It seems to work on some kind of electricity...
The White Rabbit answers, Well, your not wrong.
"I think so?", Mara replied tentatively to Dervak. She called on the spirit of her dead father to guide the half-orc warrior.
Rowan stealthily moves up and pulls out his sling. He flings a stone at the approaching ooze.
The stone easily hits the ooze and lodges into its clear body. The stone soon dissolves but the dimple created by the stone remains.
A brief flash of nauseating colors appears as Dervak casts the spell and the force disc locks into place protecting the half-ork.
Ellery stands back keeping watch for threats.
Theophilus continues to examine the door.
The ooze slowly moves closer to Rowan but isn't able to close the distance. It begins to sparkle with hypnotic patterns. But Rowan easily shakes off the effect.
Dervak, Mara, and Theo know that the ooze used a spell-like ability to cast lesser confusion.
Theophilus opens the door.
Theo sees a man in studded leather with a longbow and longsword at his hip. He's staring at the wall blankly but slowly turns and looks right at Theo when he opens the door. The man, obviously one of the stationed guards begins to go for his longsword.
Ever smiling; expertly dodging his magnificent hat; grandly bowing with a flourish, the gentleman announces,
Well don't just stand there, man, we've got an Ooze problem to fix!
Dervak moves and readies to attack the ooze when it comes into reach. He tries to strike hard while also being ready to dodge.
The soldier does not pause at Theo’s words and lets out a low moan.
Mara examines the man much more closely noting the man’s pale sagging skin and floral scent undercut by a slight smell of decay. A slow dawning horror, Mara realizes the man is not alive but a very well preserved zombie made to look like the guard he was in life.
When Rowan sees it he notes that it is an unusual type of zombie but he can't quite place what kind it is.
So, ooze or zombie?
"This 'guard' is a zombie!", Mara called to the others. "Theo, step back and let it through the door!"
She waited for the undead horror to come through the door, and then reached out to touch it, telling it, "Sir, you don't look well — let me heal you!"
Theo bows to Mara. He then retreats opposite the Oozes direction.
The Witch then Misfortune Hex the zombie (Will DC 16).
Seeing an opening, Ellery swiftly moves next to Rowan awaiting the zombie to approach.
Rowan would rather fight a zombie than an ooze.
He is going to stay where he is and ready a flurry of blows for when the zombie is in range.
The zombie screams in a horridly scratchy voice, ”Innn..truuu..ddeeerss!” It stops groping for the longsword and jerkily pulls the longbow from its back and steps to one side loosing an arrow at Mara while raspily saying, ”K-k-kill healer.”
Mara is struck in the shoulder.
Almost immediately everyone can hear the opening of multiple doors as they scrape across stone. From the other tower another zombie has opened a door. From within the closest donjon arcane words are spoken in a croaking voice.
It’s mage armor.
From on top of the two story donjon the door on the stairs leading up opens and spills out two humanoid creatures. They are hunched with a blueish green skin and a frog-like head with large pointed teeth and bulging eyes. One wears a chain shirt.
Theo and Rowan know they are skum, an amphibious race that dwells in coastal waters and are not bothered even by the coldest arctic seawater. Theo also knows that they sometimes make deals with coastal towns, protection for breeding stock.
Finally the ooze slithers up to Dervak and the half-ork brings his falchion down on the pitifully slow creature. Undeterred the slimy ball reaches out with a gray pseudopod.
But Dervak's shield stops it short.
Mara grunted in pain as the arrow pierced her armor. "Frog people coming down the stairs!", she shouted, rushing over past the bottom of the stairs, and shooting a cone of clashing colors up at the amphibian creatures.
The skum wearing the chain armor manages to shield its eyes with its arm avoiding the effects of the color spray while the other skum doesn't even seem to notice the colors at all.
Looking over to the skum wearing no armor Theo sees its green flesh ripple unnaturally for a mere moment revealing a grayish foam.
Ellery moves inside to deal with the zombie guard.
Seeing the bow come up, Rowan decides it is time to drop this fool. He moves up next to Ellery and attacks.
Ellery finds a hole in the zombie's armor but finds that its dead flesh is not soft but hard as a rock.
Rowan's swing hits the zombie on its helmet ringing out loudly but doing little to harm it.
Theophilus points out his discovery, as he Evil Eye Hex it.
He then Cackles.
Theo tries to reach into the mind of the skum that momentarily showed its true colors and finds that it's mind either doesn't exist or is too alien for Theo to affect.
After Theo describes what he saw, Mara and Ellery now realize that the skum is not a skum but a Doppeldrek, a type of ooze that can mimic anything that comes within its blindsight. They also know that even if the creature is wounded it will easily reform within minutes if not destroyed.
The doppeldrek moves down the stairs intent on harming its closest target, Mara.
The skum-ooze digs its wicked claws into Mara's arm.
The skum in chaimail seeing no way to easily join the battle, jumps from the stairs.
The skum trips over the railing landing face first next to Mara. He stands up and Mara sees her chance to strike and she brings her greataxe down on her head.
The door nearest Theo on the lower donjon opens revealing a room in complete disarray and four skum following another gray ooze. One of the skum casts a spell.
The zombie tangling with Ellery and Rowan draws its longsword dropping the longbow.
But it fails to hit the deft rogue.
Zombie 2 shambles over to Dervak.
It brings the longsword in a heavy overhand strike that crashes through the magical shield, piercing his breastplate, and slicing through Dervak's bark-like skin. While zombie 3 closes.
The final two zombies exit their towers on the other side of the fort and fire a volley of arrows at Theo, one solidly thunks into the witch's chest while the other goes short the arrow falling into the courtyard below.
Again the creature fails to get close to the bloodrager.
Mara cried, "There's too many of them! Retreat into the tower with Rowan and Ellery!" She disengaged from the frog people and moved into the tower.
Rowan activates Pugnatious to increase the size of his weapon by one category and attacks with a flurry (immediate and full round actions).
Theophilus looks longingly at the security of the tower...
Dervak roars at the zombie and swings back as hard as he can, still keeping his guard up.
He isn't going to move inside the tower until Theophilus is inside. AC 25 and 37 HP might keep him safe until then...
Dervak gets a face full of leather as he goes to bite the undead mercenary, his falchion however easily slices through all the defenses it can muster. It reels back from the blow but is still standing. The ooze sends a pseudopod reaching towards Dervak but his armor stops the creature, a wisp of smoke rises as its acidic goo strips off the armor’s finish.
Mara retreats into the tower. Meanwhile Rowan pummels the zombie once but finds that hitting the creature is like hitting stone.
Theophilus casts Web at the area around Dervak.
He then moves into the tower.
We need to stop the egress of those others., pointing to the two on the stairs.
Ellery moves to a flanking position and attempts to stab the zombie again.
Theophilus casts Web at the area around Dervak.
He then moves into the tower.
Theophilus looks at his Web.
Carry the 1; cosine times pie...hmmm...
Dervak is caught in the Web.
"Theophilus, is this a plan?!"
Theophilus shrugs his shoulders.
Just a mere moment more, my boy.
Ellery seeing his opportunity stabs the zombie straight through the eye and into its brain scrambling it, the undead horror slumps down unmoving.
The doppledrek and skum-in-chainmail seeing their former target has fled walks up to Theo. The skum says in a in language that sounds wet and stagnate,
They rakes their hideous claws across Theo's face and neck causing thick rivulets of blood to spill onto the witch's dapper clothes.
The skum, who are within the web but unaffected by it, look at each other while blinking with their bulbous eyes.
The bloodrager, restrained by the newly formed web, is unable to dodge the zombie's sword.
The other zombie nearby Dervak rips and tears at the sticky strands freeing itself. Finally free it draws its longbow.
The final two zombies aim at Theo but their arrows are caught in the web.
The skum spellcaster says harshly in the same wet and slimy tongue,
He casts another spell, Mara and Theo know it's defensive shock. The skum escape jumping down the stairs to avoid the web.
Dervak uses Barroom Brawler to pick up Dodge, then tries to break free of the web.
Never mind, Dervak doesn't have the Dex for Dodge.
Or the Int for Defensive Weapon Training.
He'll skip Barroom Brawler and instead move back (provoking so he can move at half speed rather than Acrobatics at quarter speed). AC 22.
Theophilus dismisses the Web.
Theophilus dismisses the Web.
The zombie's sword gets caught in a bit of web allowing Dervak an opportunity to escape.
Both the oozes deform and twist around the webs that had entangled them and creep closer to their nearest foes.