D.E.A.D - South Eastern Island

The Myste-Hass Calender

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13/09/2022

Bear, Crassus, Elril, Ofir, Quinn, Sylleth and Zalphar gather in the The Halls of Myste-Hass to meet with the the Adventurers Liaison, Eliza, to discuss another of D.E.A.D.'s contracts - the South Eastern Island. The department has chartered a ship to transport these adventurers to the island, the Smoky Rose, captained by Major Ursa. They are warned that most of the island is surrounded by rocky cliffs, but there is a suitable beach for landing, however this beach has been reported to infested with the undead.

Heading out in to the town, the group spend a short amount of time gathering supplies, before heading down to the Western Docks to search for their transportation. Quinn drums up a crowd of passers buy to see them off on their journey from the dockside. Sylleth prepares the group for any chance of aquatic accident by casting water-breathing on them before they embark. The journey by ship is an uneventful three hours, although the weather over the island remains dull and overcast. On arrival, Sylleth sends out Keira to scout out the island. As she circles, Ofir regales the crew with a poem. The island seems suspiciously empty of the undead reported to be there, thus the group decide to take the ship's longboat ashore rather than risk the ship its self. Bear takes up the seat at the oars, rowing them ashore under the guidance of Crassus.

Once ashore, they drag the longboat up to the dunes. Elril heads up to the summit of the first dunes to take a look at the way ahead. Proceeding ahead, they creep up through a path in the dunes, Sylleth sending Keira up to watch over them from above, and Elril sending an unseen servant ahead of the party. As they head on, Zalphar pauses to interrogate a passing crab, it however seems unaware of any other presences on its territory on the beach. At the end of the valley weaving between the dunes, they come to a clearing. Flying overhead Keira spots movement in the sand, alerting Sylleth moments before a number of skeletons erupt from the sands around the group.

Ofir & Quinn and Sylleth & Elril fell a skeleton each between their two pairs. Zalphar summons an incorporeal tentacle that strikes out at a skeleton amongst the remaining four. At this moment three large zombies burst out of the sand between the members of the group, moving in close. Ofir pushes one away from himself using a thunderwave and assails the skeletons with his razor sharp wit, and Sylleth misty-steps away. With new foes close at hand, Bear charges the two zombies threatening Quinn and slams his fists against them. Crassus summons a storm in the sky and casts down bolts of lightning against the undead, obliterating a skeleton where it stands. As they battle on, an erie wind can be heard whistling by the three zombies. They begin to dissipate, disintegrating in to their component parts, before flying out in a storm of bones, bludgeoning all those close to them, before reassembling in to their previous forms. They fight on, both sides sustaining wounds; Quinn dashes past Bear, Crassus and Elril restoring them with his magics. As Sylleth blows away the first zombie with a firebolt, a skeleton rises from its remains. As the others also fall one by one, more skeletons again rise from them as they fall. Working together, the group break apart each of the skeletons that rose to assail them.

With the dunes around them clearly infested with the undead, the group look about and discuss how they will proceed onwards through the dunes. Sylleth re-animates two of the skeletons, sending them further forwards in to the clearing where heaps of discarded equipment form other undead lie. More skeletons rise up, but remain passive as they recognise their fellow undead's presence. Remembering seeing other paths through the dunes further back, Elril suggests they head back and try another of the paths rather than battle on through this section of the dunes. On Quinn's suggestion, they take the western path through the dunes. After two hours of following the meandering path, unassailed by the island's inhabitants, the ground rises up before them, grass forming on the mature dunes, wind bent trees scattered around, the ruins of a long derelict building at the centre.

Upon further inspection, it seems that whatever building this once was, some kind of temple or monastery, was burned down from the inside and purposefully desecrated. The group move slowly through the ruins, inspecting the debris and looking out for any signs of life or evidence as to the site's history. Ofir comes across a stairway leading down beneath the ruins, a dim flickering light can be seen at the bottom. He tosses a brick down, but after a moment passes there seems to be no form of response to the noise. As they gather at the head of the stairs, Elril takes a moment amongst the ruins to pray to his deity for guidance, surrounded by fumes from his censor and the light of his candles. Following this communion, he pours wax from his candle to make his deity's symbol on the ground.

The group head down the stairs cautiously. There is a lot of rubble in the large space below, although curiously there are bundled clothing and items that are set aside carefully. While these are not as old as the remains of the building, they do appear to have been down here for a long time. Aware that the day is drawing on, the group discuss their next steps. Crassus, Sylleth and Zalphar elect to head back to Myste-Hass as they also have other commitments that need seeing to, informing Eliza of what they have discovered thus far. Bear, Elril, Ofir and Quinn deciding to stay to set up a base camp within the ruins to prepare for venturing further in.