Kuran finds his blade struggles on the undead monstrosity...
The skeletons continue the attack - standing their ground.
(Orange) attacks Nijena!
Attack
Blue eyes takes some revenge on Kuran "You can count on dying!"
Attack
Damage
R6
Blossym
Darren
Kuran
Nijena
ENEMY
R - Dead
O
Y - Dead
G - Dead
B - 24
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"Ow!" Kuran shrieks in terror, whimpering as the strong monster scathes him
Kuran attempts to retaliate, still using his longsword which he knows has proven not as effective on the skeleton.
But his attack is futile. Given his grave wounds, Kuran provides flank for Darren only for a brief moment before moving further away from the abomination.
Darren gets his blade on target -but the bony skeleton deflects a lot of the cut. His bite fails to find any grip.
Kuran fails to land a blow.
Nijena slams a blow home soundly - but the creature still lives yet!
R6
Blossym
Darren - attacked
Kuran - attacked
Nijena - attacked
ENEMY
R - Dead
O
Y - Dead
G - Dead
B - 35
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Darren spins on his heel to face the sarcophagus and then bends at the waste and front-flips on top of it.
Then he drives his rapier at the skeleton's skull again
for
for
-Posted with Wayfinder
The skeletons continue battering away!
(Orange) moves up to close in Nijena...
Attack
Blue eyes goes back to attacking Nijena.
Attack
Damage
Laying in a very decisive strike!
Darren sees the opportunity though and strikes - the blow finally finding the last piece of unlife driving the skeletal monstrosity and seeing the fires extinguish!
R7
Blossym
Darren
Kuran
Nijena
ENEMY
R - Dead
O
Y - Dead
G - Dead
B - Dead
Blossym snatches her hanbo and smashes the last skeleton!
***
The crypt falls silent except for the shallow breathing of the woman lying in front of Kassen's sarcophagus.
Kassen’s sarcophagus is open, and the lid is lying next to it. His body is intact, save for the broken links of a chain that lie around his neck—the medallion it once held is missing. Kassen is dressed in resplendent full plate with a longsword resting on his chest. The Longsword has a flame pattern etched into the blade.
On the eastern side of Kassen's tomb is the Villager's Crypt.
This crypt is the resting place for a number of villagers, each one entombed inside a stone sarcophagus. Unlike Kassen, none of them appear to be disturbed.
On the western side is the Raiders Crypt.
This crypt contains the resting place for some of the raiders that attacked Kassen so many years ago. The central sarcophagus has been disturbed, its lid lying broken on the ground in front of it. The corpse of a masked man lies beside it.
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"I have a bad f-feeling about th-this place... m-maybe the v-villagers in Kassen knew a-about this, and just sent i-innocent people here as an o-offering to a-appease the evil skeleton..."
Kuran is still too shaken to do anything but look around nervously, though he sheathes his longsword and uses the wand he held with his prehensile tail during this time. He uses the wand on himself to close the gravest wounds.
The girl awakens with the gift of healing...
"Roldare!" she cries with a start.
A you question her she introduces herself as Dimira, and once you reassure her she is safe, it becomes clear she is very grateful, fatigued, hungry and shaken, but more coherent than Roldare. She tells you a tale of her group on their rite of passage arriving and reaching the safe room where Roldare is, but as they were searching, skeletons stormed in and cut them off - and she saw her friends killed. Asar, the blue eyed monster, captured her and has been questioning her about what has happened in the last 200 years. He was planning on raising an army of undead to capture the region. She grew weak and passed out. "We so wanted to light the sacred flame..." Dimira is very relieved when she learns her brother is still alive and she wants to go speak with him as soon as possible.
***
Looking at the broken crypt (and the dead body) you note the following:
The dead man is wearing gray robes and an iron mask that covers his face. The stench of rot hangs heavy around him.
AND THEN
The dead man has a few items of interest on his person. Searching his decayed body you find a map leading to the crypt, along with a note that reads, “The amulets are entombed with Kassen and Asar”.
***
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He turns away from the crypt. "I think there's a story here, but I can't tell what it is."
He walks toward the ever flame. "Time to do what we came here for."
-Posted with Wayfinder
With the woman safe and the monsters dead, you all carefully approach the crypt with the lantern and light it. You see the companion lantern on the crypt begin to glow brighter and brighter until the whole room is awash in bright light.
Emerging from the light as if from a room itself is a figure clothed in fine armor. He appraises each of you, nods in approval, then takes off his helmet. "I am Kassen, and you are the bravest I've seen in a long time!" he greets you in a gravely voice "I've watched generations of town people proceed on this quest to light the simple lantern, but this year was special. This year bandits stirred something else with their bloodshed. They woke the other. I was powerless to stop it, but you... you worthy few proved strong enough to end its horrible reign" his eyes look across to where the blue eyed skeleton lies defeated "Aser was my former friend and adventuring companion. He led the bandit charge that I had to defeat. That was hard, and I buried him afterwards" The spirit continues to look despondently at the spot where the last skeleton fell "However, when the new bandits raided my tomb, they moved his amulet, disturbing his rest. I’ve watched over townspeople for decades, and this was the first time that that creature threatened the people. You are the real heroes of the day having put my friend down for his final rest. For this, I give you these gifts..." he gestures to next to the tomb where a bag appears from the white light "and more importantly, my blessing" Kassen then approaches each of you in turn, says a small prayer, and then moves to the next person. "My time is at an end. Stay brave, and fight back the dark for a long as you can!" And with that the room sinks back into the dank darkness of the crypt, except your lantern is now lit, a bag of items lies at your feet, and you all feel a bit of something extra in your soul.
The walk back to town is somewhat quiet as you all reflect on the victory, but also the tragedy. The woman and Roldare don’t say much as they both have a haunted look in their eyes. All said, it’s pleasant with no rain and cool temperatures.
Things change as you arrive in town. You hear the celebration before you see it. The entire town came out to welcome you back. As you walk into the town, it erupts in applause. After a few seconds, an odd hush falls over the crowd as the mayor steps forward and looks you over and says "What happened?"
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Kuran is shaking constantly as they explore the remainders of the dark crypt, he's still expecting some monster attack them from behind. Holding his sword high and shield to defend himself from these unknown evils, he shrieks loudly as the spirit comes to view, promptly dismissing his say of bravery. Kuran doesn't ease up during the monologue, too terrified to respond or react, hiding behind Darren.
As Kassen approaches him, instinctively he raises his arms as if something would hit him, and then looks befuddled as nothing bad had happened to him. Confused, he watches the spirit as it says its last words and disappears into nothingness.
The blessing he received is something he contemplates during the entire trip back town. Was it an ominous one, or an actual blessing granted by a benevolent spirit? Kuran isn't all that trustful towards beings that died once before but defied Pharasma's will and came back, often to haunt the living for some absurd reason.
Back at the town he looks at the townspeople with distrust. In Kuran's mind, the townsfolk knew they sent the group of pathfinders to their deaths, and just tried to make it look like they didn't know a thing about all the monstrosities in the crypt. Still, he's smart enough to keep the suspicions to himself and just enjoy the festivities to the best of his abilities. Regardless, he can't shake off his paranoia and jumpiness, and attempts to stay out of view. When people ask him about the events in the crypt, he recites his adventures mainly in words terror, horror, evil, death, sorrow, and horrible. His stuttering, too, drives away those curious about the crypt.
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Nijena remains silent while the spirit speaks. Once the spirit finishes she answers. "I'll do my very best to fight the dark, Erastil shall help me."
Back at town she reports to the mayor. "The dungeon was infested with undead. We put them all to their final rest." she says but ignoring the fact that they probably knew about the haunts. "Two of us died, please remember their deeds in your festives tonight."