Getting some much needed respite, Maxine applies some of her own healing magic to recover from the arrows that pierced her armour.

Falx meanwhile fires another shot with his crossbow at the leader that unleashed a barrage of arrows against Maxine.

The skeleton in the water crosses the remaining distance and clambers onto the ship, but Bertrand slams his gauntlets together, engulfing his handaxe in furious flames, and strikes at the bony hand as soon as the skeleton reaches for the railing. With the blow shattering its forearm, the skeleton falls back down to the water below.
The skeleton archer to your left takes aim at the charging barbarian and lets fly an arrow, missing him however. The undead leader hesitates a moment between finishing the job with you, or focusing instead on the charging barbarian behind you. Determining Brax to be the bigger threat, it speaks something in a reedy whisper of a voice, in an ancient tongue you don't understand but which the other skeletons seem to listen to. Then, it draws two arrows aimed directly at Brax. Whatever it tried to say, you notice no change in the demeanour of the other skeletons, and with some seeming frustration, the leader lets fly at Brax. One of the arrows finds it's target, cutting a bloody gash across Brax's upper arm, but he seems undperturbed by the pain.

Powered by rage and undeterred by the flying arrows, Brax charges forward past you,  throwing his handaxe at the club-wielding skeleton next to you, before grabbing his spear with both hands and jabbing it into the head of the other skeleton. You see both hits land, but the bladed weapons glance off of the bones with little more than a scratch. Bertrand meanwhile is hacking at the head of the skeleton that is still trying to climb the side of the ship. In a surge of action, after seeing his initial success, he doubles down, trying to finish off the skeleton for good. Using the side of the ship for cover as best as it is able to however, the skeleton avoids both of his strikes.

One of the sword wielding skeletons retaliates by striking at Brax' face, while the other swings at you. The archers on the bank similarly split their targets, one focussing on you, while the other picks on the harangued Brax. While the thrashing barbarian proves too difficult to hit, the swordsman slashing at you catches you unawares and draws a deep cut across your midsection. As you stumble back a bit from the pain and impact, your thigh is pierced by one of the archers on the bank.



 Maxine is up, still standing with 1 HP.

At the digsite, Berrus charges forward to help his dwarven kin, and hacking into the zombie nearest to him. As his first attack takes one of the zombie's arms clean off and the other leaves a gaping wound across the zombie's torso, you see a veritable swarm of small maggots bursting forth and starting to crawl all over you.

Fang, focussing on the zombie that Berrus has started to hack into, you aim carefully and place your arrow right through the back of it's skull, carefully aimed to pass over Berrus in case it were powerful enough to punch through. The zombie collapses on the ground, dead again, but with more maggots bursting forth, now also crawling up Berrus' legs. Switching targets, you now focus on the undead that's been attacked by Thessalandra and Zip, and with another well placed arrow fell your second zombie.

Cliff meanwhile charges forwards, a feral howl on his lips as he starts to wail on the last zombie directly before you with his bare fists. His first blow shatters the zombie's jaw, followed by a kick to the knee that is followed by a splintering of the kneecap, as the zombie falls down onto the ground. In a frenzied rage, Cliff stomps on the head of the zombie, turning it to mush underneath his heel.

Shae, you're up, Professor, you're on deck and get to act after the NPCs and enemies.

Shae would follow closely behind Berrus as she promised. She could feel a shiver roll down her spine and spread through to her limbs, peppering her skin with goosebumps. Bah. She'd shudder further at the sight of maggots bursting out and crawling all over her protector. The medic would move in to battle with him, closer than he may prefer, but she'd impulsively and frantically start flicking maggots off him towards any zombies. "Shoo!" She'd flick one. Then another. "Be gone pests." They'd hopefully explode, bursting in a cascade of light.

The potion was not meant for her! And yet, if she would not take it now, other's would not get it either it seemed. Maxine opened the vial and drunk red glimmering liquid:  15

Now she could fight: she raised her faithful crossbow: Attack: 14 Damage: 5 trying to get one of the archers.

Beachside

Swallowing the healing potion and feeling its effect take root, you feel a strange sensation. The potent ingredients seem to resonate with parts of your own altered biology, and you feel a lingering vitalising effect.

Focusing on the threats immediately at hand, Maxine takes aim at one of the archers, hoping that Brax' thrashing is giving her enough space to losse her bolt. As she pulls the trigger though, the click sounds wrong, and as you inspect your crossbow, you see a tangle of seaweed blocking the trigger mechanism. Cursing under your breath, you remove them, and make ready for another shot.

Falx meanwhile is shooting at the skeleton climbing the side of the ship. He seems to be tapping into some sort of fighting spirit, fighting with a focus you've not seen before. The bolt punches a hole through the skull, emerging from the bottom of the skull as the skeleton collapses, slowly sinking to the bottom of the bay.

The skeleton archer to the far left has spotted Bertrand and his flaming handaxe, and takes aim at him. The leader meanwhile utters another command, this time with seemingly more success.

Brax meanwhile takes his axe to slam it into the skull of the first sword-wielding skeleton. Hitting the skull successfully, he whacks it again, frenzied with rage. Bertrand, with a quick look towards Falx, takes a leap across the railing and sprints towards you and Brax on the beach. At the same time, the two sword-wielding skeletons swing at you and Brax. As if it had been waiting for that, the skeleton leader takes three careful shots, one against you, Brax and Bertrand each. The two Archers meanwhile both let fly against the fast-approaching Bertrand. Already having taken an arrow to the shoulder before, the leader's arrow finds him too, and after another onslaught Brax, Bertrand and you look badly mauled by this attacking force.

Maxine regenerates 4 HP and is now up with 15 HP 

Digsite

Seeing maggots crawl all over Berrus and the tabaxi scout, Shae rushes towards them and tapping into the font of celestial power within her unleashes a word of radiance against the maggot swarms before her.

With the searing flame erupting around her, but leaving her allies unharmed, many of the maggots are burned away and crumbling to dust and ash, though a few still remain on Berrus and the tabaxi.

Further sounds of fighting from the stores to the south is heard, with screams telling you that at least one of the survivors is hurt. The darkskinned dwarf looks at you all before turning to Berrus, patting away some more of the maggots, before saying: "The Allfather be praised! Yer comin' jus' in tyme. Thar's more down south, les go!" As he starts charging, he turns around to shout one more thing: "Oh, an' I'm Noska, by the way!", before facing forward and firing the heavy crossbow he has instead of his right arm into a zombie about to smash a crate of supplies.

Struck by Noska's bolt, the zombie turns around and starts to shamble towards him, slamming his arms against the form of the burly dwarf. By the sounds of crashing crates and the general ding of battle, more roaming zombies are destroying supplies or trying to break through hastily erected barricades.

The tabaxi spots one just behind you, and brushing off the remaining maggots leaps towards it. "Three Earrings take him!"
Now wise to the maggots, she takes two of her throwing daggers and hurls them at the lone zombie from a bit of a distance away.



Professor, you're up!

Glasses:

The Professor moves east past Three Earrings and ends up at the base of the steps of the stone ziggurat. Seeing the eastern group of four zombies fighting two defenders, Snively tries to even the odds by dropping a Flaming Sphere right behind one of them who seems worse for the wear from the tidal wave he had just unleashed on them.

Flaming Sphere right behind on one of the two middle Zombies of the easternmost group, with bonus action to roll it into him from behind:  7 Fire Damage,  DC 15 Dexterity for Half Damage.  Any of the 3 Zombies currently adjacent to the sphere take  8 Fire damage (DC 15 Dexterity for Half) if they end their turns still adjacent to it.

Getting to the foot of the stone pyramid, the Professor unleashes another burst of elemental energy, as a flaming sphere forms out of the surrounding air to slam into the backs of the zombies harassing the young wizard and halfling.

Zip, seeing plenty of maggots still crawling at the feet of Thessalandra quickly turns towards her and grabs something out of one of his pouches. "Duck!" As he shouts, a bolt of fire erupts from his outstretched arm, directly slamming into the maggots towards her feet.

From the stores to the south, you hear a voice shout: " Help! We can't hold much longer!"

Thasselandra, hearing the call, is brushing off some of the maggots as she dashes off towards the south to help out the beleagerd survivors in the stores. As she passes the zombie currently battling with Noska, she pierces it with her rapier, cutting it down with a well placed thrust to the back of the neck, severing its spinal column and leaving it collapsed in a heap. Dashing further on, she sprints past the stores towards the seeming leader of this horde, throwing her dagger at it in the process.

The halfling to the east meanwhile is very thankful for the Professor's aid, and is using the quick distraction provided to his advantage. The remaining maggots on Berrus and the ground meanwhile attempt to find a new host, as they try burrow into Berrus' exposed flesh on his arms and hands, as well as crawling up Noska's legs and finding exposed areas there. "Argh, damn buggers got me!" you hear him shout.

Professor, you see the apprentice wizard happily make use of your distraction too, and quickly takes a few step back before touching his thumbs together and with outstretched fingers releases a sheet of flames against all four of the zombies before them. Unfortunately, the halfling is caught in the fire too, and you see him go down, badly burnt by the desperate wizard.




Fang, you're up!

(On her turn)

Maxine found herself exactly in the situation she claimed she should never be. She would laugh if the situation would not be so dire. Maxine reached out inside her bag - there was something else she could do, or at least try.

Potion of Fire Breath if it is possible to Breath fire in the same turn - fire at the "S" right under her, if not - disengage and run to the log (east).

Seeing the battle turn against her, Maxine dodges under another lunging attack, and sprints to the log near the beach, covering behind it for cover, as she digs out the bottle with the fiery liquid and drinks it, feeling the fire in her chest, ready to burst forth.

Falx meanwhile, having had an idea, grabs one of the mallets you used to repair the ship, and, leaping across the railing and into the water below, starts to make his way to the beach too. Once close enough, he focusses and takes careful aim and throws the hammer at one of the sword-wielding skeletons surrounding Brax. Hitting the skeleton square in the head, the jaw and parts of the skull shatter from the impact. Falx shouts, clearly and loudly: " Smash them, they're brittle!" With that, he gets on one knee, and takes another carefully aimed shot at the leader of the skeletons.

The skeleton archer to the left takes aim at you, and lets fly an arrow, but it hits the log in front of you instead.
The leader, seeing you going to cover and now three fighters on the beach grabs a large bladed club from its back and charges towards Brax, getting into the fight and swinging at him with both hands. Bertrand, armed with his shield and instructions from Berrus sees the first incoming strike, and throws himself in between to throw the leader off his balance. Even though, two of the hits land, cutting further gashes into the torso and the arms of the raging Brax, who somehow still remains standing despite the numerous grievous wounds on his body.

Hearing Falx's words, not consciously, but still in a way that makes him understand, he throws his weapons into the sand, instead throwing his bare fists at the leader before him. Much to the surprise of the skeleton leader, the barbarian's furious strikes land hard, and several ribs shatter under the first strike, followed by a shattered tibia, as Brax lands a solid kick.

Bertrand meanwhile, faced with only a single opponent, turns the axe around to strike at his opponent with the blunt end, aiming for the neck. The blow lands with a sickening crunch, almost striking the skeleton down in a single blow. Bertrand then takes his shield, slamming the edge of it into the cracked jaw of the skeleton archer, to finish it for good.

Another of the skeleton archers now aims at Bertrand and lets fly, but Bertrand skilfully deflects the arrow with his shield. The two sword wielding skeletons that barely remain standing both hack into Brax, determined to bring him down. A lucky strike by the second manages to catch Brax on the head, bringing him crashing down into the sand.

 Maxine heals 4, is now at 19 HP and is up for her turn!

Maxine quietly thanked all the known gods and Ubtao in particular for her so useful mutations - it was time to check if potions here were as good. It was a risk but she hoped calculated enough.

Maxine got from behind the log, stepped closer to attackers and berthed out a stream of fire (they need a slogan for those things "woke your inner dragon" or something) ((for 11 fire damage of half if Dex save DC13) then she run all the way to Brax (if that did not distract the skeleton - nothing will anyway) and tried to return the warrior to life. Cure Wounds 6

Fang slowly makes his way closer to the cries for help. An arrow knocked and at the ready. Noticing the zombie to his left lets fly his arrow. Quickly readying another Fang looses it at the same zombie.(if it’s still standing, or the next closest threat to him and the group. The one next to Pincushion perhaps)

Mushu is still perched on Fangs shoulder, is poised and ready to sting the first creature that gets to close to Fang.

Belching her fire onto one of the skeletons standing close to Brax Maxine manages to turn it to ash, before rushing to his side. One of the skeletons takes the opportunity to take a swipe at you, but misses, allowing Maxine to lay her hands on Brax. As the magic flowed from her into him, the barbarian opened his eyes, still filled with a fiery rage. CLosing his hands into fists, he quickly pushes himeslef off the ground, standing before the skeletons bloodied and beaten, but unbroken.

Seeing Brax back on his feet, Falx rushes over near Brax to recover his light hammer, before he charged ahead to deal with the skeleton archer to the left. With intense focus, he lands a hit on the skeleton, its bones shattering beneath his precise strikes. The skeleton archer currently being harassed by Falx desperately tries to fend him off with a long knife of its own, to little avail.

The skeleton leader meanwhile, having been nearly brought down by Brax before, and now faced not only with him, but with Maxine, starts to lay into you two with his long obsidian-tipped club, after shouting a quick command to the other skeletons in its reedy voice. In the ding of battle, the command seems to fall on deaf ears however. Its precise strikes still manage to land, as it feints to draw Bertrand out, before landing the true hit on you, Maxine. Catching you in the side, you feel the sharp obsidian tear into your flesh, before you see another gash on Brax's chest. Remarkably, although the leader must have hit something vital, the barbarian is remarkably still standing before you. 

Spitting the blood in his mouth into the ground before you, Brax's face a twisted grin through broken teeth and bleeding wounds, the barbarian looks at the leader in pure white hot anger: "My turn!" WIth that, he shatters the skeleton leader's thighbone with a kick. Falling to one knee, Brax slams both of his fists onto the leader's skull, shattering it into several pieces under the impact.With shattered jaw and thighbone, the leader is barely able to keep upright, as in a frenzy, Brax grabs the back of the cracked skull and smashes his knee square into the leader's head. Splintering into dozens of pieces, the leader's bones fall into the sand, Brax standing victorious.

Bertrand, seeing only one skeleton standing between you and Brax, and one facing off against Falx and losing decisively, charges the last remaining skeleton archer. With a shout, he slams his shield into the skeleton, before smashing it with the back end of his handaxe, cracking bone beneath his strike, and engulfing the skeleton in his furious flames. Within seconds, only charred bones remain.

The swordclub wielding skeleton before you sees you standing there, having brought Brax back to life, and slashes at you with all its might. YOu see the swipe coming though, and quickly step back, evading the attack.

 Maxine heals 2 HP, is now at 9 HP and is up!

Digsite


With two well placed arrows, the zombie before three earrings is returned to the afterlife.



Berrus and Shae, you're up!

To the other dwarf "use fire on the grubs brother"

Wiping off any remaining on him he advances and strikes at the next undead. Taking the precaution to keep his shield to block the inevitable grubs

Attack 1 Attack: 21 Damage: 7

Attack 2 Attack: 20 Damage: 3

Shae would do her best to help flick grubs off Berrus. She’d encourage him to keep pressing his advance so she could follow in behind him. The more zombies they have access too, the more light she could call upon them. The warlock will snap her fingers, calling upon her magic to crash into their foe.

Sacred Flame Dex DC 15 or take 11
(Assuming Shae’s not within range of multiple targets I’ll use sacred flame. She’d target prioritize maggots on Berrus, if that’s still a target. Otherwise a zombie in a tussle with an NPC to help them.)

(If Maxine is up too)

That hurt. A lot. But Brax looked worse than Maxine felt and she did not hesitate with the choice: she breathed another fiery breath at the last standing skeleton (how can dragons do it all day long?) and while the unholy creature struggled with the fire ( 20 fire damage or half for Dex save DC13) she carefully touched Brax's shoulder trying not to get under his axe ( Cure Wounds on Brax for  6 ) 

Maxine, between the four of you, the remaining two skeletons are quickly turned to dust and ash too. Thanks to your healing, the worst of Brax' wounds have closed, but as all of your adrenaline subsides, you feel the vitality and energy you felt in the middle of the fight gone. You're not entirely sure how the mutations work yet. Brax himself is exhausted after the fight, just falling to his knees and rolling onto his back, some of the blood from his wounds pooling in the sand. Only Falx has gotten out of the fight unharmed.

"That horn blast earlier, whatever this was, I fear the rest of the group might be in trouble too." He quickly interrupts himself though, when seeing that you are all in no state to fight on. "Right, lets get back on the Hope then. If it gets too bad for the others, they can try and fight their way to us. Lets make sure we finish the necessary repairs and be ready to leave quickly if we can."

Lending Brax a hand, he helps him get back on board the ship, to properly treat his wounds, before the remaining three of you can make sure you're ready to set sail if necessary. 

---------------------------------

Berrus spots a zombie shambling towards the beleaguered storehouse and quickly hurries towards it, laying into it with two sweeping strikes. Although you manage to block a lot of the maggots with your shield, they still start to crawl up your legs and try and get underneath your chainmail. Cliff, having finished off an undead with his bare hands, sees berrus battling anothe one and comes charging in as well, fists flying. Already badly hacked up by Berrus, the first blow knocks the zombie down, giving Cliff the perfect set up to stomp another zombie out of existence.

Shae meanwhile is rushing towards the stores, where several zombies have broken through the barricades. Seeing one of them try and climb over some broken furniture, she quickly releases her sacred flame against it. You can also see one of the people behind the barricades fending off a zombie with a spear, but struggling to wield the weapon in the tight confines of the storehouse.

Seeing several new fighters rush towards them, the leader of these undead quickly takes aim at Shae, but narrowly missing her. thinking better of it than drawing a second arrow, it instead pulls back around the corner of the store house, leading the other zombies more closely.

To the east, the last remaining and badly burnt zombie finds itself alone, faced with the you wizard that just turned four creatures into smoking embers, including the badly burnt halfling lying unconscious and dying on the ground.The zombie flails wildly, trying to get at the wizard somehow. He manages to evade the slow and staggering movements of the zombie though.

Towards the centre, the zombies break through the barricade, and by the screams inside, the defenders are not doing too well.

Shae, you also see a zombie smash another crate, to your right a bit further up the path.

Glasses:

The Professor moved up the steps to get a better view of the battlefield.  Seeing the wounded halfling on the ground near the zombie, he decides to move the Flaming Sphere away in order to avoid further damaging the potential ally.  Instead, he rolls the sphere to the west, slamming it into one of the zombies trying to breach the barricade and letting it rest next to both of them, hoping they are too unintelligent to move away before it burns them again.

He then focuses on the stone in the path to the north of the remaining western zombie and uses his Catapult spell to fling it at that creature.

Flaming Sphere:  8 Fire Damage, DC 15 Dexterity for Half

Catapult:  13 damage, DC 15 Dexterity to Avoid 

Fire damage if either zombie ends their turn adjacent:  7

Fang fires two arrows towards the closest threats to either himself or members of his group. And then makes his way over to the fallen Halfling.

Mushu still perched on Fangs shoulder, attempts to sting the zombie near the downed halfling.