Groaning as he sits up, Corian grabs Colwyn by the shoulder, "It's Vortigern!  He's caught up with me!"

Colwyn nods, "Yer said.  Look, I don't care who the bastard is.  If 'e killed this 'ere family then 'e's like as not plannin' on doin' us in too.  We needs ter stop 'im from doin' that.  So get off yer arse an fight 'im!"

Corian is upright now.  Scared, but upright.  He clasps his hands together in front of his face and starts to whisper under his breath, his eyes tightly closed...

Colwyn helps Corian to his feet while keeping watch over the injured man.  The rogue urges his employer to pull himself together and fight back against Vortigern...

Not far away, Oswald notices one of the skeletons, perhaps acting on the remnant of some bullying instinct which still rattles about in its skull, has decided to pick on the smallest target.  As it reaches for him the halfling unleashes a sling bullet which, sadly, misses his intended target entirely.  Then the agile little bard is forced to duck aside as the undead horror scratches at him with its clawed fingers...

The party's other bard, Aramil, engages a second skeleton in combat.  The elf's sword swing misses the skeleton entirely, passing through the space where a living being would keep its guts.  The skeleton is more fortunate, and its filthy claws scrape at the elf's arm, tearing his sleeve and drawing blood. 

Corian casts a spell, and a faint glow seems to envelop him briefly, and not a moment too soon as one of the skeletons lunges at him.  Its bony claws reach for him... and stop short of his flesh, scrabbling against some invisible barrier. 

Out beyond the fire, the Nameless Monk and Fergus reach their goal, a man standing among the trees at the edge of the forest.  The monk throws everything into driving her hand into her target's ribs, only to find the blow stopped by an invisible barrier of some sort.  Fergus, meanwhile, swings the shovel in a wide (and enthusiastic) arc... only to have it wrenched from his hands as it strikes one of the trees...  The Nameless Monk dodges as the heavy farm tool spins past her head, and that dodge probably saves her further injury as her opponent lunges at her with a knife, but misses.

Back near the fire, Eilieen steps forward to try and drive back the skeletons, but trips and falls, sprawling in the dirt.  She takes the opportunity to seize Aarnr's holy symbol and hand it to him, before she finds herself struggling with one of the skeletons, which tears at her flesh with its clawed hands. 

Aarnr once again summons up the power of Bowbe as a sixth skeleton pulls itself up out of the ground at his feet.  Some of the nearby undead seem to hesitate for a moment, but then continue with their previous activity.  The newcomer rakes at Aarnr's legs with its razor-sharp finger bones, and the cleric feels flesh tear... 

Two more arrows come out of the darkness, missing their targets entirely, but giving Aarnr and Fergus a little more to worry about...

From somewhere overhead, there is a loud cawing, and a large raven, possibly the one they had seen earlier, swoops down to attack Corian.  Fortunately for the sorcerer, it has no more success penetrating his defense than the skeleton had.  Colwyn jabs at it with his sword, but the bird, as might be expected, is far too nimble and evades the blow easily.

Backing up to the door of the farmhouse, and gaining a little protection from the structure, Erista casts a spell upon herself.  To the untrained eye, the immediate effect, a faint glow lasting a heartbeat or two, looks similar to the spell that Corian had used. 

OOC: Well... this is all going... er... swimmingly.  I said to get 'em!

Combatant         Init
Colwyn Akbar       23
Oswald Osbourne    23
Aramil             22
Nameless Monk      18
Corian             18
Aarnr Foultongue   17
Fergus Andarson    17
Vortigern          16   AC=23
Skeletons          16   AC=13
Archers             9   AC=??
Eilieen             7
Erista              5
Raven               5   AC=18

Characters' Apparent Health
Aarnr Foultongue: Hurt
Aramil:           Severe
Eilieen:          Hurt
Erista:           Good
Fergus Andarson:  Good
Nameless Monk:    Good
Oswald Osbourne:  Good

Corian Barade:    Critical

If Fergus is dismayed by the loss of his shovel, he doesn't show it.  He isn't carrying his scythe (it being too large to lug about while digging and rather inappropriate at funerals) but he has his wood axe through a loop at his belt and he snatches it out.

Fergus by this stage, has let go of his already stretched temper.  He's already convinced himself that this wizard killed the farmer and his family, that he looks to be raising skeletons simply adds fuel to Fergus' fury.  Unfortunately strength and anger are no match for Vortigern's defences and Fergus' mighty swing has no obvious effect.

"I'll kill you, you murdering bastard!"

(Rather optimistic, perhaps, and far from original but even Aarnr is unlikely to complain about Fergus' apparent enthusiasm for the job at hand)

This isn't going well at all.  Not at all.  For one thing, people are hurt and Eilieen can't get to them - if she tries to break away from the undead horror struggling with her, it will no doubt leap upon her back and bring her down.  For another, the filth, the disgusting mess...it's all too much for her.

She has to get space from the skeletons, needs to break free so she can go to Corian, to Aramil.  Even to Aarnr, now hurt by the skeletons' grasping claws.

"In Zadratha's name, begone!" the thin woman cries, brandishing her holy symbol.

It does nothing at all, sadly.

Erista takes out her sling, whirling it over her head and sending a rock pinging out towards the skeleton striking at Corian.

The gods are not with them this day, either not listening or ignoring their priests.  "Frog this ..."  Aarnr swears, tossing aside the token of his god, his face contorting as his fury mounts.

"AND FROG THEE, THOU PUS-MARROWED FOBBIN' RATS-RRAAARRRRR !!!" the litany of insults devolves into a gutteral roar as the priest batters at the skeleton before him with the shovel, beyond any reason now the battle-frenzy upon is him.
This message was last edited by the player at 13:01, Tue 06 Sept 2011.

Having dodged both the flying shovel and the blade the monk tries to side-step, attempting to flank the magician.  As she does she throws a hard punch at him, aiming in the general direction of the nose, hoping to flatten that particular feature.

Ozzy was shocked by the sudden confrontation from the skeleton and quickly drops his sling as he draws his dagger for defense. He wishes now he had brought a sturdy club instead when he lashes out and connects; only nicking a chunk of bone loose from the looming undead towering over him.

ATTK: 17 / DAMG: 2

Corian doesn't waste time congratulating himself on his successful use of magic.  Even as the raven attacks him again, battering ineffectually at some sort of invisible barrier which surrounds the man, he raises one hand and cries out, "Taflegryn yn y tywyllwch!"

A bolt of energy sparks from his fingertips, fizzing and whistling as spirals around him in pursuit of his assailant.

Colwyn still has his shortsword in hand, and is close enough to defend Corian.  And it never hurts to help the boss, right?  He jabs at the raven once more, only to see it perform a spectacular aerial manoeuvre which sees the tip of his blade missing the bird completely and, apparently, being deflected by something which surrounds Corian.

"Bloody nadgers!" the rogue curses, as he watches for the raven to come within reach of him once more.

(NPCd)

Aramil is forced to give all of his attention to saving himself as the skeleton continues to claw at him.  He slashes with his blade again, and is this time rewarded as the jolt of a solid impact travels up his arm.

Not enough to stop the skeleton in its tracks, but it is, at least, a start...

The combat continues...

Colwyn, cursing and swearing, almost seems to be involved in some sort of bizarre dance as he hops around Corian, jabbing and stabbing at the raven which seems determined to get at the sorcerer.  The rogue's acrobatic movements avail him naught though.

Oswald slashes at one skeleton with his dagger, and succeeds in shaving off a few splinters of bone, though at the cost of a little of his own skin and some blood as the skeleton claws at him. 

Not far off, Aramil hacks at the skeleton which faces him, and his blade, driven with all the strength the elf can muster, tears the undead things jaw off, sending it skittering across the ground, and cracks its skull.  This has little appreciable effect on the creature, unfortunately, and Aramil is forced to step back as it reaches for him again...

Suddenly finding himself trapped between Fergus and the Nameless Monk, the enemy leader finds it difficult to avoid both, and staggers backwards as the monk's fist slams into his face, bringing a cry of pain...  He attempts to retaliate, but blinding pain and the agility of the monk rob him of his revenge.

Corian casts a spell, ignoring the skeleton which scrapes futilely at his magical defence, and a bolt of mystical force whirls outwards, following the rapidly evading raven until it finally makes contact with the bird and discharges its energy in a green-blue flare.  The raven turns, cawing viciously, and swoops down towards Corian...

Fighting his own enemy, Aarnr roars in rage as a clawed hand rips at his arm, and responds with a well-placed blow of his shovel, which hits hard enough to scatter the skeleton's bones all across the area and very effectively discourage it from attacking anybody again.  Another arrow sails high over the priest's head, striking the wall of the house behind him.

Using an axe, now that his shovel has flown south for the winter, Fergus aims a blow at the enemy spellcaster, but the only result is flash of light, as the weapon is turned aside by the magical barrier which protects the man.  A moment later, the farmer's son grunts as an arrow sinks into his back, just below the ribs...

Eilieen struggles to avoid being hit as she attempts to drive the undead back.  Her efforts do her little good, and sharp bone bites into her flesh, drawing blood.  The shock and pain probably goes some way to explaining her disturbing lack of faith. 

From her sheltered spot in the doorway, Erista sends a sling stone hurtling across the farmyard to bounce off the skull of the skeleton which is attacking Corian.  While it doesn't stop the thing, it does distract it, and eyeless sockets peer about, briefly seeking the source of the blow.

And in the same instant the raven strikes!  Diving down the foul bird somehow gets past Corian's magical defence and seems to simply touch him as it hurtles past.  Corian clutches at his arm, as the colour drains from his face, and he screams, "Aaiiee!  It burns!"

OOC: Yay!  One skeleton smashed to pieces, others chipped, and the spellcaster has a bloody nose (right in the centre of his bloody face *snickers*).  There's just the minor matter of some trivial injuries to the party...

Combatant         Init
Colwyn Akbar       23
Oswald Osbourne    23
Aramil             22
Nameless Monk      18
Corian             18
Aarnr Foultongue   17
Fergus Andarson    17
Vortigern          16   AC=23
Skeletons          16   AC=13
Archers             9   AC=??
Eilieen             7
Erista              5
Raven               5   AC=18

Characters' Apparent Health
Aarnr Foultongue: Hurt
Aramil:           Severe
Eilieen:          Severe
Erista:           Good
Fergus Andarson:  Hurt
Nameless Monk:    Good
Oswald Osbourne:  Hurt

Corian Barade:    Critical

Seeing the skeleton `looking' for her evidently doesn't appeal to Erista's survival instincts, and she follows her first stone with another.

Bellowing his triumph at the destruction of his foe, Aarnr shakes his shovel in the air, blood streaming down the cut on his arm, though the priest pays it no heed ... nor much more to what is happening around him, save for where the next of the skeletons might be found.  Swiftly crossing the disturbed earth to bring himself within reach of the nearest, Aarnr brings his shovel down hard, expertly striking the ground if not the walking pile of bones he was intent on.

Roaring once more, the priest leaves no doubt just how cross that makes him !

Fergus does his best to ignore the arrow wound and swings again.  The blow is well-enough aimed, if a little crude, and it helps that Vortigern is forced to split his attention but Fergus still finds himself defeated by the mage's defences.  Being repeatedly thwarted isn't helping Fergus' temper...

The monk does her best to stay on the opposite side of the mage compared to Fergus, launching another attack.  In her mind he was the most dangerous adversary, able to hit without fail if allowed to use his magic and perhaps even an attack that could hit many of them at once.

Alas, her attack goes wide this time.

She's going to have to take a chance - there's no two ways about it.  Aarnr has this situation 'under control', so to speak, even if the other priest has lost whatever control he possessed.  Or maybe, Eilieen considers as a pair of bones fly past her, it's good tactics.  Whatever the case, she herself is about to make what one might consider a tactical blunder, but...

The bleeding priestess scurries backward, hopefully weathering another attack by the skeleton, and staggers away from the battle toward Aramil with the intent of saving the half-elf's life; if he falls, the undead horror might very well go down atop him and end him completely.  He requires her goddess' blessing, and swiftly if he is to stay upon his feet.

Even though he doesn't currently have his 'axe' in hand, the little halfling still has his voice. He jabs again at the skeletons pelvic bone,
nicking loose another small chip of bone while he sings as loud as he can bellow between dodging the skeletons clawing reach,

We're not gonna take it
No, we ain't gonna take it,
We're not gonna take it any mooooooreeee...

We've got the right to choose and
There ain't no way we'll lose it
This is our life this is our soooonnnngggg...

---

ATTK: 21 DAMG: 3 / Inspiring Courage :) +1 to all attacks/saves/damage

(NPCd)

Aramil continues to make a fighting withdrawal before the skeleton's attempts to tear at his flesh wjth it filthy talons.  As the hands reach for him, he hacks at them repeatedly, though apparently doing little damage.

Suddenly he sees an opening, and jabs his blade into the things face with a satisfying impact...

Corian shakes his head and ignores the skeleton, which doesn't seem able to reach him, and again speaks the spell which sends a bolt of magical energy surging towards the attacking raven...

"Taflegryn yn y tywyllwch!"

As the raven moves away from Corian, doubtless preparing to come around for another attack, Colwyn slashes at it with his shortsword.  He actually manages to hit the beastly creature this time, and laughs aloud as blood stains the edge of his blade.

"Hah!  Di'n't like that much, did yer?"

Colwyn hacks at the raven, and derives some grim amusement from a success which proves to be fleeting, as the raven recovers from the blow and climbs higher.  The rogue's laughter dies in his throat a moment later, as he notices the greenish black fumes boiling off the blood on his sword...

Still fighting a skeleton, Ozzy uses his small size to his advantage as he ducks in close and continues to whittle the thing's bones away.  In fact he almost seems to be enjoying it, and he even starts to sing at the top of his voice.  As the words of his song ring out across the farm, his companions feel an unaccountable (in light of the current dire predicament) lifting of their spirits...  The skeleton, however, does not, and tries to gouge at the bard's flesh with its bare hands.  The halfling is too nimble though, and manages to evade the creature's attack.

Slowly retreating, Aramil defends himself as best he can from the ripping claws of another skeleton, using his shortsword to knock the attacks aside, and even seizing the chance to do a little more damage to his foe.  Still, things have looked better for the elf...

Beyond the circle of firelight, out in the gloom at the edge of the forest, the Nameless Monk and Fergus continue to harry the enemy spellcaster.  His magical defences do seem to be providing him with some protection, but the adventurers are slowly driving him backward, away from the farm, as he struggles to keep from being pinned between the pair.  Suddenly he yells out, "Help me, you idiots!" and lunges at Fergus with his knife, only to see the weapon turned aside by the big farm hand's leather jerkin.

The raven, having flown higher, turns to dive again, and flies straight into a ball of searing energy hurtling out from Corian's outstretched hand.  The bird caws angrily as it steadies itself in the air.  The lone skeleton, meanwhile, returns its attention to Corian and continues to claw and scrape at the invisible barrier which protects the young mage.

Not far away, Aarnr rushes to engage the skeleton which faces Eilieen, and continues to swing his shovel with great enthusiasm.  Apparently some skeletons, for all their reputation as mindless undead automata, are capable of learning.  Through a red mist, the priest of Bowbe sees this one duck beneath his makeshift weapon, and lunge at him, using its bony digits to tear at his throat! 

On the plus side, people seem to have stopped shooting at him...

Two arrows whir out of the darkness, one narrowly misses the Nameless Monk, who feels the wind as it passes her.  The second misses Fergus by a somewhat larger margin, and strikes a tree close behind the farmer's foe, who spits out an angry, "Fools!" at the concealed archers.

Eilieen takes advantage of the distraction provided by Aarnr, evades the skeleton's claws (though one bony hand does grasp, briefly, at her gown) and hurries across to assist Aramil in his battle.

Erista, perhaps a little irritated at being ignored, hurls another sling stone at the skeleton which has gone back to attacking Corian.  This time the stone smacks it right between the eyes, knocking its skull off completely.  The skeleton falls in a heap of disarticulated bones, relieving Corian of one worry.

His other concern still lives though.  The great black raven swoops at Corian again, a malicious gleam in its eyes.  At the last second he dodges, and the bird flashes past him, flapping hard to regain height.

OOC: A second skeleton bites the dust!  But some party members are looking the worse for wear.

Everybody gets a +1 to all attacks/saves/damage rolls, as long as Ozzy keeps singing.

Combatant         Init
Colwyn Akbar       23
Oswald Osbourne    23
Aramil             22
Nameless Monk      18
Corian             18
Aarnr Foultongue   17
Fergus Andarson    17
Vortigern          16   AC=23
Skeletons          16   AC=13
Archers             9   AC=??
Eilieen             7
Erista              5
Raven               5   AC=18

Characters' Apparent Health
Aarnr Foultongue: Severe
Aramil:           Severe
Eilieen:          Severe
Erista:           Good
Fergus Andarson:  Hurt
Nameless Monk:    Good
Oswald Osbourne:  Hurt

Corian Barade:    Critical

This message was last edited by the GM at 14:16, Sat 10 Sept 2011.

Still keeping on the opposite side from Fergus the monk takes a chance when she spots an opening, once more going for the face.  It is an effective place to hit, after all, even more so after having literally and figuratively given their attacker a blooded nose.  It could be flatter still, however, so that is what she aims for.

Ozzy smiles, remembering last years Harvest festival back in the wealthy city of Tsar when he had performed an act not unlike this very performance. Ducking yet again from the boney grasp, he is mindful that this skeleton was not some stage actor so had better be quick in adapting his mark. Still singing,

We'll fight a thousand legions
Don't pick our destiny cause
You don't know us, you dont beloooong...

We're not gonna take it
No, we aint gonna take it
We're not gonna take it anymoooorrreee...

He stabs as he ducks, nearly missing the femur before his blade connects and splinters off another large portion of bone.

Oh you're so condescending
Your goal is never ending
We dont want nothin, not a thing from yooouuu...

ATTK: 13 - DAMG: 3
This message was last edited by the player at 11:07, Sun 11 Sept 2011.

Gasping, Eilieen stumbles to where Aramil fights on, her hands reaching for his back.  Hopefully he won't misinterpret the touch and stab her by mistake...of course, he'd have to be deaf as well.

"Zadastha knows...love of life as well," she chokes out, her palms touching the half-elf's shoulders as he ducks and dodges.  "Against despair, remember that love!"  And the goddess' power flows through her into her comrade, a cool tide against the burn of his wounds.