"What do you think the wheel does? Should we try to turn it? Do you think it will let the water out?"
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"Maybe, the quotation was 'To the south you might take your ease, to rest and reflect on Kassen’s deeds. To the east lies the wheel, to open the gate. To the west is the resting place of Kassen, hero of the Fangwood.' But whether it is a gate to Kassen's resting place or a gate of water, I don't know."
Looking down at the water Vivian knows she can't help Gad anyhow.
"I guess we got to try something, here someone help me with it."
Vivian walks up to the wheel and after a quick glance around starts to try to turn it.
You hear a massive cranking sound as Vivian and Allister pull on the wheel. It appears with one more good tug the wheel will be set in place.
Gad's kick is still affecting it however and it flails about in vain.
1/2 damage = 3
Using his momentum to carry him closer, Gad reaches out with his free hand and pulls the skeleton's skull into his 1/2 orc's skull.
1/2 Orc skull wins as the skeleton's shattered head falls between Gad's fingers.
Thinking to himself, Gad would chuckle if he wasn't holding his breath.
My mother always said to use my head.
As his move action, Gad swims upward towards the air as the odd mechanical sounds begin. Cresting the water he throws the last skeleton's jawbone on the stone along with his sword.
"Gah! One more down for good."
With the immediate threats neutralized, Qina retreats back out into the hallway to stand guard and be out of the way. While waiting, she chants the brief words to summon her magical sight and looks around.
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Allister strains against the wheel and it turns a little more then stops. He extends his hand to Vivian and helps her to her feet.
When his Half-Orc friend surfaces, he asks "Oh, hey Gad! What did you find down there? Say, did you see my javelins? They sank..." He smiles, hoping that will be enough to send Gad back into the depths after them.
Brezik seems to struggle a bit getting out of the water, even with Beltharions help, but eventually he does climb out.
"No I didn't see any javelins Allister, but I was busy. Let me check again."
Indeed Allister's javelins are at the bottom of the pool, it is a simple matter to fetch them back to the surface. Looking around Qina does not see anything magical or glowing.
Gad tosses the javelins out of the water. Pulling himself out of the water, Gad grabs his sword and puts it away.
"We can keep going in a Clockwise direction? Head south?"
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"'To the south you might take your ease, to rest and reflect on Kassen’s deeds.'.. Hmmm, I agree but lets not lose any caution. This place isn't what it seems."
Vivian then moves out of the room and back through the hallways with the group.
'What would a good name be? Kassen 28th Infantry? No, we're more than mere infantry. Kassen Berets, Kassen Rangers? The Crypt, the Everflame... The 13th Everflame? What goes underground.. Badgers, Wolverines, something that sounds Special Ops... Nirmathas' Kassen Dire Regiment?' Vivian starts to muse how she will pitch the group when they get home, in hopes to keep them together and feed her taste for glory.
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Allister is thrilled to see Gad surface with his javelins, and a stupid grin breaks across his face. "Thanks, Gad! I tried to swim once in my armor, but I sank like a stone and everything got real dark. Lightbringer Naabi kissed me awake and said I drank half the river."
He places a hand on Gad'larr's shoulder and bows his head in prayer. "Let the light cleanse your wounds."
The paladin draws his greatsword and falls in line behind captain Vivian.
Brezik nudges Qina and smiles at her.
Then louder for the rest of the group.
As the group continues in a clockwise direction Brezik takes his normal place as the parties trap spotter but fails to spot anything.
Gripping the paladin's arm in a firm shake, Gad'larr grins.
Thank you, and my pleasure, good Allister. I am much better dressed for swimming than you of course, even if it is
not my most proficient skill.
Belathorian silently agrees, following the group to the southern corridor.
The short passageway takes a bend before ending in a small chamber dominated on the far side by a silver fountain quietly burbling perfectly clear water. An inscription above the fountain reads “Kassen’s legacy lives on with his people. Drink and be refreshed.”
The corridor opens up into a winding catacomb. The walls are skillfully carved with deep recesses where bodies might have once lain. All that remains now are cobwebs, dust, and the tattered remains of ancient clothing. The stench of rotting flesh is overpowering here, but the source is not evident.
As everyone steps in rotted corpses bloated with evil slip out from behind corners and catacombs to attack.
CMD 14
hp 12
Before the party moves on, Belathorian drinks deep from the fountain.
"Pharasma, please thank whatever power kept this here."
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Allister is parched and kneels to drink deeply from the fountain. Almost immediately his swollen, blue-green ankle begins to feel better. "Hey, my ankle, it stopped hurting! There is goodness all the way down here." After he has finished drinking his fill until his sides hurt, he pours out the contents of his waterskin and fills both with water from the fountain. Finally, before leaving, he cups water in his hand and pours it on his head and the back of his neck.
At the opening to the next room, Allister rests his greatsword on his left shoulder and plugs his nose with his right hand. "Why does it stink so bad down here? Brezik, did you fart?"
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Once Gad gets the first jump on things, Vivian moves into the place he was standing.
"Kassen Vanguard, we're on high alert!! Keep these Plague Zombies at a distance! They're slow, but hit hard and carry zombie rot. It'll turn us into more zombies if we succumb to it!"
She then casts Bless on the party, giving +1 morale bonus on attack rolls and on saving throws against fear effects.
Her head hung low, the small halfling followed the others' lead and moved into the fountain room. Seeing the effect that the fountain had on the others, Qina moves up to drink. The water is more than cool and refreshing. It is empowering. She feels the strength of her life force returning. Her thoughts clear and her courage emerging, Qina smiles for the first time in a while. "Oh, that is wonderful."
She follows the crew down the hall but pauses as the stench fills her nose. "Oh my god, that is not wonderful. That is so the opposite of wonderful. What is that smell?"
Gad drinks from the fountain and is refreshed.
Seeing the movement from the catacomb, Gad draws his sword and brushes past Brezik and rolls/flips over the tomb in the
middle of the room. Landing close to a walking dead, Gad gets a good look at it before he attacks!
"Plague Zombies! Irori preserve us!"
With a solid hit Gad sends one zombie reeling, but for a moment only!
Brezik moves up and attacks the first zombie he comes across. He hears a satisfying thud as his hammer slams into the slow reacting zombies side.
How are we supposed to hurt them if we stay away from them?
The zombie Gad'larr and Brezik have attacked destabilizes and collapses, exploding outward in a sea of rot and disease, covering the two adventurers.
Qina quietly slips past Vivian to take a peak around the corner. She couldn't let Gad and Brezik fight by themselves so she unleashed a ray of positive energy at the nearest one that was not fighting her friends yet.
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Allister nudges past his friends in the hallway, draws his greatsword and closes the gap on a nearby zombie.
As he moves into the room, Allister startles as the zombie explodes onto Brezik and Gad'larr. Whoa, Brezik you hit him so hard he popped like..." his brain freezes as it tries to come up with a simile "...something that pops!"
The burst corpse fills the room with a smell so foul it makes his eyes water and he nearly gags.
'Brezik just got covered in zombie guts. He's never going to smell good again.'
Qina's ray hits one of the zombies shuffling towards Brezik and Gad. It bursts several of the larger pus filled tumors sprouting from the body causing the zombie to leave a trail of filth along the way .
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Moving into the room Belathorian quickly assesses the situation and realises Brezik might be in trouble.
"Brezik! My lady's strength is with you, stand strong!"
Gad steps up to the zombie next in line and let's loose his Flurry!
+Flurry
"Keep up the pressure! We have this!"
Gad's sword takes large chunks out of the zombie causing its pus filled form to go splattering everywhere, though it misses Brezik due to the large case-like catacombs.
Brezik Turns around and attacks the zombie behind him... The Hammer strikes true with a squelching noise and an eruption of pus and gore the zombie falls to the ground. Brezik sees his foe down decides to head down the hallway looking for his next victim.
Qian slowly enters the chamber and fires another ray of positive energy, targeting the undead that is farthest away.
The ray from Qina again bursts some of the larger protuberances on the zombie, but it is still standing.
The zombie closest to Gad'larr realizes it finally has an opponent in reach, and using both of its arms attempts to slam down on him.
It misses and instead hits the cases of dead bodies next to it, peeling some more of its flesh off.
The zombie that Qina hit sees Vivian step into its line of sight and lumbers at her flailing wildly.
While a lucky strike does manage to hit her it does not tear entirely through her defenses.
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Allister climbs onto the end of the catacomb near Gad'larr and swings his greatsword in a sweeping slash at the zombie's head.
Allister delays his actions until he is able to get close enough to Vivian to Lay Hands on her. [ooc]I will make my 1d6 healing roll if necessary.
Belathorian moves around the sarcophagi and steps up beside Gad, bringing his scythe down towards the rotting monster
Belathorian's slash takes a fair chunk out of the zombie, but it remains standing for the time being.
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As the kamikaze zombie careens into Vivian and her shield she is only able to focus on not barreling backwards with it's momentum. Though she is successfully able to not be trampled, the zombie's flailing hits her on the side of the head.
In a bit of shock and potentially staggered, Vivian attempts a counter attack that swings wide and knocks a chunk off a catacomb shelf.