"That could work, except there is the possibility that all the bandits that die come back as more undead and leaving us with a bigger problem to deal with," Rowan says with a shrug.
"I'm more interested in knowing what it is that we are dealing with here first." Not worrying about who the stronger man is, he sets himself into the work for a bit but is willing to switch with anyone who wants to pitch in.
Some time after he left with the message for Felix Munin returns with the reply. He lands on Anastacias shoulder this time and drops the rolled strip of paper in her waiting hands.
We will stand by for any movement from the fort. Please do be careful, although if there was anyone we should send versus the undead it is you and those who went with you.
With truest regards, Felix Sebastian Orlovsky.
After completing his mission the raven spends equal time watching the excavation and trying to see what is written on the note he just delivered. His vantage point on Ana's shoulder offers a good view of both.
Vors steps over to Felix, "You said you had a letter?" he inquires. "Do you want me to take it to the kobolds, their chief?" he continues.
Lanya stood idly by, keeping a watch on the bandit fortress while the others went scouting ahead and gone to inspect the lake.
She noticed the changing of the guards and watched with interest, trying to remember when exactly the guards change for the coming days.
"So Felix, what did Anastacia have to report? Hopefully nothing too serious."
Felix smiles at Vors as he rolls up the other note. "No my friend, it seems the situation has slightly changed. Leave it to a follower of the lady of graves to walk right into a den of the unliving." At Lanya's approach Felix turns and nods to her. "As I was telling master Vors here, our good friend has stumbled upon a den of the unliving. I do believe those who went are uniquely qualified to deal with such issues as those. We on the other hand must needs be on our guard in case the fort decides to investigate the disturbance, mayhaps catch them unprepared to be pincered between our two groups." With that Felix will go and ready the troops, coming first to whoever posts first.
"So bandits or the undead," Vors grumbles. "From the frying pan and into the fire," he remarks as he begins to inspect his blade yet another time.
"How impressive of a spectacle do we want to make - if the bandits were to venture out?" Fhârn asks while patting the cavalry lance still in its sheet on his horse. "Mounted warfare isn't my strongest suit but I can't deny that a cavalry charge is an impressive and fearsome sight"
After a seconds thought he adds "Then again - charging of into the lake or unknown grounds might not be my brightest idea yet"
“Hate to repeat myself, but if we’re looking for a show, nothing beats a few Trasmutation tricks. Illusions can work too.” says Bej as Fhârn mentions a mounted charge.
“Anyway, back to business. If you believe Anastacia and m’lord Wilhelm will really engage with some undead, we might prepare for the eventuality that a necromancer of some sort is among the bandits. I stay away from that kind of magic, but seems unlikely that the bandits chose to stay in the fort if there’s a chance of being attacked by the walking dead. This smells fishy.” Bej scratches his head under the furry hat.
Wilhelm and Rowan start digging at the door. They are not quiet although you don't think the sound will carry to the Fort. Wilhelm notices from the onset that the intensity of the evil starts to vary as soon as he starts digging. About 5 rounds into the digging
the door is almost uncovered, when a small spectral form arises from the earth about a foot away. It is a blond little girl in pigtails clutching a canvas doll. In a sing song voice she says. "If you open the door, you'll be sorrryyyy." As she speaks 3 skeletons pull themselves out the dirt behind her. The skeletons have rotting armor and rusted one handed weapons and blood drips from their bodies.
The group with Felix can barely make out what is going on. The action is still on the side of the hill away from the Fort and so is not in view of the bandits.
Wilhelm looks aghast as the spectral form of a little girl emerges from the ground in front of him. His view of the abomination, enhanced by his divinely inspired sight, reveals the creature to be evil, but he can't help but feel conflicted when confronted by child.
The emergence of the skeletons resolves things, and his training kicks in as he says, "The skeletons will be hard to defeat without bludgeoning weapons." Without further words, Wilhelm moves as he draws his earth breaker, swinging at the nearest skeleton, putting his full strength into the blow.
As he finishes his swing, another piece of insight springs to mind and he says loudly, "The ghostly girl will require magic or holy ministrations to be damaged."
Sanita sees the bright lights on the fort, and then sighs. "Oh well, it appears someone decided to kick off the party early. I swear I don't know why I bother talking, all these boys with their testosterone and their swords, they just have to do things the hard way. I sincerely hope they don't expect me to be stupid and get myself killed."
She tugs her horse around, and rides back to the main group, positioning herself in the treeline under cover. She dismounts, but wraps the reins around a tree next to her, for quick get away.
Unlimbering her bow, she readies to shoot anyone leaving the fort carrying a light. She may not be able to see the ground in front of her, but all that she needs is some idiot riding out on a horse with a lantern to shoot at.
"I knew I should have prepared more abjuratives!" Dareon shouts as the skeletons pull themselves from the ground. "Stupid, shortsighted!"
He takes a few steps back, doing his best to put his armored compatriots between himself and the undead before muttering the ending to the arcane phrase he began this morning. Clutching a sliver of butter and letting it lubricate his hand, he waves it to create the same sensation beneath the skeletons.
The abrupt arrival of the undead prompts Munin to take flight once more. "*Ca ... w*" he pauses mid caw, realizing that agitated cawing might not be appreciated at the moment - especially considering the sometimes omnivorous reputation his species has. Instead, he swoops up to alert the main group of this recent development.
Half a minute later the raven swoops down unto Fhârns outstretched hand. He arrives about the same time the dancing lights announce that the bandits interest has been peaked. Realizing that now might not be the time for subtlety he immediately starts to speak:
"*caw* They stirred the dead! And now the bandits have noticed! Doom! Gloom! *caw caw caw*" he pauses letting the humans process what he said, then tries to be more elaborate "Three skeletons and a little girl awoke *squak*"
Masamura assumes what appears to be a Martial Arts stance and preps to use his Cestus."Skeletons... ugh... The dead should stay dead..."He then stops and glances at the ghost."Or be aided to rest peacefully. We only wish to help you to rest peacefully."
Total Damage: 3(7)
Fhârns nods grimly at the ravens message. He quickly casts the message on the Raven and sends him skywards for aerial surveillance. He grabs poleaxe and quickly fetters Hestor. As soon as he is done Munin's first message comes through. Anyone with keen hearing near him can intercept the message before Fhârn has a chance to relay it, perhaps saving themselves a precious second or two.
"The bandits are gathering horsemen. We can only assume they are heading out. The ones fighting undead - they can handle that right? Better if we deal with the scoundrels. Quickly now! If we are lucky we could perhaps find a decent spot to ambush them!"
As he starts to move he swears in excitement and anticipation. At the same time he uses his Send Senses to get an good overview of the area between the fort and the lake, trying his best to predict the route the bandits will take - and finding any cover next to it. Through the message spell he urges Munin to do the same.
Felix will get his men situated for a counter charge, if fhârn or any other member points out a good ambush point Felix will move the formation there in order to maximize the chance of cowing the enemy into submission.
"Lord Masamura! The girl child is a ghost. I can give your weapons the power to touch her!
Anastacia then takes out her well worn symbol of Pharasma, that she always carries, and holds it high.
Fixing a stern gaze on the ghost she intones: "By the Authority of Pharasma, I free your soul. To the spire with you, and may you find peace."
"I don't exactly have anything to bludgeon them with. I figured we'd be dealing with bandits." Strapping on his shield and drawing his sickle, he takes a second look at his shield. Well I guess I could try bashing them with this…
Bej gets up on Fortune and grabs from a pocket a finely rolled scroll. “Let’s get close the path these bandits will follow. Fhârn, please guide us. As for the hiding spot” he waves the scroll “They probably won’t bother checking a few bushes or a patch of tall grass!”
Wilhelm reaches out with his Earthbreaker and destroys a skeleton. Masamura leaps into the fray but the skeleton that he could have flanked has been destroyed. Instead he swings at one next to him but his blow bounces off his armor. Dareon casts a grease spell. Anastacia intones her prayer and a wave of bright energy emanates from her.
The skeleton next to Masamura is wiped away by the energy. Seven skeletons buried in the ground are reduced to ashes but the remainder wake up and pull themselves free. There are a lot of skeletons and some can now be seen from the Fort. Rowan tries to shield bash the one of the left and misses.
One of the skeletons pulling themselves out of the ground happens to be in the greased area and is unable to pull itself out.
One of the undead is rising up from underneath Masamura himself, but the erstwhile ninja misses his blow.
As Anastacia brandishes her holy symbol the little girl's face contorts with rage and she seems to age quickly to a very comely mid twenties. She throws herself at Anastacia but she smashes into a barrier just a few feet from the cleric. In her fury she starts to throw up and a swarm of spiders come forth. Wilhelm is unfortunately in the way and they start to swarm all over him.
Wilhelm takes 6 points of damage and must make a DC 11 Fort save or be distracted. Also a Fort save of DC 12 for poison.
A skeleton stabs Rowan for 6 points of damage.
Franticly scanning his surroundings after the most probable road neither he nor Munin could seem to come to a satisfactory conclusion. He was a craftsman and adventurer at heart - troop moments and bandit standard procedures were not among his sphere of knowledge. Hopefully there was someone else whom could take a more educated guess, otherwise the best he had was vague assumptions.
Fhârn rapidly describes the scenery from an aerial point of view hoping someone more well versed in the art of war can come to an conclusion.
Sanita considers where the bandit's might be heading, but can't decide, so shrugs and just prepares to snipe from under cover. She will move into the brush so that she's completely covered by brush, only enough room available for her to see her targets down range and fire her bow without being interfered with.
Seeing the horde suddenly sprout up he falls back to near Anastacia moving through the safest route possible.
Bej waits with impatience for either Felix or Fhârn to give an order or at least a direction, as he has no idea where the bandits will come from.
Exclaiming in revulsion, Wilhelm nonetheless ignores the swarm and continues to press the assault. Stepping laterally towards Rowan, he says loudly, "Anastacia, can you help me hit this ghost? Dareon, Rowan, I can't hurt this swarm, back off and deal with them. Leave the ghost to me."
"Child, seek peace in the arms of the Lady!" Intones the paladin, calling on his lady's aid to smite the ghost. His hands and arms now glowing with holy light, Wilhelm brings his weapon to bear with all his strength behind the swing.
With a glance around him, he adopts a defensive stance and readies himself to attack any skeleton that steps up next to him.
The bandit riders were almost ready to ride out! And noone seemed experienced enough to determine the most likely path - all they had so far was guesses. Fair enough - we just have to force their hand A furious frown appears on Fhârns face as he is working his mind as quick as he can. Suddenly he swings around - his frantic gaze quickly searching for one specific member of their merry band.
"There!" he points to Lanya, the excitement in his voice is obvious. He continues "The bandits had a grudge with you right ? So instead of trying to predict how the scum is going to behave - we just dangle something they want infront of them and make them come where we want em." He turns to Bej to explain his plan - he would need the other northerner for this. "Your scroll - am I correct to assume it contains an illusion of some sort? Make an illusion of Lady Lanya here in somekind of perilous position - one within the limits of the spell. Trapped underneath a slain horse maybe. And throw in some fallen skeletons and slain companions for good measure. Also make some cover for us to hide - if you have a second scroll that would be best I guess - then we can hide a bit away from the bait - so even if they mistrust and dispel that illusion our hidingspot is safe. I'll buy you a mug of the best beer Oleg has to offer if we can pull this of!" he turns back to Lanya, pulling a scroll out of his backpack as he does. "This is Ventriloquism - it should allow you to act the part of damsel in distress with the help of Bej's spell without risking your neck"
Lastly looks to each and every one of the assembled, gauging their reaction to his plan. It wasn't waterproof and he knew it - but it was the best he could think of with the means they had. "Unless someone actually has a good idea of the bandits route or a better idea I suggest we roll with this..." This time his voice is calm.
"Dareon, is that Grease spell of yours flammable?" Rowan asks as he takes a step back from the skeletons. "I only have one decent spell to fight off the spider swarms and that is a flaming sphere. I'll try to hold back these skeletons first though."
"It's indeed flammable, Rowan! Light it away."
Dareon will hold his quarterstaff up and ready to whack at anything coming near him - his options are few this time around.
"Best idea we have. Lanya dear, if you wouldn't mind screaming loudly when we are sure they are near. Help me should suffice.
“Don’t quite have a second scroll unfortunately, but I can improvise a tad more than other wizards. There’s a reason I don’t have a bird perched on my shoulder.” says Bej, tapping his the Chess Tournament medal at his neck. “Here.” he gives Fhârn the scroll “Can’t quite concentrate on two illusions at the same time.”
Bej rides Fortune together with his companions right to the side of the hill, then dismounts and hides his horse in the trees, but not before strapping the morningstar to his belt, side by side with the battleaxe If there’s skeletons, this might come in handy. He moves forward, getting closer to the fort in the open field “There” he points somewhere down the hill “the size of the illusion is about twenty by twenty feet, so you can make m’lady Lanya under a horse, skeletons, and nice shiny trinkets.”
“The illusion’s pretty basic stuff… no smell, no sound. The Ventriloquism will help, but not much. As soon as they get close they’ll find out the trick.”
Before casting his own illusion, Bej takes his bow off his shoulder and lays it by his feet. He murmurs an incantation, feeling his arm getting stronger. Then squats, making sure all of his companions do the same and holding his Chess Medal, he waves in front of the group an illusion of bushes, rocks and loose terrain in front of himself – no trees, those would be obvious in the cleared terrain.
_____________________
"I don't mind doing that, though trapped under a horse might not get enough attention. Someone still standing is easier to see than trapped under a horse and only one person amongst those bandits knows how I sound or how I look. Perhaps a defiant look or a cry for help as I am wounded, but barely standing would serve us better."
She takes the scroll of Ventriloquism offered to her by Fhârn and nods.
"In any case I'm ready to perform." She smiles a wry smile.
"If they get too close we could lure them in by attacking, picking off a few hopefully with ranged attacks. Though not too much else the'd turn and run."
Fhârn nods and kneels down next to Bej.
"Fair enough - let the trickery begin!"
He carefully takes the scroll from Bej and begins the incantation. He creates the scene of distress about 60 ft. further away from the keep - using Lanyas suggestions for theme and substance. After completing the spell there was only the wait left. They had chosen a path and could only see it to the end. Grinning the sent another whisper thru the message to Munin - retelling the plan to him and requesting another position update.
NON UNDEAD FIGHT
Sanita can take 20 on a Stealth check to hide as she finds some good cover. Dantalion can also if he wishes.
UNDEAD FIGHT
Masamura gets out of the undead area, dodging deftly over hands reaching out to grab him and swords beith swung at his head. Rowan's entangle goes off. Dareon makes ready to swing at an undead.
Lanya clears her throat before she begins casting from the scroll.
"Ahh!! Help!! Someone help! Wilhelm! Anastacia! We're under attack by undead. Help us!"
She then waits for the right moment to strike as she hides in the bushes close to Bej.
The deception seems to be coming together ! Excellent he thought - then it hit him. Hopefully they wouldn't trick their companions already fighting the undead as well. He quickly sent Munin back towards the undead to make sure they weren't distracted.
If Sanita can see them doing this, and understand what they are doing, and if she can hide within 30 ft of the trap, she will do so. If not, she'll stay where she is and hide. If she can get within 30 ft of the trap hidden, she'll put away her bow, and pull out an acid flask instead with one hand, and her rapier with the other.
Splash Damage : 3 (4 if within 30 ft)
Anastacia hurries forward to gain a better vantage point to channel from.
When she is satisfied, she again raises the symbol Pharasma aloft and shouts: "Pharasma's will burn you! Back in line!"
UNDEAD FIGHT
(I forgot the +4 Channel Resistance last time)
The positive energy destroys the skeletons regardless if they resist or not and destroys two more still in the ground. 4 skeletons raise from their graves but are entangled by the vines whipping through the area. Wilhelm finding himself without a foe goes defensive. The ghost, still rapidly aging and now an old hag, cackles at Wilhelm. "Child? No one has called me that for centuries." She flies back and up 10' and concentrates on controlling the spiders. "You, Pharasma's b@+%+. You are nothing beside the power of Gyronna. Your bones will grace my graveyard and your souls serve My Lady." The spiders descend on Masamura and Anastacia.