Encounter: The Dead Five

(no night idea, another peaceful night, but looking through my drafts folder I came across this, which needed one or two sentences to finish, hurrah!)

Rolling on another of Patrick's marvellous creations gave me the following:

"Black Ops Ghosts, possessing as they go, have orders to outflank an apparently empty fort but have no idea they are lead by an incompetent fuckwit."

Fleshed out, there's a damn good hex or encounter in that. Heck, there could be sessions in it depending on how you wanted to run it, develop it or portray it. For now though, how about the following?


The Dead Five

Kobalt the Nekromancer - you know the guy, metal skull helm - has enemies. Like anyone with power he has bodyguards. Unlike most of the wizards, lords and dukes to the west of Wetham, his bodyguards are all dead... Ghosts able to possess the living, needing fleshbodies to do their master's work. Mostly they hang around in whatever's to hand, but right now they are on a mission and need the right tools for the job. Kobalt commands them to get past the old outpost of the Eye and if possible take it from the less-guarded riverside, and so they have taken control of a group of adventurers...

Hainas was, in life, a clever sort of chap. He experimented with weird chemicals to make explosives, which ultimately lead to his death. When he takes over someone he instantly pats their pockets to see what they have that he can use to blow things up. Most comfortable with ranged weapons rather than melee. Knew Miglia in life, has not let on to that fact in their undead employment.

Toro wanted to die in battle. He fought and fought as many battles as possible, often being injured, but never seriously. He will always try to possess fighters and people with experience. He adds an extra +2 to any combat or AC rolls to the basic levels of someone he possesses.

Miglia has had possession of a dog for so long now that he has almost forgotten what it was like to walk on two legs. The dog, Archie, has started to change in appearance. She has longer, sharper teeth, eyes somewhere between black and red, long and lean, fast but muscular. Miglia has the image of a hellhound in mind and is morphing the dog's body unconsciously.

Anola is the second-in-command to Hunnion. Anola was the consummate professional in life. It's rumoured she once spent two days painted grey, kneeling on a church roof, hiding as a gargoyle. She climbed the inverted pyramid of Thanthor, she killed the Grease Giant of Zelman and is rumoured to have been the last rider of the Red Drake known as Old Fiery. She was the last one standing at the Field of Frost, and then found herself bound to Hunnion's service.

Hunnion is a moron. He thought he was on track to be a great necromancer. He wanted bodyguards, and summoned four souls who would be able to serve him, but in doing so dropped about fifty IQ points and died. He just about keeps everything together, and the others listen to him, or rather the sense that Anola makes of Hunnion's orders. Hunnion still has some serious magic at his disposal, but casts them all as a third level magic-user (has the spell-slots of a tenth level MU, but effects for duration etc are all with dice of a third).

Kobalt, a real, truly powerful wizard felt a weird energy and came across these five souls bound together. Bringing them back from beyond he gave them some liberty in exchange for their service.

And this is who you meet, as a party of four adventurers and their dog, as you cross the river.