Dimension Door

The sun is beginning to set and the party can hear creaking noises from within the forest. The dwarves are about halfway done. Sakiran hops in and helps with digging, the dwarves give her a funny look. She is not as good at digging as the dwarves and they make jibes at her. She snaps at them to mind their own affairs.

After a half hour, it is almost completely dark and they see glinting eyes in the distance. They look to be about 100 feet away.

They hear a splash of water and shouting in a foreign language from within the forest. They see a well-dressed desert wandering man running away from undead dogs, trying to stop them from slapping his coat tails. He is clutching his turban as he runs. He cries open sesame as he runs. Sakiran tells him to mind the hole. The man hops over the hole and skids on wet mud, clinging to the closed gate. They hear a metallic voice say that they appear to have arrived. The dwarves cry that it is a magic man and say "oh no" towards the horde. They try to claw at the gate to be let back in.

There are a few small hordes and large masses of flesh. Sakiran punches and kicks three dogs, shattering them and dissipating the energy into the forest. She looks up and sees more of the horde, letting herself and Rahim into the gate. She leaves her sword in the trench.

Four of the dwarves are caught in the zombie horde but three managed to get in and two more are snatched away.

Hulking fleshbeasts walk forward, ready to breach the walls. Leoric grapples up to the guardtower next to Nelalwe and uses a gadget to distribute a large oil slick in front of the trench to trip up the largest horde. He fires a bullet into the closest horde and knocks down a few zombies.

The desert wizard turns around and casts an incantation, summoning a faithful hound that guards the front gate. He tells the dog to provide support and runs away.

Sakiran finds a pistol and a longsword, and fires the pistol after quickly asking Nelalwe how to use it. She fires into the closest, eliminating two zombies with two shots. She seems surprised by her ability to hit with it.

Aria's hand glows with bright blue energy and annihilates a horde of zombies with magic missiles. She cowers further behind the gate.

Walker moves and braces the gate. Vae steps back and turns to the wizard, asking for protection as energy rises within her.

Some of the zombie horde fall into the pit and start smashing into the wall, trying to climb up the wall too.

The giant charges at the wall as it roars, crashing straight through the wall. It is momentarily stunned as splinters step into it, then it sees them in the guard tower.

Leoric pulls out a can and lights it, causing ice to explode out into the closest horde. He uses his main hand weapon to blast a chunk into it. It looks around and leans down, picking up its limb and starts using it as a club. He aims with his offhand and fires, hearing a click as it jams.

The wizard makes the earth erupt around the largest cluster of the horde. His hand glows with yellow energy as the earth erupts and smashes upwards, spraying boulders at the giant and crushing it. It bursts out of the mess and gets back up, looking at the wizard. He wipes out a zombie horde in the process.

Sakiran jumps down from the guard tower and runs towards the giant, slashing into it with the longsword. She kicks the giant and backs off into a parrying stance. The giant readies itself to strike her with its limb.

Aria casts Sanctuary on Vae and retreats further.

The giant swings his arm at her and crashes into the ground as she hops away. It missed and looks at the guard tower, moving towards it. She slashes into its leg as it grunts and stumbles. It grabs onto the guard tower.

The other giant moves through the ruined wall moving towards her, coming face to face with her.

Walker holds the gate shut and Vae finally has stored enough energy. A projection of a barrier goes forth and encompasses the front part of the town, leaving her completely immobile.

Leoric calms Nelalwe down with a strap around her arm, allowing her to jump away from danger when she feels threatened. Leoric then grapples onto one of the giants and holds on. He manages to hold on and overcharges his weapon. The giant is knocked back onto its knees, stabilising itself after the great wound.

The desert dwelling wizard says the giant looks very thirsty and summons a large tidal wave, crashing backwards onto a building. The other one that Leoric is on stumbles and falls. Sakiran clings to the wall, hopping up onto scrap metal and holding onto it.

She slices into the giant closest to her. It tries to block with its hand but she slices it in half. It looks to be in bad shape as she kicks it in the teeth. With a final kick she shatters its head and it goes limp.

The other giant grabs onto Aria and gets her by the arm. She casts a spell and sees spears of black pierce it in the chest as it explodes from within. It goes limp and falls.

The barrier is beginning to fail as they climb over the walls and Walker is no longer able to hold the gate closed.

Nelalwe fires into the zombie horde, making small marks as they keep moving.

Leoric grapples back up to the guard tower next to Nelalwe. He gets his rifle off of his back and double checks the explosive cartridge, then fires onto the grease.

He cocks the rifle and aims and fires, Nelalwe expresses concern and Leoric reassures her as the grease detonates. A group of four are taken out by the initial explosion and the zombies are set alight. Leoric gives a thumbs up and smiles and Nelalwe returns it awkwardly.

The wizard shouts that they need to leave, casting dimension door. He runs through the door and disappears.

Sakiran checks on Aria and covers her hands, washing them quickly. She points to Vae and to the other giant. They both start running towards it.

The dog smashes and bites as the zombies crowd over it, biting into them. Walker falls back to Sakiran and Aria's position.

Nelalwe says this isn't good as Leoric agrees. She jumps and into the dimension door as she disappears through it. She gets spit out onto the other side of town.

The giant is getting closer to Vae as Aria tries to drag her away. They are grabbing onto Vae's legs as she is immobile. They are trying to pull the plating off.

Leoric takes in his surroundings, noticing Vae's struggle and the giant. He grabs an energy core and gaffer tape. He tapes it to his C4 explosives. He lowers himself down to the ground and runs next to the zombie horde, throwing the explosive into the hole. He runs away and it explodes two seconds later, with the initial explosion taking a few zombies out. A concussive wave smashes against him, flattening the wall and turning into a vortex of magical energy that burns him. It looks like tears in his skin as the ground pulsates blue and cracks with energy.

The trees start glowing up their veins and crunching as they grow rapidly.

Leoric is blasted with the energy and hits the ground, landing with a thud. Most of the zombies are gone.

Vae is catapulted backwards, sustaining damage to her chassis. She is completely scorched, becoming brown-black and her face is shattered. Lightning scars form on her as her wisps are sent flying and she is barely moving.

Sakiran runs past Vae, lashing out with a slash and punches against the giant, with the wounds closing as it sucks energy in from the explosion. From the entrance, the wisps that have gone into the ground are starting to come up again, dragging up more bones that are a different colour. They are now blue instead of a sickly green, with a chanting that the party doesn't understand.

Walker sees that Aria is dragging Vae, looking around at the chaos. He tells Sakiran to move and she tells them to go, so he throws Aria and Vae into the dimension door and asks Sakiran where Leoric is. She says he may be in the horde. Walker grunts and brandishes his axe, running towards where he might be.

The giant crashes with two of its fists but misses completely. The wisps look similar to the beings in the cave.

Leoric is disoriented and on the floor, looking up at the sky and finding it beautiful. He looks down and sees shapes that they encountered in the mines. They have picked up weapons and are flickering towards him. He tries to get up and succeeds, stumbling to his feet. He feels strange and looks at his hands. He sees his hands look like metal for a moment, but then they are gone, and they look like burned flesh. He starts walking through the rubble, and Walker calls out to him. He moves towards him, reaching for him.

Sakiran looks around quickly, stabbing and slashing the giant but the wounds seem to keep closing. The shimmering wisps come towards her with weapons. They meld into the giant and it heals its undead flesh.

Walker hoists Leoric onto his shoulder and runs towards the portal and throws him into the portal, letting Sakiran know.

The giant pummels her with its fists, knocking her back. Walker shouts over to her. She is about to strike the giant back, then sees the symbol on her hand. Remembering Aria, she runs away through the portal and jumps through it with Walker.

She lands in wet snow along with Walker. The portal slams shut behind them. There are the party, one of the dwarves, Jasmine, Nelalwe and Walker. Aria is trying to make a bonfire with her magic. Leoric has landed in the snow and is lying there. They are in a very cold place, being pelted with cold wind.

The wizard looks around and sees all of these people. He turns to Sakiran and says it looks like she had fun. She thanks him for saving them and he conjures a bonfire. He says "Rahim is great.", introducing himself.

Nelalwe asks where they are, it's cold. Walker and the dwarf help Leoric up. Aria tries to cast healing magic on him, though it flutters out. Leoric looks at the scars and sees that it looks like he has something under his skin, like a worm underneath his skin.

His eyes give way and he blinks, breathing heavily. Walker asks where they are. Sakiran looks out into the frozen passage. The trees sway in the breeze. They seem high up and the air is thin. Snow falls off the tree branches in the wind.

In front of them is an old cobblestone path that is completely frozen over.

The dwarf says he should have brought his shirt. Jasmine picks a fight with Sakiran and Walker separates them. Rahim "the Great" is offended by the fact she called them both desertfolk and says that Sakiran is a mere spearchucking savage. Sakiran turns on him and starts arguing with him instead.

The dwarf and Leoric both walk away. He introduces himself as Taunir and he explains his brothers are a strange looking bunch. He asks what happened to him and Leoric explains weakly that he got caught in the explosion, showing him arms to him. Taunir looks and says he did see it once. He hired a new guy just out of the bar. They were digging in an Altarnie facility and decided to hit the pipes because he was an idiot. It exploded and he ended up looking like a Christmas tree. He is dead. Leoric offers his condolences but Taunir says he was a knobhead and asks if Leoric worked with any. He said no, and he mostly works alone.

He asks what's with his lasses, the skinny and skinnier one. Leoric explains he's been working with Sakiran for a while and the skinny one they picked up. Taunir points upwards and goes to check something, asking Leoric to wait. He leans against the wall in pain. Taunir runs back, saying it was an old collapsed tower but it would protect them against the wind. Leoric tells him to run back. Taunir comes back to Walker de-escalating a fight between Sakiran and Jasmine.

Vae looks as if she is shaking staying upwards. Taunir and Walker both pick her up. Sakiran helps Aria to walk and Nelalwe follows them.

Jasmine approaches Rahim and asks where he is from. Rahim says he woke up in a place called Portsmuth. Jasmine recognises it as an undesirable place and Rahim slaps her, though it is a very small slap. She laughs at him. He says he does not know what came over him.

They settle into the stone enclosure. Aria is leaning on the wall. Jasmine goes to find some wood. The others arrive, with Vae being dragged by Walker and Taunir. Walker asks where to put her. They lay her down sitting against the wall.

After about fifteen minutes, Taunir and Jasmine come back with wood and make a campfire in the centre. Nelalwe and Aria warm themselves on the fire. Walker pulls out a cigar and lights it on the fire. He asks them to take stock of what they have. They have very few supplies.

Walker says it is best that they are alive and Sakiran says he has a very low bar. He says he'd rather be freezing than dead. Sakiran says it would be something that Aria says and she nods and smiles.

He asks Leoric how he is. Walker asks how he got that way. He said he was in the explosion and had caused it with the energy core explosion.

Nelalwe says she is okay, but nervous with all of the people around.

Leoric gives Sakiran his grappling hook and she asks why he is giving it to her, asking if he is going to die on her. He says he doesn't plan on it. He looks over at Vae and she is staring into the fire.

Walker turns to Rahim and asks if he can help. Rahim says he does not, but makes the bonfire large and lasts for a long time.

They gather a scouting party, so Walker, Sakiran, Nelalwe, Taunir and Jasmine head out to see what is around. Taunir and Jasmine find wood for building a roof.

Aria still tries to heal Leoric, but the healing magic keeps wavering. She sighs in disappointment every time she tries. Leoric thanks her shakily. Rahim says he is not used to the weather.

Sakiran notices there are tracks in the snow leading to small burrows. It looks like there are small animals around. She notices there are bushes, cutting the bottom of the berry open and dabbing it with her tongue. She gives it a few moments and the berries are not poisonous. Walker asks if she found anything. Nelalwe deftly climbs a tree and makes traps to catch small animals. She puts string in her teeth and starts placing traps near the berry bushes.

Nelalwe said she forgot her gun so Sakiran hands her the pistol. She runs to the base and goes over to Rahim, bracing herself on the wall. Rahim reminds her to call him the great. She apologises and asks if any spells can do alarms. He says she would make a fine wife and he calls her a timid cat. Nelalwe asks if he knows alarm. He sets down a faithful hound again, and it stands guard over them.

Taunir drags two logs on each arm, and Jasmine has another over her shoulder. They put them down and shouts over to Walker. He and Sakiran walk back and Taunir and Walker make half of a roof. They go again to chop more wood.

Nelalwe and Sakiran both go to pick berries, with Sakiran finding six and Nelalwe finding fourteen. She also finds a herb to make it a bit better tasting. She says it tastes like a spicy mint and grimaces.

Leoric shuffles over to Vae. She is still leaning against the wall staring into the fire. He asks how her damage is. She looks over at him and states it is all good. He looks at her properly. He notices she is rough, and the wisps around her are repairing her insides. Dripping liquid is falling out of her chest cavity and the wiring underneath has dimmed. She looks to be in bad shape.

Leoric checks in his pack and sees he has sealant tape and some tools and parts. He makes a motion towards her with parts. Vae asks what he is doing. He says he is helping. She looks at the part and calls them primitive. He pulls out an energy core. Vae notes he has multiple. She thinks and gives approval, with part of her chest opening to reveal the leak. He tries to repair her, starting to tape it up. When he is reaching out, his vision flickers and he gets a twinge of pain where his cybernetic eye is. He hallucinates that they are metallic claws and touches the inner crystal. She lets out a metallic scream as he scorches his little and ring finger on it. She closes it and says she will be fine.

Rahim takes a moment to meditate, regaining his spell power. A talisman appears on the floor around him as he meditates. Aria is drawing in the snow that is falling.

Sakiran adds water to a pot and crushes the berries as she stirs them. Taunir and Jasmine come back with another few logs to finish the roof and they are no longer being snowed on.

Sakiran plates the soup up and the group eat together. Nelalwe is sitting outside on a rock and Taunir points this out to Sakiran. She runs out and has a conversation with Nelalwe where she says she does not want to go back to the workshop, and does not mind being outside since they are away from people. Nelalwe says the women are okay and some men, but otherwise is quite scared. Sakiran gets a feeling that she knows what happened to her, but does not press the issue. Nelalwe notes that it looks very beautiful, and Sakiran agrees.

Walker says Rahim does not look like someone from Solor. Rahim pulls a strange face. Rahim says he is from Portsmuth, but only because he woke up there. He says he has some form of amnesia and doesn't remember anywhere before it. He says he woke up and there were a lot of foreign people looking at him. Walker says he looks like the exact same. Rahim says he is not and insists he has darker skin.

Rahim says he was born in a faraway land with palaces and not a spear chucker like Sakiran. Walker makes her throw a spear to catch a bird in a tree and gently pokes fun at her for being good at spear chucking.

Nelalwe comes in from the cold after everyone has eaten and says someone should take watch. Leoric volunteers.

Taunir and Leoric both take watch and he says he'll be fine, since Leoric wanted alone time to think. He gives him a hip flask to help him to stay awake and sleepy.