Rael hands were already on his blade now he drew them silently "Be on guard, a group of men is attempting to sneak on us." he whispers and then fades into the darkness himself circling around and trying to get behind or the flanks of the incoming group.

Eldor hears Rael's warning and also vades as quickly and quietly as he can into the darkness. His sight allows him to see Rael and what he is doing and he quickly shadows the young warrior as they both move up towards the men sneaking towards them

 "Go into God's grace shade, and rest." Sir Campbell states with similar grim grandeur as the shade dissipates, before muttering "Bloody cheek of the man, talking to a Campbell like th..." and trailing off as Rael and Eldor start to move towards the forces that they were warned were approaching, the Knight murmuring "Stand ye steady gentlemen, when the good Sir Fairy and yonder armsman tell us what is afoot, we'll know whether we needs must move, strike or parlay." and ducking low where he stands to present less obvious an outline against the sky.

[ooc: Yay! Finally I enter battle with full juice!!]

As the shade departs, Kjaelos feels the icy grip on his heart fade away. Involuntarily he gives an inward sigh of relief, even as traces of confusion and embarrassment begin to creep in. He had expected the shade to give up some of its secrets or at least do more than just appear with a dire warning and disappear.

All these thoughts are instantly wiped off as the young warrior voices his warning. Leaving the tactical response to the more qualified members of the party, Kjaelos closes his eyes and begins recalling a deadly spell to mind. His final thoughts before focusing on his magic was Where are they approaching from?.

Following Rael's finger, you notice a group of men approaching slowly but steadily from the north.  They move quietly, without talking, but do not appear to be making a particular attempt at stealth.  In the darkness it is hard to make out, but you reckon more than three, less than a dozen.   There is no movement from the nearby hamlet (to your east).

Rael and Eldor slip separately into the darkness on either flank, the rest of you ready your weapons.

[Anyone else got any particular tactic?]

 [Avoiding them until Eldor or Rael tell us what they're up to really. It would be a bit of a cock-up to slaughter one of the Jarls patrols for no other reason than doing their job after all. ^_^ ]

Rael was still hidden in the dark.

As the figures approach  you realize that there is something not quite right about them.  They are somehow hard to see in this light, but move with an awkward shambling gait and do not speak.   A quiet air of dread settles upon you.  There seem to be six of them and they head straight for Adonis.

[actions/rolls please, also tell me who is where]

Eldor and Rael have vanished into the darkness.

Thomas is standing there, side by side with Adoins and he eyes the approaching men and says to his compatriot. "Something is amiss there Campbell. Look how they move, tis not quite right."

He brings his sword up to an engarde position. "We may wish to avoid them if we can. I do not relish running in the dark however."

 "No more than do I Sir Keith." rumbles Adonis softly, stood alongside Sir Keith and a pace or two before those who are aligned behind them, his blade coming slowly out of his belt and his shield raising before him against the possibility of assault, "I am as loathe as you to suggest avoiding battle but our task admits no delays. Let us move aside from their line of march and see if a struggle might be avoided."

Rael move in the dark or maybe not.

Eldor moves quietly round the approaching group and comes in towards them from the rear.

When he is close enough to observe them unseen he settles down in the undergrowth with an arrow notched ready to give aid to his friends if needed.

The party spreads out to leave a couple of swords' length between each companion.

The men mill about in a confused fashion for a moment and then regroup and head for Adonis - still without speaking.  In a few moments they will reach him.

 Maneuvering to one flank, Sir Campbell tilts his head curiously as the group swing with one mind to approach him, then steps back the other way and continues to observe their focus before calling out, "It's me they seem to be after... I'll warrant I could lead them a merry dance. What say you?" - offering himself as a decoy for the safety of the group without a second (or, knowing Sir Campbell even a first) thought.

 Either way, he moves to keep a steady distance between himself and the shambling figures, attempting to use what little terrain and undergrowth there is to draw them out into a rough line so that they can be faced one and two at a time, rather than in a single mob.

Rael cry echoes in the night "Undead upon thee  undead upon thee."

The leading intruder turns to follow Adonis movements, and several follow him.

However the rearmost appears to have discovered Rael's hiding place and is attacking him viciously but without much success, it seems - it appears to be unarmed.  Another turns back to join him.

[The intruders are now split into two groups - four following Adonis and two on Rael.  They seem to pay little attention to the rest of you - so you could probably lay into them from flank or rear without much ado.  Be warned that if Adonis moves much further, your own party is going to get rather spread out in the darkness].

Eldor let fly with an arrow towards the one that was moving towards Rael.

At the same time he shouted to the rest."Go, protect Adonis I will ais Rael"

With that he notched another arrow and advanced to aid his friend

20:45, Today: Eldor Leaf-fall rolled 18 using 1d20. missile attack
This message was last edited by the player at 19:46, Sun 22 May 2011.

Hearing the fey words the young Rael change tactics blade in each hand he slash at the legs of the undead minions.


23:21, Today: Rael rolled 2 using 1d4. Short blade AP.
23:21, Today: Rael rolled 3 using 1d8. Long blade AP.
23:21, Today: Rael rolled 6 using 1d20. Short blade attack.
23:20, Today: Rael rolled 11 using 1d20. Heavy blade attack.

 One solid blow through his armour and the Campbell is uncomfortably aware that he'll fall, so Adonis maneuvers as best he can until the foe start to suddenly accelerate, revealing themselves to be far more than just animated corpses and making his strategy of trying to limit their ability to swarm him worthless - it admits to only one solution.

 "Aid Rael, I'll lead them a dance if they're so determined to have me!" the knight calls, ignoring his blade for the moment as a weapon in favour of using it to make sure his way is clear as he tries to circle in the darkness back around the route the party has already taken, sticking where possible to safe ground and temporarily keeping the four following him from turning on his companions.

 ---

 Uh-oh... fast zombies. Looks like Adonis is toast guys. And how the hell did you get two-weapon fighting? I don't pick that up for another six levels yet! ^_^

Thomas maneuvers to get behind the zombies which are so intent on following Adonis. He however must have misstepped int he dark and swings wildly.

---

18:00, Today: Thomas Keith rolled 7 using 1d10. Great Sword AP.
17:58, Today: Thomas Keith rolled 18 using 1d20. Attack Zombie on Adonis.
Pretty sure I missed that one.

[Still waiting for Karl and Kjaelos to post]

Eldor's first shot goes wide but he is well positioned to fire at the backs of the two assailants who have turned on Rael.

Rael ducks under their arms, slashes with both blades and one them hits home, though it does not seem to trouble his attacker.
[Main gauche from Additional rules]

Thomas attacks one of Adonis' pursuers but swings wild. It anda fellow turn to face him.

That leaves two chasing Sir Campbell. One of them closes as he turns and lands a blow with a blunted  sickle

In reply to GM2 (msg #500):

 Balls... so distracting them doesn't work, they can't be outrun even if you give up combat actions to do so and they can still get an attack on you on the run... Well, Adonis is dead then, hope the rest of you do better.

 ---

 The rusted blade hacks down into Sir Campbell's side as he attempts to draw the for away from the others and Sir Keith makes his efforts meaningless with his well-intentioned but suicidal assault, piercing his battered plate and damn' near driving him to the ground, forcing him to turn at bay and maneuver in a desperate effort at a last stand, calling "God's blood men, concentrate your blows!"

 ---

 Drawing weapons, moving to pinion the one Thomas is attacking and shank it in the small of the back. Defence is 7 versus the armed and 3 versus the unarmed undead and will split further depending on whether anything else tries to kill me.
 18:13, Today: Sir Adonis Campbell rolled 5,3 using 1D20,1D8. Attack of 15, so I'd have just hit myself - and that'll be 3 damage. Woo!
This message was last edited by the player at 22:15, Wed 25 May 2011.

Rael took a step back with a worried expression, the hulking undead did not seem phased by the slash across its midsection. Shaking his head Rael charge forward attempting to dance between the things outstretched hands in a spinning strike.
His long blade slash across the thing chest capturing it between the collar bone the force of the blow stagger Rael and the young man nearly lose his grip on his short blade only his keen reflexes manage to catch the short blade before it fell to the ground.

08:26, Today: Rael rolled 7 using 1d8. AP long blade.
08:26, Today: Rael rolled 5 using 1d20. Fumble short blade.
08:26, Today: Rael rolled 20 using 1d20. Attack short blade.
08:26, Today: Rael rolled 2 using 1d20. Attack long blade.

Eldor stepped sideways and using the better position took aim again and let loose an arrow at the same creature heading towards Rael

21:33, Today: Eldor Leaf-fall rolled 1 using 1d20. missile attack
21:36, Today: Eldor Leaf-fall rolled 5 using 1d6. AP roll


This message was last edited by the player at 20:37, Wed 25 May 2011.

[Adonis - you already drew your weapon in #498 so you may fight with it in Round 2 if you wish.   Let me know how you split your defence - you notice that your other attacker has no weapons apart from his clawed hands.   In terms of speed, if you flat out run you feel sure the zombies won't keep up - however that would take you away from the party on a dark night, and not be pleasant for your ankles.

Karl, Kjaelos - the party could use your help, if you don't post by tomorrow I will NPC you

In terms of layout the attackers have been separated into three groups - 2 each on Rael, Thomas and Adonis.   They appear to be ignoring the wizards and Eldor, who are basically free to attack whoever they can get to.    See crude map below, North at the top.

    X                        El
 Ra X


                        Ka
                        Kj


   Th X
      X


                    XX
                    Ad