns to leave, but pauses to say one more thing. "Hopefully this is all worryin' fer naught.. an I hope we'll meet again after."

Slixvah stares at the guild official. Clicks her beak once then shakes her head. Best to let it go. Not like she's some hot headed woman that threatens anything that looks at her funny. Because that'd be bad.

Three streets over, a mul sneezes.

Anyways. "Aye. Gonna go help 'round the Defense and get 'er prepped. Just make the call of y'all need a hand. Also gonna get this cut looked at..." She half steps with Shilde.

"And you're one of the ones who's lining my coin purse, so I'll keep any of my own opinions to myself." Zofi grunts. Though she stops, and shakes her head at the rest of the news. "Fucking hell, if those things can fly, then walls won't mean much if they can cause an incident anywhere within them. Hope you've got enough bows and arrows to outfit your patrols in that case, but I get what you mean. People will need to be on alert."

"Yeah, getting to the more isolated communities is a good idea. And the druids're more likely to know the people who live off in the woods they need to warn." She agrees with Shilde. "Take care, and just give me a holler if you need anything. You too Slix. Maybe make it a cleric you're getting to look at it."

"A wise plan," agrees the guild official with Shilde. "We'll be marshalling all resources. We must take care."

"Agreed. I'll get the airships the signal as soon as the council is informed..."

It's gonna be a long night for a lot of people.

-End Scene-