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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Quasqueton" data-source="post: 850552" data-attributes="member: 3854">The Fiendish Oerth Game Story - part 2aSimon, the human ranger, and Salem, the halfling cleric took point for the group as they stalked their way through the ruined village. About half the buildings had been destroyed by fires, and were still smoking. Here and there they could see a dead body of one sort or another, but most of the carnage was to one side of the village -- the south, according to Rayson's earlier explanation of this territory. They made their way in the direction that the Raoist cleric had pointed them as east, towards the bridge across the Velverdyva River.While stalking from building to building, Simon and Salem spotted a large, badly burned ogre zombie shambling down a street. It hadn't sensed them yet, so they got the jump on it. The halfling leapt out throwing a spear, and the ranger charged out with longsword and short sword drawn. The two of them went to work on the lumbering animated corpse for a few moments waiting for their comrades to round the corner and see the situation.Lorgard, the dwarf mage/fighter, and Cedrin, the human fighter soon joined the fray. The dead ogre got a couple of heavy slams in with its massive fist, but it was taken down in quick time by the four surrounding attackers."This zombie was going the same direction as the others," observed Salem."Seems we're going the right direction ourselves then," said Lorgard.The foursome resumed their advance towards the river. As they walked, they discussed what they expected to find. "Must be a group of necromancers," Lorgard said."But how many?" added Salem.They decided to just wait and see. No use trying to guess, when they would learn for sure very soon.They reached the edge of the village, and there was only a road leading to the river, a few hundred yards away. There was plenty of trees and plants here, as would be expected around a river, but they were all dark and twisted, like poisoned by the Abyss. The area here showed signs of battle: dropped weapons, trampled and torn ground, but there were no dead to be found. As if they had all arisen and walked away. Which, of course, is probably what happened.The group continued on to the bridge. It was a large stone structure supported by heavy timbers, but it was collapsed in about the middle of the river. Rayson had said the Velunan army had destroyed it to prevent the orcs and gnolls and demons from getting across. But the enemy army had crossed never the less.Simon and Salem checked the river's edge for clues while Cedrin and Lorgard stayed on the road watching for trouble. The water was a sickly gray color, and smelled of sulfur. They found nothing of interest around the bridge. The two then moved downstream along the shore continuing their investigation.About a hundred yards down, they found where an army had seemed to walk out of the river. The bank was trampled and rutted by hundreds of marching feet. Simon and Salem walked up away from the riverside to examine the ground further into the battlefield. They had moved out of sight of their two companions still down at the bridge road, but they felt safe. The area was still clear of any corpses, though the signs of the battle was still evident."This area shows no sign of wet traffic," commented Simon. The ranger led the halfling around the field, double checking for signs of water or mud. The hundreds of tracks in the area were not made by a wet army.Salem agreed with the ranger's thoughts. "They came out of the river, but not through the water.""How can they do that?" wondered Simon. "There are no boats. No bridge here.""A mage or priest may have parted the water," suggested the little cleric. Then he noticed movement in the distance. "Look," he said to his companion.Simon stood up from where he had been crouched examining tracks on the ground. A few hundred yards away there were about half a dozen figures standing about in a group."What do you think that is?" said Simon. The distance and the red glare of the Abyssal sky made it difficult to make things out. All they could tell was that the figures were humanoid. One of the figures crouched or knelt down, stayed there a few moments then stood back up. Then two other figures stood up from where they had been lying on the ground.The ranger and halfling looked at each other. Obviously they had found where at least some of the zombies were coming from."What should we do?" asked Simon."Let's go up there and talk to them," answered the halfling as he shifted his hat down over his eyes and pulled his cloak around his shoulders.To be continued . . .</blockquote>

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