Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="el-remmen" data-source="post: 870995" data-attributes="member: 11">End of Session #40Session #40Part Three: The party does fierce battle with the gnoll witch-doctor wights, and learns that they have happened upon yet another mystery. . ..“Revenge,” the former Gothanian officer, hissed again.  He left a rain of bones behind him as he ambled forward, his shoulders hunched, and his lower lip ripped open and oozing yellow pus spotted with purple-black splotches. Derek smashed the skeleton before him into shards, his fear giving him sudden vigor.“Natan”Ahb!” Belear stepped up behind the line and called out to the father of all dwarves.  “I implore you forger of our souls to allow your divine wind fill me and blow out again like the great bellows of your forge!  And to cast these undead things back into whatever pit they crawled from!”All the zombies turned to flee, their automatic motor functions reacting to the presence of a divine force.Ratchis took this opportunity to call upon Nephthys to bless his sword with an enchantment, while Martin sent his torch flying over towards the wight-lieutenant.   Jeremy however took advantage of the zombie turning from him blindly and hacked at it deeply.  It fell to the ground and feeble tried to get back up though one of its legs was missing and its head was cleaved open, before it just stopped moving entirely.Kazrack also took the time to call upon one of his gods.  “Mother of Blessed Mercy, raise your shield and defend me from those who would wish me harm!” (1)Helrahd took off after a zombie moving to the left of the monolith.“We can no longer hold the line, there are enemies with a vantage from above!” Kazrack called out.  “We must advance!  Half to the left! Half to the right!”Jolnar, Tolnar and Golnar left their positions ‘watching the back’ and jostled to get past Kirla and the others.“Let me through!” Tolnar said, shoving past Blodnath with a grin.“There is space over here,” Jolnar said, moving to take the place at the entrance to the clearing that Helrahd had just vacated.“Tarnitch! (2) Don’t rush up there!” Captain Adalar barked, and the younger dwarves starled, seemingly more afraid of him than of the undead danger before them.  “Let the others take care of that!  You watch the back!  My orders have not changed.”“Yes, sir,” Golnar replied meekly.Up on the monolith, the rotting gnoll shaman rose up to his full height.  His bones and sinews could be heard to crack even above the din of the battle.The thing shook its shoulders violently, moldy feathers fluttering from his cloak and shoulder regalia.  It cried aloud something in the barking and laughing tongue of the gnolls, but it sounded like snorts and croaks.  It pointed to Martin, who looked up in horror to see three pulsating shafts of light hurl at him, and strike him with the force mailed gloves.   The watch-mage gasped in pain.The torch dropped to the ground.  The concentration on his mage hand spell was broken. The former lieutenant shrieked as it rushed at Kazrack, who stopped short, to feel the whiff of blackened and dirty claws in front of his face.It was the sound of the chain scraping and clanging that awoke Beorth from his mind wandering as he took in this place and this scene in awe.  He could sense of the evil of this place in his pores.  Though he could not remember his former life, his family, or even his companions or the details of the undead he had been trained to fight, he did not lose his sense of purpose.  For a moment it had been as if Anubis himself had illuminated this place for him to see it, and not the dragging tracks of a foul wight.  The paladin allowed himself a smile, and called upon his jackal-headed god to enchant his weapon, and he move steadily towards the left hand stair.  He ignored the sound, which had awakened him, not taking his eyes off of the undead shaman above, but the others did not.  They could all see the nearly nine foot tall skeleton of what must have been an ogre, pull the chain from the wall as it stood, and swung the heavy shackle over its head.Ratchis moved to follow Beorth, scooping up some pebbles from the ground and calling on Nephthys to enchant the stones as well. (3)Martin hurried back to the relative safety of the line of dwarves, casting his shield spell in the process.  He passed Derek who moved to wait just out of reach of the giant skeleton’s weapon.  Looking for an opportunity to get within its reach.Unlike Ratchis and Beorth, who moved past Kazrack to get to whom they perceived to be the leader, Jeremy moved up to support his dwarven ally and with a quick chop of his long sword, removed its right arm at the elbow.  Black blood spurted and then oozed out.  The wight screeched again, and side-stepped Kazrack’s thrust of his halberd.  The dwarf ‘s momentum caused him to lean overly forward losing his balance, and the wight took full advantage, clawing the dwarf across the face with its black nails. Kazrack could feel the cold of the thing’s touch reach down into his very soul.  He felt shaken, as if death had cast its shadow on him for less than a moment. (4)Helrahd continued after the zombies on the left, hacking into one with an axe, as it still tried to flee. The skeleton stepped forward and swung its chain at Derek, who ducked and took a swing with his battle axe at the thing’s leg.  It awkwardly, but quickly lifted it up to avoid the blow.“Heh-ma-na-neh-FAA!” the undead gnoll crocked and tossed something at the bottom of the stairs where Beorth and Ratchis had begun to climb.    The half-orc stopped dead in his tracks, but the paladin sudden felt as if he were trying to walk across a puddle of molasses.   His feet slipped out from him and he fell painfully on his back, smashing his helmet on the first step.Blodnath moved with great speed, short sword in hand to help Kazrack and Jeremy finish the wight, but the thing punched the flat of the blade knocking it out of alignment.  It also used the stump of its arms, still dribbling black blood, to throw off Belear’s blow with a warhammer, as the elder rune-thrower had also advanced.Ratchis tried to carefully step past Beorth, but did not get far, slipping and falling with little grace.“Good dwarven brothers, continue to guard the rear!” Martin the Green called to Golnar, Jolnar and Tolnar and he stepped forward, flicking his left hand towards the large skeleton facing off with Derek.  “Lentus!”The skeleton’s movements slowed and his chain lost momentum, making it a less effective weapon.  By this time, Kirla had made her way into the fray, with her flail in one hand and a shield in the other.  She ducked the chain, and slammed the skeleton’s femur, sending a lengthwise crack down the bone.  The undead giant teetered for a moment and then regained its balance.Again the former lieutenant shrieked, flanked by dwarves and Jeremy it still refused to fall, and suffered another slash of Kazrack’s halberd across its chest.  A rib and the flesh around it was cut away, and the things black and unbeating heart was revealed, but still: it would not fall.  Its remaining arm backhanded the dwarf again, and again he felt the cold grip of its dark touch shake him down to the soul.“Flammus spheres incendius! the gnoll atop the monolith croaked, now speaking arcane words that Martin could barely decipher, and from his hand rolled a tiny ball of fire that puffed up to about six feet in diameter and rolled down the stairs towards Ratchis.Derek seeing that Kirla seemed to be handling the skeletal ogre just fine by herself, took the opportunity of the undead witch-doctor’s distraction and charged up the steps.  However, the blow of his axe fell short, as he was shocked to see what had been out of view from below – two more of the undead gnolls.“Two more undead gnolls up here!” Derek warned the others, fear tingeing his youthful tenor.Captain Adalar hustled up to the base of the monolith between the stairs and slammed his great axe into the skeleton’s ribcage, cracking a few.Beorth managed to roll out of the magically greased area and scrambled to his feet, but was still at the bottom of the stairs.  He watched the ball of flamed bounced down towards his half-orc companion.  Ratchis got on his hands and knees and spun himself out of the greased area, and stood.  The ball singed his matted hair, but did no real damage.Jeremy, Blodnath and Belear were a flurry of blades and hammers as they desperate tried to cut down the wight that was draining Kazrack of his very life energy, but the thing had not lost even a bit of its agility and prowess, avoiding some blows easily and using the thick crusted over hide of his shoulders and back to absorb others.However, Kazrack, in his fury could see and opening and plunged the heavy blade of his pole-arm into the thing’s neck.“You may have stolen my life, but now creature, I end yours!”“I am already dead,” the thing croaked and the crumbled into a wet mass of rotten flesh and crumbling bone.In the meantime, Helrahd was still chasing the fleeing zombies, and Baervard followed him, swords in hand.Captain Adalar cleaved into the shoulder of the skeletal ogre with his great axe and the thing fell into many pieces.  Kirla threw him a disappointed glance, having hoped to handle it on her own.The first undead gnoll whirled around and reached out with a clawed hand, ripping into Derek’s stomach.  The young man felt the claws pierce him, but worse still he felt the cold reach into his body and touch his very soul.  Startled, he swung his axe down sharply, and there was a snapping sound.  He had cleaved off the thing’s left hand.Derek’s jaw dropped as the thing howled as much as in anger as in agony.  The other two undead gnolls moved to join their companion.“Uh, I could use some help up here!” Derek called through chattering teeth.  He could see now that these things had flanked some kind of shaft that went straight down at the rear of the stone platform.  A long flat rock like a gravestone was parallel to the front of the monolith, but behind the shaft.  In many places the flat surface of the monolith though black was stained with something darker still, blood.Now handless, the undead gnoll barked at Derek in the gnollish tongue. (5) Beorth leapt up on the stairs, hoping to miss the greased area, and succeeding.  He made his up onto the monolith.Ratchis did not follow, but positioned himself to throw one of his stones made magical by the blessing of his goddess.  It struck the undead gnoll as if it weighed fifty pounds not a few ounces, and punched a hole through its body, piercing the shoulder and shattering bone.  The witch-doctor spun around to keep abreast of his new foes, his remaining rheumy eye spinning in its partially exposed skull beneath the mask of human skin.Martin looked from one group to another, trying to determine what they would do next and what he should do.  He looked at Derek and Beorth flanking the flailing undead gnoll witch-doctor, and Ratchis tossing his stone.  He saw Kirla turning to charge up the right hand stairway, while Belear and some of the other dwarves moved to help Helrahd round up the Gothian zombies.Kazrack fell to one knee, his hand on his chest, gripping his pouch of runestones and called out to his deities.  “Natan-ahb!  Judge these creatures and find them wanting!  They are lifeless husks!  Turn them from your sight!”But the power of this place was strong and dark, and Kazrack’s faith was not strong enough to overcome it.  He bowed his head in shame. Jeremy charged towards the monolith, and using the platform the skeleton had been chain to as a step he leapt up and caught the lip of the stone.  He pulled himself up onto the monolith, and redrew his long sword, chopping down at the undead gnoll.  There was more cracking bone as the thing wobbled, but then pushed away.“Somebody called?” Jeremy quipped with a wink to Derek, who smiled despite the danger.Kirla followed by way of the stairs, and Captain Adalar was right behind her.By now the undead gnoll shaman had backed away from Derek, while the other two moved to cut the young tracker away from the paladin, but Kirla was now arriving for support and Jeremy was in position to attack any of them.The undead gnoll shaman leaned backward and pointed down at Ratchis and with a snarl snorted, “Oh-ley-ah-say-fah-rah-sa-owrn!”Ratchis felt a spell wash over him, but it had no effect.  Firmly entrenched in his faith, no fear could ever enter his heart. (6)The other two undead gnolls lurched at Derek, clawing at him with backward-bent broken fingers, and red glowing orbs in empty black eye sockets. They seemed to have pushed human teeth into their decayed flesh to decorate their bodies.  It was all Derek could do to keep from wretching as he swung his axe to keep them at arm’s length.“Anubis, show this creature your righteous anger!”Beorth swung his quarterstaff around and called upon the divine vengeance of Anubis to smite the spell-casting abomination. (7) The thing’s head popped like a melon and spattered green and gray matter across the top of the black stone.  It crumbled, its cracked head rolling into a puddle of what once had been its contents.  The jaw still moved and words croaked forth in the barking tongue. (8)Ratchis bounded up the stairs, using his momentum to chuck another of his blessed pebbles at one of the undead gnolls.  The stone pierced the thing’s skull from the right and rear with a resounding crack, and emerged through its left eye, splattering Derek.  The thing did not fall.Jeremy cleaved into it with his long sword, forcing it to turn to face him and move out to his left, to keep from being surrounded, as Kirla moved in to take a wide swing at the other. Kazrack cautiously made his way up the left staircase, while Martin braved the right.The undead gnoll that moved away croaked some arcane words, and soon another sphere of flame was bouncing and rolling towards Ratchis.  The hulking half-orc was busy getting his sword and tried to move out its way too late.  The flames licked up his clothing, and singed his hair.  He frantically tried to pat it out as he danced to avoid the ball, which rolled back and forth in place, trying to immolate the ranger/priest.Ratchis turned hard to his left and threw his last stone, but it went high and missed the sorcerous undead thing.Derek deftly avoided another attack from one of the gnoll-wights, drawing the attack towards where Kirla waited, causing it to flinch and miss.  The young tracker swung his axe down at it, but since it had not committed to the attack, it was able to pull away and avoid the blow.Beorth edged his way to his right and joined Kirla against the other undead gnoll, slamming it’s hip with the divine vengeance of his god behind the blow.  The thing’s leg crunched painfully inward, and it swayed, but stayed up.Martin got to the top of the stairs, and put a drop of oil on his right index finger, and held a piece of flint between his ring and index finger on his left hand and watched the fight, waiting for an opening. Jeremy proving his constantly increasing prowess with the blade, gritted his teeth and felt the sword bite into neck of the undead gnoll spell-caster and then fly clean through.  The head flew into the air, spinning wildly before coming back down.The remaining gnoll-wight turned and looked wildly around, seeing how Captain Adalar waited for an opening and Kazrack was just arriving.  It took off for the shaft that was at the back of the monolith, leaping up into the air to tumble down into the inky blackness beneath.  However, before it could disappear Marin spoke the final word of his spell, spinning the flint towards the oil, which grew hotter, and suddenly (and with a loud whoosh!) there appeared and arrow of flame which went hurtling at the wight.  It slammed into him and it burst into fire its shriek becoming an echoing wail that was swallowed by the shaft.“I think I killed it,” Martin said, scratching his chin.“Why don’t you do that all the time?” Kazrack cried, with a broad smile.  “I can put on my armor!” He went on to announce, but then his smile faded and he shuddered. (9)Jeremy and Ratchis both looked at Kazrack like he was insane.“They are not all dealt with yet,” Beorth snapped.  “There are still zombies that the others were chasing.”Ratchis’ face had looked for a second like he might crack a smile as well, but Beorth’s words fell heavily on him and he took off down the steps.  Kazrack was right behind him. Jeremy shrugged his shoulders and went after them, but Derek just sank to the floor, sighing loudly.“I don’t feel so right,” the young man said.Soon, all the zombies were accounted for and the rotting corpses were dragged back to large pile in front of the monolith, where Beorth covered them with oil while praying aloud to his god; soon, the bodies were a bonfire against the coming night.Martin and Kazrack stood at the top of the shaft, looking down into the darkness.“It goes further than I can see,” said the half-ord.“That means it goes deep into the ground then,” Martin replied.  “I don’t think we want to go down there.”“Well, I think we need to find a way,” Ratchis said, noting that the stone was scraped and notched in three points around the shaft.  He speculated there must have once been some device for lowering things.  It was long gone.Near the right stairway, Belear was speaking with Derek and Kazrack, while Beorth looked on.”Those creatures are called ‘wights’ in the tongue of men.  We dwarves do not speak our names for such things aloud. A wight is a man of evil whose very evilness and stubborn will brings them back, either that or they are made by other wights.”“Surely it does not happen to dwarves,” Kazrack said.“I wish it would be so,” Belear replied, looking down. “The first day shall be hard, but then it shall be seen whether your spirits can overcome their infection by the darkness of negative energy.”“I must pray,” Kazrack said, walking off to be alone at one corner of the monolith.“Hey, Pigger, see anything down there?” Helrahd called to Ratchis, as he walked over.“What did you call me?”  Ratchis stood up to his full height.“Heh,” Helrahd licked his teeth and spit.  “Suttin’ wrong with your ears?  You sayin’ you ain’t?”Now it was Ratchis’ turn to spit.  Martin looked nervously from the dwarf to the half-orc, sweat beading on his brow.  The watch-mage looked over to where Beorth stood hoping he could get his attention.Helrahd snorted, “What? It makes you strong right?  Must be okay.  It’s not like I called you a goblin.”“Let’s lower a rope down there,” Ratchis said, turning to Martin and ignoring the dwarf.  “We’ll tie a lantern to the end.”End of Session #40 -----------------------------------Notes(1) Kazrack cast Protection from Evil(2) In Dwarven culture, a group of dwarves of the same lineage can be called collectively or individually by their family or clan name.(3) Ratchis cast magic stone.(4) Kazrack was energy drained, gaining a negative level.(5) It said, “I will make you my slave.(6) Friars of Nephthys as immune to all fear effects.(7) Monks of Anubis gain the ability to call down divine vengeance instead of the ability to remove disease.  This allows them to use a turning attempt to deal an additional 2d6 of damage to undead.  At each level that they would gain an additional casting of remove disease, they gain one additional turning attempt per day.(8) Had anyone spoken the gnoll tongue they would have known that it said, “…the Shadows will take you soon.”  The emphasis on the third inward snort after the sixth snarl would have indicated that the word “shadow” was being used as a proper noun, or at least the gnollish equivalent of one one; something regarding special attention or being unique. (9) Kazrack had made an oath to Krauchaar to refrain from wearing armor until he had fulfilled what he thought was a blow worthy of his place as warrior and protector.</blockquote>

Verification