"I meant about confidence. Unholy water wouldn't hurt me the way it'd you, because of whatever demon magic those monsters put in me. But holy water? Holy water just might."
As Aberus waited nervously for Arloric's reaction, out of the corner of his eye he saw Uriel sweeping his eyes across the room, slowly and deliberately.
"Looking around us, too, eh? Good idea," he remarked.
The elf will cast detect magic to see if there are any auras around.
I don't think I am one of those GMs that would let holy water injure a good character despite their heritage. Holy water is like a Phoenix Down in Final Fantasy. Not necessarily in function but in character. -Arloric puts his finger into the water and nothing extraordinary happens except for a sudden urgency to pee.
Ithilwen uses magic to clean the bench and creates a gray cloud that lingers only for a short moment but soon vanishes leaving behind a beautiful bench. Well, it's plain, sturdy and practical but to a dwarf with sore toes, something like this would be simply gorgeous.
There is a magical aura in the basin, the same one Arloric is sticking a finger into. It isn't evil, but it certainly is magical. What aura could be surrounding it?
Aberus beamed at Arloric and patted him twice on the back, gently but firmly. "Well, my friend, we now know that you are neither the living dead, nor tainted by the abyss!" Then he looked around the room at the others and said, "I don't suppose anyone has empty vials or waterskins? We'd be wise to take some of this with us. Under the circumstances, I think Torag would approve."
Spellcraft
Arloric smiles and breathes a sigh of relief.
"Excuse me."
He exits the shrine and relieves himself on the cavern wall so as not to defile the shrine, before returning to rejoin the others.
A great roll, and this water is transmutated. Chances are, this is holy water.
Aberus waited for an answer, but as expected, none came. It was more or less a rhetorical question, anyway. Who would go to Armasse carrying empty vials? Or prepared for a day hike?
He gestured to the door as Arloric stepped back inside. "Shall we go in?"
Arloric nods and waves his hand.
"Lead the way."
In a low, soft voice, Aberus said, "May the light be a guide for others", then reached out and tried the door.
Alexa keeps a tight grip on her short sword.
Arloric makes the sign against evil and says his own prayer in a low, lilting drone.
"Mi a gyneuaf fy enaid yn y tanau aelwyd y kindler Eneidiau: anadl o gariad, anadl o olau, anadl einioes, fod ar y marwor fy enaid gwanwyn-wakening. Cadw fy enaid mewn gorfoledd. Efallai ei fod yn fflam allan gyda gogoniant yn dychwelyd yr haul."
After finishing his prayer, Arloric follows after Aberus into the room, taking off his eyepatch again to get a better look with his darkvision.
After wrapping your fingers around the rings it took very little effort to urge the doors to swing open. Inside is a church. It's a narrow room and the air is cold and stale, and like everything else, there is a thick layer of dirt. On both side are rows of stone pews.
Towards the front with his back facing you is the short broad figure of a dwarf. He doesn't move when you open the door and does not seem interested if or when you come inside. He just stands there very still. On one of the walls appears to be some kind of graffiti. It's too large to miss and it's very messy and very red.
Aberus felt a chill pass through him as he took in the nave. The light from his ankh illuminated rows of pews, all of which were covered in a thick layer of dust. The scrawling on the wall was hard to make it out from the narthex but it looked like the writing was in large, red lettering. Is that...blood? What he found most disturbing, however, was the still dwarven figure at the front. It didn't move as the door opened.
He shivered once, then composed himself. "This isn't right," he whispered both to Ithilwen via her spell, and to Arloric in what he hoped was a voice just loud enough for him to hear. "We need Uriel."
Almost instinctively, his right hand found the hilt of his scimitar.
Arloric growls in anger upon seeing the desecrated statue.
"No god, save the World-Ender himself, deserves such an insult."
He draws his sword like Aberus, and slowly steps forward to get a closer look.
Arloric growls in anger upon seeing the desecrated statue.
Hearing his name from his position at the group's rear, Uriel quickly strides to the front. Disturbed by the graffiti, he uncoinsciously moves one hand to his sword hilt and stares intently at the Dwarf in the front of the room.
Seeing Uriel examining the statue, Arloric turns his attention to the graffiti.
Evil is here and it radiates from the stout figure in front of you....
The man ahead of you is easily identified as a dwarf, and the language on the wall (written in blood most likely) is angular and sharp, very strong and straight in the strokes of the characters. If you'd like to make a linguistics check to identify the language you can, but it is likely dwarven. The clues are there.
The evil sensed is a strange evil. As for alignments go, yes you can sense that. However, there's more to the story. The person is dressed like a priest but his body is covered in a layer of dust with cobwebs stringing off his arms and fingers. Slowly the dwarf turns around with a slow mild moan escaping its wide mouth. Its eyes are wide and soulful eyes weeping black tears. Planted in its sternum is a knife. It reaches out and moans.
Initiative?
Arloric spins around at the sound of the moan and his eyes, both dark and light, widen.
"Witchcraft!" he exclaims.
Initiative
The stout undead wins initiative.
Gripping his fists the undead donning priestly garb howls with anger and lunges forward with his boney fingers curled out in front of him like claws. He digs them into Aberus in an attempt to rend his flesh from his ribs.
Swinging with both arms he over-stepped into his attack and the inertia of his swing forced him to spin fully around and collapses into a pew.
Alexa's eyes widen and she drops her sword in surprise. "Oh dear... is that some sort of skeleton?!"
She doesn't wait for an answer before she leaps at the dwarf, her cestus clenched into a fist!
Aberus stepped back, stunned and relieved as the huecuva spun and collapsed in front of him. I won't get that lucky again, he thought.
He gently grasped the silver ankh hung around his neck and spoke the words to a spell, calling upon Sarenrae to bless him and his companions.
On her turn the elf will activate her protective ward ability
Protective Ward (+1 deflection, 5/day) (Su) As a standard action, 10 ft radius field grants allies deflect +1
bonus to AC for 2 rds.
Ithilwen's eyes open wide as witnesses the statue in front of them seemingly come to life unlife and strike at Aberus.
First bugs, then undead... If it comes to undead bugs, I'm calling it quits. Still, she manages to hastily reload her crossbow and fire a dart at the undead abomination.
________________________________________________________________
Drawing his sword, Uriel swears a holy oath "Abomination! In Ragathiel's name, I swear to end you!" and steps forward to attack.
The huecuva shrieked in anger and defiance when Alexa stepped forward to deliver a right hook to its chin. A rotten, gummy black incisor dangles and then falls free from its seat in his jaw. Ithilwen's arrow whizzed by and missed digging itself into the rotting cushion of the pew the undead was laying on. He's prone from his terribly executed attempt at clawing Aberus. This does not save him however from Uriel's smiting and he howled even louder at the bite of his sword's edge sinking into his side. He thrashed and clawed at Uliel in retaliation! (if everyone has gone).
If the attack succeeds roll a fort save DC12.
Arloric rushes into the fray after Uriel.
"KARANGA WHATITIRI!" he shouts as he swings his sword at the monster.
Aberus maneuvered around Arloric and Uriel, coming at the eecaying dwarf form the side. He raised his scimitar and swung.
Remember there is a +1 to saves from the elf.
Remember there is a +1 to saves from the elf.
OOps. misread, only to AC.
The undead monstrosity rolled out of Uliel's way, but only to get its side skewered by Arloric's sword. It's belly popped and its rotten intestines filled its robes creating an ugly bulge. The odor smelled worse than the maggots vomit. It hissed a curse out in dwarven, and pointed at the tiefling. Aberus tried to move in for an attack but the distance between pews was too narrow and with the others already swinging he had to be careful not to hit a comrade, which resulted in him missing the undead monstrosity.
Arloric takes another swing at the beast.
Aberus made another strike with his scimitar.
Thanks for the posts, but are we missing a couple of actions?
Alexa somersaults through the air...
...lands on the other side of the dead dwarf, and aims a punch at it's back!
We are in round 2 already?
The hueveva does something unusual when you come at it. As it's body disintegrates to dust it smiles. It wasn't a crazy maniacal smile, and it begins to laugh. It was a happy laugh. Soon there is nothing left but the knife in its chest and it's garments.