Round 1
The syrupy sweet taste of the potion flows over Flaust's tongue and strength floods back to her limbs, though the debilitative affliction from the ghost's ghastly visage still lingers. Creeping cautiously around to the south side of the mansion, she sees nothing but the remains of the two outbuildings moldering quietly under a carpet of weeds. When she rounds the corner she notices she is now free of the unnatural darkness that had fallen upon the party a few seconds ago.
Vlad pulls out a scroll and mutters a verse of prayer; everyone suddenly feels buoyed by the warm presence of divine regard. He then sidles next to the manor's wall, moving carefully closer to the tormented spirit. Behind him, Hrothgeat flutters his wings nervously as he trails his master clumsily, taking refuge behind the comforting bulk of the dwarf. The mephit was never the most graceful of creatures to begin with and now his movements are stiff and ponderous.
Burrow invokes the power of earth over the kobold to toughen his scales, and Rupert holds his head and screws his eyes shut comically as the spell washes over him. He looks about ready to flee but something in Burrow's mild tone compels him to tarry. Pointing at the shadowy bulk of the manor shakily, Rupert manages to squeak out, "House made of stone, see? Stone makes good building, but no one takes any. *yip* That a very very bad sign... means house not really empty. *yip* Means something keeping everyone away, yes, yes." Curling up into a small ball at the base of the truncated gate post and steadfastly refusing to look at the ghost, he moans, "Now wes knows what...."
In the meantime, the ghost rips into Zoe viciously, its wraithlike axe cleaving through muscle and plate even as its insubstantial claws slip past her armor to rip more intimately at her flesh. The wounds they inflict are minor, mere scratches, but she can feel them tearing at the core of her being, leaving her feeling weakened and enervated. [Zoe rolled Concentration 19+16=35] Grievously injured, she calls on the benediction of her patron deity, and he responds, closing her wounds and chasing the deadly lassitude from her body. Thus rejuvenated, she hefts her sword, and steps up to face the beast.
Seeing her friend threatened, Blade moves to aid Zoe, but the press of people and creatures around her hampered her efforts and it takes her a few precious seconds longer than she would have liked. Hovering just outside the range of the creature's claws, she scowls threateningly at the creature, her fingers tightening on the grip of
Silver Slayer.
Grimly, Kiaros slips past everyone and into the mansion proper. Dust lays heavy on the entry chamber, which is deserted and has long since fallen into glorious decay. The dark depths of a hallway yawns before him, and he can dimly make out a number of doorways along its length. [Kiaros rolled Listen 9+20=29] Alert for any signs of life, he hears a very faint crunching sound coming from somewhere ahead and to his left.
[Donner rolled Ride 17+22=39] Leaping onto Grizzle's back, Donner urges his mount forward. Bounding across the brush-choked yard, they leap into the fray, Donner's longsword flashing spectrally in the dim light. Catching a flicker of movement in front of him, he slashes at it instinctually but unfortunately, it is the poor lighting playing tricks on his eyes and he finds himself cleaving through thin air.
Feeling drained, Aegis, Arbor, and Tor whine uneasily in the presence of such unearthly malevolence and crowd around Burrow and Claw's familiar presence while the badger hunkers down and growls deep in the back of its throat, heavy claws digging little furrows in the dirt.
Initiative (status):
Flaust (51/51, -1 Str, -2 Dex, -2 Con)
Vlad (85/85)
Burrow (100/100)
Fiendish Ghost (uninjured)
Rupert (uninjured, ability damaged)
Zoe (104/104, +4 Str)
Blade (106/106)
Claw (62/62, -4 Str, -2 Dex, -2 Con)
Kiaros (54/54)
Donner (94/94) on Grizzle (62/62)
Aegis, Arbor and Tor (33/33, -3 Str, -3 Dex, -3 Con)
Hrothgeat (42/42, -4 Str, -4 Dex, -1 Con)
Ghost attacked Zoe. It did 22 and 21 points of damage respectively with two axe swings, missing on the third swing, and then swiped at her with its claws. The claws did little damage comparatively, at only 2 and 5 points, but drained 4 and 2 points of Con. Since this dropped her total to 14 hp (with a max of 68 hp), she casted
heal. Donner charged and rolled 14+22-6=30 to hit but unfortunately, his attack missed due to rolling 16 (on d100) on the miss chance from the
deeper darkness. The double line around him indicates he's mounted.
OOC: Flaust, the potion of lesser restoration restored 3 points of ability damage; rolled randomly to determine it was Str-- probably just as well as Str 6 would have left her rather encumbered. Vlad, bless has a radius of 50 feet and is centered on the caster. Blade could not charge due to obstacles and/or other characters in her way. Donner cannot take 10 in the middle of combat (unless he has a class special ability that allows this) though he made his Ride check for a fast mount normally. Also note that his Ride modifier is +22 as per this post.
I don't think it would, but hey - it doesn't hurt to ask! 
Thanks for catching that, Ashy. Fixed the combat maps and posts 
