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Lionel gags a bit, then spits on the ground. "That thing reeks, man!", before taking a step behind the maiden, and drawing his skull-headed cane from his belt. As he does so, he sees her empty her stomach, then turns around with a grin, patting Pim on the back. "Go get'em, brotha!", as a swirling vortex of ethereal wasps start circling around Pim.
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Eveline has no problem stomaching the stench of the undead; she is, after all, an undead hunter. Even seeing the vile dead makes her wince, expertly lifting her ready bow and launching arrows at the largest figure up ahead after taking a better position.
Eveline's mouth turns into a grin as she appears to be the best shot in the group.
Charis joins Kailun in the vomit-o-thon while the archers belch out a spray of arrows. Pim pegs a plague zombie with the help of Lionel and Eve hits the juggernaut twice, once ineffectually in the knee-cap and a second time through an exposed spine. The zombie bursts in a spray of green-tinged innards that further ruin the Maiden's costume.
The denizens continue their onslaught. Charis, in particular, gets hit quite hard.
HIT plus Fort save!
HIT plus Fort save!
MISS
Round II -- bold may act!
1. Charis (16/33 hp, ), Lionel (17/27 hp)
2. Undead (big guy @ 29 dmg)
3. Eveline, Kailun, Numair, Pimwrick
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Charis feels quite embarrassed by her display. Just as she wipes away the filth, she is covered in more and quickly pummeled.
This time, the memories flood in, and she remembers how to avoid inhaling the diseased air. She controls her breathing to help her blood circulate and eliminate the flow of disease.
"Yes, melee is not the best idea against these fiends. And yet..." she looks back to her allies. "Make some room."
She steps back towards the remains of one of the zombies and fires another arrow at the big guy.
Numair burns another zombie to death, which duly bursts in another spray of pox-filled air . Lionel shatters the hulk's jawline and two of the archers follow that up with an arrow in each eye. It crumples.
Status
Charis: 27/33 hp
Lionel: 17/27 hp
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Lionel takes a rug off the floor and cleans up the gilded head of the cane, grasping it in his hand and shouldering the spear. "Well, I'm thinkin' it was damn straighta fight, right?", he says with his trademark smile. "Now, 'bout them wounds." He raises his hand in the air, and a swirling vortex of red light, and the smell of cheap perfume fills the air.
An ecstatic wave covers the party, the feel of silk ribbons covering their wounds, which disappear in mere moments. "Heh. Ain't that great. Thanks, Lady in tha Room!", he says as he lights up a cigarette. "Now, barrin' them doors is a fine idea, Nummer. Lemme at it.", as the muscular cleric begins looking around for things to bar the door with.
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"Well that was swift," Eveline says with blatant amazement. "From the size I expected them to be much tougher, but seems like we turned them into dolls in no time."
She decides to not investigate the zombies lest she becomes ridden with disease, but takes a long look at Pim. "Thanks for the warning, by the way. Any chance your divine powers have granted you some resistance towards evil diseases? Can you take a look at those zombies if they have anything of use, or tell more about this place. Oh and, uuh, I'm not forcing you to tamper with them if you don't want to, of course..." Eveline seems oddly uneasy, and turns quickly to Numair.
"If we bar the main entrance, possibly the only entrance, we might lock ourselves in. If we'd need to make a hasty retreat, the barring could hinder us. We could, however, construct some sort of a trap that'd alarm us if others enter the area. Can you do that?"
Pim does a thorough search of the bodies and finds naught but rotted garments and dried bones.
The wind whistles through the half-opened gate with a light spray of desert sand.
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Numair shrugs.
"I would prefer to rest secure in the knowledge that I don't have someone stealthily approaching from my rear (when I know that there is someone coming), rather than worrying that I may need to retreat from an unknown threat later. However, I acknowledge your right to have a differing opinion."
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"It might just be that if you decide to build a big bar on the door, I alone couldn't get it out," Eveline elaborates, "but in such a case, well, I guess I could climb the wall. So sure, build a bar here. I'll take some notes of this place while you do that."
Eveline then turns to Pim.
She takes out a small piece of paper and an inkpen, starting to write down what she can about the place, marking down interesting details. She also takes a look in the well, expecting to find tons of sand filling it.
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As the others work on barring the doors behind them, Pim nods at Eveline's request, a faint smile playing across his face. Once everything is done and Eveline has completed her note-taking, Pimwrick nods along with Numair, "I think you're right. Let's take a look at the other doors, then go in through the big ones."
Lionel sets about barring the door using a few old tent poles, while the halflings take some notes on the status of the courtyard. The mural on the east wall is probably the most interesting piece, so they make a sketch.
Charis agrees to try one of the smaller doors first. The door to the west is ensconced in a faded brick building, and opens easily. Inside, ancient tools for leather-working sit on a table to the south, next to an empty stone trough, and barren stalls line the north wall. Empty sockets for lanterns line the stone walls.
The next door over is cracked in several places, and shattered crates litter the ground just within--as though someone had tried and failed to barricade the door. Nothing leaps out at the party, however, and the room's function is quickly made apparent by the clogged fireplace, dust-covered smithy's tools, and a tattered bellows. A nearby table contains some long-spilled tumblers and vials, although Kailun find two that are intact. One contains a silvery liquid and the other some grey crystals.
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Eveline takes the sketches to Kailun, who is most likely to understand anything about them out of the group. "We found something interesting, you might want to take a look." Depending on the elf's mood, she'll escort him to the mural or show the sketch she made.
Eveline looks at Numair with a puzzled look. "Sniff them, maybe that'll tell you."
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Lionel leans on the wall next to the Maiden, jumping quickly as he feels a brick give way. "Hooo!", he shouts, as the brick falls down to the ground, covering himself from the inevitable arrow.
Several seconds later, he looks up from under his hands. "We all alive?", he says, trying to look as respectable as possible, clearing his throat. "So, whatcha think we gonna find in this place?Gracious hosts are right out, ain't they...", he says, providing a smile. "Might as well lemme go first when ya're done, I jus can't help it not havin' tha first peek at a surprise. An' Nummer's right." He nods at the half-elf. "We can find an' catalogue all sorta fine items in them there rooms. An' catalogue them.", he says, before shutting up.
"So, does anyone wanna lemme borrow their journals? Ain't kept notes since, well, 'bouta month ago.", he asks, staring at Eveline.
The silvery substance gives off a strong metallic tang, and Numair declares it to be a vial of silver weapon blanch. The aroma of the other evokes an odd nostalgia--one measure of ghost salt.
The Maiden finds nothing to concern her about the doors, so she pushes them open. A profound quiet has settled over a timeworn hall within. Elegant stone columns line the passage, and hieroglyphics and colorful art depict scenes of river barges from a distant age sailing the River Sphinx. A small wooden door stands at the east end of the hallway, while a larger door leads south. The sound of steady splashing water is audible through an open passageway to the north. One of the pillars has collapsed, and a crushed human corpse lies pinned underneath. The distinctive shape of a wayfinder peeks out from under the body’s hand.
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When Numair explains what he's found, and what each item does, Pim replies, "I hope we don't have to use those things..." He takes a look through the now-open doors, peering past Charis and Lionel and comments, "Looks like someone beat us here, but it seems like it was another Pathfinder. Let's take a closer look..."
With a nod to Lionel to lead the way, Pim moves into the room behind the tall Calistrian.
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"But you can prepare 10 arrows with one serving," Eveline comments, looking at both Pim and Charis. "I might suggest giving them to us archers then."
Since her last question got shrouded in others' talk, she gets closer to face Pim and knocks on the buckler, then lifting it slightly. "Doesn't this interfere with your marksmanship at all? Isn't the weight alone enough to pull your arm down when aiming?" she asks with a quiet, sincere voice.
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"That's not a bad idea, Eveline," Pim says, "then we could each take five of each kind of arrow, and be a bit more ready for whatever comes at us in this place."
In reply to her persistence about his buckler, Pim says simply, "If it's just sitting on my arm when I'm shooting my bow, it's not a problem, though it's not much use to protect me in that case."
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"Well it protects your hand from stray arrows, I guess. Huh, I better get one once we get back to civilization." Eveline seems more confused about the buckler than Pim's somewhat nonchalant reaction.
Then again here anyone can be tense. Dead bodies strewn around a courtyard, and a possible dead pathfinder crushed under a pillar. Just like any other day, huh.
Like the bodies outside, this unfortunate adventurer's corpse is thin, leathery skin over a dried woman's body. The wayfinder still held in her hand is broken, though not shattered. A scarab is engraved a scarab along with the words, Congratulations, Asha. -- V.L.
Beneath the pillar she wears a partially crushed backpack. A steel canister within has survived the worst of the blow and contains a scroll and an odd rock. Both detect as magical.
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Eveline gives a lukewarm smile to Pim as he is concerned of her wellbeing. "Not necessary, for me to borrow the buckler I mean. You just hold onto it." She pats Pim on the shoulder, this time realizing herself how Pim is relatively a lot shorter than she is. Eveline flinches a little, but retains her cool, at least for the time being. Hiding her fluster, she paces carefully over to the dead corpse and picks up the wayfinder, turning it in her palm, examining it further.
"Rest in peace, Asha. If you are her," she says quietly, "if opportunity arises, you'll get a proper resting place eventually."
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"Okay, Eveline," Pim replies, "but let me know if you change your mind." He stands quietly and respectfully as the halfling woman says a few kind words for the dead.
Then, looking about, Pim follows a rule that an old Pathfinder once mentioned to him, though he never knew if the man was joking or not, "Let's take the leftmost door, the one going north."
Numair has no idea. Whatever it is, though, it's bloody strong.
Pim takes the party north through an open doorway. The relaxing splash of water echoes throughout the tiled room. A large, pristine pool occupies much of the chamber, and a statue of a warrior-maiden serves as the centerpiece, endlessly pouring water from an ornate jar. A large carving on the east wall depicts a frightening man who stares at the viewer, with half his body burnt and ruined and the other half young and healthy. Three vertical arrangements of hieroglyphs are set into the carving on either side of this strange individual. A withered corpse lies in the northwest corner.
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"Hey look - there is seam in the carving; I think there might be a hidden passage behind it..."
Numair then spots something at the bottom of the pool out of the corner of his eye.
"What's that?"
Moving over to have a look at the half-elf's corpse, Numair whistles in sympathy.
"This poor sod died of starvation... Why didn't he leave? I can't see any other marks on his body...?"