Duty Session 278: Spooky Scary Skeletons

During the Shadow Festival, the number of dark element monsters and undead seems to increase across the lands of Yamato. In the desert landscape of the Holy Empire Westelande, this is a particular problem, as the harsh desert seems to yield even more of these monsters. The Hunter's Guild has reached out to Adventurers, hoping to quell the numbers of undead before they become a threat to Breg Epona.

OOC: This quest is only available during the Shadow Festival. This quest is largely 'Combat'-concept based.

Difficulty:    Easy
Rec. Party:    3+
Rewards:       1
World Rewards: None

Schneider
Yamato - -44 - 1 - 0

Even as Adventurers begin to gather at the edge of the desert, there are already signs that the festival has had an impact on the environment. There are shambling bodies moving across the sands, occasionally obscured by a shifting sandstorm or passing dune.

Usually, undead are not common here, except in a few dungeon locations, but it seems that they have wandered beyond the confines of their usual territory.

These seem haphazard and random, rather than the organization seen in the Ninetails Dominion. Despite the time of year shifting into fall, the heat of the desert still radiates, causing the horizon to flicker and the sun to bake even the most steadfast of travelers.

"The largest concentration seems to be towards the oasis." A Hunter's Guild guide informs them, "So, head that direction and kill as many as you can. It should slow them down from reaching the city." The guide, apparently, is not coming with them.

Schneider nods to the guide and surveys the party getting ready to go out. "You all are only risking your lives, while I am risking an almost-certain Academy Award nomination..." Schneider laughs to himself after a pause. "Always wanted to say that," he admits. "But seriously, are you all ready for the desert?" Schneider's at home, it seems, he's from this area, and seems undeterred by the heat.
Ayame
Yamato - -44 - 1 - 0

Ayame nods, the sunhat bobbing a touch as she glances at the others, and shifts her grip on the shield "I think I'll be just fine" She smiles then, for a moment, chuckling ever so slightly "And we'll manage, I'm sure. Though if the sun gets much higher; well, it won't be the saddles that are blazing."
Rizadoman
Yamato - -44 - 1 - 0


    Rizadoman walks through the sand behind the others as he listens to conversation. As they stop , he lets his clawed feet dig into the sand and buries his tail a little. It was an enjoyable level of warmth. " Yes I to am ready, the undead , even if they aren't the queens they must be put down. " As he looks at the others then out across the desert, " So let us lay the dead to rest for this festival. "
Schneider
Yamato - -44 - 1 - 0

Even at a distance, it is easy to see the wandering figures that have begun to make desert passage that much more dangerous. The omnipresent heat and the dry air have taken regular ghouls and turned them into desiccated creatures.

Looking as if they were formed from a number of the usual races, their skin has dried in such a way that it clings to the bones underneath. It has a paper consistency, sometimes flapping like cloth in the wind, revealing the skeletal structures underneath. Some drag along shriveled lines of strange, dark organs that look more like rocks than the entrails they might have once been.

Hollow eye sockets peer out into the endless sea of sand. They groan as they shamble, seeming to take little notice of those around them until they come too close or make too much in the way of sound. It's possible that they could sneak by them, or at least round up a few so they aren't as much of a problem to the passing travelers.

Schneider sighs, he's not much use here. "So, what's the plan?" he asks. "Can't fight them, that'll warn the rest that we're coming." It looks like the choices for getting past this advance guard are stealth, speed, or guile.
Ayame
Yamato - -44 - 1 - 0

Ayame winces as she looks at herself, and she lifts the shield "Avoid as we can, I suppose. If we can" As she moves with the others, around them, avoiding the groups. Poorly, it has to be noted. Thankfully, she's slightly better at running
Rizadoman
Yamato - -44 - 1 - 0


    Rizadoamn looks out at the sea of undead and readies his scimitar but at the mention of not being able to fight them with alerting someone the lizardman understands. " Understood. No combat then, simply have to avoid there attention. " With that Rizadoman begins to take off running to try and avoid the undead, however at the end of the day he was still a wall trying to move quickly. It wasn't going as well as it could as he catches a few eyes.
Schneider
Yamato - -44 - 1 - 0

So, Schneider is not a sneaky person. He is loud and flamboyant, and he sneaks ... poorly. As do we all, it seems, and the undead will not be circumvented. Which is fine, it's quite a brief and loud fight, with fireballs and other noisy battle effects, so there may be some people in Carmina Gadelica that don't know there was a fight, but everyone closer than Breg Epona certainly knows. "Okay, plan B, we'll skip the stealth approach," Dark Schneider says after the fight.

Further beyond the first shifting sands, there are more dangerous undead lurking. At first, the sound comes at a distance, like drumbeats across the empty landscape. Then, as they crest one of the dunes, the source of the sound becomes clearer.

A group of rattling skeletons march together in time. The steady footfalls of their bone feet against the sand are rather rhythmic to the ear, likely keeping them moving in time. It almost appears as if they might have once been a military regiment, wearing tattered remains of Westelande colors in places.

The moment the Adventurers get into range, the back line begins grabbing pieces of bone from their own bodies, hurling them as projectile weapons. The hollow bones make strange sounds as they fly through the air. The front line of skeletal fighters rush towards the Adventurers, utilizing hands and feet to lash out at anyone they can reach.
Ayame
Yamato - -44 - 1 - 0

Ayame wrinkles her nose, lifting up the shield she carries, before slamming it into the crouch, crouching behind it as she does. Then, she rams it forward against the onrushing hoard, carrying the ground with it and showering the sand to slow the undead
Rizadoman
Yamato - -44 - 1 - 0


    Rizadoman looks at the skeletons as they begin to throw pieces of themselves before he covers his head with one of his arms, trying to cover to himself. With his free hand he places his hand in the sand and begins to focus and pray. " Spirits of the earth, I pray to you to blind our enemies so that we may go uninjured." Whether it is his prayers being answered or his magic going off, who knows, but he does manage to kick up a wall of sand between them and the skeletons.
Schneider
Yamato - -44 - 1 - 0

Schneider is summoning an Earth elemental, but though it rises from the desert floor, it doesn't start to move right away, and when it does, it seems to crumble immediately. Who knew summoning Earth Elementals in the sand was not a good plan? Luckily, Ayame's wave of sand is much more effective, and Rizadoman's wave of sand cripples them, so that the party can make quick work of them.

It isn't long after the encounter with the Skeletons that the group spots the first hints of structures within the desert. Ancient, stone buildings seem to have been half buried, etched away by wind and sand. Any identifying marks seem to be long gone, but they mark the entrance to the green of the oasis, beyond.

There are guardians here, as well. Skeletal hands scramble up from beneath the sands, dragging dry bodies, wrapped in linen along with them. The mummies seem to be wearing a strange necklace upon each of them, emblazoned with the symbol of a beetle.

They are faster than their ghoul brethren, making quick movements towards the Adventurers with clasping hands and dirty, sharp fingernails. Their dark, gaping mouths seek to bite at exposed flesh, even as dark magic lingers behind their empty eye sockets.
Ayame
Yamato - -44 - 1 - 0

Ayame smiled a very touch, and then looked about curiously as the area changed. She held up her hand a moment, studying the old building through a pair of half-moon glasses, but quickly moved to catch up with a small shake of her head. Once she sees these guardians, she frowns a moment, and then moves, tapping the back of her shield with her wand as she whispers "Sun's done, dark's come; behind the eyes of those long gone" As the shield blazed, a flash and harsh light even in the desert sun
Rizadoman
Yamato - -44 - 1 - 0


    Rizadoman watches the mummies as he shakes his head, " To defile the dead like this." He lets out a growl as sees the necklacces on their chest. " It is an undead spell, binding their souls to the amulets and keeping them going. Destroy the amulets and they will fall. " With that Rizadoman begins to unleash a new spell, one of holy prayer to turn back the undead and cancel the magic keeping them standing.
Schneider
Yamato - -44 - 1 - 0

The undead wilt under Ayame's holy light, crumpling and disintegrating as Rizadoman reveals their weakness and takes advantage, his prayer causing the amulets to explode, leaving more of them vulnerable to Ayame's holy light. Schneider's a one-trick pony, however, and Burn Everything seems to be his plan. So, whichever undead are not holily purified are incinerated post-haste.

Leaving behind the ruins at the edge of the oasis, the party continues into the lush landscape that has grown out of this rare water source. Leafy plants sway in the hot, desert air, but there seems to be no evidence of animals, despite the fact that this would be an ideal watering hole.

The monsters are surely the reason for this, and the direct cause soon shows themselves. A faintly glowing, undead monster floats in patrol around the edge of the water. The creature lacks legs, being only a floating ribcage with arm and head attached above it. It makes an eerie sound as it moves, almost like faint screaming.

Wearing a tattered hood, it hides a face made of bone with red energy radiating out of where the eyes should be. Each time the creature stops, it looks around slowly, eyeing for signs of outsiders.

Seeing them, it reaches out a bony hand, summoning a large, obsidian scythe, which flies through the air with remarkable speed, seeking to cut the Adventurers down to size!
Ayame
Yamato - -44 - 1 - 0

Ayame lets out a yell, hefting the shield and charging in; whispering words that capture the air and coelesce onto the shield, riming it with ice and chilling the air even in the unrelenting warmth of the desert, pushing herself to block and slam the shield into that blow
Rizadoman
Yamato - -44 - 1 - 0


    Rizadoman stares into the eyes of the reaper, and the reaper stares back for a moment. "As a hatchling I was taught to not fear death. " Drawing a scimitar made of bone and leather he points it directly at the reaper and charges in towards the reaper meeting that scythe dead on and trying to slash through the floating apparition. Eventually he would fall back so the others can fight death as well, something every brave warrior should do at least once.
Schneider
Yamato - -44 - 1 - 0

Ayame is invulnerable as she charges forward, the scytheblows unable to break through her defenses as she metes out damage. Schneider chants his own defensive magic, and a flaming shield appears around Rizadoman, burning the enemy when it tries to attack him. Schneider makes a 'keep going' gesture when Rizadoman falls back, he's totally OK with someone else on the front line.

As the Reaper's health begins to fall dangerously close to defeat, it gives a cry that sounds like the screams of many people and animals being melded together. It floats away from the party, out over the water. Then, something strange happens. It begins to crumble to dust.

Then, there is a sudden pulse of green light over the water's surface. Rippling from the water, a new enemy appears with an even larger health bar. With billowing robes and magic crackling at its feet, the Lich raises one hand and sends out a pulse of green light which seems to resurrect many of the same undead they had already defeated, summoning them from the surrounding sands.

The dancing skeletons approach in lock-step with shambling ghouls rising from the water - waterlogged, but no less dangerous. The Reaper Skeleton's bones being reconstructed, and a new bone scythe forming! Mummies rise once more, launching their bandages at the players, trying to crowd-control them down!
Ayame
Yamato - -44 - 1 - 0

Ayame moves in; hefting the shield and using her wand to blast a few here and there with raw power. Still, she quickly begins to be overwhelmed, and falls back, shooting worried glances at the others and calling out "I hope you two can step up!" She says, managing a nervous grin as the glimmering about her shield begins to chip, fade away under the assault
Rizadoman
Yamato - -44 - 1 - 0


    Rizadoman watches the lich rise up and grins, "Finally the cause of all this has risen. " Taking a deep breath the lizardman lets out a loud challenging roar trying to draw the attention of the lich before he rears his head back and then whips it forward unleashing a large fireball in the direction of the lich. With his initial attack delivered he dives into combat, with several more fireballs thrown often.
Schneider
Yamato - -44 - 1 - 0

Ayame advances strongly, but is forced to retreat under the Lich's counterattack. But it is not capable of withstanding the intensity of the fireball that Rizadoman launches, and the flames of Schneiders seem to consume it utterly, eating the dark and evil without any regard, devouring it's HP and the strange staff he carries.

Amidst the attacks, the staff is shattered! The remaining raised undead fall to the ground immediately! This gives the Adventurers the chance they need. Their strikes landing true upon the Lich's robed body, quickly dropping its health. Soon enough, it cries out, shuddering for a moment before bursting into points of light.

As its body shatters, the dark clouds that had gathered overhead are cleared, and the region is saved from this dangerous foe. The gem that once was encrusted upon its staff landing before the Adventurers, and shatters into multiple equal pieces.
Ayame
Yamato - -44 - 1 - 0

Ayame breaths hard, giving a quiet nod of thanks to the others. She plants her shield on the ground, leaning on it and managing to give them a quick grin "That was good work" She says after a moment "Very good. Thank you, there."
Rizadoman
Yamato - -44 - 1 - 0


    Rizadmon lets out a sound of triumph as the trio defeat the lich. Taking his shard of the necromancer staff he looks at it before frowning for a moment and then pocets it. Looking at the others he gives a bow of his head, " Thank you both, without either of you this would not have been a success. " The lizardman looks back towards where the sea of the undead use to be, "If only the Queen was so easily solved. "
Schneider
Yamato - -44 - 1 - 0

Schneider picks up the reward item, looking at it curiously before tucking it into his inventory as well. He nods to Ayame, agreeing, "Yeah, that did go well. That last boss could have been trouble." He smirks to Rizadoman, offerig a shrug. "But what can we do?" He then looks around the area, then back across the desert. "But lets get back to Breg Epona, there's a beer waiting for me." He grins cheesily and turns to head out.
Ayame
Yamato - -44 - 1 - 0

Ayame nods to Rizadmon, bending and examining the shard a moment before shrugging as it winks out and away "If everything was simple, we'd be done a long time ago" She says with a cheerfulness, starting the long trot back to civilization. And beer. "And the best we can. I think I'll settle for something with a little more taste, to get the dust from my mouth" With a nudge to fallen bones in passing