As Dillo clawed the undead thing it fell over having been returned back to the world of the dead.  Ordin came in close and ran his hand along the hairless carapace of Dillo.  "Well done my friend."  Then as he saw that Norvis had some nasty wounds he wanted to heal him but, unfortunately, Ordin hadn't prepared such spells for the day.

"I can't heal him today.  I wasn't prepared for anything like this happening today.  Though I can sense that there aren't any signs pointing to more of the undead things around right now.  I somehow have a special gift to route out the things.  I can take a look around town to make sure we are clear though.  By the way my name is Ordin, for those that I don't know."

Kneeling down but not touching the ghoul's body, he tilts his head, and lookng like he's casting something and stands back up. Grabbing the harpoon, Zale watches the others here "Zale." The otter climbs up onto his back, does a raspberry at them and huddles into the undine. He simply starts to walk off, probably checking on Hettie. His feet moves a bit slow in the brambles and he has no shoes which is odd.

Kozibi lurched backwards suddenly, almost falling over, from the awkward positioning he had found himself in when paralyzed. "Whoah!" Then he straightened himself and cleaned his longsword off before sheathing it.

He smiled brightly at the others, especially the woman he didn't know. "The undead are defeated!" But the smile faded. "Yes, strange, where did all these undead suddenly come from, I wonder?"

He looked at them all as they began to introduce themselves. He gave a flourishing bow. "I am Kozibi Januson, Bard extraordinaire, and sometimes swordsman and undead re-killer apparently. Tis a pleasure to meet you."

He called loudly to the townsfolk, "Is there a healer in town??"

"Yeah!  Coming!"

Zale, a halfling girl in plain clothes and holding a sling walks past you.  She grins at you as she passes but continues towards the crowd.

You can see Hettie near the dock.  She's with some of the fishermen and they are all climbing up the slope towards the town.  She looks frightened, but okay.

Billinha, the little girl from before pushes through the crowd and walks over to Norvis.  She grins at all of you.  "I don't know any of you.  I'm Moondog.  Blame my parents."

She kneels down beside Norvis and starts to move her hands.  Ordin, you can see she's casting some light healing magics to stabalize Norvis' wounds.

In answer to your question Kozibi, one of the farmers points towards the north.  "I saw them stumblin' down from the woods along the coast I did."

He points at the Pumpkin Zombie/Thing.  "That one was kinda herdin' 'em all along."


"Alright all of you.  Calm down."  An older man wearing old boots and an outdated and slightly ratty linen suit walks up.  It's Orus Coombs, the town administrator.  He glances at you Bellinha and then looks at Norvis.

"He gonna be okay Moon?"

"I think so.  We need to get him back to his house.  But I think he's safe to move."

"What're we gonna do if there's more of 'em headin' this way Orus?"

"Well first of all we're gonna calm down.  Let's get all the kids an' old people to my house.  They can hunker down in the chapel for now.  I'll ask Nysene to go with me an' scout."

He glances around.  "Let's get organized.

"Someone run over to the Inn and let Lori know what's goin' on.  Tell her she might need to shelter some folks tonight.  My chapel an' barn are only so big.

"Speakin' of my place, if a couple of you able bodied can run over there and check it out.  Let's make sure it's clear of any zombie like things before we start bunching people inside.

"And the rest of you, spread out to all the farms and houses.  Make sure everyone knows.  Either head to my place or the inn.  Let's gather everyone there.

"C'mon people.  Let's move like we got somethin' to do."

I will let you guys decide what you want to do right now, if anything.

Thanks
This message was last edited by the GM at 20:44, Thu 30 Sept 2021.

The undine helps the old woman, holding his hand to hers. Tilting its head, the otter barks on Zale's back. Not knowing what is going on, he watches the halfling take off. He makes sure Hattie is okay as its his job to keep her safe "You are safe." The sorcerer nods his head but remains close. He doesn't catch the bards name as he left but the Aasimar intrigued him as well as the druid and the other Aasimar. So much has happened but the water just intrigued him. All of the undead rising up but why?

Bellinha wiped down her blade as she listened to her cousin take charge.  She gave him a small smile in acknowledgement when he glanced at her, but she wasn't sure how to take the look.

"I think that we should make sure that the village is safe before investigating where these things came from." she said.  "We check out the places where folks can take refuge and then head off into the woods.  Anyone want to come with?"

When Moondog cast her healing magic on Norvis, Ordin saw that his wounds began to mend.  He should be okay, he thought to himself.

When Orus came finally and began giving orders to the townsfolk, Ordin was glad for it.  They needed order and something else to do to get the thought of any kind of invasion out of their minds.  Was it an invasion?  Ordin wondered to himself in silence.

As the others gave their names Ordin gave them a kind smile and a nod of his head in acknowledgment.  "We will help make sure that Orus's house and the church are clear of any undead.  My nose has a nose for them dead things."
This message was last edited by the player at 06:37, Sat 02 Oct 2021.

Kozibi turned to look at the person the voice belonged to that responded to him. His eyebrows rose up a little at the sigh of the halfling but then he simply shrugged it off. He nodded at her, "Good show."

He glanced towards where the farmer pointed and then at the thing that paralyzed him. He didn't think it was a normal zombie, but wasn't certain. But then a person took charge and started speaking up, asking for calm more than once.

Kozibi listened and frowned only slightly for a moment. He glanced over at the dwarf and woman with a raised eyebrow but then nodded. "Very well. I shall accompany you." That seemed more directed at the other Aasimar than anyone else.

In reply to Kozibi Januson (msg # 68):

Ordin, in case I caused confusion, it was Moondog who healed Norvis.  Sorry if that was not clear.

Hettie grips your hand tightly Zale.  "Thank You.  Let's get to the chapel.  I...could use a sit down."

The four of you head towards the chapel.  Zale accompanying Hettie and Belinha, Ordin, and Kozibi moving with the crowd.

People are just starting to gather at the chapel and estate.  A middle aged woman you recognize as one of her neighbor's rushes up and hugs Hettie.  "Oh!  I heard you were at the funeral!"

Hettie hugs her back.  "I'll be okay.  I'm a tough ol' bird."  She looks back at you Zale>  "I'm gonna stay with Berta here.  You helped fight off those monsters.  Can you help patrol sweetie?  We might need all hands on deck."

Bellinha, a fussy looking thin man in a black linen coat prances up, dithering as he hops from foot to foot and wrings his hand.  This is Jocko, Orus' butler.

"Oh!  Ms. Grunnel!  They're telling me all kinds of tales!  There's dead walkin' about?  Master Orus headed for the woods with the druid.  Can you patrol the grounds?  I've got to get people settled."

The "estate" as it were is really a larger house with a chapel and a watch tower.  Behind it is a large barn and beyond that is Skeeter Pond.  There's no fence around the compound.  Anyone...or anything...can just shamble right up.

Here is the Estate in all it's glory.  You guys are in charge of securing the grounds.

Any particular manner you want to go about it?  Or you just want to walk around it in a patrol?

Thanks

"Of course, Jocko." Bellinha said, stealing a look towards the woods.  Making sure that the townspeople were safe was of paramount importance, but part of her wanted to go into the woods.  Maybe it was the foolish part but still.

She turned back to look at her companions, if she could call them that after having just met.  "So, Ordin and Kocidi, right?" Bellinha smiled.  "I'm Bellinha.  Apologies for not introducing myself earlier, there was so much going on.  Have you guys been in the village long?"

With Nysene and Orus heading into the woods, Ordin's mentor was serving a greater purpose.  That left him to look over the town, which he seemed to be more than up for it.

As the people began to gather at the manor and church the woman that called herself Bellinha introduced herself.  "Pleasure to meet you as well.  I have been in and around town for a little while and know my way well.  For now I think we should gather as many willing people beside us to form a nice patrol area around the buildings here.  I think at least 4 or 5 will be enough."

THe sorcerer makes sure to stop and get his gear before going to the square with Hettie. He nods his head to Hettie and makes sure she is safe in the chapel before starting to patrol the area-first stop the pond and then the barn. Ordin and Kocidi, and now Bellinha. He tilts his head, watching the three of them. The undine feet adjusts himself against the ground. Gripping his spear he shouldn't be too hard to pick out-probably the only blue person in the crowd.

Kozibi feigned looking wounded and hurt at Bellinha for just a moment when she mentioned their names. "It's actually Kozibi, not Kocidi, but I will forgive you." He then shrugged if off and smiled at her. "It is wonderful to meet you, Bellinha."

He pointed over to the Undine, "And while you did not mention this fellow, their name is Zale apparently, if I heard correctly?" He looked for confirmation. "We aided one another in the fish market, which is not something I thought I would ever say."

He shook his head, "I'm a traveling bard, so I haven't been here long enough for the crowd to go stale."

OOC: Random patrol!

Seeing the wounded expression on Kozibis face, Bellinha quickly moved to apologize.  "Oh I'm sorry, I must have misheard.  I meant no offence.  I really haven't been in the village all that long and still trying to get everyones names..."

Seeing the blue guy standing away from them, Bellinha waved him to come over.  "Zale?  It is Zale, right?  Do you want to join us?"

A look of bewilderment comes from Zale. He watches this odd bard, then leans on his spear. A nod comes from the undine as Bellinha speaks towards him. The otter drops down and walks over to Bellinha, moving around her then goes over to the bard. Same thing.

A smile at the cuteness came over Kozibi's face as he looked down at the otter moving around and smiled. He crouched down to get a better look at the creature. "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean not to include you in the introductions, but I haven't been introduced to you. I don't know your name, little one."

In reply to Kozibi Januson (msg # 77):

I heard "Random Patrol".  So let's go with that.

If you can all post a Perception check please and thank you.

The villagers are rushing in as word spreads.  The four of you head out, moving widdershins in a circle around the estate.

Lots of them as the afternoon drags on...

All spell tossers have have a chance to rest and recover spells.

A little before the dinner hour, you are making a circuit near the barn when you hear the horses start to neigh.  They sound terrified.

There are two main doors into the barn, one at each end.  The one closest to the pond is slightly ajar.

The random patrol was a bit more normal and planned than unorganized as Ordin had laid out intervals and distances to keep.  As the day wanned Ordin became hopeful that the danger had passed.

08:44, Today: Ordin Oakbranch rolled 11 using 1d20+8.  perception check.

Checking out the area, Zale starts to head towards the pond but stops. He glances around with the otter near him and he stretches gripping his spear.

23:46, Today: Zale Morcant rolled 8 using 1d20+3.  Perception.

Kozibi wasn't sure why he was getting strange looks from the Undine and the otter wasn't introduced, but he shrugged it off and walked around on patrol with the group. He stole glances at the other Aasimar in their group occasionally, but mostly he kept his senses alert for danger and more undead.

He frowned when he heard something, "uh oh." He glanced at the others, "Come on!"

He turned and headed for the barn at a sprint, aiming to head inside.

20:54, Today: Kozibi Januson rolled 23 using 1d20+5. Perception check.

Bellinha was excited, and a little nervous, during the patrols.  It wasn't so much that she didn't want to take part, she did, but she was more nervous that her inexperience would show through and she would screw something up.  She was glad to follow Ordins lead, as he seemed to know what he was doing.

When they had some time to rest, Bellinha pulled out her spellbook and started to memorize spells that would be better suited to dealing with undead.


And was Kozibi looking at her?  Bellinha wasn't entirely sure.  The bard was certainly handsome enough to turn a girls eye but...

Pointing at the side of the barn close to the pond, "Hey, wasn't that barn door closed before?" It was all she could say before Kozibi was running for the barn.  A second later, Bellinha was following.

OOC:
Today: Bellinha Grunnel rolled 14 using 1d20+5.

Ordin wasn't walking with the others as was planned so that they didn't have a gap in their patrol.  Thus as the question came out about the barn he didn't hear it.

After a moment though he saw Kozobi run towards the barn.  It was up ahead and so he just kept walking with a quickened pace towards that direction.  Ordin even called out ahead to the others, "Hey what is going on up there?"

Oddly, the undine doesn't go towards the slightly open door. He circles around, holding his spear outwards and trying to remain quiet. Zale goes to try to open the door if possible.

16:20, Today: Zale Morcant rolled 15 using 1d20+3.  Stealth.

In reply to Zale Morcant (msg # 84):

During the day, Kozibi and Bellinha, you notice that your group is being watched.  A young girl is keeping an eye on the four of you.  She isn't following you per se.  But as you make your rounds, she seems to pop up.  Behind a bush or at the corner of the manor house.

You see her with some of the village women a couple of times.  You even make eye contact.  But if you approach her, she scurries off.

---

Whatever is going on inside, the horse in there is not a fan of it.  It's neighing in a high panicked state.  Another horse in there sounds like it's freaking out as well.

As you peek in through the doors, you can see the issue.

The barn has two stalls, with a horse in each stall.  One of the stall doors is open and a large hairy thing is standing by one of the horses, it's thick arms wrapped around the horse's neck.  There's a slurping sound and the horse is trying to buck it off.

The other horse, smelling blood, is going crazy.

As far as the hairy thing...well it's a bugbear who's seen better days.  There are holes in it's back and neck, showing that at some point it had been wounded enough that it couldn't survive.

And apparently it's back from the grave, just all kinds of anxious for it's pound of horse flesh.

Undead Bugbear is noshing on the neck of a horse.  It has not noticed any of you.

Yet.