Having started to figure out his fire spells again more successfully (and being out of level 1 spell slots), Froskan tries another stronger shot.

(Level 2 flaming chromatic orb)

Attack: 27 Damage: 34

(Much better!)

Player results:

• Isk deals a little lot of fiery payback. (OZ DEX save: 7, 17 damage) He follows with a swing of the glaive. It slices through the blubbery body, but failing to hit anything vital.
• Jack is distracted as he attacks. Something that he read in that creepy elf journal in that mansion...
• Trim hits with his arrow (9 damage), leaving a hole through the shoulder.
• Froskan lets out an unfamiliar feral growl, and connects with a flaming spell orb. The "new" parts of the zombie are now charred as much as the "old" parts (34 damage!).
• Reverie misses with the scimitar, but buries the dagger into the chest of the zombie (4 damage). She remembers that zombies will sometimes stay active even after a lot of damage, but a final blow done with Radiant damage will end its unlife. She adds Divine Smite through the dagger for 20 Radiant damage (14 smite + 6 inspiration).

The party dealt 84 (!) damage that round, for a total of 131 damage. (OOC: I thought I gave meat tank enough HP to last a few more rounds, but I was mistaken.) The final blast of radiant damage ends its unlife, and sends chunks of rotting ogre onto the guard station and the front gates.

Combat is over.

As things quiet down, Bommie and a few of her allies charge through the broken gate. They are covered in various ichor, from combat outside. They anticipated more combat, but look around silently. Bommie lets out a sigh when seeing the 2 dead ogres and the pile of zombie parts. "We just had this place prettied up for the SnowFall festival, too."

A tired apprentice cleric rushes forward, and applies Cure Wounds to Jack, Iskander, and Reverie.

• Please have Jack roll a Arcana check, and Reverie a History check.
• Jack, Iskander, and Reverie should each roll 1d8+1, and heal for that amount.

Trimyrai: (to the party) "Now that the fighting is over, do you two want to tell us what that was about?" Trimyrai says directed at Jack and Reverie.

Reverie is starting to think deeply.

History - 18

Heal - 6

(And Froskan!)

6

”That was an old friend. Well, not friend, but still. We gave her a quick burial, and now she’s a zombie.“ He picks up a OZ arm. “Once again, permanently?”

(healed for 9)

Isk breaths in and out deeply, thanking the cleric for his heal. 2

(OOC: Info dump, apologies for the length)

After the apprentice finishes, the damaged party members are at: Reverie  (24/36 hp), Iskander (25/31 hp), and Jack (24/35 hp).

Jack picks up one of the ogre zombie arms, and waves it to emphasize his words. Reverie grabs Jack's wrist to halt it, and looks more closely at the ogre arm. There were animating runes written on the flesh, which are only visible now that the runes burned darker (from the radiant Divine Smite) than the surrounding skin. After some thought (History check 10), Reverie remembers that these are runes of the goddess Talona, also known as the Lady of Poison and the Mistress of Disease. Her branch of the House of Forestgleam, that follows Eldath (goddess of nature and peace), has often fought the cults of Talona. Although Reverie has not personally battled against them, the stories she knows are enough to fire anger in her heart.

Jack looks at the runes (Arcana check 6), and remembers something he read in the journal of that the crazy Diamondbrook elf. That guy consulted someone about the animating spells of the undead, but Jack can't remember the name. He suspects that if he comes across the name later, it might jog his memory.

------

As Trim starts to demand answers from the others, there are more magical explosions around the compound. Bommie informs you: "The battle is still going on, in various places. My group needs to continue the fight. Many of the creatures attacking this place are foes of the Watchful Guild, but it seems they were instructed to look for the 5 of you, specifically! The guards at this gate are active again, but there may be more attacks here.

"Until we know more, I want you in safer position. Please, go to the training dojo, and guard yourselves. Close the doors, do not light anymore torches... pretend that the area is deserted. Stay hidden, and stay safe. When the situation is under control, I will personally escort you out."

"Never thought that we would have this unfortunate reunion..." Reverie couldn't help but frown as she observes the Ogre Zombie arm and remembers the stories of the cults. She looks back at Trimyrai but soon to shift her gaze back at Bommie, listening to her inform towards her and her companions. "Understood. We will go to the training area," then she gazes at Trim, "for the further information, I will let you know, but we need to follow what Bommie told us to do now. I want to tell you a story when we are all safe for a moment." As soon as she finished her words, Reverie walks towards the training dojo.

Trimyrai: (to the party) "I didn't mean to pry, just seemed like you all knew each other, but you are right we can talk later." Trimyrai follows Reverie. 

(OOC: I figured you guys would go to the training dojo, but I've been surprised before...)

Your party goes deeper into the compound. The area set aside for training (where you spent a lot of recent time reaching 4th level) is a 120' x 120' area, with walls on the outside to stop errant spells and missile weapons. Most of it is open to the sky, with strategically placed trees and mounds of dirt, straw "scarecrows", and targets for arrows along one wall. There is a roofed 40' x 80' structure (the "dojo") along the wall closest to the entry door, that is kind of like a gymnasium. You close the doors to the dojo, leaving them open a crack so you can watch outside. There is dim light, from torches along the walls outside, and a few candles inside the building. You can see that a light snow is still coming down.

It is relatively quiet here. You can hear sounds of clashes farther away.

(The party has some time to talk. You can also do more healing or preparations. You could also try things on a longer time scale, but suspect that you will be interrupted before finishing a "short rest". Let me know how you plan on guarding and watching the area.)

Iskandar walks into the dojo and dismisses his glaive in a whisp of purple smoke.  His face darkens as he says, "I don't like leaving a battle to others.  They must be pretty confident in their guards to dismiss the lot of us back here."

Trimyrai: (to the party) "And considering that the enemies are after us, we should help them, but im not about to cross bommie."

Reverie sighs as she leans her back on the wall. "I trust Bommie, at least. If she told us to come here, then maybe she has a plan." A pause. "I don't know why and how they were even thinking to bring the mother-ogre back, but I can at least guess who might be behind it." She then looks back at Jack. "Do you recognize or find anything from the dead ogre?"

Jack smirks. “I’m not staying here. But I guess I will since ye guys are here. So...” Jack look down at the ground, says one sentence: “something from that journal of the elf. We’ll look at it later.” And with a smack of his drum, a Zone of Truth erupts. “We need to get to know each other more if we’re going to do this. Let’s start with.... who do we start with, hm?”

(@Quasimodal, I forgot one can do this when they level up. I wanted to swap Shatter for ZoT but didn’t know I could do it, till now. Since I haven’t used Shatter yet, may I?)

Reverie watches Jack and chuckles slightly. "Why don't you tell us your story, Jack?"

Jack smiles. While he tells his story, he sometimes adds in bits of Drum Music (for dramatic effect) and flashes off, as if this were a performance.. “Alright then.“

”So, I once sailed the seas. As a Marine- A Do-Gooder on the Ocean is more like it. I did go on land every once in a while.”

”Now, one day, We had just finished a Raid against some evil people, and was sailing away. We had dropped off a filthy traitor there too.”

”We had collected a mighty artifact, and Umberlee, Deity of the Ocean, wanted it back. So, she sent a legion of creatures our way- Sahuagin, Merpeople, etc. We fought them off as best as we could, and saved the artifact.”

”Me captain then dropped me off at the nearest harbor. That was a few years ago. One day, I decided to do something, and went on a guard- Escort?- mission with Reverie and Froskan. You know the rest, don’t ye?”

”Now, how about... Isk? Tell us your life story, hm?”

Performance:13

(remember, if you don’t wanna talk, make a Charisma save, or you can consent! Wow, my inner DM is taking over :) )

Quote from BoboBoombang >>

(@Quasimodal, I forgot one can do this when they level up. I wanted to swap Shatter for ZoT but didn’t know I could do it, till now. Since I haven’t used Shatter yet, may I?)

(That's fine, for the spell list swap.

For the rest of you, since Jack cast the spell, you don't know if he willingly submitted to the ZoT, or if he resisted it. You can still try an Insight check.)

(did we see him cast the spell or was it subtle enough for us to not have noticed? [and/or should we roll a perception check to see if we saw him casting it?])

(Jack would have been making a big deal about it’s AKA Loud Drum Noises (not too loud). I want you To know, so... yes, Quasimodal?)

(I love this idea)