Round Three
(this is preceded by round two, followed by round four)[ +- ] Guardroom details
Here are the details of the guardroom of the undead in the Temple of Merikka:
Dimensions: Each square is 10' on a side, so the room is 80' long x 30' wide.
Exits: There are three obvious exits from the room: the door in the center of the western wall (where the PCs are entering), and two doors in the southern wall.
Furnishings: There are simple wooden benches pushed up against the north and south walls.
Light: The only light source is Arya's shield, just inside the doorway in the western wall. The eastern end of the room is in Dim Light. No one in the party is producing any light, so Chase, Ember, Ferranzo, and Myrtha can barely see in the darkened hallway outside the guardroom; if the door closes or the Light goes out, they will be Blinded.
Undead: There are eight undead guardians, wearing scraps of the armor they wore in life and armed with short bows and swords. Their flesh is almost completely decayed, indicating that they've been dead for months at least.
The party is huddled in the dark behind the mostly-closed door. What the
undead on the other side are doing is unclear. But now the heroes have a rough plan on what to do.
Chase sets the
greatclub down, takes a deep breath, hefts his
cookpot, and then kicks the door open.
It takes a moment for his eyes to adjust to the bright light again, but he can immediately see that his intended target isn't within reach anymore. In the time that the party was discussing their moves, the
skeletons all returned to their starting positions.
Knowing that there's no way he could throw his pot that far,
Chase adjusts his aim and flings the receptacle at
Skeleton 1. It misses, hitting the wall and then bouncing across the stone floor with a tremendous clatter of clangs.
Grabbing up the
greatclub, he rushes toward that
skeleton, preparing to bash it.
Behind the rest of the group,
Morton has only a narrow view of the room beyond. Unable to see the undead that are closer, from this angle (and aided by dead Arya's shining shield)
Morton is able to make out the ones at the end of the room. He sends a wave of sulfurous energy threading between his companions, through the open door, down the length of the guardroom, and into
skeleton 7 leaning against the wall. The corpse explodes from the blast.
Skeleton 7 takes 10 force damage and is destroyed!
The connection to the nether plane throbs with excitement as
Morton destroys an enemy! Hellish energy flows into him.
Morton gains 5 temporary hit points!
Morton sits on his heels and then slides forward into a prone position, craning his neck up to keep an eye on the undead.
As skeleton 7 falls apart,
skeleton 8 is already moving. Taking up its bow, it nocks and arrow, draws, and looses at
Chase in one unnatural movement. The arrow punches into the ranger!
Chase takes 4 piercing damage!
Having formed a thick layer of death frost on his hand,
Eugenios flicks his wrist, flinging the magical necrosis through the doorway. Thaumaturgical energies keep the hand aloft as it zips through the air and across the guardroom. But it shatters on the wall next to
skeleton 5, leaving a smudge of vile darkness on the stone that slowly begins to dissipate.
Skeleton 5 and
Skeleton 6 pick up bows and swivel, the magic puppeting the corpses moving them with uncanny swiftness and silence. One arrow misses, the other sinks into the ranger's thigh!
Chase takes 6 piercing damage!
"Get behind the door and use it for cover," Myrtha yells over her shoulder as she charges into the room, running up to support
Chase and plunging her magic spear into
Skeleton 1.
Skeleton 1 takes 6 piercing damage!
Just a step behind her,
Aanbo runs into the room, coming up on
Chase's other side and striking at his opponent with his staff, dealing it a rattling series of blows that breaks it apart completely.
Skeleton 1 takes 8 bludgeoning damage and is destroyed!
Aanbo was prepared to kick the
skeleton, too, but as it has fallen apart, he steps protectively forward, trying to defend the badly-injured ranger.
Skeleton 2,
Skeleton 3, and
Skeleton 4 retrieve their bows, draw, and loose at the newcomers.
An arrow flies clean through
Myrtha's arm.
Myrtha takes 4 piercing damage!
Aanbo swats the arrow coming at his face, deflecting it so that it only gouges his cheek.
Aanbo takes 1 piercing damage (reduced from 8)!
A second arrow punches through
Myrtha's armor!
Myrtha takes 7 piercing damage!
Advancing to the open doorway,
"Hey poop-for-brains! I saw a rat actually poop in your empty skull. You’re smarter now than when you were alive." Ferranzo taunts
skeleton 2.
"Better looking too. No face at all is better than the one you had!" The necromantic magic holding the corpse together is unaffected.
Pulling an arrow and nocking it,
Ember comes up alongside him, peers through the doorway to sight the same undead, then draws, lean out and looses the arrow. Unfortunately the arrow lodges in a scrap of armor still hanging from the corpse's clavicle.
20 - Chase (2/17)
19 - Morton (1/15, 5 temp HP) Prone
19 - Skeleton 7, Skeleton 8
14 - Eugenios (4/8) Mage armor, Cursed
14 - Skeleton 5, Skeleton 6
12 - Myrtha (12/30)
11 - Aanbo (18/27)
11 - Skeleton 1, Skeleton 2, Skeleton 3, Skeleton 4
8 - Ferranzo (8/8)
4 - Ember (7/12)
