"I'd prefer that someone stronger than me push. If I can spot the beetle I'll see if I can put a bolt into it."
Nicolette nods and takes point, trying to rush in against the beetle in a way that won't block Cal's shot.
Bohrs will follow Nic into the room, rapier drawn, and attempt to move into a flanking position while leaving a clear line of sight for Cal to loose a crossbow bolt.
Shuffling around, Nicolette carefully opens the door into the room beyond. The beetle doesn't seem to immediately notice the group, far more interested in the dead body that it is shoving around.
Calaithes: 16
Nicolette: 9
The barbarian and cleric creep into the room and Calaithes lines up his shot. With a noisy click, he sends a bolt flying through the doorway. It slams into the beetle, which whirls around with a great angry hiss, green liquid oozing from its hard carapace.
Bohrs
Calaithes
Beetle
Nicolette
Kayle and Owens
Map
Calaithes shrugs at the success of his shot, but stows the bow figuring the beetle can't last much longer. He stays behind Nicolette while moving in to the room.
Nicolette moves into the room carefully and quietly. She gets up next to the beetle just as a sling bullet tears through it. She dodges the rock as it flips and flies off its hard shell.
Nicolette, Calaithes, and Bohrs all enter the room and surround the beetle. The Caydenite swings valiantly out with his rapier, but doesn't even manage to stab into the carapace. The beetle sidesteps the blade, hissing as it scrambles away from Nicolette and over the corpse in the center. There is an odd gurgling sound before it spews something wet and burning all over Bohrs and Calaithes.
Bohrs
Calaithes
Beetle
Nicolette
Kayle and Owens
Map
Nicolette tries to recall what she knows of this beetle. She's heard of them before, but would it suffice to know its weaknesses? She uses the flat edge to pierce into the beetle's hard carapace after seeing it deflect her allies.
"Deflect this, bug."
Kayle will run forward once melee is joined, giving Ownes a familiar touch on his shoulder with his shield hand while the druid hustles forward like a goose to the fight. One arm waving out at his side with shield, and the other his club. "Get em!" he calls out to his dog. Working his way around the reach of the beetle, and spotting the damage it has down to Calaithes and Bohrs he frowns.
"Really glad I didn't try and sneak up on that!" he admits, "Don't worry guys. Nicolette and Owens have this!"
At Kayle's command Owens takes off toward the bug, barking all the way to announce just how much trouble the critter is. His furred shoulders brushing into Kayle's hip as they run down the hall. It doesn't stagger Owens, but it jostled his already odd looking human something during the hustle.
Pushing in right between Nicolette and Bohrs Owens lunges at one of the bug's legs. Aiming for where it connected to the back torso.
Nicolette steps up to the admittedly-unfamiliar beetle and slams her hammer down into it. It hisses and screeches an awful noise while Owens wrenches one of its legs off. The sudden blistering assault devastates the beetle, which wobbles on its feet. It continues standing (barely) on top of the corpse, hissing almost nonstop.
Bohrs
Calaithes
Beetle
Nicolette
Kayle and Owens
Map
Bohrs stabs again with his rapier.
Standing behind Bohrs doesn't seem to be such a great idea as the beetle spits a stream of acid at them. Calaithes leaps and dodges out of the most of the spray, but what hits still hurts.... "Ouch! Well, If the thing has any real brain I guess I deserve that for the sting I put in it! But it needs to die before it can do that again!"
With Kayle blocking his path one way he skitters around the crowd. Pulling the baton from his belt he moves up to slam it on the shell of the beast.
Being too slow to properly set any of his human allies up for an attack left Kayle to shift over near Owens and try to free the dog up for another attack. He brought an underhand swing in at the beetle's belly, and while the blow likely wouldn't crack it's shell he could expose it's softer bits to Owens.
Owens jerks back, dropping the shredded leg of the beetle and snaps, ducking low and snarling before he presses in. Ducking his head low to try and rip at the softer connective tissue under the critter's back end.
It was certainly almost dead after her hit. Were she more driven and able to take her inner strength into effect, it surely would have been destroyed. As it is, her companions all jump on it and beat it to a pulp.
"Way to be guys!"
She is actually impressed.
"Wow, Bohrs. Good tactics there. It couldn't tell which of us to attack when you were on the other side of it. It had to watch both of us. The Captain called that 'flanking', an old-time war maneuver after the frontlines crashed in battle. If you have a break in fighting, you turn around and help your allies behind you briefly and reform the line. He said it's also commonly used to catch armies unaware by hitting them at the side where they are less prepared. Anyways, nice job!" she comments as she wipes a light bit of sweat from her brow. While the others might not have to use as much effort swinging their weapons, she does.
She then turns to Owens tearing apart the beetle:
"And of course, you were a good boy...but drop it. Drrroooop ittt..." she commands more sternly to Owens if he resists. "It spewed acid on you guys. Who knows what it'd do to his doggy digestion?"
She will take it upon herself to search the body and the room they are in for traps, assuming it's not too nastified.
Calaithes starts looking around the room, including the body that the bug was dragging. "It was dragging bodies here to eat, but they might have something useful on them. And.... Maybe we can identify if it was snacking on any of the group from the village. Answers for next of kin?"
Still smarting from the acid, Bohrs and Calaithes show a dedication to tactics belying their newness as a team. With a few coordinated smacks and stabs, the beetle shudders and collapses down on top of the body. But on the hunt, Owens continues snapping away until the even beetle's legs stop twitching. Nicolette tries to get the pooch to stop thrashing the dead giant bug as she and Calaithes look around.
It doesn't take much effort to move the beetle off of the corpse underneath, but the poor person underneath is difficult to recognize.
The pile of trash in the corner looks like a nest. There is nothing else of interest in the room, nor on the body. You do however smell smoke coming from the door to the south.
Calaithes looks the body over but doesn't recognize anything. "Once we solve the puzzles here maybe we should bury the people. Bohrs can say the final blessings for them."
He moves over to examine the door then steps back for Bohrs. "Care to check beyond this door too?"
"I have every confidence in your fighting skills, Nicolette. I figure if I can keep a foe's attention on me, it won't see your skull-crushing hammer blow until it's too late!" Bohrs replies to Nic's compliment of his tactics.
"It's hard to tell for certain, but it's very likely this is another one of Roldare's companions yet accounted for. Indeed, we will bury their remains when we can, and I will be honored to give their final benediction," he replies with uncharacteristic somberness to Cal's request.
Kayle moves to inspect the wounds of the victim. It was grim work, but best to know what they were facing. He had learned a painful lesson that noting how death came to others served as warning for the living. He even had the scars.
"Looks like more blade work." Kayle noted with a sigh, "Likely more of the undead.
Owens took several bites at the bug, repeating the motion of tearing away a piece and dropping it to snap again. Finally, sure it was dead he tore away another leg and went to drop it. Until Nicolette approached and tried to make him do just that. His hind end went up, and he dropped his front paws. He gave a playful growl and shook his head slightly with the leg still in his jaws.
Of course his tail was wagging wildly.
Nicolette laughs lightly at Bohrs' comment. She listens to her companions.
"I think that's a good idea," The Pale Hammer finally comments to Calaithes as he mentions burying the bodies. "I think we should get Roldare back to town first and come back with some others who can help."
She looks over the body briefly as Kayle does
She then spots some eggs and reaches out to gather them.
"Eww...it laid eggs. Let's not leave these in here," she comments as she pulls them out and if no one objects, she squishes them. She now looks more intently at the body.
"I think this is Bree, a baker, and disciple of Ilimara Oniri. Right?" she asks for confirmation, turning the dead one's face to better face the others.
With Owens still fighting to relinquish the leg from her, she glared and pointed at the ground with a finger. She can't help but smile though, likely making her attempt to command the beast less effective.
Instead of fighting Owens on it, she looks to his owner and holds out her hands for him to conjure some water. She doesn't particularly like having dead-person-goop on her hands. As best she can, she will wash them.
She sniffs in the room.
"Do you all smell that? Smoke?"
Calaithes finds no traps at the door--just the oily smell of smoke mingling with the rot and decay of bodies, mold, and the beetle's nest. Owens meanwhile is finding the fun in this grim place. Whether that was to the chagrin or the delight of the humanoids was an open question.
Nicolette meanwhile finds the evidence that she has already spoken about: the beetle seemed to have become particularly territorial over its brood. With a little effort, the Pale Hammer is able to make sure that Bree's body doesn't become beetle food.
Owens continues to shake his rump about and growl playfully, but when Nicolette doesn't want to play he eventually let's his hold on the leg slacken and it falls from his mouth slightly stained with drool. He approaches her and sits patiently before her.
Kayle blinked as Nicolette found the eggs laid inside the body. He watched in a bit of a stupor while she crushed the eggs, not understanding how he missed that. He replayed his study of the body over in his mind, but for the life of himself he couldn't figure out his stupid mistake.
When Nicolette offers her messy hands he holds his above her and uses his orison so she can wash them. "This might be the most useful thing I have done." he glumly realizes.
Calaithes gets out of Bohrs's way at the door. "Oily smoke smell? Can't have a lantern burning though. Who'd be refilling the oil?"
Hearing Kayle's words he turns and shakes his head. "We all do what we can, and we all have different skills. And don't forget that you're supplying one of the light spells! Otherwise I'd be hauling a lit torch...."
Bohrs dips his fingers into his tankard, and sprinkles some of the ale in a circle, with a bit of emphasis towards himself and Calaithes.
"Ahhh, that feels better!"
With Bohrs not taking up position at the doorway, she will do it, and will be careful opening the door. She will do so quietly, looking into what is causing such a smoky smell. If the smoke is indeed coming from the south, that's where she checks.
"Oh, we're moving on then?" Bohrs says, snapping out of the pleasant haze of the healing magic soothing his acid burns. "Sorry, didn't know we were checking that door just yet. I'll be sure to look through the next one!"
He holds up his glowing tankard to shine as much on the light as he can.
A bit of healing warms the room, and Bohrs and Calaithes feel the pleasant momentary buzz as though having had just a little bit to drink. As Kayle bemoans feeling like he isn't contributing and his "brother" reminds him of his usefulness, Nicolette opens the door to the next room. The smoke immediately becomes harsher, and all of your eyes begin to water as you cross the threshold into the room. You feel the urge to cough with each breath.
Immediately beyond the door, you round a corner and emerge into a broad chamber. The remains of a small fire smolder in the center of the room, letting off a plume of oily smoke. Fed by a heap of burning gear, debris, and more than few bones, the fire casts a flickering light across the walls of this room, partially obscured by the veil of hazy smoke.
With hammer raised, and her collar over her mouth and nose, she moves into the hallway. As it bends, she cautiously creeps forward.
"There must not be ventilation...but then why light the fire?" she muses.
Despite the gloom of the shadows from the fire, her low-light vision can pierce them as though it were daytime. If anything is hiding, she will see it.
"We are from the village. The company after the Everflame. Don't attack," she volunteers out loud to the room as she skirts to the outside wall until she can see the whole of it. "Hopefully we don't have another Roldare situation. I think I see bones burning...maybe it's his sister lighting skeletons? I can't see a necromancer making a fire..."
"Thanks Bohrs! That feels really good."
With the door opened Calaithes covers his mouth and nose with a rag and follows Nicolette. "How'd they keep a fire burning? Once the fuel is burnt the fire should go out? Something's wrong here!"
Kayle is quick to kneel upon entering the smoky room, and helps cover Owen's sensitive snoot as well as his own mouth. "Gods that is a horrible idea in a tomb." he complained before stepping forward and completely drenching the fire in water.
Kayle sends a small downpour of water over the fire, extinguishing it. Although the fire goes out, a large plume of smoke bellows out, choking the air further. The smoke seems to be exiting out of a small chimney in the center of the room, but it's not going nearly fast enough and the choking sensation begins to get worse.
Looking in the fire, Kayle sees something else amid the ash and coal that no one else saw on first glance: a fine-looking dagger.
Peering through the thick, oily smoke, you all see another potential cause of the flames. A human-sized creature stands in the corner, watching as you enter. It looks like it is, or was, wearing clerical vestments, but its clothing is charred black and fused together with what remains of its skin. Its flesh is a raging inferno surrounded by greasy black smoke. It raises a burning hand and points a blackened, bony finger at you all, howling in agony.
Calaithes is out of range and will have to make this save once within 30 ft.
Although combusted can no longer be truly harmed by fire, they endure the final moments of their death eternally, searing them with endless burning pain. Many combusted attempt to douse themselves in lakes or rivers, believing the flames that wreath their forms must be the source of their pain. However, water is more hindrance than help, and being immersed in it only amplifies their agony.
No longer possessing the ability to communicate in anything other than agonized wails, combusted nonetheless retain their senses and memories. Yet they rarely seek to act on their past, for the pain drowns out thoughts of friendships, family, and vengeance. In time, combusted are driven to share their pain with others, for the instant their flames catch fire on another living being, they feel a single, fleeting moment of relief. This relief leads combusted into conflict with living creatures often, although those that attack large settlements rarely survive long.
Some combusted form from those who died via spontaneous combustion, suddenly becoming so hot they burst into flames. This mysterious process isn't fully understood, though some scholars attribute it to shifts in power in the Plane of Fire causing hot spots in the Material Plane powerful enough to kill. Much more rarely, combusted arise around areas with especially intense magical flames, such as forges used to create magic weapons, when the fire sets creatures ablaze, so they burn to death and transcend into undeath in mere moments.
Regardless of the source of their conflagration, the horrifying deaths that combusted suffered haunt them in the afterlife. Their charred, blackened corpses alight with flames are a constant reminder of their final moments in pain. The stench of burning flesh heralds their presence, each combusted leaving black smoke in their wake.
You may ask one question for meeting the DC, plus one for each 5 that you exceed it.
Bohrs
Creature
Kayle & Owens
Nicolette
Calaithes
Map
Bohrs raises his tankard, and calls out: "May the might of Cayden Cailean smite your bones!"
"It can be harmed by water and cold. If you have any abilities in that area use them first!" Borhs warns the group.
Through a sputtering cough, Bohrs tries to call on Cayden's might, but the smoke is already too much and he can't call on his god right away.
Bohrs recalls two other things about the fell creatures known as Combusted. First, they can shoot their flames out to a range of 30 feet at will to devastating effect. And second, they yearn to share their pain with others, which they can do if they come into contact with you.
Bohrs relates all this as the charred finger turns to face him and the agonized wailing continues unabated. As flames rush towards Bohrs, he remembers a conversation with one of the acolytes at the Temple, a man named Paak. After one of the simple candelabras in the Temple had fallen over, Paak had run screaming from the room. Bohrs had found him cowering in a corner, where Paak confessed to being deathly afraid of fire. It looks like Paak may have fallen victim to fire in the end. And now Bohrs might, too.
Bohrs
Creature
Kayle & Owens
Nicolette
Calaithes
Map
"Wait...what is that there! On guard!" she announces as it raises its pointy finger at them. "This is no friend of ours!"
A short moment later, Bohrs goes down in agony.
"Help him! I'll step in here!"
With that, she rushes around the fire, but her foot slightly slips on some unseen ashes and her swing goes wide.
Calaithes gags and chokes on the smoke, momentarily wishing that Kayle hadn't splashed the fire out.... He had been thinking about trying to circle the fire creature when he sees Bohrs get blasted and go down. Hearing Nicolette's words he moves over to the downed man, pulls the potion from his sash and tries to pour it into him.
Despite Owens being a brave boy the shrieking paired with the smoke, fire, and undead was simply asking too much. He snarled protectively, but could not force himself to charge forward. The dog pushed, but would instinctively recoil each time.
Kayle's self doubt is pushed aside the moment he notices Bohrs drop. Owen's loud growl might mask the indignant and unintelligable noise Kayle makes in his throat before he barks out a command in druidic. Waving his hands across his chest and then sweeping them back behind he he stomps the ground. The thrum of his magic is carried through the floor. While everyone feels it, none feel it more than the burning corpse.
"Bring him to me!" Kayle shouts as the spell resolves, "Owens, get him!" He cries as he tries to push the canine to attack.
Kayle slams his foot into the ground with surprising strength. Across the room, the Combusted seems to stumble with the wave of energy, but still stands upright once it passes. Owens hears the command to push forward, but stands his ground snarling.
Nicolette surges into the room, but her swing is off between the debris on the ground and the heavy smoke hanging in the air. As she nears, she feels a sense of dread rise within her as the howling agony crescendos.
But she remembers her training and forces any fear down. She will stand toe to toe with this creature.
Calaithes pulls out the red potion labeled healing, uncorks it, and begins carefully pouring the potion down Bohrs' throat. Even as the rogue trickles bits of healing liquid into Bohrs' slack mouth, he can see the smoldering continue as the cleric slips further towards Elysium.
The Combusted flails its fists at the Pale Hammer. Nicolette raises her hammer and easily parries one blow out of the way. But in the next moment, as though shadowboxing, the undead horror sucker punches her in the gut. She feels the burning, probably worse than any incident under Braggar's supervision, as the creature shows surprising strength.
Bohrs
Creature
Kayle & Owens
Nicolette
Calaithes
Map