That being said, we really could use a Cleric. I might consider taking Jules in as one, but I'm already considering Fighter (stacks on stacks of stat buff b/c Myrmidarch, baby).
The melody of pipes terrified Jules to the bone; awash in a dirge, he ran forwards 25 feet, and sheathed his kukri.
"Beriadanwen, my friend; it has come time to deliver justice upon them."
Roll attack. Free action drop kukri Move to draw bow. Standard to attack.
The skeleton that was attacking Steef suddenly stops. It begins slowly walking towards Cassiel, seemingly drawn to him.
Ignoring Steef, it begins to move...and Steef makes it pay for ignoring him. His fist slams into the skeleton's ribcage, snapping its spinal column in two and dropping it to the ground, inanimate.
The skeleton rakes Jules hard as he moves, slashing open his shirt from behind and leaving bleeding lines from the back of his neck to his hip.
Jules' skeleton moves in on Cassiel, but manages to miss him.
Ezekiel smashes another skeleton into powder.
Skeleton
Jules
Shoukichi (Unconscious, bleeding out)
Skeleton
Steef
Ezekiel
Cassiel (Paralyzed)
Ezekiel steps up to the next skeleton and obliterates it.
Steef moves towards the skeleton menacing Cassiel and punches it in the head as hard as he can. "Step away from the elf, ugly!"
Steef knocks the skeleton on the noggin, but doesn't quite drop it.
Cassiel struggles to break free of the paralysis.
But fails.
Shoukichi's skeleton ignore him once he drops and moves in after Ezekiel.
But it just barely misses him.
I guess I'll have to Cube, I tried. Expect a full out funeral service by Jules if you don't survive.
Tears well up in the eyes of Jules; the one man he trusted enough to share his fear with, the man who promised to guard his life, his only real friend, and a man who he admired was dying in front of him. And he couldn't do anything to stop it.
Bursting into sobs, Jules cries out to the paralyzed wizard. "If you can hear me . . . Please, don't die! I-I'll never forgive you if you do! Fight whatever is attacking you!"
Taking a 5 ft. step forward, he pulls out his Kukri and anticipates to charge.
The skeleton moves in on Cassiel, reaching out its clawed hands and wrapping them around the oblivious wizard's neck.
It begins to squeeze, supernaturally hard, crushing the windpipe of the poor sap whose only mistake was not having an iron will.
Steef tries to swat it off of him, but to no avail, his punch glancing off the thing's jaw without it even noticing.
Cassiel gasps reflexively, trying to draw breath, but still unable to move or even see what's happening to him.
The last thing you see before you slip into the darkness of death is the ghost turning away from you and going to seek a new victim...
Cassiel lets loose a shuddering gasp, and is no more.
Skeleton
Jules
Shoukichi (Unconscious, stabilized)
Skeleton
Steef
Ezekiel
Cassiel (Dead)
Steef's eyes widen in shock. "CASSIEL! NO!" Snarling in fury, he takes a step back and brings his bow to bear on the skeleton.
Ezekiel smashes another skeleton.
Jules cowers in the corner.
The skeleton next to Steef lashes out with wicked claws.
But can't lay a finger on the nimble, and quite angry, Monk.
Steef feels a mental intrusion stiffening his limbs, but manages to shrug it off. Nevertheless, he is spooked by the experience, and Ezekiel remains afraid as well.
Steef punches the skeleton, and ends its rampage.
The group is left to pick up the pieces, one of their number knocked out cold, another dead, and a third too cowardly to act.
They've been given a taste of their own mortality, and been taught the folly of believing they could conquer Harrowstone so easily.
The silver lining to this black cloud is that each of them feels as though they've gained something, been forged in the fires of this combat.
The flute music continues, taking on a mocking edge.
Steef breathes heavily as he stands over the skeletons and the body of Cassiel. "We need to get out of here. Now."
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The procession is somber, as the group makes their way back to town. Their former cockiness, gone, taken by the death of their friend and near death of another.
Steef carries Shoukichi as best he can to the local temple, where he promptly falls over, utterly exhausted from the fight and the wounds he sustained.
"Lady preserve me..." Grimburrow says as you collapse on his doorstep.
He starts checking on Shoukichi, making sure he's still alive.
"What have you fools gotten yourselves into now?"
"Skeletons...in Harrowstone...nearly killed us. They got Cass..."
He sighs wearily and looks sadly at you.
"I thought you knew to be wary at least if you were going to be traipsing around that place. I've no doubt that haunting or no it's filled to the brim with all sorts of undead horrors. I'm sorry to hear about your friend. Bring him inside and we can prepare him for a good burial, at least."
He gestures for you to huddle closer and places his hand on Pharasma's whorl.
A burst of light surges forth from the old man's body, soothing your aches and healing your injuries.
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Steef experimentally flexes his arms, noting that the pain had gone away completely. "Huh. Thanks, Father. Needed that."
Looking down at Cassiel's body, he sighs. "Cass...I'm sorry it ended this way. You were a good man, at least in the short time I knew ye. It was good to have someone close to my age too, y'know? Feel like I'm the old crotchety grandpa of the group here now."
Looking up at the group, he continues with tears in his eyes. "He lived a pretty long life, even for an elf. So maybe the last few moments were kind of s$%~, but I'm willin' to bet the majority of it wasn't. So he had that goin' for him. And..."he pauses and takes a shaky breath. "And he didn't smell all that bad either. Hope wherever he is, he's happy."
Grimburrow waves and some acolytes come in from inside the temple.
"Azrin, take this man's body and prepare it for funeral, please."
He waits until Azrin and the other acolyte have carried him off and turns back to you.
"He should be ready by morning. I'm sorry for your loss." Grimburrow is business-like, but seems genuinely saddened by Cassiel's death. He's gruff, but a heartless man doesn't make it far in Pharasma's service.
Shoukichi rolls around lazily, still bothered by both his dream and his experience at Harrowstone.
"I think I'll go sleep at home."
He then gets up and returns home to grumble and moan in bed. On his way, he keeps an ear out for any stray rumors flying about.
"That... that was not so good. We were disordered, split up, and a man died because of it."
Your fault.
"I know."
Unable to sleep, Ezekiel spends his night watching the statue.
Steef immediately goes home and sleeps a bit. At about 8 in the evening, he gets up and goes out to the statue, stopping at the Laughing Demon along the way. Sitting next to Ezekiel, he offers his flask, freshly cleaned and refilled, to him. "Drink."
"Thanks."
Ezekiel takes a swig, washing the sad taste of ash and dust from his mouth.
"I... just damnit, you know?"
Steef regards the Tiefling sadly. "Yeah. I know. This isn't the first time something like this has happened. You keep replaying that moment in your head, don't you. Thinking that you could've saved him. That you should have been there. Zeke...it's not your fault. If anything, it's mine. I was right there...guess I just don't hit as hard as I used to."
He sighs and looks up at the stars. "You can't beat yourself up over it. Just gotta keep on going. Make sure he didn't die for nothin'. Cuz the day you lay down and stop...that's the day he really and truly dies."
Later that night, as you lie in wait, you hear something off in the distance.
It sounds like a puppy, yelping and struggling, and coming nearer.
You attempt to duck behind a bush and hide from whoever is approaching.
Abruptly, there is one, final sharp yelp, and then the sound of some kind of liquid hitting the floor. It doesn't take too much effort to deduce what kind of liquid it might be.
A man walks around the corner, but abruptly stops. He looks directly at your hiding place, drops the puppy's body, and flees. You don't get a good look at his face.
Steef's eyes widen. "That bastard...Zeke, you gotta go after him. I'm too slow, he'd get away and I'd just slow you down. I'll make sure nobody comes back here. Get goin!"
He runs out of the bush to the puppy to check on it. Please don't be dead, please don't be dead, please don't be dead...
He rips part of his robe off to make a crude tourniquet.
"GET BACK HERE!"
Ezekiel pounds after the man, terrifyingly quick for a creature of his bulk.
Steef manages to staunch the bleeding just in time. The puppy is still unconscious, and barely bleeding...but he looks like he'll make it with some further attention.
"GET BACK HERE!"
Ezekiel pounds after the man, terrifyingly quick for a creature of his bulk.
Ezekiel sprints after the man. He's not quite able to catch him, even with his superior speed (given the head start the man had), but he is able to get within sight of him, a mere 20 feet away.
The man glances back over his shoulder and his eyes widen.
You recognize him, albeit with some effort, as the man who accosted you at Lorrimor's funeral, Gibs Hephenus, wearing nothing but a nightgown and wielding a bloody razor, both covered in blood. He seems to have regressed in age, however, returned to the prime of his life somehow, as you remember him as being quite old.
Sensing he is not going to be able to run away, he lurches around, and speaks in an unnaturally deep and powerful voice.
“You shall not prevent our escape! The woman will die again!” and, surprisingly, charges at Ezekiel!
He slashes wildly, almost mindlessly, but with great strength and surprising speed at Ezekiel. He hits, cutting a long gash on his chest, and a deep one at that. Some of his skin peels off in a little flap and starts dangling down, exposing the muscle underneath.
Steef grins and sighs in relief as the puppy stops bleeding-and not because it was just out of blood. "There we go, little guy...I'm gonna take you home as soon as I can to get you really looked at. In the meantime..." He looks around to see if anyone else is in the area.