The Abandoned Monestary
Adventurer's Guild, midmorning
The temples are usually more than happy to hire out adventurers and mercenaries to look into things they may not have the time -- or personnel -- to handle on their own. Usually only sensitive missions require their direct intervention, and so the four of you, plus a dog, are gathered in one of the briefing rooms, waiting.
Fortunately, you don't have to wait very long, as a harried looking Chord, one of Vardama's monks, comes bustling in carrying a large packet of documents. "Sorry, sorry, I know I'm running late... he, it, whatever, insisted I have all the contract documents, even the things I know you lot have already signed off on or know..."
Still looking flustered, the monk moves to the podium, setting down the stack of papers, and starts going through it. "No... no... ah, here we go. The monastery at Thrashing Hill was abandoned two hundred and twelve years ago, and has stood abandoned, save for a brief time when it was used as a temporary refuge during the Azure Queen's menace. The Church has not had the time to begin reclaiming it. In the meantime, though, travelers have stated there are signs of inhabitation. While the Harpist has no objection to some lost souls taking refuge in her halls, there is a question of..." He pauses to peer at the next sentence. "...who might be staying there, and so you are contracted to investigate the monastery, ascertain inhabitants' intentions, purge the unclean, and so on."
Slixvah, an egalrin woman that has some odd growing small patches from feathers, crosses her arms as her wings flutter a bit to rest against her back as she rocks onto her back talon. "... sounds clean, what's the hiccup? What unclean you talkin' bout? Unless you mean they need some soap."
Auranar is admittedly not that experienced with 'adventures', but she finds the monk's statement a bit... circumspect. Namely... "It sounds as though you already suspect that the nature of these guests is a noisome one, and that we will find undead there." At least... she is almost hopeful that he means undead and not demons or devils. "Or... do you mean something worse might be there?" There she said it.
The call from the Temple of Vardama was two things to Dolan - first, a means to fund a larger upcoming trip, and second, a means to test himself that represented something of a break from his usual cares. Thusly, he accepted it willingly, and now waits, pack on back, armed and armored in his usual way. The hemming and hawing from the Chord gets a pair of crossed arms, but he waits mostly patiently. "They're talking about whether those inhabitants are actually living or not, Slix," he tells the bird, turning his face fully towards her as he speaks.
"The restless dead. The shambling corpses. Zombies, skeletons," Shilde says, scowling. "The enemies of life." She keeps her hand in the fur at Rocky's shoulder, keeping him stationary.. though he nearly hums with energy in need of release. The need to run, the need to sniff. The need to say hello to everything and everyone.
"Indeed. And of course, sometimes creatures move into abandoned structures, using them for lairs and generally inconveniencing everyone nearby." The monk nods, as he continues to shuffle through the papers, looking for something. "If it's some band of travelers or pilgrims -- or even some entrepreneur out to repurpose the monastery -- that's one thing. But the Harpist will not like if her house, abandoned or no, becomes a home to predators."
Finally, he finds the sheet he's looking for. "Yes, well, standard fees for Guild work, hazard pay as required, upon completion. If the four of you would sign here..." He puts the paper down on the conference table, along with an inkpen and bottle. "I have directions for you once that's done with.... if I can find them. Why did it think I needed eight copies of the next-of-kin form?"
Slixvah chuckles to herself, sparing a glance to Dolan, then to Shilde behind her veil. "I'm picking what they're puttin' down, lovvies. I wonder if we can get holy soap. Holy suds. Any gods of cleaning?" she chitters warmly, jokingly. She takes a step towards the restlessness Rocky, and pets him with a happy trill.
She glances to the pages, her chuckling and stepping for to sign them."Gonna need more than that babe, eight copies of thirteen kin, gooood luck with that!"
Laughter breaks across the flexible half of Dolan's features, touching even the less flexible half, and erupts from him in a chuckle. He, too, moves forward to sign the forms, gesturing that Auranar should precede him. "I see Verna isn't alone in her love for paperwork," he remarks to the sorceress. "Your kin need eight copies?" he asks them of Slixvah, careful to stand clear of the wings.
Auranar sighs softly but steps forward to fill out the paperwork. This at least she is familiar with. She fills it out dutifully, marking Verna as her next of kin (she has no others really). Then steps back and looks at the stack of paperwork that the monk is toting around doubtfully. "If you can't find the directions, how are we supposed to find it?"
Rocky pants happily, pushing his head into Slixvah in an attempt to get the most out of her pets. Shilde mutters something about him being a terrible guard dog, then speaks up louder. "If we git a general location, probably easy 'nuff t'narrow it down. But nothin' beats a good map, if'n there is one," she says, releasing the big dog to go and sign the paper with blocky letters.
Meanwhile, the monk shuffles through the papers in frustration, mumbling imprecations before finally finding the directions and map. "Ah! Here we are... of course it was in the back." He checks over the signatures on the forms, before carefully putting them away and passing the map to the party. "Please set out as soon as possible. If whoever is there means ill intent, we don't want them getting comfortable -- or secure."
The map and directions point the way to 'Thrashing Hill', a couple hours out from Alexandria proper. With horses or a wagon, you can get there today with plenty of daylight to spare. Slixvah makes a soft humming sound, subvocalizing a chuckle from Dolan's laughter. "Verna? You know that grey lass with zero sass that healed my clumsy ass?" She shakes her head, putting down a few names of her brothers and sisters before pushing the papers back. "Naw babe, just pulling the guy's leg. A... hundred and four copies sounds right terrible to fill out."
She's ready to go, just a bit... "Who's a good doggie, who's a good doggie?" Pet pet pet. ...occupied.
"You mean the woman who called Auranar here a hot piece of ass in the Fernwood last night?" Dolan's chocolate-brown eye is bright with remembered laughter and current laughter alike. "Don't know that zero sass is the right word." He's finishing his own signing and passing the papers back to the Chord as he talks. "Right, let's get this show on the road."
Auranar manages to turn a ruddy shade of color, her dark eyes widening incredulously. "She what?" It doesn't seem likely to be true, but she doesn't know Dolan to be the sort to make such a joke either. The woman's color turns even more red. "Oh my."
It doesn't take long to procure transport, and the Church even supplied a small stipend to cover it. The day is bright and sunny, and frankly, it seems improbable, if not impossible, that 'unclean creatures of evil' could be out in this weather. Indeed, the birds are chirping, the grass seems to wave as the party passes, and there are even a few travelers who bid you greetings as they pass by.
Threshing Hill, abandoned monastery
The hill isn't terribly tall, but it does boast a stout stone wall around it. Or at least it did -- time has taken its toll on the walled monastery. While the central building appears intact, the outer wall has crumbled into ruin in several places. As you ride up to the empty space that once held gates or doors, you can see trees growing on the grounds, and piles of rubble.
GAME: Dolan rolls perception: (6)+9: 15 GAME: Slixvah rolls alertness: aliased to perception+2: (14)+10+2: 26 GAME: Auranar rolls perception: (5)+5: 10 GAME: Shilde rolls perception: (19)+11: 30 GAME: Shilde rolls 1d20+7: (10)+7: 17
Shilde ended up on the wagon... her well worn boots, and the general look of her clothing and gear mark her as no stranger to the Long Hike.. but she's come to recognize her shorter legs just aren't up to keeping up to the longer legged folk, and certainly not to a horse. Rocky, on the other hand, ranges. Often returning to the wagon and horses for some attention, some 'good boys', some pets, he is quick to return to pacing the group while investigating trees, rocks, patches of ground that only his nose can see a story upon.
When the adventuring troupe finally reaches their destination, Shilde hops off of the wagon, hitting the ground with a grunt as her short, but thankfully sturdy, legs absorb the impact. "Hmmph." That's her initial assessment as she puts a hand over her brow to shield her eyes from the sun. Her other hand claps her hip to call Rocky to her side as she scans the broken wall, looking beyond the gaps. "A bit'o work's been done 'ere... someone's cleared a path fer a wagon or two. An' I ken make out someone.. or something.. workin' th'ground. A few of 'em, completely covered. Robes maybe."
There's a howling laughter from the guild hall before everyone heads out.
Strolling up with her hands in her pockets, Slix quietly whistles to herself as they depart from their mode of transportation and additional pets for Rocky. "Hmm... Shilde's right. Right odd that. Lemme do a lil somethin' somethin' if we can talk this out all smooth-like, yeah?"
She puts her hands on the sides of her head and rubs her temples. "Oooh letl em tawh uoy twna tawh ouy erlya erlya twna," she chants, and her eyes flash a gold.
GAME: Slixvah casts Comprehend Languages. Caster Level: 3 DC: 14
Dolan had been more than a little distracted by the warm weather and fine day, and it's only Shilde's words that get his attention. "Huh what?" Seeing the others hopping off the wagon, he slides off as well and peers in the direction indicated.
And freezes cold, all of his good humor vanishing as if it had just gotten sucked out of an airlock. He doesn't answer either Slix or Shilde immediately, staring at the walls and seeming to - pull himself together?
Auranar can't see the people. Not at first, and in truth she's still a bit distracted as they arrive at their destination. After they're pointed out however she nods and makes her way off the wagon. Better in the wagon than attempting to ride a horse herself. What one can do and what one should do are very different things at times. "Seems that we have found the people we need to question then." She makes her way toward one of the methods of egress that the wall provides.
GAME: Telamon rolls 1d20+5: (19)+5: 24 GAME: Telamon rolls 1d20+6: (10)+6: 16
As the party approaches, the trio of people outside resolve into a pair of robed and hooded figures working the earth in a somewhat desultory manner with hoes, while a third -- a woman with pigtails, of all things, but dressed in a similar simple brown robe -- supervises.
One of the robed hoe-wielders takes note of you, and stops, holding his gardening implement defensively, and then the woman sees you as well. "Oh! Calm down, Brother Mordin. Go back to work." She steps up next to the robed form. "Hello there! Can we help you?" Her blue eyes shine guilelessly, and she pats the person next to her on the shoulder reassuringly.
GAME: Shilde rolls 1d20+7: (8)+7: 15
Shilde rubs a stubby finger against a broad nose as she regards the trio with... well, not a scowl. A dwarf expression of neutrality. "Aye," she tells them, though does little to elaborate. She's probably not the best one to open up negotiations. Something she probably ought to learn one day. "Nice day t'be till'n the earth," she notes.
Rocky, who despite his seemingly easily distracted nature comes when Shilde beckons, follows Shilde and the others towards the broken monastery. As Shilde works her mouth noises, he starts sniffing the ground as usual.. then a little more intensely than usual. He gives himself a shake, then raises his nose to the air, giving it a test sniff as well.
"Hello!" Offers Auranar warmly, offering a second wave as the group draws near. "How are you this fine day?" Her inquiry is polite, and she smiles as warmly as her words. "We're just here to check on the local area for the Temple."
With that she motions toward the temple in question and then lowers her hand. She does her best not to rile the folks gathered here any more than they are already riled. Her eyes don't flicker toward the man that's armed himself, but rather she focuses on the pigtailed woman, hoping that diplomacy will get her where they want to be.
Diplomacy is not Dolan's strong suit, especially not when half his face frightens small children, and doubly not when he himself is abruptly on edge. He comes up behind the others, nodding as politely as he can manage to those working the fields, but for himself remains quiet, listening and watching. Not just the girl in pigtails, but the others as well. All of them, in fact, as much as he can manage.
Slixvah casts a subtle glance about the courtyard on the approach. A ribboned wing give a wave. "Howdy sugar, clear skies," she cooes, flicking an eye towards the briefly tense figure. Aura said what she was going to say, and she didn't need to repeat it.
She does, however, note their resident Daeusite's sudden change, and that ruffles her feathers. Literally. Dang ribbon's caught in the joint and-
Brother Mordin lowers his hoe again, makes a nonverbal mumbling noise, and begins hoeing again. It appears the trio are in the first steps of making a garden or somesuch, hacking out lines of tilled earth by hand.
"Oh, I thought they'd told them already!" The pig-tailed woman pouts a bit. "I'm Sister Adara, and this is Brother Mordin and Brother Cottus. The temple at Vadran asked us to come here and start reclaiming this place." She stamps her foot in annoyance. "Ohhh! I'll have to send a messenger now. How annoying!"
She gives a bright smile to the assembled heroes again. "Oh well. I'm afraid we've little enough to interest or offer you. The main building is still closed up while we make sure it doesn't come down on us while we sleep."
GAME: Auranar rolls sense motive: (5)+3: 8 GAME: Slixvah rolls sense motive+2: (13)+3+2: 18 GAME: Dolan rolls sense motive: (1)+11: 12 (EPIC FAIL) GAME: Dolan rolls sense motive: (3)+11: 14 GAME: Shilde rolls sense motive: (11)+3: 14 GAME: Telamon rolls 1d20+4: (19)+4: 23 GAME: Dolan rolls perception: (15)+9: 24 GAME: Slixvah rolls alertness: aliased to perception+2: (16)+10+2: 28 GAME: Auranar rolls perception: (13)+5: 18 GAME: Shilde rolls perception: (2)+11: 13
Auranar smiles at the woman warmly. She at least can totally believe that the temple (with it's paperwork issues) would have issues keeping track of whom it's sent where and when. "Well that makes sense, though since we're here we can send your message back!" She wants to be helpful. Her eyes flicker over the garden and she smiles again even more warmly. "In fact, if you wouldn't mind us staying around a little while I could help you with your garden! I've been learning quite a lot about how to tend one lately so that I can grow vegetables."
Shilde eyes Rocky.. even giving him a light shove in the shoulder to get his attention. He looks at her briefly, giving her that big, doggy grin, but gets distracted by whatever's caught his nose again. He paces around in a few circles. "Bah," she says. "Go find it, then," she tells him, not seeming to care if he goes running amok in the courtyard. Or not caring if the monks mind, that is. Then she glances at her companions. Her taller.. in one case much taller... companions. "Vadran?" she asks, unfamiliar.
Quietly, Dolan takes a half-step backwards and over, so that he is standing half-behind the egalrin's beribboned wing when he reaches for the sunburst at his neck. Grasping it firmly, he bows his head, murmuring something. A breath later, and he draws a deep breath, looks up, and stops, his blood running cold, eyes narrowing for a good ten or fifteen seconds. It's not the same feeling, no, but - the Knight warns him. And now, he needs to warn the others.
He steps, then, back to where he was standing before, a black scowl only adding to the twist in his features. "Bullshit," he growls. "Last I checked, vegetables didn't stink of evil, but that ground does, and so do you. In the name of the Holy Knight, explain yourselves."
Slixvah is rocking on her taloned feet, humming quietly to herself. She glances to the garden, something else in the garden, then back to the trio.
"Aye, yeah, we can totes m'goats help ya'll out. Us Eglarin are really good at growing stuff in weird places!"
They live in mountains, a completely different environment. And Slix didn't know a lick about gardening, but they didn't need to know that.
She glances to Shilde, seeing as she wasn't the only one that picked up on that. "... question lovvies, what sect are ya'll? 'cause no person I know-
Dolan makes his declaration.
She raises her hands in a non-fussed shrug. "-calls each other Brother and Sister."
"Well, -bother-," Sister Adara says almost wearily. "I -told- them this wouldn't work, but noooooooo, nobody listens to Sister Adara... oh well." Her smile shifts to homicidal, as she slides a long, wickedly-sharp straight razor from her robes. "Wake up, lovelies! It's time to play!"
And as she begins casting a spell, a dark shimmer washing over her, the earth begins to explode out as bony forms pull themselves out of the garden -- a horrid harvest of skeletal minions climbing out from a very not-final resting place.
GAME: Telamon rolls 1d20+6: (12)+6: 18 GAME: Telamon rolls 1d4+1: (3)+1: 4 GAME: Shilde rolls fortitude: (17)+7: 24
The monk called Mordin lets out a horrid hiss, dropping his hoe and lunging at the heroes, while skeletons claw their way out of the earth. The hood of its robe falls back, and for a moment they can see an old, vacant eyed face. Then it peels off like wet paper to reveal a withered countenance with blank eyes and a mouth frozen in a horrifying silent howl, as the creature's claw rakes at Shilde, stinking of the dead.
GAME: Slixvah used a Wand of Mage Armor. GAME: Auranar casts Bless. Caster Level: 3 DC: 14
Slixvah blinks as she rolls her eyes back. "Ugh, okay, sooo original. That's MY line!"
Seeing as they're suddenly given a new un-lease on life to deal with, Slixvah pulls out a wand and twirls it around her fingers. "Aaaand, act'c ochtu htsi!" she chants, flicking it once to boop Aurana on the arm. A sudden wind rushes past, and the wild elf's clothes hold a non-ewtonian rigidity to them. "I dunno what you do girl, but let's gotta outta this one piece, ka-piche?" she chirps, chipper as ever as the feathers on her wings start to elongate out behind her like yanked spools of ribbon.
GAME: Slixvah rolls feather slap+1: aliased to intelligence+BAB+1: (20)+3+1+1: 25 GAME: Slixvah rolls feather slap+1: aliased to intelligence+BAB+1: (1)+3+1+1: 6 (EPIC FAIL)
Auranar sees the undead rising up and the terrible countenance of those that were once so human looking to her. How could she have been so easily fooled? Feeling numb and horrified she steps back closer to Dolan. Seeking his blade and his comforting presence in the same moment. Her fingers work quickly, her mouth uttering a near-prayer of magical inclination. A pulse of power spreads outwards from her, filling her companions with the blessing that she is able to offer them. "Why?" She looks at the woman. "WHY?"
GAME: Slixvah rolls feather slap+1: aliased to intelligence+BAB+1: (3)+3+1+1: 8 GAME: Slixvah rolls 1d3+4: (3)+4: 7 GAME: Telamon rolls 1d20+6: (10)+6: 16 GAME: Telamon rolls 1d4+1: (1)+1: 2 GAME: Slixvah rolls fortitude: (1)+2: 3 (EPIC FAIL)
The second robed figure drops its hoe as well, hissing hideously as it aims for Slixvah. Its dirty claws rake through her feathers even as her own feathers elongate and smash it in the face -- the blow robbing its own attack of much of its force. But the claws draw blood, and Cottus makes a horrid moan as it glares with sightless eyes at the egalrin witch.
GAME: Shilde casts Bull's Strength. Caster Level: 5 DC: 15 GAME: Shilde rolls 1d20+5+2: (4)+5+2: 11 GAME: Dolan rolls weapon2+5+1: (12)+7+5+1: 25 GAME: Dolan rolls 2d6+5: (9)+5: 14
Shilde slaps at her neck as 'Mordin's' claw bounces off of the armor under her jerkin and scrapes the exposed flesh above her collar. "Blast and sandstone," she swears, backing away from the two 'monks', scrambling for the shield off of her pack. Then she uses her other hand to channel a blessing of the green into her canine companion. "Git 'im," she then says, and the shaggy dog snarls and leaps forward, trying to overbear and take down the robed undead.
GAME: Dolan rolls will: (17)+7: 24
"Oh no you don't!" The thing that Cottus became slashes at Slixvah, and both sides of Dolan's features twist with unbridled fury and a deep-seated fear that rips through him like a tidal wave. Instead of tearing him apart and freezing him, though, it lends strength to his limbs and a certainty to his movements. The leather harness drops to the earth forgotten, and the greatsword is in his hands, crashing down across Cottus' collarbone like a force of heaven's wrath. The sheer force cleaves what would have been bone in two, splitting the grotesque creature shoulder to hip and banishing the unlife from it on the space of a breath. "You pigfuckers have got some nerve, and since the Mourners aren't here to kick your asses, I'll damn well do it for 'em!"
Sister Adara gasps in shock as Dolan comes in like a bolt of divine wrath. "Cottus! Oh, you dirty, filthy, sun-worshipping..." She angrily weaves her hand in the air, before pointing at Dolan. "Just DROP that sword now, and take your punishment like a good boy!" Her fingers on the war razor clench, knuckles whitened.
Sadly, it seems Dolan is not doing requests today.
GAME: Telamon rolls 1d20+4: (7)+4: 11 GAME: Telamon rolls 1d20+2: (8)+2: 10 GAME: Telamon rolls 1d20+4: (12)+4: 16
The skeletons swarm into the party, flailing with bony fists and clawing fingertips. There's no injury, but it doesn't help to have clattering bones, fleshless and caked with earth, clutching without voice or breath, just the tiny gleams of hate in their eyesockets as they attack, driven by unholy will.
GAME: Telamon rolls 1d20+4: (17)+4: 21 GAME: Telamon rolls 1d20+4: (17)+4: 21 GAME: Telamon rolls 2d4+2: (7)+2: 9 GAME: Shilde rolls 1d20+6: (17)+6: 23 GAME: Shilde rolls 1d20+6: (17)+6: 23 GAME: Telamon rolls 1d20: (5): 5
The creature called Mordin seems unfazed by its companion's demise, but it doesn't back down, at least initially. Its filthy claws rake into Rocky, gouging the dog's flesh, and then it recoils back at its mistress's call, continuing to make that awful, horrible hissing sound like an eternal death rattle.
GAME: Telamon rolls 1d20+4: (3)+4: 7 GAME: Slixvah casts Cure Light Wounds. Caster Level: 3 DC: 14 GAME: Slixvah rolls feather slap+1: aliased to intelligence+BAB+1: (18)+3+1+1: 23 GAME: Slixvah rolls 1d8+3: (2)+3: 5 GAME: Telamon rolls 1d20+4: (16)+4: 20
Slixvah stumbles backwards as she takes a hit, her clutching a hand over her chest. She coughs, "Ah, yeah... makes sense..." she murmurs, looking at the blood on her fingers. Staggering a bit woozily, her attention lifts to the sister casting magic behind the skeletons. She cups her beak, saying something into it before she chants "Cstatre-" A skeleton rushes up to Auranar, and the magic caeses. "Fuck. Ugh, you can't make this simple can you, eb aehl!" she shouts before coughing. A hand is wreathed in a bright white light, which then gets transferred to a ribbon-like feather. Which then /slams/ down against the skeleton on Auranar. Which.. doesn't unmake as much as she wished.
She glances to Dolan, blinking dumbly at his display. "... keep that up babe and I'll sing your muscle chick praises of you," she coaxes him, trying to keep the hell bent Daeusite pointed /towards/ the enemy as she slinks back and pulls out a- crossbow? Where the hell did she keep that thing?
GAME: Auranar rolls 1d20+4+1: (3)+4+1: 8 GAME: Auranar rolls 1d20+4+1: (3)+4+1: 8
Auranar screams as the zombie comes after her, backing away from it and holding up her hand. "NO! NO! NO! GET AWAY FROM ME!" She's horrified by the vile creature, and her fear of it makes the magic building up in her hand go awry. It skitters off the ground and she feels a familiar swell of shame at how utterly useless she is in situations like this. "I'm sorry." Said almost silently.
GAME: Telamon rolls 1d20+2: (20)+2: 22 GAME: Telamon rolls 1d20+2: (2)+2: 4 GAME: Telamon rolls 1d20+2: (12)+2: 14 GAME: Telamon rolls 1d4+2: (3)+2: 5
The last of the skeletons walks almost mincingly up to Dolan, and swings a pair of bony fists into the warrior-inquisitor's face -- one smacking him in the jaw, the other going wide. Evidently this skeleton's suffering from a surfeit of self-confidence, or what passes for it among undead.
GAME: Shilde rolls 1d20+5+2+1: (18)+5+2+1: 26 GAME: Shilde rolls 1d20+5+2+1: (19)+5+2+1: 27 GAME: Shilde rolls 1d6+6: (4)+6: 10 GAME: Shilde casts Mad Monkeys. Caster Level: 5 DC: 16
Shilde knocks one of the skeleton swings away with her sturdy shield, the other is taken on her armor.. a curious shirt of slowly rolling pebbles, partially revealed through the cut in her jerkin. "Keep on 'im, Rocky!" she spits out as she backsteps once again. Druidic words start to fall from her lips as Rocky, limping slightly from the claw marks scoring his side, presses forward on Mordin nonetheless. This time his jaws close down on something solid and lock, and the dog uses its massive weight to pull the creature to the ground.
GAME: Dolan rolls weapon2+1+5: (7)+7+1+5: 20 GAME: Dolan rolls 2d6+5: (9)+5: 14 GAME: Telamon rolls 1d20+4: (6)+4: 10
If Dolan even heard Slixvah, or noticed Adara trying to command him, he gives no sign. Heaven hath no fury like a man facing his demons head-on, and his next stroke, straight across the ribs, strikes straight to the spinal column. Were it living, it would be a deadly wound, but in a creature like this, the sheer force of the blow is enough to rip the magic force holding the bones together asunder, and bone shards fly in every imaginable direction like some macabre confetti as the sword ends its arc.
And still the Daeusite does not seem to be satisfied, his gaze falling on its companion.
As the bits of skeleton spray across the fields, Sister Adara races in to join the melee, realizing her unholy troupe are in real danger. Stepping in as she wields that wicked war razor, she lashes out at Rocky, trying to catch him... but the blade hisses past. "Mordin, up! Get up! We're in trouble!" she exhorts, trying to dissuade the dog from gnawing on her unclean assistant.
GAME: Telamon rolls 1d20+2: (11)+2: 13 GAME: Telamon rolls 1d20+2: (2)+2: 4 GAME: Telamon rolls 1d20+2: (14)+2: 16 GAME: Telamon rolls 1d20+2: (15)+2: 17 GAME: Telamon rolls 1d20+2: (7)+2: 9 GAME: Telamon rolls 1d20+2: (16)+2: 18 GAME: Telamon rolls 1d4+2: (1)+2: 3
The skeletons seem undaunted by the destruction of one of their companions, and swarm into the heroes eagerly. Two of them flailing at Shilde quite frighteningly, but with minimal effect, while a third punches Slixvah right in the face, a bony fist knocking her veil askew as the bones rattle and clatter in a horrid symphony.
GAME: Shilde rolls 1d20+5+2+1: (4)+5+2+1: 12 GAME: Shilde rolls 1d6+6: (3)+6: 9 GAME: Telamon rolls 1d20+4: (16)+4: 20 GAME: Telamon rolls 1d4+1: (4)+1: 5 GAME: Shilde rolls 1d20+6: (18)+6: 24
Mordin keeps hissing even in the face of Rocky savaging its limbs, the rotting flesh peeling off its bones as the dog tears at it. Scrambling to its feet, the undead creature rakes Rocky again with its claw, its empty expression devoid of anything except the desire to kill, destroy, and ruin.
Meanwhile, one of the skeletons flails uselessly at Dolan, doing little more than making an infernal racket and probably pissing him off even more than he already is.
GAME: Telamon rolls 1d20+2: (20)+2: 22 GAME: Telamon rolls 1d20+2: (6)+2: 8 GAME: Telamon rolls 1d4+2: (4)+2: 6
Slixvah sways a bit on the spot, one hand holding onto her chest as the taut ribbon feathers jab into the ground to keep her upright, doubly so as a hit from the skeleton rocks her sideways. She resituates herself, and her sky blue gaze rests on the fretting wild elf.
Her expression softens lightly behind the veil, and the feathers reach out on their own accord, gently propping up the hand that shot the light forth. "Listen here, brave little spark, burning bright as a star. Hark, remember the rain, but know the skies above shine brightest in the dark," she coos as a hand shifts about and does some arcane gestures.
Slix moves. She clobbered in the back of the skull and tumbles forward, smearing blood on the ground before she gets to her feet. "Ughhh... Kor's balls, that fucking HURT jerk!"
GAME: Auranar rolls 1d20+4+1: (6)+4+1: 11 GAME: Auranar rolls 1d20+4+1: (1)+4+1: 6 (EPIC FAIL) GAME: Auranar rolls 1d6: (6): 6 GAME: Telamon rolls 1d2: (1): 1 GAME: Telamon rolls 1d20+2: (12)+2: 14 GAME: Telamon rolls 1d20+2: (20)+2: 22 GAME: Telamon rolls 1d20+2: (6)+2: 8 GAME: Telamon rolls 1d4+2: (3)+2: 5
Auranar can't explain why, but the words that Slixvah says hearten her. Remind her actually, of Eluna. "Please Goddess. Shine a little light on me." She murmurs. She's not the most faithful woman, but Eluna needs her, and she needs the goddess now more than ever. She starts to cast the spell, words coming by rote but it feels... and she starts again, moving her hands and feeling the words come naturally to her. She points at the undead creature before her, pushing the magic into its body and the creature falls apart completely. It's unnatural life-force extinguished by her spell. "Thank you."
Another skeleton punches savagely at Dolan, while its companion gets turned into free-floating particles by holy light. The blows are relentless, metronomic, and while the skeleton is flimsy, it does not tire, does not bleed, does not care. All it wants to do is kill.
GAME: Shilde rolls 1d20+5+2+1: (5)+5+2+1: 13 GAME: Shilde rolls 1d8+1: (8)+1: 9 GAME: Shilde used a Wand of Cure Light Wounds. GAME: Telamon rolls 2d6: (7): 7 GAME: Telamon rolls 1d20+3: (18)+3: 21 GAME: Dolan rolls weapon2+1+10: (19)+7+1+10: 37 (THREAT) GAME: Dolan rolls weapon2+1+10: (17)+7+1+10: 35 GAME: Dolan rolls 2d6+5+2d6+5: (6)+5+(5)+5: 21
Rocky continues slugging it out with 'Mordrin', having less luck than his chosen enemy... his druid is definitely going to have to tend to him soon. After the fight, if not sooner. But there are other, larger concerns right now...
Having stood firm in the face of the skeletons rushing her, Shilde continues her casting until the druidic chanting reaches a crescendo.. and then silence. One last second of blessed silence. And then all hell breaks loose. Seeming to crawl out of the ground, from behind the ruins, from the very air, a large... ball... of monkeys climbing over each other appears, shrieking and snarling and laughing and crying and hooting and screaming, swarming all over Adara and two of her skeleton minions. Flailing arms and feet and tails... what looks like one tiny monkey using another tiny monkey as a weapon... to put it simply, it all looks rather uncomfortable for everyone and everything involved in that lump of bodies.
Shilde winces, sagging a bit from the effort.. then she pulls her twig wand from her belt, invoking its stored magic as she reaches for Slixvah. "Ach.. stay still lass. Here ye be."
GAME: Shilde rolls 1d20+5+3: (3)+5+3: 11
Divine wrath seems to have indeed settled on Dolan's shoulders now, and the blood that flows from a second claw slash barely punctures as an _ow_ through the pictures in the Daeusite's mind. What _does_ puncture is that as he turns, spells - healing spells and others - pierce his awareness, and the blood that flows from his companions.
Suddenly, just one mission remains to him - get to his compatriots. Don't let them suffer. Don't let them get caught! He redoubles his backswing, and the mighty blow catches the unfortunate bloodied skeleton _right_ between two vertebrae. Again, sheer strength shatters the unholy force holding it together, and it crumples like a house of twigs in a windstorm, splinters flying in every direction.
GAME: Shilde rolls 1d20+5+3+1: (1)+5+3+1: 10 (EPIC FAIL) GAME: Shilde rolls 1d20+5+3+1: (2)+5+3+1: 11 GAME: Telamon rolls 1d6: (1): 1
It's all Sister Adara can do to hang onto her straight razor as suddenly she's being belabored and clawed and beaten by monkeys! "Ack! Get your filthy paws off me, you damned dirty apes!" She almost loses her weapon three times, before she scrambles out of the swarm to (relative) safety. Still shaken, dirty, and mussed, she tries to invoke whatever dark god she worships to restore her remaining minions... and only a tiny trickle of negative energy answers her plea.
"Oh, fiddlesticks."
GAME: Telamon rolls 1d20+2: (15)+2: 17 GAME: Telamon rolls 1d20+2: (4)+2: 6 GAME: Telamon rolls 1d20+2: (2)+2: 4 GAME: Telamon rolls 1d20+2: (19)+2: 21 GAME: Telamon rolls 1d4+2: (4)+2: 6 GAME: Telamon rolls 1d20+6: (12)+6: 18 GAME: Telamon rolls 1d20+6: (18)+6: 24 GAME: Shilde rolls 1d20+6: (19)+6: 25 GAME: Telamon rolls 2d4+2: (3)+2: 5 GAME: Shilde rolls 1d20+6: (11)+6: 17 GAME: Telamon rolls 1d20+2: (15)+2: 17 GAME: Telamon rolls 1d20+2: (8)+2: 10 GAME: Slixvah casts Ear-Piercing Scream. Caster Level: 3 DC: 14 GAME: Slixvah rolls 2d6: (9): 9
The remaining undead continue to fight on, undeterred by losses, raging warriors, or monkeys. Flailing at Shilde, punching Slixvah (there appears to have been a monkey attacked to that bony arm, that's why it hit).
Meanwhile, Mordin claws at Rocky again, leaving bloody wounds, but the dog refuses to give in. His heart is a match for Dolan, who simply shrugs off another skeleton's blows like he's being hit with beanbags.
GAME: Telamon rolls 1d20+3: (11)+3: 14
Slixvah guffaws at the sudden onslaught of more summoned creatures. Not undead, but- "Monkey madness!" she exclaims, coughing up some blood as a wand pokes her on the side. Some cracks back into place. "Phew, thanks hon, owe ya a drink."
She casts a worried/relived glance towards Dolan as he's going on his own spree unharried, and Auranar rallies.
She's struck once more, and she uses that moment to stumble backwards. She tries again, muttering into her palms before spreading an energy onto her wings. "Cstatre!" she shouts, before buffeting her wings towards the unholy cleric.
Supersonic sass seems soured to serious success; sometimes slightly scoring scares succinctly.
GAME: Auranar rolls 1d4+1: (3)+1: 4 GAME: Shilde rolls 1d20+5+2+1: (12)+5+2+1: 20 GAME: Shilde rolls 1d6+6: (3)+6: 9 GAME: Shilde rolls 1d20+5+2+1: (17)+5+2+1: 25
The battlefield has become... crazy. Auranar finds herself looking across her allies. Seeing their wounds, their bravery. She fills herself with power, with the burning light that can harm or heal and swallows it so that it doesn't pour out of her as she lays one hand on Slixvah. "En nome." She murmurs, pressing the light into her companion and healing the wounds that had been done to Slixvah. She smiles, feeling for the first time like maybe she's helping.
GAME: Shilde rolls 1d20+5+1: (6)+5+1: 12 GAME: Shilde rolls 1d6+2: (6)+2: 8 GAME: Telamon rolls 2d6: (10): 10
Rocky is, maybe to the surprise of many, in fact smarter than the average dog. Enough to realize he's not in a great spot. And he has a bit of training, as well... so, despite his hurts, despite the bleeding, he circles around the ghastly monk and then presses in again. He jumps at Mordrin, jaws closing around the creature's shoulder and once again uses his weight to bring it to the ground.
"Aye, good boy!" Shilde yells at him.. hoping things are going alright behind her as she draws the solid cudgel from her belt loop. She might not be a warrior like her ancestors, but she is a dwarf. She is solid. And she plants herself between Auranar, Slixvah, and the last skeletons. She brings that cudgel straight down up on one of the head of one of the skeletons, thankfully missing her monkeys in the process. A solid thunk, and the magic animating it seems to finally reach its breaking point, releasing the bones into a pile on the ground.
The remaining skeleton is trying to get to Shilde and Slixvah, its empty sockets full of malice and hate even as the monkeys swarm it. There's cracking sounds, and the skeleton's jaw sags in shock as suddenly one monkey gets a nice good grip on the bony arm -- and pulls it loose. More pops and cracks following, and the ugly light in the skeleton's skull winks out as the monkeys simply dismantle the bony abomination, like a horde of wrench-wielding gobbers attacking a machine. The bones are being passed around, rolled like toys, or tossed into the air. There's almost a kind of justice to it -- an obscenity against the gods and life, reduced to nothing more than entertainment for a pack of small, screeching primates.
GAME: Dolan rolls weapon2+1+5: (19)+7+1+5: 32 (THREAT) GAME: Dolan rolls weapon2+1+5: (6)+7+1+5: 19 GAME: Dolan rolls 2d6+5+2d6+5: (5)+5+(11)+5: 26 GAME: Telamon rolls 1d20+2: (5)+2: 7 GAME: Telamon rolls 1d20+4: (14)+4: 18 GAME: Telamon rolls 1d4+1+1d6: (4)+1+(3): 8
Sweat now beads Dolan's brow, and one of that witch's henchmen is right in front of him. Sun glints off the mighty greatsword, sending a dancing line of light across the dilapidated wall of the keep as it again connects. This time, it's stabbed straight through where hipbone meets the spine, and more bone fragments join the shattered mess that just a few minutes ago were menacing skeletons.
Dolan's usually humor-filled eye holds a wildness deep beneath it, a fury given its head. He _hates_ cults.
'Sister' Adara looks dazed as her skeletons are torn apart. A twitching skeletal hand lands next to her shoe, and then goes still, and she lurches forward. "No! NOOO! You can't take this from me! This is MINE! MINE!" Practically frothing, her war razor whips around again, and this time the blade kisses into Rocky's flank, drawing a deep and ugly wound. She hisses, disturbingly like the undead corpses, and licks at the blood on her razor. "I hurt you! I HURT YOU! SEE!"
GAME: Telamon rolls 1d20: (17): 17 GAME: Telamon rolls 1d4+1: (1)+1: 2 GAME: Shilde rolls 1d20+6: (4)+6: 10
Mordin rolls around on the ground, a faint, ugly moan coming from the animated corpse's eternally gaping mouth. It can't seem to get its footing, and instead opts to sink a claw into Rocky's foreleg, trying to drag the dog closer -- to use as a shield or to bite it, it's not certain. What is certain is that the unholy thing isn't properly dead yet. Someone should fix that.
GAME: Slixvah casts Cure Moderate Wounds. Caster Level: 3 DC: 15 GAME: Slixvah rolls 2d8+3: (11)+3: 14 GAME: Auranar rolls 1d20+4+1-4+5: (9)+4+1+-4+5: 15 GAME: Auranar rolls 1d4+1: (2)+1: 3
"Oh, thanks sugar, that's right kind of you," Slixvah hums as she's being pumped with healing spell after healing spell, wafting from semi conscious to painfully so. The wound on her chest aches. "And you too, a drink."
Seeing as things were turning a bit wonky, Slix scoots on by and coughs out, "Odgo ybo!" All the feathers glow. All of them give healing pets.
Like Slixvah, Auranar's eyes fall on Rocky. It seems natural _right_ that she use the burning light inside her to heal him. She doesn't dare move closer though. Not with the undead surrounding the canine. Instead she closes her eyes and _trusts_. Dark eyes open yet again and she intones the familiar words, moves her fingers and the light pours forth into Rocky, healing his injuries. Not much, but perhaps enough.
GAME: Shilde rolls 1d20+5+1: (11)+5+1: 17 GAME: Shilde rolls 1d6+2: (4)+2: 6 GAME: Shilde rolls 1d20+5+2+1: (9)+5+2+1: 17 GAME: Shilde rolls 1d6+6: (6)+6: 12 GAME: Dolan rolls weapon2+1+4: (9)+7+1+4: 21 GAME: Dolan rolls 2d6+5: (7)+5: 12
Shilde's eyes blaze. At the end of the day, it's her fault.. she's the one who brought Rocky to these lands. Takes him on these missions. Trained him to put himself in harm's way like this. But it doesn't make it easier to see him savaged like this. She begins to go for her wand again... but Auranar and Slixvah are quicker, the pair bringing magic down upon Rocky to heal much of his scored hide. He looks better. All that's left is.. well, at least in her mind, some payback. Even if Adara's strike on Rocky was payback of a sort. (this is why revenge never works, folks.) "Get. Her." she commands the shrieking ball of monkeys, gesturing at Adara with her cudgel before stomping over to the fallen groundskeeper monster, raising her club and attempting to cave his skull in.
Rocky is momentarily confused; he had just started to whimper as his wounds mounted up, particularly the last two vicious ones.. Shilde doesn't know it yet, but Rocky doesn't understand, but Mordrin has left his lingering touch that will have to be dealt with.. and that razor slash on his flank is particularly pained. But then the twin healing magics from the egalrin and half elf seem to cool that pain. Not his own rage. He turns around, fixing Adara with a near feral stare, lips curling back in a snarl with a low throated growl. And then he lunges, going straight for the neck.
Adara does not get back up.
The monkeys continue to hoot and holler. Maybe they're cheering? One is rolling inside a skull. Another is whacking it with a femur. And... the war razor has disappeared in that mess. That can't be good.
It wiggles, and it wriggles, and it shouldn't be here, and it needs to die. Again. Dolan stares down at it with unflinching, unswerving disgust and hate, then takes the hilt of the massive greatsword, reverses it, and *slams* it down into the body of the creature. Once, twice, three times, and the last time, it stops squirming, the unlife force flowing out of it and dissipating soundlessly into the aether.
He stands there, bleeding, staring at it with utter contempt.
-End