The party pushes past the dark, heavy curtain into the catacombs beyond. The sightless, grinning faces of the dead leer from the shadowy recesses of the walls. The harsh voices chants rise and fall in pitch and cadence. The baby's cries remain constant. Shadows dance in the flickering light, more than once creating the illusion that a nearby dessicated corpse had moved.
Dacen reaches the corner first and cautiously peers around. About fifteen feet away, he sees the backs of four figures, all clad in hooded robes the color of dry blood. They are all but motionless, apparently intent on the fifth figure, a chanting man also in a hooded robe who stands behind a crude altar. Farther behind the altar against the easternmost wall, a row of lit torches cast long, leaping shadows.
And, there, atop the altar, naked with his arms and legs moving, is the missing infant.
OOC: No one seems aware of the party. A surprise round is about to happen. Give me initiative checks, please, and keep in mind that you're limited to a single move or standard action during a surprise round. If folks want to adjust their positions so that they can 5-foot step into ranged attack position, that's fine. Basically, the surprise round starts when you all are in position.
[sblock=Combat Box]
Dacen: 12 nonlethal; +12 hp (
false life).
Gordon: 1 nonlethal.
Norim: 6 nonlethal; +12 hp (
false life).
Xenon: 3 lethal; 9 nonlethal; +9 hp (
false life).
Current Map
[/sblock]