A DnD writeup
Table of Contents
- A word from the DM
- Chapter 1: Introduction
- Chapter 2: The early worm
- Chapter 3: A mage in sheep’s clothing
- Chapter 4: Into the woods
- Chapter 5: Battle at the Temple of the Forgiven
- Chapter 6: The Temple of the Fallen King
- Chapter 7: Welcome to Stonebridge
- Chapter 8: Dead End
- Chapter 9: Mischief at the Flying Swan
- Chapter 10: A flight to the Ruuki Mountains
- Chapter 11: The Lord of Lance Rock
- Chapter 12: Zombie Menagerie
- Chapter 13: Finale
- Epilogue: A Hero’s Feast
- Maps
A word from the DM
This is a write-up of a Dungeons & Dragons 5e campaign I ran in Singapore from the end of 2020 to mid-2022. The two underlying themes were a zombie pandemic and an extremist terrorist experiment based on racial politics – originally inspired by the pandemic and the Black Lives Matter movement, though purely as parting points: I certainly don’t believe that the coronavirus turns us into zombies (beyond the first week, anyway) nor that BLM is an extremist or terrorist movement. I think the story concept is cool, though there was the occasional bout of covid fatigue: it was such a pervasive topic in the real world that I felt we sometimes lost the escapist element that RPGs can provide by essentially being immersed in a different variation of covid. The greatest fix was probably making it less about the disease and more about the people trying to control it, so that the disease became less of the main focus of the game and more of the context.
The party, which at any given time was composed of 3-4 PCs for a total of 7 PCs, was generally brand spanking new to the game. As such, I was generally quite flexible with the rules, trying to encourage creative decision making and fun story-telling instead of sticking to the constraints of the game. In hindsight, especially in times when decision-making slowed to a crawl, I do think that actually describing plausible constraints would have actually made players more comfortable making decisions. Nevertheless, I tried to keep each session down to a single objective: in Chapter 1 it was to introduce the disease; in Chapter 2 it was for the players to learn that the disease turned you into a zombie, etc.
The objective of this writeup is to gather in one place all the information my PCs have uncovered. It is also a memento for the future of what I was able to create. And hopefully it is an implicit review of how I have grown and changed as a DM. I’d especially like to thank Clement for helping me remember some of the finer points.
Thus begin the Tales of the ELM. Any comments in Italics are my DM notes, meant to provide additional understanding/context/amusement for the actions that took place.
Chapter 1: Introduction
The story began in Madrigal, a harmless village in the kingdom of Estoria. It was night-time, and our PCs found themselves at the Rat & Parrot Inn, where a token bar brawl allowed the players to elucidate a bit on their characters and become familiar with the mechanics of combat. We were first introduced to Caliccio (Cal), a young half-elf rogue who had only ever known life in Madrigal, but who dreamed of something bigger as his latent magic powers began to grow. He was happy to weave his way through the kicks and the punches at the inn, as Bruce the halfling innkeeper looked on in resigned disapproval. Valustra (Val), a young, idealistic cleric, tried to stay out of the fights as much as possible – even going to an inn like Rat & Parrot was a new experience for her. Reyzar, the elven ranger, was as unpredictable in his speech as in his actions. Must have been all that time alone in the woods. He stopped a few blows with his face, before deftly crawling out of the melee.
The three found themselves outside, just as a young nun ran up to Cal. His mother, one of the town healers, was calling for him. Farmer Tom was really sick and she needed his help. Arriving at the temple, Cal’s mother was bent over a weakly breathing farmer Tom. Coming out of his skin were large blue worms. Cal’s mother was unable to heal this disease, only priestess Lilyana might be able to help, but she hadn’t been back from her journey for over a day. Could Cal go out and look for her? Val tried tapping into her divine powers to heal Tom, and though it provided some relief, it didn’t seem to affect the worms in any way.
They set off for the priestess on a cart pulled by 2 horses, retracing the steps she would have likely taken. On the road they were ambushed by 3 large rabid gorillas, which was rare since gorillas were not native to this land and were also not known for being aggressive to travelers. They overcame the apes, and noticed that these apes also had blue worms coming out of their fur. Something was off.
Reyzar’s keen eyes eventually found Lilyana’s cart, which had been taken off the road and hidden in the brush. Some tracks led further into the forest, and the PCs followed, eventually reaching the entrance to some sort of tomb [mini dungeon time!]. The tomb had an antechamber, with a bit of loot hiding behind a few well placed traps. Scariest of all were the 3 skeletons that rose up and attacked them with swords. The dead coming back to life? How?
After clearing the room, the PCs went into the main chamber, where they found the priestess tied up… along with a few other priests and healers who Cal recognized to be from the same region. They untied the prisoners, and before their captors returned, escaped the tomb and rushed back to the safety of Madrigal.
Chapter 2: The early worm
Back in Madrigal, things had made a turn for the worse. Upon entering the temple, the number of sick people had multiplied, including Cal’s mother, who was also showing wormy symptoms. Lilyana, despite her extensive healing magic, was also unable to make these worms disappear. The PCs went over to farmer Tom’s house, and after a successful forensic accounting check they realized that farmer Tom had recently come back from selling his apples at the market in Havanne, a few towns over. Perhaps there was some clue there. The PCs set off for Havanne, taking the captured priests with them and dropping them off in their towns along the way.
The road was familiar but something in the air felt off. The town of Dorn, halfway between Madrigal and Havanne, was too quiet. Not a soul in sight. As father Rol jumped off the wagon and went over to one of the houses, all he found were bodies. Bodies everywhere, all with those damn blue worms on them.
They pressed on. Wheeling into Havanne just after the sun had set, they felt that same uneasy feeling. No one on the streets. Reaching the center of town, they found one person standing by the fountain. Father Qin hailed him from the cart, but as the person turned to face them, bulging worms coming out everywhere, a vacant look in his eyes, everyone realized that this probably wasn’t the same Zachary that Father Qin had seen a few days ago. The undead person lurched forward, and battle was joined. The undead being was not so strong, but would not go down easily. Every time someone delivered the final blow, Zachary would go down, only to come up again a moment later.
Out of the corner of their eye someone spotted two elven figures hiding and watching the action unfold. Seeing they had been discovered, they tried to make their escape. The PCs pincered them into combat, but they managed to escape. They did not reveal much, other than their armor seemed to have an elm tree engraved on the chest.
Exploring the town further, they eventually found an inn that, although it looked to be shuttered, definitely had some signs of life on the inside. The PCs snuck around the back, stealthing their way slowly into the main room, finding a small group of scared men, women, and children staring back at them. The only thing they had in common? None of them were human.
Chapter 3: A mage in sheep’s clothing
A strange meeting at yet another inn. The leader of these civilians came forth and introduced himself as Markeet. He described how just a few days back some disease had ravaged the town and killed most of the people, only for those people to come back as undead monsters keen on attacking and eating live beings. Yes, thinking about it, it seemed to only be affecting humans.
After taking a rest, the PCs exited the inn, just at dawn, and were approached by an oncoming sheep [experienced readers may recognize the The Wild Sheep Chase subplot]. The PCs drew their weapons, ready for battle, but it was just a sheep. Until it spoke, asking for help. The sheep introduced himself as Finethir Shinebright, a surprisingly arrogant mage given his current disposition. An erudite of transmutation, he had unfortunately been polymorphed into a sheep by his apprentice Nok, who seemed to have made some sort of deal with “elves and other creatures.” Intrigued, the PCs agreed to help Finethir, promising to help him transform back into human shape once they had recovered his wand of Polymorph back in his lab deep within the emerald forest. Just then, a half elf/half orc accompanied by a small giant and 3 wolves entered the scene, requesting for Master Nok’s sheep to be returned to them. The PCs made relatively quick work of them, though it came at the cost of Markeet’s life.
The PCs made their way into the Emerald Forest, and soon were within earshot of Finethir’s lab, a multi-platform facility built on top of 4 large oak trees. Centaurs were patrolling the area, but there seemed to be little else in terms of potential danger… until they found themselves wedged between the centaurs, Nok, and a dragon made out of Finethir’s bed – talk about transmutation traps! It was a close battle, but the bed wyrmling was eventually reduced to a pile of splinters, and only one very injured centaur managed to escape into the forest. The PCs did not immediately pursue, choosing instead to execute their centaur prisoner (thanks Val) and hold their end of the bargain. They relieved Nok’s corpse of the wand, which had been damaged in the battle – it only had one charge left. Pointing it at the sheep, Cal rolled a delicious 1 and Finethir exploded into a thousand lamby pieces.
One sheep down, but that meant that Finethir would not be needing some of those magical items lying around:
Scrying mirror of self deprecation – A hand mirror with the inscription “ask me about your insecurity, I will show you what you want to see.” Whenever the holder of the mirror asks something that is self-deprecating (“mirror mirror on the wall, who is the ugliest of them all” etc.) the mirror shall reply very rudely, but will then show the whatever the holder wants to see
Arrows of reduce – The target is affected by the Reduce spell, halving its size in all dimensions.
Grenades of pyrotechnics – can be used as either smoke bombs or firework grenades. Fireworks – the target explodes with a dazzling display of colors. Each creature within 10 feet of the target must succeed on a CON saving throw (13) or become blinded until the end of their next turn. Smoke – thick black smoke spreads out from the target in a 20-foot radius, moving around corners. The area of the smoke is heavily obscured. The smoke persists for 1 minute or until a strong wind disperses it. 
Chapter 4: Into the woods
The trio pressed on, following the path made by the injured centaur, which led further into the forest. Rushing into a clearing, they were surprised by a quartet of centaurs, two armed with spears and two with bows. The centaurs at the sheep wizard’s lab had packed quite a punch, so this was not a battle to be taken lightly. Just then, from the other side of the clearing appeared a tall white-haired elf in monk’s clothing, followed closely by a teenage sorceress. Everyone kept the centaurs at bay, avoiding engaging in melee and the awesome power of the centaurs’ pikes of thundering smite. Following instructions, one of the archer centaurs disengaged from the battle and retreated. The remainder were defeated, and the PCs could catch their breath and get properly acquainted.
The high elf introduced himself as Kori. He was here on a mission from his monastery, in the neighboring country of Singang, to find out what ELM was up to in Estoria. ELM? Yes, of course he knew. A militant group of elves and other creatures nominally fighting for racial freedom in the human-dominated kingdom, a fight that had been going on for over 50 years. ELM? Not just a tree. It stood for the name of the movement: Elven Lives Matter. He had picked up the quiet but fiercely loyal sorceress, Aly, on the road, and she was helping him on his mission.
Joining forces, they tracked the centaur all the way to his camp, which was defended by elven swordsmen, archers, and mages. The PCs failed to see the ones that had been hiding, and springing the trap, a fierce battle began. Val went from the cover of tree to tree, aiding allies and damaging foes in equal measure. Kori’s flurry of blows was effective, but not as quickly as they needed. A slew of smoke grenades were thrown into the battlefield, obscuring vision for everyone. At one point Cal was seen riding one of the (charmed) centaurs and charging at an elven swordsman caught unawares. Aly, less experienced than the rest, threw a series of firebolts which were mainly successful in setting the wooded battlefield on fire.
The flames began consuming everything and everyone. Those who were still breathing tried to escape. Someone went into one of the tents and retrieved a single letter before the entire camp was engulfed into the inferno.
Power to the Elves.
Phase 1 has been completed. Transmission by touch. Incubation up to a week, after which, death, resurgence. No way to control resurgents as of writing.
Commencing Phase 2 shortly. Will rejoin Thotic’s party at Stonebridge rendezvous. Expected update 2 weeks hence.
Chapter 5: Battle at the Temple of the Forgiven
The PCs pursued the injured but surviving enemy elves as they escaped the flames from the forest fire all the way to the river. They let Cal’s enthralled centaur go and commandeered a nearby rowboat to continue their pursuit. Rayzer peeled away from the party to go upstream back towards Madrigal and collect any other information. At a fork in the river, the PCs failed a perception check and chose the path that led to a waterfall. Below them lay the circular Temple of the Forgiven, a place where one could once go and start a new life, no matter the actions of the past. It had fallen into semi-ruin over the years, but now it was swelling with people. Val used the Mirror of Self Deprecation to confirm that they had indeed made a wrong turn at the river, so the party decided to approach the temple. Makeshift tents and carts scattered around the temple suggested a refugee situation. Villagers from nearby towns had fled the plague and were gathering here. A small group of riders came galloping from the north, led by an old man in golden armor. Commander Eckhart, a former military legend, dismounted and announced the arrival of a large horde of undead, blue in color, some even armed, headed towards the temple.
Battle was upon them. Of the 500 people there, only 80 were fit to fight. One of Eckhart’s lieutenants gathered a retreating party of 320 people and took them up the waterfall, a somewhat defensible position if worse came to worst. The 100 immobile or infirm were ushered into the temple, with Kori and Eckhart in charge of defending the entrance. Ally and Val went up another ridge with a group of archers to flank the horde, while Cal went around the other side with a small strike squad to complete the pincer manoeuver.
The horde appeared from behind the northern hill and before long the battle was on. The horde, rather than the normal unstructured group that PCs had experienced or read about, were surprisingly organized. Armored skeletons flanked the main column, and two robed figures escorted by large flesh abominations brought up the rear. The casualties were severe on both sides, but the undead had a habit of not staying down. At one point Cal swore he saw his mother in there, advancing slowly with a vacant look in her eyes.
When the robed figures were defeated, the horde suddenly lost control and went into their familiar undead frenzy, rushing towards the entrance of the temple. At the last moment Aly pushed Kori out of the way of the oncoming horde, but was unable to get out of danger herself. She and a few others were pushed into the temple. The PCs acted quickly and heroically sealed the doors, locking in the horde, and sentencing some of their allies, and likely Aly, to a certain death.
A young stocky wizard with long hair by the name of Euthany came forth and, remembering a spell she had read somewhere, activated a protective seal. A large red dome formed around the Temple of the Forgiven. Until deactivated, no one could get in. Or out.
Chapter 6: The Temple of the Fallen King
At a fireplace outside the Temple of the Forgiven, the party took stock. The remaining undead were locked inside the Temple, together with Aly and whatever other survivors, but what chance did they have? Commander Eckhart was gravely injured. Their allies Anne and Rosa were dead. Ilyana and Flora were doing their best to keep order and heal those who had fought, and quarantine those who had become infected. In the robes of one of the two necromancers they had found a letter describing how they were able to control the undead, and were offering their services to ELM. Luckily that letter was never sent.
Euthany, the unassuming wizard with that librarian look about her, had heard of a gong at a different temple which might be a useful weapon. A strike of the gong was said to turn the undead on a grand scale. With Eckhart’s blessing (and his armor) the party set off.
The Fallen King was a once noble king who was keenly attuned to animals, especially monkeys. It is no surprise, then, that the Temple was actually a long dungeon covered in animal motifs. [I used Zat’s Lost Temple of the Monkey King for this] Monkey statues would come to life to fiercely protect the keys to the next door. Feeding the monkeys, or better yet, keeping them entertained with a recorder they found near the final altar, was an effective way of keeping them at bay. Not so for the jade snake or the steam mephits. As the PCs reached the altar they found the headless statue of the king sitting on his throne surrounded by two palm trees with gold leaves reflecting the light from magical torches around the room. The king sat holding a wand in one hand, a mallet in the other, a large golden gong hanging from a stand by the side. The PCs took the wand (of polymorph), the gong, the mallet, and the gold leaves [loot the room!] and headed back towards Commander Eckhart.
Chapter 7: Welcome to Stonebridge
It had been a short trip, so things were pretty much the same when the PCs returned to the Temple of the Forgiven. Together with Commander Eckhart they decided that the gong might be more useful somewhere else, so they decided to head towards Estoria’s capital, Stonebridge, and at least discuss with the relevant authorities there, and try and intercept the ELM rendezvous they had uncovered. Eckhart wrote a letter of recommendation so the PCs could easily enter the city, urging them to find the new Commander Trevor de Kaag.
The road to Stonebridge was mostly an empty one – everyone coming from their direction was either dead or staying by the Temple. At some point, the party encountered two elven travelers pulling a cart. Their homes had been overrun, they said, and they were fleeing to Stonebridge. Some good perception from the party showed that there was more to the elves that met the eye, and suddenly the battle was on. One of the elves resurrected the dead bodies hidden in the cart, while the other immobilized Val, Euthany, and Kori with a web spell. The zombies, while weak, kept coming back to trouble the gang. As the tide of battle finally swung in the direction of the party, the remaining elf, clearly a necromancer, teleported to safety right after ominously saying “we know who you are.”
The party pressed on, and after 2 days of journeying they reached Stonebridge. It was a sight to behold. Once a small town called Woodbridge, it had found economic providence through an agglomeration of savvy merchants who exploited the river flowing through the town to expand their trade. The town’s economic pull was so strong after it upgraded to Stonebridge that the kingdom changed its capital there, thus abandoning the ancient city of Qaloka. The city’s main entrance, a large, extravagant stone bridge with aquamarine cobble stones that mimicked the color of the Haya River below, was a reliable show of Stonebridge’s economic prowess.
Just like at the Temple of the Forgiven, a large refugee camp was beginning to grow on both sides of the road leading to the bridge. The party wove its way through, brandishing Eckhart’s letter to get in through the express lane. They made straight for the militia headquarters, where the bald and thickly mustachioed De Kaag, after having heard the story, decided to shut down the city while the players looked for the necromancers. They had 24 hours.
[Although the session ended here, I allowed each player to try and investigate one thing out of game, so that they would each have some new information by the beginning of the next session. An investigation roll determined the extent/reliability of the information gathered.
Kori decided to do some networking among fellow high elves, see if he could learn more or directly meet some ELM members. “You spend the day trying to fraternize with other high elves. Whenever you bring up anything related to ELM or its mission, you get the sense that no one really knows about it (or no one is willing to speak about it). That said, people gossip, and there has been a higher-than-average influx of high elves. They generally stay at more high-end inns. The Flying Swan is especially popular among high elves.”
Cal was to tap into the local rogue chatter, the city’s underbelly, etc. to try and find any general information. “Your investigation throughout the Stonebridge underground is as fruitful as it is troubling. It doesn’t seem like anyone has heard about ELM, but in the last few days some people have been asking around for certain alchemical materials. On their own they seem pretty innocuous, but together they can make some sort of explosive device. As luck would have it, in your investigation you have befriended Marc, an enterprising criminal who is actually making a delivery of “dragon sulfur” – one of the components, for these buyers. The delivery is happening today, but he won’t tell you when or where. Not for free anyway.”
Meanwhile, Val went to the temple to reach out to the elders, find out about any potential cures, or places where the dead can rest. “From your investigation and by the grace of Lathander you learn a few things. First, the elders at the temple are working, around the clock and in great secret, to find a cure. They claim to not have made significant headway, but they are confident that something will turn up soon. Second, you learn that as far as burials go, Stonebridge has a tradition (which began around the same time the last plague rolled up) of burying the dead outside the city, downstream, via the back gate. Third, you also learn that this city has a building called a hospital, which is a healing center unattached to any religious affiliation where people go purely for the purposes of recovering from ailments, wounds, etc.
Last, Euthany went to the library to learn more about necromantic activity. You go to the library and spend some time at the guild, and you are able to learn a little about necromancy. The first thing you learn is how much this is treated as an aberration in the mage circles. The kingdom never went so far as to make necromancy illegal, but it’s very, very taboo. Historically there were three organizations that at various stages were more commonly known/feared for their necromancy: The Broken Hand, New Air, and Ashes And Dust. All three of these were brought down at some point or other. Occasionally there is a whisper here or a murmur there about Broken Hand activity, but no doubt these are wistful fabrications from overzealous mage neophytes.]
Chapter 8: Dead End
The players found themselves at the Black Sheep, where they had managed to find a room even though Stonebridge was saturated with travelers. The city may have been under lockdown, but life and business were going on as normally as possible. De Kaag did not want fear to take over.
They moseyed on to the Bottle and Blade, a dodgy speakeasy, where Cal knew they’d find Marc. Maybe they could convince him to lead them to the buyers. A high elf, a cleric, and a geeky wizard are bound to stick out in a Stonebridge underbelly establishment, and they started drawing the stares of the regulars. Rather than negotiate or pay their way through, they tried to sneak their way into the hidden bar in the basement, which invariably failed and resulted in a slew of casualties. They managed to put the first body in/behind a barrel, and a spell from an overzealous Val killed another 5 people. They were not organized enough [absolute shitshow] and soon everyone at the Bottle and Blade was at each other’s throats.
The party escaped unscathed and decided to split up [boy oh boy]. Cal followed Marc and his posse back to their lair, staying hidden and waiting for them to finalize the dragon sulfur trade. Kori, Euthany, and Val went over to the Flying Swan, where elves preferred to stay, and had a small stakeout. At one point a group of young male elves stepped out. Euthany, convinced that these were the elves they were looking for, gathered the two others and followed them… back to the Bottle and Blade! That inn was still recovering from the earlier scuffle, so the elves moved on to a different establishment. The trio infiltrated the place, only to find out it was a regular brothel and that the elves they had been tailing were not ELM, just horny. It was a dead end [Euthany rolled a 1 and then…Rolled with it]
Luckily, Cal was still on the right track. He witnessed the dragon sulfur changing hands, and followed the buyers… back to the Flying Swan.
Chapter 9: Mischief at the Flying Swan
The PCs reunited and, gathering their bearings, decided to try and infiltrate the Flying Swan, hoping to find the ELM faction they knew was staying there. Kori approached the reception with the pretense of returning a lost wallet. A maid, who was really just Cal in disguise, was summoned to go deliver the wallet. Having open full access to the rooms area of the inn, Cal eventually confirms that a group of ELM are staying in the Silver Suite on the top floor of the inn.
The PCs check themselves into the suite next door and hatch an elaborate plan to apprehend the elves. Euthany and Val take the front door, while Kori and Cal get on the rough to enter through the window. A loose tile alerts the elves to the trap, and battle is joined. As Val kicks open the door, elven arrows rain on her, seemingly without effect. The more veteran of the elves jumps through the window and attempts to escape. Kori and Cal give chase, eventually binding him down. Back in the room, a very effective web spell from Euthany makes one of the elves desperately throw a fireball… in a room full of dragon sulfur. The resulting explosion can be seen and heard even from outside the walls of Stonebridge. Miraculously Euthany and Val, who were standing just outside the doorway, manage to survive.
The party brought the prisoner, who is identified as Thotic, to De Kaag. After a successful interrogation, the PCs came away with some good news. Although it hadn’t been tested, there seemed to be a cure. A potion from the honeyflower leaf should be able to cure people of the disease. Thotic only had one desiccated petal in a locket around his neck, but the Evergreen Valley inside the Ruuki mountains, a few days ride from Stonebridge, should host a lot more.
There were, however, some bad news, as Thotic rolled up his sleeve to show familiar blue worms coming out of his arm. The disease, it seemed, affected non-humans as well, though it seemed to take longer. Additionally, given the PC’s good efforts at shutting down ELM activity in Estoria, Thotic had been unable to share that information with the rest of the ELM movement.
Chapter 10: A flight to the Ruuki Mountains
After much deliberation, the PCs decided that the most important objective was to a) test efficacy of the potion, and b) gather as many flowers as they can in their first incursion to the Evergreen Valley in an effort to try and stem the growth of the plague, despite their concern that Ruuki mountains might be too far away to reach in time. As Euthany and Kori gathered the materials to create the golden potion, De Kaag recommended Val and Cal to go find his former agent, Oliver the Returned.
Oliver, a wild-looking halfling without armor and very hairy feet, used to work in the service of the King, and was in charge of the Dessarin Region. The Ruuki Mountains were technically under his jurisdiction, but he and his predecessors tended to give it wide berth. The magical energy coming out of that place had an evil, bitter taste to it that was deterrent enough. The only times he got near were to drive away the occasional band of Iceshield Orcs from Dessarinian farms or caravans. Oliver agreed to join the party and recommended talking to his old friend Lester Lee, a dwarf artificer who might know of a way to get to the Evergreen Valley faster.
Sure enough, Lester had a new invention: he could fill a very large leather bag with air, and by attaching a large basket at the base of the bag he could carry a few people through the air. Tentatively, he was calling it a balloon. The PCs negotiated – Lester was one stingy bastard – and finally they agreed to be piloted by the artificer on his balloon all the way to the mountains and back. Just before boarding, Euthany and Cal delivered the test antidote on a sick refugee woman outside the walls of Stonebridge, and bid Cal’s owl familiar to report on any noticeable effects.
The air voyage to the Ruuki Moutains, which encircled the Evergreen valley like a large crown, was uneventful right until the mountains were in sight, moments before dawn. From the mountains came 4 giant vultures mounted by humans wearing feathered cloaks and making loud ululating noises. Battle ensued, with the PCs dividing their efforts between bringing the Skyweavers down while defending the balloon. Euthany and Kori traded magic bolts with the Skyweavers, while Val charmed some of the vultures away. Cal misty stepped onto a vulture and threw its rider off. Meanwhile, Oliver had climbed to the top of the balloon and was desperately trying to keep the canvas from ripping. They defeated their attackers, only to realize that Lester, the only one who knew how to pilot the balloon, had caught the business end of a fire bolt, and was lying quite dead on the floor of the basket. On a collision course towards the mountains, some last-ditch burning hands spell from Val at the bottom of the basket gave the balloon enough lift to just clear the mountains, allowing them a forced landing in the Evergreen Valley just as the sun was rising.
Chapter 11: The Lord of Lance Rock
Val, you are standing on an endless desert plain, wearing nothing but a white robe. The sky above is blue and the sun big and radiant. You are at the fork of a road. To your left, a handsome, young, slender human man wearing a set of colorful robes of reds pinks and yellows and golden sandals looks at you with an impenetrable expression. To your right, the road is empty. And then, to the right of the fork, you see an almost imperceptible path, on which stands a hummingbird, looking at you inquisitively.
Following the taxing airborne battle, the PCs decided to rest and only set off in the late afternoon. By that time Cal’s owl familiar had rejoined the party, confirming that the antidote had indeed worked. They left Oliver behind to take care of funeral rites for the late Lester Lee. The valley was full of the flowers they were looking for. They bagged as many as they could and started looking for a tunnel Oliver had mentioned which would help them get through the Ruuki Mountains. As they searched for the entrance, they heard the sounds of battle in the distance, and they walked through what was probably some sort of battlefield involving stone golems.
Eventually the party found an opening among the rocks and, ignoring the sign that literally read
“Come no closer
Lest you Catch
The disfiguring plague
That afflicts me”
The players entered the dungeon of the day. [I borrowed this one from Princes of the Apocalypse by Richard Baker] After clearing a series of traps and weird zombie encounters (at one point they are approached by three zombies wearing a bear suit, a bride dress, and motley), they took down the necromancer, and found some good loot:
Stinging mace – Attacks with this weapon crit on an 18-20 (the item is cursed! You cannot remove the item unless you are targeted by the remove curse spell or similar magic. Once a day, the item casts suggestion DC 17 on you. On a failure, the item successfully tempts you into performance an act of evil and cruelty.
Bird of a feather – This small stuffed roc toy is filled with enchanted down. While holding onto the toy and concentrating, you magically gain a flying speed of 20 feet for up to 1 minute. The stuffed toy’s weak magic can carry up to 200 pounds. If you take any damage while flying in this way, you lose concentration on the toy and immediately start falling. If the toy is of uncommon rarity, the toy cannot be used again for 1d4 hours. It gives a happy little chirp when its magic can be used again.
Ring of Healer’s Heroism – When you use an action to restore hit points to a creature other than yourself while wearing this winged ring, you become infused with heroism. You gain temporary hit points equal to your spellcasting modifier, and until the end of your next turn, you are immune to being frightened.
Lupine Padded Armor of the Brute – The bearer can detect and distinguish scents like a wolf and gains advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that use smell. Your Strength ability score is increased by +1
Gi of Shifting Seasons – When you attune to the gi, its color and tree design changes to resemble the current season: Winter (blue, leafless), Spring (green, pink blossoms), Summer (red, green leaves), or Autumn (Yellow, red leaves along the bottom hem). While the gi resembles a season, it gains the following respective benefits:
|
Winter |
Spring |
Summer |
Autumn |
|
Immune to the effects of extreme cold, |
Gain 1d4 + 4 temporary hit points |
You are immune to the effects of extreme heat |
You have advantage on Constitution saving throws |
|
Whenever you hit a creature with one of the attacks granted by your Flurry of Blows, that creature’s speed is reduced by 5 feet (to a minimum speed of 15 feet) until the start of your next turn |
When you use Step of the Wind, your jump distance is tripled, and you ignore the effects of difficult terrain until the end of your turn |
Whenever you hit a target with an unarmed strike, the target takes an additional 2 fire damage |
When you use your Patient Defense, creatures provoke an opportunity attack from you when they move within 5 feet of you until the start of your next turn. |
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If you are outside during the day, the target takes an additional 3 fire damage |
You can change the gi’s season to another one of your choice by spending 1 minute in silent meditation. Alternatively, whenever you use an action, bonus action, or reaction to spend 1 or more ki points, you can choose to shift the gi’s season by one, moving in chronological order. When you do, you choose whether to gain the season’s benefits before or after the action. For example, if the gi is in Autumn and you spend 1 ki point to use Flurry of Blows, the gi can immediately change to represent Winter and grant the season’s benefits to your Flurry of Blows.
In the necromancer’s study they found a disturbing letter.
To the Lord of Lance Rock,
It has been a while since we last spoke, but I have kept up with your feats and your growing… body of research.
As you may have heard, recent events in Estoria are bringing the dead back to life in numbers imagined only by the wildest prophecies of old. Our Order stands ready, battle-tested, to command these souls and recruit them as the legions of a new world order.
I invite you, through this letter, to become one of my generals in a battle that will forever change the course of history.
We march on Stonebridge at the New Moon. I await your reply via the same raven.
Bocu – First Mover of the Broken Hand
The raven in question had been impaled against a wall. Clearly the Lord of Lance Rock was not interested. But the PCs would have to act fast. The New Moon was only a week away.
Chapter 12: Zombie Menagerie
The PCs reunited with Oliver the Returned, who had been doing his own investigation of the land after finishing the funeral rights for Lester Lee. Loaded with the healing honeyflowers [and knowledge of an impending zombie invasion, though this didn’t seem to matter as much], the PCs knew they had to return to Stonebridge as quickly as possible – the New Moon was but one week away. After deliberating between trying to capture some giant vultures and fly back or securing some horses from nearby Jefferson farm, the party eventually opted for the latter.
On the way to the ranch the players saw a large cloud of dust moving in the direction of Stonebridge, a cloud that would intercept them. The dust was caused by a hundred or so zombie animals marching in formation: lions, tigers, bears…. Even two young dragons, oh my. The impending collision with the farm made negotiations easier, though now the PCs were also tasked with coordinating an evacuation. As the party moved towards Stonebridge, the caravan of evacuated residents they picked up along the way began to grow, and they began to lose ground to the animal zombie army. The PCs decided to make a stand at the next river to a) buy time for the evacuees to flee, b) wither the forces of the animal zombie horde, and c) find out more about this strange battalion.
[This process was quite fun. I gave the PCs pretty free reign to design and negotiate with me the environment they would be fighting in: the nature of the bridge, the width of the river, the nature around it. Then they placed themselves according to their battle plan and waited for me to make my moves]When the animal horde finally reached, they found Val standing at the end of the bridge, with Euthany standing discreetly to the side. Kori, Cal, and Oliver were hidden by the opposite bank, flanking the animals, waiting for their moment. As the first wave of (smaller) animals began to charge into the bridge, Val’s wall of flame running down the bridge flamed the majority of the advance guard. As the zombie dragons and the larger animals moved to enter the fray, the rogues and the monk tried to sneak around to engage with the necromancer, but a crappy stealth check got the attention of one of the wyrmlings and its necrotic rot breath. Meanwhile the ladies were using the large distance between them and the animals to thin down the enemy numbers, and just when they were about to be overwhelmed, Euthany’s strategically timed dimension door placed them right behind the necromancer, now significantly more exposed. A good strike of the Gong turned the remaining zombies into an undead animal stampede. The necromancer was eventually captured, though poor questioning rolls led to an early death. In his possessions was a similar letter from Boku. Clearly Baron Veneero the Beastmaster had heeded the call. Just how large was this undead army going to be?
[There was a beautiful moment in the battle when Cal produced the wand of polymorph they had found in the Temple of the Lost King to try and polymorph one of the dragons into something more inoffensive. The problem was that they had failed to properly identify the wand back in the day, and what the wand could actually do was summon a Swarm of Angry Monkeys. I waited a whole year for this moment.]
Chapter 13: Finale
[In the runup to this last session I introduced a custom mechanic called “um actually,” in which I allowed each player to add or change one thing to the story that the characters had done behind the scenes, as long as it was backed up from a roleplaying perspective. A small example would be “um, actually I remembered to pack extra rope. As the family saying goes, always be prepared!” Players couldn’t *undo* anything that had happened, but they could add something that might help them. I encouraged them to send the “um actually” to me before the game, but I gave them the right to hold on to theirs for the game itself. My objectives with this mechanic were multiple: to encourage players to go back on their notes (or this writeup) and identify those “oh, I wish we had done X” moments; to help cut down on the less consequential minutiae of the game on the day and speed up play; and to help set them up for success in the final episode.
I am usually the forgiving type of DM that will execute a last-minute handbrake turn if my actions, which are usually pretty nerfed to begin with, will cause a character to die. I love that players get emotionally attached to their characters and I don’t want to ruin the fun for them. For the last session, however, I had no intention to hold my punches, and had prepared a winning strategy (from the Broken Hand perspective) for the siege on Stonebridge, and a clear strategy for a potential final boss battle: target Euthany first, then go for the weakest characters, which should also distract the cleric from doing any damage. The Broken Hand knew about them by now, so it’s reasonable to assume Bocu would have planned for this. It was a good strategy, and I don’t think the players realized how close I was to victory. More on this later.
Finally, a note on the siege itself. None of the PCs were martial characters, so it made little sense to me to have a big blown-out battle that the players would command or something similar. Plus, we had done that already at the battle of the Temple of the Forgiven. Rather, my idea was to have the siege as the backdrop of the last session, as it were, and have the players interact in a few different scenes within that context.]
Standing over the body of yet another dead necromancer, the party had to act quickly. They sent Owliver to scout around and see if there were any other zombie battalions between them and Stonebridge, while Val sent a magic Message to Commander De Kaag warning him of the arrival of the zombie army and of the party’s arrival from the south in 3 days. All she got was a curt reply: “If you have the antidote, bring at once.”
The party pressed on towards Stonebridge, trying to reach the city before the undead horde, coming in from the southwest, blocked them off. They were intercepted by a dozen knights on horseback claiming to be sent by De Kaag with orders to escort them and the petals back to Stonebridge. Sensing something was amiss, the players were reluctant to cooperate, and handed over only one of the sacks, bluffing and saying that was all they had. Still, the knights moved to arrest Val on suspicion of being complicit in an international terrorist plot. Before blades could be drawn, Val stepped forward and voluntarily handed herself in, much to the bewilderment of the rest of the party.
Um, actually, Val had executed Thotic before they left for the Ruuki Mountains.
The other players knew nothing of this, and had no chance to defend Val against De Kaag’s accusation that the cleric was in fact an ELM operative. Why else silence an enemy who had shown willingness to cooperate? Their asset was a liability for ELM. During the interrogation of the elf Val had tried to get Thotic to come with them to the Ruuki mountains, but De Kaag had refused. This was the next best course of action. Was there enough evidence for a conviction? No, but she was definitely guilty of murder. If they ever survived the zombie invasion, there would be an investigation. Until then, off to the dungeon.
With Val gone, the rest of the party went through an existential crisis. Why were they even fighting? What was the point? The undead were here, chances of success were slim to none. Kori wasn’t even from Estoria, and he was still going through Aly’s death. Euthany had no stakes in this game, and she didn’t agree with De Kaag’s logic or leadership. Plus, she had seen how people had begun evacuating Stonebridge through the small back gate and she was more than happy to join them. And Cal? Cal was too stunned, too betrayed to even speak. This whole time they had barely been able to figure out who the true enemy was. Did he even know who his friends were?
[Personally I loved this. I didn’t expect the “um actually” to be used in this way. I loved how much chaos it wreaked, down to the existential core of the group. There was a lot of good discussion here. The party was really, really close to disbanding and I would have totally allowed for that, but I’m sure they would have actually hated it as a finale.]
In the end they agreed: get Val out, arm up, and then probably escape. The prison break was easy enough. Euthany, the plain looking wizard, waltzed in and used Dimension Door to get herself and the cleric out. They rejoined Cal and Kori in an alley, as the alarm bells from the militia headquarters sounded in the distance. Um, actually, Cal had met someone during his investigation (Chapter 7) called Percival Fencer who had “collected” a series of magical items he was willing to part with in exchange for the cure for him and his followers.
[I provided the PCs with a catalog of items which I took from the free collection over at The Griffon’s Saddlebag, which are always super creative. There were quite a few items in there and they could only choose one. There was one item I left there called the Bardic Boombox. It could do a bunch of things, but it could basically act as a 5x amplifier. I would have totally allowed it to be used in conjunction with the gong to make a very very powerful anti-zombie weapon, but no one took this up.]
Val had no intention of abandoning Stonebridge. If Stonebridge fell, it would be a matter of time before the rest of Estoria fell. Where was there to run? They had to take a stand and fight. They had the gong. Surely they could use it to their advantage.
Meanwhile,dawn was breaking, and Stonebridge woke up to thousands of undead formed up on the other side of the river. The enemy forces were not making any moves towards the bridge or the gate. Rather, they stood outside of bow range and brought forward their catapults. Rather than attack them with ricks or other destructive projectiles, zombies were loading onto the catapults and being lobbed over the Stonebridge walls. Most of the zombies splattered upon impact, but some stood up and went about what zombies do best. Stonebridge’s forces focused on making sure there was no zombie outbreak on the inside, as Bocu kept launching wave after wave of flying undead.
The enemy forces were too great. Bocu was at the center of his army, and the gong alone would not let the party get close enough to engage before being overwhelmed by zombies. But, um, actually, Oliver knew of a secret passage that Lester Lee had told him about. It was a small tunnel the dwarf had built from Stonebridge, under the river, and into the field south of the city, right where the enemy army stood. [Oliver was not able to join the last session, but since he had sent his in advance, I allowed the cameo]
It was worth a shot. They found the tunnel and crawled their way through. Stealthily peeking out of the foxhole on the other side, Cal spotted Bocu surrounded by a few lieutenants…. And his entire zombie army. A powerful gong strike solved that last problem, as zombies in a 300 foot radius fled the source of the sound, leaving Bocu, another necromancer, and a mummy lord exposed. Cue epic final battle music.
The battle was short, but fierce. Bocu had been expecting them and had a plan to take them down. He set the mummy lord on Euthany, who took her down quickly with its rotting fist. Kori and Cal made their way to Bocu, avoiding the mummy’s dreadful glare. Bocu and his copycat necromancer used their spells early, managing to bring Kori down, and later Cal. Val was barely keeping the company alive by bringing them back with low level healing spells. With the monk down, the enemy tried to expedite his death, surely to turn him into a zombie. And then Bocu turned to Cal and aimed a thin green ray meant to disintegrate the half elven rogue. With Euthany and Kori barely hanging on, this would have been the beginning of the end for the party, but a natural 20 on the die allowed Cal to dodge the powerful spell.
The tide of battle turned there. Euthany used her new Gibbering Bell to neutralize an opponent, giving the rest of the party a chance to focus on the remaining two, who were eventually destroyed.
As Bocu was brought down, so too was the spell holding the undead army together. The siege dissolved. The Order of the Broken Hand had failed.
The party disbanded soon after that. Kori, who had um actually reached out to the different monasteries in Estoria to convert them into health centers that could deliver the cure, would leave his own monastery and create his own. Euthany went back into research, quietly developing strains (and cures?) of the virus that were effective for each race. Cal returned to Madrigal, though the nights at the Rat & Parrot failed to fill the growing void in his heart. Val never stopped moving. There was still work to be done throughout the land. She inched her way towards Singang. There were answers there. There was ELM. Perhaps there was even… revenge?
No one saw Valustra the cleric leave Estoria. No one, save a small hummingbird perched on a nearby tree, watching patiently, biding its time.
Epilogue: A Hero’s Feast
For the last session some of the members prepared a themed dinner, and if you’ve made it this far you might appreciate it.
The gin-based cocktail was The Antidote, mixed with the nectar of the honeyflower (chrysanthemum syrup).
A Wood Elf salad to begin, followed by a roast Owliver. In memory of the exploding wizard-sheep, some lamb vindaloo.
For dessert, a tribute to how it all began: the worms (Worms in Dirt).
Thank you to everyone who made this adventure possible.
Maps
Estoria
Stonebridge
