The western road stretched before them, narrow and treacherous beneath the weight of fresh snow. Once a trade route connecting the Bastion to the coastal passes, it was now little more than a frozen vein leading into silence.

The sound of battle still echoed faintly behind them — the boom of trebuchets, the distant clash of steel, and the occasional inhuman cry carried on the wind. The Bastion was still holding, for now. Out here, however, the noise was muffled by the snow, reduced to little more than a low, rhythmic thrum beneath the breath of the cold.

They had followed the road for some time, the air growing heavier with frost as the sun bled weakly through the clouds. The path sloped downward into a shallow vale where the wind whistled through the broken remains of an old wooden barricade, its timbers split and buried beneath drifts of ice.

The further they walked, the quieter the world became.
Even their footsteps seemed to dull, swallowed by the snow.

Ahead, the first sign of life — or something close to it — broke the monotony.
The road dipped into a low clearing where the drifts gathered deep. A mound of snow sat unnaturally still at its center. For a time, it seemed part of the landscape — until the mound shuddered.

A crack split through the snow, slow at first, then sudden. A column of black mist hissed upward as the shape beneath it rose.

The creature that emerged might once have been a bear, but whatever life had shaped it was long gone. Its body was a grotesque fusion of bone, frost, and sinew. Ribs jutted through its hide like jagged antlers, each one gleaming with a slick, translucent sheen. Steam rose from wounds that never healed. Within its hollow chest pulsed a dull green glow — rhythmic, sickly, like a heartbeat made of envy.

The smell of it hit next — rot and brine, mixed with the faint copper tang of frozen blood.

The monster moved with a dragging gait, each step heavy enough to tremble the crust of snow beneath its limbs. Its head, half skull and half sludge, tilted as if sniffing the air. A rasping growl rumbled from deep within its chest — wet, gurgling, and almost sorrowful.

Then, from the ditch beside the road, another shape erupted.
Smaller, faster, its movements insectile and jerky. A twisted carcass of some elk or stag had been absorbed into its form — antlers fused into bone plates across its back, hooves dragging like anchors behind a body that crawled too low to the ground. Its face was nothing but a dark, tooth-ringed pit that steamed with black vapor.

[Hr]

Ooc: alright folks. We've entered Combat. 

That means that you may only post once this round. 

Thateans that you can only make 3 actions this round. 

At the end of your post you must list your actions and what your character did. 

Your character can move up to about 30 ft (this may change once I confirm things) per post. 

There are two monsters staggering towards the group. Use this turn to use your abilities/skills to attack the creatures. 

If you are attacking make sure that you name the target.