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<blockquote data-quote="the Jester" data-source="post: 3893349" data-attributes="member: 1210"><p>The skeletons press forward, swinging their rusty weapons at our heroes, who dodge and parry madly. It is all they can do to protect themselves. Barouk tries to stand guard over Tempe’s unconscious form, but it is all he can do to fend off the slicing scimitars of his bony attackers. He turns them one way or the other or deftly steps out of his undead attacker’s way. </p><p></p><p>Severin falls back. He raises his crossbow and sights at the unnatural-looking centipede. His finger twitches on the trigger and his bolt flies forward, piercing the centipede’s head and sticking it to the ground. Unlike the juice he expects to see coming from a bug, the centipede bleeds bright red, coppery blood. Severin feels a little ill. Its legs wave in the air for a few seconds, and then the thing goes still. Its body suddenly catches fire with a dirty brown flame and burns away to filthy ash in seconds.</p><p></p><p>Zelda fires her crossbow at one of the skeletons. Unfortunately, the bolt passes through the monster without harm. She pouts prettily for a moment, tossing her golden hair, and then stows her crossbow on her back. She begins to sing, encouraging the party, praising their skill and ability. The heroes’ collective confidence swells. </p><p></p><p>Kifla uses her <em>acid splash</em> spells to good effect. She can’t see a crossbow bolt doing much harm to them, and there’s no way that she’s getting into melee with them! She casts the spell twice, but does not have it prepared a third time. <em>That’s a useful spell,</em> she thinks. <em>My illusions won’t be much good here!</em></p><p></p><p>Barouk catches a skeleton’s arm as it descends, attempting to chop at him. He slides inside its guard and slams his fist through its skull. The skeleton collapses into individual bones immediately. The monk tumbles towards another of the undead, but there are too many obstructions on the ground for him to avoid a telling blow to the head that leaves him momentarily helpless. Skaal is having less luck; his dual-sickle attacks don’t seem to be able to scratch the skeletons. “Slashing doesn’t work so well,” he calls to the others. He backs away and begins to cast <em>summon nature’s ally I</em>. A few moments later, a wolf appears from nowhere.</p><p></p><p>The lurking, spell-casting creature- whatever it is- blasts Severin with another <em>magic missile</em>. The ranger groans in pain and takes one last shot with his crossbow, collapsing into unconsciousness as he does so. Alas, his shot goes wide.</p><p></p><p>Grom is attacked by one of the skeletons, too, and is forced to drop his bow in favor of a sword. He slashes with his shortsword, and although his blade passes through the rib area and cuts some empty air, he does manage to do some damage, crashing through a few of the thing’s ribs. The half-orc cries out gladly and shakes his fist at it. </p><p></p><p>Romdar enters the fray by falling on his face. Skaal’s kocho and wolf step up in front of him before the skeletons can take advantage of his plight. Two of the remaining three skeletons attack the kocho, but only one hits; the other one remains locked in combat with Grom, striking him hard. Staggering, Grom drops his blade as he tries to tumble away to safety. He groans again at his misstep. </p><p></p><p>Zelda pulls her sword and slashes at the nearest skeleton. Again, it skitters away without doing much damage, if any. She curses. Then she gives a startled laugh- as Skaal summons <em>another</em> wolf, this one near enough to charge the spellcaster. Barouk follows it in, activating his fiery fists in a burst of ki power. He misses, but the wolf hits- and pulls the caster off of its feet!</p><p></p><p>At last our heroes get a good look at it: some sort of undead creature, with the grey pallor of death in its skin and unblinking, dry eyes. It looks roughly like a man- a dead man- but it has a distinctly arcane mode of dress (albeit rotten, decayed dress).</p><p></p><p>The thing mutters arcane words and attempts to cast another spell, but the wolf growls and shakes him, spoiling his concentration. Then, Skaal leaps at it, using both sickles to hack- and misses.</p><p></p><p>The kocho, meanwhile, is still under attack by two of the skeletons. It kicks out, finally connecting, and smashes one of them into pieces. It bites the other one, tearing off several ribs, and ruffles its feathers. That skeleton strikes back, but the kocho dances away, avoiding the blow. The skeleton steps forward and the kocho kicks out again. This time its talon connects with the pelvis of the skeleton, breaking the bone into six pieces. The skeleton collapses.</p><p></p><p>Now that Grom has gotten out of its immediate reach, the remaining skeleton turns its attention on the nearest target: Zelda. It slashes her across the belly, cutting open her shirt to expose her midriff. She cries out and hacks at it with her longsword, but her blow glances off of it. “Help, I’m not a fighter!” she cries.</p><p></p><p>“We don’t <em>have</em> a fighter,” Barouk grumbles. </p><p></p><p>The undead spellcaster manages to maintain his concentration long enough to cast another spell, and suddenly the wolf yelps in fear and flees. Skaal curses.</p><p></p><p>Simultaneously, Grom retrieves his lost sword and tumbles in to attack the remaining skeleton. He misses; the skeleton is surprisingly quick and agile. Romdar, picking himself up off of the ground, comes in to aid him after first attempting to dazzle the (eyeless) skeletons with a <em>flare.</em></p><p></p><p>The spellcaster, still on the ground, tries to cast defensively, but he again fails to get the spell off. He makes an exasperated sound and struggles to stand up, giving Barouk an attack of opportunity. The monk attempts to grapple him! Unfortunately for Barouk, the creature bites his hand, ruining his attempt to grab on. With a growl, the dwarf continues his unarmed assault. His hits the caster in the stomach.</p><p></p><p>Romdar finally shows his stuff. He smashes his longsword through the skull of the last skeleton, destroying it. Then he, and everyone else, turns to face the spellcaster. </p><p></p><p>Suddenly it’s a running battle, with the caster attempting to retreat but unable to get away. There are too many adventurers for a solitary spellcaster to take. Skaal’s kocho kicks it in the belly and finishes it after a few more seconds of skirmishing.</p><p></p><p>The sudden relative quiet- for our heroes are panting loudly- is gratifying. </p><p></p><p>***</p><p></p><p>Deeper in the mound is the burial chamber, with two sarcophagi in it. When Romdar tries to open one, there is the tell-tale flash of a <em>ghoul glyph,</em> and he falls to the ground. </p><p></p><p>“He’s dead!” cries Kifla. She begins to weep.</p><p></p><p>”He’s not dead, is he?” Barouk says uncertainly. “That... that can’t be.”</p><p></p><p>The party checks him out, and soon it becomes apparent that he is merely paralyzed. In a few more minutes, he begins to move again. “P-pins and needles,” he groans, shaking his hands. “I have no idea what just happened to me.”</p><p></p><p>On that note, the group breaks for dinner.</p><p></p><p><em><strong>Next Time:</strong></em> The sarcophagi and other matters!</p><p></p><p></p><p>Edit: Correction: It was a <em>ghoul glyph,</em> not a <em>glyph of warding.</em></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="the Jester, post: 3893349, member: 1210"] The skeletons press forward, swinging their rusty weapons at our heroes, who dodge and parry madly. It is all they can do to protect themselves. Barouk tries to stand guard over Tempe’s unconscious form, but it is all he can do to fend off the slicing scimitars of his bony attackers. He turns them one way or the other or deftly steps out of his undead attacker’s way. Severin falls back. He raises his crossbow and sights at the unnatural-looking centipede. His finger twitches on the trigger and his bolt flies forward, piercing the centipede’s head and sticking it to the ground. Unlike the juice he expects to see coming from a bug, the centipede bleeds bright red, coppery blood. Severin feels a little ill. Its legs wave in the air for a few seconds, and then the thing goes still. Its body suddenly catches fire with a dirty brown flame and burns away to filthy ash in seconds. Zelda fires her crossbow at one of the skeletons. Unfortunately, the bolt passes through the monster without harm. She pouts prettily for a moment, tossing her golden hair, and then stows her crossbow on her back. She begins to sing, encouraging the party, praising their skill and ability. The heroes’ collective confidence swells. Kifla uses her [i]acid splash[/i] spells to good effect. She can’t see a crossbow bolt doing much harm to them, and there’s no way that she’s getting into melee with them! She casts the spell twice, but does not have it prepared a third time. [i]That’s a useful spell,[/i] she thinks. [i]My illusions won’t be much good here![/i] Barouk catches a skeleton’s arm as it descends, attempting to chop at him. He slides inside its guard and slams his fist through its skull. The skeleton collapses into individual bones immediately. The monk tumbles towards another of the undead, but there are too many obstructions on the ground for him to avoid a telling blow to the head that leaves him momentarily helpless. Skaal is having less luck; his dual-sickle attacks don’t seem to be able to scratch the skeletons. “Slashing doesn’t work so well,” he calls to the others. He backs away and begins to cast [i]summon nature’s ally I[/i]. A few moments later, a wolf appears from nowhere. The lurking, spell-casting creature- whatever it is- blasts Severin with another [i]magic missile[/i]. The ranger groans in pain and takes one last shot with his crossbow, collapsing into unconsciousness as he does so. Alas, his shot goes wide. Grom is attacked by one of the skeletons, too, and is forced to drop his bow in favor of a sword. He slashes with his shortsword, and although his blade passes through the rib area and cuts some empty air, he does manage to do some damage, crashing through a few of the thing’s ribs. The half-orc cries out gladly and shakes his fist at it. Romdar enters the fray by falling on his face. Skaal’s kocho and wolf step up in front of him before the skeletons can take advantage of his plight. Two of the remaining three skeletons attack the kocho, but only one hits; the other one remains locked in combat with Grom, striking him hard. Staggering, Grom drops his blade as he tries to tumble away to safety. He groans again at his misstep. Zelda pulls her sword and slashes at the nearest skeleton. Again, it skitters away without doing much damage, if any. She curses. Then she gives a startled laugh- as Skaal summons [i]another[/i] wolf, this one near enough to charge the spellcaster. Barouk follows it in, activating his fiery fists in a burst of ki power. He misses, but the wolf hits- and pulls the caster off of its feet! At last our heroes get a good look at it: some sort of undead creature, with the grey pallor of death in its skin and unblinking, dry eyes. It looks roughly like a man- a dead man- but it has a distinctly arcane mode of dress (albeit rotten, decayed dress). The thing mutters arcane words and attempts to cast another spell, but the wolf growls and shakes him, spoiling his concentration. Then, Skaal leaps at it, using both sickles to hack- and misses. The kocho, meanwhile, is still under attack by two of the skeletons. It kicks out, finally connecting, and smashes one of them into pieces. It bites the other one, tearing off several ribs, and ruffles its feathers. That skeleton strikes back, but the kocho dances away, avoiding the blow. The skeleton steps forward and the kocho kicks out again. This time its talon connects with the pelvis of the skeleton, breaking the bone into six pieces. The skeleton collapses. Now that Grom has gotten out of its immediate reach, the remaining skeleton turns its attention on the nearest target: Zelda. It slashes her across the belly, cutting open her shirt to expose her midriff. She cries out and hacks at it with her longsword, but her blow glances off of it. “Help, I’m not a fighter!” she cries. “We don’t [i]have[/i] a fighter,” Barouk grumbles. The undead spellcaster manages to maintain his concentration long enough to cast another spell, and suddenly the wolf yelps in fear and flees. Skaal curses. Simultaneously, Grom retrieves his lost sword and tumbles in to attack the remaining skeleton. He misses; the skeleton is surprisingly quick and agile. Romdar, picking himself up off of the ground, comes in to aid him after first attempting to dazzle the (eyeless) skeletons with a [i]flare.[/i] The spellcaster, still on the ground, tries to cast defensively, but he again fails to get the spell off. He makes an exasperated sound and struggles to stand up, giving Barouk an attack of opportunity. The monk attempts to grapple him! Unfortunately for Barouk, the creature bites his hand, ruining his attempt to grab on. With a growl, the dwarf continues his unarmed assault. His hits the caster in the stomach. Romdar finally shows his stuff. He smashes his longsword through the skull of the last skeleton, destroying it. Then he, and everyone else, turns to face the spellcaster. Suddenly it’s a running battle, with the caster attempting to retreat but unable to get away. There are too many adventurers for a solitary spellcaster to take. Skaal’s kocho kicks it in the belly and finishes it after a few more seconds of skirmishing. The sudden relative quiet- for our heroes are panting loudly- is gratifying. *** Deeper in the mound is the burial chamber, with two sarcophagi in it. When Romdar tries to open one, there is the tell-tale flash of a [i]ghoul glyph,[/i] and he falls to the ground. “He’s dead!” cries Kifla. She begins to weep. ”He’s not dead, is he?” Barouk says uncertainly. “That... that can’t be.” The party checks him out, and soon it becomes apparent that he is merely paralyzed. In a few more minutes, he begins to move again. “P-pins and needles,” he groans, shaking his hands. “I have no idea what just happened to me.” On that note, the group breaks for dinner. [i][b]Next Time:[/b][/i][b][/b] The sarcophagi and other matters! [size=0]Edit: Correction: It was a [i]ghoul glyph,[/i] not a [i]glyph of warding.[/i][/size] [/QUOTE]
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