Rennai trips the Crypt Thing, then Auric pounces on it and rips the bones apart. The creature howls, then crumbles to dust.
As their tormentor disintegrates, Auric sinks to his knees, exhausted. His anger fades and the full extent of his injuries catch up with him. Ow, he groans, rolling onto his back amongst the skeleton's armor and rags. I'm just going to rest here a minute, he says to no one in particular. Mmm, this is the most comfortable dank cavern floor I have ever collapsed on..
HP 13/49
Fatigued for 22 rnds
3 rnds of rage remaining
1 1st lvl spell remaining
AC 19
As the skeleton falls, Rennai walks over and retrieves her bow where it fell, checking it carefully for any signs of damage. Conri walks over to her, and she roughly scratches the fur around his neck. Good job, pup.
Then she walks back to the center of the room, kneels over the dust of the animated skeleton, and begins to chant in Dwarvish. Efallai y byddwch yn awr yn gorffwys heb darfu arnynt am byth o dan y garreg sanctaidd, ac efallai y Magrim arwain eich enaid at ei wobr tragwyddol...Ac efallai y Dranngvit, harbinger o ddial, yn dod â iawndaliadau yn erbyn y rhai a fyddai'n dod â hyn grymoedd tywyll i ddwyn.
May you now rest forever undisturbed beneath the sacred stone, and may Magrim guide your soul to its eternal reward...And may Dranngvit, harbinger of vengeance, bring reparations against those who would bring these dark forces to bear.
As she prays, Conri turns in a circle and lies down next to her, licking at a wound on his haunch.
Kalla arrives just in time to see the revenant being crumble.
"Oh!" she murmurs. "Is everyone alright?"
Bleeding and feeling somewhat less than healthy Kalla sinks to the ground beside Conri and watches Rennai while rubbing Conri's neck.
"You know, I'm not feeling too good. I think the ghoul in there [indicates room she just left] infected me with something..."
Rose gently flicks her wrist, dismissing the strings on Auric, before gliding slowly towards the ground. "That... went well. If any of you have any wounds I may mend, let me know." Hearing Rennai's speech, she rolls her eyes before turning towards Kalla. She sighs, "That is to be expected. I'll suggest rest and recuperation, dear, before we find someone that could cure that or it goes away on its own."
She then looks at everybody who's injured. "I'll mend your wounds. Kalla, Eruaphen, please, do try to fight the magic involved. It's more effective this way. And it gives me a slight sense of satisfaction when you fail.", she says, smiling, impossible to tell if she's being serious or not.
No point in rolling one for Rennai.
The witch positions herself in the middle of the resting party and begins to chant, closing. A massive whirlpool of darkness stems from her waving arms and begins roaming around the room, dimming the already dim light further. Streams of darkness begin pouring over Conri, Kalla and Eruaphen, mending their wounds as the room is covered in bone-chilling cold. As screaming sounds begin to appear on the vortex, Rose points her arms towards Auric, engulfing him completely in darkness. As the screaming quiets down, the light begins to brighten up once more and the half-elf appears with all of his wounds covered. The cold persists a bit longer, but eventually subsides.
Rose opens her eyes, which quickly turn from pitch black orbs to normal. She sits down on the ground, beginning to speak as if nothing happened. "That was... intense. I hope it was as effective. Rennai, may I provide you with some assistance as well, dear?", providing the dwarf with an encouraging (or terribly creepy) smile.
Rejoining the group, Eruaphen welcomes Rose's healing charms - indeed her particular blend of magic is a bit of a rush for the elf. Thank you fair witch. As usual, your charms are, thrilling. Flushed with his regained health, the disciple smiles and bows his head in gratitude towards Rose before he turns his attention to the sarcophagus behind which he'd sought refuge. Examining the markings and lid, Eruaphen tries to determine how to open it and more importantly, if he should. What do you think, should we take a look inside?
Rose's attentions literally pick Auric up off the ground. He stands bolt upright and looks around the room with a slightly manic glint in his eye. Once his nerve endings stop buzzing he takes a deep breath. Yeah, lets see what's in there. Any signs of more traps or locks? Once Eruaphen gives the all clear Auric is happy to try and muscle the thing open.
Oh, I also noticed this lever here on the throne. My bet is it unlocks all these doors. We should open them and deal with any ghouls that are left. And locate the girl's remains I suppose. This last he says with sad reservation, not seeing any way a young child could have survived the ordeal that he and his companions just went through.
The child may yet live, Rennai replies suddenly, almost as an ending to her prayer. We search as if we still have a chance to save her; I'll not have anyone giving up so easily. But I agree - these rooms we have not yet entered seem the best place to begin.
And hear this, witch. Rennai turns to Rose. I like not the foul magics you use to play a god, using the energy of life as your amusement. You toy with one of the strongest powers of the universe and make souls and bodies your puppets, and it sickens me. It goes against all that is good and right, and you treat it as a Sunday lark.
For a time, we must be strange bedfellows, to save the girl's life. This I accept. I'll do what must be done to save the girl and send these foul living corpses back to Magrim's embrace, even if it means subjecting myself to your hateful curses to keep the strength to do so.
But the moment I see you turn your accursed magic to disturb the bodies still at rest here, or to call a spirit back against its will - then may the gods' vengeance harry your every waking moment. May you never enjoy another day's rest until you go to receive the everlasting wages of your actions, if you would interrupt the repose of those enjoying their own reward.
She sits and begins to look over Conri's wounds for a moment, then turns back to Rose. Will you make me say it? I require aid, and the pup does too. Hurry and be done with it. She squares up her seat on the floor, almost as if bracing herself.
Kalla makes a face.
"Well that's awkward. For what it's worth, thanks Rose. I'm not much fussed for theology. Dead is dead, undead is...undead and plenty the twain may meet. If my dead twisted corpse requires raising as an unholy terror precisely to save the girl, needs must be obeyed. My will is good. Sorry Ren, I'm with the curs'd healer."
She lingers a moment.
"I think I remember I left my spear in the other room...." and with that saunters off to retrieve her longspear and check the room she was in (and the ghoul) for any unattended objects...
Gazing at Eruaphen, Rose replies, "Why thank you. The cold feel should go away relatively soon."
Just as she's about to walk over to the pup, she is interrupted by Rennai's arguments.
What is it with people and ridiculous superstitions... Just as not every Varisian is a thief and every Skald a drunken buffoon. She glances over at the remaining rags from the powerful guardian and nods in defiance of herself. Though, I suppose every stereotype is there for a reason.
Crossing her arms as she listens with an arched eyebrow, she finally rolls her eyes once more and replies. "I will attempt to explain to you how magic works, dear. Please do let me know if you me to clarify something further.", she begins talking in a cold, condescending voice. She begins walking around, taking more space and attempting to take everybody in as a listener, regardless of their interest or not. "What you dub as 'necromancy', is nothing more than a mere specialization of magic on the matter. To put it in layman's terms,", she says, pointing at the giant axe on a stick, "would be the exact equivalent of me calling every single weapon we see, an 'axe'. Not only wrong, but also confusing. What my magics provide, is severe debilitation of our foes, and an curative aid." Clearing her throat, she continues. "Just to clarify and... ease your thoughts on the matter, I never did or would ever have the desire to raise a corpse to fight on my side. Ignoring the... moral consequences of the matter, it is the least ineffective and expensive. Let alone bad taste." Feeling she's made her argument on this, she goes on to the next point. "As for making bodies and souls puppets, that is... not entirely accurate. Auric here was merely provided faster reflexes and swifter aim. This is more the works of enchantment, which I personally view as the most reviled of all magical traditions. As for the forces at play and the grand circle of life, I have to say, that is a grand load of nonsense." She pauses for impact, then continues. "Channeling a force of energy from the Plane of Negative energy is no different from taking similar one from the one of Fire, or Ice in principle, yet I've yet to see an evoker", she almost spits out the word, [b]"be viewed with any more suspicion than the average mage. Less, if anything."
She then realizes she's gone a little bit off the topic, sighs and says in a rather sarcastic tone, "I do solemnly promise to you, that I will not pointlessly waste our resources on a matter as idiotic as raising corpses. I swear on my... Skald's honor.", giving Rennai a smile. "Now, I shall tend to the pup's wounds.", she begins moving towards the pup, raising her hand and gliding it towards his wounds. Dark energy begins seeping from them, ending up in the witch's hand. As they begin to close, she flicks her arm, dismissing the forces. She then incredibly awkwardly pets the wolf on the head, saying, "Uh... Good boy.", and forcing a smile, before standing up and pointing to Rennai's hand. "May I?", raising it forward.
Just do it. She extends her hand toward Rose's. And I'm sorry...it's just...I've got a past. Lends me some nervousness when it comes to...darker magics. As she speaks, her other hand rises subconsciously to the ragged ends of her chin-length hair. It's nothin' personal. Just sometimes lose sight that it's the works that matter, not the tool. She pauses for a moment. I'm sorry. I know what it is to be...misunderstood.
What I'm tryin' to say is, thank you for the aid, she finishes as Rose begins to cast. She can't suppress a small shudder as the hex washes over her, however. I'll take it, doesn't mean I have to like the feel of it, she mutters to Conri as Rose turns away.
Eruaphen pauses his investigations to listen for a moment as the women sort out their differences. Recognizing the timeless debate of ethics, the elf smiles to himself and this thoughts reflect on something his father seems to enjoy repeating, As long as the ends justify the means... As the discussion winds down, the elf diverts his eyes and resumes his check.
Rose turns around as the dwarf finishes her reply, smiling ever so slightly. "No offence taken, darling. Were I not used to such comments, I wouldn't be as open about my powers as I am."
She then looks around the room towards the others, and after a cold, appraising stare at everyone, she turns back at Rennai. "Now, I believe, it would be wise to return at the task at hand. It's a bit too dim in here for me, so I would suggest that you attempt to find tracks of the girl. I would have asked... him,", she says, pointing towards the dead undead's remains in front of her, "but he was terribly uncooperative."
Rose then leaves the others to their business and begins analyzing the rooms, Light in hand, for anything appropriate and interesting.
Rennai joins in the search of the room, focusing her efforts on finding any trace of the child's path.
Conri aids in the search effort as well, using his nose to attempt to pick up a trace of the girl's scent.
Kalla returns toting her discarded longspear, and begins t examine the destroyed undead creature's equipment...
Rose dazzles everyone in the room with her dark magic and powerful healing. Both frightening and beautiful, the witch's magic heals the party. While ill feelings and discord grows, Eruaphen inspects the sarcophagus.
This elaborate stone sarcophagus features a carved relief of a fearsome warrior holding a wicked curved, downward facing battle-axe. Words are engraved under the warriors image in the same archaic language on the standing stone at the top of the barrow-hill. The warrior's image appears many ties over. Most of the scenes depict him glorious in battle, while other scenes depict him raising his axe and drinking horn in celebration, or standing proudly before a pile of cloven heads or a field of crucified enemies. A final scene depicts the warrior being carried up a hill by a doze robed men.
Many more words are engraved into the four sides of the sarcophagus - lines upon lines of poems, runes, and other writing - though these are in a stranger, more fiendish-looking script.
As Eruaphen inspects the writing, he hears a rhythmic thumping coming from within the sarcophagus.
Kalla retrieves her longspear, and finds many ancient coins of some unknown metal rusted and withered away. In the debris and dust she also finds a +1 undead bane light mace
Rose searches around the rooms, and finds similar ancient coinage. It's too old and decayed to be properly identified however. It crumbles to dust upon touch.
Rose finds nothing else.
Back in the main room Rennai and Conri search, but the results are same as before. The girl Casiodora's tracks simply vanish near the throne.
Rennai peers over the sarcophagus. A conqueror of some sort, clearly; the pictures tell a story of bloodshed. But I can't make out any of the writing, and history is not my expertise, to be able to place the pictures in a specific time frame...
She hears the thumps coming from within. I don't need great study to know that could mean trouble, though. She grimaces. We'll have to deal with it somehow and sometime, and that'll mean opening it. Rose, you're more studied than I - can you make anything of this? I'd like as much information as we can get before dealing with whatever lies inside.
Auric takes his turn searching once more through the main chamber and the adjoining rooms where his companions had been trapped. Aye, there is also this lever to deal with. If it is indeed the release mechanism for all these doors, we could have several more ghouls to deal with, and is the most likely way to pick up the missing girl's trail ... unless that's her banging away in the sarcophagus.
When the others are ready, Auric borrows Eruaphen's crowbar again and tries to pry the lid off the tome.
Rose begins studying the sarcophagus, mumbling something under her nose. "Do try opening the sarcophagus, would you? I believe we are well prepared to face whatever's inside.", she says to the others, tracking a line of symbols along the sarcophagus' wall.
Hearing Rose's words, Rennai makes ready, bow and arrow in hand and pointed toward the casket. Conri, stand ready, she mutters to the wolf at her side, gesturing toward the sarcophagus with her bow and arrow. The wolf saunters over and watches the sarcophagus, ears pricked.
Whispering, the elf points to the sarcophagus, There is something inside...
Once the group is ready, he nods his head three times while mouthing "Three, two, one... then heaves on the lid to expose casket's contents.
Her new find in hand, Kalla arrives to inspect the sarcophagus just as Eruaphen heaves at the lid...
"Oh...."" she mutters, and steps back, ready to defend herself if necessary...
Rose and Eruphen take a deep look at the sarcophagus and the pasages within. After a long time reading, they both reach a point where history and arcane magic merge. It's a passage with special significance.
No sword, nor spear, nor axe ever was able to bring down the Great Reaver. In the end, it was treachery and vile poison that laid Him low. Poisoned by his own sword- brothers, his greedy lieutenants! Still, Caragthax took his revenge and now laughs at death. Before the poison took him, we his dutiful servants, entombed his traitorous lieutenants alive for all eternity. Thus even on his death bed, the Reaver remained unvanquished.
Together the party attempts to lift the lid, but the heavy stone won't budge! Auric stops for a moment, takes a breath and looks around. Despite not knowing as much about history or arcana, he sees something Rose and Eruphen missed. It's a simple picture of a pendant engraved on the tomb in the shape of a star. Thinking back, he remembers seeing such an amulet on the Crypt Thing which fighting up close! I the pile of dust and bone remains, a small star amulet dimly glows.
Auric fishes the pendant out of the dust and inserts it into the lid, then steps back expectantly.
Rose looks at the pendant, and begins speaking in an educational tone. "It would appear that in those sarcophagi are laid to... unrest the lieutenants of Caragthax. They betrayed him, and poisoned him, and so the loyal followers of the Reaver buried them alive in those tombs, so that they may suffer for eternity, while he lies, never to be defeated, even in death." She sighs and continues, "What a cliché. I suppose that leaders never can stand to be the wrong ones, even in death. If there is one such lieutenant in there, please, let me talk. He might have some information about the tomb, and considering we might grant him rest, he should be willing to talk." The witch then concentrates and summons a small vortex of light and darkness in her hand. "It hurts not to be prepared, however.", she says, looking at Rennai.
Nodding along with Rose, Eruaphen agrees with the witch's interpretation of the markings adding, It's a very old dialect.
As Auric approaches with the amulet the elf places his hands on the hilts of his weapons then takes a step back.
Nothing seems to be happening. Perhaps the amulet merely unlocks the sarcophagus. Auric, lets try to get this lid off.
-