Silas agreed the area looked defensible and replied, "Even if it doesn't I think the undead will be hedged out by the hallow effect. There's some sort of writing here, maybe that will say something useful."
He spent a while trying to read the peculiar script, and muttered, "Might be archaic Hallit. I wasn't very good at that, bear with me I'll see what I can do." He ended up getting out a notebook and started writing a possible translation.
The writing is broken up and ancient but references something called " the Dungeon of Ten Thousand Tears" and "the Map found by Candlelight"
Hecktor patiently waits, partially daydreaming of the pretty redhead.
"Did anything turn out useful, Silas?"
Silas looks up from his notes and tells Hecktor with a deep tired sigh, "Ahh can't read it properly, time and the elements have flaked the stone away in places. Other bits are so archaic they're beyond me. Still there are two things I can make out, something something 'Dungeon of Ten Thousand Tears'. Boy that sounds like a cheerful place and later there's a fragment which reads, something 'the Map found by Candlelight' something something. I suppose we should light one of those candles just in case it's talking about something here but I have my doubts!"
Silas clicks his fingers and a spark of magic lights the candle. He uses it to shine light on various things before eventually snuffing it out if nothing interesting occurs.
"A thousand tears....someone was thinking ahead, a sadistic someone i reckon. But if it's a dungeon, wouldn't there have been some lore on it? It's not unheard of, one out of a few hundred escaping and telling the tale."
Silas shrugs, "Possibly, let me think." He wracks his brain, maybe there was a story about 'the dungeon of then thousand tears', one he'd simply forgotten. Besides there was always a chance the seal stone would whisper something into his mind, useful but unnerving!
"We do have a knack for finding trouble when its the last thing we want to find" Lucanor mutters
"That we do." Silas replies with feeling before adding with a yawn, "Perhaps we should forget about closing the doors and trust to the wards? Obviously we shall need to set a watch, but I'm inclined to trust which eve god this shrine is holy to. I believe we will be relatively safe here."
"Ok then. I'll take first watch, unless any of you wants to."
This place is indeed blessed, and nothing disturbs your rest.
"That was amazing! We should retreat here to regroup if weakened again."
Jaxom casts Darkvision on himself. He then heads up the stairs to see if the undying have massed there held out by the holy wards.
Hecktor was pleasantly surprised nothing happened, as they had encountered resistance of the dead kind and he had no intention of going to any kind of boneyard just yet.
"Let's hope you're right Jaxom, that would indeed be good."
The Upper Room is still as quiet as before. Nothing stirs here, not even the dead.
Lucanor feels refreshed and grateful that for once, there was no trouble.
Silas awoke feeling surprisingly refreshed, he'd had dreams but those were gone like phantoms in the mist. Still he had a lingering sense of wistful happy days, totally at odds with their location. Wide awake, he asked brightly, "Where to next then? There where several unexplored areas, one down that long corridor leading south, the other past that wierd octogonal room where Luc sensed evil in the walls."
"I'd vote for the corridor leading south, I'd hate to find out what the evil presence in the walls would be like. Seems to me we'd might need to fill up on holy water for that place or take our time cleansing it all."
South, it is.
"South sounds good to me too," Lucanor says as much to get a vote out as anything
The party heads to the southern corridor, they approach a room down the hallway.
Thick iron chains line the interior walls of this T-shaped room,
linked and welded into a single, massive candelabra. Upon twisted
branches of symmetrically positioned blackened chain rest scores
of half-burnt candles. Within, the air chokes with greasy soot and
the unbearable scent of rotting flesh. An oversized granite altar
serves as the room’s centerpiece. At the far end of the room, a
slightly raised dais holds several long knives, a glass alembic, and
six bisected skulls filled with strange, putrescent powders.
A lone figure stands upon the dais. I've been awaiting you. My Lord will be pleased when I stand upon your corpses.
He seems to be awaiting your response.
"Let's not get ahead of ourselves here.
We're hardly aquainted."
Hecktor looks sideways to his silver tongued friend.
"Silas, think you can smoothtalk him into giving some more details, before he intends to break off pleasantries?"
"Bring it."
Sounding bored, Silas asks, "And who is your lord exactly?"
He is Drazmorg the Undying, Lord of this Place. He has brought me here with the Power of the Seal. He will use it to complete what the Whispering Tyrant had only begun! Aroden is not here to save you anymore! and with that, the Ghoulish creature leaps from the Dais to attack!
Round 1
Hymnir moves with blinding speed closing the 50' between you in the blink of an eye. His axe glows red as he attacks Hecktor dealing . He raises his shield to block incoming attacks!
Silas
Hecktor
Gilmork
Hymnir
Jaxom
Lucanor
Jaxom begins a summoning chant.
Silas studies his opponent briefly, then the foul thing speaks.
Sounding almost amused, Silas bellows his battle cry, "Aroden isn't, but the inheritor is! Slay this fiend, FOR THE VALE!"
Hecktor grabs the blade just briefly as it was about to retract, before letting go.
"Now that wasn't very nice...."
Hecktor retaliates in a set of furious swings.
"Have at you!!"
Hymnir moves with blinding speed closing the 50' between you in the blink of an eye. His axe glows red as he attacks Hecktor dealing 23. He raises his shield to block incoming attacks!
Silas inspires his friends and then casts a spell, however he probably never looked at the map because he was in melee range with a really nasty undead warrior. . Silas has the luck of the Gods with him as the Axe passes just over his head.
Hecktor attacks the Ghoulish warrior, dealing an impressive amount of damage!
Gilmork
Hymnir
Jaxom
Lucanor
"The bard speaks true, the banner has passed to his chosen, and she's no love of monsters like you."
-Posted with Wayfinder
Gilmork tries to cast Prayer to bolster him and his allies.
Hymnir moves with blinding speed closing the 50' between you in the blink of an eye. His axe glows red as he attacks Hecktor dealing 23. He raises his shield to block incoming attacks!
Silas inspires his friends and then casts a spell, however he probably never looked at the map because he was in melee range with a really nasty undead warrior. Silas has the luck of the Gods with him as the Axe passes just over his head.
Hecktor attacks the Ghoulish warrior, dealing an impressive amount of damage!
Gilmork casts Prayer
Hymnir attacks Silas hitting the Bard for and again hitting the bard for and then he turns and bites at Hecktor hitting Hecktor for and Hecktor must make a DC18 Fort save or be paralyzed for rounds
Jaxom begins summoning a creature.
Lucanor
Round 2
Hymnir
Silas
Hecktor
Gilmork
Hymnir
Jaxom
Lucanor
"He's a ghoul lord, but there's more to him than I've ever seen..." Lucanor sees he can't get past the others, and chants fueling his bow with energies...
plus
plus
Lucanor misses with his bow.
Round 2
Hymnir charges forward, scattering his foes like chaff before his awesome power!
Silas
Hecktor
Gilmork
Hymnir
Jaxom
Lucanor
As a standard action, taken during your move or as part of a charge, you can attempt to overrun your target, moving through its square. You can only overrun an opponent who is no more than one size category larger than you. If you do not have the Improved Overrun feat, or a similar ability, initiating an overrun provokes an attack of opportunity from the target of your maneuver. If your overrun attempt fails, you stop in the space directly in front of the opponent, or the nearest open space in front of the creature if there are other creatures occupying that space.
When you attempt to overrun a target, it can choose to avoid you, allowing you to pass through its square without requiring an attack. If your target does not avoid you, make a combat maneuver check as normal. If your maneuver is successful, you move through the target's space. If your attack exceeds your opponent's CMD by 5 or more, you move through the target's space and the target is knocked prone. If the target has more than two legs, add +2 to the DC of the combat maneuver attack roll for each additional leg it has.
Hecktor weighs off his options, but after the strikes from before, he decides side stepping is the better one. Being prone against this type wasn't a risk worth taking.
Grievously hurt, Silas feels from the attacks and mutters, "This is no mere foe. We need more!" He thrusts his hand out to underscore this and suddenly there are multiple Silases!
Hecktor moves after the enemy.
Gilmork lets Hymnir through as he charges by.
Jaxom bolstered by Silas' magic keeps his concentration and casts defensively.
Round 2
Hymnir charges forward, scattering his foes like chaff before his awesome power!
Silas casts Mirror Image
Hecktor moves up and suffers an AoO taking and dishing out 26 damage.
Gilmork
Hymnir
Jaxom
Lucanor