The Necromancer's Pact VI: Lake of Tears [closed]

[bhdrake]

Lumpy

It was reassuring to see some of his company still stirring, and better that that fool of a priest had quit trying to annoy him as Lumpy rounded the doorframe. Regardless, Lumpy made no effort to interact with the man - With the room's unfolding scene now clearly visable, he had bigger fish to fry.

Raising his flail high enough to avoid hitting his the short-folk who'd joined him in the room, he flicks his wrist, initiating a momentum-gathering spin. Doubts crossed his mind, It can't be this simple. Gonna be a trick to it., but he quashed them. Action was what was needed, even if it was the wrong one. With a wordless warcry, he barrels into the room, seeking to lay a strike on one of the men whilst his back is turned,

((OOC
Lumpy will approach whichever of the floating men is easiest to get to and attack, applying -2/+4 power attack

Attack and Damage - Floaty Guy (1d20+10=27, 1d10+11=16)
))

[Dr._Bob]

Lissa slips into the room practically unnoticed, drilling one of the intruders with a shadowstuff bolt. The man recoils in surprise, his face registering disbelief as he looks down and sees the projectile protruding from his chest.

Lumpy smashes a second man with his shadowstuff flail, sending him crashing into a wall (amazingly, his top hat stays on his head).

The female halfling darts in with her sword drawn. She looks both confused and determined at the same time.

Elthan peels himself out of the corner and lunges for the remaining man. To his dismay, his hands pass right through the figure's body. The man smiles and lifts his hands from the now-motionless body of the berserker.

A faint orange glow outlines the shuttered windows as the sun rises outside.

[hr]
A bottleneck forms at the entrance to Elthan's room as half a dozen of you try to cram inside.

Hajih moans and rubs his head. Callos helps him to his feet, sheepishly. "Well, about the explosion ... it was, umm, sort of my fault ..."

[dauphinous]

By all that is good, what in the nine hells are these things? Floating men with strange hats that cannot be touched! What am I into?

OOC--
20 + 7
I'm guessing that this is wasted, as the sword has no special properties other than being masterwork, so I didn't bother to roll for the critical or damage or the second attack.

[Erikkin]

Fizahn:

"What in the nine hells are those things?" The disbelief on Fizahn's face is evident and he tightens his grip on his 'short sword.' He looks at the bottleneck around the doorway. He quickly takes a step and dives and rolls around legs to get into an attack position on the closest man. He springs up and stabs the man with his dagger.

OOC: Tumble: 27 (16+11)
Attack: 24 (16+8)
Damage: 4 (2+2)

[bhdrake]

Lumpy

Lumpy's response is grunted quickly between practiced methodical breathing, wasting as little time and air as possible,

"Who cares?.. Less Talk.. more hurting.."

Staying true to his word, the burly half-breed wrangles his rebounding flail back on course, shifting his position to put himself in better contact with one of the top-hats. Tightening his grip, he muscles out another series of powerful strikes.

((OOC
Lumpy will use his 5ft step to set up flanks if possible, or to move himself adjacent to 2 enmies for potential cleaving action, if possible.

Full Attack - Floaty Guys, PA -2/+4 (1d20+10=30, 1d10+11=21, 1d20+5=19, 1d10+11=18)
Possible Crit?
Critical Threat (1d20+10=23, 1d10+11=20)

And invisiblecastle totally loves me right now.
))

[Phasm]

Lissa

Lissa grins viciously as her bolt slams home, her nimble fingers already loading another of her precious shadowstuff bolts. Once again, the petite blonde archer brings up her crossbow, aims at the wounded Black Hat, and fires.


OOC: Doesn't look like any of the Black Hats moved, so I'm assuming I've still got flanking action.

Attack: 12 + 8 = 20

Damage, normal: 6 + 1 = 7

Damage, sneak: 4 + 4 + 5 = 13
Total 20 damage.

[swordmaster2000]

The green haired priest seeing now way to get through the bottleneck at the door is simply content to stand in the doorway his arms crossed watching the unfolding scene with a frown on his face.

[Dr._Bob]

Lissa fires another shadowstuff bolt into one of the spectres, who grimaces in outrage.

Lumpy slams his flail into the second spectre repeatedly, and Fizahn slips undeneath the half-orc to stab the creature with his magic sword.

The newcomer slices right through the third spectre, but is dismayed to see that her sword has done no damage.

The insubstantial man grins as he grabs a hold of Elthan's wrists. You can almost see energy being drained from the half-elf as his eyes roll up into his head and his knees sag.

The entire room is bathed in a dull orange glow as the shutters are faintly outlined by the rising sun outside.


OOC: Spectres 1 and 2 take damage but are immune to sneak attacks and criticals. Elthan is drained of 2 levels.

[dauphinous]

Dammit, I wish I could be of help here, but I can't affect these things. Something to distract them might help these folks.

The halfling woman backs away and starts casting a spell, Summon nature's Ally I, then *poof* a wolf appears and joins the fray to help flank with the others.

[Erikkin]

Fizahn:

Fizahn ducks and rolls around the spectre. He pops back onto his feet in a flanking position with Lumpy. He quickly drives his dagger into the wraith. A smile of satisfaction crosses his face at the hit.

OOC: Tumble= 22 (11+11)
Attack= 30 (20+10)
Damage= 5 (3+2)

[Dr._Bob]

The scene inside the room is pure chaos. Crossbow bolts are flying, small humanoids are diving and rolling about the room, the half-orc is whirling his flail overhead, the half-elf drops to his knees, and suddenly a wolf appears, teeth bared, snapping its jaws at the three top hatted spectres.

With the windows shuttered, barely any of the dawn light filters into the room, making it hard to tell exactly what is going on.

The scene outside the room is little better. A ranger in a large floppy hat, a green-haired spellcaster, a dwarf, an elf with a shiny rapier, and a human or two are crowded about the doorway, unable to fit inside. The dust is just beginning to settle from the explosion that disintegrated the door ...

Almost forgotten is the inert body of the Rashemi berserker lying in the center of the bed.

[Ludo]

Angry Human Male

A door on the otherside of the hallway slams shut and opens again. Back and forth it swings on the verge of closing tight and opening wide, the sounds of a stuggle coming from the other side. Suddenly it flies open all the way revealing an angry bare-chested human male in brown breeches and an equally resolute human female in hastily donned robes. They are squared off, having a heated exchange.

Now that the door is wide open, the possibility of being seen by strangers prompts the man to clamp his mouth shut. His glances out of the corner of his eyes to the hallway and his face turns bright red. Clearly he is exasperated and through clenched teeth he hisses, "Nyssa, no! This has NOTHING to do with us!"

Veins can be seen popping up on the side of his closely shaven head. Impossibly, his face seems to turn even more red.

[kariokie]

Resolute Human Female

"Nolan, if you don't get out of my--" she realizes that the door is open, and she can walk right around the man. Which she does. "Either you help me, or you don't, brother."

She leaves all thoughts of him behind, walking out of the room as if there's no other choice. To her, there isn't. It feels like there's a problem she can solve. The woman pushes her long, black hair back from her face, and peers inside the room that's drawing so much attention.

Once she realizes what's going on, Nyssa casts Magic Missile at the first ghostly shape she sees.

[Ludo]

Nolan

Nolan lets out a grunt of frustration and quickly gathers his bracers, amulet and an odd pointed metal rod with a wooden handle. He equips the items as he rushes out the door, his surprising speed easily placing him ahead of the woman with a few quick bounds.

"Just stay back. And if anything gets past me, you run. Got it?" His jaw clenches once. All these years he's watched her grow in terms of power and skill but he's never gotten used to the sight of his sister in danger.

Nothing will get past me.

Well... okay she got past me. But nothing else.

Taking a deep breath, his face goes blank. The quiet hum of his mantras buzz in his head as he sinks into a battle stance, transforming him from a tense mass of knots into a languid arc of muscle and bone.

[dauphinous]

Cursing in several languages at once, the halfling woman tries to edge her way out of the room, hopefully letting someone else in who can actually help here.

Almost good I didn't grab the bow, I'd have no room to use it here. What a mess!

[bhdrake]

Lumpy

This was taking too long, and every excess moment added another uncertainty to the fight. Undead had never been Lumpy's specialty, but smashing had thus far worked out surprisingly well for him. That suited him just fine - smashing things WAS his specialty.

The half-orc shifts backwards a half-step, willing his bad knee to move fluidly as he dropped his stance in preparation for a series of low blows. They needed to settle this quick, he suspected. The berzerker looked decisively dead now, and he imagined the sorcerer was going to need a trip to a temple after whatever that thing had done to him.

((OOC
More smashing, same as the first.

Another Full Attack, PA -2/4 (1d20+10=21, 1d10+11=14, 1d20+5=18, 1d10+11=15)
))

[Dr._Bob]

Finally, the wraith being engaged by Fizahn and Lumpy succumbs to the shadowstuff flail, bursting into shreds of dark shadow, which scurry into the corners and disappear like cockroaches fleeing from the light.

More strangers, fellow inn lodgers presumably, push into the room, and one fires magic missiles at the spectre wounded by Lissa's shadowstuff bolts. It, too, explodes into shadows and vanishes.

That leaves only one spectre, who lets go of Elthan's wrists and lunges instead for Lumpy. As the spectre grabs a hold of Lumpy's arm, the half-orc feels chilled as though his body heat is being drained away. Lumpy's arm begins to tremble and his thoughts become muddled and thickened ...

An unfamiliar voice calls from the door, Open the shutters you idiots!

[Erikkin]

Fizahn:

Duh... Fizahn dives back from the ghost and quickly springs back up at the window. Why are there never any normally placed windows? He attacks the window viciously, struggling to get the shutters open.

OOC: Tumble= 22 (11+11)

I don't know if Fizahn could get the shutters open, being 3' 3" and I have no clue how high up the window is.

[sacreddeamon]

Thokk

'If ye need a window, make a window!"

*Thokk, still outside the room, forces his way into the room and smashes the window open, bullrushing his way through*

OOC: Hey, sorry for the lack of posts, im in Colorado right now and expected there to be internet in our room, but alas there was not. Ill be back Wednesday, probally wont be able to post in the meantime due to log cabins not having wireless connections. After that Im good to go.

[kariokie]

Nyssa

Nyssa speaks softly and points at the final shadowy form. Three more purple missiles shoot out from her hands and wing their way towards her target.

[Ludo]

Nolan

Messy. Knowing he'd catch an earful from Nyssa if he just stood there, Nolan contemplates leaping in. Seeing the room is already packed, he opts to stand guard in front of his sister in case her attack provokes the ire of the wraith.

[swordmaster2000]

The Green haired priest has been leaning on a wall outside the room looking bored for most of the battle, but when he sees that the half-orc has been grabed he mutters Hey! I need him for imformation. With that he attempts to roll past the feet in the doorway but crashes into someone instead knocking them over. with that he steps over them into the room. Rushing foreward now he attempts to spear the wraith with his magical trident but stumbles as he rushes over and finds his trident lodged in the wooden floor unable to be removed

Tumble http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=526767
4 + 2 = 6 :P

Attack http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=526779
1 + 6 = 7 :P *groan

[dauphinous]

Having been kncoked down by the guy with the trident, the halfling woman just crawls out of the way.

That damn boy...

[Zeal]

Hajih

Hajih shoves one of the axes back in his belt and draws out his shadowstuff dagger, pushing his way into the room as he does.

OOC:
Attack, Throwing Axe: 12
Damage, 6

Attack, Dagger: 10
Damage: 4

[Phasm]

Lissa

Window? Lissa glances up from her crossbow at the shuttered window, where the first rays of dawn are leaking through. Her dark eyes widen in realization. "Sunlight! They're probably undead, so we need sunlight!" Deftly dodging Thokk, she swallows visibly at Lumpy's reaction to the creature's touch and reaches for a rather crude looking silver medallion on a string. Too late for Lumpy and Elthan now, but at least I might be able to save myself... The gnome chants a short phrase in what seems to be an archaic dialect of Gnomish. White light flares briefly around her, then fades.


OOC: Cast domain spell protection from evil.

[bhdrake]

Lumpy

Desperation could be a powerful thing, a conclusion Lumpy had reached after more than a decade of soldiering. Few things had as much potential for disaster as a man forced to his last recourse - After all, a pyrrhic victory was much more satisfying than a defeat.

Despite a newfound inability to properly focus his eyes, the dizziness, and the growing nausea the spectre's touch bestowed, the stubborn orc wasn't about to let it get the last laugh, oh no. Squinting to fight off the former two detriments, he swallows the third and retaliates, throwing all his strength into a series of wild blows designed to push his foe back, if nothing else.

((OOC

Full -6/+12 Power attack. Penalties for Level drain aren't added, nor are any potential flanking bonuses.

Full Attack, PA -6/+12 (1d20+6=16, 1d10+19=22, 1d20+1=21, 1d10+19=21)
))

[Dr._Bob]

Thokk knocks Fizahn aside as he smashes open the shutters from inside. Light floods the room, blinding everyone for a moment. As the morning sunbeams strike the remaining spectre, it howls and dissolves into shadowy mist.

The bedchamber is left in total disarray. You find yourselves in a tangle of weapons, broken furniture, and other adventurers, some knocked to their knees or pushing themselves up off the floor.

The berserker lies in his bed, which has miraculously remained intact through the melee.

[dauphinous]

"Where did that explosion come from? Undead don't do that, do they? They never used to, at least none of the ones I've seen." The halfling woman pushes up on one knee to stand again amidst the rapidly calming chaos. She changes her grip on her little longsword to point the tip down, almost holding it like a walking stick.

[kariokie]

Nyssa

Nyssa sidesteps her brother once again and squeezes her way into the room, helping people to stand as she passes them on her way to the berserker to check if he's beyond help.

"So, what business would the living dead have here? And no, undead don't tend to cause explosions, unless they have access to powerful magic. I doubt these would."

[Ludo]

Nolan

Nolan groans at Nyssa's questions. There she goes again, poking her nose in strangers' affairs. This incident was none of their business and they would do best to pack their gear and find some other place to stay.

Still, the explosion was admittedly odd. And these were very strange undead creatures. It's quite possible that this all may lead to the answers they'd been seeking all these years. He gives in, crosses his arms and listens, clearly uncomfortable in the midst of all these people.