Aurora makes to close the distance between her and Bedlam, and issues forth a burst of radiant positive energies in a 30ft. radius!
With a deft flick of his wrist, Tragershen makes a wand appear in his hand. He points it at a wounded ghoul and whispers an arcane phrase, sending a shimmering beam of white light at it.
Ready wand of disrupt undead, shooting it at a ghoul who looks pretty ragged.
To hit , damage .
Aurora positions herself to send waves of Good Vibes down both sides of the room, catching all but the fugitive on the stairs...
Both already damaged ghouls collapse into a pile of bones and meat. The rest take the blast with various levels of resistance. Tragershen does a double-take when his wand actually hits and kills a ghoul...
Four wounded ghouls swarm around Aurora, realizing that she'll kill them all for keeps if they don't take her out now:
One manages to chomp the cleric, hoping to Orcus that she ends up paralyzed:
The foul creature takes this result philosophically. "Whatever will be, will be," it mutters.
Tam launches arrows at the swarming ghouls:
One crumbles as the arrow rips through it.
Lolly uses his incredible speed to pursue the one that's trying to escape.
Two more ghouls attack Aurora:
Anzath moves in to save Aurora.
Well, that one's dead-dead now.
Bedlam screams as the dwarf gives chase down the stairs!
Git yer arses back 'ere ye stink'n zombie kissers!
Rank black blood splatters across both slayer and cleric, not to mention nearby ghouls as Kritfisher keenly cuts through the undead creep. It feels good to kill again.
Bedlam moves his hasted 40' following the retreating ghouls.
Bedlam sees a single ghoul running away from him. The ghoul, having double moved, is still 20 feet ahead of everyone's favorite dwarven sprinter.
Terapin whispers a command and Matthew flits away from Bedlam to the far edge of the room (at the top corner, against the ceiling) to sing his Haunting Melody. (Or not against the wall but merely 50 feet closer to the far edge of the room, depending on Bedlam's placement before running.) Everybody, living and undead (not immune to this one!), within 60 feet of the far wall has to make a DC 14 Will save or be Fascinated until he stops singing or until someone threatens them.
Matthew flits to the back of the room and starts singing, but nobody seems to be listening.
Terapin, though, may still act, because ordering Matt to move is a free action.
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Terapin, lost in thought, gurgles to himself in the back row, realizing that he's been speaking to imaginary birds that aren't there. Birds with little masks. What in hell? How would they put them on? Makes no sense, does it? Were those ghouls just discussing poetry? Did Bishop make a floating tavern covered in flowers disappear a few minutes ago? Where... hang on, where...
He checks his pipe, which might have been a snake for a minute but no longer is; what is this, what's this on some of the leaves, is this some kind of... jelly? Wax? What is... damn it, Bedlam!
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Terapin shakes himself out of it and summons a small pack of Celestial Wolves to run in and assist. Light but swift, the argent lupines course around the knees of the party like mercury to set upon the ghouls at either side of Aurora, hoping to keep her from being flanked.
+ trip
+ trip
+ trip
If they succeed in taking down any of the ghouls flanking Aurora either by killing or simply tripping them, they'll stay in the vacated spaces immediately next to her, silvery hackles raised like knives and snarling melodiously.
Bedlam (actually waiting to see if Terapin's friend succeeded?) decides to be a responsible dwarven alchemist and just drink his Enlarge Extract.
Com' on elf! We be gitt'n ta clobber sum deads!
Lolly, being halfway down the hall after the fleeing alarm ghoul and not sure what Bedlam is doing or which elf he's talking about, pumps a couple arrows into the ghoul.
He grins back at the dwarf as the ghoul crumples into a heap: "Who you callin' elf, ya overgrown hairyfaced shoe-slappin' hobbit?"
An Enlarged Bedlam just blinks at Lolly.
Wat yee do dat fer! He were git'n his friends!
Lolly facepalms and looks up at the dark stone ceiling. "Godsdarnit, you're right!"
With a deft flick of his wrist, Tragershen makes a wand appear in his hand. He points it at a wounded ghoul and whispers an arcane phrase, sending a shimmering beam of white light at it.
Ready wand of disrupt undead, shooting it at a ghoul who looks pretty ragged.
To hit 1d20+8-4, damage 1d6+0.
Tragershen gracefully extends his wand and unleashes another torrent of positive energy at the unsuspecting undead!
The ghoul freezes as Tragershen's wand disrupts its foul energies... it crumbles into yet another dead-dead heap.
Aurora's mace swings for one of the ghouls hassling her...
CRUNCH goes one ghoulskull. CRACK goes another.
One ghoul remains...
Tam flings a shower of arrows at it:
The first arrow blasts it to pieces.
Lolly sheepishly approaches Tam and salutes with his longbow. "Nice shooting, Tam!"
It's too dark to see if that's the flush of exertion or a slight blush on her cheek. She salutes back in silence.
As the party catches its breath, you also take a look around.
Lolly and Bedlam auto-assist for +4
You find a ghoul-larder, a place where the flesh-eating dead store what of their recent kills they don't finish in the first frenzy. It's the typical ghoulish mix of chaos and wise intelligence, with orderly piles of limbs in proper categories. In one corner, there's a pile of torn and bloody clothing... and treasure, glowing slightly:
A DC 18 Perception check reveals a total of 1000 GPs worth of coin and minor gems. In the most southwesterly alcove are 4
potions: ghoul touch, levitate, lesser restoration and remove paralysis; a
+2 light generating longsword (generates light constantly), and a +1 light
wooden shield of arrow deflection.
You also find a smaller chamber within the room, completely surrounded. It has a closed door:
Lolly and Bedlam auto-assist for +4
No traps on the door...
Lolly and Bedlam auto-assist for +4
The room is full of bones. Kicking around in them, Anzath finds a secret door in the floor, apparently unnoticed by ungenerations of ghouls. She hauls it open...
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A tunnel heads out underneath the floor of the inset room. Anzath sees a slight glow ahead and finds a long-forgotten tomb.
Lolly and Bedlam auto-assist for +4
The tomb contains a perfectly preserved corpse of an elven warrior maiden clad in armor decorated in holy symbols and ancient celestial script. In her dead hands, a shining longsword reflects the light of an everburning torch suspended over her body. There are no apparent traps. The room has an odd feeling of peace and quiet in it, an atmosphere utterly different from that of the caverns above.
"Vho vantz longswordz?"
Feeling energized by the slaughter, Anzath is eager to keep the killing going and go get the 'fellas'.
** spoiler omitted **
Terapin can't effectively wield a longsword of any kind, but if literally nobody else has a use for it, he'd feel really cool carrying it and probably brandish it quite effectively with his substantial charisma. The shield, though, he could definitely get some use out of if it wouldn't serve somebody else better.
At any rate, he's going to cast detect magic over the dead elf and her armor/sword/oddly well-preserved body and see if he can identify who or what she is/was and what all's going on here.
Tragershen can read celestial. He'll read it outloud if Tetapin doesn't.
The Celestial-literate scholars read that this was the elf maiden Eliel, the youngest and least-experienced elf in the army that invaded these depths long ago. She fell in Battle of the Staircase during the Siege of the Temple, having been severely under-leveled for the encounter. But her sacrifice warmed the hearts of all the Good warriors who survived, and they buried her here in secret, hoping to convert this tomb into a shrine to her memory when the twisting warrens of Evil are converted to subterranean avenues of Good.
Her armor and equipment is inlaid with various prayer to the Good Guys in the Skies.
Her equipment is masterwork, but unmagical. Just really nice stuff.
Bedlam decides to wander down those interesting set of stairs.
As Bedlam descends the stairs, he can see signs of many and ancient battles--the walls are scarred and scorched.
At the foot of the stairs, there is a T, and he can go either west or east. The tunnel to the west curves to the south. The one to the east is straight. There are no signs of monsters, traps, or trouble. Yet.
Bedlam decides to wander the seen areas to search for which tracks go which way while waiting.
"I believe we should leave the maiden here to rest. Perhaps this place has remained untouched because it is somehow consecrated. We should remember this as a place to hole up if we need to. Or to retreat to in dire circumstances."
He glances left. Then right. "That damnable dwarf! Where has he wandered off to now?!?!?"
Well I don't know why I came here tonight.
I've got the feeling that something ain't right.
I'm so scared in case I fall off my chair,
And I'm wondering how I'll get down the stairs.
Ogres to the east of you!
Humanoids to the west!
Here I am stuck in the middle with you...
"G'wan with uncle Bedlam, guys. Be good, do what he says." Terapin sends his wolves to flank Bedlam on either side and behind so he can't be flanked by anything he comes across, but they'll stay behind if he (Bedlam) wants to wave them off to go and be stealthy or sommat.
He briefly considers trying to get Eliel out of here and up to the surface where her headstone could be read by someone other than ghouls and monsters, but figures it's probably a big hassle and can't think of a reverent way to do it, so instead he's going to close the door on his way back out with a gentle pat and follow his friends.
"Ve are hunting ghoulz, yez?" Anzath points her purple blade down the western corridor.
The western corridor ends in a small room...
It seems empty.
Bedlam sighs. The dwarf looking longingly at the east corridor.
Shrugging he follows Anzath into the empty room.
So, ken we be go'n ta kill da ogre's now?
Anzath's eyes narrow at the seemingly empty room.
Anzath quickly finds the secret door and confirms that it is untrapped. Inside, there's a long dark hallway that opens southward into a room. The sound of dripping water fills the darkness. To the east, there's an open doorway.
Anzath peeks into the open doorway.
There's nothing of interest in the side room.
The main room is pretty gross, though. The stone floor drops away into a pit of unnameable organic matter that bubbles softly to itself. The pit is 50 ft long and 20 ft wide. You see a hole in the wall to the west.
Bedlam stalks along with Anzath at every juncture of this detour from what is clearly more pressing duty.
Dere might be giants!
Terapin re-summons the Eidolon so as not to step in anything on the floors, be it dangerous or simply gross.
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"Vell, should ve kross pit of sh!t, or go kill ogrez?"