Encounter

Echoes in the Cemetery

Combat
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Area T2 — The Cemetery (Night)

After dark, the cemetery takes on an unnatural glow. Pale blue light seeps through the soil and hangs low among the headstones like ground fog. Figures drift between the graves, transparent and silent, each trapped in the final moments of a life already lost. A shepherd boy falls from an unseen cliff, only to rise and begin again. An elderly woman claws at her throat as though drowning in empty air. None of them seem aware of the living.

Without warning, a deep tremor rolls through the cemetery. The blue light flares, the echoes stop where they stand, and every face slowly turns toward the party. For the first time, there is recognition in their eyes. Whatever lies beneath the graveyard has reached out to them—and a heartbeat later, the echoes attack.

Tactical Features & Environment

  • Headstones & Mausoleums: The old headstones and marble crypts provide standard cover, granting a +2 circumstance bonus to AC against ranged attacks. The echoes gain no benefit from this cover, but their incorporeal nature allows them to pass through the stonework. They often approach from inside mausoleum walls or drift straight through grave markers rather than crossing open ground.
  • Lingering Veil-Fog: Pale blue mist clings close to the ground throughout the cemetery. A creature that is prone or otherwise low enough to remain within the fog is concealed. The echoes normally float above the mist and do not gain this benefit.
  • Grave Dirt: Recent tremors have churned up the earth around several collapsed graves. These uneven mounds are difficult terrain for creatures moving along the ground, costing an additional 5 feet of movement per square.

Encounter Budget (Moderate 3)

This encounter features 4 Thornwick Echoes (Creature 3), for a total of 80 XP—a Moderate encounter for a 3rd-level party.

Tactics

Driven by the pulse of the veil-tear below, the Thornwick Echoes attack with little regard for their own safety. They ignore paths and physical obstacles, gliding through mausoleum walls, fences, and weathered headstones to approach from unexpected directions. They open with Draining Wail when they can catch several creatures at once, then close in with Spectral Grasp, favoring isolated or lightly armored targets.

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