Monsters as PC's (IC, 3.P)

[Covenant12]

All four charge various party members, snarling with a good bit of spittle flying. As they close they look more disturbing, enlarged and filthy teeth that are quite sharp. Which they proceed to try and bite you with.

Spoiler: OOC

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One attacks Gudu Sileso: Hits AC (1d20+6)[13] for (1d6+3)[6] damage. DC 12 Fort save vs. paralysis if hit.
One attacks Tark: Hits AC (1d20+6)[7] for (1d6+3)[4] damage. DC 12 Fort save vs. paralysis if hit. AC is flat-footed.
The third attack Ellenallen: Hits AC (1d20+6)[13] for (1d6+3)[4] damage. DC 12 Fort save vs. paralysis if hit.

The leader also attacks Ellenallen: Hit AC (1d20+7)[19] for (1d8+3)[10] damage. DC 15 Fort save vs. paralysis if hit.

Before that, Gudu Sileso and Ellenallen must make a DC 15 Fort save vs. sickened. As must any who close within 10' of leader.
Assuming flying at 20'.

Gudu Sileso: (1d20+5)[12]
Ellenallen: (1d20+4)[12]

[Auranghzeb]

Gudu was taken by surprise by the violence of the attack. He dodged the creatures claws but he immediately felt his stomach revolt at the stench of the creature.

His memory traveled fast trying to recognize the monster.

Spoiler: Knowledge check

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Knowledge religion I guess(1d20+7)[23](the -2 of sickened is already factored)

And then tried to fend the creature over with a mighty slam adding extra power to the hit with his inspiration.

Spoiler: Attack

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Slam (1d20+10)[12]+whatever the knowledge devotion gives and damage (1d6+9)[11]+whatever the knowledge devotion gives. Using two inspiration points one on the attack and other in the damage, both rolls have the sickened -2 factored. Then tumbling away from them.

[Anachronity]

Orthon lashes out at the nearest of the abhorrent beings

Spoiler: Actions

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Move to the closest one
Fort vs. Stench?: (1d20+5)[24] (not sure if the normal ghouls have stench or not.
and claw: (1d20+7)[24] for (1d6+6)[9] damage
crit?: (1d20+7)[8] for (1d6+6)[9] extra damage

[Covenant12]

Ellenallen flinches at the foul bite:

Spoiler: OOC

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Fort Save vs. paralysis: (1d20+4)[7]
The ghoul charged before the ghast, so -2 from sickened is intentionally not included.

[Covenant12]

The ghoul lets out a high-pitched shriek and collapses, emitting a vile force as he falls.

Spoiler: OOC

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Negative Energy damage: (2d6)[5] DC 15 Reflex save half.
Tark: (1d20+2)[3]
Orthon: (1d20+6)[10]
Ellenallen: (1d20-2)[13]

[DaOldeWolf]

Luin considers himself to be in a bad position. He decides to move away from the ghast considering the sort of dangerous creature it is. "Undead are such annoying creatures." Luin complains knowing that he doesnt have any spells or abilities that could ease teh situation. At the very least, he could try again to attack with his long range move.

Spoiler: OOC

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Luin is moving 20 feet down on the map. Then he use his Sonic blast using my second arcane reservoir point. Two left.
(1d20+7)[27]
(2d6+3)[9]

[Stevesciguy]

Zarakiel looks down at the ghast, his normally stoic face now contorted with disgust.

"(Tongues)With Pelor's light, you shall be dealt with swiftly."

With those words, he dives directly towards the ghast, heavy mace glowing with holy power.

Spoiler: OoC

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Fort Save: (1d20+11)[29]

Power Attacking for full and charging. Furious Focus means I do not take a penalty on my first attack.

Attack Roll: (1d20+12)[27]

Using Divine Might to add my Charisma to my damage roll this round. That consumes 1 use of lay on hands.

Damage Roll: (1d8+21)[24]

[Xenopax]

Tark would effortlessly dodge the blow from the ghast, hitting back with one of his own! Well more than one. Teeth and claws, all the way.

Spoiler: Attacks!

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Swift action: Pugulist Stance + Dragon Style
Standard: Flurry Strike
(1d20+9)[24]: Claw Attack(s)
(1d10+12)[22]: Claw one
(1d10+8)[10]: Claw two
(1d20+4)[16]: Bite Attack
(1d10+4)[9]: Bite Damage
(3d6)[4][3][6](13): Pugilist Strike damage in order

[Covenant12]

The Ghast, after spinning around repeatedly trying to face all three attacks, is brutally mauled and collapses with a groan.
The remaining Ghouls look mildly confused, but still hateful towards you in the extreme.
The second Ghoul then goes down to Tark's hits, with a muffled shriek and a burst of vile energy.

Spoiler: OOC

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Negative energy, DC 15 Reflex save for half. Damage: (2d6)[9]
Zarakiel made the save vs. stench, Tark's will be here and not included in Reflex save.

Stench, Fort 15 DC for Tark: (1d20+9)[17]

Zarakiel: (1d20+11)[25]
Tark: (1d20+2)[3]Possible -2 for sickened, and maybe +1 for arcane defense?
Ellenallen: (1d20-2)[5]

And yes, the Ghast did not give off a negative energy burst.

[Covenant12]

Ellenallen's only possible action is Eldritch Blast at the final Ghoul. So now that the absurdity of attacks of opportunity on a paralyzed caster lowering her defenses is no longer there....

Spoiler: OOC

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Eldritch Blast: To Hit (1d20-2)[6]. Damage: (2d6)[4]

[Covenant12]

The remaining Ghoul seems now not just angry and vile, but outright deranged in features. He snarls and attacks Tark.

Spoiler: OOC

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Bite: (1d20+4)[5] Damage: (1d6+3)[4]
Claw: (1d20+2)[19] Damage: (1d3+1)[4]
Claw: (1d20+2)[22] Damage: (1d3+1)[4]

Save vs. Paralysis DC 12 Fort, per successful hit.

[Covenant12]

The stench from the Ghast is still present, but no longer overpowering. Not that the other undead corpses smell overly good. The zombies were clearly dwarven, likely shield dwarves. They only have splint mail and a battle axe (each), and finely made but old clothing.
The ghouls have nothing but rags and worn-out boots, one of three actually barefoot. The ghast has better clothing and comparatively decent shoes. He also has a purse that contains gems and 5 gold. 3 Blue quartz, 5 large Onyx, and 1 well-cut piece of jade. The purse also contains a wand.
The wand is the only thing that detects magic on the corpses, or in the immediate vicinity. The corpse is clearly orcish, maybe two days dead. He has been excessively bitten, likely by the ghouls. But not overly much of the corpse has actually been eaten, odd considering 4 of them around. He has nothing but rough-cut clothing, now torn and bloody.

The barred door now sounds like it has a repetitive, almost rhythmic dull *thump* sound coming from behind it. Not the door itself, but further back. The bar could fairly easily be lifted, and then the door opened out.

It is now fully dusk. Low-light vision will work for a short while, then struggle with moon-light. There are arrow slits in the two buildings but not the towers, no light comes from them.

You can't see much into the stables without entering them, but you notice the south-western tower has a disturbing amount of webbing around it. Nothing visible of interest near the Great hall building, other than the orc corpse.

Spoiler: OOC

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Say 7 charges of CLW wands to heal to full, if you skimp on Tark. Paralysis lasts 5 rounds max, sickened several minutes according to Gudu Sileso. Up to you if you want to wait on the latter.

You can simply count the gems as 380 GP total if you want to sell them, plus 5 actual gold.

[tonberryking]

Stumbling forward once the paralysis wears off, Ellenallen snorts and stamps a bit, but calms down. Damned if the undead aren't full of nasty surprises. In fact, to keep any more nasty surprises from occuring, the centaur aims a few eldritch blasts callously at the head of the orcish corpse until there's nothing left of the head, or at least until she's satisfied leaving whatever stump is left when her ire abates.

"Just in case that was going to get back up. Are we alright though? I don't know if these carrion can convert living people or not..." she growls, seeming rather antsy about the prospect of dying to this first assault.

Spoiler: OOC/rolls

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Before approaching the thumping door, I wanna cast detect magic at the stables and case the general area before venturing inward. Assuming she can even fit in the door:

Search: (1d20+1)[3]

[Covenant12]

The only magic you detect is from the wand, and items yourselves are carrying. With darkvision you see the ground-level interior of the stables. The upper level has two ladders leading up, typically storing hay. The ground level is mostly individual stalls. Fairly clean, with a couple mounds of horse droppings at least two weeks old.
Against the far wall (from center-north doors) there is a pile of what looks like broken and discarded tools. Nothing in the pile detects magic.

Spoiler: OOC

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The stables were designed for horses, the main doorway is over 10' wide, the east one a bit over 5'.
Gudu Sileso's Know(religion) would reveal Ghoul's bite can carry disease that can turn you into a ghoul, but that would take over a week. And it would be obvious if you had the disease.

[Auranghzeb]

As the dusk gives way to darkness Gudu finds extremely ironic that the Troll is the one who may need a torch.

He approaches the door where the thudding sound is coming from, but with care and searching for traps.

[Covenant12]

As it nears dark, the wind picks up a bit, with the occasional serious gust. Still cloudless, approaching a full moon means visibility is reasonable outside. Other than the thump sounds, it is very quiet. Said sounds persist, not varying in volume or frequency, once every few seconds.

You do not find any traps, the bar doesn't look overly heavy. This door, as with the other external doors in the fort, open inward. There is a small handle on the right side, presumably to pull it shut. The door fits well, no spacing on the top or sides to the hallway beyond. There is a tiny gap on the bottom, you aren't sure if you could see into it from ground level.

Otherwise not a lot of note, the well looks clean and functional, as does the anvil at the smithy. The webbing near the door to the southwest tower is fair frankly worrisome. The patches are avoidable but looks sturdy. All the tower doors look firmly shut. And have similar handles to the northwest building.

All buildings, except perhaps the great hall could be entered from the air, and have stairways leading down. The two northern buildings have a high 5' walkway between them. It isn't clear if the great hall building could be entered there without close inspection.

[Stevesciguy]

"I suppose we may as well deal with whatever is causing this thumping, enemy or otherwise. Tark, if you could be nearby while I lift the bar, it'd be much appreciated."

Zarakiel walks to the door, then seems to just stare intently at it.

Spoiler: OoC

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I'd like to detect evil in the direction of the door, please

[Covenant12]

Though outright evil is not detected, you feel a sense of foreboding while standing near the door.

Removing the bar is uneventful, it weight 10 pounds or slightly less. The door opens inward to the right, showing an empty hall behind. It is roughly 8' wide and almost 10' from floor to ceiling. Directly to your left, a very small room with stairwell leading up goes out of sight around the corner. The room looks quite barren.

The hallway is in darkness, and terminates at a solid door facing you, and another to the right. The hallway continues to the left out of sight. Both doors are closed. The thumping sound is now louder, clearly coming from somewhere around the corner to the left. It continues the steady rhythm.

Once the door is opened, the area near the visible doors radiates notable evil. It doesn't appear to be from an item or creature, but the area itself.

Though there is traces of snow in the stairwell area, the hallway forward is very clear.

[Stevesciguy]

"End of the corridor has been desecrated - appears to be attached to an altar to an evil deity, likely behind one of those two doors. We should be careful - undead within the desecration will be especially strong, and the presence of an altar implies that we're getting close to the necromancer. Or at least, that we're getting close to where they created their undead. Are we ready to move in?"

[Xenopax]

"I smell da dead un's all 'round. Da bitey onez and da Stinky onez. Dere's old smell down by da end. Smellz wrong. Long Fangs? Tark commented as he took the front, hoping his regeneration would cover the rest of their party from any major blows. if anyone else wants to take the front, just move infront of him, he won't stop you

[tonberryking]

Ellenallen's ...unique physiology and body make up is at times a delicate balance born from haphazard black magic medicine, and while normally has a robust health, sometimes a softer shell is bared. She looks a little sickly after taking that bite and is all the more frustrated for it.

"There's a lot of magic here and whatever that thumping is... I don't even know! Maybe some damn ghoul is stuck on a door..." She tries to enter, very frustrated for the effort, and prepares her eldritch powers, forgoing the use of her lance in such tight quarters.

"I'll follow whoever's brave enough to investigate. I'll cut the culprit before it gets too close..."

[DaOldeWolf]

"I can try to discern the magic. It might at least help us understand its nature better." Luin replies as he prepares to cast his spell. He was there to offer magical asssistance afterall, so he had to give his best.

Spoiler: OOC

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Luin casts detect magic

Knowledge arcana check: (1d20+10)[28]

[Covenant12]

As it grows fully dark, the wind dies down dramatically. The stench of undead is both in front of and behind you. You quietly discuss what's ahead and options, otherwise you hear nothing.. Save for the persistent *thump* coming from the hallway, somewhere to the left of the visible doors.

[DaOldeWolf]

Luin decides to share his findings with the others. "I detect some evocation magic on some sort of altar. It isnt to our benefit but it shouldnt cause of any harm either. Be careful with the hallway, I can detect some necromancy at work. This spell trap might turn someone into an undead. What should we do?" Luin finishes to let the other give their opinions about the situation.

[Covenant12]

As you discuss options, something approaches in the darkness.

Spoiler: OOC

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[Stealth roll: (1d20+18)[26]

Perception:

Luin Whitefur: (1d20+6)[10]
Zarakiel: (1d20+8)[12]
Ellenallen: (1d20+1)[12]
Gudu Sileso: (1d20+8)[20]
Tark: (1d20+7)[9]
Orthon: (1d20+14)[23]

I'll add initiative as this will basically be the surprise round:

Enemy: (1d20+5)[14]

Party: (1d20+5)[20]

[Covenant12]

Outside the entrance, while you watch, you hear a deep and eerie *bark* comes from a distance behind you. From somewhere in the courtyard to the east. Your minds spin in panic, as you struggle to keep your composure.

Spoiler: OOC rolls

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DC 13 Will save vs. panicked. This is a fear effect, so Zarakiel is immune and grants a +4 morale bonus to all of you.

Luin Whitefur: (1d20+8)[17]
Ellenallen: (1d20+8)[14]
Gudu Sileso: (1d20+9)[14]
Tark: (1d20+9)[15] Maybe +1 from arcane defense? I'll check if it matters.
Orthon: (1d20+12)[13]

[Auranghzeb]

Gudu feels a shiver down his spine. But he recovers from the initial scare.

What is that?

He prepares his bow, aiming it at the darkness from where the aura came, ready to shoot whatever comes from there.

Spoiler: OoC

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Ready action to shoot using an inspiration point for the damage. (1d20+8)[20] damage (1d8+8)[9]

[DaOldeWolf]

Luin ants to find out about the creature on the dark. "I´ll make you reveal yourself." Luin proclaims as he creates 4 sources of light and moves them into the darkness to try to reveal whatever was behind the last attack.

Spoiler: OOC

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Using SLA of dancing lights.

[Covenant12]

The dancing lights provide short range illumination, and are sent 100' east in the vicinity of the great hall entrance and the main gate. Outside 60' they show the surroundings much clearer than the prevailing moonlight, but reveal nothing you hadn't seen before.

The fresh snow from this morning, however, is a different story. You look at the revealed area as the dancing lights move.

Spoiler: OOC

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DC 13 Spot/Perception check to notice a change in the snow. Survival will be used if that's better.
Orthon can roll on his turn if he isn't panicked during his action, currently he can't.

Luin Whitefur: (1d20+6)[24]
Zarakiel: (1d20+8)[19]
Ellenallen: (1d20+1)[11]
Gudu Sileso: (1d20+8)[28]
Tark: (1d20+7)[19]

[Stevesciguy]

"Hmph. Invisibility shall not protect you, foul creatures. Pelor's light illuminates all."

With a flourish of his empty hand, Zarakiel's eyes begin to glow with a faint holy light.

Spoiler: OoC

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Zarakiel casts See Invisibility