Ghouls in the Graveyard

It had been a quiet two months, but then the tranquility of Landfall Castle was broken when a scout burst into the Great Hall.

"We've found another Node!" he exclaimed to the startled populace. Lord Lancelot was away from the keep, but his second-in-command, Vibe, wasted no time. Soon after, the Sentinels were saddled and riding hard to the location of the third Node.

The scout led them to a graveyard. As the Sentinels made their way onto the grounds, they could see things scurrying among the tombstones. Hellish figures were rooting through the graves, digging up fresh corpses.

"Ghouls!"

"Where is the Node?" Vibe asked.

The scout replied, "In one of the graves. We'll have to dig it out."

"Look!" cried one of the Sentinels. On the other side of the cemetery, they could see the figures of voidlings hastening toward the graves.

"Hurry!" Vibe commanded, "before the voidlings get it!"

The Sentinels rushed forward, hacking and slashing their way through the ghouls that patrolled the graveyard. They got about halfway in when a wave of stench, drifting up from the unearthed corpses, struck their nostrils. They were left gagging and gasping for breath and had to withdraw. Logan, a recent arrival at Landfall, cast a spell, negating the effects for some of the Sentinels. Vibe flanked to the left while Amaru and Mark went right. They reached the graves and began digging, but to no avail.

Meanwhile, the voidlings had cut a path through the ghouls and likewise began to dig. The ghouls converged, but one of the voidlings went on a berserk rampage. Its powerful blows cleaved the ghouls while it seemingly ignored all strikes against it. It finally fell, but it had cleared a space. More voidlings rushed in and ransacked the graves.

The Sentinels were nearing the voidlings when suddenly there was a bright light and a clap like thunder. One of the voidlings held up the Node! Light flashed again and then the voidlings, and the Node, were gone.

Deflated, the Sentinels trudged back to Landfall Castle. The voidlings now had a second Node.

OOC Notes

• This is the report of the latest Caligo lore battle.
• In this scenario, one side played the ghouls while the other were the questers trying to find the Node (a wooden disk) which was placed under a "gravestone" (actually a rectangle of heavy, gray cardstock). I timed how long it took for the questers to find the Node. Then the teams switched roles. The team that found the Node quickest won the scenario. In this case, the team representing the voidlings won.
• To make it more challenging, the ghouls' half of the field was deemed to be an area of Eternal Stench. Unless immune to death, questers had to cover their nose and mouth while immersed in the stench.
• Kudos to Lord Gr'Rakt (Josh), a visitor from Crest Haven. He played a crucial role for the voidling team when his barbarian character went into Fight After Death mode and mowed down the opposition. This cleared space for his teammates to come up and find the Node.