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The Doomed Bastards: Reckoning (story complete)
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<blockquote data-quote="Lazybones" data-source="post: 3561411" data-attributes="member: 143"><p>I'm just using the spells provided in the stat blocks in the module. Only one of the two clerics here was 9th level, the other was 8th (and so <em>inflict critical wounds</em> was probably its best attack). 4d8+8 is nothing to sneeze at, especially if you have a poor Will save. </p><p></p><p>These two clerics were caught off guard; remember the ogre had been <em>silenced</em> and so the first warning they had was the guard's head coming through the door. They barely had a chance to summon blockers, let alone buff them. But given how potent the one priest's attacks were against the hobgoblin fighter and Shay, it was likely that it did at least have <em>divine power</em> up (I don't remember its exact buff routine). Not that it did a lot of good; when you're a caster and you're that outnumbered, you're in trouble. </p><p></p><p>Of course, that works both ways, as we'll see today, and next week:</p><p></p><p>* * * * * </p><p></p><p></p><p>Chapter 180</p><p></p><p>THE SURGE</p><p></p><p></p><p>Varo hurled an <em>undeath to death</em> spell into the onrushing horde of undead. The explosion of black energy blasted seven skeletons into fragments of bone, but it barely eased the force of the surging wave. </p><p></p><p>The wave spread out into the room, cutting off part of the group from the rest. Shay dodged back as a skeleton leapt at her face, its claws extending toward her eyes. She avoided its assault, and tried to get to the last hobgoblin warrior. She managed only one step before she found herself surrounded by skeletons, with at least five zombies right pressing at her in their wake. The creatures hindered each other by their close proximity, but the undead seemed to care only for seizing and tearing apart their living foes.</p><p></p><p>Serah tried to <em>turn</em> some of the attacking undead, but her power had no effect. “There’s too many of them... they’re too strong!” the cleric shrieked. </p><p></p><p>“They are augmented,” Varo said calmly, stepping back to the broken doors. </p><p></p><p>“Fall back to the doors!” Talen yelled. He still could not see, but <em>Beatus Incendia</em> flared in his hand, as though the blade could itself sense the presence of the undead monsters in the chamber. </p><p></p><p>Kalend and Baraka tried to get back to the sundered outer doors, but were blocked by a half-dozen charging skeletons. Filcher shot between them, dodging skeletal claws without apparent effort. Kalend tried to do the same, but a skeleton seized his arm. Kalend, his face white with terror, hacked at it with his legion shortsword, but the blow had no effect. </p><p></p><p>Baraka slammed into the skeleton, dislodging the creature’s grasp on the thief. “Go!” the ranger yelled, his arms spread wide to block off the skeleton charge, his sickles raising a fine cloud of bone dust as he hacked into their bodies. His adamantine weapon smashed a skeleton’s humerus, but as he pulled back the weapon it caught in a rib cage, and was pulled out of his grasp. </p><p></p><p>Kalend hesitated. “Baraka!” </p><p></p><p>The ranger tried to pull back from the skeletons trying to seize him, but before he could get fully free a zombie lurched into him, locking its thick arms around the man’s neck, dragging him into its grasp. Kalend took a step toward him, but within an instant found himself confronted by three more skeletons, one of which got a claw on his neck for a second, and drew blood as it raked his flesh. </p><p></p><p>The things were incredibly strong. </p><p></p><p>Dar was finding that out, as he stood against the horde, lashing out with <em>Valor</em>. He focused on the zombies, which were more vulnerable to the sword, but strokes that would have cut through ordinary zombies merely opened shallow tears in their undead flesh. It was like hacking through leather, and by the time Dar finally brought one down, he was almost completely surrounded. He had a very close call as a skeleton grabbed onto his leg, and he nearly fell into the arms of a zombie hazarding his flank. He was already bruised and bleeding from several hits; these undead seemed to have little difficulty hurting him even through his heavy armor. </p><p></p><p>“Dar! Dar, get out of there!” Allera shouted. </p><p></p><p>“Shay’s trapped!” the fighter replied, but he had no choice but to follow Allera’s direction; another second and he would be torn to pieces. </p><p></p><p>Shay could hear her friends’ yells, but the sound was overlaid by the screams of the hobgoblin as it was taken down. Shay could just see it through the press of undead; three zombies had a solid hold on it, and two others were pulling back the plates covering its torso through sheer strength. She felt something twist in her as she saw gory entrails lifted into the air, accompanied by a spurt of bright red arterial blood. One of the zombies turned and looked at her, its face splattered in crimson. </p><p></p><p>The scout was nearly yanked off her feet as a zombie seized her cloak. Twisting her body, she ducked out of the garment, shedding her light pack in the same movement. She felt pain in her side as a pair of skeletons raked her with their claws, but of more immediate worry was the arms of the surrounding zombies probing at her, trying to grab onto her neck and arms. She heard Talen yell, could see the light of his sword, over the press. </p><p></p><p>If she was going to escape, it had to be now. </p><p></p><p>The scout sprang into the air, using her magical boots and her own strength and agility to take her six feet straight up. Narrowly avoiding the grasping hands, she landed on a zombie’s shoulders. Even as her weight started to buckle the undead monster, she leapt forward, her target another zombie that was caught in the press. The room was almost <em>full</em> of undead, and Shay could see that more were still coming. </p><p></p><p>All of this she took in in mid-leap. She hit the second zombie and sprang off it as it fell. She was losing height fast; she kicked off a skeleton, trying to ignore the agony of her injured knee as it was wrenched by the impact. Claws tore at her legs. Undead were <em>everywhere</em>, a sea of arms extended up at her as she passed. </p><p></p><p>Then a fist closed tight around her ankle, and her momentum was instantly erased as a powerful tug yanked her down. She fell into the midst of a knot of undead; as she hit the floor, her injured leg collapsed and she fell hard onto her back. Her other leg was still held by a zombie almost lost in the press. </p><p></p><p>The creatures swarmed onto her in an instant, blocking out the light in a sea of darkness and pain.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Lazybones, post: 3561411, member: 143"] I'm just using the spells provided in the stat blocks in the module. Only one of the two clerics here was 9th level, the other was 8th (and so [i]inflict critical wounds[/i] was probably its best attack). 4d8+8 is nothing to sneeze at, especially if you have a poor Will save. These two clerics were caught off guard; remember the ogre had been [i]silenced[/i] and so the first warning they had was the guard's head coming through the door. They barely had a chance to summon blockers, let alone buff them. But given how potent the one priest's attacks were against the hobgoblin fighter and Shay, it was likely that it did at least have [i]divine power[/i] up (I don't remember its exact buff routine). Not that it did a lot of good; when you're a caster and you're that outnumbered, you're in trouble. Of course, that works both ways, as we'll see today, and next week: * * * * * Chapter 180 THE SURGE Varo hurled an [i]undeath to death[/i] spell into the onrushing horde of undead. The explosion of black energy blasted seven skeletons into fragments of bone, but it barely eased the force of the surging wave. The wave spread out into the room, cutting off part of the group from the rest. Shay dodged back as a skeleton leapt at her face, its claws extending toward her eyes. She avoided its assault, and tried to get to the last hobgoblin warrior. She managed only one step before she found herself surrounded by skeletons, with at least five zombies right pressing at her in their wake. The creatures hindered each other by their close proximity, but the undead seemed to care only for seizing and tearing apart their living foes. Serah tried to [i]turn[/i] some of the attacking undead, but her power had no effect. “There’s too many of them... they’re too strong!” the cleric shrieked. “They are augmented,” Varo said calmly, stepping back to the broken doors. “Fall back to the doors!” Talen yelled. He still could not see, but [i]Beatus Incendia[/i] flared in his hand, as though the blade could itself sense the presence of the undead monsters in the chamber. Kalend and Baraka tried to get back to the sundered outer doors, but were blocked by a half-dozen charging skeletons. Filcher shot between them, dodging skeletal claws without apparent effort. Kalend tried to do the same, but a skeleton seized his arm. Kalend, his face white with terror, hacked at it with his legion shortsword, but the blow had no effect. Baraka slammed into the skeleton, dislodging the creature’s grasp on the thief. “Go!” the ranger yelled, his arms spread wide to block off the skeleton charge, his sickles raising a fine cloud of bone dust as he hacked into their bodies. His adamantine weapon smashed a skeleton’s humerus, but as he pulled back the weapon it caught in a rib cage, and was pulled out of his grasp. Kalend hesitated. “Baraka!” The ranger tried to pull back from the skeletons trying to seize him, but before he could get fully free a zombie lurched into him, locking its thick arms around the man’s neck, dragging him into its grasp. Kalend took a step toward him, but within an instant found himself confronted by three more skeletons, one of which got a claw on his neck for a second, and drew blood as it raked his flesh. The things were incredibly strong. Dar was finding that out, as he stood against the horde, lashing out with [i]Valor[/i]. He focused on the zombies, which were more vulnerable to the sword, but strokes that would have cut through ordinary zombies merely opened shallow tears in their undead flesh. It was like hacking through leather, and by the time Dar finally brought one down, he was almost completely surrounded. He had a very close call as a skeleton grabbed onto his leg, and he nearly fell into the arms of a zombie hazarding his flank. He was already bruised and bleeding from several hits; these undead seemed to have little difficulty hurting him even through his heavy armor. “Dar! Dar, get out of there!” Allera shouted. “Shay’s trapped!” the fighter replied, but he had no choice but to follow Allera’s direction; another second and he would be torn to pieces. Shay could hear her friends’ yells, but the sound was overlaid by the screams of the hobgoblin as it was taken down. Shay could just see it through the press of undead; three zombies had a solid hold on it, and two others were pulling back the plates covering its torso through sheer strength. She felt something twist in her as she saw gory entrails lifted into the air, accompanied by a spurt of bright red arterial blood. One of the zombies turned and looked at her, its face splattered in crimson. The scout was nearly yanked off her feet as a zombie seized her cloak. Twisting her body, she ducked out of the garment, shedding her light pack in the same movement. She felt pain in her side as a pair of skeletons raked her with their claws, but of more immediate worry was the arms of the surrounding zombies probing at her, trying to grab onto her neck and arms. She heard Talen yell, could see the light of his sword, over the press. If she was going to escape, it had to be now. The scout sprang into the air, using her magical boots and her own strength and agility to take her six feet straight up. Narrowly avoiding the grasping hands, she landed on a zombie’s shoulders. Even as her weight started to buckle the undead monster, she leapt forward, her target another zombie that was caught in the press. The room was almost [i]full[/i] of undead, and Shay could see that more were still coming. All of this she took in in mid-leap. She hit the second zombie and sprang off it as it fell. She was losing height fast; she kicked off a skeleton, trying to ignore the agony of her injured knee as it was wrenched by the impact. Claws tore at her legs. Undead were [i]everywhere[/i], a sea of arms extended up at her as she passed. Then a fist closed tight around her ankle, and her momentum was instantly erased as a powerful tug yanked her down. She fell into the midst of a knot of undead; as she hit the floor, her injured leg collapsed and she fell hard onto her back. Her other leg was still held by a zombie almost lost in the press. The creatures swarmed onto her in an instant, blocking out the light in a sea of darkness and pain. [/QUOTE]
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