Zazou slips into the room with his scimitar out and slashes low at the zombie.
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"Something..." Balin's eyes narrow as he watches the way the zombies move in the dark. "Something isn't right about this," he warns, pushing his spectacles up the bridge of his nose. "I don't-- I'm not sure these are ordinary members of the walking deceased. Watch their stomachs, there may be... nesting things."
Staying outside the room, Olwyn makes a brief incantation bestowing ill luck on the zombie attacking Balin's companion.
At the first sight of the lurching, bloated 'things' in the room, the two Tengu shriek in alarm and run back up the stairs and along the corridor (back in the general direction of the room where you originally found them).
"Guys?!!!??…..hey Guys!!!!!!…..Come back…..We'll protect you….it's not safe!!!!!!"
With the Tengu showing no sign of heeding the Ratperson's call (if anything they run faster), Gazzer scurries after them….
"I'll be back….."
Undeterred by the blows raining down upon them, the zombies mindlessly flail at the largest targets ahead of them; Balin's companion easily avoids the careless slash at his chest but Kairen is less lucky and his opponent slams against him.
The sheer mass of the creature rattles Kairen's skull as it nearly knocks him senseless. Realizing he's underestimated his foe, he measures his strike more carefully, weaving around the zombie with more focus on the meaty fists flailing at him.
Zazou fearlesly continues to harass the Zombie unsure what it is that is going on here.
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Seeing Kairen take a solid hit and recoil from the zombie's flailing limbs, Balin hisses and advances into the room to stand at Kairen's back. "Not yet" the cleric curses under his breath, pressing his bare palm against the back of the paladin with his wooden mask symbol clutched in his other hand.
"मी या मनुष्याच्या जखमा बंद, अनेक गुप्त धनी आपले ज्ञान विनंती," Balin chants in a whispery voice and a sibilant tongue as a wave of positive energy surges outward and into Kairen. At the same moment, Balin's companion sweeps its scimitar out at the zombie it had been fighting, attempting to finally fell the creature.
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I call on your knowledge, lord of secrets, mend this knight's wounds.
Unnerved by the sight of Balin actually moving into the fray, Olwyn moves to the door of the room and, with hideous laughter, continues to bestow bad luck upon the zombie.
With the diminutive goblin scurrying around next to Balin's heavily armoured companion, the zombie swings wildly at Zazou; the sharp clawed hand of the undead looks to make contact with Zazou's neck until, at the last moment, the Zombie stumbles and misses wildly.
Kairen is far less lucky and, despite adopting a defensive stance, the zombie finds an exposed area of flesh and bites down causing an arterial spray. Under the weight of the feeding zombie, Kairen slumps to the floor unconscious.
Standing at the door, Olwyn shouts over the clamour of the fight, "Can anyone else hear gas?"
Despite or even though mister big strong isn't as big strong as he thought Zazou fights on valiantly aiming a high cut at the zombies head.
Zazou ducks the zombies attack and, seeing an opening in the grotesque creatures' defenses, slashes upwards. The goblins' scimitar catches against flesh and decaying muscle and rips a foot long tear in the side of the zombies' torso. With a look of puzzlement on it's face, the zombie stops in its' tracks and then, with an almost comical 'pop' explodes covering Zazou, Balin and his companion in decaying matter.
Fortitude
Eeeewyuck! the goblin squeels as he is covered in Zombie muck.
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Hissing in pain as the caustic fluid covers his body, Balin recoils and staggers away from the zombie with one hand raised to shield his face. "Piercing attacks! Piercing attacks -- Arrows! Does anyoen carry a damnable bow!?" he shouts in some vain attempt to direct his allies, even though the most pertinent information already became relayed in the form of a poisonous rupture from the undead creature.
Gagging loudly, Balin smears the gore across his face as he tries to wipe it away, looking back at the zombie through muck-spattered lenses. Gasping for breath, Balin draws back his hand clutching the wooden mask talisman and begins chanting once more in that sibilant, whispering tongue. "अज्ञात न पाहिलेला, परमेश्वराच्या मास्टर, मी आपल्या मार्गावर माझ्या सेवा महान प्रतिकार तोंड. या गडद ठिकाणी माझ्या अन्वेषण मला मदत करण्यासाठी मला म्हणाला आपल्या ज्ञान एक दूत पाठवा!" As he chants, Balin envisions the servant his deity's will would take -- wings spread wide and talons to rend; the secret of flight in predatory form.
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(+2 if it's a disease, but that doesn't appear to matter :x)
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As Balin retreats, his shrouded companion maneuvers to continue its assault. Slicing at the zombie with its scimitar, the silent warrior keeps his shield raised and his braced stance wide. Unfortunately, the zombie's thick hide proves too thick for such a shallow slash to cut through, and the impact of the blade causes the abomination little harm.
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With Balin's heavily armoured bodyguard stepping into the fray, the remaining zombie lashes out in mindless frustration whilst struggling to get to either Balin, Zazou or Olwyn.
Rummaging in her cloak for something, Olwyn lets out a cry of delight as she retrieves a small flask. In the heat of the battle, you can't clearly see what it is until you realise, as it tumbles through the air towards the Zombie, that she has remembered the Holy Water that Sister Nerissia gave to each of you.
The flask smashes against the wall behind the zombie and water showers the zombies' back. The creature howls on pain as the holy water sears its' flesh.
Zazou moves to Balin's side and touches the man's forehead speaking a quick prayer to his mistress the dawnflower.
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With a wave of one hand, Balin exhales a breathy, "Move around, flank it!" At his command, Balin's shrouded companion steps aside and circles the zombie, shield raised and sword striking out with a fluid slashing motion. The stroke is not hard enough to penetrate the zombie's thick hide, but it does distract it from the winged danger approaching.
In a haze of swirling black smoke and flickering red lights, a black-feathered bird the size of a hawk appears with a flash of hellfire and a whiff of brimstone. The creature lets out a piercing shriek and swoops down on the zombie, talons raking and beak snapping at its rotten flesh. Balin, to his credit, just allows this battle to play out, slowly edging towards the door with each step.
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Kairen wobbles to his feet, regaining his senses as he stands. Once he can focus, his eyes blaze with fury at the undead fiend as he lifts his longsword again, and reaches for the short sword at his belt. Dashing around to the right flank of Balin's silent bodyguard, he slashes to the right, bringing his shorter blade up with his left hand, aiming for the creature's face.
slashing
piercing
Kairen's short sword stabs into the face of the zombie...congealed brain slides along the embedded blade whilst the animated corpse flails futilely back at the Paladin.
As the zombie staggers under the blows raining down upon it, the sound of escaping gas increases in volume.
Fortitiude
Zazou moves to action and attacks the remaining Zombie with his scimitar.
Attack Damage
For the second time, it is the goblin that deals the killing blow; and again, as the zombie drops lifelessly to it's knees, it's distended torso erupts in an explosion of rotten tissue.
As the second zombie ruptures, both the paladin and the bard manage to hold their breath and avoid inhaling significant amounts of rotting matter. Balin's companion, for the second time, is coated in decaying tissue....but seems curiously unaffected by it.
With the zombies defeated you are able to take the time to scrutinise the room and it's, somewhat limited, furnishings. The few cabinets that are positioned against the Eastern Wall are completely empty however, blowing away the dust of the years from the top surface of one of the cabinets reveals a pair of moderately sized onyxes.
Listening out for any sign of either Gazzer or the Tengu returning....there is just silence....
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Letting out a rasping breath, Balin looks around the room amidst the silence and waits for sign of further adversity. "I don't--" he rubs one hand at his head, thoughts cloudy and unfocused from the poison. "So much for our brave thieves. Useless." Balin's attention flicks to the others. "Is everyone alright?"
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No Zazou not alright... the Goblin coughs as he removes Zombie goo from his lungs.
Kairen wipes his blades, sliding them into their sheaths and exhaling as he surveys the carnage.
"I think we'll manage, for a time at least. I'm not thrilled at seeing anyone run off like that, but if we've all made it out alive, then there's no point bemoaning it. Hopefully they have the sense to run to explored areas instead of deeper in."
Wiping what gore remains on his clothing, he raises an eyebrow at Balin's soundless companion, who doesn't seem to care about the mess. He then returns to the hallway to examine the next room.
Continuing along the corridor, you descend down another short staircase and arrive at 2 doors facing each other (one in the Western Wall, One in the Eastern)....beyond these, the corridor continues for a further ten feet before ending at a bare wall.
Listening at either door reveals no sound from within....
Tentatively exploring both doors, the Eastern door refuses to open (the door latch will not lift and the door stands resolutely firm within its' frame despite a little bit of shoving) whereas the Western door creaks open slightly when you do nothing more physical than lightly push the door...you can't see anything through this small gap though (other than the unsurprising fact that the room is unlit).
This door open! Let's go here! Zazou exclaims as he listens at the door. Let's go this way!
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Having been willing to go this far down the hall, Balin seems increasingly uncertain of the group's forward progress as they get deeper and deeper into the tomb. When Zazou finds one of the doors open, the cleric breathes in slowly and offers a look to his companion, then back to the goblin at the fore of the group. "Before we progress any further, a vote..." Balin speaks softly, not sure what may be nearby.
"Do we press on through this passage, or backtrack to a defensible position and hold up for a few hours to regain some of our strength. We have had several instances of foul luck since we arrived here." In the back of his mind, Balin was hoping to track down the cowardly tengu that fled from the battle as well and... he wasn't sure what would need to be done after that.
"I am nearly out of resources to bring to bear, and my guardian can stand watch indefinitely. He is a sleepless defender." Looking to the others with a raised brow, Balin awaits their responses.
Zazou been better, feeling icky from all this Zombie sticky. I don't care...
Rubbing a spot on his jaw where it'd nearly been smashed off by the bloated zombie, Kairen nods at Balin's thought, immediately thinking back to the spells that had healed the grievous damage.
"Without some of those spells there'd be at least one of us dead back there. Much as I want to sweep these rooms, I think a close brush with death does warrant a little respite. We weren't given a deadline to meet, so a break is probably for the best."
Just can't let everyone lounge for too long; can't have them getting lazy, now.
So where are you guys resting up?
Moving back to the room that the Tengu had so effectively barricaded, you are able to find a little respite and, implementing a rotating watch system, are able to rest for a while. Your rest goes uninterrupted….silence reigns within the Ossuary.
Zazou still feel icky! the goblin remarks as he rises after the group has rested. Saerrae not like when Zazou icky...