Ember waits, hoping that either the crowd will move or the skeletons move closer.
Alistair looses a bolt of disruptive positive energies, aiming for one of the nearby abominations.
The group continues to hold and prepare as the skeletons gather and draw nearer. The elemental summoned by Delia strikes one of the shambling bone men, but it remains upright.
Alistair and Kendra each throw their bolts of positive energy.
Alistair destroys his target, but Kendra's does not show any appreciable damage.
The skeletons advance, their bones fully bursting into flames.
Two attack Father, though one is reaching around a corner in order to make the attempt.
Two more attempt to strike the thing of fire in their paths:
The blows tear through it and its fires fade out and vanish.
The rest continue to advance towards the group (double moves).
As one steps up to Valachi, he tears into it with one clawed hand, ripping it apart. As it falls, it explodes with flames, bathing Valachi and Father.
Not willing to waste one of his last couple bombs on just a couple skellies, Ried activates the wand of grease covering the 10' square in front of the hallway, hitting only 1 skeleton at the moment (reflex DC 11 or fall).
Delia fires her loaded sling at the one directly ahead of her, hoping that she doesn't strike any of those before her in the back. Her concern seems to overtake her as her shot thunk uselessly into the ground at her feet, her fear causing her to release too early.
Meanwhile the elemental, wounded but not quite dismissed, swings again at the one it had hit before. It swings back with a vengeance at the one that hit it so hard.
Father swings now at the skeleton standing before him, ready to hold his position and fight to keep those behind him safe. His focuses much of his attention on protecting, and his swing falls short.
Ember lifts her holy symbol and channels the power of Pharsma to lay the undead to rest.
Round 3:
The skeleton within the area of Reid's grease spell slips on the slick surface covering the stones, and falls prone.
The Fire Elemental hits and destroys one of the skeletons.
Valachi rakes at the downed skeleton with his claws. Destroying it easily.
Alistair and Kendra are unable to see their opponent, and so prepare bolts of positive energy should one come into view.
Only two skeletons remain. One attacks the elemental before it:
, snuffing it out and causing it to fade from this plane.
The last moves forward onto the greasy stone floor. , slips and falls prone. It moves to stand, drawing attacks from both Valachi and Father.
Valachi is able to strike it, and crush its skull under the force of the blow. Now, only one creature remains.
Round 4:
Valachi tries to move carefully across the greased floor, but underestimates how slippery it actually is. With a howl of outrage, he sprawls out on the floor.
Ried will hold his action and await the others.
Father relaxes with only one of them left, and decides to move out and finish it. He makes his way carefully across the greasy spot on the floor, and takes a heavy swing at the thing.
Delia moves up to fill the empty spot towards the front where Father was standing. Her sling ready in case Father does not destroy the thing.
Father moves forward, and with a powerful blow smashes the last of the skeletons to fragments. . Upon its destruction, it bursts in a fiery explosion, again dousing him with flames.
Four dark hallways exit from this large empty chamber, each striking out in one of the four directions of the compass, and each decorated with a soot-caked brass nameplate affixed to the ceiling just above the entrance. A rubble-choked stairway leads up in the middle of the room, while eight skeletons dressed in scorched prisoners’ robes now once again lie on the ground. A soft glow of flickering flames is visible somewhere up the tunnel to the North.
Agnar stumbles forward clutching at his stomach. "I am sorry, but I can't stand it any longer; I'll need to go back. Those damned Werewolf meatballs from the Laughing Demon. I feel like there's a knife in my guts. It seems a crime to be accounted out of action due to something so petty, but I'll be no good to you like this, and I don't want to get anyone killed protecting me. I know time is short, so go on. I'll see the herbalist and try to be back as quick as I can."
With that he moves back through the cave, and to the ladder, stopping once to retch loudly.
From the center of the room, Ried will use sift to read the plaques before he needlessly sets off more location-triggered haunts or undead.
Watching Agnar leave, he says "I don't think I'd eat anything preface with Werewolf ... As a general rule, of course."
Kendra pipes in, "I doubt it was anything Zokar made. Actually, you should try his Corpse Chowder; it's really quite good!"
The Northern branch is labeled North Dungeon, with the word Oubliette inscribed beneath.
To the West the plaque reads West Dungeon, with the name Reaper's hold inscribed there under.
The Southern is labled South Dungeon, with the words The Nevermore written below.
Valachi arches an eyebrow. "I never heard Agnar speak so many words at the same time... he must be feeling off."
Alistair relaxes as the last skeleton is vanquished. Relieved, the unatural horrors of this place are still a bit too much for him to handle.
As Agnar excuses himself and stumbles away, Alistair is relieved, as he is sure that he is not the only one who doesn't seem able to stomache this place.
Valachi arches an eyebrow. "I never heard Agnar speak so many words at the same time... he must be feeling off."
North. Ried will lead.
Ried leads the group northward, towards the passage labeled Oubliette, and from which the flickering light of a flame can be seen. Though moving quietly, there is a sound from up ahead, as if something had moved, just as Ried passes from the room into the hall. Ried didn't see or feel anything different to signify what alerted the creature up ahead, but it is alerted, and comes dashing out.
The skeleton is as a whole, as you have become accustomed to seeing them; completely devoid of flesh, and covered in an aura of flames. From there the resemblance ends. This one wears a guardsman's armour, and carries a massive, gleeming, two handed axe. It also lacks a skull. The neck bones end in a smooth cut, indicating the head must have been severed at the end of his life.
The missing skull somes flying out of the room just a moment later, and unleashes an ear-piercing scream.
The skeleton's feet pound towards Ried in a charge, the axe screaming downwards as the skeleton comes to range.
Map -
Round 1:
Ried will pull his whip and step out of melee range and attempt a trip.
Alistair works his way toward the middle of the group, once there he focuses his energies on his protective magics, discouraging attacks from harming his friends.
Despite having hardened herself against her greatest fears, one will always remain dominant. She is concerned for Father, as two more beings of fire rush out, and she hadn't yet healed him.
The headless skeleton winds up again with his axe, brining it down towards Ried.
. As Ried is wheeling from the wretched blow, the skull makes a belching sound and a gout of flame spills forth, flying at Delia.
Ried can feel the massive heat the creature is putting off, baking and drying his blood before much of it can hit the floor.
He will withdraw.
Still protected from the fire, Valachi moves to intercept the skeleton.
;
Ember remains where she is, and casts a cure upon the badly injured Ried.
Delia tells Father to wait until she gets a chance to heal him. She rushes past the opening to the other side, more afraid of these two monsters than she had from any of the others, and not sure why. Hiding behind the corner, she casts her her next to last spell for the day, in an attempt to bring Father's life back into a safer range.
Father waits for her to heal, about to move into the space beside Reid. He decides instead to wait to see what the others do first. After Valachi moves up, and Reid moves out, Father moves in to fill the gap left by Reid. Instead of attacking the skeleton Valachi went after, he goes after the floating head, hoping a good solid hit will take it out of the fight.
Ried gasps out a "Thank you!" to Ember as the cold healing clashes with the hot pain of the wound.
For Round 2 he will drink an extract of Targeted Bomb Admixture unless one of the 2 creatures is destroyed.
Round 1:
Father steps forward and pounds a fist into the skull, knocking it askew in its flight. Fearful for Valachi, Kendra steps forward, calling his name, and places a hand on his back. With the touch comes a surge of strength and power! . Valachi steps forward and rakes the skeleton with a claw, but cannot pierce its armour .
Round 2:
The skeleton reacts to the strike upon the skull as if it had hit him as well, and turns his attention on the Eidolon. He winds up with his axe and strikes, hard. . Fortunately, the attack comes down to the left, as though the skeleton's perspective is skewed. The skull careens backwards, turning the backward momentum from the strike into a withdrawal.
Delia steps out from behind the corner and calls on the assistance of another creature from the elemental plane of fire. She brings it into being near the back where the skull tried to escape. It appeared in a flash of flame, and swung at the floating skull.
WIth his quarry having flown away, Father swings instead at the axe-wielding skeleton in front of him.
Valachi's eyes narrow as he notices the reaction between the skull and skeleton. Growling, he races forward, charging the skull and attacking it viciously.
;
Round 2:
Alistair maintains his protective aura and summons up a bolt of positive energy, and unleashes it at the headless skeleton. . It misses.
Then the Skeleton takes it's poorly aimed strike at Father.
Ember pulls forth her wand of Cure Light Wounds, and touches Ried.
Father swings at the skeleton and misses.
Delia summons a fire elemental that slams at the floating skull, but the flying thing proves too swift, and moves out of the way.
Kendra throws a bolt of Disrupt Undead at the Skeleton. . Her's misses as well.
Valachi starts to charge forward, bringing on a reactionary strike from the skeleton. . The blow does not go as deep as it might have, but the force of it knocks Valachi aside, a sprays his blood on the old mildew encrusted walls. Valachi however regains his stride and charges down the skull. He lands his claw on the skull and rakes chips of bone from its surface.
Ried pulls a preparation from his coat and imbibes it on the spot.
Round 3:
Alistair prepares another attack, throwing another bolt of mystical energy at the skeleton. . It hits the skeleton with a flash.
The headless skeleton steps forward, ignoring Valachi, and going for his allies instead. It raises the axe up high and swings in an arc. . The blow hits Father, hard, and then continues on, right into Delia! .
Ried reaches in for some internal luck, tosses a bomb at the flying skull, taking careful aim.
; ;
Ember hastily channels to heal, trying to keep her companions alive.
Ember's healing is enough to bring Delia around, and she drags herself away from this flaming skeleton that seems much tougher than the previous ones. She realizes she can't do anything for Father where he is, just hoping the thing moves away from him.
The fire elemental moves to gain the bebefit of surrounding the enemy that is offered by Valachi's presence.
Ignoring the severity of his wounds, Valachi continues to tear into the skull.
;
;
Round 3:
Ember holds aloft her holy symbol and channels energy out into the room.
If the summoner is unconscious, asleep, or killed, his eidolon is immediately banished.
However, if you want him around, Delia was out for less than a round so I'm fine keeping him around if you want to. If so, he takes fire damage from the heat.
Delia, revived by Ember's healing, crawls away from the flaming monster, trying to get some space. Her fire elemental swings at the skull, but is unable to connect.
Kendra, following Delia's example, pulls herself away from the monster, getting some distance.
Valachi slashes and claws at the tiny skull, but it just seems to move too fast for him to land a blow.
Ried reaches back and then pitches forward with a bomb thrown at full force, which slams into the skull. The acid explosion is tiny but intense, blowing apart the bones and teeth, scattering the pieces far and wide. Valachi and the elemental alike flinch as it bursts.
Round 4:
Alistair clasps his hands in concentration, and begins the ritual to summon a creature to help fight this enemy.
The skeleton reacts with confusion. Something seems different, now that the skull has been destroyed. However, it somehow seems to detect the presence of Ember in front of it, and it swings its axe at her. . The blow is fierce, and whistles as it falls. However, the blow is aimed completely wrong, and sails past the woman without connecting.