A Stitch in Souragne: The Siege of Lac Noir

[Ken of Ghastria]

"Yes..." says Lucien numbly. Then with something approaching his usual alertness, he repeats, "Yes! You're right, Zumba ... thank you." Holding the necromantic rod, he mentally commands the undead under his influence: Stop! Do not approach the beast-men and the men in robes. Come back. He looks up. "It's done. They're on their way back. I'll tell them to stop again before they get too close to us, though."

He stands up and addresses his companions. "So... what now? Some force or magic seems to be subduing the zombies, making them relatively docile. Regardless, that mechanical abomination is our main concern; we may need one or two of us to distract or engage our foes from a distance while the rest do what we can to destroy it! It's creating those zombis and we certainly know how strong they are -- and we also know why your magic, Goren, doesn't work on them. They're not totally undead! They're a disgusting hybrid of living and undead flesh. And I'm sure that liquid is just as vile. Let me find out what else Claude can determine...."

He reaches out with his mind. Claude, can you see what the men in robes are doing with that liquid? And the runes on the column... are they being used as 'controls' for the machine, or does the machine seem to do its vile work automatically?
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Rock, feel free to reply as Claude or send me the info in a PM and I'll relay it here.

[Guzrath]

Suddenly, the half-elf reels backward as though stuck by an invisible fist! He falls to the ground, but he seems barely aware of the impact -- his eyes stare straight ahead, wide with horror.

Vincent looks at Lucien and does not move. His hand rests on his rapier.

He listens attentively to Lucien's description of what is happening further up in the swamp and again doesn't show sign of emotion.

"hmmm, distract fifty of them, now there's challenge" he smiles.
"What's this sandstorm you mentioned? We're in Souragne......" he asks.

[Ken of Ghastria]

Lucien receives the mental response from Claude. He nods somberly. He then says to his three companions, "Not surprisingly, it seems that the machine is the origin of the beast-men as well as the zombis. Makes a perverted sense, I suppose. What fiend invented that contraption?! It seems that these newest 'creations' are going off in the same direction -- some new mission, perhaps? I don't know much else about the liquid that's being ... distillled ... other than that the vials are being carefully pocketed by one of the three men, the tallest one."

[steveflam]

"Maybe we besoin destroy machine? I casting maybe a wall of lumière to make moving away from machine our enemies? Then moi is another enchantment on my mace to helping destroy machine..... Bonne idée?"

[Ail]

"If we manage to keep the beastmen and zombies away from us", Zumba says, "we may have a chance. We need to focus on the leaders alone. If we lucky, and we stop the leaders, then the beastmen might be stopped too. From what I've seen before, they are not happy in this existence."

Zumba then looks to Lucien
"Please, what is that sandstorm it talked about?"

[Ken of Ghastria]

"The 'sandstorm,'" says Lucien slowly, "is exactly that. In the middle of all that chaos and horror is a powerful, yet incredibly localized, sandstorm!" He talks as though he has trouble believing it himself. "A sandstorm... in the center of a swamp. How could...?" His eyes widen.

"Could that..." he continues, trying to find the proper words, "be how they've been creating the drought? I know that there are other lands across the Mists -- arid, desert wastes. Have they somehow made a connection to one of those lands through the Mists themselves? A conduit of sorts, one that's slowly pulling the life and water out of Souragne?"

He shakes his head. "I suppose it doesn't matter, ultimately. We need to destroy that machine and kill those men, or at least their leader."

[Ail]

Zumba nods, still puzzled. Then he says as if suddenly remembering:

"What about Chicken Bone? According to the map, he is somewhere inside this ring!"

[Ken of Ghastria]

Zumba nods, still puzzled. Then he says as if suddenly remembering:

"What about Chicken Bone? According to the map, he is somewhere inside this ring!"

Lucien curses softly. "Damnation. We can't afford to waste more time, then. Here's what I propose...."

"I'm fairly confident that I can destroy the machine on my own. If I get just a bit closer, I can weave a destructive wall around it, much as I did to the beastmen yesterday. Of course, the beastmen today and their masters will object to this idea.

"Goren, you mentioned something about creating a wall of ... light, was it? Is it something that you can use either to slow down the zombis and beastmen, or perhaps surround the cloaked men so that they can't give orders?

"Vincent, Zumba... I think you'll agree that we cannot survive a straight-up fight against those numbers, especially if we can't rely upon the zombies under my command to assist. So my suggestion to the two of you: Go around the edge of the area, and find Chicken Bone. He's the reason we're out here, and if he's trapped somehow, then freeing him may be the only thing we can do to save ourselves and possibly Souragne.

"Should Goren and I be spotted and pursued, the two of us can retreat back here, where I should be able to command 'my' zombies to defend us while the two of you proceed with what may be the most important task.

"Thoughts, gentlemen?"

[Ken of Ghastria]

Before anyone can respond, Lucien raps himself in the head with the end of the necromantic wand. "Vous êtes un idiot, Jetté," he says, shaking his head. "I've become so used to fighting zombies and beastmen that I'm neglecting my own methods of getting information from thinking foes." He stares ahead and begins concentrating. Guide me to them, Claude, he says mentally to the crystal. Point the way....

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Lucien expend 3 pp to manifest clairvoyant sense at the area where the three men are gathered. He wants to see and hear exactly what they're doing and saying.

[steveflam]

"Lucien, I also can making spell silence, so no orders given. I doing that first, then use wall I thinking yes I make circle of it."

[Ail]

Zumba nods at Lucien.

"No way we can fight through, no. We'll see if there's a way around, but that will have us enter the circle. Can't you ask Claude to see what is on the other side of the sandstorm? Or use your powers to do that?"

[Ken of Ghastria]

"One moment, Zumba...," Lucien says. His eyes seem to be slightly unfocused for a few seconds. "Fascinating. Thank you for the assistance, Claude."

He turns his attention back to Zumba, Vincent, and Goren, "All right. Here is what we know:

"One of the hooded figures mentioned the 'old heathen' -- Chicken Bone, perhaps? -- and is almost pleased that they didn't kill him in their first strike. He's proven 'useful' somehow.

"Another of the figures -- a woman -- referred to their 'master'. So there's someone above those three. And this Master is preparing the zombis -- perhaps 20 or more of them -- for an attack on the church in Marais de Tarascon! The goal is to kill all the Ezraite clerics and Voodan in one strike They believe the clerics and Voodan will 'charge' the zombis with enough priestly magic to level most of the city!

"The zombis will be 'shadow-walked' to the church by someone or something called 'the Myrd.' While their original plan seemed to be for the zombis to 'devour' the rain-making spell that the priests will cast, our foes sees a much greater opportunity for destruction in an all-out fight at the church.

"After the clerics and Voodan are dead, the hooded ones will teach Souragne to worship the 'Dark One' instead, and they'll 'no longer need the master and his infernal devices.' That's interesting... it suggests their Master is an outsider or at least not of their foul faith.

"The one who was collecting the vials of liquid from the machine asked for persmission to deliver those 'soul-shards' to their home base -- and then he walked around the stone pillar and vanished into its shadow. We've seen that trick before. It seems they're all capable of it, unfortunately. I wonder if the power is in their cloaks...? Might be worth attempting -- if we can kill one of them, of course."

He takes a breath. "No, I can't see beyond the sandstorm at the moment, Zumba. But at least it's not between us and them.

"Goren... a silencing spell? That would be excellent! Yes, lead that spell then. And if I can surround them in a wall of lightning, it could also eliminate any shadows that they seem to rely on for their escapes!

"Any other thoughts? Zumba? Vincent? It seems that the fate of Marais de Tarascon could be decided in the next few minutes."

[Guzrath]

Vincent listens and is quiet mostly.
He is lost in thought, trying to find options. Moving about a bit.
"I have the option to create a little distraction" he says, holding up a grey bag "maybe lure out one of the vial carriers. Do you know if the simply carry it in hand or in a purse somewhere else?" he asks Lucien. "My little friend should be able to either steal it or at least irritate him, maybe lure him away from the group."

"I think threatening the robed ones is most important. Since they control the situation. They would send groups to investigate if someone would happen to shoot a bolt at them from the bushes of the swamp. Meanwhile others making a detour, while their attention is fixed on the unknown threat."

"I'm no tactician, but it sounds fun enough." he says smiling.

[steveflam]

Goren nods. Once it is decided, he will get into position and cast Silence on those that are controlling. Then he prepares his Wall of Light spell, but does not cast it.

[Ken of Ghastria]

Vincent listens and is quiet mostly.
He is lost in thought, trying to find options. Moving about a bit.
"I have the option to create a little distraction" he says, holding up a grey bag "maybe lure out one of the vial carriers. Do you know if the simply carry it in hand or in a purse somewhere else?" he asks Lucien. "My little friend should be able to either steal it or at least irritate him, maybe lure him away from the group."

Lucien shakes his head. "No -- unfortunately, the one who was collecting all the vials has returned to their base. The remaining two -- a man and woman, I believe -- are more involved in operating that vile contraption."

He spends several seconds concentrating, and then continues, "Vincent and Zumba... although you'll be separated from me and Goren, it's obviously vital we stay in contact. I've instructed Claude to stay where he is, roughly in the middle of where our two groups will end up. I know that you find his presence... uncomfortable, but I ask that you focus your thoughts and send him silent messages as necessary. He will then relay those messages to me and Goren. We'll do the same. Comprenez-vous? If so, signal him when you're in position. Good luck, gentlemen."

He looks at Goren. "If you are ready, my odd-speaking friend...?"

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Lucien's clairvoyant sense continues for several minutes, even without his concentration, so he'll continue to receive "updates." Rock, how far are the two remaining figures from the stone pillar, and is the pillar between them and the machine?

I want to give Ail opportunity to chime in before we officially proceed.