The party awoke just after the dawn and sorted out their inevitable morning business. Just past the boulders, the sound of creaking metal could be heard as the Guardians twitched in eternal readiness. Aris and Talae led the way, blades out and ready, but as the Guardians made their appearance, Mul struck. A fist of barely visible force crashed into the breastplate of the first Guardian. The metal dented in, and the crack of breaking bones shivered in the air. The Guardian advanced unfazed.

Aflia struck next, a bolt of flame melting the metal of the first Guardian's helmet. It ran like melted wax, flowing down over its jawless skull, revealing the aged bone beneath,

Talae's war maul crashed into its right leg, tearing it away at the knee.

The first Guardian fell to its stump before using its one good leg to drive forward into a lunge. Aris took the blow on his own sword and was staggered by the force of the blow.

The second Guardian ran a gauntlet along its own blade. Sparks lingered along the edges of the blade for a moment before soft blue flames burst into life.

Aris recovered his stance and slammed his greatsword into the first Guardian's exposed back. Its armor held, but the sound of breaking bones filled the air, and broken chunks of bone rattles as the first Guardian came to its knees once more.

Little Bird took to the air seeking a flank to strike from.

Lady Ussi hung back, keeping close to the boulders in case she had to run.

Mul pulled her battleaxe from nothingness with an arcane gesture and a muttered word. She brought it around in a low arc, aiming for the knee of the first Guardian. The strike crunched home and spilled the first Guardian in the dirt.

Aflia flung a dart of ice at the second Guardian, who batted it casually aside with is blade in a puff of steam.

Talae hauled back and brought her warmaul down in an overhead arc onto the skull of the first Guardian. It exploded in a shower of metal splinters and powdered bone, marking the end of the undead being.

The second Guardian advanced, unperturbed by the death of its compatriot. It brought its sword around in a looping arc, prompting Talae to duck out of the way. The flames lingered behind the blade, scorching the ends of her white hair.

Aris lunged forward, but his blade scraped off the second Guardian's breastplate with the screech of steel-on-steel.

Little Bird landed behind the second guardian, but her mace made no more of an impact then Airs' blow.

Lady Ussi held her ground, unsure what to make of the explosion of violence before her, or the unmaking of a thing older than she can guess.

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

Mul tried again with the force-blast, and again dented the breastplate of the second guardian to little effect.

Aflia launched a second firebolt, melting a hole through the breastplate out out the back of the second Guardian. Little Bird squawked indignantly as she avoided the resulting spray of flame and molten steel. A hissing yelp sounded from further down the path as another creature was less fortunate. The second Guardian staggered back a half step with the impact.

Talae hauled her warmaul back out of the dirt, reading herself to resume the attack.

The second Guardian recovered its stance and swiped at Talae again. This time she blocked the burning blade with the haft of her warmaul. Metal met wood and stuck fast, locking the two combatants together.

Two malformed humanoid creatures ran down the path. One was scorched by Aflia's shoot-through. Both yipped and yowled in anger as they closed the distance.

Aris took advantage of the second Guardian's predicament to slam his greatsword into the thing's neck between breastplate and helm. The helm and skull fell away into the grass at the side of the path. The torso fell forward, snapping the sword it still held in half. The resulting release of magic was enough to throw both Talae and Aris off balance.

Little Bird turned about to face the new abominations as they approached, and managed to swipe the injured one across the face with a glancing blow.

Mul followed up with another force blast on the same target. The resultant crunch of bone and spray of blood as the thing's head snapped back violently heralded its death as surely as its abrupt fall to the ground and erratic twitching.

Aflia called forth a spike of ice and sent it hurtling into the second thing's chest. It stopped in its tracks with a recognizable mixture of surprise and hate on its face before collapsing to its knees.

Little Bird smote it upside the head with her mace, but that only knocked the still-warm corpse to the side of the path. As the party regathered itself, questions and investigations abounded.

Aris re-sheathed his greatsword and went looking for the second Guardian's skull to crush it. "Mul, what in the blazes were those abominations?"

Mull vanished her battleaxe before answering, "face-takers. they eat the dead, and then take on their features."

Lady Ussi came forward and claimed the first Guardian's sword. "Doess anyone object to me taking thiss? I think I'm going to need more than my fangss if thiss fight wass anything to go by..."

Talae shrugged, "go on ahead. That toothpick would probably break if I swung it too hard."

Little Bird looked over the party, "Anyone hurt? Need healing? No? Thank Kuko."

Aflia Looked at Mul, "where did you get that battleaxe? And where did it go?"

Mul shrugged and walked towards the great wooden doors to the Old Temple itself. "I made it myself, and I keep it in the places between reality when it's not needed. Are we ready to go forward?"

----------------------------------------

Status Report:

Treasury: 10050

Income: +5 gold per day (semi-retired Agent of Althiem)

Equipment: In good condition.

Estates:

Ikin: Village, Fishing Docks

Trebor Convent: Under Construction

Four Empty Holdings (may be improved later)

One Old Temple (occupied by ???)

The Ring: obsidian band with one carbuncle gem and two empty settings.

Total Deaths: 1