GM Harrow’s Curse of the Crimson Throne - AE

Game Master GM Harrow

”Of course. Sounds like just the right kind of use for our special talents. Especially if we can help bring some measure of peace and reconciliation to this temperamental situation. What do we know about this necromancer, any known accomplices and the warrens themselves?”

The perpetually slouching Abella stands up straighter ad she hears mention of necromancers. A chance to prove the superiority of her methods versus an underground—quite literally—necromancer? ”Bless your luck, as nobody knows better than I how best to deal with necromancers. I am a savant of that field, and one who is uninterested in the petty puppetries and craven corpse-thievery of the common necro.” She waves some thanergy around her hand. ”I am interested only in the energy, and that puts me at an extreme advantage versus such rabble.” She makes a fist.

Cressida Kroft sighs. "Rolth Lamm has long been a thorn in our side. He was expelled from the Acadamae after some truly awful experiments of his were uncovered. He was butchering vagrants, stray animals and anything else he could get his hands on to try and build some sort of golem from their collected parts. The Acadamae quietly expelled him because it didn't want the negative attention. Personally, I suspect he's responsible for a larger number of additional murders over the past decade, each involving mutilation to the body, but he's a slippery one and we've never been able to find any evidence against him. He might or might not be in the Dead Warrens, but anything you can find there that could lead to his arrest would be greatly appreciated."

Thousand Bones turns his head to look at Abella. "I am glad to hear that you forgo reanimation of mortal remains. To have my grandson's corpse treated thusly is a terrible desecration, so I hope that you can recover his body before this necromancer defiles it."

Audria nods when asked if she'd be joining in. There's something cold and hard in her eyes as she hears the details. Then she hears Rolth's last name and she blinks and she just looks like a surprised young woman.

"That old bastard had family?!"

The words are blurted out before Audria can stop herself. She claps her hands over her mouth, but it is far too late to save her from some embarrassment.

"S-sorry. It just slipped out," she mutters in apology as her face turns cherry-red. After that little fiasco, she decides the best course of action is to keep her mouth shut for the rest of the meeting.

Shane arches a brow. HE had missed the ..Lamm incident, but had been filled in between his associates mentioning it, and Zellara talking about how her son had been avenged.

"Wait. Rolth.. son of the man who... recently died, is a necromancer. Oh, you folks need to stop him for all SORTS of reasons if you don't want to see a certain someone again... in one form or another."

Not sure if his earlier rolls told him much or not, but as it is out in the open about Rolth being discharged from the Acadamae 'quietly'.. ;)

"The Acadamae allows a LOT of Lee way in its research. Rolth getting expelled tells you all you need to know about how many lines he'd cross. I don't know if the Acadamae would loan us any student records regarding him , and if they would, it would come at a cost. I know a graduate who is also a necromancer, but I'm not sure she could or would give us many hints leading to Rolth. We're going to need some supplies. Lots of holy water, for one I suspect."

At Audria's outburst, the Field Marshal's eyes narrow on her. "You seem to have a history with Rolth's... father, would be my guess. And yes, he is the son of Gaedren Lamm. His father and his associates were killed not long ago, their corpses put up on display down at the docks. The city sanitation team took them down and had them buried-" She stops speaking abruptly, and her face darkens. "Damn it!" She looks at everyone with a renewed intensity. "You need to find Rolth as soon as possible and stop whatever he's up to. I'll give you some advance funds to purchase equipment and whatever else you need."

Loot: 250 gp available for consumable purchases - holy water, potions, scrolls etc.

Thousand Bones watches in silence for a moment, then nods. "Nips at Heels can lead you where you need to go. May the spirits hasten you on your way and bless the task upon which you embark." With that, he turns and makes for the door, the staff clacking on the floor with every other step.

"I-I can help with the holy water," Audria says meekly. "I don't know how much the Sanctuary has at the moment, but I can ask Brother Theolan and Sister Jenelyn if the could make some for us to purchase."

University District
Shrike kneels down to offer Majenko an easy path up to her shoulder again, but seeing that Shane is doing the same thing, backs off. "Thank you," she says to the little dragon, gentler than usual. "That was kind. He won't remember. But I will."

Shane got there first, so fair's fair. :)

Kroft's Office
A chill goes through her.

"'For an inspiration of a father,'" Shrike mutters, low enough it is almost a growl. She has her own private suspicions about the identity of both Lamms. None of them had known for sure when discovering it, but Lamm did have a child, after all. Which made it much more likely that the Key-Lock Killer's blade was his.

The shaman's words are more confusing, but only for a moment. Nips at Heels? Her eyes go to Pava behind the mask. Oh. Family name.

"Lead on."

”Sounds like a nasty piece of work, this Rolth. We had better move quickly, before the remains end up as some unholy abomination.”

With Thousand Bones gone, Elric gives Kroft an update about their raid on Eel’s End.

”Regarding the other matter, we were able to recover the letters without having to resort to bribes or negotiations with certain morally corrupt elements. They are indeed quite incrimimating to the ambassador and he is certain to be highly motivated to avoid their content becoming public knowledge. Barvasi was almost certainly blackmailing him.”

Elric pauses, taking a moment to consider how many details to share about Barvasi’s demise.

”On a related note, there has been a shift in the power dynamics of Eel’s End. Seems Barvasi went and had some sort of fatal accident involving his collection of spider pets. Looks like a half-elf woman named Halvara is going to be in charge from now on.”

Taking the leather folio from Elric, the Field Marshal begins to scan the letters. "Yes, I have heard about a 'disturbance' at Eel's End." The quotation marks are obvious in her tone. "Excellent work, now that - sweet gods!" She almost drops the letters, her cheeks starting to resemble the colour of her uniform.

"Er, well done. Good job. Right." She clears her throat, pointlessly rearranging some papers on her desk. "I shall let my friend know that you have what we need. Given the, ah, nature of the material, I don't think it's appropriate for myself, or any government official for that matter, to discuss the issue with the ambassador." She raises her head as if a stray thought had caught her by surprise. "Wait, you said fatal accident? Barvasi's dead?" She lets her breath out in a whistle. "Very impressive, and not a scratch on you lot. I don't want to know how you did it. Spider pets does not sound good though." She drums her fingers on the desk, pondering for a moment. "This could be our long-awaited pretext to raid the place - after all, it's within our purview to eliminate dangerous creatures that might constitute a threat to public safety." She nods with no small amount of satisfaction.

"You have exceeded my expectations and, in truth, my hopes. I need to replenish my liquid assets, but that doesn't mean you're going unrewarded." She pulls a sheet of paper towards her and writes a short note, which she signs and seals with her signet ring. "You can take this to the temple of Abadar, they will exchange it for coin."

Loot: 1500 gp party reward for the letters and Barvasi's death. Note that this is in addition to the 1000 gp bribe money, which you may also keep.

Shane actually feels a bit of amusement as the Field Marshal goes 'Sweet gods' but tries to mask it.

The amount of wealth offered, however, is nothing to smirk at. He readies to go. Luxury within reach aside, there is a Necromancer to stop, and a Shoanti grandfather who has as much right to peace of mind as any of them.

"He was keeping a pet Ettercap in the hold of the ship. That is how he controlled the other spiders. And if the dangerous creatures is not pretext enough to raid the place, we also uncovered a Shiver lab, including half a dozen doses of finished product."

Did we end up keeping the Shiver vials or pouring it out?

Pava laughs dryly "Right, right. Not enough pretext or understanding of what was going on in there before this. That's why the guard never took a peek."

Can't remember who it was, but they got dumped.

Audria's curiosity wars with her common sense, and this time common sense wins out. If it's enough to make someone as disciplined and world-weary as Field Marshal Cressida Kroft seems to be exclaim and blush, then she really, really doesn't need to know the content of those letters.

Regardless of what becomes of the situation with Eel's End, Audria asks the others where they should meet before they can leave.

"Do we meet at the Sanctuary, the Bank of Abadar, or the Grand Cathedral to Pharasma? If we want to prepare first, I'd say the Bank of Abadar or the Sanctuary. They're not that far from each other."

Looking at the map, the Bank of Abadar is about a five minute walk from the Sanctuary of Shelyn, but they're both in the complete opposite direction to the Cathedral, which looks like it's over a mile away.

Yep, Elric poured them out, but Shrike kept the vials for exactly this purpose.

"He was keeping a pet ettercap in the hold of the ship. That is how he controlled the other spiders. And if the dangerous creatures is not pretext enough to raid the place, we also uncovered a Shiver lab, including half a dozen doses of finished product."

Shrike had been ready to walk out the door and start hunting a necromancer, leaving this conversation for later, but since Elric brings it up, she withdraws the half-a-dozen nearly-empty shiver vials she saved from the lab and sets them on Kroft's desk. "Lab's on the Eel's End. Second level near the ettercap's hold. Ettercap's not going anywhere. Nor the dream spiders. He fed them people. Easy meat. The madam'll probably win any power struggle. A new Queen of Spiders."

The blunt words are mostly even, though the harsh note in the words the madam makes her feelings clear enough. If the Guard needs a pretext, here it is gift-wrapped. She almost hopes they won't take it. There will be too many opportunities for Halvara to wriggle out of justice at some point along the many stages of arrest, trial, and prison or the noose. Same as Barvasi always kept his nose clean and his local robins well-greased.

Pava's words aren't wrong, but might as well give the boss robin a chance to do the right thing now. Shrike would bet ten crowns no one ever did accuse Barvasi of murder or blackmail or running shiver, not with real evidence. People in his world talk amongst themselves, but they don't peach to the robins. Not if they want to keep their lives and livelihoods.

To her mind, the disappearances and debt-slavery in which he kept his girls should have been enough to investigate and damn him. But that's why human laws aren't fit for their purpose. No one like Barvasi could ever set up for long in Crying Leaf. But a city is very different from a village.

She does not have to be asked to leave Elric's prevarications alone regarding the specifics of their involvement in Barvasi's death. And even though she's done nothing for Kroft she wouldn't have done for free, she's certainly not green enough to leave money on the table. She takes the promissory note to add to the chest of platinum crowns Kroft had given them earlier to use as bribe-money with a swift nod. "Thanks."

Whatever she feels about the Guard, Kroft has put her money — some of it her personal money — where her mouth is, and that counts for something.

After some consideration, Shrike adds the four vials of poison to the half-dozen with the traces of shiver. "Weren't sure about these. Some kind of poison."

She looks to Pava, since Thousand Bones was the one to mention the corpse-peddler and thus the Shoanti likely know his or her name. "Like to talk to the croaksman. Ought to buy supplies first though. Meet at the Temple of Abadar in an hour?"

She's ready to head to the markets, then the temple. Everyone will have their own buying needs, but selling what needs to be sold should be the province of someone better with people.

Elric helps sell the items, then joins the rest of the group at the Temple of Abadar.

After getting his share of the money, he deposits most of it back into a personal account at the temple (1,200 gp goes back into the bank).

"I'm all set. Let's head to the Dead Warrens as soon as everyone have got their gear in order."

Shane has been quiet and thoughtful since the mention of the necromancer. His spells will not all work on undead, of course. But he'll try to prepare.

The Field Marshal examines the empty vials carefully and sets the other four aside. "I'll have these examined by an alchemist. If It's Shiver, you are right that's even more reason to raid the place. Did you find anything, any papers or ledgers to indicate who might be his suppliers of raw materials? Or who he was selling to?" She glances at Elric, then at Shrike. "We'll keep a close eye on this Halvara, and if you hear anything about her bring it to me. Her... employees will not talk to us, but they might talk to you."

Apologies for my absence. I've been sick, on top of all the other stuff, but I'm feeling better now.

Shrike hesitates, then adds the scruffy notebook to the leather folio with the letters that the Field Marshal has already been looking through. It hadn't been of use to her anyway. "Not much." Maybe Kroft will have better luck gleaning anything from it.

From what Majenko said about being made to fight dream spiders, I think we know that Barvasi owned a bunch of the dream spiders that provide the expensive component of shiver, which is the dream spider venom and webbing; apparently he had enough of them that he didn't think anything of letting some of them die for entertainment. The ettercap let him control them and presumably milk the venom. We don't know the source of the spiders, or the identities of any distributors he might have been selling to, besides directly to customers in his own shiver den.

We did find a leather folder and a notebook that might have information about his distributors or suppliers of other components. However, the folder didn't seem to have anything else relevant to his shiver business, just "various promissory notes (some of them signed with a bloody thumbprint), agreements made with the owners of the other vessels moored next to Eel's End, the employment contracts of Barvasi's guards," and the two incriminating letters. Shrike examined the notebook, but out of character, I don't think I learned anything about it. She wanted to see if it was where he kept his list of debts, because if so she wanted to publicly burn it.

Bank of Abadar:
Shrike readies her newly bought weapons and gear, nods acknowledgement to Elric, and waits for Pava to lead them. She had decided to keep the reward money as cash, but changed almost all of it for the more efficient platinum coins. A messenger to the Weagra household with profuse apologies for the last-minute cancellation means no one is expecting her anywhere until the sixth bell of evening. This can't wait.

1d5 ⇒ 4

Pava leans in close and snaps their fingers right in front of Cressida's face. "Paperwork's not exactly the priority right now, is it? Gaekhen is dead, and that's only getting worse by the minute. I've brought that family enough grief without-" They tear their auger eyes away from the captain and mutter to the rest. "Get your gear if you're coming."

Cressida Kroft scans the notebook, frowning. Shrike had tried to read it earlier, but it is coded in a cypher she's not familiar with, and trying to decrypt it would take time - time they do not have.

"I'll get someone smart on this to-" As Pava snaps their fingers in her face, old reflexes kick in and the Field Marshal grabs their wrist, then immediately releases. "Apologies, you're right. Good luck, and I hope you return with g- welcome news."

1d20 ⇒ 10

Audria looks at Pava with a mixture of concern and more than a little annoyance. She just supposes that Pava's lucky that Cressida Kroft is a much more understanding person than one Bartholomew Holdt. While she'd never been foolish enough to provoke his ire, she'd born witness to him losing his temper a time or two when someone mistreated her or his wife, Miss Olga. Still, this kind of rudeness felt out of character for Pava, at least from what Audria had seen, and the Shoanti definitely seemed out of sorts. She decides that if she can catch them alone, she'll see if she can help.

In the meantime, she asks Shrike and the others if she could have some of the coin they were given to bribe Devargo with to pay for some blessed water after one of the more knowledgeable people in the party points out how useful it might be.

300gp to pay for a dozen flasks of Holy Water alright with everyone? That's two apiece. Another 300gp gets us 6 CLW potions. If not, Audria will pay for it out of her share.

Shrike says nothing in the face of a show of emotional volatility that would have seen Pava instantly removed from any hunting party led by either of her formidable mentors, at least until getting some sleep. Impatience and rushing meant dead hunters. She revises downward her mental estimation of Pava's age. This is a bad idea. Can't do much about it now.

Thanks for taking care of the religious purchases in-character, Audria. I only want one holy water for Shrike, and we have two CLW potions and one CMW potion in the party loot, plus the CLW wand. Meanwhile Elric, Pava and Shane all have healing potions already listed in their gear. I think we probably don't need to buy more potions. The party CLW potions are currently listed as being on Abella, as is the wand. But Abella has self-healing capabilities and can natively use the wand, so I'm going to swap the CMW potion to Shrike, as the last person to not have any potions or healing ability, unless Abella's player objects to this. And Audria should probably be the one carrying the two CLW potions, to supplement her Lay On Hands ability.

As the others arrive, Audria hands out flasks of holy water and gives both Shrike and Elric a pair of holy weapon balms.

Everyone should have 2 flasks of holy water. Pava, Shrike, and Elric have two holy weapon balms each. Audria will pay for it out of her pocket.

Purchases and preparations made, the group makes haste to the southern part of Korvosa, where the Gray district lies. A mournful place even in the best of times, now there is an unnatural stillness in the air, especially noticeable in Potter's Ward - the final resting ground for Korvosa's poor and homeless. Mounds of unmarked dirt stretch across the southeastern corner of the district, crumbling mausoleums abandoned years ago dotting the bleak landscape, forgotten and empty. Mourners rarely visit here, for the dead buried in Potter's Ward leave behind few who regret their passing.

With the information from Thousand Bones it is relatively easy to find the area where the entrance to the Dead Warrens should be.

Perception DC 15 (Alertness for having Tally on her shoulder): 1d20 + 5 + 2 ⇒ (19) + 5 + 2 = 26

Audria doublechecks her armor and the gear she carries. After making sure that she has everything secured, including the four flasks and the iron-clad ash club she bought on the way to the Gray District, she makes sure that Tally is comfortably hidden in the folds of her cloak's hood. With everything secured and ready, she takes in a deep breath and her eyes glow in the seven colors of the rainbow.

Detect Evil. Since it's at will, she'll keep it up as we're searching through the Dead Warrens.

As she looks around, she sees the tracks of someone pushing a wheelbarrow through the dirt along with other, smaller footprints. The young paladin gets the others' attention and points the prints out.

"I think that's the way to go," she tells the others quietly. Now that they are close, she moves more cautiously and quietly to avoid notice and a possible ambush.

Stealth Taking 10: 10 + 6 = 16

Perception: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (6) + 10 = 16

Before departing, Elric once again ensures that Galewing is safely in the care of the Sable Company beastmasters. While he would welcome his companions fighting power beside him, the prospect of taking a hippogriff into underground warrens potentially full of undead is not a good one.

At the graveyard, Elric also spots the footprints and wheelbarrow trail and moves at the front of the group, bow strung and ready.

Stealth: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (10) + 6 = 16

Perception: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (19) + 2 = 21
Knowledge Nature: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (10) + 8 = 18

Shane's hood is back over his head but his focus is sharp, he sees the tracks too. And nods. Noting the others moving quietly as they can, he tries to do the same.

Stealth: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (1) + 5 = 6

And thumps his foot against a rock . He gives an apologetic glance to any who glare at him, and keeps on after.

So did Shane stub a toe with that nat 1?

Audria doesn't quite wince at Shane's clumsiness, but figures it's probably for the best that he gets it out of the way now. Better for things to go wrong here where they can all run if they need to than for things to go wrong when deep underground and without any easy avenues of escape.

Bristling with even more weapons than usual, her deceptively slender elf-made great bow strung and ready in her hand, Shrike moves through the graveyard with her normal care, taking her usual position at the rear for travel through the city. In the frank light of day, she cannot blend with the shadows as she seems to at night.

She examines the tracks and then continues on with the others. One human-sized person, several smaller ones. Servants to the necromancer?

Taking 10 Perception and Stealth for 15 and 20, since it's daytime and presumably bright light. Not trained in Knowledge (Nature), so can't make that check.

The tracks lead into a mausoleum, and Shrike spots a hidden trapdoor in the floor. Lifting it reveals a set of stone steps descending into the dark, and a wave of musty, damp air rises to meet the inquisitive people seeking passage into the Dead Warrens.

The steps lead into a large, square chamber supported by four pillars, about forty feet to each side with the ceiling arching in a dmoe nearly twenty feet high. The walls are lined with skeletons caked into the earth - adult human bones mostly, but here and there smaller bones might be from halflings or perhaps children. Fifteen-foot-square pits sit to the east and west, each filled with a large heap of thousands of bones. To the south, a crude hole has been gouged out of the wall, providing access to a tunnel.

Will update the map tomorrow.

Audria holds out a hand to stop anyone from going further into the room. She concentrates for a moment and her eyes begin to glow again.

Detect Evil in a 60ft. Cone.

Perception (Tally's in arm's reach so Audria gets Alertness): 1d20 + 5 + 2 ⇒ (18) + 5 + 2 = 25
Stealth (Taking 10): 10 + 6 = 16

By the way, GM, is there a map for this? I'm still seeing Eel's End on the Roll 20 link.

In the close confines of the underground crypt, Elric stores his bow and switches to his lucerne hammer.

Like Audria, he keeps a sharp eye out for signs of danger.

Take 10 Perception for 20

Audria's divine sense does not detect anything untoward straight ahead. However, after a few moments she reorients to the left east and feels the presence of something evil - not something weak, but not fiercely strong either.

Elric finds it difficult to see anything in the darkness of the crypt, with only faint light coming from behind them.

Map updated on Roll20.

Audria concentrates on the aura she sees while holding a hand out to stay the others.

Concentrating to get how many auras and their locations.

Audria can tell there is one aura, in the direction of the eastwards pit.

Audria holds up one finger and points to the eastern pit. She slides the strap attached to her halberd from her shoulder and readies it.

"Can someone throw some light that way. Elric and I will lead," she whispers once she's armed.

@work, so I can't really access the map. Is it in charging range? Audria's speed is 20 feet at the moment.

Audria could potentially charge and attack with her reach weapon once she sees the target.

Sensing Audria get ready for a heroic charge, Elric reaches out and puts a cautionary hand on her arm.

”Careful. Better to hold the line and advance slowly than to rush into the unknown. Shrike, still got that lamp? Some light would be handy.” he whispers, peering into the darkness.

I must remember to buy one of those fancy ioun torches…I can’t see a thing.

"Light right here."

Pava opens their fist, and light shines out from the rock they're holding, illuminating a look of disgust as they examine the catacombs.

"I know once one's gone all urban, it's simple to forget how much your fellows crowd around you every day, but how is it that this is what anyone wants after they die?"

As light spreads through the crypt, a rattle and a clatter echo through the space as the various skeletons begin to rise. The four in the pit to the west are the fastest, rising to their feet and clambering up the narrow steps leading out of the pit. All four of them totter towards the stairs and the living ones gathered there, their feet clacking on the stone floor.

Double moves all around.

Initiative order, bold may act: human skeletons, Audria, Shrike, Pava, big skeleton, Abella, Elric, Shane.

Perception, low light or darkness, DC 15: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (4) + 7 = 11

Shrike reaches for her candle lamp, but Pava gets there first. Unfortunately, the light seems to waken the sleepers. The hair stands up on the back of her neck as the unnatural things come tottering toward them. And something bigger that she can't yet see is moving in the shadows around the corner. She reacts automatically, reaching for an arrow and choosing a blunt one at the last second by the feel of its fletching. Audria had said to use crushing weapons against any animated bones. "Back up. Make them come to us and keep the other one at a distance," she hisses.

Shrike sends an arrow streaking over Elric's head for the one at the back of the group, then takes her own advice and moves up the stairs, drawing the metal-headed light mace as she goes. So no into-melee penalty. Shrike is already 5 feet above Elric on the stairs, so I hope she has a clear shot and soft cover won't apply. If it does, the skeleton gets a +4 soft cover bonus to its AC. Standard action to attack, move action to move backward, drawing weapon as part of move action. She's still holding the bow in her other hand.
Mwk composite longbow v. skeleton: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (13) + 7 = 20
Mwk composite longbow damage: 1d8 + 2 ⇒ (5) + 2 = 7 Bludgeoning damage due to blunt arrow.

Good thing Elric held me back, Audria thinks as the skeletons rush the two of them. She drops her halberd, and if the rush of the skeletons didn't alert anyone paying attention, the clanging of steel on stone almost certainly did.

"Tally! can you do that thing you told me about to Shrike," Audria asks as she pulls her hood back and grabs the iron-clad stave she'd bought on her way to the Grey District.

"I can," the little thrush answers before taking off and landing on Shrike's shoulder. She sings an encouraging melody that gives the elven vigilante a little bit of divine guidance.

Tally can cast Guidance at will, so she'll be doing it on Shrike. Enjoy your +1. :)

"Elric, fall back," she says as she finishes slipping the crude weapon from her shoulder. She readies it and steps forward to swing only to slip on the stone and nearly drop the club on her head.

Attack (Great Club, Power Attack): 1d20 + 6 - 1 ⇒ (1) + 6 - 1 = 6

Not good! The thought runs through her mind as she sees that she's wide open for the skeleton's counter.

Careful Tally - casting Guidance provokes!

"Shove over, Soldier boy! If you're gonna carry around a polearm in a bleeding crypt, least you can do is make a hole!"

Delay for Elric to go, then assuming he steps back to go all hammer time, freeing up a space for Pava...

Pava slips into the gap in the line, disdaining the vital spots on a living human in favor of quick brutal strikes against the grain of the skeleton's joints, disabling it until even the thanergy of the crypt or Rolf's spells cannot keep it animate.

Cestus: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (18) + 8 = 26
Bludgeoning: 1d4 + 4 ⇒ (1) + 4 = 5

Yup, as does moving. She's casting it on Shrike, so the spell shouldn't provoke, but she had to move to Shrike's square, so that definitely provokes.

Blue AoO vs. Tally: 1d20 ⇒ 2
Yellow AoO vs. Tally: 1d20 ⇒ 4

Do the undead have expectations? If they do, these skeletons certainly didn't expect a songbird flitting around under their metaphorical noses, as their claws rake the air a full two seconds after Talanaliel occupied that space.

Audria's handling of the club is a little awkward in the tight space and being so close to animated bones is certainly unnerving. She can smell them, a mix of rot, damp earth and mold. Not as bad as she feared, perhaps, but still far from a pleasant experience.

Shrike's well-aimed arrow catches one of them in the neck, and its skull flies off to clatter away into the darkness behind it. It is unlikely that the skeleton needs its skull to function, but perhaps some memories of the body go bone-deep, as whatever thanergy was keeping it together dissipates and it falls apart in an untidy osseous pile. One down!

Pava hacks another one into its component parts, smashing its joints and tearing off the tendons. It totters in place for a moment before it buckles under the relentless assault and collapses. Two down!

However, being in front may yet prove a mistake; a horrible shuffling of bones and feathers echoes in the crypt as something huge moves at the edge of the light. The entire room shudders as the creature forces its way between the pillars, showers of dirt sifting from the ceiling. It shambles into the light with heavy steps that reverberate and vibrate through the floor. A nightmarish apparition of haggard feathers, rotted sinew and exposed bone, huge empty orbits staring down at the group as its sharply pointed beak and the hand-length claws promise grievous injury.

Just a double move for now. initiative order, bold may act: human skeletons, Audria, Shrike, Pava, big skeleton, Abella, Elric, Shane.

Hm... Thinking about it as it would be happening in initiative order, Tally could simply 5-foot step to Shrike's shoulder, since Audria and Talanaliel's turn happens first, before Shrike has moved, when she is still adjacent to the two of them. That wouldn't provoke, and then for casting the spell, Tally would be out of range of any enemies and wouldn't provoke. So I guess that 20 to hit with the arrow is a 21 then. Thanks Audria! Hopefully Shrike moving back lets Elric step back and use his hammer. And then Pava acts just after Elric for the rest of the combat due to delaying.

Ah, I see the GM post made the AoOs a moot point anyway. But for the future.

Now hold on just a moment - let's go along with the stated actions for now, but in the future please don't assume actions on behalf of Elric (or any other PC). He spotted the big nasty threat and perhaps keeping a low-level bone-shield between it and the party while he wacked it with his reach weapon was not such a bad idea. But now Pava gets to play that part. Also, remember that stairs are difficult terrain, so no 5-ft step on them (unless of course you are a flying birdie).

Following Shrike's lead, Elric carefully walks backwards up the stairs. Grateful that Tally's flight has distracted the skeletons, he swings at the one directly in front of him.

Lucerne hammer attack vs human skeleton - Power attack + higher ground: 1d20 + 6 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 6 + 1 = 9
Damage: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (2) + 7 = 9

However, his aim is thrown off when Pava shoves their way in front of him.

"No! That big thing will tear you apart! Shrike is right, it's better to fall back and smash is when it comes up the stairs." he snarls, realizing that the emotional Shoanti's rash actions have put them directly in harms way.