Pendar - Session 14

46 Merrysest, Windsday -
Having cleared out one of the larger rooms of the necromancer's lair, Efta having left to go explore a room further back and Max escorting him, the rest of the group is left to work out where to go...

Atremis sniffs at the larger door, curious on if anything's changed.
Nimue: "So? I am down to a couple of missile spells, question rest or pressing on?"
"Personally I prefer to go into battle fully armed, but I am not sure how long your pegasus friend can hold out, eh?"
Sana: "Mm... then we should hurry..."
Nimue: "What does the fox say?"
Atremis whimpers, pawing at the door.
Sana: "Yes, Atremis, we'll continue."
Atremis looks at Sana, while lightly pawing at the door to indicate his intent.
A banging sound from the north interrupts Nimue's questioning, and the doors on the side of the room look to be shaking.
Atremis looks surprised at the sudden noise, whimpering.
Sana: "It seems there is something there, I'll go look."
Nimue steps back from the door, readying a ray of frost.
Atremis looks at the shaking doors, and, after a glance at Sana, attempts to muster the bravery to walk forward.
Nimue: "(Careful.)"
Nimue steps out of the circle of light into darkness
As Sana approaches the door, it shatters into wood fragments, an unnatural-looking creature staring at her in surprise after breaking the door.
Atremis yelps in surprise, before shaking and trying to prepare himself.

[Atremis - Initiative: 22
Sana - Initiative: 21
Nimue - Initiative: 15.01
Necrocraft - Initiative: 8
Necrocraft - Initiative: 6
Necrocraft - Initiative: 5]

Nimue: "All undead, be careful."
[Atremis - Readied action: charge once a path is clear]

Sana steps to the side, ready to attack as soon as the creature comes out. [Readied action: attack once the nearest necrocraft moves into range]

Nimue takes aim and lets a ray of frost fly, waiting a moment to judge the impact before moving out of the creatures line of sight. [Attack: 13, Damage: 3]
The ray connects with the creature, chilling it a little.

The other monster pushes past it through the doorway, being set upon by Sana and Atremis.
[Fox Bite, Attack: 14, Damage: 8, Sneak Attack: 6
Greatsword, Attack: 22, Damage: 12
Greatsword Attack of Opportunity, Attack: 7, Damage: 10
Fox Bite Attack of Opportunity, Attack: 22, Damage: 8, Sneak Attack: 4]
The creature's thick skin partially protects it from Sana's sword, but Atremis manages to finish it off after the wound she dealt it already.

Another, somewhat similar-looking monster breaks open the further door, snarling at Nimue.

The remaining one of the creatures flies forward to claw viciously at Sana as it passes her.
[Necrocraft : Full Attack
Claw, Attack: 12, Damage: 6
Claw, Attack: 24, Damage: 3
Bite, Attack: 18, Damage: 8]
Most of its attacks are too reckless to be well-aimed, but one injures her slightly.

Nimue steps back while throwing a pair of fiery motes at the closest undead. [Magic Missile, Damage: 7]
Nimue draws a vial of alchemical fire.
The missiles further weaken the creature.

Atremis moves around the creature, preparing himself for another cooperative attack. [Readied action: Attack necrocraft once Sana is in flanking position]

[Sana : Greatsword, Attack: 23, Damage: 12
Fox Bite, Attack: 10, Damage: 8, Sneak Attack: 6]
Atremis fails to break through the creature's hide, but Sana is able to slay it.

The last of the creatures goes after Nimue.
[Necrocraft : Claw, Attack: 25, Damage: 3]
Nimue tries to dodge away, but the creature gives her a deep cut
[Nimue: Fortitude Save: 12
CON damage: 3]
Nimue looks quite wan.

Nimue stumbles back before throwing her vial of fire at the creature's feet.
[Attack: 8, Damage: 5, Splash: 1]
Nimue: "Burn!"
Nimue wheezes out a "help."

Atremis dashes towards the final creature, fangs bared!
[Fox Bite, Attack: 16, Damage: 7, Sneak Attack: 7]
Atremis deals the creature a significant injury, it appearing less sturdy than the other two.

[Greatsword, Attack: 25, Damage: 12]
Sana strikes the creature with an unnerving clattering sound, it seeming to resist the blow somewhat, before turning to swipe at her.

[Necrocraft : Claw
Attack: 22, Damage: 6
Attack: 12, Damage: 6
Sana: Fortitude Save: 8
CON damage: 3]
The monster leaves an infected-looking gash in Sana, seeming to weaken her.

Nimue moves into the back of the creature, drawing her long knife while doing so and the slashing at the creature, trying to distract it. [Aid Another to attack: 8]

Atremis uses the minor distraction Nimue provides to take a lunge at the foul creature while its back is turned.
[Fox Bite, Attack: 27, Damage: 7, Sneak Attack: 10]
Atremis drags the monster down with his lunge, slaying it.
Atremis shakes the remnants of the thing out of his mouth, trying to expel the taste of it before he begins to tiptoe over the rubble, examining the rooms with the busted doors.
Sana goes with Atremis.
Nimue follows both of them.
Nimue: "Frigg, that claw hit did something."
"I don't feel well."
Nimue looks wan and queasy.
Sana: "...maybe it really would've been better to rest a while..."
It seems to have been a storage room of sorts, lined with shelves filled with books and papers. Nothing else living or undead seems to be present.
Nimue: "Quick check, retreat and rest?"
Atremis decides to leave the books and such to the peoples, going back to the large door.
Nimue takes a cursory look at the books and paper.
Maximilian pants and wheezes, hurrying to the rooms.
Nimue takes the papers with her, and seems to think for a moment before putting books into her back pack.
Maximilian: "Books, eh?"
Sana: "Hey, Max..."
Sana picks up a small key on a desk.
Maximilian: "Sana."
"So, was this some sort of study?"
Nimue: "Can you carry a couple of books, Max?"
Maximilian's eyes light up.
Maximilian: "Certainly! Any riveting tales, or history books?"
Sana moves over to Max, slightly strained in her steps, as if she is winded.
Sana: "There's this key I found... could it be useful?"
Maximilian: "That sounds like a good find, indeed."
Nimue: "Books about the arcane."
Nimue looks wan and queasy.
Maximilian: "Bah, okay. Well, I can carry them either way."
"What happened to you two?"
Atremis waits by the door patiently, still not certain how to open it himself.
Nimue: "I think I erred, more space left then I thought."
"I would prefer to retreat and rest, that claw cut did something to me."
Nimue points at the corpses
Maximilian: "I see. Perhaps I can beseech Ivanda for a solution."
Sana: "I'm... I'll be okay."
Nimue: "Undead attack."
Maximilian: "There's no end to them, is there?"
Nimue takes a squinting look at Sana, trying to discern if her wounds look similar.
Nimue: "Seems not."
"One of you got healer training?"
Maximilian: "Not really, I'm better with animals. But I'll have a look, all the same."
Nimue: "Your wounds are not looking good either, Sana."
Sana: "...I'll be fine."
Maximilian sheds light on the battle wounds, giving himself a good look.
Sana: "Come, Atremis, we need to continue..."
Atremis nods to Sana, turning to paw at the door some more.
Nimue: "If your wants were just a matter of your own life on the line it wouldn't matter, but you have to give an accurate report to your leader, or as the case is here your battle fellows."
Maximilian: "Yeah, I think it's a poison of sorts."
Nimue stops her speech, turning to Max.
Nimue: "She doesn't even listen"
Nimue sighs.
Nimue: "Doesn't she understand that if she hides weaknesses and wounds she endangers us all?"
Maximilian: "It sounded like she grew up a loner, so I'm not surprised she doesn't understand the nature of teamwork."
Nimue: "Also I so do not want to fall prey to ghoul fever, or whatever this is."
Sana lays a hand on herself, healing her wounds. [Cure Light Wounds: 5]
Nimue wearily follows the pair, till she stands at the border of Sana's light cone.
Maximilian: "I can't mend the poison, but I could lessen the effects for now."
Nimue: "For both of us or only for one?"
Maximilian: "Just one of you. I prepared something for the rat bites, but magic is not my strength."
"I have something that'll make light work of any ghosts, mind."
"But if we really are pressing forward, I need to treat my own wounds."
Nimue: "Cast it on Sana, she stands in the frontline, but if you've got a healing spell it would be much appreciated."
Maximilian: "Understood. Come a little closer, then."
Maximilian chants a small prayer to Ivanda, releasing a wave of relief. [Channel Energy: 3]
[Lesser Restoration (Sana, CON): 2]
[Cure Light Wounds: 7]
Maximilian: "Okay, Sana, when you're ready."
Maximilian readies his lance, requesting one final blessing before battle. [Divine Favor]
Sana opens the door, reading her greatsword woozily.
The corridor looks empty of anything but spiderwebs, a faint sound beginning to be audible from further inside.
Atremis advances down the corridor warily, keeping his eyes out for trouble.
Nimue stays back but straining her ears
Atremis looks at a door, before quietly moving back towards the group.
Atremis barks at Sana.
Sana peeks around the corner, and upon seeking no threats, clanks to the door.
Maximilian: "(Oh. That was a waste.)"
Maximilian hurries onwards.
Atremis listens in at the door while waiting for the peoples to handle the opening thing.
Sana opens the door again, prepared to attack any threat on the other side
Sana turns the doorknob without resistance, but the door itself is held shut by something else.
[Sana: STR Check: 11]
The door starts to budge a little, a few bone fragments falling through the opened crack, but doesn't open far enough for even Atremis to squeeze inside yet.
Maximilian: "Put some welly into it, girl!"
Sana: "...hey, Max? Um... can you move to the side, please?"
Nimue: "(Um, guys, sure that we don't want to retreat and rest?)"
Atremis looks at the resistance the door is providing Sana, then to Maximilian.
Maximilian slams his lance into the lock. [Maximilian: STR Check: 9]
Nimue steps back further, having a dark foreboding.
Sana takes a run up, then charges into the door, shoulder first. [Sana: STR Check: 19]
Sana: "Hiya!"

Working together, Sana and Max shove open the door to a small chamber, pushing aside a heap of debris, broken chests, and skeletons. Some of the mess topples over into the doorway with a clatter, sending up a cloud of dust.
The stench of decay is hardly noticeable here by comparison, the floor nearly clean of the ever-present slimy filth. It feels almost comforting until the group sees the skeleton resting against the back wall, and the translucent shadow above it sees them as well.
Ghost?: "-wAjeKSoJijNe MeXbiS!-"

Maximilian - Initiative: 18
Atremis - Initiative: 21
Allip - Initiative: 9
Nimue - Initiative: 7.01

Nimue: "Fuck, an Allip."
Maximilian: "A what?"
Sana: "Something that drives people insane."
Nimue: "An incorporeal undead, an soul driven to madness, only magic weapons got a chance to hurt it."
Sana: "Don't make mental contact with it."
Atremis: "(Only... magic...?)"
Sana: "(I believe so...)"

Atremis kneels down for a moment, wiggling his hind quarters for a moment before making a sudden leap over the obstructions in front of the door. [Acrobatics: 35]
Atremis stares at the strange enemy being, trying to see if he can will it to catch on fire.
[Foxfire, Attack: 17, Damage: 1 Fire, Sneak Attack: 6
Atremis: Will Save: 6]
The flames pass by the creature, narrowly dodged.

Maximilian hops over the barricade, preparing a spell. [Readying Ghostbane Dirge for when it comes within 35 feet]
[Maximilian : Will Save: 27]

Maximilian unleashes a coiling white shackle at the spirit as it approaches.
Maximilian: "Your ethereal body shall not escape our blades!"
[Allip - Will Save: 15]
The allip's body grows more opaque for a moment, but swiftly fades again, resisting the spell.
Maximilian: "Tch. No matter."
The allip floats forward, ranting to itself, and tries to grab Atremis with spectral hands.
[Touch, Attack: 16, Wisdom Damage: 4]
Atremis snaps out of his reverie, only to take a spectral strike from the strange ghost.
Maximilian: "No, Atremis!"

Nimue moves ahead taking cover behind the barricades, swearing under her breath the whole way.
As she crouches, she releases two fiery motes, which unerringly hit the foul creature. [Magic Missile, Damage: 9]

Sana gathers spiritual energy into a blade, throwing it at the horror.
[Sana : Spiritual Weapon
Attack: 18, Damage: 3]
The creature dodges the summoned blade, but looks spooked by it.
Allip: "- fINaXiLMtEKhINfOuLlIM oIKnEMeE!-"

Atremis stares at the strange spectral horror, gauging on if it's even possible to bite, before looking at the skeleton in the back.
Atremis leaps through the ghost's spectral form, attempting to smash into the unusual skeleton. [Acrobatics: 27]
Atremis feels a little uneasy as he passes through the thing's body, but lands seemingly unharmed.
[Fox Bite, Attack: 22, Damage: 4, Sneak Attack: 6]
Nimue: "Tis no time for lunch."
Atremis bites the skeleton's shoulder, one of its arms clattering to the ground with no reaction from it.
[Atremis: Will Save: 11]

Maximilian raises his spear, imbuing it with a teal aura, and charges the spirit! [Sacred Weapon]
[Lance, Attack: 24, Damage: 14]
Max strikes through the ghost, the magic from his weapon seeming to case it pain even if the weapon itself does not.
Maximilian: "Ha!"
"Odd as this is, it's working!"

It madly claws at his face, babbling more gibberish.
[Touch, Attack: 19, Wisdom Damage: 1]
Maximilian recoils, feeling a mild headache.
Maximilian: "Th-this thing is crazy..."

Nimue throw another pair of fiery motes at the allip. [Magic Missile, Damage: 10]
The allip seems to be quieting slightly as the magic takes a toll on it.

[Sana : Spiritual Weapon
Attack: 18, Damage: 2]
The sword swings wide, again, missing the ghost.
[Sana: Will Save: 28]

Atremis stares at the skeleton against the wall, behaving strangely as he listens to the ghost's mutterings.

Maximilian: "Come on, you rotter! I dare you to try that again!"
Maximilian steps back, encouraged by his weapon's success.
[Lance, Attack: 26, Damage: 17]
The lance deals another wound to the spectral form, and it begins to waver slightly.

It continues attempting to harm Max.
[Touch, Attack: 27, Wisdom damage: 4]
Maximilian: "Rrrraargh!"
Maximilian clutch his head in pain as vision pulses and mind is clouded.

Nimue offers a short prayer to Hestrad before casting her last magic missile. [Damage: 8]
Allip: "-TejHiAiuNaKut YexOaUwe-"
As the bullets of energy strike it, the allip fades away with a last shriek of nonsense.
Atremis continues staring at the skeleton, his mind seemingly out of it.
Nimue: "Good."
Nimue unsteadily stands up.
Sana quickly moves over to Atremis, touching him with her divine powers. [Elysium's Call]
Maximilian saunters over, clutching his head in pain.
Maximilian: "So, you two. That skeleton. Think that was it... before it became... that?"
Sana picks up Atremis, attempting to soothe him and break him out of the trance
Nimue: "Probably, but let's leave and rest."
Atremis snaps out of the reverie, before spotting the skeleton and attempting to tackle it to the ground!
The skeleton topples pathetically to the ground.
Atremis stands on the skeleton, looking proud and triumphant.
Sana stoops down and pets Atremis.
Maximilian pats the fox, tousling his head.
Sana finds her attention drawn to the objects on the ground, something among them seeming to call to her.
Some pouches and bags, a large and shining sword, and a leather-backed book lie on the ground, scattered around the fallen skeleton.
Sana: "This sword...."
Maximilian: "Aha, spoils!"
Sana picks up the sword.
Sana: "...may I have this, please, Maximilian?"
Maximilian: "I'm in no position to argue."
"Just pass me that other good one you found, eh?"