Words That Walk

Summary of Events (1/15/20265):
11/29/4722

Ahhhh, the flood! That most inexorable of dooms!

The morning after the crossroads, our heroes departed the Golden Stag Inn, bound for the river docks and the riverboat Cestus. Their journey to Lake Prophyria awaited—six days downriver to investigate the missing teams and hungry fog.

But Lepidstadt had changed.

The cobblestones were damp though no rain had fallen. The streets stood empty—no merchants, no workers, no children. A deep rumble echoed through the city like distant thunder trapped in stone. And everywhere—everywhere—graffiti appeared on walls:

RUNNING
WATER RISING
DROWNING DROWNING DROWNING
IT FOLLOWS

Then the flood came! Not gradually—impossibly fast! Water surged through streets, ankle-deep, then knee-deep, then waist-deep within minutes! The party scrambled to high ground—a plaza with a statue where Jotaro climbed high to survey the disaster.

More graffiti manifested: crude drawings of drowning figures, severed hands with eyes on each finger, ships circling something vast and tentacled. The words: “TOO BIG, WRONG SHAPE, HURTS TO LOOK AT.”
Kong tried using his wood kinesis to erase the graffiti. It vanished—then reformed elsewhere with new messages:

IT IS HUNTING
NOW YOU SEE, NOW YOU UNDERSTAND
SURROUNDED BY WATER, JUST LIKE US

Then the horror revealed itself!

The graffiti peeled from the walls! Words lifted free, forming clouds of floating hostile letters! Crude drawings animated—screaming figures pulling themselves from brick and stone like nightmarish street art come to life!

Living graffiti attacked!

Battle erupted in the flooded streets!

The creatures proved resistant to conventional weapons. But Shakoom’s recall knowledge revealed their weakness: water itself damages them! Hugh poured his water skin on his war hammer. Kong blasted with wood. The party waded into the flood.

Nadja commanded one word-cloud to flee—it ran into the water, letters melting away!

But an animated drawing grabbed Sweet Back Willie and shoved the goblin underwater! Shakoom cast air bubble—giving Sweet Back one minute of air!

The combat rages! The city drowns! And somewhere beneath the flood, something vast hunts…