Zeb's Crypt of the Everflame PbP

Game Master ZebulonXenos

"Yeah, let's go back through the bat cave. Maybe we should light some torches, though, in case they haven't cleared."

On the way back through the frog room, Raven was lost in thought, wondering if there was some way to use the skeleton to trigger the electrical fungus in the other room. It's a little early to be thinking about what to do after we save that girl, though. Doubt we'll want to stick around here any longer than we have to after that.

The group picks their way through the crypt back to the room with the bats. The portcullis stands open, Bolkin's efforts having not been in vain. Given that the group has been waylaid a couple of times, enough time seems to have passed that either the animals have flown out or gone back to roost.

The first noticeable thing is that unlike every other room thus far, this one is lit, if only dimly from the far side. Looking up, the ceiling has a trio of fissures, one open to the air and the morning sun some forty feet above.

The others are full of bats. Maybe they'll stay there if there's no screaming.

Otherwise, this room is a third crypt similar to the room just north of it and the flooded one with the frogs. A hall on the east side leads to a door, which leads to the last room on the map that was recovered from the pack. Investigation of the door shows it to be unlocked and untrapped.

I'll assume you can make it through the room without disturbing the bats without a check - unless you do something loud or intentionally throw a rock at 'em or something.

Creeping quietly below the bats, Telperion stifled his urge to comment on each of the three fissures in turn. He took a quick glance at the morning sky and tried to judge access from this point. I wonder if I could climb up there...

Then he made his way to the door, anxious to see what was behind it.

Telperion opens the door, requiring a little more force and noise than he would like as the hinges seem to not be in ideal condition. The scraping of the door across the floor seems incredibly loud, but the bats remain at rest.

As the group files into the chamber, the constant moaning and wailing finally fades completely. Somehow the silence seems more chilling, in the way that it feels something terrible has noticed you. It seems unlikely that the sounds were Dmira - or had stopped being her some time ago, at least.

The room itself is unsettling, eery and quiet. Apparently whoever made the map in the pack simply stopped here. The first noticeable thing is the door opens perpendicular to a very, very deep pit - eyeballing it suggests 30 or 40 feet, with a 10 foot wide bridge across it leading south. The ceiling is high and vaulted, and clearly the damage that caused the fissures has also damaged and cracked this room as well.

The south end of the room has a pair of statues, styled after the villagers that accompanied Kassen to the Crypt. They stand, shield and spear at the ready, apparently eternally guarding the grand brass double-doors that exit to the south.

I figured I'd apply the 'give a DC and put it behind a spoiler' thing to traps as well, since as long as it's not magical anybody should be able to see the trap. This also allows for a slightly more organic nature of who responds to it. Of course, for Telperion's benefit (Trapfinding), I have to mention it's a trap; if you all roll under 20, uh, act surprised?

Map updated.

Raven walks close to each pit. She casts her lights and sends them into each pit, looking for the bottom, or anything else in them, as Telperion checks the bridgeway for traps.

Perception (Trapfinding): 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (4) + 8 = 12

Telperion moves cautiously across the bridge towards the statues, eyeballing them nervously.

Perception: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (11) + 3 = 14 - please add additional +2 if stonework-related due to Stonecunning.
EDIT: Not that it matters, apparently...

From the rear of the group Drosk glances around in all directions, failing to notice anything of importance.

Bolkin lagged slightly more behind Telperion to glance down the pit before starting to make his way across the bridge, not noticing anything in particular.

Telperion edges his way across the bridge. After the first few steps, his foot sinks lower, right along with his stomach. The grind of stone-on-stone as he depresses a pressure plate is immediately followed by the statues mechanically rushing forth.

Though he missed the pressure plate, Telperion can see where this is going; in the split second he has to react, the elf sidesteps into the center of mass of the oncoming trap and takes the shields square in the chest. He stumbles backward as the statues keep coming, the whole mess careening over Bolkin and depositing both of the companions back on the near side of the bridge, nothing hurt but their pride. The statues retract back along their launching mechanism.

Much better than tumbling off into the dark of the pit. Raven's investigations reveal that it would have been a forty foot drop into the welcoming arms of assorted detritus, some of it possibly having been packs or other adventuring (or more likely tomb-robbing) gear.

Having found the trap with his feet, Telperion has no trouble disabling it. That just leaves the ornate brass doors (which the elf checks with care; unlocked, untrapped) on the far side of the room, beyond which lie the Everflame... And likely, whatever took Dmira and the lives of several villagers.

Lemme know who pushes through first!

"Here now, lads... lass," Drosk whispers as he brings his companions to a halt in front of the ornate brass doors. "I'm not sure why, but I've got a sinkin' suspicion that behind these doors we're gonna find whatever killed our friends an' took Dmira. Before we go in, I've got a few blessin's o' Torag that might help us."

The dwarf priest takes out his sling and pouch of sling bullets, opening the pouch to retrieve three of the pellets. Chanting in a low rumbling whisper, he imbues the three bullets with the blessing of the Forgefather, causing them to glow with a faint divine radiance. "Here, Telp," Drosk says, handing the sling and bullets to the elf. "Ye've got a keener eye than me an' I can't hit th' broad side o' th' town hall with this thing. Use these against th' Voice o' Death when we see 'im an' they'll give 'im a big surprise."

Cast Magic Stone on three of the sling bullets: gives each bullet a +1 enhancement bonus on attack and damage rolls, and each bullet will deal 2d6+2 damage against undead. Duration 30 minutes or until discharged.

"Bolkin, lad, let me see yer flail." Taking the guardsman's weapon, Drosk intones another prayer to Torag and imbues the flail with divine power. "There. That'll give yer flail a bit more oomph when it hits. An' may th' Forgefather protect ye in th' battle ahead as well," the dwarf priest intones as he touches Bolkin's forehead in holy benediction.

Cast Magic Weapon on Bolkin's flail, granting the weapon a +1 enhancement bonus on attack and damage rolls for a duration of 20 rounds. Note that the enhancement bonus does not stack with a masterwork weapon's +1 bonus on attack rolls, but the bonus to damage applies. Alternatively, Drosk could cast the spell on Bolkin's other flail if he would prefer. Drosk also cast Protection from Evil on Bolkin, granting the guardsman a +2 deflection bonus to AC and a +2 resistance bonus on saves vs. attacks made or effects created by evil creatures (plus additional benefits that may come in handy) for a duration of 20 rounds.

"Now may th' Father o' Creation guide an' protect us all against th' forces o' darkness in th' battle to come. Amen," Drosk prays for a final time, filling each of his companions and himself with a sense of courage and determination.

Cast Bless, granting all allies withn a 50-ft burst a +1 morale bonus on attack rolls and saves against fear effects for a duration of 20 rounds.

So the total buffs and remaining durations are:
Magic Stone on 3 sling bullets (Telperion) : +1 enhancement bonus on attack and damage rolls, each bullet deals 2d6+2 damage against undead; remaining duration approx. 30 minutes.
Magic Weapon (Bolkin's flail): +1 enhancement bonus on attack and damage rolls; remaining duration 18 rounds.
Protection from Evil (Bolkin): +2 deflection bonus to AC and +2 resistance bonus to saves vs. evil creatures; remaining duration 19 rounds.
Bless (entire party): +1 morale bonus on attack rolls and saves vs. fear; remaining duration 20 rounds.

Now let's bust through that door!

Telperion rolled the sling stones around in his hand appreciatively. "Thanks, Drosk."

He turned to look at the others, making sure they were all ready, as he reached out to open the door.

I assume it hasn't been 2 hours since we fought the frogs, so Telperion should still have mage armor giving him a net +2 armor bonus. Raven casts it on herself, as well.

As she watches Drosk hand out blessings, Raven casts mage armor on herself. She draws her scroll of scorching ray. She takes a deep breath.

She looks at Bolkin, Garik, and Telperion, and tries to boost their egos for the fight ahead: "Remember, Grukk should be on his way with help from town. If we can save this girl before they get here, we'll look like badasses." She offers a fairly confident grin to match the bravado. (Bluff 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (13) + 8 = 21)

Conditions in effect on Raven: mage armor, bless (20 rounds)

Just waiting on any info from Bolkin, otherwise, I'm ready to open the door!

Since it's pretty much the end of the semester here, I'll hopefully be less sparse for the coming fight.

Conditions: Magic Weapon, Protection vs. Evil, Bless

Bolkin gave Drosk a quick nod of appreciation as he made his way to the door with Telperion "Can't let all this magic go to waste, can we?".

"We've made it this far," Bolkin uttered with a self-assured grin, "might as well go in there and see if we can't become heroes for real!" With his flail at the ready, and Drosk's blessings at his side, he was prepared to take on whatever was waiting beyond the door.

If need be, Bolkin will take the front.

For marching order, how about Bolkin, Garik, Drosk, Telp, and Raven (assuming single-file)?

Sounds good, except I'll stay up front and open the door. My init mod should give me an opportunity to run if needed. :-)

Seeing the others ready, Telperion opened the doors, his hands trembling slightly with both fear and curiosity.

Telperion opens the doors, the hinges of the great brass doors silently giving way to the chamber beyond. Unsurprisingly this is another crypt, far larger than the ones that came before. The only light inside the room comes from a torch mounted above a sarcophagus, flickering with a pale golden fire. The sarcophagus is open.

The doors open on stairs leading down into the chamber, across which tall pillars march until they reach the dias on which the sarcophagus rests. There is a single form beside the open coffin, that of a comely young woman, apparently unconscious.

The group descends the stairs, thinking for a few precious moments that the 'voice' that Roldare mentioned isn't here.

Just as Bolkin and Garik's feet reach the bottom of the stairs a dry, mirthless laugh echoes around the room. "So," the voice rasps, chilling and otherworldly. "Again Kassen's heroes have come to fight me. I could use more minions in my army," it says, apparently amused.

A form approaches from the group's right, at first glance less gaunt and skeletal than most of their opponents. As it moves, though, it becomes clear it is clad in mail, and wielding a great, wicked-looking sword in its clawed hands. It stops next to the sarcophagus over which the Everflame rests and looks up. Like the rest, it is a skeleton, but with a cold, blue flame in its eyes.

"Come, and meet your fate!"

Round 1 Map

> 22 Telperion
21 Bolkin
16 Raven
16 Skeleton
15 Garik
1 Drosk

I put Telperion in the middle of the marching order since combat did not ensue immediately upon opening the door.

Round #1: Mage Armor (AC 18 ; magic stone; Bless

Telperion felt his curiosity fall away like a dropped stone.

However, the sight of whom he hoped was Dimira and the presence of his friends mastered his alarming level of fear.

Unbidden, his fencing training came to his mind: the number of steps towards the opponent, the value of the pillars and statues as cover, the possibility of more foes in the wings. Meanwhile, the magic stones given him by Drosk felt warm and heavy in his pocket.

Without word, he moved past the others and stepped westward. While quickly glancing around for additional foes, he hurled a magic stone at the creature.

I was going to wait until Bolkin's actions before posting, but I'm heading out and probably won't be available again until Tuesday.

If Bolkin closes into melee range, Raven will try to sneak around the far side to collect Dmira, while the skeleton is occupied.

If Bolkin doesn't immediately close in, Raven will cast her scroll of scorching ray.

In subsequent rounds, if applicable over the weekend, she'll try to take Dmira out the way they came in. If Raven's blocked from reaching her, she'll use her wand of magic missile in combat. She'll only use the scroll if the skelly's not engaged in melee.

Have a good holiday or break!

Knowledge (religion) check to identify exactly what type of undead the talking skeleton warrior is: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (10) + 5 = 15

I think we should focus all of our efforts on taking down the talking skeleton before we try to rescue Dmira - Raven's scorching ray and magic missiles may prove to be critical in helping to defeat this thing before it can kill any of us (and the fact that magic missiles can't miss really helps!). We can take care of Dmira after the enemy is defeated.

Telperion's sling strikes the being unawares, the stone making a satisfying clonk sound. One clawed hand leaves its sword, the item's holy energy clearly having harmed it. Total damage taken by the skeleton: 9

Drosk realizes this isn't quite an ordinary skeleton - for one, none of hte other bones have said much. Eventually the blue light in its eyes clues him in - this is a skeletal champion, a skeleton who has retained - or regained, somehow - its intelligence. From there's a short leap to guess that this might actually be the risen corpse of Asar, the bandit leader from the tale of Kassen.

"Keep your guard up. There might be more of them," Bolkin warned the party before moving to meet the talking skeleton.

"Let me tell you something, you bag of bones," he spoke loudly as he began twirling his flail about. "I don't know what you're doing here, or if you care to tell us, but that's not important to me." Bolkin's voice at this point had taken on an uncharacteristically serious tone. "What's important to me..." With a swift swing of his flail, the head found itself wrapped firmly around the skeleton's sword. "...is that you and your 'army' get out of our sight, one way or another."

With a decisive jerk, the skeleton's sword was ripped firmly out of its hands and landed on the floor in a clatter. Bolkin could only give a satisfied smirk at this development.

Bolkin moves to L-58 and uses the Disarm maneuver on the skeleton.

Round 1, HP 17, AC 17, mage armor active

Emboldened by the party's early success Raven decides to join in the attack. She draws her wand, more confident in the magic missile's aim than her own.

Move action: draw wand
Standard: activate wand
Damage: 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 1 = 2

Belated Merry Christmas, folks. Sorry for the delay.

Raven's missile follows Telperion's, magical force washing over the skeleton's midsection.

The skeleton's blue eyes flare as Bolkin's flail wraps around his blade and drops it to the ground. In response, it returns the favor, grabbing the chain out of the air and deftly jerking it out of the figther's hand, throwing it to the floor at his assailant's feet.

"If you will not submit, then we will just have to cut to the chase. To me, my soldiers!" The familiar sound of rattling bones cries out from the side corridors, a pair of skeletons emerging from each.

Garik hefts his morningstar, looks around, and sprints off to the group's right. "I'll keep these off your back and try to flank 'im!" he says as he crosses through the elf's line of sight. A moment later the head of his weapon meets his opponent, which collapses in a spray of bone shards and clattering extremities, its rib cage shattered by the blow.

Garik can't reach a point where he's not blocking line of sight or standing on difficult terrain.

Round 1 Map

22 Telperion
21 Bolkin
16 Raven
16 Skeleton (Asar) (total damage taken: 11)
16 Skeletons (3) AC 16 (t 12 ff 14) hp 4 Fort +0, Reflex +2, Will +2
15 Garik
>1 Drosk

Round One:

"Keep firin' on th' talkin' skelly!" Drosk advises Telperion and Raven. Then, with a cry of "TORAG!!" the dwarf priest hefts his warhammer and rushes off to the group's left to engage the other pair of skeletons.

Move action 15 ft to square O-56. Standard action to attack skeleton in square P-56.

Attack: 1d20 + 4 + 1 ⇒ (8) + 4 + 1 = 13 (bless)
Damage: 1d8 + 2 ⇒ (2) + 2 = 4 (bludgeoning)

Drosk's AC: 17
Drosk's HP: 16/16

Round 2: Mage Armor (AC 18) ; magic stone; Bless

Telperion tilted his head slightly at Drosk's admonition. The fear and stress of combat was making his head spin a bit. Of course I'll keep fighting the 'talin' skelly'. Why wouldn't I? Is there something bigger around? Maybe he was just making sure I didn't get distracted.

Luckily, Drosk's cry of "Torag!" brought Telperion back to the task at hand.

He flung another magic stone at Asar's frame.

Telerpion cringed a bit as the stone flew very, very wide. He drew his short sword as the other skeletons approached.

After a brief moment of surprise at losing his weapon, Bolkin began speaking even more fiercely. "Heh. Alright, now this is my kind of fight!" He made a move to distract the skeleton by jamming his fingers into its eye sockets as he grabbed his flail. However, this plan didn't quite work out for him as the monster moved its head to the side. The guard decided to take his chance anyway, and quickly ducked to grab his flail, hoping Drosk's magic would make up for his lack of caution.

Bolkin attempts a Dirty Trick to blind as a Standard Action, and picks up his flail as a Move Action.

Asar swipes at Bolkin as he ducks, a skeletal claw tearing into Bolkin's arm yet again. Bolkin takes 4 points of damage.

AoO on Bolkin

Round 2, HP 17, AC 17, mage armor active

Raven steps into the room, watching Telperion's stone go wide, and Bolking take a hit. She fires another missile at Asar.

Move to L55. Damage 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 1 = 5

Note this isn't actually an in-turn action, as Bolkin's merely speaking/gesturing.

HP: 15/22 Conditions: Magic Weapon, Protection Vs. Evil, Bless

Although Bolkin's attempt to recover his weapon didn't go quite according to plan, as the new marks on his arm painfully taught him, watching a magic stone bounce off a nearby pillar and across the floor gave him an idea. He held out his free hand toward Telperion as if telling the elf to wait, and called out just loud enough to hear over the noises of battle, "On my mark..."

Bolkin tries to ask Telperion to delay his initiative after Bolkin's in the hopes of creating an opportunity.

After their many sparring sessions, Telperion easily read Bolkin's body language and understood his words. Something devious was coming. A hopeful smile began to distort the look of fear on the elf's face as he responded. "On your mark!"

Raven's missile strikes the skeletal leader, energy washing over his mail yet again. Total damage taken by Asar: 17

In response, Asar slides forward, making another grab at Bolkin's flail and failing. But as Garik prepares a swing of his morningstar, the skeleton knocks it out of the dwarf's hand.

His minions claw and tear at dwarven flesh, Garik escaping unscathed and Drosk batting aside three grasping phalanges, one making its way past his shield. Drosks takes 5 damage.

The barbarian, startled by the loss of his weapon but ready to make do, rips the waraxe off his belt, grasps it in both hands, smashes it into the remaining skeleton's ribcage and levers it apart as he sidesteps, returning the creature to dust. That includes going into a rage; 1 round spent.

Bolkin began to worry a bit as the skeleton in front of him began advancing on the rest of the party, but he was prepared to put his plan into action regardless.

"Hey, bone-face," Bolkin called out to Asar while gesturing to his flail, "You want this thing so bad?" Having gotten the skeleton's attention, he grasped both the head and handle of his flail in each hand and lunged at the monster. With a vicious downward swing, Bolkin jammed the handle of his flail into one eye socket, and the head into the other.

Bolkin attempts another Dirty Trick maneuver as a standard action to blind Asar.

Since this roll cuts it really close, I'll present the outcome for both scenarios.

---

If the maneuver's successful...

"You can have it!" Bolkin shouted as he worked to keep the weapon in place. Although the handle fit inside with relative ease, the head was too big to fit the whole thing inside. Nevertheless, he was able to get some of the protruding spikes to catch inside the skull cavity, holding the head in place.

Bolkin let go of the flail when he was sure it wouldn't fall out. With his work done, he lept back, pointed at Asar, and shouted "Tel, go for the spine!" Just in case his plan wasn't enough to finish the job, he made sure to ready his old flail.

In this scenario, Bolkin takes a 5-foot step to M-57 and uses his move action to draw his other flail. Asar is now blinded (taking a -2 penalty to AC on top of losing his DEX bonus) and no longer in melee.

---

If the maneuver fails...

Unfortunately, a quick jerk of Asar's head caused the flail to come loose. "Damn!" Bolkin cursed to himself as he briefly fumbled with the flail.

Despite his plan ending in failure, he lept back to give Telperion a clear shot with his last stone. He pointed at Asar and shouted "Fire!"

In this scenario, Bolkin takes a 5-foot step to M-57. Asar is no longer in melee.

I confess that I never took a course on anatomy and high school biology was the better part of a decade ago, but points awarded for effort, if not plausibility.

Consider Bolkin's gambit successful, Telperion, and apply sneak attack when you go.

Round Two:

Drosk grunts in pain as the skeleton's claw tears his flesh. With a grimace he brings his warhammer to bear against one of his foes before taking a step back.

Standard action to attack skeleton in square P-56, followed by 5 ft step back to square N-55.

Attack: 1d20 + 4 + 1 ⇒ (18) + 4 + 1 = 23
Damage: 1d8 + 2 ⇒ (1) + 2 = 3

Drosk's AC: 17
Drosk's HP: 11/16

Round 3: Mage Armor (AC 18) ; magic stone (1 remaining); Bless

"It stuck on the supraorbital foramen!" Telperion yelped with delight.

At only fifteen feet, Telperion could see the spine clearly. He took the last stone and hurled it directly at the blinded enemy.

Telperion skittered quickly behind the towering skeleton, trying to step lightly as he moved.

Round 3, HP 17, AC 17, mage armor active

Raven took heart to see Garik and Drosk fending off the skeletons successfully. She watched hopefully as Bolkin and Telperion put their plan into action. Finally, some teamwork! All in all, they were beginning to work quite well together. Though disappointed that Telperion's stone missed its mark, she joined him in taking advantage of the clear shot at Asar. She drops her wand and lets her scroll unfurl. A fiery ray shoots from her extended palm towards the powerful skeleton.

Don't forget the +1 to attack rolls from Bless; I believe that raises your attack to a 22

And you'll see Telp as he doesn't have concealment or cover from Raven. Either way, your 22 or 23 should easily hit his blind touch armor class, even if we subtract 4. I hope.

Remember that Asar is deprived of his armor and natural armor bonuses due to Scorching Ray being a touch attack, as well as being deprived of his DEX and dodge bonuses due to being blind, and also suffers a -2 penalty to AC on top of all that. Short of having a +11 Deflection Bonus or something like that, I would assume it hits even with firing into melee.

Yeah; even in a worst case scenario, that still beats his AC by a fair margin.

Drosk fares slightly better in his second exchange, striking one skeleton in the jaw, cracking the bone and swiveling the skull about a bit.

As Bolkin jams his flail into the fallen bandit's face he growls, a low and inhuman utterance. As he works to free the weapon, Telperion's stone deflects off the pauldron of his mail, but Raven's scorching ray strikes true, hitting him dead center in the chest and causing a residual glow. That 13 damage brings the total damage dealt to 30.

Asar finally rips the weapon free, and wastes no time in swinging it at the fighter. Bolkin, however, has no problem dodging it; Asar seems to be getting sloppy.

The skeletons follow Drosk, so eager to draw more blood that they stumble over each other, allowing the dwarf to completely avoid all but a single swipe that rings off his shield, causing no lasting harm.

Garik steps back towards the distracted Asar, pulling the light mace off his belt and swinging it with all his might. Asar, his attentions on Bolkin, takes the blow to his side. Eight damage; total damage taken to 38. Garik merely five-foot-steps to J57 so Bolkin and Telperion get the glory.

The blue fire in Asar's eyes starts to gutter, even as he hisses "I will not fall again!"

Round 3 Map

22 Telperion
21 Bolkin
16 Raven
16 Skeleton (Asar) (total damage taken: 11)
16 Skeletons (2) [S1 has 1 hp remaining] AC 16 (t 12 ff 14) hp 4 Fort +0, Reflex +2, Will +2
15 Garik
>1 Drosk

Round Three:

"Bah! Get yerselves back t' th' Boneyard!" Drosk snarls at the two skeletons, swinging his warhammer again at the one he wounded previously while trying to block the other skeleton with his shield.

Standard action to fight defensively (-4 to attack to gain +2 to AC until Drosk's next turn), attacking skeleton S1.
Attack: 1d20 + 4 + 1 - 4 ⇒ (17) + 4 + 1 - 4 = 18
Damage: 1d8 + 2 ⇒ (1) + 2 = 3

With one skeleton dispatched, the dwarf priest takes a step to the side to remain between his other foe and Raven.

5 ft step to square M-55.

Drosk's AC: 19 until the beginning of his turn in Round Four
Drosk's HP: 11/16

Quick question on the map, Zeb. Bolkin said he stepped to M57 during his last round, and you have him in L58 on the map. Perhaps Asar woulda 5-ft stepped to L57 or L58 to attack Bolkin (and thus, hopefully) leave room for Telperion to flank? One hopes?

Telperion is correct. In any case, assuming Asar moved up to hit Bolkin, his next move will depend on Asar's current location.

Bolkin quickly dodged the hasty assault, satisfied that at least someone was able to take advantage of his opening. He quickly took the opportunity to sweep his flail under Asar's feet, but after getting used to the new flail, he found his old one just hard enough to control that the head bounced erratically across the floor.

Muttering under his breath, he moved to create another opening for Telperion.

Trip attempt as a Standard Action. If Asar moved to L-58 to swing at Bolkin, he stays where he is. If Asar moved to L-57, Bolkin will five-foot step up to M-56.

Round 4: Mage Armor (AC 18) ; HP 10/13; Bless

Telperion glanced dubiously at the edge of his short sword, took a deep breath and stepped up behind Asar.

He glimpsed what looked like a promising vertebrae and swiped at it, tentatively and much too slow.

That would have been the one to hit, though, he thought remorsefully.

Round 4, HP 17, AC 17, mage armor active

Raven was disappointed that the relatively powerful scroll didn't finish off Asar. She picked up the wand and fired another missile at him.

Move: pick up wand.
Action: activate wand
Damage: 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 1 = 3

Whoops - I did forget to move Bolkin. I adjusted Asar and Garik's positions to account for this (thankfully none of their moves became illegal - I think). Not that it matters because...

Raven's missile flies unerringly towards its target, arcing around Bolkin to strike the skeletal leader in the chest once again. Whatever energies were holding it together begin to fray, the one-time bandit leader's old bones making resounding cracks. The bones begin to dissolve to dust even as the figure slumps forward, his mail clattering on the stone floor.

Barely louder than a whisper, yet strangely resonant, the shadow of Asar's voice speaks: "My second chance..."

As Asar collapses, so does his lone remaining minion. The crypt returns to silence - which is comforting in its own right. The only living - or moving - thing in the chamber is Dimira, her chest rising and falling as she draws breath. The Everflame flickers briefly over the open sarcophagus.

Congratulations, folks - you have defeated the angry bones and their leader. Everyone receives 600 xp (for this and a few other feats which I forgot to award xp for).

Telperion could hear his own breathing in the silence. He looked around rapidly, but with a growing calm. Straightening up from his crouch, he took a moment to survey the faces of his friends, making sure they were all safe.

His eyes turned to Dimira. "Drosk...what's wrong with...I mean...can I help...or...do you need..." He trailed off and walked over to give what help he could.

Though acutely aware that the girl they came to save may still be injured or worse, Raven can't stifle a celebration to see the skeleton of Asar drop.

"YEAH! Suck on THAT! Here's ... a freaking FLAIL in your eye! Man, Bolkin, where'd you learn to jam a flail in a skeleton's eye socket!? That was awesome!"

She walks over to kick whatever's left of Asar's bones, but instead notices the mail left behind (and mostly intact). She picks it up, and looks to Telperion to ask him if he thinks it's original, but then sees his concern for the girl, and she thinks better of asking him. "Yeah, we can check this later," she mumbles to herself, realizing how childish her celebration had been. But while the others check to Dmira, again feeling useless, she goes ahead and casts detect magic on the mail. She'll tell them about it on the walk back to town.

Drosk nearly falls over as he swings his warhammer through the space where Asar's skeletal minion stood just a split-second before. After a momentary stumble he regains his balance and surveys the rest of the chamber.

"Well now, that weren't so hard! Nice shootin', Raven!" the dwarf priest compliments the sorceress.

His eyes turned to Dimira. "Drosk...what's wrong with...I mean...can I help...or...do you need..." He trailed off and walked over to give what help he could.

"Aye, lad. Let me see t' her," Drosk replies with concern evident in his voice as he moves over to examine Dmira. "There now, lass. Ye're among friends an' safe now," he says soothingly to the young woman.

Take 10 on a Heal check to examine Dmira for a total of 18.
If Dmira is wounded, Drosk will use a charge from the CLW wand on her: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (8) + 1 = 9