"So, do we climb down from up here while they're in the building, and run for it?"
"Sounds like a good plan. We know the source is northeast of this building, so don't need to be here anymore, right?"
Mh, let´s prepare a quick exit here direction northeast, but wait and see if they are actually hostile. They might as well not be. It´s a 50/50 chance i think. Not keen on fighting them though!
"Perhaps, one of you could lower me down... I'm not the best climber," Nuru grumbles as she looks over the side of the building at the ground far below.
"I'm right with you, Nuru. Never had much need to climb while traveling the trackless deserts."
Almathea looks down as well. "I'm sure we have enough rope to reach the bottom."
Thea looks about for something to tie the rope off too.
As the party prepares to scarper, Marnarius asks, "It might be the wrong time to bring this up, but what if they're here to destroy the compass? If they do, we'd better prepare to fight them here and now."
Thea considers Marnarius's question. "Though I am willing to concede that anything is possible during this unforeseen undead assault, it is highly unlikely given their very natures. Typically they are created to protect something, not destroy something."
"How easy is it to take that piece back out now that you have it in there and working? The other compasses might be missing the piece as well, so we might need to bring it along."
Almathea, you believe it would take almost as much time to take it out as it took to get in. At least without breaking anything.
Almathea looks at the machine. "Those statues will be upon us well before I can get the piece back out without causing it any damage. So if we want to take it with us, we will have to fight the statues."
” I can guard the stairwell! They shall not pass!“ Nuru says with a wrye grin.
"All right. Let's get ready. Nuru, you hold the door. Nevai, you stand right behind him and heal him as he gets hit. Leto, let's put you next to Nevai. Does anyone have a longer weapon I can use to reach past Nuru and try to interfere with the attackers?"
"Sounds good."
Not sure if this is a good idea, but if you insist...
You hear the statues' heavy footsteps below as they stomp through the shop towards the stairs. Methodically they make their way up towards the roof and eventually the door bursts open in front of Nuru.
The lead statue raises its falchion to strike and...freezes. Suddenly it lowers it weapon and nods solemnly. The four statues turn and leave.
I think Nevai made them stop...somehow. Perhaps they received holy guidance?
With a rush of adrenaline, Nuru raises the adamantine kheopesh, ready to strike the statues as they come through the door. When the lead figure lowers it’s weapon and turns to depart, she lets out a massive sigh of relief. Proud that she scared them away, the dwarf turns to her companions and smiles. Yet, before she could speak, Leto revealed their true motive for leaving.
Sheathing her blade, she glares at Marnarius before walking over to the wizard, Almathea. ”I have known few of the taller races... other than the priests of Pharasma. Do all men have such confusion over gender as to think I am a man?” she inquires to her fellow female.
"Maybe they just needed to check which direction the undead were by looking at the device? I'm just happy to have something finally go right for once. Shall we continue on to find the next device?"
Marnarius has the grace to look abashed. "Pronoun gender was, um, lost in translation. The difficulties of growing up trilingual."
Leto smiles and winks at Nuru:
Perhaps he had hoped you are a male. We´ll never know probably.
More serious he adds:
It is quite odd but i am relieved we don´t have to fight those statues. Nevai do you perhaps know any more lore about this? It might come in very handy. And how shall we proceed know? Head into the direction of the undead source?
The half-elf shrugs with a grin, then turns serious. "Better to use one of the other compasses to triangulate the location, in case the source is well-hidden. A detailed search along the entire line would take too long."
"Well, they look like Sobek, another god in my deity's pantheon. As you can probably guess, he's a crocodile god and favors primal battle, combat and strength, though he also has domain over rivers, marshes and fertility. I asked that the statues join the battle against the undead, and attempted to phrase it in a way that would appeal to their primal nature. As for what we should do, we have a direction to the undead source. It would probably be best to seek out another compass, then we can travel to the point at which their indicated paths intersect."
Depents on how long that takes...
Leto casts a look at Almathea.
Thea shrugs. "We can only hope the other compasses will go quicker. Assuming they haven't had their cores taken away by any creatures. The actual working of the compasses seem fairly simple when not complicated by needing to repair the machine first."
"I would also prefer to pick one of the points towards the center of the necropolis. Since the majority of undead creature here seem to be congregating along the outer walls of the city, the center should be a safer bet."
"There's one further in, but from the map there's an open square on the way. We'd better go around it."
Marnarius consults the map, then leads the party roughly WNW along the road. The road curves NNE and he continues to follow it until it ends at another road, where he turns left. He takes that road to an intersection with a pool of water; he exits the intersection at its north end and cuts between buildings to the east towards the next compass.
You make your way through the mostly quiet streets of the necropolis to what appears to be the remains of an old market area. Market stalls and small shops in various states of decay rise from the worn cobbles of this plaza. Rubble and bits of gnawed bone lie heaped in corners.
Sneaking a look into the open area you see eight figures crouched curiously outside one of the shop doors. One appears to be sniffing the air as the others circle the area with menace. While mostly hidden by decaying robes, you can tell these things, while perhaps once humans, are no longer alive. They have long sharp teeth and claws and their pallid skin is stretched across their emaciated frames.
Marnarius murmurs to the others, "Can we take them quickly? I don't want to draw unwanted attention, and there's a lot of attention out there to avoid."
"That many, positive energy will be pretty effective, but I have to get pretty close to use it. It'll be a bit dangerous," Nevai whispered back.
"There are many of them... it will surely draw some attention. We must be quick."
"They're ghouls. Normally I'd be reluctant to engage that many because they can paralyze with a touch, but that should make them confident enough to engage once we attack. Leto can put a few down as they close, then Nevai can catch them all with a channel. Nuru, you and I will protect them. Sound good to everyone?"
Can i? Leto looks from the ghouls to Marnarius.
That´s eight of them. I can certainly try. How about you stand in front there? So they can touch you all they want and wherever they want, should they close too fast? He casts a smile at the half-elf.
More serious he adds:Let´s just hope we see all of them.
Leto is ready to go ghoul shooting.
Almathea casts Disrupt Undead on one of the ghouls.
Almathea will cast Disrupt Undead again, on the same ghoul if still up, otherwise on a new one.
"Well, they can't paralyze me--I have my father to thank for that." He taps the tip of one pointed ear. "But, yes. That's the idea. Hammer and anvil, so you and Nevai had better hammer fast."
Marnarius draws both kukris and interposes himself between the rest of the party and the ghouls.
The slayer slashes twice at the nearest ghoul; if he manages to drop one with his first attack he'll try to hit another--without moving from position, though.
How convenient for you! I hope you are aware that this predestines you to stand in front in such cases! What makes it convenient for us as well. Let´s just hope we are fast enough before you are minced meat.
Surprise Round:
Round 1: