The Mausoleum

[hedgeknight]

Ceana

Exhausted, even though she's done very little fighting, the Kelt druid goes to Kain's side to check on him and make sure he is still breathing.

[OGRE MAGE]

The Lost Mausoleum
New Additions, Early Afternoon

Belloc watches to be sure the ooze is really dead, seeing no movement from it whatsoever. Ceana moves to check on the badly injured Kain, his acid burns still look quite horrible, despite the fact that he somehow yet lives. A loud screech is heard from the mages owl, possibly as a celebration that it didn't also die.

Cormag and Taibshe hack away at the final zombie in the sandy hallway, unable to bring the monster down. Tuurma shoves them out of the way so she can make the killing blow herself, falling unconscious to the sand alongside the many victims once the deed is finished, utterly drained from her extensive rage. (Everyone else knows what that d8 roll is for, right?)

As badly as things looked a few minutes ago, the dim place is suddenly and eerily quiet again. With one man dead, his guts half eaten, and two others completely unconscious, the remaining four members of the group who are still standing will need to decide how to handle the aftermath of this unfortunate encounter.

Actions?

Kainaxarthos AC:6 -6/8 1st:2/2 Unconscious
Tuurma AC:7 -2/13 Unconscious
Ceana AC:5 8/8 1st:2/3 Torch / FR:355
Taibhse AC:7 7/7 1st:1/2 MM
Cormag AC:4 11/11
Belloc/Owl?
Maxon AC:6 -10/9 1st:1/2 Dead

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[redwarrior]

Cormag grabs Tuurma in a fireman's carry whatever it's called in this world! and carries her back to the doorway that the rest of the group entered, hoping one of his band can do something for her wounds.

Yup, I was really hoping I wasn't going to have to learn how subdual damage works!

[Ahlmzhad]

Taibhse

Will see if he can stabalize Tuurma. He will also see if he can rouse the injured Cleric as a spell may be needed for Tuurma.

"I'm doing what I can for these two. We probably need to get them to a healer, I'd suggest gathering any treasure you see and lets get out of here, we'll need to carry these two".

[Belkregos]

Belloc
as he hears the owls call, Belloc turns to see Crestos flying to his side, feathers ruffled with excitement, cups the owl carefully in his hand while he groomed his feathers
He then looks to the rest of the survivors

to be honest i'm glad we're not alone in here, when Crestos and I found clues of this location we were a little too eager to explore and didn't think we would find such horrors

My Name is Belloc and this is Crestos (he lifts the hand where the owl rests a bit)
i'm very sorry about the injuries and your companion outside

[Monsieur Rose]

Congrats to you guys for surviving that whole mess. I've kept my mouth shut for fear of jinxing it, but I think things are looking up.

[hedgeknight]

Ceana

"I'm Ceana. Without you...we may not have survived. I know Kain would not have."
She looks around and says to the others, "We need to get out of here. Heal up and regroup. Decide on our next move."

[sastaz]

Tuurma

* wheezing *

[OGRE MAGE]

The Lost Mausoleum
New Additions, Early Afternoon

Cromag and Taibhse drag the battered body of the unconscious Tuurma into the crypt with the others, the shaman stabilizing her wounds as best he can under these conditions. Looking upon the still unconscious Kain, whos acid burns look even worse, there is little more the group can do for them without proper healing.

Once things have calmed down enough for proper introductions, the party find out the stranger who helped them survive the ordeal is named Belloc, carrying an owl named Crestos. The overly curious mage seems genuinely appreciative that the group suddenly came by when they did, lest he have to deal with those horrors all alone.

With the dead body of their friend Maxon still laying half eaten out in the hallway, and 11 bested monsters scattered about the place, the group decide on their next move. It is obvious they need to get the unconscious some help, but where? And as the day is already nearing late afternoon, do they actually have time to rig up some way to carefully carry 2 unconscious party members all the way through the wastelands of the Outer City, through possible dangers, all before nightfall? (It took you over one hour to crawl through the sand strewn wastes and ruins to arrive here. How long will it take to do that with a precious payload?)

Do they dare to hole up in this accursed place until morning?

Actions?

Go ahead and RP this decision out between the group. I will jump in if/when necessary with any new information.

Kainaxarthos AC:6 -6/8 1st:2/2 Unconscious
Tuurma AC:7 -2/13 Unconscious
Ceana AC:5 8/8 1st:2/3 Torch / FR:345
Taibhse AC:7 7/7 1st:1/2 MM
Cormag AC:4 11/11
Belloc AC:6 9/9 2/3 Crestos: (Owl) AC:7 4/4
Maxon AC:6 -10/9 1st:1/2 Dead

[hedgeknight]

Ceana sighs loudly and walks over to the door and peeks outside.
"Do you think we should hole up here and wait until morning or get our companions out of this place? Or should we leave them here and barricade the door and then return with healing later? We could take turns carrying them?"
She shrugs and turns back to the others. "I honestly don't know what to do. Just throwing out ideas."

[Ahlmzhad]

Taibhse

Satisfied he has stabilized Tuurma, but unhappy that is all he can do he joins the conversation "If we wait for the morning I would be able to provide some more healing to one of the two. From the looks of them Kain still needs it worse than Tuurma. Although I believe I might be able to get Tuurma on her feet. We could secure this place, search it and maybe get two stretchers to carry these two out of the items in this room. We will need to get back to town as these two need more healing than I can provide."

[redwarrior]

Cogmag glances out the door at the carnage all around. Seeing Maxon's body just down the way, he turns to Ceana and says We can't let them eat him. Please cover me, after which he moves directly to Maxon's body, to haul it back within our room. This intention lasts EXACTLY until he sees anything else moving towards him, at which point he will advance to the rear with all due haste.

[Belkregos]

Belloc
seeing his new companions move back to the corridor to retrieve the body, Belloc lets Crestos fly
come on Crestos, were not done yet
then to Cormac
we'll check if there's any imminent danger (points down the opposite direction, deeper down the corridor)
he walks down to the end of the corridor and stops at the open door and whispers to his companion owl
just take a look Crestos, don't disturb anything, just take a look and come back (he indicates for the owl to fly in to the unexplored room)

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[OGRE MAGE]

The Lost Mausoleum
New Additions, Early Afternoon

While the group weighs out their options, Cormag accepts the dirty duty of recovering the half eaten body of their fallen friend. Without incident, he is easily able to drag Maxon by his arms through the soft sand and into the crypt with the others. Despite a good portion of his insides missing now, most of the warlock's gear still looks intact.

Crestos.jpg (185.99 KiB) Viewed 495 times

Belloc wisely puts his animal to good use, stepping up to the last door, commanding Crestos to fly around inside for a closer look. The majestic bird doesn't find any more threats in the next crypt, though there are several coffins that still appear sealed. Besides the multitude of dimpled footprints in the sand, and coffin lids adorned with similar looking carved faces displaying an obvious resemblance, the room is otherwise empty. Around a dozen coffin lids still appear to be intact, while at least ten of them have their lids pushed aside.

An uncanny fresco on the northern wall shews a green-hued comet. Under its painted sickly light lie scores of corpses littering the ground.

Actions?

Kainaxarthos AC:6 -6/8 1st:2/2 Unconscious
Tuurma AC:7 -2/13 Unconscious
Ceana AC:5 8/8 1st:2/3 Torch / FR:345
Taibhse AC:7 7/7 1st:1/2 MM
Cormag AC:4 11/11
Belloc AC:6 9/9 2/3 Crestos: (Owl) AC:7 4/4
Maxon AC:6 -10/9 1st:1/2 Dead
C= Closed Coffin

Lost M.jpeg (199.02 KiB) Viewed 495 times

[Belkregos]

Belloc
describes to the rest what he perceived through Crestos senses, he draws a map of the explored areas in the sand
it seems the undead creatures that could climb out of their crypts did, there are a few more still sealed but nothing that looks like an immediate danger, if anyone is up to it, i'd like to search the big room....

either way, i dont think we should try to make it back to the city so close to nightfall,

he then checks the sarcophagus in the room and also tries to shine a light (i assume someone has a torch?) to check the crack where the ooze came out from

[hedgeknight]

Ceana

The Kelt druid tries to voice her disagreement about Maxon's body, but before she can, Cormag is out the door. Then the owl takes off and she wonders aloud, "What have I gotten myself into?"
She can't bring herself to look at what remains of Maxon, so when Belloc begins drawing in the sand, she kneels and tries to focus. Once he finishes explaining, she says, "So...these other crypts. What if they hold zombies too, or worse?!? It's a dangerous game to be walking in there when we are depleted."

[Belkregos]

Ceana

so when Belloc begins drawing in the sand, she kneels and tries to focus. Once he finishes explaining, she says, "So...these other crypts. What if they hold zombies too, or worse?!? It's a dangerous game to be walking in there when we are depleted."

Belloc
listens to Ceana, when she finishes, the owl chirps and ruffles his feather looking between Belloc and Ceana,
"Yes Crestos, i know she's right" he nods and then looks up to Ceana,

yes, my optimistic side sometimes gets the better of me, there could be some new horrors in the sealed coffins, guess we should make our selves comfortable here for a bit then, we'll be in better shape after a short rest and if we can open one coffin at a time it'll be more manageable

[OGRE MAGE]

The Lost Mausoleum
Should We Stay Or Should We Go, Mid Afternoon

Again the stranger recently introduced as Belloc makes a wise suggestion to investigate the ceiling of this crypt, where he spots at least 2 cracks in the stonework wide enough for an ooze to slink through. The structure seems sound enough to defend against anything else though, so the group contemplates hunkering down for the rest of the evening. The sarcophagus remains empty and there is little else of interest remaining inside the crypt.

With one dead man amongst their numbers, and another pair of comrades at deaths door, Belloc still cannot resist the temptation to search further into the unknown mausoleum. After some rumination betwixt them and the bird, a short rest is called for, allowing him more time to convince the others of his plan.

The terrifying remains of Maxon are searched, turning up some usable equipment and a rather expensive looking gemstone. (100gp Ruby) The dead man also carried a vail of liquid recently purchased from the fishman in the Docks District. (anti-venom)

You also find a pack of notes and official parchments secured away deep in the mans pack of belongings that liberties are taken with. They detail something quite interesting to learn:

Maxon apparently had a job to do in Xambaala, as his notes partially explain.

It seems his old master Ixillian had some friends who traveled to the desert city recently and never returned.

Ixillian hired him to dig up any information that can be found about his friends, 3 men and 2 women, whos leaders name was Jeoffrey.

All he knew is that the 5 of them were staying at Aramis' Caravanserai once they arrived. He has heard nothing about them in the last two months and fears the worst.

Coincidentally, despite having this information already, Aramis' Caravanserai is the place a good portion of Maxon's group spent their first night.

Actions?

Kainaxarthos AC:6 -6/8 1st:2/2 Unconscious
Tuurma AC:7 -2/13 Unconscious
Ceana AC:5 8/8 1st:2/3 Torch / FR:345
Taibhse AC:7 7/7 1st:1/2 MM
Cormag AC:4 11/11
Belloc AC:6 9/9 2/3 Crestos: (Owl) AC:7 4/4
Maxon AC:6 -10/9 1st:1/2 Dead

[Ahlmzhad]

Taibhse

"While I too am anxious to find out what we have opened up, I'm also worried about our well being. That ruby could be used to hire a healer for our injured friends.
I do thing staying the night makes sense, but in the morning I will be faced with possibly getting Tuurma where she can walk out, or providing healing to Kain that will help, but not allow him to reach a place where he can do more than sleep. I would advise getting Tuurma back where she can walk with us back to town and we only have to carry Kain, and heading back to find healing for them. While we have a few of us that could stand for a fight or two we are short fighters and could wind up having more needing to be carried than could carry."

[hedgeknight]

Ceana

"I have a torch," she says, when Belloc attempts to shine a light into the ceiling crevice. "How are we going to get up there? Can your owl friend...you know..?" she points at the ceiling with her unlit torch.
She puts flint to steel and lights the oiled rags.