"I think it may be worth the risk to dispatch these ones, so that we might search the temple unmolested. It pains me to think that the good clergy here may have been so corrupted, and i would see them at rest, an I may." Father Krenlin whispers to the group, then waits for response, his good hand twitching a little on hsi sword hilt.
"I have some magic that will help, maybe with the Holy water it will be enough."
"Let us try, then." Hob puts Timothy down and moves to the exterior doors.
Will was a bit surprised to learn that the boy could use magic, but thought that now was not the time to ask. He gave his morningstar to Hob, before Hob went to the exterior doors.
"You don't want to be caught without a weapon.
Will turned to the father and Timothy.
"Father, can you hold the door while the boy uses his magic and I shoot at the foul creatures?"
When they nodded in agreement, Will unslung his bow from his back and nocked an arrow aiming at one of the foul undead sitting near the altar.
"Better make this one count"
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"Aye, Will," Father Sir Krenlin replies, quietly drawing his sword and stepping into place on the left side of the doorway, sword raised and ready.
Will nocked another arrow on his bow and aimed at the next undead.
Hope the kid starts using that magic of his. Won't be this lucky a second time.
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It is the first time Hob has ever been inside the Temple of Iomedae, and as he shuts the thick doors he sees the carvings thereon. For the doors of this temple are seldom shut, save when the town is under attack.
From the doors of the temple The Inheritor stands firm, shield ready, sword out - but it is a picture from behind, the Sword of Light standing facing to defend the temple from outside, comforting the townsfolk who stand behind the bulwark of her shield.
"Lady" thinks The Hob "you are facing the wrong way."
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This zombie notices, and rises to his feet, turning to look back. Though the arrow protrudes from its side, it doesn't seem all that hindered.
The other stops and looks up, but is too slow to rise just yet.
None have even begun to close on the doors yet.
"Father, there's a noise coming from the right. Can't see it from here, but there might be another undead there. Be on your guard."
"Aye, Will, thank you."
Timothy looks through the lower part of the doorway, speaks a couple of words and a green line extends from his finger toward one of the zombies near the alter.
(Assuming that I can still get in on both surprise rounds in spite of my tardiness)
Given the lack of reaction of the zombies to their initial burst, he quickly speaks again and another ray follows the first into another of the creatures.
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The wounded zombie staggers and then collapses with Timothy's first attack; the second one catches the last zombie in your view.
It has risen, and now moves toward the doorway...
It comes into the reach of the good father's blade as it prepares to attack.
There's definite noise to the right, now. Close.
Will nocked another arrow, and shot at the zombie shambling towards them.
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Timothy watches the last of the original zombies move toward Father Krenlin, he speaks the words again and another green line darts from his fingers toward the shambling figure.
Hob favours his morningstar, and cuts round to see the source of noise off to the right.
Still holding his shield high and tight, the old paladin cuts at the approaching zombie.
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As soon as the last arrow flies, there is a flurry of action. Hob cuts through the door, and all but runs into a zombie coming out of a doorway almost directly to the right - it's partially eaten on the shoulder, making a mess of its adept robes. Feel free to attack.
The good father's blade deflects off of the death-toughened hide of the one in front of him, and it lunges.
...then Timothy's magic staggers it, and it goes into a slow collapse.
19 ac did not include partial cover. what is the modifier?
Too rished to fight defensively, Hob lashes out in an instinctive two handed blow.
Except for the surprise zombie, are there any other left (that we are aware of)?
Because otherwise we are not in that bad of a shape. :-)
Timothy lashes out with the green fire from his finger tip trying to keep the last zombie from eating his friend.
Hmm, my bow is useless right now. Better get in there.
Will dropped his bow and unclasped the handaxe on his belt.
He moved past Father Krenlin and tried to help Hob with the zombie in front of him by chopping at its arms.
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Hob's kips draw back in a vicious grin as Will moves alongside him, trying to take advantage of Will's attack to catch the dead man bu surprise.
Father Krenlin will continue to hold the door, checking over the sanctuary that he can see to make sure there are no more of the dead.
Timothy peers into the darkness of the sanctuary and steps gingerly past the bodies to see what's left inside.
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With a sudden barrage of attacks, the last one collapses.
You are in the main temple. To either side of the entrance are doorways - the last zombie came from the one on the right.
The once beautiful temple is now an abbatoir of death and decay, and it literally happened overnight. Some of those you just dealt with were wearing the cassocks of adepts and priests - you aren't sure whether to be thankful or horrified that you have yet to find the high priest.
There is an open balcony above you, and before you is the altar, now desecrated with the blood of the night's victims. There are doors in either side wall, and on the back wall to either side of the altar.
The silence offers little hope that survivors will be found here. It seems as if the temple was actually targeted - nowhere else did you witness such deliberate devastation.
Now with a few minutes to take in the devastation, Father Krenlin looks about in slowly growing shock. He sinks to one knee, sword-point on the floor, and spends a few silent moments in fervent prayer before rising and stepping forward.
Hob shakes his head as the old man collapses, and grabs Will.
"Look for more! Bar the doors!" he orders
The blood and bodies don't seem to bother Hob that much.
Timothy stops as soon as he steps into the sanctuary, the blood and gore are well beyond anything that he's ever seen in his short life. Then the smell hits him in the face. He slaps his hand over his mouth and runs for the door, heaving the large breakfast that he'd just eaten all over the front steps of the chapel.
After a few minutes, once his stomach has settled, he pulls a handkerchief from his pocket and whips his eyes and his mouth then walks into the foyer once again.
"I don't think we're going to find what were looking for here."
"The only thing we can do is get what supplies are left. No use for it staying here with the dead. But first we must make certain none of these rise again."
Will saw that Hob was busy barring doors and windows, so he made certain everyone not standing was well and truly dead.
He took his necklace from under his shirt, a crude wooden holy symbol.
He knelt down next to every corpse, handaxe in one hand and necklace in the other. Saying a small prayer and decapitating them if necessary.
"Be at peace now. Your soul will be sorted in the Lady's Boneyard and you will find your final rest."
After he was done, he placed his necklace back under his shirt.
"Father, I'm not that familiar with places of worship. Do you think they might have had some curatives laying around and where we could find them?"
As Will and Hob begin dealing with the corpses, the old paladin shakes himself, and helps deal with the last bodies, offering a short, whispered benediction with each stroke of the sword.
He stands in the center of the sanctuary, turning a slow circle, taking it all in.
"Well, I'd think that if there were such items..."
"We have to find it!" Hob seems frantic "My brother needs it!"
Timothy could only look on at what Will was going about for a few seconds before he had to cover his mouth again.
He quickly mumbles something about keeping watch as he stumbles back outside and retches again.
Once he recovers he finds a place near the door where he can be out of sight but still see anything coming toward the chapel, there he sits and waits for his friends to complete their work.
"This will definitely help. Now to look where they might have stored any curatives they had."
Will looked around the area in which they found the holy water font. If he can't find anything he will try the other doors.
After bottling the holy water, Father Krenlin will continue searching the sanctuary, paying attention to the altar and dais.
Hob looks at Timothy. Hob's kin never had a problem with blood or death. Timothy's kind apparently do. He starts to sneer at the softness of Townies... then remembers that it is Timothy who has been blasting apart the undead. The small man might have a weak stomach, but he isn't afraid of a fight.
"Timothy! This way!" Hob calls, carefully opening the door Tim is leaning against
Will followed along. "Might be some items in the priests' quarters, maybe also more undead."