A Song of Death [IC]

[Emlyn]

Cai struggles to stay standing as darkness clouds her vision. Then that raven shows up again. Putting it aside for latter, she takes aim with renewed strength.

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Minor: Quarry Madman

Standard: Biting Volley
19 vs. Madman 17 damage
34 vs. Madman 18+9+11=38

[Reverent-One]

Ráslim

Seeing the members of the mob he just defeated rise again startles Ráslim. "Just die!" He shouts shakily as he staggers back and sends a column of flame into their mist.

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Move: To F13
Standard: Scorching burst, enlarged, centered on P3.
Attack rolls vs. Reflex:
N1-23
N4-25
O2-14
O4-26
P2-30
Q4-28
R3-23
Damage-7

[Deadly]

Grimnir takes a few steps away from the dead corpses and turns to the nearest zombie, raising his rods to blast it back to the void.

Cáï takes aim and with renewed vigor fires twice at the madman. While the first arrow strikes the ground, the second strikes perfectly and with great power.

Ericr's threat seems sadly powerless, as the madman ignores his radiant judgement.

Eitri is still stunned by the terrible cold.

Ráslim calls down scorching flames upon the mobsters he thought he had already killed moments ago. As the flames rage, all but one of the zombies crumble to ashes.

The two remaining mobsters lash out at Ericr and Eitri. Despite being stunned, Eitri manages to evade the incoming stab. Ericr is not so quick, however, and takes a painful stab from the mobster.

The one remaining zombie shambles forwards to lash out at Eitri. It proves to have more luck than its living friend, slipping its dagger past Eitri's defences and into his back.

Once again a disturbing wave passes over the battlefield, and once again the fallen mobsters rise with a loud moan.

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Sorry to Grimnir for moving on a little quickly. I think I'll be trying to move on every day as far as possible, to speed up the game, which means I may end up taking your turns for you a little more often than I have so far.

Grimnir's Actions: Move to D12. Curse the madman. Eldritch Blast against J9, destroying it.

38 damage to madman from Cáï.

7 damage to N1, N4, O4, P2, Q4 and R3 from Ráslim, destroying them.

8 damage to Ericr from M10. 8 damage to Eitri from O8.

The dead mobsters rise as zombies.

Ngeri's turn.

Cáï: 35/75 hp
Ericr: 62/102 hp
Eitri: 33/95 hp, stunned til end of Madman's turn
Ráslim: 36/65 hp
Mob:
Ngeri: 32/78 hp
Madman: Bloodied, challenged by Ericr, cursed by Grimnir
Grimnir: 70/78 hp, +2 attacks til end of Ngeri's turn

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[Ipphli]

Ngeri

Growling in anger as the dead rise once more, Ngeri strides purposefully into the middle of the battlefield. Looking up into the sky, Ngeri shouts, "Blessed Nightingale, put these poor souls to rest!" Looking at the zombie before him, the priest brandishes his holy symbol and emits a burst of holy energy over the battlefield.

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Move to I-10, cast Turn Undead.

[Deadly]

As Ngeri raises his holy symbol, the zombie next to him lashes out swiftly and leaves a long, red gash. Ngeri continues regardless, and radiant light fills the area, leaving all but two of the zombies as dust.

The madman grins widely as he turns and moves towards the building where Cáï is. Halfway there he spins around and raises his hands. Shadows swirl around him and with a terrifying scream they burst forth like black flames in a wave before him. The black flames wash over Ericr and Eitri, searing them before fading away into the darkness that spawned them.

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I may have previously made some mistakes regarding multiple targets. When a power affects multiple targets you roll attacks for each target individually. I may not have always remembered this, I think, and may not have catched it either if you guys have forgotten it before. I apologize for that. Anyway, long and short, always roll a seperate attack for each target. I've done the additional rolls for Ngeri this turn - only one missed.

So... all zombies except F8 (missed) and O8 (out of range) are destroyed by Ngeri.

8 damage to Ngeri from J10 (opportunity attack before it is destroyed)

22 necrotic damage to Ericr and 18 necrotic damage to Eitri from the madman, and both take 10 ongoing fire damage (save ends).

Eitri is no longer stunned.

Grimnir, Cáï, Ericr, Eitri and Ráslim's turn.

Cáï: 35/75 hp
Ericr: 40/102 hp, ongoing 10 fire (save ends)
Eitri: 15/95 hp, ongoing 10 fire (save ends)
Ráslim: 36/65 hp
Mob:
Ngeri: 24/78 hp
Madman: Bloodied, challenged by Ericr, cursed by Grimnir, Cáï's Quarry
Grimnir: 70/78 hp

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[Emlyn]

Seeing the madman move towards her Cai calmly draws another arrow and takes aim. This time the arrow is imbued with the power of lighting. The resurrecting zombies are a concern but hopefully if they kill this man they will stay dead.

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Standard: Hunt's End
37 vs. AC madman 44 damage
target is Dazed till end of it's next turn

Note: I quarried him last turn

[nepphi]

Ericr's teeth gritted as he felt the blasphemous energy ripping at him, but he did not yield. He brought the beast back to the fore, drawing on its strength as he lunged after the madman, swinging his blade in a bright arc.

He said no further words, putting all his focus into the strength of his attacks, and willing himself to keep on through the damage done his body.

[Reverent-One]

Ráslim

Ráslim once more sends a burst of flame to burn the undead creatures.

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Scorching burst, centered on N9
Attacks vs reflex:
M10-(1d20+13)[15]
O8-(1d20+13)[16]
Damage-(1d6+5)[6]

[Anonomuss]

Eitri

Still reeling from the madman's curse, as the black flames washed over him. His heart beat slowly and heavily in his chest, and despair washed over him. Darned Thing he thought, as he lashed out at the nearest mobster, before stumbling over to stand next to Ericr

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Booming Cudgel on adjacent mobster
Attack-(d20+15)[27] v AC
Damage-(d10+10)[15]

Move to O12

Saving Throw-(d20)[6]

[Kallisti]

Grimnir ver Gondlirsson

Grimnir strides towards the madman, whispering a discordant and disturbing chant. Mist begins to rise around the madman, leaving screaming faces etched on the ground in frost.

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Move to H11.

Curse the Zombie in F8.

Cast Frigid Darkness on the Madman.
(1d20+12)[15] vs Fort. (2d8+4)[12] +(1d6)[2] +4 Rods +1 Empowering Shadows, and if it hits he grants combat advantage and loses 4 points of AC until my next turn.

[Deadly]

Grimnir advances upon the madman and calls upon the frigid darkness beyond. Unfortunately the madman seems unaffected by the mist now surrounding him.

Cáï takes aim, making sure it is perfect this time before letting go of the arrow. The deadly arrow flies through the air and strikes the madman, piercing his chest. The man falls to his knees and grasps the arrow sticking out of his chest. He looks up and coughs "I have served... well" then he collapses, still grasping the arrow.

Ericr calls forth the beast within and strikes out at the mobster beside him, killing the man and reinvigorating those nearby.

Eitri strikes out at the mobster beside him. As the mobster collapses and the fires once again flare up around Eitri, a vision strikes him. For the briefest of moments he sees a ghostly woman, pale with long raven hair, standing right next to him. She reaches out for him and opens her mouth as if to speak, but is gone the very same moment. Shaken, Eitri takes a step back.

Ráslim calls down blazing fires upon the remaining zombie, but the dead man evades the fiery burst and shambles up behind Ngeri to strike at him, but the attack glances off Ngeri's armor harmlessly.

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44 damage to madman from Cáï, killing him.

+1 to Grimnir's Darkspiral Aura.

Ericr: I decided to redirect your attack to the adjacent mobster. Even if the madman was still alive the attack would have missed. The mobster, on the other hand, has much lower AC and the others could really use those temporary hp (Eitri particularly). And you avoid an OA, of course.

10 fire damage to Ericr (ongoing)

20 damage to M10, killing it. 8 temp hp to Ngeri, Eitri and Cáï.

Ericr saves against the ongoing.

10 damage to Eitri (ongoing), 8 of which counter the temp hp.

15 damage to P8 from Eitri, killing it.

Redirecting Ráslim's burst to F8. Though either way it misses.

Ngeri's turn.

Cáï: 35/75 hp, 8 temp hp
Ericr: 30/102 hp, +2 damage and regen 2 while bloodied, +2 defences (adjacent to Eitri)
Eitri: 13/95 hp, ongoing 10 fire (save ends)
Ráslim: 36/65 hp
Mob: Cursed by Grimnir (H9)
Ngeri: 24/78 hp, 8 temp hp
Madman: Dead
Grimnir: 70/78 hp

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[Ipphli]

Ngeri

Ngeri flings his hand at the zombie and, with a shout of "For the Nightingale!", flings a ball of sacred flame at the creature. He points his other hand at Eitri, bathing the man in a nimbus of golden light.

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Sacred Flame the zombie, 25 vs. Reflex. 10 damage. And Eitri can make a saving throw vs. that fire damage.

[Deadly]

Ngeri blasts the zombie to ashes and sends Eitri a much needed bit of aid.

As the last zombie crumbles a brief silence falls over the area, except for the constant, tortured screaming in the background from the people strung from poles. Then shadows begin to gather around the corpse of the madman and a new wave passes over the area as the two dead mobsters begin to rise with a moan. The shadows around the madman coalesce and take on a faintly distinct form, rising above the corpse. The shade lets out a dark laugh, like a deathly whisper, sending chills down your spines "Come join me, mortals... see if you can catch Death!"

The shadowy apparition then turns around and floats swiftly south into the alley where it suddenly disappears from sight entirely. Only Cáï thinks she sensed something moving behind her on the roof, a cold wind passing by like someone breathing on her neck.

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10 damage to H9 from Ngeri, killing it.

+1 to Grimnir's Darkspiral Aura

Eitri saves against the ongoing.

The two fallen mobsters rise as zombies, and the madman rise as a shadow/wraith-thing.

The wraith is invisible so none of you can see it currently. Though it is still shown on the map. Cáï knows it's there somewhere on the roof, but not exactly where. The rest of you may make Perception checks DC 25 to learn its rough location. If you beat DC 35 you know exactly which square it is in.

The gray circle around the wraith is an aura, anyone inside the aura takes -2 Will and on the start of their turn takes 5 necrotic damage.

Grimnir, Cáï, Ericr, Eitri and Ráslim's turn.

Cáï: 35/75 hp, 8 temp hp, -2 Will (aura)
Ericr: 30/102 hp, +2 damage and regen 4 while bloodied, +2 defences (adjacent to Eitri)
Eitri: 13/95 hp
Ráslim: 36/65 hp
Mob:
Ngeri: 24/78 hp, 8 temp hp
Madman: Invisible til start of next turn
Grimnir: 70/78 hp

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[Kallisti]

Grimnir looks up at the battered Cáï as the wraith flies toward her. "Mists take you, fool child. Why haven't you run?"

He strides towards the building, spitting curses. Mists rise beneath his feet, carrying him swiftly to the roof, rods at the ready.

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Double move to H16.

Minor: Curse the wraith.

Action point: Otherwind Stride to H18, which also grants a +2 power bonus to all my defenses until the end of my next turn. Also, paragon path powers. Specifically, Shadow Action, so myself, Cáï, and anyone else within 5 squares of H16 gets concealment until the end of my next turn.

[Anonomuss]

Eitri

Eitri's arcane senses felt the madman's essence fly up to the roof near Cai. His body still shaking from his injuries, and the vision of a woman he saw, Eitri moves to help the archer.
"Hol' on Lass, I'mma comin'" he murmered under his breath.

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Eitri double moves to J16.

I don't think he has the actions, but if he does, he'll try to climb to J17.
Athletics-(d20+8)[13]

[nepphi]

Ericr simply stayed calm, keeping an eye on Cai as he let his body knit from its injuries. He approached the building she'd climbed, eyes casting warily about.

"Does anyone posses a means of tracking such filth?"

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Standard Action for Second Wind, then I'll have a Readied Action, if someone in the party gets approached by spooky, I'm going to Benign Transposition before it happens.

[Emlyn]

Cai's relief at seeing the madman fall is quickly replaced with dread as she feels the spirit pass behind her. Fighting an enemy she can't see with a bow is ridiculous so she does the only thing she can do, jump. Landing gracefully she stands firing into the two zomibes.

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Move: Jump off the roof and move to K13
No falling damage as I got a 28 on the athletics check
Minor: Mark nearest zomibe
Standard: Twin Strike
26 vs. ac against both zomibes

[Deadly]

Grimnir rushes to get within better reach of the unseen enemy.

Meanwhile, Cáï leaps off the roof gracefully and fires two shots at the last zombies, bringing both of them down so that the rest of the group can focus on the wraith.

Ericr remains ready for what may come, while Eitri moves towards the house where the wraith is supposedly hiding.

Ráslim takes a wild shot, conjuring a column of flame over the roof in the general area where Cáï had been standing a moment ago. There is a faint hiss from within the flames, but no other indication of where the wraith is exactly. Fortunately the recent snow and rain has made the wood of the roof less suceptible to catching fire, although the roof is blackened by the flames.

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Eitri heals 54 hp, since we haven't had any protests from Ngeri.

Grimnir: Must have meant Ethereal Stride not Otherwind Stride. Regardless, no need for an AP, as one move is enough to get you to H16. And you can't curse the wraith, as you can't see it.

Cáï takes 5 damage from the aura before jumping off the roof and killing both zombies. No more zombies.

Ericr regains 4 hp, then heals 25 hp. Since this means he is no longer bloodied he loses the bonuses from shifting. I'm not sure you can ready for if the wraith approaches someone while you can't see it, so I assume you ready in case it attacks an ally within 3 squares (your Wis modifier)

Ráslim: Another Scorching Burst centered on K19. 10 damage to wraith from Ráslim.

Ngeri's turn.

Cáï: 35/75 hp, 3 temp hp
Ericr: 59/102 hp
Eitri: 77/95 hp
Ráslim: 36/65 hp
Ngeri: 24/78 hp, 8 temp hp
Wraith: Wounded, Invisible til start of turn
Grimnir: 70/78 hp, +2 defences til end of next turn

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[Ipphli]

Ngeri

The cleric scans the rooftops in the direction the wraith disappeared to. He waits for the creature to show itself.

[Deadly]

Ngeri stays put, waiting for the wraith to appear again.

He doesn't have to wait long before the shadowy figure of the wraith appears on the roof, moving swiftly towards Grimnir.

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Ericr moves retroactively, because I forgot it in the last post. Moves to I16, where he is within 3 squares of all but Ngeri and adjacent to Eitri. I was also wrong about the ready action, since the wraith is only invisible until the start of its turn you'll be able to see it and what it does on its turn, so your original ready condition was perfecly ok.

The wraith approaches Grimnir, so Ericr get to use his readied action. I need to know if both you and Grimnir are ok with that, however. If you use your readied action you will be on the roof and be the target of the wraith, while Grimnir takes your place on the ground. You will also move in the initiative order to just after Ngeri/before the Wraith.

I think we'll resolve this little detail before moving on with the rest of the wraith turn.

Cáï: 35/75 hp, 3 temp hp
Ericr: 59/102 hp, +2 damage, 4 regen while bloodied, +2 defences (adj. to Eitri)
Eitri: 77/95 hp
Ráslim: 36/65 hp
Ngeri: 24/78 hp, 8 temp hp
Wraith: Wounded
Grimnir: 70/78 hp, +2 defences til end of next turn

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[nepphi]

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I will wait for Grimnir to take his action against the wraith, then transposition us so I an fight it as well. We arranged that ourselves, sorry for the delay. New job involves a lot of running, which is killer if you have the flu.

[Deadly]

The wraith lashes out at Grimnir twice with its shadowy claws trying to catch him in its grip, but the warlock is able to evade both... though just barely.

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Hmm... not much happened there

Grimnir, Cáï and Ericr's turn. I think we should stick to taking no more than 3 of you at a time, it gets unwieldy otherwise.

Cáï: 35/75 hp, 3 temp hp
Ericr: 59/102 hp, +2 damage, 4 regen while bloodied, +2 defences (adj. to Eitri)
Eitri: 77/95 hp
Ráslim: 36/65 hp
Ngeri: 24/78 hp, 8 temp hp
Wraith: Wounded
Grimnir: 70/78 hp, +2 defences til end of next turn, -2 Will (aura)

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[nepphi]

Ericr, upon seeing the evidence of the Wraith's presence, reached out to press his right hand to Eitri's shoulder.

"Let what is mine be yours. Know blessings, and know strength."

A healing rush of energy left the paladin, knitting the Hammer Mage's wounds before the paladin took a single step forward, the air rippling with the sound of a thousand rushing wings, and then he was gone, having traded places with the Warlock once again. His blade flashed at the monstrosity atop the roof, keening with the desire to smite the wicked.

"By the Nightengale, I will neither rest nor die until you are sent to your judgment, blasphemer."

[Emlyn]

Seeing the wraith turn visible Cai fires an arrow at it. Then as Ericr sends his magic at the creature Cai fires joins in the volley.

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Minor: quarry the wraith if I haven't already
Standard: Range basic 19 vs. AC
Immediate Interrupt: Combine Fire (30 vs. AC | 30 damage)

[Deadly]

As the wraith strikes out at Grimnir, he delivers a swift retaliation. Sadly it seems its effect was much less than expected as the shadowy form before him proves difficult to harm.

Cáï fires a single shot at the wraith, but the arrow flies through the shadows without having hit anything.

Ericr grants Eitri a bit of his own strength, before stepping in to take Grimnir's place on the roof. As he strikes out at the wraith, however, it swiftly dodges. Cáï, meanwhile, strings another arrow and lets it fly. It strikes the shadowy apparition but seems to have done less damage than had the wraith been made of flesh and blood.

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Apparently Darkspiral Aura deals both necrotic and psychic damage, meaning you deal 2 times 1d8 per point you spend. I hadn't noticed that. So in the future you should probably roll twice, once for necrotic damage and once for psychic. I'll use your first roll (+ and extra d8) for the necrotic damage and your second roll as psychic. So that's 12 necrotic and 17 psychic. 9 necrotic and 8 psychic, total 17 damage.

5 damage to Grimnir from the aura.

4 damage to wraith from Grimnir (8 after resistance has been accounted for, and then half of that since it is insubstantial). Since this is less than 12, it is not weakened and your current Darkspiral value is 0.

Cáï misses with her first attack.

Eitri regains 26 hp which brings him to full hp. Ericr spends the surge (I would like to point out that Ericr, by my count, has already used 5 surges. Just a tiny warning).

Ericr and Grimnir switch places. Ericr misses with his attack.

15 damage to wraith from Cáï, on her second attack.

Eitri, Ráslim and Ngeri's turn.

Cáï: 35/75 hp, 3 temp hp
Ericr: 59/102 hp, +2 damage, 4 regen while bloodied, -2 Will (aura)
Eitri: 95/95 hp
Ráslim: 36/65 hp
Ngeri: 24/78 hp, 8 temp hp
Wraith: Wounded, Cáï's Quarry, Challenged by Ericr
Grimnir: 65/78 hp, +2 defences (adj. to Eitri)

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[Anonomuss]

Eitri

"Thank'ee lad, that'll do nicely." Eitri said as Ericr channeled some of his divine energy into him, renewing his weary bones. Newly invigorated, Eitri tries once more to climb atop the roof to attack the wraith.

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Using move action to climb building and move to I18.
Got 20 on an athletics roll.

If that's unsufficient, using standard action as a move to try again, but only got 18 on an athletics roll.

If Eitri climbed to the top on his first roll, he then attacks with Booming Cudgel (29 v AC, 13 damage)
If he made it to the top of the roof, but didn't have enough move left to move to I18, he just moves next to the wraith.

[Deadly]

Eitri manages to scramble up the wall on his first try, though he almost lost his grip a few times. It's clear that perhaps dwarves were not quite meant for running around on roof tops. Once up he makes a swift but decisive strike at the wraith. Once more it proves an elusive target, but the attack was not entirely without effect.

Ráslim conjures a swarm of pestering shadows to attack and distract the wraith, but the thing seems unaffected by the illusions.

Ngeri lifts his holy symbol and the radiant light of the heavens strikes out at the dark creature. The wraith hisses and recoils away from the radiance and the two warriors in front of it. Sensing that it can't win, it turns and flies towards the north-west, soon disappearing from sight while its ghostly voice rings across the place "Curse you. Cling to your worthless lives if you must, fools, you will never leave this city alive. Noone will! As you suffer and fall, we grow stronger."

As the wraith fades away the place falls quiet except for the constant screaming in the background from the tortured people, somehow still kept alive despite immense pain and mutilation. Their screams of agony are terrifying and disturbing to hear.

The streets below are littered with corpses and various things dropped in the initial fighting when the first madmen and undead overran the place. Something could no doubt be salvaged from the carnage around the guard tower.

It is also doubtful that the area will remain safe for long. Someone - or something - is sure to come this way eventually. Whatever you're going to do from here on it has to be decided quickly. From the roof, Eitri and Ericr can see the faint bursts of light and flames to the north, across the bridge near the temple and academy, suggesting that fighting is still going on there. The large cloud of gathering darkness hanging above the central island seems to be growing constantly.

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6 damage to wraith from Eitri.

Ráslim: Illusory Ambush, miss.

Ngeri: Zealous Sanction. 11 radiant damage (half of 22) to wraith from Ngeri.

The wraith flees the scene.

Post-encounter status in spoiler below.

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You each gain 1100 XP, bringing you up to a total of 28050 XP. Since I doubt you'll run straight off to find the closest things to fight without pause, you also regain your encounter powers.

I would once again like to remind you that you have a bunch of unidentified items. Cáï has some arrows and a cloak, and Ericr has a ring. Unless one of you takes the time to actually examine them you won't have much use of them. In most cases you won't automatically identify items when you pick them up. Some items can be identified easily if you take a short rest to examine them, though some may require an Arcana check. You also have to figure out who should get each item - who could make best use of them.

Cáï is down to 9 regular arrows, by my count. The place where you fell and lost some of your arrows is not far, just on the other side of the tower. And there may be some unbroken arrows scattered around on the ground, from previous fighting in the area.

I have updated and uploaded your sheets. Links below, along with current hit points.

Cáï: 35/75 hp
Ericr: 59/102 hp
Eitri: 95/95 hp
Ráslim: 36/65 hp
Ngeri: 24/78 hp
Grimnir: 65/78 hp

[nepphi]

Ericr gave a very brief scowl as the thing fled, the first serious slip in his emotional reserve today. Then he reverted his armour to traveling clothes and crouched on the edge of the roof.

"Cai. There is still fighting off by the bridges, from what I can see. Do you think we could find a safe way there?"

As he asked, he climbed down the side of the building, slipping his fullblade into his glove before going over the edge.

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Can I assume it's automatic, since we're not in combat at the moment?

[Deadly]

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Can I assume it's automatic, since we're not in combat at the moment?

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Yeah, go ahead. Eitri too

[Emlyn]

Cai lets out a sigh of relief as the wraith flees. Having a brush with death was never a pleasant experience though she was intimately familiar with it. Ericr's comment cuts through her thoughts. She nods and replies, "I will do my best, though it would help if everyone stayed silent this time." The last bit is punctuated with a teasing smirk at Eitri. "But first we should do a quick search of the area and see what we can salvage. I for one am very low on arrows so if anyone finds some I'd be appreciative. Be quick though, we can't stay long." She begins to head towards the location where she fell but stops after only a few steps. With a voice void of emotion she adds, "Oh, and try to avoid the screaming. It's not pretty."

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Not sure if needed but Perception roll: (1d20+13)[17]

Also I spend a healing surge.