Meeting
KazanMeeting Kazan for the first time
Balnor, leads the way into the passage, followed closely by Cleo holding a
torch. Lucretia follows as well, glancing back from the entrance in
time
to see Blondung's execution of the captive hobgoblins.
By the time Serena has also entered the tunnel, looking to re-gain her
position near the front, Balnor has already reached the far end of
the
passage way. The back of a secret door can be seen, an obvious lever
on
the wall looks like it's mechanism for opening it.
Balnor waves for quiet as he listens at the door, and for a few moments,
everyone hesitates and stills themselves.
In the subsequent quiet, the muffled murmur of voices can be heard -
speaking Northern this time!
Voice 1: "...not the time. In a few days perhaps."
Voice 2: "Perhaps the hobgobs <pause for a spit> will do
it for us?"
Voice 1: "No. And show our allies more respect or I'll have your
tongue!"
Voice 2: "Sorry sir."
Voice 3: "Sir, I would like to discuss something with you..."
Voice 1: "Come..." <Sound of footsteps getting fainter
and a door closing>
Voice 2: "By the horn we shouldn't have to deal with such scum!"
Voice 4: "Hush or I'll carry out Kazan's threat for him!"
<There is a lull in the conversation>
*****
<Yvandel wrote>:
> Yvandel loosens the chain a little bit,
> letting the Verman move about 2 feet ahead
> of him. "Don't fear this creature, it'll
> fight on our side."
Some of you notice that there is something unusual about the Verman that
strains at the end of Yvandel's chain. In the close confines of the
tunnel, it suddenly dawns on you that it is completely silent.
*****
As the group quietly discuss the idea of pressing their attack, Cleo
glances down at Nu, currently sitting still and trying to claw the
string
off his neck.
Lucretia and the others return to the back of the secret door, trying to
move as quietly as possible so as not to give away their surprise.
As they
get near, pausing to checking their weapons nervously whilst they
wait for
Balnor to open the door, they hear that the discussion beyond the
door
seems to have turned inconsequentially to food momentarily. Balnor
checks
behind him, one hand on the lever, the other with rapier already drawn.
Lucretia, Serena, Ceely and Herod all stand nearby, weapons drawn
and
ready.
Balnor pulls the lever, and with a slight creak, the slab of stone that was
the secret door pivots towards him. Beyond, a dark red tapestry hangs,
swinging slightly in the breeze of the door opening. The voices suddenly
much louder now that the door is no longer blocking them, cut off
in mid
sentence. "What the..." utters one voice and there is the
sudden scraping
of a couple of chairs. Lucretia leaps forward, using the point of
his
dagger to sweep away the hanging.
The scene reveals a warm, clean room with a single, light brown wooden
table running from east to west. Well-made chairs run along both the
south
and north sides. At the opposite end from the secret door sits a larger
chair, padded with light green velvet of some kind. Two plain stone
pedestals flank each side of the tapestry.
There is a normal door in each of the 3 other walls. In the middle of the
south wall, in the middle of the east wall, and at the east end of
the
north wall.
In the room, there are 5 men. One of them, standing near the green chair
yells "Kazan!" and raps the haft of his already drawn mace
on the door
behind him. Two of the men are still sitting at the table, one leaning
back on the chair with his feet on the table (#4). He looks up in
surprise
at Lucretia and almost falls off his chair! On the north side of the
table, two other men have just risen from their chairs, and are starting
to
draw weapons.
The four men either side of the table are wearing scale mail, and have
shields nearby, which they are grabbing at the same moment as their
weapons.
One of them has a light crossbow resting on the table, but it is uncocked.
The two who have already stood to the north of the table have longswords
which they are drawing. The two to the south also have longswords
handy,
and after recovering from their suprise, will also be drawing them.
The man at the back of the room is wearing chain mail, and wielding a mace,
although he also has a wicked looking mourning star hanging from his belt.
Lucretia pauses for a moment to continue to hold the tapestry aside, whilst
Ceely, Serena and Herod bundle into the room, then moving with them
as the
others follow on behind, led by Yvandel and his Verman.
END OF ROUND ONE
Not even breaking stride, Ceely heads to the north of the room, cutting
in-front of Lucretia, who hesitates for a second as he raises his
dagger.
Aiming her harpoon at the two warriors to the north of the table,
she
starts to run wide of them. The first (#2) glances at her, but instead,
flicks his focus to Herod, also approaching at a run. (Lucretia hesitates
again as his target is momentarily obscured again, now by Herod's back!)
As Ceely is just about to pass the second warrior (#3), he kicks his chair
into her path, trying to trip her up, as he brings his own weapon
to bear.
Stumbling only momentarily,but not tripping up (OOC: only just saved
on Dex
Roll!), Ceely is brought to a halt, and thrusts her harpoon at the
warrior
instead, But he twists aside from the blow, putting off his own swing,
which swishes through the air near Ceely's head.
Herod, having run more directly at the other warrior (#2) on the same side
of the table, swings his axe in a vertical arc. but the man manages
to get
his shield up in time, and deflects the blow so it thuds into the
table
instead. Kicking his own chair slightly aside to make more room, he
pokes
his long sword at Herod, just scoring the "Battleguard"
along his side.
(OOC: 4hp damage)
Lucretia, moving forward in a slight arc, finally gets the opening he was
looking for, and throws his dagger at Herod's opponent. The dagger
strikes
with full force, slamming home to the hilt in the man's shoulder.
(OOC: 7hp
damage) Lucretia advances gripping his bastard sword with both hands.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the table, the two men still sitting
scramble to get to their feet as they stare in horror at the sudden
influx
of people into the room. As they spot the Verman, their eyes open
even
wider! The first's chair (#4) falls over as he finally manages to
stand,
the other (#5) only moments later. Serena, with Larz only a step behind
her, storms close shouting "Drop your weapons and you will be
spared. We
seek only the halfling!" The first man (#4), glancing behind
her at the
Verman, starts to grab for his sword, but hesitates, seeing Serena's
ready
weapon, and instead, simply grabs his shield, holding it in front
of him
protectively. He flicks his eyes between Serena and the Verman, looking
scared stiff as he backs away. The second man (#5) however fully draws
his
sword and grabs his shield, staring at the Verman, and only dragging
his
gaze away as Larz runs wide of Serena with battle axe raised. The
dwarf,
seeing an armed opponent, slams his battleaxe into the man, (OOC:
7hp
damage).
Yvandel, leading the Verman, heads to the southern wall of the room,
watching the battle unfold. Seeing the fear in the faces of the two
closest men, he flicks the chains to the Verman, pointing his finger
and
saying "Kill!" The Verman jumps forward, until it is just
behind Larz.
Larz's opponent, screams in fear and pain from his wound, stumbles
backwards, tripping over his own chair and falls flat.
Balnor, following closely behind the first wave of fighters, leaps onto the
table (OOC: successful Dex roll) and runs along it, before doing a
diving
roll, and landing feet first on the back of the green chair at the
end. It
tips over with his momentum, leaving him standing. (OOC: 2 more successful
Dex rolls). The man with the hammer watches him approach, stepping
aside
at the last moment, and smashing at Balnor with his hammer. Despite
his
anticipation, the hammer catches nothing but air, Balnor's parry not
needed. Balnor lunges forward with his rapier, the point punching
through
the man's chain mail. (OOC: Critical hit - 10hp damage!)
The others pile into the room (OOC: i.e. Merrell, Milo, Blondung and
Soggrin) At the other end of the passageway, Ceely tries to pull Nu
into
the dark corridor so she can close the secret door on the creepy blue
lit
temple. Nu meows loudly, and struggles, before finally managing to
claw
the string loose. The wilful kitten dashes back into the temple, and
races
up the wooden scaffolding, disappearing from sight. Cleo hesitates
in the
doorway, listening to the sounds of battle down the corridor, and
worrying
about her friends and her new kitten...
Larz pushes his attack, his opponent (#5) now closer to him, having fallen
over the chair. His battle axe strikes home with the sound of a butcher's
cleaver, cutting through skin, muscle and sinew alike till it strikes
bone.
The man screams again, dropping his weapon and doubling up with the
pain of
the wound, clutching with ever weakening grip at the wound in a vain
attempt to stem the torrent of blood pumping out.
END OF ROUND TWO
Larz glances to his left, just in time to see Serena's unarmed opponent
throw his shield at the Verman and tries to dive under the table.
Serena,
flinching for a moment, thinking that the shield was coming in her
direction, lunges at his suddenly exposed back as he dives for the
table
and scores a hit, ripping some of the scales of his scale mail, as
he rolls
and scrambles under the table.
The shield passes straight through the illusionary Verman which continues
it's leap over the chair unphased and it clangs off the wall behind,
falling to the floor noisily. The Verman hesitates, one of it's victims
dying at Larz's feet, the other scrambling away under the table.
Meanwhile, at the far end of the table, Balnor's opponent (#1) jerks
backwards, pulling free from the rapier. He staggers slightly to the
left
as he swings his hammer at Balnor in a wide arc. Balnor ducks, the
blow
missing by a wide mark, then thrusts forward again with his rapier,
simultaneously slashing at his arms with his dagger. Both blows miss,
and
as the man recovers his balance somewhat, he reverses his hammer,
and tries
again unsuccessfully to hit the nimble thief.
The door clicks open a fraction and a figure can be glimpsed standing
beyond. (OOC: slight adjustment to the map, since it makes it look
like the
doors are 5 foot wide, whereas they should really be normal sized
doors
(2.5-3 feet wide)
Merrell, moving towards the south side of the room, spots the door open,
and raises his daggers, hoping for a good shot, but the door doesn't
open
any further, and he can't quite see his target. Not so for Blondung
though, who lets fly with a couple of daggers. One of them embeds
itself
into the wooden door, the other ricochets off the wall next to the door.
As Lucretia steps forward, all tensed up to split his target (#2) in two,
he glimpses the door open, and suddenly feels a leaden weight come
over his
body for a moment. Shaking it off, (OOC: successful saving throw)
he
follows through his motion, but he is frustrated again, as his already
injured opponent dodges aside at the last moment, and Lucretia's sword
splinters through the arm of the chair next to him instead. The man
lunges
with his own sword, again at Herod, who seems to have suddenly frozen,
his
battleaxe held ready to strike. (OOC: Failed saving throw). Herod's
eyes
widen as he realises he is magically held, and he watches in horror
as
almost in slow motion the tip of his enemy's sword approaches his
stomach.
As it hits him, he rocks back on his feet, the force of the blow almost
knocking him over, but the warrior's long sword does not penetrate
Herod's
armour, and he is merely bruised by the blow.
Ceely, in the best position to see through the partially opened door, can
see a figure dressed in white robes who looks like he has just cast
some
form of spell! She redoubles her effort to get past her opponent (#3),
thrusting with her harpoon again at the man in front of her as she
tries to
drive him back. Avoiding her blows, he tries to slash at her with
his long
sword, but she deflects the blow, and ripostes with the tip of her
harpoon.
Again he twists and manages to avoid the blow.
Milo, standing next to Blondung, holds his staff ready to protect himself
and the mage, as Blondung digs his hands in his pockets, searching
for
spell components.
*****
Cleo shuts the secret door regretfully, leaving Nu up on the scaffolding.
She turns and runs down the corridor towards the battle.
END OF ROUND THREE
Ceely kicks at the chair in front of her, knocking it to the ground and
making her opponent (#3) flinch for only a second. She jumps over
it,
heading for the man in the doorway (#6). Her opponent recovers quickly,
and
tries to take advantage of her exposed flank, but misses wildly. Ceely
lunges at full reach with her harpoon, but her new target twists,
and the
point never reaches. Instead, he jerks his finger at her, and barks
a
command; "Surrender" as he starts to draw his own long sword.
Ceely's will
is completely subverted for a moment, and without even thinking about
it,
she drops her weapon at his feet and raises her hands in the air.
Her original opponent (#3) grins as he attacks her from behind, but he
trips, and staggers instead, his grin slipping as he stumbles his
sword
simply clanging off the ground next to Ceely's feet.
Larz and Serena almost simultaneously go to assist Balnor, Larz slightly in
the lead. Balnor, frowns in concentration, as he realises he is outclassed
by his opponent. Both his weapons cut only air, and in return, he
receives
a hefty blow from the chain mailed fighter's hammer (6hp damage!)
Balnor
staggers in pain, feeling as if he had been hit by a charging war horse!
Larz arrives and takes decisive action, swinging his battle axe in
professional style, a dwarven battle cry on his lips. The axe strikes
true,
cutting through the man's shoulder and embedding itself into his torso
(Critical Hit!) A fountain of blood sprays out, catching Serena and
Larz,
as the man is slammed almost into the ground by the blow and collapses,
dead
from the shock of the lethal wound.
Serena, seeing her target has been effectively finished by Larz, turns and
looks at the door that is opening wider. She steps to it and kicks
it hard,
slamming it into the person half in the entrance. (OOC: A bit of initiative
on my part there Serena - thought you would approve though :-)
The door on the north side of the room bursts open, almost uncannily at the
same time. Two more soldier types rush through (#7,#8), dressed in
scale
mail and wielding long swords. Soggrin, who had been advancing to
assist
Ceely, meets the first one (#7) head on, jabbing her spear at him,
scoring
his side (3hp damage) as he misses with his sword. The other behind
him
pauses for a second, taking in the scene.
Yvandel's "Verman", which had scrambled across the table towards
the east
door, only to see it slammed to by Serena's boot, spins to face the
two new
entrants. The man's (#8) eyes widen considerably when he spots the
Verman,
and he raises his sword and shield defensively towards it.
Merrell, hoping to have aimed at the enemy spell caster, re-targets the two
new entrants, and throws a pair of daggers at them. Unfortunately,
one
thuds into the door, the other clatters into the corner of the room.
The
man facing the Verman flinches but lunges forward with his sword targeting
the Verman, fear evident on his face. His sword passes straight through
it
however, and the fear changes in an instant to puzzlement, as the
illusion
shimmers and flickers.
Meanwhile, Lucretia is trying to vent his anger and frustration on the
fighter in front of him (#2) with not much luck. His first blow is
deflected
by the man's shield. The already wounded man strikes back more
successfully, opening a new wound (3hp damage) in a spot in Lucretia's
side
only recently healed! Lucretia, in pain and anger swings more accurately
for his second blow, cutting the man down with a powerful blow (9hp damage)
He looks up in time to see the new arrivals and Serena's original opponent
coming up from under the table.
Milo, by now at Herod's side, holds is staff ready, protecting his frozen
friend. Herod's eyes jerk around the room taking in the action but
powerless to do anything but watch. (OOC: Sorry Herod a few more rounds
yet
of being frozen!)
Blondung, near the door almost jumps out of his skin as Cleo rushes through
the door, broadsword in hand ready to help her friends. Seeing the
new
entrants, she heads in that direction. (OOC: you'll get to cross swords
next round hopefully Cleo!)
Yvandel, in the quietest corner of the chaotic room, furrows his brow in
concentration, but the Verman image finally wavers and flicks out.
END OF ROUND FOUR
Larz, looking up from his bloody handy work, spots three new enemies arriving from the north door. Clutching one hand to his holy symbol, he prays for a blessing from Clangeddin on the party, before ducking a wild blow from a charging warrior (#8).
Meanwhile, Ceely comes to her senses, and realising she is about to be attacked from behind, drops to the floor, grabbing her harpoon and rolling. A long sword blade slams into the ground where she was, and the warrior curses. Ceely rolls up into a defensive position, and jabs her harpoon in his general direction as she tries to regain her feet. Her aim is off though, and he avoids the blow.
Serena, having kicked the door closed, tries to poke her sword around the edge, but hits nothing, the robed man having moved back allowing the door to almost close. Serena can hear him uttering some dark prayer of some kind.
Balnor on the other hand notices the other new entrants into the room, and changes target, as one of them (#!) charges towards him. Lunging with his rapier, he pierces the man's scale mail (5 hp damage), and raises his dagger to deflect the man's swing. The warrior anticipates the parry though, and although wounded, his own blade strikes true, slashing open Balnor's side terribly! (OOC: 7hp damage!) Balnor staggers with the massive injury!
To the north of the room, Soggrin is joined by Cleo, almost at the same time that the opponents reinforcements arrive. Soggrin tackles the new man (#9), slamming her spear into his side (6hp damage) as soon as he is within range. Cleo ducks a blow from the man Soggrin wounded previously, and slams her own broadsword into him, plunging it into his chest viciously (10hp damage!). His eyes widen in shock before glazing over and he drops to the floor. Soggrin's new opponent grunts from the wound, and retaliates slashing at her with his long sword, opening up a long cut on her side (6hp damage).
Meanwhile, as Lucretia raises his sword above the man emerging from under the table, he suddenly spots out the corner of his eye the new enemies arriving. Seeing a glint of steel from below, he brings his sword down on his target, half-severing at the shoulder the arm that was trying to stab him with a dagger (12hp damage!). The man gasps as the force of the blow slams him into the floor, his life blood gushing from the fatal wound. He twitches and struggles to get up, but fails.
Another flash of steel causes Lucretia to duck as one of the new arrivals (#@) cuts air above his head.
On the west side of the room, Yvandel returns to the secret door, holding back the tapestry (which he notes is made from a bright cloth of dark red with a round emblem of a broken horn on a field of black in its centre), and glancing back down the dark corridor towards the evil temple.
Merrell on the other hand, streaks across the room in a rare burst of energy for the mage. Once there, he grabs the bloodied chair near one of the dead soldiers, and does his best to jam it under the door handle of the south door.
Milo watches the room nervously as he stands next to the frozen priest of Tempus, his staff held ready. Herod's eyes flick around the room as well, wide with apprehension. Suddenly, they are both suprised as a bolt of black energy flicks past them from Blondung's outstretched finger, touching Soggrin's opponent (#9) before disappearing. The man stiffens for a second, then just crumples to the ground, lifeless.
END OF ROUND FIVE
Soggrin, somewhat startled by the sudden demise of her opponent at
Blondung's magic, advances on the man (#@) in front of her. Having
seen
several of his comrades fall rather rapidly, he is more wary, and
seeing
Lucretia also stepping towards him, he back-pedals towards the door
he
entered only moments earlier, desperately trying to defend himself.
Soggrin finds a hole in his defence, and her spear tip punches into
his
left side (4hp damage). He ducks a lethal blow from Lucretia, just
in time
to receive another jab from Soggrin (4hp damage). Lucretia, finishes
the
job as the man staggers into the door frame, bringing his sword down
in a
vicious blow that crushes the man's skull in his helm (12hp damage
- well
dead!).
Cleo ducks behind Soggrin and Lucretia to run to Balnor's aid. Balnor
backs off, successfully parrying a blow from the soldier (#!) as Serena
steps into his place with a solid swing of her long sword. The man
grunts
in pain as a large wound is opened up in his side (7hp damage). As
Serena
draws back for another blow, he flicks out with his own sword, and
catches
Serena, ripping several links from her chain mail (2hp damage). Cleo
arrives, and slams her broadsword into his back, the broad point bursting
through the scale mail on his stomach. As she rips it free, he drops
to
the floor clutching at his guts with one hand, his sword gripped in
a death
like vice in the other.
Ceely, backs off down the wall slightly, as her opponent (#3) grins at her
wickedly, unaware of how poorly the battle is going for his comrades.
He
swings his sword at her, trying to cut her down, but she deflects
the blow
with her harpoon, before flicking the tip in a motion designed to
slice him
with the point. He leans back, and the swing misses. As he recovers,
she
jabs the harpoon forward in a sudden lunge, catching the man in the
stomach
(7hp damage). He yells in pain and jerks backwards, pulling himself
off
the point.
Meanwhile, Larz barks a command at his opponent (#8). "DROP!" he
yells in
common. Without thinking, the man falls to the floor and lies prone.
Larz
quickly puts his axe to his neck, daring him to move.
Merrell, after double checking the chair is jammed well under the door
handle of the south door, glances around the room then runs back to
the
tapestry, pulling it up to look back down the secret passage. It remains
dark and empty.
Next to the still frozen Herod, Milo, quickly digs out the half-empty
potion of healing, and offers it to Yvandel, who is waiting next to him.
Blondung stands still, watching the scene, and fingering another dagger.
END OF ROUND SIX
<Lucretia aka Joe wrote>:
> OOC: I had sent a post yesterday, don't know what happened...here
> it is again.
OOC: I would guess that it would be a local gateway problem at your
site -
I got all your e-mails bunched together!
IC:
<Ceely aka Robson wrote>:
> Ceely pulls the harpoon out from her enemy, rotates
> it in front of her and pointing her harpoon to the
> enemy as she finishes the rotation, she says "Look
> around you! and surrender, or you will be the next
> one on the floor." Her face is as confident as she
> can maintain.
Ceely's opponent glances around, wincing as he stretches his wound. He
looks like he is about to give up, when he sees the zombies rising.
A
tight smile crosses his face. "I don't think so," he answers,
and lunges
towards Ceely, bashing her harpoon aside and his long sword catching
her
side (3hp damage). She tries to retaliate, but can't get her point
to
bear. A moment later, Cleo slams her broadsword into his back (8hp
damage)
and he collapses at Ceely's feet.
Lucretia spins at Milo's warning, just in time to see the almost
dismembered corpse of one of his previous victims (#4) rising, a dagger
in
it's hand. It stares at him, before taking a lurching step towards
him,
raising it's dagger. He lifts his sword again, and swipes at the undead
creature, the force of the blow knocking it to the ground and nearly
severing it's neck. It doesn't get up again.
Soggrin similarly turns, to look, gasping at the sight of the dead men
rising. As the animated corpse (#9) lifts it's arms towards her, she
jabs
her spear towards it, but the tip just skitters off it's scale mail.
It
lurches closer and a dagger hits it from behind (2hp damage), as Blondung
throws his last dagger. A moment later, Merrell also gets a clear
shot,
and throws his two daggers. The first hits it in it's shoulder (4hp),
making one of it's arms droop somewhat. The second misses, flying
past and
only just missing Soggrin. The Zombie tries to whack Soggrin, but
she
backs off slightly, and the blow misses.
Milo, faced with the a zombie rising at Herod's feet, steps forward to
protect the frozen priest of Tempus and whirls his staff. Although
he
connects, the blow seems to simply bounce off it's armoured shoulder,
and
it swipes at him, hitting him with it's bare hand, (5hp damage) in
a blow
that feels like being hit by a sledgehammer.
Yvandel scrambles across the table, managing not to fall flat on his face,
and jumps down on the other side, thrusting the potion at Balnor who
grabs
it from the other side of the chair and starts to drink it. (OOC:
6hp back
- now on 7hp total)
Serena grabs open the door, and lunges through, her longsword leading. On
the other side of the door, she is amazed at the differences here,
compared
to the rest of the area. Two, large, flickering torches light up the
room
and are set to either side of the door. The place is lavishly furnished,
with thick rugs, wall hangings, two soft chairs, and a lavishly carved
wooden table, with four chairs. A brass brazier burns in the northeast
corner, warming the place and sending a nice fragrance into the air.
A
silver goblet with a red liquid sits on a pedestal on the far side
of the
room and a gold inlaid platter sits on a side-table with various bits
of
meat and cheese. A dark wooden cabinet sits beside a large, opulent,
four
post bed. A large, iron chest sits on the far wall with a large padlock
on
it. A man lies prostrate in a chair, head resting on the table, as
if
asleep. He wears chain mail with a dark red tabard and a sheathed
long
sword stands in the corner nearby.
In the centre of the room is the priest in the white robe. He hold his
sword lightly in his right hand, and has his off hand extended to
Serena in
a friendly gesture. "Friend," he says, his voice syrup like.
"Protect
me." Serena stumbles to a stop, confusion on her face for a moment.
She
looks upon the priest almost adoringly, then turns around in the doorway.
"It's OK," she yells, "he's a friend!"
(OOC: Sorry Serena - you failed your saving throw and have just been
charmed)
Meanwhile, Larz finds himself somewhat surrounded. He back pedals fast,
grabbing at his holy symbol, and starts to intone in a strong dwarven
voice, glaring at first one then the other zombie in turn as they
turn
towards him. A moment later the two zombies nearest to him (#1,#5),
hold
up their arms as if protecting their faces and back away slowly. moaning
slightly. The man (#8) scrambles to his feet and races to the door,
kicking away the chair, about to open it and escape.
END OF ROUND SEVEN
Cleo, seeing the change come over Serena, charges towards the door as
Serena is abouit to close it. She slams into Serena knocking her hand
away
from the door handle.
"They're all confused! Stop them!" the priest commands Serena, who
tries
hard to stop Cleo from entering the room properly, using her free
hand and
the pommel of her sword to keep Cleo at bay. "They just want
to know about
the halfling!" blurts Serena over her shoulder, struggling with Cleo.
A flicker of confusion crosses the priest's face for a second, but it
disapears as he starts to cast another spell.
Ceely and Balnor leap forward to help Cleo push into the room, and as they
do so, the room suddenly plunges into intense magical darkness. "They
are
all trying to kill me, hold them back whilst I escape!" the priest's
voice
can be heard.
In the main room, the darkness extends to the end of the table. Yvandel,
who had been running towards the N/E corner, quickly extends his hands,
and
feels the wall before he runs into it.
The sounds of struggling come from the darkness, Serena's voice strident
"Back, back I tell you! He's a friend!"
Meanwhile, Milo, who is struggling under the assult of the zombie, notices
the reaction that Larz's zombies had to his holy symbol, and ceases
his
efforts with the staff, to bring out his own holy symbol, thrusting
it in
the face of his opponent, and saying "By the power of Ilmater,
get out of
here!" The zombie, almost falls over in it's desire to get away
from his
symbol, and stumbles off towards Soggrin and her combat. Soggrin spits
her own zombie with her spear, dropping it to the ground, and barely
gets
out of the way as the Milo's zombie disappears through the door to
the
north.
Lucretia rushes to Soggrin's aid, just in time to see her down the
undead creature with her spear. He is about to leap over the chair
to
Milo's aid, when he see's the zombie retreating from Milo's holy symbol
of
Ilmater. He chops at it two handed, and in two swift strokes, cleaves
the
animated corpse in two. (Two max damage hits! Phew!)
One of the two zombies that Larz turned also follows it through the door,
the other cowers in the s/w corner.
Larz turns towards the last enemy fighter, who has just started to open the
south door and throws his battle axe at it, almost at the same time
that
Merrell's last two daggers come flying through the air. One of the
daggers
hits, together with the battle axe, and the man thuds into the door,
closing it again. He slides down, leaving a stain on the door.
As the sounds of struggle continue to come from the darkness, there is a
sudden blood curdling scream. There is the sound of a flurry of movement,
people falling over, bumping into things, and struggling with each other.
Cleo suddenly bursts from the darkness on the south side of the table, her
eyes wide and full of fear. She ignores everyone, and runs towards
the
secret passageway that you came into. She is minus her sword.
END OF COMBAT
Merrell, seeing Cleo in a panic, sticks out his staff, and manages to trip
her, As she franticly tries to get up to run away further, Yvandel
and Larz
join Merrell and hold her down, trying to calm her. Larz mutters a
prayer
and she calms down.
Meanwhile, Lucretia heads into the darkness, his short sword held in-front
of him, feeling his way along the wall.
In the darkness, the sounds of continued struggling can be heard, and as
Lucretia feels his way to the doorway, he determines that the combatants
appear to be on the floor in front of him.
Back in the main room, Herod suddenly staggers as he regains the use of his
body. Larz decides to remove the last zombie still in the room, and
attacks it viciously. It attacks him back, but misses, and his second
blow
drops it.
Back in the dark, Lucretia finally determines from the sound that it is
Ceely and Serena on the floor in front of him, and steps around them,
feeling his way and moving slowly, trying to locate an enemy by sound.
Unfortunately, the sound of their struggle prevents him from detecting
any
possible targets and after a few more minutes, the light suddenly
returns,
making Lucretia, Ceely and Serena blink in surprise.
Balnor is lying unconscious on the ground near the door, a bruise on his
head. Serena and Ceely stop struggling, having only succeeded in holding
each other down. There is no sign of the priest.
Two, large, flickering torches light up the room and are set to either side
of the door. The place is lavishly furnished, with thick rugs, wall
hangings, two soft chairs, and a lavishly carved wooden table, with
four
chairs. A brass brazier burns in the northeast corner, warming the
place
and sending a nice fragrance into the air. A silver goblet with a
red
liquid sits on a pedestal on the far side of the room and a gold inlaid
platter sits on a side-table with various bits of meat and cheese.
A dark
wooden cabinet sits beside a large, opulent, four post bed. A large,
iron
chest sits on the far wall with a large padlock on it. A man lies
prostrate
in a chair, head resting on the table, as if asleep. He wears chain
mail
with a dark red tabard and a sheathed long sword stands in the corner
nearby.
Meeting Tharn - the sleeping man