The Necromancer's Pact IX: City of Weeping Ghosts

[kuja.girl]

Tiriel

Tiriel feels Tryntha casting a spell on her. As soon as the Hathran has explained herself Tiriel grimices. She's all for trying to save the halfling but she's not sure how well that's going to work. Won't the zombies just follow me after I pick Fizahn up? Sure they're slow, but this is a numbers problem, not speed.
Sighing, Tiriel gives up once she realies that Tryntha was determined to try.

Tiriel takes to the air and follows the Tryntha, prepared to grab Fizahn as soon as the ground is cleared...

[ooc: I'm waiting because last time Tanner & Tiriel tried this the guy was already dead. ]

[Matticus]

Grynde

The half-elf chuckles as the zombies fall in on Fizahn, and inside hopes they give him a good kicking before he's rescued. Well, folks, it hasn't been nice knowing you. Shall we go save the annoying midget? Without waiting for any kind of answer, Grynde charges down the stairs and slashes the nearest zombie.

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Wow, Grynde slashes things a lot!
Initiative - (1d20+2)[12]
Attack - (1d20+8)[9] Do I take the penalty if I'm not using the off-hand weapon? Huh. [Edit: Doesn't seem to matter, because that's a natural one. Why did I use the forum roller?
Damage - (1d6+3)[8]

[Naleh]

Retay

"FIZAHN!" For a long moment, the barbarian stands on the brink, grappling with himself. But then some part of him wins out, and he does the stupidest thing bar the gnome's own: he charges into the zombie horde with the half-elf, axe swinging.

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Charge. No rage; Retay's not doing this for the undead, he's doing it for Fizahn. Plus, I only have two per day, and this'll be a long day yet... *is annoyed that I wasted one on the Retriever*
Attack - (1d20+12)[30]
Damage - (1d12+4)[13]
HP 60
AC 14
DR 15/adam or 1/-

[Dr._Bob]

Tiriel circles above, her wings scraping the ceiling. Tryntha activates the dragonfly ring and steps off of the upper platform, hovering in mid-air. Careful to keep out of the zombies' reach, she zig zags until she is floating above the mass of zombies that have buried Fizahn.

Spreading her arms wide, she cries out in Rashemi, and a ripple of pure white light spreads outward. A dozen zombies are instantly disintegrated, revealing Fizahn curled up in a fetal position on the mortared stone floor.

Tiriel lands, scattering dust in all directions, and scoops up Fizahn, then she leaps back up into the air, her wings beating loudly. The gnome's cloak has been shredded and fine crimson lines criss-cross his face and hands, but otherwise, he is fine.

Meanwhile, Khazrael fires a lightning bolt into the zombie horde, incinerating ten. Retay and Grynde leap down the stairs, their weapons drawn.

Retay buries his axe into the nearest zombie, cleaving it from shoulder to hip. It falls to the ground in two pieces, still twitching. Grynde's swords blur as he holds his ground, preventing the zombies from climbing the stairs.

As one, the zombies howl and hiss. Their sightless, opaque eyes roll and their rotting jaws clack noisily as they converge on the stairs, attempting to overwhelm Retay and Grynde by sheer numbers ...


OOC: Fizahn takes 10 points of damage.

[Aveda]

Gala

Gala seems torn as Fizahn tries, and fails, to run through the horde of zombies. Tryntha's plan, if it worked, seemed like their best chance at saving him. There's just too many to easily take out ourselves...as much as I'd like to get this horde taken out before they hit topside, we do have a mission to complete. Her military training wins out in the end, and she hopes fervently that Tiriel can save the gnome as she moves to the front of the party and takes a defensive position.

She gapes as Grynde and Retay rush past her into the mass of zombies and her brow furrows when it appears that Fizahn has been successfully rescued. "Grynde! Retay! Fizahn's alright!" She yells down the steps. "Now we still have to...get past them all...dammit, there's no other way out of this now, is there?" Gala bounds down the stairs, her sword drawn, and helps Grynde and Retay, concentrating on keeping the zombies from coming up the stairs.

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Initiative (1d20+1=19)
Attack (1d20+12=14)
Damage, Electrical Damage (1d10+5=9, 1d6=1)

[Koji]

Khazrael

Between abyssal incantations, Khazrael laughs, "Val's gonna flip when she calls up her zombie reinforcements and they're all dead!"

He sidesteps a little to find an opening, and sends another lightning bolt into the horde of undead.

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7d6=29
Reflex 16 for half.

[barawn]

Damian

Damian stares blankly as the others in the party charge forward to tackle the massive zombie horde. They can't be serious. They can't be serious!

As Khazrael cackles, Damian turns to him. "Yes, however, that won't help us when we're dead because we won't have enough resources to beat her today! We can't kill all of these zombies! We still have to fight Valentine, and for that we're going to need some of your spells, Khazrael!"

He looks up to Tiriel, carrying Fizahn. "Tiriel! Can you get Fizahn to the other side of the cavern! If you and Tryntha can get over there, Tryntha can give you the ring, and then we can all simply fly across and avoid them!"

Of course, that presumes that us slaughtering dozens of undead won't be noticed soon...

[Matticus]

Grynde

Hey! I've a good idea! the half-elf shouts, as he slashes doggedly at the zombies. Tiriel, why don't you say "Darastrix" very loudly???

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NOT using the forum this time.
19, 16, 24, 4. Damages: 8, 3, 6, 7. In that order.
I always roll a natural one....
EDIT: As per usual, I've mucked up my rolls somehow. Those damages should be 1d6, not 1d8...So here are the damage rolls...
6, 8, and 7.

[blackfox]

Anika

Anika hesitates for a second longer, then attacks the zombies as well. She tries to take out stragglers, and keeps her back against the wall so she can't be surrounded.

(OOC: Attack Roll (1d20+8=28)
Crit Confirm (1d20+8=20) Sweeeet.
Damage (1d4+3=7, 1d4+3=4)

If anyone throws oil or something else flammable on the zombies, Anika will torch them.)

[King_of_GRiffins]

Elthan

There will really wasn't much the half-elf could do to rescue the gnome, or at least that he would want to do. Risking his life wasn't exactly a fun or smart thing to do. Thinking a bit to himself, Elthan walks out onto the steps and takes a good look at the zombies before picking one that would most obstruct the flow of zombies towards the steps.

With two or three zombies in my command, I should be able to slow their flow towards the group, as well as provide a distraction.

Once casting and seeing the intended zombie stop still in it's tracks, he shouts out to it. "Block the other Zombies way."

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Casting Control Undear. Non-intelligent undead get no saves.

Initiative - (1d20)[16]

[namo]

Adalmar

Standing at the back of the group, Adalmar is ready to nock and let go of an arrow at a moment's notice... but right now his chances of hitting a zombie are poor, so he forces himself to wait patiently - gnashing his teeth or wringing his hands won't help one bit.

He can at least heal with the few charges remaining in his wand, if it comes to that.

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I'm back ! Not that Adalmar will make much of a difference here...

[kuja.girl]

Tiriel

Returning to Tryntha's side above the zombie hoard, Tiriel takes a quick look around and sees that the rest of the group is being swarmed by the closest zombies. "Damn it. This is all you're fault you know. If you hadn't been so stupid then we might have been able to pass with little problem. But no, someone had to show off didn't he?!" Tiriel resists the urge to shake some sense into the gnome, and instead turns to the priestess.
"We have to get across. I'm going to go drop Fizahn off on the otherside and then come back to help the others." Tiriel doesn't wait for a repy, and flies as fast as she can for the far side of the cavern.

[Erikkin]

Fizahn:

"I was gonna come back, but they were so slow, I figured I could make it." Fizahn grimaces. I screwed up so badly. If we lose, it's going to be my fault.

[Diarmuid]

Tryntha

Overjoyed at both the destruction of the undead and the rescue of the gnome, Tryntha follows Tiriel to the other side of the cavern. She did not want to leave him all alone over there with gods only know what. Once there, she slips the ring off of her finger and hugs the angelic woman tightly, pushing the ring into Tiriels hands afterwards. As she flies away, Tryntha tries to become one with the wall in a manner that she has seen some of the others do.

Hide - (1d20-2)[16]

[kuja.girl]

Tiriel

Tiriel sets Fizahn down near Tryntha. "They're slow but there's also a lot of them." Tiriel breaks off when Tryntha suddenly embraces her. "What? Uh well, try to stay out of sight and safe until the rest of us make it over."


[ooc: Diarmuid, did you want to give Tiriel the ring before she left? I can add to mine if you want to edit yours.]

[Dr._Bob]

With Tryntha and Fizahn safely to the other side, Tiriel streaks back to the rest of the party.

Elthan, still radiating an almost palpable aura of evil, turns three of the zombies against their fellows. The confusion creates a bottleneck at the foot of the stairs. Retay wades into the zombies with impunity, his stoneskin shielding him from injury. Three or four zombies fall to his axe. Grynde and Anika pick off one or two damaged straggles.

Callos considers sending in the minotaur, but hesitates, wondering if the massive zombie might be more useful later.

Another lightning bolt incinerates another handful of zombies, but for every zombie destroyed, it seems that another is ready to take its place.

Adalmar stands with arrows nocked, waiting for an opportune target, along with the others. Unless they were to jump into the pit of zombies, there is little they can do to help.

When Tiriel lands, she holds the dragonfly ring in her hand. "Who's next?" she asks ...

[Koji]

Khazrael

"Xith-Yeh! They just keep coming! Zeodoras, be ready, we're going to go over their heads!" He shouts.

His body transforms into a cascade of black feathers that tumble to the ground, revealing a much smaller creature not entirely unlike Zeodoras hovering in Khazrael's place, though its back and shoulders are covered in a mantle of downy black feathers.

He yells, "Everyone who can fly, get above them! Everyone else, come to me and I'll get you over!"

He takes wing and flies over to Anika. "Get ready," he says, "When I cast my spell, climb over the zombies and join the others. I'll send everyone else after you!"

((OOC: Using Alter Self to become a quasit))

[blackfox]

Anika

Once Anika realizes which spell Khazrael is talking about, she says, "Don't waste that on me, use it on someone less sneaky. I can get through." She disappears into the shadows.

(OOC: Hide Check (1d20+26=33))

[barawn]

Damian

Damian quickly looks over at Anika as she starts to slip away, rapidly calling out. "Anika, don't be rash, that's what Fizahn did! Are you sure you can hide from zombies?" He motions over to Tiriel as she sets down again, looking to Khazrael in his new form as well. "We've got a safe way to cross over, let's just do that and not try to get fancy. That's how people die."

Turning to Tiriel, he breathes a sigh of relief as he peers across and sees Fizahn and Tryntha on the other side. "So he's alive? And flying across works? If you can carry me across, you can give the ring to someone else to fly across as well. Maybe Adalmar or Aeroz. We should hurry. They don't seem to be able to harm Retay, but with their numbers, they might be able to trap or pin him."

Looking down at the ring, a look of surprise crosses his face. Why did I give it up so quickly... Speaking quickly, he lets whoever the next recipient of the ring know the command word.

[Dr._Bob]

Retay continues to cut a swath through the massed zombies, who begin to try to avoid the ironskinned barbarian. Instead, the undead begin to coalesce around Grynde.

"They move like a single organism or hive mind," notes Aeroz thoughtfully.

Anika fades into the shadows, but the shadowdancer finds no clear path down into the cistern through the zombie horde. She pops back out of the shadows and accepts the dragonfly ring from Tiriel.

Tiriel whisks Damian over the zombies' heads with Anika at her side. Khazrael and Zeodoras, paired quasits, flap across as well.

Gala, Elthan, Callos, Aeroz and Adalmar remain behind with Retay and Grynde.

Elthan's zombies fall, torn to pieces by their fellow zombies. Callos decides to send in the minotaur, who likewise is overwhelmed then destroyed by the single-minded zombies. Between Retay, Grynde, Elthan's zombies, and the minotaur, at least 20 zombies have fallen in just a matter of a dozen heartbeats, but the remaining 60 to 80 zombies show no signs of flagging.

With the party split, there is an increased sense of urgency. Fizahn quickly checks the passage beyond and notes a stairwell leading upward just 60 feet from the cistern. The gnome frowns however when he hears movement from up above. "We've got company!" he hisses back to his friends.

[namo]

Adalmar

In the best commanding tone he can muster, Adalmar speaks to Callos and Elthan : "You should be next. We" he points at the remaining warriors "are less likely to be overcome by the zombies so easily."

He gestures to Tiriel, (politely) trying to get her to do yet another trip - and to bring the ring of flying back with her.

[King_of_GRiffins]

Elthan

Elthan shakes his head lightly at Adalmars suggestion, "Send Callos first; I'll be the last across. I have my own way of flying and this is the perfect setting for it's use."

Taking a quick breath, the sorcerer quickly chants and spreads a dull white light onto six zombies only a little out from the stairs. The light quickly fades as he watches to see if the zombies movements slow, and how effectively he has bottleneck them this time.

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Casting Slow to the same effect as before, DC 17 Will save negates. Zombies move at half-speed, can only make a move or standard action in a round, no full round actions, -1 Penalty on attack rolls, AC, and Reflex saves.

[Matticus]

Grynde

Yahaa! shrieks the almost-berserker as he whirls, bringing his swords against any of the walking dead who shuffle in his direction, thoughts on obtaining a tricorn so he can look dashing as he charges into battle.

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I am taking a big risk here...
Oh - (1d20+8)[22]
Dear - (1d20+8)[20]
Lord - (1d20+3)[11]
[roll=Why!?]1d20+3[/roll]
Damages - (1d6+3)[9]
Damages - (1d6+3)[4]
Damages - (1d6+2)[7]
Damages - (1d6+2)[6]
Please, forum roller...What have I done to make you hate me so, you wonderful piece of number-generative programming?

---

* post roll count doesn't match database

[blackfox]

Anika

Anika hands the dragonfly ring back to Tiriel, and then retreats into the shadows again, saying, "I'm going to go check out what's up there."

(OOC: Hide check:(1d20+26)[38])

[kuja.girl]

(OOC: This is Aveda, on kuja.girl's computer...)
Gala

At the bottom of the stairs, Gala continues to hack away at the zombies. As strong as Tiriel may be, Gala doubts that she could hold her and all her armor aloft across the room. The ring looks like my only option, if I can leave without putting the rest of the party in danger. I may have to wait a while. Steeling herself for a longer battle, she tries to prevent the zombies from reaching the rest of the party as they wait for Tiriel and the ring to come back to their side.

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Attacks 1 and 2: 1d20+12=25, 1d20+7=15
Damages 1 and 2:1d10+5=15, 1d6=1, 1d10+5=12, 1d6=2

[Naleh]

Retay

The gore-splattered berserker watches the corpses with increasing frustration. I'm trying to put you to rest! Why are you avoiding me? He deliberately pulls himself back to the stairway, trying to support Grynde and force the zombies to come near.

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It's pretty much assumed that he kills one or two per round, but today I feel like rolling anyway.
Attack 1 - (1d20+10)[19]
Damage - (1d12+4)[14]
Attack 2 - (1d20+5)[13]
Damage - (1d12+4)[14]

[Dr._Bob]

Anika pushes past Fizahn into the darkness beyond to check out the stairway. The passage leading to the stairs is about 15' wide. There is little to no cover, but she settles comfortably into the shadows as though wrapping herself in a cool blanket.

As she watches, three creatures descend the staircase. All three are obviously undead but, unlike the zombies, they move with the ease and agility of the living.

The leader is gaunt, but almost handsome in his own way, dressed in faded finery from a long forgotten culture. He is empty handed, but there is menace in his stride. His black eyes seem to pierce the darkness, and for a moment Anika thinks she's been discovered.

The other two creatures appear to have once been demons of some type, or perhaps many different demons stitched together. The source of Zeodoras' enmity towards Valentine becomes more clear - it appears that the vampire or Sethra, her master, is experimenting with demon-undead hybrids ...

The trio will be upon her friends soon. Anika senses that these three may be even more dangerous that the hundred zombies in the cistern behind her. She retreats to warn her friends, calculating odds in her head - me, Tiriel, Khazrael, Tryntha, Damian, and Fizahn ... Can we hold them back for long enough for the others to get across?


OOC: There will not be enough time to fly to the other side and back before the three undead arrive. Tiriel (or whoever) needs to decide whether to try to rescue another member from the other side or to stand and fight ...

...

Back on the other side of the cistern, the situation has turned nastier. Zombies clamber upon each other's backs and shoulders, out of the cistern, essentially bypassing the stairs. Despite your best collective efforts, your position is overrun.

One by one the party members left behind are surrounded by grasping, clawing hands and gnashing, snapping teeth. It is like being drowned in a dark sea of undead - you lose sight of your friends, not knowing who has been pulled down or perhaps torn limb from limb. You hear screaming. You fight for your lives.


OOC: Something different for those left on the far side (Aeroz, Elthan, Adalmar, Retay, Gala, Callos, and Grynde ... Each of you must destroy 10 zombies (AC 11, touch 9, 16 hp) as quickly as possible - I don't care how. The number of rounds it takes you to do so will determine how much damage you take (and whether you survive at all). If you destroy 10 before the others, you can "assist" someone else - just let me know who you try to help. (Elthan starts with 6 zombies slowed around him.)

[kuja.girl]

Tiriel

Tiriel had passed the dragonfly ring to Callos before flying back over the zombie hoard with Damian. She wasn't sure who else she could carry over the cistern, but she knew that both Retay and Gala were going to have to make their own way across.

[ooc: I'll be polite and give Black fox a chance to break the bad news ;)]

[King_of_GRiffins]

Elthan

Swamped by zombies, the half-elf does his best to find some protection against a wall, or flee into the hallway. He attempts to dodge the zombies blows while pulling out a scroll and casting from it, fumbling once with an unheard pile of draconic explicatives falling from his lips. A glowing circle of purple light before him now, he pulls out one of the spears on his back and lashes back cautiously at the zombies. Any blow against him that goes around his Shield is repulsed away from his body as he weaves from the attack with startling efficiency.

Soon after holding his ground against the zombies, they speed up with a jerk, and a minute latter his Shield dissapears from in front of him. His efforts show little, the one body hidden beneath the mass of others coming at him. He continues fighting on, a minute later showing no progress at all as he is surrounded by the same zombies as before. Frustrated and physically tired defending himself, he drops his guard to cast several times, striking quickly and accurately after each success. Still, even which such magical aid, the sorcerer makes little progress, only making one more zombie fall, and doing moderate damage to a third.

Shaken by his lack of ability to strike back, he pulls on the edges of his cloak and takes to the air, flying over the zombies to the other side of the pit. He looks down at his feet as he rejoins with the other half of the party.

"It is... More than I can handle."

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Round 1: Casting Defensively from a scroll, Shield
Concentration Check, DC 16 (1d20+5=12)

If possible, move action away from Slow zombies (but not towards more) 10ft, hopefully towards/into the previous hallway.

Round 2: Once more, Casting Shield Defensively. Concentration Check, DC 16 (1d20 5=24)

Shield Cast, AC 22, Last ten rounds
Both casting of Shield on scroll depleted.

Draw Masterwork Spear as move action

Round 3: Attack; Damage (1d20+3=8, 1d8-1=1)

Round 4: Fighting Defensively from here on out, AC 24
Attack; Damage (1d20-1=2, 1d8-1=2)

Round 5-12: Fight Defensively, shield up, AC 24, Zombies are no longer slowed after Round 6.
Attack; Damage (1d20-1=16, 1d8-1=7,
1d20-1=11, 1d8-1=6,
1d20-1=6, 1d8-1=3,
1d20-1=3, 1d8-1=6,
1d20-1=6, 1d8-1=4,
1d20-1=9, 1d8-1=7,
1d20-1=16, 1d8-1=3,
1d20-1=5, 1d8-1=6)

One Zombie Down, AC 20 now.... Help?

Round 13-20: Fighting Defensively, AC 20
Attack; Damage (1d20-1=4, 1d8-1=1,
1d20-1=6, 1d8-1=1,
1d20-1=10, 1d8-1=6,
1d20-1=17, 1d8-1=2,
1d20-1=3, 1d8-1=1,
1d20-1=17, 1d8-1=2,
1d20-1=0, 1d8-1=0,
1d20-1=0, 1d8-1=5)

One down, 4 Damage to #2...

Round 21-32
Time for a new Strategy..... Alternating Casting True Strike and Fighting Defensively. AC 18 when casting, 20 when fighting. Plus 5 to concentration if hit.

Attack; Damage (1d20 19=26, 1d8-1=4,
1d20 19=29, 1d8-1=5,
1d20 19=31, 1d8-1=0, (min 1)
1d20 19=39, 1d8-1=6, 2 Down
1d20 19=36, 1d8-1=0, (min 1)
1d20 19=36, 1d8-1=7)

2 Down, 8 Damage to #3

Round 33, if it get's that far...
Activate Cloak of the Bat's Flight Ability, fly up and over the zombies to the rest of the group.

[Matticus]

Grynde

As the stench of the dead hits him, followed rather closely by the dead themselves, Grynde does not succumb to panic or hysteria. Instead, with swords in hands and teeth beginning to ache from all the clenching he's been doing lately, he fearlessly fights on.

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First round...
A1 - 10
A2 - 21
A3 - 22
A4 - 22
Rolls
Damage - 9 - 5 - 7. Damnit, only one down?
To hell with organisation.

Okey-doke, round 2, 3, 4, and 5 actions and rolls include slashing, attack rolls, and damage rolls.
That's a total of sixteen attacks...
15, 6, 10, 12, | 18, 6, 12, 5, | 26, 13, 16, 19, | 13, 15, 24, 23. Proof. Ten successful attacks. 6 primary hand, 4 off-hand.
Damage: 7, 9, 6, 6, 6, 8, 7, 8, 5, 3 Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear. Four down this round, total of five killed. Ugh. I'll throw the next bunch of attacks onto the thread later...