Thantos grunts in pain as the zombies thrash at his torso.
Dirk sneers at Ilyana's taunt, but he refuses to get into a dialog with her.
Selena: Cut Armand Down
Armand: Quaff Potion
Zombie 6: Attacks Mird (Hit, 5 Dmg)
Dirk: Attack Ilyana (20 Hit, 14 Damage)
Zombie 2: Holds Position
Zombie 1: Holds Position
Zombie 7: Attacks Mird (Hit, 4 Dmg)
Blackmaer: Attacks Sarala (Hit - 17 Damage)
Bernal: Spell Cast: Cure Light Wounds (Self) (Heal 3)
Zombie 3: Attack Thantos (Miss)
Lash: Attack Blackmaer - Miss
Mird: Attacks Dog (Hit, 12dmg)
Dog 2: Dead
Ilyana: Attack Dirk (Hit, 9 Damage)
Sarala: Attack Blackmaer (Miss)
Thantos: Attack to Defense (+2 AC, -4 To Hit, needs roll), Use Potion (Heal 3)
Zombie 5: Attacks Dirk (Miss)
Zombie 4: Attacks Thantos (HIt, 5 Damage)
You see the queen sneer at you as she raises her weapon to attack, yet silence still fills your ears. You feel the force of her strikes as you swing your weapon to parry, but no sound fills the air.
You realize that you are hearing absolutely no sound coming from either the center of the room or the stage. You can hear Bernal chanting another prayer and the zombies around him shuffling on stage, but cannot hear the clash of Dirk and Ilyana's swords nor any of the combat coming from Mird, Thantos and the small hoard of creatures surrounding them.
No Text, Intentional.
Sound continues to cease to exist. Your scream of pain and frustration at the dog that attacked you goes unheard as the silence around you grows even more deafening.
Your grunt of pain leaves your lips dead as no sound escapes your throat. Weirdly enough you feel your vocal cords vibrate yet your ears pick up absolutely no sound at all.
In the middle of the room, the two zombies from the main doors to the area finally make their way into battle, shuffling up behind Mird as his attention is drawn to the dog attacking him. Around Mird, the silence is deafening and all of a sudden he realizes how deadly not being able to hear sounds around him is as two blows almost simultaneously rain down on his back, knocking the wind out of him and causing him to stagger forward slightly as the strikes of two new zombies almost knock him off his feet.
Stepping forward with the force of the blows, however, Mird uses the momentum in coordination with his attack as he slices his earthbreaker in an overhand chop, striking the Dog squarely in the center of the back as it starts to lunge at him, shattering it's backbone and dropping it dead to the ground.
Near Mird, Thantos stumbles again as he unsuccessfully tries to block his zombie attacker's next strike. Getting his dagger in line with Z3 to his north east, he fails to also block the attack from Z4 to his direct east, taking another stinging blow to the upper chest.
Back on the stage, Dirk and Ilyana battle each other in the silence of the room as Bernal finishes his chant and a small white light infuses his body. The profuse bleeding of his thigh from Mird's arrow dries up and slows a bit.
Seeing an opening, Dirk slashes his sword down through it's routine, striking Ilyana's shield squarely and obviously quite painfully hammering the arm underneath with the force of the blow.
As Dirk finishes his follow through his attention is drawn to a scene he catches out the corner of his eye. Almost as one, both Thantos and Mird stagger and Dirk realizes they're both practically surrounded by a small host of zombies and a now dying dog. Thantos, particularly, is not looking very good.
Thinking quickly, knowing the action will cost him, Dirk snaps his two handed sword out again at the Queen to keep her back, and slips a healing potion from his belt, flipping it across the room to Thantos. His satisfaction at seeing Thantos catch and quaff the potion is short lived as the Queen slashes a short stroke across Dirk's ribs, the obviously enchanted longsword opening his breastplate at the side like a hot knife through Butter.
To his left, the last engaged zombie takes an ackward swing at Dirk but misses entirely.
To the right of the stage the battle there continues to heat up as Sarala growls at Blackmaer's taunt and leaps to engage him, only to be parried easily by Blackmaer's skill. In return, Blackmaer performs a spin, parrying Lash's incoming strike from behind with deft skill and turning the spin into a strike back at Sarala...another wound opening across her chest as Blackmaer's blade again slices through her, knocking her somewhat back and out of the way.
Back at Armand, Selena draws her longsword and uses it like a Saw, raising it above Armand's head and sawing at the rope attaching him to the wall. Her persistence pays off as the rope snaps and Armand practically collapses to the floor, only partially caught by Selena on the way down. As he lands on the floor his eyes flutter open and he briefly squints open an almost closed bruised eye and looks into Selena's face, smiling briefly...his momentary grin showing several missing teeth.
Armand is now on the ground and at least safer than he was. His wrists are still bleeding profusely, but you can now tell that the damage to his body, while extensive, does not look life threatening. The worst part of him, other than his face, seems to be his shoulders which are quickly turning a deep shade of purple as blood both rushes back into his arms and his torn shoulder muscles quickly start swelling. Weakly reaching for your belt and an exposed healing potion you carry there, you recognize what he's looking for and quickly unstopper the liquid, holding it to his lips and forcing some down him.
Dirk feels the desperation of the situation, but has to focus all of his attention on the mad Queen.
Selena turns toward the silent area of the room, attempting to identify the telltale arcane signature of a silence spell.
She takes a 5 foot step away from the battle, attempting to drag Armand with her if he is too weak to move on his own.
.
She will then cast mage armor on Sarala if she has not already done so. If she has done so, heavenly fire "attack" on Mird (assuming he is within 30 feet).
for healing.
Lash's mind races, realizing the turn of events has not gone in their favor.
Desperately she lunges forward, a deperate attempt to aid the unexpected ally who had saved their lives and given them a chance at freedom.
Her blade darts forth attempting to entangle the wicked warrior's blade, trying to take away his advantage.
Round 3 Actions
=======================================
Selena: Mage Armor - Sarala
Armand: Awake but still too wounded to help.
Zombie 6: Miss (Attack of Opportunity Miss)
Dirk: Attack Ilyana (Hit, 16 Damage)
Zombie 2: Holds Position
Zombie 1: Holds Position
Zombie 7: Attacks Mird (Hit, 4 Damage, Attack of Opportunity Misses)
Blackmaer: Attacks Lash (Hit, 16 Damage)
Bernal: Spell Cast: Hold Person (Dirk)
Zombie 3: Attack Thantos (Hit, 4 Damage)
Lash: Disarm Blackmaer (Success)
Mird: Shoots Z6/Z7 (Z6 Miss, Z7 Hit, 9 Damage)
Ilyana: Attack Dirk (Hit, 11 Damage)
Sarala: Retreat
Thantos: Retreat
Zombie 5: Attacks Dirk (Miss)
Zombie 4: Attacks Thantos (Miss)
The unmistakable presence of a silence spell is obvious to your magical senses.
The battle rages on.
Thinking quickly, Mird drops his earthbreaker and drops in a crouch to retrieve his bow on the floor, pulling two arrows from the quiver on his back on the way down. At almost the same time both zombies swing their rotting hands at Mird one more time and this time one clips him on the side of the head, drawing some blood from his right ear.
Grabbing his bow his taunt to the zombies bleeds away into silence, but his actions speak for him. As he stands he knocks both arrows and as he reaches his full height, releases both. One flies just past the head of zombie 6, the other punctures zombie 7's head, the force of the blow knocking it backwards slightly. ()
Realizing he cannot stand up to the zombies toe to toe, Thantos waits for the next clubbing, doing the best he can with his dagger to block the incoming blow. Zombie three obliges and clips him on the left arm with a magically strengthened punch, bringing up a bruise and knocking Thantos slightly backward.
Dazed and not feeling good at all, Thantos stumbles backward disengaging himself from combat. Understanding the silence spell affecting the area around him and having not felt the tingle of a targeted spell, Thantos realizes the effects of the Silence must be either static or on Mird. Breaking into the best run his beaten down mind can manage he moves as far from combat as he can get himself, hoping to get away from the spell's effect radius.
Up on Stage Dirk and the Queen Trade blows. Stepping into his slice, Dirk muscles past the Queen's defenses, opening a deep cut into her right shoulder and down her chest. Battered, the Queen feints a step backwards and then Lunges at Dirk, her blade catching him in the ribs and cutting through both the breast plate and into his body. Both of you are looking worse for wear. She's bleeding profusely and slowing down, you are sure you're on your last legs.
Voice tight with Pain, shield arm quivering the queen growls out "I will never Surrender. This whole region will be mine! It IS mine! *I* Am it's rightful ruler, *I* am destined to bring those sniveling rich men in the estates with their mockery to their knees and avenge my mother's MURDER with the blood of all! Even if I fall the Brotherhood still owns these lands!"
As you change your stance and slip back into your well trained defenses, awaiting your next opportunity you feel a buzzing in your ears and a numbness spreads from the middle of your spine up your backbone, starting to paralyze you.
Next to the Stage, Selena finishes casting a spell on the hastily backing away Sarala who is quickly surrounded with a white glow that just as quickly fades to nothing.
Feeling slightly better Armand uses one of his own healing potions to cure a little more of the damage to his body.
Realizing that he can no longer get to Sarala without going through Lash, Blackmaer turns his attention to the rapier wielding rogue, seeing her as easy prey. A quick whip of his blade through the air and a spin step, and faster than Lash could expect or counter, Blackmaer draws a heavy line of blood across Lash's abdomen ().
Grinning to himself at his easy victory he doesn't even realize that he's no longer facing a dangerous but incompetent farmer but a street hardened combat tested opponent. His expression changes from a mocking grin to a grimace of hatred as Lash slips the point of her rapier in between the hilt of his greatsword and his hand, simultaneously cutting a stinging line down the inside of his hand and the leather wraping of the hilt. As the leather starts to untangle and Blackmaer simultaneously starts to let go of the blade, Lash flips her blade up, hooking it under the hilt and dragging it from Blackmaer's grasp, the heavy blade going end over end to clatter to the floor between the swordsmaster and Lash...leaving Blackmaer weaponless for the moment.
Selena pulls back, taking Armand with her (and hopefully not triggering an attack of opportunity). She moves 30 feet north. If she still has the ability to do a standard action, she targets Dirk with heavenly fire.
healing.
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With the hit from the Zombie Mird falls unconscious. The zombies are now free to find another target.
Eyes quickly scanning the area, she sees how tenuous the situation is, Lash's mind races, thinking interestingly enough of chess. Locking eyes with the wounded Sarala she shouts so that everyone can hear.
"Fall back to Armand! Thantos, drop the queen!"
Dirk is unable to hear Lash's shout, but knows he is to close to slipping into darkness, that even the slightest hit from either of the foes he is facing would likely be his last. Sacrificing himself, he decides to make a desperate stand and do as much damage as possible to the queen before he succumbs to his wounds.
"AARRGHHH!"
Round 3 Actions
=======================================
Selena: Move with Armand, Tries to Heal Dirk (Fail)
Armand: Move with Selena - Channel.
Zombie 6: Attack Armand
Dirk: Attack Ilyana (Miss)
Zombie 2: Holds Position
Zombie 1: Holds Position
Zombie 7: Shuffles Toward Selena (Attack Armand)
Blackmaer: Retrieve Weapon, Moves toward Ilyana
Bernal: Moves toward Ilyana
Zombie 3: Move to Thantos
Lash: Move with Selena
Mird: Falls to the Ground
Ilyana: Attack Dirk
Sarala: Retreat to Thantos
Thantos: Magic Missile
Zombie 5: Shuffle toward Dirk
Zombie 4: Move toward Thantos
As Mird dodges the blow from one zombie and gets hit by a second he wavers on his feet a second and falls to the ground, armor rattling on the stone floor. The 4 zombies now standing around him look down at his prone and unmoving form for a few seconds, and then start shuffling toward the west and north walls. Waiting for the Zombies to move away from him, Mird regains his feet, picking up both his bow and earthbreaker and looks for his next move.
Selena, with Armand heavily leaning on her shoulder, moves toward the door along the west wall of the room trying to get an obviously hurt Armand away from harm. Calling forth her fire again she tries to aim it Dirk's way, but Armand looses his footing momentarily, jostling Selena and ruining her aim, the ray of silver light fading off into the ceiling.
As Selena and Armand reach the West wall, Armand gathers himself and reaches for the holy symbol you just now realize is still hanging around his neck. Though he was stripped of almost everything in his captivity, it is likely that the symbol to a goddess of ultimate good could not be touched by any of this room's occupants. Realizing the desperate situation, Armand holds the symbol aloft Armand releases a shout that echoes around the room. Immediately all of you feel a wave of warmth flood your bodies and some of your exhaustion bleed away.
The two zombies on their way over toward Armand and Selena recognize the holy object as an antithesis to their existence and the aura of the man holding it and immediately zero in on him. Distracted and weakened by his release of energy, Armand cannot dodge away from either of the two Zombies and their blows rain down on Armand's bare chest, knocking him backwards into the wall.
Lash finally catches up with Armand and Selena and starts moving with them, attempting to strike out at one of the zombies that hits Armand but quickly having to withdraw the attack as Armand practically skewers himself on Lash's blade as he is knocked backward.
Up on stage Dirk notices all of his friends retreating from battle and makes a last desperate attempt to take the Queen's head from her shoulders. Whether unlucky or fate, his sword swipe goes wide as he starts backing away from the Queen. Unfortunately he is not so lucky with her return strike which takes slices into his armor yet again and cuts another burning line across his abdomen. Blood pouring freely down his chest, Dirk starts looking for a way out.
Realizing they have your group beaten, Ilyara, Bernal, and his two Zombies Start moving down off the stage, evil grins on their faces. Blackmaer reaches down to scoop up his dropped weapon and slowly saunters over toward the stage attempting to group up with the Queen to take down the big warrior they have on the run and demolish the rest of your small band.
What everyone has forgotten about, however, is Thantos. As Thantos reaches the back wall and sees the zombies start to come toward him, he realizes that he has cleared the zone of silence and starts to act upon that. Quickly moving east a few steps till he is in front of the door Thantos snaps a quick chant, one he is very familiar with...his favorite spell.
A ball of sticky substance shoots over the head of everyone in the room striking the back room to "splatter" outwards. Immediately Bernal and his two zombies all but disappear within the confines of the sticky substance while the queen stops moving completely. The zombie (Z5) also is partially engulfed as it turns to stalk Dirk in his move. Blackmaer dives backward and barely misses being entrapped himself. Getting back to his feet Blackmaer starts to stalk toward your party.
Armand: 14 (9)
Dirk: 3
Selena: 12
Lash: 8
Mird: 12
Thantos: 14
Lash sets herself to launch into a tumble trying to get into position behind the zombie without leaving herself open. Unfortunately a mixture of exhaustion and chaos takes its toll,her tumble turning into a clumsy movement into the zombie's eratically moving body leaving her wide open to attack.
Deperate she strikes at the undead creature, rapier darting forth in a vicious thrust
Seeing Armand being pressed by the Zombies, Dirk breaks off his fight with the entangled Queen and charges to flank the zombie in-front of Selena.
"Get Armand out of here!"
Selena looks around, attempting to find the swiftest route of escape.
but she is distracted by the zombie directly in front of her, whose claw attack almost comes into contact with a vital organ. She heaves her longsword in defense, swiping at the zombie's arm.
Grimacing in pain Dirk presses his hand to his breastplate hoping to stem the flow of blood. Then, scanning the room to ensure no one is left behind he yells, "Fall back!"
Ilyana Reflex Save:
Ilyana CMB -
Blackmaer - Full Move Action for the Door (Puts him 20' from the doors).
Zombie 3 Attack - Sarala: , Damage: , Crit Damage:
Zombie 4 Attack - Sarala: , Damage:
Zombie 6: Move
Zombie 7: Move
Recovering from channeling the energies of the magical weave, Thantos looks up to see his friends making a mad dash for the doorway. Turning he pulls open the double doors, somewhat surprised that they didn't lock themselves behind the party. The doors stand wide open as Thantos moves through them and positions himself against the back wall, already starting to channel his magical energy into another spell.
Grabbing Armand by one arm, Selena and Armand run ahead as quickly as they can. Seeing an opening between the zombies, they dart for the door as quickly as Armand can move. One zombie reaches for Selena as she passes Lash and heads for the doors to the chamber, but the swipe comes up short as the two are too fast for the zombies. ()
Seeing Selena and Armand slide past the Zombies Lash prepares to move ahead herself, taking a fast swipe at Z7 in the process as she moves past. ()
As soon as Lash is past the two zombies turn and shuffle toward the retreating group, trying to pursue but in the languid, unhurried relentless shuffle of the undead they don't get very close.
Mird snaps off two quick shots at the queen, both of which get stuck in the webs and never penetrate to hit. Seeing movement out the corner of his eye, Mird glances left and sees Blackmaer quickly stalking toward him, sword raised. Retreating quickly away from Blackmaer toward his friends and the door, Mird quickly curses as he sees Ilyana stepping out of the webs past his arrows, longsword drawn. While still bleeding profusely, she seems ready to kill. Mird retreats to the doors, ensuring they're held open for the last of the party to get through.
()
Dirk starts moving backwards, holding his stomach/side trying to staunch the blood as he hobble/skips as fast as he can back toward the door. For a moment to those watching it looks like Blackmaer might catch his retreat. With a grunt of pain Dirk lurches several steps ahead and quickens his gait passing the midpoint of the room several seconds before Blackmaer can get there however, putting himself just out of reach of Blackmaer and his sword. ()
As everyone gets to the door and turns you each see Sarala running toward the doorway, trying desperately to leave the room with you. For a moment it looks like her feline form will be able to slip through the gauntlet till one of the two zombies shuffles forward and clips her on the back with a punch as she starts moving forward, stumbling she straightens up just in time for the other zombie to club her on the back of the head, snapping her neck forward and pitching her off her feet to fly through the air and land, face first, on the dirt floor just behind Dirk and just in front of Mird. She is obviously unconscious and very possibly dead...you cannot tell.
With a sudden POP all sound returns to the room.
"They have Armand! Kill them! KILL THEM!" Screams the Queen from the other side of the room. "You will PAY for your incompetence Blackmaer! You will DIE if they escape me!"
Lash and Mird, on either side of Dirk and the unconscious, bleeding, and possibly dead Sarala, call out to Dirk to get through the doors as Blackmaer picks up speed and charges after everyone. Letting go his hurt side, Dirk ducks and hefts Sarla (who has now turned back into a battered and beaten woman) from the floor as he keeps running for the door...feeling his partially staunched wound re-open with the exertion of lifting that much weight at a dead run.
Already Lash and Mird are pulling closed the doors as Dirk just barely passes between them and as the doors bang closed on the other side there is a loud "clang" as Blackmaer's sword clangs off the door.
"Go!" Mird shouts at Dirk as he continues to stumble down the hall, Sarala still over one shoulder and bright red blood practically pouring from his many wounds. The others are already moving down the hall, Selena and Armand almost at the bend.
Thinking fast, Mird snatches earthbreaker from his back and jams the haft of the big hammer through the pull handles on the door.
"MOVE" Thantos shouts as he stops chanting. The two of you look up to see a small ball of a grey silk like substance start shooting down the hall toward you. Knowing exactly what this is the two of you break into a sprint toward the ball, Lash diving just underneath it into a somersault to come back up to her feet in a dead sprint.
A second later and the hall where you both stood seconds ago is covered, ceiling to floor, wall to wall with a sticky spiderweb-like substance you are all now VERY familiar with.
Picking yourselves up off the ground, very aware of your new scrapes and scratches along with your other battle wounds, Thantos frowns as he rubs the shoulder he was hit on, wincing and frowning and says "My last web spell...but that should hold them for at least 30 minutes...give us some time to rest...unless there's another way out of the room through one of those 3 doors."
Dirk gently sets Sarala down and sighs with relief. Though bleeding profusely from the ears and nose, and completely unconscious, her chest rises and falls, though raggedly and unevenly. She doesn't look like she has much time.
Moving up to you Selena and Armand push past those of you gathered around Sarala and kneel by her side to see.
"She doesn't have much time." Armand says somewhat raggedly and starts chanting a spell to stabilize Sarala.
As Armand finishes his spell Sarala's breathing becomes less ragged and the bleeding from her nose and ears seems to stem. He then lays his hand on Sarala and chants a prayer to his goddess calling her healing powers into the young woman. Still, Sarala does not awaken.
"She is stable and will live now, though I will need more help from our Divine hostess if Sarala is to awaken."
()
As you all calm and rest a second, each of you sees Armand up close for the first time. He's obviously haggard and while a little color has returned to his face from the exertion, he is still VERY white and unhealthy looking. His bare chest is covered with scars (some old, many new) and black and blue stripes and blots appear all along his chest and abdomen. His shoulders and upper arms look almost blue with bruising and you suspect that being hung by the arms like that has damaged his body in ways that may not be able to be healed by magic. He moves stiffly and even now, sitting on the ground, he has a look of pain about him.
"Thank you, all of you, for the rescue. I'm not sure how long I had to live but I can assure you not much longer. My...treatment...has taken it's toll and I am afraid without real rest I will not be combat capable, and with my armor and weapons taken from me, I suspect I will be of limited use as a combatant."
A wry smile touches his lips as he reaches up and grasps the holy symbol around his neck. "Though I am not without my resources."
Frowning slightly Armand looks up at each of you as he continues. "Our choices are few. Ilyana still possesses that sword of hers, and with it she still controls the Goblinkin in the keep above us. Even in the best of circumstances I cannot imagine that the orcs above have held out this long. I do not understand why they are not flooding the halls here to kill us but I'm afraid we do not have much time."
"Our choice, then, is whether to continue out of this Dungeon hole and hope we can make it, alive, through the keep above, leaving Ilyana for another day, or to go back in and attempt to destroy her and her minions once and for all. Either choice is grim."
"Either way we need to prepare ourselves as much as we can. What items of healing do we have? I still have a few spells at my use and can call down my Goddess's power a few more times, but I certainly do not have the power to heal everyone here."
Selena grimaces with a nod.
"The queen's wounds were severe. And I'm not sure she has the same healing powers that we have here. I think we can still relieve her of her life. That sword has the power to do a lot of evil."
Thantos nods in agreement.
"She must be stopped. There is no guarantee we can escape with our lives even if we run so I say we stay and fight her."
Dirk is also nodding his agreement.
Dirk's speech is broken with pain as he says, "I agree... however, we'll need a coordinated... planned attack. The Queen hits with surprising strength... and I'm certain Blackmaer is quite capable as well... a single strike from either of them may be fatal... We'll need to maximize our ranged attacks."
Dirk pauses to regain his strength, then continues, "Let's see how far our healing resources get us... and then formulate a plan based on that."
As if speaking took the last of his strength, Dirk leans against the wall and slides into a sitting position with a grunt.
Selena brandishes the staff, and with a few words in Celestial, attempts to force it to her bidding.
If she can determine that the staff will not be effective before an accident, she will hand the staff to Armand instead.
"We need a quick inventory of everything we've got. I know webs burn like hell and I've got alchemist fire.
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"I say we heal ourselves and face her again.
An ambush at her bedroom would be perfect. If we could find a place to hide and wait until it is dark would be nice. Some of us can leave caring 2 fake bodies. (Armand and Salara) They will think we are out of here. But 2 of us could stay to finish the Queen while she is asleep."
"Salara might know a good hiding place "