Grezzor will the flaming sphere against the same skeleton, while conjuring a missile of magical energy which darts forth from his fingertip and strikes the same target.
"Bone men strong."
Despite the tiefling's infernal magic, Keil's body still feels drained of strength and he unceremoniously drops one of his maces to the floor. Reaching under his cloak the fetchling shrugs off the straps of his pack, letting the heavy weight thud upon the ground. Watching the others take their turns, Keil wonders, "Where is shade? Grey call to your pet!" Lifting his remaining weapon, the shadowy man preys nothing approaches but prepares to strike non-the-less.
"Shade cannot harm these creatures." Grey said in a calm voice that belied the intensity of their situation.
Praetor warns the group his undead servant cannot harm these creatures, even as he assists with Vargrenz's defense. Keil stays out of the battle and tries to lighten his load, his body shifting in the dim light. Brok's blow is a clumsy one and fails to penetrate the skeleton's defenses.
Grezzor again tries to singe the skeleton which so far has managed to avoid the sphere...
...but once again it dodges the fire...but not the magical bolts which slam into it. Arlok's blow also connects solidly with it but the steel-like body absorbs a great deal of the blow.
Raaz realizes this battle will be a difficult challenge, which causes his eyes to light up. "We can overcome these low-life servants of the Goat-Prince! Our Lord is with us!" He then points at the skeleton and sends a black bolt of electricity at it.
; .
Malzii's eyes gleam with excitement as she raises her hands up in the air. A faint swirling form appears above her as she calls upon her ancestor's blessing to aid them here. A bright flash of light, filled with holy power washes over the party and the skeletons.
|
Despite feeling drained by the undead monstrosity, Varg continues his assault on the unnatural skeleton, focussing on one particular point on the creatures animated body in the hope of breaking through the things defenses.
Using Pummeling Style
Attack-Fob: <-- -1 from strength loss
Damage: <-- -1 from strength loss
Attack-Fob:
Damage:
Attack-Ki Attack:
Damage:
Like hammers, his stoney fists pulverize the bones of the black skeleton.
Vargrenz calls upon his mental prowess and focuses his ki upon his fists, battering the skeleton until it lies in a pile of shattered bones at his feet.
The two hostile skeletons continue their attacks...
...while Brok manages to escape the blows relatively unscathed, the godling feels the blows quite heavily.
Brok flips away from the skeleton's blow via Roll with It, moving 5' away from the evil skeleton.
On his turn he drops his club and climbs 10 feet up the adjacent tunnel wall.
Having rid himself of his burden and free to move, Keil calls to Arlok to shift his position a few feet so the shadowy man might flank the skeleton, "Arlok! Shift to the side!"
As the godling adjusts his position south , the shadowy man leaps into action. Thin legs carry the fetchling forward and into a quick spin, followed by two high back flips. Landing opposite Arlok, the armored skeleton's side is exposed inviting Keil's mace to strike. Using the momentum of his landing, Keil spins extending his mace out before him. The mace connects solidly with the skeleton's shoulder knocking it off balance and, with luck, into Arlok's rage.
Not sure when the will save occurs, if after Str damage then this is 2 less.
Arlok roars out in frustration as these skeletons are challenging him like nothing he has ever encountered
Grezzor does not hesitate, and sends the flaming sphere careening against the same target.
Brok climbs out of the reach of the skeletons while Vargrenz flails at the skeleton, his blow failing to overcome its hardness. Arlok roars in frustration as the godling has been truly challenged for the first time, but it does allow Keil to return to the battle, delivering a solid blow to the skeleton.
Grezzor again tries to burn the skeleton... ...but it manages to evade the sphere with ease.
Malzii's grunts in disapproval, "Ehhh...ancestors be asleep I guess. Let me try again!" Aanother bright flash of light, filled with holy power washes over the party and the skeletons.
The black skeleton after seeing Brok move out of his range, turns to engage the godling...but the skeleton controlled by Praetor intercepts its fellow hacking savagely at it, the clanging of its swords echoing loudly inside the confined space. For its part the skeleton is forced to defend itself here.
The last skeleton goes after Arlok with a vengeance...
Raaz laughs heartily in glee, "Keep it up! We have them on the run!" He then points at the skeleton and sends a black bolt of electricity at it.
Seeing a fragment of bone chip off of the skeleton gives the fetchling hope that his strategy will prevail. Pressing his attack against the unusually solid bone structure of the creature, the fetchling takes advantage of his previous strike. His enchanted mace bouncing from its previous impact, Keil looks to turn this to his favor. Rather than use what little strength he has left, the shadowy man lets the mace recoil, building on the weapon's momentum by swinging the weapon along the trajectory of its rebound. Keil's cloak whips through the air as he spins clockwise before sinking to bring the enchanted mace crashing into the skeleton leg.
Brok climbs down the wall and turns the corner.
The flaming sphere disappears into nothingness, and Grezzor ponders his options for a moment and realizes he has none which may apply - "This must be settled by strength of arms" - the goblin states.
While Brok retreats further from the combat and Grezzor ponders his next move, Arlok, Vargrenz, and Keil continue to chip away at the skeleton still engaging the godling.
Malzii chimes in upon hearing Grezzor's statement. "Are you sure none of your magics will work against these things? Big god-man Arlok can't hold out forever here!" She then sends another wave of holy power over the skeletons, which has quite a noticeable effect on them. .
"Move to flank, there." grey commands his controlled skeleton.
"Shade, there. Guard Arlok"
Grey himself cast a small blessing on Vargrenz.
At Malzii's words, the wizard bursts into action again, targetting the remaining enemy skeleton with pure cold.
Praetor instructs his minions to assist the front-line combatants, even after bolstering his own companion. Shade flies in front of the black skeleton trying to distract it as best it can...
Grezzor's ray flies harmlessly over the skeleton's head.
The skeleton fights off the blows from the controlled skeleton and the shadow's distracting movements continues to strike Arlok hard...
Arlok cries out again as his strength and Godly power is sucked away.
Now clumsy the hammer smash is way off mark.
Grezzor insists.
Brok climbs down off the wall behind the skeletons.
While Arlok continues to struggle in his battle with the skeleton, now barely able to hold his hammer up, Vargrenz steps up to the challenge and smashes the skeleton into a mass of blackened, shattered bones.
Brok rejoins the battle as Malzii looks on with a look of concern. "Hang on there God-man! Ancestors be helping you out, give you strength back!"
Somewhat relieved the big man (Varg) pummeled another skeleton into the ground, Keil springs into action. With a grin, he takes two large strides. The shadowy man crosses the floor tucking into a neat roll as he nears the melee. Rising in a whirl of black fabric Keil kicks back with his leg, planting it firmly just outside the skeleton's reach before pivoting and bringing the head of the mace around to strike.
Praetor again gives Vargrenz some guidance for his blows, while Keil's blow does connect solidly, but again the steel-like frame of the skeleton absorbs most of the force of the blow.
"Bah! Enough of this!" Raaz swears as he pulls out a scroll, one of the ones recovered back at the Fountain of Pestilence. Muttering the arcane words quickly he steps forward to touch the black skeleton still threatening Arlok.
Fortunately the skeleton controlled by Praetor again interposes itself into absorbing the blows meant for Arlok.
His hand throbbing from the violent vibrations being sent through the handle of his mace, Keil is non-the-less encouraged to see his efforts are at least 'chipping away' at the skeleton's dense bones. Undaunted, the shadowy man's form twirls as he sets his feet into another spin initiated off of the mace's rebound. Coming around with a back hand, Keil targets the same spot, hopeful his mace just might make a crack in the skeleton's frame this time.
Grezzor presses on with another shot.
Arlok breathes heavily as he had never felt the hammer feel so heavy before. He watches as his companions finish things off.
Vargrenz fixes his attention upon the next black skeleton in line...
...his blows are not nearly as effective as before. Keil also manages to chip off another portion of the skeleton.
Grezzor's ray strikes the skeleton but it shrugs off the freezing cold with ease.
Arlok awaits Malzii's ministrations patiently. "Almost there God-man!"
"Shade, there. Flank." Grey said to the Shadow, pointing to a new location. "You, bring it to the ground." he commanded his skeleton, helping to push the thing over with his long staff.
Brok moves to flank the black skeleton.
While the skeleton is compelled to try tripping its companion skeleton, its movements are clumsy and easily avoided.
Raaz unfurls another scroll and reaches over to touch the skeleton.
The skeleton, deprived of its target, shifts to the tiefling priest...
One of its swords strikes savagely at the priest, invoking a cry of rage.
Malzii continues to cast her spell...
Although Keil's backhand attack had collided with a satisfying crack against the skeleton's frame, the mace has yet to do more than chip away at the skeleton's hardened bones. Switching tactics the fetchling clasps the end of the mace with both hands and rises it for a wicked over head strike. The changed grip however shortens his reach and instead of impacting solidly with the skeleton, Keil's mace misses the undead thing's head sending bits of stone flooring up into the air instead. Cursing his change of luck, Keil checks his stance and returns to a one handed grip.
While Keil's blow is a weak one, barely managing to connect with the skeleton, Vargrenz connects solidly and nearly shatters the skeleton.
Raaz steps forward and unfurls the last of the healing scrolls you uncovered and moves to touch the skeleton. The blast of positive energy is too much for the frame to handle and it disintegrates into a pile of blackened bones!
Brok backs away from Praetor's undead minions.
Grezzor stops midcast, and waits for Praetor's input regarding the next skeleton.
"This one is mine." Grey says simply.
"Perhaps Brok and Keil can inspect the chamber while we tend to Arlok."
Brok will look about the skeleton remains and the alcoves they came from.
(+2 for traps)
Malzii finally finishes her spell, touching the godling and sending some positive energy into his muscles undoing some of the damage caused .
As Praetor eyes the last remaining skeleton, it glared at him with a burning hatred. Brok, however, sees the skeleton is wearing a jeweled necklace He is easily able to retrieve the item without provoking a response. All of the skeleton are wielding short swords, yet they are not special in any way.
Continuing his exploration of the alcoves shows nothing of interest. However he does see the corridor of the Gut opening up further down and heading closer to Rappan Athuk...
Mace raised for another strike, Keil wild eyes watch as Raaz's spell finally sends the black skeleton falling to pieces upon the floor before dropping to his knees himself. Taking a deep breath, the shadowy man lets his arm drop with a long exhale, That was close. As Brok searches the area, the shadowy man's yellow eyes stare at the pile of black bones, These...have potential. Without a second thought, Keil gathers all the blackened rib bones he can find, a few femurs and as near to a complete skull as he can find. Taking the bones, the fetchling packs them into what room he can find in his already overflowing pack. He finds space for the ribs separately in different sections of his pack. The femurs he shoves into a sack hanging from the packs straps while the skull he decides to carry, figuring he'll find a spot for it somewhere later. Rising the shadowy man heaves the weighty burden onto his shoulders with a grunt, "We should rest. Recover our strength." His yellow eyes dart over the alcove and what remains of the skeletons, "But not here." His mischief managed, Keil joins Brok further down the corridor to see for himself what the goblin has discovered.
"Agreed." Grey said, eying the skeleton in front of him clinically.
"Hegug, bring me the plate armor." he said to his Orcish follower.