The Necromancer's Pact IX: City of Weeping Ghosts

[Dr._Bob]

After only a few hours of sleep, the hathrans rise to their feet, shaking off the ice that had formed over their cloaks. The witchboats glide westward through the night as the stars wheel overhead.

First contact is made hours before daybreak with Ashanath merely a dark smudge across the western horizon. Tiny pinpoints of light appear along the edge of the Lake.

"The first wave is landing," whispers one of the hathrans. As your three boats move forward, the pinpoints slowly grow larger. Brief flashes of light streak upward and small explosions can be seen. Muffled booms eventually reach your ears, delayed by distance.

As the sky begins to lighten behind you, you are able to see what seems like hundreds of witchboats and warboats converging on the ruins of Shandaular from the north and south.

"They are meeting with significant resistance," mutters another of the hathrans. Her voice is carefully modulated to carry little emotion, but Tryntha detects disappointment and a small amount of fear. The assault was counting on the element of surprise, but the immediate response from the shore is definitely disheartening.

Your three boats begin to drift toward the south while the rest of the fleet races to the shore.

[namo]

Adalmar

In a worried whisper, Adalmar voices his thoughts : "I believed going through the tunnels was too hazardous, but I'm starting to reconsider... If the Rashemen are stuck close to the shore, it will mean an uphill battle all the way to the center of the city - and I'm not sure we can afford that.

If we try to go around..."

DR, does it seem like it would be easy to go around the current battle ? (from Adalmar's memories and what little he can guess of the current situation)

[Naleh]

Retay Wyrmslayer

From his post, staring at the horizon, Retay had been growing agitated from first sight of land. He drew his greataxe and sat with it across his knees, watching the lights.

Eventually he begins pacing like an imprisoned tiger, still watching the battle. It's debatable whether he has blinked since Tanner left.

"Whatever, as long as I get to kill undead," he snaps at Adalmar.

[Koji]

Khazrael

His frost-blue eyes glimmering, Khazrael watches the battle intently. He idly shifts his balance a bit before asking the Hathran, "How long now?"

[blackfox]

Anika

Anika sighs. "I know I should already know this, but where do the tunnels lead? Do they come out in the middle of the city, or in the tower itself, or at a back gate in the walls...? Do we even know where they lead?"

[kuja.girl]

Tiriel

Tiriel returns to the 3 witch boats in a morose mood. Talking to Tanner had been unpleasant and a waste of time. She informs whoever's interested that Tanner won't be rejoining them and that she doubts that he had taken the ring. And since the subject's been breached, Tiriel asks if anyone's managed to find the ixen ring while she was gone.
... ... ... ... ... ...

Hearing the muffled explosions and seeing bursts of light on the shore the next morning puts Tiriel in a better mood. Battles are far more straightforward affairs than sorting out what's going on in someone's head after all.
"Not all of us can use the tunnels since Retay's too big for them. Maybe we would be better off splitting into two groups after all..."

[Dr._Bob]

The hathrans indicate that you will land at just about daybreak. They are flanking the main fleet in the hopes of landing away from the main assault.

Adalmar recalls that the tunnels were quite extensive, but he never fully explored them. Their depth, however, suggests to him that they likely lead below the inner circles of Shandaular. There would be no guarantee that they would lead directly to the ruined keep in the center however.

It is still dark, but as you near the shore, you can make out the low cliffs rising from the water's edge. The climb up the rocks would be manageable if you decide to forgo the underground route.

The shouts of the Rashemi berserkers can be heard above the unearthly screams of their opponents. The loud, piercing cries of the enemy are strangely disconcerting.

"Those aren't zombies or skeletons, I'll warrant ..." says Aeroz.

[Erikkin]

Fizahn:

Fizahn doesn't talk to anyone after Tanner leaves. He keeps to himself and appears to be thinking about things. He groans when they get closer and the battle starts going wrong. Lovely plans. Too bad they didn't work out so far. Probably some spy. It's impossible to move armies without a spy. Or a divining spell. I'm sure Sethra or Valentine could manage that. Well, let's hope our part works...

[barawn]

Damian

Damian looks to Tiriel as the boats approach the city. "Well, underground and by air would look like the best options, since the armies seem to be concentrated on the ground. Unfortunately that would guarantee we couldn't communicate, which is a definite problem."

He frowns, looking around again. "I don't like this at all, but I'd have to say that if at all possible, I think underground may be our best route. It's likely to be the least defended with the armies concentrated above ground."

[Koji]

Khazrael

Khazrael glances to Aeroz, and listens intently to the battle cries.

((Knowledge: The planes (if applicable)
1d20+3=20 (http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=1358849)))

"No. No they aren't."

[Diarmuid]

Tryntha

Her heart strained against the inside of her chest, wishing it could be rushing to the aide of her countrymen. But, she knew that the greater good needed her attention to help these people get to this vampire. With the loss of the Gondsman, her abilities would be spread terribly thin.

She guided her boat along with the others, once again glad for the mask that hid her sadness from those around her.

"Please, let us not let their sacrifice be in vain. If we can move around the main fighting, we should do so without getting stuck into tunnels we dont even know where they lead to."

[Dr._Bob]

Khazrael recognizes the screeching sounds as demonic battle cries. Listening closely he can almost make out the abyssal words - calls for reinforcements, threats, cajoling, shouts of triumph, curses ...

As you near the shore, away from the main assault, you can begin to make out shadowy figures silhouetted against the flames in the distance.

Small lumpy creatures mill about ineffectively - dretches, Khazrael assumes. Larger hulks press forward bellowing at the dretches - likely, hezrou. At first, the Rashemi cut through the demons with pitiless efficiency, but the alarm has been raised ...

The first rays of light peek out over the horizon to the east, lightening the sky. Small dark specks appear out of the western darkness. Khazrael points them out - vrocks. So far, the demons' attention is focused on the main attack group. The Rashemi struggle to gain a foothold at the Lake's edge ...

...

Without fanfare, your witchboats crunch into the gravely beach that sits at the base of the low cliffs. You quickly disembark, leaving the two hathrans behind to guard the three boats.

"We can remain until dusk. If you are not back by then, we will have to pull back into the Lake."

Standing at the foot of the cliffs, you can no longer see or hear the battle raging just a mile or so north of you. It is almost peaceful here as soft waves lap against the shore.

The rising sun illuminates the tops of the cliffs, casting its nooks and crannies in sharp relief. A climb to the top of the cliffs would be easily managable.

Dark shadows at the base of the cliffs mark the caves and tunnels Adalmar mentioned - a possible alternate path.

[namo]

Adalmar

He nods stiffly to the Hathran. "Again, we thank you for your help, Honored Ones."

If we do get the kris, but too late, we'll drop it in the lake or bury it in some cavern... Hardly the worst outcome.

Turning to the group : "So which is it ?

Perhaps an experienced climber could go up there quickly to assess the situation. It would be better if he or she" - he glances at Anika - "stayed unnoticed."

[Koji]

Khazrael

Khazrael feels a charge of nervous energy pass through his body as he recognizes his bretheren in the distance.

"Demons. Full-blooded demons...I doubt we're gonna to be able to completely avoid them, but we really should take the tunnels. We can at least avoid the vrocks. They'd have no problem spotting us out in the open."

[blackfox]

Anika

Anika glances at the cliff face. "I could climb up there pretty easily... but I doubt there's much cover up there. Even if I could stay out of sight, most of us couldn't. Let me go check it out, though, I could always be wrong..."

She turns to the cliff and makes her way up.

((OOC: Climb Check (1d20+10=30) (http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=1361525) Sweeet.
Hide Check (if needed) (1d20+26=39) (http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=1361530)))

[Erikkin]

Fizahn:

"Demons are hardly ever good. I'm sorry Thokk, but it's a good thing you're not with us. He'd go charging off after them you know... Tunnels are a good idea. They are leaving a lot to luck though. We aren't sure if they lead where we need to be. How's our luck been recently?" Fizahn produces a coin and looks at the party. "There is always the flip... Heads we climb, tails we take the tunnels?" Fizahn draws his dagger and tosses it a short distance into the air before catching it. He flips the coin. Concealing the coin with his hand, he looks expectantly at the rest of the group.

[Koji]

Khazrael

With a shake of his head, Khazrael says to Fizahn, "No. We get down and out of sight. You guys can't fly, and an airborne enemy would easily knock you off the cliff."

[barawn]

Damian

Damian's eyes follow Anika as she easily slips up the cliff and vanishes completely. His eyes widen and he shakes his head slightly in disbelief. "Where did that girl learn to do that? That's just high art, right there. Perfect form."

He nods his head as Khazrael speaks, looking over to Fizahn at the end. "I'm with Khazrael. I thought it was a bad idea to simply charge into the fray before. Now that the force is even larger than we thought - and more varied - it's even more of a bad idea. We've got to use that battle as a distraction. Head in through the tunnels, hope the battle above pulls enough of their forces back."

He looks over toward the caves, hidden in dark shadow, a grim look crossing his face. "The caves may also dilute their advantage of numbers somewhat. They won't be able to muster as much of a force against us directly. But do we have any way of navigating in the caves at all?"

[kuja.girl]

Tiriel

She'd really only been expecting undead on the other side of the lake and the mention of demons filled her with a sense of dread. Tiriel's last encounter with a demon had left her armor and sword coated in acidic muck that left both tarnished. They'd managed to take both the demons and their nasty mounts down but it hadn't been easy.
She didn't like being underground but the caves where sounding better and better, and it wasn't like they didn't have experience with underground travel. If they'd survived and navigated the Underdark, how bad could some cliff-side caves be? Tiriel told herself.

"Forget the coin Fizahn, I think we're stuck taking the caves. But we should wait until Anika comes back. She might have seen something that'll change our minds."

[ooc: I forgot, Tiriel's armor is still tarnished. it's a bit silly having a character w/ acid resistance but not armor]

[Diarmuid]

Tryntha

Fishing about in her bag, the Rashemi healer produces three small stones and rolls them around in her palm,

"Well, if we are forced to take the tunnels, we have these to perhaps make our way a bit easier. They will allow us to make passages where they do not exist...maybe even allowing us to somewhat choose the area where we surface."

She meets any looks she receives at not mentioning these resources ahead of time with her ivory mask and merely offers,

"A gift from my sisters and the Iron Lord."

[King_of_GRiffins]

Elthan

Elthan looks back at the battle as the party disembarks, barely able to make anything out, elven sight or not. He stays quiet, contemplating how to best use of his powers for the upcoming challenges. He widens his stance on the shore and casts a spell with simple mastery, making himself glow for a few moments before the effect fades away. He stays close to Damian and Callos, watching Anika climb the cliff face. It might have been easier for himself to fly up there and stay out of sight using his ring, but he lacked the observational abilities to see anything useful, or the silence to make the invisibility worthwhile.

Perhaps I should give her the ring?, he ponders, instead shrugging and looking at Damian. "I'm going to activate my ring and stay invisible for the rest of this day. I'll try to stick nearby in case you need any of my spells."

Casting Mage Armor now, should last seven hours. Also activating the Brass Ring (don't recall the command word this late at night) and turning Invisible along with the personal Unholy Aura effect.

[Dr._Bob]

While Anika scouts up above, Elthan cloaks himself in dark shadows. Though not completely invisible, the half-elf is difficult to make out clearly through the unholy aura. Those of you more closely aligned to good feel an irritating shiver run down your backs as the aura is activated, and you involuntarily step away from Elthan, keeping a safe distance.

After a short while, Anika slips climbs back down the dark cliff rocks. The terrain up above is flat and easily traversed with scattered boulders here and there that could provide intermittent cover.

She had a good view from up above over the beachfront where the main assault is taking place. The Rashemi have gained the beach, taking heavy casualties. Several witchboats are burning, but the demons seem to be falling back away from the beach ...

Anika was not spotted by any vrocks, but it might be challenging for the entire party to make its way toward the shattered tower than rises up in the center of the ruins of Shandaular.

Aeroz peeks into several of the caves. The passages appear to have been carved by small streams running to the Lake. The weak rays of early morning light disappear as they are swallowed up by the caves' darkness.

[Erikkin]

Fizahn:

Fizahn shrugs and puts away his coin. "It was tails anyway." He draws his 'short sword' and proceeds into the cave. He quickly pops back out and looks at Adalmar. "I need a guide. Don't particularly like being lost underground. It's not pleasant. I've got light though. Just don't want to take it out when it might be spotted."

[namo]

Adalmar

"I will need a light anyway. Let's go."

Determination on his face, the ranger drows a sword in one hand and a torch in the other and follows Erikkin.

When Anika reports her findings, he thinks to himself : The caves it is. Mielikki, may you guide our steps.

[blackfox]

Anika

I guess it's the caves then... With Selune's grace the Rashemi forces will succeed.

Anika turns to face the tunnel entrance. "I can see well in the dark... I can scout ahead if need be."

[Naleh]

Retay Wyrmslayer

"...Very well. We shall crawl in the caves like sewer rats. If that's what it takes," says the barbarian. With a gravity quite at odds with his earlier tension and excitement, he draws his greataxe and proceeds into the cave.

[kuja.girl]

Tiriel

Tiriel doesn't quite manage to suppress the shiver that goes down her back when Elthan activates his ring. Elthans' compatibility with the ring worries Tiriel. While he had never seemed "evil" before, even directly after Evendur's death, she can't help but wonder how the far the worship of Shar has corrupted him. With a shake of her head Tiriel turns and looks into the depths of the caves. Elthan was...helpful and useful; hopefully that much of him hadn't changed.

A mental groan echoes in her mind as she contemplates the caves. This is at least the third time we've had to go underground. Hopefully we won't lose anyone this time. While they've saved us, they've also damned us before.
Tiriel turns to those still waiting on the shore, "So, it looks like it's caves unless anyone wants to risk the cliff." she says before following Anika into the dark.

edit: I forgot to include her reaction to Elthan.

[Matticus]

Grynde

He licks his lips in anticipation. Never fought a demon before...
Mimicking Adalmer, he pulls forth his everburning torch from his pack, draws one of his trusted swords, and proceeds to the dark cave, swaggering confidently.

[Diarmuid]

Tryntha

As Elthan mentions hiding from sight, Tryntha becomes slightly worried....that is until she realises she can still see him through the magic of her mask. Smiling behind its ivory facade she moves into the caves with the rest and is once again surprised to realise that her mask also allows her to see perfectly in the dark.

She stays vigilant with her extraordinary sight and watches Elthan to make sure he is not up to anything strange and looks around for any hidden threats. She also her ears to the sounds within the caves that might give away something hidden.



[roll0]
[roll1]

[Dr._Bob]

Anika slips ahead into the darkness with surprising confidence. Tiriel remembers a time when her friend was much more tentative (and less comfortable in total darkness). Certainly all of the group has grown and changed in their time together.

Adalmar and Grynde draw torches from their packs and move forward as well, with Adalmar in the lead, watching for signs left by Anika. Tryntha presses forward as well eagerly, occasionally moving forward ahead of the torchlight, taking advantage of her ihathran mask.

Gala, Tiriel and Retay, the "muscle" of the group stay between Adalmar and Grynde.

Khazrael, Callos, Fizahn and Damian find themselves forming the rear of the party. Elthan hovers nearby, drifting from shadow to shadow.

Aeroz brings up the rear, trusting his keen vision to spot any threats approaching from behind. The elf is careful not to fall too far behind the receding torchlight however.

...

The caves fork and rejoin each other, carved by water flowing from the land to the Lake. Periodically, Anika reappears to confer with Adalmar, and together they make occasional course corrections, aiming for the heart of Shandaular.

In the nearly silent darkness, it is easy to forget about the battle presumably raging aboveground. The air is damp and becomes increasingly warm as you move farther toward the city's center. Tendrils of fog form, further obscuring your vision (including Tryntha's).

There are occasional dead ends or impassable crevasses, forcing the party to backtrack several times. At the end of two hours, you break briefly to reorganize and reorient yourselves.

As you gnaw on some venison jerky and flat bread, kneeling together in a rough circle formed by the torchlight, Adalmar scrapes a diagram into the ground. First, he draws seven concentric circles. He then draws a wiggly line, representing your journey so far. The line goes this way and that, but basically heads towards the "bull's eye". The line penetrates the outer three circles. There are four more circles to go ...

"Douse those lights!" Aeroz hisses. The everburning torches are suppressed, plunging the party into total darkness.

The clattering of stones trails off. Someone or something is moving up ahead ...

[Erikkin]

Fizahn:

Fizahn silently curses to himself. He knew it was going to be hard, but he'd hoped the hard part would come later. He doesn't dare move in the darkness that surrounds him, but he tightens his grip on his 'short sword.' Unfortunately whatever is creeping up on us can probably see in the dark. I'll have to rely on my keen ears, reflexes, and training to help me survive.

[blackfox]

Anika

Anika draws her sword, as quietly as she can, and moves behind any cover she can find, since darkness would be no use against a creature that could see in the dark. She looks around for any sign of living creatures--or undead creatures, for that matter...

[Koji]

Khazrael

Khazrael deftly pulls the knife from his belt and sinks low. He extends his left arm in a hasty motion and splays out his fingers. A bit of abyssal chanting spills from his lips, and the air in front of him shimmers briefly.

They might yell at me for making noise, but if somebody's following, they already know we're here.

OOC: Shield spell, +4 ac for the next 7 minutes

[Dr._Bob]

The darkness closes in around you instantly. You are quite literally unable to see your hand in front of your face. There is a tense silence after Khazrael finishes chanting. You breathe through open mouths to keep as quiet as possible, your ears straining for any sound.

After a few moments, you hear a voice whispering in common, "Is someone there?" The voice sounds scared.

For Tryntha, Anika, Khazrael, and Tiriel:
You can barely make out a small figure huddled and shivering between two rocks about 60 feet away.

[kuja.girl]

Tiriel

Tiriel quietly draws the silver her flaming longsword and glances at Anika and Khazrael, the only other people that she knows can also see in the dark. Gesturing silently, Tiriel trys to indicate that Anika should go first and see if she can get closer while Tiriel follows a little behind her.

[Koji]

Khazrael

No stranger to tricks, Khazrael creeps forward, making sure Tiriel and Anika stay ahead of him.

[Diarmuid]

Tryntha

Her instincts tell her to go to the scared creature, but seeing the others approaching cautiously reminds her of their circumstances. Readying her magic if she needs it, Tryntha moves along with those creeping forward...shield leading.

Hoping to draw whatever it is out to her, leaving it open for the others to attack, she called out softly trying to reassure the creature.

"I am here little one, come out so I can help you."

[roll0]

[barawn]

Damian

Damian's daggers slip into his hands the instant a voice is heard in front of them. With the pitch black around, he focuses only on the sound of the quiet voice they're approaching, and immediately aligns himself facing opposite the direction of the voice. If anything is going to sneak up on us, it will come from the direction opposite the distraction. His eyes keep searching the pitch black, hoping that someone will think to light a torch if danger presents. I really need to find a way to see in the dark. Badly.

[Naleh]

Retay

The barbarian is immediately disarmed by the frightened voice. He lowers his greataxe - though he keeps it in hand - and wonders why noone has lit the place up again. We can't do a thing in this dark! Only a little common sense prevents him from speaking or getting out his own everburning torch.

[Aveda]

Gala

Gala remained terse and quiet since Tanner left. He was the first one to reach out to her in friendship, and his loss weighed heavy on her mind. She followed Adalmar through the tunnels in silence and prepared for the battle ahead. As she hears the quiet whisper, she draws her sword, maintains her position and waits as the lights are doused, trying to face the source of the sound. Blind, and in full plate. Plus, I'd probably trip over a rock if I tried to move. I hate being so useless. Gala stays put and waits to hear if Tryntha's words provoke any response.

[namo]

Adalmar

He concentrates on evening his breathing. Whispering to the people mving forward, he asks : "What do you see ?"

[Dr._Bob]

Anika quickly slides silently forward, and slips behind a rock outcropping, out of sight of the shivering figure. She readies herself to intercept the figure should it prove to be a threat.

When Tryntha calls out, the figure starts shivering even more violently, but it quietly steps forward, out from between the two rocks, on all fours.

Anika, Tiriel, Tryntha, and Khazrael see what looks like a bedraggled dog or small wolf step forward into the passage with its tail tucked between its trembling legs.

"Please do not hurt me! I mean you no harm ..." it calls out quietly.

Tiriel whispers back to the rest of the party, "It appears to be a talking ... umm, dog or wolf or something ..."

[King_of_GRiffins]

Elthan

Tense in the sudden darkness, with an unknown voice ahead, Elthan readies himself to cast a spell, only for it to dawn on him he would not be able to target at all in the dark without a very good guess. He lowers his stance, pointless at the moment to maintain, and bats an eye as Tiriel passes back events to the group.

"A talking wolf?", he whispers, "Could it possibly be a werewolf? Or maybe an illusion on some demon?" He stops to think about this last possibility for a moment, and decides to cast Detect Magic, if only to be able to see something out of the black.

[blackfox]

Anika

Anika narrows her eyes (although no one can see it) and hangs back, suspecting, as she had before with the aboleths, that something was not as it seemed. She considers asking if any of the mages could detect magic, but seeing that Elthan was apparently having the same thoughts as her, she decides to remain silent.

[Dr._Bob]

Elthan can make out a vaguely quadruped form that radiates magic. He whispers to whomever is nearby, "Whatever it is, it is magical ..."

[Diarmuid]

Tryntha

Silently cursing herself for never having learned the languages of the other lands beyond her borders, she seems to recall someone among the group at one point spoke Rashemani, and hoped it had not only been Tanner,

Keeping her voice calm and soothing, she says over her shoulder while keeping an eye on the wolf/dog thing,

In Rashemani


"Whatever that is, it's appearance is not it's true form. It looks demonic in nature, and someone should make a concerted effort to kill it before it can raise some form of alarm."



Switching back to common, she asks the creature,

"Are you injured? How did you come to be in these tunnels?"

[roll0]

[barawn]

Damian

Damian remained unaware of Tryntha's statement in Rashemi, but still, her attempt at informing others duplicitously immediately makes him more tense. Quietly, not much more than a whisper, hoping there are others around who can here, he speaks. "Lights. Darkness helps our foes more than it helps us. And stand ready."

[blackfox]

Anika

Anika swears silently. Whatever Tryntha said, it wasn't meant for the dog-creature... which probably meant she had some suspicions about it as well. If Elthan and Tryntha didn't trust the creature, then the creature was. indeed, very likely to be untrustworthy.

Anika is having the same thoughts as Damian, as she slips her hand under the flap of her Handy Haversack, and pulls out her everburning torch, conveniently right on top. She passes her hand over it and the flame appears suddenly. Heh. That was fast... not even a flicker. I'm getting better at this...

((EDIT: Just realized Anika doesn't have free hands... but there are other torches going up... DR, you can rule this whatever way you want.))

[Naleh]

Retay

Retay, too, slips a hand into his haversack and pulls out a lit torch. He tosses his onto the cavefloor so he can continue to use his greataxe.

A talking dog?! Magic, Tryntha talking tongues... This is not normal. His guard raised again, the barbarian steps forward a little to make sure he is at the front of the group (bar those darksighted ones who have approached the creature).

[Koji]

Khazrael

Seeing the lone creature, Khazrael looks over his shoulder to his allies. He says, "Let's get some light. It might not be alone, and we can see in the dark, unlike you humans. This could easily be a trick."

He turns back to the canine.

"What are you, and why are you down here?"

[namo]

Adalmar

He replies in Rashemi : "Understood."

With some torches in the open again, he does not use his own and approaches the creature, his sword lowered in a deceptively non-threatening manner - he'd only need to bring it up to slash at a foe.
Addressing the group, he asks : "This should remind us of the Underdark..." It's the best way to warn his companions without letting the creature on - that he can think of.

He comes to a stop next to Tiriel, muscles at the ready.

[Callos_DeTerran]

Callos

Underground, why did it have to be underground? Recent mishaps in the Underdark and such withstanding, Callos wasn't the most calm person beneath the ground and he actually looked down right...twitchy for the journey until they come across...something. The lights went out and his blood went cold as ice but he remained at the ready.

If it attacks, kill it and kill it quick. Don't stay down here long, kill it quick. Was the thought being repeated over and over through his head, and as a precaution he pulled out his own spellbook to the ready as the lights were pulled out.

[Dr._Bob]

Torchlight floods the tunnel, casting deep shadows along the irregular passage. Everyone squints and blinks until your eyes adjust to the light again.

Anika remains hidden out of sight, not more than 10 feet from the animal's flank.

In the light, the dog-wolf looks even smaller and less threatening than before. Those without darkvision are surprised to see that the speaking intruder looks like a mangy lapdog.

The dog lowers its head in a submissive posture. "I mean you no harm. I am just trying to find my way out of these tunnels. My name is Zeodoras."

You sense no deception in its words. As best you can tell, it speaks the truth.

Several of you quickly take up defensive positions to prevent an ambush from ahead or behind. Peering into the darkness, those of you at the periphery see no signs of others. The dog appears to have been traveling alone.

[Koji]

Khazrael

This is weird. Too weird to be a trick, but...

Khazrael looks to the others and says, "Anyone got a rope? We can loop it around his neck and keep him on a leash for the time being. If he's really stuck down here, we should help him."

[Diarmuid]

Tryntha

Taking a few careful steps back once the lights come up, the priestess wants to make room for those who are better prepared and skilled at fighting this thing if it comes to it.

The ruse all but gone, she throws caution to the wind and asks of the strange creature,

"Why do you hide your true shape behind some kind of illusion? Or do the horns tend to frighten away your prey before you can get close enough to them?"

[barawn]

Damian

Damian's stoic demeanor shows the slightest hint of a grin when Tryntha confronts the unexpected guest, and he sidles over and whispers to Khazrael, not wanting to give the 'guest' any additional information. "In any case, we can't take him with us. If he is being honest, we're not heading out of here, we're heading in."

With a swift motion, he lets one of the daggers in his hand drop to his fingertips, ready to be thrown. And if he is a foe, he's in for a nasty surprise. Undead may not have weaknesses in their bodies, but demons definitely do.

[kuja.girl]

Tiriel

Tiriel looks at Tryntha blankly. "What horns?"
Okay so a talking dog is weird, but really, if it's a trick, it's a pretty poor planned one. After all, I think anyone would be suspicious of a talking dog... right?

[Dr._Bob]

The dog looks at Tryntha's masked face then sighs and transforms into a small demonic winged figure, standing less that 2 feet tall.

Zeodoras hold out his hands placatingly. "Please, I mean you no harm."

[Matticus]

Grynde

He doesn't openly show hostility towards the small newcomer, although his feeble mind is whirring, and he looks over his shoulder a little nervously.
Dropping hi torch to the ground, he sheathes his sword before reaching into his pack and pulling out a bow and a quiver of regular arrows. He does not knock an arrow, however.
Whether it means us harm or not, this Zeodoras is a demon, so I can't take any chances...

[kuja.girl]

Tiriel

"Oh." Tiriel says after the "dog's" transformation.

"Okay, no one do anything rash. Please." addressing the short, horned, figure Tiriel asks "How did you get here?"

[barawn]

Damian

Damian glances at Tiriel, and to the newly-changed demon. "I hate to speak frank, but do we really have time for this? We can't guide... him out. The best we could do is possibly give directions in return for information."

He sighs, and looks to the demon. "I'm not sure going outside would be in your best interest in any case."

As he says this, his daggers still remain lightly wielded, and his knees are slightly bent, ready to spring.

[Koji]

Khazrael

With a smirk, Khazrael stares down at the little demon.

"What are you doing away from your horde, Zeodoras? Even on this plane, a lone demon is a dead one."

Khazrael turns to the others and says, "Look around for more, and be creative--if he's lying, we're in trouble."

Knowledge (the planes) check rolled a 6 (even with my bonus). Invisible castle will back me up on that, but I'm sure you don't need to check such a low roll.

[Dr._Bob]

Khazrael recognizes the tiny demon as a quasit. Zeodoras gazes at Khazrael's feathers appraisingly, then bows subserviently.

"You speak the truth, master. But there are fates worse than death, even for our kind ..."

[Aveda]

Gala

And I thought I'd just about seen it all... A talking dog was strange enough, but one that transforms into a demon, trying to play for sympathy? It's almost too much for Gala. Instead of trying to talk to the demon, she leaves it to others a bit more...qualified...to do the talking and immediately begins to search the party's surroundings for signs of an ambush.

[roll0]

[Erikkin]

Fizahn:

"Lovely... A pet... Demon... Thing... Well, let's ignore it and continue on our quest. Nice meeting you. Have a nice day."

[Koji]

Khazrael

With a grin, Khazrael points up, indicating the demonic armies presumably on the surface above him.

"True. I'm sure the elder fiends wouldn't have much trouble cooking something pretty vicious up. What'd you do to raise their anger?"

[Diarmuid]

Tryntha

For the first time since donning her mask, Tryntha wishes the others could see the look on her face,

I cant believe we're standing here in this tunnel talking to this demon-thing. My countrymen are dying outside and we are dallying with the enemy.

Standing up straight she looks in Callos's direction and says bluntly,

"Do we really have time for this. Every moment spent here, is another life in jeopardy out there. This thing has done nothing but delay us so far, as was probably its intention. It hid it's true form and is playing to our sympathies...a commodity I for one try to save for those deserving of it."

She shifts her gaze over to Tiriel, hoping for support from the angelic woman.

[Koji]

Khazrael

Ah, there's the reaction I expected...

"A few minutes talking to a quasit isn't going to slow us down," he says, "Let's at least hear him out."

[Erikkin]

Fizahn:

"No, of course not. And as it's impossible to walk and talk at the same time, I suppose we might as well sit down and form a big circle where we can all discuss our feelings. I'm sorry Khaz, but I'm going to have to disagree with you on this one. The quasi-thing can slow us down." He pulls an everburning torch out of his pack and prepares to set off down the tunnel. "I know I'd rather not be stuck at night on in a city with vampires..."

[barawn]

Damian

Damian looks over to Fizahn and Tryntha and nods slightly. "I agree we really don't have time. But the demon can help us, and we can help him. We need information, and he needs to get out. We can't take him out, but we can tell him the right path. The only question is whether or not he can even be trusted to give us real information, and not lead us into a trap."

Looking back to the quasit, his expression loses all emotion again. "So perhaps he would like to attempt to explain why he can be trusted. Preferably quickly. We are in a rush."

[Dr._Bob]

Zeodoras tilts his head to one side. "Trusted? Why would your kind trust one of my kind?"

The quasit eyes your weapons, particularly Retay's axe. "All I ask is that you not slay me outright ... and that you allow me to go my own way."

"I am obviously no threat to you, and I daresay, based on your direction of travel, that you have ... what is your idiom? ... bigger fish to fry."

"I will detain you no longer. Best of luck to you all. When you get to the portcullis, the hidden lever is to the lower right. Gray ooze lies at the bottom of the cistern. Umm ... and that's about it. Farewell."

Zeodoras edges his way around your party as best he can, bowing to each of you subserviently.

[blackfox]

Anika

Anika remains in the shadows, watching the odd little creature. So it's a 'quasit...' It's pretty small for a demon, it can't be too powerful... although if it can have a dog illusion, it could be something else illusory, or transformed, although Tryntha would probably know... she saw through the first one, anyways.

When the quasit is gone, Anika comes out of the shadows. "Can we trust what that thing says?"

[Naleh]

Retay

The barbarian hesitates for a long moment, then runs forward. "Wait!"

((if noone stops him, although someone probably will:))
Retay runs up to the "quasit", and as an afterthought, lowers his axe. He begins to describe the path the party has taken as best he can remember.

[namo]

Adalmar

He lays a hand on Khazrael's shoulder and looks him in the eyes. "You apparently know this kind of creature. Are you certain he will not denounce us as a way to... I don't know, maybe regain favor ?

I'm not willing to trust anyone we meet here."

[Matticus]

Grynde

Hidden lever, bottom right. Gray ooze, cistern. Hidden lever, bottom right. Gray ooze, cistern. Doing his best to drill that into his memory, Grynde returns his bow to his pack and retrieves his torch from the ground.
As interesting as it is, standing here, I think there are some evil pricks in need of an ass-kicking. Time to hasten to our demise, I think.

[kuja.girl]

Tiriel

Tiriel blinks at the retreating form of the mini-demon-thing. Well that was easy... maybe too easy? Weird if nothing else.
"Okay, well that's that. Where there are armies, there are deserters. Let's move on."

[Koji]

Khazrael

Khazrael's footfalls echo through the tunnel as he steps boldly toward the little demon and speaks in its native tongue.

"Hold it, Zeodoras. I'm not letting you run off now that you know that we're using the tunnels. What's to stop you from telling the others that we're down here? I think you'd better come with me."

He casts a sidelong glance to Retay and his axe.

"It's certainly a better choice for you than the alternative, wouldn't you agree?"

[Dr._Bob]

The party begins to move on, deeper into the caves. Khazrael lingers behind for a moment talking to Zeodoras in the dissonant tones of abyssal. Khazrael attempts to persuade the quasit to stay, but it is clear that the tiny demon is eager to part ways, and he has no qualms about saying so ...

The quasit does take a moment to thank Retay for his generosity, but then his eyes drift off over the barbarian's shoulder. Zeodoras stops in mid-sentence, an expression of fear on his alien face.

Suddenly, Anika reappears out of the darkness. She had been scouting ahead, and has spotted something approaching.

"Whatever it is, it's large, it's moving fast, and it is heading directly for us!"

Almost before you can ready your weapons, you can hear the scrabbling of many feet growing louder by the second. Small pebbles begin to fall from the ceiling, dislodged by a faint rumbling that you feel deep in your bones ...

[Koji]

Khazrael

"Hrmph! I knew you were hiding something! What is it you were going to let us walk into, you little cretin?!"

Intimidate check:
1d20+11=17 (http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=1377446)--+8 bonus from being two size categories bigger than Zeodoras.

Eyes flashing, Khazrael takes one step forward toward the quasit, mimicking the intimidation tactics he's sure that Zeodoras is used to folding to.

[Erikkin]

Fizahn:

"Gods! I assume we're going to fight. It seems fast!" Fizahn moves towards the entrance to their little cavern where he assumes the creature is going to come from and jumps behind a rock. His 'short sword' is gripped tight in his hands and he's looking intently at the area he can see.

OOC: [roll0]
Readying action to attack anything demonic looking that comes around the corner.

[Dr._Bob]

In terrified abyssal, Zeodoras answers with one word, "Retriever ..."

In moments, it is upon you. A enormous horror lunges into view - black as night, armored and spiked, with at least six legs and at least four horribly glowing eyes. The monster fills the passage, its carapace grinding against the adjacent stone ...

[barawn]

Damian

The instant that Anika yells, Damian immediately activates the dragonfly ring and lunges for cover, his form blurring out of focus as he slips into the darkness.

[roll0]

Demon or undead? Well, I guess the easy answer is whether or not it has flesh hanging off its bones... Can the others get out of the way fast enough? Is it even possible to fight this thing here?

[Matticus]

Grynde

With an air of confidence, Grynde drops his torch and draws his swords.
Come and get me, ugly he murmers as he readies himself for combat, eyes scanning the thing for weak points.

[blackfox]

Anika

Anika, too, slips into the shadows, drawing her sword. She is gasping for breath. That thing is huge... and well armored, too... how are we going to be able to deal with it?

(OOC: Hide Check (1d20 +26=29) (http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=1378360))

[namo]

Adalmar

He flings himself out of the way of the incoming monstruosity, melting within the (already crowded) shadows. He unshoulders his bow as he comes back to a stand.

He's hoping someone knowledgeable will warn him what manner of creature this is, but he does not dare formulate that question out loud.

Gripping the bow suddenly reminds him of the ring, and he whispers the word that will activate it.

[Callos_DeTerran]

Callos

What was it about demons that he was supposed to remember?...It was hard to remember in a place like this, but the word Retriever gave some of it's own revelations. Maybe, just maybe, this thing was after Zeodoras and not them, and in this case it'd definitly be better to just get out of it's way! Callos wasted no time in plastering himself against the wall of the tunnel, trying to make himself look as small as possible even as whispered furiously to Grynde. "Move you jackass! It might not even be after us so get out of it's way!"

[Koji]

Khazrael

Initiative: 1d20+1=18 (http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=1378601)

Khazrael's first reaction is inborn. His hands weave a familiar pattern and he thrusts his palms forward, sending a violet-red bolt of lightning flashing toward the retriever.

Lightning Bolt Damage - Save DC 16 7d6=24 (http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=1378606)

[Diarmuid]

Tryntha

Here in tuneness with nature screached at her at this abomination in front of her. Backing down the tunnel, she prepares a spell of her own hoping to send thiis thing back from wherever it came from if her comrades have little luck doing it the old fashioned way.



[roll0]

Move 20' backwards down the tunnel and ready the action to cast Dismissal if no one manages to damage the creature in any way.

[kuja.girl]

Tiriel

Tiriel feels her mind slip into the familiar realm that she associates with fighting. Since she already has a sword drawn she does the obvious and uses it on the nearest limb of the creature.

initiative: (1d20+3=16) (http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=1378736)
attack(1d20+11)=[20, 11]= 31 (http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=1378740) Crit!
threat roll: (1d20+11=29) (http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=1378744) yay!
damage: (2d8+12=25) (http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=1378748)

[King_of_GRiffins]

Elthan

Elthan watched as Zeodoras stood still and his companions scattered to hide. Sure a few stood to fight this new monster, but the lack of morale of the others was not heartening to the shadow mage. The monster looked much like what he, Graevic, Thokk and Linda had fought before entering the underdark, but this one seemed different than the first; felt different. Unlike the Beblith, it did not feel wise to confront this creature.

Following the lead of the others, he shoves himself close to a wall and wraps his cloak around him, hoping to hide himself and let the Retriever pass by.

[roll0]

[Naleh]

Retay Wyrmslayer

The barbarian swears loudly, and runs back to the front of the group. "Armour," he says as the Draconic-speakers taught him, activating the octagon ring.

"I do not fear death," he whispers, remembering his pledge to himself and the Iron Lord, and he begins cutting at the creature's legs with abandon.

[roll0]
[roll1]
[roll2]
Key stats: AC 16, HP 65, DR 15

[Aveda]

Gala

Gala blinks as the huge form fills the tunnel in front of them. "There's no way this thing's going to let us just squeeze by", she mutters as various party members start doing their best to hide...at least, most of them. "Wait, are we fighting this thing or not?" Gala says in confusion at the differing actions of the group. Seeing Tiriel, Retay and Khazrael attack spur her into action and she heads towards the creature, intending to follow Tiriel and Retay's lead in attacking the legs.

[OOC: I'll figure out the rolls after I get a bit of sleep, if that's alright--it's almost 2:30 am here and I have trouble formatting them even when I'm alert.]

[Aveda]

[OOC: Gala's rolls]

[Roll=Damage]1d10+5
1d6

edited 'cuz I don't know how to do rolls!
edit, again: gaaaah! fine, invisible castle for damage rolls it is:
Damage (1d10+5=15, 1d6=2) (http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=1380756)

[Erikkin]

Fizahn:

A retriever, huh? Maybe it's just after Zedoras and it won't notice us... Unfortunately things usually notice if someone's there trying to hack it to pieces with a big sword or axe... Lovely... Well, I can't let them die... Except Grynde. Fizahn springs out of his hiding place and tumbles behind the monster. He twirls his dagger and slices at the demonic thing as he comes up.

OOC: [roll0]
[roll1]
[roll2]
[roll3]

[Dr._Bob]

As the huge monster approaches, Anika and Elthan press themselves farther back into the shadows. Damian activates the dragonfly ring and presses himself into a small crevice. Aeroz and Tryntha fall back cautiously. Adalmar ducks, moving with unnatural rapidity, behind a rock outcropping and readies his bow next to Fizahn who has his weapon poised for attack.

Callos, too, presses back into the wall to make room for the insectoid demon to pass, only to turn to see Grynde blocking the monster's way, his twin swords bared.

The monster halts, looking down at the half-elf impassively.

Suddenly, a flash of violet lightning strikes the monster, and Tiriel, Retay and Gala charge at the beast's legs, their weapons swinging in powerful arcs.

Their weapons clang and spark as they bite into the creature's armored hide. Tiriel's flaming sword pierces the monster's neck, and she whoops in triumph anticipating a geyser of blood as she withdraws her weapon. To her surpise and dismay, the wounds draw no blood. Though deep, the wounds expose only vaguely mechanical tendons or cables.

Damian's eyes open wide as he recognizes the construction for what it is - a type of mechanical golem ...

Reacting instantly, but without emotion, the construct lashes out with its legs, slashing through weapon parries and armor with impunity. Grynde, Tiriel, Retay, and Gala are all wounded in an instant (though Retay's injury is a surprisingly mild scratch). Simultaneously, the monster turns and fixes its gaze upon Khazrael. A thin white beam of light pins Khazrael against the wall, chilling him to the bone. A thin layer of frost covers the feather-haired sorceror and spiders across the stone behind him.

Almost unnoticed, Fizahn leaps from his hiding place and stabs the monster as he tumbles between its legs.

OOC: The retrieves takes 75 points of damage. Grynde is hit for 18 points of damage. Tiriel is hit for 20, taking 15 points of damage (DR 5). Retay is hit for 22, taking 7 points of damage (ironskin). Gala is hit for 18. Khaz is hit by an eyebeam for 37 points (make a reflex save for half damage - he will take either 32 or 13 points of cold damage).

[Koji]

Khazrael

A gasp is all that escapes Khazrael's lips before he falls to the ground.

Reflex save:
1d20+3=6 (http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=1381451) (cold resistance 5) HP: 24-32=-8

[Callos_DeTerran]

Callos

"Did any of you hear me talking to Grynde?! 'Get out of the way' I said, 'It's probably after Zeodoras'. But none of you listened to me and now we have to fight it! I hope your all happy!"

Was all the frustrated noises that Callos could make as he sprang out from where he had been flattening himself and began to intone ominously. The necromancer could feel the building arcane energies and struggled to move in the tight quarters so he wouldn't accidentally hit any of his adventuring companions.

"Get out of the way unless you want to be burned!" He finally shouted out before letting the familiar flame spell come ripping from his finger tips towards the retriever...



Init: [roll0]

Going to try and move so the burning hands won't catch party members on accident, or barring that, hold the spell until they move then do it.

Burning Hands damage: [roll1] Save DC: 13

[Diarmuid]

Tryntha

The healer smiles behind her mask as she sees her companions successfully attacking the beast. She fails to notice the lack of blood spilling from its wounds as Khazreal is laid low by a ray of cold shooting from its eyes.

Moving quickly she kneels in front of the sorceror and plants her shield in front of her. Hopefully shielding herself and Kazhreal from further harm she drops her spear to the ground and begins incanting a spell to knit his wounds.



Spontaneously Casting Lesser Restoration onto Cure Moderate Wounds.

[roll0] (Caster level +1 (8) from Healing domain, +4 bonus healing from Augement Healing feat)

[barawn]

Damian

Well, hiding's not going to work now. A construct, hmm? Here's hoping that trick I learned works as well against demon constructs as it does against wizarding ones. And hoping I can calm my hands enough...

When the others step back from the demon as Callos blasts it, with a swift motion, Damian drops one of his daggers and pulls the loaded crossbow from his back, quietly murmuring a word in Draconic as he looses the bolt toward the demon. A flicker of magic courses through him as his muscles lock and aim the crossbow towards what looks like an innocuous spot on the demon.


Casting golemstrike (swift action casting time, can sneak attack constructs this round).
Attack: 1d20+9=20 (http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=1381766)
Damage: 1d8+2d6=15 (http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=1381772)


His cover blown, he looks to the others and calls out. "It's a machine! Don't bother with any spells that would affect its mind! Callos! What do you know about what this thing can do? Can it cast spells or does it just blast us to bits?"

A thought crosses Damian's mind, and he quickly glances around. "And if one of us has been lying and has that missing ring, now would be a damned good time to use it, rather than die!"

[namo]

Adalmar

While part of him wonders with Callos why anybody in their right mind would provoke the mechanical entity, the other part of him is already commanding his muscles to loose arrows at the Retriever.

He considers checking on Khazrael, but Tryntha is there already and she'll be a lot more efficient than him anyway.


Forgot those in the previous post :
[roll0]
[roll1]
Attack :
[roll2] (9 + 1 Haste + 1 Precise Shot) vs flatfooted AC
[roll3] [roll4]
[roll5] [roll6]
(-2 arrows)

[blackfox]

Anika

Alright then, I guess we're fighting it...

Anika darts out from the shadows and hacks at the retriever's legs, figuring that it's the only way she can cripple it. Her sword simply bounces off its armor. This would be so much easier against a living creature...

(OOC: Attack Roll (1d20+8=12) (http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=1382190))

[Naleh]

Retay Wyrmslayer

The barbarian isn't especially close to anyone in the group. He never has been. But these people... respected him. They treated him as a comrade.

And now, one of them lies on the ground, covered in frost - dead, as far as Retay knows. This doesn't please him.

The barbarian roars.

Activate Rage
Key statistics: AC 14, HP 72, DR 15, Init 17
[roll0]
[roll1]
[roll2]
[roll3]

[Matticus]

Grynde

With nary a sound passing his lips, Grynde charges forwards, eyes shining with maniacal energy as he brings his combat powers to bear upon the foe, intent on reducing it's artificial form to dust.


[roll0]
[roll1]
[roll2]
[roll3]
[roll4]
[roll5]
[roll6]
[roll7]
[roll8]
Whew, that's a lot of rolls. They'd better all work.
Edit: I would just like to say that, Forum Roller™, I HATE YOU. :smallfrown: I will never use you again. Never, I say!!!

[kuja.girl]

Tiriel

Tiriel grunts when the creature's arm hits her. It hurts but nothing is broken. Okay, so it doesn't bleed and it hits hard too. Time to end this. Somehow...

[roll0]
[roll1], [roll2]

[Erikkin]

Fizahn:

We're in over our heads... again. That's the brief summary of my life. Hey. Callos is burning stuff with his magic. Hopefully it's not me... Fizahn ignores Callos's warning and stands his ground behind the retriever. "Go ahead, burn. I'll be fine." His dagger flashes twice as he strikes at the beast and he gracefully dodges Callos's flames. "Can't burn me. I'm too fast..."

[roll0] (-2 if not flanking)
[roll1]
[roll2] (ditto)
[roll3]
[roll4] Evasion, no damage.

[Aveda]

Gala

Gala shakes off the Retriever's attack and stays in the fray. She hears Callos' warning and will try to move out of the way, but taking this thing down takes priority. Sparks of electricity run over her bastard sword and she renews the attack.

Attack rolls (1d20+12=32, 1d20+7=8) (http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=1384788)
Her second attack flies way off the mark, so...
Damage, electrical damage (1d10+5=11, 1d6=6) (http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=1384792)

[Dr._Bob]

Tryntha plants her shield and covers Khazrael with her body. Immediately the frost melts from his skin and clothing. He gasps and opens his eyes, shivering.

Anika leaps out of the shadows, stabbing and slashing at the construct's legs, while Grynde charges forward in a direct assault, his twin swords weaving tight arcs about his body. The half-elf is intercepted by a claw that impales him in the shoulder, piercing his studded leather armor, stopping him in his tracks.

Flame erupts from Callos' fingertips, and Adalmar sends a flurry of arrows toward the retriever. Both are forced to aim around their comrades, however, and as a result neither is able to strike the monster solidly.

The retriever fights with mechanical precision, each limb seeking a different target with near lethal accuracy. It slashes Tiriel, Retay and Gala again and again (though Retay's ironskin protects him from serious harm). Only Katrin, moving with astounding grace, manages to dodge the monster's claws altogether.

Fizahn almost finds himself caught in the retreiver's maws, but his small size saves him, and he manages to tumble to safety.

Your party's fighters, however, give as good as they get. As their weapons hack and slash at the construct's limbs, one by one its legs begin to tremble, then collapse.

As the retriever begins to shudder and slow down, Damian carefully aims his crossbow and fires a bolt directly into the construct's large central eye. The retriever sags instantly, like a broken marionette.

As it crashes to the cave floor, an electric bolt leaps from one of its intact eyes and strikes Callos, who barely has time to twist away. The necromancer is blown backwards into Aeroz. The two men fall to the ground in a smoking heap ...



OOC: Grynde is hit by an AoO. Retriever misses Katrin and Fizahn, but hits Tiriel, Retay and Gala. Retriever hits Callos with an electric ray. Accumulated damage by Callos, Retay, Tiriel, Fizahn, Gala and Damian are sufficient to destroy the retriever.

[Koji]

Khazrael

A shaking hand grasps Tryntha's shoulder a little too tightly as Khazrael pulls himself to his feet.

"Th-th-thanks--" He stammers.

The sorcerer takes a second to pull himself together before turning to Zeodoras.

"I'm guessing the retriever was out gathering up deserters. Who is your master, and what's he gonna send after you now that we've scrapped his old pet?"

[barawn]

Damian

When the retriever drops, Damian immediately scrambles out of the crevice he had been hiding behind, picks up his dagger, and heads over to the retriever, taking only a moment to deactivate the dragonfly ring, his outline quickly coming back into focus. Passing by Khazrael, he whispers quietly to the sorcerer. "Don't let him get away, and don't forget - if there's anything 'special' he can do that would make our lives troublesome, I can take it away from him."

Standing by the retriever, he looks over to the unhurt Anika and Fizahn, he motions for them to come over. "Anika, Fizahn. Can you help me search this thing? I don't have a clue how this thing works, but we might want to make sure that it hasn't already 'retrieved' something else that might be trapped inside of it."

Moving without a moment's hesitation, he loads his crossbow with a new bolt and slips it back onto his back, before kneeling down and beginning to slice open and search through the retriever's remains.

OOC: What the heck, can't hurt.
[roll0]

[namo]

Adalmar

He is disappointed by his own performance, but takes solace in the fact that they all made it through the first fight. He takes a moment to verify that his bow is correctly strung, then walks back to the group. He remains silent, as often.

[Matticus]

Grynde

The battle over for now, Grynde walks to the edge of the passageway and sits himself down, resting his back against the wall only after taking a small wooden stick out of his pack.


Going to use my brand spanking new Wand of Cure Light Wounds a few times.
15 HP healed. (http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=1386486)

[Callos_DeTerran]

Callos

Eyes widened in dismay (to say the least) as the ray leaped towards him, and he found himself far too slow to get entirely out of the way of it.

"Bloody he..!"

The next thing he knew was the surge of electricity surging through his body and throwing him backwards. An entirely all too familiar feeling until he ran into Aeroz in a smoking heap. By the time his muscles stopped involuntarily twitching, he had pulled himself up to his feet, shuddering some, and turned a glare to the little demon. A few arcane words and gestures later and his hand glowed with a sickly green hue surrounding his skeletal hand.

Vampiric Touch, holding the charge.

Storming over to the quasit, he growled out a single word while he held up his glowing hand towards it.

"Explain."

[blackfox]

Anika

Anika shrugs. No one seems to be mortally wounded, and besides, Tryntha was a cleric, able to heal with magic, whereas Anika could do little more than stopping the bleeding. "Sure, I'll help you look..."

(OOC: Search Check (1d20+6=11) (http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=1387087))

[Erikkin]

Fizahn:

Fizahn shrugs and moves over to the construct's remains. "Might as well check. Could be something valuable there." He begins sifting through the remains looking for anything odd or shiny.

[roll0]

[Dr._Bob]

Anika, Fizahn and Damian poke through the inert remains of the retriever while Callos and Khazrael confront Zeodoras, cowering against a wall near Aeroz.

The quasit quickly regains its composure now that the retriever has been destroyed. The tiny demon considers its options and seems to come to some sort of decision.

"When the retriever does not return, she will know that something has gone awry and will send more - perhaps two or three in its place. This will occur in less than one cycle.

"Spare my life, mighty ones, and I will guide you to her. No doubt the vampire bitch is your target, is she not?"

...

With a cry of triumph, Fizahn pulls his arm out of the mechanical entrails of the retriever. In his small hand, he holds a blue crystal.

[Koji]

Khazrael

A grin spreads across Khazrael's face and he looks directly into the little demon's eyes.

"Then, Zeodoras, you will guide us to her, and we will kill her for you. I for one would like nothing more than to burn her and her vampire lackeys to a crisp. But what guarantee do we have that you won't betray us?"

Before the demon answers, he looks up to his allies and says, "I know many of you might have qualms about working with a demon. If nobody minds, I'd like to take personal responsibility for the little guy. I think there's a lot he could teach me about myself...I mean, it's not like my powers came with an instruction manual, and the more I can get a hold on them, the longer we'll all live."

He looks back to the quasit, speaking in its native tongue.

"So then, Zeodoras, you've offered to guide us to her, but will you do us one better and serve me in exchange for my protection? I'm sure you'll find me a bit more benevolent than Valentine. Moreover, I have the means and the knowledge to bind our spirits, and thereby make both of us quite a bit more powerful, something I'm sure she never deigned to do for any of her servants..."

[kuja.girl]

Tiriel

Tiriel grins as the mechanical monstrosity goes down. Things had gotten a little scary there for a moment when most of the group decided to hide instead of fighting. But in the end it had worked out okay. They were all alive, a little bloody, but alive.

Tiriel takes a moment to review the short but furious battle. She'd already known that Retay could more than hold up his fair share in a fight but she'd been pleasantly surprised to see the other woman, Gala, do just as well. Unsurprisingly, Grynde had seem to do little but draw attention to himself.

Ugh well we won but I think most of us in the front line could use some healing... she thinks to herself, sitting down on the floor. She watches with detached interest as the retriever's body is picked over and Callos threatens the demon...

[barawn]

Damian

When Fizahn pulls out the blue crystal, Damian's eyes immediately flash blue for a moment, studying the crystal with arcane sense. Knowing Fizahn, that crystal could vanish in a moment... "Looks like this wasn't such a foolish idea after all. Wonder what that was doing inside of it."

OOC: Detect Magic, first time/day (2 remaining). If it is magical, he'll call for Elthan, seeing as Callos and Khazrael are busy.

[Erikkin]

Fizahn:

Fizahn shrugs as Damian asks about the gem. "I'm not sure what it was doing in there. My dad made some constructs before he went insane. As far as I can recall, he liked to use gems for eyes. I think they also turned into something of a power source, but I have no idea really." Fizahn pockets the gem and moves forward. "Hey, if we've got a guide, we should get going... After injuries are tended to, of course."

[namo]

Adalmar

"Yes, let's move forward. Tryntha, can you take care of the injuries while we're walking ? I can use my wand too."

And the ranger takes out his torch again, starting down the path. He walks slowly at first, to give everyone time to regain their bearings.

[Dr._Bob]

Zeodoras considers, then accepts Khazrael's offer. Alone, he (a male it turns out) would have had not chance against a retriever. Plus, it seems that there is no love lost between this demon and Lady Valentine. He seems almost happy to play whatever role he can in her demise ...

Wounds are bound as efficiently as possible. Additional magical healing is offered while you march to save time.

Zeodoras clings to Khazrael's shoulder, in a similar fashion to Adalmar's raptor and Elthan's raven. While the birds fret uneasily in the darkness, however, Zeodoras appears relaxed, almost lighthearted, as though invigorated by his new purpose.

The quasit leads you back the way he had come. Only a few small detours are necessary when the passages are too small for humans and elves to pass.

...

You make excellent progress, thanks to the demon's assistance. After about two hours, however, Zeodoras calls for a halt.

"A sentry outpost lies ahead. Two babau, whose incompetence displeased the Lady, were assigned to guard this isolated tunnel as punishment.

"I had no difficulty slipping past them, but this group will not be able to do the same.

"Send your assassins forward to clear the way," Zeodoras advises, eyeing Anika and Damian.

[Erikkin]

Fizahn:

Assassins, huh? They probably won't like that. "Right. Let's go assassins. Got some work to do." Fizahn begins padding forward silently and crouching in the shadows to remain hidden. His 'short sword' hilt is held loosely in his hand, but its blade is tucked up in his sleeve.

[roll0]
[roll1]
Move silently +13, Hide +17 Make however many more rolls you need.

[barawn]

Damian

Damian nods at Zeodoras, and grins at Fizahn's eagerness, but looks to Anika and the others. "I tend to agree with Fizahn's eagerness, but I doubt even three of us can easily dispatch a pair of demons before they could escape. We may be able to slip around them to keep them pinned while the rest of you come from the front. I don't know much about demons, so I'll leave that decision up to the rest of you."

Unlike Fizahn, who pointedly commented at the designation of Anika and himself, Damian does not flinch at all at the 'assassin' designation.

Walking over to Fizahn after he pockets the gem, Damian looks down at the gnome. "Can I take a look at that gem for a moment?" With a grin, he whispers something to Fizahn quietly.

[blackfox]

Anika

Anika rolls her eyes at being called an 'assassin.' It's technically true, although most of my jobs involved breaking and entering...

Anika does not move from her position. "What is a babau? I know it's a demon, obviously, but what can it do?" She addresses Khazrael rather than Zeodoras, as she is rather skeptical of the quasit's 'good intentions.'

[namo]

Adalmar

He has a tired grin. "I am glad not to be considered an assassin, but I believe I am able too, if it comes to that. My concern is that we will need some light to see where we're headed."

[Aveda]

Gala

"I'm not too good at being sneaky, but I'll definitely be ready to back you up once our cover's blown. Though, I have to say right now I'm not at my best." Gala pauses to catch her breath a bit, her injuries from the mechanical arms throbbing in pain. "Adalmar, or Tryntha, would you mind helping me out? If you could spare a bit of time for my injuries, I'm sure I'd be up for charging back into battle in no time."

Thanking whoever heals her, Gala listens intently to any information Zeodoras and the others have to offer on their next opponents.

[Diarmuid]

Tryntha

Looking around at the wounded, Tryntha doesnt see anything that seems too serious.

She looks to Adalmar, and remembering he was the one who had understood her Rashemi she commented to him,

"With the loss of the gondsman, my spells will be spread thinner than they would have already been. It may be a better idea to use the wand while we are relatively safe now."

Moving to Callos, she whispers in his ear to avoid their new companion listening,

"The stones the Hathran imparted to me can create passageways where none exist. Perhaps we can bypass these babau, or break through the surface somewhere the enemy will not be expecting us."

[Koji]

Khazrael

Khazrael grins at Zeodoras, then responds to Anika.

"Babau? They're sneaky, they use their claws mostly. They look like people, more or less, only all black and red. I don't know that it's safe to send just two humans against them. Maybe we could do a staggered assault--send someone ahead to try and get the drop on them, then the rest of us pile in behind them?"

[Callos_DeTerran]

Callos

The mage glares at the little demon as Khaz talks with it and the two come to a mutually...beneficial agreement between the two of them. Grudgingly he lowered the hand but he held unto the spell for future use, not like it wouldn't come in handy soon anyway.

It was when Tryntha approached him that he finally stopped and glanced over at her. His voice dropped down to a whisper then as she whispered to him. "The surface is no good...we have no idea what chaos is going on up there but we can't get involved with it. How many of these stones do you have? I mean...we've fought two babau before, they didn't seem all TOO threatening, if you don't have many stones it might be better to just erase their scourge. I mean...they ARE demons."

[Diarmuid]

Tryntha

Continuing their whispered conversation,

"I have three such stones. Each will function five times before its magic is spent."

Pressing one such stone into the necromancer's fleshy hand she explains their use to him.

"Keep this one with you in case we are separated. I keep them in the pouch on my hip....in case something...well....just in case."

[barawn]

Damian

Damian looks over to Khazrael, who seems to have some knowledge. "'Sneaky'? How so? Would we easily be able to sneak around them? How did Zeodoras get through the first time?"

[Koji]

Khazrael

With a furrowed brow, Khazrael replies, "Well, he's tiny. He would have had a much easier time of it. I'm not exactly big myself, but I don't think I could manage, nevermind the fact that some of us are wearing armor. Demons have keen senses and those two have gotta be itching for a fight by now--I don't think we'll all be able to sneak past them."

[Dr._Bob]

Adalmar uses his wand to heal the fighters, almost depleting the item completely. Callos and Khazrael are still feeling the effects of the retriever's eye beams, but press on stoically.

While the quasit might have been able to sneak past the pair of babau, it seems unlikely that your entire party can do the same.

Some, like Fizahn, are eager to press directly on, but Callos and Tryntha consider using the breachstones to bypass this guardpost altogether.

A decision needs to be made quickly, before the demons detect your party's torches or footfalls.

[blackfox]

Anika

"I don't know if we should waste Tryntha's stones on these demons. They sound like they'd be at a disadvantage in a straight fight--is that right, Khazrael? If they can't hide in the shadows and ambush us, then we can beat them?"

[kuja.girl]

Tiriel

Tiriel thanks Adalmar for the healing. She hadn't really realized how much damage she'd taken until she'd started feeling better.
Demons...babau demons...? Wait weren't... Tiriel frowns trying to remember the details of a fight that seems long ago but really wasn't. There had been two dog-things covered in nasty quills and these ugly, gooey, demons riding them.
"Callos, didn't we fight a couple of babau before? Don't they have some kind of acid coving them? It might be better to avoid fighting them if we can't dispatch them quickly."

ooc: since Callos and Tryntha's conversation was whispered I'm repeating some info. & asking for confirmation.
[HP now at 53/58]

[namo]

Adalmar

Eyeing his wand critically, he slows down to get on a level with Khazrael, then Callos, and provides them with some much-needed healing. "We can't have Tryntha running to your help all the time" he quips at Khazrael, but the joke sounds forced.

"My concern is not the demons themselves, but rather the possibility that they raise the alarm this early...

Perhaps the stealthy ones could wait in ambush, then loose a volley of arrows and quarrels right before the rest of you come charging in ?

Or if the little one can approach them without arousing too much suspicion, it could create a diversion..." He eyes the demon, unsure what to make of it.

K: [roll0]
C: [roll1]

[King_of_GRiffins]

Elthan

Elthan becomes just a bit lost trying to listen to all of the debate. It would be a simple thing to just go in and kill them quickly, the faster being the better. Why did there have to be so many voices for every decision? Smaller groups making individual tactical decisions, with a group affirmative to move forward, would work much faster than forming a single coordinated effort for every encounter.

But, that was just how he felt about the matter; Now really wasn't the time to mention it. Instead of pitching in to the current conversation, he mulls over what he'll be doing as a part of the main group.

If I cast Slumber upon them, that would ensure they could not escape or raise an alarm. Though, it might only affect one demon per casting, if at all. May the gods curse our ever increasingly powerful adversaries, and their resistances towards magic.

The half-elf taps Damian on the shoulder to gain his attention. "I believe now would be the perfect time for you to take a spell of mine. Both of us casting Deep Slumber at once, one casting on each demon, would incapacitate them quickly."

[Koji]

Khazrael

With a wry grin, Khazrael shakes his head at Anika.

"A demon that specializes in sneaking is still more than a match for a human in a fair fight. There's another thing to consider. Zeodoras could be downplaying the strength or number of our enemies in order to ensure that we do what he wants."

He looks at the little demon thoughtfully, and says, "Sorry if that's a baseless accusation, but you have to agree that I'd be a fool to trust a demon outright."

After giving the quasit a knowing wink, he turns his mind to focusing on the battle ahead.

[barawn]

Damian

Damian nods at Elthan, and looks to the others. "Elthan's got a good idea, in my mind - he's got a sleep spell that both he and I can cast right away, hopefully putting away both babau before they have a chance to act. Then we slip in, eliminate them, and continue on. If it fails, then we attack - but at least in this case there's a decent chance that both fall without being able to raise the alarm at all."

[Diarmuid]

Tryntha

Tryntha listens to the newest suggestions. She quietly chews her lip behind her porcelain mask, torn with her own thoughts;

They would have to be able to see these creatures to cast their spells. Damian might be able to sneak up on them, but he would also need some way to see in the dark. Elthan could have some way to see in the dark, but doesnt look as stealthy as Damian. But if I say anything, we'll only sit here squabbling longer.

She looks over at Callos while wishing someone would just make a decision. Each moment spent wasted in these caverns was costing her countrymen more blood up on the surface.

[Callos_DeTerran]

Callos

He palmed the stone that he had been given, rolling it around over and over in his hand while he thought about what should be done in a situation like this...with all the usages of the stones and the number of stones themselves..

"...We go around. Even if we can kill them quickly, there is ALWAYS the chance they send out a call to their brethren for aid. Not to mention if something comes by this way again, such as another demon or even an undead, then they'll know that someone has gotten past this check point. If we slip by, without them noticing, and strike off the head of the army, there'll be too much resulting chaos for them to recover and we'll most likely have another escape route at that point besides beneath ground."

Eyes flickering over to Zeodoras, Callos couldn't help but tighten his skeletal hand into a fist, still glowing from the lambent spell-energy within, then over to Tryntha with a nod.

[Dr._Bob]

Khazrael
"There's another thing to consider. Zeodoras could be downplaying the strength or number of our enemies in order to ensure that we do what he wants."

He looks at the little demon thoughtfully, and says, "Sorry if that's a baseless accusation, but you have to agree that I'd be a fool to trust a demon outright."

After giving the quasit a knowing wink, he turns his mind to focusing on the battle ahead.

Zeodoras rolls his eyes in an almost human manner. "If you say so, master."

...

Aeroz smiles grimly, "No doubt there will be other opportunities for demon slaying. I like the idea of avoiding this encounter if possible."

Zeodoras leads you a bit farther ahead along the twisty passage, then points toward a spot on the wall.

Tryntha places one of the stone tokens against the cave wall. A rune flares, then suddenly there is a dark passage leading into the solid wall.

The passage is narrow, but straight as an arrow. As Tryntha leads on, the passage extends ... 20 feet ... 30 feet ... 40 feet ... 50 feet ... until finally you emerge into another cave passage.

You find yourselves ankle deep in cold water. The passage runs slightly uphill, presumably toward the heart of Shandaular, and gradually downward, presumably toward the Lake.

Once the party is through, the breachstone passage disappears. The breachstone itself crumbles into dust.

...

The party wades upstream. There is no sign of the demon guardpost. Either you have cut behind them, or this is a completely different tunnel from the one you were in previously.

You take a break on a large flat rock after another hour of walking. The room sized rock keeps you up out of the water. You take the opportunity to break into some jerky and bread and to sip from your waterskins. "We should be close to the inner circle," estimates Adalamar.

The journey has been surprisingly uneventful, perhaps boding well for your mission.

"You would have thought they would have guarded these tunnels better," mutters Aeroz, munching on some flatbread.

Anika splashes her way back to the rock and nimbly leaps up and shakes herself dry. She has scouted ahead and has found three gated archways blocking the way forward.

Zeodoras isn't sure which one to recommend.

[kuja.girl]

Tiriel

"Well we got somewhere. And it's different than where we were before, but we still don't really know where here is.
"Are you not sure where we are, or do you not know how each of the tunnels are guarded little demon?" Tiriel asks with some amusement. Considering the situation she could either get frustrated or be entertained; and entertained is the more enjoyable of the two.

[Koji]

Khazrael

"Three, eh? Well, let's take a closer look at each one and if they're all the same, we'll just take the middle route," Khazrael offers.

[blackfox]

Anika

Somewhat sarcastically, Anika says, "Flip a coin?" She realizes somewhat too late that now is not a particularly good time for sarcasm, and amends her answer. "Let's go take a closer look, I only scouted the place out."

[Aveda]

Gala

Gala mentally shrugs as she sits at the edge of the rock. She'd gotten disoriented within the first hour of walking and was more than happy to let others decide which was the best route to take. As long as we get where we're going in one piece...

[Dr._Bob]

After the short break, you slip back into the shallow water and wade toward the three gates.

The natural cave passage transitions into roughly worked stone masonry. The arched aqueduct appears to once have been part of a sewer system below Shandaular.

The water here is only a couple of inches deep and appears to be nearly still. The light from your everburning torches refracts off of the gently rippled surface and creates mesmerizing patterns across the curved ceiling above you.

Following the passage deeper you reach three arches as described by Anika. Each of the three tunnels feeds into the passage you are standing in, and each is sealed by an iron portcullis.

The tunnel to the left extends deeper into the darkness for as far as any of you can see. Clear cold water flows toward you.

The center tunnel angles upward slightly. The flagstones are stained a dark umber but seem to be dry now.

The tunnel to the right makes a sharp bend 40 feet beyond the portcullis. A faint howling can be heard by those of you standing directly in front of the gate. A light breeze can be felt.

[barawn]

Damian

Damian looks to each of the three tunnels curiously. Wading in water, trying to guess where to go. Fun. "I would say either the left or the central passage is most likely. The left passage probably comes from the sewer system's water source, which may or may not have an above-ground access. It could be in the center of the city, though. Most settlements start by being built around a water source."

He glances back towards Adalmar as he speaks, hoping he knows something about the settlement.

[kuja.girl]

Tiriel

Tiriel wades over to each doorway in turn. She stops longest at the third doorway. Eventually she reaches a conclusion and heads back to the flat rock. "That one," she says gesturing at the third doorway, "seems familiar. We got caught in something similar last time we ran into Valentine and it lead to a huge underground waterfall. I'm no expert but usually when water makes that noise it's going somewhere, fast, and that usually means down."

[blackfox]

Anika

Anika grimaces. "Don't remind me." She looks back at the tunnel on the left. "That one could be hard to get through, since the water's coming towards us... if it gets any faster it would just knock us over. I don't think it's the sewers, though, because the water's clean."

[Koji]

Khazrael

With a smirk, Khazrael says, "Well of course the water's clean. Nobody lives there now."

He shakes his head. "So we drown, we get gutted, or we fall. I say door number two. Those stains are probably blood, but I feel better about monsters than I do about insurmountable obstacles."

[Matticus]

Grynde

Water, blood, or lots of water and height. I like the idea of blood better myself. Although water's cleaner, and doesn't stain clothing.
He gazes at the three paths before turning to Zeodoras. Hey, demon thing. Zeodoras. Didn't you say something about a portcullis before? Or have we cut through to a different place entirely?

[Erikkin]

Fizahn:

"I don't think the one with the breeze is right. Valentine's probably camped in a building and that one likely leads to an outside area. Possibly even in the middle of the battlefield. I'd rather avoid the water if we can. Water never seems to go well..."

[namo]

Adalmar

He shakes his head in reply to Damian's silent query. He looks a bit distressed too. I warned them, but it seems they were counting on me anyway. "I don't remember being there...

The center one seems as good as any."

[blackfox]

Anika

Anika scowls briefly when Khazrael points out her error. "Wonderful. Thanks for making me feel better."

In an attempt to regain her pride, she says "I agree with Khazrael, though I'd like to point out that if there's bloodstains on the floor, there must have been something living there sometime recently."

And it's probably waiting in the shadows to drink our blood...

[kuja.girl]

Tiriel

"The only reason I think we should use the left tunnel is that the water is flowing down, which means that it leads up, which is where we need to go. I'm not sure about the middle one. Anyone else have any ideas?"

ooc: Dr.Bob, how high are the ceilings in these tunnels?

[Dr._Bob]

Adalmar admits that as a teen, he and his friends had never penetrated this far underground. Zeodoras did not come this way previously. The portcullis he squeezed through was located in a different place.

It does appear that the tunnels form a basic sewer system taking advantage of an underground stream running to the Lake. Here, the ceilings are about 8' tall.

The dark brown staining appears to be very old. If sewage once ran through the tunnel, it has probably been centuries since the system was actively used.

"I bet the undead don't need to crap," observes Aeroz.

The portcullises are old and rusted, but still solid. Up to three of you can stand in front of a given gate to try to lift it ...


OOC: Once a gate is (or gates are) chosen, up to three people can make STR checks to lift them ...

[Koji]

Khazrael

With a quick gesture to Anika, Khazrael says, "Hey, before anyone tries anything, why don't you check to see if the portcullis is going to work right, or if there's an easier way to open it. I doubt it'd be trapped, but you never know--maybe Valentine or the demons got down here and messed with it."

He gives her an apologetic shrug.

"Not to order you around, I just mean you seem to know how this kind of stuff works."

[namo]

Adalmar

"Good idea. Then perhaps, err, Tiriel, Retay and... Gala ? could lift it up ? We should be ready to pass it fast in case it's hard to keep it up."

[blackfox]

Anika

"Hm. That's a good idea, actually..." Although I'd be more worried about traps, myself...

Anika walks up to the portcullises, calling over her shoulder, "Didn't Zeodoras say something about a switch to open a portcullis?"

(OOC: Search Check (1d20+6=20) (http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=1405233))

[kuja.girl]

Tiriel

(if Anika doesn't find a switch then Tiriel will volunteer to help open the gate)
[roll0]
(ooc: ARGHH! see ooc thread for second attempt)

[barawn]

Damian

Damian looks over to Khazrael with a slight, yet amused, frown on his face. "What, and you think my previous employers gave me the keys to go get what they wanted?"

(OOC: if Anika doesn't find anything, Damian'll quick search them as well.)

[roll0]

[Koji]

Khazrael

Khazrael laughs, "Well no, Damian, I just didn't want to presume you'd been involved in anything shady."

[Diarmuid]

Tryntha

Despite the environment, she couldnt help but smile to herself behind her mask at the banter between Damian and Khazreal. No, these were not the courageous, strong warriors of her lands...but in the face of enormous peril..they were relaxed.

She found a calm solace in that as new rays of hope settled on her heart and mind for the task at hand.

She did her best to stay out of the way as the portcullis is dealt with.

[Dr._Bob]

Looking over the iron gate, and at one point climbing the gate to inspect its upper margin, Anika finds no traps nor locks.

Unlike the portcullis described by Zeodoras, this gate does not appear to have a hidden lever. It appears that the gate is held closed simply by its own weight.

Tiriel attempts to lift the gate, but her hands slide off ineffectually. She is joined by Gala and Retay. Together the three warriors strain against the iron bars. With an ear-splitting SCREEEEEEEEEK! the gate grinds open, leaving a opening approximately two feet high - just high enough to roll or squirm under.

The metallic screech echoes up and down the tunnels.

Sweat breaks out on Retay's and Gala's brow as they strain to keep the gate up.

[Koji]

Khazrael

With a grunt, Khazrael attempts to squirm under the gate while the others hold it up.

Once on the other side, he gives the bars a meager effort of his own, trying to ease the burden of the others holding it up.

1d20-1=13 (http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=1406929)

[blackfox]

Anika

Anika scoots under the gate as fast as she can. She follows Khazrael's lead and grabs the gate from her side as well. "Someone strong should come over here next, to hold it up from this side..."

(OOC: Strength Check (1d20+2=8) (http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=1407026) Joy.)

[Erikkin]

Fizahn:

Fizahn dives under the gate. He comes up in a roll with his crossbow at the ready. He aims down the passage and peers into the gloom. "It might be that we want to scout a little further before we get everyone through the gate?"

[barawn]

Damian

Damian nods at Fizahn as he ducks quickly under the gate, patting him on the shoulder and whispering a quick joke with a chuckle. "I'll go on ahead as far as the light stretches. I'd be as much help as Fizahn holding that gate up. Get ready, though! Something probably heard that gate move, and when we get through, we'll be trapped on this side."

Waiting for a moment, Damian then slips into the shadows and down the path ahead.


[roll0]
[roll1]

[namo]

Adalmar

He rolls smoothly under the gate and lends his strength as soon as he gets up. With 3 people on the other side holding it, hopefully the strong trio can pass the gate too without it coming to crash down.

+2 modifier for Str checks

[Erikkin]

Fizahn:

Fizahn mutters something about gnome eyes being better than human eyes before promptly following Damian into the darkness. He whispers a short sentence to Damain followed by a soft laugh before patting him on the back. He strains his eyes into the darkness and listens for a while, but doesn't expect to hear anything other than his companions. With his crossbow still at the ready, he moves over to the side of the tunnel and conceals himself against the wall.

[roll0]
[roll1]
[roll2]
[roll3]
[roll4]

[Callos_DeTerran]

Callos

He turned to keep an eye on the corridor behind them, not willing to let something sneak up on them so easily when they were in such a delicate position. Hopefully the guards on the outside of this spot would think it was the guards on the inside...and the guards on the inside wouldn't come to investigate in the first place or assume other guards.

But then again when had anything worked out the best way before? Once it was up high enough and all the others had ducked under, Callos slipped underneath of the gate himself and did as Anika did, try and ease their load some before they came crossing over.



[roll0]
C'mon meager strength score, pull through!

[Dr._Bob]

Khazrael, Callos, Damian, Anika, Adalmar, and Fizahn are the first to squirm under the gate. Damian and Fizahn slip ahead to scout out the gently sloping passage ahead.

Tiriel, Retay, and Gala grit their teeth, muscles straining to keep the gate raised. Anika, Adalmar, and Callos try to assist from the other side, but it is going to be difficult to keep the portcullis up if any of the strong fighters lets go ...

Aeroz, Elthan, Grynde, and Tryntha are getting ready to roll under the gate when it slips an inch or two downward with another piercing SCREEEEEEEEEK!!!

...

Fizahn and Damian sneak forward into the darkness until only a faint glow from the party's torches is perceptible behind them. The passage continues to slope gently upward.

They cringe when they hear the gate screeching. That noise could wake the dead ...

As if responding to their thoughts, a scraping suddenly become audible, coming from up ahead in the darkness. The scraping slowly moves closer and closer toward the rogue and the spellthief ...

[Diarmuid]

Tryntha

Dropping down to her belly, Tryntha scurries under the gate and peers off into the darkness, her mask piercing the darkness and any illusions that might be waiting for them down the passageway.

"You three should come through one at a time, and each who comes through should replace someone on this side who is helping hold the gate up. Be quick about it though, that noise will likely have alerted the babau we bypassed and we cannot be sure how close their position is to us."

[Koji]

Khazrael

Khazrael starts as the gate begins to inch downward. "Is it that heavy?" He says, "Maybe we can stick something under there to hold it up. Any ideas?"

[Erikkin]

Fizahn:

Damn! Stay and ambush it, or retreat and warn everyone else? If I ambush it, they'll notice the fighting. Fizahn remains in his hiding place, his finger reassuringly on his crossbow's trigger. I should probably wait until it's halfway between me and the main party. Unless it notices me... Either by sight, or... smell... Damn demons! Never know what to expect.

OOC: Ready attack if creature is coming at Fizahn, or goes 30 ft. past him towards the party (you know, within sneak attack distance).

[kuja.girl]

Tiriel

"Would everyone who's not holding up the gate hurry up and go?!" Tiriel hisses through gritted teeth as the gate slips and falls a few inches.

"Yes it's heavy! And no I don't think anything is going to be able to prop it up." Staring at Khazreal and Callos on the other side of the gate, "Move back. If you aren't helping hold it up then you should get away from the gate. Or don't you have any other way of helping?"

ooc: any one have a scroll of bull's strength hidden away somewhere? This gate is ridiculously heavy and I don't want the front liners cut off from everyone else.

[Dr._Bob]

From their hiding place, Damian and Fizahn watch as a large figure approaches. The dessicated, almost mummified, creature is the size of an enormous man, but is topped by a horned bull's skull rather than a normal human one. It drags a massive two handed battle axe behind it which sparks against the dark stone.

Zombie!

...

The remainder of the party squeeze under the gate, leaving Tiriel, Gala and Retay on the other side.

[Koji]

Khazrael

As soon as the creature enters visual range, Khazrael quickly shouts an incantation that sends spears of violet light flying toward the zombie.

Initiative:
1d20+1=13 (http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=1409840)
Magic Missile Damage:3d4+3=8 (http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=1409838)

[barawn]

Damian

As the creature comes into view, Damian's hand immediately reaches for the newly-purchased wand in his belt. Swearing quietly at his ineffectiveness versus undead, he aims the wand at the zombie, unleashing the meager magic inside. Of course, now I'm the closest one to it. Great.


Use Magic Device, 1d20+13=21, Ranged Touch Attack 1d20+8(base)+2(hidden)=29, Damage 1d6=3 (http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=1410940)

Glancing down at the wand, his eyes light up slightly. Huh. At least it worked. That's a positive. His eyes turn back to the portcullis, and his face becomes more distraught seeing Retay, Gala, and Tiriel stuck on the other side. Oh, not good...

[Erikkin]

Fizahn:

Wonderful. Never mind the demons. I hate undead. Seeing Damian attack the zombie, Fizahn shoots his crossbow at the shambling monster. "Hey! Zombie bull guys!"

OOC: [roll0]
[roll1]

[namo]

Adalmar

"Callos ! Can you use that spell on me, the one that makes people giant ? I should be able to keep the gate open a lot more easily !"

If Callos agrees to the idea, the Enlarged Adalmar will prop himself against a wall to leave enough room for his three remaining companions to pass the gate.

[Callos_DeTerran]

Callos

"Bloody...I was hoping to save this for later!" Callos hisses out as he steps away from the gate and turns to Adalmar. A quick recitation of the words in his mind and the ranger would be a great deal bigger and hopefully strong enough to hold the gate open...Then again...

"Wait! Don't destroy the zombie, lure it down here and stay out of it's range!" An excited gleam came to the necromancers eyes as he hurried over to were the shout of zombies had come from, spellbook in hand and a plan in mind.

If it looks like Adalmar can't keep it open even with the Enlarge Person...then...hrm...I dunno. Well...I doubt I'll be able to do anything else this round, but if so (Aside from the moving and Enlarge Person) then Callos will cast Command Undead on the bull-headed zombie.

[Diarmuid]

Tryntha

Tryntha muttered a brief prayer to the spirits under her breath as she couched her shield and took up her spear, preparing to do her best to keep the zombie away from her friends holding up the gate.

She hoped not to have to channel her power to destroy the thing, preferring to save that for later when they would more likely need it.

The excitement in his voice and and gleam in Callos's eye at the prospect of an undead within their midst gave her pause. She hoped he knew some easy way to dispatch the undead, maybe by unravelling the magics that animated it's lifeless corpse freeing the soul within to reach it's haven.

[roll0]

Moving to block the way to the gate and taking the total defense (+4 Dodge to AC) action for total AC 21.

[Aveda]

Gala

Gala grits her teeth and shares a look with Retay and Tiriel as they wait for Adalmar to try his hand at keeping the gate up. I certainly don't think just two of us could keep this thing up long enough, she thinks as she struggles to keep the gate from moving any closer to the ground. Hearing the sounds of battle from further down the tunnel, she grimaces. "I sure hope we're not trapping ourselves someplace we don't want to be...it's not gonna be easy getting out the same way we're getting in."

[Dr._Bob]

The zombified minotaur shambles past Fizahn and Damian who have pressed themselves into nooks behind the archways that support the curved ceiling.

Fizahn shoots the zombie in the back with a small crossbow bolt to little effect, then shouts a warning to his companions still struggling with the gate.

...

The massive undead minotaur lurches forward into the torchlight and raises its two-handed battleaxe. Its opaque eyes stare sightlessly as it opens its mouth, hissing.

Tryntha raises her shield and braces her spear, preparing for the worst. Khazrael blasts the zombie minotaur from its front, while Damian fires at the monster from behind.

"Wait!" cries Callos, raising his skeletal hand.

The zombie minotaur halts and lowers his battleaxe, swaying slowly on its two feet, still smoking from Khazrael's magic missiles and Damian's attempt to disrupt undead.

[blackfox]

Anika

Anika lets out her breath, slowly. "Callos? What exactly did you do to it?"

[Callos_DeTerran]

Callos

"I wrested control of it from whoever made it in the first place." He responds, eyes on the minotaur zombie as if to ensure that the spell was firmly in effect before turning and pointing to the gate that was proving so hard to hold up in the air.

"Go and lift that gate up until everyone is through." It just seemed so...natural to be commanding undead again that it gave Callos shivers. It had never felt so wrong either. Alright, this is easy...I have the zombie aid us for the duration of the spell...on the last day we destroy the corpse and let it go.

It'd be easy...though there was the temptation to simply keep casting the spell and keep the zombie enthralled, he was clear-headed enough to understand that doing so would hardly be a wise or good decision. And for that much he was very thankful.

[Koji]

Khazrael

Khazrael grins at Callos and jokes, "Looks kinda decrepit--Wouldn't it be great if his arms just ripped free when he tried to lift the gate?"

[Naleh]

Retay

"What are you all talking about?" gasps the barbarian, still straining with the portcullis. "What were you fighting?"

[Dr._Bob]

Obediently, the zombie minotaur drops his battleaxe with a loud CLANG!!! then lurches over to the portcullis and joins the others trying to raise it.

Adalmar and Anika cringe backward, giving the enormous zombie a wide berth.

Tiriel, Retay, and Gala, likewise regard the zombie suspiciously from the other side of the gate, but with the additional strength, each is able to slip through to the other side one by one.

Finally, the fighters and zombie allow the gate to crash shut once again. Again the loud screeching and clanging echo up and down the tunnel passages.

Leaning down, the zombie minotaur picks up his battleaxe then stands swaying before Callos, as if to say what now?

[Callos_DeTerran]

Callos

What now indeed?...Hmm..I wonder how complex of a command it can follow. Fighting, following, and menial labor seem obvious enough but if it can...

"Hmmm return to the one who created you and protect all of these people and myself."

Hmmm that sort of command might be too much for a zombie to handle...or heck even two such commands at once, but it was worth a shot. If it could lead them back the way it had come from, then it could very well guide them to Valentine if she had animated it herself...or perhaps one of her vampiric allies if nothing else which was almost as good. The noise though was really starting to become a problem though.

[King_of_GRiffins]

Elthan

Stepping away from the wall which he had tried to cling to out of sight from the zombie, Elthan moves over to Callos and gives him a hard pat to his shoulder. "Very well done there friend, and good thinking too! You must let me tame the next minion we see."

[Dr._Bob]

With what sounds almost like a sigh, the zombie minotaur lumbers forward, up the slight incline into the heart of what used to be the sewers of Shandaular.

The tunnels become narrower and increasingly dense, forming a labyrinth of passages.

The zombie apparently retains its minotauran familiarity with this maze, and weaves through the complex tunnels without hesitation.

Zeodoras, who has been close-lipped since encountering the gate, whispers to Khazrael in Abyssal, "This is not the way to the vampire ..."

[Koji]

Khazrael

Without slowing his pace, Khazrael raises an eyebrow and replies to Zeodoras.

"Wrong way? You got a reason for trying to keep that quiet?"

[Erikkin]

Fizahn:

"Lovely. So glad you got a pet. Let's go now." Fizahn steps forward to follow the minotaur. His dagger is drawn and he's watching the zombie warily. He pauses a second as he sees Khazrael and Zedoras conversing. "Is there a problem Khaz? It might be kinda helpful if you voice it now. Not much time, right people?"

[kuja.girl]

Tiriel

Tiriel warily watches the minotaur zombie approach. It takes every ounce of restraint that she has not to drop the gate and draw her sword, though fat lot that would have done since Adalmar, Gala, and Retay couldn't keep the gate up by themselves and she'd have been stuck on the wrong side anyhow...

Tiriel accepts that Callos has somehow taken control of the zombie and waits patiently, if not nervously, for her turn to pass under the gate. She'd known that Callos was a necromancer but the whole truth of that was only hitting home now. This was the first time he'd done something with undead, other than blow them up, in front of her. She can't help but ask Callos in a hushed voice, "So this thing is under you're control, right? How would you know if it wasn't just pretending to follow your orders? I mean I know it's not that smart but the person who made it might be... What's this about going the wrong way?"

[Diarmuid]

Tryntha

Her spear began to shake a bit as the monstrosity kept getting closer. Her knees bent, and she kept telling herself it was her battle training and not her courage fading her. Callos' interjection was terribly welcome as the beast stood there dumbly, then dropped it's weapon and moved to help with the gate.

Relief flooded through her veins as her friends slipped below the gate one by one.

A smile found its way to her mouth as she readied for the necromancer to give the word to Tiriel and the others to dispatch with the beast....but the words never came. She blinked several times, barely registering the plan to move ahead, and only started walking at the prodding of one of the others.

Bile lept up her throat as she found herself following this abomination along with the others. The respect she had felt growing for the man with the skeletal hand dwindling with every step....and a worrisome thought crept into her mind...

What will happen when I use my power to destroy the undead? Will he be effected? He is alive, but if the channeling of the power of good hurts him...what does that mean?

She continued to follow, finding herself looking over their shoulders to keep watch for something following, or she kept telling herself...for it was really to avoid having to see the horned thing shambling along in front of its new master.

[barawn]

Damian

Damian rolls his eyes when Callos takes control of the minotaur. Could've done that a moment ago, before I wasted that magic. Oh well, it's not like it was much anyway.

A nagging doubt tugged at the back of his mind as they followed the minotaur down the path Callos asked for, but he said nothing. When Khazrael stopped at Zeodoras's request, however, and the confusion shone on his face, Damian quickly walks over to the necromancer.

"Callos, you assumed that the vampire made this minotaur. What if you're wrong? What if he's been here the entire time, and he's taking you to the grave of some long-lost necromancer?"

The spellthief sighs, and his shoulders sag slightly. Lost under a city of undead and demons. Not promising conditions.

[Callos_DeTerran]

Callos

"It's not a pet at all. Despite the fact it used to be a minotaur, it is still a victim of a necromancer's ill wishes which I can sympathize with. Mystara willing, we'll find the one who did this with my...hm....companions help and then we can send it off to a well-deserved after life."

Then, as such things seemed prone to happening among the various people he traveled with, many things seemed to happen all at once that had his head whipping about to various people trying to keep track of them. And...well it seemed to him like his best course of action was answering those who had asked first so he turned to Tiriel.

"Yes it's under my control. No, it can't be pulling a fast one on us. The spell I utilized strips away the previous controller's will without fail on mindless undead such as zombies and skeletons. It's only on intelligent undead such as vampires, liches, ghouls, and the sorts that I need to worry about the spell faltering and thats only if the recipient is particularly strong-willed or I ask something it'd be inclined against like something self-destructive. Considering the nature of the spell that makes zombies though I'd have to say that it's creator is most likely a clever person, possibly not a genius, but not as slow as your regular village person. In any case I'll worry about if the minotaur turns on us if and when we encounter another spellcaster who uses necromancy or an artifact that could fill such a use."

Callos then turned to Damian thoughtfully and back to the minotaur. "It's a possibility, but I don't think it's likely. From what I know necromancers aren't received well in society and having more then one in the same area can greatly shorten the supply of corpses and draw the attention of otherwise ignorant authorities. Not so much a problem here though..."

The necromancer paused for a second, troubled by this new line of thought and by the little demon and Khaz (presumably) speaking in the tongue of demons before walking a little closer behind the zombie carefully looking it over for...well signs of freshness. How decayed was the minotaur? If it was truly old it'd be a skeleton which ruled out an ancient ancient maker but a more recent one..

Once he finds the answer to his quandary, or if he cannot, he ambles to the rear of the group and Tryntha watching her continuely look back over behind them for a moment before speaking up. "Tryntha, could you join me for a moment, I need your expertise on a matter.."

Callos asked politely and respectfully, waiting for an answer. An answer, which if yes, would lead him to guide the cleric up to the zombie and asking her to try and determine the age of the corpse. Pausing for just a moment to glance back then lean in to whisper softly..

And back briefly to Private Conversations!

[Diarmuid]

Tryntha

The priestess straightens from the sagging that had developed in her walking, and nodded along with Callos. She listened to him and then followed him closer to the zombie. Halfway there, she stopped and her voice raises slightly for the others to hear,

This thing we do may be difficult for me at times. I am among many strangers...but they are strangers entrusted by my Lord, my Huhrong and I will not fail them.

Bolstered by her own words, she strides forward through the lines, moving to examine the zombie passing along any information to Callos.



[roll0]
[roll1]
[roll2]
[roll3]

Those are all the rolls I could think of that might come into play.

[Koji]

Khazrael

"Yeah, hold up guys, I think we're going the wrong way," Khazrael says, "That might be to our advantage, if this takes us someplace nicer, but chances are, Val didn't raise this minotaur. If two babau were what she used for the tunnel guard in the other area, surely she'd send a lot more than one zombie to guard it elsewhere."

[Naleh]

Retay

The barbarian started and almost dropped the gate for his weapon when he saw the zombie, but, for whatever reason, the rest of the group wasn't attacking it. He watched in horrified confusion as the monster first lifted the portcullis, then began to lead his comrades into the upper sewers.

He could come to only one conclusion.

That necromancer, that... Callos... not only killed a man, but hideously mutated him and raised him as a bull-man-zombie!

Seething in anger, but knowing there was nothing he could do with so many of the necromancer's friends around, the plainsman followed at a distance.

__________________


"It's not a pet at all. Despite the fact it used to be a minotaur, it is still a victim of a necromancer's ill wishes which I can sympathize with. Mystara willing, we'll find the one who did this with my...hm....companion's help and then we can send it off to a well-deserved after life."

It was this statement that at last draws Retay from his shell. "So you're doing this for... for a 'good' purpose? You're trying to put it to rest?" He hesitates, then says, "How can we trust you?"

[kuja.girl]

Tiriel

Tiriel nods as she responds to Callos. "Good. Because the only thing I know about zombies is how to destroy them. I still don't like using it, but it's easier than fighting it and it leaves us free to deal with other threats."
Hearing Retay's unease, Tiriel snorts. "You can trust Callos Retay. He may be crazy but he's our crazy. If that makes sense."
And after all the crap he's put me through I do still trust him... for some reason.

[Erikkin]

Fizahn:

Fizahn stays near Callos as they walk along. He is surprised by all the complaints about Callos taking over the zombie. It's a tool. What does it matter? We all knew he was a necromancer. He grins at Callos as he mentions the parameters of his spell. "Yeah. Pity it doesn't work on undead drow priestesses." He immediately frowns after he states his comment. Underdark memories. Probably not the best thing to bring up... Djital... Thokk... Sedryn... His frown deepens as Retay questions Callos's trustworthiness. His voice is as close to steel as it has ever been when he replies. "We can trust him, Wyrmslayer. You weren't there when we met him. You don't know what happened down there."

[barawn]

Damian

Damian nods to Khazrael as he speaks up, and looks back to Callos. "Callos, it's easy enough to test. Just ask the minotaur to take us to the center of the city. Well, I'm assuming you can't ask it to take us to Valentine. Hmm.." He looks back over to Khazrael, and the small quasit. "Zeodoras, exactly where was Valentine located? In the center of the city, like we thought?"

A slight frown shows on his face as the party's progress slows. What time is it...? Have we already lost our window of distraction?

[blackfox]

Anika

Anika is uneasy. How do I know who's right? The zombie is a mindless... zombie, and Zeodoras could be and probably is lying to us.

She frowns in irritation. "Khazrael, is there any way of knowing for sure if Zeodoras is lying? Does he have to obey you--that is, can you force him to tell the truth?"

[King_of_GRiffins]

Elthan

Elthan gives a head shake to Anika at her question. "No, there is no way to confirm if Zedoras is truthful except to see for ourselves. Until Khazrael performs the proper rituals, he is under no compulsion than his own to speak the truth, though I see no reason why he would not."

The sorcerer dodges his head around, mulling over some thought before edging towards Khazrael. "This is a bit off subject, but have you ever bound a familiar before Khazrael? If you haven't I'd be happy to assist, besides, it's no fun spending a whole day alone."

[Aveda]

Gala

Though she keeps it to herself, Gala is not entirely at ease when the Minotaur lifts the gate and lets her, Tiriel, and Retay through. Despite Callos' reassurances, she keeps her distance and stays near the seething Retay. I've chosen to stick with these people, and I do trust in their abilities, but...well, if nothing else, what do we do when Callos' spell wears off? Do we just wait until it starts attacking us? She sighs and trudges along with the group until they begin debating their direction. "We can't afford to go the wrong way now. There's no way to ask the zombie, is there?" Gala looks at the Minotaur appraisingly. "I guess in this state, it'd just tell you whatever you told it to say anyway."

[Koji]

Khazrael

He grins at the little demon, then turns to the others and says, "He could be lying, but he probably doesn't have much of a reason to. He'd be putting himself in a large amount of danger to lead us into a trap we'd be walking into anyway."

"And no, I haven't performed a spirit-bonding. I learned how in a dream, so naturally I'm a little sketchy. Any help would be appreciated."

Wait, do I really want help from him...? I guess he's not all bad, but Evendur...

[Dr._Bob]

Zeodoras reports that Lady Valentine sleeps below the ruined keep at the center of Shandaular. At night, she commands from a chamber on one of the tower's intact upper levels.

The quasit assumes that this labyrinth of tunnels surrounds the tower and underlies the heart of the city, but he is not sure of the way to the actual center of the maze.

The minotaur slows to a halt as Callos redirects him to the "center" of the city. He slowly rotates to his right and begins leading your party in a different direction.

...

When the conversation drifts to Khazrael's and Elthan's experience with familiars, Aeroz nudges Khazrael, "Whatever you do, don't agree to be locked in a room alone with the half-elf." Aeroz winks.

...

The tunnels change subtly, becoming straighter and demonstrating improving workmanship. The stones are now fit together tightly, without obvious mortaring. Even without a dwarf in the party, the quality of the masonry is noticed by all.

A low moaning becomes audible, the soft sighing of several, if not many creatures up ahead ...

[blackfox]

Anika

Anika slows her pace and frowns. "Does anyone else hear that? It sounds like wailing or singing or something like that... up ahead of us."

[Naleh]

Retay

The barbarian frowns, but, he tells himself, he couldn't expect any more. Fizahn is trustworthy, and he said it was alright... He forces himself to relax and follow the zombie, despite all his instincts.

...

Retay shrugs at Anika. "We're in the heart of a city controlled by demons and undead. We were going to find something odd at some point." Hefting his greataxe, he continues towards the sound.

[Matticus]

Grynde

Oh, GOOD! he says enthusiastically. I was afraid that Retriever was the only decent fight we'd get in these tunnels.
Drawing both swords, he follows Retay's example without hesitation.

[Erikkin]

Fizahn:

Fizahn looks at Grynde with an expression of disgust. Bloodthirsty idiot. Except whatever it is probably doesn't actually have blood... "Callos, send the zombie up there. I'd rather it got killed instead of us being hurt. Of course, that's only if Zedoras knows where we should be going. Otherwise, I'd rather be hurt than without a guide." Fizahn fits a bolt to his crossbow and peers into the dark.

[kuja.girl]

Tiriel

"Fantastic." Tiriel mutters under her breath when the sound reaches her ears. She had kept her sword unsheathed since coming up on the other side of the gate. The large zombie made her nervous, friendly or not, it brought back some unpleasant memories.

[Callos_DeTerran]

Callos

"...Why does that sound so very familiar?" It was the only puzzled question that Callos could voice. It sounded so very very familiar too...Probably more zombies though if the minotaur was any indication and in that case that might be problematic...after all it did sound like there was quite a few of them.

"I'd really rather not send it ahead, in case we lose it which means we lose our guide. I would however suggest that meleers go to the front." Heeding his own advice the necromancer retreated back away from the minotaur and from where he had been speaking to Tryntha from, pulling his spellbook into hand and holding unto it loosely.

[Diarmuid]

Tryntha

Tryntha had ideas of her own, but again she was torn between voicing her opinion or hoping that the current ones would be heeded without too much discussion.

[Dr._Bob]

The passageway suddenly opens up into a large dry cistern. The chamber is filled with zombies - dozens of zombies - swaying side to side and moaning softly.

They stand in formation as though awaiting orders to deploy to the surface. Your light does not disturb them.

A dark opening on the other end of the cistern marks the only way forward.

Your zombie minotaur snorts and heft his battleaxe.

[Erikkin]

Fizahn:

"Tell him not to attack them yet." Fizahn says motioning at Callos's minotaur. "Zombies can only handle basic instructions, right? Like, wait for deployment, or guard this cavern. Is there any way you can find out what their instructions are. We might be able to avoid a fight. It's possible we could sneak around them." Fizahn pauses a moment to look at Tiriel. "Or perhaps we could fly above them. Zedoras and the minotaur might be able to walk right past them because they're not what Valentine would have specified as enemies. Of course if Grynde decides to attack them, I say we just wander past while they kill him... Except none of you can understand what I'm saying! Where are Thokk and Lissa?"

[Callos_DeTerran]

Callos

"Hmm...it's impossible to know what their orders are. They look like the run of the mill mindless zombies, generally harmless except in large quantities...which is what we have here. But if their orders don't include attacking creatures who walk through this way, which is likely since they probably wouldn't consider an attack from below, then they'll ignore us completely."

Callos rubbed his skeletal hand thoughtfully against his chin, looking down on the horde with a thoughtful look. What plans could be taken with all of this lot down there?...Perhaps it'd be best to see just what sort of orders the other zombies had first. If they weren't ordered to attack undead or anything walking through, then there was only slight problems.

Pointing to the bottom of the cistern, the necromancer looked at the zombie minotaur and spoke authoritatively. "Walk down there, stand there for ten seconds, then walk back up. Attack nothing unless attacked first."

[Naleh]

Retay, necromanerist

The barbarian stops at the lip of the cistern, staring at the massed zombies, his hands white on his axe. Predictably, he breathes heavily and his face is contorted much as it is during his battle-rages.

No... I must not lose control... We have bigger game to hunt... While the others try constructive means to solve the problem, Retay turns away from the zombies, staring at solid masonary instead.

[Koji]

Khazrael

Khazrael frowns at the zombie mob, and says, "I don't like this. Why would she be hiding them? I say we find some easy way to get rid of them all, and fast."

[kuja.girl]

Tiriel

"Are zombies flammable? Because I've got some oil we could use..." Tiriel breaks off, waiting to see what happens to the minotaur zombie.

[Dr._Bob]

Obediently, the zombie minotaur steps down into the cistern, wading through the once-human zombies. It stops in the center of the cistern, surrounded by gently swaying undead.

It turns 180 degrees and walks back to the stairs, then climbs back up and stands before Callos impassively.

The only way forward will require a descent down a half a dozen steps, moving through the hundred or more zombies, then climbing the opposite stairs and exiting through the dark opening ahead. The length of the cistern is approximately 100 feet. Its width is approximately 40 feet.

[King_of_GRiffins]

Elthan

Elthan puts his hand to his off-set chin and posses a thought back to Tiriel. "If you'd like I could take the vials then pour it onto them from above with little risk. Once doused, someone would only need to throw a torch to lite them. If need be, I could control one of the zombies to help spread the fire..."

[Koji]

Khazrael

The sorcerer grins at Tiriel and suggests, "Everyone's flammable if you bring oil into the mix."

[blackfox]

Anika

Anika is hesitant at first. "Do you think that they'd attack us if we just went through? I mean, they'd certainly attack us if we attacked them... Although I suppose if one of us approached and they were supposed to destroy anything alive then they could just grab us and eat us or something..."

She shrugs. "I just don't want to repeat what happened last time we tried to kill a hundred zombies."

[kuja.girl]

Tiriel

Tiriel gives Khaz a forced grin then looks back over the hoard of zombies. "Sure, but will they burn fast enough? We don't have all day to wait."

[Erikkin]

Fizahn:

"Right. Will they attack us? The answer comes Anika." Fizahn dives into the zombies. Staying low, he dodges around them towards the exit. I might be dead. If I can get to the exit...

[roll0]
AC: 19
HP: 57

[barawn]

Damian

Damian's eyes widen as Fizahn dives into the zombie horde, and he immediately ducks into a crevice, preparing for the worst. His eyes look to the top of the cistern and back down to the dragonfly ring on his finger. Turning to Tiriel, he speaks quickly. "If Fizahn has just completely torched us like I think he has, how many of us do you think you can carry? Who else can fly besides myself, Tiriel, and Khazrael? I can pass the dragonfly ring off to someone stronger - Gala, probably. Think quickly!"

[kuja.girl]

Tiriel

Fizahn's action takes Tiriel by surprise. After a few choice curse words, on the halfling's rashness and the failure of all to stop him , she answers Damian's question.
"As we are now, in armor, maybe one. Two at most, and not for long."

[ooc: I'm basing this off the fact that you have to only have a light load to fly and Tiriel has some 60 lbs of gear and her light load maxes out at 153 lbs. :smallfrown: if someone wants to tell me that I'm wrong, please go ahead!]

[Koji]

Khazrael

Inwardly, Khazrael smiles at Fizahn's impatient rashness. That's how I feel around these people half the time. Nicely done. His hands move up, fingers relaxed, and he sets himself almost as if he is about to begin a dance. He freezes in place, watching the gnome go, and says to Zeodoras, "Y'see, Zed, one of the benefits of our line of work is that this is a learning experience. We're about to see just how much being dead dulls a human's reflexes."

[Matticus]

Grynde

Speechless, and angry, at Fizahn's rash action, Grynde glances at his swordblades. Yeah, you all criticise me for rash actions...

[Dr._Bob]

Fizahn takes a running leap off of the low set of stairs into the mass of zombies. Dodging, rolling, and sliding, he ducks around and between the zombies' legs, weaving his way across the cistern toward the exit.

The zombies are slow to respond at first. By the time the first zombies begin to reach downward, Fizahn is already beyond them. Unfortunately, the cistern is packed with zombies standing practically shoulder to shoulder. As though acting with one mind, the entire mass of zombies begins to stir, focusing on the tumbling gnome. The hundred (or more) zombies lurch into action, their low moaning rising in intensity and echoing off of the arched ceiling of the cistern, creating a dissonant roar that sets your teeth on edge.

About twenty feet in, Fizahn's luck and skill run out. The gnome disappears under a pack of clumsy zombies that throw themselves on him in a scrum.

[Diarmuid]

Tryntha

A slight gasp escapes the Rashemi woman's lips as Fizahn dives into the throng of undead. She stutters through trying to ask if he will be ok and bewildering wondering why he would do such a thing until her heart drops and she can no longer see him moving through the mess.

"We have to do something!"

She steps toward Tiriel and begins casting a spell.



[roll0] (If necessary)

Begin casting Hide from Undead on Tiriel.



After casting her spell, she briefly explains,

"This spell should keep the zombies from noticing you unless you touch them....please go and pull him to safety.."

Her voice is pleading with the woman whose true form is clear to her and she knows has the ability to do what she is asking.

[barawn]

Damian

Damian swears as Fizahn gets swarmed by the zombies, then turns to Tryntha as she pleads with Tiriel. "Tryntha, I think they'll notice her when she tries to pull Fizahn free. It's a little hard not to notice that. You should go with her, and clear the zombies around Fizahn the same way you did outside of Immilmar. I know you've only got a certain amount of times you can channel energy like that, but this is certainly one of them!"

Quickly slipping off the dragonfly ring, he offers it to Tryntha. "Here, take this, activate it, and fly along with Tiriel. Clear the zombies, have Tiriel pull Fizahn to safety, and then bring him back here so we can beat him senseless. And pray that they don't follow you!"

His eyes turn back to the mass of zombies swarming Fizahn. "And hurry. I don't think Fizahn has a lot of time."

[Diarmuid]

Tryntha

Taking the ring from Damian, she slips it onto her finger.

"How do I activate it?

Nodding at the response (assuming he tells her), she speaks the draconic word and turns to Tiriel.

"Please, follow me."

Flying over the mass of undead, she estimates where the gnome is and reaches inward towards her center and embraces the source of power she draws from. Spreading her arms wide, she lets the power escape her in waves that rush over the zombies...washing them in positive energy.



[roll0]
Maximum Hit Die 5
[roll1]

Any undead with 3 or less HD are destroyed rather than turned.

[blackfox]

Anika

In alarm, Anika cries "Fizahn! Don't be stupid, dammit!", but she is too late. Seeing that others are preparing to rescue Fizahn, she pulls a torch from her pack and lights it, preparing to fight. She draws a dagger with her other hand.

(OOC: Dagger in main hand, torch in off hand.)

[Koji]

Khazrael

"Hrmph, oil would have been so much easier...oh well--LIGHT IT UP!"

Staying at least ten feet from the nearest zombie, Khazrael calls forth a dark violet lightning bolt and sends it into the crowd of zombies, trying to hit as many as he can while attempting to narrowly avoid Fizahn's last known location.

Initiative: 1d20+1=12 (http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=1436388)
Lightning Bolt:
7d6=25 (http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=1436390) reflex DC 16 for half.

[kuja.girl]

Tiriel

Tiriel feels Tryntha casting a spell on her. As soon as the Hathran has explained herself Tiriel grimices. She's all for trying to save the halfling but she's not sure how well that's going to work. Won't the zombies just follow me after I pick Fizahn up? Sure they're slow, but this is a numbers problem, not speed.
Sighing, Tiriel gives up once she realies that Tryntha was determined to try.

Tiriel takes to the air and follows the Tryntha, prepared to grab Fizahn as soon as the ground is cleared...

[ooc: I'm waiting because last time Tanner & Tiriel tried this the guy was already dead. :smallannoyed: ]

[Matticus]

Grynde

The half-elf chuckles as the zombies fall in on Fizahn, and inside hopes they give him a good kicking before he's rescued. Well, folks, it hasn't been nice knowing you. Shall we go save the annoying midget? Without waiting for any kind of answer, Grynde charges down the stairs and slashes the nearest zombie.


Wow, Grynde slashes things a lot!
[roll0]
[roll1] Do I take the penalty if I'm not using the off-hand weapon? Huh. [Edit: Doesn't seem to matter, because that's a natural one. Why did I use the forum roller?
[roll2]

[Naleh]

Retay

"FIZAHN!" For a long moment, the barbarian stands on the brink, grappling with himself. But then some part of him wins out, and he does the stupidest thing bar the gnome's own: he charges into the zombie horde with the half-elf, axe swinging.

Charge. No rage; Retay's not doing this for the undead, he's doing it for Fizahn. Plus, I only have two per day, and this'll be a long day yet... *is annoyed that I wasted one on the Retriever*
[roll0]
[roll1]
HP 60
AC 14
DR 15/adam or 1/-

[Dr._Bob]

Tiriel circles above, her wings scraping the ceiling. Tryntha activates the dragonfly ring and steps off of the upper platform, hovering in mid-air. Careful to keep out of the zombies' reach, she zig zags until she is floating above the mass of zombies that have buried Fizahn.

Spreading her arms wide, she cries out in Rashemi, and a ripple of pure white light spreads outward. A dozen zombies are instantly disintegrated, revealing Fizahn curled up in a fetal position on the mortared stone floor.

Tiriel lands, scattering dust in all directions, and scoops up Fizahn, then she leaps back up into the air, her wings beating loudly. The gnome's cloak has been shredded and fine crimson lines criss-cross his face and hands, but otherwise, he is fine.

Meanwhile, Khazrael fires a lightning bolt into the zombie horde, incinerating ten. Retay and Grynde leap down the stairs, their weapons drawn.

Retay buries his axe into the nearest zombie, cleaving it from shoulder to hip. It falls to the ground in two pieces, still twitching. Grynde's swords blur as he holds his ground, preventing the zombies from climbing the stairs.

As one, the zombies howl and hiss. Their sightless, opaque eyes roll and their rotting jaws clack noisily as they converge on the stairs, attempting to overwhelm Retay and Grynde by sheer numbers ...


OOC: Fizahn takes 10 points of damage.

[Aveda]

Gala

Gala seems torn as Fizahn tries, and fails, to run through the horde of zombies. Tryntha's plan, if it worked, seemed like their best chance at saving him. There's just too many to easily take out ourselves...as much as I'd like to get this horde taken out before they hit topside, we do have a mission to complete. Her military training wins out in the end, and she hopes fervently that Tiriel can save the gnome as she moves to the front of the party and takes a defensive position.

She gapes as Grynde and Retay rush past her into the mass of zombies and her brow furrows when it appears that Fizahn has been successfully rescued. "Grynde! Retay! Fizahn's alright!" She yells down the steps. "Now we still have to...get past them all...dammit, there's no other way out of this now, is there?" Gala bounds down the stairs, her sword drawn, and helps Grynde and Retay, concentrating on keeping the zombies from coming up the stairs.

Initiative (1d20+1=19) (http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=1437988)
Attack (1d20+12=14) (http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=1437992)
Damage, Electrical Damage (1d10+5=9, 1d6=1) (http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=1438006)

[Koji]

Khazrael

Between abyssal incantations, Khazrael laughs, "Val's gonna flip when she calls up her zombie reinforcements and they're all dead!"

He sidesteps a little to find an opening, and sends another lightning bolt into the horde of undead.

7d6=29 (http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=1438150)
Reflex 16 for half.

[barawn]

Damian

Damian stares blankly as the others in the party charge forward to tackle the massive zombie horde. They can't be serious. They can't be serious!

As Khazrael cackles, Damian turns to him. "Yes, however, that won't help us when we're dead because we won't have enough resources to beat her today! We can't kill all of these zombies! We still have to fight Valentine, and for that we're going to need some of your spells, Khazrael!"

He looks up to Tiriel, carrying Fizahn. "Tiriel! Can you get Fizahn to the other side of the cavern! If you and Tryntha can get over there, Tryntha can give you the ring, and then we can all simply fly across and avoid them!"

Of course, that presumes that us slaughtering dozens of undead won't be noticed soon...

[Matticus]

Grynde

Hey! I've a good idea! the half-elf shouts, as he slashes doggedly at the zombies. Tiriel, why don't you say "Darastrix" very loudly???


NOT using the forum this time.
19, 16, 24, 4. Damages: 8, 3, 6, 7. In that order. (http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=1438317)
I always roll a natural one....
EDIT: As per usual, I've mucked up my rolls somehow. Those damages should be 1d6, not 1d8...So here are the damage rolls...
6, 8, and 7. (http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=1438329)

[blackfox]

Anika

Anika hesitates for a second longer, then attacks the zombies as well. She tries to take out stragglers, and keeps her back against the wall so she can't be surrounded.

(OOC: Attack Roll (1d20+8=28) (http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=1438343)
Crit Confirm (1d20+8=20) (http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=1438345) Sweeeet.
Damage (1d4+3=7, 1d4+3=4) (http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=1438347)

If anyone throws oil or something else flammable on the zombies, Anika will torch them.)

[King_of_GRiffins]

Elthan

There will really wasn't much the half-elf could do to rescue the gnome, or at least that he would want to do. Risking his life wasn't exactly a fun or smart thing to do. Thinking a bit to himself, Elthan walks out onto the steps and takes a good look at the zombies before picking one that would most obstruct the flow of zombies towards the steps.

With two or three zombies in my command, I should be able to slow their flow towards the group, as well as provide a distraction.

Once casting and seeing the intended zombie stop still in it's tracks, he shouts out to it. "Block the other Zombies way."

Casting Control Undear. Non-intelligent undead get no saves.

[roll0]