Fizahn:
Wonderful. Never mind the demons. I hate undead. Seeing Damian attack the zombie, Fizahn shoots his crossbow at the shambling monster. "Hey! Zombie bull guys!"
OOC: [roll0]
[roll1]
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Fizahn:
Wonderful. Never mind the demons. I hate undead. Seeing Damian attack the zombie, Fizahn shoots his crossbow at the shambling monster. "Hey! Zombie bull guys!"
OOC: [roll0]
[roll1]
Adalmar
"Callos ! Can you use that spell on me, the one that makes people giant ? I should be able to keep the gate open a lot more easily !"
If Callos agrees to the idea, the Enlarged Adalmar will prop himself against a wall to leave enough room for his three remaining companions to pass the gate.
Callos
"Bloody...I was hoping to save this for later!" Callos hisses out as he steps away from the gate and turns to Adalmar. A quick recitation of the words in his mind and the ranger would be a great deal bigger and hopefully strong enough to hold the gate open...Then again...
"Wait! Don't destroy the zombie, lure it down here and stay out of it's range!" An excited gleam came to the necromancers eyes as he hurried over to were the shout of zombies had come from, spellbook in hand and a plan in mind.
SpoilerIf it looks like Adalmar can't keep it open even with the Enlarge Person...then...hrm...I dunno. Well...I doubt I'll be able to do anything else this round, but if so (Aside from the moving and Enlarge Person) then Callos will cast Command Undead on the bull-headed zombie.
Tryntha
Tryntha muttered a brief prayer to the spirits under her breath as she couched her shield and took up her spear, preparing to do her best to keep the zombie away from her friends holding up the gate.
She hoped not to have to channel her power to destroy the thing, preferring to save that for later when they would more likely need it.
The excitement in his voice and and gleam in Callos's eye at the prospect of an undead within their midst gave her pause. She hoped he knew some easy way to dispatch the undead, maybe by unravelling the magics that animated it's lifeless corpse freeing the soul within to reach it's haven.
[roll0]
Moving to block the way to the gate and taking the total defense (+4 Dodge to AC) action for total AC 21.
Gala
Gala grits her teeth and shares a look with Retay and Tiriel as they wait for Adalmar to try his hand at keeping the gate up. I certainly don't think just two of us could keep this thing up long enough, she thinks as she struggles to keep the gate from moving any closer to the ground. Hearing the sounds of battle from further down the tunnel, she grimaces. "I sure hope we're not trapping ourselves someplace we don't want to be...it's not gonna be easy getting out the same way we're getting in."
The zombified minotaur shambles past Fizahn and Damian who have pressed themselves into nooks behind the archways that support the curved ceiling.
Fizahn shoots the zombie in the back with a small crossbow bolt to little effect, then shouts a warning to his companions still struggling with the gate.
...
The massive undead minotaur lurches forward into the torchlight and raises its two-handed battleaxe. Its opaque eyes stare sightlessly as it opens its mouth, hissing.
Tryntha raises her shield and braces her spear, preparing for the worst. Khazrael blasts the zombie minotaur from its front, while Damian fires at the monster from behind.
"Wait!" cries Callos, raising his skeletal hand.
The zombie minotaur halts and lowers his battleaxe, swaying slowly on its two feet, still smoking from Khazrael's magic missiles and Damian's attempt to disrupt undead.
Anika
Anika lets out her breath, slowly. "Callos? What exactly did you do to it?"
Callos
"I wrested control of it from whoever made it in the first place." He responds, eyes on the minotaur zombie as if to ensure that the spell was firmly in effect before turning and pointing to the gate that was proving so hard to hold up in the air.
"Go and lift that gate up until everyone is through." It just seemed so...natural to be commanding undead again that it gave Callos shivers. It had never felt so wrong either. Alright, this is easy...I have the zombie aid us for the duration of the spell...on the last day we destroy the corpse and let it go.
It'd be easy...though there was the temptation to simply keep casting the spell and keep the zombie enthralled, he was clear-headed enough to understand that doing so would hardly be a wise or good decision. And for that much he was very thankful.
Khazrael
Khazrael grins at Callos and jokes, "Looks kinda decrepit--Wouldn't it be great if his arms just ripped free when he tried to lift the gate?"
Retay
"What are you all talking about?" gasps the barbarian, still straining with the portcullis. "What were you fighting?"
Obediently, the zombie minotaur drops his battleaxe with a loud CLANG!!! then lurches over to the portcullis and joins the others trying to raise it.
Adalmar and Anika cringe backward, giving the enormous zombie a wide berth.
Tiriel, Retay, and Gala, likewise regard the zombie suspiciously from the other side of the gate, but with the additional strength, each is able to slip through to the other side one by one.
Finally, the fighters and zombie allow the gate to crash shut once again. Again the loud screeching and clanging echo up and down the tunnel passages.
Leaning down, the zombie minotaur picks up his battleaxe then stands swaying before Callos, as if to say what now?
Callos
What now indeed?...Hmm..I wonder how complex of a command it can follow. Fighting, following, and menial labor seem obvious enough but if it can...
"Hmmm return to the one who created you and protect all of these people and myself."
Hmmm that sort of command might be too much for a zombie to handle...or heck even two such commands at once, but it was worth a shot. If it could lead them back the way it had come from, then it could very well guide them to Valentine if she had animated it herself...or perhaps one of her vampiric allies if nothing else which was almost as good. The noise though was really starting to become a problem though.
Elthan
Stepping away from the wall which he had tried to cling to out of sight from the zombie, Elthan moves over to Callos and gives him a hard pat to his shoulder. "Very well done there friend, and good thinking too! You must let me tame the next minion we see."
With what sounds almost like a sigh, the zombie minotaur lumbers forward, up the slight incline into the heart of what used to be the sewers of Shandaular.
The tunnels become narrower and increasingly dense, forming a labyrinth of passages.
The zombie apparently retains its minotauran familiarity with this maze, and weaves through the complex tunnels without hesitation.
Zeodoras, who has been close-lipped since encountering the gate, whispers to Khazrael in Abyssal, "This is not the way to the vampire ..."
Khazrael
Without slowing his pace, Khazrael raises an eyebrow and replies to Zeodoras.
"Wrong way? You got a reason for trying to keep that quiet?"
Fizahn:
"Lovely. So glad you got a pet. Let's go now." Fizahn steps forward to follow the minotaur. His dagger is drawn and he's watching the zombie warily. He pauses a second as he sees Khazrael and Zedoras conversing. "Is there a problem Khaz? It might be kinda helpful if you voice it now. Not much time, right people?"
Tiriel
Tiriel warily watches the minotaur zombie approach. It takes every ounce of restraint that she has not to drop the gate and draw her sword, though fat lot that would have done since Adalmar, Gala, and Retay couldn't keep the gate up by themselves and she'd have been stuck on the wrong side anyhow...
Tiriel accepts that Callos has somehow taken control of the zombie and waits patiently, if not nervously, for her turn to pass under the gate. She'd known that Callos was a necromancer but the whole truth of that was only hitting home now. This was the first time he'd done something with undead, other than blow them up, in front of her. She can't help but ask Callos in a hushed voice, "So this thing is under you're control, right? How would you know if it wasn't just pretending to follow your orders? I mean I know it's not that smart but the person who made it might be... What's this about going the wrong way?"
Tryntha
Her spear began to shake a bit as the monstrosity kept getting closer. Her knees bent, and she kept telling herself it was her battle training and not her courage fading her. Callos' interjection was terribly welcome as the beast stood there dumbly, then dropped it's weapon and moved to help with the gate.
Relief flooded through her veins as her friends slipped below the gate one by one.
A smile found its way to her mouth as she readied for the necromancer to give the word to Tiriel and the others to dispatch with the beast....but the words never came. She blinked several times, barely registering the plan to move ahead, and only started walking at the prodding of one of the others.
Bile lept up her throat as she found herself following this abomination along with the others. The respect she had felt growing for the man with the skeletal hand dwindling with every step....and a worrisome thought crept into her mind...
What will happen when I use my power to destroy the undead? Will he be effected? He is alive, but if the channeling of the power of good hurts him...what does that mean?
She continued to follow, finding herself looking over their shoulders to keep watch for something following, or she kept telling herself...for it was really to avoid having to see the horned thing shambling along in front of its new master.
Damian
Damian rolls his eyes when Callos takes control of the minotaur. Could've done that a moment ago, before I wasted that magic. Oh well, it's not like it was much anyway.
A nagging doubt tugged at the back of his mind as they followed the minotaur down the path Callos asked for, but he said nothing. When Khazrael stopped at Zeodoras's request, however, and the confusion shone on his face, Damian quickly walks over to the necromancer.
"Callos, you assumed that the vampire made this minotaur. What if you're wrong? What if he's been here the entire time, and he's taking you to the grave of some long-lost necromancer?"
The spellthief sighs, and his shoulders sag slightly. Lost under a city of undead and demons. Not promising conditions.
Callos
"It's not a pet at all. Despite the fact it used to be a minotaur, it is still a victim of a necromancer's ill wishes which I can sympathize with. Mystara willing, we'll find the one who did this with my...hm....companions help and then we can send it off to a well-deserved after life."
Then, as such things seemed prone to happening among the various people he traveled with, many things seemed to happen all at once that had his head whipping about to various people trying to keep track of them. And...well it seemed to him like his best course of action was answering those who had asked first so he turned to Tiriel.
"Yes it's under my control. No, it can't be pulling a fast one on us. The spell I utilized strips away the previous controller's will without fail on mindless undead such as zombies and skeletons. It's only on intelligent undead such as vampires, liches, ghouls, and the sorts that I need to worry about the spell faltering and thats only if the recipient is particularly strong-willed or I ask something it'd be inclined against like something self-destructive. Considering the nature of the spell that makes zombies though I'd have to say that it's creator is most likely a clever person, possibly not a genius, but not as slow as your regular village person. In any case I'll worry about if the minotaur turns on us if and when we encounter another spellcaster who uses necromancy or an artifact that could fill such a use."
Callos then turned to Damian thoughtfully and back to the minotaur. "It's a possibility, but I don't think it's likely. From what I know necromancers aren't received well in society and having more then one in the same area can greatly shorten the supply of corpses and draw the attention of otherwise ignorant authorities. Not so much a problem here though..."
The necromancer paused for a second, troubled by this new line of thought and by the little demon and Khaz (presumably) speaking in the tongue of demons before walking a little closer behind the zombie carefully looking it over for...well signs of freshness. How decayed was the minotaur? If it was truly old it'd be a skeleton which ruled out an ancient ancient maker but a more recent one..
Once he finds the answer to his quandary, or if he cannot, he ambles to the rear of the group and Tryntha watching her continuely look back over behind them for a moment before speaking up. "Tryntha, could you join me for a moment, I need your expertise on a matter.."
Callos asked politely and respectfully, waiting for an answer. An answer, which if yes, would lead him to guide the cleric up to the zombie and asking her to try and determine the age of the corpse. Pausing for just a moment to glance back then lean in to whisper softly..
SpoilerAnd back briefly to Private Conversations!
Tryntha
The priestess straightens from the sagging that had developed in her walking, and nodded along with Callos. She listened to him and then followed him closer to the zombie. Halfway there, she stopped and her voice raises slightly for the others to hear,
This thing we do may be difficult for me at times. I am among many strangers...but they are strangers entrusted by my Lord, my Huhrong and I will not fail them.
Bolstered by her own words, she strides forward through the lines, moving to examine the zombie passing along any information to Callos.
Spoiler
[roll0]
[roll1]
[roll2]
[roll3]
Those are all the rolls I could think of that might come into play.
Khazrael
"Yeah, hold up guys, I think we're going the wrong way," Khazrael says, "That might be to our advantage, if this takes us someplace nicer, but chances are, Val didn't raise this minotaur. If two babau were what she used for the tunnel guard in the other area, surely she'd send a lot more than one zombie to guard it elsewhere."
Retay
The barbarian started and almost dropped the gate for his weapon when he saw the zombie, but, for whatever reason, the rest of the group wasn't attacking it. He watched in horrified confusion as the monster first lifted the portcullis, then began to lead his comrades into the upper sewers.
He could come to only one conclusion.
That necromancer, that... Callos... not only killed a man, but hideously mutated him and raised him as a bull-man-zombie!
Seething in anger, but knowing there was nothing he could do with so many of the necromancer's friends around, the plainsman followed at a distance.
__________________
It was this statement that at last draws Retay from his shell. "So you're doing this for... for a 'good' purpose? You're trying to put it to rest?" He hesitates, then says, "How can we trust you?"Quote:
Originally Posted by Callos_DeTerran
Tiriel
Tiriel nods as she responds to Callos. "Good. Because the only thing I know about zombies is how to destroy them. I still don't like using it, but it's easier than fighting it and it leaves us free to deal with other threats."
Hearing Retay's unease, Tiriel snorts. "You can trust Callos Retay. He may be crazy but he's our crazy. If that makes sense."
And after all the crap he's put me through I do still trust him... for some reason.
Fizahn:
Fizahn stays near Callos as they walk along. He is surprised by all the complaints about Callos taking over the zombie. It's a tool. What does it matter? We all knew he was a necromancer. He grins at Callos as he mentions the parameters of his spell. "Yeah. Pity it doesn't work on undead drow priestesses." He immediately frowns after he states his comment. Underdark memories. Probably not the best thing to bring up... Djital... Thokk... Sedryn... His frown deepens as Retay questions Callos's trustworthiness. His voice is as close to steel as it has ever been when he replies. "We can trust him, Wyrmslayer. You weren't there when we met him. You don't know what happened down there."
Damian
Damian nods to Khazrael as he speaks up, and looks back to Callos. "Callos, it's easy enough to test. Just ask the minotaur to take us to the center of the city. Well, I'm assuming you can't ask it to take us to Valentine. Hmm.." He looks back over to Khazrael, and the small quasit. "Zeodoras, exactly where was Valentine located? In the center of the city, like we thought?"
A slight frown shows on his face as the party's progress slows. What time is it...? Have we already lost our window of distraction?
Anika
Anika is uneasy. How do I know who's right? The zombie is a mindless... zombie, and Zeodoras could be and probably is lying to us.
She frowns in irritation. "Khazrael, is there any way of knowing for sure if Zeodoras is lying? Does he have to obey you--that is, can you force him to tell the truth?"
Elthan
Elthan gives a head shake to Anika at her question. "No, there is no way to confirm if Zedoras is truthful except to see for ourselves. Until Khazrael performs the proper rituals, he is under no compulsion than his own to speak the truth, though I see no reason why he would not."
The sorcerer dodges his head around, mulling over some thought before edging towards Khazrael. "This is a bit off subject, but have you ever bound a familiar before Khazrael? If you haven't I'd be happy to assist, besides, it's no fun spending a whole day alone."
Gala
Though she keeps it to herself, Gala is not entirely at ease when the Minotaur lifts the gate and lets her, Tiriel, and Retay through. Despite Callos' reassurances, she keeps her distance and stays near the seething Retay. I've chosen to stick with these people, and I do trust in their abilities, but...well, if nothing else, what do we do when Callos' spell wears off? Do we just wait until it starts attacking us? She sighs and trudges along with the group until they begin debating their direction. "We can't afford to go the wrong way now. There's no way to ask the zombie, is there?" Gala looks at the Minotaur appraisingly. "I guess in this state, it'd just tell you whatever you told it to say anyway."
Khazrael
He grins at the little demon, then turns to the others and says, "He could be lying, but he probably doesn't have much of a reason to. He'd be putting himself in a large amount of danger to lead us into a trap we'd be walking into anyway."
"And no, I haven't performed a spirit-bonding. I learned how in a dream, so naturally I'm a little sketchy. Any help would be appreciated."
Wait, do I really want help from him...? I guess he's not all bad, but Evendur...