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Farris looks at the slope with some trepidation. With his bulky armour, he had little chance of making it down the slope without falling head over heels. "Uhh... I dunno if I like the look of this..."
With a sigh, he begins the laborious task of removing his equipment.
With all his gear making life difficult, Farris makes his way down the hill face-first more often than not.
The party takes the time to use the rope and traverse carefully down the hillside. Despite taking these measures, not everyone is able to descend unscathed.
Argus, Ezren, and Rayne are able to safely make it to the bottom of the hillside.
Farris and Jerrik slide down a muddy slope and off a 20-foot cliff. Farris takes damage and Jerrik takes damage. They've both taken a really nasty fall.
Vitor loses his footing as well, but he's able to catch himself on a tree before going over the same ledge as Farris and Jerrik. However, he takes non-lethal damage.
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Farris awakes with a start, feeling the last vestiges of Vitor's healing wand trail out of his body. He gasps, reaching down to feel his legs--the last thing he remembered before blacking out was the crunching pain of bones snapping under his own weight--but all traces of the wound are gone, bar slightly pinkish marks where the wound has healed up. "T-Thank you," he murmurs, feeling quite embarrassed at the events that had just transpired.
When everyone's back up to fighting form, Farris re-equips all his armour. "Sarenrae's mercy, I'm not looking forward to going back up that," he shakes his head sadly... might have developed a fear of heights from that!
Vitor gets a healing wand into Jerrik's hand, who is able to give Farris a tap just before passing out himself. Then, once the half-orc is awake, he returns the favor.
With both the cleric and the bard fully recovered, the party follows the valley to its end. An archway of stone is set into the side of a small hill at the bottom of the valley. Moss has overgrown many of the details, but one is still quite clear. The keystone of the arch is carved with a flame symbol with a stylized rune in the middle. Beyond the archway is a darkened tunnel that leads to a pair of massive wooden doors, one of which is slightly ajar.
A pair of horses and a trio of ponies lie slaughtered next to the archway, each corpse still tied to a post set into the ground nearby. A swarm of flies hangs lazily in the air above them.
The animals are laden with saddlebags, most of which are empty. However, searching them yields you 2 days’ worth of rations, a pair of large, comfortable pillows, a quiver with 10 blunt arrows (as normal arrows, but they only deal nonlethal damage), and 2 pints of lamp oil.
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Argus watches as Farris and Jerrik slide over the cliff edge, cursing to himself as he can't reach them to help. Moving quickly to try and help, he finds Victor and Rayne already there getting the other two back on their feet.
"I think we'll take the long was when we go back up."
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Arriving at the crypt and seeing the scene, Argus shakes his head as he takes it all in.
"Yeah the horses have been dead a couple of days, but what is the skeleton? Someone pull it out of there."
Moving over, Argus sets himself before trying to lift the horse enough to allow the skeleton to moved.
Unfortunately, Argus can't get a decent grip.
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Jerrik thanks everyone for their aid after taking such a nasty fall. Remind me not to take up mountain climbing anytime soon.
At the site of the slaughter the bard can't help but mention, Wait, did you say a skeleton, not a corpse? Don't you think that's odd?
If no one else does Jerrik will take the blunt arrows.
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Farris frowns at the horse corpses and human skeleton. "Why are there so many dead things around these parts?" he wonders aloud nervously, right hand unconsciously reaching for his Sarenite bible--a safety blanket of sorts, apparently.
While the stronger sorts are dealing with the carcasses, Farris moves to the doorway and peeks through the small crack where it's open. If it's dark inside, he murmurs a quiet prayer to Sarenrae and gently touching his shield; the golden ankh engraved on it immediately begins to glow with dawnlight.
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Careful, Farris. We can safely assume that this really old skelly friend of ours came out of there. I'm sure he had friends. Jerrik kicks at the old bones found underneath the horse. Looks like we have a real fight on our hands.
Jerrik will arm his shortbow and ready one of his own blunt arrows. If we are done searching we might want to defend ourselves in case more return.
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As Rayne lifts the horse, Argus pulls the skeleton out so that the group can get a better look at the thing.
"Hmm, so an old skeleton is crushed under a horse that's only been dead for a few days. Looks like we might have some more of these guys waiting inside."
Argus will then pull the pair of cestus from his hips and slowly, methodically put the weapons on. Clenching his fists, his knuckles pop audibly.
"At least this little mission is getting more interesting."
The party approaches the crypt. The doors require all to help with heaving them open. As the heavy doors swing open, the faint light from outside reveals a long chamber with risen platforms on either side. A faded painting of Kassen is on the far wall. The room appears to be the site of a gruesome battle, with two bodies piled in the center and a number of skeletons scattered around. An echoing wail can be heard somewhere in the distance, beyond this foul chamber.
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What is that... wailing? Maybe somebody is in trouble! Jerrik will then go about checking the bodies, being cautious as he does. C'mon, lets check the bodies.
Jerrik searches the bodies, though he does not have the skill to determine exactly how he died he has a decent clue. More smokesticks, rations, blunt arrows, pillows. Likely here to play games with us. Problem is they played for real with something else.
As the party enters the crypt and begins to examine the fallen bodies, a soft rattling is heard echoing through the chamber. Suddenly, six of the skeletons that had previously been lying docile on the floor have risen, brandishing rusted weaponry. They approach the party with ill intent!
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"You were right, Jerrik!" Farris exclaims as he barrels into the room. He growls at the undead menaces, holding up his shield to display the Sarenite ankh to the skeletons. "Begone, foul abominations!" The dim glow on his shield suddenly bursts into fiery flames as rays of sunlight explode across the skeletons.
Vitor quickly steps forward, bringing his greatclub down on the skeleton up the eastern stairs, bringing to a rattling pile of lifeless bones on the floor.
Argus steps around and tries to punch the skeleton on the western ledge. He gapes as his fist just misses the skeleton's rib cage.
Farris calls upon the power of Sarenrae to defeat these undead creatures.
You can see that three of the skeletons are able to withstand most of Farris' holy power, but two of them seem to get the full force of Sarenrae's holy fire.
Even firing through Vitor's melee engagement with his foe, Jerrik is able to put an arrow squarely in #2's skull, knocking it clean off the neckbone. Another pile of bones is on the floor.
Finally, Ezren summons a blob of acid and manages to sear some of the bones on the skeleton, just able to bring it down.
The skeletons return the attacks that they've been dealt. Argus' skeleton takes a swing with his rapier...
Skeleton #3 charges Farris.
Finally, #5 steps forward and strikes at Vitor.
#3: 1
#5: 2
Rayne turns #1 into dust.
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Incensed that his holy energy had not completely destroyed the skeletons in one charge, Farris roars, feeling the adrenaline of battle awaken some of his more orcish traits hidden deep inside. His blade cuts through the spine of the one that just attacked him, despite its innate resistance to slicing attacks.
The party works together to give the undead back to the dead. Farris is especially enthusiastic in his work.
As the dust settles, the light coming in from the open entryway reveals more details in the room. You notice the two sets of stairs on either side of the chamber and the raised ledge areas. You also spot a door on the eastern wall and a door on the western wall.
The wailing can still be faintly heard from the door on the eastern wall.