The Not-So-Dearly Departed - 12/10 session recap

After discovering that they were on top of a mesa from which they had no external escape, the party decided to venture downstairs. They were met with a horde of zombies along what appeared to be a residential hallway. The zombies were wearing tattered rags, but here and there one could see that these rags were once the finery of nobles. Gold-threaded collars and cuffs as well as various pieces of jewelry still adorned the ex-royalty.

There was little time to comment on the baubles, however, as the zombes shuffled forward to attack. Boreas was able to thin their ranks initially with area-effect frost spells, and Ander moved forward to engage them in melee. Some of the zombies were not mere shambling corpses, however. One of them wielded a sword and shield, and appeared to have been bulkier when alive. He moved forward and started a minor bottleneck. Other zombies had roiling cavities of decaying organs within their abdomens, and they ripped out hunks of themselves to fling at Ander from back amongst the other zombies. Ander was pelted with foul gobs of necrotic tissue, which weakened him. Xakoraki moved into melee and started granting her comrades the benefit of her tactical command. Thoric called upon the might of Linitheriva to strike down a few of the weaker zombies.

Boreas, a little anxious to unleash his arcane energies against the close-massed enemy, sent a thunderous blast into the melee. This destroyed a couple of zombies and damaged a few others. It also nearly felled Ander, who then dropped unconscious when the next zombie slammed into him.

There was a mad scramble to close ranks around their fallen comrade, and the party did a pretty good job of it. Ander, however, had a critical success on his recovery roll, and became conscious on his own. He merely took a one-round nap.

The party pressed on down the corridor, absorbing gob after gob of horrendous filth as it was flung from the zombies at the far end. Thoric went down at one point, overcome by the rotting ugliness around him, but he was revived by his companions. The first gobber zombie exploded after taking enough damage, and the second one to fall exploded next to Ander, wounding him with high-velocity necrotic shrapnel. Xakoraki, who had spent much of the fight receiving infected wounds from the zombie with a sword, moved up and helped beat down the remaining foes. The last two exploded, and the party had a moment to catch their breath.

Thoric had only just begun to start the healing process on his companions when three ghouls came loping into the hallway at an alarming pace, screaming unnaturally. Our heroes quickly joined the battle, and Ander and Xakoraki formed a good front line. Xakoraki was clawed by her opponent, and the stench alone was enough to immobilized her. The third zombie, who seemed trapped behind his companions, surprised the party by climbing the wall and leaping behind Xakoraki. He then unhinged his jaw and latched onto her unprotected neck, stunning her completely. Boreas threw spell after spell, but most missed. Thoric, out of healing spells, stepped up to help remove Xakoraki's new parasite and provide flanking. Ander almost received the same treatment as Xakoraki, but was able to avoid having his arm eaten. Xakoraki dislodged one ghoul from her neck, only to have the other one bite into it from the other side. Things looked grim for a moment as she faltered and collapsed. Ander received a nasty bite to his groin, and it looked like he might fall. But Thoric was able to turn one of the ghouls with radiant light, causing it to run away. This opened up some flanking opportunities for Ander, who finished off one of the most damaged ghouls. Boreas kept unleashing spells into the remaining foes, slowing them and whittling their hitpoints down. Xakoraki was revived after a round or two, and the remaining ghouls were dispatched.

Horror-struck and bleeding the party made a quick retreat to the upper level, but not before looting the fallen nobles. There were gems and jewelry, as well as some gold. There were three magic items among the zombies as well [this is a correction from what I told you during the game]. The party barred the door at the top of the stairs and started an extended rest while appraising their loot. They also went up to level 5. Ding!