From Dusk till Dawn
From the band of adventurers, the Dramatis Personae
chapter I
"It was a foggy day when we crossed the fells near Col Fen. The ground was rough and nearly dry save the pools, how the ground remained dry with such a grand amount of water nearby we'd never know. So we spent half an hour fighting some undead and began to look for a road, and when we finally found it, it went into a graveyard…"
The five wandered down the side of a steep hill, the smallest of them, a Halfling named Garret tumbled from tripping over a stone. He rolled and occasionally bounced down until he hit the floor in a heap, and let out a groan. The next down was a Dragonborn named Balasar, who calmly slid down, somehow surfing down on his shield. Duula merely walked down, her hooves allowing slightly better balance as she followed. Next were the Dwarf cleric Baern, then the Human mage Quinn, and lastly the rogue elf Zann. Balasar casually stepped off of his shield and dusted it off with a leather bound claw before picking the Halfling
"She has not called for you yet, warlock." He said, plonking him on his feet "A shame." The others walked up to them, Duula heading forward. She, like the Dragonborn, was wearing leather armour, but instead of a long sword and shield she had a great axe, which she was currently using as a walking stick. The dwarf looked at the warlock before walking over to the Minotaur
"Is there something troubling ye', lass?" he asked, when he heard a grunt from behind him followed by an 'oomph!' sound. When he turned around to look he saw the Dragonborn paladin holding the Halfling by the collar of his cloth armour, he unslung his mace and ran at the immense being "OI!" he yelled "Lay off 'im!" Balasar turned to look at the dwarf, then the Halfling and casually dropped him. Garret clambered to his feet and dusted himself off
"What'cha do that for, eh?" he yelled angrily "I didn't do nothin' to you, scaleface!" as the angered paladin began to reach down the two found their bodies frozen. Quinn stepped forward, quarter staff in hand
"Will you two please cease these needless hostilities?" he asked "I grow weary of such pointless rage."
"Told'cha scaleface!"
"Be quiet Garret." Quinn said, he was getting annoyed at the warlock himself now "Had you looked where you were stepping, you wouldn't have fallen, Bal wouldn't have needed to pick you, and you wouldn't have insulted him for being helpful." The ice around them shattered and Duula walked back up
"What a peculiar place this is." She said "Pools, lots of pools, yet the ground remains dry." Without warning a bubbling sound could be heard from the pool nearest them. Seven forms rose up from the depths of the fen and stepped out, water dripping of their decaying forms. She hefted her great axe while Balasar and Zann go to her flanks, remaining a few paces away in order to remain out of her weapon's greater reach. With a groan the zombies charged, their shambling gait kicking aside loose stones. The minotaur let loose a roar and charged forward, swinging her axe through one zombie and into another, Balasar ran up to a zombie going for Duula's back and smashing his shield into its face while Zann ran to another and slicing into it with knives she sheathed in her boots. Jarret let loose a howl of laughter as dark energy blasted from his fingertips, it impacted onto a zombie, dissolving the creature into a fine ash as it let loose one final groan. Duula and Balasar hacked down another two as the final zombie began to flee, only to be trapped in a block of ice. Quinn smiled as the Dragonborn began to drag the berserk warrior away from her prey, Zann fled while Jarret maintained his distance, with a flick of his wrist a pillar of fire rose into the sky, roaring until the wizard slammed the palm of his hand into the ground. He looked around when he noticed something
"Where's Baern?" asked when they heard a roar from near a pool. The group dashed over to see Baern smashing his maul into another zombie's face, destroying it completely
"That'll show ye', ye grimy deathcheat!" he roared. Garret looked down at the pools edge and noticed something
"Say, big beard." He said "Didn'tcha notice the road under that guy?" the Dwarf looked down, followed by the others. Sure enough, there was a dirt track. Zann walked ahead
"This must lead to a road.." she said before continuing ahead into the mist. They ran to catch up, and when they did a short while later, they were looking at the gates to a grave yard, leading to an awkward silence. Quinn spoke first
"…ah" he said "Well damn."
The band of adventurers crept through the cemetery with weapons drawn, knowing that after the zombies from the fens they'd need to be prepared. Zann, being a rogue, was in front, her own leather armour missing the long coat like chestpiece that Duula and Balasar had, instead having a fur cape over it was in front, followed by the Dragonborn paladin and Minotaur warrior, then the two magic users and finally the Dwarf cleric. They had entered the graveyard and hour ago, following the long road to Tol Fen.
A silence broken by a scream.
AUTHOR'S NOTES
Hi, my name is Wolfiuz1 (as you can guess). If you have any questions on the story, feel free to put in a review. Whoops, nearly forgot disclaimer!
Dungeons and Dragons does not belong to me, only the characters in this fiction and the fiction itself belongs to me.