Morthos strikes the Draugr, inflicting a significant wound to the creature. Saltwater and fungus sprays out from the strike, releasing a sickening smell.
Bostarg heals some of the wounds inflicted upon Morthos with a touch.
Beatrix attempts a strike of her own, but the creature pulls back, knocking aside her strike with it's axe.
Blunt force. Suits me fine.
Alazandaru stepped close to the nearest Draug but the creature's speed surprised him- he completely missed with both his initial swing and the reversed backswing.
Alazandaru attempts to finish off the creature wounded by Morthos, but it proves more nimble than one would think.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Tatya grimaces with disgust as she is sprayed with stray droplets of Morthos' blood flung from the draugr's axeblade. With a sigh, she resheathes her dagger; as long as the tall warrior remains upright and conscious between her and danger, she shouldn't need it. Reaching out to Morthos, she touches his elbow and urges him, "Stand strong and keep fighting. Your prowess is needed."
The green fire in the eyes of the Draugr flares bright, having avoided a series of strikes the mindless creature launches out with another strike at the one that damaged it before. Bringing it's axe to bear upon it's target, it strikes once more, the wound bringing significant harm.
The second of the creature's, craving the feast before it, moves towards the closest target, Beatrix. It darts forward in a cross slash with the axe, spraying blood across the room.
D1vM ;
D2vB ;
Morthos falls to the ground, bleeding profusely.
vs. DC 14
"Morthos!" Bea lets out a fierce cry as she brings her sword around with all her strength on the creature that felled her companion.
Beatrix's strike against the Draugr resoundly lands deep into the creature, severing away it's limb and cutting deep into it's spinal column. A putrid armoa arises from the creature as it falls to the ground, dead once again.
Alazandaru continued to misjudge the undead's speed and location, cursing softly as it evaded his staff with ease.
Bostarg comes up and draws upon the magic of a wand to restore health to Morthos. Meanwhile Alazandaru attempts to bring down the other Draugr, failing to connect with the creature.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Tatya looks askance at the gory tip of the gnome's wand, but the blood ceases to ooze from the gashes on Morthos' body. He's not getting up, but he's also not getting any worse. Still leery of the unknown content of the unshattered coffins, Tatya hesitates in the doorway to see if the room will yield any more surprises.
Tatya awaits to see what the undead creature does, but the results are not well.
A skilled warrior, Beatrix knew how to fight a living opponent, but this undead had no fear. A feint that would have caused an oppoenent to recoil back instead presented an unwitting opening, and the creature struck. It's axe descends, tearing through armor and flesh alike, even shattering bone as it strikes the vital spots for which it aimed. The warrior falls .
D2vB ;
D2vB CC ;
Seeing the other woman mutilated beyond hope of survival, Tatya seizes the limp form of Morthos and throws her weight backward to drag the fallen warrior out into the hallway. "Alazandaru! Unless you want to die with her, retreat! Bostarg, stand ready to shut the door!"
Alazandaru was alarmed to see Beatrix take so brutal a wound- perhaps even a fatal one. He cursed his ineffectiveness as he brought his quarterstaff to bear once again, swinging two-handed.
Tatya pulls the unconscious form of Morthos beyond the doorway as Bostarg stands ready to close it. Alazandaru strikes the former sailor, a wet sound as the sound of bone shattering can be heard. Yet the creature does not fall. In fact, the creature only misses as it's aim is slightly off, possibly due to one of it's eyes now hanging loose.
The situation only grows more ominous as another of the coffins suddenly bursts open and another of the creature's emerges.
D2vA ;
"Alazandaru!" Tatya remonstrates sharply. "Now! We will come back ready for them!"
Fighting retreat it is then... Though I will have issue with Bostarg for those words...
With one last defensive strike to the creature's head with one end of his quarterstaff, Alazandaru twirled the staff to use the other end to swiftly attempt to vault away from the creature and through the door, hoping the surprise tumbling maneuver was sufficient to get clear of the creature.
Alazandaru's strike against the creature finishes the task his earlier strike had started, bringing it to the ground. Heading through the doorway, it's shut by Bostarg as he comes through.
A few moments pass where the creature can be heard moaning beyond, but it seems to make no attempts to batter the door down.
"Most undead are mindless creatures," Tatya says. "If they don't see us, it shouldn't occur to them to come after us." Despite the erudition behind her words, her face is white, and her voice quavers; she has clearly been shaken by Beatrix's sudden and violent death. "Let us get Morthos on his feet and find somewhere safe to regroup." She touches her holy symbol to the prone warrior and begins an incantation of healing.
Is she...? Alazandaru asked, trepidation in his voice. Theres one left. I slew the second.
As Morthos comes to, he stands, albeit slowly and painfully. Feeling the all too familiar feeling of Tatya's infernal healing ability, he turns to her and smiles. "Thank you, Tatya. That is a fantastic ability you possess. Now," he turns to the others, "what happened? Did we destroy them?" He looks around noticing Beatrix is nowhere to be seen. "Where is Beatrix?"
Tatya stares at him a moment, then wordlessly shakes her head. "She's fulfilled her contract," she manages. "If you can walk, we should go; you'll feel better as we move."
Morthos eyes Tatya stoically for a moment before heeding her advice and moving back to the room with the false pendant.
As Bostarg heals Morthos with the wand, Morthos nods in thanks. "Now, we've managed each room except for the previous. There is but the one room left we have yet to examine. At least, one room left that we know of. I say we make our way there." He looks at them all, waiting for any possible objections.
"'Secrecy is our greatest ally. Exposure means death,'" Tatya quotes from the inscription above the unexplored room. "We have found death already. Can we afford to find more in such a state? I have potions I have distilled when my strength was full, but the magic in my veins is spent until I can rest." She rubs her hands up her forearms subconsciously as she looks to Bostarg.
Morthos ponders they're current predicament, knowing he wouldn't be alive if it weren't for the magic of the two. "Then let us rest." He walks towards a wall and leans against it, crossing his arms. "So what do you suppose, 'Secrecy is our greatest ally. Exposure means death' entails? A form of stealth, perhaps? Or possibly a form of disguise?"
"I also have little else to offer without rest... and I would suspect that the undead creatures stand between us and the pendant."
"Perhaps," Tatya cautions. "The other door among the draugrs led back toward the room we have not yet entered. But if the pendant is hidden in one of the coffins...." She shudders. "We have certainly learned that lesson: to beware the fallen." She turns back toward Morthos. "It could be either. Or both. We have the iron circlets, but I have no great talent at skulking or hiding."
Seething in fury, Alessaunder paced angrily.
We should destroy them now... he half-growled, still unwounded and furious that his inability to hit the initial Draugr may have cost Beatrix her life.
He realised that he was somewhat alone in this sentiment so he shrugged angrily, slamming his staff into a nearby wall in frustration.
Morthos is right. We will return here, once we have explored the other chamber. No doubt it provides some tool to assist us against the Undead...
The next few hours pass uneventfully as you all rest within the depths of the dungeon beneath Thorn's mansion. Though expected the undead would feast upon the bounty left for them, little noise emanates from the room. After a time, you all rise and prepare to continue on.
Coming to the next door, the inscription gives a reminder that what lies beyond is unknown.
“Secrecy is our greatest ally. Exposure brings death.”
The door is examined and nothing out of sorts is revealed, both in the way of traps or sound. Opening the door, beyond you see a room covered in darkness, though not the magical sort from before. No torches light this room.
Alazandaru
Bostarg
Morthos
Tatya
When Tatya rises, she seats herself in a corner of the room, her mouth set in a thin line. She removes from an outside pocket of her pack a small wicker cage, far too small for a bird. There has been a recent fad among fashionable young ladies to keep crickets as pets in small pagodas for the sweetness of their chirps, but what lies inside Tatya's cage is no cricket. As she unlaces her sleeves to expose the skin of her wrists and forearms, a scorpion runs eagerly from the cage, the tiny slats proving no bar to its flat carapace. Taking a deep breath and fixing her gaze on the far wall, she lowers her hands to the ground and lets the scorpion run up her fingers to her wrists, where it stings and stings and stings again. Tatya grows pale and breaks out in a cold sweat as she endures the ordeal, but she bites her lip and makes no protest. When the vermin has left four raised welts on each arm, it grudgingly retreats down her arms back into its pagoda. Looking tired and ill, Tatya relaces her sleeves over the marks, puts the wicker cage back into her pack, and shakily gets to her feet. "Ready," she reports grimly.
Morthos watches the event fold out between witch and scorpion curiously. As the procession ends, he looks to her without the slightest expression. "Good," he simply responds. Turning back toward the room, "Now, as far as I can tell, I would gather that any form of light is equal to 'exposure', which brings death. So, we either go in blind, or, we carry a light and take our chances." He looks to them all in turn. "Or do any of you have a different take on what the inscription may mean?"
"I agree," Tatya nods curtly. "I could summon the lights we used in the room with the mist, but I believe the Cardinal's lesson instructs us not to use them."