"Well if were using there robes it would probably be best If you" She points at Isaac "Karin and errr The mildly creepy fella" Pointing at Karrin and mister Swire. "wear the robes. you three should be able to pass as members no problem long as Karrin keeps the hood up but me and Betheny will probably still stick out like sore thumbs. So we either have you 3 go ahead and me and Betheny sneak quietly behind you. Or pretend to bind us and claim you grabbed us trying to brake in via the gate."
Drazek ducks into a shadowy alcove and walks up the wall, crouching suspended from the ceiling, waiting for Justin's return.
Justin's message gets to the awaiting party's ears just as they scrag the skellis and are about to go a-roaming. They hold up, hiding and waiting for Parron and his zombie chums.
After a few minutes, the group in the Vault hear the tread of feet approaching
Ishmael whispers "Something wicked this way comes..." and moves to somewhere concealed to await their arrival.
Swire's sap makes quick work of the prone guards, sending them to Morpheus' realm for a time. Issac and the others truss the guards up quickly , lifting their tabards and purses as well. They carry a small amount of jink, about 20 Ladies worth. They have servicable chainmail and swords, but it would be a burden to strip them and take it. The cutlery doesn't look all that great anyway. They all have Dustman faction tabards on, with the stylized screaming skull sigul. They also wear black wool cloaks, with voluminous hoods, very handy for disguise.
The group can still hear the ruckus outside. Bethany flies into the compound and reports that she saw most of the Dustmen running towards the Main Gate. Mordrigaarz has definately shaken the hellwasp's nest.
Justin nods to himself, watching his steps as they circle the steep stairway. He silently mouths as they descend the last circle of steps,
''Good, Ware the room with the giant Skellies, it's warded. The passphrase is 'Stones ward us from bones'. Draz, Nari, if you can't knock him out before he sees you, make it look like your grabbing me too. We're on our way,..." He finishes as they exit the stairwell. He makes a note of the stairwell's location, and follows his guide through the room with the giant skeletons standing guard, to the side room and down the narrower steps to the lower level.
Justin/Clawboy glances nervously at the two zombies going down the stairs with them, then, looking at the numbers on their foreheads, he narrows his eyes and risks one more hasty whisper.
"Draz, hold off on the zombies, I'm going to try to command them first,..." He mouths, fingering Meldric's badge in his pocket,...
Karrin happily puts on one of the robes.
"I feel like a priest," Karrin says as she pulls on the robe, "when I was little I snuck off with some of the brothers robes to play dress up. I've always loved disguises and stuff like that. Right time to get into character: grrrr, death, death, death. Everything is terrible. We're all already dead and stuff.
"Right, let's ambush this escort Justin is talking about . . ."
Whispered
"Heh, never figured you fer likin' to play with dead boys Justin"
"You forgot 'enjoys doing unmentionable things to corpses'." Swire raises the hood over his head. "Leave the talking to me."
Karrin happily puts on one of the robes.
"I feel like a priest," Karrin says as she pulls on the robe, "when I was little I snuck off with some of the brothers robes to play dress up. I've always loved disguises and stuff like that. Right time to get into character: grrrr, death, death, death. Everything is terrible. We're all already dead and stuff.
"Right, let's ambush this escort Justin is talking about . . ."
"You forgot 'enjoys doing unmentionable things to corpses'." Swire raises the hood over his head. "Leave the talking to me."
The group dons their robe and heads out towards the distant dome of the Mortuary. The various mausoleums are silent now, and most "living" Dustmen are either sleeping or manning the Main Gate and driving off the Xaos mob.
They quickly scale the back steps up to the Mortuary's back door. The sergeant had a ring of keys with him that Karrin grabbed. One key fits the back door's lock. Inside is a small hallway foyer that opens up into the large room with four giant skeletons that Justin had whispered about. The walls are lined with symbols of death and mourning. Statues of various Death gods sit in small alcoves.
The party finds the stairwell that Justin mentioned. A few harried-looking Dustmen run about, but no one pays much attention to the party in the darkness of the night. The group sees the door to the Vaults swing shut just as they enter.
If it's possible to judge, Ekuur will wait until he can hear Justin down the hall, then cast bull's strength on himself (duration 4 minutes; don't wanna cast it too early and waste the time)
Whispered
"Heh, never figured you fer likin' to play with dead boys Justin"
Justin/Clawboy frowns, supposedly at the steps in front of him.
"Yer funny,... Looking." He mouths back with a smirk on his face.
Justin/Clawboy follows Parron down through the warded stone door and down the Vault stairway, the zombie twins following close behind. They enter the corridor. Justin can see the door that leads to the empty vault they had left the others in. Parron talks to him in a whisper as they approach
"Yeh know any of these berks well? Think they'll be an issue? How much jink were they promised? There's a sack of Ladies in the sarcophagus inside the room, but I don't want to get smashed in me bonebox grabbin' it. You got me spine, Clawboy?"
Vault team: Hiding
Justin&Parron: Approaching vault
Outside team: At the stone warded door to the Vaults.
Isaac shrugs into his Dustman ensemble and chuckles softly at Karrin's impression.
"Well,"he says, when confronted by the warded stone archway,"I suppose this is where we say 'Stones Ward Us From Bones'... can't hurt even if it ain't."
He secures his weapons, bringing his spear from the quiver on his back.
"I reckon we're the safety net at the moment. Let's give our mates a chance to scrag our host and make sure no Dusties give us the laugh. If I know Drazek, and I do since yesterday, he's likely bored enough to bust a vein by now..."
"Yeh know any of these berks well? Think they'll be an issue? How much jink were they promised? There's a sack of Ladies in the sarcophagus inside the room, but I don't want to get smashed in me bonebox grabbin' it. You got me spine, Clawboy?"
Justin/Clawboy shrugs at Parron's agitated whisper. Then shakes his head. 'Trouble, no. Nobody's, dey." He grumbles in habit of his cover. Then smirks. HE growls "Nuthin' ah cain't handle. Ah got's yeh." and waves Parron to continue. Doing his best to ignore the two zombies behind him, still fingering his illuminated badge in his pocket.
'Hmmm, Didn't realize how easy it would be to do scramblespeak.' He muses in the portion of his multitasking mind that isn't preoccupied with acting like Clawboy, or prepping his final spells, or panicking. 'I'd better watch that. All I need is to scramblespeak a spell in a fight. Though THAT would be an interesting effect to observe, if I lived through it.'
As he descends deeper into the dark and narrow steps, following Parron's light wand, Justin/Clawboy mouths, "Where are you?"
Nari manifests Control Object, her amber eyes glowing slightly as her rope unties itself. She keeps the rope in her hand ready to direct it to attack when company joins them.
"Ceilin'"
"On our way," Karrin mumbles in what must be her dustman voice.
Bethany puts her Footbow away in her Quiver so that it appears she is unarmed. She moves with the others, making it look as though they are escorting her so as not to arrouse suspicion from the Dustmen racing here and there.
She sees Isaac pull out his Spear and tenses, ready to whip out either her Footbow or Sabre, depending on the situation.
Merle looks between the others and Betheney before muttering something and throwing one of the robes on. Looking somewhat okay from a front on view but becoming a bit obvious when viewed by the side or back (due to the large moving lump caused by her tail). In order to try and avoid having anyone catch onto that she tries to keep herself in the middle of the group. Seph follows at her feet using the robes for cover.
The group that stormed the Lesser Gate stands in front of a large symbol-laden stone door. The Vaults and their friends lie somewhere beyond ...
Meanwhile, Parron has reached the vault door where he and Justin had left the others. He reaches for the door ...
[i]The group that stormed the Lesser Gate stands in front of a large symbol-laden stone door. The Vaults and their friends lie somewhere beyond ...
Bethany stands with the others in front of the stone door. She surreptitiously examines the Symbols on the door, making sure to still appear as though she is being escorted just in case.
Bethany:
Bethany grips Isaac on the arma nd leans up to him. whispering softly in his ear. "The symbols on the door are wards meant to keep both living and undead flesh from passing through it without a password. I doubt I could decipher it, so unless somone knows something we may have to go around it."
Bethany grips Isaac on the arma nd leans up to him. whispering softly in his ear. "The symbols on the door are wards meant to keep both living and undead flesh from passing through it without a password. I doubt I could decipher it, so unless somone knows something we may have to go around it."
"No worries. Justin parked his ears in the right places and gave us the dark of it."
Isaac steps up to the stone doors."Stones ward us from bones.", he says.
He pushes the doors open slowly and quietly, assuming it works.
As he walks down the hallway following Parron, Justin/Clawboy slows down ever so slightly. Even though this puts him closer to the Zombies, it also forces them to slow down to stay behind him. By the time Parron reaches the door they left the others at, there is a good 5 feet between him and Parron.
Justin/Clawboy's eyes scan the ceiling, looking for his hidden compatriot, as his hands twitch nervously in his pockets, one with his 'borrowed' Illuminated symbol, the other with a minor bit of arcane flotsam.
'Wish I had thought to memorize Daze today.' He thinks grumbling to himself, 'I could have stunned him, and knocked him out before he realized what happened.
Silently, he mouths; "He's opening the door,... now!" As Parron reaches for the handle,...
Drezek drops down from the ceiling onto his unsuspecting target a second before impact he utters a word of pure and utter wrongness focusing on the man's cloak casp, belt buckle or some other trinket.
Ekuur, his muscles bulging with magically-enhanced strength, prepares to strike ...
Ishmael does his thing.
As Parron comes in, Ekuur says, "We stayed, just like you said." He then brings his trikal down on top of the poor Illuminated's head.
As Parron comes in, Ekuur says, "We stayed, just like you said." He then brings his trikal down on top of the poor Illuminated's head.
As Parron opens the door, Ekuur's Trikal comes down on his head, denting it quite thourougly. Blood and brain bits ooze out of his nose and ears. Nari's animated rope passes over him as he falls. His two zombie companions moan through their mouth stitches and try to shoulder past Justin to get to their master's attacker. Drazek drops on Parron, his baleful word shattering the Dustman cloak brooch on Parron's shoulder. The evil word hangs in the air like a stench, causing the others to wince a bit. A frantic pounding and moaning comes from the door directly opposite in the hallway.
Issac's passphrase causes the stone door to open inwards, revealing a stone stairway leading down. As the door opens there is a distant thudding sound that can be heard coming from the hushed stillness below.
Justin/Clawboy stops, and just stares as what's left of Parron does a slow, graceless topple to the floor. it is the shuffling of the zombies trying to pass him that jostles him out of his shock.
"Crows take you!" He hisses as loud as he dares while he fumbles his borrowed Illuminated badge from his pocket. "I said don't kill him! We needed him alive! Don't attack the zombies unless this doesn't work!"
He turns as if to allow the zombies to pass, but as soon as he is facing them he holds up his illuminated badge in front of them and states clearly,
"453! 668! Stop!"
..."453! 668! Stop!"
The two zombies unsheathe the short swords they have scabbarded at their wide multi-pouched leather belts and try to get to Ekuur
Despite being completely aware of when everyone arrived at the room, and crushing Parron's skull before he could act, Ekuur is still somehow caught so off-guard that he's unprepared for the zombies. Still, he scowls back at Justin, "It is not my fault the man left himself so open. Perhaps this will yet save him."
As the zombies move toward him, Ekuur yet again raises his obsidian symbol, and another wave of burning, yet cleansing energy radiates outward.
Justin/Clawboy's eyes widen as the zombies continue to try to get past him, intent on Ekuur as their target. With obvious relief, he turns sideways to let them pass.
"Well, that's not it!" He declares, pursing his lips as he shoves the Illuminated badge into his pocket. "Nevermind, It's done. Take them out, Quietly!" He hisses. Then looks nervously at the door in the hallway with the moaning noises coming from behind it. He raises an eyebrow at Drazek as the zombies shuffle forward.
"What was that anyway Draz? I think you woke up the neighbors!" He quips as he tries to see if he can cause the zombies to stumble or trip somehow.
"Its one o' them seven dirty words ya aint supposed to say" Drazek banters back as his hands move, a humming glaive of dark energy materializing in them as he whirls and strikes at one of the zombies.
Initiatives Rd 1:
Zombies: 14
Merle: 5 [out of area]
Karrin: 4 [out of area]
Justin: 4
Drazek: 4 [glave atk -hit]
Ishmael: 4
Naridre: 4
Issac: 4 [out of area]
Bethany: 4 [out of area]
Ekuur: 1 [channel energy]
The confusion of battle and the fubaring of plans gives the zombies a chance to spring forward. The scents of preservative chemicals and funerary spices fill the hallway as the two zombies slice at Ekuur.
1d20+2=3, 1d6+1=3, 1d20+2=20, 1d6+1=2
One zombie's sword ends up burying itself in its compatriot's back by accident in the narrow space. The shanked zombie doesn't react to the treacherous blow, and manages to give Ekuur a nasty cut.
As the outside group descends the stone stairway they hear the thud, clang and cursing of battle
Initiatives Rd 1:
Zombies: 14
Merle: 5 [out of area]
Karrin: 4 [out of area]
Justin: 4
Drazek: 4 [glave atk -hit]
Ishmael: 4
Naridre: 4
Issac: 4 [out of area]
Bethany: 4 [out of area]
Ekuur: 1 [channel energy]The confusion of battle and the fubaring of plans gives the zombies a chance to spring forward. The scents of preservative chemicals and funerary spices fill the hallway as the two zombies slice at Ekuur.
1d20+2=3, 1d6+1=3, 1d20+2=20, 1d6+1=2
One zombie's sword ends up burying itself in its compatriot's back by accident in the narrow space. The shanked zombie doesn't react to the treacherous blow, and manages to give Ekuur a nasty cut.
As the outside group descends the stone stairway they hear the thud, clang and cursing of battle
Seeing the zombies perforate Ekuur, and incidentally each other, Justin Automatically raises a hand, then snarls and quickly tugs his morningstar, (It's exquisite craftsmanship seemingly at odds with the rest of his wardrobe) from his belt, and steps up behind the zombie whose blade is currently stuck in the back of the other one. With no preamble, he raises it high overhead and brings it down on the head of the zombie. He's no stronger than the average human, and in this form no taller, but his height advantage from the steps allows him to provide plenty of force into the downward blow, even if his shorter-than-usual arms prevent him from being on target enough to do as much damage as he would have liked,...
To hit with Masterwork Morningstar: 1d20+3=21
Just as the Dustman zombie's blade looks about to slice Ekuur's flesh a blue flash turns it aside, as if it had struck an invisible barrier.
... With no preamble, he raises it high overhead and brings it down on the head of the zombie....
Justin's morningstar lands on the shoulder of the pale bald zombie. The crunch of its collarbone impacting echoes in the hallway. The zombie moans and begins to turn in Justin's direction.