Goot Squad #1: A Pathfinder Adventure

Pathfinder Report #38291002 "John Gerreth"

Party: Corpse Recovery Team 5 "Goot Squad"

Initial Mission: Retrieve the corpse of John Gerreth from the dungeon of Barbarian Lord Herrath Berrendi, in Numeria, south of Starfall. Minimize casualties, only Gerreth's corpse is to be recovered. A sketch of Gerreth has been included in the mission folder. Death was reported 4 days ago, corpse may be in various levels of decay.

Report by: Pathfinder Chronicler Harry Knutts, Grand Lodge

Context: 2 days after passage through Ustalav, morale is low from attacks within the fog and general fatigue. We have reached the inner region of Numeria, green fields surround us. Time is 14:07, no encounters so far today.



         "I'm tired of this donkey making those stupid noises!" Hurkle startled me with the sudden outburst. The towering bloodrager almost knocked me off my horse as his arms flailed outwards in frustration. As if on cue, the donkey affectionately named Danny gave a snort and a whinny. Hurkle spun around with a grimace and advanced towards the ass, his hand reaching for the massive Earth Breaker on his back. The donkey seemed to ignore him in defiance as it continued trotting forward, the wooden cart trailing behind it, carrying many of our essentials. This only served to make the half-orc more angry, as he growled aggressively at the animal.

         I opened my mouth to speak before catching myself. Part of my contract was to not speak. Lady Elia made it clear what my purpose was. I was the "report" of their party, they dealt with the exploring and cooperating. A waste of my abilities and training as a chronicler in my humble opinion, though her payment and the reward of not becoming undead is enough motivation. I closed my eyes, unwilling to see the disgusting display of gore in front of me. I apologize to which ever venture-captain is reading, but I do not believe the specifics of the brutalization of a donkey are required within the Pathfinder Society's records. Thankfully, after a moment of silence, I opened my eyes to see that the brute was being restrained by Conrad, his large arm held by the significantly more diminutive swashbuckler. Funny, I thought the man had the upper body strength of a small child, though I'm quite thankful that he stopped the unnecessary bloodshed.

         "Don't. Touch. Danny." Conrad was quite intimidating with those words, and the sharp glint in his eyes was enough to make Hurkle look a bit uneasy before backing away. I was amazed at his display of dominance, though I question his ability to follow up on his threat. This human against that beast of a half-orc, what a battle that would be. But I digress. There was a task to complete.

         As I looked to my side, Grell rode alongside me. He was the only other mounted member of the party, and his steed was magnificent compared to mine, equipped with shining armor and a saddle that appeared infinitely more comfortable than the shoddy one that I was sitting on. However, it was a pony, raising my self esteem slightly as I sat a small number of feet above him. He watched the confrontation with disdain, rolling his eyes as Hurkle moved back up to the front of the caravan. In passing, he looked up to me and gave me a nod and a smile. I smiled back at the dwarf, only to be stopped by the voice behind me.

         "Grell, as I've told you before, you shouldn't acknowledge the chronicler, he's only here to record for us, not participate in actual party affairs." Lady Elia called to the dwarf. I glanced backwards, the smile no longer present on my face. The half-elf walked at the rear of the caravan, her scythe casting a distinct shadow as it sat on her back.

         Lady Elia would seem like a follower of Iomedae if she didn't dress in those dark robes. The blonde hair and bright green eyes just seem to scream "Lawful Good." I suppose she's the outlier in her family though. What drives the heiress of an affluent family like House Goot to begin worshiping Urgathoa and practicing necromancy, anyway? Her family has done nothing but good in Absalom, as much as their relatively low status allowed. However, I ask no questions, out of respect for my employer and due to my speech restriction.

         The dwarf responded with a gruff, "Aye," and readjusted his pony saddle. "I just can't exclude him as a member of our party, though. My order decrees I must be loyal to my whole party." he continued. His consistent kindness warmed my heart. Someday I hope to repay him when we are not off on a mission. I wouldn't mind sharing an ale or two with him.

         Lady Elia had quickened her pace, and was now walking alongside my horse. She kept her gaze forward, an empty look in her eyes. "Just pretend he's not there. He doesn't need any hospitality. I pay him a hefty sum to do what he does." She said matter-of-factly.

         Grell turned to her and shrugged. "I'm just tryin' to lighten the mood after Ustalav, lass. That gloomy place doesn't do a traveler good."

         "Yes, I suppose you all don't praise the history of Ustalav as I do. However, the work of the Whispering Tyrant is truly admirable in terms of raw power. A lich king such as that, morality aside, is an inspiration. And I do enjoy seeing other followers of Urgathoa in the world." Lady Elia reminisced with a longing smile on her face.

         "Those followers were going to eat me!" Hurkle cried out from the front of the convoy.

         "Yeah, we're lucky the clerics of Pharasma were there to bail us out." Conrad piped in, the mission folder held out in front of him. He seemed to be studying the map.

         "Don't speak so highly of those ignorant nuns! They have no appreciation for the gift of undeath! Hurkle would not have been in danger if he had not barged in on their ritual." Lady Elia exclaimed. She was glaring at Conrad.

         "I needed the bathroom, okay? It's not my fault their cult hideout looked like an inn!" Hurkle retorted.

         "You could've just gone on the trail like I told you to." Conrad muttered, looking up to the sun and back to the map. It shone down on us as it slowly traveled west.

         "I'm gettin' a bit uneasy about these fields." Grell said after a few moments of silence. "Aren't they supposed to be covered in barbarians?" He scanned the fields warily.

         "Maybe Gerreth's party cleared the way for us. It makes it easier for us anyway." Lady Elia quipped, though I spotted a semblance of caution on her face as well.

         "Aw, but I wanted to fight some barbarians." Hurkle said, disappointed. "I could show them the difference that a superior bloodline makes."

         "Wait!" Grell called out, reining his pony back. I stopped my horse and looked around in panic. The rest of the party halted and looked at Grell before glancing outwards. Silence permeated the air as we stood and heard only the wind in our ears and the pounding of our hearts. The quiet seemed to last for an eternity until we heard a sound from the other side of a green hill beside us. Whistling in the wind, accompanied by the snap of strings. Bowstrings.

         "Archers!" Grell screamed as he spurred his pony forward. The rest of us scattered, heading in different directions. I dared to look back as my horse carried me forward, and I saw the dark swarm of arrows fly into the air and begin their descent towards us. I turned forward again as the impact of the arrows sounded behind me, and I silently prayed to Desna that none would find their mark. The first wave of arrows finished and I was relieved to find that we had all found our way out of their area of effect. Barbarians were never known for their stellar archery skills.

         We all gave each other nods before watching the arrows' point of origin. We awaited another volley in uneasy silence. I was one of the furthest away from our original point, giving me a wide angle of the battlefield. A perfect position, as it kept me well out of the effective range of whoever was attacking, and gave me a way to survey the whole battlefield. Grell had ridden forward on the path, so he was still next to the hill. Conrad was the closest to me, one of the farthest from our starting position, he had drawn his rapier and his pet donkey was cowering behind him, the cart still attached. To my right, Lady Elia held her scythe in front of her, eyes narrowed and watching for any movement on the hill. Opposite her, Hurkle had drawn his massive hammer and watched with the same vigilance. We had formed a large circle with our formation, spread out far enough that we could not easily give aid to each other.

         "Where are they?" Conrad held his free hand out to keep Danny back. The donkey gave a shaky bray before stepping backwards, the wooden cart creaking quietly.

         "They might think they got us with the arrow volley. Idiotic brutes." Elia scoffed. There was a sudden bright light in the middle of our circle, covering at least 40 feet in diameter. Our attention immediately switched to the light, and I saw Lady Elia's eyes widen. "It's a teleportation circle!" She cried out as she brandished her scythe and took a step back.

         I gasped and reined my horse back, spurring it to run to a safer position. The light dissipated gradually, and from it emerged a large group of barbarians, all raging, and all charging in different directions. I spotted a different figure in the middle of their circle. He was robed, and he was holding what looked like a staff. He was the source of the teleportation circle, and who knows what other spells he could sling out over the course of the battle. "The wiz-" I started, but Lady Elia's gaze snapped to me and I shut my mouth. Defeated, I hung my head and whispered to my horse, "The guy in the middle's a wizard."

         The barbarians continued charging, it looked like there were at least three for each party member. As I scanned the battlefield I saw Hurkle was dealing with five, and Grell was riding through another five. They had identified the priority targets. Conrad's donkey had retreated even further back as the swashbuckler engaged his three opponents. Lady Elia had already begun her fight, swinging her scythe in a wide arc to deter the charging barbarians. They were standing cautiously around her, greatswords drawn.

         Conrad's opponents were all rather large humans, and all unarmored, it seemed. Their huge arms lifted their greatswords with ease, and I found myself chuckling at Conrad's thin rapier. Their muscular bodies looked like they could sunder the blade on their own. I do hope the man does not have trouble with girth in other areas of his life. However, his fearlessness was truly admirable, as he took initiative and lunged forward into the center of them. The point of his rapier aimed for the middle barbarian's neck, but a quick swing of the barbarian's arm knocked it off course, and Conrad tumbling past his target. He swiftly rose back up, rapier in a defensive position as they closed in around him.

         Across the field, Grell wreaked havoc in the enemy lines that were fighting both him and Hurkle. Masterful on his steed, he darted through their lines, taking stabs at them with his lance as he passed. Though many of them were just grazes, I saw one of them hit an orc square in the stomach. His greataxe dropped to the ground instantly, and the orc ceased moving after the single hit. They struggled to deal with the pony, its speed causing them to miss all their swings. As the dwarf provided a distraction, Hurkle had the opportunity to bring his earth breaker down on multiple barbarians, dispatching them with only a single swing each. As their adversaries brought their attention back to the bloodrager and went to attack, they were easily brought down by the cavalier's lance, with their backs turned, a solid hit was trivial. Within minutes, the pair had brought down their opponents without suffering even a single injury. With knowing smiles, they turned to the other side of the battlefield and rushed towards their allies.

         I turned my attention back to Lady Elia. The half-elf ducked under a greatsword swing before rushing towards a barbarian and bringing her hand out to touch his forehead. In an instant, a purple flash appeared at her fingertips and I saw the barbarian's eyes go bloodshot before glazing over. The human's eyes widened as the necromancer brought her hand back to her scythe and spun around to deflect a sword swing. The affected barbarian reeled back in panic as his eyes locked onto Lady Elia, terrified. He screamed, dropping his greatsword and turning to run. With a wide swing around, Lady Elia brought the blade of her scythe in front of the fleeing man, and pulled back with great force. The howl of pain and fear that man emitted has yet to leave my dreams. As the bloodied body hit the ground, she turned back to the remaining two with a smirk. "You fools are so feeble-minded."

         A shout from my left brought my attention back to Conrad's fight. One of the barbarians was letting out a fearsome battlecry as he swung his weapon down on the swashbuckler. With an impressive display of finesse, he brought his rapier up to meet the blade, and sent it to the side as he continued the thrust straight into the man's throat. The two other brutes looked on in shock as their smaller opponent pulled the blade back and gave it a quick wipe with his sleeve before spinning around to face them. With a flourish he twirled a dagger from his coat and held it in his offhand, a smug grin on his face.

         The two barbarians let out their own savage battlecries and charged. As they approached, Conrad raised both his weapons to meet the horizontal swings of the greatswords. The two seemed to increase the power behind their swings as they saw Conrad's action. In the instant before impact, Conrad quickly lowered his weapons and dove under the blades. As he flew between them, he spun around to jab his rapier up towards one barbarian, and began rapidly spinning in the air, his dagger held out. While one barbarian was skewered through the chin, the other's torso was eviscerated by the smaller blade. Both fell to the ground behind Conrad as he landed, their momentum carrying them forward. With a wink to me, he wiped his dagger and grabbed his rapier before evaluating the battlefield.

         Lady Elia had managed to catch both large blades with the handle of her scythe, and in an impressive display of strength, pushed them back, staggering them. In a blur of motion, she dashed forward and caught one of the men in the chest with her scythe as she passed. Ignoring his scream of agony with a blank expression, she dug the scythe in deeper and used her forward momentum to kick off the ground and strike the other barbarian square in the jaw with enough force to knock him backwards. "I was considering raising some of you but you're all pathetic. Lady Urgathoa would not be pleased." she called out as she landed. The barbarian wept in agony as he struggled to pull the scythe from his chest. "Aw, are you having some trouble? Let me help you with that." I averted my eyes as a wet ripping noise reached my ears and the horrific, emasculating shriek echoed through the field. The scream was followed by a distant, "Elia, what the hell!" from Conrad. I said a silent farewell to my good dreams and slowly turned back to find Lady Elia with a large portion of her robe much darker than the rest, and a crimson stain across her face. The corpse of the poor man was nearly bisected.

         The remaining brute had already thrown down his sword and was on his knees. It looked like he was sweating heavily. From his eyes. "Please spare me! I know these fields, I can lead you through them! Oh please, please, I have a family, my son is so small, he needs a father to survive! I told my friends we shouldn't mess with necromancers, but they didn't listen! Please, don't raise them either, I'd hate to see them doing evil things!" he sobbed, putting his face to the soil at Lady Elia's feet.

         Conrad looked on in slight frustration as he shook his head and turned away. "Sometimes I wonder about you guys."

         Lady Elia looked down at the man, and for a moment, I thought I saw her serious demeanor soften, and she looked surprised, almost scared. What could she possibly have been afraid of? "G-get up." She had returned to her serious expression, but there was still a semblance of hesitation in her voice. The man flinched at the sound of her voice and raised his eyes up. Shakily, he quickly stood up with wide eyes and held his hands up in surrender. "Stay here. If you try to run, we'll find you again, and then we'll find your family." she threatened, eyes narrowed. The man gasped and nodded, still shuddering. Lady Elia placed her scythe's handle under the man's greatsword and flung it towards me before walking away from the man. "And I'm not evil. Not all necromancers are bad. If your comrades were worthy of being raised, they would do great things, I would make sure of it."

         As I scanned the battlefield again, I noticed that en route to assist the others, Grell and Hurkle had been cut off by the wizard. They had engaged in combat, but were unable to reach the robed man as he had placed a number of obstacles between them. It seemed he was actually a conjuration specialist, evidenced by the small army of creatures that had been summoned between the two warriors and the spellcaster.

         Grell rode around the circle of primarily wild animals, trying to find an opening. A giant spider lunged forward only to meet a lance to the eyes. As he threw the dead spider back into the crowd, a goblin dog lashed out in front of the pony, causing it to rear up and stop. Grell, unfazed, narrowed his eyes at the goblin dog and prepared to charge. This tunnel vision led to his inability to see the pouncing wolf on his right. As it clawed its way onto his shoulder, a cheetah dug its claws into the leather saddle, climbing up and attacking the dwarf from the back as the wolf gnashed its teeth at the cavalier, who was struggling to hold the canine away from his face.

         Grell spurred his pony forward and it launched towards the goblin dog, who dove back into the crowd of animals. In the commotion of movement, the two animals attacking Grell lost their balance, giving him the room to draw his shortsword into his offhand from the saddle. As the wolf realigned, Grell brought the sword into its torso, throwing it off his steed with a whimper.

         With the extra room on the pony, the cheetah, who had been attacking his armor with no avail, jumped forward and latched onto his throat with its claws. Grell yelped and instinctively threw his head back, striking the cheetah with his plated helmet and knocking it into a daze. It fell off the galloping pony, leaving several gashes on the dwarf's neck. He sheathed the shortsword as his pony continued circling the formation. "I hate wizards." he sighed. The pony seemed to whinny in agreement.

         Hurkle brought his earth breaker down on a giant centipede with a grunt, leaving a flattened mess of exoskeleton and colorless fluid. While he slowly pulled his weapon back up with one hand, he used the other to punch a pouncing leopard. The multiple cracks and shatters were audible as the large cat collapsed to the ground. Hurkle continued wading through the crowd of animals. A boar was smashed into the ground, then a goblin dog was thrown several yards away, bloodied by the large, sharp spikes on the bloodrager's weapon. He hadn't even begun raging yet. A single sideways swing sent several animals flying as he finally reached the last line of defense. In front of him, an immense mass of armored scales stood in front of him, its tail ending in what looked like a club. In a rare display of natural knowledge, he muttered, "Ankylosaurus."

         Conrad slid on his heels as he held his weapons up to the animals in front of him. Several wolves and a dire boar stared at him angrily. "Don't suppose you guys accept treats, do you?" he chuckled nervously. The wolves jumped simultaneously, teeth bared. Conrad cried out only to see the wolves knocked to the side by a flying bison. Or, rather, what was a bison, as it had several earth breaker shaped wounds. The wolves whimpered, unable to move under the weight of the bison. Conrad turned back to see the dire boar snorting aggressively at him. "Now this I can hand-" Conrad was cut short as Lady Elia's scythe flew past him and spun forward, catching the boar in the temple with its handle and knocking it away. It promptly spun back and returned to her hand as she approached the swashbuckler. "Come on! Aren't you guys gonna let me get some action?" he exclaimed.

         Lady Elia held her hand up as Grell galloped by, stopping him. "Grell, what are we dealing with?"

         "There's a wizard in the center, if we can get through these darned animals, we can dispatch him pretty easily!"

         "Where's Hurkle?"

         Grell pointed to a large group of airborne animals. Hurkle's screams of rage could be heard amongst the animal noises.

         "By the gods..." Conrad marveled.

         "Grell, can you break through their line?" Lady Elia asked.

         "Nay, lass, I've been trying, but they always get on me and I gotta fling 'em off. I hope you've got a plan. Hurkle's a strong one, but one can only take so many paws to the face."

         Lady Elia sighed and said, "I have a plan, but you're not going to like it."

         "Why not?" Conrad questioned, suspicious.

         "I'm going to have to use Death's Kiss on you."

         Conrad's jaw dropped. "No! No way! We already did that in Osirion and it was horrible!"

         "What's Death's Kiss?" Grell' eyes darted between the two, confused.

         "Death's Kiss allows me to give someone the gift of undeath temporarily, allowing them to benefit from my negative energy." Lady Elia explained. "We used it in Osirion to heal when I had run out of cure spells. Why this coward is so against it is beyond me."

         "Well, you gotta remember that not everyone shares your love of undeath, lass." Grell reasoned, Conrad furiously shaking his head beside him.

         "It wasn't worth it at all! Why can't Grell do it?" Conrad cried.

         "Because if we all want to make it through, you have to be in the front. Grell can ride in before the animals recover. Unless you want to take 3 doses of negative energy, you'll take the gift."

         Conrad grumbled and held out his arm, defeated. He shut his eyes tightly, bracing himself. Lady Elia raised a hand as it began glowing a pale blue and touched Conrad's arm. Immediately, the human gasped and seemed to go pale. Shivering, he glared at the half-elf, who was smirking. "What?"

         "You're shivering."

         "Well, I don't know if you've ever felt this before, but being undead is cold. Very cold." He chattered his teeth.

         "Oh grow up, it's not that bad. My sister and I played games all the time with Death's Kiss." Lady Elia looked up with nostalgia. "Freeze tag was fun until we got used to the feeling. Then it was just tag." she chuckled.

         "Your sister's a necr- nevermind, let's just go!" Conrad started a jog towards the circle. Lady Elia and Grell exchanged nods before the necromancer followed close behind Conrad.

         As Conrad approached the first line of animals, they turned to him and pounced, only to go limp in midair as a wave of dark purple energy hit them. He glanced back to see Lady Elia holding her unholy symbol in front of her, emitting the waves of energy, the silver corpse fly momentarily glowing purple with each pulse. They dashed deeper through the lines of animals, treading carefully where their boots found solid ground. With each wave, another group of animals reeled back in pain, shuddering and convulsing on the ground, giving the pair a clear path to the center. As soon as the third wave dissipated, Grell charged forward, a silver blur zipping towards the two, who had reached the wizard. As he raced through the lines, he couldn't help but glance at the occasional animal struggling back to its feet.

         His pony halted abruptly, its hooves sliding forward on the ground before finally coming to a stop. Lady Elia and Conrad stood at the edge of the circular clearing, facing the robed man. A large scar across his face exaggerated his rugged features, and his blue robes were tattered and dirtied, revealing the padded armor underneath, and the large sheath buckled to his side. With a wide-eyed stare, he raised his staff up and struck the ground. With a loud thud, the staff began glowing a pale blue that spread to the ground under his feet, forming another teleportation circle.

         "Dispel Magic!" Lady Elia waved her hand across the ground, emitting a wave of white light that hit the circle, causing it to dissipate. "Conrad, go!"

         The wizard desperately raised his staff again, fear spreading across his face. As the staff went down, Conrad dashed in, giving the wizard's wrist a swift slash. The staff fell to the ground as the man cried out in pain, clutching his wrist, blood seeping between his fingers. As Conrad turned to face his target, a smirk decorated his face. The man glared at him, trembling in pain.

         "I've got the staff, la-" Grell grunted as he was interrupted by a wolf that had jumped on his back, clawing at his armor and gnashing its teeth at him. He snarled and gave the wolf a firm kick, knocking it back onto the ground with a whimper. As he turned back to face it, he spotted the large group of animals who had recovered and were beginning to circle the group. Lady Elia turned around and gasped, immediately getting into a defensive position. Grell motioned towards the wizard. "I'll hold 'em off, just deal with their master."

         "Grell, there's too many." Lady Elia retorted. "You ca-"

         "Just trust me, lass, I can handle 'em. Just deal with the magical fellow and they'll disappear." He gave the half-elf a confident grin and gave a loud battlecry as his steed charged forward. Lady Elia watched as several wolves all jumped towards the rider, only to be cut down by a wide sword swing. He charged through the wolves and taunted them with whistles and hollers as they pursued him.

         "YOU. ARE. NOTHING!" The savage cry of rage echoed from near the wizard, where a massive beast, the ankylosaurus, was desperately batting at its own back with the club on its tail. Stood on top of the ankylosaurus was the battered Hurkle. Multiple cuts and bruises lined his whole body, yet he fought on as if they were not there. He repeatedly struck the armored back of the dinosaur, before dodging out of the way of the club. With each hit, the spiked hammer left visible cracks and dents in the scales, causing the beast to let out roars of agony. Letting out another roar of rage, Hurkle ran forwards on the beast and brought his weapon sideways into the scaled beasts' head. The roar of pain echoed through the valley as the creature's legs buckled, and scales dropped to the ground, broken and cracked into multiple pieces. Triumphant, the bloodrager stepped off his opponent, leaving the destroyed remains of the dinosaur behind to eventually dissipate. He brought his earth breaker over his shoulder before turning to assist Lady Elia and Conrad.

         "You've got two choices, buddy." Conrad said, rapier pointed at the wizard's neck. "Dispel your summons and surrender," He continued, a sharp tone underlying each word. "Or I'll just sever your connection." The rapier dug deeper into the wizard's neck, forcing him to step back before it drew any blood.

         "F-fine." The wizard answered, still tightly holding his wrist. "I surrender."

         Conrad smirked and relaxed his blade, satisfied. His lapse in defense was immediately met with a kick to the chin as the wizard jumped backwards and held up his hand. "Summon Monster!" The wizard chanted, as a large purple circle appeared around him, forming vague shapes out of the arcane energy. In a flash, the purple glow disappeared and gave way to 5 bottlenose dolphins, organized in a circle around the summoner. In a pathetic display of aggression, they whistled loudly and flopped around in the grass. I slowly moved forward in my saddle to whisper to my horse, "Those are dolphins, right?" The horse snorted casually.

         Conrad's eyes went from the dolphins, to the man, then back to the dolphins. Confusion and amusement could be seen on his face. Lady Elia narrowed her eyes, bringing her scythe into one hand and to her side. As Hurkle approached behind Conrad, he slowed and eventually stopped to stare. "Tiny whales? On land? Bahaha!" He laughed.

         The only sounds that could be heard were the distant noises of Grell and the remaining animals as they fought. In the center of the battlefield, the wizard grinned wildly as he drew his falchion. "Do you dare step in to face me among my most elite summons?" His wide-eyed stare passed between each of his assailants in turn as he brandished his blade. As his gaze met each of the three, they visibly flinched.

         After an awkward standoff, Conrad stepped forward, his rapier held up halfheartedly. He was struggling not to laugh as he slowly walked towards the circle of aquatic mammals, which were still flopping around uselessly. "Alright, someone's a bit upset that all his friends are dead, including most of the animals." He gestured to the two dolphins that were now adjacent to him. "But it's okay, we don't have to make this harder than it has to be. Just come wi-"

         The wizard burst into a fit of insane laughter. I felt uneasy, even dozens of feet away. Conrad tilted his head in confusion, and finally noticed a light in his periphery. He looked down to see that the two dolphins next to him were now glowing a bright neon orange. "What?" He muttered, the glowing growing more intense.

         "Conrad!" Hurkle called out. Lady Elia gasped as the light grew to engulf the swashbuckler. All that I remember in the next instant was a blinding orange flash, and a loud explosion. As the light faded, the two dolphins were gone, and large scorch marks and small flames covered the ground around their original position. The other dolphins had disappeared without a trace. Conrad was gone. The wizard cackled maniacally as we all gaped in disbelief.

         "Grell!" Conrad's voice came from behind the wizard. The laughing stopped and we all turned to see a dusty Conrad knelt in the grass, Grell's pony lying on its side beside him. Its armor was scorched black, some cinders still burning orange on the steel. A silver lump poked out of the grass by the pony. "Grell!" Conrad repeated, climbing over the pony and fumbling with the saddle's buckles. Distraught and panicked, Conrad hastily unbuckled the dwarf and pulled him out from under the pony. "No, no, no," He whispered, putting the dwarf's head on his leg. The right side of the cavalier's armor was burnt and covered in soot and ash. The dwarf himself was severely burned where the armor did not cover. Conrad felt for breath before looking up to the rest of the party in despair. "He's not breathing." He uttered blankly. "Elia! Raise him! Hurry up!" He called. He desperately shook the dwarf. "Come on, Grell. You're strong, just get up. Come on, man, wake up!"

         Lady Elia, fraught with worry, began running towards the two, until she reached the wizard, who was still beaming hysterically. As she got closer, she caught his psychotic muttering.

         "That's what you get, boy, for messing with my precious creations." He giggled. "You lost a friend because you dared to face me. It's all your fault." He had become much paler, and was trembling more as blood ran from his wrist and dripped from his fingers.

         Lady Elia stopped and glowered at the wizard before approaching behind him, stowing her scythe back onto her back.. "You," She grabbed his shoulders and spun him around. As he yelped in surprise, she grabbed his head and kept him facing her. "As you go to your god, remember that I give you that luxury out of pity, and out of disgust. You would be an absolute mess of an undead. You made a terrible mistake." She looked back to Hurkle and gave him a nod. Turning back to the wizard, she uttered a single incantation. "Command."

         The man's disturbing smile disappeared and his expression turned blank. His eyes glazed over and he seemed to go limp, though his grip still held the sword. With a satisfied smile she gave another incantation. "Halt." She released his head and stepped backwards, leaving him standing on his own.

         Hurkle let out a furious cry of anguish as he charged forward, and swung his earth breaker over his shoulder towards the wizard. He aimed for the head. I could hear the snap and the crunch as the body was thrown several yards away from Hurkle, but the head went much further, messily disconnected from its body. It disappeared in the distance, a small black dot falling towards the field.

         As the wizard's body hit the ground with a soft thud, the numerous animals around the party began fading away into arcane energy, returning to their plane. Hurkle let out a tired sigh as he stowed his now messy hammer onto his back. Lady Elia rushed past him to Conrad and Grell.

         Kneeling down beside Conrad, she looked at the motionless dwarf with wide eyes. Panicked, her words were rushed. "I didn't prepare Raise Dead. I still have room to prepare it though, I just need 15 minutes." She prattled, her words almost incomprehensible. (Fortunately, I took extra lessons in Common Comprehension.) The distress in her voice was obvious.

         Conrad's gaze moved slightly to look at Lady Elia before he gave a solemn nod. The cleric quietly stepped away and took a seat in the grass. She reached for the unholy symbol around her neck and grasped onto it, closing her eyes. Taking a deep breath, her features relaxed, and the unholy symbol in her hand began glowing a deep purple, the bright light shining through her hand and between her fingers.

         As Lady Elia prayed, I slowly rode towards Conrad and Hurkle, who were sitting around Grell in the tall grass. Exhausted and grieving, they both hung their heads in silence. I was sullen, my heart dropped as soon as I saw him up close. The whole right side of Grell's armor was burnt, and severe burns ran down the side of his face. I found myself needing to look away, surprisingly. I was able to watch the brutal violence of the battle, but to see Grell like this was unbearable. He was the only member of the party to pay any actual attention to me, and show me kindness. The lovable dwarf was always working for the good of our party at his own expense. And now, he had paid the ultimate price. From their reactions, it was obvious that Grell was held in high esteem by the whole party. Lady Elia was preparing Raise Dead, a spell she never prepares because she would much rather raise them as undead, giving the fallen the "gift" of Urgathoa. She clearly respected Grell.

         I quietly gasped as I felt a puff of warm air hit my hand. Danny the donkey slowly trotted past me and began nuzzling Conrad. The swashbuckler gave the donkey a slight smile and rubbed his head before returning his attention to the fallen cavalier. Hurkle put a comforting hand on Conrad's shoulder.

         "He was right." Conrad said blankly.

         "Who?" Hurkle asked, now looking at his comrade with concern.

         "The wizard." Conrad clenched his fist and struck the ground. He looked out into the field, staring into the distance. "It was my fault. I was an idiot and walked into the trap. I was the fool that needed saving, and Grell paid for my mistake. I should be the one that needs to be raised, or even animated, I probably deserve it."

         I opened my mouth to speak but fell silent. I wanted so badly to tell him that it wasn't his fault. I wanted to say that no one could have expected a barbarian wizard to have individually created explosive dolphins. The pure grief on Conrad's face was a stark contrast from his usual pep.