Valex nods at Feldus's words of caution, then moves forward.
"Give me a moment - I'll check the doors"
IF time permits, he'll look at the urns as well...
Melo points at the door way, Stepping aside to let Valex check them. "Echo tracked it to this door, it has to be in there."
"Smart of you to check for traps, whatever that is could have planted something. I would have walked straight." He smiles at Valex.
Wisely checking the doorway, you discover a hastily-rigged tripwire linked to twin flasks of acid set above and ready to douse anyone moving through.
The writing on the urns turns out to be gibberish, and moments later you realise why, as the illusion fades, revealing a crumpled body in oddly-antiquated priest robes.
but there is a recent wound at the back of the skull that shows someone didn't want the zombie wandering around any more
Valex bows his head and sighs deeply.
"Before he was one of the Dead, he was...one of my colleagues. He was one of our Lorekeepers."
Feldus perks up on the mention of the Lorekeepers. "I would be interested in hearing more of this...AFTER we deal with our quarry!"
I agree. If this was a Palatine Eye compound or something then they may be more here to help us than just Melo's new companion. But we can't check anything safely while they are running around laying traps everywhere. I say we press on quickly before they can dig themselves in.
Melo nods. "I want to hear more about this later, but we have to keep on our prey. We can't give them any time to set more traps." With the trap disarmed Melo pushes Echo's on to continue.
Echoes pads off through the doorway in an odd gait, snout dipping every few moments.
Unlike the natural caves you came through to get to the chamber of black spheres, the stonework of this corridor is dressed, square-cut and mortared.
With the scant light provided by your magic, you see the corridor leads forward and opens out in to a larger hallway.
Tapestries line the walls, and in regularly spaced alcoves there are wooden display racks. A long time ago these may have held great treasures and wondrous artwork, but now there are just splintered armor stands and shattered clay fragments.
At the end of the corridor there are two large wooden doors opposite each other facing east and west.
This place was built by the same people then? Flynn says, continuing to look warily into the corners and shadowy places.
He runs his finger idly over the armor stands. It comes back black and dusty so he wipes it on his breeches and says;
All this gone to ruin. Why couldn't they have mounted a defence during the Harvest? Why has all this been allowed to rot down here if they were set up to defend against something exactly like the Harvest?
A look of pain crosses Valex's face at Flynn's words. He opens his mouth to explain...then stops, looking around into the shadows.
"There is a story to it...but I am not sure that all the ears that would hear it here should hear it. Lets deal with our slippery friend, first..."
Feldus shakes his head bitterly. "Even the best defenses can be overwhelmed with the right plan...and treachery from within. The Way is known for their...persuasiveness." He then focuses his attention on his surroundings.
Melo is focused on the hunt, letting the other deal with whatever they have found. He stays close to Echo's feeling the thrill to hunt as a pack again, the feeling lost with Cyn.
"We will have time for all this after we finish following the scent." He says look back and at the others and pointing forward.
Echoes stops and sniffs, turning and twisting its head in a whip-quick staccato fashion, it stares at the eastern door indicating the location of your quarry.
After Valex checks it for traps and gives him the go ahead, Flynn shoves the eastern door open rapidly.
Valex finds no traps on the door, and Flynn shoves it open. Despite its size it seems to swing smoothly, the crash as it slams in to the stone wall behind it is almost deafening.
The room must once have been an impressive sight. Plush carpet now threadbare with the ages gives way to reading chairs and tables. Some paintings on the wall, most now slashed or scorched. One entire wall is made of glass, scratches and gouges show some damage but it is as unvanquished. Your lights slitter back at you and give you the impression there is water on the other side, but it is too dark to determine what else.
On the far side of the room, three robed figures stand and stare at you, their hooded visages hidden in darkness.
Flynn grips his longsword all the more tightly and moves slightly north from the group. He has enocuntered enough spellcasters now to know that being bunched up is often more to their advantage than his allies'.
You there! he shouts. Who are you?
Feldus stares at the silent figures trying to determine what sort of creatures they are.
This also could be a deception...why have they not reacted before this?
Each in turn raise their left arms, then point them at Feldus, then raise their right arms to point to Lilith.
They do not respond to being addressed, however they have started to hum quietly.
"What do we do here... Valex are they of your order?" He shouts out as he moves into the room pushing Echo to follow.
"We shouldn't let them finish whatever their chanting." He grips at his club ready to move in.
"I sincerely doubt that they are friends of mine!" Valex replies, drawing his sword.
Feldus eyes the figures closely, as yet unsure what to make of these newcomers. Still when in doubt treat them as foes. He breaks to the side of the room drawing his rapier more as a show than an actual intention of using it.
Alright, enough of this! Flynn dashes forward and reaches up to grab a fistful of robe on the nearest.... person. Pulling it down toward him he tries to get a look at the face beneath the cowl and shouts; Who the Hell are you?
His longsword quivers slightly in his hand.
Lilith understands the tones of the humming, it's necril, and about the only noise that these creatures can produce with what remains of their vocal chords. Definitely undead, but not casting a spell, it's more ritualised.
The droning is suddenly quieted as Lenneth completes her casting, though for all intents and purposes, the creatures continue pointing and do not move.
Valex notes that the entities did raise their arms in rough unison, but not in the precision mirror-like maner that might befit magic being used toduplicate appearance.
Flynn's mad rush forwards elicits no response, until he pulls the hood down, revealing a half-decayed skull with faintly glowing eyesockets. Its arms drop, narrowly missing the halfling, before it's fetid jaws close on his arm.
The others also drop their limbs and lumber towards Flynn and Melo.
Flynn cries out but then grits his teeth and shouts; Eat this, you ugly bastard! and thrusts his blade two-handed into the rotting face.
"That does it! no more messing about!" Melo brings up his club and smashes it down on the robed undead.
Echo moves to attack the same thing as Melo, lashing out with tooth and claw.
--
Valex runs forward toward Flynn and his foes, peering at them for clues as he goes.
Feldus, ready for the attack by the now revealed undead, unleashes one of his most potent spells against them.
Lilith and Valex's appraising eyes glance over the party's opponents, they seem to be Skeletal Champions of some sort, but lacking the usual arms and armor of such.
What few distinct words and noises you were able to make out were essentially 'desire' and 'bad blood'.
Flynn's blade bites at the undead facing him, though some of the force of the blow seems turned aside by both its robe and the bones of its body, he still feels something crunch, his second blow causes bone fragments to shatter across the ancient carpet and it looks unsteady on its feet.
The creature facing Melo and Echoes is brought low in a flurry of club and claws, bones scatter across the floor.
Lenneth's chains reach out and bring the creature facing Flynn down prone. Feldus' spell holds the other in place.
There is a flash of light, and an eruption of lightning appears on the top of the table in the centre of the room, flashing through the air past Feldus' nose and out the doorway.
"Perhaps the spirit animating these guardians, Lenneth!" Feldus turns back to watch the door, fairly confident whatever it was would be seeking to raise the alarm...but to whom? The wererat cannot help but shiver at the possibilities.
Melo still in a rage yells out charging at the undead creature Fynn is attacking.
Echos does the same moving with its new master, their connection was instant but it is starting to learn to work together. It lasts out attempting to bite the undead creature and pull it to the group.
Lenneth's barbed chains are impeccably accurate, but seem to do little damage to the robed figure.
Melo's club crushes the skull of the figure, and last of the necromantic energy animating it dissipates in a cloud.
Flynn unceremoniously hacks at the robed figure lying at his feet, tangled up in Lenneth's spiritual chains.
Valex will join the curb-stomping...with an arcane strike