Kiranyan yells, "Fry baby, fry!!" as a loud crackling is heard followed by the smell of ozone from him to the nearest zun. The zun glows for a moment and involuntarily shakes as if experiencing some sort of body stutter, then drops lifeless to the ground.
Shameron sees that battle is imminent. Releasing the nocked arrow at her nearest attacker, she takes a few steps back toward the cliff and Varlus. The arrow finds its mark, but the zun continues forward unphased. She then reaches behind her and pulls forth three arrows from her quiver. One more normal arrow and two of her newly acquired arrows. She thrusts both the new arrows into the dirt just within arms reach and noches the plain one. Eye to the bow and aiming down the shaft, she takes careful aim and looses another. With a hollow thump, it strikes the same zun slightly lower in the abdomen than the last. Still he advances, totally unaware that there are 2 pieces of sharpened wood protruding from his chest.
Varlus is apparently casting a spell upon himself, while Kendervon and Shaizan stand ready with weapons nervously extended.
The zun continue to approach in an unhurried fashion without even lifting their clubs. They do not even appear to be concerned that one of their companions has already fallen and another is wounded.
Before the zun reach the rest of the party, Farlont has already rushed forward to engage them. He has blocked off no less than four in his immediate area. Farlont screams yet again and swings at the zun nearest to him and connects a powerful blow to his opponents jaw. He drops unmoving to the earth.
Farlont is the first to actually be attacked by the unusual zun. The three zun attacking him manage to slash at him twice with their hands, instead of swinging their clubs. Farlont is bleeding very badly.. but sickeningly, he seems to be enjoying it.
Caledon moves into attack position, taking a moment to eye the situation. He spies three zun advancing to engage him, to his right he can see two coming at Shameron (one with a few arrows already poking out of his belly), and two at Kiranyan. Beyond Kiranyan he can't tell how many are actually around Farlont, but from all the screams, yips, and yells, there must be close to four hundred. Caledon takes a swipe at the shortest one in the middle to just take him out and misses.
Kiranyan takes a poke at one of his foes and misses. He can hardly supress a chuckle at Farlont. "Damn, he looks like he is having fun!"
Shameron hopes that these two magical arrows do thier jobs because these are her last shots before resorting to a close and personal knife fight. Both arrows find their own targets and drop the each of the advancing zun. Shameron takes a quick breath and deftly moves away from Varlus and Shaizan to see if she can get a clear shot at any other zun.
Farlont violently swings his great club at the nearest zun. With a thundrous smack he sends his head spiraling off into the woods. He does a full body rotation and clobbers the next zun, sandwiching his humanoid body between Farlont's war club and a nearby tree. The lifeless body slides to the base of the tree.
The last zun still go at Farlont brings his club up across his Farlont's face. Farlont's knees buckle and he goes face down in the dirt. Kiranyan sees Farlont drop. The sight momentarily stuns the Jenzig, as each zun strike their own blows upon him. His mind begins to cloud a bit, but fights on. The blows continue as Caledon is rocked by two consecutive blows also. The second was so well placed that it knocked Caledon to the ground.
Kendervon tries to get at Farlont to render aid, but instead comes face to face with Farlont's victor. The savoryan manages to poke him in the throat with his quarterstaff, forcing the zun to stagger a few steps back toward his friend's body.
Caledon begins to regain his feet as the swish of arrows is heard nearby, followed by two heavy thuds. Caledon's three attackers have now become but one. The Larani-warrior stands and moves toward the zun that now has his sights on Shaizan. A blow to the zun's back causes it to turn back to the Larani.
Shaizan can't let this opportunity go by. He swings with all his might and totally misses the zun standing before him and instead nearly hits the shek p'var Varlus.
Kiranyan can hardly keep his eyes focused. He swings in vain and connects with nothing but air.
Varlus sees the feeble attempt to hit by Shaizan and decides he has nothing to loose. He slashes the zun with his dagger causing it to fall lifeless at his feet.
With but three zun remaining, they continue to attack. They still appear unaffected by the death of their companions. Kendervon and Kiranyan are both struck. Kendervon is bleeding badly from his side, but is still mobile. Meanwhile, Kiranyan is not mobile. The last blow was too much, he dropped like a rock.
A voice booms out from behind, "Zurlag, zon goner tuber fini latiss!!" To everyone's amazement, it is Farlont. He is standing and thrusting a polished bronze octagon toward the remaining zun. They all seem to react as if struck by a wall of force. As Farlont begins to move forward, the three zun move back. He keeps slowly edging forward, but now a sinister smile plays on his face. His arm stabs forward with the metal blazing in his hand, and all three zun are shoved over the edge of the cliff.
"You guys looked like you could use a hand," he responds. "Someone had better see to Kiranyan, quick!"
Pheylan
After the fighting has ended, Pheylan slowly emerges from
the woods in front of the party with a deep scowl on his face. After quickly
surveying the remains of the Zun, he shakes his head and begins to speak:
"There was a shek p'var involved in this attack and apparently of some power... It appears that he teleported into the woods, bringing the Zun raiding party we encountered with him, and stayed long enough to aim his weapon of choice and then left. Apparently this attack was directly aimed at us for whatever reason."
Pausing a second he stares at the ground in deep thought and then continues...
"Somehow, we have crossed some powerful people. Unfortunately, I fear this is the result of this 'mission' we have be drafted into. However, I am curious why a shek p'var powerful enough to teleport in himself and a dozen mind-controlled Zun didn't stay to finish us himself. Either way, he seems to have known exactly where we were so I am sure we can expect more of the same."
Thinking upon it quietly for another second, he shakes his head again and seems to awake from his thoughts. Looking around, he moves to the chest that Farlont was carrying and removes two of the remaining normal healing potions. After a brief assessment of the party's wounds, Pheylan moves to Kiranyan's side and begins to administer one of the healing potions.
Farlont
I slowly shuffle over to the edge of the cliff and peer
down at my last three kills. I hold my side to make sure that any bleeding
has stopped. I feel slightly groggy from the adrenalin departing my system
(not to mention a few pints of blood).
"I don't wanna sound like the know-it-all, but you all do realize them them 'things' were not alive, right?" I snort very loudly. "Once I got face to face with them, I could smell the stench of death on 'em. Sorry, if I didn't mention it in battle, but I get a bit carried away sometimes. Besides, it seemed obvious to me. I forget you zerkla don't smell so good."
I laugh a bit at my own joke. Then I wince as my side reminds me of the blows I took there.
"Next time I gotta watch it with my glass jaw." I turn to like at the female elf. "Nice work there Shameron. I saw your arrows flying everywhere. So long as none hit me, we are cool."
I sit down and dangle my feet over the cliff, breathing heavily, I lay my great bloody oaken war club to my side. I take a few sips from my wineskin. "All this and it ain't even lunch time yet."
Varlus
Still holding my dagger, I stand looking at the lifeless
corpse at my feet. I simply stare in amazement. I ponder at the rush of
exhilaration I felt a mere moment before. This is positively unlike anything
I have ever felt before.
"I can almost see why Farlont enjoys this so much.." I look up at my companions and around. "I said.. almost."
I examine my kill to see if there is any device upon his person that might explain why he behaved so oddly. I will also take anything of use, since he will not be needing it anymore.
I will also keep my eyes out for anyone else approaching from the woods.
Shameron
Shameron stands and looks around in an almost dazed
manner. The experience of what just happened suddenly hits her and she feels
almost ill at having to resort to killing. She looks at Farlont and thanks him
for his comments about her shooting. "I knew something wasn't right about
the Zun, but I felt as if they might be under a spell, not raised dead!"
She regains her composure and looks around to see if anyone can use her help. Seeing Pheylan go to treat Kiranyan, she notices Kendervon also looks badly hurt and offers aid.
Kendervon
I stand there for a few minutes to think about what just
happened. Then I look around to make sure we`re all still alive.
"What a hell of a trip climb a cliff then get jumped by smelly dead creatures! I hope the rest of this trip goes a little bit smoother."
I look around at everyone who is wounded.
"Wait on drinking the potions of healing let the Priests including myself heal you first. We may need them later on."
Farlont
"Hmmmm..." I sigh and stand up feeling much
better. "I tend to agree with Kendervon. I say we use spell healing first,
since we seem to be more than our quota for priests. We should use the potions
to revive the healers or in an emergency."
I stand up and toss a rock down at the two dead undead zun. "Say, anyone remember exactly how many zun I shoved over the edge? I thought it was three. I only see two down there now." I shrug and chuck another pebble down the incline trying to see if I can zing it off his skull.
"I vote we send the mighty Laranian warrior down there to check it out." I stand and return to my chest-pack. "Does anyone else want some of this crap? If I am gonna carry it, it becomes mine. Qatza?"
Pheylan
After Pheylan finishes administering the healing potion to
Kiranyan, he nods at Farlont's suggestion...
"I agree that we should save the potions for emergencies, but I believe that Kiranyan's situation was close to critical."
"As far as the contents of the chest, I think we should get the items out of the chest or at least the breakable ones. I'm sure you can handle the weight, but the chest isn't exactly the perfect place for breakable items. I have an extra set of robes in my backpack and they could be used to cushion a few of the potions to protect them."
Thinking on it for a moment, Pheylan nods slightly and continues...
"In fact, maybe we should go ahead and just distribute the items from the chest now."
At this Pheylan will go to the chest and begins to perform a quick inventory. While he is rummaging through the trunk, he continues to speak.
"As far as going back down the hill, I'm not sure I understand what the point would be. Dead or not-dead, our compass is pointing in the opposite direction, and I have a feeling we're not going to have to go looking for trouble. That is, unless Farlont just needs a body count so he can notch that big club of his..."
Pheylan
After looking through the trunk for a few minutes and
completing an inventory, Pheylan pulls off his backpack and gently tucks three
potions inside what appears to be some type of formal priestly robe. Next he
takes one of the food packs and tucks it into his backpack snugly. Finally, he
takes one of the priest scrolls and gently places them on top of his robe in his
backpack, before closing and securing the straps.
"Well here's what we have left still unclaimed. We have one potion of healing, one potion of extra healing, three packs of food [iron rations], one priest scroll with two neutralize poison spells, one priest scroll of silence 15' radius, and a knife."
Thinking on it for a moment, he continues...
"On second thought, I think I will take the knife as well. While it wouldn't be my choice for weapons, it's better than nothing and that last attack was a good demonstration that I will need something."
Pheylan bends and takes the knife from the chest. He looks at it closely, and then after glancing over at Caledon, he shrugs slightly and tucks it into the belt on his tunic.
"Well, don't be shy.. let's go ahead and distribute the rest to help prevent accidents and then we can get rid of this chest."
Kendervon
I take the Priest scroll the one with Nuetralize poison.
"Lets hurry up and empty this chest and ditch it. There`s work to be done now. Who`s up for entering the woods? Lets see who resposnible for are welcome committee."
I also grab an iron ration from the trunk. "Who wants to hold the extra potion of healing?"
"We need to get going lets not wait around for the second fleet of them to come around."
Varlus
"I already took my ration and priest scrolls won't do
me any good. I will take the potion of Extra-healing and the other potion of
Healing, though. Maybe, as this fight showed, I won't be of a lot of help in
actual combat, but I can try to get to those that have fallen with a sip of a
healing potion."
I will search the bodies to see if I can maybe find a hide vest or some other
pieces of their armor to wear to increase my survivability and not hamper my
spells. If I can't find anything I will just skip it.
[DM Note: Shek p'var (mages) are allowed to were leather armor in my cmapaign
without penalties. Both Kiranyan and Varlus can find/modify some of the hide
armors about to give them a slight armor class boost.]
Pheylan
Pheylan looks slightly confused at Kendervon's desire to
find who is responsible for the welcoming committee.
"Hmmm... Well, as I mentioned earlier I went into the woods before the fight ensued, in an attempt to find the source of the problem. What I found was a source point of footprints where the mage teleported himself and his Zun assassins. Actually, if Farlont is correct that is where he teleported in himself and his undead Zun assassins, which is even more concerning."
"Then from that spot, you can follow the footprints to where the undead Zun came at us and eventually emerged from the woods. Unfortunately, the shek p'var did not move himself as far as I can tell and just teleported himself back out. I can lead you back to the spot where the tracks were if you're interested, however."
Kiranyan
After taking in the healing potions, Kiranyan shudders
as he tries to stand.
"Gods... that was one hell of a fight," he chuckles between breaths. "Well, I'm not much for thinking right now. Just lead the way and I'll follow."
Kiranyan
Kiranyan looks over to Varlus and follows suit in
searching for anything that can help protect him for the next battle.
"Good idea Varlus, a brush with death isn't exactly my idea of fun."
Shaizan
"I'm going with Pheylan to see the prints. If we
can't find any useful information from the footprints then we should continue
on with our quest. Also, whoever doesn't have a ration better take one, or
you're going to go hungry."
I turn to the bloody Farlont.
"Farlont, may I ask what happened back there? I saw you fall, and you don't strike me as someone who is likely to hit the ground at all in a fight (unless you're dead). Since you look rather alive, I was just wondering.... Also, how did you turn those zun? I'm sure you're not a paladin!"
Farlont
I turn to face Shaizan. I take my war club and thrust
it into the earth so that it stands handle toward the sky. I wipe my hands
upon my semi-destroyed hide armor and raise my shirts. Showing my hairy
chest, rippling mustles, and other trophies of my my chosen hobby... namely
my scars. I rap upon my chest to show the strength of my stomach and lack
of any visible wounds.
"Do you see any damage to my person?" I look around the camp to see if anyone else is curious. "My faith in my people's ways preserve me. Do they do the same for you?"
I drop my shirts and pick up my favorite weapon. I point it at the little book man. "I make no excuses for who I am or what I am. If you want, I can teach you my ways."
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