Lazybones
Adventurer
Yeah, those famine spirits are nasty.
I'm going back and forth between the two scenes, so we'll find out what happens to Tiros tomorrow. Today, the DBs catch up to the ghoul army, and find out that just when you think things can't get worse...
* * * * *
Chapter 285
THE GHOUL ARMY
There wasn’t much to the village of Derber’s Point, thirty-four structures huddled inside a low wall crafted from the stones that had been cleared from the surrounding fields over twenty generations. Most of the buildings were simple one-room cottages with thatch roofs; the place did not even boast an inn, and the “general store” occupied a corner of one farmer’s barn. The center of the village was dominated by a meeting hall that had once been a waystation for the Camarian legions. The long stone structure was now used for winter storage and as a shelter when a particularly harsh storm made it this far inland off the rough seas far to the east.
About one hundred and sixty people called the village home.
The village was doomed.
Dar, Allera, Nelan, Letellia, and Yanis drifted high over the village. From their vantage the village seemed literally packed with ghouls, swarming over the buildings, tearing and destroying. There were a number of breaches in the village wall, but as they watched ghouls vaulting the obstacle where it was still intact, it was clear that the fortifications would have made no difference in any case. The densest concentration of undead was around the stone hall in the center, where ghouls were still pouring into a huge hole in the side of the building. Noises drifted up to them, but it was impossible to discern anything that might have been made by the living over the general din made by the undead.
Allera had started to drift down as soon as they’d spotted the village, but Dar and Nelan had both darted in front of her, warning her off. They could not easily communicate in the gaseous form granted by the wind walk spell, but their gestures were clear, the futility of their intervention immediately obvious. There had to be a thousand of the vicious undead monstrosities down there, if not more.
And now, as they watched, a new horror appeared. The stone hall seemed to shudder, and then another wall exploded outward. Emerging from the wreckage was another undead creature, a massive humanoid thing that loomed over the ghouls like an armored giant. It carried a pair of huge spiked flails, both messy with fresh blood, and the nearest ghouls all but fell over themselves in their haste to get out of its way. Death roiled around it like a cloak, and each of the five watching felt a cold fear clench in their guts at the sight of it.
It stood there, absorbing the chaos of the carnage of Derber’s Point. It had no ears, and its lips and eyelids were sewn shut with blue thread. But when it turned, and looked up at the sky, the five wind walkers could feel the sinister pressure of the creature’s perceptions locking onto them.
Nelan gestured frantically, and a sudden wind rose, bearing them away to the south. The action was timely, as a surge of arcane power erupted in their wake, a surge of magical disruption that they only narrowly escaped. The village fell behind them as they drifted southward, holding a steady two hundred feet above the ground below. A track that could not quite be called a road headed in this direction, and they flew over an abandoned cart, accompanied by the gruesome remains of what had been a pair of horses. They could see several structures, farmsteads isolated outside the protective shelter of the village, and ahead of them a broad stream. The road curved to follow the stream, and they could see several more buildings and what looked like a bridge up ahead. They saw more ghouls, too, moving in packs through the countryside.
Allera suddenly broke from their formation, streaking down toward the road ahead. The others followed, and within a few seconds they could all see what had alerted the healer.
A desperate company fled in abject terror down the road. None of them had horses, but an ox drew a cart that was loaded with small forms—children, their cries dimly audible from this far away. There were about thirty adults, all clad in the simple garments of peasants, clutching farming tools like hoes, sickles, and scythes in the unfamiliar manner of weapons.
The farmers were being pursued by a pack of about sixty ghouls. The undead were gaining quickly, and one look was enough to reveal that there could only be one outcome here.
The wind drove Allera down like an arrow. She streaked over the ghouls, which did not note her passage, so intent were they upon their prey. The group of farmers was starting to come apart as panic ripped its ugly claws through them; a few men broke off, and two dove into the stream, hoping to escape that way. But the stream was only a dozen paces across and sluggish, not much of a real barrier. Another dozen adults, men and women alike, formed up behind the cart, pushing at it or clutching their crude weapons in sweating fists.
As the gap between the two groups fell under a hundred feet, the ghouls hissed in anticipation and surged forward with an added burst of speed. A few had broken from the mass to pursue the humans that had separated from the main group, but there were over fifty left, a wave of claws and gnashing teeth. The villagers screamed.
Allera’s misty outline took on substance as she fell the last few feet onto the dusty surface of the road, just behind the trailing edge of the refugees. “Go!” she yelled to them, before turning to face the ghouls. Extending her hands, she summoned forth a wave of positive energy that she unleashed through the ranks of the onrushing ghouls. Blue fire erupted around the first rank of undead, and almost a dozen collapsed, wrought into burning husks by the potency of her magic. But several of the ghouls survived the mass cure, and if anything were driven to a greater fury by the impact of the spell. Allera’s eyes widened in surprise; she’d used a mass cure moderate wounds to be certain, and no ordinary ghoul should have been able to resist the power of that magic.
But it was becoming increasingly clear that these were not ordinary ghouls.
The ghouls surged forward, and Allera hit them again. This time she used a more potent spell, and a full fourteen ghouls were felled by the healing energies of her magic. There was no time for further defense, and as the healer glanced back she saw that the fleeing farmers had made it further down the road, but were still several hundred feet from the bridge.
The first rank of surviving ghouls leapt at her, claws outstretched eagerly, but even as they surged across those last few precious yards her companions were appearing around her. A wisp of cloud dropped down directly in front of her, and then Corath Dar was laying about him with Valor, dropping the first ghoul, and then the second, and then a third that he nearly cut in half with the blade. Others clawed at his arms, and the first one he’d knocked down flailed weakly at his legs, but none could get purchase on his flesh through the protection of his armor. Another pair eschewed subtlety altogether and simply leapt upon him, seeking to bear him down, but he merely grunted and hurled both off him with a sweping motion of his left arm. Infused with strength by his magical belt, and armed with a weapon designed to battle the chaos of such creatures, he seemed invincible.
An island of biting and clawing ghouls formed around him and Allera, but most of the undead cluster just kept going, rushing forward for the easier prey that was still desperately trying to escape. Nelan and Yanis materialized a short distance further down the road, off to the side, and quickly found themselves surrounded by foes. The cleric summoned a wave of holy power, and those ghouls closest screamed as they were blasted into gray ash. That only drove the others into a greater frenzy, and Yanis found himself engaged in desperate battle, trying to keep the creatures off the cleric so that he could call upon the power of the Father once more.
Only about a dozen ghouls had kept focused on the fleeing farmers, but even that diminished force seemed more than a match for the hapless commoners. One man, a wiry fellow barely past twenty, lifted a bow and fired an arrow into the first ghoul. The shot hit it in the chest, but the ghoul paid it no heed. The man paled and fumbled his second arrow, which fell into the ground at his feet. A woman screamed.
Letellia materialized next to them, and as she took on solid form she hurled up her hands, summoning her inherent magic. A translucent wall of ice materialized in a long arc across the road, forming a barrier some hundred feet across and ten feet high. There was a cry of frustration from the ghouls, but almost immediately a pair of claws appeared on the top of the wall, quickly followed by a feral gray face.
“That won’t hold them long... keep going!” the sorceress shouted. She lifted a hand, and blasted the ghoul with a barrage of magic missiles. The creature hissed, and lost its grip, falling back onto the road on the far side of the barrier.
Letellia looked to the right and left, wondering on which side the ghouls would come around her wall.
Allera felt a cold sensation creep through her as a ghoul tore at her with her claws. But the healer was made of stern stuff, and she resisted the cloying paralysis of its touch. Another pair seized her from behind, but all three distingrated as she hit them with another mass cure. The spell also helped clear some space around Dar, at least for a moment; another half-dozen of the creatures surged forward into the space, only to meet Valor. Dar was putting more strength into his swings, having recognized the durability that these monsters possessed. Fortunately their all-out assault made little provision for defense, and thus far he had been able to cut them down without suffering any serious injury from their own attacks.
And then, so abruptly that it came as something of a surprise to the companions, the battle was over.
Dar grunted as he crushed the skull of a ghoul lying on the ground at his feet, putting a final end to its struggles. Twenty-three ghouls lay around them in the dirt, most of them charred by the healing surges of Allera’s mass cure spells. Nelan was bent over Yanis, purging the ranger of paralysis. The northman hadn’t killed any of the ghouls himself, but he’d kept them off Nelan long enough for the cleric to clear the area with bursts of positive energy.
Letellia and the farmers were not visible, their view blocked by the hundred-foot wall of ice that still blocked the road. No ghouls were in sight in that direction. The four of them hurried around the right edge of the barrier, worried about what they might find in that direction.
The slab of ice ended just a few paces from the sloping banks of the stream. Dar got there first, and he rounded the edge to see that matters were well in hand here. Five ghouls lay in a row at his feet, their bodies bearing the familiar markings of impact by a lightning bolt. There was another clump of them not far away, lying on the ground within a circle of blackened earth about forty feet across. The refugee farmers had stopped a few hundred feet down the road, and now stood in an uncertain knot around their cart. Letellia was with them, brushing dust off the arms of her coat. No, not dust. Ash, probably.
Nelan came forward with Yanis. Both men were pale. “The last few, the ones that had broken off of this group, have retreated,” Nelan said.
“What about the stragglers?” Allera asked. She looked down the stream, but there was no sign of the men who had tried to cross.
“Almost certainly dead,” Yanis said. “When I was following you down, I saw a couple of them monsters on their heels, in the water.”
“There are more coming up the road,” Nelan said.
“Your spell, can we still use it to get out of here?” Dar asked.
The question created a moment of silence. Then Allera spoke.
“I won’t leave those people behind,” she said, quietly.
Dar had not shifted his gaze from the cleric. Finally, he nodded, the motion stiff, as if someone had grasped his head with invisible hands and forced it into motion.
“Yanis, I want you to get back to Camar. Let them know what’s happened, and tell them to send help.”
The ranger looked relieved even as he opened his mouth to protest. But Dar didn’t give him the chance. “That’s an order. Get going, now.”
The ranger swallowed and nodded. He concentrated, and his body began to slowly fade, dissolving back into gaseous form. The wind walk took full affect again, and Yanis rose into the air, rising about fifty feet up before a brisk wind launched him toward Camar. Dar walked toward Letellia and the farmers, Allera and Nelan close behind.
“The bridge, maybe we can...” Allera began, but Dar shook his head.
“The stream isn’t enough of an obstacle; they can flank us too easily. We need to find a place where we can make a stand.” He looked down the road, where the path was obscured by a strand of trees that lined the banks of the stream.
Letellia was waiting for them. “There is a mill a short distance down the road, along the stream,” the sorceress said. She nodded to one of the men, who said, “That’s right, sir, ol’ Karon’s place, near the ol’ tannery. It’s not much, but it’s got stone walls.”
Dar and Allera shared a look. Stone walls had not stopped the monstrous general of the ghoul army in the village. But Dar only nodded. “Get these people moving. We’ll head for the mill.”
Author’s Note: Just for the hell of it, I advanced the ghouls to 3 HD and gave them +2 hp/die, to reflect the growing power and potency of Orcus on the Prime. I also made them a bit stronger than typical ghouls. As for the deathbringer... well, you’ll see shortly.
I'm going back and forth between the two scenes, so we'll find out what happens to Tiros tomorrow. Today, the DBs catch up to the ghoul army, and find out that just when you think things can't get worse...
* * * * *
Chapter 285
THE GHOUL ARMY
There wasn’t much to the village of Derber’s Point, thirty-four structures huddled inside a low wall crafted from the stones that had been cleared from the surrounding fields over twenty generations. Most of the buildings were simple one-room cottages with thatch roofs; the place did not even boast an inn, and the “general store” occupied a corner of one farmer’s barn. The center of the village was dominated by a meeting hall that had once been a waystation for the Camarian legions. The long stone structure was now used for winter storage and as a shelter when a particularly harsh storm made it this far inland off the rough seas far to the east.
About one hundred and sixty people called the village home.
The village was doomed.
Dar, Allera, Nelan, Letellia, and Yanis drifted high over the village. From their vantage the village seemed literally packed with ghouls, swarming over the buildings, tearing and destroying. There were a number of breaches in the village wall, but as they watched ghouls vaulting the obstacle where it was still intact, it was clear that the fortifications would have made no difference in any case. The densest concentration of undead was around the stone hall in the center, where ghouls were still pouring into a huge hole in the side of the building. Noises drifted up to them, but it was impossible to discern anything that might have been made by the living over the general din made by the undead.
Allera had started to drift down as soon as they’d spotted the village, but Dar and Nelan had both darted in front of her, warning her off. They could not easily communicate in the gaseous form granted by the wind walk spell, but their gestures were clear, the futility of their intervention immediately obvious. There had to be a thousand of the vicious undead monstrosities down there, if not more.
And now, as they watched, a new horror appeared. The stone hall seemed to shudder, and then another wall exploded outward. Emerging from the wreckage was another undead creature, a massive humanoid thing that loomed over the ghouls like an armored giant. It carried a pair of huge spiked flails, both messy with fresh blood, and the nearest ghouls all but fell over themselves in their haste to get out of its way. Death roiled around it like a cloak, and each of the five watching felt a cold fear clench in their guts at the sight of it.
It stood there, absorbing the chaos of the carnage of Derber’s Point. It had no ears, and its lips and eyelids were sewn shut with blue thread. But when it turned, and looked up at the sky, the five wind walkers could feel the sinister pressure of the creature’s perceptions locking onto them.
Nelan gestured frantically, and a sudden wind rose, bearing them away to the south. The action was timely, as a surge of arcane power erupted in their wake, a surge of magical disruption that they only narrowly escaped. The village fell behind them as they drifted southward, holding a steady two hundred feet above the ground below. A track that could not quite be called a road headed in this direction, and they flew over an abandoned cart, accompanied by the gruesome remains of what had been a pair of horses. They could see several structures, farmsteads isolated outside the protective shelter of the village, and ahead of them a broad stream. The road curved to follow the stream, and they could see several more buildings and what looked like a bridge up ahead. They saw more ghouls, too, moving in packs through the countryside.
Allera suddenly broke from their formation, streaking down toward the road ahead. The others followed, and within a few seconds they could all see what had alerted the healer.
A desperate company fled in abject terror down the road. None of them had horses, but an ox drew a cart that was loaded with small forms—children, their cries dimly audible from this far away. There were about thirty adults, all clad in the simple garments of peasants, clutching farming tools like hoes, sickles, and scythes in the unfamiliar manner of weapons.
The farmers were being pursued by a pack of about sixty ghouls. The undead were gaining quickly, and one look was enough to reveal that there could only be one outcome here.
The wind drove Allera down like an arrow. She streaked over the ghouls, which did not note her passage, so intent were they upon their prey. The group of farmers was starting to come apart as panic ripped its ugly claws through them; a few men broke off, and two dove into the stream, hoping to escape that way. But the stream was only a dozen paces across and sluggish, not much of a real barrier. Another dozen adults, men and women alike, formed up behind the cart, pushing at it or clutching their crude weapons in sweating fists.
As the gap between the two groups fell under a hundred feet, the ghouls hissed in anticipation and surged forward with an added burst of speed. A few had broken from the mass to pursue the humans that had separated from the main group, but there were over fifty left, a wave of claws and gnashing teeth. The villagers screamed.
Allera’s misty outline took on substance as she fell the last few feet onto the dusty surface of the road, just behind the trailing edge of the refugees. “Go!” she yelled to them, before turning to face the ghouls. Extending her hands, she summoned forth a wave of positive energy that she unleashed through the ranks of the onrushing ghouls. Blue fire erupted around the first rank of undead, and almost a dozen collapsed, wrought into burning husks by the potency of her magic. But several of the ghouls survived the mass cure, and if anything were driven to a greater fury by the impact of the spell. Allera’s eyes widened in surprise; she’d used a mass cure moderate wounds to be certain, and no ordinary ghoul should have been able to resist the power of that magic.
But it was becoming increasingly clear that these were not ordinary ghouls.
The ghouls surged forward, and Allera hit them again. This time she used a more potent spell, and a full fourteen ghouls were felled by the healing energies of her magic. There was no time for further defense, and as the healer glanced back she saw that the fleeing farmers had made it further down the road, but were still several hundred feet from the bridge.
The first rank of surviving ghouls leapt at her, claws outstretched eagerly, but even as they surged across those last few precious yards her companions were appearing around her. A wisp of cloud dropped down directly in front of her, and then Corath Dar was laying about him with Valor, dropping the first ghoul, and then the second, and then a third that he nearly cut in half with the blade. Others clawed at his arms, and the first one he’d knocked down flailed weakly at his legs, but none could get purchase on his flesh through the protection of his armor. Another pair eschewed subtlety altogether and simply leapt upon him, seeking to bear him down, but he merely grunted and hurled both off him with a sweping motion of his left arm. Infused with strength by his magical belt, and armed with a weapon designed to battle the chaos of such creatures, he seemed invincible.
An island of biting and clawing ghouls formed around him and Allera, but most of the undead cluster just kept going, rushing forward for the easier prey that was still desperately trying to escape. Nelan and Yanis materialized a short distance further down the road, off to the side, and quickly found themselves surrounded by foes. The cleric summoned a wave of holy power, and those ghouls closest screamed as they were blasted into gray ash. That only drove the others into a greater frenzy, and Yanis found himself engaged in desperate battle, trying to keep the creatures off the cleric so that he could call upon the power of the Father once more.
Only about a dozen ghouls had kept focused on the fleeing farmers, but even that diminished force seemed more than a match for the hapless commoners. One man, a wiry fellow barely past twenty, lifted a bow and fired an arrow into the first ghoul. The shot hit it in the chest, but the ghoul paid it no heed. The man paled and fumbled his second arrow, which fell into the ground at his feet. A woman screamed.
Letellia materialized next to them, and as she took on solid form she hurled up her hands, summoning her inherent magic. A translucent wall of ice materialized in a long arc across the road, forming a barrier some hundred feet across and ten feet high. There was a cry of frustration from the ghouls, but almost immediately a pair of claws appeared on the top of the wall, quickly followed by a feral gray face.
“That won’t hold them long... keep going!” the sorceress shouted. She lifted a hand, and blasted the ghoul with a barrage of magic missiles. The creature hissed, and lost its grip, falling back onto the road on the far side of the barrier.
Letellia looked to the right and left, wondering on which side the ghouls would come around her wall.
Allera felt a cold sensation creep through her as a ghoul tore at her with her claws. But the healer was made of stern stuff, and she resisted the cloying paralysis of its touch. Another pair seized her from behind, but all three distingrated as she hit them with another mass cure. The spell also helped clear some space around Dar, at least for a moment; another half-dozen of the creatures surged forward into the space, only to meet Valor. Dar was putting more strength into his swings, having recognized the durability that these monsters possessed. Fortunately their all-out assault made little provision for defense, and thus far he had been able to cut them down without suffering any serious injury from their own attacks.
And then, so abruptly that it came as something of a surprise to the companions, the battle was over.
Dar grunted as he crushed the skull of a ghoul lying on the ground at his feet, putting a final end to its struggles. Twenty-three ghouls lay around them in the dirt, most of them charred by the healing surges of Allera’s mass cure spells. Nelan was bent over Yanis, purging the ranger of paralysis. The northman hadn’t killed any of the ghouls himself, but he’d kept them off Nelan long enough for the cleric to clear the area with bursts of positive energy.
Letellia and the farmers were not visible, their view blocked by the hundred-foot wall of ice that still blocked the road. No ghouls were in sight in that direction. The four of them hurried around the right edge of the barrier, worried about what they might find in that direction.
The slab of ice ended just a few paces from the sloping banks of the stream. Dar got there first, and he rounded the edge to see that matters were well in hand here. Five ghouls lay in a row at his feet, their bodies bearing the familiar markings of impact by a lightning bolt. There was another clump of them not far away, lying on the ground within a circle of blackened earth about forty feet across. The refugee farmers had stopped a few hundred feet down the road, and now stood in an uncertain knot around their cart. Letellia was with them, brushing dust off the arms of her coat. No, not dust. Ash, probably.
Nelan came forward with Yanis. Both men were pale. “The last few, the ones that had broken off of this group, have retreated,” Nelan said.
“What about the stragglers?” Allera asked. She looked down the stream, but there was no sign of the men who had tried to cross.
“Almost certainly dead,” Yanis said. “When I was following you down, I saw a couple of them monsters on their heels, in the water.”
“There are more coming up the road,” Nelan said.
“Your spell, can we still use it to get out of here?” Dar asked.
The question created a moment of silence. Then Allera spoke.
“I won’t leave those people behind,” she said, quietly.
Dar had not shifted his gaze from the cleric. Finally, he nodded, the motion stiff, as if someone had grasped his head with invisible hands and forced it into motion.
“Yanis, I want you to get back to Camar. Let them know what’s happened, and tell them to send help.”
The ranger looked relieved even as he opened his mouth to protest. But Dar didn’t give him the chance. “That’s an order. Get going, now.”
The ranger swallowed and nodded. He concentrated, and his body began to slowly fade, dissolving back into gaseous form. The wind walk took full affect again, and Yanis rose into the air, rising about fifty feet up before a brisk wind launched him toward Camar. Dar walked toward Letellia and the farmers, Allera and Nelan close behind.
“The bridge, maybe we can...” Allera began, but Dar shook his head.
“The stream isn’t enough of an obstacle; they can flank us too easily. We need to find a place where we can make a stand.” He looked down the road, where the path was obscured by a strand of trees that lined the banks of the stream.
Letellia was waiting for them. “There is a mill a short distance down the road, along the stream,” the sorceress said. She nodded to one of the men, who said, “That’s right, sir, ol’ Karon’s place, near the ol’ tannery. It’s not much, but it’s got stone walls.”
Dar and Allera shared a look. Stone walls had not stopped the monstrous general of the ghoul army in the village. But Dar only nodded. “Get these people moving. We’ll head for the mill.”
Author’s Note: Just for the hell of it, I advanced the ghouls to 3 HD and gave them +2 hp/die, to reflect the growing power and potency of Orcus on the Prime. I also made them a bit stronger than typical ghouls. As for the deathbringer... well, you’ll see shortly.
![:]](http://www.enworld.org/forum/images/smilies/devious.png "Devious :]")
