Instantly, the adrenalin surges, my heartrate is spiking! Stalker! He is close and danger is near! I start yelling about the incoming attack! I get muted and garbled reactions from guards placed all around the courtyard “.ho wa. .hat?” “All is cle.. ..re!” “Wha. is happe….” That damn mist!
Whirling around trying to see if I can see Stalker or the attackers anywhere, I can hear people getting ready inside the barracks… God I hope that Stalker is wrong, even though I know that there will be trouble if there is no attack coming (nobody likes the new guy who cried wolf!), as I hold my axe tight and turn towards the command barrack.
The mist is now starting to swirl and whirl as more and more people move through it and I can hear the broken shouts of the different guards and people just trying to find out if and where the attack is coming from.
While I start to pound the door to the command barrack… the first screams start behind me as larger figures, seemingly rising silently from the ground, join the other figures moving in the thick white soup. Half heard screams and dull twacks of axes soon signal that the battle has come to the camp.
From inside I hear the sound of Deggan yelling commands to his henchmen. Hearing they are getting ready and not wanting to wait for them. I turn towards the nearest brazier and run towards it to assist the guards, while emoting to Stalker stay safe and hide in the hopes that my friend won’t get caught up in this mess…
Almost instantly I can feel Stalker’s response, something is different! It is as if the emotions and concepts he is sending me have gotten another layer of meaning, not necessarily more powerful, but it is as if he has upgrade from black and white to color tv, and now that he is near enough, I get to experience it as he sends Protect pack and prepare.
I still can’t see him, but I trust his senses are better than mine and that he will find me, I will be ready when he does!
As I get to the brazier I see the two lumberjacks on guard duty fighting against what at first appears to be moving Ghostwoods, the white wall of dense fog obscuring and softening the true horror…
The smell hits me first, the mist had also dampened that, but now that I am close, a smell of waterlogged rotting wood and flesh hits me right in the face with almost physical force! Followed by an actual physical force, as a thin branch swipes out of the mist and whips me across my thighs, it hurts, but the damage is negligible.
However, the purpose was not to damage, but to catch me and quickly I am forced to use my axe or get dragged into the monster in front of me… and what a monster! The ghostwood tree seems to grow out and through a rotting corpse, running like grotesque veins through the corpses arms and legs… this must be a woodwraith!
The woodwraith is battling all three of us now and that seems to be the only thing that is saving us. Every time one of the tentacle like branches grab one of us, the two others jump in, axes swinging! I don’t even know the names of these two fellow lumberjacks, but as we face the horror together it is clear that names and words won’t matter in this moment, just the rising of our axes as we slowly grind the abomination down!
Finally, one of the guards deliver the killing blow and our opponent lays still, giving us a moment to catch our breath and grin to each other… Around us the battle is still raging, the mist making it impossible to tell if we are winning or losing!
I try to reach out to Stalker find pack and stay safe I send out and instantly I get back prepare old smell attack danger! Stay safe Pack coming! This might be the most complex string of emotion he has send to me yet! What happened to him during those hours in the woods? And what did he mean by the attack coming? They are already here?
The moment of respite is over as suddenly the mist starts to whirl and two woodwraiths appear in front of us!
“Turali?” one of the guards gasps, as he blocks some branches reaching for him. I look over at the woodwraith facing him, it is a nightmarish mix of wood and a corpse of a lizardwoman, but fresher than the last one… The fight and the mist is creating the illusion of movement in the corpse… I mean… It must be right?
The guard is having trouble staying focused on defending himself and I step in to help, hoping the other guard can handle his opponent.
Next to me the guard screams “It’s me Kvanlo! Stop this! Let me help you!” and to my undying horror the corpse opens its one functional eye and looks at Kvanlo, its mouth starts moving, but the mist and combat steal the words…
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Kvanlo is crying and trying to fend of the attacks without hurting Turali. I don’t have that luxury, and attack with all that I have. But it is clear that we are in trouble! To my right the guard just suffered a bonecrushing blow to his arm and is now fighting with one hand and losing…
I don’t have time to look around for help, but I shout “Help! We are being overrun here” and I emote to Stalker Danger Stay Safe and out of the mist comes my friend! He emotes me with attack old smell and protect pack and nimble as a fox he runs up the branches of the woodwraith and starts attacking the corpse of Turali. The fox savages the entangled corpse and I see little droplets of deep red sap seep out of the bite wounds on the corpse.
My heart leaps with joy and then trembles with worry, as Stalker is almost dancing around on the woodwraith. Kvanlo next to me is shaking his head “nonononono get off her! She is still alive!” I look at Turali her scaled flesh pierced by growing branches and roots in too many places to count and whisper “gods I hope not…” As I start helping Stalker with the grisly task.
You have slain a woodwraith (lvl 4)!
You have gained experience!
Kvanlo tears himself away from the Turali woodwraith and helps his wounded guard friend defend against the other woodwraith. It seems Stalker has identified their weakness; the corpse is vulnerable and seems to be animating the tree (or is the other way around? The mechanics of this horror is not something I am eager to dive into).
Around us the battle continues and despite me shouting go for the corpse, I see more than a few shadows of guards being dragged down and away. Looking around I try to identify where to go next, not really wanting to be part of this fight, but also recognizing that “want” is a luxury that I don’t have right now.
I see a huge number of shadows dancing around the diffuse lighting of a nearby brazier, it looks like an intense fight! Suddenly I feel something bump against my leg and almost swing my axe at it, before seeing its Stalker giving me a gentle headbutt in the leg, I think he can sense my hesitancy.
Before I can make a decision to join or not, a roar pierces the sound dampening of the mist and a blast of air clears the area around the brazier and I can see the battle clearly! Deggan is engaged in combat with 4 woodwraiths and just did something with his sword that cleared the mist for a second and cleaved one of the wraiths in half… That must have been some skill?
His sword is shining like it is imbued with the sun itself and it leaves searing marks on the wraiths, but as I am watching the shine slowly dims and the mist is creeping back in. I see that even with the power of a class, he is not invincible and the last thing I see before the mist covers the area again is Deggan enveloped by the tentacle like branches of a woodwraith, starting to drag him away!
It is hard to see if anyone notices what is going on, but I know that we have precious little time to react if we want to save Deggan, and after seeing him fight, I know we need his power to survive this!
I see the brazier and think fire should be good against these monsters (after all when in doubt, set it on fire has worked so far), so I rush forward to grab it and use against the monster while it is still in range. I know that even with my pain resistance, this is going to hurt, so I quickly rip off my shirt and wrap my hands in it.
Stalker dances around me seemingly unsure of what I am doing, but eager to help.
As I get near the brazier I can see the remains of at least three defeated woodwraiths, I can see Deggan struggling against the branches around him, as he is being slowly dragged away and I grab the brazier in my shirt bound hands and stumble a few steps closer, while the heat is scorching my hands, arms and chest!
Somewhere in my pain addled mind the picture of me… Bare chested, with my new physique, holding a brazier with flames battling a wood zombie in swirling white mist, just became a cover for a romantasy story.
The second I am near enough I whirl it towards the woodwraith, and as it hits, The fire starts catching and I even see the corpse like core start squirming trying to avoid it, its branches quickly untangle from Deggan and lashing out at me!
Through my red tinted vision I see other woodwraiths appear from the mist and I stumble towards Deggan, trying to get him up, hoping he can save us. I see Stalker engaging one of the incoming woodwraiths and I reach out to Deggan, who is still on the ground, looking up at me with a stunned expression…
I follow his eyes and see they are fixated on the dangling gate necklaces, fully visible now that I am without my shirt… Oh yeah, that might have been a stupid idea I manage to think, as I suddenly get yanked away and find myself being dragged away from Deggan, the camp and Stalker! I manage to emote stay safe, protect home to Stalker before my red vision turns black.
