The Sacrifices Made

((Any likeness to real life places in the following pictures are not intentional and purely for flavor and imagination. These are also not my own pictures.))


A simple start, really. A single Lathandrite Knight attempting to help the Deputy Sheriff Dacius to the Temple. The pains shooting through Dacius' body became too much and he collapsed onto the cold, wet path. It wasn't long before a number of adventurers came over to see what was going on. What they happened upon was something very sinister. The man's face was pale as can be, stricken with pain that even the strongest of men could not bear through. At his hand was a stab wound, blackened veins now beginning to spread along his body. After a healing attempt and a few words were muttered, a bit of information exchanged, a number of the adventurers went to the West, leaving the man's body there with the Lathandrite and a few knights. One more mutter came from Dacius: "Tell..."

And then he went still.

Some people say that a bat was seen flying up into the air after the Deputy Sheriff's last breath escaped his pain-ridden body. The knights were seen carrying the man's body to the House of Plenty and after some time, they reemerged without him and headed West.


Coming upon the body of what appeared to be a guard, the adventurers could see that he looked as if he had been...consumed. His midsection was ripped open and those who took a closer look could see bite marks. His body was taken to the House of Plenty as well, one of the Guards stating that it was Dacius that brought him back from the forest. That Dacius saved him from a terrible, terrible fate.

Word was that more of the guards had gone to investigate the forest area that Dacius and the guard had went with to meet an Elven woman. The adventurers continued along until what they saw next stopped them dead in their tracks. The very guards sent to search out what had happened, had been slain and risen as zombies themselves. As the group put the ill-fated guards to rest and night fell, alarm was heard in the town and the entire combat force of Shadowdale was put at the ready for battle. The North wall was reportedly being swarmed by Undead.


The sight was utterly terrifying, even to the strongest willed of people. What looked like hundreds of Undead of all types were trying to push through the Northern Gate. They ripped and tore at whatever they could get their hands on, even climbing over the hardened walls with great difficulty before pursuing the people behind it. Shadows did what they could to pass through up under the ground and reach out, ripping and tugging at any in their path. Bodies of guards, militiamen, and many others who fought to protect Shadowdale were pulled back to the armies of the Undead, their fate sealed.

The battle continued and a horrible sight was seen towards the center of town.


It seemed that the Northern attack was just a ploy. Fire erupted along the Shadowdale Hospital and the Town Hall, shadows showing no mercy to anyone within the buildings. Their claws seemed drenched with blood as they ripped through defenders of the places. Due to the efforts of some of the adventurers, those from the hospital were pulled out and able to be tended to as much as the healers could. However, it was at a great cost. The crack of the roof was heard before it outright caved inside, toppling on top of one of the very adventurers trying to save the injured. With the smoke inhalation becoming worse and worse, Eliseth had to make a choice. There was an opening in the collapsed doorway just enough for a person, but which person would it be? Himself? Or the man he had come to save? He only had the strength for one. The paladin Vincent on the other side did his best to hold his breath and ready himself for whatever Eli decided. Finally, the body of the unconscious hospital patient was pushed through the small opening. Eli had made his choice.


The flames licked at Eli, but thanks to the fire immunity, he didn't get burned. He did, however, continue to face the inhalation of smoke and the wounds from the roof collapsing onto his form. What did he do? Why, he lit a cigar, of course. He knew there was no real way to escape, and so he accepted it. It wasn't long before he laid back on the ground beneath him and looked to the ceiling. Slowly, he drifted off into a restful sleep that would be uninterrupted by and resurrections or prayers for him to return.


Meanwhile, the Town Hall continued to burn. A half orc was seen pulling some burnt, unrecognizable bodies from the interior, resting them on the path outside. The Town Hall continued to burn as adventurers worked towards ending the fire at the hospital. But was it the right choice? The Town hall finally burnt to the point that it's own doorway collapsed in, preventing anyone from heading inside.


As others mended the wounds of the bodies left along the town's center, some went to the Town Hall in their attempts to put out the fire. In a slow moving, almost graceful movement, an Elven woman floated up from beneath the ground in front of three unfortunate adventurers. What she said isn't quite known, but the result was one of the town's most well known paladins being brought to his knees and unable to act, writhing in pain.

What it was she cast or said is still unknown.


The following is the aftermath number-wise on the casualties of this attack. The Undead had surrounded the entire town, attacks coming from all sides before there was a retreat.

Commoners: 325 (this includes farmers, shop owners, bar maids, potters, basic skilled workers etc) -50, 275 left, thanks to the curfew in effect coupled with the quick action of adventurers around the hospital. Of the 275 left, 15 are injured. Of the 50 killed, 33 were taken by the Undead.
Beggars: 96 -10 86 left, thanks to the curfew in effect coupled with the quick action of adventurers around the hospital. The beggars have been healed. Of the 10 killed, 7 were taken by the Undead.

Total Non-Combat: 421 (+/-) 361 left (+/-) with 15 injured/in need of medical assistance

Militia: 182 -93, 89 left. Of the 89 left, 34 are injured and in need of medical assistance. Of the 93 slain, only 12 bodies were recovered. 81 were taken by the Undead.
Town Guards: 75 -46, 29 left. Of the 29 left, 8 are injured and in need of medical assistance. Of the 46 slain, only 32 bodies were recovered. 14 were taken by the Undead.
Battlemages: 11 -5, 6 left. Of the six, 2 are injured and in need of medical assistance. Of the 5 slain, only 3 bodies were recovered. 2 were taken by the Undead.
Chauntean Priests/Paladins/Warriors: 15 -3, 12 left. Of the 12, none are injured. They seem to have protected the House of Plenty to the best of their ability. Of the 3 dead, all have been taken by the Undead.
Helmite Heavy Warriors: 30 20 Unknown. They had left to find out where a caravan went. Suspected attack of Undead. 10 remain, and of those ten, 6 are injured and in need of medical assistance.
Lathandarite Knights: 40 -6, 34 left. Of the 34 left, there are 8 in need of medical assistance. Of the 6 dead, 2 of the bodies were taken by the Undead.
Black Hound Mercenaries: 75 -8, 67 left. Of the 67 left, 10 are in need of medical assistance. Of the 8 dead, 4 bodies were taken by the Undead.
Rose Knights: 25 -5, 20 left. Of the 20 left, 6 are in need of medical assistance. Of the 5 dead, 3 of the bodies were taken by the Undead.
Knights of the Eternal Order: 8 -3, 5 left. Of the 5 left, 2 are in need of medical assistance. Of the 3 dead, 2 bodies were taken by the Undead.
Iron Golems: 3 1 golem was destroyed. 2 are left.
Bladesmiles Mercenaries: 20 -8, 12 left. Of the 12 left, 4 are in need of medical assistance. Of the 8 dead, 5 bodies were taken by the Undead.
Vymmars Mercenaries: 20 -7, 13 left. Of the 13 left, 6 are in need of medical assistance. Of the 7 dead, 5 bodies were taken by the Undead.
Ultore Mercenaries: 150 -42, 108 left. Of the 108 left, 23 are in need of medical assistance. Of the 42 dead, 37 bodies were taken by the Undead.

Total Combat: 643 (+/-) 407 Left (+/-). Of this number, 109 are in need of medical assistance and unable to fight right now. This leaves total able-bodied combatants at 298.


Total number of those in need of medical assistance: 124 (+/-)
Total number of dead that are in town: 88 (+/-)
Total number of missing dead: 198 (+/-)
Total number living without injuries: 644 (+/-)

((This is the number based on 0 healing so far and 0 resurrection attempts. Please keep in mind these numbers are give or take. I could have screwed a few additions up. I'm no mathematician. Just a DM I ask that people make one single post as to what their characters did/are doing to help in this situation right off the bat. This gives everyone a chance to do their part if they wish. Other efforts can be made in other threads for continued RP, but this thread is so I can see exactly what is being done without having to go through a million other threads. An update to reflect this in game will happen soon. Thank you, and happy RPing ))

Eli's body will likely be entombed at the Black Hound's compound.

Zazieri would spend her time attending the dead and wounded.

OOC Note:

Ivaris tends the wounded as best he can.  He is more of a field medic, he doesn't use much in the way of divine healing.  He lays hands on the worst of the wounded, he does this for as many times as he can ((3)).  After that he uses natural healing methods like those a medic would use.

Vincent, having done all he can do, his armor coated in ash and blood, and completely out of bandages, lets the others take over. He then put his evening to a bottle of wine, and after making his way to the dancing moon to clean up, returned to town and fell into a deep sleep, the images of the dead, dying, and undead, haunting his dreams through out the entire night.

While disappointed in her showing at the North Gate Sister Twilight (Tweela) keeps fighting. This time it is the fires that remain. She does so until every flare up and ember are extinguished.

Wu Ling would happen to be House of Plenty at the time of the attack, but watches what he can from the windows inside instead of helping with the attack.  He would caution non-combative people inside to stay inside, as it would be safer for them, as he runs his prayer beads through a hand.

Later on he would be seen helping out the wounded, after the attack:
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Garok goes to the collapsed town hall, offering to help clear out the rubble. Using his strong body to help out with the manual labor.

Sordoc was seen harrying the undead as they left towards the daggerhills. Towards the early morning obscenties and taunts in gnomish, the dragon tongue and the common tongue may be heard near the northern walls. He does not enter the daggerhills though.

By daybreak he stays at the northern outer wall upon the watchtower (if it still stands otherwise he will remain at the north gate.) He will dispose of any undead remains with his rod of dragon fire, non-undead bodies such as some of the amnish mercenaries, will have been set to one side, covered with blankets or his battered cloak and watched, just in case.

Upon being relieved by a guard patrol, Sordoc will move away from the gate, look for a comfy bit of unburnt grass and pass out from exhaustion.

With the ever present smell of death and blood in the air and the wails of the weak, Sordoc will keep away from the temporary places of healing to avoid the chance of losing his calm within town and following his god's wishes.

Having a really limited knwledge on healing Amalee stay out of the way of the healers, she visit the temple only to go to Eliseth body, remaining there for a bit, her expression neutral and unreadable. The hin touches the body arm for a moment before leaving then reach the northeren wall of the city to help with patrols and taking her turn on the watchtowers when time to rest arrive she pick a free corner out of the way to roll in her sleeping bag, to continue with her watches and patroling when she wakes up.

Lira had the grim expression of a healer who had lost patients on her features - there would be no smiles any time soon. 

There so many wounded...she wanted to keep an eye on as much as possible. She went to Myra and offered whatever the innkeeper desired for use of the Skull and the staff there. If an arrangement could be worked out, the seriously wounded would be put into the inn rooms upstairs, those less critically hurt into the common room. Lira had a supply of bandages of the strongest kind she had made less than a tenday before - some she used, some she set out for others to take. She asked the cook to make the largest pot of stew possible.  Finally, she would have as many of the wounded moved into the inn as possible and begin to sort them and treat them.

Jeanette Highhille - a small, copper-haired halfling - would step over her unfamiliarity with Shadowdale to offer her divine-backed healing powers where and how she could. Though she's doubtlessly inexperienced compared to some of the more battle-worn locals, she never-the-less provides the ability to magically knit any minor wounds, with larger ones requiring more of her dedication - if not better left for others, entirely.

Clad entirely in dark and somber colours as she works, Jeanette offers a dash of inappropriate or black humour to those under her care in the guise of a professional distancing. Doctor jokes, sure to offer some distraction at least through how terrible they were!

Arran had been preparing high grade medical supplies for weeks previous, some had had given to Sister Laura others he had kept or distributed to medics himself. (Int 26, Craft alchemy 32) and donated a significant amount of coin to reconstruction. (50k)

He visited Eliseth...He knew anyone could die, but Arran never expected it to be Eli...

He also went to see poor Dacius, they didn't know each other well, but it was still a great loss. Arran took this time to investigate the magic in the deputies wounds.

He did the same with Vincent who was thankfully alive.

His focus and effort was on discovering exactly what magic the wizard had used. (lore 33, Spellcraft 35)

Arriving to late to help with the fighting, the fires long since cold as well, Kitara gathers her stockpiled healing supplies and heads into the mercenary camps. She uses her skill at mundane healing to help those she is able, directing those who need magical attention to the House of Plenty. She has with her twenty raise dead scrolls after visiting the storage, as well as thirty scrolls of heal, and well over a hundred of the finest healing kits.

If asked why she is there of all places, when she fought against the mercenary presence so vehemently she replies, "My god would will me to be here aiding those who fought the undead. When the strong protect the weak, the Lord Firemane smiles on this."

((Kitara's heal checks are made at a +75))

Azzelas offers twenty greater healing scrolls alongside 40 +12 healing bags (20+ baseskill i think) to help the most promising soldiers that are heavily injured.

Ardylan sends word to the Circle of Nature, making sure all of the members of the grove know what occurred in Shadowdale.

Due to the number of deceased and injured guards, Ardylan soon notices that the surviving ones that can still walk are being stretched thin - their patrols are longer, and they are spending more time on-duty. Ardylan does what he can (and what the guards will permit him to do) to help, particularly filling in on nighttime watches so the guards can sleep.

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Korais Crow-Wing, the feathered man with odd speech, can be found flitting about the northern gates. He seemed drawn to where most of the fighting had occurred. He seems to be hopping around muttering to himself, alternating between looking up at the sky and searching in the dirt.

OOC Notes:

After hearing word of the attack, Cruven rushes himself into Shadowdale from the east. The first thing he does is search for where the dead are being kept and prepare to arrange transport of his fallen men back to the Hound's Fort. His second action appears to be paying the injured Hemite a visit.

In Shadowdale Noya hurries to find any Halflings among the fallen and tries to revivie them with the blessings of Yondalla (three raises available) and afterwards she Contemplates if it is not wise to evacuate all the Halflings from Shadowdale to a saver place. This is a task Noya is committed to do if the Hin living in Shadowdale currently choose to do so.

(Noya tries to gather whatever npc Hin population is present, Asking them if they would remain or follow the call to Evacuate under the guidance of the Al-Halshi to a better place, away from the undead threat.

(Adventurers are welcome to Help Noya if such an evacuation is called for)

After the undead retreated from the northern gate and those adventurers guarding it dispersed to the south, Kasia remained to keep vigil by that very wall. She would keep an eye on the fields both out north, and within the town, aiming to catch any lingering undead who may yet be in the region, and perhaps some who are still dragging out the dead.

If any wounded guard happens to stumble past the gate, she would offer what meager healing she can (Laying hands or channeling positive energy).

When the sun rises the following morn, she makes her way back to the inn.

Still vigilant in the north, the Captain is physically worn from the encounter, yet he continues to lead by example.  He positions himself in front of one of the statues by the wall and addresses the surviving militia men still there.  


You have all known me for a while and for a long time now you have been hearing me talk about strength.  Well I want you to understand what strength means to me.

To me being strong is not about the score board.

It's not about winning.

It's about you.

About your relationship to yourself...

...your family.

...your friends.

Being strong is about being able to look your friends in the eye.  To know that you didn't let them down.   To know that you did everything that you could.

Strength does not come from winning... your struggles develop your strengths.  When you go through hardships and decide not to surrender... That is strength.

We lost a lot of friends.  Strong men and women whom did everything that they could.  Friends whom were not recovered from the battle.

Now when that horde returns, we will see our friends again.  Be sure to look them in the eye and know that you will do everything that you can.

Diplomacy Roll:

EDIT AFTER UPDATE:  

He'd leave them with those words and make his way through the smoldering destruction of the fields around them.  Then he'd happen across a great tragedy.  

Spoiler:

Lucent, who was stuck solving an issue in Myth Drannor caused by a fey queen, was not around when the town got attacked. Once the news reached his ears, he prepared himself to visit the town and see what happened.

On his way, he would write to the Selunite camp outside the Dales whose members were unable to move because of the undead army, hoping they now may have a chance to bring some help at last. He would also try to contact mrs Falconhand, if she's around, to inquire any suggestion related to the current crisis.



EDIT AFTER THE MEETING TONIGHT: Lucent travelled to the Hounds fort straight from Myth Drannor, never making it to Shadowdale. Before coming back to the elven town with the news he collected from the others, he would ask Kasia to check on his horses, wagon house and House of the Moonmaiden to see if the animals are still alive or something got damaged.

((I will give this another day until I post a result for each person's action.))

Jonah takes a census of all his patients, and works through the night to get them new accommodations. He has already treated many, and continues until all those that trusted him with their care are accounted for. Those worst off he tries to secure a place for with the Chaunteans. For those more stable, he will spend the last of his coin on rooms at the Inn, if need be. ((Heal 23, WIS +5, CON +2))

When all is calm again, he makes his way back to the Hospital. In the early morning hours, Jonah stands before the smouldering remains of his greatest achievement... and weeps.