Session 9: Dead come Ashore Report
General Summary
Aria and the rest would set about to getting the settlement in order and handling the day to day affairs of state such as they were. While Talindra would head up research on the mysterious chisel from their first arrival within the Temples secret library, Nymeria would enlist peoples aide in clearing, cleaning, and otherwise cataloguing the ruins finding what else they could. Aelorna feeling of little use requested the use of Arias ship to visit the nearest Moonelven city across the former maelstrom. Being granted she would spend several weeks in the city of Eglasil where she uncovered, rumors of the region, stories of its leaders, and some information about the chisel. Her return trip would be tailed by a ship from Eglasil seeking to verify her story and perhaps open diplomatic relations. With the ship returned Aria would depart for home to ensure a reasonable trading arrangement with her mothers court, relying heavily on her fathers influence, while Isenara would meet with the moon elf delegate. Aria would return finding that they now had two trading partners in the region.
During these two months the ruin would start to come to life as a mill was built turning upon the rivers flow to begin to process the grains provided from the newly restored farmlands. Ilador Vincelli would also open his emporium, tho for now it sold mostly necessary goods for frontier life. As summers twilight began, grave news came from the nearby Rivershore. The Aft of an Elven Seaguard clipper ship had washed ashore and corpses of its crew along with hoards of the dead from up river were suddenly coming ashore. Daereth attempted to rally the guard to put an end to it. While they were able to stem the tide of bodies, the ship seemed to be spewing dark magics that kept rejuvenating the corpses. Aria and the others soon arrived to aid in putting a stop to this.
Fighting alongside the militia the zombie hoards were drawn into gaps within a makeshift barricade Daereths men had erected. This kept the undead numbers at bay allowing the defenders to cut their way thru them as they swarmed. The ship however kept bringing the corpses back to life, no matter how mutilated they were becoming. Isenara seeing her opportunity sprinted thru the gaps and made her way towards the ship. With more zombies put down the others soon followed. As she neared the ship she came to a screeching halt as a massive grotesque mangled mass of corpses emerged from the water. This lumbering flesh hulk, bloated with brakish river water that met the sea brought its fist slamming down onto Isenara. Daereth was the first to arrive putting himself between Isenara and the flesh hulk. Malakar arrived next his icicle spears flying thru the air piercing its flesh. Zaelith and Bahzel were next their weapons cutting into the beasts, whose putrid stench made it almost impossible to fight the creature without vomiting. The hulk brought its massive fleshy fist down on Malakar driving him into the soft sands of the beach knocking him unconcious. Talindras magics would mend his wounds and get him back into the fight as Aelorna and Aria arrived hurling magical darts and slashing winds. Isenara would dive into the sea and clamber up the wreckage trying to disable the magic that kept animating the ships. The hulk would fall under a flurry of blows from the expedition and before the ships void energy rain could do too much more damage the magic would be dispersed.
Investigating the ship, it would be determined this was a Moon Elf Seaguard vessel likely from Eglasil, the city they had just opened relations with. It was unclear who had sank it or cursed it to keep regenerating the undead, but one thing was for sure, the level of enchantment would either take an increadibly powerful mage, or, the use of blood magic. Knowing there were subteranean shadow elves near, they seemed likely candidates for the use of blood magic.
Selest and the scouts would return on the 11th having been in the wild for near 40 days. They would bring back detailed maps of the foothills and start of the mountains, including 3 likely quarry sights, a few other local anomolies, and an encounter with a shadow elf patrol that had attempted to capture them. As Lunasa approached the expedition faced several problems, which would they chose to deal with next?
