Raiàn used Fireball. It's Super Effective! #PetitFoursinPoliteCompany - October 14, 2022

  - The large muscular, blue-skinned creature has six legs and fangs as well as a stubby tail.

BATTLE WITH A FROST BULL (?)

 - Osiris casts Aura of Vitality then runs along the graveyard wall so that there's a bush between her and the FB

- The (HUGE) FB breathes cold on everyone except Osiris for 50 (or 25) cold dmg

- Theophania runs the opposite direction from Osiris to spread the group out against future breath weapons then she casts Ray of Sickness on it, but most of the poisonous ichor splashes off its hide (8 poison dmg, not Poisoned)

- Rusty runs up to the edge of the pit that the FB is standing in and leaps into it and slashes into it with his new battleaxe for 14 slashing dmg

- Lyrielle runs closer to the FB and then throws a dart at it for 6 piercing dmg

- Raiàn casts Fireball just behind the FB for 60 fire dmg (This enrages it so much, it auto-recharges its breath weapon)

- Osiris moves up to the bush separating her from the FB, uses her AoV to give Rusty 8 HP, then she casts Sacred Flame on the FB for 11 radiant dmg

- FB breaths cold again this time on Rusty, Osiris, and Raiàn for 49 (or 24) cold dmg 

- Theophania shoots off a quick crossbow bolt at the FB (5 piercing dmg) as she runs towards Raiàn then she casts Healing Word on them for 6 HP

- Rusty extra enraged by Raiàn fainting he slams his ax into the FB for 35 slashing dmg despite his creaking joints reacting to the cold aura around the beast

- Lyrielle hops into the pit next to the FB and smacks it for 12 bludgeoning dmg then she bonus action Disengages and climbs back out of the pit and get back away

- Raiàn stands up and then casts another Fireball for 35 fire dmg and after the explosion there is no beast, but it is raining meat

- Raiàn grabs a chunk and takes a bite, but it tastes so bad she immediately spits it back out

- "I'm mostly carnivorous, but in polite company I eat petit fours."

- Osiris quickly sends the rest of the healing energy from her aura spell into mostly Raiàn, but a little for everyone

- Tiff starts casting Detect Magic as a ritual while Rusty starts scanning the ground for signs of the Lady Necromancer, and he finds an area near the pit with the grave marker where something had clearly been inscribed

- Once her spell is done, Tiff can see all the chunks of meat glowing with the oily black necromantic energies and the remnants of the summoning circle have some lingering specks of the same energy

- Osiris finds some of the biggest chunks and anything that looks like part of the head and casts Sacred Flame on those bits

- Tiff continues walking around a bit, and she finds another summoning circle where grooves have been cut into the earth and some sort of dark sand(?) has been poured into the groove

- While Tiff is recasting Detect Magic, Osiris messes up a little bit of the circle 

- Tiff says this circle doesn't appear to have been activated at all, so she pulls a collapsible shovel out of her Bag of Holding and hands it to Rusty who completely destroys the circle

- From the graveyard, they head to the Docks Market and start asking at the shops Lady B was known to frequent and start asking around for her with Raiàn charming the merchants

- First they talk with a purveyor of paints and inks, they look at the paints and things Lady B usually buys

- Then they stop at a food cart the paint purveyor says he's seen her and that food cart merchant says he thought she bought a fish hand pie off of him just yesterday

- From there they go to the Merchant's Guild Offices and find out that most of the ladies from the Winfair Hillock flock to Madame Verona as a modiste.

- On the way to the modiste, Raiàn finds an urchin (Thomas) who Henry knocked over so he saw her buy her fish pie and then saw Lady B buy some herbs from the grumpy old man over there then she headed off to the NE (which is in the general area of the graveyard / arena) 

- Raiàn pays Thomas 2 SP to keep an eye out for Lady B and to send word either to Osiris at the Temple or them at the Curlywit boardinghouse if she's spotted with the promise of more work if he can do this for her

- Theophania gives him a black dragon scale our of her pack

- Lady Verona lives in a house closer to the hillock, so they head that direction, but as they are passing the temple, someone waves to Osiris and tells her that Birel is looking for her because she has a visitor.

- So Osiris and Theophania head into the Temple and Raiàn, Rusty, and Lyrielle continues onto the modiste

- In Birel's office there is a very thin, tall, goth-looking woman who Sharai was sent (Tinalia "Tina" Hassara), she is a student who has specialized in Conjuration magic

- She and Tiff get along swimmingly

- Meanwhile chez modiste, Verona has heard of Raiàn, so they are invited in and some chit chat is had

- Lady B was there for a fitting four days ago for a new dress to impress all the other aristocrats at a party that was supposed to have happened the night of the zombie attack, but that party didn't happen because zombies

- Raiàn manages to get out of her that Lady B sometimes mentioned that she occasionally mentioned a city guard named Nathan when R asks about any dalliances Lady B might have had

- Right as they are leaving the modiste, Tina, Tiff, and a very exasperated Osiris show up

- More chit chat is had as they walk back to the Temple, so Osiris is not relieved

- They head to the Hall of Justice to talk to Captain Swinson about Nathan

- Tiff gives a very fast explanation to Captain Swinson, and it's a lot to process because she hadn't yet heard that Lady B is the necromancer

- Nathan is currently on watch in the neighborhood of the prison, but he's only been with the guard for about six months

- Tiff has the idea that Lady B might have a Hat of Disguise because she is KNOWN FOR HER HATS, so she could be anyone

- She and Tina start in on the theories at a thousand miles a minute

- Raiàn and Osiris arrange with the Capt to have a BOLO for Lady B and extra patrols on the surface above the area with the pool of necromantic energy

- Tina is given a badge, and Capt Swinson is let in on their plan to stake out at the cemetery by the arena since they had to kill the FB there this morning

- They leave

 

- 2,500 XP ea for 51,590 XP total ea.

Useless Plans #WeeWoo - September 16, 2022

 - The staff are escorted to the temple and "turned over" to the hospital wing and Osiris goes and talks to Birel while Theophania talks to Marta about whether killing them and then Revivifying them would work

- They are given a small wing where they each get their own room and a guard is posted in the hallway

- The group drops off Volume II of How I Made Your Undead with Mistress Heather in the archives

- By the time all this is completed, it's late afternoon, so they head back towards the Blackmore Estate

- As they are crossing the Temple Bridge, Osiris looks out over the water and sees a mist has rolled in over the river, and this is not seasonally appropriate. It looks like it rising up from the river itself hanging low over the water. This is only looking south and not north.

- Theophania knows it's perfectly possible that it could be created by magic, but can't tell from here if has been

- The mist / fog is - for now - contained mostly to over the water of the river and a little bit of the lower banks

- They finish crossing the bridge and then walk south along the west bank to get a little closer to the fog since they were a little early in returning to the Blackmore estate

- Theophania uses her goggles to Detect Magic, but the fog doesn't glow, and it doesn't have an obvious source.

- Osiris leads them a little further along, and the fog keeps going, but it doesn't change much over the course of that distance

- Rusty walks into the river and walks along the bottom looking for the source - Tiff gives him a Potion of Flight (elixir) to take with him to get him out of trouble if needed

- He doesn't find anything staying shallow, so he walks out deeper out towards the center of the river

- Theophania gets out a sample jar and manages to collect some, but also she accidentally breathes some of it and it smells rancid, putrid, and coppery

- Rusty still doesn't find anything even deeper in the center of the river

- Rusty then drinks the potion and then flies straight up and sees that the fog extends south almost to where the tributary river (Ember Flow) meets with the main river (Sapphire River) and seems to be centered on the temple he watches for a minute or so before he has to come back down or fall and he notes that it might be slowly spreading

- The group then heads to the Blackmore Estate, so Osiris sets herself up in a room on the second floor that overlooks the river to watch the fog. This is unfortunately Julieanna's "studio"

- Lyrielle climbs onto the roof

- Raiàn heads to the kitchen and starts sampling cakes and breads and anything that was left behind

- Theophania sets herself up on the landing at the top of the stairs overlooking the foyer to watch the entrance

- Rusty stands at the edge of the foyer room itself and pretends to be a suit of armor

- Lyrielle from her spot Trancing on the roof, sometime late in the night, she is startled by a flash of lightning. It looks like it struck somewhere in the northeast from her location. There is no rain. That is the only event that occurs during the night.

- Tiff writes notes for the people with whom they had appointments that they will need to reschedule their house visits as they have a very strong lead on the ongoing zombie problem and she had a trustworthy looking urchin deliver the notes

- While Tiff is doing that Osiris checks on the fog, and while it is still contained to the river, it seems like it's taller, then she casts Destroy Water and a chunk of the fog disappears then the fog around the area slowly starts to fill in as the remaining fog settles back in. She then heads back to the estate and her friends

- They head to the cemetery near the Dragonfire Arena which was on the map under the illusion of the bird and is also NE of Winfair Hillock

- It's just after dawn, and the Arena Gate is open when they get there with no signs of additional / new zombie attacks en route

- There is a large-ish graveyard behind the village just outside of the gate where the remains of animals from animal fights in the arena would be interred after the arena events are concluded

- They pretty quickly find an area that looks disturbed like something was unearthed. 

- Tiff finds a marker, but it's badly broken. She uses Mending and can read "Giant Frost Bull" and a date, presumably when it was buried

- Osiris find giant, hooved footprints that lead off into the distance

- Raiàn starts heads the wrong direction, then Rusty gets her attention and starts getting her straightened out

- They are starting to follow the tracks, but then there is a roar behind then and a large, blue-skinned creature with six legs that looks rotted in some places, no horns.

- 2,000 XP ea for 49,090 XP total ea.

It's Magified from my Body #FoodPlanning #NotToday - September 9, 2022

 - Tiff makes a device that when you cast Detect Magic through it, the device will cause things with magic to glow for everyone and not just for the caster - Disc of glass with metal beaten around the edge and rune inscribed into both the glass and the metal with other metals. It takes all day and a bit into the evening. 

- Long rest achieved 

- The morning of the emergency council meeting dawns and the group heads over to the Hall of Justice to attend, Osiris attempts to grab Captain Swinson before the meeting starts, but she's holed up in her office talking to someone, so Osiris just writes her a note

- McNabb nods at the group as he walks in and takes his spot in the center 

- Lord Blackmore is the last to arrive (He's an average-height man, relatively athletic looking, with a close-cropped beard, brown hair, round face, in fine clothes. He looks like he might not have slept very well the previous night, but he doesn't look undead.)

- Captain Swinson comes in as well a few minutes after that and sits in the back

- Theophania quietly uses her goggles to Detect Magic, and the only thing she sees is the glimmer of a ring on McNabb's hand.

- The council is all men and all human except on elf

- They start having the meeting, and Osiris uses a heated bit of discussion to disguise her casting of Detect Evil and Good and she does not detect any of the things the spell would reveal, but then everyone is looking at her because he eyes flashed with visible light garnering lots of attention, Theophania has to help her smooth things back over after her spell is noticed.

- Blackmore seems very keen to get the docks repaired, and since his income is mostly through trade this makes sense, not indicative of his being the necromancer, though.

- They also learn that most of the damage took place in the western half of the city (where mostly or most of the halflings live)

- Tiff stands up during the additional business portion at the end of the meeting and asks to speak to each of the judges if they have any concerns about their personal safety

- Lord Glen Thomason is very interested in them coming and inspecting his place, so they arrange to meet him at his place the next morning

- They arrange to meet with and inspect several of the judge's homes, and Lord Blackmore tarries to the end

- Captain Swinson is still in the room, McNabb didn't linger at all

- Lord Blackmore had a problem this morning, his wife is missing, she never came back from the market, and he seems very upset about it.

- Mr. Henry Todd is also missing as he accompanied Julieanna, and Osiris suggests they've run off as lovers

- Lord Blackmore invites them to come and investigate and they also tell him about their suspicions about Henry Todd, the bib is shown and the portal to his study is told about to get access to that particular room as well

- They walk with Lord Blackmore to his house, and when they walk in the butler (Mr. Victor Windam) still looks undead, but he doesn't show any sign of recognition to them though and offers to bring refreshments. Also he no longer has claws that seem poisonous. 

- Tiff has an idea and asks to borrow his still room so that she can create a test with visible science results for all to see to show who is undead and who is fully alive

- Somehow the Butcher's Bib is a dragon's period panties (Side convo)

- Tiff comes back with a rack of test tubes and puts a drop of her blood in the first vial and it fizzles. Mr Windham's blood doesn't fizzle. Lord Blackmore's blood does fizzle.

- Victor returns with the cook, the maid, the errand boy, and Ethan Blackmore.

- Ethan Blackmore's blood fizzles. He is alive. 

- All the servants are undead.

- Raiàn: "When did you last poop?"

- They all have to ponder when they were last pooped.

- Theophania says that a Resurrection spell at the temple should put them back.

- They start their search in Julieanna Blackmore's painting studio, Tiff takes everything out of all the cabinets and drawers, lays everything out, checks for false bottoms, secret drawers and then checks everything she's laid out with Detect Magic through her goggles

- Theophania goes to put something on the table and feels something squishy, but she doesn't see anything squishy, she touched a paint pot, but it feels like a squishy thing

- Tiff hands the squishy, meat-feeling thing to Osiris who declares it to be a kidney of some kind, either human/elf child, a halfling, or some sort of animal

- Tiff squeezes her eyes closed and looks again and she can see through the illusion of the table covered in paints and brushes and she sees what looks like a cutting board with random parts like organs and vials. The table has splotches and stains that are NOT paint. There's another necromantic grimoire disguised as a sketchbook, which she gives to Osiris.

- The grimoire is also in Dwarven as was the first one they found. It's volume 2 based on his quick skimming and what he read of volume 1 when they wanted to figure out what ingredients to check for at Vianola's herbs.

- Further tour of the house reveals that the room Osiris and Tiff found themselves in before when they came through the portal is the butler's office. The wall where the portal would have been looks slightly damaged like the finish isn't quite right, but when they touch it, it's solid.

- They recommend that the servants come with them to the Temple to be Resurrected (killed first and then resurrected because undead things can't be resurrected, but yikes what a process) and that Lord Blackmore take his son to either the Temple or a quiet inn in case Julieanna is the necromancer, but not to leave the city in case she is just another pawn so they can be reunited quickly if that is the case.

- They plan to hit up the market and places Julieanna might have gone for clues and then stay as the only living people in the Blackmore estate 

- The map on the canvas has cemeteries marked, one near the arena, one near the prison, and a third one just outside of town west of town, which is probably the one they were under that had the cave in with the bodies spilling into the tunnels connected to the sewers that eventually also leads to the pool of darkness spilling over from the Shadowfell (?)

- 2,000 XP ea. for 47,090 XP total ea.

That was amusing. - September 3, 2022

- Osiris leads Theophania and Raiàn straight to Headpriestess Marta to explain what just happened and have their injuries documented

- There are three possibilities, either Lord Blackmore is the necromancer, he's being held hostage by the necromancer, or he has already been turned by the necromancer

- They go to Birel for another witness

- Rusty makes the worst possible joke to Birel and gets a deadpan "that was amusing" when they bond a bit over having trouble with humor

- They walk to the Hall of Justice after confirming with some of the guards around the Temple that she's in her office today

- They manage to get in the door this time since they say they want to make a report to Captain Swinson instead of asking after Lord Blackmore

- Captain Swinson suggests getting another of the judges (Lord Ignacious McNabb is the head judge)

- Theophania met Lord McNabb once many years ago when she was assisting Great Aunt Thessalie, but he was stern-looking with a commanding presence and she knows he's not married, but that's all she's got

- Tiff says they should go and try to talk to him, and they bicker about it

- Back to the Hillock they go, and they easily find the McNabb estate because the name McNabb is over the Gothic gate

- Tiff takes the lead and is extra polite and they are allowed into the parlor to wait while she goes to speak to Lord McNabb 

- The room is very formal, stuffy and not at all comfortable

- They wait and they wait and they wait

- They are finally led into a large, masculine study, leather furniture, red books, the whole lot

- They, mostly Tiff, explain the situation to Lord McNabb

- McNabb is "not a particular fan" of Blackmore, but he has no authority to order a raid or similar

- There is a large, fluffy black cat that slinks into the room at some point that Tiff is terrified of

- They learn that Blackmore and Lord Webber are usually allies, and sometimes he allies himself with Lord Thomason

- Lord Blackmore is generally well-liked

- McNabb thinks Blackmore is "too idealistic and not willing to do what needs to be done"

- McNabb says that most of Blackmore's income comes from trade and smugglers would be stealing profit from him (Motive?!)

- Theophania gets distracted somehow and asks if McNabb has a big unused basement because she could use a lab space.

- Raiàn tries to convince him that he could use a house wizard in the form of a house artificer is just as good as any other magic user as a status symbol (Patron?!) She shows him her machine that Cloud Writes

- They go back to the Temple to see if Theophania can figure out a way to amplify Detect Evil and Good or Detect Magic enough for other people to see the glowing affects than just the caster to see if they can prove Blackmore uses necromancy 

- 1,500 XP ea for 45,090 XP total ea.

Man, Fuck These Dice - August 26, 2022

 - Jimmy says, "We need to talk."

- He convinces the group to duck into the alley / side street where he had been loitering because he doesn't want to walk up to the hillock

- The Black Bloods were hit very hard, and not just Jimmy's arm of the organization

- Jimmy's people tried to attack the Blackmore estate, and his people did not fair well, and it seemed like the zombie-creatures were protecting the estate

- Theophania convinces Jimmy to send the survivors of the attempted Blackmore estate to the Temple for healing because she's afraid that if the wounds fester and they die of them, she thinks there's a chance those people might rise as zombies

- After Jimmy departs, the group decides to try the Hall of Justice to see if Judge Blackmore is working today

- The Hall of Justice is closed and the only people who should be there are the city watch due to the current state of emergency

- They turn around and head to the Hillock after all

- The gate to the Blackmore estate's walled garden is broken, the garden looks torn up, and there's an outbuilding of some sort that looks like it was on fire at some point

- They walk up and Osiris knocks on the door

- The door opens - it is the security guard who chased Osiris and Tiff through a window

- Osiris's first thought on seeing him is "Oh shit, it's that guy" and then she realizes that something about him isn't quite right - he's holding his head strangely and his eyes look sunken

- Theophania asks to see Judge Blackmore, but the guard (Henry Todd) says the Blackmores are not receiving visitors today

- Osiris clutches her holy symbol and Channel's Divinity Turn Undead, but Henry seems unaffected

- Henry tells them to leave because Osiris cast a spell at him 

- He tries to go inside, but Osiris and Rusty refuse

- Rusty is very threatening and aggressive and a fight breaks out, much to Theophania's chagrin

BATTLE AT THE BLACKMORE ESTATE COURTYARD

- Lyrielle moves to behind Henry Todd and bonks him on the head with her staff for 13 bludgeoning dmg, but he isn't stunned by her Stunning Strike then she takes up a defensive stance

- HT swings at Lyrielle with his sword for 16 slashing dmg then he misses

- Theophania casts See Invisibility and then back up to the fountain after seeing no invisible things

- A Housekeeper(?) with claws(?) runs out the door straight to Theophania, misses, and then scratches her for 9 slashing dmg and 10 poison dmg

- Raiàn moves the housekeeper and casts Burning Hands then she Misty Steps into the house

- A Butler(?) with claws(?) swipes at Raiàn for 4 slashing and 12 poison dmg and then again for 9 slashing and 8 poison dmg

- Rusty Rages and moves up to HT and slices him with a great axe for 6 slashing dmg and then again for 7 slashing dmg (HT's blood is too thick, it's like jelly)

- Osiris casts Banish on HT, but he resists, then she moves out from behind Rusty and to the right

- A Cook(?) with claws(?) moves up to Raiàn and claws her for 9 slashing and 14 poison dmg and then again for 7 slashing and 23 poison dmg

- An Errand Boy(?) screams(?) a weird energy bolt hitting Lyrielle for 16 necrotic dmg

- Lyrielle smacks HT again for 25 bludgeoning dmg and he resists being Stunned again then she Disengages with Step of the Wind and runs behind a topiary in the shape of a horse

- HT swings at Rusty for 12 slashing dmg and then misses (Osiris notices that HT's wounds close up a little bit as well)

- Theophania casts Cure Wounds on herself for 9 HP

- The "Housekeeper" claws Theophania for 8 slashing and 23 poison dmg the misses

- Raiàn is not dead yet.

- The "Butler" moves to flank Rusty then claws him for 4 slashing and 8 poison dmg then misses

- Rusty misses the "Butler" and then chops him for 15 slashing dmg

- Osiris casts Aura of Vitality and uses it to give 17 HP to Raiàn then she moves to flank the "Butler" with Rusty

- The "Cook" thinks Raiàn is dead, so he scream attacks at Rusty for 8 necrotic dmg

- The "Errand Boy" misses Rusty with an energy scream

- Lyrielle moves to flank the "Housekeeper" with Tiff, misses with her staff then uses Wholeness of Body and regains 24 HP

- HT starts casts a spell (Magic Weapon?) then swings at Rusty for 14 slashing and 7 psychic dmg

- Theophania Disengages and runs away toward the gate

- The "Housekeeper" misses Lyrielle twice

- Raiàn casts Misty Step then stands up and stubbles away then turns and then tosses a Firebolt at the couch, which starts to catch fire

- The "Butler" misses Rusty then claws him for 2 slashing and 5 poison

- Rusty Disengages and runs towards the exit towards Theophania

- Osiris uses the AoV to heal Raiàn for 7 HP then moves to Rusty taking an attack from the Housekeeper (7 slashing and 10 poison dmg) and Cure Wounds Rusty for 19 HP

- The "Cook" moves into the open doorways and screams energy at Lyrielle 

- The "Errand Boy" put out the couch that's on fire

- Lyrielle smacks the "Housekeeper" for 13 bludgeoning dmg and she is Stunned  then she runs around the fountain towards the exit

- HT stares at Rusty with eyes like daggers, but Rusty is unaffected, so he moves in Rusty's direction up next to the "Housekeeper"

- Tiff casts Cure Wounds on herself and then run 25' more towards the exit

- The "Housekeeper" is Stunned

- Raiàn throws a Fireball (4th level) into the doorway dealing 39 fire dmg to HT (his sword stops glowing) and the Housekeep and the Cook, but the Butler ducks and only takes 19 fire dmg and some of the house is burning

- The "Butler" moves to Raiàn and claws her for 5 slashing and 12 poison and then again for 4 slashing and 12 poison, and Raiàn is unconscious again

- Rusty runs back to the "Housekeeper" grabs her and runs towards the gate

- Osiris moves into the fountain within 30' of Raiàn then heals her for 17 HP with the AoV, then she moves next to Rusty then she casts Sacred Flame on the "Housekeeper" for 12 radiant dmg

- The "Cook" and "Errand Boy" both spend their turns putting out fire in or on the house

- Lyrielle sprints for the exit

- HT moves up to Osiris, misses her, then slices into her for 17 slashing dmg

- Theophania casts Reduce on the "Housekeeper" but she resists the spell, then Theophania runs for the exit

- The "Housekeeper" does not break free of Rusty's grasp

- Raiàn Misty Steps towards the exit and then runs towards the exit then she casts Firebolt at HT for 

- Lyrielle runs out of the gate

- HT misses Osiris twice

- Tiff shoots Henry with her crossbow and then runs out the gate

- The "Housekeeper" breaks free from Rusty and runs towards the house (Rusty and Osiris both miss their opportunity attacks)

- Raiàn casts Fireball (4th level) so that HT and the "Housekeeper" for 10 fire dmg on both then they run out the gate

- The "Butler" screams energy at Rusty but misses then he moves towards the gate

- Rusty moves to flank HT with Osiris and chops him for 21 slashing dmg then they miss then he moves back next to Osiris

- Osiris heals Rusty for 14 HP then she casts Cure Wounds on herself for 18 HP then she turns and runs for the gate taking 24 slashing dmg from HT as she goes

- HT misses Rusty then slices into him for 15 slashing dmg

- Rusty Disengages and runs towards the gate

- Osiris heals Rusty for 13 HP then runs out the gate

EVERYONE ESCAPES

- The wounds the Theophania and Raiàn suffered are obviously from some kind of undead

- They hopefully have proof that they were attacked by undead at the Blackmore Estate

- Osiris casts Locate Creature to try to find Lord Blackmore, and she gets the feeling that he's somewhere in the house

- They make their way cautiously back to the Temple

- 2,300 XP ea. for 43,590 total XP ea.

Survivor: Mistverge - August 5, 2022

SKILL CHALLENGE TO SURVIVE THE NIGHT / SAVE TOWNSPEOPLE (5 before 3)

- Rusty uses Athletics to barricade the windows and doors with furniture (Success)

- Raiàn Persuades Magnus not to help (Success)

- Theophania sees some townspeople running from zombies, so she pulls out her Skywrite machine sand makes the clouds above the Curlywit Boardinghouse glow to attract their attention (Arcana - Success)

- Osiris runs out the door Rusty wrenches open for the townspeople, who make it inside before getting bitten, and Osiris tries to Sacred Flame them off the building (Religion - Fail) and the zombies swarm her

- Lyrielle Sneaks out a window and up the alley a little ways, then throws a dart at a flower pot to break it (Fail) The zombies do not notice and continue mauling Osiris

- Rusty runs out the door charging the zombies while screaming with glowing red eyes (Intimidation - Success) The zombies are taken aback enough for his to grab her and pull her back inside

- Raiàn hears glass breaking upstairs, so she runs up there and sees a spider-zombie climbing through a broken window, so she casts Magic Missile (Arcana - Success) and knocks him back out the window

- They board up the damaged window 

- The halflings live a few blocks up, and a zombie broke into the house where they were taking shelter, so they ran

- Callie gives them a stiff drink each (on the house)

- They halflings tell the group that the undead problem started a little after sundown

- Osiris can't piece together exactly what time the glowing would have started on the alter, and Theophania can't help since she was asleep when the glowing started

- Tiff keeps plinking zombies out the window with her limitless ammunition

- Osiris helps keep watch and she notices over time that they seem to have similar features in that they all seem to have been created by the same crazed individual or group of people 

- By the time the sun rises, they have a small group of survivors (5 halflings and a gnome)

- One of the halflings and the gnome claim to have been at a bar drinking when the zombies starting attacking, but Osiris gets the feeling they might have been looting houses

- None of the refugees are interested in coming to the temple with the group, so they leave them in the barricaded boardinghouse with Magnus having been given permission to use fireball again

- The streets are quiet, but there are bodies both of zombies and townspeople and a good bit of property damage 

- As they cross the Golden Bridge and head to the temple, the paths that lead into the normally open courtyard are heavily guarded, mostly with city watch

- Rusty has to show their badge to get past

- There is a little damage to the courtyard area, but the Temple itself seems unharmed

- They head straight to Rowan's office, and as they are walking up to the front door, they are directed to a side door instead as the sanctuary is very full of refugees (maybe 1,000)

- Rowan is very surprised to hear their report about the altar and the leak of necrotic energies

- Rowan says that the zombies came out of the sewers and the river and gravesites starting not long after sunset

- The older parts of the city (docks district) were hit the hardest as well as many areas with "dens of ill repute", though the newer "nicer" parts of town also have damage but that may have been from looters rather than creatures, and one of the estates on Winfair Hillock caught fire 

- Rowan doesn't know what to do about the pool of necrotic energy, so he directs them to Birel

- Birel looks exhausted and is directing many acolytes to organize all the incoming bodies

- They ask to speak to Birel in his office, and then give Birel the same spiel they gave to Rowan

- Birel thinks that it was a good-thing, or at least more good than bad, that the tendrils, altar, and skull were destroyed as it probably made the zombie outbreak that happened possible or easier

- Tiff offers to write a letter to Great Aunt Thessalie's friend who is a professor in one of the elven cities in the Niannan Freelands (Sharai), but Osiris says that she met her once and can 

- Birel also reports no undead rose from the catacombs under temple itself

- Rusty reports to the commander in charge of the security at the temple

- Then he goes Norman to requisition a new weapon since his greatsword is now an instrument that will create undead, and "that seems counterproductive at best"

- After very efficiently filling out the five pages of forms Norman requests for him, Norman brings him what is clearly a Dwarven-made great axe that Norman says was found when the area under the temple was excavated

- Osiris and Tiff head to the archive to research the Shadowfell and links thereto

- The Temple doesn't have a lot about the Shadowfell itself, but there are some history books that talk about this area that mention some cults that existed in the area and there is a cult who worshipped Takhisis, so they are probably the ones who created the altar

- Tiff falls asleep at the research table (they've been awake for like 30-32 hours at this point), so Rusty and Osiris take her to her room

- Rusty is very excited about his axe because he has vague memories of not being allowed one and given the sword instead.

- Long rest at the temple

- The group wakes up in the earlier evening and dresses in their nicest clothes 

- Right before they head to the Winfair Hillock, Osiris Sends to Sharai, "This is Osiris, friend of Thessalie. There is gate to the Shadowfell beneath Mistverge. Can you please come to the Temple and advise or help?"

- She receives, "I'm not really that kind of wizard. So not sure I can be of much help. I can try though. Can be there in three days."

- As they start up the road towards the Winfair Hillow, a man walks out of an alley, sidles up the group, and starts walking with them.

- Jimmy says, "We need to talk."

- 2,000 XP ea for 41,290 XP total XP

Night of the Horde of the Undead #MagnusGetsAClueByFour - July 29, 2022

 - Osiris starts running to the boarding house with Tiff under her arm and everyone else follows suit

- As they approach they see a creature pounding on the door of the Curlywit Boarding House, so Osiris tries to cast Sacred Flame, but it fizzles out 

- The creature turns around and sees them, and it's one of the humbacked zombies that explode

- It roars and more zombies appear, two of the spider-zombies on the roof and five halfling-sized ones

BATTLE AT THE BOARDING HOUSE

- Halfling-Sized Zombie-Purple runs up to Rusty and claws his thigh for 5 slashing and 8 poison dmg

- HSZ-Blue runs up to Osiris and misses her with his claws

- Spider-Zombie-Blue spits webbing at Raiàn, but misses

- HSZ-Red runs toward the gourp

- Tiff casts Enlarge on Lyrielle

- SZ-Red spits at Tiff but misses

- HumpBacked Zombie lumbers up to Osiris and punches her for 9 bludgeoning and 10 necrotic dmg, but it misses on the second hit

- HSZ-Orange runs up to Lyrielle and misses

- Raiàn moves forward 5' and casts Burning Hands on HSZ-Red (12 fire dmg), HBZ (12 fire dmg), and HSZ-Blue (6 fire dmg)

- Lyrielle misses HSZ-Purple with her stick

- HSZ-Green  runs up to flank Tiff with the HBZ for 5 slashing and 2 poison dmg 

- Osiris casts Turn Undead on all but the Spider Zombies, HSZ-Purple, Red, and Orange are overcome by radiant light and they dissolve into dust then she moves to flank HSZ-Green with Tiff, HBZ punches at her but misses (Fortune's Favor for the win!) and HSZ-Blue claws her for 6 slashing and 2 poison dmg

- Rusty Rages and then moves to the spot Osiris vacated and then slices into it with his greatsword for 13 slashing dmg then misses 

- HSZ-Blue misses Rusty

-SZ-Blue spits at Tiff for 8 acid dmg and she is stuck in web and Restrained

- Tiff casts Cure Wounds on herself for 10 HP

- SZ-Red spits at Raiàn for 14 acid dmg and she is stuck in web and Restrained

- HBZ punches Tiff for 5 bludgeoning and 11 necrotic dmg and then misses

- Raiàn breaks out of the web holding her down

- Lyrielle dashes over to flank both HBZ and HSZ-Blue and she thwacks HSZ-Blue into paste then she misses HBZ

- HSZ-Green misses Tiff

- Osiris smacks HSZ-Green for 8 bludgeoning and 1 radiant dmg with her warhammer, then she casts Healing Word on Theophania for 10 HP then she moves up next to Tiff

- Rusty moves to flank HSZ-Green and slices it in half then he moves back to HBZ and misses his twice

- The window of the boarding house opens and and a ball of fire is aimed at SZ-Blue and both it and SZ-Red take some fire dmg

- There is shouting at Magnus not to burn the building down

- SZ-Blue spits at Lyrielle for 14 acid dmg and she is Restrained

- Tiff struggles with the webbing

- SZ-Red spits at Rusty and misses

- HBZ punches Tiff for 6 bludgeoning and 5 necrotic dmg then punches her again for 15 bludgeoning and 15 necrotic dmg and she passes out in a pile of web

- Raiàn casts Wither and Bloom on HBZ and it takes 1 necrotic dmg and Tiff gets 9 HP then she sprints under the eave of the boarding house to get cover from the spitting zombies

- Lyrielle smacks HBZ for 11 bludgeoning and then she misses punching it and then she kicks it for 11 bludgeoning dmg

- Osiris picks up Theophania and drags her away from HBZ (which swipes at her but misses) until Tiff is propped against the building across the way from the boarding house, then she casts Healing Word on Tiff for 8 HP

- Rusty moves to flank HBZ with Lyrielle and then slices into it for 21 slashing dmg and then again for 23 slashing dmg

- SZ-Blue spits at Rusty for 7 acid dmg

- Tiff shoots SZ-Red for 9 piercing dmg

- SZ-Red misses Osiris

- HBZ misses Lyrielle twice

- Raiàn breathes lightning on SZ-R for 16 lightning dmg

- Lyrielle thwacks HBZ for 19 bludgeoning dmg and then she punches it for 9 bludgeoning dmg and then kicks it for another 9 bludgeoning dmg and it explodes with necrotic energy and Rusty and Lyrielle both take 8 necrotic dmg

- Osiris casts Moonbeam centered on SZ-Blue for 8 radiant dmg then she moves towards the boarding house and then Misty Steps the rest of the way under the eave for some cover from the spitters

- Rusty breaks out of the webbing Restraining him and runs toward some rain barrels sitting next to the boarding house

- SZ-Blue takes 7 radiant from the Moonbeam and then crosses of the peak of the roof and spits at Rusty but misses

- Theophania shoots SZ-Red for 3 piercing dmg

- SZ-Red spits at Rusty for 8 acid dmg and he is Restrained

- Raiàn casts Magic Missile on the spitters for 8 force dmg on SZ-Blue and 14 on SZ-Red and then she ducks back under the eaves 

- Lyrielle breaks out of the webbing Restraining her then she runs towards the boarding house

- Osiris moves the Moonbeam back onto SZ-Blue and it takes 9 radiant dmg then she casts Healing Word on Lyrielle for 9 HP

- Rusty breaks out of the web again then runs over to the rain barrel then climbs onto the roof

- SZ-Blue takes 9 radiant dmg from the Moonbeam, then steps over to Rusty and claws him for 9 slashing dmg then claws him again for 9 slashing dmg 

- Theophania misses

- SZ-Red runs through the Moonbeam and takes 14 radiant dmg as he moves to flank Rusty and then claws him for 14 slashing dmg the again for 8 slashing dmg

- Raiàn casts Magic Missile again for 15 force dmg on SZ-Red and 5 force dmg on SZ-Blue

- Lyrielle also uses the rain barrel to climb onto the roof next to Rusty then she thwacks SZ-Blue for 12 bludgeoning dmg then she punches it for 9 bludgeoning dmg

- Osiris moves her Moonbeam around off of and onto SZ-Blue again and it is incinerated by radiant light then she moves it onto SZ-Red then she ducks back under the eaves of the house

- Rusty turns around to SZ-Red and misses, then he swings again and also misses

- Tiff misses

- SZ-Red takes 6 radiant dmg from Moonbeam then misses Rusty then claws him for 8 slashing dmg

- Raiàn casts Magic Missile on SZ-Red for 10 force dmg and 

END OF BATTLE

- Osiris cuts Tiff out of the webbing trapping her

- Callie is standing by the door holding a rolling pin

- She is upset to hear about the fire spell 

- Everyone runs into the building, Lyrielle jumping down and running through the front door with her friends

- Rusty checks the roof and stomps out any remaining embers from Magnus's fire spell, then he smashes through the window that Magnus locked and barred

- Rusty then tells Magnus not to use fire spells on flammable buildings

- Rusty then boards up Magnus's window against further zombie incursions

- Raiàn makes a point of saying that there were a bunch of halfling zombies and she might have been friends with some of them and then apologizes

- Theophania posts up in a window and snipes zombies in the streets

- There is discussion with Magnus about what spells he knows, and he is given permission to use fire spells on zombies that are a sufficient distance from the surrounding buildings

- Callie and Magnus are the only other two in the building, so Osiris gives Callie her shortbow and her arrows

- Callie is very bad at the bow, so Osiris takes that back and gives her a dagger

- Osiris then waits by the door to Turn Undead again if another horde shows up

- Time is spent securing the ground and second floors

- They then decide to use Tiff's Skywrite to declare the building sanctuary for the living 

- They settle in for the night and get a short rest while watching for the undead or survivors 

- 3,000 XP ea for 39,290 XP total ea.