The party makes their plans and departs Hrakhamar, leaving the captain behind.

It begins to rain heavily, and the first day out is a hot, wet slog back down from the highlands and into the deep jungle again.  

During the afternoon, you all notice something, though for Nalomanterys, Meili and Ran, it is hard to define.  Hew, Mica, and the dwarves are quicker to pick up on it and caution everyone to get low and stay quiet.  For a few moments, all is calm, then through the heavy grey rains you see a number of shapes appear, perhaps 6 or 7.  Flying low above the ground, they look like winged snakes, though much larger than the handful of flying snakes you saw displayed in cages back in Port Nyanzaru.  After they pass, the dwarves look to the rest of you.  "Amphipteres.  Smaller wyvern-kin.  Deadly poisonous, though dimwitted.  Not worth dealing with if we are in a hurry."

Continuing on, you press on until dark before making camp. 

With the dawn, the rains finally stop and you hurry southeast, the jungle steaming as the rains begin to burn off under the blazing sun.  Everything is wet and awful, and all the blisters on your feet and toes that had begun to heal during your rest in Hrakhamar begin to rub and wear again. 

It is late on the second day when the scout alerts you that you are approaching the location of the wreck.  Soon you see it.  It must have been a gut-wrenching crash.  Two sections of the ship are lodged up in the canopy, and another is half buried in the forest floor.  Both on the ground and up in the branches, there is evidence of fire.  Afternoon sun pours through a hole burned in the foliage overhead. 

And if that wasn't bad enough, what you see with it is just as disheartening.  Prowling the ground below the wreckage are 8 ghouls.  Towering above them is an ogre - a very much dead and decayed ogre - which occasionally throws cycads or branches up at one of the pieces of ship, as if trying to knock it down out of the tree.

The dwarf scout grimmaces.  "These undead weren't here before."  He points up.  "The other survivors were up in that section of ship."

The departure was sad, awkward and unpleasant for many reasons and Meili almost welcomed all the inconveniences of the jungle travel, distracting her from the thoughts about the past and the future. After the encounter with Amphipteres she almost relaxed even - after all, it was just normal (for Chult, at least) animals, not abominations sent by The Sisters. Meili was about to ask dwarves about the flying ship (and allowing her imagination to run wild with the pictures of that magnificent machine soaring in the skies) when the ghouls stepped into the view. The ghastly spectacle was a painful reminder that the group is not out of the woods - literal or metaphorical - yet.

"They must be still alive if those undead are still trying to get them." Meili stopped, dropped her backpack and freed the weapons. "If we attack, they at least leave the ship alone. We might be able to drop one or two ghouls from here before the rest will reach us. Should I strike?"

She raised the hand with the boomerang aiming at the closest ghoul.

Initiative when needed: 4

After their brief time in the mountains and the forge Mica had almost forgotten how wet and sticky travel through the jungles could be, but the steady rain and oppressive heat quickly reminded him.   Still, he got back into travel habits quickly and moved toward the front of the column with the scout over the two days. 

He pulls up short at a warning from the scout and soon picks out the dangers around the crash site.  He grunts as he counts the ghouls and nods at Meili. “If nothing else, we can get their attention and draw them away from the crash site to allow someone to check on the survivors. Hopefully they haven’t gotten to them yet. But don’t let them get close enough to bite you if you can help it.”

Mica moves thirty feet forward from the group, cocks his head as he calculates the range and gets a clear line of sight, then looses two arrows toward the closest ghoul. “That outta get their attention."

Attack: 24 Damage: 3.

Attack: 21 Damage: 4.

Initiative when needed: 7.

.

Ran stops, watches the ghouls for a few moments and audibly sighs. 

He moves up with Mica, pulling his heavy crossbow out as he does, takes a position just to the southwest of Mica and lets a crossbow bolt fly at the ogre.

Heavy Crossbow: Attack: 12 Damage: 5  

Initiative: 5  

Meili's attacks:

1. Boomerang: Attack: 13 Damage: 5

2. Boomerang again (it's returning): Attack: 13 Damage: 6

if double boomerang attack is no go, then the second attack is Dart: Attack: 12 Damage: 4

[With the movement posted above, Mica can get within the 150' feet range for effective use of his bow.  Ran is still too far from the Ogre, and would need to roll that at disadvantage.  You're starting 175' away from the nearest ghoul, 215' away from the Ogre.  The 30' of movement still puts Ran 185' away from the Ogre.

Meili would need to roll her attacks at disadvantage as she is will beyond the effective range of her thrown weapons.]

[Kind of read as if we moved as a group into the shooting/throwing distance first, but as it is now, more attack rolls for disadvantage: 14 and 24 - and Meili moves full 40ft]

[Getting closer would have required stealth rolls from everyone.]

[If Nalomanterys wants to take a surprise action, go ahead...]

As you approach the ghouls, the dwarf druid apprentice casts longstrider on Meili [granting her an extra 10' of movement].  She is able to get further ahead then the others, just inside the maximum, full effort throwing range of her magic boomerang.  The scout creeps up alongside Ran and Mica and lets an arrow of his own fly at the nearest ghoul.  Hew rushes forward with Meili, not quite able to keep up.

Attack: 12  Damage: 9

With the flurry of arrows and a second chance, long distance boomerang, the nearest ghoul drops dead.  Seven other ghoul heads all snap in your direction, and the lumbering hulk of the Ogre Zombie slowly turns as well.

Round 1!

1. Meili
2. Ogre Zombie
3. Mica
4. Dwarves
5. Nalomanterys
6. Ran
7. Ghouls

(Thinking that 12 likely wasn't enough to hit anyway, but here's the second roll at disadvantage for Ran's crossbow:  10  )

Surprise Round: "Oh for goodness..." Nalomanterys exclaims as everyone begins charging in immediately upon seeing the undead. He quickly grabs Ran's arm before he can run off and slathers a bit of chili paste on his neck and chants a quick incantation. dragon's breath level 2 with cold damage. (Dex DC 15, 3d6 cold damage in a 15 ft cone).

He then hikes up his robe and hustles to keep up with the group as they advance. (Dash 60 ft, but slightly to the right (bottom right of the map) so they're not all clumped up).

Initiative: 8

Ran's hand reaches to his neck.

"What the -" Ran starts but stops speaking when he sees cold vapour issue from his mouth. He turns to call after Nalomanterys. "What's this about then?"

He smiles when he learns of the nature of the spell.

Meili simply continued running and throwing "undead bane" at the nearest ghoul. [The most lef one and it is still with disadvantage, right?]

The magical weapon was not the strongest one but at least could not be lost in attack:

Attack 1: 21 Damage: 8
Attack 2: 10 Damage: 5

Ran's crossbow bolt thuds into the side of the undead Ogre, which doesn't seem to notice.  [You may be surprised to learn how easy undead Ogre's are to hit.]

Meili connects once more with her boomerang as the continued to close on the ghouls.

The Ogre Zombie looks up at the ship once more, and hurls a bit of wooden debris skyward.  It looks like it may have been another piece of the ship, actually.  It smashes into the side but fails to do more than rock the boat up in the branches.  

Then the Ogre turns and begins ponderously walking toward the party [30' movement in y'all's direction].

1. Meili
2. Ogre Zombie
3. Mica
4. Dwarves
5. Nalomanterys
6. Ran
7. Ghouls

The plan, if rushing straight ahead was considered a plan, appeared to work as the undead Ogre made one last toss against the wreckage of the ship before moving toward the group.  Seeing the effectiveness of his arrows, Mica keeps striding forward and releases two more arrows, this time targeting the ghoul Meili has already struck with the boomerang.

Attack: 7 Damage: 9.

Attack: 7 Damage: 8.

plus 6 colossus slayer damage on a hit. 

Movement 30' forward. 

Nalomanterys hustles forward to keep up with the group - the last thing he needs is to get left behind when there are undead around. (30' forward, maintaining some lateral distance to the right of the rest of the group).

With the ogre moving toward them, the wizard is now in ample range for some of his longer range spells. He flicks his wrist deftly as he's done many times before and a piece of metal debris lifts itself form the verdant floor of the jungle and makes a beeline for the ogre's head. catapult level 1. DC 15 dex save of 15 bludgeoning damage.

Meili and Mica continue to pepper the ghouls with ranged attacks, dropping the furthest to the left.  The ghouls numbers have dropped to 6.

Ogre Save:  18

Ogres are not dexterous in life... much less so in undeath.  Unfortunately, fate seems to intervene on its behalf as a heavy branch gets in the way of what would have been an otherwise perfect catapult  shot, deflecting the debris and sparing the monster.

Hew dashes forward, trying to keep pace with Meili.

The scout pulls up where he stands and looses another arrow, this one at the nearest, left-most remaining ghoul.  The arrow goes badly astray, nearly clipping Hew.

Attack:  5

The druid apprentice hustles to try and follow in Nalomanterys' direction.

1. Meili
2. Ogre Zombie
3. Mica
4. Dwarves
5. Nalomanterys
6. Ran
7. Ghouls

Ran continues forward towards the ogre and ghouls. They seem to still have some time before they'll be close enough for swords and whatever this icy breath will do. He pauses again to fire a crossbow bolt at the ogre.

Movement - 30' closer (are they 115' apart now?)

Heavy crossbow (at disadvantage): Attack: 9 Damage: 5