There is a pained screech from outside as Quinta's eagle dies. A cannibal rushes forward only to be cut down by Alexite before he can act, but another hurls himself forward over the bodies of his comrades snarling in rage! Alexite, tries to take advantage as he scrambles over the bodies, but still putting all his power into his swings he just misses his mark. Ishirou's blade sinks itself in this one's side, but fails to down him and he swings his blade at Alexite gauging a jagged cut down the ranger's calf.
Joll casts his spell and his targets face goes from snarling fury to cringing terror in an instant.
Sasha weaves her blades again and slashes at her foe, slashing at the wound Ishirou made and tearing it further apart with both blades and downing another cannibal. Jask hurries into the room with the figurehead and moves back against the far wall before channeling again to heal Alexite and Sasha.
Jack's gaffaws wind down to giggles and titters and he is able to gain control of himself again.
Sasha
Jask
Jack
Dragolan
Malikadna
Quinta
Alexite
Ishirou
Cannibals
Joll
The flood of cannibals is as much disgusting as it is frightening but Joll holds his ground and braces himself. Until the others are up the stairs he will stand fast and look for opportunities to flank the enemies. Thankfully, some of the lowly beasts can still be turned back by the power of Asmodeus. Unfortunately, the others will have to be laid low with steel.
"I can't see her!" Jask calls back to Joll.
"I doubt it! That was my summoned eagle I just heard!" Quinta shouts. She then raises her voice in song:
"Raise your steel and let it fall
Without a head, no man stands tall
Be they gentle, be they beast
Without a head, they're a crow's feast!
So raise your steel and let it fall!"
Slashed by a cannibal but healed by his 'little sis', the ranger continued his grisly work. "Is there no end to them? Can someone sneak out the building and flank them from the other side?"
Alexite's falchion impaled another man and split another skull. "I don't see any arrows sticking from them. C'mon, this can't go on forever!"
Jack stumbles out of the "closet" and draws back his bowstring. When the two cannibals are dropped by Alexite's sword, the rogue launches a projectile over Ishirou's head at the cannibal horde beyond.
*
Jack pushes himself up off the floor and moves out into the main room drawing his bow. Quinta sings out and then Alexite guts another two cannibals, including the one terrified by Joll's spell, sending them down to the abattoir-like floor.
Ishirou waits to strike at the onrushing cannibals again, and as they hurl themselves forward slides his blade into ones shoulder. The first cannibal simply has his leg chopped off just below his groin by Alexite's blade and falls instantly. Slipping on the blood and entrails of their comrades the cannibals cannot manage to get their broken blades anywhere near Alexite or Ishirou! Another flings a javelin, but so poor is the aim it never even enters the lighthouse.
Seeing the cannibals slip unsteadily on the bloody floor gives Joll renewed confidence. "Hold them at the door! The blood and the bodies will hinder their advance! We can push them back!
Quinta utters a musical whoop, then jabs a finger at the foremost cannibal and utters a single Word: "Frigis!"
A chill, blue ray shoots from the Chelishgirl's finger, but regrettable overshoots its target by several inches.
"Bother!"
Joll utters a short, sharp prayer to give him the strength of the inflexible law of Hell.
Dragolan sees that the stairs continue upwards.
Sasha attacks the cannibal before her with her blades, stabbing him through the throat and then in the belly to send him down permanently.
Jask uses another burst of healing energy as he prays.
Jask
Jack
Dragolan
Malikadna
Quinta
Alexite
Ishirou
Cannibals
Joll
Jack shoots and misses.
No obvious windows at this level?
If there are no windows, Dragolan will return to the stairs down, finding a place low enough that he can shoot into the doorway if any of the party there falls.
There seemed to be no end in sight to the cannibals but there also was no where for the ranger to go. He would either fall to one of the rusty blades or kill everyone of the brutes that showed his face. Looking at his companions, he showed a grim, determined smile; the funnel they had set seemed to be working well.
The gore-spattered ranger continued to wield his blade with deadly efficiency. He punched his blade through a man's torso and loped off another man's head.
Dragolan cannot see any windows, but on the other side of the room he can see a curtained doorway, that leads out onto a crude wooden balcony.
Ishirou stabs at the cannibal injured by Alexite, almost cutting his head clean off, but instead merely severing half his neck and killing him. The Tian then steps back beside Jack and behind Sasha so Joll can potentially get into combat.
The remaining cannibals surge forward and for the first time the group can see an end to them as Alexite drops one, and Sasha skewers another on her rapier.
One cannibal slashes at Jack while the other targets the armorless Sasha, but neither can touch their nimble foes.
When Joll sees Ishirou retreat from the enemy ranks he throws himself into the gap and at the cannibal closest at hand. His morningstar lands on the savage's torso with a wet sound.
Attack
Damage
Joll steps forward beside Sasha and cuts down the cannibal she wounded. Then Sasha stabs the penultimate cannibal warrior in the eye and slashes his arm with her kukri before stepping back,
"I'll leave the rest to you boys!"
Jack casually shoots the last cannibal in the face, killing him instantly.
*
*
Seeing the last cannibal go down, the ranger wasted little time in barking orders again. "We need to make sure this place is clear of people; we'll come back to loot later. Did anyone check upstairs to make sure no one ambushes us from behind?"
Still panting from the exertion, he looked at the rogue, "Jack, what we did before, that's what we need to do to finish exploring this place. Let's be careful, the witch is still out there. Does anyone if this is the same woman we met before with the undead?
"No one is upstairs. At least in the living quarters; I did not go above that. There is a balcony door as well."
"I never saw her in either case. I thought she was inside that room with Quinta and Jack" Joll says while pointing to the adjacent chamber. "She is probably outside, directing her attacks through windows."
Then he calls into the other chamber. "Jask. In here, don't get separated."
Alexite cleaned off the blood from his blade on the savages before sheathing it. He then grabbed his longbow and set an arrow.
He turned to Jack, "Are you ready to continue our job? If so, maybe we should get the large hut north of here, yes?"
The ranger then patted Ishirou and Sasha on their shoulders, "Good job, both of you, we couldn't have done without you. But... put your armor on; this isn't over yet."
Alexite then spotted the shiny falchion the chief almost cut his off with. Tempted for a second he stepped towards it only to recoil quickly. He turned to the rest of the group, "If we're ready, we should go now. The sooner this is over the better."
Joll grabs the falchion off the floor. "No use leaving it for an enemy to gain" he says.
As a sudden silence falls it is broken by a shriek of anguish, and skeletons burst round the corner as the witch moves into view and thrusts a finger out at Alexite calling,
"Gargrak sprock tragg budumsh bum bum!"
But drenched from head to toe in the life blood of his foes is in no mood for mirth and effortlessly fends off the spell that felled Jack previously.
Skeletons offer up an opening to Joll who swings his mace and shatters the first's skull into powder. The second claws at the inquisitor, while the last goes for Alexite. Both of the undead strike home their bone fingers tearing into flesh and leaving behind bloody lines.
Sasha
Jask
Jack
Dragolan
Malikadna
Skeletons
Quinta
Alexite
Ishirou
Joll
Just as Joll is about to be clawed the creature strikes a shimmering magical field around him and is turned aside.
Shaken but not toppled by the witch's spell, rage surged inside the ranger. He stepped up right in front of the witch hoping to thwart her spells and kill her quickly.
The ranger quickly discarded his bow and in fluid motion whipped out his falchion. The blade fell on the woman with a meaty thud.
The ranger then turned around and struck at the skeleton behind him.
Chapter 8 > Movement. Position, and Distance > Measuring Distance (it's on page 192-193 for me.)
"Diagonals: When measuring distance, the first diagonal
counts as 1 square, the second counts as 2 squares, the third
counts as 1, the fourth as 2, and so on.
You can’t move diagonally past a corner (even by taking a
5-foot step). You can move diagonally past a creature, even
an opponent.
You can also move diagonally past other impassable
obstacles, such as pits."
Alexite misses the skeleton, his blow just being turned aside by its armor.
Chapter 8 > Movement. Position, and Distance > Measuring Distance (it's on page 192-193 for me.)
"Nisil mors, nisil vivens, terminus est!" Quinta chants, levelling her arm at the skeleton closest to the door. A ray of golden light blasts from her hand, crackling over the monstrosity's bones.
Firing into combat through cover Quinta's golden ray misses the mark.