As allies crowd the hallway, Maglin feels increasingly secure. He also feels the fresh wound at his side, and presses a hand to it.
Maglin, one hand still at his wounded side, presses past Simon. He reaches across the rotting shoulder of the friendly ghast, not wanting to touch it, and taps Cain lightly on the shoulder. Caliato destro, he says, a wave of energy passing through Maglin's hand and into Cain.
Stand in front, you probably won't get stopped.
Cain barks out a thanks as he continues to cut into the nearest enemy undead, desperate to make a bottlenecking path such that he only has to fight one at a time. His blow was accurate and powerful, he hopes it was enough to fell the monster.
The team doesn't make room in the tunnel for any more occupants, so the undead team members shift to the best defense they can manage. The enemy undead press the attack and your undead team mates do a spectacular job defending! They deflect and dodge over a dozen attacks, though they don't come out completely unscathed.
Cain chops down the Ghast before him, but it's quicly replaced by a ghoul who lunges at him! The ghoul's teeth close around Cain's arm!... but Maglin's new protections spring into place and deflect the bite!
In the webs, one of Grethle's controlled Ghouls meets its end.
Okay, time to back up again. Maglin takes hold of Dalkk firmly by the waist and attempts to drag him back up the tunnel.
Simon, please get out of the way. Thank you. Maglin says, trying to get his composure back completely.
Maglin lets go of the dwarf, feeling helpless once again, and dashes back up the tunnel.
Maglin grabs Dalkk and heaves. He just barely manages to move the dwarf a few feet. Apparently dwarves wear lead underclothes...
After dragging the dwarf a little further up the tunnel, Maglin feels a sharp stabbing from the wound at his side. He summons up his willpower to pull again, but his side throbs even more as he relaxes his grip on the dwarf. Maglin lets go, moving back up the tunnel to make room for someone else. Was it a carefully considered tactical decision, or a coward giving up?
Maglin can't be sure.
With a suddenness that practically screams MAGIC, a barely-humanoid shaped creature made entirely from rock and mud appears right in front of the doorway.
Simon seems relieved to see it though, and he waves at the creature, while pointing at Vuzi and the small place between himself and the earth elemental.
"Pull her behind you and defend this door against the undead!"
Hoping that the creature understands his intention, Simon grabs the dwarf under the shoulder and tries to move him up the stairs.
After discovering that the weight of someone is not determined by his height, he calls for strength before continuing the effort much more successful.
The stony creature stares around the scene in a very slow manner.
As he hears the voice of his caller, he turns around, noticing his hand signs. As the catling pulls back an obviously wounded friend, the Elemental turns around once again to follow the way his caller pointed.
There is another wounded, only a step away from it.
DEFEND.
DOOR.
PULL.
BACK.
The meaning of words elude it, but seeing the action of his caller, he picks up the body of the wounded and drops her behind itself.
Inside the reach of the caller.
Cain groans in frustration as the monsters just don't seem to end, his bone blade seeks out another undead monster, praying for them to just give up or die
Vuzi can't even make a noise as the earth elemental bruises her bum when it drops her.
The majority of the party retreats up the tunnel. The controlled ghoul, the elemental, and Cain are left as the rear guard. The elemental and the ghoul close ranks and the undead continue to swarm with unearthly shrieks and growling, especially coming from those still caught in the webbing. The controlled Ghoul finally succumbs and falls under the weight of the claws and bites. The undead swarm over it's newly re-dead corpse and the elemental takes hits from two sides! It won't last much longer under this kind of pressure! Vance also falls back calling, Cain! Grab her!
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With a gasp in pain he stomps off back towards the room full of assorted living, dead, undead, redead, and redead undead. He draws a grapple bolt from the quiver on his side. He rips the current bolt out, carelessly letting it fall to the ground and sticks in it's replacement. After attaching the silk rope from the reel under the over engineered crossbow to the bolt he levels it off, pointing it at the Orc in the doorway.
He takes a moment to ponder his lunacy. Another cough sprays blood onto the back of his hand. Desperate times. He rubs the back of his hand on bearded cheek.
The bolt loses.
And if it hits
The dwarf pulls back hard on the crossbow and working the crank, like pulling in a shark
With a gasp in pain he stomps off back towards the room full of assorted living, dead, undead, redead, and redead undead. He grabs at the crossbow on his leg loaded with a smoke bolt. Once around the small bend he levels it off, aiming at the floor between Vuzi's feet.
The bolt lands square between green frozen feet in the doorway and explodes in smoke, swallowing Vuzi and anyone else who may step into the doorway. He shouts so Vuzi knows which way to run.
Maglin barks out a few words in a language that sounds like a half dozen dogs barking in another room.
Get back into the hallway, stay between the one with the sword and the dead.
The arrow shootout and hooks Vuzi's backpack right at the shoulder. Dalkk tugs and takes his orc friend just a little bit further out of danger. He also tips her over prone in the process, and she lands on the grappling hook, but hey progress is progress.
Was that his caller?
Why didn't he talked in his language in the first place?
It sounds like something his caller would tell him after all...
If Cain passes into the corridor before the elemental's turn, he will follow a couple of steps up the stairs, taking the vanguard position, otherwise he will remain in his position.
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Simon's face lightens up as the dwarf starts talking again.
He starts to purr and starts to wave his hands over the deep wounds the undead inflicted on the dwarves body, missing the actions of the dwarf for the most part during his concentration on the old healing melody.
The wounds start to fade away quickly, healing the most terrible gashes over the course of a couple of seconds.
As Simons humming and purring stops, he looks up and follows the rope dangling from Dalkks super-sized crossbow-monstrosity.
His eyes widen in shock as understanding dawns on him.
"Why ...
Who would ...
You could have ...
Miii?"
The Catfolk is speechless.
It takes a second, and then Maglin begins chanting again. It's as though he's saying the endings of words you've known since childhood, but never spoken, and after some time he begins to raise both arms as though greeting an old friend with a hug.
The whole inhale and exhale process feels a lot better with a whole lot less rib in lung feeling. Dalkk groans as he pulls the stiff green one closer. He shouts back not looking "I suppose that means ye dinnae haf any whisky?"
He turns his head at the slack jawed cat. "What're ye waiting for Simmy Boy! Get that lot in order, thar not be much time left." With that he gives a hard tug.
Dalkk sighs and turns back, looking now at the ground. Under his breath he mutters "Blast. Ye dinnae have some a o' ta good do ye? Jus' a drop?"
Vuzi tips over and groans as the grappling hook digs into her back. Almost able to move. I may poison Dalkk for this. I am out of the room, but there must have been an easier way.
Marco gives a desperate swing, hoping to fonigh off or at least slow down the ghoul adjacent to him before turning tail and running to the back of the group, directly behind the others
Cain cuts down the ghast in front of him and runs like death itself is chasing him. Because it is.
The summoned elemental steps in and delays the horde just enough for him to get out, though the undead are just feet behind, literally snapping at his heels!
The party stands, the grease goes down, the second summon goes off, and the melee specialists get to work aided by the occasional bomb or healing spell from Vuzi. The horde seems to never end and the bodies quickly pile up. This nullifies the grease to a degree, but bodies aren't exactly solid footing, so the overall effect isn't changed much as the last Ghast finally goes down and leaves a perfect silence ringing in your ears.
Maglin stares cautiously into the hallway, able to see little past the large pile of bodies. He listens to the soft panting of those whose swords are now smeared with blood, not wanting to say anything to break the silence. He looks around at the others, crossbow raised and loaded but still pointed forward, rabbit now slowly disappearing again.
Wordlessly, Maglin climbs to the top of the pile of bodies, then keeps going, leaving a trail of fresh red blood behind him.
At last everyone is out of the damned room, the ally Gozreths sent him holding the tide for precious seconds allowing the group to organize and prepare themselves, before retreating to his plane.
As the horde of undead finally rushes out of the stairway, they are awaited and a battle so fierce and cruel ensues that his mind is all but consumed in a trance like state.
Slash, dodge, counter-attack, duck, slash
As the last of the dead falls after a time unmeasured he feels a faint breeze of fresh, salty air wash away the stink of the undead for a heartbeat. The thanks of the god of sea and nature for those that follow his way and put those poor creatures to their final rest.
Simon topples over landing on all fours, his weapons clatter on the ground. Every fiber of his body aches as if it is being consumed by fire, every intake of breath burns the tasked lungs and his head is spinning.
Emily, now with blood-red fur, supports him with her head, her presence helping the Catfolk to regain his composure and restoring his wits quickly.
Softly he rubs his head against hers, whispering "Thanks again, little sister-purrurr.
After some more moments he gets back on his feet, looking around the battlefield before him. With surprise he sees the elf upon the heap of undead, sunken into the bodies to his knees wading through.
What does he want down there? he wonders. Nothing but another horror-attack would bring him down those stairs in the soon future - or anytime if he can help it.
The feeling of sickness prevents him from any questioning and he produces his water bottle from the backpack, clearing his face and mouth before drinking the rest of the bottle with a succession of huge gulps. The second bottle goes to Emily before he calls forth water with one of the small tricks of his god to clean himself and the pantheress from the unholy fluids of the dead while whispering a series of thanking prayers for the assistance in the time of need. It takes him pretty long to wash of the last stains in his fur, but he feels so much better afterwards that he even starts to joke around as he finished.
"Now that was refreshing-mehmehmeh.
Putting down the dead feels good, as does living to tell the tale of it-meow.
I could do with a snack and a long rest now, how about you-iii?
But not down there, please. "
Cain looks barely conscious as his mind feels more drained than he can ever remember it being, was this what normal people felt like? Thouse without psionic power? No... couldn't. Be.... they'd go mad. He mostly needs to use the walls to prop himself up at this point ".... need.... sleep... don't care... where.... upstairs.... good..."
Vuzi leans against a wall. She has never felt more spent from a battle. All of her spells and control undead uses have been spent. "I cannot belief we surfifed dat. Vere is Vance?" She looks around at the others.
"Ve need to find a place to rest. Dis room or someplace else I do not care."
Maglin keeps his back to the party for a moment, looking down into the room they barely managed to escape. Hood up, it's impossible to tell what he's thinking. He waves a hand, and then turns around. As he walks back to the party, the grime and blood which have collected on his robes is slowly and magically cleaned off, while Maglin's usual composure returns in full.
That's three who want to sleep. I myself haven't been this tired in a long time, and would also appreciate a chance for rest. We must, however, first take a moment to investigate this room. It was hidden behind a secret door and absolutely full of undead, so it seems there's a decent chance of treasure, or maybe something else we aren't meant to find. A brief look around, and then we may follow Simon's advice and find a different place to sleep. Maglin stretches his arms out as far as they will reach, wincing as the wound on his side begins to bleed gently again. One hand goes to press his robe against the gash, the other is held in a loose fist against the small of his back. Head up, Maglin appears to rise above the surrounding carnage.
For the moment, at least, he is apparently undaunted.
The dwarf is still relieved to be able to move. More than that though, he is relieved that zombie sauce didn't ruin his tobacco. The stress on his face stays fixed until he brings that thick foul thing to his lips. With a deep inhale he internalizes this battle, and the sigh escorts the smoke and strained look from his body. He opens his eyes refreshed and lets his crossbow hand from the sling. While the wizard wanders off alone he shakes his head.
A reposition of the cigar takes place before gripping his new handaxe found in the room prior but feels like an eternity ago. He starts walking about the bodies lifting their heads and giving a hard whack through the back. The process is messy, but doesn't end til every shoulder is no longer burdened. The skulls are tossed aside in a pile.
The heavy dwarf makes his way down the hallway and collects the arrow from before. He enters the chamber of undeath and starts kick around the wood debris.
When he returns and hears the discussion of sleep he chimes in, probably before someone else was done talking. That's another for sleep. At least time to work if fer nothin' else. If'n it be a vote, I'd rather sleep down in the recently evicted nest o' dead then anywhere near tha' rat faced b@@!& and her bag o' tricks."
He ashes his cigar, short stocky fingers tapping one end. "I want me full strength to make dis place pay tomorrow. Oh and Greenie... When yer done with it...” To the uninitiated this pause may sound like concern, but the initiated would know better, and understand tye Dwarf's addiction as the cigar comes to his lips. Orange ember throws a dull light over grimey cheeks. "...I'll be having me arrow back."
Dalkk starts searching. Scattered about the opened crypts are 2,301 gp, 4,204 sp,
2,910 cp, all manner of common weapons and armor, including several suits of chainmail, a breastplate, a full suit of dwarf-sized half-plate. He's certain that there could be more if everyone combed the room.
Vuzi stands up with a groan, and starts searching the room for treasure. Dat is the point after all. Find de treasures. She casts detect magice and starts scanning.
Marco groans as others insist on looking about, but looks around to help he also manifests detect psionics
Dalkk starts hauling the bags of gold silver and copper, pleased with the empty sacks he brought with him. As he passes by various party members going back and forth between the room of death and L'nshpad he explains to each some variety of the following.
"Thar be treasure o' coin plenty in there,
no way I found it all, go take a look. T'nigh ye should think aboot how we wish to divide it. Easy enough to wait to sell statues but some may want coin up front. We can discuss it in the morn but something to think on now.
May be best if we burn it all and dig through the ash. I dinnae wan any more surprises from that room. Leave the armor for now until Mags can study it. Could probably wait til mornin too."
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Simon notes the bloody activity of the dwarf with disgust but also with interest. That's probably what one has to do to make sure those things don't stand up again.
"Burning them down here could prove dangerous-groar.
The smoke may kill us.
That would be a bad way to end the fight against them - dying while burning their bodies-mehmehmeh.
We may drag the bodies to the big hall and pile them there-iii?"
As the talking approaches the topic of rest, Simon shakes his head violently.
"If you want to sleep in that unholy place, I can't stop you, but I'll stay away from it until I have to enter it in the greatest danger-meow!
I'll sleep up here, putting up some of my traps and watch the door from this side.
Way to easy to close it shut from this side."
Following Dulkk after a moments thought down the room for a quick glance around before rapidly leaving again after pointing out anything he may be able to spot. He really does not want to stay down there for long, but a quick look-around (at least to make sure no more surprises await them) is on his agenda as well.
Here, it looks like you might have missed a spot, Maglin says, offering Dalkk a hand in the search. His small rabbit appears once again at his left shoulder, and he picks it up and puts it down. It hops about, offering a perspective much closer to the floor.
Maglin piles the armor up by the doorway, ready to take a closer look at it in a moment.
After their initial search is done and most of the treasure is safely put away, Maglin takes a position in the room and addresses the others. I suggest a much more thorough search, we wouldn't want to overlook anything. Cain can take the lead, and if the rest of us offer a hand, I suspect no stone will go unturned.
This will, however, take a while, perhaps we ought to try to bar the door beforehand, so as to ensure we're safe? Maglin climbs back up into the tunnel, taking a look at the door.
With the help of detect magic and its kin you come out with a tremendous haul consisting of two masterwork steel shields (one heavy and one light), a masterwork heavy mace, 18 +1 arrows, a +1 keen dagger, a +1 keen throwing axe, a masterwork short sword, a masterwork morningstar, a silver dagger, a composite short bow (+1 Str), and a +2 warhammer and three potions: 2 potions of cure light wounds and a potion of remove disease
The door opens outward and would be very restrictive to airflow if not airtight as its made to fit tightly into the wall. It can be owned with cleverly hidden handles. It is stone (4 in. thick; hardness 8;
hp 60; Break DC 28; Perception DC 25 when closed appropriately).
Cain takes the potions
Did you have a plan for those potions, Cain? Maglin looks up at Cain, still sorting through the magical weapons.
"t's the only gear I can really use in this pile, and I have a feeling you want the guy standing between you and all manner of deadly creatures to be as healthy as possible"
"Let 'im have it Magsi," The dwarfs head doesn't lift while he takes inventory on a bit of parchment "We'd just end up handing some o' wha we make t'im tomorrow anyway. O'course, there be that one for disease. Someone's who's hands are usually free should hold that. Prolly best in the hands of Greenie or the yourself Mags." The dwarf chuckles and finally looks up for a moment and turns to Cain. "Unless ye fancy turning your back to 'all manner o' deadly creatures' just to hand a potion to someone who got infected."
He reaches down into the pile and takes the silver dagger and works his way over to the pair. Dalkk points at Cain's arm. "How do those fair against those that only fall to silver? If they can't do the same ye should take this too just in case. If ye not be needin' it then I think it best is Simon's paw unless there someone else who think they'll get more use with it."