Book 1 - Chapter 5: Have Sword - Will Travel, or How the West was Fun(dead)

[Asta]

Eeada scowls at Thedrin's remark. "Fuck do you know aye? You one of those bastards in the robes, back to finish what you started? You'll have a hard time of it!"

"Y-yeah!" The boy, Duny chimes in weakly.

[pringerbeam]

     "I know more than you, that's for sure. They had me start practicing my swordsmanship before I was your age. Standard upbringing for a knight." Bragged Thedrin to the child with a hand on his puffed out chest. "Now, we're here under the banner of the Righ. As his subjects you must aid us and tell us what happened."

[Asta]

"Braggin' to kids, really?" Scathach said quietly, bringing her palm to her face.

"You's come from Aite-Aerd? For true?" Duny asked, hopefully.

"Don't buy it, could be lyin. You got proof?" Eeada replied, suspicion in her eyes.

[pringerbeam]

     "The word of an honorable knight is all we need. Our cause is just and we need not deceive anyone. Surely even children can understand that." Replied Thedrin haughtily. "But if you truly need convincing, allow me to recount to you the tale of how we came into the service of the Righ. You see it was a dreary fall evening back in the town of Telan..."

[info]Diplomacy to try and convince the children[blockquote]Rolled 1d20+9 : 20 + 9, total 29[/blockquote]

If no one stops him, Thedrin is fully prepared to begin recounting the details of the entire campaign so far to the children.[/info]

[Asta]

"Ok, ok we get it. If you wanted to hurt us you would have done it already instead of talking our ear off..." Eeada said, lowering her spear and motioning Duny should do the same with his sword.

"Good choice," Scathach said with a relieved look on her face. "You get him started about glory, honor, and duty and he never shuts up."

"Come in and we'll tell you what we know." Eeada continued, looking around the area cautiously. You could tell plainly that these children had been in a very high stress situation for the past week. Dark circles under their eyes indicated a lack of sleep, and a slight sallow complexion coupled with a gauntness of the cheeks told you they had not been eating well.

Once inside the house, you found a seat around a kitchen table while Eeada hopped up onto a countertop to sit. Duny went to comfort and reassure the younger girl, Moira, that you weren't a threat. "Couple weeks ago, right after the end of the dark time they showed up in the village. Bunch of guys in robes carrying a big box on a cart. Watch must have been too busy dealin' with the cleanup after the dark time to check them proper. Came right into the market and started casting spells, you know... zappin' folks with lighting and stuff. Lot of people died right away, but they didn't stay dead. Box started glowin' and the folks that got zapped all stood up and started attackin' others."

"They was zombies! I know it, sawr a picture of one in the alderman's book once." Duny added.

"Yeah" Eeada continued. "We were helpin' me mum and da set up the stall in the market and they told us to run and hide. Passed some members of the watch as we ran and then we heard a big boom. Turned around and somehow an ogre was there in the middle of the square tossin' people round like dolls... We booked it for the nearest open door and hid. Couple hours later and the screamin' and fightin' stopped. Peeked out real careful and saw them leave the town with all the... zombies and the ogre. Heading north to the mines. Took that big box with 'em too. Been hiding since, scrounging for food and whatnot. Gotta be careful though since they come into town every so often. Dunno what they're lookin' for, nobody left but us. Mum and Da never did come find us like they said they would..."

[pringerbeam]

     "An ogre you say?" Inquired Thedrin offhandedly. "Now that would be a more suitable knightly challenge. And you say they have an army of zombies they took to the mine? How nefarious... Perhaps the cultists are looking for a labor force? What ore does the mine produce?"

[Asta]

"If by army you mean the whole town then yeah." Replied Eeada.

"Not so much to the mine as... around the mine" added Duny. "Like they's guarding something. If you get up in the tower at the town hall and look out you can see 'em with a spyglass. Alderman let me do that once..."

"Mostly iron and some coal." Eeada continued, in regards to the contents of the mine.

[pringerbeam]

     "An army..." Murmured Thedrin, clearly only selectively hearing the child's words. "Then I guess we should go up that tower and have a look. Get an idea of how to approach the mines." He said as he looked around for the tallest building in the village.

[Asta]

As with most towns on the steppe, the tallest building was usually the town hall which typically sat at or near the center of the settlement. The hall featured a tower, housing a large bell used as a warning signal in the case of incoming threats to the town. The surreptitious nature of the cult's attack obviously prevented it from being used effectively.

The tower was nearly forty feet at its peak, and provided a commanding view of the surrounding countryside. Through a combination of steps and a ladder, the uppermost level could be reached where the aforementioned bell took up a measure of space. Also in the area were a few chairs and a table where lookouts probably spent their time on watch. On the table, was a spyglass.

[pringerbeam]

     "Well let's see what these cultists are up to." Says Thedrin as he takes up the spyglass and scans the lands for the cultists.

[info]Perception [blockquote]Rolled 1d20+2 : 7 + 2, total 9[/blockquote][/info]

[Asta]

Thedrin peered out over the steppe through the spyglass and saw nothing but the open flat plains for miles around. That is, until a gentle tap on the shoulder from Scathach interrupted him.

"Mine is that way." she said flatly.

Reorienting to a new view, the army of undead townspeople comes into focus. Several miles away the mine entrance is seen, an opening into a hillock that descends into the earth where the town extracts vital resources. Light gauge mine track can be seen coming out of the entrance and it snakes a small distance to an open air processing facility. The entire area swarms with the stumbling undead, the amount of walking corpses is practically uncountable.

Next to the processing facility is another building, long and roofed, it has open sides and a raised platform. Several lifting mechanisms line the platform and next to it are what look like more minecart tracks, though they are somewhat larger. Following the track as it leads away from the long building it eventually comes to a stop at another building identical to the one near the mine. However, stationed at the platform is a large construction of black iron. It is as wide as a large caravan wagon but about twice as long and from its top a large pipe extends. Along its base it has several sets of wheels that seem to keep it on the tracks. Attached to the... thing... are a few large carts that trail behind it much like a snake.

[pringerbeam]

     "Ahem... of course..."  Replied Thedrin a little flustered. "Hmm... plenty of undead and some kind of mechanism. No sign of any of the cultists or this ogre that was mentioned though." He said as he peered though the spyglass before lowering it and handing it to Scathach. "While I have no doubt we can smite the undead without issue, I'm not sure we can do so and not also provoke the cultists to overwhelm us as we cut our way to the mine entrance. Do you see an alternative approach?"

[Asta]

Scathach gave Thedrin a look of disbelief. "'Smite the undead without issue'?" she said indignantly "There is a literal horde of walking corpses between us and that mine and they're thick as porridge, I stopped counting at ten score! We'd be dead or exhausted of spells and healing long before we could cut through that." She pointed over at the long building where the strange machine was located. "What's that wheeled thing over there on the track, some massive mine cart or something?"

[info]Thedrin is at least somewhat aware of the fact that the machine is the 'steam engine' he learned about at the capital. He knows that it is a vehicle and that it burns wood or coal to move along the track. It is up to him if he has shared this information with the rest of the group.[/info]

[pringerbeam]

     "It must be that train we heard about back in the city... if I recall, its supposed to carry goods from the mine. How well guarded does it look?" Asked Thedrin.

[Asta]

Scathach shielded her eyes from the sun and looked closely at the building where the steam engine was. "I don't see anything moving near it, and those kids said the village is abandoned except for them."