Seeing his hammer is not strong enough to shatter the cover, Landis drops his hammer at his feet, and moves to a nearby zombie, drawing his scimitar as he moves.
Scimitar attack (Raging, Inspired)
Damage
Bump
Landis' scimitar separates Zombie 3 from itself, and the corpse falls apart into squishy lumps of flesh.
Mostly decapitated Zombie 1 swings at Rommin. . The zombie's arm falls off before it's able to connect with the ranger.
Zombie 2 attempts to step forwards. Reflex save: Zombie 2 trips on Zombie 1's arm and falls in the grease.
Zombie 5 approaches Landis, but cannot attack.
Zombie 6 steps up and swings at Landis. The zombie swings wide.
Niesen draws another pair of daggers and hurls them at Zombie 5.
Attack 1: ; damage:
Attack 2: ; damage:
Confirm 1:
Confirm 2: ; damage:
Zombie 5 goes down, two daggers lodged deep in its flesh.
Up next: Rommin, Hickory, Rorse & Vero
Zombie 1 goes flying at Rommin's sword swipe.
With people getting crowded in a little too much, Hickory stays back, continuing to sing inspirationally.
Rorse and Vero move in, swinging and snapping at Zombie 5.
Rorse attack: ; damage:
Vero attack: ; damage:
Zombie 5 is eviscerated and gutted and goes still.
Up next: Maenir, Lilo, Landis
Landis turns to the next chopping dummy, with his Scimitar
Scimitar attack
Scimitar Damage
Lilo's spell does indeed go quite wide, but Landis' swipe is true, taking down the penultimate zombie.
The remaining zombie stands up (AoO from Rommin) and attacks him if not taken out.
Attack: ; damage:
Niesen lets fly with his last daggers from his bandoleer.
Attack 1: ; damage:
Attack 2: ; damage: Both daggers fly off into the debris of the cavern.
Up next: Rommin (first his AoO), Hickory, Rorse & Vero
I always figure that the creature is still prone when you make an attack of opportunity like that, so his first hit and second both succeed. The final zombie is toast, but does inflict that damage on Rommin.
Lilo sags back against the wall.."Thank the gods..I don't know about you people but I feel like I've been fighting for months and it can only have been a few seconds"
I've forgotten which ones, if any you've already recovered, so I'll give you the complete list of three.
Spellcraft 1:
Spellcraft 2:
Spellcraft 3:
Spellcraft 4:
You find a shiny pearl hidden in some debris. It reads strong transmutation. Lilo identifies it as a Pearl of Power Level 1.
You find a bowstave, it's string long since rotten away. It's a shortbow for medium creatures and is exceptionally well crafted out of oak. It reads faint transmutation. Lilo identifies it as a +1 shortbow. Even though it doesn't look like a composite bow as you are accustomed to, this bow does have a +2 strength rating.
You find a dingy headdress of eagle feathers, complete with a partial mask that sits over your eyes. A preserved eagle's beak covers your nose. While worn, it acts as eyes of the eagle, and once per day, you can cast cause fear as you let out a shrill screech like an eagle's hunting cry (adding the sonic quality to the normal cause fear effect).
Which then leaves you with the sarcophagus with the bunny inside. Now that you aren't pressed for time, you can see runic writings on the side of the sarcophagus (same writing as the wall plaque in the outer room), and a panel of little levers and dials on one side. The "glass" top seems totally undamaged by Landis' hammer blow, the little bunny lying peacefully inside.
If you wish, you can also dig up handfuls of pretty river stone and sea shell jewellry and partially rotten outfits of native Skraeling attire.
"I certainly don't mind". "What's with this silly bunny thing"?
Hickory looks the sarcophagus over, casts a spell, and runs her hands over the runes.
"'Sarcophagus of Sympathy'. And then underneath, it says, 'Faenyr'."
She moves on to the set of levers, reading some of the runic labels. She puts her hand on one of the levers and asks, "We want to shut this thing off, do we not? That's why we're here?"
Hickory shrugs and pulls the lever. The sarcophagus lid immediately begins to rise on its own on a hidden hinge.
After a few moments, the bunny's eyes open. It picks itself up, looks around with frightened eyes, and bolts around the chamber, unable to see through the illusory wall.
Rommin doesn't notice any native symbology, but in his searching he realizes that some of thes corpses must be decades if not centuries old.
"Well we can't just leave this here where anybody could come around and activate it again". "We either have to destroy it, or make it inaccessible"..."Which brings up another question". "Who activated this thing, and where are they"? "And, Why did they do it"?
"The remaining writing is instructions on how to use this device. This level adjusts the sensitivity - I think the further up you raise it, the more types of creatures this thing can attract, but the easier it is to resist the lure. I get the impression that whatever you put into the sarcophagus is what gets attracted to it. This lever seems to determine the radius of effect - wow, it's set to maximum at the moment. One should be able to remove the lever safely - that would let us be able to use this thing in the future, if the need should ever arise."
Niesen moves in and has a look at the lever. He takes some tools out of his pack and works on the console.
Disable Device:
He tinkers for a few moments, before standing up, the lever undamaged and in his hand. He passes it over to Hickory with a bow.
"Now what?"
"Well, we should definitely try to corral that poor rabbit and set it free outside. I think the poor thing has suffered enough trauma, don't you?"
"I think we've all suffered enough trauma being down here," Maenir adds.
So with the zombie threat eliminated, and the sarcophagus deactivated and disabled, Maenir leads the group topside. Once above, he casts a detect magic and sighs in relief. "No blinding pain. That's nice."
You make your way back to the beach and signal the all clear to the ships. You can see bustle and activity, and within a few minutes, rowboats start lowering over the sides of the Lady Iona and Desert Rose, coming towards you.
As the boat from the Lady Iona approaches shore, you see a grinning Lord Brycen put his hands to the gunwales, but Sir Kheiron stops him with a hand on his shoulder and leaps out first. The centaur splashes to shore and up to the group of you.
"Never would believe I'd be so blasted grateful to get my hooves on dry land again," he mutters before raising his voice, and asking, "Things are good here? The animals on board ship just started acting normally again. The handlers are busy getting food and water into them. We lost a few chickens, but it could have been a lot worse."
Lord Brycen is quick to make landfall himself once Kheiron gives the all clear. Falcon Gray also makes his way onto land. There are many smiles and shaking of hands, and the general mood is jubilant and festive.
Then Harrolayne arrives.
Landis slaps the back of some friends, makes eye contact and smiles at a few of the more forward ladies, and when he gets the chance bellows out... "Any chance of a thirsty man getting a drink around here"?
"Typical adventurer stock, I suppose," Harrolayne says, stepping gracefully along the cobbles with a distasteful twitch of her skirts at every piece of seaweed or driftwood. "It seems to me that we shall need to scout the lay of the land as quickly as possible, wouldn't you say, Governor? To that end, may I suggest the introduction of Mr. Finn MacMorn here, an exceptional scout who has graced the Desert Rose with his presence these many months?"
"Well, if we're to be about scouting and offering people for such a mission, I'll not be left out," Banker Camder shouts out, nimbly dodging the rolling surf on his short legs. "This here is Brother Varg, a cleric of the Inheritor. What good a priest of the goddess of justice will do us in taming this wilderness, I don't know, but here he is."
A black-haired man, somewhere in his early 20s moves through the crowd, nodding a greeting, a wane smile upon his sad face.
Tall, well-muscled (though not as thickset as most warriors), he wears a suit of travel-stained leathers over a fine mail shirt, set off by a brown cloak. A wooden Torc, baring the symbol of Desna (Painted green and white), hangs from a leather cord around his neck.
"Aye, Finnegan MacMorn, at yer service, Lordships. Finn, if'n ye prefer."
Leaning upon the haft of a massive Glaive, he seems to be whispering to it, almost lovingly. Reaching for his oiltin, it suddenly flies from his hand, dropping some distance away. Walking to it, and picking it up, he grins and says merely "Brannagh is a bit off today..."
"This whole breathing thing tends to make me hungry," she adds with a giggle. "Finn, Varg, a pleasure to meet you. Lilo, I think I saw evidence of what Mr. Gray called 'blueberries' around the edge of that small lake we spotted to the north. What say we gather a few baskets together and make a forage expedition? I also wouldn't mind a bath..."
Rorse watches the two of them leave with a scowl on his face. Niesen pats him on the shoulder, which only deepens his scowl.
|
Lilo nods..
"Aye the stink of that charnel house does tend to hang about I'll stand guard while you bathe Milady..and I promise I won't peek.."
Well not so you'd notice he thinks to himself.
"..and then I'll ask the same courtesy off you" he finishes
"And if we do meet a Bear then you'll be the first to hear us scream" he tells Finn as they depart
Lilo enjoys watching Hickory bathe, as she is not too careful about letting herself be seen.
Whether it's paranoia at the still-silent wilderness (or a guilty conscience!?), Lilo just can't shake the feeling of being watched himself.
"A bath". "What a fine idea", the barbarian says overhearing the conversation. "I've got nothing to hide that everyone else hasn't already seen", he states remembering his incident outside the tree".
Then he notice the look on Lilo's face, and embarrassingly continues his speech... still I like the freshness of saltwater on my body, and it is good for all these minor wounds". "Perhaps I shall wait a bit, and bathe by the shore". "Now where is that drink"?
