Opal holds her tongue for the moment, waiting to see if the dwarf accepts the answer.
By the Abyss...
Krovax gets a frustrated look as he turns to Mordecai. "To our horses, now!"
Krovax then makes a direct route to where they left their mounts. Once there, he heads out of the city and maneuvers to the road the congregation departed on.
Once out of range of obvious eyesight of guards, Krovax stops long enough to recall Dreadmaul to his side. He then mutters some words of magic.
Go now, Dreadmaul, we are hunting a group of travelers flying banners of Sarenrae traveling this road. Report to me when you find them, and make haste!
"Your heart is black as sin, I could sense your darkness and now I've found you. No honeyed lies that spill forth form your forked tongue can hide who you really are to me and your little harlot and the devil spawn you walk with are only moderately less of an offence in these blessed halls. Come I shall send you onwards to be judged for your sins."
The dwarf moves menacingly towards you brandishing his hammer as the head ignites with silvery flames and he draws his shield up before him.
"I think you are sensing the demoness. Her aura is particularly strong" Leon intones with a smile, just before launching himself forward to engage the foolish dwarf.
Round 1
Battle ensues.
The Paladin stands before you blocking your path to the traitor (20ft back)
The Ley Priest stands just behind the paladin and to his left behind a work bench
The Guards enter from your right, left and behind in groups of three
Suddenly caught in the open and confronted by a dwarven knight Leon's failed fast talking leaves him no choice but to charge forward with his great axe. The blow was marvelous but blunted by energy from the drawf's armour and the dwarf swings at Leon in kind with a vicious one two strike empowered by heavenly energy . The guards enter the room.
It doesnt take Dreadmaul very long to locate the group of riders and report back. The group id a dozen strong and roughly half an hour ride ahead moving slowly. You can easily catch up with them as they are basically walking their horses.
Casting defensively:
To the rear of the Ley Priest. (Cheetah)
As Dreadmaul makes his report, Krovax responds back via their link. "Keep an eye on them for now, but stay back and at a good elevation. Let us know if they make any changes."
Turning to Mordecai, he says, "I'm sorry I've been quiet, but trust me I've not been idle. Dreadmaul has located them, we can catch them easily if they do not make any changes to their pacing. They do not know they are being hunted. We need to come up with a plan. Our best bet would be to catch them during camp, when they won't have a chance to don their armor and are confused. Unless you think of a way to eliminate a large number of them at once. What are your thoughts?"
Hearing the description of the group, Mordecai curses and paces back and forth, thinking. "From your description, these are soldiers; some will be asleep but they will most assuredly be prepared for the possibility of a night-time assault. I am a powerful necromancer, but I need BONES! Get me the skeleton of an elephant and I will charm it together to stampede among them, but without materials I am virtually useless..."
Mordecai sighs and turns to Krovax. "You say they are moving slowly. I suggest to you that by ourselves we cannot hope to overcome them, let alone kill them all; if even one escapes, they will alert the guard and we will have a small army coming after us. I say we return to the town and seek out Sir Leon and the rest. With their help, we should be able to mount a successful assault, and with their poor speed they should not get too far ahead."
And I may be able to purchase some bones... Mordecai thinks to himself.
Krovax frowns, and responds, "I do not think its wise to lose sight of these people now. I do not know the area, and do not trust they will continue travel by land long. If they has the option to travel by boat and take it, we will have less chance to overtake them. Let me think."
"Dreadmaul, go ahead and break pursuit. Start hunting for either a large beast or the remains of one. Preferably already deceased. But one we can easily take down will do."
"Make up your damned mind, human!"
"I'm sending Dreadmaul hunting for the corpse you request, let's see what he can find."
Well, so much for being able to sneak about quietly... Opal draws her rapier and then casts Grease directly in front of the guards coming in from their left trying to keep them from being attacked by all sides.
Round 1
Leon hits for 33 damage
Paladin hits for 40 damage total
Three guards are behind you and three more to your right
Three guards to your left have fallen prone
Opal acting quickly draws her blade an creates a slick on the floor using Grease causing the three guards entering from the left to slip and fall. The lay priest seeeing the dwarf hurt channels healing energy . round 1 ends.
If the Ceiling is 20' or greater:
Ezra takes flight into the rafters, looking for a hiding spot. As she leaves the ground, she glares at a guard on the Right, willing him to Slumber.
If the ceiling is 20' or less:
Ezra glares at the Paladin, trying to cause his defenses to slip, (Evil Eye: AC) and Cackles at his misfortune.
The Cheetah attacks the Lay Priest.
N Medium fiendish animal
Init +8; Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision, scent; Perception +5
DEFENSES
AC 15, touch 14, flat-footed 11 (+4 Dex, +1 natural)
hp 19 (3d8+6)
Fort +5 , Ref +7, Will +2
SR 7
Fiendish - Resist Cold and Fire 5
OFFENSE
Speed 50 ft.; sprint
Melee bite +6 (1d6+3 plus trip), 2 claws +6 ] (1d3+3)
Special Attack Smite good
STATISTICS
Str 17, Dex 19, Con 15, Int 2, Wis 12, Cha 6
Base Atk +2; CMB +5; CMD 19 (23 vs. trip)
Feats Improved Initiative, Weapon Finesse
Skills Acrobatics +8, Perception +5, Stealth +8 (+12 in tall grass); Racial Modifiers +4 Stealth in tall grass
SPECIAL ABILITIES
Sprint (Ex) Once per hour, a cheetah can move at 10 times its normal speed (500 feet) when it makes a charge.
Smite good 1/day as a swift action (adds CHA bonus (+0) to attack rolls and damage bonus equal to HD (+3) against good foes; smite persists until target is dead or the fiendish creature rests.
Hopes and prays:
Round 2
Some guards are prone while other prepare to charge
Exra's cheetah has arrived behind the Ley Priest
Ezra Flies up into the air and glaring at the paladin willing his defence to falter while he summoned chettah makes short work of the Ley priest tearing him apart. A number of guards rush in to aid the paladin but none can find a gap in Leon's armour. Unfortunately for Leon then many attacks seem to distract him enough that his attacks cant get past the dwarf's shield. The dwarf manages to hit Leon once and Opal casts Sleep on some of the guards, only one avoids the spell but can't connect with his attack afterwards.
fails
Miss
Miss
Miss
Miss
Hit
Miss
Miss
Miss
Miss
Fail
X
X
Fail
X
Sucess
X
Sucess
Fail
Fail
Fail
Ezra, noting the faltering defense of the Paladin, hexes his Saves, and being well out of his reach, Cackles hellishly.
The Cheetah charges the nearest target and tears into him. (I assume the Paladin)
(6 Base +2 Flanking (Behind Paladin, Leon in front) +2 Charge)
Opal stabs at the guard attacking her with her rapier.
I didn't find any mammoths or elephants but I think I've found something your little necro will be ecstatic about. There's a military graveyard a few miles south of you that used to have only two guards.
-----
Meanwhile back at the church...
Ezra continues to glare at the paladin peeling away layer after layer of his defences while her summoned cheetah claws and bites at his back forcing him to split his attention which leaves him open just long enough for Leon's axe to carve through his armour, opening him up and sending his vitals rapidly to the floor along with his blood. His backswing then crushing one of the foolish guards that were attacking him. Opal manages to annoy the guard still on his feet by scratching his armour but doing him no harm. The guards are unable to penetrate any of your defences.
Standing moments later surrounded by the dead or dying a rather invigorating thought comes to mind. You've entered a major temple dedicated to a powerful good god and you're all still standing while its defenders lay bleeding at your feet. Unable to stop you you are now free to pursue your quarry down into the lower levels.
Ezra descends from the celing following the brutal combat, wand of Cure Light Wounds in hand , and directs the healing energies as needed to heal Leon. Looking up for the traitor, Ezra will hex him to Slumber as her two companions mop up the remaining mess.
CLW is a class spell for Witches, Yay!
4 total
8 total
13 total
15 total
18 total
21 total
23 total
26 total
33 total
37 total
42 total
44 total
52 total
56 total
60 total
67 total
If I count, you needed 61? So you should be good after 16 rounds..
Opal, if you need Healing, let me know.
"Sir, I may need to convince you to buy me a new wand."
Turning to Opal, Ezra asks, "Are you injured at all?"
"I'm fine. Shall we go about finding a way out of here now?"
"First, we need to subdue the traitor, then strip these fine folks of any valuables. After we are done with that, absolutely." As Ezra completes her statement, she casts 'Detect Magic' and scans the items on the priest, guards, and paladin.
Krovax smirks, then looks to Mordecai. "Dreadmaul didn't find a large undead creature. How about a poorly defended graveyard as a second best option?"
Mordecai scratches his beard thoughtfully. "Human skeletons are sadly fairly weak when reanimated; but hopefully, so are these guards, and they will give us great numbers... I say we try it."
Light Fortified Full-plate +2 5850gp
Holy War-hammer +1 8335gp
Heavy Steel Shield +1 1320gp
potion of shield of faith
potion of lesser restoration
280gp
A heavy steel key with the symbol of Torag
Krovax you get the sensation of satisfied crunching coming through your link I said used to be guarded
Sir Leon doesn't stop to breathe as Ezra begins to heal him. He was not one to waste time.
While Ezra followed him and used her wand to heal his bloody body he used a pair of swords from the fallen guards jammed through the handles of the entry doors to bar the entrance. It would not last long, but it would be enough.
Grabbing the paladin by his hairy face he dragged the dead hero to the alter, stripped off his armor, laid his pathetic shield over his body and slammed a guard's spear down hard enough to pierce the shield and pin the corpse to the worship site.
Looking on his handiwork he nodded to himself and glanced at Ezra as she finished knitting his flesh back together. "I shall buy you two." he replied. "And thank you. Let us leave this place."
Reigning in his horse, Krovax uses Dreadmaul's mental directions to guide Mordecai and himself to the graveyard. While the Necromancer does his thing, Krovax will stand guard.
it will expire before you get to the grave yard so he'll return first then lead you to it.
Before following the ladies to the hidden door, Sir Leon takes a moment more. Removing his helmet he places his mouth near the dead dwarf's and inhales deeply. A wisp of something etherial passed between them, and Leon smiled.
A good start. It is high time to rebuild.
Down the other set of stairs no longer blocked by the paladin and through a locked gate thanks to the key you found on his corpse finds you deep below the temple in a pitch black corridor, the bare light from the furnaces and fires above barely able to light the last few stairs down. There is a definate lack of wall sconces for torches, which would be strange if not for the power of dwarven eyes.
Leon marches through the hall as though he owned the temple, the dwarf's glowing warhammer in hand. He chuckled at the goodly energy that robbed him of a bit of his strength. The poetic irony of using the holy weapon to light the way on their mission of heresy and desecration was simply too amusing to pass up.
"Fool me once...." Ezra whispers as she blinks out of existence.
Deep in the depths of the temple Leon marches down the dark corridor making no attempt to hide his presence, infact he carries the shining weapon of the temple's vanquished champion almost taunting anyone to try and do better. At the same time Opal hugs the wall outside of the illumination of the divine weapon and Ezra cloaks her form in magic vanishing from sight.
Several times you hear pleas and begging or groaning coming from locked and barred doors build flush in the walls but looking through view slits you can tell none of these are your target. At the ned of the corridor there is one last room hastily barred and chained with glowing dwarven sigils upon the surface. Cowering before the door are the two guards you saw earlier shaking visibly as they watch Leon approach, "Stop, don't come any closer, we don't want trouble." says one while the other keeps looking at the warhammer held in Leon's grip. finally the second, silent, guard drops his spear and holds up his hands, "Don't kill me, take whatever you want." The first guard turns to him shock evident upon his face as well as anger, "Traitor! Torag smite you and all your kin."
-----
Some hours later and several miles outside of town Krovax and Mordecai finally arrive at a set of wrought iron gates set into a stone wall eight feet tall and covered in bright green vines and ivy. On the other side of the gate can be seem several rows of uniform and organised grave markers all identical. In the distance there can be seen three statues shrouded by trees and the shield of dusk.
"Hmm..."
Mordecai walks up to the statutes and scans them for magical auras.
Doing her best not to snicker given the circumstance, Ezra decides the coward just needs a small pet to grant him some confidence. "Here kitty kitty kitty, good kitty."
XP 600
N Medium animal
Init +4; Senses low-light vision, scent; Perception +5
DEFENSE
AC 15, touch 14, flat-footed 11 (+4 Dex, +1 natural)
hp 19 (3d8+6)
Fort +5, Ref +7, Will +2
OFFENSE
Speed 30 ft., climb 20 ft.
Melee bite +6 (1d6+3 plus grab), 2 claws +6 (1d3+3)
Special Attacks pounce, rake (2 claws +6, 1d3+3)
STATISTICS
Str 16, Dex 19, Con 15, Int 2, Wis 13, Cha 6
Base Atk +2; CMB +5 (+9 grapple); CMD 19 (23 vs. trip)
Feats Skill Focus (Stealth), Weapon Finesse
Skills Acrobatics +8, Climb +11, Perception +5, Stealth +11 (+15 in undergrowth); Racial Modifiers +4 on Stealth in undergrowth
Smite Good 1/day
The large cat charges the non cowering guard,
Rake: If applicable
Growing anxious over the passage if time, Krovax says to Mordecai, "How long will it take you to do your work? By now they are likely to have made camp, I'd like to strike them before dawn."
He then walks a,ingest the headstones a moment, then continues, "Exactly how many of these can you animate and control, anyway?"
Krovax will also casually scan the bodies of the guards for anything of use, particularly magic items or anything he can look over for information.
Leon rolls his eyes, not bothering to slow or change course as he approaches and backhands the braver guard with the champion's hammer.
"You will be spared." Leon says casually to the cowering guard. "The world is a more interesting place with cowards in it."
Mordecai gives a modest smile. "Twenty-four skeletons or twelve zombies. Perhaps thirty and fifteen if I pushed myself. Which I can animate will depend on the quality of the materials I have to work with here..."
There are two blood stains at the entrance as well as tiny scraps left over from Dreadmaul's meal but nothing else.
Walking farther into the graveyard Mordecai can see that the statues in the distance are actually markers for large tombs. You have lost track of how many grave markers there are but much more than you could control without a doubt. Most of the graves appear to be several years old.
-----
Leon continues forward without pause and brings the paladin's holy weapon down upon the hapless guard, crushing his helm and skull into his chest as the guard drops to the floor in a heap from the strength of the blow.
Listening to Leon the other guard drops the keys and runs back the way you came as fast as he can.
The door is locked with several chains and a bar as well as the shining dwarven sigil.
"I will leave it to your discretion which would help us more, I'd like to be able to surround their camp if possible, however. These two guards are mostly intact, after Dreadmaul's work..."
Krovax watches as Mordecai performs his rituals to animate the corpses, saying nothing for a few minutes.
So far, so good. I hope the others do not blunder inside the temple, but knowing Leon's history, he should be able to lead them well enough. And this one, the necromancer, has proven quite useful thus far. If our attack on the Sarenrae envoy goes well, I could find use for him should opportunity to rebuild my forces present itself.
"You really look to shirk the shackles placed upon you by this Lord of Mirrors and go about your own agenda, human?" Dreadmaul's voice inquired within his mind, as the beast tore another chunk of flesh from one of his previous kills.
"No, I owe a debt and it will be repayed. However, multiple goals can be sought simultaneously. And sometimes, the same tools can be used for both tasks."
Krovax turns to Mordecai, and says, "If my prattle here is a distraction to your task, Mordecai, let me know, but I was curious. What your plans are now that you have returned to this world? It seems we have presented to us an opportunity to make some changes to our lives, given the failures of our past, and I was wondering what your new aspirations happened to be."
Leon picks up the key ring and looks for the proper lock.
"Ezra, do you recognize this rune?" he says to empty air, trusting the devil-witch to hear him even though she could not be seen.
Ezra takes a moment to study the magical runes . Try this key. Ezra tosses the key emblazoned with the sigil of Torag taken from the body of the deceased paladin to Leon.
Mordecai reaches into his backpack and removes a large glass bottle filled with black powder. Removing a large handful of the power, Mordecai scatters it into the air and over the graves. Slowly he chants in a foul tongue-
by the laws of the lost
by the strictures of eternity
by my power over you
I claim your service.
RISE.
As the final syllable clicks into place, the graves shudder and stir. Zombies and skeletons explode out of them in a shower of dust. Some seem more aggressive than usual, and Mordecai lets out three pulses of dark power which wash over and pacify them.
As bones drag themselves out of their holes, Mordecai turns to Krovax and responds, "I will return to the town of Ravenmoor, which I ruled for a time before my lynching. I will raise the bodies of their grandfathers and grandmothers and burn the place to the ground."
A chilling smile on his lips, Mordecai adds- "And then I will find a new town and claim lordship over it to further test and refine my Law. Clearly I was too soft the last time... I shall see. And you, sir Krovax?"
Grinning as the undead horde claws their way into being, Krovax's military mind immediately begins processing strategies at his disposal now.
"I, too, have plans for claiming my rightful place in societies ranks, by force if necessary, as it usually is. However, I see no reason why any of us need to compete for a position of power, as doing so would only weaken us for easier defeat at the hands of those who truly oppose us. Perhaps an agreement or allegiance can be worked out later. Originally, I sought to conquer the land known as Lastwall, and was near able to do so before an assassin's blades ended my conquest prematurely..."
Rising from the gravestone he had been leaning against, Krovax moves towards the horses. "Before I resume such conquests, however, I intend to fulfill my obligations to our benefactor, then learn more on the time and place we now find ourselves in. Then, I believe we can properly plan what actions to take. For now, I plan to begin replenishing my forces."
Mounting his stallion, Krovax thinks to Dreadmaul, "Let us go, fly above us and let us know if you spot their camp or procession."