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canyonwalker"Contact!" Terence yelled to his adventuring companions as he saw a shadowy figure, likely an undead creature, watching him from the shadows in an abandoned building. The fight was on.
The group held their positions as the ambush unfolded. The paladin leader had drilled it into them that the stronger fighters would stand front and rear, protecting the group's two spellcasters. They knew they were walking into an ambush. Discipline would be important.
At the charnel scene in the intersection ahead of them, all of the creatures rose from the street. Four human-like creatures, mottled skin stretched tight over their bones, mouths full of sharpened teeth, and eyes smoldering like embers in sunken eye sockets. They were ghouls. They ambled toward the group, clawed hands raised and jaws open in preparation for attack.
Then the corpses of the horses rose, too. Huge, bloody holes riddled their bodies, bones poking through in areas. Their matted fur hung in tatters, falling out in clumps in places. The horses moved slowly and jerkily compared to the ghouls. They were zombies. Horse-zombies.
Oh, but a few ghouls and zombies weren't the extent of the ambush. They were just one part of it.
Next on the scene, worgs (same as tried ambushing the group in camp at night) charged in from hiding places crouched in the narrow alleys between decrepit buildings. Six in total, the threatened the party's soft middle as well as its front and rear.
The ghouls finished closing. As they approached to within hand-to-hand (or hand-to-claw) fighting distance the group noticed they were different from ordinary ghouls— whatever ordinary is for creatures raised from the grave. They were wearing armor. Mail shirts. Who buys armor for undead?
The zombie-horses charged in. Moving in artless fashion they basically just head-butted whomever they could. And the ghouls had moved into a formation that allowed their charge. So these ghouls not only had armor but some amount of combat training, too....
And then it got worse. Two ghasts entered the fray.
Ghasts in D&D are similar to ghouls except stronger. And more dangerous. And... stinky. They emit a putrid odor that can nauseate their enemies, weakening them in combat. But stench is not their most fearsome weapon. Their touch carries disease, and their bite can paralyze. And like the ghouls, these ghasts were wearing armor. One of them even had a metal cuirass (breastplate).
Terence stepped forward to repel the undead with his holy power. Unfortunately for him, these undead were bolstered by the corrupt evil of the city. Whereas in the cemetery he had the power to reduce many of the undead to dust, here all he could do was drive off the weakest monsters, the four ghouls. The horse-zombies remained, as did the ghasts.
One of the ghasts stepped forward and bit Terence. Terence failed his saving throw and was paralyzed! The players looked on in horror as one of their most effective weapons against undead was just neutralized!
The group was shocked but not demoralized, though. They fought bravely. Astrin and Herran threw themselves into combat. Duncan slugged away at two worgs and the ghast who were encircling him at the back of the melee. Meraxes dodged to safe spots to cast spells such as her fearsome fireball, able to scorch several enemies at once in a globe of flame 40' across.
Then an unexpected thing happened. Paralyzed Terence turned undead again... while paralyzed. The GM reasoned that the rules for Turn Undead said only that the cleric must present their holy symbol strongly... which Terence was doing when he was paralyzed. The rules didn't say that channeling his deity's power required an audible prayer or anything. So... paralyzed turning! Boom. The zombie horses turned to flee.
The combat ground through another round of turns. Things continued to look grim for the PCs. They were making progress, but was it enough? Terence blasted the undead a third time. Nothing seemed to happen at first. Then the ghast that had Duncan on the ropes turned to flee. Duncan had already moved to foreclose easy retreat, though. That ghast didn't get even two steps before Duncan finished him off with an opportunistic blow.
Suddenly the combat map looked a lot more favorable. The ghouls had been driven off, the zombie-horses were galloping away, one ghast was crushed, and the worgs were looking for escape routes. (A morale check indicated they would flee to save themselves at that point.)
The remaining ghast was looked pretty ragged. He'd been burned by a fireball, stomped by a horse, and slashed with swords a few times. The one who came to this ambush decked out in plate armor, he was a tough undead cookie. But now he was surrounded. Astrin was on one side, Herran on the other, and Astrin's horse on the third. ...Yes, Astrin's horse fought, too. She's a celestial warhorse. She's definitely not going to take crap from undead. The three of them together took the ghast down.
And... that was it. The street quieted down. All the PCs could hear, other than their own heavy breathing, was the distant clip-clop of the horses still fleeing into the distance. Just 5 rounds had passed since the eerie silence had exploded in a cacophony of combat.
The group held their positions as the ambush unfolded. The paladin leader had drilled it into them that the stronger fighters would stand front and rear, protecting the group's two spellcasters. They knew they were walking into an ambush. Discipline would be important.
At the charnel scene in the intersection ahead of them, all of the creatures rose from the street. Four human-like creatures, mottled skin stretched tight over their bones, mouths full of sharpened teeth, and eyes smoldering like embers in sunken eye sockets. They were ghouls. They ambled toward the group, clawed hands raised and jaws open in preparation for attack.Then the corpses of the horses rose, too. Huge, bloody holes riddled their bodies, bones poking through in areas. Their matted fur hung in tatters, falling out in clumps in places. The horses moved slowly and jerkily compared to the ghouls. They were zombies. Horse-zombies.
Oh, but a few ghouls and zombies weren't the extent of the ambush. They were just one part of it.
Next on the scene, worgs (same as tried ambushing the group in camp at night) charged in from hiding places crouched in the narrow alleys between decrepit buildings. Six in total, the threatened the party's soft middle as well as its front and rear.
The ghouls finished closing. As they approached to within hand-to-hand (or hand-to-claw) fighting distance the group noticed they were different from ordinary ghouls— whatever ordinary is for creatures raised from the grave. They were wearing armor. Mail shirts. Who buys armor for undead?
The zombie-horses charged in. Moving in artless fashion they basically just head-butted whomever they could. And the ghouls had moved into a formation that allowed their charge. So these ghouls not only had armor but some amount of combat training, too....
And then it got worse. Two ghasts entered the fray.
Ghasts in D&D are similar to ghouls except stronger. And more dangerous. And... stinky. They emit a putrid odor that can nauseate their enemies, weakening them in combat. But stench is not their most fearsome weapon. Their touch carries disease, and their bite can paralyze. And like the ghouls, these ghasts were wearing armor. One of them even had a metal cuirass (breastplate).
Terence stepped forward to repel the undead with his holy power. Unfortunately for him, these undead were bolstered by the corrupt evil of the city. Whereas in the cemetery he had the power to reduce many of the undead to dust, here all he could do was drive off the weakest monsters, the four ghouls. The horse-zombies remained, as did the ghasts.
One of the ghasts stepped forward and bit Terence. Terence failed his saving throw and was paralyzed! The players looked on in horror as one of their most effective weapons against undead was just neutralized!
The group was shocked but not demoralized, though. They fought bravely. Astrin and Herran threw themselves into combat. Duncan slugged away at two worgs and the ghast who were encircling him at the back of the melee. Meraxes dodged to safe spots to cast spells such as her fearsome fireball, able to scorch several enemies at once in a globe of flame 40' across.
Then an unexpected thing happened. Paralyzed Terence turned undead again... while paralyzed. The GM reasoned that the rules for Turn Undead said only that the cleric must present their holy symbol strongly... which Terence was doing when he was paralyzed. The rules didn't say that channeling his deity's power required an audible prayer or anything. So... paralyzed turning! Boom. The zombie horses turned to flee.
The combat ground through another round of turns. Things continued to look grim for the PCs. They were making progress, but was it enough? Terence blasted the undead a third time. Nothing seemed to happen at first. Then the ghast that had Duncan on the ropes turned to flee. Duncan had already moved to foreclose easy retreat, though. That ghast didn't get even two steps before Duncan finished him off with an opportunistic blow.
Suddenly the combat map looked a lot more favorable. The ghouls had been driven off, the zombie-horses were galloping away, one ghast was crushed, and the worgs were looking for escape routes. (A morale check indicated they would flee to save themselves at that point.)
The remaining ghast was looked pretty ragged. He'd been burned by a fireball, stomped by a horse, and slashed with swords a few times. The one who came to this ambush decked out in plate armor, he was a tough undead cookie. But now he was surrounded. Astrin was on one side, Herran on the other, and Astrin's horse on the third. ...Yes, Astrin's horse fought, too. She's a celestial warhorse. She's definitely not going to take crap from undead. The three of them together took the ghast down.
And... that was it. The street quieted down. All the PCs could hear, other than their own heavy breathing, was the distant clip-clop of the horses still fleeing into the distance. Just 5 rounds had passed since the eerie silence had exploded in a cacophony of combat.
