Rohkar, still smiling, looks at Ote and calls upon the power of his dark patron. Ote instantly begins feeling an odd sensation...
Ote
Skeletons
Rohkar
Ques and Grey
Ithariel
Tchezze
You cast a spell, and lights appear to light up the room. A half dozen boxes and barrels take up the majority of this underground cellar. A rough blanket lies spread on the floor in the southeast corner next to a bowl of half-eaten food. There, a human woman sits, her clothes stained and torn but apparently at one time having been fine. She hugs her knees to her chest protectively as she squints at the new light.
I...I am Argentea. You are in a cellar, under a lodge. You were brought here by the same men that brought me...very, very bad men. How did you come to be here?
Tchezze digs deep to stay up after such a hard hit.
Ithariel completes casting his innate spell, and a giant ant appears behind Rohkar, biting and attempting to sting him.
Ithariel concentrates on sliding forward to Tche and casts Cure Light Wounds upon him.
"The prophecy--" she murmurs, reaching for her book of scriptures. "Oh no!" she cries in distress. "They've taken my book!" Taking a deep, calming breath, she tries to gather herself. She still has some magic at her disposal.
"Sorry," she says, realizing that the noble lady is staring at her. "I'm from Heldren. I, um, wanted to help the adventurers, so I followed them, but I was too late. I got lost in the snow, and found my way to a cabin. I thought I would find shelter, but..." unfolds her hands and shrugs. "Now, Argentea, how did you come to be a prisoner in a cellar under a lodge?"
"Here--" as she waits for a response, she waves a hand and utters a command word, casting prestidigitation to clean Argentea up. Then she stands, looking for a way out... "If we got in, we can get out."
Ote blinks as the wave of inimical energy washes over him, then shakes his feathers out. Ote is irrepressible!
Cawing under his breath, Ote redoubles his efforts, trying to catch the ossified thing with his tripartite weapon...
[+1 BAB, +2 Str; +2 Str]
She slows herself, seeming to regain her composure. I...I'm sorry...my manners. I...I was traveling with a retinue to the canal, but we were waylaid by these men. All of my retainers were killed, and the vile man Rohkar made me watch as he raised them again as hideous undead. They took only me alive, and brought me here.
Her eyes can't help but trail towards the trapdoor in the ceiling, as she speaks.
"Oh, of course!" Her cheeks burn red as Argentea points out the trapdoor. "And here I am talking about saving us, when you are doing the saving! Let us see if it is locked..."
Gita tests the trapdoor.
Tchezze grits his teeth and pushes back against the voices in his head. But he can't clear his head of them.
"I don't suppose you can pick a lock?" Gita asks Argentea. "Let's look around for something, a tool, or even a weapon." She quickly moves around the cellar, looking for something useful.
"Ote! Get back! I'll hold them back. We need to regroup."
Ote coughs up blood and nods, half stumbling, half stepping through his companions to the bottom of the stairs...
You scan about, but don't see any magical auras. As far as useful items, the crates seem to contain some dry goods - jars mostly. There are some empty boxes that look large enough to hold blankets or clothing, but no very useful items left therein. You do see a box with canning supplies - a metal ladle, strong tongs, and funnels as well as empty jars.
Looking at the trap door, there appears to be enough of a gap when you push it up to slip a hand up, but the hasp will hold it tight from there. The lock is on the top side, so you couldn't get to it to pick it in any event.
She pauses, hearing muffled sounds from above. "Is there a party going on?"
In the chaotic stairwell, Ques hurls out a ball of acid, but the angle is too great, and the projectile splashes harmlessly out of the way.
Ithariel, getting the briefest glance at the corner of the room up the stairs, summons a giant ant that instantly lashes out at Rohkar's back. Rohkar, now under duress, hisses as he spins about.
Nox and Tchezze both wait , in the hopes that an opening will let them in, while Ote, still standing if barely, attacks the skeleton. His powerful blow cracks the undead creature's sternum and collapses its ribcage. It shudders once, and the air about it gets immediately, intensely cold. Then...it explodes.
Seeing the thing explode when Ote dispatches it, Ithariel cries out They explode?!?
Tchezze steps by Ote and into the room with sword in hand. He immediately swings his blade at the offending Rohkar, swinging in such a way as to ward off further attacks. "Take care of Ote. I will hold him here."
She sits back on her improvised bed. So, Gita, do you call Heldren your home? Please take no offense, but you don't seem like those I've met from that town in the past. You're...different. She smiles. In a good way.
Ote tries valiantly to fend off the splintering shards of icy bone, but to no avail, and drops like a sack of feathers.
This is pointless. Gonna have to risk it. Nox dashes up the stairs, squeezing past Ithariel, Ote, and Tchezze. As he comes to a rest beside Tchezze, he takes aim at the remaing skeleton, just in front of him.
+
Gita smiles, despite being held prisoner in a strange cellar. "I live in Heldren, yes, but I am not from there. I am from Qadira. How I came to Heldren is a long and dark tale, and I do not wish to frighten you with tales of witches and other monsters. But my people are... were a people of Valani, the empyreal lord of change and primal forces. He lives in a giant volcano in Elysium, you know." She rubs her shoulders, shivering. "We could certainly use a little fire right now!"
"My people were killed in a, mmmm, series of unfortunate events not far from Taldor. I am the only one left, and when I at last found my freedom, I was near Heldren. I work as a scribe there. For now. But who knows where I will go next, yes?"
"And what about you, noble lady?"
Tchezze moves in and misses, but his stance, and the arrival of what looks to be a fairly tough group, gives Rohkar pause. He growls as he raises his own blade, prepared to defend against the valiant Tengu.
Nox gives up his caution and charges up the steps, his natural...grit...not allowing him to sit idly by as the vile undead continue to attack his crew. He rolls in expertly, squeezing in between Tchezze and the dresser to fire a shot.
The skeleton keeps his cool and lashes out with an icy claw as Nox moves in and fires. Nox simply smiles as he gets down to a knee the claw whiffing by overhead. He fires, and the blast quite literally blows the skeleton to pieces.
Rohkar suddenly doesn't seem so sure of himself. He realizes that the creature behind him is a summoned creature, and so assumes that Tchezze and this new threat with an unknown weapon is far more dangerous. Plus, everyone's ears are ringing and it's hard to concentrate on more than one enemy.
Rohkar suddenly smiles, and then there are two of him. The original Rohkar and an exact image of himself seem to move as one as they swing at Tchezze with a blade that glistens with a green liquid!
Ote
Rohkar
Ques and Grey
Ithariel
Tchezze
I grew up in Oppara, and was traveling back there from Zimar by Caravan. I was hoping to get to one of the canals and return to my home by boat, but when we were near the Border Wood here, we were attacked. I...I don't know what they want with me, but they killed everyone else. My men, and my...friends. She hangs her head down against her knees for a moment, then raises it up to the trapdoor, her eyes wet.
There should have been food brought by now...I have a feeling something's wrong. I thought I heard...
BANG!
That could not be missed. A loud and sharp concussion comes from above. Your ears ring, and Argentea looks your way in surprise.
”Pllbbbblp.....spblsp” says Ote, valiantly trying not to die randomly...and failing miserably. Sadly he misses seeing Nox utilize the weird and wondrous wand of exploding percussive bludgeoning missiles...
Ithariel, seeing his moment to watch over Ote, slides forward and quickly casts a spell upon the fallen Samurai. As he does so he call out to the large tiger, Stel, guard this one
The white tiger gracefully leaps over the kneeling Ithariel, landing alongside Ote, and standing watch over the fallen warrior for now.
The Ant redoubles its attacks on the vile Rokhar! Biting at him and attempting to bring its stinger into play.
"Yes, the wars were between politicians, not common people, if you will excuse the term. Taldor has been welcoming enough, though I had not realized it would be so cold here!"
Gita tries to word her next statement carefully. "I have heard it is not unusual for people in aristocracy, like you, to be held hostage for ransom. Perhaps they intend to ask for coin for your safe return. Which I'm sure would be granted. But what they want with me is another matter. Why would they not just kill me?"
Gita jumps at the noise above. "What was that? An explosion?" She gets to her feet, her hands ready to lob an acid splash at the trap door. She dismisses her dancing lights. "Stay behind me."
When Rokhar doubles, Nox's eyes narrow. When the ant attacks one image, he attacks the other. Better just use a regular round until I know which one he is.
Ote regains consciousness with the sickly sweet taste of floorboards. He sklups his tongue back in, almost choking as he is shocked by a nearby explosion. Somehow he is lying on the floor, but feels healed, apparently by Ithariel, and then Ques, who is standing over him. His sansetsukon lying akimbo on the ground, Ote reaches for his longbow...
Tchezze chirps a warning to Rohkar in his native tongue and slashes out at the vile human.
It may not matter too much, as you've almost killed Rohkar in one round. That ant is ridiculous!
Ote nocks an arrow, pulls back the string on his foreign (to him) longbow and fires at the “necromancer”... a good pull, but recently licking floorboards has left Ote somewhat jarred...
[+1 BAB, + 2 Dex, -4 cover, -4 into combat]