The Undead Attack:the Lake Mist Garrison Fights for Survival

[TheSpaniard]

Arrows and lightening bolts streak over Shur's head, as he hurries amongst those dead and dying from the plague. Shur's brow drips with sweat as he works in the infirmary amidst the raging battle. The Lake Mist garrison with the help of Alienor's retinue, and a small group of Sshamath's Elites, fight against a large army of the Alhoon's undead. The battle is fierce and it takes all of Shur's concentration to conduct his field research.

He goes from one dying Drow to the next asking questions and probing their symptoms. He barely has time to look up to see a Lake Mist garrison jaluk, a hundred meters in front of the makeshift infirmary, being impaled by a skeleton's pole arm. The Drow's screams turn into gurgles as the Skeleton removes the pole arm and shambles on looking for more fresh blood.

Shur quickly looks away and turns his attention to the motionless body of a Drow, who has already succumbed to the plague. He scrapes off pieces of the Drow's skin, finger nails, and even hair with delicate instruments, placing them in sealed leather bags. Suddenly, he feels a sharp pain on his back as he falls face first into the rancid mud. He whirls around wildly to see his attacker is the Drow he had only moments ago spoken with. However, the Drow's eyes seem lifeless, having just been resurrected as an Undead by the Alhoon's magic. With a groan, the corpse slowly makes its way toward the stricken Shur.

Sweating profusely, Shur wearily stands up and gripping the hilt of his scimitar nervously. Suddenly, a bolt of fire scorches the upper body of the Drow zombie incinerating everything but its legs. Looking up, Shur sees the large silhouette of a jalil warlock standing on top of a boulder. The jalil is adorned in intricate symbols and is covered from head to foot in leather armor. Her features are mostly hidden except for fiery eyes leering at him from behind her mask. Suddenly, she speaks to him in a haunting voice, "Wael. You're not even safe behind our battle lines?"

She sneers then, shaking her head, before vanishing into the thin air. Shur is only able to process what has happened for a brief second, before he remembers about his work, and starts to diligently research...

It is only after hours of fighting that the forces at the Lake Mist garrison are able to push back the horde of the Undead. By that point, Shur is only able to confirm Alienor's suspicions: the plague is a psychic attack by the Alhoon. After a quick debriefing by Alienor, and receiving some allotted funding from the Circle, Shur makes his way toward the Under Dark to conclude his research and learn the extent of the Alhoon lich's powers...

[TheVoid]

The aftermath of the battle had brought both gruesome and victorious results. The inquisition of the origins of the plague that swept the garrison have been ordered by the Conclave and assigned by a splinter faction of lolthlites known as the "Dark Sisters" or "Bel'la Dalninil du Lolth" that are loyal to the conclave's agenda.

One sister, a yathtallar of House Sshamath is among them. Yathtallar Reiza Sshamath, an underspoken but observant female who is physically powerful but demure and void of the stereotypes placed on many of her class and breeding. Reiza regards Shur's discoveries and samples with her own divine analysis as well as the exhumed body of the Legionaire charged with the Mist Lake Garrison's defense, Legionaire Trizzta'phantyr G'eldin'lin.

Strangely, the pair find that the body of the Legionaire is free of any toxins, though his cause of death was reportedly through a collapse due to a weakened state of health. This sharply contrasts to the samples obtained by Shur of the soldiers' who had fell to the illness. Their samples show the presence of a physical degeneration of all major organs through some unknown foreign body/organism possibly bacterially related.

Reiza concludes that the Legionaire must of suffered from an arcane induced condition, namely a powerful "Geas" or "Quest" spell which is too be confirmed by the School of Enchantment. It is highly suspect that the Legionaire had died, do to the unfulfillment of his tasks placed upon him by the enemy. The near catastrophic failure in maintaining the defenses of the garrison and the near collision of sectartian in-fighting, one could not fathom just how much worse the conditions would have been should Trizzta'phantyr have fulfilled his obligations, to save himself.....