"Damn it!" Anton yells as he slides feet first down the ravine, clanking and swearing as he drops in a heap. "Ouch. Well, on the bright side, I'm closer to the bottom. Desna help me, I don't really want to do that again." he says, standing up and slowly trying to traverse the slippery slope again.
Anton loses his footing once more. "Damn. Here we go again."
Anton slips as he makes his way down the final stretch of the slope, but manages to catch himself on a nearby bush before sliding far.
Artagan picks his way through the steep hillside without difficulty, joining Anton at the bottom of the gorge.
Seeing all the others down at the bottom of the ravine, Yarroth grabs hold of the rope and begins to climb down.
Once down he asks, "Is everyone ok? That looked like a nasty fall you took Anton."
Artagan dusts his hands off at the botom of the gorge and kicks his muddy shoes on a nearby rock, trying to scrape as much mud off as possible. "Yuck."
"I can patch you up Anton. Let me take a look..."
"Oh, I'll be all right." Anton says to Yarroth and Artagan, pulling bits of turf out of his hair and armor joints. "Some nasty bruises on my backside, a scrape on my forehead, a couple of sprained toes - so nothing, really." he says, smiling.
Anton looks around the gorge bottom for a possible way back up.
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Making it safely to the bottom of the gorge, Santoval breaths a sigh of relief, then walks over and claps Anton on the shoulder. "Well, that could have been a nasty spill, thank the gods you caught yourself!"
Santoval looks around at the shadowed gorge a moment as he re-settles the pack on his shoulders and adjusts a few armor straps.
"I think that we should leave the rope there. If we need to get out of the gorge in a hurry, we will need it in place. Besides, its just a rope, unless you know its there, it does a decent job blending into the hillside. So nobody should take it."
After another hour's travel you find the crypt. An archway of stone is set into the side of a small hill at the bottom of the valley. Moss has overgrown many of the details, but one is still quite clear. The keystone of the arch is carved with a flame symbol with a stylized rune in the middle. Beyond the archway is a darkened tunnel that leads to a pair of massive wooden doors, one of which is slightly ajar.
A pair of horses and a trio of ponies lie slaughtered next to the archway, each corpse still tied to a post set into the ground nearby. A swarm of flies hangs lazily in the air above them.
"Dear gods!! What happened here?" Yarroth moves forward carefully and examines the horses and ponies.
Blood coats the ground around the bodies. Yarroth notices some bones sticking out from under one of the horses. The animals still have their packs attached, but most of them seem empty.
Yarroth looks at the bones beneath the horses. That is weird. If the horses are still fleshed, where did the bones come from?
Deciding to investigate further, Yarroth goes and looks at the bones.
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Santoval surveys the bodies calmly, but a greyish tinge comes over his face.
"I really never get used to the sight of bodies...monsters are not a problem...people always are..."
Santoval turns around, and looks back up the ravine, seeming to find something interesting in the scrub and rock of the gully.
"You know...all these bodies lying around is an awful lot of activity for a supposedly deserted crypt. If I would have to hazard a guess...I would say that there are brigands using the Crypt for a hideout.", he says, still facing away.
Yarroth calls over to Anton to get his help in moving the horse from the bones.
"Santoval, it could be bandits - but don't you think they would have stolen these animals instead of slaughtering them?"
"Yarroth - here, let me help if you're trying to move that. I doubt we can do it without some ropes and an oxen team though."
Anton and Yarroth manage to roll the horse away from the bones. They are clearly a scattered human skeleton, but they look very old. There are fresh breaks where the weight of the horse crushed them into the ground.
Artagan stutters a little as he begins to speak, fear hinging on his words, "Uhmm, it it its just an illusion right? Right?" As they move the horse the reality of it all hits the halfling like a brick. He takes a seat nearby and tries to regain what little composure he has. The blood long gone from his now white face.
"By the gods... if the townsfolk came here to set traps and illusions.." He jumps to his feat a dreadful look creeping across his face. "Hurry we must try to get to the other villagers before anything bad happens to them! Maybe I can heal them if we hurry."
He slings his shield from his back and slides it over his forearm. He awaits the others, fidgiting impatiently and stands prepared to enter the crypt at a moments notice.
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Squaring his shoulders and taking a deep breath, Santoval walks over to where Yarroth and Anton are standing, and peers at the skeleton. His skin still looks a bit grey, but he appears to be keeping himself calm.
"I think you are right Artagan. The villagers might have come and walked right into a group of bandits. Although its odd that the skeleton looks so old and clean. If it were the villagers wouldn't there be more fleshy bits?"
"Anyways, standing out here won't get us anywhere. Let's light some torches and head on in."
Anton uses some flint and steel to light a pitch soaked torch, and slides his left arm through his shield straps.
"Some of us can't see very well in the dark," he says, looking at Yarroth. "Hope you're feeling brave, Yarroth. I'll watch your back."
"Very well, let's be vigilant, and find that damn Everflame - the sooner the better."
Blood coats the ground around the bodies. Yarroth notices some bones sticking out from under one of the horses. The animals still have their packs attached, but most of them seem empty.
The large wooden doors of the crypt take two of you to push open. As the heavy doors swing open, the faint light from outside reveals a long chamber with risen platforms on either side. There is a door on each platform that leads further into the crypt to the east and west. A faded painting of Kassen is on the far wall. The room appears to be the site of a gruesome battle, with two bodies piled in the center and a number of skeletons scattered around. An echoing wail can be heard somewhere in the distance, beyond this foul chamber.
Yarroth moves towards the enterence of the crypt. He peers inside, then steels himself and enters. "I may be able to see better than most at night, but I do not have dark vision. We will still need a light source."
The large wooden doors of the crypt take two of you to push open. As the heavy doors swing open, the faint light from outside reveals a long chamber with risen platforms on either side. There is a door on each platform that leads further into the crypt to the east and west. A faded painting of Kassen is on the far wall. The room appears to be the site of a gruesome battle, with two bodies piled in the center and a number of skeletons scattered around. An echoing wail can be heard somewhere in the distance, beyond this foul chamber.
Artagan rushes past the rest of the group. He sprints quickly towards the bodies. If nothing impedes his progress- he desperately looks over the bodies, trying to see if they may still yet be alive. "Call out if you can hear me. We are here to help," he states as he searches the room.
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Santoval moves into the room, carefully watching as the shadows move and play in the flickering torchlight. The piles of bodies fill him with such dread that he almost startles when Artagan shouts deeper into the crypt.
Well that settles it...if anything didn't know we were here, it most certainly does now..."
Santoval goes back to watching the shadows, every now and again checking the doors to the east and west and watching Artagan's progress with the bodies.
Artagan's quick search reveals no living people in the room. The bodies look like they have been dead at least a day. To everyone's horror, six skeletons rise to their feet on their own power. They lurch toward you, several of them holding rusted and chipped scimitars.
Anton draws his sword, leaving the torch burning as he tosses it to the ground. "Undead. Figures."
Do you guys prefer "rolling" your own initiative, or should I go ahead and just roll for the group in future combats to save time?
Do you guys prefer "rolling" your own initiative, or should I go ahead and just roll for the group in future combats to save time?I don't mind if you roll for everybody, the dice expression is random anyways - it's not like I have a lucky keyboard or anything.
"Sarenrae save me!" Artagan shrieks as the skeletons begin to rise around him. He pulls his shield up in front of him and shivers for a brief moment before a golden light surges around him. Sarenrae's grace bursts forth from the halfling, spreading across the room. The light rips through the skeletons making their joints vibrate and rattle.
Yarroth moves forward into the room, mostly to protect the halfling who ran in to check the bodies. He moves forward to confront one of the skeletons, the recently discovered shortsword in his hand.
Scimitar Claw
Claw Claw
Scimitar
The skeleton deftly parries Yarroth's blade in a surprising burst of speed. It tries to attack back, but Yarroth blocks the blow in return.
The light from the halfling shatters half of the skeletons, and makes the remaining tremble. The nearest skeleton tries to claw at Artagan, but the agile halfling ducks under the blows.
The last skeleton rushes toward Santoval before he is ready, but its chipped scimitar shatters against a stud on his leather armor.
Having felt the light of Sarenrae wash over him, he becomes emboldened. Peering over his shield he sees the skeleton aggresively strike at him. Narrowly dodging the skeleton's claws, he shouts to the others, "Use weapons that can smash the bones, if you can!"
Anton charges furiously, his sword held low like a lance, at the closest skeleton. "For...Kassen!"
The skull of the skeleton shatters into dust as Anton's blade stabs through its eye socket. The rest of the bones clatter lifelessly to the floor.
Santoval smashes the ribcage of the skeleton before him, it crumbles before him. One skeleton remains standing.
Yarroth sifts to face the last skeleton. He raises the shortsword and swings with all his might.
The skeleton swiftly avoids Yarroth's blow.
Artagan swings his morningstar towards the last skeleton's hip hoping to bring it smashing down.
Claw Claw
Artgan's blow is deflected by the skeleton's ancient chainmail. The skeleton reaches out to claw at the halfling, but he ducks away long before the undead thing can connect.
"Hey! Pick on someone your own size!" shouts Anton at the remaining skeleton.
Anton's blow severs the skeleton's spine. Bones clatter to the floor. You still faintly hear wailing from somewhere deep inside the crypt.