(Adventure) The Haunted Halls of Stonepike

[Uriel]

Thurgan and Aranel...

OoC: Yes, I gave you the damage bonus, I just rolled crap on the Sneak, sorry.
Just so you two ralize the situation, you are sort of hanging, bracing yourselves in mid climb in a rock fissure somewhere above the ceiling opening from the crypts. There isn't room for 5 foot steps or getting behind the beast.


************........***********
************........***********
************........***********
************........***********
*************........***********
*************.Cloaker...***********
***********..Ara............***********
*********.............Thu.......***********
************...........***********
************............***********


IC


Aranel oulls desperately back, firing her crossbow into the mouth of the beast, though her bolt passes through and out the other side of it's maw, missing. The Cloaker attempts to sever her hand, missing the slim limb.

OoC:AofO for firing a missile in melee,it missed.

IC

Thurgan leaps forward, hacking at the Cloaker, again scoring a hit <11 HP>.

The Cloaker hisses in pain and lashes out at thurgan, biting his weapon arm <6HP>, all the while looking as if it is at death's door from it's wounds.

Aranel manages to withdraw a slim knife and leap above,coming down on the Cloaker's back, plunging it deep into the Aberration. With a final hiss, the thing falls down the cleft,Aranel riding it for a few feet before she reaches out and catches Thurgan'sarm, wedging herseld once more in the rock fissure.

OoC:It was wounded already, I used Climb/Tumble checks for you folks' movement, and thought that the last bit was Cinematically Pleasing as well as appropriate for a pair of Rogues.

The fissure is silent and there seems to be no sound of the rest of the band below...


**********************************************************


Battle in the Crafthalls...


OoC:Sorry, clarity here... There were 3 dwarfs plus the captain. One is engulfed, one is unmoving on the ground, following a tail swipe. the 3rd was wounded and is now retching and vomiting from some Moan effect from the Cloaker. The captain is wounded but on his feet still.

IC

Sturm reaches the battle, Charging in, Scythe swinging. With a gutteral cry, he burries his blade into the nearest Cloaker <15 HP>, causing the thing to hiss and turn to face him, where it had been about to engulf the retching guardsman instead.

The hapless guard crawls a bit further away, though still withing reach of the monster.

The Captain swings his Hammer at the nearest Cloaker, cursing as it dissipates, a shadowy figment...

The Cloaker who had engulfed a guard rises up, attempting to get clear of the fray, only to find Sturm's Scythe slashing into it's side <14HP>, causing it to shriek in pain and anger.

The remaining Cloakers dive for the Captain catching him with a tail slash <7HP>, though missing him with the bulk of their attacks.

The last Cloaker, seeing that it's Moan was having little effect, Charges Sturm, biting him <5HP>, a laughable wound for a Dwarf so tough. This beast would soon see what pain was really all about...

Sturm scores another hit <12HP> on the nearest Cloaker, further wounding, but not killing it.

The Cloaker is brought even more into a reality of sorrow when Rurik reaches the fray, scoring a hit across it's flank <12HP>.
The Monster goes suddenly stiff, hitting the ground in a heap. dead.

The Captain also scores a hit <10HP>, this time drawing blood from his target witha satisfied grin. 'So, these beasts do bleed, Aye,friend Sturm!?!' Seeing Rurik, he adds 'What kept ye, good Rurik? There's plenny o' monsters left. Not so mean when ye have yer Axe out!'


Round Three

The Cloaker wounded by Sturm as it flew up and away streaks off, heading for what it thought was safety, towards the Crypts...

The last pair of Cloakers, one an obvious Shadow figment makes a lunge for the Captain again, missing him, as well as missing Rurik with it's tail swipe.

Sturm moves in, though his scythe merely dissipates the figment, leaving nothing but the true Cloaker left.

Rurik's Axe finds it's mark, though a bit weakly <6HP>.

It is at this point that the little Paladin makes his appearance, slamming Violet down upon the beast <Crit,19 HP way-to-go Violet>. The last Cloaker hisses, expelling foul,fetid breath upon the companions, expiring as it did so.
The only sound was the retching of the Guardsman and the adrenally pumped breaths of the dwarf warriors left alive.

Ishmael looked about, from one to another of the fallen Guardsmen. If only there was a chance...moving quickly to one Dwarf, the Paladin used his Holy Touch, his small hand suffused with a pale yellow glow, the Captain's eyes growing wide as he watches the slash close and heal, leaving a very angry looking, though less severe wound <Dwarf brought to 2 HP pos>.
The Captain says quietly to Rurik 'That be a fine talent, thoughi say I might'd git a bit unsettled if it were done ta me.'


****************************************************

Poor Cloaker...

The Cloaker's alien mind raced, The broodmates had been slain...the food had found a means to fight back, killing the brood. Escape, it would go back to the Deeps, sire another brood and find easier prey elsewhere. There was the fissure, flying in the last thing that the monster saw was te outline of two figues, the tiny *plink* sound of two crossbows fired in tandem, the feeling of the bolts sinking into it's flesh, one to take it's left eye, the other down it's gullet, where so many dwarfs had gone so very,very recently. Tumbling down, the last Cloaker hit the crypt floor, dead.

< Total of 27 HP from 2 Sneak crossbow bolts...>

 

[Aranel]

OOC: Oops on the stepping back, I don't think I read it properly, my bad ^^;

IC:
"Thurgan..." There had been a long silence while Aranel hung, blood dripping down her arm from the wounds and body twisting occasionally to bump against the rocky wall. She hadn't said anything for a while because her eyes had been closed and her voice open in a silent scream/prayer for a little while as everything had happened so damned fast!
"...Are we dead?" she bumped into the wall again and managed to put her weapons away as best she could before reaching for an outcropping to hold. Reaching then feeling anyway.
He was holding her bloody and wounded arm, but with all the adrenaline she hadn't noticed.
"..." She couldn't for the moment think of anything to say. "...I need a drink." she decied in a weak voice just moments later. "And...I think you can let go of my arm now." she added again. Needing a drink obviously meant she wasn't dead.
"...I need some gold too..." Aranel sounded dazed. "Gold will make me feel better, many small piles of it quite close by..." Ok, so she was babbling, but there was a lot of spare adrenaline to go around and currently only her mouth seemed to be working properly.
"Did we really just finish off two...or was it a bad dream?" she added after a few more heartbeats, roughly two or so seconds of actual time.
"...Should we get down now?"

 

[Keia]

Thurgan - Init: 19; AC: 18; HP: 29/29; Atk: W-axe +7 (1d10+3), X-bow +6 (1d8+2)

"...Should we get down now?"

"I'm thinkin' we sit fer a spell, make sure none o' th' beasties get chased our way," Thurgan suggested. "Reckon the other's'll give us t'all clear. Til then we wait with 'er bows ready."

Thurgan was silent for a moment or two listening, "We did take a couple 'o besties down, didn't we."

"Be nice ta git out o' here, af'er we git paid o'course," Thurgan added.

 

[dpdx]

"Thurgan? Aranel? Are ye 'urt?" Rurik called to the two hanging above him, the guard captain in tow.

"That'd be the lot of 'em - it's over. Ye c'n use tha' rope ta clime dun." Rurik waited for them to come down, after which he would retrieve the grappling hook and rope.

 

[Aranel]

Aranel, now below Thurgan, heard a voice and peered down. She couldn't see all that much and her arm hurt.

There were probably two dead cloaker bodies down there too. Hopefully they made for a soft landing.

Aranel reached the rope, hooked an arm and leg around it and started to slide slowly and gently to the floor, looking up towards Thurgan to make sure that a, he was following b, still alive and c, not going to land on her.

The usually well coordinated, well balanced and graceful Elf let go of the rope a few feet above the floor, landed on an uneven bit and ended up sitting down.
She patted the ground affectionatly with her good arm and mumbled to herself before looking over to Rurik. "Just a scratch...we'll be fine..." she rambled feeling slightly light headed from the 'scratch'.
Aranel hadn't looked at it yet, she couldn't stand the sight of her own blood. More than that if she looked at it it would start hurting more than the dul throb.
"I need a drink."

 

[Keia]

Thurgan - Init: +2; AC: 18; HP: 29/29; Atk: W-axe +7 (1d10+3), X-bow +6 (1d8+2)

Thurgan climbed down, following Aranel after a bit. Hand over hand on the rope on the way down, his calloused hands hardly noticing the rope.

When he reached the bottom, he asked, "Ya think them beasties had 'emselves a lair? Might be worth looking inta, an' we can pro'lly find it from up there."

 

[nimisgod]

OOC: Sir Ishmael kneels and gives thanks to the Holy Gawd of Critical Hits for his forebearance...

The Deep Halfling took but a moment to gather himself from the chaos. It was a little too much and a little too fast for Sir Ishmael. He had acted mostly on instinct and honed, mentored reflexes. He silently thanked whatever gods that listened that he and the dwarves were still alive.

He looked at Violet and suppressed a vicious smile. Evil had been dealt a fell blow this eve... and Violet had played a sizable role in its demise. Despite this, Sir Ishmael was relatively untouched by Cloaker viscera and blood. Bludgeoning weapons worked their lethality under the skin, breaking bones and pulping organs. Thus, he was spared the blood and gore of typical battle... though he was now drenched in sweat.

He extended a hand to the dwarf he just brought back into consciousness, helping the guardsdwarf back up to his feet. "Welcome back to the waking world, Master Dwarf." He gave a warm and friendly smile as he holstered Violet, giving her a good pat afterward. "Now, is anyone else in need of healing?"

 

[Guilt Puppy]

Sturm sits back after the battle, refusing any healing: "Wounds jus' don' scar proper if'n ye throw magic in 'em."

He looks around, curious. "Ain' this place s'pose'n be haunted 's well? I'll be frothin' disappointed if'n we don' see no ghosts 'fore we've left."

(Still have extremely limited internet access. Will pop by when possible.)

 

[Uriel]

Smiling grimly at Sturm, the captain laughed and replied 'Good Sturm, I think that haunting is at an end,P'raps. A pack of fiends have ye slayed, those sounds, the moaning. That is akin ta what we heared on the nights when me poor Kin would be taken up by these...'
The Captain paused, looking up at the cleft and rubbing his chin.
'Good Thurgan, Lady Aranel...could you make the climb again? I have a good climber among my lads as well,if need be. I would like to make sure that there isn't another o'them Fiends up there. They have to have a lair up there somewhere...'

 

[Keia]

Thurgan - Init: +2; AC: 18; HP: 29/29; Atk: W-axe +7 (1d10+3), X-bow +6 (1d8+2)

'Good Thurgan, Lady Aranel...could you make the climb again? I have a good climber among my lads as well,if need be. I would like to make sure that there isn't another o'them Fiends up there. They have to have a lair up there somewhere...'

"I wus thinkin' the same, there," Thurgan said. "No need ta risk yer lad, Aranel and me'll check it. Though 'er shoulder might need a quick look. I got a wand ta help out if'n we need it."

Thurgan will use a charge or two off of his wand of CLW to heal Aranel so the two can check the area and hunt for a lair.