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“Why would an assassin have a holy symbol of Sarenrae?” Iovo asks in a very puzzled voice. “Isn’t she supposed to be a good deity?”
She lets the others know what else was on the assassin. She grabs the light items except the yucky looking vial of the sticky black substance which she sets aside. Looks icky and might be poison! They were an assassin after all!
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"Son of a...rgggh!" Shieara exclaims, spinning around and slamming her fist against the nearby wall when Garif declares Metella to be dead.
This isn't right! We tried really hard to save her!
"Yeah, she is. Whoever this is, they ain't no true follower. Prolly a part of a disguise or somethin'," she continues slowly, trying to calm her temper. "But who'd wanna kill a merchant?"
Shieara quickly pulls out a length of rope from her pack and gets to work binding the assassin, her expression grim. "Hope you're feelin' chatty when you wake up," she mutters. "Is anyone else too terribly hurt? I can call a little more holy power today but that's 'bout it 'fore I need to start burnin' my other magics," Shieara adds, glancing over her shoulder.
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There are tears in Damiar’s eyes as she sinks near the body. “You never knew that we honored you. I never got back to tell you that we’d do your sneezing powder trick, or to talk in the dwarven that I learned because I met you.”
Eyes still blurry, she hands Shiera her wand. “Please, heal yourself! Save your spells, and use the wand that I bought.”
Damiar wipes her face on her sleeve, then peers at the assassin, and then at the Sarenrae symbol. “Wait a minute.” She frowns, thinking of the odd service they had just witnessed.
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In a fit of uncharacteristic anger as he confirms Metella is dead, Garif gnashes his teeth fiercely, making a sound like stones grinding against each other in some unimaginably deep place beneath the earth. The fit passes quickly enough, and as Damiar kneels down, the dwarf lays a kindly hand on his elf friend's shoulder. "She didn't need to know that for it to be an honor," he says consolingly. With just a hint of sorrowful smile, he adds, "Though I'm sure she'd have liked to hear of - or see - the sneezing powder trick, and to hear you speak our tongue."
Staying by the fallen dwarf's side a few moments longer when Damiar rises, he speaks quietly in Dwarven, then repeats his words in Taldan, "You were no more a warrior than I, Metella, yet you fell in battle like the greatest of our kind. We shall find who was behind this and see justice done, and do our best to ensure that the rich vein of trade you worked does not fail, but continues to yield glittering golden ore for years to come."
He reaches a thick-fingered hand into the weathered pouch at his belt and draws out a blood red crystal, his beloved rhodochrosite, and studies it for a long moment. He holds it to his head and his heart, then lays it in the hollow of Metella's throat without a word. Finally, he gets to his feet and turns to his companions, saying, "I am ill-suited to hunting assassins and their puppet-masters, and to taking bloody revenge, but we must do something to right this wrong. Where to next?"
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"Um...thanks, I owe ya one," Shieara replies to Damiar, shuffling her feet a bit awkwardly as she accepts the loaned wand.
After returning the wand, she stands away at a respectful distance while some of the others offer prayers and last words; she'd never had any personal dealings with the dwarf like the others had and so it didn't seem right to intrude. She glances idly at the holy symbol they'd found on the assassin...
...but it just looks like a regular Sarenite holy symbol to her.
"Ah...much as I'd love t' hear what this fella has t' say for himself, we'd better make sure th' rest of the guests an' all are okay first," Shieara finally suggests, glancing anxiously towards the hallway.
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The sounds of battle outside have died down as Aaqir al’Hakam runs into the room, flanked by two guards. Temel and Jakti follow closely behind, their weapons drawn. The whole party comes to a halt as they take in the scene in the room. ”Metella, is she…?” al’Hakam begins, then trails off when he sees your faces. Temel stares at Metella for a moment, then shakes his head. ”A pity.” Jakti says nothing as he and Temel turn and walk away.
After a moment, Aaqir seems to gather himself. ”Please, much has happened this evening I do not understand, but there is still work to be done. Temel was also attacked, though he and Jakti were fortunately able to drive away the other assassin. We’ve destroyed the undead, and were able to determine that they came from the East. That way lies the graveyard, where Umut went to prepare. It’s only a ten minute walk, but she’s yet to return. Please, go and make sure she’s alright.”
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"Certainly, we will interrogate this murderer while you go check on Umut."
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The graveyard used by the Bahjari family is one they share with several other wealthy families in Katheer. Small crypts and mausoleums containing the matriarchs and patriarchs dot the fenced-in burial ground, and freestanding gravestones mark where less influential family members are interred.
Many graves have been disturbed, and the doors of several mausoleums hang open. To the south lies the Bahjari family mausoleum. A woman clad in black robes lies prone near its door. She stirs as you approach and sits up, at which point you recognize her as Umut. ”Oh, you’re alive! Thank goodness, I thought you were more of those vile creatures!” She grunts with exertion as she stands, revealing torn clothing and bruises on her person. ”One of the gifts released some sort of wave of energy, animating the dead around me when I arrived! I was able to fend off the ones inside the mausoleum, sealing them inside, but was not so fortunate against the undead out here. Frankly, I’m lucky just to be alive! Please, will you help me destroy the ones inside?”
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Rees narrows his eyes at the downed cleric, then walks closer and leans over her, his face a scant foot from the worst of her wounds. With an intense frown, he reaches out his left thumb and wipes a nice clean line through one of her "wounds", leaving healthy skin beneath.
"You lie," he states flatly, standing erect and staring at her with intense emerald eyes.
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The shock on her face is apparent at Rees' bold statement. Seeing the elf's resolve, it quickly dissolves into anger as she jumps to her feet and draws a dagger as she backs toward the door. "Fine! Destroy them, minions!"
Initiative:
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Damiar moves to the side, raising her bow, then inspires courage.
♫ It's been a hard day's night, and we've been working way too long
It's been a hard day's night, but something’s creeping and it’s wrong!
But when we get here to you we find the lies that you do
Will make us want to fight
You know we work all day to get alliances and things
And we run here just to hear you lie as you’ve done about everything
So why on earth should we moan, cos when we get you alone
We’ll blow you away
When we’re here everything leads to this fight
When we’re here locking you in our sights, sights, yeah
It's been a hard day's night, and we've been working way too long
It's been a hard day's night, we should be all bursting into song,
But when we get here to you we find the lies that you do
Will make us want to fight — Owwww!
So why on earth should we moan, cos when we get you alone
We’ll blow you away
When we’re here everything leads to this fight
When we’re here locking you in our sights, sights, yeah ♫
Damiar looks down her arrow at Umut, face angry.
♫ It's been a hard day's night, and now our friend Metella’s dead and gone
It's been a hard day's night, Umut won’t see another dawn
But when we get here to you we find the things that you do
Will make us want to fight
You know we’ll make this alright
Yeah, time to make this alright ♫
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"Ha, fool! Umut's been dead for weeks! She was no match for the power of the Pallid Princess!"
Umut throws open the door, then clutches at a holy symbol cunningly concealed in her cloak, emitting a wave of negative energy that washes over all of you!
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“You murder, deceive, lie... I guess it’s no surprise that you’re channeling negative energy. Still, chances are good that this will still hurt you.” She aims an arrow right at false Umut.
“It appears our deceiver is a cleric of Urgathoa... Remind me NOT to check her room later. I’ve heard about what they do with good banquet food. They’re not just evil, sis, but they’re icky too.”
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A little startled by the sudden change in the tone of the conversation, Garif nonetheless draws both sling and wand, gesturing with the latter at the deceitful priest and saying, ”Nico, attack!“ He pauses a moment, then points again with the wand, saying, ”Oh, look! There are some bony figures coming up the stairs from the mausoleum!“
Even before Garif points, Nico can sense there’s something odd about this person covered in...something. At the dwarf’s word, the great cat springs forward and attacks!
Click. Whirr.
“Murder, lies, and undead? Deceiver this ends now!” Verrix flanks with Iovo.
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Verrix steps into a flank and strikes down the priest with a deft blow before she can unleash another wave of dark energy!
Suddenly, skeletons come pouring out of the open crypt door!
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The blue skeleton rushes forward and attacks Rees.
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The purple skeleton rushes forward just enough to attack Verrix.
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The green skeleton turns once outside and attacks Nico.
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The red skeleton drips with blood as it emerges from the mausoleum. It stops just outside the doorway and swings a broken scimitar at Iovo.
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"Oi! Skellingtons don't hold up too well 'gainst a good blunt object," Shieara calls out. "But that big one, it'll get up again in about an hour if we don't give it th' business with some holy water, positive energy or a blessing!"
Hoping to put themselves at an advantage quickly, Shieara raises her holy symbol and channels one last burst of positive energy against the skeleton hordes. "Lucky Drunk, put these old bones back t' bed where they belong!"
"Uh...or not, I guess..." she gulps, taking a step back from the nearest skeleton.
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Verrix takes his AoO against the first skeleton trying to get by him ().
However, in his eagerness to destroy the undead, he swings a little early, and the skeleton is able to duck under his blow.
He growls as the undead stream past him. He swings his warhammer at the bloody skeleton between him and Iovo. "This abomination needs holy water or positive energy to stay down once we smash it!" he says before swinging.
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“Great, Skeletons and I have a rapier out...”
Iovo expects Verrix to just take out the first one so she swings at the second one to come out.
She goes for the heart, forgetting they don’t have one.
She then drops the rapier and gets out her Light Mace to attack the one still between herself and Verrix.
“Stand still so I can hit you!”
*BZZZT* "Botting for Weeeesssleeey Nico."
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Nico destroys the blue skeleton as it rushes out the door, crushing its bones in his mighty jaws! Verrix and Iovo miss their opportunistic attacks, but Verrix follows with a second mighty swing that scatters the bloody bones of the red skeleton. When Shieara unleashes a burst of positive energy, the red bones pop and crackle, the blood drying and flaking off, in addition to damaging the other two. Iovo wings her mace, but is unable to connect. Phinellippa unleashes three bolts of force that cause the purple skeleton to fall to pieces.
Nico lays into the bony figure before him, but is unable to connect.
Garif activates his wand of magic stone, then loads his sling.
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Rees is unable to connect, but Shieara uses the opportunity to lay into the foul being with her spear. The point slides between the creature's ribs and out the back side, but a quick jerk on the haft scatters the bones around the area!
Examining the felled false priestess, you find that she seems to have stabilized as you fought the skeletons. Searching her pockets, you find the following:
Inside the mausoleum, the walls are lined with the interred bodies of many generations of the Bahjari family, tracing back all the way to era of the first Qadiran satraps. A wicked-looking scythe is leaned against the wall, just inside the door.
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Iovo quickly retrieves her rapier from where she dropped it.
Looking down at the Priestess's body, she notes "She was talkative, bragging of her goddess. I wonder if she has anything more to say?"
She then looks into the mausoleum. "Glad nothing used that scythe against us!"
+1 to detect traps
+1 to detect traps