Corliss moves in opposite Kaul and stabs the remaining undead Watch just as it fires the heavy crossbow at Kaul. The strike doesn't do much damage, but it spoils the shot and the bolt passes through Kaul's damp sleeve. Dingus floats up and Dibbets scramble topside a moment later.
With his ire up and (congealed) blood on his blade, Kaul leers a grin and hacks wildly at the remaining Watchie;
:
:
Cracking his neck, Dibbets reaches between the air and draws out a crackling primal bolt of Gozreh's indifference. As an aside to Cabbagehead he warns "Playtimes over now eh? Best ye stands clear o' tha loppin an choppin."
Lopper gives the Last Watch a close shave, but spills no (congealed) blood. Dibbets warns off the Ogrekin while summoning a crackling trident to hand. Cabbagehead nods agreeably and moves back to the shelter of his room.
Corliss keeps moving and sticking, flanking opposite Kaul.
for
Dingus moves up to join the fun, drying his hands on his yellow and blue vertical striped robe.
"Faster boys! Faster!
Dingus casts Haste on his comrades and himself.
Corliss stabs the thing, but poking at its non-functional innards doesn't appear to have any effect. Dingus livens the battle up a bit as the crew suddenly move more speedily!
Seeing his last blow miss by a whisker only causes Kaul's belligerent frown to deepen;
"Feckin' Watchies..."
Buoyed by Ol' snake hips' magic, the thug swings mightily;
:
:
:
The brute pauses, muttering as Dingus' spell continues its effects;
"Hoi.Whosemissin'then? Whatbout'theuglierthanmebugger?"
There is a dim flash of reflected moonlight as Lopper snix through a rotted neck and dead heads a Dead Watch. A moment later Jim sails back past the dumbfounded ogrekid in the doorway and rolls to his feet breathlessly.
Kaul gestures toward the downed Dead Watch with a scowl;
"Anyone got any notion what them stakes are? Iffen they raise the dead might be 'andy to keep should one o' us croak."
He eyes Jim curiously;
"What you been doin'? Don't tell me ye found yerself a pretty corpse in there... Ye filthy bugger ye!"
The thug curls his harelip at the thought...
Corliss gives Kaul a nod of thanks for downing the undead fellow. Mentally noting that his rapier was an ineffective weapon against the thing, the Besmara kneels beside the headless corpse and tries to identify it, taking a gander at the wooden spike embedded in its flesh as well.
"Aye...definitely deadish," is the best he can come up with.
Panting, Jim shakes his head. "Stumpy's in there. You maybe want him to slip you some tongue?"
The strange undead and rather primal looking stakes confound Corliss.
"Dibbets, if we're going to go head to head with Stumpy I'm going to need a spot of indifference, hey?"
Grim faced and still holding a bolt of crackling doom, Dibbets finds his way to Jimmer and gives him a soothing slap...
"Thanks, mate."
Bereft of victims opponents, Kaul's scowl lifts, then deepens at the news of an old enemy returned.
"Hur. Stumpy is it? Ye sure? Iffen' so Ol' Kauly will lop off 'is arms and noggin! Hur!"
Hefting his hatchet the scarred brute nods towards inside;
"Whereabouts inside is the legless deader mate?"
"Oh this should be fun!" Dingus follows his fast moving partner in... things into the shack, planning on blasting stumpy with a lightning bolt if he can get one off before Kaul gets to close.
"Kaul! Open the door and step aside. I've got a gift for him".
"I...We've got this!" the twin Corlisses exclaim in unison, opening the door with a flourish so that Dingus and Kaul can properly greet their old pal Stumpy.
The crew takes a few moments to sort themselves and then speedily move back to the Crematorium Depot and the sign that warns DO NOT ENTER! The discarded corpse still lies awkwardly on the dock near the door. Corliss ignores the sign, and corpse I suppose, and swings the door open to darkness, silence, and the lingering stink of death and sweaty ogre.
Kaul shoots a scowl toward the misshapen hulk;
"Best grab yer dolly an' step back Big' Un. Me an Lopps need to reacquaint with an old friend... Hur..."
The thug then nods towards Corliss and sets in, where his orcish beadies give him the lay of the land;
:
It takes Kaul several moments to realize that there is nothing in the room other than a large, smelly sleeping pallet and a closed door on the opposite wall.
Expressing concern "Press an push lads... iffin tha tonguey-bastich aint here he ain't up to nei good..."
Corliss again scoots forward to open the next door, the better to let his more martially-capable mates lop and stab this Stumpy fellow he's yet to meet.
Dibbets encourages the crew forward and Corliss obliges. He holds his lit blade up to reveal what's beyond as he swings the door open. The hall is silent and empty aside from the deanimated corpse at the other end. There are two doors at the corpse end of the hall: one on either side of the body. One is just slightly ajar and the other is closed.
"Come out, come out wherever you are. It's time to play". Dingus follows the others in ready to cast massive amounts of offensive magic.
Dibbets grumbles "Summat's off... where's cabbagehead?" but doesn't suggest not blithely pushing forward to doom and dismemberment.
Kaul on the other hand presses on with a hacksaw chuckle;
"Hur-hur-hur. Lopps want's tae meet ye Stumper..."
The brute moves to the door that's ajar, pushing it open with booted foot.
The door creaks open to reveal what appears to be an abandoned windowless office now half-filled with trash and broken supplies. He spots Cabbagehead siting cross-legged in the middle of the room. He is hugging his headless dolly and gazing somberly at Kaul.
Jim scans the floor, looking for the stumping undead's tracks.
Jim ignores the ogrekin and inspects the door frame finding a rough spot that could have been an impact. His look at the old floorboards doesn't reveal anything though.
Kaul eyes the ogre kin and the rest of the room with his beady stare;
:
The brute thug whispers an aside to Cabbagehead;
"Big 'Un. You see a little legless runt in 'ere before? Ol 'Kauly an' Lopps be wantin' a word with it."
The hatchet "nods" in agreement at his hissed words.
Kaul sees nothing of particular interest in the cluttered room. Cabbagehead nods pointing to the closed door on the other side of the hall. "Father and crawling thing went there."
Kaul nods, then pauses quizzically
Pappy?
"Right... keep yer 'head down Bigger' Un..."
The thug approaches the distant door, moving slow and quiet-like;
:
Kaul creeps up to the closed door.
Dibbs adds a further question to the ogre-kin "Who's father eh? Anuvver halfer like you or me?"
"Not like you or me. Human."
Successfully creeped, the thug tries the door...
The door is locked.
"Here. Allow me".
Dingus grasps the moldy, sale encrusted hand he wears about his neck, and casts Knock... then steps back.
Kaul mugs a grin at his sorcerers shipmate, then pushes the door open with his mechaniklaw.
Lopper readied his beady eyes peer into the room;
:
Corliss stands around stupidly, not certain how he can contribute. Then he gets an idea.
"Er, mateys…. Who or what be this Stumpy fella ye speak of?"
In the dark recesses of his damaged brain, the Besmaran realizes there's the nugget of a life lesson here: "...an' knowin' be half the battle!"
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