Some light reconnaissance reveals squads of undead roaming around and a whole pack of them atop a high tower, armed with heavy crossbows. Well, the evil clerics see a free supply of cannon fodder and with the appropriate wards and wings, they soon have enslaved about 40 of the skeletal warriors between Bayga and Sniffles. Some taboo investigation leads them to an outbuilding away from the central ruin and there they find stairs that lead down into a frigid – like bone chilling levels of cold – complex.
They poke and pry – spotting a fire and an earth elemental as well as many corridors, doors and a not insignificant number of traps. They double back and begin exploring the doors closest to their entry point. Upon entering the first room, Finger’s robe of eyes alerts him that there is a person trying very hard not to be spotted. Alas, Fingers spots him. The group is informed and the clerics send a small group of a dozen undead into the room to hack the hiding gnome into bite-sized bits.
They plunder the remains and move onwards – finding a room full of mud-stained couches – that they bypass and move into a large hallway. As they stand and look, they hear the tread of armored feet and watch as a group of large (hill giant?) skeletons march by in formation. The group decides to send their own army ahead to soften them up as they prepare to deal the final blows. Alas, these large skeletons are able to override the clerical control and now the six party members are facing 40ish of their skeletons and the six larger ones. The battle is pitched, but not terribly close and the group wins through without too much trouble – though Bayga laments the loss of his horde of undead.
They investigate the hallways further and reveal more doors and some stairs that descend deeper below ground. For now, they stay on the same level and start poking about. THey end up in a large hallway where an armored ghost astride a skeletal warhorse tries to kill them…to no avail.
They open one of the adjoining doors and find themselves facing an undead knight. He startles them by asking what they are doing here. For whatever reason, the act of speaking disrupts the ‘kill kill kill’ mentality of the party and they have a nice chat with the undead overlord. He offers them a rich monetary reward if they will help him spread the sentient bones of the bone collective to new locations. THey are to go to a place – kill as many as they can find, then inoculate the corpses with the bone shards of the bone collective. The evil of the collective will reanimate the corpses and those will serve as levies for the undead army the overlord plans to raise in an attempt to raze the old capital of the ancient empire. The group plays hard to get, refusing the monetary reward but agreeing to spread the bones to whomever they manage to slay.
They emerge from the ruins and get ready to travel. Magical mounts and clerical food and water sees them through the next 20 days’ ride as they move from the distant wilderness ever closer to population centers. They encounter the odd group of shepherds and a semi-permanent hunting camp. They slay everyone in short order, pile the corpses and sprinkle the bone dust.
They travel on, moving closer to the coast and eventually start finding ‘villages’. The first consists of a half-dozen huts and a few fields, and the next is all that plus a smithy, brewery and some semi-decent guards. In each case, silence spells and magic missiles for the odd dog that might bark are more than enough to tip the battle odds in their favor.
After a month on the move, they finally are within sight of their ultimate goal. A hillfort that straddles the access road to the old empire’s capital. This may prove a tougher nut to crack. There are three tall towers, topped with ballistae and perhaps 300 soldiers to overcome. Some careful thought is required to make this mission a success.
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