Macawi grabs his fallen ally and begins to drag him away. Unfortunately, the skeleton standing over Garrick's unconscious form seizes the opening in Macawi's defenses and slashes its falchion at the half-giant.
Once the badly bleeding and scorched Macawi gets Garrick to safety, Sparky rushes over and applies a healing spell to the warrior's wounds, restoring much of the damage done by the skeleton's blade and flames.
The fact that the skeleton Asim had destroyed exploded into a burst of fire is not lost on Sylvalia. As her companions fall to the advancing skeleton, her face contorts into one about to make an awful decision.
The necromantic inferno that sustains these undead will be released upon their destruction! Prepare thyself!
Acid dart: Ranged touch
Damage:
Softly, I'm sorry...
Dunno if I can do a ref save when prone, or if I get a bonus or penalty or not, but here is my straight up roll---
Ref save:
Gah! These things are hot! Thanks, Spark. Now we gotta get the big guy outta here!
Reflex
The skeleton's vicious swing deals a near-mortal blow to Macawi, who falls to the ground, bleeding out his life on the red steel floor. Hoping that the skeleton will remain distracted enough to not do the same to him, Sparky leaps into the gap and sends healing energies through Garrick, dragging him back from the brink of death. At nearly the same moment, Sylvalia sends another blast of acid at the burning skeleton, which finishes the job her earlier blast began, eating through the remaining bones until they cannot hold together, and another wave of fiery energy sweeps outward as the skeleton collapses.
Garrick then rolls to his feet and drags the half giant away from the doorway before the next wave of fiery undead advance upon you.
The Keleshite moves purposefully, unmoved by the heat of the fire. He positions himself in the path of the skeletons (J-13, can't save the map file for some reason) and aims his gun purposefully.
Touch attack
Damage
Grit point--up close and deadly
Asim's bullet blasts another skeleton into a shower of flame and bone shards, leaving only one remaining. Mala rushes to Macawi's side and tries to see if she can help him in any way.
The remaining skeleton attempts to move toward Asim, its sword and bones alike surrounded by rippling flame. Though slowed by the slick floor, its unnatural dexterity keeps it from falling again. Once into the hallway, it slashes at the gunslinger with its falchion.
Ranged touch acid dart:
Damage
Panicked, Sparky backs away and unleashes a blast of electricity at the skeleton.
Ranged touch Lightning Arc (firing into melee):
Crit confirm:
Aura damage
Hmm, that was the one roll I was hoping to avoid, because now I have to make the tough decision. Here goes...
The heat of the fire saps the last of the gunslinger's strength, but he will not fall until the last enemy is defeated. He steadies his hand, raises the barrel of the pistol at the skeleton's burning skull, and pulls the trigger (incurring an AoO). If I survive the AoO...
Ranged touch attack, melee penalty
gun damage
Up close and deadly extra damage
Whether I hit or miss, I collapse from the effort.
Sparky's next action will be to cast Stabilize on Macawi, assuming he can do so without provoking.
Sylvalia's acid burns the djezteel wall behind the skeleton, and Sparky's electricity causes a few bones to snap, but Asim's bullet is rather more thorough. Once more the gunslinger's bullets do their job, and the skeleton explodes in a burst of flame that fortunately no one is close enough to feel. Asim, however, then collapses himself, the shot having taken the last of his strength, leaving Sylvalia, Sparky, Mala and a badly-wounded Garrick as the only ones conscious in the corridor.
The Ulfen guard sidesteps Garrick's attack, and neither his expression nor his companion's show any response to the fighter's gibe. As soon as Garrick steps aside, however, Sylvalia whispers words of arcane potency, and a dizzying blast of color washes over your enemies.
Both men tumble to the ground, unconscious.
Well Sylv, it looks like me and you get this ton of bricks. Grab his legs, will ya? Sparky, Mala, can you handle Slim? We gotta get to one of those empty rooms and decide if we are going to hunker down or send someone back to town for help.
Indeed. A wise course of action. This confrontation was nearly disastrous. You can see the trembling in her hands as she assists Garrick.
Sparky smiles nervously as he helps drag Asim to safety. "Er, they know we're here and I'm out of healing. Shouldn't we be getting out of here or at least sending for help?"
I assume thou referest to the Redblades. My spellcasting energies are not yet depleted. While I make no claim to be able to turn back a concerted assault, I may be able to eliminate a patrol that happens upon us. Shouldst thou refer to the undead, then my spells will be of little help. I found the subject of necromancy to be... distasteful, even though found within the school are potent spells to counter and disrupt animate dead.
Then softly, to herself, she mutters, Given their presence within the Redoubt, I may have to look past such niceties and devote time to research such spells.
I don't know nothin about magic, but I know we don't have horses or a wagon. Unless one of you has a potion of titanic might hidden somewhere, theres no way we are all making it back to town like this. We need to either all hunker down until Spark can get his spells back, or we need to send someone back for help. I don't mind stayin to guard, and I don't mind goin back, so I'll let you all decide what you wanna do.
The diminutive archivist bounces to her feet. "Well, no offense, but I don't think hiding in here with those two is very interesting. If someone's going to go for help, I vote that it's me. I'll make sure Shevala knows what we've found thus far."
And, without allowing for any dissent and without stopping to listen when it is raised, the gnome scoots out the door and down the hallway, moving quite stealthily.
Sylvalia will suggest to hole up in the larger room, where the old battle had taken place. It was pretty well searched earlier, and nothing jumped out at us. That being said, she'll take 20 to search the room again, making special note of any breaches in the walls, ceiling, and floor.
Assuming a 22 discovers no threats, she'll sit down and begin chronicling the events thus far, muttering that Mala could have waited for her to do this so that her notes could be sent along to Shevala (completely oblivious to the fact that in her thoroughness, several hours will elapse before her notes are finished, complete with annotations and footnotes).
The morning passes into afternoon while Sylvalia writes, and the two unconscious characters slowly make their ways back to consciousness (though they are still seriously wounded).