Oh, blast it all! Taicho, too?
Seeing the tengu join Graham on the floor, Aston decides he has seen enough. He moves into the doorway, and seeing that the last zombie still looms threateningly over his fallen comrades, casts his spell once more in hopes of isolating Tripe while Tik keeps the heretic occupied.
grr
Aston’s disruption once more burns the lumbering undead but it still carries on its relentless attack – staggering towards Aston in the doorway.
Meanwhile Tik’klik’s swinging mace catches Silvennius Tripe with a crunch…
Stepping back from the golem, the bomber pulls a flask from his belt and, pulling the cork out with his teeth, hungrily drinks the contents… Almost immediately his body starts to transform, the muscles in his arms and legs pulse and visibly grow… throwing the flask to one side, he roars at Tik’klik.
"Tik'Klik!"
The golem's hollow arm comes up and a blast of energy fires from it.
WHUMP!
Unfortunately the blast detonates on the wall behind the creature.
The golem then moves back to provide a flank with Aston on the zombie, should he choose to use it.
Seeing Tik'Klik move in to flank with him, and with the zombie's claws just narrowly missing him, Aston sees no option but to enter melee.
"This would be a lovely time to have a proper healer around!" Aston hisses as he slashes at the zombie. "No offense to your efforts, of course, Tik!"
Aston's blade sinks deep into the stomach of the zombie...slicing it upwards, the dhampir disembowels the long dead creature... It lurches in some long forgotten memory of pain before clawing at Aston again.
Meanwhile, the wild-eyed ex-Pharasmin in the corridor to the north, seeing his zombie cohorts being cut down, howls with rage and, taking a draught of another uncorked vial, almost doubles in size... Hunched over, he barely fits within the corridor - pulling a sword from his belt, he prepares to attack.
Desperate to finish off the zombie, and catching a glimpse of Tripe's enormous bulk from the corner of his eye, Aston swings his dagger across the abomination's throat, hoping to cut it down for good. As he fights, he shouts: "Tik! Follow me! Don't let him get a hand on you!"
Aston's blade finally cuts down the zombie...it flops to the floor as the necromantic energies subside - Silvennius Tripe screams with animalistic rage as the last of his servants falls...
"Tik'Klik"
The golem makes a rude gesture at the snarling Snipe, performs a vaguely lewd maneuver as it bends it's body in impossible ways. It's hands reform as it moves, the weapon sliding back into it's arm. It's hands land on Graham's wrists, and as the golem flips itself back to it's feet, Graham's limp body ends up curled over the golem's shoulders.
The golem then continues moving past Aston and back into the corridor, laying Graham on the floor out of immediate attack and bomb range.
As Snipe starts to lumber towards the golem, Tik’klik drags Graham’s inert form into the corridor - and towards safety. The enlarged alchemist, muscles pulsing and rippling, plunges his hand into the doorway after you… but, with groans of disappointment, discovers everyone is out of reach. Howling with frustration, he slams the door shut…moments later you hear something heavy being dragged across the floor…
Probably looking to block this way in, Aston thinks as he hears the dragging sound. No time to worry about that; Aston turns his attention to his fallen comrades. Graham had taken an enormous beating from the zombies and the bombs, and no doubt would require immediate care; Aston begins sifting through the fighter's gear in search of a potion. Can't use my own, he thinks, lamenting his "condition" for a moment.
"We need to regroup," Aston says grimly as he goes about his work. "Tripe is no joke, as inclined as I might be to laugh at him. Those bombs of his are dangerous. However, we've slain his little 'experiments'- at least, those he had with him at the time. Once we have pulled ourselves together, we must strike at him again. He will have had time to prepare himself, of course, but if anything, we may have depleted some of his resources."
Fleeing from the crazed alchemist and his undead creations, Tik’klik and Aston drag the limp forms of Graham and Taicho beyond the bone gates and out into the amphitheatre… The bone gates, opened in a hurry by Tik’klik, make a terrible crunching sound upon closing – taking the briefest of moments to look upon them as they run, Aston and the golem can see the bone fusing into a single calcified mass…
In the amphitheatre and with the statue of the Pharasmin aspects slid back into place, there is enough time to consider first aid for the tengu and for Graham (who had drifted so very close to death). As the fallen regain consciousness, fatigue starts to cramp into muscles… realising that Silvennius Tripe is not pursuing, it is clearly time to rest…
"Seconded, good Taicho," Aston says. "I agree that we will almost certainly find another entrance to his little shop of horrors if we double back and take another branch. He'll know we're coming, but like I said, we're wearing down his resources. Who knows how many of those bombs and potions he has left? If this is to be a war of attrition, I say that we have the advantage."
In spite of how badly the first encounter with Tripe had gone, Aston felt confident. His long-rusty skills are feeling much more refined than before, and the power his training as an agent of the church had once afforded him is returning to him. Spells he had once forgotten were springing back to mind. His fighting skills were feeling sharper than they had in decades. He might not have been the warrior Sister Nerissia had assumed him to be when he had first stepped foot into the Ossuary, but he was quickly becoming it.
"Tik'Klik..."
Whether the golem is agreeing with Taicho, or calling him a moron, is anyone's guess...
Realising that the way back to Silvennius’ lair is now blocked, the regrouped party retrace their steps – leaping over the pit in the stairs – back to the long corridor that led southwards from the mysterious monolith. Looking to the south, the corridor heads into darkness – and nearly a hundred feet away (beyond the range of vision for those without darkvision), two figures are moving between alcoves…
"Tik'Klik!"
The golem's hand breaks up into tiny wooden chits and reforms over his wrist like a cowling. Greyish energy crackles inside the arm, and the Golem points his arm down the corridor, obviously aiming at something.
Taicho's chakram cuts theough the air...eating up the 60 feet between himself and his target before smashing into bone...
Drawing bows, the skeletal figures fire arrows back down the corridor towards the party...
"Tik'Klik!"
Annoyed the skeletons didn't close to attack, Tik'Klik trundles forward 30 ft and fires off a burst of gray energy.
"More of Tripe's little friends, eh? I'd say this confirms that we're on the right track!" Aston smirks, allowing the divine power of his favorite orison to dance along his fingers as he approaches.
Coming out of a daze of pure rage, as he'd woken up, Graham suddenly comes to when he hears the clank of metal and the rattle of bones. His mind flashes back to when he was brought down so easily, and his brow furrows in disgust at himself. "I won't fall again so easily." he mumbles to himself as he begins to walk forward, Lucerne in hand.
After a generous amount of running forward, Graham seems to be more swift on his feat, with somewhat of a religious zeal. It's almost as if he hadn't been taking the situation truly seriously until now.
A blast of energy from Tik’klik thuds into one of the skeletons – for a moment, the skeletons appear to be readying another volley of arrows but, as Taicho, Aston and Graham move along the tunnel, they draw swords instead and move forwards to attack.
Aston sighs as Taicho once again hurls himself into danger with reckless abandon, seemingly unperturbed by the skeleton's longsword carving across him. "Would you mind terribly being a bit more careful?" Aston says, intending to shout, but seeing Taicho commit to his attack, he can only murmur it quietly under his breath. With that, he moves into range and fires a bolt of divine energy at the skeleton Taicho is attacking.
"Tik'Klik!"
"Feel this." is all Graham says, before he stomps the floor, marking a resounding thud throughout the dull hall of stone, and swinging his lucerne with a surprising amount of force.
As the attack sinks in, he's fairly certain he hears the bones crumble like bread, satisfying his new found well of anger.
Taicho allows fury to cloud his vision as all of his attacks miss their intended target… Tik’klik, standing some way behind him, also misses with a wild blast of energy yet, Aston, taking a more considered approach, still manages to hit the well-armoured Skeleton…there is a plume of smoke as his righteous energy burns completely through armour and bone. Although damaged, the animated skeleton still continues to attack – it’s sword slicing at Taicho but catching naught but air…
Meanwhile Graham, swings his hammer through his opponent… the metal head of his weapon catches and severs the backbone of the undead… and it falls to the floor in two separate, unmoving, pieces…
"Tik'Klik!"
Aston jumps a bit as the ground quivers under the power of Graham's attack. Now that's what I'm talking about, he thinks, immediately reminded of just how formidable Graham can be once he gets that hammer swinging. With one skeleton down, all that remains is to finish off Taicho's new favorite dance partner...
"Unfortunate for you, you abominations. I'm on a roll." he says as he leaps forward and puts the bludgeoning end into it's chest cavity.
Barely pausing between attacks, Graham puts his hammer straight through the armour of the remaining skeleton…suddenly limp, it hangs on the end of the warrior’s weapon before Graham smashes it against a wall…
To the south of the skeleton’s guard post, the corridor eventually turns west before arriving at a set of heavy oaken double doors.
"Tik'Klik."