Adolina's noble attempt to push Cadas fails as the warrior priestess holds her ground. Perhaps if she trusted the newcomer better she would not have resisted. Cadas swings at invisible opponents while a considerable amount of blood pools around her from wounds that would easily a less powerful fighter. Its the same pack of ghouls that turned Aldern. They must have pulled him below from this very room. she manages. I bet he sent them for me.
As no one sees Cadas being attacked, each of you react according to your nature. Marcellano casts a detect magic trying to determine what is there, but detects nothing. Adolina tries to bull rush Cadas out of the room and away from whatever invisible foe but fails. Kizzy and Robin attempt to discern what is attacking Cadas, but neither of them see anything.
Almost as quickly as the wounds appear on Cadas, her jerking and shaking subside, but the wounds are still there and they look quite angry and festering.
Game Mechanics:
DC 16 Fort Save; Onset 1 day; frequency 1/day; effect 1d3 Con and 1d3 Dex damage; cure 2 consecutive saves
or Remove Disease spell, and if ability loss, also Restoration (lesser) spell
As quickly as the attacks come they seem to go. Cadas' eyes refocus on the real world and she works to control her breathing. A haunt? she ponders out loud as she considers her wounds. Her eyes are still wild but she is calming.
She sacrifices her third level resist energy to heal herself. Still lightly wounded she uses a first level as well.
I, I don't know. It seemed so real. Looking at her festering wounds she adds It was real. So yes, these haunts seem to be telling us a story, albeit a painful on. I am not sure who was the first ghoul, but I am betting it involved those diseased rats. And there is a pack of ghouls and they turned Aldren I think. And maybe he did turn Iesha. that follows, doesn't it?
"It would make sense," Marcellano says, his crossbow drawn now. "Are the phantom ghouls gone?"
Crossing warily over to the edge of the staircase, he peers into it. "What foul crypt do you suppose this originally was, to spawn such creatures?"
Kizzy looks bewildered by whatever has just happened. "That's the first time we've seen the haunts do any real damage, though. Perhaps they get stronger the closer we get to Aldern? Hurry, we've already lost sight of Iesha. We'll have to move quickly."
Unless the group voices that following Aldern's deceased wife is not worth the risk, she hurries down the winding stairs, now in the lead.
Marcellano pulls a small cap out of his pocket and slaps it onto his head as the group moves toward the stairs. When he touches the metal candle on the front, it begins to glow with a faint, pearly light.
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"If we're getting closer to that hell-spawn then I want his head!" Adolina hurries after the others, pausing briefly next to Cadas. "Sorry about the charge, I thought getting you out of the way might help. Impressive solidity though." She flashes half a smile and hurries on, pursuing the men and the lights they are carrying.
Heading down the stairs, hoping to catch up to the creature called Iesha, you go down 80 feet before reaching bottom.
The stairs end in a limestone cavern. The walls drip with moisture, and swaths of black and dark blue mold grow in spiraling, tangled patterns on the floor, ceiling, and walls. Rubble and broken bones clutter the floor, and a rhythmic sound—like the breathing of some immense creature—echoes through the cave from three tunnels, one to the north and two to the west. Of the two western tunnels, the southernmost one seems to be a relatively new creation.
Marcellano mutters a quick charm to allow himself to check for magic in the area, but proceeds into the room. "It seems we face a difficult choice," he says, glancing around. "Strange, this cavern seems natural, but those stairs are certainly not...if anyone sees other artificial structures, please let me know. I'm curious who built this, and why...and when."
Camas tries to discern which way Iesha went. No one touch that mold. she warns.
"Blesteme!" Qetsiyah swears in Varisian, angry to have lost their quarry. She was no skillful tracker, but she scanned for signs of the undead woman's passage all the same.
+2 familiar near
-1 temporary
Kizzy and Adolina both search for tracks, and come to the same conclusion. Iesha, left thru the northern most tunnel leading west. Following the tracks, you come to several splits in the tunnel, and Kizzy follows them. Suddenly ahead, Kizzy and Cadas see three ghouls, that seem to be standing guard, but are stirring as if to attack.
Peering around the corner, Marcellano scowls. "We must be getting close..."
Muttering a word, he sends three bolts of force streaking from one hand into the same ghoul that Adolina winged.
Kizzy moves up to threaten the two ghouls who have hopefully slipped in Robin's grease. She raises her sword and attacks whichever one looks most able to harm her friends.
She channels her pent-up rage and anger over her experiences in the house into the strike, especially seeing Cadas rent by invisible ghouls she could not touch.
Moving forward Cadas presents her holy symbol and channels to harm undead.
Robin seizes the opportunity to potentially take two combatants out at once, casts grease under their feet, and gleefully watches as both ghouls slip and fall prone. Adolina moves up to the leftmost foe and wounds it. Marcellano positions himself to cast magic missiles at the left most one also, and finishes off what Adolina started and the creature falls dead, again. Kizzy steps up next to the two prone ghouls and with her two attacks, decimates both of them. Cadas seeing all the creatures in pieces on the floor, holds back on channeling her deity energy.
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Adolina moves swiftly to scout round the other two passages, checking that there are no more ghouls ready to ambush them. Once seh has checked all three passages from their starting point she returns to the group.
"I think Iesha headed on this way. We'd best follow at once! Thanks for you help everyone. I wouldn't have been able to fight them on my own."
Cadas, also impressed, stands ready to channel but sees there is no need. Yes. Well done all. Lets see who else is down here and ready for us.
Marcellano strides into the chamber, turning one of the ghoul carcasses over carefully with his foot. "Well done indeed, but let's not get complacent. We've seen the damage these creatures can do!"
Qetsiyah doesn't bother to wipe her sword, merely flinging the coagulated blood from the blade with a flick of her wrists. "Good team work. Let's keep moving." She strides to the point position again and proceeds on in pursuit, keeping her eyes open as they went further.
+2 familiar near
-1 temporary
Briefly looking over the three ghouls, you all decide to move on. Moving to the west, the passage turns to the north and as you approach a side passage three ghouls come shuffling out of the side passage claws extend, ready for combat.
Even though you ready yourself for combat, almost everyone hears a pounding as if someone, or something, is trying to break down a door, further to the north.
"More of these accursed things?!" Marcellano exclaims. "That must be Iesha to the north...we should move quickly!"
Chanting once more, he unleashes another burst of silvery bolts against the ghoul he can see clearly. They swoop around his allies and slam into the creature's chest!
Kizzy takes a step forward and unleashes another furious assault, first finishing off the ghoul that Marcellano tenderized with his magic missiles and then obliterating the one beside it. Fortunately making room for Adolina to move in and strike without being threatened.
[oocUnsure which if any still stand. [/dice]
If room allows Cadas advances and strikes at one of the undead.
vs Kizzy AC 24
-1 temporary
Robin shouts words of encouragement to the group, improving their abilities to take on the ghouls. Marcellano wounds the closest ghoul, while Kizzy finishes off the one that Marcellano wounded, and then steps up and obliterates the next one in line. Adolina and Cadas, both seeing that they can not get close enough to the remaining ghoul position themselves to attack it as soon as the foolish undead close with them.
The remaining ghoul moves up and attacks the closest foe, Kizzy, but the creature misses badly.
With three of you directly there, you return the final ghoul to its dead state.
You continue to hear the pounding on a door to the north, and as you turn around to look you see four undead goblins, who are ignoring the creature Iesha, start moving towards you around the edge of the room.
The cramped tunnel you are in opens into a vertiginous gulf here, a cathedral like cavern with a roof arching thirty feet overhead and dropping into a sloshing pool of foamy seawater fifty feet below. A steep stone ledge winds down to these surging depths, its slope glistening with moisture and mold. A stone door stands in the northwestern wall about halfway down the slope.
Cadas moves into the room and channels to harm undead. Gozreh take you. she intones as she dislay's her deity's holy symbol embellished on her shield. As a free action she also activates a round of her Bramble Armor so that anyone striking her takes 1d6+3 points of damage.
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Adolina has encountered more foul smells in this accursed house than she has in nearly thirty years prior, one more by this point makes very little difference to her now.
Stepping forward she positions herself near the edge of the drop, feet tapping unconsciously. "Finish those ones off. I can hold the other two here!"
Marcellano scowls. "I may not have been here for your run-ins with goblins prior to now, but I've got little sympathy for the devils." Striding forward to join Cadas, he aims his crossbow at the nearest one and fires off a bolt.
Marcellano looks faintly surprised as his crossbow bolt *spluds* into a goblin zombie's head.
Qetsiyah is too focused and infuriated to be effected by the undead's stench. She had no great love of heights, though. She moved up and took her place between Cadas and Adolina and made ready to engage any of the little blighters who come close.
vs DC 18 for half 6/13.
vs Goblin AC 20
vs Cadas AC 23
Cadas steps into the room and calls upon Gozreh to destroy the foul undead in front of her, and she damages them all. Robins quick wit provides the others the ability to hit easier and damage the creatures. Kizzy steps up and prepares to kill any of the goblins that come close, but she is not close enough to the ones that are below the edge of where she is standing to reach. Adolina waits at the edge also, for the goblins to start climbing so she can kill them. Marcellano also steps in and surprises himself when he critically wounds and kills the lead goblin on the far wall.
The two goblins to the west, start climbing the wall and one of them comes within range of Kizzy who, sends it back to death. The other goblin, also climbing the wall, in front of Adolina dies on the end of her sword as she takes her held attack. The remaining goblin moves to Cadas and tries to bite her, but the undead misses.
The pounding continues on the stone door to the north by the creature Iesha, and you can tell that she has almost broken thru.
As the creature closes with her Cadas is sickened by the smell. It strikes her that these are not normal ghouls and she wonders what they are. Feeling a sense of urgency due to Iesha and her progress at the door Cadas channels again hoping to end the threat quickly.
Even though sickened, Cadas presents her holy symbol to the goblin, and it collapses to the ground, dead again. Just as this happens, the creature Iesha breaks thru the stone door and enters the passageway beyond.
These small undead are Ghasts! Cadas warns.
Kizzy wants to close the gap between Iesha and themselves as quickly as possible.
"Cadas is right, which is bad," Marcellano says, "since ghasts are far more powerful than ordinary ghouls. It explains their stink, as well...let's hurry!" He sets off down the path, following Kizzy.
"ARGH!" The sand slips beneath the wizard, and he topples to the ground, rolling down the steep slope to quickly to stop. Narcizia departs from him with a squawk, and he lands with a splash in the water at the bottom of the room, spluttering.