Tragershen's futile wand might be irritating, but at least he's safe behind his meatshie... his companions!
The traffic jam at the mouth of the closet means the next zombie groans, angrily. It looks like it wants to run straight through its own companion, but can't quite get up the guts. I mean, its open viscera makes the whole guts thing very difficult for this particular zombie.
Bedlam looks like he wants to toss a bomb...
Aurora frowns at how much energy she's been channeling. Another burst of white brilliance comes forth from her holy symbol, swirling and sparking in the air around her like a storm of electricity and embers.
Zombie 15 crumbles, as even a paltry gust of holy goodness would be sufficient to topple its hacked, burned, and slashed frame.
Aurora's other foes each wilt a little, one more than the other.
Brand looks to the others. "E'ryone, step back! Let 'em come into the room, then we can beat 'em down right propa!"
Take a 5 foot step back and readies action to attack the next zombie that steps through.
Lolygert was starting to get frustrated at the group's problems with the zombies.
His blood was beginning to boil over, when Brand's words cut through, easing some of Lolyget's blodlust.
Stepping back , he waits for the zombies to advance...
Sure enough, the zombies lumber into the closet. Lolly splits one in twain, and Brand gets a good slash on the next, final zombie as it enters.
The final zombie, already badly battered, swipes at Lolly
...it gives Lolly a good thump.
A voice booms out of the darkness, "HEY NOW! Stop wreckin' my zombies! Get 'em, boys! Oh, wow... get me that glowing sword..."
At the far end of the zombie room, beyond the sarcophagi, yet another secret door slides open! You see humanoid figures illuminated by torchlight. A tall figure holding a thin blade fills the doorway, and he's waving encouragement to those behind him.
Bedlam watches the newcomers to the party.
Be looking like a throng I once were late fer!
The Alchemist tosses a bomb at the speaker.
As Bedlam preps his bomb, the zombie takes advantage and tries to Slam him...
...but it misses.
The bomb flies through the air, but instead of crashing into Jack, it veers off to the right and smashes inside the zombie room, diagonally from the secret door.
As such, only Jack is in danger.
Indeed, the hot tar of Bedlam’s bomb singes the bandit, and its goop makes it more difficult for him to move.
Jack shouts in Common, "Move back and take 'em with arrows!"
Then, in Orcish, he yells "Valors aliats! Mantingueu-vos endavant fins que s'aproximin! Armes llançades!"
A bandit and an orc act according to Jack's instructions.
They focus their fire on the guy who just chucked a grenade at the boss.
Brand recoils in pain as the arrow drives deep into his chest.
Tragershen strains to see the newcomers, but uses his wand again on the zombie.
To hit (touch attack)
Damage
I'll get the next post up in the mornin'! Git in thar, Jod!
Tragershen's wand finally finishes off the last of the zombies. Its negative energy sapped, it crumbles to the ground, lifeless again. Probably a good thing, but the bad guys are no longer shooting into combat... good thing Jack Ratt is still standing in the doorway to provide soft cover!
A bandit and an orc take their shots:
Lolly neatly dodges the bandit's arrow, and the orc makes an awkward throw to avoid nailing the boss--fortunately for Brand! A lot of bad guys are now bunched up on the other side of the eastern secret door.
"It's a cult?!" the Nethysian cries out in outrage as the man emerges from yet another secret door to claim ownership of the skeletons. At least, she assumes it is a cult. There's not many other things she can think of a necromancer with orc minions in an underground dungeon could be — disenfranchised adventurers is another option, one supposes.
Aurora had been hopeful the fight would be a short one and she wouldn't need to expend anything more than a few channels. It was evident, however, that it would go on a spot longer. Uttering another prayer, Aurora casts Bless on her allies!
"Get in there! Move up the line!"
Brand drops his sickle and, drawing his short bow, snaps off a quick shot at the bandit leader. "Oy, Jack! Care fer a bit o' catch?!"
Bedlam moans a bit from his injuries. The dwarf looks at the situation.
Can I blast dat closet closed now?
Though his anger had been tempered by Branch's comment earlier, it had simmered.
Now with the bandit's appearance, it boiled over!!
With a growl, Lolygert leaps ahead, barrelling thought the distance between them at a frightening pace....
Lolly's raging momentum rips the nearly invisible tripwire right out of the wall without slowing him down.
He takes a mighty hack at Jack, and almost gets him! The tanglegoop slows the bandit leader's reactions, but his leather armor somehow turns away the greatsword.
The remaining orcs, the last bandit, and Jack all pile on Lolly. First, the orcs chuck their javelins:
The bandit takes a pot shot at him with Point Blank Shot:
And Jack Ratt swings with his rapier:
The orcish weapons go wide. They draw their falchions while muttering darkly in Orcish about how stupid javelins are.
Lolly takes an arrow from the bandit and a rapier thrust from Jack. Six damage.
Jack decides that getting behind the men makes sense. He risks an AOO to move to the back of his bandits and orcs. If Lols doesn't kill him, he yells "Don't block the door, wait for him to come to us!"
Lolygert growls again as his mighty slash goes unrewarded, he scowls at Jack as he pokes him with his rapier.
An arrow appears in the meat of his shoulder, Lolygert glares at the bandit, and snarls, "Yer next!"
Then Jack attempts to retreat! With a howl, Lolygert's blade is drawn back up into the air....
Jack is horribly gashed by the enormous blade--he fights to retain consciousness, but slumps over and down.
With the boss out of action, all hells break loose.
The bandit at initiative 16, a skinny late-teenager in a red bandanna, flips the tabletop off a table in the room and pulls a sack out of the barrel that had been the table's support. The human bandits start yelling at him, "Oy, what do you think yer doin?! Drop the loot and get back to shootin'!" But the orcs seem to ignore it.
The orc at initiative 15 moves up to the doorway and swings at Lolly...
...but he misses.
Bedlam takes out a potion and downs it.
Seeing Lolly go into the breach, Tragershen follows along. He takes advantage of the berserker drawing all of the attention.
Moving after Lolly, keeping him between me and the bandits. He will ready his whip as he goes. He murmurs the words of a spell.
Bandit 14 yells at Bandit 16, "Turn and fight, you fool!"
He pumps an arrow at Lolly, past the orc in the way and into melee, then steps quickly back into the room, towards the table...
...the bandit masterfully guides his arrow through the combat, striking Lolly in a spot that would have been covered had he not sprinted into action.
The next orc moves up to a spot adjacent to the other and tries to take out Lolly. He has to fight around the corner, so Lols has cover.
...but cover doesn't change the outcome, as his cover AC of 19 is juussst too low to avoid the orc's swing. Our newest friend is in trouble, taking nine from the orc, for a total of fifteen.
Aurora considers the budding traffic jam around the entrance to the newest hidden room and shakes her head. She moves up behind Joden and casts Guidance on herself, and from Guidance she uses Divine Vessel!
"Try to stay alive until I can get up to you, my new friend," she says, ostensibly to Lolly considering his recent injuries.
The first arrow and rapier poke only stung Lolygert, but the following arrow and falchion hit....really hurt!
Frowning, Lolygert could hear his father in his head, "You've got the blood-rage, same as me and your uncle. Your uncle let it take over, me on the other hand learned from it, learned to control it. You must do the same, lest it spell your doom...."
With a shake of his head, Lolygert scowled a the orc that his him so hard, muttering, "You'll get yours..." and immediately let the rage flow away and out...
Maintaining his defenses, despite the lethargy that stole over him, Lolygert used his quickness to make a strategic retreat...only 10 feet...where he snatches a healing potion from his bandolier and drinks it down!
Brand goes rushing forward to offer aid alongside Lolly, only to watch him step back and slow down. "Any'ne else goin' step up 'ere wit me?"
Bedlam sighs.
Were hoping to lessen our adversary equation by 100%
Everyone feels enlightened by Aurora's magic... like, sword-arm's-lighter-now enlightened.
Lolly stumbles back, healing himself with a potion.
Brand stabs the orc in the doorway--orcs are notoriously hard to kill, but he must feel pretty good about how significant the wound looks.
...now the merde hits the eventail.
Bandit 5 lunges across the room and attempts to trip Bandanna Bandit 16. Bandit 16 responds by taking his AOO, walloping Bandit 5 with the bag of loot:
...he misses. Other bandit tries to sweep Bandanna's legs out from under him:
...Bandanna goes prone, cursing loudly.
Orc 7 and Orc 1 are both rushing past the squabbling bandits, clearly more excited to fight real foes instead of politickin' over loot.
Orc 7 jumps into melee, running past his friend and taking a rip at... ... the halfling who just stabbed his buddy!
...Brand is now pretty darn wounded.
Orc 1, slow to move but courageous, takes an AOO from Brand, Joden, and Lolly in order to get into the fight:
...yeah, that was dumb. Even his Ferocious demeanor can't save him--he goes down, killed dead, and I don't even have to roll the crit confirmation or potential sneak attack dice.
The situation just within our side of the door. O is an orc, X is the orc who just died trying to reach space X. - is the wall, if that's not clear already.
---O---
..XOB..
...LJ..
....A..
Moving a bit closer, Bedlam smiles.
Feeling like with just the correct motivation, these bandits should break.
The grinning dwarf tosses the flask.
Source Ultimate Equipment pg. 107 (Amazon)
Price 50 gp; Weight 1 lb.
Category Alchemical Weapons
Description
Harvested and concentrated from the remains of slain ghasts, this foul-smelling powder is kept in tightly sealed flasks. It is thrown as a splash weapon and the flask breaks on impact, releasing noxious dust. The target is nauseated for 1 round and sickened for 3 rounds after that. A successful DC 12 Fortitude save prevents the nauseated condition, but not the sickened condition. Creatures within 5 feet of where the flank hits are sickened for 1 round. This is a poison effect. Crafting this item is a DC 20 Craft (alchemy) check.
Construction
Craft (Alchemy) DC 20
The orcs, having gathered around the door, take the brunt of the Ghast Flask. They also, being orcs, are used to awful smells. While Orc 14, who was standing in the square just behind the rear "O" and thus took a direct hit retches a bit, the others mock Bedlam's attempt to sicken them.
Orc 15, the one in the doorway, counterattacks Brand:
As Bandanna scrambles to his feet, his fellow bandit throws a punch at him:
...but it glances off the bandit's studded leather armor. Bandanna takes his chance to run to the south, out of the party's field of vision.
Tragershen lashes out with his whip, snaking it past his allies. The end of it encircles the ankle of the nearest orc, and the elf tries to pull him off his feet.
Trip attempt on the orc in front of Lolly.
To hit