Rossana pops a coin into the slot. It disappears and as it does an ethereal passage opens on the ground to the side of the shelf.
"You are the only one that really understands this stuff, Sir Bimble. Shouldn't you stay in case this causes one of us to get stuck. So you can figure out how to get us back?" Sara suggests and then realizes the only proper thing to do after that is to volunteer herself, so with a steady hand on the pommel of the rapier and incased in her sheet armor, she steps on to it.
Capricia rushes forward to follow Sara if possible, just in case someone or something unfriendly lies beyond the strange portal.
Sara steps through the portal and vanishes from everyones sight, finding herself, once again someplace unfamiliar. Moments Later Capricia follows behind and steps into the stairway with Sara. After a time the others follow and one by one are transported to the set of stairs. The magical door from whence you came appears on the wall behind you. A set of stairs rises to the north. The northern end of this hall ends with an elaborate brass lever.
A single hooded lantern rests on the ground here, flickering with a blue light, illuminating the hall and the group.
"I guess we just need to work this level, then?" Rossana suggests as Marcus goes about checking the contraption. Once he's finished checking, Rossana goes ahead and pulls the level to see what happens.
Marcus walks slowly toward the brass lever, dagger in hand. As he gets closer, he examines the lever for traps.
"We are still alive." Sara sighs in relief, and gives people a smile as they emerge from the door.
Capricia keeps her falcata at the ready. She lets the others check out and fiddle with the objects and levers; she stays ready if a threat should suddenly materialize.
Marcus and Bimble both look over the door, but don't find anything concerning, so Rossana moves to pull the lever. A secret door opens in the middle of the wall granting access to another area.
Chiseled stone statues of Taldan Phalanx soldiers stand atop plinths in the outer corners, visible from any point in this ominous hall. Sturdy wooden doors line the outer edge of the hall: two to the east, two to the south, two to the west, and a single larger door to the north.
"This may take a while," Rossana comments looking at the large number of doors Marcus would need to check. "Does any have any opinions on which one we should try first? I think the big door looks the most interesting." Her swishing tail reveals her growing lack of worry as curiosity takes over.
As you sit in the musty room with the nobles you wait in near silence, but after some time you swear you hear the faintest sounds, possibly of voices. Whether there really are voices or it is just in your head is a little difficult to tell with how long you've been waiting quietly.
"It usually means something important." Sara shrugs, torn between the exactment of having an adventure and the reality of people being killed something in this place.
Where you stand in the hallway is still caked in dust. There are no immediate signs of magic apparent.
Once Marcus has done his thing at the larger door, Capricia will lead the party through it cautiously.
Marcus starts to feel a sense of danger buzzing around him. Enemies could come from all sides, and he had nothing more than a dagger at his side. But seeing the looks from his companions, he moves toward the largest door slowly, looking all the way for signs of anything that could cause them harm.
Marcus moves up to the closest door and checks it for traps. As he is looking at it, the wall next to him seems to move as if coming to life. The torso of a humanoid figure with jagged claws extends outward from the wall, its features patterned with the texture of the structure around it.
Both of the creatures claws scrape into Marcus tearing at his flesh.
This is a type of undead creature called a walcofinde. They are created from humanoids who were intentionally buried alive.
A walcofinde in a sealed chamber, slowly regains health over time. They also can merge with walls providing them with additional protection from attacks and an extended reach with their claws.
"What I- MARCUS!" the young baker yells out as his flesh is torn by the claws "Whether it be guard or demon, we cannot let to kill our friend!" Sara announces (a little too dramatically) as she draws the borrowed rapier.
Rossana jumps at the sudden attack, her fur standing on end for a moment. She hesitates for a moment, but upon seeing the blood spray from Marcus, she quickly reaches forward and lays a hand on him, chanting, "Let the light wrap this creature and give him life!"
Sara inspires the others with her call to battle as she draws her weapon. Rossana reaches out and heals Marcus of some of his wounds.
The foul undead reaches out to claw at Marcus again but now aware of the threat Marcus manages to avoid the attacks.
Taking the long way around to avoid any opportune claw attacks, Capricia swoops into flanking position opposite Marcus and slashes at the strange undead monster.
for
With that said, Otavio takes the final step forward and mumbles a prayer to Cayden for help and strength. Fighting another man is easy. Fighting something that bursts out of the walls? Shivers run up and down his spine, but what must be done must be done. Forward, soldier, forward.
And he opens the door, ready to trade steel with the wicked walldweller.
Rossana readies her knife, her light spell still attached, but hesitates to move forward. She had had little practice in self-defense, and definitely not with anything thing like this. Getting any closer seemed quite foolhardy. What do I do?
The moment he feels the first claw sink into his flesh, a glaze comes over Marcus's eyes, heat flowing from the wound to his fingertips wrapped around his knife. He barely feels the healing from Rossana wash over him and barely hears Bimble's shout about the nature of the creature. Focusing totally on the creature in front of him, Marcus lashes out with his dagger with no wasted movement, but using a mostly unfamiliar weapon causes him to miss by a large margin.
The miss snaps him out of his trance, and he shouts his thanks to Rossana.
"I needed that! Now let's bring this thing down!"
"Walcofinde? This is insane, why is there a separate undead for buried alive?!?" Sara askes with more than a little exasperation. Stepping forward she'll stab with her rapier, trying to remember her lessons, while making it clear to the thing "Not to belittle your death, but We Did Not Do This To You!" she shouts "So pass on already!"
Bimble and Marcus work together to try and attack the undead but don't have any luck and instead Marcus only manages to stab the wall. Capricia on the other hand, brings her weapon down squarly on the undead creature cutting into it. Rossana stands by in shock as Sara joins the others in the attack. She also connects with the creature, stabbing it. However, it still seems to be alive.
It turns it's attention toward Capricia with her being the greatest threat so far and reaches out with its horrid claws.
It claws away a bit of Capricia's skin with the first attack, but she manages to avoid the second. As you are fighting, you see a light heading toward you from the branch of the hallway to the west.
"Someone see to whatever's coming up the hallway!" Capricia growls as she again slashes the strange undead. "I'll see if I can finish this thing off!"
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Don't forget to add +1 attack and damage for the bardic performance, Capricia.
Rossana turns at the new light source, now on edge. Holding her dagger out protectively in front of her, she moves toward the light. She goes to shout at the approaching figure, but a loud bark comes out instead, her tongue failing her.
Bimble moves behind Capricia and enhances her with some form of magic. Capricia strikes at the undead again, this time severing it's spine as it flops out of the wall onto the ground un-moving. Marcus moves near Rossana and takes up a defensive potions with her. Sara joins Rossana and Marcus to defend against the possibly new threat and suddenly a man comes rushing around the corner, surprised to find a group of people standing there. In one hand he holds a sunrod, in the other a dagger.
Before anyone can say anything another one of the undead pops out from the wall, it extends it's claws to grasp at Capricia.
It slashes across Capricia's chest with the first claw, but the second glances off her armor.
Marcus hears the commotion behind him, and is already moving as he turns to see another of the strange undead creatures burst from the wall. He stays close to the wall and flicks his wrist once he has a clear shot, tossing his dagger at the creature.
Though she's bleeding pretty badly after the newest monster's sudden attacks, Capricia proved her bravery by standing her ground and slashing at the new arrival. Unfortunately, she seems to have been weakened by the onslaught, and her attack misses by a wide margin.
for
Marcus flings the dagger at the undead, not concerned with the newcomer for now. It is an incredibly well made throw and nearly cracks the creatures spine with the well placed attack. However, it still seems to be clinging on to its miserable existence.
Seeing that the figure was not a horrible phantom or the like, Rossana turns back to the new monster and goes to attack, swing her short blade without much grace.
"Ho-ho-ho! I'm a friend!" The man's voice is razor sharp thanks to all the stress he's under and he points his sword at a wallclawer. "My group got attacked by the wallclawers too, I'm here to help!"
The brown haired baker lowers her rapier at the sight of a normal person, then her eyes grow wide at another of the creatures coming out of the walls. "Do they just keep coming, or do they ever stop?" she asks the stranger since he's faced them before.
"Capricia, maybe step back from the walls. It might not being able to travel anywhere but on them. Maybe?" Sara really doesn't sound sure of herself at the suggestion.
Rossana manages to stab it and inflict some damage but not enough to end it. The others either deal with the newcomer or turn their attention back toward the undead. The undead, however turns it's attention to the closest enemy that had injured, in this case Rossana.
It reaches out to claw at her, but Rossana manages to avoid the blows.