Council of Thieves
Game Master Mug

Surprise Round
As the room erupts in a sea of clacking bones and dancing shadows, Enko's eyes widen. He leaps for the door and runs back into the main sewer, skeletel hands reaching for him but just unable to grasp him before he flees the room with great alacrity.

Round 1 Skeleton Battle

A newly formed skeleton (#2) shambles after Enko with surprising speed, having spotted him first, reaching with claw-like fingers, jaw open in a silent scream. The claws miss once again, Enko dodging and weaving past the raking fingers. The undead's path brings it close enough to be struck at by both a wide-eyed Tavi and a surprised Jaiyana, all strikes failing to land.

Tavi shouts, "We have not the time for these foes! Withdraw and leave them to distract the Hellknights!" and moves back towards the crossroads, away from the mass of bones quickly turning into a small skeletal army inside the small corridor.

The next skeleton(#1) one follows its fellow towards Enko with that same burst of unreal speed, swinging at him furiously with its bony fingers, Jaiyana would have been able to attack this one as well had she not already reacted quickly to strike the first skeleton to emerge from the corridor. This attack nearly lands on Enko's face, but he raises an arm at the last moment, turning the blow harmlessly aside.

"Hit the plate!" Enko shouts as he exits the room, but seeing himself now as the nearest one to it, steps over and hits it squarely. The door immediately begins grinding back to the closed position with the inexorable finality of the tide. The nearly formed skeletons still inside the corridor begin hobbling on half-formed legs, racing the door in order to reach the soon-to-be untouchable human flesh.

AC thinks to himself... Well, if these aren't the "undead" that I have read about it in books, I don't know what are.
He feels a sudden rage that comes from his connection with Shelyn, at the impurity of these creatures.
"You. Foul. Beings. Shelyn send you to Pharasma to rest."
He motions his hand forward, and BOOM, a wave of butterflies and color shoot towards the creature (skeleton #2), his aim good enough that it strikes the creature attacking Enko without touching the monk. The skeleton just crumbles to dust, whatever force which animated it now gone, and AC shouts quickly as it does so, "It is an Undead, and immune to death effects, disease, mind-affecting effects, paralysis, poison, sleep and so on! They are immune to fatigue and exhaustion effects. It's immune to cold but weak against blunt attacks! It can move as fast as a man, and never tires. They could chase us easily and indefinitely."

Amon double times it over to the others, stopping behind and to the side of Enko.

Corneleous exlaims, "I'd say it's time for a tactical retreat, Gents." and releases an acid dart into the skull of the remaining skeleton, nearly knocking the skull from it's bony neck.

"We can't take the chance that the Hellknights fail to dispatch these monstrosities and they escape into the city!" Jaiyana calls as she surges forward on the offense, fearing for the safety of Westcrown's most defenseless now that their group is responsible for disturbing undead remains. They may not be able to squeeze through the grates above, but these fleshless horrors certainly might. The skelton(#1) that she strikes bursting into a jumble of bones as her flail smashes sideways through its upper chest, practically disintegrating the horror.

Lucon slaps himself, jaw slack with disbelief as the skeletons rise from the pile of bones. He stands stock still, blade drawn, but a little part of him seems to acknowledge Jaiyana's words and his feet carry him forward, blade at the ready to protect those around him from any more emerging undead. However the door has closed too much for the 4 reanimated skeletons still inside, or the mass of skeletons still forming. One of them manages to get half way out the door before the heavy door slides back into place, the rumbling sounds ending with a gentle crunch. The skeletons arm and a few teeth are the only things which make it out of the door, no longer animated. If you put your ear to the wall you can hear some faint scratching, as if a horde of dead creatures are clawing to find a way out from their prison.

This small section of sewer is now silent, the dirt kicked up by the door now coating the metal plate with a thin film of brown, dulling the metal plates glint. The sounds of pursuit are definitely closer now, to the point where individual voices are nearly distinguishable, rather than muffled shouting. The hunters draw close.

Well, that was exciting!

Time to be fleeing I think. Shall we?

Lucon seems quite shaken, not loosening his grip on the new blade for a long time. "That... is a sight I have never seen before... and here. Under the city..." he says, trailing off with a shiver. "Let us hope I never see it again." he says, leaning against the wall and visibly trembling.

He takes some time to find his feet before making off back down the passageway, tracing his hand along the wall and squinting into the darkness. "We felled two of them, at least." he says, with a nod to Jaiyana. "Somebody else take point." he says, stumbling slightly. "My eyes aren't what they used to be."

Do we need light yet?

"Your eyes are fine, friend Lucon, unless you are still feeling ill. It is my brain that appears to be clouded this evening, and for that I apologize. Let us fly from this place and wonder about the placement of secret chambers at a later time." Enko's normal state of unflappable calm has been replaced with a rueful tone and not a small amount of shakiness in his voice.

"I wonder how many such chambers beneath the very feet of Westcrowns civilians; eventually they will crawl out," Jaiyana says. She glances back behind her to the unending pursuit of the Hellknights keeping her flail in hand. "But we can help more citizens alive than dead and that door will hold for now, I suppose," she finsishes grudgingly, promising to herself to scour these sewers clean of such dangers one day in the near future. "I'll takeover point, Lucon," she offers without hesitation.

"What if we were to have one member of our party stay near the door while the rest of us go some distance down the hall. They open the door to release the skeletons and rush back to meet us. Skeletons are fairly slow, so we will have several undead between us and our pursuers."

"We cannot risk the other Hellknights opening this door," says Enko as they prepare to flee. He takes a moment to scrape the words 'DANGER--UNDEAD INSIDE' into the muck of the wall with his kama, just above the plate.

"If they think I am lying, I fear they will be in for an unpleasant confirmation of my vows," he says with a slight smile. "Cause and effect."

Ninja'd!

"I would agree to that only if we knew how many skeletons are in there. There seemed to be many," Enko says in an ominous tone. "I am not sure I would like to consign the Hellknights to such a fate. Additionally, there is no reason the skeletons won't overwhelm them and then come after us...relentlessly...and in great numbers."

"No reason besides their shambling gait. They would only be a danger if we stopped to engage them. If we flee, then I doubt they can overtake us."

I'm sorry, but you are incorrect. Skeletons are as fast as humans, and never tire. I don't think that we should open that door, unless we plan to fight them. Which I intend to. I might not sleep at night wondering what is in the door behind them. BUt now might not be the best time for this

Milani you test me, damn it all! Jaiyana slides her picks and tools out of the sleeves of her leather armor and shrugs off her plated coat, moving toward the plate. "Someone keep an eye out for our persuers, I'm going to do this as fast as I can."

Jaiyana attempts to disable the plate mechanism, which opens the door, preventing the skeletons from escaping and the Hellknights from releasing them. Disable Device: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (10) + 7 = 17 She will then put her coat back on.
EDIT: Ninjas. I hats Kindle typing.

"This way we can come back and destroy these monstrosities once we've shaken our attackers. Hopefully within minutes. I'll not rest easy with these stirring bones not in check, though."

"I mean no insult, friend Amon, but they are faster than you. They nearly caught me, and I was running and dodging. I will surrender to the decision of the group, but my own worldview is at odds with releasing an unknown number of undead upon a group of Hellknights who deserve a cleaner death. Furthermore, there is no telling what would happen if the skeletons exited the sewers and entered the streets of Westcrown. I prefer to increase order, not chaos." Enko again bows apologetically, and casts a glance down the sewer where the Hellknights should emerge.

Just role playing. Enko wouldn't go along with it. Not to metagame overly, but if you look at Mug's description, they move with unnatural speed. I thought of a worse plan, which was opening the door and pushing them in, or writing the symbol of Iomedae and leaving a torch burning at the door. However, those are definitely not Lawful Good actions. ;)

Sorry, my brain had a v3.5 moment.

Amon shrugs. "Very well. Let's not make waste."

Let us leave. Should the Hellknights open the door then they can deal with the undead inside. We must make haste. With that Tavi scouts ahead to find the correct path.

Perception -
1d20 + 8 ⇒ (5) + 8 = 13

Conjurers have a rule: never try to harness a demon that you know you can't beat with one hand tied behind your back. The same rule should apply here: if we can't be the skeletons in our current haste, we shouldn't risk their release. Let's move before it gets dark above and we are trapped in this gods forsaken sewer! The Viscount implores, turning up his nose at the smell.

You continue on the path, Tavi, and others, noting the direction of the pointing sword, but the pursuit is close now, the voices growing louder, and shouting in excitement as they can see more and more recent signs of your passing. They are gaining on you. The tunnel has become narrower here, only allowing single file progression.

You can see the tunnel making a sharp turn to the right up ahead of you, and several large, unmoving shapes jutting out of the sewer in the corner. There is still some light coming through the grates, but in a matter of only minutes you'll be forced to create a light source of some kind or wander in near blindness. Up on the right, around thirty feet before the turn, you see a recess in the wall, and a dirty slab of wood lying against the wall. The large shapes in the sewage up ahead are unmoving, but seem out of place in the harsh sharp edges of the sewers, more organic.

The Hellknights, (or some other angry group of armor clad, arrogant, men and some women who want to kill you) are very close. They will probably catch up to you in less than a minute.

I have your marching order thusly, please correct me if desired. The first name is closest to the corner. Tavi, Enko, AC, Corneleous, Amon, Jaiyana, Lucon. So Lucon you would be considered the 'rear-guard' against the encroaching, but still out-of-sight, Hellknights.

Perception 1d20 ⇒ 8

Amon keeps marching with the rest of the party.

Enko slows down and indicates the recess with an open hand.

"I do not know what these are. I can see large purple mushrooms, as tall as a human. Someone has been cultivating them. That seems extremely out of the ordinary to me, for this sewer."

He smiles.

"I promise not to run up and investigate. Perhaps someone knows something more about them?

@Jaiyana - Sorry didn't catch it sooner. The disabling of the metal plate didn't work. It's above your current skills, and you'd get the feeling that touching it overly much would... open doors to problems that may be better left closed.

Here's my first attempt at a map. I'll update as I can and post new map links. I tried to open it in IE8, to test, and it cut off almost half the picture. Using firefox atm. **MAP**

Character placement on the map doesn't show up for me in Firefox...unless we are in single file in no-background-land. Just FYI.

Character placement on the map doesn't show up for me in Firefox...unless we are in single file in no-background-land. Just FYI.

You are currently off the map, just barely. Or at least you were when I started making it. Let me update with your post in mind Enko.

I mis-wrote up there...

slight Flextime rewind

Enko indicates the shapes ahead at the corner, not the recess and piece of wood, which is before them.

Cool, got it now, GM!

After Enko's description and request for mycological expertise, he takes a look at the slab of wood--without touching it or shining a light under it.

The slab of wood appears brown, coarse, mundane, and very heavy. It's nearly as tall as the corridor, leaning against an opening in the recess. It doesn't seem attached to anything, as far as you can tell. Because it's leaning and unattached, you can see a sliver of the opening it hides. From what little you can see it's a path or a room, no sounds or anything noteworthy noticeable from the sliver of viewing area you can see.

In the distance, the marching of feet grows ever closer.

The map errors out on my Kindle, so I can't see it. I'll do my best for now without. My work PC (when I get to use it) uses IE and I have an old laptop that works occasionally which uses Chrome so hopefully I'll get to glance at it every now and again.

"Damnable darkness," Jaiyana whispers. She activates a sunrod and tucks it into her belt so she can grip her flail once more while still shedding light for herself and her allies.

@Jaiyana, I'm sure it'll be fine without it. We've done several battles without it, and in my opinion it's just fluff. Sometimes pretty handy fluff, but as we've seen up to this point, ultimately unnecessary. Just post your combat in spoilers, and I'll translate them to the most advantageous/logical actions I can. Out of combat, just speak in generalities as you've been doing, and it'll continue to go smoothly.

Enko glances at the sunrod. "The Hellknights will see us more easily now, Jaiyana." His tone is soft and matter-of-fact rather than reprimanding.

"There's a passage or room beyond this wooden slab. While I have had poor occasion recently with strange rooms, perhaps we should try this one. Tossing in a light source first would be wise, though."

With the slab in it's current position a torch or even a sunrod would not fit through. At it's widest point this sliver of opening is about the size of a human finger. A small pebble might fit, but the viewable area would still be extremely small, if well lit.

"Lucon, are you well enough to help me move this slab?" Enko looks at the towering carpenter carefully.

Hey Mug, should we pause to let people catch up? Up to you. I am in favor of moving said slab, checking the room, and if it is safe, getting out of the main corridor. Second time's the charm!

"That crossed my mind as well, Enko, but I fear for accurate navigation and combat in the dark. Blindness can slow us down and turn us around. If you'd rather press forth without it I can stuff it deep within my pack to douse the light, but it seems they are tracking us well enough without it at any rate," she responds sincerely, moving to out it away if the consensus comes to that. "Should I check for any nasty surprises?" She adds after a moment.

Let's wait a bit more so people can weigh in, or at least make checks if they want to, in case that influences anything... not that there's tons of time for deliberation at this point. So I'll say a maximum two hours till I move things along, with whatever the consensus is at that point.

Lucon nods, leaning in close and giving the slab a scrutinizing look-over. His hand shoots to his belt and pulls out a chisel. "It's no prybar..." he says, working it into the gap, Lucon will pry loose enough room to squeeze his fingers through and gives Enko a nod. "... but it will do. Pry it loose. Gently now."

Strength Check: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (12) + 3 = 15
Aid Another for Enko: 1d20 ⇒ 12

Result: 17

Enko puts his shoulder to the slab.

Strength: 1d20 ⇒ 13

"Whatever gets us out of here, dear fellow. Heave ho!"

Perception 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (1) + 9 = 10

Know Nature 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (1) + 12 = 13

Really? A freaking one on BOTH checks?

AC sees Enko point out the mushroom. "I've read about this. This is a shrieker, and emits a piercing sound that lasts almost twenty seconds whenever there is movement or a light source within 10 feet. This shriek makes it impossible to hear any other sound within 50 feet. The sound attracts nearby creatures that are disposed to investigate it. Some creatures that live near shriekers learn that this noise means there is food or an intruder nearby."

Survival roll 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (9) + 3 = 12

Brilliant. Low rolls all around.

"Ah. We should hide behind the slab, and then toss a lighted pebble when the Hellknights approach the shriekers."

Together, with some grunting and groaning, the two men manage to man-handle the heavy wood - probably scavenged from somewhere else in these very sewers - and pivot it to the side of the recess, Jaiyana's light revealing an old store room. Rooms like this can be found throughout the sewers, used as store rooms or sleeping quarters for the original builders and workers. There is rubbish and the remnants of shelving and what may have been cots at one time. Otherwise, this room is quite dull and boring. Dust has collected on everything, and no tracks have disturbed the floor for some time.

Map Updated

Yup. THat's Dex and Con, mind you, but that's all tracked on my sheet.

Perception 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (8) + 1 = 9 also scanning with detect magic

We could hide in this enclosure; however we risk the hellknights finding us cornered. Still, if we can't get past the fungi without alerting them, it might be a worthwhile plan. Do you fellows have the fortitude for another battle?

"Against Hellknights? Always," Jaiyana says with a determined glint in her eye, gripping her flail tighter. "However it wouldn't be wise to plan on combating them without knowing their exact numbers, even if a proper bottle-neck favors us; a handful we may be able to fell, but if there are dozens or even scores directly on our tails continuing to run for it may be more prudent, as much as I hate to admit it," she continues.

"If the markers lead us past the fungi, then we should continue, although I am astounded at the fortitude of our marker-making friends...perhaps the shriekers are a recent development." Enko muses, deep in thought.

"However, as AC has stated, they will shriek if we get within 10 feet of them. I think the corridor is too narrow for us to get past them without triggering them. I did not bring earplugs--did anyone else? It seems too much to hope that the shriekers will stop shrieking after a time and have to 'rest' once they have deafened the Hellknights."

"Perhaps there is something in this room we can use."

Enko looks around the room for something to use, or for secret doors.

You detect no magic or hidden doors. However, Tavi and Enko notice a small hidden compartment in the wall, looking like a place a smuggler or a thief might hide something. You can take a minute to open the compartment and investigate, but anyone standing out in the hall would see the tunnel you came from starting to show the light of a torch, and shadows flickering around multiple forms. The Hellknights are just a twist of the tunnel away, not yet in line of sight, and whatever you decide to do, it should be decided soon or this group of Hellknights will decide for you.