Ironclad

==Loot==
==Lore==
===Enter battle===
The coachman’s head flies from his shoulders, and his body slumps. You scramble into the driver’s seat, shoving the corpse aside. How a zombie came to be driving a carriage is a mystery. Whoever heard of a zombie hijacking a vehicle? But your more immediate concern is to avoid an accident, and that eclipses your curiosity.
You tug at the reins for all you’re worth, desperate to stop the horses’ panicked flight. The carriage gives a violent jolt as it strikes an uneven spot in the road. But your experience as a rider stands you in good stead. To someone used to flying through the air atop a mount, a little jolt isn’t nearly enough to unseat you.
At your coaxing, the horses begin to slow down. They come to a stop some distance from where your companions stood ready to intercept them. You leap down to the ground, and move to the door. The scream you heard when you landed sounded like a young girl’s. She must be terrified. But she’s safe now. You reach out towards the door handle, reassuring words of kindness already on your lips.
Then the door flies open, so suddenly that it hits you in the face. You stagger backwards.
A horrific being unfolds itself from the carriage, and stands glaring at you in the sunlight. It has the same unliving flesh as the other zombies, and its eyes bear the same angry blackness within their depths. But this one wears heavy armor… No, it’s not dressed in armor… Those plates are riveted to its flesh. It strides towards you, brandishing a hatchet in one hand and a sword in the other. The blades of both weapons are stained red, and the girl’s scream you heard earlier cuts through your mind once more. You were too late… But at least you can avenge her.
You hear your comrades yelling in the distance, as they run to aid you. The matter will be settled long before they arrive. But Solus drops from the air, and lands at your side. He growls at the zombie, and moves into an attack stance.
===Victory===
The zombie collapses, its metal plates thudding against the earth, and its head bounces a few paces away from its trunk.
You move over to the carriage, steeling yourself for the sight of butchered bodies which no doubt awaits you there. When you look inside, and see a frigthened girl in a black and purple dress, you almost leap back in suprise. How did she survive, trapped at close quarters with that abomination?
The girl shrieks, the same piercing scream you heard when you landed on the roof. Then she opens the opposite door, and darts outside, her big brown eyes watching you with panicked wariness.
"Help!" she screams. She loooks around, her head jerking in each direction like that of a startled deer. Then she catches sight of your comrades, and begins to run towards them. The poor thing must be hysterical.
You stride after her. Marcus is already attempting to calm the girl, using the authoritative yet soothing tones he learned whilst policing Fallows.
"That...that highwayman attacked my carriage, and destroyed my zombies!" she yells."Someone do something!"
You stop in your tracks. That certainly isn't what you expected...
"Your zombies?" you manage.
"It's...it's okay," Marcus says, faltering for a moment, just as suprised as you are. "That's our leader, and-"
The girl turns round, and eyes you from head to foot, taking in your measure. The panic leaves her, and she seems convinced that you're not some criminal out to murder her.
"You killed my zombies!"she says, jabbing an index finger towards you to punctuate the accusation. Medea's harp blares to emphasize the girl's words. You glare at the elven bard, but she doesn't meet your gaze.
"I...I thought you were being attacked," you say. "Who drives around with zombies on their carriage?"
"They were shielding me!" she says. "Why did you think one of them had a spear sticking out of him?"
"Well, I..." You grope around for some kind of response, but nothing seems quite adequate.
"You're from Vornstaag, aren't you?" asks Roland, inspecting the crest on the carriage door.
"My father is Baron Melanthius," she replies.
"And this is a beastman's spear," the adventurer says, indicating the weapon which still transfixes a zombie's headless body to the carrage.
"Vornstaag is under attack," she says. "I was sent to get help."
It appears that you won't be returning to Fallows quite so soon after all.
===Defeat===
The metal-plated zombie drives you back before its furious assault, and you run around the carriage to escape it. Again the scream, sounds in your mind, surely the cry of a girl slain by this fiend. You can't allow her to go unavenged...