If it hits, reduce damage down to 12, using the first roll from the d10 and the first roll from the d6 above.
Sharla stays back. "Slowpoke." She taunts one of the orcs. "If adventurers attack, you wake up quickly! Like my friends here, see? They can rend the flesh from your bones!"
The party moves in to attack, . Anders hits one prone orc with a devastating orc strike, after Galenus hits another with a bolt of crackling magic so fierce that bits of orc splatter across the room. Sharla insults the orc at Anders' feet, and soon it lays dead, bleeding from the ears and mouth and eyes.
Varus swings down at the final orc, hitting it in an arm, and not finishing it off.
Two dead, and the last still so shocked by the sudden assault that the party gets to go before it again. This final orc is still prone, but no longer surprised.
Galenus
Sharla
Anders, Varus (You can decide the order)
Orcs
Orc 1: -14, -2 (dead)
Orc 2: -18 (dead)
Orc 3: -3
Bonus action: switch hex to new target (It has disadvantage in strength checks)
Action: cast eldritch blast on remaining Orc
The ones lying down are tricky to hit, but still better than them standing up
Anders attempts to finish off the remaining prone Orc.
"You're dead. You have no chance against three adventurers!" Sharla says, drawing a dagger in case the orc comes near.
Galenus' shot goes over it's head, hitting the floor near the orc.
Sharla casts her mocking spell, the the orc glares hate at all of you, his eyes overly bloodshot.
Anders and Varus rear back for another strike, and the two dispatch the orc together.
With the element of surprise, killing three orcs was nearly too easy.
Galenus takes a look over the room. As soon as he spots the scripts beneath the sarcophagi, he bends down to read them aloud.
"Well, that was nice. Should we dispose of the bodies?"
I think we just close the door and keep moving.
Anders seearches the Orcs.
Brushing away the rubble that partially obscures the bottom of most of the sarcophagi, Galenus noticess a pattern.
Each one has carved below it a name, and some sort of job. "Laborer", "Mason", "Carpenter", etc. The ornate, skeletally carved one has too much stuff piled upon to for you to see the carvings beneath it, or indeed most of the sarcophagus itself. It looks like furniture from within the temple had been gutted and stacked up in front of it for some reason.
On the orcs, Anders finds an assortment of valueless trinkets, 29 GP, 24 CP, & 1 smooth, blue gem that one would assume to have value.
1 Azurite worth 10 GP
Keep going? Are we foregoing the exploration for the scales until we rid the compound of orcs? I am mighty curious to why that one sarcophagus is blocked the way it is.
I meant after searchin', Galenus.
[ooc]NP, Galenus. I did not take it that way.[/b]
Anders leaves the others to the sarcophagus and makes his way to the door on the far wall. He takes the signal horn and listens at the door.
Galenus asks Varus and Sharla to help him move the rubble away from the decorated sarcophagus. He's particularly trying to get to the inscription before they attempt to open it.
Notice how they piled stuff over this particular one? I think they were afraid of it for some reason. Maybe because it's too detailed? Or maybe they're fear the undead. We should be prepared for something when we open it. We should also fully examine the outside of it.
Question: do we also want to search the other sarcophagi? The orcs may have put things in them if we dig through. Digging through the crypt doesn't seem to bother Galenus; he's more interested in any secrets they may hold than he is in defiling the crypt or respecting the dead.
If investigation, that's an 18.
If perception, that's a 17.
A thought occurs, Galenus says as they work, We should ask Brayjo for a map of this place.
After they search this decorated sarcophagus, Galenus will start rifling through the rest of them in this room, unless someone stops him.
As they are working on the sarcophagus, Sharla says "Sooo, do you think this might be undead? Maybe I was right!"
Galenus casts detect magic and looks around the room.
Clearing the way to the ornate sarcophagus, clearing away junked, broken furniture of different sorts, you discover a folded parchment of paper.
In a shaky hand, the following is written inside:
'I know not how many there are. It seems to be a hundred. They surrounded the temple, cutting off the retreat to town. I don't think they want word to escape to Wyatt Peak just what is happening. The worst thing, is that they don't seem to be focused on killing those hiding or fleeing. Not unless they appear to be insignificant servants... Like me..
I only speak a little orcish, but it sounds like they are wanting to question the priests. The servants they kill, but the priests they TAKE. I haven't seen any of the Temple Masters since the attack began. I only hope they they have found a better place to hide within the main temple than this dusty old crypt which holds the builders of this place will serve for me. I can hear the orcs outside fighting... I know it's only a matter of time before they look for me in here. I must try to sneak out. Kelemvor help me, and any who find my final words.
-Bradleigh Smith, gardener.'
----------------
The ornate sarcophagus is carved from top to bottom elaborately in representation of a skeleton wearing the holy symbol of Kelemvor, a skeletal hand gripping a pair of scales. The robe and armor he wears seem unusual for a regular priest of Kelemvor.
At the base of the sarcophagus is a sealed drawer with a golden handle, and the words: "Adamanth Oberost, High Priest of Kelemvor and Master Architect of the Temple of Final Rests. May he bones be ever undisturbed by all but his family."
The rest of the sarcophagi appear to be easy to search. Some have such large chunks removed from them that they'd not even need to be opened further, as a head could probably poke within to see what remains.
The skeletal sarcophagus has a magical aura upon it. Protective Abjuration magics. Indeed, it is entirely unmarred despite the state of the rest of the crypt. It seems to indicate that the orcs were unable to open it, no matter how much they had to have tried, and so sealed it instead.
"That doesn't sound good."
Fret not, dear priest. It's not your religion. We can take the information back to Brayjo and ask him
The sarcophogus looks to be magically sealed, so my guess is that we're better off not opening it until we get more information.
Having decided that they can't - for the moment - discover more on the sealed sarcophogus, Galenus starts rifling through the rest of them, either by trying to move a lid open, peering through an opening (sticking a hand in before his head, in case there's anything sharp waiting for him), or moving rubble.
Within the remaining sarcophogi, you find: several rings made of precious metals, each of which is weighted to act as a coin. Gain 7 copper, 6 electrum, 1 gold "pieces"
Shall we leave the annex or take a break in here? I'm ok with pushing forward; seems no one has heard the commotion in here and we still have the element of surprise on our side.
Let's push on. We can close the door behind us and work our way down the alley to the next building, where we left off yesterday. If I'm remembering right, there was an Orc walking guard duty between the buildings. So, be ready.
Anders exits the building and works his way along the wall, silently, and peers down the alleyway and between the two buildings for any Orcs.
Sharla keeps herself slightly behind Anders.
As usual, Galenus hangs back with Varus.
Scene - Temple Cemetery, area 3
As you get closer to the end of this Alley (which is only 40 feet long), you can see that there is a large space created between two annexes (one further up still, it's shadow just visible in the fog) that run along side the larger temple structure. You can see that the "alley" opens up to allow you behind the annex, and the fence continues on as it had been, from this annex to the next, making the perimeter of the compound.
There are more graves in this area between the annex, the next, and the temple, all within the limits marked by the fence.
Features
Two doors rest, cracked open on the rear side of the annex, near the middle but separate from each other. The annex clearly is broken up into smaller areas within, and these three doors allow access to different parts of it.
Occupants
You see two orcs in the opening between the annexes.
They appear to be on watch, but not from the alleyway. Their attention mostly directed toward the far annex which is still too far for you to see.
Hack studies the two orcs, seeking the best method to do away with them without raising an alarm.
When Sharla catches up, he whispers in her ear.
Can you make yerself look like one of the Orcs from the last building? Ya know, to call them over here?
"Sure. But I can't speak orcish. They might get suspicious."
Just grunt deeply and waive them over like you are trying to be silent,and we when they come around the corner, we send them to the mud.
"O.k." Sharla moves over, gesturing to get the orcs attention after turning to look like an orc. She then walks behind the passage, and readies herself to stab the orcs. "Fight well." She whispers to Galenus.