2/5 Cheelop 2011/07/27(Wed)17:26 No. 332482 ID: c811c4
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Anyways, my minions are kind of scary looking.

3/5 Cheelop 2011/07/27(Wed)17:27 No. 332484 ID: c811c4
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So I put ribbons on them!

4/5 Cheelop 2011/07/27(Wed)17:27 No. 332485 ID: c811c4
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There are three constructs that didn't die with the previous lich. They're quite helpful, and they say they serve the tower, regardless of the lich. Or in this case, not-lich. They tell me I'm at the southern peninsula's coast, but I don't know much about it. The red X is the enemy lich, and the green area is the area I (apparently?) have heavy influence in.

5/5 Cheelop 2011/07/27(Wed)17:27 No. 332486 ID: c811c4
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Oh! Speaking of the three constructs, here comes one now! It's my skeleton butler, he's very nice for a dead person.

>"Your meat from today's hunt, Madam. And might I add, marvelous changes you have made thus far!"
"Thank you, uh... Skeletal Butler!"
>"Also, I should inform that today is the first day of the week. This is the day that the local tribe gives their offering of dead. It was custom that in return, the old lich would give protection to hostile forces, such as the naga from the sea and harpies to the north. The lich, in his foresight, saw that the more the tribe thrived, the more population they would attain, and with more life comes more death. Perhaps you should meet with them, but it is, of course, entirely your choice should you continue this exchange."

if all the dead they have are indeed from natural causes then i see no harm in this deal. and yes, may as well meet with them and tell them directly that while management has changed if they want this arrangement to continue then it shall.

>>332486
Sounds like it would be a good idea to go meet with them, maybe also change the arrangments for the deal. Rather than them just bringing their dead they could bring their dying soon to be dead people. That way you could get some extra souls that you can then use for new constructs so you won't feel as lonely. Maybe even sew some nice skins on them so they won't look as creepy.

>>332486
You have a skeleton butler!? I suggest naming him Ronove. Or Jeeves if you prefer.

>>332486
Have them bring their sick, injured, and dying to you as well. You'll heal them of you can, and animate them if you can't.
Also tell them that they're welcome to join your soul party if they so choose, but it's completely voluntary.

Send messengers to the Naga and Harpies informing them of the change in management and attempt to open trade with them. With a skeleton army you could turn your land into an agricultural powerhouse and have lots of food exports.

This is getting completely away from the issue, which is that you need to make a construct capable of traversing the distance to town at high speed. You still need to learn scrying and distance communication!
...try to make the construct out of wood or stone or something, since bone would attract the wrong sort of attention.

>>332489
Yes - meet up with them. Tell them the agreement will continue.

It seems this lich was not so evil. Firstly give your skeleton butler a better name. Like Charles, Winston, or Jeeves as was previously suggested. And compliment his dapper attire. Then I guess you should pay the town a visit and let them know about the new management.

Somewhere along the line we should go find Shabin and Tae and let them know about how you became a lich between buying candy and heading back to the inn. You are easily distracted.

1/2 Cheelop 2011/07/27(Wed)17:58 No. 332510 ID: c811c4
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I think.. his name will be Winston! I've heard of butler tales and their name is always Jeeves so I want mine to be different. Because he is. He's dead.
"I like your attire, Winston!"
>"Thank you, you are too much for me, Madam."

Okay, I have some bone flying constructs that can fly really quickly! Hopefully the naga and harpies take messengers. I'll send them an invitation.

Oh gosh, I'm actually nervous! Um... I've never seen this sort of species before.

2/2 Cheelop 2011/07/27(Wed)18:00 No. 332511 ID: c811c4
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>"A kobold? Where is the lich?"
"I'm the new lich! I mean, I'm not actually lich, but I'm in charge here."
>"Is this a joke?"
"Nope! Also I think it could be nice to maybe go further with this deal. If you want, you can bring your sick or dying, and I can try and heal them!"
>"And what are you asking of us in return?"
"Um.. well, with some skeletons I can help farm and maybe export food?"
>"...I mean, what do WE have to give YOU?"
"Well, if you want you can give your souls if you're going to die anyway for whatever reason but that's very voluntary!"
>"Are you insane? What do you want of us? You can't expect us to think the owner of such a tower took up charity? This sounds too good, even before you give out specifics."

>>332511
"Would you prefer it if I asked for your first born children, instead? This offer helps me, too, just in ways you cannot yet percieve."

the owner of the tower is part of me, i can take souls and become more powerful. i have all the lich's power, and then some.

>>332511
...Well if they're happy with the current deal then we shouldn't change it, unless we find something we want from them.

Ask if they have any mages or something. If we can get some teleportation service going, or help with your magic training, it'd help a lot. Heck, just ask what kind of stuff they do in the tribe.

A good point to bring up is that you don't actually plan to stay here forever, so you'll need to figure out some way of making them able to defend themselves.

Of course not. Consider this an advance for future favors.

"The owner is dead, I assimilated his soul." Smile cutely.

>>332510
>Okay, I have some bone flying constructs that can fly really quickly! Hopefully the naga and harpies take messengers. I'll send them an invitation.
Be careful! Depending upon how they think, one or both of them might remain hostile instead of being friendly and take the change of leadership here as an excuse to probe for weakness. That means attacking you or the people who used to be under the lich's protection. Be ready to throw them back if they do.

Remember, trust but verify. Just because you want to believe that someone else is nice doesn't mean that you shouldn't prepare for them to be mean.

1/2 Cheelop 2011/07/27(Wed)18:18 No. 332532 ID: c811c4
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>>332526
Ah! I'll try and keep that in mind.

"I could just ask for your first borns. This helps me too."
>"... so, you sh..."

2/2 Cheelop 2011/07/27(Wed)18:20 No. 332535 ID: c811c4
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.....

"This is just an advance for future favors!"
>"You really are in charge, aren't you?"
"Yep! Assimilated his soul and everything. I have his power."
>"I'm sorry. I won't attempt to offend you again."

"Do you have any mages or anything? I need help with teleportation, or really any magic. I'm powerful, but I have a lot to learn! In fact, what do you do? Can you defend yourself?"
>"We pleaded with the previous lich because we don't have the stature to fight. We do have some mages though."
"That would be nice! I'm not going to be here forever, though, so maybe I can help you defend yourselves when the time comes for me to go."
>"Why did you take over this tower, if I may ask?

>>332511
"This isn't charity. The lich would have healed those in need were he capable. The longer you live the more children you have the more the population grows the more corpses you deliver to my door. The same goes for farming."

"well you see, i was hunted by the lich because while his soul was inside me i couldn't control it, so he needed me to become a lich king. but i counted him and took over.

"I'm going to kill the lich king!"

>>332535
"The lich hurt my friends. I am nothing if not loyal."

>>332535
"The lich called me here and... well, we fought for a while, but in the end he decided he'd had enough of everything and offered me his soul. It seemed rude to refuse!"

>>332535
Explain that you were planning on killing the lich here, and something happened to teleport you there. Since you're stuck you figured you might as well keep things running to use it against the other lich that you've got your sights on. Then maybe take on the lich king and ensure that nobody uses necromancy for evil ever again.

1/2 Cheelop 2011/07/27(Wed)18:33 No. 332549 ID: c811c4
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"The lich called me here! He needed me to become King. We fought for a bit, but then...
It offered its soul to me. It seemed rude to refuse. Eventually, I'm going to kill the Lich King!"

2/2 Cheelop 2011/07/27(Wed)18:34 No. 332551 ID: c811c4
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>"I, um... we're on your side, then. Would you like to come with us to our village, or should we send mages over? Or something, anything?"

>>332551
I think we should go visit their village before talking to the mages they have.

"the lich tried to fuck with me, and look where that got him. don't fuck me in the ass, Larry. you know what happens when you fuck a stranger in the ass."

anyway, these are nice things you're offering them and all, but you'll be out most of the time questing. consider developing a healing golem- one with the soul of a healer. also attempt to discern if your minions could build defensive measures for the village- walls, spiky trenches, ramps, bows, spears... you're powerful, Chee, but not even you can be here for them forever. they need autonomy.

tell the boy to calm his horses you aint killing everyone yet

>>332555
That's really rather impolite!

Not the healing golem, just the words.

I love how freaked out this guy is. I think it is the combination of your complete seriousness and how disarmingly cute you are.

>>332549
Reanimate the dead while riding in the wagon.

1/2 Cheelop 2011/07/27(Wed)18:58 No. 332570 ID: c811c4
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The other two stayed back at the tower to unpack their wagon. I'm trying not to think of what was inside! They looked really nervous, but I head on out to their village with the weird rabbit thingy. I'm not going to bring any undead with me, I don't want to scare anyone! Well, okay, I don't want to scare myself. It hasn't even been a day, but I need to be around real, living things!

>"We're the product of a collaboration between a wizard and a cleric. The cleric wanted to practice resurrection, and the wizard giving sapience and demi human intelligence. To reflect it, he morphed our bodies to a demi human state. But, our bodies are weak, so magic is really all we have going for us. The lich didn't even like us trying to protect ourselves, probably so that he could keep leverage on us. It isn't a bad life though, so we didn't try to resist too much. Anyways, that wizard and cleric fell out of favor from any major magic business, and we were seen as an object of their madness. And that's the whole sob story as to why we are what we are, down so far south where even the birds fight for territory. Sorry, I guess you didn't ask. But we're way out of our element here, and that's why."

2/2 Cheelop 2011/07/27(Wed)18:59 No. 332572 ID: c811c4
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It's a few hours walk, the silence becomes crippling, and I'm really happy to see the village!

>"Here's it is. Kind of sucks. Heck, half the buildings are pretty badly lopsided. I'm the best mage here, but we have different kinds. I hope you didn't have high expectations. No, I hope you didn't have sub-par expectations. What would you like to do?"

>>332572
Go around, meet people, see what they know. If their magic is that bad, maybe you can teach them a few new tricks.

>>332572
...Chee, do you have any carpenter/architect souls? Foremen? Revive their dead and fill them up with tradesmen. Ask for some heavy cloaks or something so that the dead ain't so freaky. In fact, just call all your minions over. It's time to do some serious building.

Also, experiment a bit with healing plants. If you can quick-grow trees it'd make the lumber situation extremely easy.

>>332572
Ask what kind of magic they have.

...this isn't a lot to work with. Maybe you can send off some talent souls to help these guys become effective mages and defend themselves? There might even be some craftsmen in there to help fix up these buildings. Do you think you can learn how to design buildings, Chee?

Burn this pathetic collection of mud and sticks and show the local scum that they should fear you! Kill them in droves and then bathe naked in their cooling blood! RIP AND TEAR!

Failing that, you should probably gather some more information about the town and it's denizens.
Also, I like ears, he's got a cute smile.

Cheelop 2011/07/27(Wed)19:22 No. 332595 ID: c811c4
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I don't know if I have any souls for carpenters or foremen! I mean I guess I could just toss souls about and see what happens but I don't know.

>"Hey, uh, Ears? Do you have any dead I could revive to maybe help with labor?"
"Uh, no. We send all dead to you."
Well, I can pull minions away from my tower if needed.

>"Alright everyone, listen up! The Lich is dead, by, believe it or not, this kobold! Er, no offense sorry. It's not like we have much of a choice, but this is probably an improvement."

"So uh, what can you guys do?"

>"We farm."
>"We scout."
>"We bring our dead to you, as well as remains of our hunting."
>"There's about two hundred of us in this place."

There's a whole lot I could do with a village! It's all very foreign to me, though.

>>332595
>There's a whole lot I could do with a village! It's all very foreign to me, though.
Remind us to have you devour the soul of an expert steward at some point.

In the meantime, introduce yourself. You haven't given your name yet.

get a lay of the hand. inform yourself about the local flora, fauna, and most importantly, other civilized people nearby.

Eat everyone's souls

Erm. Well. I think we should build up fortifications on this place, as well as start up some intensive magic training.

1/2 Cheelop 2011/07/27(Wed)19:48 No. 332618 ID: c811c4
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"Hello! I'm Chee. I'm going to be running this place from now on! Well, sort of. First thing, we're going to get some fortifications! And magic training for all of us! Before that, do any of you have a map?"

>"Of course."
"Thank you Ears."

2/2 Cheelop 2011/07/27(Wed)19:48 No. 332619 ID: c811c4
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Hm, this is... no wonder they needed help from the lich!

...maybe we'd be better off trying to establish a regent here under their command so they can just use the undead for their own purposes.

Though we'd also need to figure out some way of replenishing the undead forces without being here. Also, how are we going to get out of here?

Maybe we'll need Shabin to talk to the dragon for us. Speaking of which, have you figured out if the dragon soul did anything?

Oh god Gnolls do you see that do you chee do you?

We can't stay here forever, we need to find a way to fix this problem for good or train someone to be a subordinate and have that keep the system working.

>>332624
Perhaps we could teach the necromantic arts to one of them. Nothing major, just enough to raise the undead.

Oh man these guys really need to be able to defend themselves. Magical training is a great idea, since that is apparently all they have going for them. You should maybe teach them that spell that increases your physical attributes first, Cheelop. And healing of course. It would also be cool for them to know how to raise the undead, but I think it would be more efficient to focus on the prevention of their deaths first.

we should talk to them about witch species raids them the most, and if there is any motivation beyond simple greed to the raids.

1/2 Cheelop 2011/07/27(Wed)20:20 No. 332645 ID: c811c4
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So far the dragon's soul hasn't done anything! I'm looking into it. With magic. Anyways, I think I have a solution! I can somewhat split a soul's power so that two people can practice that soul's specialty. It's not as effective of course if it's whole, but, two people! Which is why I have an idea to fit the advice.

"Ears, are you loyal to me?"
>"....yes?"

2/2 Ears 2011/07/27(Wed)20:20 No. 332646 ID: c811c4
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--some kind of trick question she's batshit insane isn't she.

>"Okay then Ears here's some necromancy! And magic to some people I sensed are your mages! And some other souls that might be better at more menial things, I don't know! You can control my butler and let's say about 10 undead things. I'm going back to the tower to make it more homely! When you're done getting used to this I'll take the souls back."

"uh what wait! Hold on, I don't want y- it's too late isn't it."

>>332646
Yep~

YEP. wassup ears? ready to make your homes awesome?

Hi~

>>332646
Hey. Were you gonna say you don't want her help?

You kinda need it. You may not trust Chee yet, but you're just going to have to accept this for now. We need to make you and the other tribes strong enough to stand on your own when Chee leaves. Because she's not staying forever. That is what Chee wants from you guys- she wants to be able to leave.

>>332651
Hey, maybe Chee wants to stay here and establish a powerful civilization? Chee says she wants to kill the Lich King and I am sure she cares at least a bit about these people. That tower will always belong to her.

You really do need her help Ears, so deal with the 'insanity'. You have been given the ability to help your people greatly, get on it.

Yo, We are Chee's advising souls.

1/2 Ears 2011/07/27(Wed)20:35 No. 332662 ID: c811c4
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Uh... hello. Souls? Souls.

Okay, this is way too good to be true. I didn't say we didn't need her help, we most certainly do. I still think you guys are going to I don't know eat my soul from the inside out but whatever, I can't stop it if that's what happens. If she wanted to leave so bad, there's nothing stopping her. Let's see what kind of earth and wind magic I can do wi-

2/2 Ears 2011/07/27(Wed)20:36 No. 332663 ID: c811c4
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Oh. Oh nice.

yeah man. get the rest of the mages and group practice as hard as you fucking can! doing this as let another kobold chee is friends with bunch ROCKS apart. with her FISTS!

Yep, that's the kind of stuff we do! We're like a multiplier.

Get your mages together and start practicing. If you practice while we're assisting you, part of the talent stays with you. It's like super training.

Oh, we don't eat souls. That is Tom's job. We just give advice. Anyways, Chee is actually one of the nicest people on the face of the planet. She just happens to have recently gained a vast amount of power. She likes helping people.

we don't eat souls. that;s tom's job. if something Attucks you guys while chee is here you'll get to see him.

Ears 2011/07/27(Wed)20:50 No. 332675 ID: c811c4
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>Tom
The less I know the better.

Don't get me wrong, we had our minds wrapped around magic, but this at least tripled our ability, and it feels constantly rising. And it sticks around for the most part if the souls leave?

I could cry.

We don't know how to build fortifications. In fact, I don't even really know what fortifications look like, it's not like we go attacking on the offense. Not sure if harpies or nagas have them either, they attack most. It's not too uncommon for orcs to attack though, but we never see gnolls, thankfully.

well just see, nice first layer is surround the outside of your village with a 15 foot tall 2 foot thick solid stone wall. should completely deny access from the nagas. and then, for harpies, put a tower in the four cardinal directions. it will have a thin slot near the top so you can shoot a crossbow OUT but they can't shoot in.

>>332675
Fortifications are mostly pretty simple. Just think, "What would make it a real bitch to get from outside of this town to inside of it, especially if someone inside was shooting me while I tried to get in?" Then make that happen.

The harpies are going to be a problem, though. They can fly over most things. Basically the only way I see to defend against them is to have bunkers for the populace that they can't easily land in, coupled with ranged attacks from inside firing slits for blasting them while they're close. But even that's not perfect.

>>332682
Adding on to his suggestion, the first layer should have an entrance/exit that you can open and close, and maybe a secret tunnel incase you need an escape or something.
Towers and bunkers are always useful, let's hope some of your people can train well enough to shoot.

1/2 Ears 2011/07/27(Wed)21:13 No. 332700 ID: c811c4
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...duh, is all I can think of. It sounds so obvious when you guys say it. And now we can actually move the earth fast enough to make up for the naga's bombing it. Just a few hours practice, and we can make underground bunkers, high rises and towers and secret entrances and it'll actually be a real town- no, a fortress. We might be able to expand, like this!

2/2 Cheelop 2011/07/27(Wed)21:15 No. 332707 ID: c811c4
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"Oh hey again! Guess what I just found out what that bone dragon did! I guess I can get the skill other people have with my souls! Anyways, there's much to do! Where should I begin?"


-Stay With Chee
-Go to Shabin
-Go to Tae
-Go back to Ears

Wait, what does the bone dragon do? After we find this out, let's go to Shabin, so we can talk to her and set up a meeting point.

I would like to go to either Chee or Shabin, but the oppertunity to mess with Tae is tempting... Nah, we'll have another chance next time. To Shabin!

Bone dragon lets us copy ally powers without jacking their soul for Tomfood.

>>332709
Well, I didn't get Shabin's ability at fighting or anything like that when I let her practice with the paladin's soul. But now, when Ears and the others are practicing with magic, I'm gaining their talents as well!

So, the dragon lets me keep skill gained by others, now.

>>332714
That's bloody fantastic. So it's like being taught while you're training others. Let's talk to Shabin for a bit.

good lord. and we can do groups now. the strategic implications of this are immense. I think we should visit shabin at least briefly. shes probably freaking out about how you vanished.

Shabin. Chee has shown us she can take care of herself more or less, and Ears can train the villagers.

Shabin 2011/07/27(Wed)21:51 No. 332735 ID: c811c4
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You guys.

>>332735
Hi! How's it going? Chee's having fun, believe it or not. Wanna do some sparring? Something Chee picked up is letting her train while we help people train. So if you do some training, she'll get better at fighting.

yo, chee is fine. its complicated. are you in any trouble?

Shabin 2011/07/27(Wed)21:58 No. 332747 ID: c811c4
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So Chee's fine. And having fun. That's just swell.

>>332745
Funny you should mention that.

Zombies appear to be present.

Somehow I think this is probably our fault.

okay, they must be on necro-bold's team cause bird-necro's are DONE. did you pick up any healing at all? just a little bit to cover your fists, would let you punch them to re-death.

Okay lets take stock here.
First things first, where those recently townsfolk? That would tell us whether the necromancer is nearby.

Second, How's and where's Tae? And the magic tower people?

You definitely could just punch the zombies, but Im not sure how you can deal with the necromancer. Good news is that we have the soul of a lich for what its worth. Which isnt much considering your own aptitude towards magic.

So.. umm.. run I guess?

>>332747
Have you tried punching them yet? How many are there anyway? How'd this all start? It'd be best if you could find a healer or mage to help, I think! Where's Tae?

1/2 Shabin 2011/07/27(Wed)22:19 No. 332765 ID: c811c4
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... weak, compared to anyone who can cast worth a damn, but still better than just punching normally. Yes, these are townsfolk. I don't know where Tae is or if she's alright, I was just hanging around the Inn, when I heard screams and battle. Then zombies everywhere. Every time someone dies, they turn into a zombie, even if they weren't touched by a zombie as I found out by one scuffle from a drunken patron.

2/2 Shabin 2011/07/27(Wed)22:20 No. 332767 ID: c811c4
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If I had to guess, it's probably from that ominous looking cloud off in the middle of town. Just a wild stab in the darkness of a hunch. That's where the fighting first started, too.

Must be some kind of powerful necromantic curse. Let's go find Tae and the mages first, we probably can't take whatever that is on our own.

damn. need to get chee here pronto. with those new powers he got he should be able to fight the cloud directly.

>>332767
We should make our way to the mage tower. That... actually looks like it might be the mage tower come to think of it. Hey uh... how long ago did this all start? I suspect that the lich Chee didn't kill felt something happen and sent someone to Chee's last known location.

Unfortunately you don't really have much in the way of fighting these guys. I really wish we could teleport Chee to and from where she is now!

Neat. Maybe if we destroy that thing we can take over the village and add it to our growing empire! Oh, we forgot to tell you, we've got an evil tower and minions and tributes and an empire now!

Chee also has an undead butler named Winston. Highlight, in my opinion.

Shabin 2011/07/27(Wed)22:31 No. 332779 ID: c811c4
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>Mage Tower
Yeah, about that....

We have an evil tower now? And a butler? Fantastic. I'm so happy for her. As for time... Chee's been gone for nearly a full day. All of this started happening around the middle of the night, and has been going on since.

Well count yourself lucky that this one doesnt seem able to rip your soul straight from your flesh. You'd better try to regroup with Tae if you think you can safely, otherwise you probable want to put some distance between you and the necrobold. Also take this chance to loot the shit out of the city, Chee never lets us steal everything blind.

Also, what where you doing brawling with drunks at a time like this?

>>332771

But we can't so one of you will have to cross gnoll, orc, and harpie territory to reunite. Better get started then, huh?

>>332779
Alright. Uh. I think you should just try to get out of town. Get to that windmill. We'll try to contact Tae and have her meet you there. This place has become a necromancer foothold, it seems.

Or, if running isn't your style, I'd suggest going to find the guardhouse. Or a weapons store. Zombies fall to the sliceydicey. If you can find a fortified location we'll have Tae meet you there instead.