As Franzine continues to keep her guard up as you move about, Itka casts a cantrip on the passage around you and ahead. Despite the chill, no magical auras seem present
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Really cold... Manny keeps his longsword ready.
He casts >Heroism< to enhance his senses, for a few minutes.
Init
Manny casts some magic of his own and lights some incense as you carefully continue moving along the passageway. Rubble is strewn everywhere, but Anjo is still able to make out shoeless (and slightly clawed) footprints in the debris as you pass them by. The signs of movement are generally heading away from the cell block and towards the rest of the underground halls.
You pass by a few small room - likely one-time holding cells before clear signs of cave-in made them unstable - before the passage opens up into a larger space. Whole corners of the room are dominated by fallen stone from a partially-collapsed ceiling But as Zenith slinks ahead they hear a faint sound coming from the far side of the space. The noise of disturbed rocks gives away the presence of something moving about around the corner!
Initative
Moonlight
Anjo
Zenith
Franzine
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There is nary a moment glance sidelong at Franzine, for then without otherwise hesitation, our shady hero clasps his hands together, hums a low chant, and closes his eyes, as slowly a soft orange divine light glows from his aura, gently engulfing him in a fading radiance, before a final power word enunciated suddenly and with greater volume, catalyzes the energy to decay into a dull brown, then black, then grey, and falling like ash, disperses at the cleric's feet.
Punching the ground now with gauntleted fist, ahead, in the rubble pile strewn about, there is simultaneously heard a faint scratching sound...
skrik... skrik... skrik...
◆◆◆) Animate Dead (Level 1)
+
◇) Command Undead
A skeletal hand rises from the rubble, pulling forth a bone torso on bleachy limbs utterly devoid of flesh, and, stepping onto a wayfinder and shattering the glass (which had fallen from a broken belt pouch hanging from it's ilium), produces from it's ragged clothes and armor a dusty shortbow and arrows, stepping forth, animated by faded orange-grey light, divine but tainted, towards the direction of the sound, aiming with nocked string taut!
◆) Stride
+
◆) Strike
◆) Seek
The skeleton bursts up from the rubble and strides forwards. The rest of you see it nock an arrow into its bow and loose it at something around the corner.
Initiative
Anjo
Zenith
Franzine
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Voice icy and raspen, our shady hero, within full view of the champion of faith, commands fire from his undead rank, smiling in arrogance and glee behind his shining mask, the ego swell of full divine control over the corpse awash in his veins like some illicit substance: goose pimples form upon his otherwise perfectly smooth elven skin. For indeed, what it is that Moonlight (as he calls himself) craves, is power, pure and unadulterated, and what more in life is there in power, than that over death itself!?
Crunching to a halt against the cold and smooth dungeon floor, divine light glows in the eyes of the skeleton, and it heeds it's master's command, drawing aim and sending a common projectile flying towards the Creeping Something!
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The duskwalker stops and stares daggers at the summoned undead. Pharasma, help me cooperate they begin repeating to themselves as they reluctantly follow behind.
Once they get sight of a target, they throw their starknife twice; each time quickly readying to catch it.
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As the skeleton shoots and arrow out you hear a faint smack and a hiss from around the corner.
From the tracks Anjo suspects the creature beyond is another Cairn Wight - like the creatures you encountered above. And while the words just said are foreign to him their spiteful tone jogs another memory in the ranger's mind: wights like these are petty and vengeful, and have a tendency to lash out for one final strike even during their dying last breaths.
Zenith moves forwards and sees in a far hallway two of the wights - one with an arrow freshly sticking out of them. Behind the pair is a massive crack in the floor that severs the passage in two and yawns down to an unknown depth towards the levels below. The kayal throws Eclipse twice at the damaged undead and connects once as the cold iron starknife flies to and fro through the air.
Initiative
Anjo
Franzine
Blue wight 16 damage
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Franzine darts into the chamber and gets between the skeleton and Zenith.
"Hopefully we can hold them here."
Franzine rolls her shoulders as she bounces her sword and shield in front of her, waiting for the monsters to come forward.
She glares at the one in blue and bangs her sword on her shield, hoping to intimidate it.
"Yeah. Scared, huh? You little daffodil."
As Anjo adjusts his eyes magically to the darkness, Franzine strides forwards and yells taunts at the wounded undead. It seems quite a bit shaken by the threats but races to the champion and lashes out at her nonetheless. To no real effect.
for
for
Initiative
Itka
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"Hmp." Unwilling to hobble around the corner just yet, Itka casts Guidance on Moonlight, Manny, and Anjo. "Hmp. Go get 'em, boys." There's a sly twinkle in her eye as she slides a glance at Moonlight, knowing full well that he's perfectly willing to toss her--limping with a cane no less--at any threat that comes his way. Hmp. He probably won't even register the insult to his character. Or take it as a compliment. Heh. Hubris cometh before the fall. She muses with dry amusement.
Itka send magically-enhanced encouraging words towards many of her allies.
The other wight looks at the encroaching living and lets out a hiss You shall nourish our return to the above!. That hiss then turns into a low guttural moan that echoes through the chamber and down the nearby hallways. The dirge-like melody unsettlingly hangs in the air as the creature then scrmables over the rubble towards Franzine and the skeleton.
Initiative
Moonlight, guidanced, need Will save
Manny, guidance'd, need Will save
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Manny yawns as the creature hisses.
Bad call. The wight's words sink directly into his soul.
"No way!" He stumbles back as his confidence is shattered.
So he Inspires Courage among his teammates.
He tries to make the composition linger.
It's not going to last long.
He moves ahead, sword in hand. Dropping the brazier, he holds an open palm towards the wight in Blue. "Let's make some room. Bam!" A pale blue light shoots forward in the shape of a ram's head as it slams into the wight.
Manny adds some rousing words of his own as he rushes forwards and slams back one of the wight, breaking their formation.
As the battle is heating up, a strange weighty tension begins to thicken the air. The dust rocks and sand strewn around the room seem to stir a bit. And while the wights have your attention, about the room in the corners of your eyes you could swear you're seeing faint ghostly hands stretching out from below the rubble...
Initiative
Inspire Courage up
Moonlight, guidance'd, need Will save
(can retcon 3rd action last round)
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Panic assaults our shady hero’s tower of impenetrable will - gripping fear pinches every nerve in his lithe body, and yet, meditative dissociation irons out his muscle and fascia - he budges not, trapping the terror far above where it might permeate his facade of scorn. He remains still as stone, unmoving, unwavering.
Silent now, Moonlight points his finger past the blue wight, commanding his minion to advance through the rubble and strike from behind, before clenching his gauntlet fist, wherein orange divine energy sparks suddenly, exploding in sequencing fireballs, the first small and heatless, merely a display, around the symbol of Ng. The second engulfing the latter half of the chamber with blistering flame!
◆) Sustain to Command
◆◆) Final Sacrifice
◆) Stride
◆) Strike
◇) Explode!
Heeding it’s master’s call, the open road enrobed skeleton trudges forward, animated by perverse dark orange light in it’s empty eye sockets, and marching behind the blue wight, takes a slashing claw strike - it’s own apparent final spite! - before spontaneously combusting into a thousand fragments as a hot fireball bursts forth from it’s skull, torching everything within 20 feet!
Right as the wight moans Manny breaks into an oppositional upbeat tone of voice that lessens the fear.
Manny directs his skeleton re-creation onwards. It slinks over and towards the pushed-back wight and cuts into its flesh. The mage then decides that perhaps the dead to deserve to go back to rest And with an order Moonlight has the skeleton do so. Violently.
As it dies, the central chamber is suddenly rife with spectral hands grasping upwards from the debris and sand! Franzine, Manny, and Zenith all have the sensation of being buired, crushed beneath millions of grains of sand collapsing down on them!
[spoiler=If you fail]You take all of the damage above (double damage if you crit-failed). In addition, you are not only suffering a -10foot penalty to your speed for the round, but being suffocating!
Initiative
Inspire Courage up
Anjo, guidance'd
Zenith, frightened 1 (unless make a better Will save v the moan), need Will save
Franzine, frightened 1, need Will save
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Franzine does a panicky jig as she tries to avoid the spectral hands reaching for her legs. Then, suddenly, the ceiling appears to be falling down on her! She lifts her shield over her head to prevent herself from being buried alive!
"AAAAHHHH!!! HEEELLLLLP"!
"I... I... can't... breath!"
She mutters as she gasps for air.
While Franzine finds her throat tight and herself forced to hold her breath , Anjo looses two arrows past her and the others and into the worse-injured wight. Both strikes hit hard agaisnt the unnerved undead, and with the second it lets out a last curse in Necril before dropping still
He then changes his focus towards the other undead. Also a cairn wight, Anjo recognizes that its unliving lungs are already slowly recovering the air to unleash another of that dirge-like moan it just uttered, likely being able to moan again in just one more round.
Initiative
Inspire Courage up
Zenith, frightened 1 (unless make a better Will save v the moan), need Will save
Franzine, frightened 1, holidng breath
Blue wight
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The constellations on Zenith's half plate begin to glow as Manny begins to speak over the dirge-like melody.
Their resolve nearly gives but Manny's performance drowns out the melody and protects most of the kayal's resolve. Zenith then rushes toward the cairn wight and attempts to tumble through its legs before following up with two quick strikes of their starknife.
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Manny's inspiring words abruptly cut off as he feels himself and his throat being buried by the weight of sand and stone collapsing upon him.
Zenith feels much the same, but manages to push forward and strike out with panache at the undead With two quick slices they cut into the wight.
Initiative
Franzine, frightened 1, holding breath and suffocating
Itka, frightened 1, guidance'd
Franzine manages to land a solid blow on the undead before hobbling back into the hall from which she came. As she passes by Anjo the champion finds herself able to breath again, though she can see after-images of the disquiet souls trying to press down and bury those remaining.
Initiative
Itka, frightened 1, guidance'd
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Itka cocks her head with a deep frown as Franzine calls out that she can't breathe. Hmp. She *looks* fine. What's...oh. Realizing that, with undead already roaming the area and the tragic deaths that happened here, it's entirely possible that a Haunt is, uh, haunting the area, Itka cautiously limps forward to verify her theory.
"Hmp. It's a haunt! ... Souls lost to the falling sands: be not bound to this place." She draws complex symbols in the air, tiny threads of dripping, oily black trailing her fingers before dissipating into the air.
Itka fights her fear and advances into the center of the collapsed prison block. Muttering deep words of power and abeyance as she traces signals through the air, she (and Manny and Zenith) can feel the air quiver as you see the grasping spectral hands shudder in response.
To the east the eight still standing circles around Zenith, slipping around the corner and out of sight from the deadly archer. It then swings its sword down at the kayal before following up with a quick swipe of its claw. Luckily they can easily dodge the badly-wounded enemy’s weak assault
for
for
Initiative
Moonlight
Manny 55/85 HP, Heroic, holding breath and suffocating
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Manny's lungs hurt. Too difficult to breathe. But Zenith seems to be alright. Maybe he can get closer...
Manny Strides and Strides again, and suddenly the air rushes in through his nostrils. He coughs. "Hey, Zenith. How did... wow... I can talk again." He moves closer to the creature. "Let's finish this thing off, then we can focus on the haunt."
Manny wishes he had his undead killing whip at the ready, but time is of the essence.
Manny powers through the cell block holding his breath before finally emerging on the other side feeling air rush back into his lungs. Precariously near the open pit, Manny lands a devastating blow on the undead to drop it!
…but even as it falls the wight lashes out at its slayer!
for
Initiative
Moonlight
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"I'll live. You won't." Score one for the Holysmiths! Another undead down.
Manny grits as he takes the parting gift.
"Alright, I dropped the Thurible of Revelation in the haunted area. Uh, my bad. But someone can grab that for a bit of Religious know-how."
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”I may not live to regret this...”
Our shady hero’s interior dialogue silent to the ears of his “guardians”, he makes moves to their contrary, striding with uncharacteristic bravery into the spooky fray, clenching his gauntleted fist, holy symbol of the ever ambivalent Ng!
Which, upon so doing, floods with a yellowish-orange divine light, pouring out like an hourglass of perfectly sheen sand, and crashing against the haunting melody like crossing waves, works to overturn the onrushing unholy cascade with equivalent and opposite force!
...but will it be enough!?
◆) Stride
◆◆) Expend Divine Font to Disable Haunt
Manny finds the cut hurts but resists having his energy even further sapped.
Moonlight then heads into the room. With a burst of Ng's power he attempts to send the restless spirits back to...well, rest. But unfortunately while the cleric found it quite easy to rouse the dead in this space, for now at least reversing that magic is proving more complicated.
Both Moonlight and Zenith feel the terrible weight of angry and disturbed souls pressing down on them as the sensation of being buried alive sets in...
Initiative
Anjo
Zenith 71/86 HP, holding breath and suffocating (2/7 rounds of air expended), need Fort save
Franzine
Itka
Manny 51/85 HP, Heroic
Moonlight, need Fort Save