Co-workers: Session 12 - The Bite of Undead Report

General Summary

Battle of Wodao

A steady flow of blood spilling onto the dusty floors of the tomb. The adrenaline of combat is barely keeping her alive. Abendlied is starring in the icy blue eyes of an elvish vampire. The vampire is experiencing rage towards Abendlied. It was her that stabbed him while he was hibernating. He wants vengeance.    

Petlar “Damn it, Abendlied!!! You foolish girl. Get out of the way. Gerda, you take her spot.”

    There is a glint of steel that flashes between Petlar and Abendlied. A decorative rapier enters the cold flesh of the vampire. R’in recoils her rapier arm and jumps out of the burning radius of Abendlied.   Abendlied hacks her longsword into the undead monster. It doesn’t go as deep as she would have liked to have. She leaps to the side, keeping her flaming aura in the range of the stone coffin. She narrowly avoids the claws of the monster. A pulse of radiant energy burns R’in and the vampire.   Gerda arcs toward the coffin and makes sure to pass by Abendlied. Gerda still gripping her battle-ax, fist bumps Abendlied. Passing the flow of life into her shoulder as she takes the position in front. Brymroz has a grimace on his face.    

Brymroz “Don’t heal her up all the way.”

    Gerda and Abendlied ignore the comment. They are both focused on the current situation. The vampire tries to shove through Gerda to get to Abendlied. Gerda holds steady, barely holding ground against the creature. The vampire yells out something in a foreign language as a spiritual ax hacks into him.    

Vampire “......Selune…..”

    The word of Selune is the only word that Gerda understood. Abendlied and R’in both hear activity in the coffins closest to them.    

R’in “We need to get out of here guys. He’s yelling out to his friends.”

    Brymroz motions his hands and whispers the incantation ‘Toll the Dead’ on the vampire, but it didn’t seem to affect it. Fortunately, his spiritual nine tail whip caused him some discomfort.   The lights inside the room are rocking back and forth, causing Bob's eyes to strain. He notices something, as his arrow goes wide. He points to an opening on the undead monster.    

Bob :Helps: “Petlar! The dude is overreaching.”

    Petlar is now aware of an opening. Dives his blade, Darla, into the creature's lack of defense. The vampire hisses in pain. He withdraws from the melee in an attempt to flee from the encounter. Hearing R’in shout out the order to leave.   The vampire is attempting to crawl over Gerda, as R’in tries to sneak in one more attack. The villain clutches onto her weapon, but R’in muster enough strength to drive it in. After that last attack, she dashes to the exit.   Abendlied turns off her burning aura. Looks at the vampire, while running past it. She attempts to spit out one more insult at the creature, but only blood splatters between her lips.   Gerda holds her shield up high. Her heels are dug into the ground and charge her protected shoulder into the creature. The motion knocks back the defender. She then goes as far as she can with those stubby dwarven legs. The spiritual ax takes her spot and swings wildly.   Brymroz rockets to the door and escapes into the long narrow hallway.   Bob begins his escape from the area. He attempts to use his brand new magical item. The circlet around his forehead glows molten orange and three beams of fiery energy blasts forward. All three beams miss the intended target.    

Bob “Well, that didn’t work.”

    Petlar stops just short of the room entrance. He holds Darla in the ochs guard position.    

Petlar “Everyone get out of here. I’ll cover your escape.”

    R’in flies pass Petlar, as multiple sounds of heavy stones are hitting the ground. Abendlied lightly grasps his shoulder, giving him some inspiration. Gerda and Bob scurry past Petlar into the long hallway.   In the darkness, the sound of footsteps is heard echo on the stone floor. Only Petlar and Gerda see the blue eye slits of a dozen or so creatures coming their way. They all manage to escape to the daylight before any could catch up.  

Air of Grievances

Egret nervously waits outside the tunnel, nervously watches as everyone escapes into the light. Out of breath and bloody, Abendlied turns to Gerda.    

Abendlied “Well. That didn’t work.”   Gerda “No, it didn’t.”

    Everyone is recovering in the daylight as dark silhouettes rush to the end of the tunnel. They stop short of the exit, even though the canopies could provide them with enough cover from the sunlight. They are staying on the cautious side. The lead vampire stares directly at Gerda and her holy symbol. He begins to speak in a language that only R’in and Bob can understand.    

Lead Vampire “You have failed in your attempt to assassinate us while we are asleep. The Knights of the Wodao will seek vengeance on you. The Templar of the Silver Lady will face our wrath, for they have broken their agreement with us.”   R’in “Does anybody know what the Templars of the Silver Lady are?”   Gerda “What?!”   R’in “Templars of the Silver Lady, they keep talking about it. Like they have been betrayed by it.”   Brymroz “Ugh, the lunatics.”   Gerda “The Templars of the Silver Lady are a group of hunters dedicated to Selune. I don’t know why they would make a pact with these creatures, instead of hunting them down. However, I am not one of them.”   R’in “We are not Templars of the Silver Lady. I think you have us confused. You are undead. That is the reason why we stabbed you.”

    The cold blue eyes of the lead vampire move his gaze to the spring elven lady. Looks her over and looks back to Gerda.    

Lead Vampire “Knights of the Wodao will not forget this cowardice attack. We will hunt you down and hunt down the betrayers.”

    They all slip back into the darkness of the tomb.    

R’in “Well, it looks like they are going to try to hunt us down. That isn’t great.”   Brymroz “Ugh! Of course, lunatics would get us into this mess.”

    Gerda casts a glare at Brymroz.    

Abendlied “Well, this was a disaster. I partially blame myself, but I mostly blame you, Gerda.”

    The Co-workers have a heated discussion over this poorly executed endeavor. Pointing fingers at each other. Abendlied feels that the people native to this plane should have more knowledge on these types of things. She was wrong in that assumption. Gerda looks confused about the comment ‘native of this plane’. She briefly mentions that she isn’t part of this plane, and any further conversation on the matter is a waste of time. They bicker some more about the battle strategy and how the night before Abendlied gave a whole speech on the topic. She disregarded everything that was said that night and almost paid the full price for ignoring that logic.    

Abendlied “Hey, Egret. What direction is the haunted forest, again?”

   

The Journey Forward

The group travels along the side of the forest mountain. Green ferns carpet the soft dirt floor. Along the path are various types of granite boulders, and some of them have moss thickets and mushrooms growing on their sides. The sunlight pokes through the pine needles like stars in a night sky. Bob hikes along the mountainside listening to the many different sounds of the animals in the area. Such as the honking calls of an elk and the caws of talkative ravens. There is even a small sound of hounds howling in the distance. There is nothing too out of the ordinary.   Sometime during the hike to the haunted forest. Abendlied takes out her violin and begins tuning it. Gerda notices that Brymroz is a bit uncomfortable with the tuning of the violin.    

Gerda “You know Brymroz. If this bothers you too much, I can always go back to singing.”

    Abendlied black eyes light up with glee.    

Abendlied “You sing!”   Gerda :smirking: “Technically.”   Abendlied “Yeah, my voice isn’t that good either. I am however good at instruments. Sing something for me, something from your homeland. Where ever that is?”   Gerda “I’m from the city of Himmelfjall. It is a dwarven city in the mountains north of here.”   Abendlied “So is everyone in the city like you dwarf type or more diverse?”   Gerda “It is mostly a dwarven city, but we do have a small share of non-dwarves.”   Abendlied “Do you have any songs from there?”   Gerda “I sure do. Brymroz probably knows a few by now.”

    Brymroz sighs in disbelief as Abendlied and Gerta begin to play music. Gerda sings a variety of songs from her homeland. Some tavern drinking songs and some hardy ballads. Abendlied is jamming with the lyrics. At this moment, Abendlied is super enthusiastic. It reminds her of that only cool gnome. Throughout all this melody, the chill and groovy Bob picks up a usual sound. A noise that doesn’t sound like the boastful dwarven singer and the fiddling planeswalker. He begins to hear the sounds of howling dogs echoing through the dense forest.    

Bob “Hey guys, I think I hear some dogs howling in the distance. I thought that I heard it earlier but wasn’t so sure.”   Abendlied “So it doesn’t sound like random dogs. I guess we’re being followed.”   Petlar “What kind of trouble did you guys get into? Before the rest of us join.”

    Abendlied explains the escape from a hobgoblin encampment. She goes over some of their militaristic capabilities. She does make it a point that the leader of the hobgoblins is some kind of cleric.    

Brymroz “How far off are they?”   Bob “I think a few hours out. It is hard to tell in the forest.”   Gerda “We probably need to find a good place to make a stand.”

    They travel for another hour or two. The sound of the howling is more noticeable to the other party members. Gerda does notice a grove of redwood trees. The soft ground has a layer of dead pine needles, and the coppery base of the trees is frame by green ferns. Cropping of boulders would make for a great camping spot. It has several blind spots for making optimal trap placement. The group discussed what type of trap or traps to create. A suggestion from Brymroz.    

Brymroz “Can we use that dome thing to help create a pinch point?”

    That suggestion gave the team the idea to create a deadfall trap. Brymroz and Petlar began to construct the device with the guidance of Gerda. They finish up the deadfall in a few hours past nightfall. During that time, Bob notices that the hound sounds are getting louder. Egret activates the sleeping snow globe of invulnerability. Petlar volunteers to keep watch out of the dome. He suggested that he could lure them through the deadfall. Brymroz has a dumbfounded expression on his face. Confused that Petlar would willingly volunteer to be bait.    

Byrmroz “My kind are usually bait.”   Abendlied “Really? Your species don’t look like a bait species.”   Brymroz “The way we were treated was like bait.”

    Petlar walks out of the dome and heads to an area just outside the deadfall the trap. He takes out his long pipe and packs it with a leaf type substance. He smokes the pipe. The aroma of the smoke should attract the hobgoblins tracking them.   Brymroz gathers his tail and makes a few silent prayers. Gerda does the same with her holy symbol.   A few hours go by without incident. Bob notices that the hound sounds have gone silent. Abendlied has laid down to sleep. Petlar continues his watch until Brymroz takes over.   A hint of movement through the tree line has caught the attention of Brymroz’s watchful eye. Brymroz is now actively watching the area. He spots a tracer of blue darting to cover. Brymroz carefully walks back to the dome and enters. He hears the deadfall getting triggered. There was no sound of impact. Just the sound of it swinging in the night. Brymroz quickly wakes up everyone in the dome. Something falling from the tree attempted to pierce the dome with its rusted blade. Everybody is startled to see one of the blue eye undead creatures. She is wearing loose-fitting black leather armor. Seven other figures emerge from the shadows. They begin to examine the globe, looking for a way inside. The armor that they are wearing reminds Abendlied of the hobgoblin armor from a few days ago.    

Abendlied “Wouldn’t it be funny if these creatures go to war with the hobgoblins. Anyways, they can’t get in. I’m going back to sleep.”

    The vampires talk to each other in a foreign language and then disappear back into the night. Brymroz attempts to remember what was said. So he could repeat those words to either Bob or R’in. R’in does wake up from her trance. Brymroz attempts to inform her of the thing he heard, but she could only make out the word city or cities.  

To the Forest

R’in wakes everybody up about a half-hour before the dome expires. She explains to everyone that vampires mentioned something about city or cities. She doesn’t know what they mean but has a theory that they may move onto the population centers of the area. There are only two population centers in the area. One is the hobgoblin encampment, and the other is the tri-cities. The tri-cities include the town of Rojorio. The closest to the vampire tomb is the hobgoblin encampment. R’in hopes that they go to war with the hobgoblins. Gerda is visibly disturbed about accidentally releasing these creatures onto the world. Regardless if it is hobgoblins or townsfolk. She examines the many footprints in the loose dry soil. The tracks most interesting to her are the tracks heading back in the direction of the tomb. Gerda feels bad and concerned. She knows that there is a Temple of the Silver Lady in Rojorio, and they have a vindictive against them. Abendlied conveniences Gerda that the greater good is to continue to their destination. We don’t have the power to handle sixteen of them, let alone one of them. Begrudgingly Gerda agrees, only if they return to Rojorio to check upon them. She begins to pray to Selune.   Brymroz leaves the campsite to go pray in private. Concern about his safety, Petlar follows him. Brymroz spotted Petlar attempt to follow him into the woods. He attempts to jump and climb up a tree. He was unable to dig his claws into the bark. He falls flat on his back.    

Brymroz “Why are you following me?”   Petlar “We are not cleared yet. I give you my word to stay a comfortable distance from you, but close enough that I can easily get to you.”   Brymroz “Ok, but keep your back to me and no peeking.”

    Abendlied begins to play some of the dwarven songs from the day before. She is fine-tuning the songs and has added a piano to the ballads. Enough time has gone by to know that the undead creatures have left the area.   Egret begins leading the party through the woods and to the haunted forest. They hike closer to the destination. The surrounding area slowly becomes darker. Abendlied starts to explain the plan and the formation. She begins with the “No” talking rule, and that could trigger a reaction from them that could turn everyone into pudding. Petlar is in the lead since he doesn’t need to speak. Gerda and Brymroz will be next. Followed by the two rogues and in the back will be Egret and Abendlied. Egret taps Abendlied on the shoulder.    

Egret “You see how the surrounding area is getting darker and darker.”   Abendlied “Yeah.”   Egret “That is a sign that we are getting close.”

    A shimmer of liquid metal catches Bob’s attention. He signals to everyone and points out the fluid material. The fluid object has begun to snake to the party. It is like everything in the surrounding area has gone dark. Only leaving the silhouette of the trees and vegetation as this thing slithers along the ground. The fluid objects form a large pool in front of the party. A tornado of thick liquid flows out of the pond. It eventually takes a liquid humanoid body then the silvery metal slides right off of the figures. Standing in front of the party are three anadromous figures in all white. They have an emotionless white mask covering their faces. Their hair is long, straight, and platinum in color. They are wearing all-white long gowns with huge feather collars. It feels like they are in the spotlight. The group also notices that they are in a similar spotlight. The darkness disappears and reveals a stage and a crowd of various fey creatures.    

Figures “Welcome one and welcome all. We have ourselves some new contestants. Will they be able to pass the trials ahead. Or will they fail?”

    A weary Petlar turns to Abendlied. He motions a thumbs up and a thumbs down. She beckons for him to continue to move forward. He continues to move in advance, but nothing is changing. He is walking onward, but the environment is keeping pace with him.    

Figures “Now, how are you all doing on this fine day?”

    Petlar looks back again to Abendlied. She gives him a thumbs up. He slices down through the chest of the central figure. Petlar greatsword makes contact, but only an empty robe falls to the ground. R’in quickly leaps off of Petlar, on the downstroke, to puncture the rapier into one of the figures. That figure collapses on her weapon as she rolls out the way. Petlar attacks the third figure, but the only thing that remains after impact is its robes. The crowd around them goes quiet. The surrounding environment goes dark except for the spotlight at the party. Egret points out that the exit is closing behind them like a zipper. An eerie quiet moment goes by before an eruption of flames engulfs the room around them. Three black silhouettes walk out of the flames. They are all wearing blood-red slim form-fitting attire and tall top hats.    

Figures “They have chosen a trial by fire.”

    There is a large crowd cheering up in the clouds like bleachers floating high above the party. The party finds itself in an arena of some type.

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Missions/Quests Completed

• Main Quest: Arriving at the haunted forest
• Side Quest: The Awakening of the Elves
• Side Quest: The Hobgoblins Metalworks

Character(s) interacted with

• Lead Vampire: a gaunt-looking male elf, long platinum hair, and sinister blue eyes.
• Female Vampire: a healthy-looking female elf with long platinum hair and cold blue eyes. She is wearing the black leather armor and carries a rusted played.
• The Three: anadromous figures of white robes and feather collars and anadromous figures in form-fitting suits and a tall top hat.

Created Content

• Templars of the Silver Lady: a group of Selune monster hunters
• Knights of Wodao: a group of sixteen elven vampires.