the Groom nods his head in understanding. A room full of herbs would not have drawn him here, but this...
the Groom lays his hand upon the door frame and utters a curse. There is a sizzling sound and the smell of smoke. When he moves to enter, there is the mark of the skull and crossbones burned into the door frame.
"the Groom wonders if He of the Red Face knows exactly what he is up against?" He intones as he crosses to the bed.
Turning to his companions at the door. "Nothing wrong with robbing the dead...nor when the dead come to take it back." He then will hook the dress/skin with the hilt of a dagger and lift it up to show his companions.
Jim starts in surprise at the curse and sizzle. "What's that, man?"
"That? The Lady's mark...for Luck." He chuckles and jiggles the skin dress and points it toward the skull. "Feels like we are going to need it.
Buoyed by the Groom's courage in the face of "bad ju-ju" Kaul slips into the room behind the fell inquisitor...
Holding Bess before him like a ward, his other hand unconciously slips up towards his whalebone holy symbol of Besmara.
As a professional skull-cracker Kaul happlily defers to matters arcane and macabre to his fellow crewmembers, and as such flits expectant looks between the skull, Dibbets, The Groom and Dingus...
Walking in to the room, Dibbets casts his eye over the skin dress. "Dunno bout you Kaul, but I prefer em with a bit more meat on em!" chuckling at his own joke he tries to cool Kaul's nerves.
Once the corpse is pointed out, Dingus walks up to it. Using Mage hand he examines the body to see if he can determine how it was killed, and when it was killed.
Heal
"How did this one meet it's end". "Are there any signs of foul play"?
the Groom lays his hand upon the door frame and utters a curse. There is a sizzling sound and the smell of smoke. When he moves to enter, there is the mark of the skull and crossbones burned into the door frame.
The Groom stands near the bed with the grotesque object snagged on the point of his dagger. The rest of the party watches from the doorway letting Dingus conduct his inspection.
Dingus makes a quick gesture and the floppy leather-like head lifts awkwardly under the effect of his mage hand. As the weight of the skin becomes too much for the cantrip to bear Dingus feels the spell collapse. Yet the sheet of flesh continues to rise floating toward him with blackest eye and mouth gaping in a silent scream!
"Foul Play?" it is a skin bag! the Groom laughs that horrible gurgle of a drowning man as the skin apparition begin to float toward the Tian. "Oh Aye...the Foulest."
Dibbets-
Dingus-
The Groom-
Madman Jim-
Keelhaul Kaul-
"Bag Lady"-
Initiative order
the Groom
Jim
Kaul
"Bag Lady"
Dingus
Dibbets
Dibbets stands flat footed and dumb struck with his mouth hanging agape.
the Groom draws his rapier, gives it a flourish and points it at the apparition. "Your ship has left." A beam shoots out at the floating skin.
HP: 11/11 AC: 17 No effects
Kaul has seen and done many bloody things in his short shift on the seas o' life, but while glow lantern skulls and floating skin bags are beyond his ken...
...scrapping ain't - instinct kicks in and he explodes with violence aiming a opportunistic hack at the drifting husk:
"Bloody Bess" vs flat-footed:
Falchion damage: + Sneak Attack:
Total damage: 15
The Groom's flourish results in a scorched hole appearing in the flailing skin as “Keelhaul” lunges forward slashing the leathery horror nearly in twain. The ragged thing flips into the air like a loose pennant in a gale and lands on Dingus. Its arm wraps around his throat like a hangman’s noose nearly crushing his wind pipe.
8 of 8 HP; 18 AC
Satisfied that his actions had some effect, the Groom gives the dagger another twist, yet again emitting its bright ray.
Would like to do a Knowledge Religion check as well to possibly identify what this apparition is (free action).
Would like to do a Knowledge Religion check as well to possibly identify what this apparition is (free action).
Obviously this is some sort of undead thing, but as for skin taking leave of its owner and striking out on its own, you've certainly never heard of such a thing. You have to wonder where the innnards went.
A second bolt of white energy from the Groom scorches Dingus’ new scarf and its hold weakens as it sloughs onto the floor. The empty eyes and mouth seem somewhat less dark now and looking at the wrinkled face surrounded by a cloud of wild white hair it gives you the impression of a sad old lady.
The light from the glowing skull dims a moment and then rekindles its eerie red radiance as a crash rocks the building and throaty screams and shouts echo from downstairs.
In response to the commotion downstairs, Jim runs in that direction, holding his sheathed rapier in his left hand.
Moves up alongside Dingus and says "No slouching sonny, I don't think the games up yet." before muttering at a low ebb and giving Dingus a hearty slap on the lower back.
He then limps off after Jim as quickly as he can muster.
the Groom takes his dagger and cuts a swath from the bed cover. He carefully wraps the base of the skull and lifts it up. He is careful not to touch the crystal, but leaves it uncovered, so he can still see its eyes. He leaves enough fabric free to completely cover it if needed. Thus delayed he will then follow the others.
Letting the others check the commotion downstairs, Kaul stays with the Groom (perceiving him best suited to dealing with the skull...)
He crosses to the chests and if unlocked attempts to flip them open with Bess... if encountering resistance he'll first check their weight (are they liftable?) and then use his lock pick (aka crowbar - this boy ain't your gentleman rogue, pick-picking delicate like at locks)to open them...*
Perception:
*
From the doorway, Jim and Dibbets watch the Groom disrupt the fluttering skin. Jim spins and heads toward the disturbance down the stairs while Dibbets rushes forward to aid the choking Dingus with a touch that roars in his ears as a flood of life energy courses through his body.
Kaul moves over to the chests which prove unlocked. Flipping open the lid of the first one he sees a pile of old lady clothes and junk. It smells like mothballs, but he starts digging around and feels a satifactorily weighty pouch at the bottom.
Nimbly navigating down the stairs, Jim realizes there is no light ahead as he hears the front door slam shut. The commotion moves to the street as a horse screams and you hear the clatter of hoofs followed by the sound of a wagon careening down the street.
As Dibbet heads further into the room, near darkness surrounds Jim. He hears a moan as someone slumps against the wall in the kitchen. Then something leathery brushes against him and he feels piercing pain.
Kaul rifles through the other chest of old lady stuff finding nothing of value while the Groom cautiously approaches the Voodoo glow skull ©. The skull continues to emit a red glow from its eyes, but remains harmless as the Groom gingerly lifts it with torn bed sheets.
Hearing Jim’s grunts of pain, Dibbets hobbles back to the doorway returning light to the stairs and sees Jim covered with pigeon-sized bug-bats that swell and pinken as he watches. Two more of the bug-bats swoop over Jim's head and flitter toward Dibbet's light.
Perception
Seeing the flying creature swoop at him, Dibbets takes a wild swing at it with his staff...
AoO: Damage:
"Kaul, get your arse down here - we got some pests need swattin" he yells out as loud as he can while attempting to fend off the bugs.
New Initiative order
the Groom
"Bug-bats"
Jim
Kaul
Dibbets
Dingus
Dibbets swings wide and the two bug-bats settle on him grabbing tightly with their barbed legs and plunging their needle mouths into his flesh.
"When I...find...that sodding heap of suet...I'll flay him alive for getting me into this!"
Jim will try to pull one of the things off of himself.
Dibbets lets his staff fall to the floor and pulls out a dagger, trying to sink it into one of the bug-bats on him.
Swing: and Damage:
"Wrraaaaagh!! Bloody gloom-kissed miscreants! Gerroff!" he squeals as he writhes about trying to loosen the beasts.
Jim will try to pull one of the things off of himself.
1d20 + 3
His attention totally on the skull, he starts to flip the rest of the fabric over the skull, "You need to rest now, unless you want to tell us what happened here." If the skull does not respond, he will finish covering it and head toward the stairs dagger in one hand, skull in the other.
Kaul leers to himself as he pockets the weighty pouch to be divvied up laters of course...
Perception:
Hearing Dibbet's cry to arms snaps Kaul from of his greedy musings, he grabs Bloody Bess and makes for the stairs at all haste.
"C'mon girl, time fer you to kiss someone..."
Perception
Disrupt Undead
magic Missile
Dingus steps back as the sack of skin savages him, preparing to run for his life, but his courage is bolstered by the healing energy of one of the other strangers."You have my gratitude, and I am in your debt" Dingus hisses out at Dibbets.
Dibbets pulls a dagger slashing madly at the bug-bat on him, but missing. Fortunately, a recovered Dingus returns the favor by hitting the bug-bat with a magic missile which blows off a wing and a few legs, but doesn’t quite kill the thing.
The Groom gets no response from the skull, in this case dead men telling no tales. He draws a dagger and moves on to help Dibbets. The bug-bats continue to swell on Jim juice and Dibbets dregs while Jim holds a third creature in his hand staring at the probing tubular mouth part that strains toward him flashing a rasping little tongue out of the end.
Kaul rushes past Dibbets and down the stairs to reach Jim while Dingus finishes off the damaged creature affixed to Dibbets with another magic missile.
Noticing that Jim was able to pull one off, Dibbets changes tack and tries to pull the one left off him.
"Hah! Got the blighter."
"Get these wretched things off of me!"
Dibbets pries the remaining bug-bat off him, but is struggling to hold on to it. Jim looks a bit woozy from blood loss and is struggling to hold on to his creature as it gets a wing loose and is buffeting his face. A fat bug-bat remains dangling from Jim’s back and another clutches his right arm.
Perception:
the Groom moves up behind Jim, "Quite the infestation." He swipes his dagger in an attempt to scrape off the bug-bat.
Edit: Adding Perception Check ->
Kaul narrows his eyes angry like, taking in the flapping pests as they peck and suck as his crew mates;
Perception:
Jim will again attempt to squish the one in his hand:
Kaul grimaces at the flapping pests settled on Jim... almost raises Bess for a strike, thinks better of it and sheathes her.
He then grabs for a bloated bug bat and tries to haul one off...
Grapple:
...but only succeeds in grabbing an equal measure of Jim's shirt and skin in the process.
"Damn pests are stickier than limpets! Sorry shipmate..."
"Ere... Dibbets - you hears that? I knows that sound better than me own mother's curses... !"
With Dibbets apparently in control of his last bug-bat, the focus turns to a very pale Jim. The Groom slices at the dangly on his back which swings out of the way at the last moment. Kaul tries to yank the one off Jim’s arm and finds it well secured with those nasty barbed legs.
Jim feels cold and empty as his blood is further appropriated by the parasites. He gets a sure grip on the bug-bat in his hands and squeezes for his life until blood squirts out the thing’s mouth and it crumples satisfyingly.
Dingus unleashes his last magic missile at the remaining pest.
Magic missile.
His head whirls around at the sound of the whistles. "Hope there's a back way out of here". "Sounds like the fat man ratted us out".