Rale, relieved at the fastly dwindling numbers of skeletons, gets a second wind and casts another fire bolt at the last remaining skeleton.
Round 7
Initiative 7
Rale misses with a firebolt.
End of Round 7
---------------------
Begin Round 8
Tyr 19
Malzuket 18
Skeletons 17
Bruden 9
Rale 7
Bruden, weary and sore, grits his teeth in determination and steps up to the last skeleton left. He drops the torch in his other hand and winds up for a full powered hit. The small mace has no room on it for his other hand, but he grips both together over it with a vicious overhand strike. The strike is true, but the stance was awkward, and doesn't have as much force as he had intended.
By the Dawnflower! What misfortune has befallen me?
Ralen starts to harbor self-doubt as the party is in great disrepair after their first attempt to enter the crypt. Hoping for a finishing end to this encounter, Rale again stretches forth his hand, calling upon the Dawnflower he exclaims with exhausted hope,
In Flamma!
Malzuket launches another blast of energy at the remaining skeleton, trying to shoot through the legs of the humans.
Malzuket engulfs the skeleton in another blast of holy fire, followed by Bruden smashing it with his mace. The combination is devastating and the final foe falls.
After seeing the last foe demolished, Rale ignores the pulsating sting of the facial wound that he endured to rush to Tyr and help get him back to consciousness.
Rale casts healing magic on Tyr.
Rale proceeds to Malzuket, grasping his holy symbol, he calls forth more healing magic.
Seeing the transformative nature of his healing power inspires Rale to also heal Bruden right away.
Tyr opens his eyes and looks up at Rale.
Awww man the skeletons killed you too? Either that or I am not dead. I must not be dead because heaven should be nicer than this. Tyr sits up and looks around as Rale moves off to heal the others.
how did I get out here? And did you destroy all the skeletons? He looks down at his rent blood covered armor. I should have brought some tools with me.
Tyr removes his damaged armor, retrieves his gear maintenance kit from his pack and works on stitching up the tear made by the skeletons. As he works he asks the others.
What are we going to do now? continue on? take a break?
"Rest." Bruden said it emphatically and with a bit of a sigh. He had a hard time with that fight, it was worse than any small skirmish against bandits or a small pocket of orcs he had done in the militia. Of course then, there were dozens of people on his side and not just three.
He flopped down on the ground and waited there until Rale came and healed him, and he nodded his thanks at the cleric for a job well done.
Rale drinks the potion that he took from the cart and scrambles back toward the entrance of the crypt to find his scimitar.
I am for resting as well. Regardless of what we decide, I will need to spend some time in devotions right away to give thanks for our narrow victory and also to replenish my divine magic.
Feeling somewhat overconfident from his ability to almost fully restore the party, ignoring its real source, Rale decides to make a suggestion. He fears that some of the more martial members of the party may refute his ideas because of his inexperience, but Rale does not want to go through an encounter in this manner again. It just doesn't seem wise to him.
I'd like to suggest that we employ smarter tactics in the future. I can make one of you a clandestine figure and you could scout ahead in the crypt and report back to us so that we can encounter our enemies with our strongest tactics in place.Also, because I am the most heavily armored, I think it best to use me as a shield of sorts and attack with reach weapons whenever possible.
I will pray as well to come across another healing elixir and perhaps by Sarenrae, a bludgeon weapon that I can wield. What vile foes! Surely the townspeople had not planned this. I am tempted to return promptly and notify Father Prasst of this unholiness. Who knows what could be unleashed during our journey back. Perhaps it is better for us to just exercise more caution and take care of this menace ourselves. Maybe we will even be considered heroes when we get back. I hope that none of them have run afoul of mischief such as this.
We could all use a rest, but whatever animated those corpses could still be inside. I'd feel a little safer if we could bar the door. It's not pretty, but those horses could keep the entrance barricaded while we sleep. I just hope they don't wake up to fight us too.
Still fatigued, Rale walks over to the horse carcasses and awaits help from Bruden or Tyr to blockade the door.
Malzuket has yet to be wrong. This might give us a better night's rest.
With a significant amount of effort, a couple of the horses are dragged over to barricade the door shut. The group makes camp in the cold drizzling rain at the bottom of the valley. No dry wood can be found to make a fire, and the night passes miserably and cold. The rain lets up around dawn, when a weak sun shines through a blanket of thick grey morning mists.
Tyr is up with the dawn preparing to make another foray into the crypt. His brush with death battling the skeletons the day before and how easily they were able to tear through the thick studded leather of his armor has had a sobering effect on the young man. Tyr wonders what other nasty surprises they will run into in the crypt. Tyr dressed that morning in the cold weather clothing he brought with him and put his mended armor on top of it. He thinks it would be best to leave as much as possible here at the entrance of the crypt. He separates the things he won’t need in the crypt wrapping them in the tent to protect them until they return for them.
When all is ready, Bruden will work with Tyr to open the doors again. He grabs his torch and his mace again, believing they will likely run into more undead. He will take point and keep his eyes peeled for traps or enemies.
Tyr carefully searches the room that held the skeletons.
Rale completing his devotions and setting up camp. Rale was frustrated once again. Skittish from the day's encounter and still smarting from the horrible slashes to his face, Rale wakes up and fills the party waterskins using his divine magic and begins to plack his stuff, taking a moment to sharpen his scimitar. Rale patiently waits while the others complete their morning routines. He hopes that the group will at least try some of the battle tactics that he recalled learning from his uncle. He patiently and stoically awaits for someone to help him move the horse carcasses and re-enter the crypt.
Rale enters behind Bruden hoping that they do in fact use him as a shield should they encounter anymore hostility.
Shield readied and scimitar emitting enough light to see, Rale looks around for anything that could be useful to the party and for clues as to what went on here.
Rale and Tyr find eight human skeletons, all of them old looking and dressed in the same chain armor, with broken scimitars at their sides. They also find two backpacks. One contains a large pillow and two quivers full of ten blunted arrows each. The other has 2 days’ worth of rations, a full waterskin, and a pair of smokesticks. There are also the bodies of the two men in the center of the room.
The mad wailing sound has not ceased, and seems to be coming from the east.
I have seen these men in Kassen with the mayor. This is not supposed to be this way is it? This could have been us yesterday. Do you think what ever is making that noise had something to do with this?
So do we go towards the sound or away from it?
It could be an ambush. It could also be someone in trouble and the quickest way to end this debauchery. I vote that we head east.
Rale grabs the food and waterskin before heading out. After noticing the blunt arrows, Rale realizes that the hoax has went horribly awry.
Malzuket frowns at the revelation of the dead men's identities, then scans the room with a glance.
Detect Magic quick sweep of the room.
He nods to Tyr, Yep, seems like they had a few more surprises for us all in fun, but something else was already waiting here. I don't like this at all.
The gnome pockets the smokesticks, speaking quietly to himself, Could come in handy..., before addressing the others.
We need to tell the mayor, true, but right now all we know is that something killed these men. I think we should try to discover something more substantial before we return. I had a pretty light foot in my day. Maybe me and Bruden can scout ahead a bit and see what we can find, you two could stand guard here so nothing comes in behind us. Good?
Bruden drags the bodies to the side of the room, positioning them into a more restful position as best he can considering their rigor mortis. He puts the quivers in the backpacks and sets them to the side to pick up on his way out. Hopefully they would come across some kind of bow to use these arrows with, or they wouldn't be much use down here.
As the others discuss, he nods in agreement and heads toward the sounds.
Bruden advances forward a few feet, scanning his surroundings. He sees nothing out of the ordinary.
Tyr waits where he is. Rushing in the day before almost got him kill and he is not keen to make the same mistake again. He will wait and act as a rear gaurd until one of the others calls him to move forward or calls for help.
I thought that the K row was one to the south from where you put me on the map. No matter. Bruden continues to the south and then along that passage, continuing to look for traps.
Bruden finds a switch and two unsprung pit traps.
Next to the door is a pile of empty saddlebags and three brooms.
Bruden successfully disarms the trap, opening it onto a ten foot deep hole with several large pillows stuffed into the bottom.
Bruden will leave it open, but jump the pit and go to the door to see if it is locked.
Bruden makes it over to the door. It's locked with a complex mechanism.
"Excuse me" the half elf said to the gnome before he jumped back over the hole and gives the lever a pull.
Nothing happens.
Rale holds position.