Jilhanna responds, "Oh my, that is most unlike Uncle Jimes." She ponders for a moment and ends up shrugging and saying, "Well, I better get back. I'm sorry Isabella, I was looking forward to the rest of the trip! I'll see you when you get back."
With that, Jilhanna says her goodbyes and makes her way back up the slope and out of sight.
Isabella rolls her eyes when Dart tries to kiss her hand, but allows it. "I see the trek through the woods hasn't hindered your ability to flirt shamelessly. Did you have any trouble? We encountered a wolf last night, along with some 'orcs' that turned out to just be Holgast playing a nasty trick on us."
Her face grows concerned when she hears Dart's actual reason for coming. "I hope everything is alright. It's unusual for Jimes to be noticeably upset, and I doubt he would have interrupted this trip without a very good reason. Be safe on the trip back Isabella; climb a tree or something if you encounter any more wolves. I'll let you know how it went once we're back with the Everflame."
Torian nods in appreciation as Isabella makes the mud (if not the pain and blow to his pride) vanish. He is about to say as much when the man comes bounding down after them. His response is swift from practice: axe out in one hand, shield in the other. He is about to engage when the man speaks and he notices the looks of recognition on the faces of his companions. Seeing Jihanna bound off, he shakes his head.
"Lad, eye'm hopin' ye though' t' bring provishens. She seems t' be taken th' ones provided with 'er." Not lowering his axe or shield, the dwarf gives the man a once over.
"Name's Torian, o' clan Marcath, 'umble servant o' Torag. Cannaugh say eye'm acquainted with ye."
"Greetings Dart, welcome to the adventure."
Galin ponders, and before starting off again, "Torian, do you still have that sword? maybe see if Dart can use it."
"Oh, right. I forgot I had that thing."
Isabella offers a masterwork short sword to Dart. "We found this on a body near the lake. No idea who they were; they weren't from Kassen was all I could tell. But the blade's good. Galin and I can't really use it, and Torian prefers axes, so it's yours if you want it."
Dart smiles at Isabella.
Not at all, gotta keep a reason for pep in your step after all. You will be one for me out here. He gives a small bow of his head and a grin before turning to Torain.
Can't say I have heard of you either friend, but well met. Thank you for helping keep these folk outa trouble. Unless of course, you are the one getting them into it? He lets out a laugh before turning back to Galin and Isabella
Good'day Galin, hope you're doing well.
he takes the short sword and glances it over before swinging it a couple of times.
Seems well made. Well weighted. Sure I could find a way to make use of it. Any idea what happened to the person it used to belong to?
Torian gives the man a look reserved for entitled people in the market insisting that you must work there and have an obligation to help them find an item at the stall you were just trying to get your evening's ham at. Shaking his head, he ignores his comment and proceeds to answer.
"'e be dead fer ah few months now. Found 'im by th' lake stinken' somethen' foul, weird circler puncture wunds on 'is stomach. Nothen' taken from 'im, naugh enough o' 'im missen t' be wolven."
Isabella cleans her clothes with relief and once Torian makes it down, she prestidigitates him as well, even though it takes multiple castings to get all of the mud off. She and Torian realize that they are dry as well for a few moments, but that doesn't last long as the rain continues.
Galin continues to lead them onward toward the crypt and, though the rain continues, once they make it back into the forest they gain some cover from it. They continue on into a narrow valley on the opposite side of the gorge and after about an hour they come to a small clearing, the sun setting as they approach the entrance to the Crypt of the Everflame. An archway of stone is set into the side of a small hill at the bottom of the valley. Moss has overgrown many of the details, but one is still quite clear. The keystone of the arch is carved with a flame symbol with a stylized rune in the middle. Beyond the archway is a darkened tunnel that leads to a pair of massive wooden doors, one of which is slightly ajar. A pair of horses and a trio of ponies lie slaughtered next to the archway, each corpse still tied to a post set into the ground nearby. A swarm of flies hangs lazily in the air above them.
Isabella glances at the sky again. "We should probably get going; we can talk more while we walk. I really don't want to have to spend another night camping in the woods."
The first thing Isabella sees is the slaughtered animals, causing her to freeze. Live mounts would imply people, which would be worrying enough way out here. Dead ones imply people and something else, something powerful enough to kill the horses either without their owner’s knowledge or without them being able to stop it.
She whispers, ”I’m going to check for magic. There’s a chance this is another illusion, although I can’t imagine Holgast following us all the way out here.”
Torian sees the carnage and immediately scans the area for threats.
"Weapon's out, all. No sense in bein' unpreppered."
Of course, the dwarf had his weapon and shield ready before they even arrived, so he keeps them ready to deal with whatever might have killed the mounts.
Scanning the area Isabella detects no signs of magic in the vicinity. Torian spots a couple crows picking at the dead animals but no signs of danger in the area. A closer look at the bodies will have to be performed to determine any more information.
Torian drops his guard a micrometer realizing there is no danger imminent.
"Looks li'e wha'e'r did this has moved elsewhe'e. If'n we're lucky, off'n t' o'er places, bu' eye'm doubten' tha'."
Approaching, he takes his time examining the bodies of the mounts, inspecting to see what killed them and how long ago. He also examines the overgrown runes on the entrance way, trying to discern their meaning.
Derick keeps his rapier and shortsword in hand as he walks around the remains.
I wager whatever did this wasn't an animal. Do you think its bandits?
He moves closer to the doors, looking in and trying to get a better look into the room behind the mildly ajar door door.
”Bandits would have stolen the horses, and animals would have eaten them. I don’t know what would have caused this. Torian, do you think it was the same thing that killed the person at the lake?”
Not having the stomach to examine the corpses herself, Isabella turns her attention to the ground and starts looking for tracks. The horses had to have come from somewhere, and so did whatever killed them.
"Oh my!" Galin takes a close look at the mounts to see if he can ascertain anything about their death.
Galin also readies his spear and ready's his flag as well.
"It looks like ..."
Pulling out the bedroll, pillows, rations and blunted arrows from the few saddlebags that had anything salvageable, Torian sets them in a small pile away from the creatures. He then takes the time to remove the bone and hands it to Galin.
"Wotever killed this lo' lef' this behin'. No sign o' eaten, 'n' most bandits woul' o' found ah use fer live horses eye'm think'en."
"Dart, did you see anything in the crypt? The door's ajar, do you think people might have run in there?"
Isabella isn't sure what to do in this situation. It's getting late, she really doesn't want to camp outside if there might be a horse-killing monster around, but she also doesn't want to go in the crypt if there might be a horse-killing monster in there.
Taking a closer look at the items Torian pulled out only adds to her confusion. "Pillows? Blunted arrows? What were these people planning on doing with those?"
On the bright side, whoever owned these horses probably isn't a threat. I can't imagine bandits lugging around pillows!
not a lot I'm afraid darling. All I can make out is a dark dank room. Though, wait... theres a ledge with what looks like items on it. I can't make out what they are though. Want I should scout it out? Dart calls back to the group. Still nearby the door listening incase he heres something from within.
Galin looks the bone over and tests how hard it is. Based on the brittleness and yellowed appearance, he would guess that it is at least 100 years old if not more.
Galin looks at the bone and tries to think...
"That's pretty crazy, what would a 100 + year old bone be doing here? Well. If you are sneaky, it might be a good idea to take a look Dart."
"Well now... Ah 'undred years ago ya say... tha' 'ould put it abou' th' time o' Kessen's battle with Vergas... ah odd find indeed."
Isabella's frown deepens. "An old bone?" She looks at the crypt. "I mean, logically it had to come from in there, but how would it have gotten out here? Did...did whatever killed the horses bring it from inside the crypt?"
"Dart, I think you should look inside, but be careful. Don't go too far, and either get back out or call for help if you see anything."
Calling out to the man within, Torian seems somewhat concerned. "Aye, daunaught go very far laddy... naugh tellin' wha' be within, 'n' eye'm naught th' fastest in th' bunch."
Well, this place is called a crypt, it would make sense that they would have at least used it as one. If only for a while.
He moves to peek through the door again, weapons in hand.
Alright, If I shout RUN!, come help me, if I shout HELP! Then run. Got it memorized? Good He gives a small smile before disappearing into the dim crypt entrance, sticking to the shadowed areas.
Dart opens the door slowly, ready for anything, watching for dark areas to cling to. The door swings open and he realizes that, with the sun now below the horizon, he can’t see a thing inside the crypt. He can’t even see the objects he saw before, it’s almost pitch black.
Torian places the items taken from the corpses far enough inside the tomb as to not get rendered useless by subsequent rains.
Heading a short ways after Dart, but not close enough to see into the doorway yet, he calls to him in a loud whisper, "Can ye see in there, laddy?"
Too loud Torian Galin cringes, and in a quiet whisper, "Torian, let the man sneak."
Dart pokes about at the entrance a little ways before sighing and coming back out.
Sorry folks, I can't really go in without a light, and even my great abilities can't hide me while carrying a torch in the dark.
Torian nods and pokes his head into the room to get a better look.
More bones... and what is that in the center?
Torian then looks a the columns and at the floor, checking to see if any of the classic tells are present for hidden features like doors or pits.
Satisfied with his initial observations, he withdraws and closes the door softly.
"Well, it's ah righ' mess in there." He then proceeds to tell them what he saw.
"Eye'm o' th' opinion tha' we probably should rest fer th' night before carryin' on. M' ribs 'r' still sore from tha' fall a' th' end o' th' hill, 'n haven' t' use torches fer you lot t' see seems li'e ah bad idea."
"You said you saw an 'unmoving shape'. Do you think it was a person? I agree we should rest before exploring too much, but unmoving doesn't necessarily mean dead. I think we should check on that first to make sure it isn't someone who's injured."
Isabella looks very worried by her own suggestion, but resolute. Unless someone stops her, she'll light a torch and go take a closer look.
Torian doesn't spot anything unusual about the stonework but the form in the middle of the room does appear to be humanoid. Its hard to tell from this distance its condition.
"I agree Isabella," Galin follows as someone and examines the bones and the unmoving shape for some sign of what happened.
Isabella lights the torch and moves cautiously into the crypt. Using the dim light from the torch, she examines the person for any signs of life, as well as looking around the crypt for signs of what might have happened.
Torian shrugs and follows them, axe in hand.
Isabella slowly opens the door to the crypt the light from the newly lit torch illuminates the entrance hall in soft dim light. The ceiling is 15 ft high and the shadows from the columns flicker in the torch light as she and Galin enter the large room. Two raised landings on either side become evident and these must be the elevated space that Dart saw in the waning light of the evening. As she walks in, she sees the piles of bones that Torian saw from the entrance and more become apparent, after having a look around. Two...Three...Four...Five...Six piles of bones, all yellowed with age lay scattered across the room in addition to the body in the middle, for it is indeed expired.
Galin goes over and looks at the body and realizes a couple things about it almost instantly. First is that it has only been dead about a day and second, even though it has been attacked in the same manner as the horses and ponies outside, it is Vark, a personal friend of the mayor. His stomach has a severe wound to the abdomen and his face has been jagged slashes across the front with a look of horror frozen in his features.
Isabella notices the 6 piles of bones and spots another body behind one of the back columns. It now appears that there are discarded scimitars in various states of disrepair as well as chain shirts scattered among the bones. Some of the scimitars' blades are snapped in half, and some are just dinged and knicked enough to render them almost unusable but all are rusted to some degree or another. Set on edge by the gruesome sight of Vark, she feels aware of the whole room.
Just as Isabella and Galin have a chance to take in their discoveries, Isabella notices movement out of the corner of her eye. She turns her head to look at the movement, and she swears she sees one of the piles of bones shifting. Starting in alarm, she points to the bones and they all watch as first one and then another and then all of the bones begin to rattle and jiggle and lift themselves from the floor and the skeletons rise to a standing position all across the room. Galin looks back to Isabella and then glances back toward the body of Vark and nearly squeaks in fear as the body begins to shift and clamber to its feet, its eyes dead and cold, and all of these creatures begin to move toward the adventurers.
Isabella gasps as she recognizes the body. "Oh gods, it's Vark!"
Her horror rapidly turns to terror as she sees the bones start getting up. They're bones, they shouldn't be standing, why are they standing?!
Then Vark stands up as well, and Isabella completely panics.
We're surrounded it's just like the orcs except this is real Torian was right we shouldn't have come in here we're all going to die...
She flees to the doorway, then pauses. I can't just leave them in there! But what should I do? Remembering how quickly she'd 'died' to the orcs, she frantically chants, causing a shimmer to appear around her. "Everyone get out of there!" And if they chase us, I'll, I'll...I'll think of something!
The skeletons shamble toward you all but focusing on Galin and Torian as they are the most forward figures for them to reach. In addition, the skeleton closest to Torian also claws at him with it's fingers.
The Scimitar bounces off the magical barrier that Isabella has constructed around herself, Dart nimbly dodges the one strike against him, the armor on Galin's shoulder deflects one blow and he dodges the other. Torian's heavy armor deflects a scimitar and a claw but the last broken scimitar finds a joint at his shoulder and digs into his body, its jagged, bent blade jammed in the armor. The eerie quiet only broken by Isabella's outburst, the soft patter of rain outside, and the clatter of the skeletons.
Torian grits his face in pain as the attack hits the weak point of his armor.
"Great. Grab ah hammer, skels naugh vulnerable t' much else." He takes a step forward and attempts to slice into the zombified Vark.
And absolutely misses. Cursing in dwarven, he says, "This un will ta'e slashen jus' fine, assumin ye can 'it it."
Dart side steps to get flanking on one of the skeletons draws his sap and strikes at the pelvis area of the skeleton but is unable to bring the shortsword in his other hand to bare.
Thanks for the heads up, easy enough.
Round 1!
HP 9/9
Channel Energy 4/5
Galin raises a fist high and shouts, “you have no place here!