Untrained:
Lelache purses her lips as she thinks, following the sounds of her companions' voices. "Good point, Gharol." She stands a safe distance away, on the off chance there's a trap on the door.
______________________________
"The noble Red Shrikes, huh?" Gharol muses, examining the carvings, then glancing around the room "Apparently not noble enough for a nicer tomb than this pit." He spares a glance to his companions. "Any of you heard of this bunch?" he asks, probing his own memory at the same time.
"The Red Shrikes were a band led by Ervin Roslar; presumably the namesake of Roslar's Coffer. They were part of the Shining Crusade which defeated Tar-Baphon. They most certainly deserved better."
Zacharia takes a peek through the door.
"More crypt. Frustrating. Can you manifest that skeleton without it burning the rest of us? It appears we may have a bit of a walk ahead of us." he asks Dimitri.
"I certainly can. It won't burn unless some fool decides to attack it."
Dimitri dumps out the contents of the massive sack onto the ground, with bones spilling everywhere.
"I require your sacrifice!" he called out as he released his power. The skeletons quickly reformed into their shape, and with the sound of flint hitting steel they began to shed fire.
Dimitri then cleaned up the remaining bones before collecting the rest of his belongings. "Follow." he commanded, and the skeletons formed a single file line behind him.
The several somewhat unconventional sources of light throw the room into high relief, letting everyone see things clearly. There is more crypt through the door, shelves with rags and bones able to be made out on them. A relief is carved into the door, but any further examination is prevented by clattering footsteps and the deformed skeleton that lurches into the doorway, clawing at the closest individual.
____________________________________
MapLink
,
Round 1
,
Lelache scampers over the low coffins while giving the blazing skeletons as much a berth as she can, coming to the wall. She can see the other skeleton attacking Gharol, but can't quite find a way to attack.
Skeletons (19)
Lelache (14)
Dimitri (10)
Gharol (9)
Zacharia (4)
"Hm. I just realized a problem. Something to discuss after the battle." Zacharia muses aloud, going through his options for fighting.
NPCGharol, Round 1
Fail
miss
Acting on reflex, Gharol tried to move with an attack, avoiding the damage, but was unsuccessful. "Shift Back!", came the order, as he moved everyone back into the area, to get more space. The attempted claw missed, thankfully.
miss
_____________________________
Gharol startles at the sudden attack, then laughes as the skeleton's claws scrape harmlessly against his breastplate. The half-orc shifts his footing, rising to the balls of his feet in preparation for an attack.
"Go back to your grave!" He shouts, as he whips his greatsword out of its scabbard and toward the creature in a quick horizontal arc.
Zacharia delays his action.
Gharol's attack missed the skeleton, only to have it attack him again– only to miss, now that its target was prepared and aware.
____________________________________
Updated Maplink
miss
"Withdraw, Gharol, and I will send in my warriors."
Gharol spits at the skeleton's feet. "Fine. We'll see what your puppets are capable of." Following Dimitri's advice, Gharol casually and contemptuously turns on his heel and walks away from the skeleton.
As he approaches Dimitri, Gharol seems to think better of his withdrawal. The half-orc drops his sword, lets out a wordless roar and with one smooth motion, he plucks his lucerne hammer from the straps on his back and makes a lunging swing at the deformed skeleton.
As Gharol backed up, Dimitri sent the first skeleton to occupy the hole the Gharol had just created. It then attacks the skeleton that had been battling Gharol.
Watching Gharol get mauled by the skeleton, illuminated by flickering fire light, Lelache draws her rapier and stands still in the corner, biting her lip in worry. Oh, training was all well and good - but this was definitely not a normal situation to be in. Generally speaking, waking up in a weird crypt and getting attacked by skeletons was not the ideal start to a day.
She readies a strike, turning the tip of her rapier downward.
Gharol spits at the skeleton's feet. "Fine. We'll see what your puppets are capable of." Following Dimitri's advice, Gharol casually and contemptuously turns on his heel and walks away from the skeleton.
As he approaches Dimitri, Gharol seems to think better of his withdrawal. The half-orc drops his sword, lets out a wordless roar and with one smooth motion, he plucks his lucerne hammer from the straps on his back and makes a lunging swing at the deformed skeleton.
The attack destroys the skeleton, the form collapsing into bones as something skitters free from the mound of bones, looking like an insect made of fishbones and a head of glowing red eyes.
____________________________
"That's how it's done." Gharol scoops up his sword and places it and his hammer back into their sheath and sling. He walks over to the covered crate and pulls the cloth away. Might as well see what was there before pressing on.
Zacharia moves back to an open space and waits for somebody else to smash the bug.
Lelache grimaces as the nasty bug pops in to place. Assuming she can actually reach it, she jabs at it with her rapier, not even bothering with a Strike. "Gross."
P
-----------------------------------------------------------
Dimitri's skeleton lands a solid hit on the tiny creature to the sound of a strange-sounding squeal, and the faint skittering of feet on the stone of the floor, before it attempts to attack again.
The heat(and light) of the skeleton flares brightly in a significant burst as the bug's attack seemed to be enough to destroy it, but the flames on it died quite violently, it seemed. Lelache only needed to lean back behind cover to avoid it, but the bug was not so lucky. The squeal was louder and trailed off as the skeleton collapsed after that flare, falling atop the bug who had ceased moving.
COMBAT OVER
dried out paints(useless)
Crowbar
Flint and Steel
Lamps(3)
Hammers(2)
Hooded Lantern
Oil, pint(8)
Pewter Mug, dented
_______________________________
"Hold a moment compatriots." said Dimitri before turning to his second skeleton and saying "Walk."
The skeleton ambled forward until it hit the wall, or until Dimitri saw something else attack it.
"Return" Dimitri commands and has it sit in the back corner. Dimitri then collects the bones from his fallen skeleton.
The room contains several low shelves covered with rags and loose bones. A hallway extends to the southeast as far as you can tell, while the stone door to the room you are exiting from is carved with the image of several heroic figures standing solemnly together.
No attack comes.
"Ah, good, it's finally over. As I mentioned earlier I have a question to ask: Dimitri are your skeletons at all resistant to positive energy? I am a natural conduit for it but I fear the attack is indiscriminate. If they are not I think I'm going to be regrettably passive for much of our trek through these catacombs, as my other offensive abilities only work on creatures with a working circulatory system."
"Much like any skeleton, they are particularly vulnerable to such energies. Fear not, however; they are meant to be disposable foot soldiers."
"We're better off not destroying our own resources, expendable or not." Gharol takes his lucerne hammer and offers it to Zacharia. "Here. I'm not expecting much but standing back and taking swings is better than nothing."
Lelache tunes out the discussion on positive energy, and runs her fingers slowly over the engraved heroes of a time long past.
"So that skeleton was, presumably, one of the Red Shrikes. Stands to reason, right? There can't be that many other people buried in here."
She leans to one side, peeking past the door to see if anything dangerous-looking was in the crypt beyond. "If anything, the fact that a bunch of Iomedaean heroes are currently undead is prooobably an indicator that nothing good is happening in here."
"We're better off not destroying our own resources, expendable or not." Gharol takes his lucerne hammer and offers it to Zacharia. "Here. I'm not expecting much but standing back and taking swings is better than nothing."
Zacharia stumbles under the unexpected weight of the unwieldy, 7 foot pole but quickly recovers.
"I'll...do my best. I believe you were around when our class was tested for existing aptitudes. I'm not sure Telemachus' scar ever faded."
Gharol actually winces at Zacharia's reminder of Telemachus. "Oh, I know for a fact that it didn't. I swear, everyone at the Rampart spars as stiff as they can get away with. All the more reason to think this is a test." He casts a dubious eye Lelache's way. "For all we know, the Shrikes could've been reburied somewhere else years ago and the Rampart just uses the old tomb for training exercises." The Half-Orc scoops up the crowbar from the crate and stows it.
"Let's form up and get moving. Skeleton up front, Lelache and I behind it, Dimitri and Zacharia behind us."
"Sounds like a reasonable tactical plan."
As you advance carefully into the room and down the hallway, you come upon a small alcove on the east wall that contains a few stone shelves. Nothing approaches you, hostile or otherwise. The hallway leads into a large hall with marble walls, carved with several images of what appears to be a knight charging at undead horrors. One hall is opposite the entryway that all of you are exiting from, while three other entryways can be made out to at the other end of this large hall. All appear to be cut from the same dark stone as the other rooms.
Sprawled in the center of this room is a human-sized metal figure that resembles a skeleton wrapped in robes. The limbs of the figure are askew and melted, as though with acid.
____________________________________________
MapLink
Candles(12)
Holy Symbol of Aroden
wand of create water
potion of Cure Light Wounds(5)
Healer's Kit
Without hesitation, Dimitri commanded the skeleton approach the "statue" in the center of the room.
"I understand they're expendable, but surely they still have a better use than throwing them into what seems to be some kind of acid spewing trap." Zacharia comments.
"Better a servant than a companion."
The burning skeleton walks over to the fallen metal skeleton as commanded, and as it nears the fallen form, another one of those fishbone-looking creatures scurries out from under a flap in the robe, and attacks the skeleton! While the skeleton is hardy, something about its bite disrupts the skeleton and it expires in a burst of fire. That is not to say that the bone bug has gone unscathed, taking burns, but that also took their primary light source away.
For those that need the light to see, the last glimpse of the odd bone bug was still alive.
______________________________________
•
halved
"Bloody bugs." Gharol moves forward into the room, straight towards the bug, firing an arrow from his hornbow as he approaches.
"I wish, that would make them a lot easier to deal with." Zacharia remarks.
He saunters forward and tries to drop the hammer on this bug.
Thankfully he manages to hit the ground, at least.
Gharol's arrow strikes the bug and there is a small squeak of a screech as it dies, falling limp and unmoving. Within reach of the odd metal skeleton, there is a short sword, fairly standard, though the markings on it are that of the spiraling comet of Pharasma.
_____________________
"With Oxygen no longer a concern, does anyone have a torch, flint, and tinder?"
"It seems I was snatched from my room with none of my usual gear, so sadly no."
"What? Right, forgot you types can't see in the dark." Gharol pulls out one of his torches from his pack and lights it with his flint and steel before handing it over to Dimitri.
"Oh, and Zach?" Gharol motions to the hammer in Zach's hands. "That swing was garbage. Won't hit anything like that. Next time, you'll be better off just poking at em, that'll at least keep em guessing so me or Lelache can cut em down."
"Err, right. Poke, them. I see." Zacharia says. Thankfully nobody can tell he's blushing in the dark.
Gharol approaches the strange metal skeleton, taking the Pharasma marked shortsword as he does. He proceeds to search and examine the skeleton further, absentmindedly tapping at the skeleton's skull with the shortsword. "Dimitri! You're the skeleton expert. What's your take on this thing?"
Dimitri follows Gharol up and takes a look at the skeleton to see if he can identify what it once was.
Gharol's tapping of the skull gives a metallic ring that seems off from what might be expected of metallic contact. The short sword is composed of steel and competently crafted, but the sound from the skull is... off. With the torch, however, the majority of the room is illuminated, showing four more rooms connected to this one, not including the hallway that you entered from.
_________________________________
But those are usually in the service of Deities. Could the Rampart have such connections?
"It's not an actual Skeleton. I believe it's something that was created of metal to resemble one. I think that there is some relation to The Lady of Mysteries, but....Well, I've neither seen nor heard of the type of metal this sculpture is made of."
Zacharia racks his memory.