Scanning over the person and their clothes, while Muziel doesn't know him personally, he's pretty sure that he's a congregant at the Church. There's nothing physically present on him to indicate what he might be running from, but clearly his terror has mad him oblivious to everything else as he draws even and then starts to pass in his haste.
Well more info wouldn't be bad Penelope tries to grab the poor runner, thinking if nothing else he could be a tasty snack.
Too eager, she embarrassingly trips, face planting into the dirt. Slowly she stands again silently ignoring her own blunder.
While Penelope doesn't manage to catch the fleeing man, her attempt absolutely alerts him to the group's presence. There's recognition in his face, and he seems conflicted for a moment, but ultimately stops running and regards everyone with equal parts fear and hope.
"Loran," he starts, being out of breath and afraid obviously making forming complete sentences difficult for him. "Was holding vigil in the church. She has a scroll, and was trying to bring him back, but it started to go wrong! I ran for my life, but she's still in there with it!" His pleading expressing suggests that, despite knowing who you are, he's not sure where else to turn to for help and hopes you might be willing.
An ironic laugh escapes Oh no, necromancy is bad, they say, until one of their own is in trouble. Or did the good priestess summon a demon instead. It is always the same with your people. Hypocrites, every one.
She'll look to the others and shrug. Might as well go see, right?
If the others follow, she'll stroll to the church, while strapping on her buckler and pulling her sword.
"There certainly is an irony here."
"This definitely calls for an investigation!" says Muziel enthusiastically. "We can't allow a threat to Longacre to go unchecked."
He goes towards the church also. "Let's roll!"
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Some part of Ismene wants to correct Penelope on the differences between resurrection and necromancy, but most of her just wants to go smash some heads in, even if they're zombie heads.
Cimri looks between the others and the fleeing man a couple times, then makes a gesture to shoo him away before catching up as the group in general heads in through the church's main door, which has since rebounded until it is almost closed, but not quite.
The Narthex, just inside, is an open and airy space. A number of folksy crafts decorate the walls, mostly consisting of carved or woven pieces featuring the holy symbol of Iomedae. The chamber's most impressive features are its stained glass windows, the largest of which depicts a giant, golden figure bearing the sunburst-and-sword symbol of Iomedae. The figure floats skyward, while small blue figures exalt below her. A small door leads to the north, while a set of larger double doors exit through the east wall at its southernmost edge.
Clustered around the double doors are a knot of Iomedaen congregants and Lacall Allomar. He has his head to the door, listening to the other side with a worried expression. When you enter, one of the people clustered around him taps his shoulder to get his attention and points to you. As he sees who has arrived his expression changes from one of worry to anger.
"You defile this place with your presence, Fex's dogs," he calls to you, drawing his mace and using it to point. "You are not welcome here, so leave before we throw you out!" The four congregants around him draw clubs to help back up his threat.
One of the Congregants is the quickest to react, even before Lacall's words have a chance to fully sink in. Eager to defend her place of worship from enemies of the church, she rushes up to the bunch of you and swings her club at Cimri. Cimri, just getting through the doors herself, is rather surprised by the sudden blow to the side of the head she receives upon entering. She blinks, a little stunned, and wipes some blood from near her hair line where the skin split a little. The surprise of it all has left her speechless for the moment.
Damn, she's fast! Even Sister Ismene is caught off guard as the woman clubs Cimri over the head, but one swing is all she's gonna get. Like a snake, her hand whips out and pulls the club from the woman's grasp, even as she slides her leg behind the other woman's and slams her shoulder into her body, throwing the woman to the ground.
When it gets to me...
Kolaiah is in no mood for talking, especially since the enemy had started the fight, so he moved ahead and swung away at the enemy that had attacked Cimri.
P/S 20/x4
As Sister Ismene moves in to do her maneuvers, the woman tries for a preemptive strive against her limbs. Ismene, however, simply catches the club in her bare hand. A jerk and a twist of the wrist in the direction it's not meant to go, and the Iomedaen releases her grip on the weapon. Sister Ismene follows that maneuver up with a swift kick to the back of the knee, buckling the leg, and sweeping the woman to the ground with the follow-through.
His colleague being swiftly brought down to the floor does not deter the next-quickest congregant from also zealously rushing in to both protect the one on the ground and try forcing you to retreat. In the growing mass of people, he only has one real option and so swings his club at Penelope. Penelope, unlike Cimri, saw the whole thing coming and manages to twist out of the path of the swing without being struck.
Kolaiah moves forward and slashes a deep gash in the prone form of the one Sister Ismene put on the ground. It's not quite enough to make her fall unconscious, so she cries out in pain as blood starts soaking into the ripped clothes on either side of the gash.
"Not welcome, Lacall? How rude! We're just repaying your last housecall!"
As combat begins, Muziel finds a clear space and sends a jolt of electricity flying toward Square.
;
Muziel sends a blast of electricity right into one of the congregants. She twitches a little as the energy courses through her, but it could have been a lot worse.
First one congregant moves forward to engage Kolaiah, then the other one that Muziel just zapped moves through to engage the gnome, using the soft cover provided by her fellow to keep Kolaiah from getting a clean strike at her as she moves past him. Both of them seem to be more enthusiastic than actually effective, however.
With the front line of the engagement spanning the width of the Narthex, leaving no way to get into the fight himself, Lacall instead casts bless to hopefully help his allies be more effective going forward.
Idiots! Penelope yells at the fools attacking them One of your fleeing friends ASKED US FOR HELP! she considers trying to convince them to stop, but once the blood starts flying she's not about to be the voice of reason.
She flips her sword grasping it to stab downward and slams it into the fool Ismene felled.
Penelope's thrust into the prone congregant stops the sounds of pain as she relaxes into unconsciousness. Cimri takes a moment while she's not threatened to take a potion for some much-needed healing. The magic works extremely effectively, sealing the wound but leaving the blood on her face.
"Fear makes people make poor choices," says Lacall, wincing as he witnesses Penelope's stab. "It is unfortunate that they didn't have had more faith, but soon my mother and brother will be here to help deal with your intrusion once and for all."
Fear? Like yours last night while you RAN as I gutted your brother... or more like your fear now, as your friend here died while you sat back there and prayed for your Mommy to save you? Penelope smiled sweetly to the hypocrite.
Club firmly in hand, Sister Ismene lets the others handle the talking for once while she puts the hurt on some fools. She delivers two quick strikes to the congregant laying on the ground, more for having the audacity to get in the way of her and the other fools than anything.
Sister Ismene beats the unconscious, but stabilized, congregant to death with her own club. There's a pair of wet crunching sounds as the first strike leaves a club-shaped dent in her forehead and the second strike fully caves in the skull. Blood and brain matter leak all over the previously pristine floor.
The congregant next to her looks on in shock, and horror at the brutal display. Deciding that she needs to pay for that, he steps over the body of his fallen comrade and swings his club at Sister Ismene as hard as he can in retaliation, the primal fury of the blow catching her unable to properly parry it.
Round 2
Muziel blows a raspberry at the flailing congregant that misses him.
"You can't catch me!" Taking a careful step back, he fires another jolt toward his same target.
;
Kolaiah will continue his beatdown of those opposing them, attacking the next nearest foe.
P/S 20/x4
Kolaiah streaks a nasty slash across another one of the congregants. The target of his attack is staggered by the wound, and barely holding on to consciousness. Muziel follows that up by sending another, nastier jolt at the one which keeps engaging him.
The target of Kolaiah's slash, with no safe place to go, takes another desperate swing against the anti-paladin, but the wound is too deep., Even as his swing is losing momentum the strain on the body from even trying takes its toll, the congregant collapsing into unconsciousness at Kolaiah's feet at the end of the swing.
Still twitching a bit from Muziel's second jolt, the Gnome's target once again closes the distance and takes another swing. This time it's a much more effective strike, the aim being guided by divine assistance from Lacall's earlier spell.
Lacall has not responded to Penelope's last taunt, but it's clearly affected him deeply. Rather than try to heal his comrades, he seems far more interested in physical retaliation for the verbal wounds. He strides up to where he can reach her, and gives his mace a swing straight for her face.
"If I had known you'd killed him at the time, I would have stuck around to put you down," he asserts through clenched teeth.
A mace to the face is not pleasant, Penelope think faintly as her brain struggles through the fog of being hit in the FACE with a MACE.
He called for you, begged you to come back and help him, but you RAN, coward. Penelope lied with a grin once her brain worked again. She would like to play with him, cutting him down bit by bit with both words and blade, but they do need a sacrifice and until they know what is happening behind that door, this little boy is their best bet.
Penelope grabs tight hold of Lacall, holding him partially restrained. The words continue to work over his brain in the same way. He's pretty sure that he never heard any such thing, but there's enough of a seed of self-doubt to give a second thought to the idea that maybe there was something that he could have done differently to help his brother get away, too. He doesn't say anything, too distracted by the effort to get Penelope off of him.
Cimri, meanwhile, deftly slips though the skirmish line. Once on the other side she pulls out a vial of the Blue Whinnis and applies it to the blade of her dagger. "That's it, Lust, hold him riiiiight theeeere..." The tip of her tongue pokes out of the corner of her mouth as she lines up her strike.
Steeping around to block the door, Sister Ismene continues to whale on whichever Iomedaen is in reach. Still handling the club, she cracks it over the congregant's head and follows up with a bash to the ribcage.
Continuing to back away from the enemy chasing him, Muziel sends a third electric shock his way!
;
Regrettably, his blast fires into the wall instead, creating a dazzling light show but causing no real harm.
Sister Ismene steps to the side of the closest Iomedaen congregant and, with two swift blows, knocks him to the floor unconscious. He lays in a heap, but doesn't show any signs of bleeding out from the blunt force trauma received.
"You hold that bastard down, we may need to execute him later, for his treasonous acts," Kolaiah says to Penelope.
Kolaiah will continue attacking the congregants, wading through the carnage.
P/S 20/x4
Kolaiah swings Pestilence at the only currently conscious congregant. The Iomedaen, focused on Muziel, never even sees the weapon coming. The sharpness of the blade and the power of the swing slices cleanly through bone, bisecting the victim from shoulder to hip.
Moments later Tileavia Allomar's voice can be heard through the double doors. This shout is followed by the doors slamming open. Standing hunched in the doorway is something barely recognizable as Loran Allomar . It surveys the scene for a moment, before its dead eyes light up with a disturbing combination of recognition, hatred, and hunger.
Almost immediately upon the creatures appearence, Cimri puts a hand up to her mouth and nose and begins retching. Lacall also seems to be affected by whatever has gotten into Cimri, and threatens to puke all over Penelope.
Muziel is delighted as Koliah finishes off the fellow chasing him. And then the creature formerly known as Loran bursts forth. "Woah, what is that thing?" Muziel immediately sends a bolt flying at it, though with the angle of the doorway, it's a challenging shot. Sparks fly as he strikes the opposite wall.
Muziel fires a bolt of electricity at the newly arrived Loran, but the energy fails to strike the creature. Meanwhile, the congregant to Lacall's right continues to bleed from the gash across the chest.
Tileavia Allomar sees Cimri through the now-open doors. "You should run, girl, I have no control over him," she announces. Now that it isn't muffled by the doors the heartbreak in her voice is plain. Then she casts another preparatory spell.
The desperation of seeing the thing that his twin brother has become gives Lacall a burst of adrenaline which allows him to wrench his way out of Penelope's grip. Once free he steps away, face a mask of horror and disbelief.
Penelope has no idea what that thing is, other than ugly, smelly, and a big arse threat, which makes her more than a little excited at the prospect of chopping it to bits. Ignoring the cowardly brother she decides with a great big smile to give up at playing nice and charges the thing.
Penelope charges Loran, and while the stench turns her stomach, she's able to tap into her rage to push through the sickness and score a decent wound on him.
Cimri looks between the three Allomars. While the biggest prize is the mother, there's no way to get to her without going right past Loran. Based on the smell, getting close doesn't seem like a good idea. The best bet for now is probably still to take the low-hanging fruit of Lacall and worry about capturing his mother once Loran has been dealt with. To that end, she moves up to Lacall and tries to shank him with the poisoned dagger. While her weakened state leaves her unable to leave much more than a scratch on him, that's all she really needs to apply the poison.
"Watch out for Loran! The stench is bad, but if he gets his hands on you, you'll be paralyzed!" Cartwheeling around her opponent, she lets loose a couple of Asmodean throwing stars at the Ghast Formerly Known As Loran (GFKAL).
Sister Ismene throws a pair of her sharpened pentacles at GFKAL. With the creature's erratic movement, it's a difficult shot at this distance and both of them end up sticking into the door jamb next to GFKAL and the force of the impacts warps them beyond further use.
The unconscious congregant Sister Ismene stepped over remains unconscious.
Kolaiah moves in to attack Lacall...
Sickened I guess
P/S 20/x4
While Penelope and Sister Ismene concentrate on Loran, Kolaiah instead turns his attention to Lacall. The surviving brother, distracted by the surprising arrival of his brother as well as the scratch from Cimri's dagger, is caught off-guard by the blow. Pestilence bites deep, drawing a great deal of blood.
Loran steps across the threshold from the sanctuary into the narthex to better tear into Penelope. The first swipe from his claws tears away strips of flesh, which hurts, but even worse is the way the damage causes Penelope to seize up and lock into place. This paralysis makes her an easy target for the second slash of Loran's claws and, finally, the bite attack as he tears away a chunk of flesh and armor with his teeth and swallows it hungrily.
Loran's move brings Sister Ismene within range of his stench, but the Asmodean gardener is used to extremely bad smells and this one doesn't seem to bother her as much as it does everyone else.
Muziel doesn't like what's happening to Penelope, but he also doesn't think he can get a clear shot at the GFKAL. He defaults to zapping the surprised brother, Lacall.
;
Muziel just manages to catch Lacall with his electricity blast. The living twin seizes up and slumps against the wall, unconscious from the sudden damage of both the current shock and Pestilence before it. The congregant surrounded by everyone, meanwhile, stops bleeding out.
Those who can see Tileavea Allomar notice that the faint shimmer surrounding her disappears. At the same time she begins casting yet another spell.
Lacall's unconscious face gains a hint of an ashen hue as the poison begins to take effect. The wound from Pestilence ceases to gush.
Penelope is helpless and unable to take any actions that aren't purely mental.
"Don't forget we want him alive, guys," Cimri points out to Kolaiah and Muziel. She takes her dagger and steps up to where she can reach Loran and slashes at him to try to protect Lust. With it busy munching on Penelope, she manages to give it a pretty good slash despite how weak and ill she's feeling.
Penelope concentrates on being a tasty lunch :)
"Get away from her!" Ismene yells as she leaps into the fray, knocking the GFKAL off his feet with a dropkick. With her opponent on the ground, Sister Ismene kicks her foot up above her head and drops her heel on his body.
Sister Ismene steps in and easily knocks Loran down, using the sudden height advantage to deliver the most effective blow on the Ghast so far. It snarls like a dog and licks its lips with a bizarrely elongated tongue as it gazes upon Cimri and Ismene's shins with that same unnatural hunger.
Kolaiah calls down the power of his deity and charges Tilleava.
P/S 20/x4
Let's see, I got a 26 to hit, that would not have the +2 for charge, or the +3 for smite, but it would have +4 for against prone, so that would be a 25 to hit. It would also only be 11 damage. Hmm, but then I need to roll...
Success!
So, I don't take the additional penalties.
It looks like 25 to hit, and 11 damage.
Kolaiah, favored of Apollyon, feels no sickness from the Ghast's stench as he moves in close to it. With an almost effortless swing, the scythe bites undead flesh, snuffing out Loran a second time, this time likely for good. An anguished sound escapes his mother's lips for a moment, nearly interrupting her casting ritual, before she manages to barely pull herself together and keep it going.