Withstanding the Crimson Host

[dangelo]

"Isn't there a priest in this hamlet? Someone who should be responsible for this temple?" says the man. "Their coffins weren't even hidden away. This couldn't be just a mistake."

[sandmote]

As Calin heads south down the road, the place where the others are is easy to see hear. The debate inside echos from inside the temple well into the street, the acoustics having apparently having been built so that gatherings inside would have been audible as far out as possible.

[Bobthewizard]

Calin

Calin, hearing where the rest of the party went, turns to Llane,

"Should we go see what they are up to,"

He doesn't really wait for a response before entering the temple, summoning his echo to walk beside him, of course hoping that Llane comes with him.

[Riggdgames]

Laith Khouri Fallen Aasimar Paladin AC: 21 HP: 64/76 PP: 10 PIv: 8 PIs: 10 Conditions: -- Concentration: -- Seeing Geth examine the barricade on the large door prompts Laith to move towards him. Dropping his axe into his belt and leaning his shield against the nearby wall, Laith steps up to the huge door and nods down at Geth. "Ready?" He is completely oblivious to the comical pair they make trying to work together to pry the wooden barricade off. While Laith bends his knees into a deep squat to bring his 6'3" frame low, Geth's 2'6" in height force him to do much the opposite. Spoiler: OOC Show Aasimar+Kobold athletics, let's do this Xeno. Athletics check: (1d20+6)[25] w/ advantage: (1d20+6)[15] @Bob: if we fail miserably, I hope Calin will appear next and show us how it's done. As sandmote pointed out, I do have the explosives in the bag of holding so feel free to play out grabbing the bag from Laith if you're intent on heading back to the bridge to blow it up immediately instead of delving with us.

[Seanfall]

Zaddion would be more than willing to help if he held any discernable upper body strength so he aided the Paladin where he could applying pressure to weak or cracking areas of the barricade. "I...knew I shou...have...spent more time...exercising!" The Sorcerer who boosted about his arcane power huffed and puffed already winded.

Spoiler: ooc

Show

Taking the Help action to give Laith advantage.

[Xeno929]

Geth & Brine
Kobold Ranger & Giant Crab
AC: 18 & 18 HP: 56/56 (68) & 43/43
PP: 16 & 12 PIv: 10 & 5
Conditions: --
Concentration: --

Geth grins sheepishly at Laith, glad to have him at eye level. He’s mesmerized for a moment by his softly glowing eyes and mutters a little embarrassed to have been staring ”T-those are some cool eyes... we’re ready ” as he says that, he pushes but fully expects Brine to make more of a difference so he guides him on where to push. Brine’s large pincers reaching just over the Kobold’s head.

Spoiler: Athletics check

Show

Using help action on brine.
Brine Athletics: (1d20+3)[12]
Advantage: (1d20+3)[18]

[sandmote]

The barricade doesn't budge from the section it slots into, but luckily the portion attached to the door breaks off easily. Without the barricade gone the door swings open, one of the hinges ripping out of the frame.

In the gloom, those nearest the door see four particularly large coffins propped upright against the wall, each taller than the doorway. Two more, of regular size, sits in the middle of the room. However, there is very little light inside, and those without darkvision can't make out the far wall of the room.

---

This is around the point where Calin has found his way into the temple's main room and can see the collapsed doorway.

---

Llane has found the horses.

[Bobthewizard]

Calin

Calin goes back and grabs Llane,

"It looks like they went this way. They broke down a door, so let's make sure they aren't in any trouble."

He walks through the collapsed doorway, keeping the echo 10-15' ahead of him.

[Xihirli]

Neth was arriving there at roughly that time. She gave Calin a nod as she moved to examine her Turned Undead, Mavis and four skeletons trailing behind her carrying two sacks of bones.
"Calin. Llane. How did the diplomacy with the druid go?"

[Bobthewizard]

Calin

Calin is happy to see Neth, shaking hands with the wizard when they meet,

"Neth! It's good to see you. Where is everyone else? We got the old druid to come back across the bridge with us, but ran into some Worg riders on the other side. They know we are here. They may just be scouts, or the horde may be on its way. Our intelligence may have underestimated their speed. We need to finish whatever you are doing in here and get started blowing up the bridge. Where's Laith? I think he has the explosives."

[Xihirli]

"Our mutual friend the Paladin and company are wasting time pursuing the secrets of a vampire we've already killed," Neth answered, motioning the other four skeletons to come to her.
"If what you say is true, I should go hold the bridge until you can get that st... Laith to hand over the explosives. Get me as many bows and arrows as you can," Neth requested and led her army back the way Calin had come toward the bridge.

[Seanfall]

Zaddion gulped at the sight of the coffins and raised his hand. "Alright, this time I am going to loose a Fireball, as long as their are no objections."

[dangelo]

Due to the bond of battle, Salos leans towards investigating the temple further. However his seeks to help any way he can, estimating if he should don his armor now or stay in his toes a little longer.

[Riggdgames]

Laith Khouri Fallen Aasimar Paladin AC: 21 HP: 64/76 PP: 10 PIv: 8 PIs: 10 Conditions: -- Concentration: -- Smiling down sadly at Geth, Laith nods, blinking his dull, white eyes. "A gift from my father's fathers," he says, trying not to think about how his ancestors had used their gifts. *** Laith counts the number of coffins silently with his fingers, frowning at the dark room. Once he finally gets to six, he takes a step back from the door and stares at Zaddion. Nodding slowly, he steps further aside, and says, "we should not be leaving such behind us. If you can make them burning, let us clean this place."

[Seanfall]

Zaddion waves the two back, then begins casting. The sigils carved into his silver claws light up channeling arcane power through them to a single point at the tip of his right forefinger where it forms into a small pea-sized mote of flame he aims at the group of coffins then lets the mote fly, once it connects at the center of the group it blossoms into a grand burst of fire and heat exploding outward.

Spoiler: ooc

Show

Casting Fireball at the center of the group of coffins if I have to get closer I'll move towards them before casting.

[MCerberus]

Llane

Llane takes a moment to think things over for a moment. A vampire at the underground temple... "They may be going straight into the source of the blight that's effecting the town." His eyes narrow a bit in thought. "He said it was an ongoing taint, that the curse won't clear without it being removed."

"The other druid said they could keep an eye on the bridge. I don't think it's a good idea to see what happens to the others while

[Xihirli]

Osterneth paused and half-turned, waiting for the rest of the sentence.
"Yes?"

[MCerberus]

Llane

"The others don't have our full numbers", he continues.

[sandmote]

The fireball roars through the room, smashing the coffins into burning husks. The wood partially protects the creatures inside, but the vampire from the middle coffin is visibly burned. The other coffins contain not vampires, but instead bull-headed skeletons uncoil from inside, towering over even the tops of the now destroyed coffins.

The vampire appears to have avoided the worst of the blaze, but the Minotaur skeletons seem to have taken more of a beating, likely on account of fitting so snugly in their tombs.

The temple is almost entirely stone, but Salos doesn't realize it in the heat of the moment and starts to worry the flaming litter will spread to the rest of the room.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

this is a surprise round for the party, although Zaddion has already gone.

Also, I'm using an new system for tracking the monster's hit points, as in the last encounter I had trouble with it. Apologies, it took longer than expected to get together.

[Riggdgames]

Laith Khouri Fallen Aasimar Paladin AC: 21 HP: 64/76 PP: 10 PIv: 8 PIs: 10 Conditions: -- Concentration: -- Conquering Presence Active: 10 rounds Surveying the damage, Laith quickly realizes that despite the power of that single fireball, the fight is not over and the undead are far from cleansed. "Make ready!" Laith exclaims, beating his axe against his shield as he takes a position across from the door where he can see into the room. His eyes grow brighter as he channels Torm's righteous fury, his presence anchoring their position by the door. Spoiler: OOC Show Surprise round action to Channel Divinity: Conquering Presence assuming at least the giant skeletons are within range. If not, I'll edit my post and cast Bless instead on three of us. Conquering Presence forces a Wisdom saving throw vs DC 16 or be frightened for 1 min, saving throw can be repeated each turn to break.

[sandmote]

In response to Laith's aura, all the undead recoil as one, roaring as if hit again.

Spoiler: Map, as by request

Show

Please let me know if it doesn't display correctly.

[Xihirli]

Neth shrugged.
"I wore out all my trust in others for the day. I've none to spare for a druid I've never met. Move out." She made for the bridge, her undead trailing her.

[Bobthewizard]

Calin

Hearing the explosion form the fireball, Calin thinks the others might need help. He asks Neth for directions before entering further into the temple.

"Neth, are the others this way? Which way do I go after I go through this door? We'll gather them and we'll all return to the bridge."

[Xihirli]

"There is a trail of dismembered undead. Follow that," Neth shot over her shoulder.

[Xeno929]

Geth & Brine
Kobold Ranger & Giant Crab
AC: 18 & 18 HP: 56/56 (68) & 43/43
PP: 16 & 12 PIv: 10 & 5
Conditions: --
Concentration: --

Geth looks up at the lumbering Minotaur skeletons uncomfortably, he tugs at Llaith’s leg then says to the group ”Let’s all back up a little bit, gonna make it hurt them to reach us. Time for some spikes.” He grins mischievously and casts spike growth from the wall to right where Geth and Llaith were standing.

[Bobthewizard]

Calin

Calin draws his sword, summons his echo in front of him and walks through the doorway to find the others, looking back over his shoulder to address Neth and Llane.

"Neth, Llane, do you want to come with me to see if the others need help?"

[Xihirli]

"No," Osterneth answered simply as she continued on her way to the bridge.

[sandmote]

The undead recoil from the sudden attacks on them as the Rai prepares to act...

Spoiler: Initiative

Show

Waiting only for daniel, so I'll go ahead and roll initiative.

Vampire: (1d20+3)[21]
Minotaur: (1d20)[4]
Salos: (1d20)[7]
Zaddion: (1d20+2)[20]
Geth & Brine: (1d20+4)[9]
Laith: (1d20)[10]
Calin: (1d20)[3]
Llane: (1d20+1)[9]
Neth: (1d20+2)[9]

[MCerberus]

Llane

Not trying to stop Neth, Llane continues on towards the road. "There's another Druid holding the crossing. I didn't ask him on his thoughts about what you do." He then turns brings the conversation back to Calin "What they're doing must be what we felt on the way out of town"

[sandmote]

Vampire's Saving throw: (1d20+3)[8]