the doorway are the dried husks of two orcs, obviously long dead. Apparently the salt air has preserved them. They faces are twisted into unmistakable looks of fright. In the centre of the room is a large, dusty altar. Faint shafts of light come down through a few points in the weak roof.
Zane's eyes narrow in concern as the door falls apart in front of Ser Armithia, revealing the room beyond and the two gelatinous...things. His expression turns to confusion as he hears Azarra start to sing, suddenly stop, then brush past Kardas to exit the area. The priest suspects it has something to do with the things up ahead, but isn't sure. With a last worried glance at the half-elf (and maybe a longer than necessary glance south of the belt) he turns his eyes back to the elven paladin and the potential enemies beyond. His grip tightens on his mace as he waits to see what Ser Armithia will do, concerned about the abilities of these creatures ahead but unwilling to abandon his ally.
"The farther we go the worse it gets..."
Mal draws an arrow and fires it into one of the creatures.
Longbow Attack
Longbow Damage
"We could try to draw them to the Orcs as well, anyone have any idea how?"
Holding a ruined door, the knight shrugs his shoulders.
I shall not allow them pass, but if someone has any ideas...
Zane continues to stand behind Ser Armithia as the elf plants his feet. Nervously eyeing the creatures around the elf the Cleric says, "Move in so we can use our numbers against them, or let's retreat to a serviceable door." Zane hopes the undead and orcs keep each other occupied for a while as they continue to explore the Keep in search of the Horn.
"Cut them down! Lead the way, Armithia!"
Whilst moving forward the swordmage channels what remains of his magical power into his sword with a guttural noise.
Kardas enchants his sword with a fraction of his power and waits for Ishta to move, so he can advance.
Malstei tries to shoot one of the oozes but he can't find a clear shot and his arrow goes wide.
Confusion over what to do reins and Azzara heads away from the Oozes and investigates the room to the west.
Ser Armithia sets his jaw and attempts to block the passage and blows of the Oozes while the Watches of Dawn decide what to do!
The oozes sprout disgusting pseudopods as they flow towards Ser Armithia, just the the Watches of Dawn are hampered by the confided environs, so are they. The lead Ooze reaches out with a deep green pseudopod but Ser Armithia just steps aside!
<---Miss
Kardas Rasalas
Malstei Alenuath
Azarra
Ser Armithia-Seendren
Oozes
Ishta Khosiv <----- WE ARE HERE
Zane Levallis
Spoiler:Kardas Rasalas Shield of faith (10 rounds)
Malstei Alenuath
Azarra
Ser Armithia-Seendren
Oozes
Ishta Khosiv Mage Armor (1739 rounds)
Zane Levallis
Kardas Rasalas Shield of faith (9 rounds)
Malstei Alenuath
Azarra
Ser Armithia-Seendren
Oozes
Ishta Khosiv Mage Armor (1738 rounds)
Zane Levallis
Ishta Khosiv, Zane Levallis, Kardas Rasalas, Malstei Alenuath, Azarra and Ser Armithia-Seendren are up.
Not sure how to contribute, Ishta moves out of the way, seeing she is just obstructing her more war-like comrades. She tries a wild shot at the leading ooze, with not much hope to land but just in case.
Zane huffed in irritation, frustrated at the cramped entryway. The Cleric appreciated the paladin taking the risk against the oozes, though. Calming himself somewhat, he softly chants a short prayer to his God. "Morninglord! Steady this man's sword arm and help him strike true, I beg you!" The priest then steps back beside Malstei, opening up the area behind Ser Armithia should he choose to retreat.
So, are we fighting these oozes or using them against the orcs?
Azarra, hearing Zane through the doorway thinks maybe she should go back, but then hearing Ser A, she realizes there is no point, at least yet. She steps closer to the door and kneels down to examine and search the strangely preserved orc corpses. She wonders what frightened them.
"Against the Orcs I say", as the elf withdraws through the side door .
With the space behind Armithia freed up Kardas now moves on forward.
The knight continues to go full defense.
I shall hold them until everyone is through the door. Be ready to shut it as I pass lastly!
Ishta tries once more to send a ray of utter cold, a tricky shot into the confusion of combat yet almost succeeded, the ray missing the bulk of the emerald green ooze by less than an inch!
Zane calls on the Morning Lord's to guide Ser Armithia before moving out of the way so the noble paladin can retreat if needed.
Malstei decides it's folly to fight the Oozes and withdraws.
Azarra examines the desiccated orc corpses, there's noting obvious to determine the reason for their demise, she does notice they have a different style of clothing. The orcs you fought moments ago wore wolf skins while these two wear what appear to be bear skins.
Once more Ser Armithia focuses on holding the door, hoping the others will make good their escape while he does so. Sensing food, the ooze in front of him lashes out with several pseudopods. Ser Armithia easily blocks the first one with his shield but the second one snaked around and over his shield taking him by surprise! The pseudopod smashes him across the face leaving an acidic slime which burns terribly!
<--- MISS
<--- CRIT?
<--- NO CRIT
Kardas Rasalas
Malstei Alenuath
Azarra
Ser Armithia-Seendren
Oozes
Ishta Khosiv <----- WE ARE HERE
Zane Levallis
Spoiler:Kardas Rasalas Shield of faith (10 rounds)
Malstei Alenuath
Azarra
Ser Armithia-Seendren
Oozes
Ishta Khosiv Mage Armor (1739 rounds)
Zane Levallis
Kardas Rasalas Shield of faith (9 rounds)
Malstei Alenuath
Azarra
Ser Armithia-Seendren
Oozes
Ishta Khosiv Mage Armor (1738 rounds)
Zane Levallis
Ishta Khosiv, Zane Levallis, Kardas Rasalas (potentially with 2 rounds of actions), Malstei Alenuath, Azarra and Ser Armithia-Seendren are up.
"Against the orcs it is, then." Ishta follows Mal into the other room and rejoins Azarra. While the others come in as well, she gives an eye to Azarra's findings. "What do we have here?"
Ancient orcs in bear skins rather than wolf skins apparently. I haven't gone in further, but there is a big altar in there. Probably should be careful though. They died in fear of something, which could still be here.
Zane looks upon the scene with concern, loathe to abandon Ser Armithia. The plan seems to be to disengage and move into a different area, though, so the priest prepares to follow the others. Before leaving the room, he calls upon Lathander's divine power to heal some of his, Armithia's, and Malstei's wounds. Then he moves back into the main hall the group entered.
Unperturbed, the gold elf holds his ground.
Kardas does as the group does: he turns around and moves out using the northern passage, closing the door to the eastern room as he goes and then, eventually, the most northern door.
Mal nods his thanks to Zane.
Ishta withdraws into the other room. Zane invokes the Morning Lord's name sending a wave of healing energies over Ser Armithia reducing the painful swelling from the acidic mucus, before with drawing.
Kardas moves to leave the long way, hoping to close the door before the oozes get there.
Outside Azarra tells the others of her gruesome discovery.
Ishta will stand by the door, action ready to close it when Ser Armithia comes finally in. "Oh, dear, we're so negligent... Ser Armithia, we're ready at the door for you now!"
Ser Armithia pauses for another moment in front of the slavering piles of ooze as they try to ingest hum, but thanks to his training and focus he managed to evade their advances to give Ishta enough time to get to the door. She calls out to him and then the noble night takes the better part of valor and rushes through the door which is slammed firmly behind him. The ooze moved surprisingly fast and slammed solidly against the door, yet it held - for now!
Zane tightened his grip on his mace when the oozes crashed into the door, but relaxed when it became apparent the portal would hold. Taking a look at Ser Armithia to make sure the man hadn't sustained any more injuries, the priest makes his way to the room Azarra had pointed out, flashing a smile at the half-elf as he passed her.
The dead orcs were ominous, though as Azarra had pointed out they were from another tribe. Likely they had died long ago, during the initial sack. The Cleric grasped his rosy pink holy symbol in his shield hand, remembering that the dead guarded this unholy place.
With Zane there as backup, Azarra (perhaps unwisely) walks into the room as well, intentionally not waiting for a marching order because she is frustrated by having to wait for someone else to take action.
She doesn't go in too far, but she goes in far enough that she can see everything, and she takes a good look around.
Ishta comes in and has a look at the room. Azarra is doing a superb job of looking for details, and she assumes if she needs help she would prefer some other priest to help her. Instead, Ishta concentrates on magic finding.
Ser Armithia begins blockading the door(s) leading to the oozes.
"Alright, I got your back. Something tells me we should have the third password at the ready .. oh .. right."
The third password they got from the paper wasn't complete.
Mal slings his bow and draws his longsword, close quarters combat was becoming imperative the deeper the Group went into this tower.
Unwisely is my middle name.
The gold elf finishes blocking the door(s) with any type of furnishings. His finished work seems to actually beckon attention...
Standing amoung the company again, he states,
My thanks for your aid. I am honored to be counted amoung you.
Azarra walks over to the box she spotted in order to to pick it up.
Zane's eyes widened in alarm as Azarra started to go forward, the priest following not far behind. He nervously glanced from side to side, thinking that things had been relatively easy for them so far. The cleric kept his holy symbol prominently displayed, just in case.
As Azarra walks past the altar towards the box she feels a sudden chill go down her spine. Looking behind her shoulder she sees a insubstantial figure with an iron helm reaching out towards her! One step closer and it shakes it's head and the room becomes so cold that heavy frost appears over the stone floor! The only sounds are those of Azarra's beating heart, her breath and a strange snapping noise from the forming ice...
Zane eyed the newly manifested apparition with disgust and a bit of fear as the cold made its way quickly into the room. As the creature reached out for Azarra the cleric shook his head. "No!" The young man rushed forward, trying to plant himself between the spirit and the half-elf.
"We didn't mean to disturb your rest, brother. We seek the horn."
Azarra stops walking toward the box, thinking the apparition's head shaking might mean it doesn't want her to go further, so she just casts Open on the box instead.