Doc creeps up an old footpath towards the tower. The tent flap is closed, preventing Doc from looking in. However, he spots movement in the ruins of the tower. A rotting corpse is shambling around inside! Worse than that, there seem to a whole group of zombies, perhaps as many as a dozen!

"Plenty of undead up ahead..." He thinks with a sigh, "Best keep my eyes open. Odds are the one responsible for it is within the tent. Hardly looks beleaguered by the dead."

He then draws his blades and prepares to enter the tent.

Doc enters the tent. Inside, a stout, red-robed figure with sallow skin, a shaved scalp, and a black tattoo on his forehead is pouring over a scroll. Although Doc is being exceptionally quiet, the man immediately turns around when Doc lifts the tent flap. Discovering that a man with drawn blades is sneaking into his tent, the robed figure angrily shouts. “What is the meaning of this?”

(Doc may make an Arcana check to see if he recognizes the tattoo, and a History check to see if he recognizes the robes.)

(He beat a 25 Stealth check?)

Arcana Check:
17
History Check:
21

The tattoo is a necromantic symbol. As far as Doc knows, the red robes are just an eccentric fashion choice.

(A stealth check of 25 was not enough to prevent you from being detected when you entered the tent. Doc would probably find this rather surprising, given how sneaky he was.)

Being a preserver of life and connecting the dots of profaning the dead with their shallow mockeries of animation, Doc recognizes that the man before him is most likely the necromancer responsible for twisting those poor souls outside. He does not strike immediately, but instead replies:

"Steady now. I'm merely a traveler, I happened to be passing through the area and noticed the undead roaming nearby. Given that this tent seemed well put together and avoided by the roaming dead, it seemed prudent to investigate. I'm surprised to find one of the living here. My name is Doctor Elias Jennings."

Shamash knows that his strengths are..other than stealth. Once Doc asked everyone to stay low, he basically freezes and moves no further forward. While Doc moves toward the tent, Shamash will hang back and try and watch out for any danger behind them.

Perception: 5

      Yed will rush forward seeing his roguish companion enter the tent, however he realizes that his blunt object approach may hinder Doc’s plans. So he will creep to the front of the flap of the tent, holding his Warhammer and listening for any sign of Doc being in trouble or of battle taking place. At that trigger Yed will rush in ready to defend his human party member. 
 
  Stealth(approach):17

  Perception:7
  

Shamash jumps as he thinks an attack is imminent...but it is just a beetle. 

The man, still angry, flings spittle at Doc as he speaks. “Well of course my own servants aren’t going to attack me! Now, get on your way! I have important work to do, and travellers barging in with drawn weapons certainly isn’t helping it!”

(Guess I'll just go ahead and make rolls and see what sticks.)

"Understandable," Doc says as he feigns turning to leave, only to drop into a roll and lash out with his blades at the necromancer.

Stealth: (if applicable)
16

Deception: (if necessary)
13

Sneak Attack: (If sucessful hit)
Attack: 26 Damage: 25

Offhand Followup: (If successful hit)
Attack: Attack: 24 Damage: 2

  Assuming that a (20 Perception) allows Yed the opportunity of hearing blades be drawn within the tent, he rushes inside immediately! His large Warhammer swinging overhead towards the figure that he sees Doc in combat with, going for a heavy, reckless two handed swing! The Goliath roars with ferocity as he attempts to crush the rib cage of his opponent, his face contorted in a look of primal anger. 

   Reckless Two-Handed Warhammer Attack: 19
   Damage: 11

Doc makes as if to leave, but at the last second turns around and stabs his blade through the neceomancer’s heart! The man screams for an instant, then falls from Doc’s blade, dead.

Outside, the zombies fall inert to the ground, as the necromantic strings holding them up are cut.

(You each gain 200 XP.)

The tent contains a comfortable traveling suite, including a cot, a chair, a writing desk, supplies, and a chest of clothes. In the chest is a leather bag containing 35 sp, 20 ep, 20 gp, 5 pp, and one pearl. There’s also a potion of healing, a spell scroll of darkness in a bone tube, and a tiny jeweled box  containing a heavy iron ring, which exudes magic when you touch it.

Doc comes back out of the tent, waving to his companions. He cleans his rapier on the tent's flaps and ushers his allies inside.

"It would seem the man here was responsible for the dead milling about outside." He sighs a bit. "I'm not one for taking life with indiscretion, but when one toys with the fabric of life and death with the express purpose of twisting the lost souls into the foul mockery that is undeath, I tend to draw the line. I apologize if I overstep my bounds."

Shamash looks around with a satisfied look on his face. "I always hope to save folks who can be saved, but necromancy of this sort is foul work. A little righteous retribution is not so bad."

   Yed looks around the dark courtyard at the still corpses laying strewn all across and gives a heavy sigh, his shoulders sagging with the breathe. Returning his hammer to his holster at his back, Yed calms his breathing as he’d anticipated battle not moments ago. After a quick moment his eyes remain on the corpses but he replies with a soft voice after hearing his party’s conversation,

 “To what end did this man seek in keeping them from eternal rest I wonder? Poor souls never reunited in the afterland with their loved ones, it must’ve been torture.” 

  After which, if they have enough time, or spend a long rest after these events before returning to another task, Yed will seek to bury all the corpses of the former undead. And recite over their burials prayers for their return to their ancestors, asking the goddess Tymora to grant the luck in their return to the afterland. 

(These rolls might not be needed but just in case.)

Athletics (grave digging):20

Religion(prayers for the dead):2

  After realizing his inexperience in the religious ways, Yed will also ask his companion Shamash to help preform these rites!

By your estimates, there’s about an hour left before sunset.

If you choose to spend that hour searching for the orc camp, whoever is leading the search can roll a survival check. If you continue the search after dark, any subsequent survival rolls will be at disadvantage.

(I'll head it up.)

Survival:
19

Doc makes his way to a hilltop and tries to gain their bearings and a vantage on where they're headed.

Big Bear nods, “I absolutely agree, Doc. I death is something I cannot abide by.”

To Yed, “I imagine we can return to this place after our task is done and give these bodies the rest they deserve.”

Big Bear will assist however he can with tracking the orcs.