Session 4: The Night the Graveyard Emptied Itself

S4 — The Night the Graveyard Emptied Itself

TL;DR: The dead rose in the Otari graveyard. Abbas held the line alone with Divine Lance while the rest of the party raced up from town; most undead hurled themselves off the cliff by the library, but a stubborn wave turned to fight. The party cut them down with almost no harm taken — then a mysterious beam of light traced a line across the ground in front of them just as they tried to leave.

Previously

The party had been operating in and around Otari. This session opens mid-action, with undead already rising in the graveyard and Abbas on the scene alone.

What happened

Abbas alone (00:00–00:09). Abbas, a cleric of Pharasma, found skeletons and zombies rising from the Otari graves. He played it careful — taking a few minutes to assess rather than charging in — and blew apart a rising skeleton with a Divine Lance [00:05:26]. Oddly, most undead ignored him and instead streamed toward the cliff by the library, throwing themselves over the edge to their deaths [00:08:11]. The whole town saw the commotion; a flash of bright divine light appeared at the end of the path.
The party runs up (00:09–00:15). Cid and Venerus spotted the rising figures from town, drew weapons, and rushed up to protect the villagers [00:10:15]. Pushing through the library, they found piles of broken undead that stopped moving on hitting the ground. Guards mobilized and began erecting barriers across the path [00:14:29]. Abbas confirmed the divine light was his.
Initiative (00:15–00:19). The last wave of undead turned to fight instead of jumping, so the GM called for initiative (Abbas 16, Cid 12, Venerus 10) [00:17:25]. Veve was still getting ready and joined late.
The clash (00:19–00:43). The party dismantled the undead with little trouble. Abbas landed multiple Divine Lance crits (27 vs AC at one point) [00:22:39]. A rules talk established that Pharasma grants no sanctification, so Divine Lance dealt no holy weakness damage — but healing would trigger the undead's vitality weakness [00:24:12]. Venerus learned to slash zombies (they fall apart) rather than pierce them [00:27:49], and crit one in half. A skeleton showed up with a crossbow ("ancestral crossbow"). Veve finally arrived after stopping for food, botched a thrown barricade, then shot a skeleton's head clean off with a regular arrow [00:42:30].
Victory and a cliffhanger (00:43–00:47). Cid and Abbas finished the last undead. The party came out essentially unscathed (Abbas took one hit). Guards praised them and suggested burning the bodies [00:46:30]. As the group moved to leave, a beam of light suddenly focused and traced a line across the ground near them — everyone froze [00:47:08]. Session ended there.

Decisions

Abbas chose caution over an immediate blasting offensive.
The table agreed to start the encounter this session despite tight real-world time.
Venerus switched to slashing attacks against zombies.

Open questions

What is the beam of light that traced a line on the ground at the very end?
What was the earlier bright divine/yellow light at the end of the path?
Why did most undead deliberately leap off the cliff instead of fighting?
Who or what raised the dead in the graveyard?

Reminders for next session

Resume exactly where the beam appeared and traced a line on the ground.
Consider burning the undead bodies, as the guards suggested.
Veve is now with the party after arriving late.

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Draft — citations are S4 timestamps. Speaker/character attributions for B=Abbas, C=Veve, D=Venerus, A=GM are inferred (medium/low confidence); Cid's player attribution is unresolved. Review before publishing.

Scene timeline (6)

00:00:02	Abbas alone at the graveyard: the dead start to rise Abbas, a Pharasma cleric, is alone near the Otari graveyard as undead begin to rise from the graves. He takes a cautious, calculated approach rather than charging in. He throws a Divine Lance and destroys a rising skeleton. Most of the undead are not interested in him; instead they stream toward the cliff edge near the library and plummet over the precipice to their (re-)deaths. The whole town can see the commotion, with torches and guards mobilizing. A brief flash of bright yellow light appears at the end of the path. [S4 · 00:00:14 · turn 0004 · scene 001]
00:09:07	The rest of the party races up the path Cid and Venerus (also rendered Venice/Venerance/Venero) spot the rising figures from town and rush toward the graveyard to protect the villagers, drawing weapons. They move through and around the library and find piles of broken skeletons and zombies that re-die when they hit the ground. Guards mobilize behind them. The party catches up to Abbas. Guards urge the group onward and begin erecting barriers to keep the dead from coming down the path. Abbas confirms the divine light they saw was his. [S4 · 00:08:47 · turn 0072 · scene 002]
00:14:55	Initiative: the graveyard clash begins The GM calls for initiative as the remaining undead turn toward the party instead of jumping off the cliff. A blue/divine light reveals the field. Veve is still en route (getting ready / putting shoes on), so she joins the fight late. Initiative order is established (Abbas 16, Cid 12, Venerus/Venero 10). A side discussion about real-world time constraints frames whether to start the encounter now or push it to next session; they choose to start. [S4 · 00:16:22 · turn 0140 · scene 003]
00:19:21	Mowing down the undead The party tears through waves of zombies and skeletons. Abbas crits a zombie with Divine Lance (27 vs AC). A rules discussion clarifies that Pharasma grants no sanctification, so Divine Lance deals no holy weakness damage here, though heal effects would trigger a target's vitality weakness. Venerus learns that zombies fall apart to slashing (they resist piercing) and crits one in half with his rapier. A skeleton appears wielding a crossbow, prompting jokes about an 'ancestral crossbow' it was buried with. Venerus drops several undead; Abbas crits another with Divine Lance plus a weakness-5 hit. Guards stand by enjoying the show. [S4 · 00:22:39 · turn 0196 · scene 004]
00:35:20	Veve joins the fray Veve finally arrives ('It's been forty years') after stopping for food, and rolls into initiative. She tries throwing a barricade at a skeleton (fails, it gets stuck), then shoots it cleanly with a regular arrow, knocking its head off mid-melee to the party's mock-horror about firing into the fray. The fight winds down: a skeleton crit-fails an attack and shatters its own hands on Venerus; Venerus and Veve keep landing hits while Abbas blasts holes through zombies with Divine Lance. [S4 · 00:35:44 · turn 0316 · scene 005]
00:43:43	Victory, and a mysterious beam Cid and Abbas finish the last undead. The party regroups; almost no one was hit (Abbas took a single hit). Guards praise the adventurers and suggest burning the bodies down below. As the group starts to walk off, a beam of light suddenly focuses on a spot near them, tracing a line across the ground, and everyone freezes. The session ends on this cliffhanger, to be picked up next time. [S4 · 00:44:08 · turn 0403 · scene 006]

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