The left door opens onto an empty hall that comes to a "T".
The right contains a secret door, spotted rather handily by Dalkk. The left stretches out for several hundred feet before turning left again.
Dalkk keeps his crossbow handy while moving at the rear of the party. As they make the first turn he looks casually to the right, and then does a double take. He calls out "Door."
After gathering the attention of his party members he points out the outline "Thar be a door here to the right. I really dinnae want to rehash the left door conversation, but I'd be worried aboot anyone or thing coming out from there and getting behind us. Simon could ye give the door a look, and perhaps Vuzi's friend would open it for as, as he is the only one without a weapon."
After the last line he delivers the most painfully obvious wink to anyone who was looking.
Simon has already passed the hidden door als Dullk spots it and has to walk
some steps back to the group to start his work, completly missing the wink.
"You really have a knack to spot such things Mister Dwarf-meow!"
With careful, soft paws he caress the hidden door, using a tiny hammer to knock
against the wall, searching for the outlines and any possible opening
mechanism.
The door turns out to be unlocked and swings open when pulled. As the secret door opens, you smell yet another horrible stench, as if it were a hot summer day following a battle. Chattering can be heard from down the corridor and see bits of bone and flesh litter the way.
The party slowly and carefully makes their way down the rough hewn passage beyond. After several dozen yards you come to a star-shaped room that has a pentagram inscribed within a hexagon in the center of the room. It isn't until you near the center of the room that you can see into each of the points of the star. There are numerous wooden coffins in each point, some broken. Dozens of hunched humanoids move in flickering torchlight.
You have just enough time to register the danger before they all surge at you, screeching for your flesh!
The idea is, if we think they're trying to throw us off, they might be trying to make us think that. In which case it would in fact be best to change our plans. They might, however, want us to think that, in which case it would be best to leave them the same. A semi-random decision is often a good idea in these circumstances, unless you can get some other information. That's especially the case if whatever is trying to influence our behavior is observing us, which is entirely possible. Maglin seems interested in comprehension but also ready to move on.
Maglin, observing Dalkk with the same steady gaze he turns towards whoever is speaking, watches him wink. He doesn't seem to react at all, for a moment, and then becomes uncomfortable.
Yes, Thulian should lead the way, if a monster is behind that door and tries to grapple him his ability to fight even without a weapon will be helpful. Immediately after Thulian passes Maglin, he raises a finger to his lips, holding it vertically slightly in front of them so that it's just touching the tip of his nose. He opens his eyes wide and stares at Dalkk, shaking his finger ever so slightly to draw attention to it. This is all done in complete silence.
Maglin backpedals as the monsters move forwards, one hand going up, the other holding it by the wrist, his rabbit springing out from his left shoulder once again. In the torchlight, in the ever so brief split second it takes Maglin to decide what to do, he tries to get a good look at the creatures.
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As Simon enters one of his tools into the fine slid, still searching for the locking mechanism,
he suddenly pulls it back out. He turns around to look at the group, a wide grin on his face.
"Did you try to ... simply open it? Ta-Ta-Meow!"
... and the door slides open. It was unlocked all the time! Then his grin vanishes as quick as it had
appeared.
One second later you recognize why ... it stinks horribly. Even more so than before if that is even possible!
As the group decides to go down nevertheless, he follows, taking second-place again.
After the entered the actual room, you notice that his tail starts to slap around in earnest - quickly to
spread over to Emily as well. "Something is not ri" Thats as far as he gets, before the undead are
rushing towards the group.
"Stay together! Magsi", this is the first time Simon uses Dalkks name for the elf,
"Vuzi. Get between us, so we can protect you from harm-frchrch!"
He will unleash a storm of blades at the Ghoul that dared to close with him and Emily at the same time.
Emily follows suit, throwing scratches and bites at those vile creatures that threatens her and Simon.
(possible +2 if stone work is unusual)
Vuzi makes sure she's in the center of the group, and then she casts Command Undead. Any she controls she commands to attack the other ghouls.
Vuzi thusly commands two of the ghouls to her side.
Dalkk knows he can collapse this place, but he just doesn't have the resources at hand to make the kind of bang he'd need.
Simon and Emily get to work and shread two of the ghouls before they get the chance to attack!
Both of Vuzi's commandeered monsters successfully attack their comrades!
No further! Maglin shouts, jumping back from the ghouls near him. He reaches out with one hand, the other joining it from his spell pouch. Fire in northwest corner's good, he says rapidly, Ulra do hom! He cries, hands spreading out. As they do, a thick web of tough and sticky strands erupts in the west corner of the room.
As the spell takes hold, Maglin glances down at the ghouls now rapidly closing in with him. He snaps his fingers and disappears, reappearing a moment later on the other side of Dalkk.
I simplified the huge image into just the affected area. It is covered by two black rectangles.
Three ghouls fall prey to the webs.
Because you are travelling with a Ghast companion, I rule that you have all saved against their stench within the last 24 hours and are all therefore immune. You're welcome. :)
Vuzi takes this damamge from a ghoul bite. She must make two DC 15 fort saves. The first is vs disease and is not immiately of consequence. The second, if failed, means she is paralyzed for 1d4+1 rounds.
Simon is hit four times by one bite and three claws. None of the three critical threats against him confirm.
He takes 18 damage and must save a total of five times, all forts DC 15. The first three are vs paralysis. Thankfully, I don't think the paralysis effects stack as they are from the same source, so if you fail only the greatest of the instances of 1d4+1 rounds will apply. The last save is vs disease which is also not immediately relevant.
Dalkk takes two hits and must save twice, both times vs paralasys at DC 15 for be paralyzed for 1d4+1 rounds.
The party has just seconds before the tidal wave of death incarnate crashes into the front liners. Vance and Dalkk take the hit from the south. Vance proves that undeath can make a fighter out of anyone and takes a scratch while holding the southwest. Dalkk takes a couple hits as well, but the dwarf takes only glancing damage even as he feels his bones start to lock up.
In the west, a ghoul and a ghast slip through Maglin's web and rush south. The ghast's stench isn't much more than more of the same since you've started traveling with the thing. Vuzi takes a bad bite on her arm as they exploit the crack in your defenses.
The north stays away for now thanks to Vuzi's controlled goul. The pair of ghasts up there make short work of it, however, and the distraction is soon removed.
The north east, however, is not so nice. Simon does his best and, in spite of Vuzi's other ghoul distracting several of your foes, he seems to be very on his heels and the ghouls press the attack. Blood spatters as Simon is clawed and bitten several times!
Rolling fort saves before posting turn
Damn, so no actions this turn?
No worries on AC. My boosted AC is 25,
but my boosted Flat Footed is 18. If that means I take more hits or need to make additional saves please let me know
Cain slices his bone sword into the closest monster
And does a number on the one just west of Vuzi, but it still stands.
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Dalkk looks around the room, looking for a weakness. Sure enough the room could be destroyed if he had been better prepared. A swarm of attacks break his thoughts. Agile and armored the dwarf knocks most of the attacks aside. He knows the danger of being touched by any of these creatures. He reaches for a silver vile on his side, but his arm stops short. He commands it to move. Still nothing. The dwarves eyes widen when he looks down his arm. His eyes freeze in place with mouth agape in shock, barely getting out the first syllable of a curse. There is a bloodied scratch on his arm. He did not feel it but it hit all the same, and now arm, shocked expression, and the rest of his body freeze in place.
As doom sets in his empty eyes his thoughts fall back to his mother, back when he was a child, back long before his exile, when the world was safe, and he had family, and people who understood him. He would give anything to be with her now, even to hear her scold him for what he just did. How many times had she told him not to make funny faces, or else it could get stuck that way.
Simon is hard pressed indeed, and despite his incredibly nimble dodges and parries, he is hit again and again and again from those three undead that siege him.
He feels that sickening, sleepy feeling rising up from the bites and claws, threatening to overwhelm him. With as much a force of will as the strength of his body, he can power through regardless.
If he falls now, there would be no rise - that much is obvious!
But even after fighting off the I'll effects of those creature's touch, his body is still wrecked with pain and his white fur is spattered with his own blood. Looking up and around, there is no respite in few. Dulkk seems to have succumbed to that foul effect and no end of their enemies in sight, Simons heart feels heavy.
Is this the end of the journey already, Gozreth?
No more help, down here, fighting the foul undead you sent me to destroy?
"There's too many of them-frchroar!"
Im min di'ngurthos, Maglin cries, hands helplessly lifted into the air, A tiro nin, Fanuilos! But his wailing is drowned out in the screeching clamour, the ghouls pressing ever forward.
Vizi tries to control the undead again. "Dis looks very bad. Ve should run if ve can." She pulls out a potion and holds it out to Simon.
Vuzi controls another ghoul. Fortunately, is one of the ones blocking your retreat!
Im úi gen thîr chín, Maglin whispers, left hand beginning to glow. He raises it, now spitting out words, ulra do hom, hands coming up once again and spreading out. This time, it seems as though the light on his left hand grows rapidly as he casts the spell until it is bright enough to cast a shadow behind each ghoul, and then, suddenly, it fades. And as it does, another set of webs materializes, spreading rapidly and seeming to seek out the ghouls, attempting to wrap around them. Simon finds, to his great dismay, that white, sticky fibres reach out for him as well!
And then Maglin runs.
Casting web. DC 17. Targeting here.
Not sure which ghoul Vuzi's controlling, but I should be able to run through its space and escape regardless. If it's the ghoul just south of Dalkk, I take an additional AoO. I'm running so that Simon can escape as well.
<< AC 15 vs this attack
<< AC 17 vs this attack
<< AC 17 vs this attack
With a backflip, Simon propels himself out of the way of the expanding net. He lands on all four, looking over the mess of the chaotic battle.
The elf is already running for the only exit.
Probably the best...
He whistles two quick signals through his teeth: the long trained command for Emily to break off and flee.
"Drag the bearded-one with you if you can!"
Hearing the double-whistle, long trained reflexes kick in and the black pantheress turns around and rush for the exit.
It would have been her natural instinct to do so since the first moment she had laid eyes on those abominations, but her loyalty to the upright one had led her stand her ground.
He said something after the whistle, but it did not reach her ears - her mind too focused on the escape through the thick of the fighting.
Seeing Emily making a dash for the exit wothout stopping at Dalkks side, Simon hesitates for a moment.
Should he really just leave the crazy-but-friendly dwarf helpless down here ...?
But then again, what help would he be if he stayed to fight.
He would die within seconds.
Better to back off and come back after calling some healing power from nature itself...
Using the momentum of his backflip to roll out of harms reach, he turns to run, just as Vuzi hands him a small potion containing red liquid.
Slightly surprised but thankful as well, he grabs it, before continuing his run - careful to dodge around any swings the ghouls he passes might throw at him.
All the ghouls become entangled in Maglin's sticky spell. The Ghasts.. not so much.
In his mad dash to escape, Maglin takes a hit. Razor sharp claws rip through his robe and into his side! He feels his muscles lock up immediately!
Simon and Emily rush past the struggling wizard and into the putrid hall! The ghouls seem too interested in the tasty mage to pay attention to a pair of running cats.
Cain sees his fellows run and bolts after them [ooc]withdrawing[/IOC]
Vance falls back near Vuzi and covers her while the party withdraws. The ghouls and ghasts in the north all become entangled in the thick webbing and are held fast. The south, on the other hand, surges forward and attempts to overwhelm it's prey. Vance stands his ground in an impressive display and, after an abysmal miss, the ghast promptly savages two of the ghouls threatening Dalkk! The last Ghoul remaining goes for Dalkk's throat! Vuzi's controlled ghoul takes the open shot...
and misses by inches! Fangs sink into Dalkk's squishy beard support apparatus!
The controlled ghouls do their best to guard the party's escape and the southern one almost takes out one of its fellows in a savage attack meant to knock the ghoul off Dalkk's throat and succeeds, but not before significant damage is done.
Cain falls back as well and Vuzi comes under fire from several directions. While she isn't flanked, she is in a bad way.
Simon hands the small vial from Vuzi to Maglin.
"Here, take this. I'll heal my wounds in my way-meow.
Then we have to go back down there and get the others out as well.
I will not leave them to die-groar."
Simon closes his eyes and breathes deeply for a moments before singing an old song of healing while caressing the deep wounds the undead inflicted.
Dalkk hears the rush of footsteps behind him. The first light and practiced, the next a flurry that sounds more like paws. Out of the corner of his eyes he can see flashes of robe and fur. If his mouth wasn't stuck agape his lips would curl into a smile knowing his at least some of his party is safe. Next the heavier steps of Cain Marco Cain, keep them safe. Dalkk waits desperately to hear Vuzi make it out the door. He never did get to explain the confusion that he caused.
Aaargh! The dwarf was lost in thought and trying to see who was safe that he wasn't paying attention to the undead rotting corpse trying to rip his throat out.
That be alright, ye eat yer fill ye unholy abomination, I dinnae mind it. E'ry bit ye take of me is one less ye'll get from ta others. Keep biting ye bastard, and dinnae pay no mind to the door. Say now... Ye wouldnae ha' a smoke would he?
As blood trickles through yellow'd and rotted teeth all the dwarf can do is make empty threats against the ghoul for executing a man without the courtesy of a blindfold or last taste of tobacco.
Maglin ducks the claws of one ghoul, exploding forward to try to make it past the next one unscathed. But Maglin is no warrior, and while he has a great understanding of distance, he doesn't have the experience to be able to tell how far away from the ghoul is safe. It latches on and tears a gash in his side, causing him to gasp and stumble in pain. And then he's in the hallway again, the ghouls left behind. The secret door and safety are just ahead, if he can get out that door he won't have to look at another ghoul for the rest of his life. He can flee, slip past the gargoyles with magic and cunning, and return back home to a comfy chair by the fire.
No. He would wear his new scar with pride. Maglin's heels dig into the ground, and he turns suddenly, a flask of chemicals already in his right hand. The bomb is mixed and ready within seconds, the throw even and measured. Flames burst forth from the ground, rolling out in every direction, scorching the undead flesh in their path.
Take a step back, Simon. Make some room for Vuzi.
Vuzi manages to fight off most of the effects of the attacks, and then she starts to stiffen as the last attack takes effect. Everyone get out of here. She wants to yell but cannot speak.
After the mad escape, Emily turns around to look over those that followed with her big, yellow eyes.
Her gaze wanders down the tunnel, searching for the others, but with no success at all.
Her tail sinks low and she emits a low meowii mjoo noise that sounds ... asking ... and sad.
The horde begins to snap the sticky bonds in the north and they come staggering out of the webs like the most nightmarish spiders in history.
Thulian grabs Vuzi by the collar and drags her toward the door, miraculously deflecting several swiping claws along the way. He drags her to about 15 feet from safety before taking a nasty hit from a Ghast coming up from the south west. The controlled ghoul, seeing what his mistress clearly desired, grabs Dalkk and looks to the door, but a ghoul blocks the way. He locks eyes with Cain and Cain witnesses a rare sight: a ghoul with pleading eyes. Meanwhile, Dalkk takes another hit from a pursuing ghoul and Vuzi's armor absorbs several more strikes. Then Maglin's bomb goes off and gives Cain the opening he may need to strike the obstructing ghoul down.
Cain slashes at the ghoul blocking the way and slashes with his bone sword, desperately swinging to try to clear the way
Also if this is not the end of combat I believe vuzi needs to roll 1d4+1 to determine rounds paralyzed. A good roll here could mean she bounces back the same time as Dalkk and get back in the fight
Cain moves just as the Ghoul starts to drag. They seamlessly trade places almost, and Cain takes up one of the rearguard positions.
The tunnel out is getting crowded now.
Seeing that Vuzi and Dalkk may get dragged to safety by the controlled undead (a thing he is still highly skeptical about, but it seems to be a very helpful ability down here if nothing else), he starts a to chant an old hymn of summoning.
He stomps the ground with his paws like an oversized drum, humming like a swarm of angry bees and draws archaic symbols into the air.
After the process is well under way, you might notice a faint tremor running through the ground below your feet ....
Her natural distress at such close confines causes the black feline to retreat further up the stairs.