Once we get up the tunnel, I can start casting Flaming sphere off a bunch of scrolls and just roll them down the tunnel. That should slow the ghouls down a lot - enough to get to the goor and slam it behind us.
;)
You guys get about a quarter the way up the tunnel...Pharsia is insisting on sitting down and resting. Harvak notices Beldan is getting winded, and slings her over his shoulder...
You can't see them with normal vision; they're out of range of the torches; however anyone with night vision
Harvak says, "they're 60 feet back!!!"
Who's bringing up the rear; who's the last two in line? and whaddya do?
(Oh, and by this time, Elgan could easily have sprinted to the door)
"Eat this, vile beasts!" Altai pulls out a scroll and casts a spell. A huge ball of animated fire appears, rolling down the corridor towards the slavering pursuers.
The ball of fire smashes into them. One gets killed, and the other five in the lead behind them are singed all to hell.
The ghoulish trail stops again, as the front three feed on their comrade, and another feeding scrum ensues.
At about 2/5 the way there; maybe a minute and a half later,....
same situation. They're catching up again, within 60 feet.
You scratch another scroll; this time the lead 4 drop. The feasting and scrapping is enough to get you all to the door.
As the last man makes it through, the ghouls are about 40 feet away from the wooden wall.
They're beating on the door, growling, calling out for meat...
656 exp each.
"Wow. That was nasty. Good thing the door's here - both for us and for the city."
Nope. They were all in negatives.
I made a mistake originally with the one that yielded to Stiggy; he should've taken x3 damage.
"If we ever want to figure out who these cultists are, we'll need to go back down and get their stuff at some point." Altai's clearly not happy about this prospect. "That can wait, though. Now, should we go get the ahold of our friends in the town watch? The Anderhoffs might have a good lawyer, but the grease-beasts, the zombies and the frog-man will be hard to explain away, even for him."
For the wand--know: religion (10)
or know: planes (15)
Save on identify!!!!
.
"Hey guys, it'a..."
"..bleak caduceus. One head is for curing wounds, the other head is for causing wounds. It's blasphemous iconography of the Demogorgon cult."
There's 25 charges each head of cure/cause light wounds; you speak one head's name to cure, the other to cause...I can't remember Demogorgons' heads names right now...
heh heh....I'll further do the auras and that stuff at home in an hour or two...
Becton will burn a 2nd lvl spell to heal Harvak with CMW:2d8+4=15
"That should help you bit."
"I could try turning them again, but I doubt I'd be able to weaken a whole mob over time - if we think we need to go back down."
Harvak thanks Becton; he's still holding Pharsia over his shoulder.
"I feel better now, Becton."
Okay, the loot again:
cloak (gives off abjuration magic)
a caduceus wand with 2 baboon heads on the end of the serpents (altai figured it out-cure and cause light wounds 25 charges each)
4 scrolls-silence x2 and spiritual weapon x2 (all divine)
2 oils of magic weapon
2 potions of cure mod wounds
1 potion of bull's strength.
1 nonmagic masterwork mace
2 nonmagic mwork greatswords
1200 g.p. total all three guys
"If this was the Anderhoffs' idea of keeping Pharsia safe, I'd hate to see what they do to their enemies. Come to think of it, that's us... I think we'd be smart to hurry back to our house once we're done with talking to the cops - it wouldn't surprise me if that's where Vander and those armoured thugs were headed."
“Thanks Harv,” Beldan looks like he wants to carry Pharsia again, but he’s clearly too winded after the freaky run up the tunnel. “Ah, guys, do you think that door’s gonna hold long? … Maybe we should get going … Who cares about telling the watch, what are they going to do, really? Just question us for hours and then not do anything – probably arrest us. I say we just get back to the House.”
Harvak nods at Beldan's thanks. He's breathing heavily, and still has the girl slung over his shoulder.
"We still need to talk to the secret police guys; if nothing else, they can pick up the fish-brother for us. After that, I agree that we should leave town. Now, where is that Mah-vin creature, whatever it might be?"
"Oh yeah ... I forgot about them."
It's unclear whether Beldan means the secret police, the fishy Anderhoff, Mahvin, or, more likley, all three.
- Does the door seem to hold?
- Does the slaughterhouse still quiet, or have someone moved in behind us?
Yes, to both questions.
Or, at least, "yes so far" to the first question...
"At some point, that wood's going to crack. Let's find something to block the ghouls' entry."
Elgan frantically tugs the limp bleeding form of the armored knight towards the door, but even with his increased beastly strength, it is slow going. A moment later the first of the Ghouls heads appears at the top of the stairs, the cleric calls forth his holy light, and Elgan decides that even he is not crazy enough to try and fight what now looks like a veritable army of undead. He turns his furry tail and dashes between the legs of his companion up the tunnel. He slows a few times to ensure that the others are managing to stay ahead of the advancing ghouls. Seeing the use of magic and holy might keeping the ghouls from advancing too easily, the elf-turned-feline turns and dashes back to the entranceway, checking to make sure that their escape is not being cut off.
The way is clear, and Elgan, as an elf, drops the bar across the door as the last party member dashes through it. At Altai's words, Elgan nods and begins searching for something to help block or reinforce the door.
"At some point, that wood's going to crack. Let's find something to block the ghouls' entry."
The ovens are a fixture therein...
The closest thing is the massive table (where a hapless orc met it's doom...)Harvak deposits the girl, and heaves it up against the door. Crates and bric-a-brac finish the job after a fashion. The ghouls beat and scrape at the door for about half an hour; there's mewling and pleading and meeping from their mouths. "Please, meat...please. Let us in there..." then it all goes away as the line disperses.
"This might explain the earlier observation as to why there was never any refuse from the slaughterhouse work. If the lycanthrope wasn't munching on it, I guess the ghouls might have been. Also a nice way to get rid of any enemies or disruptions to their activities - like us."
"I was thinking they would throw all their leftover in the pits of slime - but this is probably even better. If you want to use that term, of course..."
"What I'm wondering about is how well coordinated these groups are. Having Skullface and his bald buddies sacrifice Pharsia to the ghoul hordes makes no real sense to me, as it takes away Vander's main negotiating tool towards us. That makes me think that the demonologists are the main villains here, and that the Anderhoffs are just petty thugs that provide room and board to all kinds of unsavoury characters. Not that that makes them less contemptible, of course. Now, let's get out of here."
"So, dead fishy guys, and knight guys all dead now. We run away? And me hurt - get big bash. Where we go now?"
“Yeah, let’s go,” says Beldan, stroking Pharsia’s hand gently. “If Becton wants to go to the Pelorite temple … I’m all for that.” He glances down nervously at the healed over skin beneath the rent in his armour where the sawfish bill stabbed him. “Hey, maybe his boss-lady will heal us all up for free – service to humanity and all that.”
The group heads for the Temple of Pelor(?)
Or if you want to check out upstairs some more, don't let me rush you guys or anything.
"Me too."
SPOILER READ:
Two blocks on the way there, you're sighted by a 6-man contingency of nightwatch, in banded mail and carrying halberds; one is horsed. "Halt! Who goes there?" You guys look kinda scruffy and recently about bloody business.
"Too me."
If nobody else wants to speak with the nightwatch - I guess I could say we were investigating some pilgrims and discovered the bloody mess below the slaughterhouse. I know that complicates matters, but I'm not certain we can do much else given our current state and appearance.
1-the 'thrope still lives--he's unconscious. Did ya leave him there?
2-Maa-vin wasn't either around or talking when you emerged from the slaughterhouse.
"What? Slaughterhouse? Something amiss there? Hey--I rickinoize these guys-they's what went to..er, they work for the Mayor or somesuch(?)"
1-the 'thrope still lives--he's unconscious. Did ya leave him there?
"What? Slaughterhouse? Something amiss there? Hey--I rickinoize these guys-they's what went to..er, they work for the Mayor or somesuch(?)"
"That's correct, soldier. We've been investigating some suspicious characters, and discovered some bizarre activities beneath the slaughterhouse. If you'll allow my comrades to continue on to their destination for recovery, I'll show you what we discovered."
Right on...
Trying to come up with the perfect name for an npc,...
Trying to come up with the perfect name for an npc,...
Carver, Raymund, Giller, Hervil, Gath, Dollet, Hilste, Jolo, Perlik...
Naah,....you'll see...
Trying to come up with the perfect name for an npc,...
"Tha a Mæch'Hæmmær, enn? Och...Sugwold's mither were caught doon ah mine sharft beeya hroondy duergar!!!"
Stiggy:
The rest of you; one of them's a dwarf, and talking semi-intelligible crap at Stiggy.
(oh; I got the npc name down...)
(I fully expect everybody to read th' spoiler)
The woods-elf, probably assisting with dragging the unconscious were-critter-guy, hangs in the background, perfectly content to let the armored guys in front do the talking. He keenly observes all of the new arrivals, and his ears perk up at the new brogue the dwarf is pelting Stiggy with.