Sandros steps forth to engage the orc, but without any luck, while Roylenna's Heavenly Fire goes wide off target.
Suddenly the orc slumps, looking very tired. He stares at Sandros with bloodshot eyes, muttering something inaudible but distinctly unfriendly and takes one last half-hearted swing before collapsing before Sandros's feet.
The dog howls as it sees its master fall and throws itself at Sandros , who suffers a nasty bite to his side for 5 points of damage.
Proteus, Sandros and Roylenna are up.
Sandros howls in a disturbingly similar fashion as the dog's teeth sink in, before slashing down at it. The howl returns with doubled force as his attack goes wide once more.
Now that the orc has gone down and tired of seeing his companions a victim to the the blood-letting, Proteus charges up to the dog and hits it squarely in the side with a closed fist.
Ahem. Now at -5 and goin fast. Momma Im comin home!
Proteus shows a new side as he runs up to the dog and punches it out cold. The sudden stillness is deafening.
A quick search of the room yields a small locked steel strongbox among some straw and furs in the northeast corner that seem to be the orc's bedding. There is also a number of valueless personal items: a shrunken human head, a string of beads, a wishbone and a pair of dice. The orc is wearing studded leather armor and carrying a greataxe and three javelins, but otherwise has no treasure, not even a key.
Gritting his teeth, Sandros finishes the dog off with a quick thrust of his rapier, ending its pain as quickly as he can. He casts a doubtful look at the orc. "I dislike the killing of a defenseless enemy, but I somehow doubt this is a friend in the making." He scratches his chin, then looks sideways at Proteus. "If we strip him of armor and weapons, could you heal him, priest? At least enough to get him walking? We could tell him to leave and not come back - without arms, he will likely accept our terms."
"That won't be necessary," Rana says as he calmly walks over to orc and runs him through. "He is a warrior and deserves nothing less than an honorable death. Were it me lying there I would expect nothing less from him." With that Rana finds a comfortable piece of ground and collapses.
"That won't be necessary," Rana says as he calmly walks over to orc and runs him through. "He is a warrior and deserves nothing less than an honorable death. Were it me lying there I would expect nothing less from him." With that Rana finds a comfortable piece of ground and collapses.
Roylenna's jaw drops in shock as she realizes what Rana has done. "There would be no dishonor in living to fight another day! We are seeking a man with little information to guide us -- I was hoping that one might be able to shed some light on these ruins and where the lost man might be!"
She walks over to the cooling corpse, "As Rana has said, warrior, you fought well. I hope whatever gods you revered welcome your spirit to the afterlife this day."
She moves over to the bedding and pokes around further, thinking as much as searching. She takes a fancy to the dice and claims them if no one objects.
Idly searching orc's gear (1d20 2=3)
Proteus stands over the collapsed dog and quickly looks toward Grond. "Aequo animo," Proteus says calmly and Grond's wounds stop bleeding.
Proteus sits down next to the dead or dying and looks at the blood on his hands and it is unclear what thoughts race through his head, or if he has any at all. He watches Rana move forward and impale the orc laying beside him. Proteus appears stoic as Rana drains the remaining life out of the orc. Perhaps he is indifferent to Rana's actions or maybe the energy to stop Rana is not within him.
"If you all think it is safe, then here is fine," Proteus says. "However, we should give the orc and his companions a proper burial."
"If you all think it is safe, then here is fine," Proteus says. "However, we should give the orc and his companions a proper burial."
Roylenna asks the cleric, "What do you have in mind for the burial? It's going to be difficult to carry the bodies outside where we could dig a hole and I don't know if we have a shovel in our gear."
Roylenna asks the cleric, "What do you have in mind for the burial? It's going to be difficult to carry the bodies outside where we could dig a hole and I don't know if we have a shovel in our gear."
"Perhaps we can take him outside and cremate him upon a pyre."
Roylenna asks the cleric, "What do you have in mind for the burial? It's going to be difficult to carry the bodies outside where we could dig a hole and I don't know if we have a shovel in our gear.""Perhaps we can take him outside and cremate him upon a pyre."
"Oh! Well, if we can get the body out the door, I can certainly start the fire. But I'm not sure I'm going to feel more safe outside than in -- I think it might be easier to defend ourselves within. But the ogre might come back, the ratmen might come after us... oh, I don't know."
"That won't be necessary," Rana says as he calmly walks over to orc and runs him through. "He is a warrior and deserves nothing less than an honorable death. Were it me lying there I would expect nothing less from him." With that Rana finds a comfortable piece of ground and collapses.
Sandros, caught off-guard by Rana's deceptive calm, does not react before Rana's blades have completed their bloody task. He turns pale, however, in anger, and for a moment, his rapier twitches toward the Tharbrian fighter. An instant later, though, he has sheathed his weapon and begun carefully stripping down the orc's body for the burial or pyre.
As the discussion about where to rest continues, Sandros listens, still working on the body. Occasionally, he grunts slightly as the work strains one of the many bites he still carries, but he says nothing of them to Proteus. When a pause in the conversation comes, though, he offers his own opinion: "We are exposed, inside or out, but it seems that this place has been this orc's camp for some time; we can assume it is probably reasonably secure, therefore. I suggest a pyre outside, and then camp back here. Three passages are better than the dozens of ways we might have to fear attack from in the forest anyway."
Not sure but I think Proteus stabilized me? I'm guessing that is what his post meant. I am still at -5 and unconscious right? Not that I am complaining or anything, you guys go ahead and argue over the orc corpse, while this living orc continues to bleed out onto the dungeon floor.
Not sure but I think Proteus stabilized me? I'm guessing that is what his post meant. I am still at -5 and unconscious right? Not that I am complaining or anything, you guys go ahead and argue over the orc corpse, while this living orc continues to bleed out onto the dungeon floor.
Not sure but I think Proteus stabilized me? I'm guessing that is what his post meant. I am still at -5 and unconscious right? Not that I am complaining or anything, you guys go ahead and argue over the orc corpse, while this living orc continues to bleed out onto the dungeon floor.
Not sure but I think Proteus stabilized me? I'm guessing that is what his post meant. I am still at -5 and unconscious right? Not that I am complaining or anything, you guys go ahead and argue over the orc corpse, while this living orc continues to bleed out onto the dungeon floor.
Proteus suddenly realizes that Grond, although stable, still lays motionless on the floor. He kneels beside him. "Insequor lecum," he chants placing his holy symbol on Grond's chest. He chants twice more.
Seeing he has done all he can for his ally, he moves over to help Sandros performing the ceremony for preparation of the dead with obvious percision as was taught at the monastary.
You regain 1 hp/level after 8 hours of rest, and 2 hp/level after 24 hours of rest. Proteus could double that with a heal check, but he needs his sleep, too.
Proteus, with the aid of Sandros, pulls the orc body outside the cave where it was felled.
The small group gathers what wood they can find to build a sizeable pyre and hoists the body atop along with the two faithful hounds. They strike a flame bringing the wood to a roaring blaze.
As the body disintigrates while they watch, Proteus speaks a prayer for the dead in a somber fashion appropriate to the solemn occasion.
Though you have left this coil
Your spirit does not end
May the light of the gods
Show you your path
May you find goodness and happiness
Upon the road you now travel
Asclepius bless you on your journey
The fire burns down before the procession with only the crackle of the fire passing as words between them.
As they make their way back into the cave where they are to rest, Proteus puts his arm around Sandros' shoulder. "Rana is our employer and as such I let him perform the actions that he felt appropriate. However, it does not sit well with me. I saw your reaction to his malicious deed and I failed to put a stop to his killing blow. Asclepius forgive me, as I failed to protect that which I value most. I'm afraid if I would travel with Rana in the future beyond our task, then this issue must be discussed. But, for now, I have agreed to aid him in his undertaking and will see it through. Though you have shown me that I must stand up with more conviction for that which I believe.
"Thank you, brother."
Upon returning to the cavern, Proteus gathers the group in a circle around Rana as he sleeps. "May Asclepius provide you with that you have lost." With that, he chants "Vitae" twice. . Proteus then unfurls his bedroll and lies down to sleep.
Swimming through blackness, with nothing left to hold him to thetiny thread of life except for the throbbing pain of his wounds, Grond watches his life flash before his eyes:
His youngest memories, that of a babe, a few months old at most. He woke to pain and suffering, never knowling his father (a savage demon from one of the terrifying orcish tribes) and he only knew his mother for a short time, despised until she disappeared.
Next, he sees himself at a young age, spry, and able to go nearly anywhere in town he wanted. Sure there were times he went without a meal, but he teels himself: Gotta steal to eat, gotta eat to live, otherwise we'd get along! But he knows that isnt true. The thick greasy-grey skin, the pig-like snout, instantly despised by all who saw him. So he kept himself unseen.
He knows who he is: he is a vile orc, and his orcish blood boils in his veins. He can be terrible, and has. His deeds are not valiant. But there is another side to him, a voice so small. The voice tells him that all is not for naught, that there is good in the world, and that there is good in him too. He wishes this voice would shut up! But it only grows lounder nad more insistent as time goes by. Neutrality for him is to keep both voices from howling in his ears, to balance between these two broken halves of a whole that can never be mended. Not in this life.
A wagon, a sunny day, a marketplace. He knew the world well, and these were the good days. He chewed an apple plucked from a stall, and listened to the lady talk of travel. The young halfling looked so earnest! He chuckled to himself. Then she mentioned orcs...
Bonked on the head by a giant, flattened and out. The green enveloping rays pulled him back.
More pains, more bonks, more darkness, but each time the green fire pulls him back, and so it does this time as well...
Bleary-eyed, he looks into the face of an orc, inches away. Just then the orcs eyes go wide, and he sees Rana's boot, and the orc is dead. "Good riddence." he mutters to himself, glad that he need'nt reach for his falchion, at least not yet. He passes out...
He wakes up, propped in a sitting position, and watches as the healer fusses over the body of the orc. "Leave it!" Grond shouts, or croaks rather. "It'll be bones by morning, priest. As will we."
One last time he opens his eyes. "Wine! Give me wine!" he shouts. He will then follow Roylenna's instructions in a daze for the next 8 hours, attempting to sleep whenever he is motionless for 10 seconds or longer. "We must go forward or back," he mumbles.
The small group gathers what wood they can find to build a sizeable pyre and hoists the body atop along with the two faithful hounds. They strike a flame bringing the wood to a roaring blaze.
Roylenna accompanies the funeral party and offers to use her Burning Hands to start the conflagration.
---------------------
Roylenna does her best to use her healing abilities to aid Grond's recuperation.
Heal check for Grond (1d20+4=6)
Feeling quite useless, Roylenna will take first watch and let those that accomplished something heal and rest. She sulks quietly in a corner where she can see all entrances to the room with her readied action to cast Dancing Lights if she hears anything. Anything.
Sandros nods at Proteus' words. "There will, indeed, be more said." He lapses into a thoughtful silence after that.
Now unwounded, Sandros finds it hard to sleep, and waits up though Royl's watch with her before standing his own. He spends some of the time running through a series of exercises with the orc's axe, muttering occasionally as he makes a mis-step. Without Royl's lights, he is forced to light a small fire, and the flickering glows glitters oddly from the blade of the axe as he moves.
Sandros nods at Proteus' words. "There will, indeed, be more said." He lapses into a thoughtful silence after that.
Now unwounded, Sandros finds it hard to sleep, and waits up though Royl's watch with her before standing his own. He spends some of the time running through a series of exercises with the orc's axe, muttering occasionally as he makes a mis-step. Without Royl's lights, he is forced to light a small fire, and the flickering glows glitters oddly from the blade of the axe as he moves.
"I would be happy to provide you with light, warrior. That spell, at least, does not fail me and is not taxing for me."
"I did not know that you knew how to wield such a weapon. It is very different from your thinblade, is it not?"
"I would be happy to provide you with light, warrior. That spell, at least, does not fail me and is not taxing for me."
Sandros grins. "I appreciate that, milady, but you will need to sleep at some point," he says, offering her a bow. "And I think we need to risk the light while the rest of us watch, lacking such talents."
"I did not know that you knew how to wield such a weapon. It is very different from your thinblade, is it not?"
"It is," Sandros replies, setting the weapon down for a moment. "A warrior trains with as many weapons as he can, but we usually develop a preference for one kind of weapon or another. My style, as taught to me by the training masters of my father's family, prefers lighter, quicker weapons - but I have been taught the basics of the greataxe as well." He hefts the axe again, performs a basic strike-block-strike-withdraw sequence, then returns it to a ready position. The moves are noticably less smooth and graceful than the style he uses with his rapier. "It is a shame for a weapon to go unwielded, I think. Having helped to deprive this one of its owner, I thought I might offer it other hands to guide it, at least for tonight."
Eventually Rana awakes from his slumber and looks around surveying the area once again. Seeing the orc remains have been removed he grunts in approval. Sitting up he starts stretching out his tight muscles and brand new scars. Inspecting his wounds he notices that most of them are completely healed. Rana looks over at Proteus with a slight nod and gets up from the floor to assume his watch duty.
Before her watch is over, Roylenna casts Detect Magic and scan the room (moving if necessary to reach the far walls, otherwise scanning from her post).
Before her watch is over, Roylenna casts Detect Magic and scan the room (moving if necessary to reach the far walls, otherwise scanning from her post).
Nothing in the room radiates magic, nor do the items you have salvaged.
Before her watch is over, Roylenna casts Detect Magic and scan the room (moving if necessary to reach the far walls, otherwise scanning from her post).Nothing in the room radiates magic, nor do the items you have salvaged.
Craptastic? He lived! Heh, Grond will sleep the night in bliss, dreaming of long tall bottle of wine. His aches, pains, throbbings, concussions, a sprain, contusion, excursion, inntrusion, and bruisin' are all reminders that he still lives.
He awakes (2 hp? So total of 4) ready to try one of the halls, reminded by the lack of a clanking sound in his purse.
He awakes (2 hp? So total of 4) ready to try one of the halls, reminded by the lack of a clanking sound in his purse.
Sandros hear a noise and turns to the south, where some of the shadows move strangely. He spots the approaching ghoul at J17. If you are asleep you need a perception of 22 to act in the surprise round. And...action!
Sandros hear a noise and turns to the south, where some of the shadows move strangely. He spots the approaching ghoul at J17. If you are asleep you need a perception of 22 to act in the surprise round. And...action!
Roylenna's Perception was 19, but she was awake already, so I assume she acts, correct?
Initiative 22: Roylenna moves to L5 and puts her Dancing Lights at J-K/10-11. At this point, she doesn't try to wake the sleepers - yet.
Sandros, seeing the ghoul approach, glances worriedly once at the sleeping form of Proteus, before squaring his shoulders and hefting the orc's greataxe. He takes a couple of steps forward and to the side , readying himself to meet the ghoul's attack.
The ghoul's initiative is 3 (after Rana) and on its turn in the surprise round it moves to J11. As the battle erupts everyone automatically wakes up, so you are all free to act in the upcoming round, but Royl and Sandros go first.
The ghoul's initiative is 3 (after Rana) and on its turn in the surprise round it moves to J11. As the battle erupts everyone automatically wakes up, so you are all free to act in the upcoming round, but Royl and Sandros go first.
Roylenna steps around in front of the idol and tries to strike the creature with her Heavenly Fire.
Attack: 1d20+5 = 9
Damage: 1d6+1 = 4
Sandros readies himself for the ghoul's charge.
Sandros readies himself for the ghoul's charge.