A contingent of the Lonely Street Irregulars set South to Menea in order to investigate the ever increasing reports of a zombie infestation in that Kingdom. After being warned off by no less than the Prefect of Bolden, and after being further counseled that the various schools of Magic were working together in order to create some barrier between afflicted Menea and the rest of the civilized world, the party set forth without trepidation. Included in their company were six mercenary archers and a hireling wizard.
As they would not be put off, the Prefect of Bolden offered to hear the confessions of the faithful and to apply the conditional Last Rite to whomever would receive it. In availing himself of the Prefects intercession, Father Thomas took upon himself a vow of silence. Just one day South of Bolden, they came upon the barrier – a great obsidian wall that seemed to spring forth from the very earth. No wizards were in evidence, but the hireling felt the presence of great magic.
Scaling the wall, the party quickly dispatched two zombies and learned the valuable lesson that even a heavily armored adventurer is not safe from any enemy who lacks fear and has a willingness to grapple.Back on the “safe” side of the wall, the Irregulars traveled first to Brambleton and found it a ghost town, picked clean by elves of the Mistwood. No humans had been here in some time, but zombie corpses were abundant.
Traveling West to the Woodmere they encountered a valiant outpost of Meneans who were cut off from the rest of their kingdom and kin, who were believed to be behind zombie lines. West from there, they entered the halfelven town of Slip and made contact via Mourning Elk with Elves in the Northern forest.The elves could not be bothered with the circumstances of the humans and believed that this might be the beginning of the end for human civilization and signal the glorious rise of the Eighth Age. Even if not, the elves prognosticated, the zombie problem would probably right itself in a century or two – certainly not enough to get bothered about. The Irregulars would not be assuaged, however, and continued to Blunden.
Blunden proved to be every bit as vacant as Brambleton. Finding no evidence of any living thing, the Irregulars marched to the walls of Menea itself. The city was shut tight against visitors and refused to entertain any audience with strangers, let alone strangers from Bolden. When Father Thomas indicated that he was on a mission from God, the Meneans threw their last itinerate “priest” (a bandit and con man) from their walls with his throat cut.
Anxious to prove his fidelity to the Church, Father Thomas refused to leave the approach of the great city and paid for his obstinance with a bath of boiling oil and an attempt at immolation. The rest of the Irregulars assumed he was intoxicated or otherwise bereft of his senses and tried to drag him off. Thomas would not be daunted. Owing in some part to his demonstrated faith, the city eventually opened its doors to the Priest and his companions, but not before being infiltrated far more easily by half of the party and their talents for thievery.The Meneans subsisted well by posting guards at each of their fields and by bringing in crops and livestock when the zombie activity was highest. The city walls protected the citizens by night. While in Menea, Brumbar the Paladin witnessed (and subsequently slew) a human as he turned from a bite victim into zombie.
Without much to keep them in Menea, the Irregulars traveled South again toward Gladden, where the outbreak was to have first occurred.Gladden was a simple town and unlike the others, had not been picked over by scavengers or elves. Everywhere there was evidence that zombie activity was high. The town graveyard emanated strong evil. Beneath it, the Irregulars discovered a hidden facility and some went down to investigate while others stayed in town to fight the zombie hordes as they approached.
Again it seemed that Thomas was intoxicated with his love of his God as he stood toe to toe with streams of zombies who would not relent. First the arrows and swords of his companions brought him respite, but soon enough they saw the futility of fighting a horde which must number in the thousands. Thomas alone remained above ground, while his compatriots sought to find what had created the abomination in the first place.
Beneath Gladden the Irregulars discovered the abandoned dungeon of the King of Menea and read the record of the prisoner known only as Romero. Romero, a relative of the king, died at the hands of a priest attempting to hear his confession and soon after something like a disease began to sweep the cells. The record ends there, but it is presumed that this Romero became the zombie lord, and though he was unable to escape himself, was able to affect the bodies in the graveyard above him.Romero, the zombie lord, proved to be a difficult kill. The Irregulars finally dispatched him with a head blow – a thought that occurred to them late in the heat of battle and not before one of their number, Thalwyn, was somehow killed by the breath of their foe. In the instant that he died, Thalwyn became a true zombie and had to be killed a second time by his former friends.
Meanwhile, above ground, Father Thomas had been bitten by his foes and in his panic nearly rode off to certain death before remembering through his seemingly alcoholic haze the Brumbar the Paladin could cure disease. He too went beneath Gladden and broke his vow for the first time, by beseeching the good knight to save him. Thus saved from certain death, he joined his compatriots in slaying both Romero and Thalwyn.
The Irregulars set off for Bolden and it’s Prefect with all due haste, bringing the body of Thalwyn with them. Once they were there, the Prefect of Bolden admitted that he owed Thalwyn a boon for a previous undertaking and raised the elf by the laying on of hands. As for Thomas, he seems no worse for the wear… so far.
