Encounter map
Cassandra's connection to her goddess brings forth an explosion of positive energy, and the skeletons rear back, but whether it is her weakened, wounded state or the fact that they're close to their graves anyway and draw some form of power from them, they maintain an upright position, and if anything attack with more fervour.
The skeleton from the left is finally free of its shroud, and enters the fray, making a beeline for Alessa.
Its horrible jaw gapes in a threatening fashion, but its claws flash harmlessly some distance in front Alessa's face.
Dealing with Skeletons, Alessa switches to her light mace and attacks the nearest on. Pharasma guide my hand in dispatching these abominations.
Attack:
Damage:
Xavian blurts out, "A first hand glimpse of the walking dead. Extraordinary." He gathers himself, steps behind Cassandra, points his right hand at the skeleton attacking Cassandra, crisply incants a few arcane words unleashing a small glowing missile of force that flies through the air unerringly striking the skeleton.
It would appear that Pharasma's guidance is indeed behind Alessa's hand, for her light mace smashes into the skull of the advancing skeleton and instantly life winks out of it, presumably for the second time in its existence, Alessa can't help but think wryly. The bones clatter to the floor as though some giant puppeteer has suddenly cut all the strings in the heavens above.
Xavian hardly appears to step forward at all to release his flying magical force, though to your eyes the missile almost seems to bend round the corner of the steps. It does indeed streak unerringly towards the nearest skeleton, rather unfairly striking it from behind, as it has turned its attention entirely to Alessa. It reels from the force, though the strings on this one are not snapped so easily, it seems, but fortunately it seems not to have realized whence the attack came, and with a rictus of rage it presses its attack on Alessa.
Stumbling spectacularly into the bones of its fallen companion, however, its attack is lost in a desperate attempt to keep itself upright.
It is not the only combatant to fare badly. Shanoa's fear of the undead is enough to weaken the normal control of her weapon that was so effective at dispatching the centipedes. On this occasion, it swooshes entirely ineffectually in front of her chosen foe.
Round #2:
Initiative: 16
Armor class: 15; T: 11; FF: 14
Hit points: 3/9
Condition:
Brandishing her holy symbol high, Cassandra unleashes another wave of energy intent on destroying the undead attack her companions.
Channel Energy:
AC 15/CMD 15
Alessa swings her mace at the third Skeleton with fervor. "Fall Abomination!"
Attack:
Damage:
Cassandra's weakened state physically seems to have affected her channelled power, and now that also seems too weak to affect the skeletons that much. Certainly, on this occasion, though the one attacking Shanao staggers ever so slightly, the other barely reacts to the wave of energy.
It's enough to throw the next skeleton's attack off, though, and again it scrabbles in the air fruitlessly trying to find some form of purchase on Shanoa.
Alessa's attacker is less lucky, however, and though initially she fears her side-swiping blow has missed, in fact it connects with the very backbone of the skeleton, and with the sound of a something resembling a dropped marimba, the undead skeleton falls to the floor tangled once more in the bones of its fellow.
Xavian concentrates on moving defensively this round, but Shanoa is still gamely attempting to attack. Unfortunately, perhaps because she's concentrating on keeping the lantern upright at the same time, her erratically swinging morningstar is barely doing anything to keep the skeleton at bay.
Alessa closes the distance to the remaining Skeleton , and attacks with confidence.
Attack:
Damage:
Critical Confirmation:
Extra Damage:
Xavian continues to dodge an incoming attack.
It's not so much an attack that Xavian needs to dodge, but rather more, Alessa's bounding strike, which not merely dispatches the skeleton, but also detaches the skull from its body, whence careers it gracefully into the south wall, not so very far from Xavian's own. The bones collapse with the now familiar sound of dropped ivory, and immediately afterwards the crypt regains its former quietness. Nothing emanates from the the other biers, and you appear, once more, to be alone.
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As the last skeleton clatters into a pile of bones, Shanoa realizes she was holding her breath and exhales loudly. "I...uh....why would the dead rise and attack us?!? What would make them do that?" You also notice from the way the light is jumping around on the walls that she is shaking visibly from the encounter.
Xavian descends the stairs. He utters a few arcane words focusing on the bones. "Animate skeletons. I have heard tell of such a creature, but this is the first I have seen them with my own eyes. Rather dangerous creatures." He pokes the bones with his dagger while he studies them." "Cassandra, were you channeling positive energy? You can channel merely by concentrating? A blessing from your goddess I presume."
Spellcraft:
Alessa moves the skeletal remains back to their alcoves hopig that she remembers correctly which skeleton belongs in which alcove. When she is finished, she mutters a brief prayer to Pharasma to return the undead to their rest.
With an angry look, she addresses the group. "Perhaps this cult that the professor ran afoul of is responsible for this desecration. Pharasman priests do not animate the dead to serve as guardians or traps. This will not go unpunished! Let us find these tools if they are still here and leave this place."
With that, she helps continue the search.
Perception:
Looking at Xavian a bit uncomprehendingly, Cassandra takes a deep breath to calm herself before answering. Yes, it can be used to heal the living or to harm the undead. Thankfully I've never had to use it that way, until now,"
"Very interesting. No wonder the dead fear priests. An ability to call power directly from the Positive Energy Plane." Xavian stands up once Alessa has taken all the bones back to their proper resting places, "I hope my curiousity has not offended you, Alessa. I have never encountered animate bones prior to this day. I have not spent much time studying necromancy. This seemed a convenient time to start."
Stunned by Xavian's words, Alessa turns to him with a hard look. "Are you saying that you have an interest in studying Necromancy, Xavian? Why would you want to learn such things?"
" You need not look with such concern, Alessa. It is not to become a 'Necromancer'. The Professor taught me that to fight an enemy, you must know them. He spent his entire life dedicated to seeking knowledge of 'evil' and the powers the servants of evil wield. Necromancy is one of 'evil's' most powerful tools. If I can learn how necromantic magic animates bones, I can possibly learn how to lay them to rest more effectively. Though it does appear a mace does the job. Apparently you have all had more experience with animate bones than myself, so you do not find these specimens quite as interesting as I do." Xavian stands up. "Well, back to our current business."
Xavian's detect magic spell reveals nothing of a suspicious nature about the skeletons, nor anything about their person. The lack of a magical aura about their bones makes him wonder whether traditional necromancy was even involved. Furthermore, Alessa's theory about the Pharasman priests not using animated dead creatures as guards is borne out by the fact that none of the three were either armed nor indeed armoured, so clearly that was not intended to be their role. Quite why they rose up and attacked you, is, like so much else at the moment, a bit of a mystery.
Alessa's diligent gathering up of the bones and replacement within the alcoves achieves no obvious immediate effect, but it makes the paladin feel good, and somewhere in a distant plane, perchance there is a goddess smiling.
Whilst Alessa is busy with the alcoves, Shanao's searching of the mausoleum soon leads her to the central sarcophagus, though as you'd suspected from the top of the stairs, you are not the first to open it. The stone lid hasn't quite bedded down properly again, leaving a good two inch gap at one end. Keen not to encounter another corpse anytime soon, the inquisitor is quite pleasantly surprised when she uses her lantern light to illuminate the inside and discovers that it appears not to have ever been used for an interment. Instead it resembles more a giant jewellery box, with a complicated internal sectionalization of dovetailed wood panels.
Shanao calls Xavian over, and together they slide the lid further off to allow access. The light filters in and reveals a dozen arrows whose tips glisten in a way that reveals they cannot be traditional iron-tipped -- they look silver. Then there is a section with four sun rods in it, though several are missing, as are some flasks of holy water, though six remain, with Pharasma's sigil etched into the glass. Another compartment has a further variety of different arrows in, all of which glow with an aura that Xavian recognizes as magic as he concentrates on maintaining his spell. Carefully wrapped in a thin gauze, seven potions of some kind are also present, as well as various scrolls. Tucked away down the back is something that appears to be an actual jewellery box: a thin darkwood case decorated with an image of a scarab with a single eye glaring from its back—the same design that appeared on the cover of the Manual of the Order of the Palatine Eye, which had been amongst the books in the professor’s collection.
As Xavian approaches the sarcophagus, he says, "Surprisingly, there was no necromantic aura lingering in the bones. If magic were used to animate them, there would be a lingering aura. I find the lack of a lingering aura very strange."
After they slide the lid back, Xavian peers in, "Well, it seems the Professor is still helping us. Good Old Lorrimor, a fine fellow. Let us see if we can figure out what all this is." He continues to study the items with detect magic.
Alessa accepts her share of the arrows from Shanoa . "Thank you Shanoa, I'll be sure to put them to good use."
Xavian's long training has clearly paid off, even though he's not had that much experience in the field. He soon determines that there are:
10 magically enhanced arrows (+1); a further 5 which have been specially enchanted to deal with creatures of a less than corporeal nature (+1 ghost touch); and a remaining 2 which he prophesies would be extra harmful were they fired against certain types of undead (+1 undead bane)
The potions are easily identified as 5 simple draughts of health restoration (cure light wounds) and two that would assist with the dispelling of magical effects (lesser restoration).
Xavian has a slightly harder time with some of the scrolls, for the writing is faint in some places, though he senses a potency still within them. Two scrolls clearly contain spells to assist with the detection of undead, and a third is a simple protection against evil. He's a feeling he's just being a little stupid, or maybe the light's just not good enough, but no amount of head-scratching will reveal the purpose of the other two scrolls, though he's sure they're not that impressive. A rootle around the Professor's library would surely tell him all in no time.
Xavian conveys the information as he discerns it to the ladies. "Need a little more time with a few of these scrolls.". He studies the case with the symbol of The Order of the Palatine Eye.
"Alyssa, why don't you take the arrows for undead and such. I'll take the magic arrows, unless you want any."
"That will be fine,Shanoa. If no one objects, I'd like one of the healing droughts as well." Alessa stows six of the Silver Arrows, the five Ghost Touch arrows, and the two Undead Bane arrows into her quiver. She removed 13 of her mundane arrows from her quver to make room. After wrapping the mundane arrows in her bedroll, she places the bundle neatly into her pack. The potion of healing goes into a side pocket on the pack.
With the immediate danger passed, Cassandra call upon the power of her goddess as she passes a hand over the scalp wound inflicted by the skeleton causing the wound to close, somewhat.
Cure light wounds:
"Was anyone else injured by the skeletons?" so saying Cassandra send forth a burst of positive energy, healing everyone within the room, thereby causing her own wound to completly close.
Channel energy:
Xavian investigates the darkwood case, and it's a pretty impressive bit of craftsmanship, worth a good 50 gold pieces, if the investigator is any judge of things. It opens readily, and appears to contain three objects—a spirit board with a brass spirit planchette, and four iron and glass vials containing tiny, churning clouds of vapor. The vials sit in velvet-lined indentations to the left of the spirit board and planchette, along with six empty indentions. The vials are all valuable magic items which Xavian recognizes as haunt siphons. These glass phylacteries are held within stylized cold-iron casings etched with strange runes, necromantic designs, or other eldritch markings. Within the vial roils a small wisp of white vapour, churning as if caught in a miniature vortex of air. To capture a haunt’s energy within a siphon, you need only twist the metal casing to open the vial near its manifestation -- and, well, the theory was that that would take care of it.
He also recognizes the ouija board, and its accompanying planchette, but can't claim any great familiarity with its use. Given its location, communicating with the dead appears to have been a focus with some Order members.
"Speaking for myself, I am unhurt, Cassandra. I must admit that I am curious as to how the cult managed to miss this cache of useful items. Pharasma appears to be with us."
Xavian speaks as he studies the items, "Alessa, Do you see any footprints that lead you to believe the Cult entered the tomb? We should endeavor to gather as much data as possible to determine their numbers and what their activities were if they were in this tomb. Can you determine how long ago the skeletons were animated? That might be helpful information. How did they find this place if it was as well-hidden as it appeared to be." He holds up a haunt siphon. "These are interesting. Haunt Siphons. A device capable of trapping the spiritual residue that causes a haunt to form. Should be quite useful. Have any of you used a ouija board?"
"I have no way to determine how long ago these skeletons were animated nor have I been able to track any footprints in this crypt. My theory of this Whispering Way's involvement stems from the fact that they dabble in the darker arts, and it is not Pharasman practice to keep undead servitors in one of their crypts. It merely makes the most sense until we find out more.
My only question is why they came to this crypt to begin with. Was there something else here that they were searching for? And did they find it if so."
A quick glance at the ouija board in Xavian's hands, she searches her own knowledge for it's purpose.
Knowledge(Religion):
"Well, if we are supposing The Whispering Way to have entered the tomb and spent enough time here to animate four skeletons, then we should analyze the articles found within the sarcophagus for dangerous elements such as poison or curses. Given the ease of finding and opening the sarcophagus, then we must also suppose the items are trapped. I would not think a cult such as The Whispering Way would leave weapons as potent as these for us to discover and utilize against them. I will further analyze them at the Professor's home before we put them to use. If we find the articles to be as their initial auras indicate, then we must conclude the skeletons were animated by a yet unforseen power." Xavian searches the sarcophagus for hidden compartments.
Knowledge (religion):
Cassandra look at Xavian with a question in her eyes "Not all undead are created by magic, Xavian. Some are poor souls who are unaware that they have died. Others are victims of some tragic accident and haunt the area where they perished. Still others were vicitms of some horrific crime and seek vengenance against those who wronged them while others are spirits so malevolent that they take delight in tormenting the living and refuse to cross over to the other side."
"Precisely", says Xavian.
Shanoa's attempts to find tracks are unsuccessful where you've be fighting the skeletons, as the floors are hard marble, and whatever dust there might have been has been completely churned up by shoes, feet and tarsals. However, there's evidence over near the sarcophagus that makes Shanoa believe it can only have been opened recently, and if her tracking skills are up to snuff, by only one person.
No one seems to have much clue how the brass planchette and board operate, beyond a basic general knowledge of what a seance might involve.
"Perhaps one the Professor's books might shed some light on that box. It doesn't look like there's anything left to do here, we should keep moving."
Alessa mutters one last prayer for the dead and waits for the others by the stairs.
After our thorough search, Xavian will follow Alessa.
"Yes, let us return the the Prof...er, Kendra's house before we are discovered."
Alessa leads the group out with her rapier still drawn until they get outside. If no enemies await them outside the crypt, she will sheath her weapon.
Perception (outside the crypt):
As they reappear into the relatively brighter light outside, Cassandra takes her somke-lens glasses out of her pocket and places them on her face.* "Let's return to the house before we are spotted lurking around the graveyard."
It's an affectation I developed for her. Being self-concious about her mismatched eyes and the people's distrust of anything "different" I decided that she would try and hide her eye colors when out in public.
The world of giant insects and animated skeletons seems entirely confined to the environs of the old mausoleum. Returning to the light is harsh on the eyes, but pleasant to all other senses. You've successfully claimed the prizes from the hidden cache, and as you quickly leave the graveyard, you see no one that asks any awkward questions, not even casting a suspicious glance in your direction. Your relative easy success buoys up your spirits, but on approaching the town a consternation swiftly replaces it.
Returning to the town from the north, you notice small clusters of people quietly and nervously conferring in the doorways or out on the street. There's a great intensity to their talk (in spite of the hushed volume), but every time someone perceives you nearing, the conversation dries up entirely, and everyone appears to remember something they have in the oven. A couple of overseen gesticulations would imply the great topic of interest lies in the south of the town -- and that's a worry, because that's precisely where the Professor's House is!