The sound of breaking wood continues from beyond the doors as you hear another door slam open - it appears that you may yet have time before the drowned men arrive.
You're pretty sure that the drowned men referred to by Timeon are a type of undead known as a Draugr - the corpses of sailors arisen from their briny ocean graves by necromantic energies. Their flesh resists arrows and spears, but both maces and axes will be effective against them. Due to their water-logged flesh, they are somewhat resistant too flames. They also smell atrocious.
Grumblejack gets an eager look on his face and says, "This something to smash?"
Geborah's religious training hasn't had much to do with the undead.
"Grumblejack! Good news, another fight! Let your power please the Dark Lord!"
The girlish priest cajoles the ogre into battle position, then gives him Guidance.
Tatinne grasps her bardiche tightly, her jaw clenched firm. "The 'drowned men' are likely draugr - the corpses of sailors arisen from their briny ocean graves by necromantic energies. Their flesh resists arrows and spears, but both maces and axes will be effective against them. Due to their water-logged flesh, they are somewhat resistant to flames. They also smell atrocious."
"So, punch away, Grumblejack."
With a loud smash, the door separating you from the draugr slams open, breaking, revealing six water-logged corpses wielding rusted greataxes.
Jezabel looses a stone from her sling, but it flies over their heads and clatters down the hall.
One of the draugr runs by Grumblejack towards Balam, inviting a smack from the Ogre.
The club bashes the undead, but it continues on towards its target. Balam, prepared for the attack, lashes out with his readied blade. His sword finishes what Grumblejack started as the draugr collapses to the ground.
Another rushes towards Tatienne, drawing an attack from her bardiche but making it through to strike with its axe.
Fortunately for the woman, it misses her.
Yet another draugr comes for Balam, quicker than the ogre can strike as it passes yet again. It also fails to hit the dark knight.
Another rushes by Tatienne to attack Wraith's skeleton. It fails to damage the bony creature.
Grumblejack swings his club at the draugr in front of Balam.
The Ogre smashes another one.
Purple - Dead
Yellow - Dead
Jezabel clicks a button on one of her scroll cases, causing a scroll to unfurl and pop into her hand. She sings while staring at the scroll, causing the words written upon it to vanish, and a magical barrier to form around her. Then she stows her sling
Balam calmly sidesteps the draugr's strike. Zombies were such clumsy things. Then, he lifts his shield and returns a strike of his own.
Taty steps backwards, trying to give herself space from the two draugr's grasping hands. As she puts herself in a better position, the relic hunter swings her bardiche, once at a draugr moving clumsily into her weapon's range, and then again, at the same undead horror. Still, Taty's backpeddling is clumsier than her foe; her strike finds nothing but air either time.
"Lie down on the ground. On your belly! Down!" Geborah orders Timeon. If he balks, she gives him a corrective blow from her morningstar. But if, as seems more likely, he obeys, she drops his rope. "Good boy. Don't get up without permission, or you'll regret it."
She then advances to fill the space on Balam's flank vacated by Tatienne. She stays behind her shield, taking wary swipes at an undead with her morningstar.
Wraith reaches into the void of this power and send out a pulse of control on all undead within a range of 30 ft.
"It is done, but I fear they are too strong for my current skills." As he response he orders his skeleton to attack the one in front of it.
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Wraith reaches into the void of this power and send out a pulse of control on all undead within a range of 30 ft. "It is done, but I fear they are too strong for my current skills." As he response he orders his skeleton to attack the one in front of it. The undead seem unaffected by his attempt to control them, but his skeleton claws the Draugr before it twice.
Dante says, "Oh, great, now we've got shrieking mushrooms and walking corpses. Cardinal Thorn is sick, killing us in this way. He should have just slaughtered us and been done with it - or let us be executed in Branderscar." He does nothing to help.
Taty steps backwards, trying to give herself space from the two draugr's grasping hands. As she puts herself in a better position, the relic hunter swings her bardiche, once at a draugr moving clumsily into her weapon's range, and then again, at the same undead horror. Still, Taty's backpeddling is clumsier than her foe; her strike finds nothing but air either time.
"Lie down on the ground. On your belly! Down!" Geborah orders Timeon. If he balks, she gives him a corrective blow from her morningstar. But if, as seems more likely, he obeys, she drops his rope. "Good boy. Don't get up without permission, or you'll regret it."
Timeon falls to the ground with a whimper.
She then advances to fill the space on Balam's flank vacated by Tatienne. She stays behind her shield, taking wary swipes at an undead with her morningstar. Her swipes are hardly any kind of deterrent, given her wary trepidation.
Balam calmly sidesteps the draugr's strike. Zombies were such clumsy things. Then, he lifts his shield and returns a strike of his own. His sword bites true at the draugr before Geborah.
Jezabel clicks a button on one of her scroll cases, causing a scroll to unfurl and pop into her hand. She sings while staring at the scroll, causing the words written upon it to vanish, and a magical barrier to form around her. Then she stows her sling.
One of the draugr still in the door rushes at Balam, drawing an attack from Grumblejack.
Grumblejack's club sails over its head, and it swings its greataxe at Balam. The axe clangs off Balam's shield, not hitting the warrior.
The other in the doorway moves to attack Grumblejack. It gashes Grumblejack's arm badly. Grumblejack says, "Pee-yew! That almost as stinky as mama's feet!"
The draugr in front of Geborah also swings its axe at her. Its axe batters aside her defenses to strike her in the shoulder.
The final draugr swings its axe at the skeleton standing between it and Wraith. Its axe scrapes along the skeleton's rib cage, leaving cuts on the bone. It isn't as effective as cutting flesh, though.
Grumblejack swings his club at the draugr that hit him.
The draugr goes splat.
Purple - Dead
Yellow - Dead
Green - Dead
Blue - 6/19
Pink - 8/19
Red - 19/19
Grumblejack - 17/30
Geborah - 5/14 (16 normal)
Skeleton - 1/4
Jezabel saunters around Wraith's delightful skeleton, and right up to the enemy. Then she lashes out with her fist, in an attempt to punch the draugr in the face.
Wraith seeing his control was lacking switches to attacking instead. With a familiar short chant he blast a ray of frost at the creature.
With no luck there he allows his skeleton to continue distracting it for Jeza.
Balam sneers behind his helm. "Disgusting rabble! They are mindless tools, barely fit for service as fodder."
Keeping shield at the ready, he cuts with his longsword at the draugr in front of him.
Face to face with the drowned warriors, Geborah breathes in the briny reek that rolls off their bloated, squishing flesh. The sea, she thinks--she's always hated the sea, its smell. When an axe smashes past her shield, she gasps involuntarily, filling her lungs with their effluvium. Gagging, she stumbles back from the front line.
Tatienne steps backwards again, lashing out once more with her bardiche at the closest draughr.
Wraith seeing his control was lacking switches to attacking instead. With a familiar short chant he blast a ray of frost at the creature. The ray misses wide of the draugr. With no luck there he allows his skeleton to continue distracting it for Jeza. It has less luck digging its claws into the draugr this time.
Tatienne steps backwards again, lashing out once more with her bardiche at the closest draugr. Her bardiche bites into its flesh, causing it to fall to the ground.
Dante picks up Timeon's leash and says, "Since Geborah said to stay put, stay put and don't try to move."
Face to face with the drowned warriors, Geborah breathes in the briny reek that rolls off their bloated, squishing flesh. The sea, she thinks--she's always hated the sea, its smell. When an axe smashes past her shield, she gasps involuntarily, filling her lungs with their effluvium. Gagging, she stumbles back from the front line.
Balam sneers behind his helm. "Disgusting rabble! They are mindless tools, barely fit for service as fodder." Keeping shield at the ready, he cuts with his longsword at the draugr in front of him. His sword bites into the draugr's flesh, but not enough to finish the creature.
Both remaining draugr take a swing at Balam, one of them moving to get a clearer shot. That one connects, gashing the dark knight's shield arm with a fierce blow.
Grumblejack swings his club at the nearest draugr.
His club goes wide, missing the mark.
Purple - Dead
Yellow - Dead
Green - Dead
Blue - 6/19
Pink - Dead
Red - 19/19
Grumblejack - 17/30
Geborah - 5/14 (16 normal)
Skeleton - 1/4
Balam - 9/25
Geborah's nausea passes. She levels her most powerful blow at the nearest warrior, hoping to distract it from Balam, then retreats from the front line.
Rinse and Repeat.... I need stronger control and possible another 0 lvl attack spell.
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Balam curses as the draugr nearly takes his arm. The creature's stench is near to overwhelming, but the dark knight chokes back the bile and returns a stirke of his own.
Jezabel's punch connects with the back of the draugr's head with a wet "Thwack!" Unfortunately, the punch doesn't seem to have taken it down.
Taty pulls the bardiche free and stumbles a bit on the slick floor, her next attack finding nothing but air.
Wraith again attempts to use his ray of frost, but misses his target. His skeleton has more luck, its claw finding purchase and causing the draugr to finally return to true death.
Geborah's nausea passes. She levels her most powerful blow at the nearest warrior, hoping to distract it from Balam, then retreats from the front line.
Balam curses as the draugr nearly takes his arm. The creature's stench is near to overwhelming, but the dark knight chokes back the bile and returns a strike of his own. Unfortunately, he misses his foe.
Jezabel dances forward and throws a punch at the back of the red undead's head.
Taty pulls the bardiche free and stumbles a bit on the slick floor, her next attack finding nothing but air.
Jezabel dances forward and throws a punch at the back of the final undead's head. Her fist hits with a crack, but the blow doesn't slow the undead.
The draugr continues to attack Balam, but fails to hit the armored warrior.
Grumblejack lifts his club above his head, then brings it down with a mighty heave.
The draugr goes splat as he crushes it with his club.
The battle over, you stand looking upon the now permanently dead corpses, their rusted greataxes lying next to the now still corpses. The door to the west beckons you further to the next room, whose doors hang open from where the draugr came from. Engraved into the stone above that room is the phrase, "Beware the fallen for they may rise once more to threaten you.”
"Watch the door, and make sure the bodies don't rise again. I'll need some time to deal with this." Geborah probes the wound in her shoulder with a slightly trembling hand. "Looks like today's blood offering will be a little bigger than usual," she says, with a laugh that sounds forced.
She kneels some distance from the bloated corpses and begins to recite quiet prayers to Asmodeus. After some time, her devotions turn to incantations, and healing red light beams from her archstar.
Her wound knits itself closed, but remains red and swollen--the damage beneath the surface remains. "This will have to do for now. Shall we see if this room holds any further secrets?" She searches the room methodically.
"Yeah if that wasn't obvious before, it screams at you now." Summoning his skeleton over, Wraith begins to chant drawing on dark the dark energy of the room, focusing it on his skeleton, which visibly begins to be repaired.
Once repaired, he wait by the draugr room for Geb to finish her exhausting search.
Jezabel wanders over and sings a little non-sense song at Grumblejack. Suddenly her eyes glow, and green energy travels up from the ground into her palms. She places a hand on Grumblejack.
Then she does the same for Balam.
Then she stretches out on her back on the ground, using a skull and a hunk of the weird mushroom as a pillow, and hums to herself while she waits for the child to finish.
Balam silently nods his thanks to Jezabel as the healing energy enters his body, knitting his wounds together. "I will stand watch." First, he removes the draugrs' heads from their shoulders. Then, he positions himself to best keep an eye on all four entrways.
Geborah's search of the room turns up a secret door on the east wall that leads to a set of stairs ascending from where you are back up to the manor proper. Her search of the room the draugr came from turns up a secret passage on the North wall that leads to a secret door in the hallway before the room with the Shrieker that would have allowed them to bypass the hazard entirely. Six of the coffins in the room with the draugr are empty - the other two contain perfectly ordinary dead bodies that don't come to life or have any necromantic qualities about them.
"Avernus," says Geborah. "The ninth--the Throne of Pride. I expect to find Timeon's old master, Sir Balin of the Alerion, behind this door, ignorant of whatever manipulation the Cardinal has used to place him there. I have a few tricks left--I can bedevil him and forestall his attacks--and if you have held back any resources, this will be the time to use them."
She goes to where Dante watches Timeon, and tugs roughly at the squire's bonds to make sure he is tied securely. "Your faith in Mithras is about to be put to the test. Are you so sure of your master that you'd wager on him? How about this: If we defeat your master, you owe us nine services. If he wins, you go free--I won't slash your throat for petty vengeance in the last moments of the fight. Sounds fair?"
Once her pactmates all seem prepared, she nods at Balam to lead them in. "Insult and challenge him, Balam, so that he focuses on you, and fight a defensive battle. The rest of us can take him apart. Don't damage his amulet, anyone!"
Jezabel rolls gracefully to her feet and gives a stretch.
"Reeeeady," she sings.
Tatienne thinks on hard steel, and the glory of battle. Her senses are sharp, her reflexes sharper. The Knight would die quickly and painfully, if he were in fact behind the door.
legacy weapon 10/10
lead blades 20/20
AC 15
"Thought... with the loud noise of battle. His master might be ready for us... why not take a break? He can't rest, if he has been while he's been here... Hell if we want we can torture the man by banging on the door repeatedly keeping him awake... We have time to rest... recover our spells and abilities and go in fresh while we have the possibility of wearing him down a bit."
Wraith says this quietly and has his skeleton near Timmy to make sure that if the lad thinks to run the skeleton will take him down.
"Plus give me a chance to make sure my spells are appropriate for the man. Do we know if he's a knight or paladin? With Sir in the title it usually means one of those."
"It's not a bad idea, Wraith, but let's see what the inscription on the final door says before we decide. I think it likely that His Eminence will have left us a clue. If we do decide to rest and recover, let us be sure we know how to prepare."
"Preparation would be wise. We could read the inscription and then prepare for whatever's beyond that door." Balam gestures with his sword
The final door lies before you. This door is wooden, but reinforced with iron bands. Upon it is a stout, good iron lock - the only locked door you have seen in these lessons. Carved into the stone above the door are the words, “Serve thy master well and be rewarded.” Hanging on a peg next to the door is a key - all you need to get to Sir Balin of Karfield.
"I've cast my magic, let's go in!" Tatienne says, impatient. "All this dallying makes us weaker, not stronger."
"That tells me its the final challenge, but if you want to go in I'll follow your lead. Just remember I might not be helpful in this fight."
Balam readies himself for the confrontation with Sir Balin. "I am ready."
Balam will do it. He's alived a good life. Although wraith has a skeleton... Or we could make the boy open the door. But I kind of don't want the kid dead--itd be fun to corrupt him to be a loyal follower of the First.
Reaching forward, Tatienne grasps the handle and opens the door, before stepping back behind Balam.