"Cayden, gives us the strength to keep fighting!"
"Focus attacks on one. It's the only way we can beat these without Nicolette's strength!"
Kayle felt pressed in on from all sides, but he kept his shield up and managed to block most of them. One clawed hand pressed in along the bottom of his hide armor, then slashed across his side to catch his hip. He cried out in pain and shifted his weight to rebalance.
"Owens!" he cried out, "I need you to fight!"
Having the attention on him at least meant the others were safe, so Kayle reared back with his club. Keeping his shield high in front of his chest made the overhead swing awkward, but he tried to hit the skeleton Calaithes was. Bringing his club down toward the crown of it's skull.
The poor dog still can't bring himself to lunge at the bloody skeletons. He begins to bob forward several times before instinctually puling back. He was alternating between fiercely growling and whimpering as he fought his nature.
Calaithes strikes a telling blow against the nearest skeleton, which turns its attention from the hard-to-hit druid towards the rogue instead. Meanwhile, Kayle steps back out of the way of being completely surrounded. However, the skeleton follows him step for step, reaching its claws back out. The final skeleton's claws reach out for the defensive, growling Owens.
Kayle continues to fend off every blow, but both Calaithes and Owens come away from their relative exchanges worse for the wear.
Kayle & Owens
Bohrs
Calaithes
Nicolette
Skeletons
Map
"The Blessings of Cayden be with us!" Bohrs declares.
Calaithes takes the hit, growling out an "Ouch! Die again you bloody tangle of bones!!!" while attacking the skeleton ahead of him.
Nicolette doesn't even know she's passed out. Things went dark, but in her mind, she's still fighting. It's strange to her that Owens has taken one of the bloody bones and is running from Kayle mid-battle, and that now Cal is tangled in bones, but she valiantly swings her hammer with strength. When Bohrs blesses them, she giggles.
Kayle continues to try to help Calaithes drop one of the skeletons, all the while calling on Owens. He had passed from issuing simple commands to just constantly pleading, hoping his hound would snap out of his instinctual fear.
Bohrs brings the blessing of Cayden into the room, and the skeletons seem to shudder. While Nicolette dreams of an easier fight, Kayle and Calaithes join forces side-by-side. Calaithes drives his hanbo in between the ribs of the easternmost skeleton, setting up his adoptive brother for a well-placed blow. Kayle's club cracks into the bloody skeleton's ribcage, at which point its entire structure collapses. Not even the necromantic energy holding it together previously seems to resonate with unholy light, and you feel like something that you all had done had ended this one's ability to regenerate.
Unfortunately, the other two seem undeterred. Their claws swing out, hoping to draw more of the living down with them.
With vicious precision, the bloody skeletons claw both men down, leaving only Bohrs and Owens standing against the onslaught. Fear and uncertainty give way to anger in the young pup, who pushes aside whatever had blocked him so far and moves to avenge his best two-legged friend.
Kayle & Owens
Bohrs
Calaithes
Nicolette
Skeletons
Map
Kayle slumps down to his knees before falling forward. His vision going dark as his eyes roll up into the back of his head. There were no dreams. Only darkness.
Owen's self struggle paused as the skeletons tore into his person and dropped the man to the ground. The dog sat stock still for a moment. Simply staring at Kayle's unmoving form. A low growl started, the dog shaking as it worked it's way to a full bodied snarl. Then he launched himself at the nearest skeleton teeth bared.
Bohrs sends a wave of energy out to stabilize his fallen companions and keep Owens in the fight a little bit longer as the loyal dog snaps ineffectually at the bloody bones. Then the skeletons continue their uncompromising assault, clawed hands dripping from each member of the party taken down.
Each skeleton manages to get past Owens' defenses and score a nasty blows. But the young pup stands steadfast against the assault, ready for what comes next.
At that moment, there is a burst of rainbow lights as a familiar azata speeds through the door and tries to slam into one of the skeletons.
The skeleton manages to connect with the lyrakien, but the claws are rebuffed by some sort of celestial resistance.
The azata's small size means that her slam does little, but she puts all her weight into the blow. "You look like you could use some help!" she calls out to Bohrs. "I can do more, but it would hurt any who are not as committed to the cause of liberty as you are. If you can push them away from your companions, try! Otherwise, I'll try to pick up Calaithes' club." The delicate stick would seem to be almost like a greatclub in the tiny woman's hands, but she has presented Bohrs with options at least, standing (flying?) at the ready to offer another body in the fight.
Kayle & Owens
Bohrs
Calaithes
Nicolette
Skeletons
Tulia
Map
Bohrs draws the healing wand and jabs it at the skeleton nearest to himself.
Between Tulia's timely slam and Bohrs' quick-thinking with the wand, there is a burst of golden, shimmering light as the skeleton explodes in a shower of splintered bone and slick gore. Tulia cheers.
Owens wasn't sure what was going on. In the confusion he almost snapped at Tulia, but instead clicked his teeth in a half bite. With only one skeleton left, he lunged with his full body weight behind the snapping bite.
Owens' jaws continue to go wide, ferociously missing their target. The final skeleton, undeterred by the loss of its three companions, continues to claw at the dog.
The flurry strikes true, cutting more furrows into the dog's formerly-shiny coat. Tulia huffs and moves carefully back out of the way of the skeleton. Hovering down to Calaithes, she picks up his hanbo with strength belying her size (as the stick is larger than she is) and looks ready to get back in the fight again.
Kayle & Owens
Bohrs
Calaithes
Nicolette
Skeletons
Tulia
Map
Bohrs moves over and touches Calaithes with the wand, reasoning that he was out of the remaining skeleton's reach.
Calaithes' eyes flutter open, revealing that his dreams were unfortunately false. He sees the lyrakien hovering above him, holding his hanbo in her hands and looking determined, and Bohrs drawing a wand back from him, while Nicolette and Kayle lay on either side of him.
Owens is unrelenting in his assault, showing none of the fatigue or pain that was being visited upon him. He'd get them! He'd tear them apart!
Calaithes feels.... like death warmed over he thinks. He hopes that he'll never feel this bad again, but for now the battle isn't over. Growling his frustration he rolls to his feet and moves around the room. Maybe he can get across from his brother? No! He's down. But Owens? Owens is fighting?
The poor dog continues his rabid but fruitless assault as his half-elf friend rises back up. "Welcome back," Tulia says, fluttering there as Calaithes flanks around the room.
The skeleton seems single-minded in its determination, continuing to focus its fervor on the furry, furious fluffball.
The claws come very close, but Owens dodges out of the way. Using the dog's distraction to her advantage, Tulia dives closer to the skeleton. Despite the size of Calaithes' hanbo, she still has to move in closer to make use of it, coming dangerously close to the skeleton's claws. It lashes out at her as well...
And connects! But she once again shrugs off the blow, and then swings something much more effective at the undead opponent.
Kayle & Owens
Bohrs
Calaithes
Nicolette
Skeletons
Tulia
Map
Bohrs steps forward, standing over Kayle's unconscious form, and lunges at the skeleton with the wand.
With another well-placed stab of the wand, Bohrs causes the final skeleton to shudder and explode. Tulia shrieks as she dodges out of the way of bony shrapnel before dropping the hanbo to the floor and clapping.
"I had just returned from gathering herbs for the potions you requested when I heard the sounds of fighting off in the distance. I'm glad I came to check on you."
She dusts herself off and lands on Owens' nose. Owens has by this point calmed down with the destruction of the last skeleton and his most likely by now feeling all those horrible wounds.
"I should get back to mixing those potions. Maybe you'd like to rest?"
Owens tries to focus on the faerie like being perched on his nose, and when that fails he sniffs mightily and licks at her. Then, he trots slowly over to Kayle. He whines and nudges the wounded druid, and when he is met with a pained groan he whines again before laying down aside his person.
Bohrs uses the wand to heal his comrades.
"The danger is passed for now, friends," Bohrs says, a clear sound of relief in his voice. "It seems both the Drunken Hero and Lady Luck had a vested interest in our survival. I give thanks to both of them that we survived this encounter with the undead!"
He gives a respectful bow to Tulia.
Calaithes stands, surprised almost to the point of shock as the skeleton practically explodes in front of him. While he had been partially healed and back to consciousness he still felt the pounding from before this battle. The ringing in his ears combined with the not-yet-healed claw wounds.... He wonders if the skeletons carried disease?
He had started to draw his dagger, knowing that it wasn't the best weapon against skeletons. With a little shrug he slides it back into the sheath. "Amen to that Bohrs!" When he notices Bohrs using the wand freely he cautions the man. "Are you sure you should use that up? It was a pretty effective weapon on these bloody skeletons. Sounds like Tulia is inviting us back to the pool to rest and recover our wounds. I'm thinking that might be a good idea. I know we need to press on to rescue Roldare's sister. But if we die because we're not ready to battle whatever set these creatures in the way.... She'll die too!"
"As much as my wounds pain me, and the same for Nicolette and Kayle, I think you should just wake them and we should retreat to the pool." He grins at Kayle, "That might give Kayle a bit of time he can use flirting with the pretty sprite!"
Recovering his hanbo from the ground he moves over to the bloody bones. Remembering how they'd seen at least one recovering from damage he pounds on a couple of the larger pieces. "Bohrs? What do you know about these monsters? At least one of them seemed to be recovering from damage. Remember the stories of trolls? Could they come back to, ah, undead life? Maybe we should gather the pieces and burn them? Or with this sort of evil, maybe they need to be bless? Buried?"
There is a groggy sigh as the magic goes through her body and she comes back to consciousness. In a swift moment, she is mostly alert. She comes to, hearing the words of Bohrs and calms slightly. Was she knocked out?
Nicolette stands, looking decently okay, except for her armor being nearly shredded by the hits she took.
She will listen to Cal and Bohrs reason about the bodies, and just observes the injuries of her companions.
"It was the blood coating the cones. These type of skeleton could draw on the blood coating them to rejuvenate. Only divine energy can destroy them, which is why the wand destroyed them," Bohrs replies.
As she dusts the dirt from the floor off of her face and linked armor, she surveils the battlefield, wondering how they ended up all defeating the skeletons. As she does, she looks for any items perhaps lingering on the corpses.
Owens slowly perked up. While he didn't budge from his spot his tail did start to slowly wag as Kayle comforted him. He stuck close to his person, clinging to him and acting as a second shadow.
Kayle is slow to wake. Half his face still pressed into the floor as he reaches up and carefully pets Owens atop his head. He gives the dog affection as Owens whines softly and gently licks at the side of Kayle's face. "That's a good boy." Kayle weakly praises him, "The best boy."
He groans and lifts himself from the floor and for the first time really takes in his surroundings. Seeing the skeletons lying broken and his allies all still alive his eyes grow watery. "We all made it." he says with his voice wavering, "Praise Desna, prais-" His praise abruptly stops as he notices Tulia. "Thank you so much Tulia." he quickly says, struggling to bow forward in his seated position.
Seeing Bohrs still up and boasting of the help of the gods Kayle smiles wide and nods to the cleric. "Thank you Bohrs." he said plainly, "Thank you for saving the others."
He hadn't caught most of what Calaithes had said, but did catch his name and something about flirting. "Say what now? he asked with confusion evident on his face. Hearing the scrape of bones as Nicolette began her search he cast his gaze to her, briefly wondering if she was related to the comment.
Finally, he heaved a sigh of relief and went back to slowly petting Owens.
As the effect of the Blessing dissipates, Bohrs realizes that he had inadvertently stumbled on another way to destroy the bloody skeletons: they could also be permanently ended if destroyed in the presence of a Bless spell. So that was fortunate for the two that had been destroyed without the direct application of positive energy.
Tulia smiles gently at the praise and bows her head politely. "I'm not much of a fighter like my sisters, but I can handle my own in a pinch." She also snickers at the suggestion of Kayle flirting with her.
On the last skeleton, Bohrs finds a tarnished silver necklace, but can't make too many generalizations about it. Nicolette ventures that it could probably fetch a very nice price from an antiques collector, maybe 200 gold pieces. Calaithes points out that the style is an old one: about 200 years old.
Now that the chaos of combat is at an end, everyone hears sounds coming from the stairs: dripping water and a low, distant moaning.
Upon hearing that it was Tulia and Bohrs that helped them, she also bows in time with Kayle giving thanks.
"Yes, we truly owe you."
She can hardly get out the worth of the necklace before her attentive ears pick up the low and distant moaning. She arms herself and makes sure they are not caught unaware.
"Who is still hurt?" she asks briefly.
Calaithes moves over by the stairs to search and listen.
"I do think we should move back to the room with the pool and rest. Bohrs and Kayle have used all of their magic. And if Bohrs finishes healing us all with the wand, that is a potential weapon that won't be available. And I.... I feel a strength in this veil, an attachment that I don't understand. I think I need time to study it."
Kayle will lean in toward the sounds, listening closely and straining his ears. He didn't voice any protest to Calaithes suggestion, even nodded his head, but he couldn't help but try to discern if someone might be ahead in need of aid.
"We need to rest," Bohrs says. "We won't be any good to anyone until we've recovered. We go back to the room, we rest, pray, and then get back to it!"
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"Before we rest, I want to attend to these and the bodies up top. They are likely going to rot the longer we take and call animals to the area; which then we'll have to deal with if and when we make it out of here..." she smirks, considering her recent failure. "From what I've seen, they deserve some rest from service to this necromancer themselves. Perhaps a clerical blessing too? Some or all of you can come with me and rest there for the time being, then we can proceed back down to the pool room for more intense rest?"
When the bodies of the townsfolk and perished undead are disposed of properly, she will set herself to dragging the bodies of the dead horses far away from the tomb entrance. For this, she will use the saddle and her own rope to pull them. It will be difficult work, but she is capable. Once further away, she will remove the harnesses, saddles, and saddlebags and will bring them back to the entrance of the crypt as they are still useful and valuable.
Once washed of the offense of dead bodies, she will encourage them all to start a fire. The group can have toasted cheesy bread, dessert coffee with chocolate and dried milk. Honey bread with nuts and some of the pleasures they did not have the night previous before they descend back into the darkness, such as flowing air and nature. She also will procure some torches, just in case. Old Man's Beard (usnea) wrapped around sticks and smothered in fat from her soap with oil.
"I'll help ya, and I'll say the funerary rites over their graves," Bohrs offers. "Most of them were Erastilians, so it shouldn't be too much of an offense to Old Dead-Eye, but their souls might be a bit abashed as they stand on the Spire before Pharasma." He shrugs. "Cayden'll surely chuckle and fill their mugs for 'em!"
Having mostly been healed meant she could function enough to dig, but due to the compression of the blows she had taken, her injuries were still sufficient enough to truly hurt her as she worked. Nicolette is thankful for the help from Bohrs. He will notice she will take breaks here and there, holding her chest in pain where she was hit, but then will shrug it off. If brought up, she will note that it is nothing that time and rest will not recover.
Calaithes will assist as much as he can. While he isn't weak, he isn't remotely as strong as Nicolette.
Once the bodies are taken care of and the rites performed he moves back to the room with the pool. He takes a long drink and unpacks rations, then sets up a place to get comfortable. Once everyone is as comfortable as they can be he lays down to sleep. He considers removing the veil, but it feels strangely comfortable.
Once the work is done, Bohrs pours out a measure of Godsbrew for himself and offers a similar measure to each of his companions (though not pressing the issue if they decline). "To a victorious day. A day of good fortune! May the courage of Cayden and luck of Desna follow our endeavors!"
He raises his tankard and drinks deeply. "Gods grant you all a good night's rest, that we may face the morning in high spirits!"
Calaithes wakes feeling something strange. He isn't sure, but he thinks that something.... or someone, is in his head with him. The description isn't exactly right, but it is as close as he can think for it. His body goes tense, but he doesn't sense a threat. Relaxing and closing his eyes he focuses on the... presence in his head. He isn't sure but almost senses laughter?, but no danger. The entity slowly "shows" Calaithes how to communicate and explains about new powers that he can use. He? or It? also explains about the veil. The veil allows Calaithes to commune with his "Patron". When asked, Calaithes Patron explains that it isn't a Deity like Bohrs's Cayden Cailean. It doesn't really explain what it is, not even clearly stating whether or not it is Divine or not....
Over time Calaithes is given explanation about what spells he will have available, how to select what spells he can cast in a day, and then.... a Hex. Calaithes is surprised by what hexes he has available to choose from, and initially has difficulty choosing. He considers a hex that would duplicate the healing spell, then one that could cloud the minds of enemies and make them weaker in battle, but finally settles on a different one that he could use to protect his companions in a battle. He finds it strange that he won't be able to protect himself though.
Finishing with his communing he finally "wakes", taking time to stretch and slowly rise. A quick breakfast and filling his waterskin he approaches everyone. "I've figured out the purpose of my new veil. It allows me to communicate with a Patron, and gives me the ability to cast spells." He quickly casts a cantrip, forming four little floating balls of light and sends them spinning around Kayle. "And, I can use a protective hex on anyone, other than myself, that will twist the luck of anyone trying to hit you. I sure wish I'd had that one before our battle with those skeletons! I think Nicolette could have smashed them all while they just flailed at her, missing almost every time!"
As Nicolette begins to move the slaughtered horses away from the tomb's entrance, she looks through her pack and finds that she has misplaced her rope. It doesn't take long for her to retrace her steps and find it neatly coiled up in the corner near where she had slept the night before. With this in hand, it speeds up the job she had already begun, and she is able to finish before nightfall with the help of Bohrs, Calaithes, and Kayle. Owens helps in his own way as well, but seems to understand that the mood is more dour this day. After the funerary rites, you all hear late night chirping from birds. Calaithes thinks he picks it out as a whipporwill: maybe a sign of Pharasma's pleasure at their work. It's a nice thought at least.
While everyone else works to bury the bodies, Tulia gets to work with her brewing. The potions are not quite like the alchemical sorts that you had found elsewhere, and are much more herbal and earthy. Calaithes and Kayle recognize it as quite similar to the sort of thing that Olmira does in her spare time. The stuff smells foul, but Tulia assures you that the draughts will bring about the desired effects. "And they'll put hair on your chest, too!" she says, though none of you are sure whether or not she's joking.
Before bedding down for the evening, Tulia conjures her lute again and gets to playing. As she plays, a lilting tune with a touch of melancholy, everyone feels relieved of the burdens of the day. Any lingering fatigue disappears, and you can rest well.
Morning greets the adventurers after another day of harrowing battles, mostly-neutered traps, and uncomfortable but necessary burials. Tulia has nestled into a pile with Owens for warmth, and she watches as Calaithes shows off his new powers. She claps gently for the minor cantrip and begins playing a game of fetch with Owens with a stick about as large as she is.