I say we just continue straight down and see where this path takes us. No need to double back in my opinion.
Magnauk readies his sword and shield and moves past the dispatched spider.
Hiro cleans the spider viscera from his katana and sheathes the blade before retrieving his dropped longbow and arrow. "How about this passage?" the samurai asks as the group leaves the spider's cavern, pointing to the passageway to the left .
Sounds good to me let us go
"Sounds good to me!"
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"Lead on"
The party advances cautiously through the cramped and dripping tunnels. The torchlight reflects strangely off the large pool of water to the southeast, and here and there you spot tiny pieces of crystal left behind by the years of dripping, mineral-heavy water.
The large chamber to the south is mostly dry, and as you come within torchlight range you notice several old, skeletal bodies scattered about -- five total, each garbed in the tattered remnants of lacquered armor (now rotted to uselessness) in the Tien style.
"It looks like more people from your parents homeland." Lyreasel says studying the corpses.
Kenji will move close to the skeletons and squat next to the nearest one, holding the torch up so others can still see, but casting funky shadows around him.
"Hmm..." He mutters. "Maybe they left something in their pockets that can tell us why they were here? Wait, why did they come back here? Wasn't Sandpoint not a few hours away?"
"Sandpoint might be close, but judging by the placement of the ships we've found there must have been some incredible stormy weather for them to end up here and not in Magnimar or Sandpoint. I'm guessing they were lost and took to what shelter they could find."drones Jinda. Then he make a strange sound and a look of consternation runs across his face." Though what killed these particular travelers?"
"Whatever it was, it can't still be around now." Kenji concludes.
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As Kenji moves to examine one of the skeletons, it lets out a brief rattle, then start to stand up, surprising no-one.
ROUND 1
The skeleton that the party disturbed seems to stand suddenly like a puppet with its strings yanked upward, and it lashes out at Kenji with sharp, glistening finger-bones.
Kenji manages to stagger out of the way of the clawing hand!
The other skeletons leap to their feet and advance on the group, some coming through the still water, but fortunately since they had to clamber onto their bony toes they spent their turns moving forward instead of clawing anyone -- yet.
The words of Jinda penetrate Magnauk to his core and as the skeletons begin to rise his question resonates within himself.
What manner of evil has created these things and where is it?
Wondering if there was some master evil creature around Magnauk speaks out.
Jinda, you may be correct and these are minions of greater evil.
Kenji defensively swipes at the skeleton with his gauntlet, grimacing when he misses.
Kenji cautiously backs away from the skeleton that attacked him and steps towards the one to his left, giving his martially minded fighters space to fight and putting him closer to the one skeleton closest to Jinda and Lyraesel.
"I'll help hold them off! Jinda, blast away!"
Kenji's swing seems hurried and he only manages to make a sort of loose waving gesture at the skeleton as it lurches about.
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Round One:
Unsurprised by the animating skeletons, Hiro drops his bow (again!) and grasps his katana. With his blade still sheathed in its combat scabbard, the samurai attempts to bludgeon the skeleton before him.
Club in hand Lyraesel moves forward alongside Magnauk, bringing her weapon smashing down on the skeleton facing the Paladin.
Hiro crushes one of the skeletons (#2) with his quick bashing strike, but Lyraesel's blow just barely misses one of the quick, bony adversaries.
Magnauk swings his sword at the closest skeleton still worrying about what evil has control of these creatures.
"Well skeletons generally aren't such a bother, what worries me is what animated them..." grumbles Jinda as he unlimbers his axe. He steps five feet diagonally and points a finger at skeleton 3, and shouts, "लाइटनिंग लान्स". A sizzling bolt of lightning shoots forth and fizzles out before reaching the intended target.
The following attacks from Jinda and Magnauk are not terribly inspiring, as Magnauk's heavy sword comes down but misses and Jinda's crack of lightning causes a brief flare of illumination but winds up striking the waterline ineffectually.
ROUND 2
As they have no real intelligence, the skeletons merely clatter forward to doom.
The skeleton already facing off against the party raises its clawed, dirty bones and lashes at Magnauk twice.
Fortunately the paladin has no patience for the grasping hands of the undead and avoids the claws.
The skeleton behind steps into the corner near the spellcasters, and reaches its sharp fingerbones toward Jinda.
The dwarf is caught by one of the descending claws, which snags his ear and painfully yanks a clump of hair from its beard as it slashes downward.
One of the skeletons that was advancing finishes moving into a tight space with its back to the wall and strikes at Hiro.
The skeleton clambering out of the water tries to rip into Kenji.
The waterlogged skeleton practically leaps onto Kenji, tearing outward with both claws and leaving him with a bloody gash that sends him reeling to the ground!
The last skeleton clambers over the bones of its fallen comrade and manages to reach one claw toward Hiro.
Hiro manages to avoid the reaching claw as he sees his ward, Kenji, getting torn to pieces.
Heal Kenji: 1d8 ⇒ 4
Heal Kenji: 1d8 ⇒ 3Heal Magnauk: 1d8 ⇒ 7
Round Two:
"Kenji! Get out of there!" Hiro warns his young ward as he slashes his sheathed katana at another skeleton.
Fwissh! Hiro's moment of emotion overtakes his skill and his bludgeoning swing becomes more of a general "get back" sort of motion, which does little to dissuade the undead.
Shifting her position, Lyrasel puts her full power into her next swing at the skeleton in front of her.
Kenji stumbles back but manages to keep his composure, keeping his hands up and swinging a quick fire blast to cover his retreat.
Jinda steps back and lets loose with another lighting lance at the skeleton who attacked him.
Let us destroy these creatures
Apparently the stress of the situation has everyone charged up and hitting hard, as the party's cavalcade of blows comes home to roost! Jinda blasts fire all over the skeleton in front of him, which produces a sizzle of steam as the damp bones are suddenly flashed with heat and blasted into fragments. Chunks of bones explode from the sudden temperature change, pelting Kenji with tiny fragments of smoking, charred remnants.
Lyraesel plants her feet and brings her club down in an overhand swing that smashes the skull of the skeleton in front of her. The undead creature staggers for a few seconds, then collapses into a heap of old bones in an almost comical fashion.
Jinda's lightning lance flares out and, since Lyraesel already smashed the skeleton that was clawing at him, launches instead into one of the still-standing bone-bags. This time the lightning connects; the bones flare blue-white and the rags and fragments of armor clinging to the skeleton smoke and catch fire, while sparks flare out from the eyesockets and teeth of the skull. The skeleton dances momentarily, hopping from one foot to the other with its shoulders bouncing up and down comically, before shaking itself, quite literally, to pieces!
Magnauk turns to the skeleton standing over the remains of its companion and hits it so hard that he knocks it back into a heap five feet away!
Only one skeleton survives the terrific fury of this coordinated assault.
ROUND 3
The one lone skeleton, lacking any intelligence to tell it to get the hell out of there, continues to grope at Hiro.
The skeleton is unable to get its bony fingers through the samurai's armor, and succeeds only in making a feeble scraping sound before the party descends upon it in fury.
Round Three:
Hiro slashes his sheathed katana at the last standing skeleton.
Kenji scorches, but does not destroy, the final shambling assailant, as Hiro tries to batter it down but is unable to break it with his scabbard.
Jinda moves up to the skeleton and with a loud grunt, swings his axe at it with all his might.
Magnauk's strike doesn't faze the skeleton, but in a surprise move Jinda advances and a heavy blow of his sharp axe crashes into the skeleton's ribcage, shattering it into pieces!
After the bones clatter to the ground the only sound is the soft dripping of water and the heavy breathing of the injured. Nothing else comes forth from the darkness to investigate the noise.
Your torchlight shines around the chamber as you examine it for any other tracks, clues, or treasures. You notice only three things of interest: First, a very tight passage to the north that meets back up with one of the hallways you previously traversed; second, a small outcropping of crystals in the pond northeast of you, that Jinda estimates might have some small monetary value if they were chipped out of the stone; and third, a passage heading northwest, to another small and quiet cave.
"This here crystal could be quite valuable, but I don't think we've the time to mine it. I think I'll put in a claim at the local assayer's office for this cave," with that said, Jinda heads towards the northwest cave.
As Jinda moves toward the northwest cave, his darkvision picks out a few of the details of that area.
In the silence Lyrasel walks over to Kenji. With an incantation in the strange druidic language she rests a hand on his shoulder, healing power flowing into him before she goes back to scanning the cave.
Thinking of the evil spoken of by Jinda, Magnauk concentrates to find its location.
Magnauk can be heard mumbling loudly but not seeming to say anything legible. His stare is far off as he looks towards the northwest passage.
"Another skeleton up ahead, it seems much more competent than the last group. It is looking right at me." comments Jinda. It didn't immediately attack, and it seems to be guarding that chest. I wonder if it is waiting for the rightful owner...
Giving it a moments thought, Jinda blurts,"Hey Kenji, I've got a crazy idea. What if you introduce yourself to this skeleton in Minkian? "
Kenji pauses, letting Lyraesel heal him. Feeling somewhat better, he nods.
"Yeah. I can try that." He says, rolling his shoulders.
"(I am Kaijitsu Kenji, of the Kaijitsu Bloodline. I come seeking my family legacy. We would do this without violence, if we can.)"
Kenji speaks up in halting Tien, and the skull's head turns abruptly to regard him. Then, in one fluid motion, the skeleton stands. It shifts its wakizashi so that it holds the sword with its left hand and its right hand grips the hilt, and it shifts its right foot forward into a defending stance, as if prepared to draw the weapon from a scabbard that long ago turned to dust.
The skeleton speaks no words, but you sense a malign intellect at work.
Magnauk seeing the evil before him charges and attacks with all his furry.
Evil must die and be put under
The skeleton's bony foot shifts slightly as Magnauk charges toward it, then in a smooth move it lashes out with its unblemished wakizashi.
The skeleton's draw and cut is samurai-perfect, and only Magnauk's tremendous half-orc resilience keeps him on his feet. He finishes his charge and crashes into the skeleton with a heavy blow that connects but shears partly off the mail and dry bones.
"Was it something I said?!" Kenji asks, putting his free hand dangerously close to the burning torch.
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With a hearty,"लाइटनिंग लान्स" Jinda lets loose with a lightning lance.
Shocked at how well his aim was, Jinda carefully makes sure he isn't blocking anyone's attacks against the skeleton.