Caleb lets out a deep sigh when he finishes the final entry. "I should have known better than to accept this job." He takes a moment to weigh his options before an expression of resignation dominates his features and he begins looking around at the temple, assessing what exactly they had to work with in here.
"I don't think we're going to be able to get out the way we came in. Remember the shadows on the sides of the road? My guess is they'll take offense to us trying to leave. I'm thinking the only escape is to kill this "she". Besides, I still have to find the mercs the log mentions, see if they're my people. I say we stay here tonight and keep watch, no less than two to a shift, then we take anything at all useful from this town and start following the trail no later than an hour past dawn. I'll take first shift on watch, who's with me?"

"I'll join you for first watch, Caleb," Bristle volunteered. "I usually prepare my spells before bed, so if they decide to attack right when the sun sets and we fight them off, I can ask death to bestow more blessings upon me before I go down for the night. And my spectacles should be able to let me tell the difference between regular shadows and undead ones." She tapped the subtle glasses on her nose.

"Speaking of which, the more I think about these so-called "shadows," the more I am realizing they sound like a type of undead that I have heard of. Which, unsurprisingly, are called Shadows. They are born of a hunger that drain strength from the living. But based on the clues we have gathered, these sound more like a variant that drains the mind rather than the body. If anyone has protections against attacks on the mind, keep them handy."

At this point she gestured toward the magical dagger. "Were you able to figure out if that weapon will be effective against undead, Hester? I doubt my two flasks of holy water will do much to hold them at bay. Nobody happened to find more in this temple, have they? I suppose they would have used it all in their last stand if they did..." The changeling woman fished out the two flasks from her pack and put them in a much handier location on her belt. Some may think it strange for a cleric of death to carry holy water, but evil does not always play nice with evil, and Bristle liked to be prepared.

"What I'm worried about is the dream component..." Arell remarks, "If "she" literally haunted the dreams of the townsfolk, us going to sleep might have dire consequence.  If anything, we should be planning around who is sleeping first...and who is awake to deal with whatever consequence affected sleepers bring."

"I'll take first sleep then. I only need a couple of hours." said Hester. She guessed if people watched each other, the dreams could be held off but that in itself could be harmful if it lasted too long. "But we have dreams for a reason so we need to deal with the main issue quickly.".

Once the note is found and they begin discussing it, Illix looks pained.

"I agree with you." He gestures to Arell. "We need to sleep, but at the same time I'm worried what will happen to us when we do sleep."

"I wish I brought some form of light, if it helps hold some of them at bay. When you can see in the dark, it normally seems redundant. And I doubt a candle will do much to them."

"I can actually help with that!"

Hannah pulls out a little glowing stone from her bag, and sets it spinning around her head.

"It is not much, but if someone needs it more, they are welcome to it, especially during watch."

Arell considers this, "I'll take middle watch then.  Sleep for a bit and see if anything comes of it.  Abadar protects, so I shouldn't go nuts immediately.  And, if we're lucky, we might learn something.
This message was last edited by the player at 14:32, Wed 04 Mar 2020.

"I will join you on the middle watch. Before we sleep, we should fortify as much as possible. Whoever 'she' is, we have to assume she is aware of our presence. Either she leaves us alone, deeming us unimportant, or she sends her minions to harass us. I don't want to be unprepared if the latter happens. If anyone has any skill in building, or some sort of magical protections, that might be prudent."

Hannah begins clearing space for those who will be sleeping, and assessing what supplies are still worthy of using, with special attention to anything that could help fortify, and what they could use to sleep.

08:45, Today: Hannah rolled 23 using 1d20+17.  Perception (assess supplies).

"I have one of those too," Bristle said when Hannah pulled out a glowing ioun stone. She took out her own and sent it rotating as well. "I can see in the dark, but sometimes it help to see colors. And it was easy to make. I have ten torches as well that people can use however they would like. Ten candles too."

"As for construction skills, I don't have any particular talents outside of making jewelry. I have studied a tiny bit of engineering though, and I have all the tools for the job. Or rather, I have an any-tool." Bristle pulled out he traveler's any-tool.

There are enough supplies to piece together a decent barricade at the entrance with the broken pews of the temple. There is no sign of holy water, although there are several holy symbols of Abadar, Erastil, and Sarenrae scattered about.

OOC: You ready to move to night, or do you want to do a little more exploring? You have maybe two hours before nightfall.

Caleb nods toward Bristle as he finds a position to watch the door and windows simultaneously. "Great, undead. I don't know about vulnerabilities, but I find that everything dies if you shoot it enough times, I'm guessing that'll hold true enough for whatever these things are. My weapon's got a touch of magic if that makes a difference, he says, hefting his crossbow up for inspection.

"A magical weapon is probably a good idea. Especially for the shadows. I think." Bristle had never actually faced any shadows before. Only read about them. "But what I am sure about is that it could be helpful if we search the nearby buildings for more light sources. Lanterns and the like. Even if the light doesn't stop the shadows outright, it should help us see them coming if the area is well illuminated. I plan to go look for some in a minute or two, if anyone wanted to help."

"And speaking of help," Bristle continued a bit sheepishly, which was somewhat uncharacteristic for her. "I could also provide us with a few extra hands to help defend our fort. As in, give those unfortunate villagers Caleb found a second chance to help defend their homeland and avenge themselves against the being who brought their fate upon them..." Bristle was obviously suggesting animating their bodies, but she tried to spin it in a way that would be more palatable to those who might look down on necromancy. The changeling looked among her companions, waiting for any disagreements she suspected may be on the way. However, if nobody outright insisted that she didn't reanimate the dead, she would. Bristle wanted to give herself (and by extension, the others) the best chance to survive the night.

---

"Sure, I'll go with you to help look for stuff, it's probably not a good idea to separate," Caleb says as he rises from where he had just sat down. "You're talking about that necromancy type stuff, right? Zombies and such? Sure, not like the dead can object, and they're not doing any good just rotting. I'll show you where they are. Brace yourself, it's not nice to look at." Caleb heads out to lead the way to the house he found, weapon ready to fire at the first sign of movement.

---

Spoiler text: (Highlight or hover over the text to view)
21:37, Today: Caleb Miller rolled 27 using 1d20+12.  Perception to search houses along the way.

---

"As long as you can control them, I am ok with your use of the undead, but I must insist they are destroyed once their utility is over. Innocent people should not be desecrated in such a way, and if we have to, we should ensure no other abominations are created from their remains. I'm not religious, and don't care about last rites or any such hogwash, but Nature abhors such creations, and they should only be used sparingly, if at all."

Hester frowns.  "There are undead around already.  Would it not be better for you to try to wrest control from She rather than creating more over which She could rest control from you?"

Seeing that people seemed set on moving out and exploring, she decided to join the party.

Bristle breathed a sigh of relief when it became apparent that at least half of her party members were not outright objecting to her use of necromancy. She had met too many who were exactly that type. Still, she attempted to address Hester and Hannah's reluctance before she went off searching with Caleb.

"I can certainly agree to destroying my creations once our business with this "She" character is concluded. I typically only resurrect my fallen foes, or livestock, but these are unique circumstances. And rest assured, I can control any undead that I create, and still wrest control over the same amount of other undead that may come my way. The methods of control are similar, but separate. And if "She" comes to wrestle control from my creations, then that means she will have to come close enough to us that we can attack her. At least, if she uses the same method as myself. If not, undead tend to be resistant to most forms of mind control anyway. Since, you know, they have no minds to control."

Bristle shrugged, since she knew very little about this "She's" capabilities. "But at any rate, turning something into an undead is a great way to help ensure nobody else is able to do the same."

---

Arell looks over at Bristle, expression contemplative.  He hated zombies as much as the next person, but generally they gave him good reason to.  If the reason for his distrust were removed, so to would his dislike.  But still that left him with one problem.

"Are you certain, Bristle--in the depths of your bones and by any oath you hold dear--that those raised by your hand could not be wrested from you save by direct intervention?" He said, serious as the grave, "Because these were people once, people I knew and cared for.  And if I have to put down their shambling corpses due to some wrinkle of your magic you did not understand, or some eldritch trick this "she" poisoned them with, then I will be Most Upset..and you will live long enough to regret your decisions."

His eyes lost their killing edge, "If, however, given your Word that they will remain loyal to you, we have shall have no quarrel."

Bristle's gut reaction was to lie and tell Arell that she was certain she could retain control, but she suppressed that urge. Her instincts told her this was a time for truth. A moment that all future trust between herself and the paladin would hinge on.

Bristle let out a breath through her nose and did her best to reassure the man. "As with all things magical, nothing is entirely certain. Although I can truthfully say that I know of no way in which "She" can steal control over my creations without coming well within arrow range. So, while I can not say I am certain, I can say that I am nearly certain "She" can't take them from me. And I give you my Word that it is far more likely for their bodies to be dishonored and turned against us in the future if they are left among the dead, rather than letting me turn them into undead." Bristle truly believed that to be so.

"And, if for any reason they do turn against us, I promise I will personally help you dismantle them with my own two hands." The cleric held up her clawed hand and made a tight fist, then pounded it against the full plate on her chest to emphasize her commitment.

---

Arell exhales, "As good as can be expected in this circumstance.  Very well.  Cast your spells."

Ralla flexed her magic as her hand glowed for only a moment. “Undead, shadows...and whatever else all go down with magical might, fireballs and magic missiles hurt even the dead....I need rest to preform arts of magic. I will need a full nights worth of rest, every night to regain my powers.”

"Luckily, I have no such requirements. My magic is intrinsic, as long as I don't cross Nature itself, at least."

"No magic for me, I'm pure skill, so if I need to keep watch to allow those of you the necessary time, that's fine." Illix adds to the discussions around how much sleep.

"As for raising the dead, I concur I'd rather have them with us than against us. Not like the original owners will need them at this point anyway."

Bristle finds the four humans to raise, as well as the skeleton of a cow from behind the butcher's shop. As the group checks for further bodies, they begin to see subtler signs of something wrong here. Words, scratched into buildings, drawn in what looks like blood. "QUIET MAKE IT STOP." "It's inside me." "I'm sorry I didn't mean to." And so on.

Finally, though, the group is huddled in the temple, behind a half-circle of lamps and torches scavenged from the village, as the sun sets. The twilight lingers for only a short time before full dark falls.

And not long after that, there are...things gathering at the edge of the light.

Some of them are like what Bristle described, animate shadows moving through the air with nothing to cast them. Others are animals, some visibly rotting, others seemingly still alive. There's everything from rabbits and squirrels to deer to a small bear. All of them sway in time to a single beat, a heartbeat it seems like. THe light wavers and flickers.

So far, none of them seem willing to brave the light.




The ring of...whatever they are remains still, swaying, while the first round of sleepers take their rest. The middle watch wakes from troubled dreams without any aggressive moves by the shadows and their compatriots, which remain at the edge of the light.

"They haven't moved at all, I think it's an intimidation move. What about you, any dreams worth mentioning?" Caleb says as Arell and Hannah get up to take their turn at watch duty. As he speaks he settles himself sitting up against a wall facing the barricade, crossbow held in his lap.

Arell awakes with a gasp...followed by a grumble.  He was NOT happy with whatever he had just experienced.

"Unfortunately." he confesses to Caleb, "I got the world's worst children song followed by some kind of psychic attack.  I don't feel physically hurt, but I find myself insulted that this red-haired bitch can just insert herself into my head with impunity."