Stealth: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ + 3 = 4
Perception: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ + 6 = 7
Confident in his stealth and perceptive senses, Yosrick boldly sneaks down the tunnel, his extremely well-lit chakram held high and his whip at the ready...
The party delves deeper into the cave, the unworked stone of the walls and the ground slick with condensation, suddenly - just as they reach a descending incline in the tunnel - a rock comes loose under Yosrick's foot and the half-elf finds himself flailing to maintain balance to no avail. His feet fly from under him and Yos finds himself skidding downwards, rocks and pebbles scratching his skin and clattering around him, the light of his chakram sending dizzying patterns as he fights to regain balance.
Trutfully the tumble only took him a few feet, and in normal circumstances would have been mildly embarrassing. Instead no one moves, eyes darting around and weapons held tightly... but they're only met with silence.
"Watch where you step." Walthus whispers harshly, helping Yosrick up, the group continues forward.
The tunnels opens up into a cavern around twenty feet by fifteen. In the center of the room some sort of large lizard carcass, on its back with its stomach torn open and half eaten intestines strewn about...
Stepping cautiously into the cavern, there's a flash of something red above for hardly a second, but it's enough. Andrin lifts his chakram higher, trying to illuminate the shadows of the ceiling.
"THERE!" Koveluss yells, lunging to the side as the beast drops from the ceiling with a menacing hiss. Eight segmented legs, a dozen inhuman eyes, clacking mandibles dripping with venom and back coated in red fur - A Spider the size of a full grown man lands on the ground where Koveluss has just stood seconds before.
Reacting with lightning fast speed, Walthus notches an arrow and lets it fly, burrowing it deep into the spider's head, right between the center eyes. The creature's legs give out from under it, letting it crumple to the ground, dead.
"Well then." Walthus says, his voice still a calm whisper, "Shall we move on?"
Andrin cautiously clears his throat, the cough sounding more like something that would come from a flea or a gnat.
ahem
He remains quiet for a moment before offering, "Yes... well then, indeed. Glad to have you along, Master Proudstump. Yes."
After the quick quarrel, the inquisitive takes a moment to intake the surroundings, especially above, to assess any further dangers.
Keeping his voice down, as the cavern naturally causes them all to presumably talk in a whisper, "Quite the display... Next time, lets try our best not to stumble into a man-sized spider while flailing our light source all around, giving away our position... Hmm? Daemon shakes his head, pinching the bridge of his nose between his thumb and pointer fingers. "Lirrathan - would you please do us the honor of leading the way this time? Also, if you would stay ahead of us ten or so paces to give proper alarm of danger?"
Lirrathan nods, wanting to be in the front anyways, he crouches and tries his best to hide. Moving far enough ahead that there is still a little light that he can see within ahead of him. Swords at the ready, and eager for not getting to have a go at the spider, he flexes and prepares his grip on the leatherbound hilts. As always, his overactive attempts at sneaking, do him more harm than good.
Yosrick smiles at Walthus' skill. "Better lucky than good, eh, Mr Proudstump?" Yosrick moves forward down the cave, keeping his eyes open and his whip out.
Nervous of more spiders and Nethys knows what else, Andrin tries to be as quiet as he can while advancing through the tunnels.
It seems the noble born man is a natural, but it could just be his companions providing more than sufficient noise for his own to not be all that noticeable. He maintains his light cantrip within the bullseye lantern clipped to his belt and proceeds with his shield cautiously half raised.
He, too, decides to adept his steps to the environment around him and follow suit with everyone else. He makes sure to follow near the rear of the group. After all, as a wise person once said, 'The strongest of the group should take the rear, watching everyone's back'.
"I'm sure the spider would claim otherwise, Yos." Koveluss doesn't seen to notice a quiet squishing each time his left foot meets the ground, a sure sign that the swamps the man decried before entering has decided to keep his foot warm and damp.
"Kov, you might want to empty your boot out. I've heard of people dying from rot who wore wet boots..."
Andrin turns at Yosrick's words, his eyes wide with a mixture of disbelief and fear. He glances briefly at his own sodden shoes before looking back at the half-elf. He opens his mouth as if to say something, then stops and pauses a moment. His eyes narrow into thin slits and his lips draw into a tight, thin line.
He regards Yosrick this way for several moments before shifting his gaze to Koveluss, then to Koveluss' boots, then to his own shoes, proceeding through the rest of the group until at last returning to Yosrick.
With the same scrutinizing expression on his face, Andrin finally offers, "I begin to suspect that if our shoes were half as dry as your humor, we'd have nothing to worry about."
Yosrick offers a theatrical bow to the nobleman, then chuckles and continues onward...
An exasperated sigh can be heard from the rear of the group. Anyone whom takes note would notice Daemon shaking his head and rubbing the bridge of his nose with his index and forefinger.
Koveluss simply chuckles at the exchange before continuing on with the rest of the party, his left foot still squishing the muck in his boot with every step.
The party slinks along the edges of the tunnel walls, each one stepping quietly, careful not to make too much noise, even as they jest amongst themselves.
The tunnel leads into a large cavern with a lake on one side, strewn about the room are three skeletons, who seem to have been dead for years and years.
At the far end of the cavern is another tunnelway that curves up and out of sight.
Lirrathan, thinking he is the only quiet one, turns to shush the others as they enter the room. He doesn't even realize the tunnel has widened into a chamber until he sees everyone else looking around.
"Be wary. It's possible these skeletons are Poog's bonemen. There are two more over there, just in the water." He gestures toward the two skeletons laying in the water to the party's left.
Perception:
Knowledge:
"Hmmm. Those skeleton's armor is of Tian make. Ameiko's homeland. How do you think they ended up here?"
As you wander through the cavern, the Skeletons seem to pay no heed to you, acting as lifeless as they appear...
"Tian you say? That's unexpected. I've no idea how these unfortunate souls came to lay here. Perhaps we might find more clues further on?"
Andrin doesn't see any visible sources of the lake's water, though it does seem fresh enough that it is replenishing from somewhere, however there's no coursing streams to be seen.
Yosrick kneels beside one of the skeletons, examining its garb and armor. Tian for sure, and the style suggested a similarity to some brush paintings Ameiko had shown him. So maybe Minkai?
The age and wear was apparent. Not ancient, but old - a decade or two perhaps - and neglected with rust and mold. Though that tends to happen when you're a corpse in a damp cave.
As Yos reaches out to try to pull off a piece of the armor, the moment his fingers brush the metal, the skeleton springs to life slashing wildly with its hand, just missing the archaeologist.
Lirrathan, waiting at the mouth of the next tunnel while the others poke around old rusted junk, seems to not even notice the skeletons rising as anything more than the movements of the group amongst the rubble.
Andrin turns at the sound of the corpses rattling to life, and in that moment his pupils vanish as his eyes go solid white. He positions himself in as advantageous a position as possible before releasing some of the pent up energy within him.
Yosrick shouts "They're ALIVE!" and rips his rapier free of its sheath. With a wordless shout, he stabs at the thing.
Attack:
Damage:
As Yosrick's blade slashes the air in front of his undead attacker, an arrow flies over his shoulder and slams into the skull's eyesocket, sending the thing reeling back,
"Alive may be a bit much, but I do see your point." Walthus quips, already knocking another arrow.
Andrin's holy energy flares out, making each of the corpses let out an inhuman scream, and causes the one in front of Yosrick to splinter apart to nothing.
Lirrathan moves to the closest one, the excitement in his eyes easily seen, as he strikes out at one of the previously dead, but no longer dead, soon to be dead again, skeletons. He is, of course, too hasty in his jubilation, as the blade slips easily between the space of bone and connects with nothing. His excitement quickly becomes frustration.
"Well, moving. THEY'RE MOVING!
Andrin's eyes go wide and his brow wrinkles with confusion as he looks from Yosrick to Walthus and back again. Scowling, he then directs his attention to any remaining skeletons and channels once more, a burst of purple and white energy rolling out from him.
As Lirrathan's blade misses its mark, Koveluss lunges forward for his own strike and misses as well. Each of the two fighters try to back step to avoid being skewered by the undead warriors, when Ander's wave of light washes over the cavern, and everyone of the skeletons let out a bone rattling gasp - literally - and collapse to the ground. Whatever magic holding their forms together, they clatter to the dirt as random bones, bouncing this way and that.
"Well now, that was exhilirating." Wlathus pipes up, somewhat out of breath.
With the skeletons defeated the party presses on, after all there is only one way to go. The passage at the opposite end of the room winds to the right and north, arcing like a long "C". It opens into a solitary chamber, roughly circular and about forty feet in diameter. As with the rest of the caverns, it's unfinished and natural, worn away by the passage of time instead of man.
In the center of the room is a large chest of cherrywood, gilded in jade. A solitary figure sits alone on the chest, a last skeleton. This one's armor - though still faded and worn, looks more ceremonial, and he wears a broad helmet of Minkai design. Inching forward cautiously, the group sees that as before, the skeleton does not move, until you are only a few paces away.
Suddenly, when the front-most member of the party is only ten feet from the chest, the skeletal samurai springs to life! There's the ringing of pitch perfect metal as it draws out a sword, like a katana but smaller, and holds it menacingly in front of you all.
It's head slowly turns, as if sizing up the newcomers with eyes that have long since turned to dust. It speaks in a rattling rasp, "You have defeated my warriors, but no matter. You will not proceed any farther."
The sockets that once held the samurai's eyes focus on Lirrathan, "You there, Elf. You look to have some skills. I challenge you first. You life for my existence..."
Yosrick freezes as the skeleton speaks. "Huh." He stares at the filigree on the armor, studying it.
"Excuse me, skeleton. What are you doing here? How did a Minkai samurai end up in this swamp? You're a long way from home."
Lirrathan, as before, lets loose a string of curses at his poor performance, and paces moodily back and forth as he waits for the others to finsh whatever it is that feel the need to do in this chamber.
Seeing the oddly armored skeleton size him up and issue a challenge, Lirrathan is eager, at first. "Ha, indeed I do have skills. As such it is only right that you would challenge me. I think this will be... wait.. what? What do you mean 'my life for your existence'? I never gamble without knowing the stakes." He looks confused by this last, uncertain what the skeleton meant. He stands weapons at the ready, in case this thing decides to act before he's ready.
Andrin eyes the speaking skeletal samurai with a bit of shock, entirely unfamiliar with intelligent undead and mildly curious as to how the thing is even making sounds without a tongue. Seeing Lirrathan's initial eagerness, Andrin will, out of respect for the elf, defer to see whether he accepts the challenge or not.
"Do you have any blunt weapons, lad? If you accept this... former man's challenge, blunt may be more effective than sharp. In any event, I defer to you."
"We're not here to Gamble, Lirrathan. A lot more is at stake here than just your life." He pauses a moment as he sizes the undead creature up.
He turns his head to the group speaking in a low voice for, hopefully, only them to hear. "It may be best for me to take on the creature. I may be better equipped to handle any unforeseen magics he has upon him."
His blade at the ready, the skeleton first replies to Yosrick, "I am Tsutamu, charged with guarding these relics. You have slain my men, honor dictates that I must either avenge them or die by your hand."
"And I am no fool," he continues, shifting his eerie gaze back to Lirrathan, "I am not alive, thus my life is not truly at risk. My existence is. If you would prefer, I can simply say 'To the death.'"
The Skeleton samurai's feet slowly shift as it finds a better footing for its stance, "Come now. Do you accept my challenge? Or shall you simply swarm me, like a pack of honor-less mongrels?"
"Blunt weapons?" Lirrathan looks back incredulously, "I'm a swordsman, not a clubsman, but if you got any and think it will help I can use them."
"Look, I'm all for rushing you like a pack. That's why wolves are such effective hunters, they don't care about some dea.. UNdead guy's honor. What I want to know, is if you win, why wouldn't the next guy challenge you, and on and on? It may not all be at once, but five in a row can't be much different." He shakes his head, not clear on what this thing's honor is doing for the skeleton beyond deluding it.
"If your honor says you have to avenge them, then how does only killing one of us in a challenge accomplish that? Won't you still need to kill all of us, or do you expect the others to just accept the results and walk away? Besides, what do I get for winning? Not death? I get that same thing for certain by not fighting you in the first place. I will fight you, but whether the others will help or not is not my call to make, since I would fight you even if someone else accepted your challenge. You see nothing is gained by standing by and watching a comrade fall, where's the honor in that? Honor be damned, all that matters is doing what is right, even if it takes us acting like 'a pack of honor-less mongrels'." Lirrathan angrily explains his position on honor.
"Point of fact: your men attacked us first. We merely acted in self-defense. What are these relics you guard? And where did you come from? And how long have you been here?"
Andrin offers Lirrathan his morningstar with an approving nod, then turns to regard Yosrick and Tsutamu. It then suddenly dawns on him that Tsutamu's honor, if followed to the letter, would demand that the undead creature challenge Andrin.
The nobleman's eyebrows briefly rise in surprise at the realization, but he makes no further indication or mention of it. He simply watches with rapt attention at the curious exchange before him.
"My soldiers would not rise unless disturbed." the Samurai barks at Yosrick before turning his attention back to Lirrathan, "Spoken as one with no true understanding. There are things in this world far more important than one's life."
The Skeleton lowers its blade a little, dipping its head towards the ground, "Your intentions are clear. You hide behind soft words to conceal your cowardice, but I will not shirk my duties!" His head snaps back up squarely on Lirrathan, "The rest of you draw your weapons or stand aside!"
With that, he lunges for Lirrathan, his blade flashing in the torchlight.
The Skeletal Samurai's sword, glimmering as if fresh from the forge, slashes again for Lirrathan, only to be parried away by the elf.
Yosrick hesitates, unsure whether Lirrathan intends to fight this undead honor-bound thing on his own or with help. He steps back and draws his whip, but does not attack. Yet.
Testing the odd heft of the heavy-ended morningstar, Lirrathan perks up as the skeleton rushes him, having actually not been paying attention as it spoke of honor and *blah* *blah* *blah*.
"Ah ha! A fight, now it's on!" He swings the new weapon, and his short sword, relishing the fact that the enemy came to him.
He swings the morningstar awkwardly, but not horribly, yet it is his blade still that makes a connection. Sadly, it is just a nick.
"Can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm with goldilocks." Koveluss quips, drawing his sword and jumping forward as he hefts in with both hands. His blade flashes in a series of quick slashing cuts, each one blocked by the blade of the samurai's wazikashi, when Kov twists his blade in and thrusts forward, chipping away at the bones of the thing's ribcage.
Andrin moves in behind Lirrathan and touches his shoulder briefly. As his hand leaves Lir's shoulder, a lavender and white light blossoms from the point of contact and into large, translucent butterfly wings. In the flash of a moment, the wings curl forward and envelop the elf then vanish. Andrin's eyes shift to pure white as his voice drops several octaves.
Daemon closes his eyes, bringing his morningstar up to his chest as he whispers a prayer of Judgement - calling upon Iomedae's might to bring justice to this evil foe.
"Mistress, guide my weapon to return glory to my name. Sully this fallen warriors atrocities and bring him justice"
He opens his eyes, his stern and piercing eyes focused on his target as he moves in, fighting not just for himself, but for his Goddess.