Chapter 4.2: The Dim Journey to Orlane

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Jul 10, 2026 11:20 am
"Secure all openings!" Kazzak's voice carries through the fog as Antonius hears the heavy timber bar drop into place across the back door. The relentless pounding continues regardless, each hollow thud confirming that the barricade is holding—for now.

At the front of the house, the crash of another impact answers it.

The shutters Antonius had only moments before closed shudder violently beneath the fists of the undead. Rotten hands hammered against the timber with slow, relentless determination, each blow sending splinters and dust drifting into the room.

Antonius eases the front door open no more than a hand's breadth, the light upon his shield spilling into a wall of swirling grey. He strains to pierce the magical fog, hoping to glimpse the undead assailing the house, but the mist swallows everything beyond the threshold. There is no shape to strike, no corpse to condemn—only the relentless, hollow pounding somewhere beyond the veil.

He lets the door fall shut once more and calls through the farmhouse, "Kazzak! I have the other door, but I can't see it. The fog is too thick—I cannot bring Wee Jas's judgment upon what I cannot see."

Another violent blow rattles the shutters.

Antonius moves immediately to the window, planting his feet and pressing his shield and shoulder firmly against the wooden shutters as they shudder beneath the zombie's assault. Final Measure remains gripped in his free hand, ready for the instant the barricade gives way. Each impact reverberates through the timber into his body, but the cleric remains steadfast, silently offering himself as the last barrier between the restless dead and those sheltering within, giving a silently prayed that its walls would hold until dawn.
Last edited July 12, 2026 7:48 pm

Rolls

Antonius Block: Toll the Dead - (1d12)

(2) = 2

Jul 10, 2026 8:27 pm
Sierra sleeps, blissfully unaware of the chaos around her.
Jul 11, 2026 6:48 am
"Amnestria and I are upstairs!" bellowed the armorless knight. "Im going down to help them, but I’ll have one of my men relay what you see," he explained, as he prepared to descend.

Recovering the crossbow from Reynald, he tells the young man to stand by Amnestria’s door and call down any information she speaks regarding the situation outside. He then orders Guilbert to bring the armor and quarrels with him downstairs. "Once I’ve shot this, I’ll need you to reload it. At the first sign of any zombie inside you and the others barricade yourselves with Lady Amnestria, understood?"

He then returned to the fog-infused lower floor. "Where are Dell and Sora? I can heal a bit, if needed!"
OOC:
Letting himself be guided by the pounding on the shutters, Berthold wants to position himself to shoot point blank at one of the zombies, from cover, and then hand the crossbow to Guilbert. But if he finds Sora first, he will lay on hands to revive her.
Last edited July 11, 2026 2:20 pm
Jul 11, 2026 12:12 pm
Dell will continue to crash through the brush of the dim to keep the zombies with him. He thinks to himself after the next 60 ft he should be far enough away from them that he can go quiet and use his stealth to circle back to the farm. He will give them a wide birth when he does because he has no idea how they found them in the stall because they weren't making a sound. Could they possibly be able to sense the living? That is the only thing that make sense but someone or something could be controlling them. How did they stumble upon the farm? Whatever happens they should burn these things.

Action dash
OOC:
How far away am I from the zombies now?
Jul 12, 2026 3:33 am
Round nine, continued...

Leaned up against the wall under the window that Don is trying to enter, Sora slumbers on, dreaming of mountains.

Hearing that the zombie is focused on breaking open the window shutters, Antonius opens the front door a crack and peers out in the hopes of seeing Don. All is glowing grey mist; he can't see Don, because the fog still obscures everything.
Closing the door again, Antonius yells "Kazzak! I have the other door, but I can't see it. The fog is too thick—I cannot bring Wee Jas' judgment upon what I cannot see."
OOC:
This has been amended since Amnestria stopped concentrating on the Fog Cloud. @Mathfuric - you're welcome to choose something else, but a vision-based spell can't be cast when either Antonius or his target are in the Fog Cloud (which lasts for an hour, unless a wind disperses it). In this case, both of them are in the cloud. He knows this and your turn is not wasted; I'll amend the description to match what you choose for him to do.
Grallaria hears this shout, and therefore so does Amnestria. Though the wizard cannot hear or see her surroundings, she doesn't need to see or hear to stop maintaining her spell. She stops concentrating on the fog, and it immediately disappears. Now the light of Antonius' shield illuminates the downstairs kitchen/dining room: unconscious Sora sitting on the floor and leaning against the wall under a front window, Antonius by the front door, Kazzak in the middle of the room. Antonius immediately turns back, opens the door a crack, and lays eyes on zombie Don. He releases the power of Wee Jas on the animated corpse and it is wracked with the knell of judgment.
Don takes 2 force damage!
Antonius closes the door again and straddles Sora's body, shoving his shield against the shutters that are rattling with each of the undead thing's blows.

"Stop running; you will die out here!" Morton yells, but the terrified girl shows no sign of stopping. Morton runs away from the Fog Cloud after the fleeing murderous bandit girl, Ene. Easily catching up to the girl (still hobbling a little from cut-off circulation in her legs) before she leaves the circle of light cast by Amnestria's glowing coin (diffused by the fog cloud), Morton shoves her in the back. All her fears are realized as she is attacked from behind and hits the ground face-first, sliding to a stop. "Now stay there while I save the other." Morton says, and keeps running for the rest of his move toward the Dim Forest after Fern.

Dell continues to crash blindly through the deep dark forest, away from the zombies that are falling further and further behind him. After Dashing, Dell is 110' ahead of Dvan and 130' ahead of Dina.

"The night is alive with many small things..." Amnestria says aloud, her eyes rolled back in her head as she is seeing and hearing through her owl familiar, Grallaria. "I'm ignoring the bugs and rodents as she takes off and flies over the house. I can see into the yard in front of the house. There's the wagon, but there's no sign of Sora. The hammering of the zombie below is very loud." Berthold can hear it, but it is muffled, coming from downstairs. "I'm looking at the barn from above as she swoops down. Who's that?? There's somebody yelling at the bandits very loudly; he just knocked her down to the ground. Which one is that? Ene - it's clearly Ene. I don't know who attacked her - he looks like an elf. Somebody is smashing through the trees. No, more than one - there are at least four crashing around, making so much noise. She's in the barn now, landing on a beam; there's no sign of anybody in here. How did the bandits get free? Where did Dell and Sora go? Didn't Dell say that Sora was 'down?' How did she get away? Did Dell have some healing? They must be the ones stumbling around in the forest, them and the zombies chasing them. But it doesn't sound like they're together. Why would they have split up?"

As the wizard continues her narrative, "Amnestria and I are upstairs!" Berthold yells, which means it is both audible to Kazzak and Antonius down on the ground floor and to Grallaria perched on a crossbeam in the barn. But when Berthold turns back and addresses Amnestria in a normal voice, she cannot hear it, as her senses are far away, outside. "I'm going down to help them, but I’ll have one of my men relay what you see." Amnestria continues narrating without pause. Stepping out of the bedroom with his retainers, Berthold takes the crossbow from Reynald. He looks from face to face, each one scared and dim in the faint illumination bleeding from the stairwell illuminated by Antonius' shield somewhere below. "Once I’ve shot this, I’ll need you to reload it. At the first sign of any zombie inside, you and the others barricade yourselves with Lady Amnestria, understood?" Terse nods from the shadowed faces. Crossbow in hand, Berthold plunges into the stairwell and descends. He sees Sora on the floor, Antonius standing above her, Kazzak in the middle of the room by the dining table, and hears the splintering of wooden shutters on one side and the booming of the back door on the other. Berthold rushes towards the dwarven monk, adding "Where is Dell? I can heal Sora a bit, if needed!"

Reynald returns to the bedroom with the wizard, who hasn't stopped talking this whole time. Olyena dithers, and then follows him rather than enter the fog. They exchange a glance; this elven woman is a little creepy. Guilbert follows Berthold down the stairs, arms loaded with the knight's armor, quiver full of crossbow bolts at his hip. Everyone downstairs can hear the groom before they see him, clanking and rattling as he teeters his way down the stairs with his heavy load, bumping into walls and grunting with each impact.
19 - Kazzak (12/12)
18 - The dead Dave (Dead), Dean (-15), Dina (-62), Don (-43), Duke (Dead), Dvan
16 - Sora (0/12) Stable, Unconscious
7 - Amnestria (9/9)
7 - Antonius (3/10)
7 - Morton (1/15, 5 temp HP)
6 - Dell (6/9)
4 - Grallaria (1/1)
3 - Berthold (1/11)
0 - Reynald (4/4), Guilbert (4/4), Olyena (4/4)
0 - Bandit Ene (18/18) Prone

Rolls

Don WIS save DC13 - (1d20-2)

(6) - 2 = 4

Don CON save DC7 - (1d20+3)

(20) + 3 = 23

Ene Acrobatics check DC18 - (1d20+1)

(6) + 1 = 7

Grallaria hearing (ADV) DC20 - (2d20h1+3)

(49) + 3 = 12

Jul 12, 2026 4:26 am
mathias0077 says:
How far away am I from the zombies now?
OOC:
@mathias0077 - I've updated the previous turns with accurate distances; at the start of Dell's turn, he is 50' ahead of the closest zombie (Dvan), and the other (Dina) is 20' behind it. That's assuming that he's been making a full Move and Dash for 60' each turn. The zombies move 40' with their Move and Dash each turn. Right now, at the end of their round nine turns, Dvan is 70' into the Dim (that is to say, if it turned back for some reason, it would have to move 70' to reach the edge of the Jarl farm), and Dina is 50' into the Dim.

Knowing all that, I just want to confirm: do you want Dell to start doubling back this turn, or do you want to continue leading them away for another turn as you posted?
Jul 12, 2026 7:28 am
https://imgcdn.stablediffusionweb.com/2024/4/6/9578e689-a663-4e1e-ab8d-eab77de8b341.jpg... Hells Caster ...Tired Morton continues after blind runner Fern although he does glance back to hopefully see that prone Ene remains on the ground where he cheaply back shotted her. Not that he can do anything about her getting up and leaving, but he can hope.

He will call to deeply hurt Ene, "Stop!" but he knows she will probably not and he prepares to do the same to her as Fern. He thinks, "Hell of a way to get a point across." (added the shove roll in if it happens.) Hopefully she hasn't blindly ran far.

If he drops her or she actually stops, "I will protect and led you to safety." & will half cuddle hurt her, so she doesn't fall as he brings 'blind' her back after he gets her off the ground if that was needed. With hope she doesn't fight him. If she speaks, "I'm sir Morton."

Did demonic Morton take note of searching & flying Grallaria?
Last edited July 12, 2026 8:18 am

Rolls

shove attack (STR + proficiency bonus) - (1d20+3)

(10) + 3 = 13

Persuasion if able - (1d20+4)

(16) + 4 = 20

Jul 12, 2026 12:21 pm
OOC:
@spaceseeker19 I will keep the current turn as is and will start doubling back next turn.
Jul 12, 2026 5:40 pm
Seeing through Grallaria's eyes at how the fog limits her assessment of the situation, and deducing that Kazzak is inside since Berthold announced his intention to go downstairs in support, Amnestria ends her concentration of the magical fog. It's already taking too much of her focus to sift through the owlish cravings of mice from the more-important details, though even Amnestria starts to feel an emptiness in her belly.

Once the fog disappears, Amnestria tries to will Grallaria into another flyby of the house and determine how many zombies are attempting to break in.
Jul 12, 2026 7:50 pm
OOC:
@spaceseeker19 I have adjusted my original post to show the effects of the fog, and Antonius’s action to hold the shutters.
Jul 13, 2026 3:59 am
CancerMan says:
Amnestria ends her concentration of the magical fog.
OOC:
Ah. Since concentration can be ended at any time - it doesn't need to be on the caster's turn - and unless you object, I will say that Amnestria ends her concentration and the fog dissipates on Antonius' turn so that he can actually perform his original post.
Jul 13, 2026 7:14 am
Round nine has been updated and completed.
OOC:
Everyone can post their round ten turns (I already have Morton's). The Fog Cloud is gone. Sora, Antonius, Kazzak, Berthold, and Guilbert are all downstairs in the farmhouse. Sora is on the floor by the front door; Antonius is standing over her, bracing the shutters with his glowing shield (dimming but not cutting off all the Light). Berthold is right next to them and the front door, ready to heal Sora as she sleeps; Guilbert is a few paces away, by the stairs. Kazzak is in the center of the room, maybe three paces away from Sora. Don the zombie is trying to break through the window shutters on the front of the house; zombie Dean is trying to break through the back door.

Amnestria is upstairs, seeing through Grallaria's eyes and hearing through her ears. Grallaria is perched in the barn, which is currently empty of all creatures, living or dead.

Dell is in the Dim Forest, well ahead of the other two zombies, Dvan and Dina. Morton is about to run into the Dim Forest after Fern, trying to knock her down, too.
Jul 13, 2026 9:51 am
Dell hearing the sounds of the zombies fade will start to double back to the farm. He slows his pace turns to his left and starts to work that way in a straight line. He figures he should move that direction fifty to sixty feet just to be safe before heading back to the farm. He still can't figure out how the zombie found them in the stall. Could something dead have a sense of smell? It doesn't seem likely to him. Either way it is time to become one with the shadows and get out of here. This is his element.

Rolls

Stealth move to the left - (1d20+7)

(7) + 7 = 14

Jul 13, 2026 4:00 pm
Amnestria continues to report her reconnaissance of the farm. She turns her attention to the house itself, willing Grallaria to get an owl's-eye view of both front and back doors and inform her companions of how many zombies are at each. While she is sure they can easily figure it out themselves, sometimes it's best to have confirmation that nothing else lurks in the vicinity.

As for the folks fumbling through the forest, Amnestria will focus on them after ensuring the house is well-scouted.
Jul 14, 2026 5:30 am
OOC:
@rpgventurer @Mathfuric @matmaisan - just a reminder that it's time to post round ten turns.
Jul 14, 2026 10:52 am
As the last of Amnestria's conjured fog thins and drifts away, Antonius finally catches sight of the undead figure outside the front of the farmhouse, still battering relentlessly at the shutters.
He glances over his shoulder toward the others.
"Berthold, Kazzak—be ready. I'm drawing it away from the house."
Without waiting for objection, Antonius shifts his shield into place, grips Final Measure tightly, and throws open the front door with enough force for it to crash against the wall. He strides out into the open, putting several purposeful paces between himself and the farmhouse before raising his voice into the night.
"Over here, corpse!" he bellows. "Face one who still draws breath!"
The zombie's attention begins to turn toward the lone cleric.
Antonius plants his feet, raises his holy symbol, and extends his free hand toward the shambling horror.
"The Ruby Bell does not toll for the living... only for those who have defied their rightful rest."
A single, deep funeral knell reverberates across the homestead, felt more in bone than in ear. Ruby-black sigils flare beneath Don's decaying feet as spectral crimson chains erupt from the earth, winding around the undead's limbs in inexorable judgment. The divine power of Wee Jas crashes down upon the creature like a sentence already passed, while Antonius stands alone in the yard, shield raised, daring the restless dead to pursue him instead of those sheltered within.


As the last of Amnestria's conjured fog dissipates, Antonius sees Don collapse beneath Kazzak's decisive blows before he can invoke Wee Jas's judgment. Without missing a beat, he changes course.

"Don is down!" he calls. "I'm drawing the other one away!"

Shield locked before him and Final Measure gripped in his right hand, Antonius bursts through the front door and breaks into a run around the outside of the farmhouse. He keeps a respectful distance from the walls, boots thudding across the churned earth as he rounds the corner toward the rear of the building.

There he finds Dean, the relentless corpse still hammering mindlessly against the barred back door.

Antonius does not close the distance. Instead, he stops well beyond the zombie's reach and raises his shield high so its enchanted light catches the creature's empty gaze.

"Dean!" he shouts, his voice ringing through the clearing. "The living you seek stand before you! Leave this house and face the judgment of Wee Jas!"

He stamps the butt of his warhammer into the ground, issuing the challenge like a city watchman drawing a dangerous criminal away from innocent lives. Holding his ground just beyond the creature's grasp, Antonius waits for the undead to abandon the door and turn its relentless hunger toward him instead.
OOC:
Antonius moves full movement and dashes around the house to Zombie Dean, keeping an angle to increase the distance.
Last edited July 16, 2026 3:21 am

Rolls

Antonius Block: Toll the Dead - (1d12)

(8) = 8

Jul 14, 2026 3:25 pm
OOC:
Damn, I somehow skipped Mathfuric's post. Editing this then.
Seeing Antonius charge out the door, the Knight prepared his crossbow to shoot at the shambling corpse as soon as it came into view before the door.
OOC:
Two options at this juncture : if the spell does not kill the zombie, Berthold is readying an action to shoot at the zombie if it crosses the door to follow Antonius. If the zombie falls with Antonius' spell, Berthold will kneel by Sora, and pump his last hp of lay on hands into her unconscious body.
Last edited July 14, 2026 3:39 pm

Rolls

Readied action (if necessary) : heavy crossbow to hit and damage - (1d20+2, 1d10)

1d20+2 : (6) + 2 = 8

1d10 : (6) = 6

Jul 14, 2026 4:35 pm
As Berthold prepares his crossbow, Kazzak moves out the door and out of the Baronet’s line of sight to the zombie. He will rap his shield with his sword, trying to confuse his undead foe.
OOC:
If Kazzak can reach Don, he will attack with his sword. Otherwise, he will do a Ready action, and attack if the zombie moves next to him.
Jul 14, 2026 6:53 pm
rpgventurer says:
If Kazzak can reach Don, he will attack with his sword. Otherwise, he will do a Ready action, and attack if the zombie moves next to him.
OOC:
@rpgventurer - Sure, go ahead and roll the attack.
Jul 14, 2026 7:58 pm
Sword in hand, Kazzak tries to put the sword in the zombie's stomach, followed by a twist and pull.

Rolls

Longsword attack/damage - (1d20+5, 1d8+5)

1d20+5 : (5) + 5 = 10

1d8+5 : (5) + 5 = 10

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