Stalkers Stalked (Age of Iron - DoD Online Campaign - Session 5)

  PCs:

• Belsun
• Goetic lvl 2
• played by: Jack
• Fintna'al
• Geometer Wizard lvl 2
• played by: Wingnut

++Session Notes++

• Having determined to light no fires, keep watch on the hill-camp, and wait for dawn, the party determined watch shifts
• The mages determined they would take the last watch of the night, to ensure they were up and ready to go at dawn

• As their watch began, Belsun carefully stepped out of the cramped boat and over to the sarcophagus, to get a bit more room as he prepared another summoning, this time an angel from far off Silver.
• Silver's light reaches Gold only weakly, but it is reflected in the glow of the Moon, so Belsun used that as a focal point. The Moon's crescent seemed to unfold like an origami snowflake, and in a few moments the spirit had manifested before him, a diaphanous and nearly invisible angel of light.
• Belsun's preparations granted him the first term, and his roll granted the angel a term. Belsun bound the angel to assist him in keeping watch, and the angel bound him to summon it again as his next summons, that it might better appreciate distant Gold.
• Belsun and Fin fell to whispered conversation to pass the time, discussing theories about the stars and how Seree records indicate they may in fact be one and the same as the gods, thinking beings whose light is power. They discussed the implications of studying a heaven that may not wish to be spied on.
• Their musings were cut short as the angel chimed to Belsun in the Silver tongue: "short/brief one, look and see the fire on the hill has gone out"
• Sure enough, the campfire on the hill had fallen dark, and an ominous stillness had descended. Fin woke his apprentice, and the mages briefly discussed the implications of this change when the angel chimed in again: "someone on the hill is aiming a crossbow at your location"
• The group took cover as a bolt slammed into the upper portion of the mast. Something dangled down, and Fin sent his nimble apprentice up to investigate while he timed the reload like an experienced war wizard ought
• "Quickly now!" Apprentice Robert snapped off the bolt and dropped down. It was a curious thing, with additional feathers and bits of bone like charms near the fletching, and a length of copper wire trailing from the back. Fin had a bad feeling and was able to recall rumors of makeshift devices intended to foul and redirect the targeting of spells.
• Initiative was rolled and the scene developed quickly as the angel rattled off a flurry of more warnings:
• the crossbowman was about to fire again
• four figures were walking down the hill and straight towards the party, a sudden flame indicating a lit torch among them
• a canoe with two dark clad figures within was maneuvering towards the party's boat from the rear
• The party bid their time and woke the hirelings, crouching in the boat and letting the jaws of the ambush close a bit as they tried to assess the situation
• The four figured from the hill shambled closer and they saw that two were small, water up to the chest, and two were adult sized, with water up to their waists. They could just make out a disturbing detail: the lone torch was not carried but jammed into the head of the lead figure. More undead!
• The mages won initiative and decided the cloaked figures lurking in the boat were the real threat, noting that their canoe sat low in the water and was filed to have a very low profile. The angel had informed Belsun that they were "wrapped in ghosts", and his soul sight was just able to make out a strange signature, as if each figure had more than one soul, or souls bound in their veils.
• Fin let rip a magic missile at the canoe, hoping to sink it, and it rocked violently. Belsun was seconds behind with an empowered Maleficence which rolled double 6's, indicating minor flux and nearly causing him to pass out. The flux effect was that his summons was disrupted, and the angel immediately vanished like a harshly extinguished candle. The magic hit home though: the canoe shattered and the two figured dove into the dark river water.
• An arrow whizzed mere millimeters from Belsun's ear, and the party took the opportunity of a clear path to the South as their signal to bug out
• Reasoning that heading downriver would help mitigate the drag of towing the cumbersome sarcophagus, the party put out their oars and furiously rowed away from the sniper on the hill and the advancing dead.
• Belsun was beginning to feel queasy and get a nosebleed heading away from the dam, an uncomfortable reminder of his pact to escort Ambatoharanana (the mummified king within the sarcophagus) back to his proper resting place
• A few miles south, they met up with the funeral barge of the Optical God and the rest of their expedition. The congregation was beside themself to see the sarcophagus, saying that they had recovered "a saint" from the dam, and were determined to assist in putting it back. Terbil Tem and his companions thought this was an awful idea and that the dam should not be messed with. They argued for going straight to Pollnagollum to seek the witch, as this was the plan they were sold on.
• Pondering this dissent in the ranks and the ambush, the party wondered if the Crows has really returned.
• It was speculated that whoever was camped on that hill may have fallen to the same fate as the Eagles, and that the party had just escaped being next.

End of session! What's up with the weird ensouled veils those dark figures had? Will the party head to Pollnagollum village or straight to the dam? Will Belsun remember to summon the angel again, or is the massive headache which this sarcophagus has become a bit too distracting? And how much longer will it be before the Black Company reinforcements arrive? Find out next time (potentially)!