Arn looked about with his ears and eyes trying to gage where the bird might be, trying to move as little as possible and only slowly when he must. He has heard of bird sounds being used for signals for marshaling hidden forces. It seemed to him unlikely that goblins would be inclined or have the skill enough to do so, especially one sounding so authentic, but it was worth checking out.

OOC:
Can he tell where the owl is? Especially if it is high up in a tree or at ground level?

This message was last edited by the player at 01:49, Thu 04 Nov 2021.

For the time being, it seemed that only the ordinary sort of animals were about.

Barlo muttered, "These were molehills, I think. They were stomped flat or something, why, I could not tell  you. The trail ends near the stream but I see something moving. Be cautious, I want to investigate."

---

Barlo moved towards, and if not attacked, crossed the stream to try and pick up the trail...

08:05, Today: Barlo rolled 18 using 1d20.  tracking.

Ooops. I think that means Barlo's tracking ability vanishes as if it never was.

ooc: OK, I know I blew the roll, so...

Barlo returned from the stream. "Trail goes cold. Can't find it but I think they came from that way," he gestured along a line that brought them to the stream but it was clear to all that it was a guess.

He returned to the overturned earth and examined it more closely, prodding it with his blade. "Seems a damn odd thing for goblins to do. Wonder if they fancy mole for supper? The caverns, the pit, maybe these foul things live underground and are something like the drow are to the proper elves."

As the others considered Barlo's words about the trail being lost, the odd-seeming behavior of the peculiar goblins, and all that they had learned at the spider farm, there was a bit of a rustle in the undergrowth.  A growing scent of decay could be discerned, and soon the cause of the noise was obvious:  it was a loathsome thing, pulling itself along by two arms, half of one leg dragging behind.  It appeared to have once been a man, now some odd shade of green-gray stretched tight across a body with an extraordinarily large mouth--or at least it seemed thus due to the fact that the lower jaw was entirely missing.

"By the gods, what is that?"

Without waiting for an answer, Zaryk loosed two arrows at the abomination.

---

Zaryk na'Liluth rolled 15, hitting AC 5 for 5 damage and 13, hitting AC 7 for 6 damage with longbow.
This message was last edited by the player at 04:52, Sun 14 Nov 2021.

Arn pales in his hiding place. He takes aim at the thing with his bow and arrow, trying to hold his quivering hands steady.

OOC:
05:20, Today: Arn rolled 7 using 1d20+2.  Arn to hit dead apparition with arrow.
05:20, Today: Arn rolled 5 using 1d20+2.

GM: What range? Assuming a modest range:

08:03, Today: Barlo rolled 3 using 1d6.

08:03, Today: Barlo rolled 3 using 1d20.

08:03, Today: Barlo rolled 16 using 1d20.

16 has a chance to hit, so 3 damage.

[Language unknown: "Onca, ndenottionce, hechisos reaterhas ince la oulntison salaes hohi!"] Makaniua cried out and the wind drove into the face of the thing.

Makaniua's words seemed to, at the very least, slow the progress of the thing trying to reach their group.  However, what was much more decisive were the arrows loosened in the direction of the thing--arrows from Annya, Barlo, Zaryk, and Arn--while not every arrow hit its mark, enough struck the creature--five in all--that whatever mockery of life had animated the thing fled, and the once dead man was once again dead.

"What kind of zombie is this? Seems particularly tough." Barlo gave it a cursory look from a distance then backtracked it to see if there were more lurking in the brush.

Arn cautiously exits his hiding place, heading over to the corpse. He stops and puts a piece of cloth over his face to help keep him from gagging. He inspects the corpse looking for anything that might be a clue to who this was or what happened as well as if there was anything of value carried by it.
This message was last edited by the player at 11:47, Fri 19 Nov 2021.

Zaryk also steps out from the trees, any chance of a further ambush had been lost.

He stops next to the turned and then tamped soil.

"You don't suppose this might be a grave, do you?"

While the dead-again thing seemed to be alone somehow, there was a very obvious trail through the growth from where it had come--as might be expected when a being almost the size of an adult man dragged itself across the ground.

Barlo recovered arrows if possible then followed the trail for a ways to make sure the thing was alone and was a little curious what happened to the rest of it.

"Are we seeing where that thing came from?" Arn asks. He considers asking if they should bury it but decides against it. He had no desire to help dig a grave or even keep watch while others did. He had better uses for his time.

Makaniua stayed busy in a prayer of thanks.

---

"If it was a zombie," put in Annya, "they are the lesser of such abominations. Not animated by curse, transgression, or unfinished business in this world.  But rather by a spell any middling necromancer might learn.  Or even a goblin shaman, perhaps. That we destroyed it with common weapons speaks to it being no more than that."   

[Language unknown: "Stiwasourove t Werersant Neneul som oucahe ver venterall,"] intoned Annya, waving an open palm in the direction of the corpse. [Language unknown: "Ectantsan hoan un ingul oreconday poss, acsi intourint, tedmi les Allpreany nd wi."   ]

It was only rite, not spell.

"A Zombie," Arn says softly. "I suppose that makes sense. I've never seen a Zombie before, that is until today. One wasn't so bad but I wouldn't want to be attacked by a group of them."

He ponders for a few moments. "Do you think the goblin shaman placed it here to guard the camp?" he asks. "If we killed the shaman would it cease animating or could it survive after the shaman's death?"

"Such things are not uncommonly used to guard, or frighten.   It could be. Although," she frowned, reflecting further, "better to have picked a corpse with both legs intact. Perhaps choice was limited?" 

Still frowning - "There are records of more awful sorts of necromancies.  That animate all dead within a particular geography.   Unlikely, but -- our darksome friends are unusual."   

While Annya speaks words of her goddess over the zombie, Zaryk kicks at the tilled soil to satisfy his curiosity.

Zaryk gives a humourless laugh, "One without legs wasn't so bad! I shudder to think what a group of walking zombies would be like to battle."


"You might be right, Annya...there may have been no better corpses to animate...or perhaps it did have legs and they were chopped off?"

Barlo jogged along the backtrail for a while to see where it had originated.