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Jathal sends an arrow flying through the frost zombie’s head, immediately sending the icy undead crashing to the floor.
As Aelion and Javos withdraw in pain, Rhona takes a swing at the only remaining adversary, the green coloured zombie, hacking off the creature’s head and spraying herself and Cecilia in the creature's dark blood, bringing the combat to an end.
As the party members collect themselves, they notice the body of a member of the Brindol Lion Guard chained to the eastern wall.
A doorway leads further north and a stairway to the west leads up to a higher level of the catacombs.
Aelion slumped against the wall, blood trickling between the fingers of the hand he had clamped to his neck.
"I don't suppose Morngrym could bother Moradin for a touch of healing?" he rasped to Rhona, eyes drifting to the other dwarf. "Those things have a nasty bite!" Swallowing the tang of copper, he decided voicing his curiosity as to where such strange undead could come from could wait.
"Πες στο ξωτικό - Αηλιόν, ναι; Πείτε στο Aelion να ασκεί πίεση στην πληγή. Έχω μόνο μία θεραπευτική αγωγή, αλλά φαίνεται ότι κατάφερε να το κερδίσει."
"Tell the elf - Aelion, yes? Tell Aelion to keep pressure on the wound. I've only one healing left in me, but it seems like he's managed to earn it."
Morgrym carefully made his way down the blood slippery stairs and called upon Moradin.
"Hold the wound apply pressure and ready for the blessings of Moradin" She says to Aelion as she looks over to the guard
"They dead or alive?" She says gesturing to the chained person.
He makes a waving gesture at Rhonna, acquiesce to her question with only some mild pain in complaint. Tugging at the straps on his gauntlet he uses it to help put pressure on his own wound as he walks over, still rolling the sting out of his arm as he looks over the chained man, "You alive? Cause I've had enough people chewing and blowing me up for one day if you don't mind."
He glances in Morgrym's direction and spoke in Dwarvish, "If you're handing out healing I'm not going to turn some down."
As soon as the last enemy fell, Cecilia ceased her song. There was no need for another verse, now that this battle was over.
Casting a Prestidigitation spell to cleanse her clothes of any blood, the bard walked over to the chained member of the Brindol Lion Guard. Kneeling down beside him, she checked to see if there were any signs of life. Failing that, Cecilia examined his body to see if she could determine how he had died.
The light wasn't the best, but she did the best work she could considering the circumstances.
"Thank you," Aelion said to both of the dwarves, clasping Morgrym's shoulder with his clean hand for a moment to convey his meaning. His nasty wound now merely painful rather than life-threatening, he paused to see if Javos needed bandaging, then to examine the zombies and satisfy his curiosity, before joining the others near the chained Lion Guard. He, too, wanted to know if the man lived, or how he had died.
Aelion glanced at the key he had found near the cells. With a shrug, he moved to try to unlock the man's chains.
"After we've... helped..." The way Dayana says the word sounds skeptical of his status, "...the man. That's the Kartenix he was talking about, isn't it? I think they were split off from the children in the fresco chamber."
Cecilia and Aelion move to assess the condition of the man chained to the wall.
Aelion notices that the guard captain rests above a pool of blood, and as the elf takes a closer look, he sees that beneath the man's tabard, his side and a large portion of his lower body has been feasted on by undead denizens of this icy landing.
His lips are blue and his skin cold to the touch, he is almost certainly dead. But as Dayana speaks his name, Kartenix raises his head to look at the witch with a blank stare.
Morgryn gives Aelion a simple 'thumbs up' gesture, then returns to the top of the stair.
Cecilia gasps as Kartenix suddenly moves his head. Standing up, she grabs Aelion by the shoulder, attempting to drag the elf back.
"Nobody touch him!" The bard warns, taking several quick steps away from the man. "I think he's been turned into one of them."
Aelion dropped the edge of the man's tabard and jumped back together with Cecilia. "He's been partially devoured," he confirmed, with a nod of thanks to the bard. "Maybe we should just grant his spirit peace and move on."
"I can put me axe in his head if you want me too?" She says somberly as she didn't like the idea of this man having to be one of the undead.
Seeing the corpse move was enough to have Javos take a half step back and level his sword at the dead-ish man. While the others spoke he took a moment to look the man over and eye his movements and intent. He'd heard stories, more than once, about undead who were not mindless creatures. Even if he doubted this was the case he couldn't help but reach out and tap the wall with his foot to draw attention, "Oy. Kartenix, was it? You still in there?" He almost immediately chastised himself under his breath, but he couldn't not ask.
Maybe he was a bit too nice after all.
Kartenix looks Javos up and down, possibly trying to communicate some form of understanding, or possibly just sizing up his next meal.
Bearing his teeth, the former guard captain jerks his head toward the cavalier.
It appears the group is too late to save this prisoner.
Present him with a Holy symbol." Jathal suggests quietly. "His reaction may give the information we need as to his condition?"
While she is prepared to administer the final mercy to the man, she would not want to do so if there was any chance of his being saved?
Cecilia listened to the conversation with interest. She had often heard it said that a cleric was necessary to properly combat the undead. But would a holy symbol by itself actually do anything? She didn't think so.
Looking into the cold dead eyes of Kartenix, the bard resisted the urge to take a few more steps back. The undead they had fought before had all clearly been monsters, but this... thing still retained enough of its humanity to be unsettling.
Taking a single calm breath, she contributed what she could.
"I have a great respect for many of the gods, but not enough to carry a holy symbol of any of them." Cecilia admits. Turning towards Rhona, she asks the dwarf a question. "Miss Copperhair, do you think you could ask Mister Dolgringrun to present his holy symbol to this man? If he does not react well, then I fear we will have to put him out of his misery, as you said."
"Good idea, no need to decapitate a guy who already was having a bad day" She says as she looks to Morgryn.
Walking over to the dwarven cleric she taps him on his weapon arm and then speaks."Morgryn θα μπορούσατε να δείξετε ίσως το ιερό σας σύμβολο στον αλυσοδεμένο άνθρωπο εκεί. Μπορεί να είναι μηδέν και δεν είμαστε σίγουροι αν είναι. Ελπίζω λοιπόν ότι το σήμα σας θα ξέρεις να αποκαλύπτετε την αλήθεια."
Zalindra waits to see what will happen, sad and worried that they hadn't been in time for this prisoner, but also thankful that her grandfather was okay when he could have so easily been in the same situation.
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Casting a glance askew to her allies, Dayana cocks her head to the side as she watches Kartenix. "If you understand even a word of what we're saying, turn your head to the side. If not, let's get this over with. We've still the children to find down here, we can't be obsessing over ones who cannot be saved."
Morgrym sighs sadly, advances, and holds up a stone amulet carved into the shape of a flaming anvil. With a quiet prayer to Moradin he thrusts it forward.
As Morgrym advances Javos turns to the side, moving so the blade of his sword is between the dwarf and the zombie-to-be. Or at least enough of it that a lunge wouldn't do much more than be slightly startling should the bindings give. Holding the blade firm he glances at the symbol in the dwarf's hands and almost instinctively joins in to the prayer for Moradin's blessing before shaking himself and glancing at the dwarf to speak in Dwarvish, "You ever seen anything like this? It's like the old tales you hear over too many pints, if you ask me."
Kartenix tilts his head towards Dayana as the witch speaks but his attention is soon drawn to the dwarven cleric and his holy symbol, which causes the former guard to wince and recoil, pressing his face to the icy stone wall behind him.
Morgrym lets out a pent up breath in an explosive burst. With symbol still in hand he raises his hammer and starts to speak in dwarvish. Even those with little understanding of the language can tell he speaks last rites over poor Kartenix.
Dayana interperets the tilting of Kartenix's head favorably, and the changeling lifts a hand towards Morgrym, moving up alongside the dwarf, "Hold on, hold on. I think he isn't mindless. At least not entirely so. He seems to recognize common and understand that I am speaking to him."
She frowns.
"I'm not entirely sure how much of his mind is left, though, and if he wouldn't immediately go berserk if we unchained him..."
Zalindra doesn't know what to do. She doesn't like the idea of killing someone they know, but also doesn't know if it is possible to help him at this point. She doesn't step in and intervene, leaving it up to the others, assenting through inaction.
Cecilia looked towards Dayana, a frown on her face. "I am not an expert on the undead, but my understanding is that the creation of such a creature leaves the victim's soul trapped, unable to reach the afterlife."
The bard then looked down at the chained form of Kartenix with pity. "If that is the case, then there is only one thing we can do for this man. Destroy the monster that he has become and free him from this curse." She sighs crossing her arm, looking troubled. "If there was a way to save him, I would gladly do so. But unless someone here has access to very powerful divine magic, then there is nothing we can do.
Still frowning, Dayana folds her arms across her chest. "I will leave the decision to you all, then."
Rhona slips her shield back on her back and twirls her grip in both hands."To be trapped in a husk like that, unable to reach the Forever forest would be awful. TO miss the moonlight and pools of glittering raidence. If he believes the same as me." She says pulling one hand away to touch her knotted cord twisting her fingers about it before pulling it up to her lips for a kiss.
"I know I vote for mercy, Mercy grants him everlasting peace" She says with determination as who wouldn't want to see the afterlife and experience their bliss.
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"I don't think there's anything more that can be done for him," Aelion agreed quietly. There was a hollowness to his tone that suggested this decision was felt deeply, but he raised his sword, all the same.
"Let us grant him peace. I can do it, if none of you wish to," he offered.
As the group reaches a consensus, the creature that once was Kartenix looks up to face the hammer and blade of those who would set his soul free.
"Poor fellow, he was a brave man, more noble in heart than station." Sertanian says, as word of the guard captain's fate reaches the rear of the group.
Once the deed is done, the group is left standing silent in the still air of the icy landing. A set of stairs ascend westward, while a set of double doors sit in the center of the northern wall.
Zalindra checks the doors for traps.
Cecilia looks away as her allies finally put an end to Kartenix, visibly wincing as she hears steel cleave through flesh and bone.
There was no glory in such a death. No stories would be told or songs sung for this man. Still, at least his soul could be at peace now.
Gathering up her courage, the bard carefully approaches the body of the guard captain, moving slowly over the frost covered floor. A cowardly part of her really wishes she could just turn around and walk the other way, but she forces herself to do the honourable thing and kneels beside Kartenix. Taking a moment to adjust her gloves, Cecilia checks the man for a ring, charm, or trinket. Something that they might be able to take back with them. If this man had any family, then they deserved something to remember him by.
After completing her search, she stands up, and pulls out some flint and steel. "Should we burn his remains?" She asks. Though she is not sure if starting fire will be easy in such a cold chamber.
"Even if we had anything to burn him with, the smoke and smell might bring other trouble down on us. I don't think he would have wanted that," Aelion said gently. He wiped his sword, wincing when he raised his arm due to the bite the other undead had given him. "We'll take him with us when we leave. He'll get a cairn, at least."
He regarded the now-truly-dead guard somberly. "If you write a song to honor the fallen, maybe you could mention him. I have the bad feeling that song will have more names to mention before we're through."
He waited for everyone to say their piece before they moved on. Still shaky on his feet from blood loss, he gestured for the others to take the lead.
"We should check to see if he has anything of use on him before we go. No sense to let his items to go to waste when it could be the item we need to stay alive. I doubt he would have wanted anyone to die when he could have done something to help even if it is in death?" She says looking over the body to see if anything of note is on it. It was a grisly task but Rhona was taught in her survival training that to leave behind things you can carry and could aid you later should not be left if you can help it. Even the fallen friend can hold an item for a later victory or to stave off death!
"And if he has family there may be something we can return to them?" Jathal says quietly. "He died facing the Undead would be a good thing to tell them."
As Zalindra confirms that the doors leading northwards are not trapped, Rhona, Jathal and Cecillia all gather around the fallen warrior to inspect his remains.
Cecillia quickly finds a golden ring on the man's right index finger, bearing the face of a lion. Rhona meanwhile sets about retrieving the man's sword and scabbard, well made items that could be of some value, if only sentimentally for the man's family.
Morgrym leaves the others to their grim task, and moves to guard the ascending stairs. 'Last thing we need is more coming down'. Eyes that find the night sky uncomfortably bright peer into the darkness above.
Zalindra casts detect magic as she looks at the items the others are finding on the body. Never hurts to find something useful she tells herself.
Turning his head he manages to mumble something vaguely sounding like either a prayer or a curse before spitting to get a sudden acrid taste out of his mouth. He takes just a moment to adjust this bracer over the arm wound he took before looking at Cecilia, "If we were outdoors maybe. But in here? All the smoke will pool in and choke us. If we're not taking him with it's best just to leave him here."
With that statement he turns and looks at the man's remains and makes a quick gesture to both Moradin and Bahamut in turn, whispering to the two Gods of his upbringing in turn that the man finds some rest in the world after.
As Zalindra turns the golden ring over in her hands, the bard detects a faint magical aura emanating from the metal band.
Heeding the advice of both Aelion and Javos, Cecilia places the flint and steel back in her pocket. The success of their mission was more important than the proper burial of a soldier, at least for the moment.
She was less enthusiastic about taking Kartenix's weapon, however. The bard understood Rhona's argument –that his equipment might make the difference in a battle– but it still seemed in poor taste to do so. Returning a trinket to Brindol was one thing, taking something for their own use was something else entirely.
But Cecilia restrained herself. "Be respectful of these items, I intend to return them to the captain's family once we are back in town." Was all she said as they retrieved the ring and blade. After the party has finished examining what they have reclaimed from the guard captain (with Cecilia pointing out that one of the items might be imbued with magic, if no one else has picked up on that) Cecilia moves over to the northern doorway. "I will just quickly check this room before we advance further." The bard announced, casting a spell of Dancing Lights to illuminate whatever might be on the other side of those doors. Truth be told Cecilia just wanted an excuse to move away from such a cold and blood-stained scene.
Remembering what had happened the last time she had done this, Cecilia sheathed her rapier and then began unfurling her whip. Ready for whatever might be in the next room, the bard used a spell of Open/Close on the doorway.
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"Makes sense. I mean its how I got me ax!"
Cecilia readies herself before the doorway leading north and lets her magic reveal the path ahead.
A tunnel leads away from the icy landing and turns abruptly to the right, continuing eastward before opening up into an awkwardly packed sleeping nook above a spiral staircase leading down to a lower level.
Morgrym stays by the stairs as the others move on, ready to take up the rear.