After resting for most of an hour, the left the slaughtered lions in a heap on the edge of the lake and climbed over a hill. Presently, they descended into a ravine covered in thick brush. As they began to climb up again, zombies crawled out of the vegetation from all sides. Slowly, the undead shambled towards them.
Ollie and Tenren hurled flaming oil at the approaching horrors who seemed unfazed by the sizzling flesh dropping to the ground. Nate evoked the power to the Anointed One, offering a measure of protection from the evil foes. Presently, zombies were upon them, biting Ollie, Saul and one of the dogs. Nate rushed to Ollie’s aid and laid hands upon him. Ferris’ dogs latched onto zombies, tearing away putrid skin, but the zombies easily broke free, sometimes leaving behind a body part. Saul’s lion made quick work of shredding zombies into piles of gore.
Gripped by fear, Ollie argued for retreat, recalling past battles when comrades fell when they could have run. Meanwhile, the lion destroyed another zombie and Ollie continued to suffer bites and scratches from the two zombies he faced.
Tenren, the sturdy scout, had made fortunate dodges of attacks by the zombies while not landing any kind of counter attack. Three zombies tugged and scratched at him, and before long, his luck ran out. Two zombies pulled him down. Ferris glared in disgust as a zombie pried the top of Tenren’s skull from the rest of his head and gorged on brains.
Ollie suddenly broke, dashing at a zombie in an effort to clear a path for them all to flee. The zombie held out his arm stiffly, preventing any movement forward by the little dwarf. Ferris pulled a potion from his belt pouch and gulped it down. A green fire flashed over his eyes then lept over the distance to the zombies. Four of them suddenly stopped moving. Controlling them as automatons, he ordered them to attack the zombie still eating Tenren,
Nate, Saul and the lion combined attacks to kill the last two uncontrolled zombies. And with only four charmed zombies left, Ferris ordered them to tear each other apart.
Nate lifted the battered body of Tenren and carried it back to the tower. That evening he dug a grave, buried the body and gave a blessing. Not long after, Aderian arrived at the tower with a cleric named Terdo. Aderian explained he’d met Terdo in the streets of St. Orlan and without much thought, as Aderian seldom had thoughts, he pulled him along for the march to the tower.
The battle with the zombies left a few of them injured and they made preparations to rest for several days. Though they had rations, they longed for the lion steaks that still lay on the beach of the lake, but Saul argued against it. Speaking for his newest friend, the lion, he explained that shock the lion would feel to sit by idly while the group ate her family. They gathered berries and at cold rations to pass four days. Aderian lightened the mood by sharing the last of his elven whiskey.
On the 9th day of the 7th month, they returned to the area around the lake (hex 0809) to search for more monsters then returned to the tower to spend the night. Sometime after the evening meal, two boars wandered into view. Saul entangled them by spell. Ferris and the lion killed them before they could escape.
Now the party rejoiced because they had fresh meat to last several days. Ollie began wondering aloud about smoking the boar meat so that it might be preserved longer. He also thought about cutting the skin into a cloak. He had no particular experience or knowledge of these crafts, but made a valiant attempt. The skin he draped over a rock, expecting it to dry into something he might wear.
Using a blanket, he and Aderian rigged up a small tent, inside of which they built a smoldering fire and hung some strips of boar meat. In the morning, it still had not cured, so they left it alone for the day as they returned to the area around the lake.
Sometime during the day, they came upon a group of six orcs who called belligerently at them. Reacting to Nate’s aggression and spotting the dwarf, the orcs charged. Saul put a patch of entangling vines in their way, and between arrows and weapon blows, the orcs died quickly. Ollie gathered 65 sp and 36 ep from their pockets. Although he was griping about needing a sword, Ollie considered the orc swords trash. He demonstrated his distaste by spitting on the weapons.
They were not disturbed that night and chewed on smoked boar meat that morning (7/11).
End Notes
- Treasure
- 65 sp
- 36 ep
- Combat: 1940 xp
- 15 Zombies: 1500 xp
- 2 Boars: 290 xp
- 6 Orcs: 150 xp
- Characters: 243 xp per share, 8 shares
- Aderian (fight, lead) 272 xp
- Ferris 267 xp
- Ferris’ Dogs
- Nate (fight, protect) 272 xp
- Ollie 243
- Saul (protect animals, wilderness) 272 xp
- Saul’s Lion
- Tenren (deceased)
- Terdo 267 xp
“ The flavor of Wild Boar is a bit nutty and a tad sweet due to the diet that they live on in the wild. Wild boar eat mainly acorns, roots and veggies, and their meat is noticeably different than what you would find in the tavern. You will see that the meat is a deeper red in color and once you have had it, you will be in love with the taste.”