Larraz seems overjoyed to reunite with his companion, as does Desert Wind. They share a moment of joy in this dispair-filled wasteland before Larraz rejoins you. "Have you seen a necromancer yet? He frequently has his undead scout the area and will come to collect bodies for reanimation every few days."
His eyes glance at the horizon, "Oh, you probably don't want to be here when those zombie giants get here."
You've earned a Hero Point!
Larraz shrugs, "Them, sure, but normal undead too. This place doesn't seem to be of high interest to the undead right now, but it sure was a few months ago when the lot of them came and destroyed the place."
Larraz nods, "Sticking together is the best course of action. I'll aid you in the coming battles, but I wouldn't stay any longer than we have to. I know this feeling," he says, referencing the sense of dread, "the undead are gathering, and more are being created."
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"Yes," Alexion says grimly, "I felt it as well." He has not felt it so much as dread, however, as an overwhelming sense of wrongness, a teeth-clenching soul nausea. He knows it's not his own, but is rather channeled through him from his goddess. The Lady of Graves cares nothing for the affairs of the living, save for one: the creation of undead is an abomination to the cycle of death and rebirth that is sacred to Her. He feels Her rage in the tips of his fingers, but he knows charging off into the depths of these blasted lands to die in battle will not serve any good purpose to Her. She knows it too, he's sure; Pharasma is a practical deity if ever there was one, not prone to flights of passion or fancy. There will come a time when She has a plan to wreak Her vengeance upon those responsible for this cataclysm, and he will be there at the frontlines, as an instrument of Her justice.
Today, though, he'll settle for getting this man out alive, and getting word of the fallen Pathfinders' fates to their families. It's not much, but today it will have to do.
He sighs and nods to Larraz. "Might as well see what the others have found, eh? The sooner we finish our task, the sooner we can get you and Desert Wind home safely."
This spacious classroom still contains some relatively intact seating and a dusty old rug. To the west, the floor is sodden, and part of it has collapsed, revealing a hole filled with shattered bookshelves, broken chairs, and other decor. Doors exit to the north.
Luz notices something reflecting light from inside the hole.
You realize that, yes, this floor is pretty dangerous. If you took some time and some wooden salvage from around the College, you could reinforce the floor.
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Haechi follows Haka into the next room and notices the obvious danger posed by the wonky floorboards. He examines the situation and says, "Doesn't look like it will take much to reinforce this floor, and since I seem to be the designated carpenter on this mission, ha ha, I'll get right on it."
He then scurries around and collects some of the broken wooden bits laying about the college and returning quickly, gets to work on the floor.
Haechi reinforces the floor!
Gleaming at the bottom of the hole among the detritus from the fallen floor is an ornate, ceremonial longsword with a golden, wire-wrapped hilt and a pommel set with large rubies.
determines that the sword’s normal function is to serve as an important ceremonial item in services held by the church of Iomedae. Although its main use is for ceremonies of cultural or religious significance, it can be wielded as a nonmagical, battleready longsword
Total Time Elapsed: 110 minutes
Time Remaining: 70 minutes
Relics Recovered: 5 (Plate Armor Piece, Tavern Sign, Town Documents, Painting, Fancy Sword)
Treasure Bundles: 7/10
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Haka looks to the horizon, judging how far off the horde is.
Let's check upstairs. We'll have to split up. I'll go with Haechi; Olaf, go with Luz; Alexion with our new friend. Looks like we have about an hour until until they catch up. We should leave within half that to make sure we have enough of a head start. Treasure and history are good, but getting back is more important than scouring the building.
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Haechi looks to the horizon with Haka and is not happy with what he sees. He starts saying, "No time left to dawdle it appears. Why, there's barely enough time left to pack the cart and get away from here bef..." but Haka's loud voice drowns out that of the wizard's. The kobold's shoulders slump a little, but he manages a, "Yes... of course... Whatever you say Haka. I'm right behind you."
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Haetae had been quietly sitting on Haechi's shoulder drowsing this whole time, but sits up suddenly with wide eyes when she notices the approaching zombie hordes in the distance. She digs her claws into her master's shoulder slightly to get his attention.
But her master seems to ignore her comment as he somewhat grudgingly follows Haka to the stairs and heads up to the second floor.
You've made your way upstairs.
Nothing seems odd in the main hallway up here, so you open the first set of doors. They reveal a pair of dormitories with much of the furniture having fallen into disrepair over time.
The nightstand catches Luz's eye in particular in these rooms.
Olaf, along with anyone else that searches for 10 minutes, finds that the nightstand has jewelry worth about 8 silver. The other nightstand contains a dirty vial of holy water.
Total Time Elapsed: 120 minutes
Time Remaining: 60 minutes
Relics Recovered: 5 (Plate Armor Piece, Tavern Sign, Town Documents, Painting, Fancy Sword)
Treasure Bundles: 8/10
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With the dormitories taken care of, Haechi is impatient to move on. "No rest for the weary they say, especially if they want to avoid being zombie food, eh? ha, ha. Come along Haka, let's get this over with."
He steps out into the hallway and goes up to the opening halfway down. He glances in both directions and shrugging, points to the left opening. "How about we take this one, Haka." Haechi looks on expectantly at the half-orc, and waits for his able defender to enter the room first before following closely on his heels.
Haechi and Haka head to the opposite direction (west based on the compass) and begin searching another room.
This room is lined with bookshelves and sitting mats. Two smaller rooms branch from the main hallway, serving as private study nooks. The two of them discover an antique copy of The Acts of Iomedae. (+1 relic)
Luz and Alexion head to the middle room.
The double door to this suite has been knocked off its hinges and shattered, leaving the exit open to the hallway outside. A broken four-post bed stands against the eastern wall. A circular table and an accompanying chair occupy a nook in the southwest. A large statue depicting a marble chariot wheel sporting flames of gold occupies the northeast corner.
that this statue is meaningful in the faith of Iomedae
you recognize this statue as a representation of Jingh, an iophanite angel and emissary of Iomedae
Some giant centipedes reside in this area, but instinctually avoid you due to your larger size and weight of numbers.
The ceiling seems a bit unusual to Luz. A little stained and cracked, more so than it normally would.
Olaf and Aidan search the last set of rooms and find nothing of interest there. Just additional dormitories.
Total Time Elapsed: 130 minutes
Time Remaining: 50 minutes
Relics Recovered: 6 (Plate Armor Piece, Tavern Sign, Town Documents, Painting, Fancy Sword, Antique Book)
Treasure Bundles: 8/10
All Rooms Searched!
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Haechi sighs inwardly, relieved not to have run into anything undead upstairs. He has a quick look into the room across the hallway.
"Nice statue. I wonder what it represents," he says somewhat distractedly, his mind clearly on other things, such as getting himself out of the Gravelands in one piece. He starts moving in the direction of the stairs. "Oh well, never mind. No time for statue contemplation right now. I'd say it's time to go, no?". He once again stops at the top of the stairs and waits for Haka to lead the way back down.
Haka notices that the ceiling is just shy of totally collapsing and that if anyone steps into the room, it will likely destabilize the support beams holding the ceiling in place. Additionally, he spots more giant centipede's nesting in the ceiling that, you can logically conclude, will defend their home and young should the ceiling collapse on intruders.
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Haechi is impatient to leave, but not so impatient that he's willing to take his chances in the Gravelands without his colleagues. When Haka seems distracted by something to do with the ceiling of the statue room, Haechi gives a silent prayer to Apsu and heads back to see what the holdup is.
The precarious state of the ceiling is pointed out to him. "Oh dearie me. Good thing nobody stepped into this room or things might have gotten ugly." He eyes the centipedes warily. "I'm not at all sure I like the look of these fellows. If the ceiling collapses, I suspect we won't just have a headache to deal with eh? ha ha." He looks about for suitable material, and finding what he needs amongst the rubble, says, "Looks like it's time for Haechi the carpenter to get back to work, ha ha."
The pillars prove a bit more difficult to reinforce than you expected, but you are confident you succeeded and made them more reliable.
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Haechi looks over his ceiling handiwork with evident satisfaction. "Not too bad if I do say so myself." He turns to the others. "Now, I suggest that we wrap things up here and leave as soon as practicable. The undead descending upon us do not appear to be slowing down their pace."
He then notices a couple of the others looking over the statue. A little nervously, he says, "Pretty thing, no? Too bad we can't take it with us, eh? ha ha." When it seems that trying to leave with the statue is being seriously considered, his jaw drops. Haechi's voice rises a little as panic beckons at the thought of what it would take to move the statue down to the cart. "Surely you cannot be serious! We'd risk losing everything we've collected so far, not to mention our own skins trying to take it with us. I'm not even sure the cart will hold up under the weight!"
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Alexion frowns. He's not the biggest fan of Iomedae--a little too stuffy for his liking--but Lastwall was a bastion for Her worshippers. "I don't feel right leaving it behind. It's an important relic to the followers of the Inheritor--and no one lost more in the fall of Lastwall than the Knights of Ozem. I'm willing to help carry it, though it will probably take two more. Anyone else willing to help?"
Alexion and Haka carry the statue down the stairs and easily place it on the cart. With the extra weight of the bodies and statues, Desert Wind pulls the cart slowly back to town. Once you arrive, you determine that the gargantuan zombies are close but not yet here.
Instead, awaiting you in the town square is a dark-skinned man that clearly is of the necromantic variety. He stands surrounded by various undead.
Larraz confirms your suspicions, "That would be the necromancer." he says a bit shakily.
The necromancer replies, "Necromancer. Master of the Dead. Doom to you. I offer you a choice, serve me in life or slave for me in death." he says with a sly smile.
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Haechi looks on with apprehension as Alexion and Haka carry the statue down and load it onto the cart. He winces as the cart groans under the new weight but is relieved when it handles it without a problem. "Aha! See? Haechi the master carpenter saves the day once again. Why, I'd be surprised if this cart couldn't hold the entire contents of the college without complaint."
His pride in his repair skills is momentary though as the oppressive nature of the place and the zombie apocalypse bearing down on them takes its toll. He begins to look around nervously. "Unless there are more monoliths we need to deal with, might I suggest that we remove ourselves from these lands and get back to civilization as soon as possible."
Once on the move, Haechi relaxes slightly, but the feeling is short-lived as they enter the town square and run into the necromancer and his minions. "Oh my! A necromancer is it? I'm not sure I like either of the options he's presenting us with, especially not the second one." He leans over to his familiar. "What's your opinion on the matter, Haetae?"
The little flying lizard gives the necromancer a hard look before delivering her opinion.
Haechi nods in agreement. It is clear to him that the necromancer is not going to be talked out of his course of action, leaving them little choice in the matter. "Very well. Let's get started then, shall we?"
So... he prepares to cast a spell.
Clapping his hands three times quickly, he opens his arms wide and saying, ”fulminis ad magus mortis,” brings his hands together in a thunderous crack. Three bolts of pure energy shoot out of his fingertips and finding their unerring way to the necromancer, strike him full in the chest.