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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Lars Frehse" data-source="post: 437747" data-attributes="member: 1674">A different kind of shade- part 2The friends rushed forward to see whether there were any survivors who needed immediate attention. However, as they got to the ambush site, they soon saw that all the men, guards and drivers alike, were all dead. There were six corpses alltogether. Four guards clad in chainmail and two cartdrivers. Some of the bodies,  the carts and the snowfree ground, were scorched. Two of the guards had crossbow bolts sticking out of them and they had other wounds which had been caused by slashing weapons. One of the drivers and one guard, however, bore no obvious wounds. They were neither scorched nor wounded by bolt or sword but their skin was stretched taut over their skulls and their whole bodies looked as if all life had been sucked out of them.Trepat looked around:"I am quite certain that the magic that blasted away the snow and scorched the humans and the wagons was an arcane spell called "Fireball". Apparently, it only killed two of those six right away. However, I don't know any particular magic that sucks the life out of a victim like it has happened with those two."Torn and Niklas checked the carts, and it turned out that they had been searched. bundles of woolen cloth and rolled up carpets had been tossed aside. Apparently, the attackers had been loooking for something specific."I think it is odd that so much power was used to raid such an insignicant and small caravan. I wonder what they had been searching for.", Torn said.Meanwhile, single snowflakes started to fall from the grey sky. Looking up, Ben said:" We should try to find some tracks before the snow covers them up. We can leave the mules behind. They should be able to find enough grass where the fireball had melted the snow and they look sturdy enough to cope with the cold."They looked around and soon they found tracks. Whoever had ambushed the caravan seemed to have relied on the weather to cover the tracks. Judging by the falling snow, the friends estimated that the tracks would have been filled with snow in two more hours. And given the time of the year and the little traffic on the corridor before spring thaw, there really hadn't been much of a likelihood of anyone finding tracks of the ambushers.There were tracks of at least eight individuals. Three of the tracks were made by human sized boots, but  the rest of them were longer and thinner than human tracks. Indeed, they looked like they were made by bipedal, humansized rats. There was no doubt, the tracks were made by Trepat's chosen enemy: Slitheren.The tracks lead to the north, away from the corridor, and after deciding that informing the Paladins of Mithril would take too long, they followed the tracks themselves. Again, the heroes had accepted that fate seemed to be frequently throwing them into dangerous adventures ever since they had left Durrover.The snow in the plains was packed enough to carry them and their steeds without problems. As they rode through the snow, the snowfall got stronger, cutting down visibility to a few dozen yards. After a while, they were forced to dismount in order to follow the disappearing tracks.Then, just fifty yards ahead of them, they could make out the shape of a structure in the snow. Whispering, they decided that Torn would scout ahead while the others would wait behind.The halforc pushed forward through the driving snow until he reached a stone wall. The stonework looked old and cracked and the wall seemed to be about 10 feet high. Left and right, behind  the far ends of the wall, he saw two wooden towers behind and the wall, and on the right one, he was able to make out a humanoid figure. The towers were simple structures. Each side consisted of two straight and two crossed beams, which were supporting one platform. On the platform was a rail and the whole thing was covered by a small roof.Torn moved along the wall while the humanoid seemed to remain unaware of him. Getting close, Torn was finally able to make out the shape on the tower. It wasn't human but it looked like the animate skeleton of a Slitheren. It was holding a crossbow in it's bonehands and seemed to try to pierce the curtain of snow with it's empty sockets.Registering it, but staying calm, Torn looked around the corner, where the wall continued. In a gap in the wall, there was a makeshift gate, and it appeared that the towers and the gate were much newer than the original walls. Carefully making sure that he wasn't seen by the skeleton, he returned to his friends.A short heated debate ensued regarding how they would proceed. Torn wanted to try and take out the skeleton on the watchtower before he opened the gate, while Ben argued that the undead would probably be warned no matter what, and so he favored a full frontal attack.In the end, they decided to let Torn give it a try while they hid close to the makeshift gate. Cowering behind a pile of snow, they could make out the shape of their friend climbing over the wall, where he disappeared from their sight. Then, they saw him again climbing up the wooden tower. With the grace of a feline predator, he slid onto the platform, where the skeleton faced the other way, and he shot his spiked chain at it. However, he slipped in the snow and missed his target.The skeleton turned around, but before it could react, Torn slashed at it with the other end of his chain. This time he hit, and his defeated opponent fell into the snow below. Torn jumped down and opened the gate for his friends, and as his friends entered, he whispered to them:" Those aren't skeletons. They do have some sort of flesh and blood. However, all that is transparent as glass. Wouldn't it be for their bones, they would be virtually invisible.".</blockquote>

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