Zombies.

[Idan]

The zombies have been for a while and slowly spreading. You've heard of them over news, word of mouth, or other ways. However, only recently things have gotten worse.
Three months ago Teran fell and seven days later so too did Floran. Broadcasts stopped slowly except for in a few places and if you do have Wifi from some sheer luck? It slowly but surely is becoming useless as data banks stop connecting.
Now however the days have been falling shorter and winter is approaching slowly but surely. In a twenty four days the winter solstice will occur.

@FinnDarkblade.
The door was slammed open with a bang. "Marcus. You're Mom wants you."
In the doorway stands one of the other Duskblades dressed in black. Greying hair and blue eyes and a look of bored disinterest, you didn't remember the name of this one. The Duskblade turns and walks back out. Then your alarm clock rings to wake you up.

@Jbej275.
You had been dreaming of blue skin and feathered wings and glowing balls of light when you woke up suddenly to an uneasy howling like sound outside the house your in. Shivers run down your spine and you hear the sound of crawling and moaning and the stench of rotten flesh. Zombies are the worst.

@Monsterpoodle.
Weiland Matinsen has been up for a few hours. It is noon day after all. People mill about doing their work as usual. Guards are on patrol and people are working to bring in the last of a late harvest and finishing the latest well. What do you wish to do today?

@Auranghzeb.
You wake up comfortably in your warm bed. The house you're in is well insulated. There's a mostly empty wilderness to explore and if you looked plenty of zombies to practice your skills on. The day is ripe for the taking.

[JbeJ275]

Shaking himself awake, and temporarily free of the strange twisting demons, he creeps up to a window upstairs and slowly peeks into the street. He could at this point swear the things seemed to have some sense of where he was hidden away. While his... abilities should let him deal with one or maybe to of the deader things, if there was a horde, or a lot of fit ones he'd be forced to try and sneak away, a prospect he wasn't looking forward to.

[Idan]

[Roll a spot check]
There were seven zombies spread out on the street below but pressing towards his house most likely drawn by the howl. He doesn't see what could have made the howl. They didn't look freshly dead nor overly dead but they were clawing at nearby things including the wall below him and a tree. He hears a window shatter and one of the zombies disappears below him. They're probably in the house. The bedroom he was in was pretty empty. What does he want to do?

[JbeJ275]

Spot Check: [roll0]

First he checks the door, levered shut with the bulkiest furniture he could find, a basic precaution done before he slept. After checking it was still firm he takes the heavy knife from beside him on the floor and jabs it into the wall until a tiny gap emerges, letting him see though the crack and watch anything proceeding towards the door. Hopefully they still won't know where he is at first, and the barricaded door will hold long enough for his abilities to dispatch them one at a time. In case it didn't, he's also ready to clamber down from the window and just run.

[Auranghzeb]

Sunah shapes his mage spectacles just right after washing his face and hair profusely. He likes to see the glowing incarnum in the mirror. Some four months on and he still flips about this.

Today he has to move, the zombies are easy prey but still dangerous enough. And he needs to reach the port before the roads are blocked.

He packs his weapons and the spellbook he has ben arduously studying and puts some dry beef and food in zip-lock bags and inside his rucksack. There's an old track map from the Army's geographic service and a compass. He packs them too as well as the short wave radio even if the news stopped a few weeks ago.

His boots need repairing. But apart from that everything seems in order.

Before leaving the house for the last time, he checks that the bow's string is tense and the Winchester is loaded.

Off we go... lets find ourselves a nice 9m boat

[Idan]

@JbeJ275.
The zombies will probably take a while to stumble up the stairs. You could fire on them out the window while you wait for the one inside to get up here or you could fire through the wall.
You hear the howl again and the zombies still before moving towards the broken window in unison. [Roll for initiative]

@Auranghzeb.
You're outside now it's a little chilly but it'll warm up slowly as the day goes on. There's a little moaning from a zombie somewhere nearby. You could ignore it and hope it'll stay away or you could track it down and make certain it's not a problem. Alternatively you could find some vehicle to make the trip smoother.
You might even be able to get to the port tonight if you take a car.
[If you want to fight the zombie roll a Listen check to see if you can locate it.]

[Auranghzeb]

rolling it [roll0]


Scott knocks an arrow on the bow and tries to sneak on the zombie.

[roll1]

[JbeJ275]

Theodore stays at the wall. He’s got a better chance if they enter spread out slow and un-coordinated which these undead probably will be unless they get a reason to conglomerate.

Instead he prepares to blast the first one visible, hoping he can bring all of them down before they breach the door.

Readied Action: Blast: [roll0] for [roll1]
Initiative: [roll2]

[FinnDarkblade]

@FinnDarkblade.
The door was slammed open with a bang. "Marcus. You're Mom wants you."
In the doorway stands one of the other Duskblades dressed in black. Greying hair and blue eyes and a look of bored disinterest, you didn't remember the name of this one. The Duskblade turns and walks back out. Then your alarm clock rings to wake you up.

Marcus rises, turning off the alarm clock. He dressesquickly, the several years of living on the run having left him a light sleeper and in the habit of keeping everything he needs immediately nearby. He paces out through the doorway of the sleeping quarters and down the hallway to the room that was functioning as a command center. He knocks on the doorframe as he enters.
"You called for me Ma'am?"

[Monsterpoodle]

Weiland walks the perimeters of the village, making sure everyone is doing their assigned jobs. A glower here, and there is usually enough to send the message.

After that he goes back to the forve to make some more tools and weapons. 'hmmmm, charcoal could run low. Might have to get the tbe scavengers out to bring some wood back. The smoke might attract zombies or raiders but that was inevitable anyway. The LPG supplies were more useful elsewhere.'

[Idan]

@Monsterpoodle.
Time passes as you make the needed tools and weapons. Everything seems in order when you take a quick break for some water but something seems off.
[Roll a spot check]

@FinnDarkblade
Your mom stands there in front of a large map that's running. One of the few things that do use electricity. The engineer who explained it to you talked about repurposing algorithms to track deer and using the satellites. All you needed to know is that it'll work for a while and it works. "Andras. Remain standing."
She turns and faces you. "Take a look at the map. You should see the swarm that's following us. The plan of taking them up as far north as possible and then take out as many as possible as the cold freezes or slows them down has stayed the same. However if you look here-"
Her finger trails along a smaller blue subsection that's split off. "This occured two weeks ago. The people who missed it are being trained once more in the basic ability to differentiate color on a screen however it doesn't change the fact that they're going somewhere. Watch."
The small blue dots move out of view and seem to be making a beeline somewhere. A straight line. Your mother taps her fingers across the table. "I can't afford the man power in case this takes longer than a few months so I want you to track it down. I can afford to spare you when winter comes and if I get two people to lead the dead back towards us it won't be too much of a risk. If you can find where it's heading great. If not then destroy them. I will give you one year before declaring you dead. Do you understand?"
She remains standing in front of her desk. How do you want to respond?

@Jbej275.
The zombie stumbles before crawling it's way back up and forward. It doesn't look too hurt but hopefully it'll fall when you hit it for a few more times. It is strange that all of the zombies suddenly coordinated. You've never seen them act with any strategy before.
One of the zombies trips over a sprinkler. You could hit it maybe three times before the house below you would block it or you could hit one of the others one twice. After that you can try to do something else or wait until they're at the door. It's up to you.
[Roll another spot check.]

@Auranghzeb.
Listen: (1d20)(8)
You move in. It's best to keep these things at a distance. The zombie is groaning and clawing at the walk wall. Based off it's torn up hands it's been there for a while. What do you want to do? [Roll to hit]

[FinnDarkblade]

@FinnDarkblade
Your mom stands there in front of a large map that's running. One of the few things that do use electricity. The engineer who explained it to you talked about repurposing algorithms to track deer and using the satellites. All you needed to know is that it'll work for a while and it works. "Andras. Remain standing."
She turns and faces you. "Take a look at the map. You should see the swarm that's following us. The plan of taking them up as far north as possible and then take out as many as possible as the cold freezes or slows them down has stayed the same. However if you look here-"
Her finger trails along a smaller blue subsection that's split off. "This occured two weeks ago. The people who missed it are being trained once more in the basic ability to differentiate color on a screen however it doesn't change the fact that they're going somewhere. Watch."
The small blue dots move out of view and seem to be making a beeline somewhere. A straight line. Your mother taps her fingers across the table. "I can't afford the man power in case this takes longer than a few months so I want you to track it down. I can afford to spare you when winter comes and if I get two people to lead the dead back towards us it won't be too much of a risk. If you can find where it's heading great. If not then destroy them. I will give you one year before declaring you dead. Do you understand?"
She remains standing in front of her desk. How do you want to respond?

MArcus remains at stiff attention and studies the map. "Yes Ma'am, track the group of the dead that have split off from the main horde to destroy them and discover why they split off if possible. What are my orders if it's a group of survivors that attracted their attention? Should I escort them to the border if possible or simply return after the dead are destroyed?"

[Idan]

Your mom pauses from speaking for a moment. "If it's a large group merely direct them to a military base and clear them out. If not then I'll leave it to your judgement. Remember to write reports. Even though you can't turn in you can still hand it in. Go pack I want you gone by noon. There'll be two people waiting at the Eastern wing for you."
Your mother turns away and focuses on the swarm on screen. It continues moving to your current base. In about a week she'll be forced to move again. She nods to herself and your clearly dismissed. As you leave your mother calls out. "Marcus. Don't be late."
The door closes to your mother pulling up reports from scouts and the like.
According to your watch you have nearly six hours until noon. Your stomach growls reminding you of your lack of breakfast. What do you want to do?

[Messed up some stuff.]

[JbeJ275]

Spot Check: [roll0]

With the one on the ground presenting a much smaller profile to him, he focuses on blasting at the ones that are still standing. Calling up this much energy so quickly is still new to him, but as they continue to shamble closer adrenaline and determination let him put most of the fear and panic aside. He focuses on sending out more blasts of eldritch force, trying to bring some of them down before they can try and force the door.

Blast 1: [roll1] for [roll2]
Blast 2: [roll3] for [roll4]
(Against Touch AC)

[Auranghzeb]

Scott prepares the bow, the riffle may be too noisy.

He knocks one arrow and shoots aiming for the eyes, moving along and keeping his distance.

[roll0]damage [roll1][roll2]

[FinnDarkblade]

Marcus blinks in surprise at his mother's final words but simply nods before leaving the room. After washing and shaving he visits the mess to grab a solid meal before beginning to pack. He has only a couple of personal possessions to grab from the barracks that he turns in to the supply officer for storage when he goesto requisition his supplies. He takes a tent, compass, map of the area, fire starters, a couple weeks worth of trail rations, as much water as he can, and several water purification tablets. After filling out the requisition forms there's still an hour left until he is scheduled to leave. He finds himself pacing anxiously, worrying about the mission ahead. This will be his first time on a solo mission with no support. Needing to distract himself from the growing pit of dread in his stomach, he heads to the mess for what could be his final meal with other people for quite a while and says his goodbyes to the other men eating there. After that, there's no time left to wait, he picks up his things and walks to the East Gate to begin his mission.

[Monsterpoodle]

Spot check (https://orokos.com/roll/794969): 1d20+2 12

[Idan]

@Monsterpoodle.
Marcus, a teenager and one of the few people who knows how to make clothing, and a group of other teenagers are doing something over near one of the walls. You take a moment to recall what they should be doing but it's hard to tell since they're a distance away. As you take a moment to look at them you watch as one of them appears to glance over your settlement before turning and hoisting a girl up with some others. (Cheerleader style)
She hops over and then before you can do anything a bag is tossed over. Another teenager starts getting lifted up.
What do you want to do? (They're about five hundred feet away in one of the corners. Most people can't see them due to a house in the way.)

[Idan]

@FinnDarkblade
The East gate is closed right now and there's only two people with bags. One is the man who woke you up this morning and the other a woman who's reading a book. Looks to be a fantasy. She glances up. "Sup. Is this everyone?"
The man nods. "Yes. Three people. Marcus, I don't know if you know her yet but this July. I'm Dante. Your mom told you the mission, correct?"

[FinnDarkblade]

Marcus gives the two a friendly nod.
"Pleasure to meet you July, Marcus Kincaid."
He offers her a hand to shake.
"Yes, of course, I'm meant to investigate a splinter group that's broken off from the main horde. You're meant to lead back any of the horde that break off to follow me. Do I have the gist of things?"

[Monsterpoodle]

Weiland fills up his lungs and bellows at the top of his lungs.. "GET THE HELL DOWN FROM THERE." He starts to jog over ready to give them a piece of his mind.