[WFRP] The Bloody Crown XI

[-Sentinel-]

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OOC: Curse result is Grave Offence - Elsa shouts something horribly offensive to those around her. I'll leave it to you to decide what.

I like this one.

The fiery power of Aqshy filled Elsa with impatience, which she directed at the Thorns. "Put your backs into it, you useless fools! They're just corpses! Did the wrong half of the Thorns survive?!"

<'Elsa, Sieghard the djinn thinks she can get us out of here. Prepare yourselves!'>

Elsa's anger dissipated at once. What, what? She can do that?

No time... <Khalida, back to me! Quickly! We're leaving this place!> Elsa made a dash for the snake to meet her halfway. Luckily Khalida had not made it very far.

[LCP]

Adelbert, Sieghard & Elsa

The brass seal of the jar was stuck fast with some kind of wax. Twisting with all his strength, Adelbert pulled it free - and was almost knocked on his back as the jar’s contents erupted into the open air. It appeared first as a twisting column of smoke, shot through with motes of brilliant prismatic light. In the churn of that formless mass, Adelbert thought he saw suggestions of eyes, mouths, arms - more, far more than any human body should have.

After a few moments, the smoke condensed into a more concrete figure. She was dressed like an Arabyan dancer, wrapped in a long, blue cloak that twisted down past where her legs should logically end. Though she looked largely human, her eyes were pools of smokeless fire, and she hung in the air as if gravity were a choice she was free to reject.

The Thorns who had been gathering rubble to brace up the door had stopped in their tracks, gawping at the apparition in front of them. She ignored them, arching her back and stretching out her arms with every appearance of enjoyment. Shaking out the stiffness in her neck, she cast her burning gaze over the ruins around her.

Well, she said, in a voice that bypassed the ears of the listener in favour of burrowing straight into the brain. This place has seen better days. With a sudden movement, she shot up to the level of the roof, coming face-to-face with one of the stone vulture gargoyles above them. She peered at it as if expecting it to talk back. Has it really been so long?

The noise of the dead pushing against the gate brought her back to the here and now. Looking down, she saw Adelbert still holding the jar.

So… master, she said, her lips creasing in a sardonic smile. What is your command?

Elsa Only

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The thing Adelbert had released from the jar burned like a bonfire in Elsa’s second sight, so bright she almost had to look away. Like Cacophrax and the creatures of the Library, it was a creature of pure magic.

Adelbert Only

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Looking up at the smiling face of the djinn, Adelbert had a feeling of standing on the edge of a precipice. He imagined Hieronymus would probably need hours of theological debate to arrive at an answer, but something about this felt like a transgression. Cacophrax’s words echoed in his head. Your goddess is a jealous bitch…

Behind him, the gates were shaking as Nahorek’s puppets battered their dead weight against them. He wasn’t sure he had a choice.

OOC:

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This isn't a new round, just a description of what happens when Adelbert opens the jar on his turn. I'll wait for TheSummoner to get a look-in before advancing the round.

[RossN]

Adelbert

Adelbert looked at the djinn in disbelief, thousands of thoughts racing through his mind at once. It took him a few moments to find his voice. 'Tshula-Udiyya, the vampire beyond the gate - can you destroy it or imprison it without harming anything living?'

[TheSummoner]

Sieghard

Sieghard glared daggers at Elsa's outburst. He had some choice words for her once this was over. If they survived.

"Quit gawking and keep pushing!" Sieghard shouted "Do you want to stare or do you want to live?" He glanced back at Adelbert and the Djinn. He didn't need Elsa's wizard senses to know that creature was unnatural.

"I hope you know what you're doing, Schreiber."

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If it's full round command or full round strength and a +10 bonus to the Thorns if I succeed either, then command is marginally higher.

(1d100)[51] vs 64 Command

[LCP]

Adelbert, Elsa & Sieghard

The Thorns were pushing with all their might, but still the weight of dead flesh outside was greater. As the doors ground inexorably back, the gap between them grew wider. Cries of alarm rose as a burning figure squeezed through it, lurching towards the nearest of the men at the door. Its face was burnt and blistered almost beyond recognition, but its blackened uniform was clearly that of the Thorns.

Tshula-Udiyya watched it with detached interest, descending slowly to ground level as she did. How would I know that without seeing it, master? she asked. Do you wish me to go outside and look?

[RossN]

Adelbert

Adelbert smiled grimly. So it was going to be like that eh?

'Tshula-Udiyya I command you to observe the capabilities of the vampire outside without bringing or by deliberate inaction causing additional danger to those inside this building and without bringing or by deliberate inaction causing additional danger to anyone still living outside. Should you survive I further command you to return here swiftly and truthfully and helpfully reveal what you have discovered.'

[TheSummoner]

Sieghard

Seeing their own dead turned into the vampire's puppets filled Sieghard with fresh rage. He lunged at the zombie.

"I'll stop stop them from getting through!" he yelled "Just get the ****ing door shut!"

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Standard attack on the zombie trying to get through. If the gap is only big enough for a single zombie, that should hopefully be enough.
(1d100)[34]
(1d10+7)[16]

And another command roll
(1d100)[32]

[-Sentinel-]

"Adelbert, do we have time to be verbose?" asked Elsa through clenched teeth, returning to the rest of the group with Khalida in her pocket.

She felt a surge of spiteful glee when Nahorek failed once more to extinguish her spell.

[LCP]

Sieghard, Adelbert & Elsa

How specific, said the djinn, circling Adelbert. She bowed low, though her feet still didn't touch the ground. As you command.

With a sudden movement, she leapt upwards, becoming a streak of fire that flashed out through the hole in the roof, and was gone. Left holding the jar, Adelbert stared at the patch of dark sky she had disappeared into - and saw dark shapes moving against the edge of the ruined dome. Someone was on the roof.

Behind him, Sieghard drove his spear through the first of the burning corpses to struggle inside. Letting its body topple to the floor, he wrenched the weapon free - but the Thorns beside him couldn't hold the gates any longer. With a great groan of corroded hinges, the brass doors swung inwards, a wave of dead flesh flooding in behind them. The light of Elsa's spell gave Nahorek's puppets a hellish aspect as they came lurching forward through the fire, some still burning like Mondstille candles.

Their master was out there, somewhere beyond the flames. As the zombies poured in, Elsa and Adelbert could hear the cracked voices on the wind, feel the black shadow of the Jackal as it stretched out over the horde. The witch-lights in the corpses' eyes burned a little brighter...

OOC:

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Against my better judgement, here's a map with 57 tokens on it.



Zombies at the front (marked with flames) have been exposed to the curtain of fire for multiple rounds and are burning. Zombies behind have been through the curtain => lost some wounds but have not had prolonged exposure. Naturally there's also a good number of crispy ex-zombies that they're walking over. Ingwald, Hanna and Gustaf are picked out from the Thorns by their initials; watch out for Ingwald, his I looks like a 1 (but it's bigger).

Unrelated to the map, can I please have a Perception test for Adelbert?

---

Ludo & Urgrim

Watching from his hiding-place, Ludo saw the line of fire slash back across the zombies battering at the gates - and saw Nahorek drive them through it all the same. The doors were just starting to give when a dart of coloured fire flashed out of the ruined dome. The ghouls and Rivermouthers who had been clambering up towards the breach fell back in alarm, but the speeding flames ignored them - instead they arced up and over the building, coming down to hover just above its front face. It was difficult to see through the haze, but it looked like they were resolving themselves into a vaguely human shape.

Nahorek gazed up at the fiery figure, as if challenging it to come down. It didn't move.

[-Sentinel-]

Elsa felt Nahorek bind together a spell of unknown nature. Much as she wanted to give him a taste of his own medicine by dispelling it (whatever it was), she knew the Thorns on the front line did not have much time before they were overwhelmed. She tried to move her curtain of fire through the doors.


OOC

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Curtain of Flame (from zombie 18 to 23) using spell ingredient.

Casting 12: (3d10)[6][8][5](19)
Chaos die: (d10)[4]

No Curse! Very nice.

It's not often that you have an opportunity to place a Curtain of Flame in a location where it burns 24 enemies.

Obeying her will, the curtain burned through the zombies' rear rank and came to a halt in the middle of the undead horde. The smell of charred flesh was overpowering.

[RossN]

Adelbert

Feeling a shiver down his spine Adelbert looked at the oncoming zombies and even knowing he'd already angered his goddess once whispered a prayer.

OOC:

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Channeling: (1d100)[99] vs 58
Blessing of Fortitude (5): (2d10)[5][9](14)

[TheSummoner]

Sieghard

Sieghard cursed as the gate creaked open but felt a faint glimmer of hope as Elsa's fire cut across the back rank of the dead.

"Swords out! Hold them!" he shouted "Keep them in the flames!"

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Swift attack, focusing on zombie #4 right in front of him first. Can't imagine these ones have all that many wounds left.

(1d100)[70] vs 66
(1d10+7)[9]

(1d100)[68] vs 66
(1d10+7)[16]

(1d100)[39] vs 66
(1d10+7)[11]

[LCP]

Sieghard, Adelbert & Elsa

The Thorns rushed forwards, a thin line of green against the tide of dust-streaked grey. Mirino steel cut into dead flesh, cold hands reaching for warm throats even as the undead were cut apart. The pressure was relentless, but the line was holding.

Still the dead came on, marching through the gates even as their flesh roasted from their bones. Their movements were getting quicker, the pale lights in their eyes burning with a feverish intensity. Swooping over their heads, a streak of many-coloured fire flashed through the top of the gate and earthed itself next to Adelbert, resolving once more into the figure of the djinn.

No, she said, and all the mischief seemed gone from her voice. I cannot fight... that.

A tinkle of falling stones made both of them look up. Creeping crab-wise along the ledge from the hole in the roof, one of the Rivermouth folk had edged his way inside. Seeing he'd been spotted, he shouted at the top of his lungs:

"MASTER! MASTER, COME IN!" He took a deep breath and shouted again: "YOU ARE WELCOME IN THIS HOUSE!"

OOC:

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The red glow marks zombies affected by Hellish Vigour.

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Ludo & Urgrim

Whatever staring contest was going on between Nahorek and the burning figure, Nahorek was clearly winning. As gracefully as a diver into a lake, the fiery figure leapt off the roof and down through the fires that blazed in the doorway, arcing back inside the darkness of the ruins.

[RossN]

Adelbert

Adelbert moistened dry lips. 'In which case djinn I command you to get all of us living things, including yourself but not including any under the sway of that vampire somewhere safe for us, secure for us and far from him.'

[LCP]

As you command, she said. Looking around at her surroundings, her gaze settled on Adelbert again. Lay your cloak on the ground.

[RossN]

Adelbert

Adelbert did so, then picked up the jar. 'Elsa! Sieghard! We're leaving! Get ready!'

[LCP]

Tshula-Udiyya knelt beside the cloak, pressing her hands to the wool. Where they touched it, flames leapt up - but as the coruscating fire spread across the cloak, what it left behind was not burnt, but changed.

It rose off the floor, spinning slowly in the air. A brass disk, its surface covered with complex, symmetrical patterns, it looked to be metal through and through - but around its edge, yellow, squid-like eyes twitched this way and that, showing that it was alive. A lamprey-like mouth opened on the side that faced Adelbert, probing the air with a pale blue tendril of a tongue.

I can take three at a time, said the djinn, keeping a hand on the thing's surface at all times as she lifted herself up onto its back. Climb aboard.

OOC:

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Can I get another Perception check for Adelbert, please.

[-Sentinel-]

Elsa resisted the urge to blast the Rivermouther; he had already done his harm, and now they were about to have some more company. Her efforts should be devoted to covering everyone's escape. She reached out with her mind and tried to find a weak point in Nahorek's earlier spell. Every spell, no matter how well made, had weak points as part of its inherent design, like the seams in a garment.

OOC

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Trying to dispel Death's Door as a full action.

Target 13: (3d10)[8][4][8](20) - Minor curse.
Chaos die: (d10)[9]

Channeling test. WP 73 +10 (Aethyric Attunement) +10 (Link of Psyche) -50 (Nahorek's Magic characteristic) = target 43. (d100)[18]

Hell yesssssss

Make it count, now! Kill as many zombies as you can this turn! They no longer get the free half action after death, but they can do serious damage next turn with their re-rolls.

When Elsa found the seam, she struck at it with all of her mental might. The threads tying the spell together unraveled.

Hah! Not bad for a barbarian, eh, vampire?

[TheSummoner]

Sieghard

"Keep fighting!" Sieghard yelled "Bring them down! Break the vampire's control over them!"

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Swift attack again, zombie #12 first and then #13 after. Hopefully the thorns can kill #11 on their own and plug the gap there.

(1d100)[94] vs 66
(1d10+7)[14] Damage

(1d100)[4] vs 66
(1d10+7)[8] Damage (Boosted to a respectable 13 thanks to DoS)

(1d100)[37] vs 66
(1d10+7)[17] Damage

[LCP]

Ludo & Urgrim

Something was happening at the gates. The reanimated Knights of the Raven were forming up in a tight squad around their master, the girl with the birdcage huddling close behind. As Ludo watched, Nahorek began to stride towards towards the fire. He couldn't wait any longer.

His finger squeezed the trigger, and his bolt flew across the open square, slashing through dusty air and insubstantial spirits on its way to its mark. Ludo's heart sank as he saw it going wide - then Urgrim took his more carefully-sighted shot, burying a bolt in the vampire's shoulderblade.

The girl with the cage cowered, but the black jackal mask only turned slowly, as if disturbed by the bite of a gnat. With a sweep of his long, thin arm, Nahorek pointed silently in the direction the shots had come - and a dozen chained spirits began floating their way.

Face set in an expression of grim determination, Moltke drew her sword. Jens didn't seem so keen.

"Alright lads, we gave it our best," he said, speaking very quickly. "I think this calls for what the Preceptor would've called a tactical retreat. Morr rest 'im."

---

Sieghard, Elsa & Adelbert

Speared through the midriff by Sieghard, the burnt body of a Thorn lashed out wildly with its shortsword as it went down, shearing off the fingers of the man next to him in line. As the man fell back from the line, clutching at his bloody hand, others rushed forward to fill the space he had left, pushing the dead back. Between the fire behind them and the blades in front, the zombies were falling like wheat before the scythe.

At Gustaf's shout, the Thorns in the back turned and levelled their crossbows at the Rivermouther who had climbed inside, riddling him so full of bolts that he fell to the ground more porcupine than man. The other Rivermouthers seemed to have thought better of following in his footsteps - instead, they jeered and slung stones from the safety of the hole in the roof, their wild shots failing to connect.

None of the Thorns approached Tshula-Udiyya. None of them wanted to be the first to set foot on that floating disk, and while there were still enemies to fight, they were afforded the perfect excuse. Kneeling on the smooth brass, the djinn held out her hand to help Adelbert up.

Come, she said. There's no time to lose.

Through the roaring sheet of fire that blocked the gates, Adelbert could see dark shapes looming. They were indistinct, shimmering shadows beyond the flames - but he saw the one that was taller than the others, the one whose head bore the unmistakable outline of the jackal mask...

OOC:

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[RossN]

Adelbert

Adelbert glared at the roof, then at the gate.

'Bring the wounded up here!' To the djinn he said as quickly as pssible; 'I'll be going with the next wave - I'll be helping hold off the undead. There is a building surrounded by a walled garden very close by; land your passengers safely there and return quick as you can.'

He had to catch his breath for a moment before glancing back to the battle and whispering the first words of a prayer.

[-Sentinel-]

Elsa glimpsed Nahorek beyond the Thorns, the zombies, the wall of fire and the knights.

Ah, and here comes the leech... Pity I don't have a clear shot.

Confident that Sieghard and the others could deal with the few remaining zombies, she did the most useful thing she could think of and came to the aid of the injured Thorn. "Give me your hand. No, the wounded one. Quick."


OOC

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Moving 1 square northeast.

Cauterize 4+: (2d10)[4][3](7)
Chaos die: (d10)[5]

The Thorn shrieked in pain as Elsa's spell cauterized his injury.

"...Sorry about that. You really should go, now." She jerked her thumb at the brass disc behind her. "We'll follow you shortly."

[TheSummoner]

Sieghard

"Do as she says," Sieghard said. "Anyone injured, get on the... thing and get out of here! Those who can still fight, hold the line! Back rank, fire on anyone trying to come through!"

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Sieghard takes a parrying stance and does a command roll.

(1d00)[1]

[LeSwordfish]

Ludo stayed silent for a long, agonising moment as the spirits drifted closer.

"You're right," he said. "We need to get word out. Tell Manaan's Keep and Sforza what's coming for them."

He could hear his friends dying screams, even at this distance. It reminded him of the last time he had done this, at Rivermouth. He had rescued Gustaf then: there would be nobody to rescue now.

"We've got to go."

[LCP]

Ludo & Urgrim

Urgrim said nothing, but nodded to Ludo, his face set. Silently, the two of them withdrew from their position at the window, moving as quickly as they dared back through the ruined building and out onto the streets. Jens and Moltke followed, the grizzled sergeant-at-arms practically having to drag Kleinrabe's squire behind him.

With the spirits clustered in the square, the streets seemed largely clear. Edging around a corner, the four of them broke into a jog, then a run, heading away from the battle as fast as they could - but the jingling of Moltke's ill-fitting chainmail was impossible to muffle. With a terrible certainty, chained figures began to drift into the street behind them, fading through the walls of the ruined houses in ever-increasing numbers. The spectres had their scent.

OOC:

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Now we can go to a chase! Same rules as before, but this time you've got a substantial head start, so we'll start the counter at 6.

We're not in any hurry here considering the rate time's passing at for the others, so I'll let you roll your own dice when you see this. Here's the first 3 rounds for the spectres:

(1d100)[48]
(1d100)[19]
(1d100)[63]

Considering that Urgrim is on auto and the other two are NPCs, Ludo's performance can stand in for the whole group.

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Sieghard, Adelbert & Elsa

The djinn bowed her head in acknowledgement. Clutching his newly-cauterised hand, the Thorn Elsa had ministered to was the first to clamber up onto the back of the disk, others reluctantly following. When she had three passengers, Tshula seemed to whisper something to the cold brass - turning slowly as it rose higher into the air, it angled itself towards the breach in the roof before blazing skyward on a trail of many-coloured flames. The Rivermouthers sniping through the hole reeled back with cries of alarm as the disk blew past them, faster than a speeding arrow.

At the front, the Thorns hacked down the last of the zombies that were still feebly trying to push their way through, adding them to the great drift of blackened bodies that had built up between the gates. On the other side of Elsa's wall of fire, the dark figures of Nahorek and his guards seemed to have come to a halt. Over the crackle of the flames, Elsa could hear the hissing words of a Nehekharan incantation building on the wind, and feel the familiar prickle on the back of her neck that told her dark magic was at work.

There was a rattle behind her, the hollow sound of bone against stone. The dusty skull of one of the ruin's previous owners was rolling through the rubble of its own volition, joining the end of a spinal column with an echoing clack. In the heaps of bodies that had been moved away from the doors after Mala's assault, limbs and fingers were beginning to twitch, the shivers of movement growing more pronounced as the chanting built to its crescendo...

OOC:

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Nahorek is casting a spell that takes 2 rounds. Guess which one!

[-Sentinel-]

Elsa cursed sulphurously. Gods damn it, she knew it! If only she had had the foresight to order the bodies destroyed right after Mala's ultimatum...

"He's raising the dead! Form up!"


OOC

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Not clear on the location of the bodies being raised, but if needed, I'll perform a Move action (up to 5 squares) to make sure Elsa is not a skeleton's nearest target.

Magic Armour 5+: (2d10)[1][9](10)
Chaos die: (d10)[2]

+3 AP on all locations for 1 minute. Total soak = 7.

She commanded the Winds to shield her from harm.

[TheSummoner]

Sieghard

Oh no you don't, monster

"Front rank, crouch!" he shouted. "Back rank, fire on the vampire! Then draw swords!"

He waited until the volley had passed overhead before straightening up to his full height. "He's raising more dead! Any of 'em move, cut them down before they get to their feet!"

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Parrying stance again.

(1d100)[1] vs 46 command to boost BS

[RossN]

Adelbert

'Verena help me,' Adelbert prayed as he side stepped rolling pieces of bone. Even without Elsa's warning he could guess what was happening.

OOC:

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As with -Sentinel- Adelbert will also make a Move so he isn't surrounded by Skeletons.

Blessing of Fortitude (5): (2d10)[4][3](7)

[LCP]

Adelbert, Sieghard & Elsa

The Thorns in the front rank dropped low, allowing a volley of crossbow bolts to hiss over their heads. Through the fire, Sieghard thought he saw the shimmering outline of the vampire flinch - but the chanting continued all the same, the echoes of the ancient words seeming to roll around the ruins. Elsa could see the necromantic power reaching in through the open doors, black tendrils of Shyish and Dhar wrapping themselves around the corpses that littered the floor. The strength of it was overpowering.

The body of the Thorn whose head had been smashed with a chunk of rubble sat bolt upright, dead hands feeling blindly for his sword. Behind him, others were rising to their feet, witch-lights burning once again in the charred eye-sockets of Elsa's previous victims. Adelbert stepped back as the skeleton of one of the Arabyan sorcerers lurched upright on his left, its bony hand grasping a sharp piece of stone.

Hooting with spiteful laughter, pale figures began to clamber through the breach in the roof - the surviving ghouls of Rivermouth, scuttling over the stonework like maggot-white spiders. Moving with horrible swiftness, they came climbing down the statues and pillars to the ground, eager to join the fight now that they saw their prey were surrounded. Two found the crumbling masonry a more treacherous foothold than they expected, and fell rudely to the floor - but the others landed cat-like on their feet, eyes shining yellow through the shadows.

OOC:

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---

Ludo & Urgrim

Ludo didn't hesitate for an instant, breaking into a sprint as soon as the spirits appeared behind them. Feet flying, arms pumping, the others followed as fast as they could, weaving between ruined houses and down rubble-choked streets as the dead drifted relentlessly after them.

They ran through a cavernous scar in the ruins, where some rogue blast of sorcery had melted stone until it ran and set like wax, hypnotic patterns gleaming in its glassy surface. They scrambled through the collapsed remnants of a house where the shattered body of a man still lay by the door, transmuted into amethyst crystal. They sprinted down a narrow alley where the dust had refused to settle on certain spots, picking out the eyes and mouths of screaming faces. They ran until their lungs burned, until their legs trembled, until they had left the haunted streets behind and burst out into the wide field of rubble surrounding the city.

Only then, as Jens practically collapsed to catch his breath, did Ludo dare to look back. There were no spectres behind them - they must have thrown them off their trail.

[RossN]

Adelbert

Adelbert wordlessly hefted his sword and charged at the ages yellowed remains of the sorceror, trying to bring down the skeleton before it had chance to attack.

OOC:

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Charge Skeleton#6

Attack #1: (1d100)[53] vs 56
Damage: (1d10+4)[6]

Attack #2: (1d100)[32] vs 56
Damage: (1d10+4)[14]