Will will look around for the sniper again.
Wufric climbs out of the water and sets his shield to cover Vilesse from further attack.
Wilf stops, looks and listens. He can hear the echoes of running somewhere in the tunnels to the east, but can't discern much else over the crash of the surf and the sound of his own companions.
Tomi moves deeper into the intersection of tunnels and can definitely make out the sound of rapid footfalls to the south, but cannot tell if they are coming from the passage behind him or ahead of him.
[ooc]waiting on Mitran and Vilesse to end round 7. Will bot them if haven't heard by tonight).
Vilesse angrily points in the direction the sniper fled, directing her lights with a minor effort of will. Staying on the shore, she digs out a scroll and croaks out the words of power.
Mitran pulls himself out of the crashing surf onto a neaby rock...
...then using the rope as a guide attempts a mighty leap to shore
...and ends up right back in the water, but only a body length from shore now.
Vilesse sends her lights in pursuit of the snipe then envelops most of the cavern in a thick blinding mist.
Tomi hears the footsteps clearly now, approaching up the passage ahead and to his right. In another heartbeat, the ugly half-goblin sniper comes jogging around the bend, shortbow clutched in one hand, hand axe in the other. He pulls up short when he sees the Halfling, but recovers his wits instantly. He licks his lips and smiles, drawing his axe across his throat in a cutting gesture and shouting something in goblinish at Tomi...
...but the doughty Halfling warrior is unimpressed and stands his ground.
The Black Pool - round 8
Initiative Order:
Tidal Surge 1d20 = Moderate tidal surge (DC 15 Swim check; failure
sweeps the characters 1d4 squares eastwards).
Wilf -
Mitran - move action to pull yourself to shore using the rope
Wulfric -
Tomi -
Vilesse (1/8 hp) -
Hidden Archer -
Effects
obscuring mist - rnd 1/10
I will continue to try to get to the other side of the area.
knowing these half breeds die easily, Tomi is unfazed by the snipers hollow attempts at intimidation. taking a step forward, he jams his sword into the creatures gut.
"Uhh, where did the fog bank come from? Don't we have to be outside for that?" and Wilf will stumble around to find a wall to keep away from the water on safe ground.
Tomi stabs into the sniper. He grunts in pain and steps back, chopping down with his axe...
;
... The blade bites deep into Tomi's left shoulder.
Wilf's view of the main cavern is cut off by a rolling bank of fog. Behind him the faint light from Tomi's torch flickers madly and he can hear the clang of weapons and shouts of pain.
Wulfric, Mitran and Vilesse, all enshrouded in the fog can see nothing. Bo and Hound both splash into the water and start swimming towards the last place they saw their masters.
The Black Pool - round 9
Initiative Order:
Wilf -
Mitran -
Wulfric -
Tomi - (4/14 HP)
Vilesse (1/8 hp) -
Hidden Archer -
Effects
obscuring mist - rnd 2/10
Wilf will move carefully through the fog in the direction of battle.
surprised by the half goblins tenacity, Tomi staggers back a step, then as the pain hits him his anger rises and he lets it wash over him, charging back into the fray -
Mitran scrambles forward as best he can.
"Vilesse are you ok? Have you a healing potion? I should get in the fight, but i will wait for you first."
Wulfric will wait protecting Vilesse shield up and club out.
Vilesse shakes her head. "No, but I will be fine in the fog. Go, put the archer down. We can heal when he is dead."
With Vilesse's reassurance, Wulfric will head into the fog, towards the sounds of combat.
Wilf turns his back on the fog bank and jogs towards where Tomi battles the sniper. He reaches his Halfling companion, but cannot get through his to the sniper he spars with due to the narrow tunnel Wulfric and Mitran feel their way through the fog and as they exit catch a glimpse of Wilf running down one of the tunnesl, so they follow. Vilesse stays at the shore, coaxing Bo and Hound across the water.
Tomi presses the retreating sniper. With a heroic lunge he cuts cut a deep gash in his adversary's leg that almost cripples the creature. He manages to stay on his feet though, and even returns the attack...
... But his swing is slow and clumsy and sails over Tomi's head.
The Black Pool - round 10
Initiative Order:
Wilf -
Mitran -
Wulfric -
Tomi - (4/14 HP, fatigued 1 rnd)
Vilesse (1/8 hp) -
Hidden Archer (taken 18 HP)-
Effects
obscuring mist - rnd 3/10
Wulfric will drop his club and shield and grab his guisarme.
"Now this is tunnel fighting"
Pushing up behind Tomi he will ready himself to take a swing.
Breathing heavily and starting to feel a touch of fear, Tomi ducks inside the half-goblins reach and draws on the last of his flagging strength to try and ram his sword up into the creatures ribcage.
Wilf will move out of the way so Wulfric can get to the target with his reach weapon.
Mitran, clearing the fog, moves down the tunnel up to Tomi. Keep it distracted, I'll heal you if I can.
His rage fleeing him, Tomi makes an exhausted swing at the half goblin, who deflects it with his axe then angles in with a backswing...
...
But he slips on his own blood pooling on the ground below him.
Wulfric arrives on the scene with his long hafted blade and with a shout thrusts it over Tomi...
... The startled half goblin leans back to avoid the blow, leaving himself open to Tomi...
;
...who does not waste the moment, driving his short sword deep between his opponents ribs, killing him.
The sniper's gear: Mstwk shortbow w/ 15 arrows, hand axe, studded leather, mstwk buckler, potion of clw, pouch w/ 20 silver coins
Once Hound is across, Vilesse gets up off the ground and follows the sounds of combat to rejoin the group.
Looking around, Mitran sees his companions in bad shape. How is everyone doing? We have a few potions, and I have only one last will of healing power in me.
With the adrenaline wearing off, all that remained was the pain. "I've been better. "
sitting down heavily, Tomi digs out his potion of cure moderate and unless anyone immediately objects, knocks it back, grimacing at the bitter taste.
Wulfric will start putting his armour back on.
"Well as i am so far unscathed due to armour and jumping really not working together, let me take point for a while. "
Vilesse grimaces at Mitran's question. "I need something before we move on. That archer was quite a good shot."
The group rendezvous back in the tidal pool cavern. Tomi quaffs a potent healing potion which heals his wounds entirely, while Wulfric dons his armor. Vilesse is still badly hurt.
Behind you, the relentless crashing of the sea. Ahead of you, three dark tunnels.
Here, this should help ease the wounds.
Vilesse nods at Mitran. "It helped. Thank you." She still looks badly hurt, but a little less so now.
Take the tunnel on the right.
With his armour back on Wulfric picks guisarme back up and steps to the front
"Right, stick behind me lets let this metal do some work. Lets start with this tunnel and see if we get lucky."
Wulfric starts off down the tunnel on the right.
feeling drained, Tomi scoops up his torch and trudges after Wulfirc.
Wilf will proceed behind Wulfric as instructed.
Vilesse and Hound follow along as before, close to the middle of the group.
Mitran and Bo shuffle along with the rest of the group.
The maze-like tunnels stretch forward and back. After some cautious exploration your group has run across the following areas:
A -This small chambers shows signs of recent habitation. A dozen crude sleeping pallets cover the floor. The room reeks of sweat and stale food. Pictures have been daubed on the walls. Most are crude representations of half-goblins killing and eating humans. A very rough map of the priory has been scrawled on the opposite wall.
B - This small chamber rises steeply to your left. Perched atop a ledge two sleeping pallets lie next to a small jumble of camping equipment. Judging by the state of the equipment, you estimate the occupants have been living here for a couple of months.
C - A large pool of dried blood on the floor of this chamber shows where something almost certainly died. Blood splatter leads towards the far wall where you find the rank and half-eaten corpse of a half-goblin stuffed under a natural rock shelf. You guess this is probably the lair of the ghoul you killed up in the priory.
D - Rubbish and the detritus of life cover the uneven floor of this
cavern. The room reeks of decay. Steadily narrowing passage leads north east out of the cavern a cold stream of fresh air can be felt faintly coming from the tunnel. It probably winds its way back to the surface somewhere and is likely how the half goblins gained entry to the caverns.
E - Water drips through the ceiling of this cavern into a clear pool. The water in the pool is cold, fresh and clean, and about 5' deep.
F - All the stalagmites in this room have been deliberately hacked away and cleared out. A neatly made cot is set up on one side and a make-shift shrine to Braal on the other. The shrine is built around a soot stained brazier filled with ash and the burned bones small animals. Under the cot is a small locked iron coffer.
Sifting through the contents of the brazier you find several defaced and ruined icons of Darlen. Though irreparably damaged by the heat of a fire, they raw gold and silver in them could be worth a fair bit.
After a few attempts, you manage to pry open the coffer with a knife. inside you find 360 gp, four small bloodstones, and a large and finely cut garnet. There are also two rolled pieces of canvas. The first depicts a map of the lonely coast, with two 'x's marked on it deep on the central forest. The first is marked "the whisperer". The second is marked "the three?" The second canvass shows a complex circular rune or seal, similar to the one you found scratched into the back of the half-goblin cleric's holy symbol back in the priory, but more complete.
Only one tunnel remains to be explored. It leads west from the chamber with the cot and the chest.
Mitran lets Bo drink from the pool of fresh water.
"Right, quick swig of water and a mouthful of food. We won't be any use if we catch up and are too weak to fight.... Ok lets get going, stick close behind."
Heading down the tunnel.
refreshed by the clean water, Tomi has a spring in his step once more as he continues to follow wulfric.
Though she still favors the side where she was wounded, Vilesse follows along as the others move on.
After a brief pause for fresh water, the groups stalks down the last passage. Flickering torchlight can be seen as it opens into a long natural chamber. Roughly in the centre of the cave a rocky plateau rises about 15’. Atop the rock stands a crude alter upon which Ruan lies bound. Ythel, a cloven skull covered in burnt flesh in hand, stands behind the alter haranguing the helpless curate. A pit filled with corpses pierces the floor in front of the plateau. Fell symbols daubed in blood cover the wall.
Ythel sees you enter the cavern and cries out in rage, No! You will not ruin this! I will have justice! He lifts the cloven skull over his head and for the briefest of moments you see a laughing demonic face rise behind him then vanish. Ythel then transforms before your eyes. A mane of coarse tawny and black hair sprouts up from his head neck and shoulders. He lets out a hyena-like bark of laughter and screams at you, He did this, pointing down at Ruan, He whipped and scourged me all in the name of his god. Now he will reap that which he has sown!
The corpse‐pit begins to undulate and shift as creatures composed of pulsating waves of melted flesh ooze haltingly from it and shudder across the floor towards you. Within the creatures’ form wriggle half-formed clawed arms and a dripping face contorted into a bestial scowl.
The Dark Fane – round 1
Initiative, status and effects:
Fleshy creatures - spending rnd 1 climbing from the pit; DC 11 Know:planes to ID
Tomi - (6/6 rnd of rage used)
Ythel - casts a spell (Spellcraft DC16 to ID); Know: planes or arcana DC19 to recognize other stuff.
Wilf - (10/14 hp) -
Mitran - (14/14 hp) - 2 CLWs used
Bo - (19/19 hp)
Wulfric - (15/15 hp)
Vilesse - (3/8 hp) - EPS used
Hound - (13/13 hp)
Ceiling:The ceiling is 30 ft. high.
Walls: Symbols of evil, religious significance daubed in blood cover the walls. Knowledge:Religeon to identify
Plateau (Walls): Characters can scale the plateau’s 15’ high walls with a DC10 climb check
Stairs: Rough‐hewn steps are cut into the plateau’s flank. It costs 2 squares of movement to enter such squares. Characters on the plateau gain the benefit (+1 on melee attacks) of higher ground against those below them.
Altar: Ythel uses the rough, bloodstained altar as a place of worship and torture. The altar provides cover (+4 AC, +2 Reflex). Ruan lies limply upon the alter.
Corpse Pit: A pit full of corpses… that seem to be moving.
"That's not natural!"
and he will move forward to club the weird thingy
meh
Wulfric will move as shown and attack the flesh thing in front.
"Wilf and I will hold them, get around and flank them. Save Father Ruan"
Vilesse, reluctant to close in for the moment due to her existing wound, instead reaches down to her belt pouch and pulls out the potion she took off the earlier corpse.