Jarrith smiles back at the group as they begin looking into several of the buildings that have open doors. "Isn't this nice? We're all getting along so well! Like one big happy family... isn't that right, Marot?"
Jarrith turns to look at the warlock, then puts on a face of fear. "Marot? You've been awfully quiet. Haven't said much at all. You all right? Marot?!? MAROT?!? SPEAK TO US!!! PLEASE!!! MY GOD, HE'S DEAD!!! DEAD!!! HE'S THE WALKING DEAD!!! THE WALKING--" Jarrith then notices that Marot is still currently sitting on his horse. "ER-- THE RIDING... DEAD!!! NOOOOOOOOO!!!"
As he finishes his little bit of humor, he turns and sees the others all looking at him. He looks back at them for a second... realizes that perhaps the joke did not go over very well... then he gives a short laugh and raises his hurt arm to them all. "I'm diseased. Can't help myself." He looks to Selase and shrugs. "Went crazy after all?" His head moves back and forth taking the entire group in.
"Oh come on! If Janis gets to yell her head off, why can't I?!?"
"Ooookaaaayyy... well, let's move on then, shall we?" He goes back to helping inspect the houses that are not currently closed up tight.
"I rather think a horde of zombies unlikely, unless the local graveyard has been depopulated for resources as well as the local talent," Janis frowns.
"If you make more noise while reconnoitering the cottages you'll be more likely to find any animated body parts that might have been stuffed inside a trunk or some such, or corpses that the locals locked into the closets before they succumbed to the disease, or necromancer, or evil miasma of the place" she supplies helpfully.
"Does anyone feel like dying or eating anyone's face off yet? Perhaps I could convince one of you that's infected to part with a small sliver of your tongue? For my collection," she says, patting her saddlebags.
Janis' cry is muffled by the mist, and echo hollowly without response. While Marot silently gathers the horses, the two Flamists examine the home with the battered door. It is dark inside, but what can be seen from the shadows are overturned furniture and other detritus scattered about.
OOC: Note, at this point you are still outside the house.
__________________ stonegod -- LEB judge and spawn of Khyber since 2005 (Blog)
Jarrith looks into the gloom with Sir Khensu by his side. He tries to get his eyes to see as much as he can, but it's very dark. He turns to his friend and smirks. "You're the one with the better eyesight in the dark. You see anything? If not, lemme know and I'll do a quick reconnoiter."
(OOC: If Sir Khensu does not see anything majorly of note with his low-light vision, Jarrith will Hide/Move Silently into the house and do a quick look around.)
Sir Khensu's keener eyes show that there is significant rubble in one corner from the apparent rampage. Claw marks score the wall. Seeing nothing else, he silent directs his Stalker brother inside.
Moving ever so silently, Jarrith moves into the dark. Though difficult to see, he does manage to make out a corpse that appears buried under the rubble. Cautious, he tries to ascertain if it is one of the truly dead---when a wave of nausea causes him to stumble. His question is answered soon enough when the female corpse lets out a gurgled moan and springs to unlife!
"By the Voice! Not again! Heads up, my brother! Company!"
Jarrith curses himself under his breath that this foul rotting disease seems to have taken hold. Knowing his Lumin Brother has sprung into action, he takes a step up to the creature and engages it with both of his rapiers blazing.
(Assuming Sir Khensu moves into the house to engage at probably I4, Jarrith steps to J3 and dual-attacks. If Sir Khensu does something different instead, Jarrith will do whatever makes the most sense to support the Inquisitor... moving into flanking position if at all possible).
"Next time, don't run off ahead of me when you go scouting..." Daellin grumbles, fitting another pair of arrows to his bow.
(move to K2 -- I think you can move through a friendly square without a penalty to movement, and then use Manyshot again, as per the last combat round before)
As the battle commences and Daellin moves into the room behind him... Jarrith throws a quick look at him and says sarcastically "Run off ahead of you? What... the ten feet from here where I was lying on the ground in front of this building was too far for you to see? Yeah... having the audacity to be fifteen feet away... you must have needed a spyglass to catch sight of me! My apologies for running at full speed a whole two steps and then disappearing from your sight." He rolls his eyes at the elf, then turns back to the fight.
Sir Khensu steps inside and attempts to keep the zombie between himself and Jarrith. "May the purity of the Flame send you to the next life."
With that, he'll do his best to seperate the zombie's head from its shoulders.
__________________
"We create joy." - Pirate Cat, 2006 ENnies
"...the worse thing that can happen to players is not to have their characters die. The worst thing that can happen is to have a boring game." - Mike Mearls
House Ambush Round 1
Sir Khensu steps inside and attempts to keep the zombie between himself and Jarrith. "May the purity of the Flame send you to the next life." His axe finds its mark, but the slash is light. [AC 20 hits, 9 hp]
With the darkness and the tight corners, Janis realizes she does not a have a clear aim at the strange creature. All of this was folly anyway. She waited to see what luck her companions would have. [Delay]
"Next time, don't run off ahead of me when you go scouting..." Daellin grumbles, fitting another pair of arrows to his bow. He quickly sprints into the house, moving past Jarrith, and lets fly a clutch of arrows. They find their mark, distracting the zombie. [AC 16 hits, 20 hp before DR]
As the battle commences and Daellin moves into the room behind him... Jarrith throws a quick look at him and delivers his sarcastic rant. He rolls his eyes at the elf, then turns back to the fight. The distracted zombie makes and easy mark, but its lack of living organs and the weakness in Jarrith's arms both conspire to negate any of his strike. [AC 20, 22 hit; 2 hp total before DR]
Sighing at the continued madness, the gaggle of Stormhand's twirl their hands once more to fling an acidic glob at the zombie not that Jarrith's back is less endangered. However, the doorway is still too narrow, and she misses her mark. [AC 9 misses]
Releasing the reins of the gathered mounts, Marot steps forward, once again calling upon the Flame's might to cleans his unholy power. His unnatural gifts make the darkness a non-factor, and the bolt strikes true. Flesh sloughs off the creature, but not enough to stop it. [AC 13 ranged touch into melee hits; 11 hp]
Selase holds back, waiting to see if she is needed. No use wasting the inner spark. [delay]
Enraged by pain and hungry for flesh, the zombie moans pitifully and batters at Sir Khensu. With a bone crushing thud, it crumples part of the shifter's armor, tearing at the flesh underneath. Once again, Khensu feels the unnatural tingle as it quickly subsides. [8 hp damage]
House Ambush Round 2
Grimacing from the pain, but bolstered by his faith and duty, Khensu adjusts the grip on his greataxe and brings it down once again. This time the blow is exceptionally solid, and does truly separate the head from the beast. With a sickening slosh, the two pieces collide with the wall and then slump to the floor, once again lifeless. [AC 20 hits; 17 hp]
End Combat
OOC: Decided to finish round 2 since that would make the most sense.
__________________ stonegod -- LEB judge and spawn of Khyber since 2005 (Blog)
Jarrith looks down at the dead form back on the ground and shakes his head. "This is just wrong. This woman was lying dead on the floor and didn't start moving until I looked over her." He leaves the building and looks over at priestess. "Selase, you're the one who tries to work with these things... what is it that causes a body to just spring to life like this? Are our souls enough to give it the energy needed to get up? Or is this festering bile inside these wounds..." he lifts up his arm that was sliced open and which shows the signs of the disease, "just going to have an effect over time? Cause if it's our proximity that is going to cause these things to rise from the ground... we probably want to stop searching around like this."
"We are not the lords of this land, Janis." Sir Khensu states flatly as he closes his eyes and presses one hand against his chest. May the Flame heal these wounds and show me how to fulfill its wishes. His hands glow softly as wounds begin to close.
((OOC - Lay on hands for 5 hps, this should bring me up to 26 hit points total.))
"By the Galifar Code of Justice, we may only engage in such activities if granted that right by the lord of these desmense." He emerges from the house and nods towards the next home, indicating his intent to enter. "Let us cleanse this infestation and find any survivors. Until we know the lay of the land, I am unwilling to destroy hearth and home."
__________________
"We create joy." - Pirate Cat, 2006 ENnies
"...the worse thing that can happen to players is not to have their characters die. The worst thing that can happen is to have a boring game." - Mike Mearls
"If there are any survivors, I imagine they will be in the middle of town. Does anyone dispute this course of action?"
__________________
"We create joy." - Pirate Cat, 2006 ENnies
"...the worse thing that can happen to players is not to have their characters die. The worst thing that can happen is to have a boring game." - Mike Mearls
The group leads their horses deeper into the town. An eerie stillness infuses the air, and the occasionally soft moan that is heard only adds to the disquiet.
As you approach another intersection, the everpresent mist clears slightly, revealing a human body lying face down in the street amid the garbage. One of the buildings facing the street has its door smashed in. Everyone clearly hears the heavy shuffling of feet within the surrounding buildings, and no one is surprised by the glimpse of a young teen's distended walking corpse in a nearby home. The fight is on!
While still suffering the effects of the strange disease running through him, and quite tired of dealing with these things in hand-to-hand, he hustles forward and puts himself up against the building on the left (Move action to L9). He then quickly vocalizes and makes several motions with his hands to cast a spell. Suddenly, a shimmering longbow appears in front of him, and *twangs* once as an arrow leaps from it to the dead youth across the street. (Cast Spiritual Weapon: Attack K5: +5 to hit [+3 BAB, +2 WIS] / 1d8 dam)
![stonegod's Expedition to Castle Ravenloft: Ch. I [IC]](http://www.enworld.org/forum/iconimages/playing-game/stonegods-expedition-castle-ravenloft-ch-i-ic_ltr.gif)
Linear Mode
And yet another word from our sponsors
