Don't despair, I'm certain things will get lively enough, and extraordinarily so, soon...
Nikolai is the first, and for a crucial moment the only one, to spot the Caligni lurking behind the wash tub and furnishings set up as a makeshift barricade at the far end of the room. There are three of them taking cover with small crossbows at the ready.
"Finally! Was wondering where they'd all gone." The narrow tunnel gets briefly much warmer and brighter as Bashuk spins another spiral of fire into being. Stepping up to peer around the corner frowns when she doesn't see anything. "Uh, Nicolai? I don't see anything..."
Shontar readied his crossbow, while moving forward and hoped to see a target.
Chao runs through his allies and towards the enemies behind the barricade. In a surprising move, he takes off and flies over the barricade landing in the middle of the enemies.
"Friends! There are more than the foes around ahead of us. Behind that wall, there are more." Nikolai shouts, hearing the scurrying of Caligni feet and noticing the small draft collecting dust from the ground. "Trust me, I have not led you wrong yet." The scholar quickly says to Bashuk as his eyes fixate on the enemy ahead.
Grabbing another small vial, Nikolai drinks it back quickly and feels a warmth spread through his being. The latent magic that all people have coalesces in front of him as his concoction acts as a catalyst for him to focus it into a shield. The glimmer, shard-like protection fades after a second as he ducks into the hallway.
"The secret door is on the southern wall of the room. Just keep an eye on it, don't let them flank use." He murmurs to the others. Nikolai knew how to fight but he would not be the one to charge first into the breach. Better to let the others in the heavier armor go first.
No quarter! Have a care for their tricks and traps!
Sasha, attack!
As Nikolai downs his potion, the Caligni loose their first volley of poisoned bolts. Although he is caught momentarily unawares, Kain's armor holds fast against the attack. The cavalier is unharmed, even though he now has a pair of small crossbow bolts lodged in the cuirass of his o-yoroi.
Nikolai rushes out after the volley goes off, ducking through the hall as the Caligni curse and do their best to reload as fast as possible. He skirts off to the side, moving to where the secret door is with his rapier in hand.
Shontar bravely moves next to Kain into the line of fire and releases a crossbow bolt.
Sasha pounces into the middle of the Calingi, trying to take a bite of one...
Valeska follows up , using Sasha as a flanking partner. From Chaos and Darkness, we make Order and Light!
In a flurry of movement, the front line of Caligni are caught in a pincer between Valeska, Sasha, and Chao - the latter of whom lands behind the foes' front line with all three within punching distance.
One suffers a bite upon the leg from Sasha, whilst another - distracted by Chao's sudden landing - suffers a nearly fatal wound from the countess' starknife.
In response, the Caligni drop their crossbows and draw their knives, which they turn upon their attackers.
These quick knife thrusts prove utterly futile. Sasha evades, Valeska parries, and Chao catches the wrist of his attacker. Ironically, this maneuver by the monk has the unintended effect of jerking his opponent's head aside, out of the path of Shontar's bolt.
Nikolai watches in amazement as his allies surge over the Caligni's defended position, attacking with blade, claw, and fist. Shontar's shot goes wide but in the mess of limbs and cover, he doesn't blame the elf at all.
<"Right beside me here. I swore I heard movement on the other side."> Nikolai quickly responds with, readying his weapon for the attack.
Kain moves to aid Valeska. Aiming a slash at the caligni's arm. His banner displayed from his back.
Shontar quickly reloades and shoots another bolt. "This one's gonna hit."
The Dark Creeper tries to attack Chao with his dagger, but the monk's flowing moves make it difficult for the enemy to stay on his feet.
Chao's dance however doesn't impress the Creeper.
Chao tries to drop the Creeper that attacked him.
With the Creeper on the ground, Chao spin-kicks him in the head to make him dizzy.
He then turns to the one standing next to his prone enemy and in a single move tries to flip this one to the ground as well.
But fails.
Chao's spin kick nearly knocks the wind from the Caligni's lungs. Although the foe resists seeing stars from the blow, he remains on his side on the ground.
With its fiery, explosive force, Bashuk's elemental blast nearly rends apart the Caligni caught between Sasha and Chao.
Kain wades into the fray and fells the Caligni wounded by Countess Valeska's starknife.
The door to the secret passage opens with a dusty hiss, and a new foe leaps forward - or at least, he attempts to. His surprise attack is countered as Valda practically buries the blade of her sword in his flank. This gives you a fleeting moment to appreciate that this Caligni is clearly stronger, sturdier than the others you have faced so far.
The badly wounded leader of this ambush party makes two quick thrusts at the paladin, but she turns them aside with well-practiced celerity.
Nikolai makes his own attack against the Caligni captain, but the foe's thick leather and wrappings absorb the blow.
To his credit, Shontar is correct: his latest crossbow shot does hit its target. Unfortunately, it only gets caught in his target's thick cloak and wrappings, the sharp head of the bolt failing to find flesh.
From the formerly hidden passage behind the Caligni captain, two more ambushers emerge with their knives drawn. One attempts to aid his captain against Valda, while the other reaches around the doorframe to stab at Nikolai.
Armor and speed serve the mismatched pair of heroes well, for the poisoned daggers fail to find their mark.
Nikolai's prediction comes true as the door opens and out pours the enemy forces, moving to take the strikes of those prepared for him. His rapier is lodged in the dark stalker's cloak, tangled up and parried to no effect. He strikes out again at the man as he moves forward and is struck by Valda's massive blade.
Valda's greatest left a telling blow on the stalker and Nikolai senses an opportunity to reduce the number of threatening opponents immediately. He takes a moment to study the way the enemy fights with his blades, taking in the style and predilections of the stalker before adapting his own style of combat to match. Moving in, he capitalizes on the flaws of the enemy and seeks to end him as fast as he can.
"Do not forget their death throes! Make sure you back away as best you can if you strike one down!" Nikolai reminds his companions as he takes a quick step back to fall in line with Valda and move closer to the cluster of allies behind them.
"Well that's no good, they're gonna be cut off!" Bashuk abandons her cover and moves up the hallway, trying to get a better angle of attack against the enemy ambush team. "Haven't had enough yet, have you?!" the half-orc yells as she sends another hissing arc of fire spraying from her hands.
As Nikolai strikes a quick, opportunistic blow against the Caligni captain, Bashuk practically reduces one of his followers to mere cinders with her absolutely devastating blast.
Kain simply turns and slices the nearest threat with his longsword.
Valda and Nikolai prove to be a potent duo in combat, for they soon dispatch the Dark Stalker who led this ambush party before he even has a chance to deliver a second battery of swings with his own blades.
Perhaps learning a trick from Chao, Sasha takes a running start before vaulting off the tunnel wall to sail past the last Caligni manning the barricade. Thus, Valeska and her eidolon catch the poor foe in a pincer. Sasha holds the Caligni fast with another bite, allowing the countess to deliver a blow from her starknife with deadly precision.
An almost instant death causes the slain foe to combust into a brilliant burst of light as its body is wracked by its death throes. Fortunately, Valeska, Sasha, and Chao all shield their eyes in time and are not blinded by the light.
The last Caligni ambusher clutches a thickly gloved hand to the stomach wound dealt by Kain. He drops his weapon and, realizing his plight, begs for mercy.
Nikolai watches as the final Caligni raises his hand in the air, begging for his life as they clutched the wound that Kain had left upon him. Nodding in satisfaction, the investigator from Lepidstadt slowly puts away his blade into the sheath on his side.
"Well then, that was quite exciting." Nikolai says nervously, grinning from underneath his goggles. "Well done everyone. Your reputation from Ravengro is certainly deserving." Taking a drink from his waterskin, he turned his attention onto the Caligni before him. "Shall we take him prisoner and have him show us the way or store him upstairs with the other?"
Valeska slightly winded, seems none the worse for wear. We must hurry, time is of the essence... bring them.
Nikolai nods, leaving the tying of the prisoner with the other and more capable members as he maneuvers past the fallen bodies of Caligni that lay before them.
"I'll take point again, keep an eye out for any further dangers. Just stay a bit behind me." The scholarly investigator offers as he makes his way down the ruined hallway, his eyes searching every little crack for danger.
Just beyond the now ruined barricade, on the left the hallway opens up onto a wide open space, revealing an old chapel. Tatters of tapestries caked in dust and mildew hang along the walls, and brittle wooden pews line the floor in quiet obedience. A stone altar yet sits ensconced in the curved western end, surrounded by heaped debris. Whatever icons or holy symbols that may have once adorned it have long since been plundered, though.
The hallway continues beyond the chapel, first offering a narrow side passage tucked into the corner before running northwards towards a crypt. Another side passage opens eastward, but the masonry walls and flagstone floors give way to natural hewn earth and stone, showing where professional construction gave way to crude but deliberate digging.
The captive Caligni nervously casts an eye behind him towards his fallen, dying kin. He is visibly frightened by their imminent, dramatic death throes as the last of their life drains away.
Nikolai carefully maneuvers down the hallway, avoiding the decrepit chapel for now and instead following where his instinct takes him. He approaches the middle of the hall where, to the right of him, the hasty signs of digging show. Up ahead though was every sign of a crypt and there was a thrill of excitement down his spine of the possibility of who was interned there, what stories they held, what artifacts could be reclaimed.
"It appears we are pass their initial line of defense. I found no more traps so far. We can press down below into the dark or investigate the crypt up ahead. I am ready for whatever choice you all wish to make."
Valeska notes the nervous Caligni. Let's get out of here before the fireworks begin.
i trust your assessment, Nikolai... onward. Sasha, protect him. She indicates Nikolai.
"A choice? A choice!" Nikolai thought to himself, biting his lip for a moment as he looked between the hastily dug passageway and the crypt up ahead. The former was the more obvious route; it would bring them into encounters with more of the Caligni and the resolution of their current quest. Yet the mystery of a crypt within a fortress that was believed to be lost was so appealing that he could not deny his curiosity.
"It would be prudent to check for any enemies that may ambush us from behind as well as secure any relics of the fallen from this place. Ustalav never forgets and, to bring home such honored prizes, would only be right." Nikolai said, convincing himself as much as the rest of the party. He would hurry past the way, looking towards the strange beast that walked alongside him. "I-I've never encountered such a creature like yourself. Would...would you mind if I took notes on you?" Nikolai asked softly before reaching the door to the crypt. He would put it under his scrutiny like everything else here, checking for traps both recent and ancient. Places like this were well protected.
The Caligni in tow merely sneers when Nikolai makes his request. However, when the first of his fallen kin's death throes illuminate the hall behind you with their dramatic flourish, he winces and utters a whimper. Still, he offers no confirmation or denial.
In the crypt, Nikolai finds the graves surprisingly undisturbed - at least in the case of the bodies. While the fallen Ustalavic and Lastwall defenders of Valorforge remain in state within the niches lining the walls, their grave goods are nowhere to be seen. Any weapons, shields, gold, or silver once interred with them has been removed; whether by orcs or Caligni, though, remains to be seen.
Of course, it is also a small blessing that none of the bodies rise, groaning, from their resting places to accost Nikolai or the rest of the party.
Sasha lets out a chuff in response to the scholar.
Heh, whether by them or us they would have been. The dead have no use for material goods.. when I pass I only hope I leave my weapons in good hands. Lets see if we can reacquire the lost items and put them in the hands that those resting here would be glad to have them. Kain replies to Valda before hefting his shield.
Onward. The longer we tally, the more likely complications arise.
Nikolai laughs hard and quick at Kain's comment, looking at the general and shaking his head as he looks over the desecrated but still silent graves in the crypt.
"No, no, not without the proper rituals to appease the dead. The Tyrant's touch still lingers here in this land, no need to upset the dead unnecessarily..." Nikolai murmurs, turning around and leaving the crypt behind. "Yes, you are right. Onwards, deeper into the earth." Nikolai says, making his way to the makeshift tunnel leading into the depths of the earth.
As he gives the dead one last look, Nikolai notices something that snags his curiosity like a bramble might catch the arm of a jacket.
Towards the far end of the crypt, one of the bodies is wrapped in a burial shroud that stands out from all the others. Though discolored by dust, it remains intact - free from the touch of decay or the maws of insects.
Kain and Valda are the first to recognize that the shroud is, in fact, some manner of banner. Likely the standard of a regiment or company, its colors face inward, towards the fallen commander wrapped in its embrace.
Valda's eyes peel back the veneer of dust and find threads of magic woven into the banner, used as a burial shroud. Lifting up a corner, she examines the insignia emblazoned upon its hidden face. She finds that it depicts a black raven upon a gold field, with a mace and sword in either of its talons.
Shontar walked silently in the midst of the group. A strange surprise to those who knew him for a while, as he has always been a man of quick words.
Shontar tried to be reverent and his composure made it clear that he did have one or two inappropriate thoughts.