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Message: <blockquote data-quote="megamania" data-source="post: 7622463" data-attributes="member: 9255">DARKSUN: THE ELEMENTS OF EVILSEGMENT 020“UNDEAD OF THE SILT”05/31/19SEASON: FRIEND’S VENGEANCE  YEAR 24MONTH: THE ELEMENTSDAY: 14KA: 190Choro is rubbing the base of his skull where it meets his neck.  His long thick hair covers this area and his forehead. He has a lost look in his eyes.  He is in deep thought and has not spoken in many minutes.“Choro!   Choro what is that?!?” calls out Olan sitting upright and pointing.  A darkness seems to be rolling or pouring towards them on the bridge.  “What is it?”Choro snaps out of it and cups his hands over his eyes to see clearer.  “Small but fast.”Nearly two-thirds of the way across the bridge are five members of House Tsalaxa.  Koe, a mul monk, and Drak’ Chka , a thri-kreen barbarian scout came to the hidden village of Ket to locate a missing and important package due in the city-state of Draj over a week ago.  With them are the sole known survivors of the slaughter of Ket.  Massa Hickxen, a Tsalaxa agent with Ranger based survival skills and two of her slaves, Ted and Griff.  With no clues and the deaths pf over 120 people, mostly slaves, they return with little to show for it.Drak, in the lead as they travel the wooden bridge that is over ½ mile in length, spots something ahead of them.   He leads them on instead of alerting Koe and the others of something ahead.     At about thirty feet away Koe can see the problem.“Hole.”“Good to know you are observant.   How will you get me across that?” demands the half-elf Tsalaxa agent.A flash of impulse crosses the mul’s thoughts.    Throwing her towards the hole- not over it.  “We will cross it.”“klik….danger.” warns the thri-kreen.    The silt ripples with activity.   Many small white domes move through the silt with a slight rhythmic glide.   On the other side of the hole comes a laugh that Koe remembers.  A huge skeleton with a cleric riding its shoulder rises out of the 5ft deep silt.   The domes begin to rise.  The domes were the top of dozens of skeletons traveling through the silt.“Protect me dammit!” screams out the woman.“I protect.” States Koe as he nods to the two slaves.Back on the edge of the mainland…..“Rats?!?” the half-giant questions.“A swarm!” adds Olan as he watches them rush forward down the bridge.They must wait a few moments for the rats to come to range.  That is when Choro discovers- “Dead rats!  Zombie but still fast!”“It just gets better and better.”  Adds Olan as he withdraws two daggers.Choro looks at them then the rats.  “Really?”The tiefling shrugs and smiles apologetically. Back at the break in the bridge-Drak easily jumps over the gap and threatens the huge skeleton.  Koe begins to kick and stomp the skeletons as they attempt to climb onto the bridge.  Massa slides behind the two slaves.  Meat shields.A cleric of silt rises out of the silt.  It doesn’t seem to hinder his breathing or senses at all.  Drak kills him quickly.  He then looks up at the lead cleric whom is still laughing until he spots the thri-kreen looking intently at him.  “Bridge.”The giant skeleton goes after the bridge.   Drak ignores this clumsy attack and leaps onto the shoulder opposite of the cleric.   The cleric is no longer laughing.Koe continues to kick and stomp.  The slaves mainly avoid having their legs grabbed by the skeletons.The undead rat swarm is partially frozen as Choro reaches out with his mind.   Then they are onto him.  Horrified, he stumbles backward and off the bridge.  With hundreds of targets, Olan realizes how futile his daggers will be.  The swarm reaches the end of the bridge and stop.  The undead rats continue to hop and crawl over other but do not leave the wooden structure.  Olan looks to Choro.   Choro shrugs.  “I don’t know.”The cleric cleric attempts to caste a spell but can not as he is struck with the thri-kreen Gythka.   The dark skinned humanoid smirks and gives a salute to the kreen and merely steps back and falls into the silt and disappears.  The giant skeleton attempts to dislodge the kreen but he holds on tightly to the ribs from behind where the skeleton can not reach.Koe has cleared the skeletons threatening the two surviving slaves (whatever with her).  A dozen skeletons have climbed up onto the bridge where Drak once was.  Koe steps up to jump across but a rat chewed board gives as he pushes off.  He falls into the silt but grabs the edge of the bridge.Without the two cleric’s wills and spells controlling the skeletons. The skeletons stop…. As if confused.  Koe sees his chance and begins to climb up.  Then, the undead, once roaming freely within the silt, return to their limited but destructive and dangerous selves.   The two standing by the edge where Koe is climbing take his action as a threat and begin to claw at him.  Their sharp finger bones tear into the mul’s thick skin of his back.  He snarls in pain and frustration.The giant skeleton turns around and begins to walk away into the deeper silt.  Drak hops off and lands on the bridge as Koe trips up a few skeletons and makes his way onto the bridge.  It takes a few moments but the two clear the rest of the skeletons as they leave.The zombie rats also begin to scatter.  Many return to the silt while others run past Olan, Choro and his Inix mount which watches the creatures with strong dislike.MONTH: THE ELEMENTS   DAY: 16Koe and Massa do not get along.Choro watches on.  He looks at how Massa treats the slaves, Ted and Griff.  He also feels how she treats him and Koe, a mul, as slave races.    So unfair.  So unjust.  If he could just do something about it….Koe is tired of hearing the demeaning tantrum by Massa.    She over-saw a House installment of over 150 people.  Over 100 were slaves that she could command as she needed…. Or wanted.Koe quietly pulls Olan aside and talks to him.  Olan has a strange look on his face then he nods an agreement.  Massa is bullying the two slaves.  Neither have their hands bond which irks her.When they awake the next day, Ted and Griff are missing.  (released by Koe complete with bone daggers a few coin)  Massa is irate and that night sleeps with one eye open.  Koe appreciates this.MONTH: THE ELEMENTS   DAY: 18Draj.  The City of Blood & Sacrifice.They arrived late the last night as the gate was being closed. Choro flashes a few coin but has no reply from the templar gate keeper.  Massa steps forward and makes clear her standings.  The templar takes Choro’s money and motions for them to enter.MONTH: THE ELEMENTS   DAY: 20Yaesha returns from whatever he needed to take care of.  He calls Massa aside and takes to her in person.  Unknown but suspected by Koe, she tells Yaesha how the mul endangered her and lead to many deaths of slaves.  Instead of searching for the Drajah weed, he insisted on returning to Draj.  She agreed if only because it would be suicide for her and two slaves to stay in Ket by themselves.Koe is called in.  As she passes the mul she gives a self-serving smirk.  Koe doesn’t care.   She means nothing to him.  Koe explains what he saw.  Speaks of the Silt Clerics and how they targeted the Weed.  One survived and is presumed to have the product.  He says nothing negative about her.  He only speaks of what he saw relating to the loss and recovery of the stolen product.Yaesha has the three others enter the room.  He stresses the importance of not speaking of the contraband or Ket.    Satisfied they will stay quiet, he gives each person 10 gold for pay and hush money.They leave and Yaesha leans back in his chair.  “What are they up to?  Damned Silt People.”</blockquote>

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