Bartke Campaign

[Dragodar]

"Damn!" Thalmis shouts. "We have to find her. Hurry!"

He steps over to the ledge and peers into the pit, then turns and runs back into the spider room.

[Destiny reached]

Thalmis sees nothing but the pool into which the water falls. He races back to the web room, but does not spot the bard. Brannon follows him, but finds no sign of the woman, either.

[Dragodar]

"Leera!" Thalmis shouts, at the top of his lungs.

He listens to the echoes of his cry and waits intently for a response, straining his ears for any sign of their short-lived companion.

[Destiny reached]

After the reverberation fades, no sound is heard, other than the rushing of water.

[Dragodar]

Thalmis turns to Forsythe, bewildered.

"Where could she have gone?" he mutters to his friend, bemused. "The only way she could have gone was through the waterfall, but that could have killed her..." Thalmis pauses, considering the unsavory possibility.

He shakes his head and continues, "She wouldn't have jumped! Something must have happened. We have to save her," Thalmis concludes.

Setting his jaw firmly, he rushes over to the edge of the waterfall and shouts once more, "Leera, can you hear me? Are you ok?"

The dragon shaman peers into the rushing cascade of water and clenches his eyes shut, hoping for some kind of answer.

[Destiny reached]

No answer returns.

[Destiny reached]

Forsythe opens the door, and the rest of the party follows his lead into the next chamber. Instantly, the room illuminates, and the trio has time to discern a winding staircase to the southeast before the walls seem to paint themselves with rich images. A magical painting depicts a spring day on a high, green hill, making it seem as if the sun reaches the room as well as the green slope. The group can nearly smell the apple blossoms and awakening flowers. People in fine clothes stand around the hill, and it seems almost as if Forsythe, Thalmis, and Brannon are among them. In the central part of the scene is a tall, raven-haired man dressed in shining plate armor, kneeling before a blond man and a red-haired woman, both of whom are wearing golden crowns.
The image soon fades. The light diminishes, but doesn't go out.

[Dragodar]

"Well," says Thalmis, looking around unappreciatively. "This tomb certainly does seem to hold a lot of surprises for a small town graveyard.
I wonder what its story is, or if the townspeople know about it."

He looks around at the scene surrounding them, seemingly annoyed by the fact that the tomb seems to be constantly outdoing itself in surprise and wonder.
He appears unimpressed by the barrage of sensory overload that the underground microcosm seems to be hurling at them.

[Destiny reached]

The staircase to the southeast appears to be the only way, besides the door through which the group just came, out of this chamber.

[Dragodar]

"May as well press on," Thalmis grumbles, as he shuffles toward the staircase.

[Destiny reached]

The party travels down the wide, winding staircase, which descends about 20 feet, and reaches the bottom in a few seconds.
To the northeast and southwest are gleaming stone doors, each engraved with a grinning, fiery skull. In the southeast corner of the room, another staircase descends. But, before the characters have time to act, the chamber fills with the image of the hill they saw before. The formerly green mound, however, is now covered in brown grass, flames leaping into the sky off in the distance. The dark-haired man in shining armor wields two curved swords, battling howling goblinoids and baying wolves. Beside him fights the blonde king wielding a black longsword. Light sparkles on the blade and on the king's crowned helmet. The red-haired woman holds her ground behind and between the two, her staff held aloft as lightning strikes her foes. The explorers' hair stands on end, and their skin tingles, as if electricity were really in the air.
As the image fades, the three take note, again, of the doors and stairs in the magic half-light of the room.

[SaetiusCaeus]

"Idon't like the magic, it seems like somethings going to pop out of magic runes again."

[Dragodar]

Thalmis walks toward the southwest door, and enters.

[SaetiusCaeus]

Forsythe heads off to the northeast door, but when he sees Thalmis going the other way he hesitates and says "We should not split up, let's go through this door."

[Dragodar]

Thalmis has already walked through his door.

[Destiny reached]

Forsythe follows Thalmis to the egress. The door opens surprisingly easily, and the three adventurers enter the room, in which a musty putrescence pervades the air. A flight of steep stairs leads down to the chamber.

Forsythe only:

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Forsythe's head reels as he feels his strength suddenly dwindle. It seems that the potion's effects have worn off.

[Dragodar]

Thalmis takes the rubies.

[Dragodar]

"What now, Forsythe? Brannon?" Thalmis says, looking back and forth from one companion to another, waiting for suggestions.

[Dragodar]

Thalmis jumps and throws his fist high in the air, ecstatic to be adventuring once again. Although their brief rest may have been only a few minutes in reality it felt like at least 7 months to Thalmis.

"Onward, my fellows!" Thalmis cries, with renewed vigor. "I am eager indeed to delve to the bottom of this mystery!"

[Destiny reached]

The adventurers proceed to the bottom of the stairway, taking note of the path's sharp incline.
A musty putrescence pervades the air here. Two warrior statues in this room look stern, even angry, as they brandish their spears southward. The trio sees four standing sarcophagi along the southern wall, two sealed ones flanking two others that are open, their lids lying smashed on the ground before them. Both remaining lids have the graven image of a person screaming in pain in what seems to be a prison. These persons' wide eyes are set with rubies.
The sound of steel being unsheathed is the first sign the group has of danger, as a skeletal figure in ornate full plate leaps from the eastern open coffin with a hiss, its eyes burning under its helm. "Blood and vengeance," it whispers.
With great deliberation, a bloated, rotting figure raises its arms and shambles forward from the other open coffin. A gurgling moan escapes its flabby lips.

OOC

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Initiative rolls: (1d20-1)[10] (1d20-2)[12]
I can't remember your characters' initiative checks... Can you roll them yourselves and send me your sheets?

[Dragodar]

Initiative

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(1d20+1)[7]

Ignoring the disgusting, bloated creature, Thalmis glares intently into the eyes of the skeleton, and raises his morningstar slowly and deliberately. "I'm getting rather tired of all these undead." He gives his morningstar a single practice swing and prepares for combat.

[SaetiusCaeus]

Forsyth groans in annoyance at this new batch of undead and draws a short sword and a throwing axe.

[SaetiusCaeus]

Forsyth's initiative

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(1d20+4)[21]

[Destiny reached]

OOC:

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Brannon's initiative: (1d20+1)[16]

Forsythe, not one to be beaten in terms of speed, is first to act.

[SaetiusCaeus]

Forsyth lunges at the nearest undead stabbing and tearing at the ribs with the short sword, and hacking the head off with the axe. "There will be no vengeance for you!"

Short sword

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(1d20+3)[10](1d6)[2]

Axe

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(1d20+2)[6](1d6)[1]

[Dragodar]

"Nor blood," Thalmis adds, springing forward. "Unless it be your own, dried and long-dead!"

[Destiny reached]

Both of Forsythe's attacks miss, as the plague walker, though apparently clumsy, swings out of their ways.
Brannon reacts next.

[ParkCityUtah]

Brannon then holds the symbol around his neck and calls out, "Flee from us in fear....or die! Hahaha!"

---

* post roll count doesn't match database

[Dragodar]

Thalmis grumbles, "Wow, these zombies are taking a really focking long time to react. It's weird that I'm just standing here waiting for them when I could be doing something right now."

He looks rather put out, and takes a seat on the floor, laying his morningstar across his lap as he waits for his turn to attack.

[Destiny reached]

The false king's body slumps against Forsythe, then slides to the ground, completely void of life. His guards's dusty remnants lie still on the hard floor, and the room, but for the sound of the adventurers' deep breathing, is deathly silent. The three companions now stand alone to soak in their surroundings. When they do so, they notice two small coffers against the east wall.