Into the Keep on the Shadowfell IC

[Rakaydos]

Shaking off the dismembered hand of her re-deceased foe, Sarathi swung recklessly at her other opponent.

Spoiler: OOC

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Brash strike
(d20+10)[30] vs AC, (1d7+11)[17] damage with temp HP. Sarathi grants advantage to Z2 and marks Z2.

[Rakaydos]

Critical damage: 18+ (d6)[2]

At least I think it's a D6, I dont have the book on hand.

Edit: never mind, Z2 auto dies on crit.

[Starbuck_II]

Finish off R4, by swing at it Radiant Vengeance.

Spoiler

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(1d20+7)[18] Vs Reflex, regain Temp hp back to 4

(1d8+7)[12] Radiant damage

[TurboGhast]

While the closer group of zombies is no more, you can hear more shambling to the north. A couple of the zombies making that creepy noise have reached the edge of your torchlight, showing that the fight isn't over.

Spoiler: Game Actions

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R10's turn
Standard: Walk four spaces east.
Move: Walk four more spaces east.

Z4's turn
Standard: Walk four spaces south.
Move: Walk three spaces east and one space southeast.

Z3, R9, and R8's turns (identical)
Standard: Walk three spaces south and one space east.
Move: Walk four more spaces east.

R6 and R7's turns (identical)
Standard: Walk three spaces south and one space east.
Move: Walk four spaces south.

Everyone will take a turn, then the zombies will take a turn.

Spoiler: If one of the PCs touches a rune...

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it releases a ghostly scream that tries to strike terror into you. You, and each other party member in 10 squares, take the following attack:
+7 (base) vs Will
Because the number of people affected is unknown, the person who activated the trap must make the attack rolls.
Hit: (1d4+1)[5] necrotic damage, and due to fear immediately perform a run action (move your speed + 2, but grant combat advantage until the start of your next turn) moving towards this room's southern exit.

Spoiler: If a zombie touches a rune...

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nothing happens, which may have interesting implications.

[Dimers]

Gagan turns to face the other way as the last of the (visible) zombies falls. "Heads up, people, we've got more coming ..." He dashes up one of the broad hallways, points his staff, and makes a grunt of exertion. A wisp of fire leaps from the staff tip further along the corridor and bursts into a sheet of flame in the corner.

Spoiler: mechanics

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Move action: walk 6 spaces N and NE to a point 3 squares below the easternmost rune.
Standard action: ignition centered east of Z3, with elemental escalation adding in R9 as a target.
(d20+9)[26] against R8's Fortitude 13, any hit kills
(d20+9)[22] against R9's Fortitude 13, any hit kills
(d20+9)[18] against R10's Fortitude 13, any hit kills
(d20+9)[12] to hit Z3's Fortitude 13, escalated damage (2d10+10)[21]

Ignition creates a zone of damage that'd toast R9 if it tries to walk through. Elemental escalation lets me shift 3 directly south, ending as denoted on the battlemap.

As one of the zombies continues shambling toward him undeterred, Gagan mutters, "Trying to get too fancy reaching around the corner, can't even nail what's right in front of me." Three of the walking dead did stop walking, though.

[Rakaydos]

Sarathi moves up and prepares to charge one of the stronger zombies.

Move, Ready charge if Z3 crosses the glyph/comes into range. (7 space range)

Spoiler: rolls if charge is triggered

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(d20+9)[19] vs AC, (d7+7)[8] damage and mark.

[sandmote]

"Back to the front, then," Vuthan is excited to rush up so he can see in the corridor to see what's coming. And then backs up a few feet to the wall so the ranged attackers can see anything that comes barreling down on him. "Bit dark in the corridor."

Spoiler: OOC

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Both action and move action used to move.

[Phantom Genius]

Drang nods at his old friend Sarathi's prowess and double moves to a more (or less) strategic location.

[Archemist]

Elmo speed-walks back into the corridor with the others. "Be wary - I hear more up ahead for certain." He pauses and prepares to smite any undead-looking things that poke their heads out from the side-corridors. The light from his torch flickers on the dim walls but he watches the passages ahead like a hawk.

Spoiler: OOC - move and readied action to Sun Strike

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Wis. vs. Ref: (1d20+6)[26] for the first undead to approach, for (1d8+5)[7] 13 maximized critical hit radiant damage! (+5 damage if vulnerable to radiant of course).

[Starbuck_II]

Zishu moves close to symbol (not enough to touch) enough to see Z-4 and shoots Radiant Vengeance.

Spoiler

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Hit - (1d20+7)[10] Vs Reflex, regain Temp hp back to 4

dam - (1d8+7)[13] Radiant damage

[TurboGhast]

The zombies suddenly break into a frenzy, running at you without care for the consequences. The first one comes from the north, and Sarathi matches its movement with a charge. Just before its arm slams into her, a blast of light from Elmo cuts the rotten appendage off and the rest of the zombie in half. Watching where it moved, you can tell it crossed the glyph without effect.

To the west, two more divert south upon smelling Zishu. One grabs him, while the other connects with a reckless full-speed ram. The last, their view blocked by the other zombies, continues trudging down the hallway, toward the living beings still in sight.

Spoiler: Game Actions

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Z3's turn
Move: Run one space east, one space southeast, and three spaces south.
Sarathi's readied action occurs! Hit.
Elmo's readied actions occurs! Critical hit! Zombie weakness reduces Z3 to 0 hp.
Rest of turn cancelled by enemy's defeat.
Standard: Try to slam into Sarathi

Attack Roll:(1d20+1)[19] (+6 base, -5 running penalty) vs AC. Hit.
Hit: (2d6+2)[9] damage.

Z4's turn
Move: Walk four spaces south.
Standard: Attempt to grab Zishu.

Attack Roll:(1d20+6)[21] (base) vs Reflex (higher than Fortitude, same sizes). Hit.
Hit: Zishu is grabbed (until successful escape action or failure to sustain on Z4's part).

R7's turn
Move: Run three spaces east, one space southeast, and two spaces south.
Standard: Attempt to slam into Zishu

Attack Roll:(1d20+1)[20] (+6 base, -5 running penalty) vs AC. Hit.
Hit: 5 damage.

R6's turn
Move & Standard: Walk eight spaces east.

Everyone will take a turn, then any remaining zombies will take their turn.

Spoiler: If one of the PCs touches a rune...

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it releases a ghostly scream that tries to strike terror into you. You, and each other party member in 10 squares, take the following attack:
+7 (base) vs Will
Because the number of people affected is unknown, the person who activated the trap must make the attack rolls.
Hit: 1d4+1 (please make the damage roll) necrotic damage, and immediately perform a run action (move your speed + 2, but grant combat advantage and have -5 to attack rolls until the start of your next turn) moving towards this room's southern exit.

[Archemist]

Spoiler: OOC - Elmo's readied action

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From above, I think Z3 coming around the corner would have triggered Elmo's Sun Strike - and it's brought to zero hp by the crit. I'm not sure whether you want to say this prevents the damage Sarathi would have taken from Z3 but I'll leave that to the GM. If for some reason the Readied Action wouldn't have triggered, put Z3 back up to 21hp on the map.

Elmo's elf ears hear movement behind and he runs back over to help Zishu. He's been getting some good use out of the holy symbol and he invokes it yet again, hoping this zombie is as friable as the last one. Once again the holy fire descends, though the undead weathers the blast this time.

Spoiler: OOC - Sun Strike

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(1d20+6)[16] vs Z4, Wis vs. Ref, for (1d8+10)[18] radiant damage (vulnerability already taken into account).

[TurboGhast]

Spoiler: OOC - Elmo's readied action

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From above, I think Z3 coming around the corner would have triggered Elmo's Sun Strike - and it's brought to zero hp by the crit. I'm not sure whether you want to say this prevents the damage Sarathi would have taken from Z3 but I'll leave that to the GM. If for some reason the Readied Action wouldn't have triggered, put Z3 back up to 21hp on the map.

Elmo's elf ears hear movement behind and he runs back over to help Zishu. He's been getting some good use out of the holy symbol and he invokes it yet again, hoping this zombie is as friable as the last one. Once again the holy fire descends, though the undead weathers the blast this time.

Spoiler: OOC - Sun Strike

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[roll0] vs Z4, Wis vs. Ref, for [roll1] radiant damage (vulnerability already taken into account).

Spoiler: OOC: Resolution of missed readied action

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My mistake, I missed that Sun Strike is a ranged attack. The description of the previous turn has been updated accordingly, and the damage Z3's attack would have dealt to Sarathi will not occur.

Waiting on everybody but Elmo to take their turn.

[Starbuck_II]

Zishu panicks for a second, then tries to push the zombie away smelling his stinking breath and skin upon him.

Spoiler

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Move action:
escape - (1d20+6)[26] Vs Reflex so DC 9
If succeed, attack after shifting 1 square backward with Radiant Vengeance on Z-4.

hit - (1d20+7)[20]
dam - (1d8+7)[11] radiant damage


If fail try again
escape - (1d20+6)[14] Vs Reflex so DC 9

[sandmote]

Vuthan rushes up to the last zombie in his line of sight, drawing it in with his presence and bringing down his sword on the creature as best he can in the shadows.

Spoiler: OOC

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Action: Weight of Earth for (1d20+9)[19] minus whatever penalties for lack of light (I'm not clear what those would be under these particular circumstances) for (1d8+4)[8] (ie. non-zero) damage and slowing the target on a hit.
Move Action: move up to the zombie
Free Action: mark the zombie in case of a miss.

[TurboGhast]

Vuthan rushes up to the last zombie in his line of sight, drawing it in with his presence and bringing down his sword on the creature as best he can in the shadows.

Spoiler: OOC

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Action: Weight of Earth for [roll0] minus whatever penalties for lack of light (I'm not clear what those would be under these particular circumstances) for [roll1] (ie. non-zero) damage and slowing the target on a hit.
Move Action: move up to the zombie
Free Action: mark the zombie in case of a miss.

Spoiler: OOC: Rules adjudication

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Attacking a target somewhere too dark for you to see is attacking a target with total concealment, which is -5 to the attack roll. Your attack hit, and I have updated the map accordingly.

[Rakaydos]

Sarathi dashes up to the corner, and snarls at the remaining two zombies, charging in.

Run (grant combat advantage, move+2 spaces)
Brash strike on R7: (d20+10)[24] vs AC, grant CA, mark on miss.

[Phantom Genius]

Drang moves to a position where he can watch for anymore monstrosities. (That's all.)

[TurboGhast]

What's left of the last zombie in sight is starting to fall apart. It trips over itself and somehow activates the rune, despite having stood on it before without effect. A ghostly, terrifying scream rings out, "FEAR WHAT IS BELOW", rattling more than half of the party. Sarathi suddenly finds herself running to the south. Elmo is just barely able to resist because Zishu blocks it at the cost of being affected himself.

The scream echoes through the halls. Vuthan manages to keep it out of his head, but Drang and Gagan can't. Like Zishu and Sarathi, Drang starts running southward, but Gagan begins leaning against the wall instead. The three the rune made run meet in the room to the south as the fear-inducing magic quickly wears off, leaving no trace but the pain in their eardrums.

Spoiler: Game Actions

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Z4's turn
Standard: Fall down in a way that somehow induces a false-positive activation of the rune.

The rune releases a terrifying noise!
Attack Roll on Sarathi: (1d20+7)[21] (base) vs Will. Hit.
Attack Roll on Zishu: (1d20+7)[26] (base) vs Will. Hit.
Attack Roll on Elmo: (1d20+5)[16] (+7 base, -2 Zishu provides cover) vs Will. Miss.
Attack Roll on Vuthan: (1d20+2)[8] (+7 base, -5 walls provide superior cover) vs Will. Miss.
Attack Roll on Drang: (1d20+2)[18] (+7 base, -5 walls provide superior cover) vs Will. Hit.
Gagan feels an unusual, different reaction to the rune instead of a normal attack roll.
Hit (Sarathi, Zishu, Drang): (1d4+1)[4] necrotic damage, and immediately run towards the room's southern exit. I will resolve this run action, and the run paths have been noted below.

Sarathi: 2 spaces southeast, 2 spaces east, 2 spaces southeast, 2 spaces south.
Zishu: 1 space east, 1 space south, 1 space southeast, 1 space east, 4 spaces south.
Drang: 5 spaces south, 2 spaces southwest.

Move: Get back up.

Everyone will take their turns, with no restrictions on their actions. If the zombie somehow remains alive, it will take another turn.

Spoiler: If one of the PCs touches a rune...

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another ghostly scream occurs.

Attack Roll: +7 versus Will, cover applies. If the rune the zombie activated was activated again, those hit during the first activation (Sarathi, Zishu, Drang) are unaffected.
Hit:(1d4+1)[3] necrotic damage, and immediately make run action towards the room's southern exit (move your speed + 2, but grant combat advantage and have -5 to attack rolls until the start of your next turn).

[sandmote]

"Never been called whatever that was before," Vuthan's a bit excited now. He hurries to the edge of the rune, "anyone know what it meant?"

Not bothering to close in, he reaches out with his weapon against the remaining zombie.

Spoiler: OOC

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Move action: move 6 squares.
Action: Thorn Strike [roll]1d20+9/[roll] for (1d8+4)[6] and pulls Z4 1 square on a hit.
Free action: if the Thorn strike hits he'll mark Z4.

[TurboGhast]

(OOC: Sandmote appears to have missed that his thorn strike attack roll didn't work. I'll roll the die and continue from there. (1d20+9)[23]. Hit, and the existing damage rolls means it's lethal.)

Vuthan's thorns pull apart the rest of the zombie. After you scope out the immediate area, successfully ensuring there aren't any zombies you didn't see, Gagan notes that the glyph seems to have made his head fog up, and as a result he's going to rest elsewhere before rejoining you. (Keeping where vague to make a quick rejoin easy.)

Spoiler: OOC - End of Combat

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All of the enemies have been defeated, so you've won the combat. All of you gain 146 experience points.

Nothing interrupts the post-battle short rest.

With some analysis of the glyph, you're able to confirm two things. First, it's intended to activate whenever a living being touches it. Second, the zombie activating it was a false positive that's unlikely to happen again.

You notice two new paths out of this area, a downward and northward staircase and a southward hallway.

[sandmote]

Spoiler: OOC

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I noticed the error, I just rolled the correction on the OOC thread to avoid double posting. Please note the correction was on the 23rd while TurboGhast's was on the 24th. Both hit and neither crit, so not a big deal; I just wanted to note this for the record.

Vuthan gives the rune a glare, failing to follow along with how the magic flows inside. "Well, that's an ominous warning. Unfortunately, I don't take advice from killer corpses any more than from giant slavers. Still; I've downed four of the things, and that's a new personal best for one fight."

Giving it a moment, he then circles back around to the southern doorway. "They were guarding this, yeah? Anyone see anything?"

Spoiler: OOC roll

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I'll have Vuthan for either perception or dungeoneering as appropriate. Bonus is the same for both; I'll lean dungeoneering if there's a difference.

Spoiler: Roll result

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(1d20+9)[24] additional -5 for the darkness, probably.

[Phantom Genius]

"What is happening? This is madness!" Drang works his way back toward the party, mumbling. "Never seen anything like this..."

[TurboGhast]

Spoiler: OOC

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I noticed the error, I just rolled the correction on the OOC thread to avoid double posting. Please note the correction was on the 23rd while TurboGhast's was on the 24th. Both hit and neither crit, so not a big deal; I just wanted to note this for the record.

Vuthan gives the rune a glare, failing to follow along with how the magic flows inside. "Well, that's an ominous warning. Unfortunately, I don't take advice from killer corpses any more than from giant slavers. Still; I've downed four of the things, and that's a new personal best for one fight."

Giving it a moment, he then circles back around to the southern doorway. "They were guarding this, yeah? Anyone see anything?"

Spoiler: OOC roll

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I'll have Vuthan for either perception or dungeoneering as appropriate. Bonus is the same for both; I'll lean dungeoneering if there's a difference.

Spoiler: Roll result

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[roll0] additional -5 for the darkness, probably.

Spoiler: OOC: Missed Roll

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I checked the rolls thread but not the OOC thread, and because you hadn't applied the result of the attack onto the battle map I thought you had just failed to notice the mistake. This will be a reminder to myself to check the OOC thread for rolls too, and a reminder to players to, if you're not updating the battle map yourself after your turn for some reason, say why you aren't.

From within the doorway, Vuthan hears... almost nothing. Just some faint muffled clicking and scratching.

Despite you not shining a light down the hall, another light source has filled the area ahead with dim light. The hallway in front of you soon ends into another one perpendicular to it. The wall away from you has two granite sarcophagi adorned with relief images of human warriors in plate armor.

[Archemist]

Elmo joins you at the southern hallway, his pointy ears pricked up, partly from residual adrenaline and partly from the scratching noises up ahead. His torch seems somewhat less needed now that the area has light, but he keeps hold of it for the moment.

Spoiler: Perception roll

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(1d20+13)[17]

"Four is all right. Probably more up ahead though," he comments to Vuthan.

[sandmote]

"Yeah, bit low on chances to defeat many more at once. Competent allies tend to keep up with me." Vuthan chuckles slightly before returning his attention to the tunnel. "I see the tunnels beyond, so there's light, and looks like there's more rotters in the rock. Anyone see anything else?"

Unless there's an affirmative, Vuthan heads down to observe the nearer sarcophagi (east side of the tunnel if they're across from each other).

[TurboGhast]

After the implicit no of silence, Vuthan advances into the room. Taking a closer look at the sarcophagi reveals script written on them that is clearly Draconic, yet contains no actual words from that language, not even the common ones. There's nothing particularly unusual besides that.

The dim, silverly-white light seems to be coming from a dome above the eastern half of this room. From what little you can see of the dome from here, it appears to depict the sky.

[Phantom Genius]

"Words with no words?"

[Rakaydos]

"Words with no words?"

"Isnt that called Grafiti?" Sarathi followed along.

[TurboGhast]

"Isnt that called Grafiti?" Sarathi followed along.

Thinking back to some of the graffiti you've seen before now, "Words with no words" are not a consistent feature of it; the obvious counterexample being "Name was here" graffiti. There's a better word for this that's just hasn't come to mind yet...

Spoiler: For those who make a DC 15 Arcana or Dungeonerring check.

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The word that refers to apparent gibberish that still has the structure of a language is "glossolalia". (It's specifically the word for speaking that, but close enough.) Some Clerics use it when calling divine power, which implies some magic is linked to these sarcophagi.

Spoiler: For those who make a DC 10 religion check.

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The word that refers to apparent gibberish that still has the structure of a language is "glossolalia". (It's specifically the word for speaking that, but close enough.) Some Clerics use it when calling divine power, which implies some magic is linked to these sarcophagi.