Mahb suddenly croaks out. "The girl's throat was cut after her death, the blood splatter shows the blood was dead when it oozed out."
Pyewacket, meanwhile, begins hopping back and forth in the corner of the room, pecking at what looks like a piece of cloth wedged under what should be a solid stone wall, but obviously isn't. It looks like it's soaked in blood.
Elijah, while eyeing the bird, tries pushing on the wall near the fabric, to see if it moves.
Elijah begins to tug and push on the wall, trying to figure out what is going on with it. Not being in the cave earlier, he had no knowledge of how the wall at the entrance worked. But suddenly his hand feels a piece of loose stone, and when he pushes on it, the wall suddenly swings up and back, revealing another passage.
As the wall swings up, the sounds of murmering in a language nobody understands come drifting into the room. Followed almost immediately by the sounds of a bell being rang hard by a zombie raven slamming it's head into it.
It sounds like the sort of chanting that's used in a ritual.
Elijah, annoyed already by the zombie raven, pulls out his greataxe and takes a swing at that raven. Determined to take out his annoyance, amongst other emotions on that raven.
As Elijah steps forward to attack the Raven, he see's to the south, a tight corridor leading to a large lit room, that looks like it has some sort of alter in it. A small cloaked figure is holding it's hands up and chanting at the alter.
???? is already doing something, so everyone can go. I only put the init in so I'd have it later to reply to and not forget it.
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Elijah glared daggers at that Bird. 'You. Will. Die.' He shifted his grip and swung his axe at it again.
Lineera pushes ahead into the cave with barely a moments pause when she hears the alarm being sounded. And once more she calls upon the help of the gods in this fight.
Having not received any orders so far, Munchkin Junior tottles after Lineera without a sound.
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Feeling they may finally be close to uncover the truth behind everything that's happened, Elena pulls herself together and follows behind her companions.
Mahb moves up closer, coughing up bloody spittle. "I ain't much good, half dead most of the time, walking dead right now. But I got a few tricks up my sleeve if I can get my eyes on anything." She casually reaches out and touches Elena, whispering an incantation.
Order : Everyone, then Mahb.
Elena turns toward Mahb, and looks at her slack-jawed, like she can't believe what she's seeing. "Mahb, I'm so sorry! I was so... I-I didn't realize you were still injured! Here, let me help."
After a moment of concentration, Elena releases a familiar pulse of healing energy.
As Elena moves forward, she sees.... something, she's not sure what, just a glimpse, moving inside the chamber ahead. It's big, but the angle she has is only letting her see tiny bits of motion. Disturbing motion.
And Munchkin Jr. will probably be much better in hand with Lineera actually around to keep the reins on him, and worst case scenario sickles are good for taking down the little buggers, so Lineera will take care of him first hand if need be.
Lineera keeps up her forward movement, keeping Munchkin behind her in hopes of loosing him upon their foes unexpectedly. Hoping the press of single file, larger creatures will conceal him until the time is right.
Something large and with way too many limbs suddenly charges the opening. It can't fit fully down the tunnel, but one long tentacle snakes it's way down the tunnel and swishes at Lineera.
The nasty looking greasy tentacle misses Lineera. The thing's mishappen face roars down the tunnel in frustration, one mouth where it was expected, and a second opening up from side to side around the first, half it's face opening up as if to rip the flesh from bones.
The despoiled and mishappen face looks disturbingly familiar.
The despoiled and mishappen face looks disturbingly familiar. It looks disturbingly like the Tax Collector!
Elijah's eyes narrowed, he tried to steal himself but this messed with him. He didn't like it. Forget the stupid bird. He was not going to let that... that THING get to the others. Eva had gone down on his watch, he was not going to let another do the same.
As Elijah does his double move, the thing's tentacle whips sideways.
However, it misses the lumberjack by a mile.
Mahb moves up closer. "Thank's Girl", and looks down the corridor. "Blast it, another undead, they don't fall for my tricks."
Order : Everyone except Lineera, Abomination, Lineera.
The priestess continues to chant.
Elena up next (I'll DMPC Elijah and Mahb, wish she'd get back).
There is a sound beginning to come from the altar, like a crackling of fire or of bark breaking or insects being stepped on.
Elena's heart almost skips a beat when she gets a glimpse of the hulking undead monstrosity - "Get away from it! It's too dangerous!" - she shouts to her companions, afraid of what the undead horror could unleash upon them.
Thinking quickly, Elena swiftly kneels and drops her spear to the ground, then takes her longbow from her shoulder, nocks an arrow, and takes aim.
"GET DOWN!" - a moment later, a light *twanng* is heard as an arrow propels through the air, directed straight at the abomination's eyes.
The creature roars in anger as the arrow digs deep into it's body and rips through it's tendons and damages it. It doesn't look like much damage, but it is some.
Elijah moves forward, Charging the creature.
The lumberjack confirms a critical hit with the great axe as he swings it as hard as he can with both hands in the small confined space.
Elijah's great axe slices sideways into the monstrosity, biting deep, shredding flesh and shattering bone. The creature flails and then falls over, splattering the floor with rotten internal organs and slime as it lays on the floor twitching and dripping.
Mahb casts Guidance on Elena again.
The priestess see's her bodyguard die, and climbs up on the altar with the disturbing black statue that seems to have energy burning up from it (a sickly black and red energy).
As she makes the top of the altar, she places one hand on the small statue. The small statue seems to be a duplicate of the larger gray statue in the corner. The statue is of a creature in a wide brimmed hat, with a long nose and robes hiding it's features.
Lineera, seeing that the beast was slain, moves forward into the room. With Munchkin in tow, ss spreading out in am effort to make the rescue team less of a target.
As Lineera enters the room with the small chanting figure raises a finger, and points to her. Diving to the side, Lineera makes it over the remains of the twitching abomination. But the finger doesn't follow her, it points at the small undead kobold following her. Black energy erupts from statue on the altar, and flashes out to the kobold. The red and black energy pulses over it's skin, racing around, and flows into it's mouth. It's skin begins to crack, showing red light, and then it explodes, sending shards of black energy limned in red light and jagged bits of flesh and bone out in a 10 ft circle.
Elijah grunts in pain as bits of jagged black and red limned flesh tear into his body, but he remains standing, barely.
Order : Everyone but the Priestess, then the Priestess
Mahb moves into the room in a double move. "Well now, she looks like she's got a pulse." The old woman cackles.
"Quickly! Now that she's vulnerable, we've got to stop her!" - Elena tries to encourage the others.
Picking up her spear from the cold floor, she jumps forward to reach her friends, eager to make this new enemy pay for all that they've been through.
Lineera falls too the floor with a cry of agony, and falls silent.
The priestess watches Lineera go down, and for a second, continues the chanting as the energy on the altar continues to raise, but then she looks around the altar, to the 3 people staring at her, and then she stops chanting. "It is possible I would win, it is even probable. But fighting you would end the ritual, and I would need to start over anyway. Also, you have made it this far, and I cannot chance loosing what is in my care, not at this time." The woman's voice is muffled behind the mask, in addition to being high pitched and having a strange accent. "Bask in your victory, fools. For it shall turn to ash on your tongues, and far faster than you think." She leans against the statue on the altar, caressing it and hugging it from behind. She kisses it's cheek through her cloth mask, and the statue's eyes glow.
Then something odd happens. She suddenly loses her definition. As if she were no longer there, and instead had been replaced with a very realistic painting, both her and the statue. Flat as ice on a still pond. And then her visage turns sideways, and as it does, it's like a piece of paper turning, all width and no depth. Until there's only a black line.
Then even the black line vanishes as the two ends of the line move up and down to meet in the middle with a little puff of oily smoke.
For a few moments, the energy in the altar strains, as if trying to continue whatever it was in the process of doing, but then it collapses, and the giant statue shatters into dust, it's visage gone.
Elijah, panting, curses under his breath, and gingerly picks his way over the remains, looking around the room.
The altar is raised, and on either end there are what look suspiciously like small coffins. Elijah looks somber. "I do not like this." He says aloud, slowly working his way around the altar, unsure what is safe to touch.
Mahb moves toward Lineera, kneeling down with a grunt of protestation. "I'm too old for this..." She mutters, although she seems more upset the priestess disappeared before she could hex the woman.
"The girl will live, she's only unconscious." The old woman says with a grumpily relieved tone.
Pyewacket flies into the room, having spent a few minutes killing the crow zombie, puffing up his chest feathers for being a big warrior now.
He suddenly drops down near the stone wall behind the altar, and begins cawing at the top of his lungs!
"What the... No... NO, we can't let her get away!" - Elena yells as the priestess starts to vanish, but before she could move two steps, nothing more remains on the altar.
"We must... We need to, we... DAMN IT!" - she curses loudly, throwing her hands in the air. After taking a moment to collect herself, and trying her best to keep calm and lucid despite the anger and frustration growing inside her, she makes her way to Lineera's side.
'At least I can help her... Eva... I'm so sorry...'
Gently touching the drow with her hand, Elena focuses her power in a divine healing wave.
BTW: Everyone please keep updating the map with your locations until you leave it, there may be a few traps here and there left behind. :)
Woozily getting back to her feet shakily. A short "Thanks..." Is all Lineera manages to muster before shakily looking around for Munchkin. Seeing the splatter of her former minion, she however, does not seem that distraught. Then turns her attention to the cawing crow, reaches it by following the small blood trail, and peers behind the stone wall of the altar.
Pyewacket is standing on a blood soaked Eva, cawing heavily.
Mahb watches the formerly dead drow hop up and begin running around with the energy Mahb hasn't had in 30 years. "Blasted children..." She mutters under her breath, starting to force herself up to see what Pyewacket found. But then she just sits there, tired, and instead casts Detect Magic and begins scanning the room.
"The altar is glowing with massive amounts of Necromantic energy, but it's fading, and I mean fast, it'll be gone in a minute or so. Those two... coffins... they have a lot of necromantic energy on them..."
Elijah, grim faced, puts away his axe, and moves to a coffin, gingerly touching it before grunting with the effort to move the lid.
.
"Eva!" With this cry, Lineera hastens her steps and practically hurls her backpack to her feet. Quickly, and without another word, the Drow sets to work, checking to see if there's still life within the gnome.
For a moment, Lineera is afraid there is no life left in the small gnome.
But then she finds a faint pulse. The gnomes chest barely moves, and the pulse is thready, but it's there.