Jaed was shocked by what he saw inside the crypt.
Oh, crap. Keep calm, we have to play it smart.
"Let them come to us! We can create a bottleneck using the door. And remember, use you blunt weapons on those skeletons." Jaed says as he gives a sad look at the short sword in his hand. "If only I could use my own advice."
The skeletons merely look at Finnrick's stone before they madly dash towards the group at the door. Some of the skeletons in the back push at each other as the struggle to move closer to warm bodies of their prey, only to be blocked by others.
As they rush towards them, Jaed aims carefully and precisely strikes at one skeleton. Unfortunately, the blade seems to merely pass between the creature's rib cage, doing no damage. The skeletons then reach out to claw at the party, one at Etam and the other at Artair.
However both claws scrap harmlessly at the two's armor.
'I was right. I am not happy I to be right this time.'
Good thinking, master Zandorias! Master Finnrick, if you seek to avenge your fellow animals, I believe these are the culprits! Etam shouts whilst blocking the skeleton's attack with his shield. He strikes back in full force:
"You may be right Etam." With his new found inspiration Finnrick fires the bullet that he had ready and deftly loads another one.
Etam's warhammer smashes the skull of the skeleton in front of him as it crumples to the ground. Meanwhile Finnrick's rock goes bouncing harmlessly off the stone walls as he tries to avoid hitting any of his allies in the crowded space.
Artair realizes he has only his axe and dagger and debates using his shield as a weapon. But for now he delays his attack and waits for a skeleton to approach after backing up a 5ft step.
Jaed moves to the right side of the door and prepares to attack any enemy that gets into his reach.
I'll try to hit anything that moves at the other side of this door but it's going to be tricky.
Runvald bullies his way past Artair, Finnick and Etam. His graceful stumbling making his path of travel hard to predict as he moves to engage the skeletons facing the party. Stepping in front of Etam he winds up and punches at a skeleton facing Artair.
Erazmus withdraws from the action , preparing to blast the skeletons once he's out of danger. Meanwhile Runvald dodges a skeleton's swipe but loses his balance slightly, sending his punch wide. Jaed, not expecting Runvald's sudden movement, jerks his hand to the side to avoid hitting his ally, unfortunately also missing the skeleton.
As the skeleton next to Etam swings sloppily at the warhammer wielding warrior, the other skeletons clack their teeth together in glee as Runvald moves towards them. They viciously tear into the drunk, quickly bringing him down as another skeleton moves to take his place and one of the skeletons in the back eagerly moves forward.
Etam is taken by surprise by Runvald jumping in front of him and is powerless to do anything as the monk gets torn to bloody shreds in front of him 'Cursed reckless monk!'
"Master Finnrick! Get Millsy to Artair's side, we cannot allow the skeletons to get out of the crypt!" Knowing the situation is dire, Etam focuses on perfectly executing one of the manoeuvres his mother had taught him and attacks the monster directly in front of him:
Finally seeing an opening for Millsy Finnrick decides to take Etam's suggestion and send Millsy up next to Artair. "It's you turn Millsy , tear them apart." Finnrick pats Millsy as she takes off and casts guidance on her.
Disappointed that there is no flesh to bite into only bone Millsy is nontheless excited to be seeing more combat. With a growl Millsy charges within striking distance of a skeleton infront of Artair and attempts to bite it.
Jaed lets go a grunt when he is hit by the skeleton.
Damn, that hurts!
He tries to swing his sword back at the skeleton but the pain makes him sloppy.
And I thought that I was the one prone to RAGE!!!!
Swings his waraxe at the skeleton next to him to his left.
Almost as one, both Millsy and Etam strike at the skeletons in front of them. Etam's fails to hit a vital spot but has enough force behind it to crumple the undead creature anyway and Millsy crushes the other skeleton's femur in her powerful jaws. The collapse of the two is so sudden that Artair and Jaed almost fall off balance as their weapons meet with only empty air. From his position in the pack, Erazmus points at the skeleton in the back, forcing it to be pummeled by unseen forces.
No sooner do the skeletons in front go down as two more step up to take their place, the ones in the back continuing to claw at the air in anticipation as they wait for their turn to feast upon flesh.
But their claws bounce harmlessly off of their armor.
All of the bottles of liquor he had drank over his years continue to pass before Runvald's eyes as he lies on the floor of the crypt bleeding.
It is like whack-a-mole. Just wish I had a hammer...
“Good job, Millsy!”, Etam says whilst blocking yet another attack. Pushing the skeleton away with his shield, he counters:
As another skeleton steps up to take the place of the one she just put down Millsy lashes out again. This time biting and clawing at it.
As Millsy claws as the skeleton threatening her Finnrick decides to load and fire her sling at the back row
Runvald continues to bleed out on the ground as the heroes attempt to stem off the ravenous claws of the undead. Distracted by his concern for his companion, Etam swings, almost missing but correcting the arc of his weapon enough to crush one more skeleton. Meanwhile luck continues to be against Finnrick and Artair as they come nowhere close to their foes. Millsy manages to scratch at her foe awkwardly around one corner, but it seems completely unfazed by her sharp claws.
Meanwhile Erazmus blasts another skeleton in the back. "Damnation, we're not even in the door yet and I'm almost out of my first level spells."
The injured skeleton bursts into bone fragments and dust as the projectile smashes into it. Meanwhile Jaed prepares to attack the first skeleton to come within reach.
The skeletons step forward, thirsty for the blood of the adventurers. One walks right into Jaed's sword and gets gravely wounded, thought not quite enough to take it down. Turning it's head, it attempts to claw at the sword-wielding man.
Though luck seems to be on its side, the awkward angle and Jaed's nimble nature have the first skeleton's attempts useless. The second skeleton fairs better, viciously clawing at the dwarven barbarian in front on him. While his misses a vital point, he still manages to take the man down. The last skeleton, eager for blood, rushes forward over the fallen dwarf.
It's eagerness proves to be its undoing as Etam knocks the skeleton's head off.
To Millsy these skeletons just keep coming but all she can think about is protecting her master like he did for. Letting out what sounds like something between a meow and roar she lashes out at the newest enemy to step up to the group.
Bashing
Jaed starts waving his sword in front of the skeleton trying to distract him hoping Etam will finish it.
Hey, bones look at me!
'We cannot survive this much longer'
“Master Zandorias, please distract this one for me! Let us end this now!”
Whilst Jaed attracts the skeleton's attention, Etam takes advantage of the diversion and attacks with full strength, letting out a yell:
After the fighting subsides Finnrick goes around checking on the wounded. Atair, who is in front of him appears stable but is still pretty badly wounded. Finnrick lays his hands on him and mutters under his breath.
"Here you go friend, feel well."
Runvald appears in worse condition and needs to be stabilized. Finnrick bends over and attempts to stop the bleeding before casting healing.
"That was some fight," Finnrick says standing up, "Does anyone else need healing? I am all out of my spells but I have a few potions."
As a combined front of fury, the group smashes through the last two skeletons. Finnrick rushes to his fallen companions, reviving them both with some healing.
As the last skeleton crumbles, Etam looks around him, partly looking for other threats, partly to contemplate the tough victory ’We survived. But it was close, too close. We need to be more careful.’ He helps moving Runvald and Artair from underneath the remnants of the skeletons.
“Master Zandorias, thank you for your aid. Your distraction was well timed.” And looking again at the gate “It was a tougher fight than I had expected for this journey. I wish I could say that the worst is behind us, but I doubt it. Something happened here.”
Thanks for that! What do people want to do next? Can someone check out those bodies in the middle of the room?
"This was rough indeed. Let me check the room while you attend the injured. Etam, could you point that shiny shield towards inside the room so I can see better?"
Jaed carefully enters the room and checks around for traps:
When he finishes, he moves towards the center of the room and carefully examines the two bodies that lay there.
I guess there is nothing preventing me from trying, since I am not dead...
The two bodies are badly mauled. It looks like they put up a fight, but were no match for their skeleton attackers. Since there are no weapons around, they most likely improvised or used their hands. From what remains of their faces, the two look terrified.
Runvald sits on the floor, Well, that was one of the worst choices I've ever made... his head throbs and his Odyssey aches.
"My apologies, gentlemen, I appear to have overestimated my abilities in the face of these creatures. I'll do my best to perform better as move deeper into this awful place.
"These poor fellows chose the wrong fight. Specially if you try to fight without weapons as they did."
"I think we all did that, master Bottle-kisser. Take your time to recover your energies. We will need them." Etam says. Shortly after, he moves inside, casting more light inside the crypt. He approaches the corpses, warhammer in hand. "Do any of you know them? Could they be from Kassen, or some nearby village?", he asks, whilst examining them more closely.
They look frightened!
“Yes, very attentive, master Artair.” Etam says only half listening to the dwarf. His eyes suddenly widen: “Wait. These are Gerald and Varak, the mayor's friends, are they not?” He pauses for a moment and says, in a darker tone: "Why were they here?”
Etam closes their eyelids and searches the bodies, looking for clues on what might have happened.
We haven't even taken two steps into this crypt and already we've already taken a beating, I don't know how long we can keep this up.
"Here Etam let me relight your shield, wouldn't want it going out when we need it most now would we."
Finnrick walks over and lightly touches Etam's sheild.
"And as for you Runvald, here, drink this for a change it might make you feel better." Finnrick says fishing a potion out of his pack and handing it to Runvald.
"Maybe we should rest until tomorrow morning so people can recover. Although spending the night here may expose us to more risks. Artair, Runvald how do you feel? Do you people want to keep going or do you need some rest?"
Something suddenly hits Etam: "There were three dead horses outside, but only two corpses here…could the third person be inside?"
"In any case, it might be a good moment to rest, if we can find a safe place outside and tightly lock the crypt's door so nothing comes out. If there is a third person inside, I doubt he or she is still alive…and there's only so much we can do with two men down."
"I vote we rest, it is getting latter and I grow tired and hungry. I know that Millsy could use a break as well."
I have seen too much death already today. I don't think that I could handle any more without time to meditate and reflect.