"Bah. I got this." Nox shoulders his way forward and into the room.

Myarra shrugs at the objections to Amara's suggestion.  "We kill them for food, warmth, candles, and any number of other things, including bait.  I'm a carnivore, I can hardly complain.

That said ..." she'd been just about to walk into the room, when Lennox, apparently tired of all the talk, steps in first.

"... I'm willing to take the risk."  She finishes, stepping into the room right behind Lennox and waits to see what unpleasantness might await.

"No slight on your bravery, Kali, but I'm rather more difficult to kill."
This message was last edited by the player at 13:03, Wed 12 Oct 2016.

Twiggy smiles and nods at Aliana at the suggeston of a saddle on the golem and bairly fought the urge to stick out his tongue at Nolan shooting it down. He rolls his eyes as they all want to rush the room.  Guess he shouldn't complain, normally they expected halflings to go be the test animal.  Twiggy eased to the side as Lennox pushed through and eased forward also "Easy Lennox, we can go in but lets go slowly. Let me make sure there isn't something more than the mirror."  Twiggy first looks at all of the walls and ceiling before searching the floor for anything strange or triggers.

Lennox takes the initiative and walks into the room, followed by Myarra with Twiggy right on their heels. Nothing happens to them. They step over bodies that look like they had horrible deaths, but the bodies have been here for years. One of the bodies is even a Dragon Cult Warrior who was decapitated, so it appears there is no discrimination in this room. Twiggy searches and scans the room, while the rest of the group contemplate entering the room. Nolan calls back the Golem. The mirror is definitely broken and no longer working or magical. It appears that it is safe to enter the room....you think.

Amara shrugged at Aliana and Kali. "My understanding is that when you summon an animal, and it dies here in your service, it may have the memory, but it does not actually die. That is not fodder. Fodder were we to send a person or animal from this realm, where if it dies, it dies," she replied calmly.

She waits for those who went inside to give an all-clear, showing absolutely no interest in being among the first.

Twiggy kneels down next to a body and inspects it as he slides a ring off of one of the fingers to look at it. Looking at the rest of the bodies he shakes his head "I don't see anything as far as traps. I am not good with dead bodies either, what could of killed them. Besides the decapitated one, that one is a puzzler."  he then looks around for the head "So do you guys and ladies usually take stuff or would that be to wrong?"

Kali walks in after the others, but stays near the wall. She had no interest in looting items from the corpses, magical or otherwise, but she wouldn't deny others either. She knew something simple could change the tide of a battle.

She look d at amara with a slight half smile. "No offence to you amara, but my view is life is sacred. Nature and all life is precious to me. I don't like waste of any life, be it human or animal."

In reply to Kallyan (msg # 947):

I stay outside of the room, with my sword ready in case something bad does start to happen.
Looking at the pile of bodies to see if any have items that would interest me from where I'm standing.

"Not exactly a simple question, Twiggy," Myarra responds, moving over to the nearest body, and letting the ethical question of summoning animals as bait up to those that care.

"I'm firmly against grave robbing.  The grave goods buried with someone are a gift and a memory.  To steal from a grave isn't just theft, it's sacrilege.

But to leave good equipment behind on a battlefield is a waste, especially magical gear.  Good swords don't just emerge from the dunes after every windstorm.  These people are dead, and have been for years.  As hard as we could try, we'd be unlikely to find family to claim them.

But I don't want to piss anyone off if they have strong opinions otherwise.  Any of you object to us making use of what we can find?  If so, let's get that discussion out of they way now.  We'll come back later and take all the bodies so that they can be buried appropriately."

I've studied the Summon spells and I honestly don't know whether or not the creature summoned is even alive.

On the matter of looting bodies,

There are no laws that say we can or can't take from the dead in the forest, so I suggest we take what we can, so the Dragon Cultists don't get it. I understand that some people might have a problem with this, but I'm sure the dead folks here wouldn't mind us using their stuff for the greater good in return for giving them a proper burial. Would you agree, Khayyim?

Amara looked at Kali cooly. Clearly, the druid did not understand what she just said - and she hadn't used any arcane words that should have been confusing. So she tried once more, "I would not say life is sacred, per se, but I respect it - animal or human. That is why a summoned animal, which would not truly die, only appear to die, would be better to go into a potentially harmful situation than an animal from this plane. Then there is no death."

Amara had no compunction against robbing the dead. It wasn't like they were going to be using anything again. Well, if they were, you probably didn't want them to have anything to use. "They have no use for their items," she stated simply, indicating what her long-time companions likely knew. The dead were dead - she cared little about what happened to them as long as they weren't turned into undead or used to harm the living. If the others wanted to bury them, that was fine. Or burn them. Or melt them in acid. She didn't really care.

Khayyim took a while to recover from his disgust and walked into the room last. The sight of the heap of bodies made him sigh.

"What a disgrace. Those should be disposed of properly."

An interesting discussion had emerged among the group. He listened carefully, not wanting to interrupt, weighing every statement carefully. Then he spoke in turn:

"Kelemvor the Lord of Death, may He rule justly upon the afterlife for eons to come, teaches that death is a natural part of life. To the true of heart, Death is nothing to be feared, for he will receive in death as he has given and found in life. In a sense, it is the ultimate justice. Regarding the bodies, there are rites and rituals to be performed, and the remains should be treated with respect, either buried or cremated. The possessions belong to the family, as long as one can be found, or according to local jurisdiction. In our present case... I doubt anyone will ever lay claim on those items, better to use them than leave them to waste. Oh, by the way, those ones are magical and deserve special attention" he finished, pointing at a few items: a sword, a mace, a shield, a suit of plate armor, and a few trinkets.

I'm not skilled in magic and have no talent for it, be it of an arcane or spiritual origin.  However, in my short time around those who do use it, it is my understanding that a summons spell does summon those who are alive.  I'm going to side with Kali and Ry. 

I continue to stay outside of the room looking in.   A sudden wave of strangeness washing over me as I look at the pile of dead.

I have no problem with burying the dead properly, and in truth it should be done.  However, I don't want anything to do with any of the items you say are magic or any other item from these.  I suspect that as people have tried to remove those items of interest they have been added to this pile of dead.

Twiggy shrugged and then started searching the bodies for information and goods "I am not going to dig up a grave or mess with any proper burial even if it is a evil humanoid, that is just wrong on so many levels and I do not want to answer to the gods for it.  These bodies are not buried and we have no idea why they are here, for all we know they are all the cult of the dragon followers, hopefully we can find some sort of note or letter.   Twiggy started taking the items he found and making little piles ashe searched each pocket and tapped the body down for anything hidden

"As for using a summoned creature I am fine with doing that but I don't know if mage or druid summoned creatures are the same.  I like to summon a lab dog from the celestial plane with one of the blessing spells I am granted. It is the same dog each time because he has distinctive markings of a yellow coat and a brown stripe down the back and a brown patch on his left eye.  I would summon him sometimes just to pet him before he disappeared.  One day when escaping a ogre I summoned him in front of the ogre and was quickly crushed dead.  I escaped and cried for days thinking he was gone but when I summoned again to see what type of dog I would get, he appeared whole and healthy.  I don't know how but it looks like hecan notbe killed here and heals when he returns. So that is something I can use and not feel guilty.  I do summon him now just to give him a treat though."
This message was last edited by the player at 16:36, Fri 14 Oct 2016.

Seeing that none of the new folks seem to have any problem with dealing with the bodies, Myarra just begins moving from body to body, searching for papers for the smarter folks to go through, and treasure and decent equipment to help fund their work.   She certainly isn't squeamish, no matter what state the body is in, but she still shows a reverence for the dead that you might not expect from her; mumbling an apology before searching them, and a blessing once she's finished and ready to move to the next.

While having a discussion on whether or not summoned creatures are alive or not, several of the party members start stripping the bodies of their gear and wealth, trying to ignore the foul stench coming from the bodies as they move them to the West wall to prepare them for future transport to have them buried. Magical items and money are placed at the doorway for those out in the hall to look over and get ready to pack away. Byron is in the doorway, keeping an eye on Kallyan and his surroundings, when he spots several shapes coming out of the mist up the hall from the North. His sudden awareness alerts the group to what is slowly walking/shambling towards them. You've all seen undead before.

Please roll Initiatives and state your actions.

Remember House Rule #6: You as a player can post your action anytime during the round and also change your actions up until I update the round. I think this will speed up the rounds a tad, so we don't have to wait on someone so you can post.

Knowledge: Religion DC 15 to identify undead

Name        Initiative        Health       Misc.
Undead 1        ??            ??/??
Undead 2        ??            ??/??
Undead 3        ??            ??/??
Undead 4        ??            ??/??
Amara           ??            37/37
Byron           ??            53/53
Kallyan         ??            29/29
Panther         ??            ??/??
Khayyim         ??            46/46
Lennox          ??            37/37
Myarra          ??            65/65
Nolan           ??            67/67
Iron Golem      ??            129/129
Roenthelm       ??            44/44
Aliana          ??            38/38
Twiggy          ??            24/24

Battle Map #1 has been updated
#2 and #3 have been added to show you what the undead look like
This message was last edited by the GM at 04:06, Sat 15 Oct 2016.

Kali turns around the corner, and seeing the shambling figures, she paused with a serious look on her face. She is snapped out of her stupor by Raieylan, letting out a loud roar at the beasts, his hackles standing on end. Kali starts casting a spell, speaking in the elvish language and her hand resting on the panthers back

She stands in the middle of the hallway and speaks clearly in the musical language similar to the elvish language, pulling several components out of a pouch as she speaks.

Kallyan rolled 21 using 1d20+2 ((19)) - Iniatiave
Standard action - casts magic fang on Raieylan
Standard action - cast flaming sphere.
 

05:31, Today: Byron Rockhead rolled 21 using 1d20+2.  Init.

I move away from the wall where I can use my Great Sword to full effect, but make sure I stay out of Kali's way so she can cast her spell.  As we have the same initiative roll, I hold my attack until after she casts her spell.  If other casters are going to cast spells with an initiative roll equall to mine then I will wait until they cast their spells before I actually attack.

Looks like zombies from my point of view.

Additional Edit:

Someone or more than someone may want to keep an eye on the bodies remaining in the room in case they decide to move on their own accord as well.
This message was last edited by the player at 00:16, Sun 16 Oct 2016.

Lennox remains out of the talks regarding the use if summoned creatures, sorely tempted to stir the pot with points regarding the choices made for the creatures via the same spells that brought them forth-- usually for combat. Truth was it would just be pot stirring, he didn't care overmuch as such magics were too time consuming for his tastes. Nolan's comment about the departed prefering the greater good solicits a laugh though. Nox kicks the corpse that was clearly a cultist. "Some might. This one's view of the 'Greater Good' might not even remotely appeal to our consensus though!"

The warriors attentions are then focused by Khayyim's indication of magic items, eyes alighting on any of note... Still doing so when those in the hallway recognize the impending threat!




10:12, Today: Secret Roll: Lennox rolled 27 using 1d20+07.  Initiative.

Of course he'd roll so high... Far away and as yet oblivious to the threat!

Given his ignorance, he'll be taking a closer look at the Mace, Shield, armor, and trinkets... (Ie what kind of sword, what kind of mace, what are the trinkets, does anything bear any markings which might indicate purpose and/or command words, etc)

Twiggy's head pops up when he heard the shambling and saw everyone preparing for a fight.  He moves over by Byron and touches the fighter "Here is a little protection for you.  I will be back and to the side slinging stones, good luck."    Twiggy is not a coward but he knows his place and it is not on the front line against unknown undead.

Cast Shield of faith on Byron giving a +2 to his AC for 1 minute

As soon as Nolan saw the undead, he ordered his golem to the front to protect the party. It would fight the undead and the party would finish off what got past the golem. Then Nolan floated to the top of the ceiling to stay out of the reach of the undead, just in case they got to him.

11:56, Today: Nolan rolled 24 using 1d20+4.  Initiative.
11:55, Today: Nolan rolled 16 using 1d20+6.  Religion check.

Trying hard to come up with an answer to the now moot ethical problem of summoned animals, the blonde librarian cleric was distracted when the others called them all to arms.

She looked at the oncoming horde, and tried to use her divine power against them, while trying to figure out what they were.

"By Oghma's Shining Light!!!  Back from whence you came, Creatures of Darkness!!"

Gone was the hesitant and polite librarian.  In her place was a priestess ready for battle.

OOC:


00:14, Today: Sister Aliana Farwalker rolled 5 using 1d20+3.  initiative.

00:14, Today: Sister Aliana Farwalker rolled 16 using 2d6+9.  turn undead.

00:14, Today: Sister Aliana Farwalker rolled 17 using 1d20+3.  turn undead.

00:13, Today: Sister Aliana Farwalker rolled 24 using 1d20+8.  religion check.

"I doubt there is any risk coming from the bodies. They are not undead and there is no residual magic around the room," Khayyim, said, drawing his sword in a quiet, almost nonchalant motion.

"Let us worry about those ones instead. As far as I can tell, those are..."


18:59, Today: Khayyim Vedim rolled 24 using 1d20+6.  K. Religion.
18:59, Today: Khayyim Vedim rolled 4 using 1d20.  Initiative.

Move: Draw weapon
Standard: Will depend on the type of undead...

Those of you that looked at the undead thought they were just zombies. A couple of you identified them as Ghouls, but a couple of you who are a bit more experienced in this identify 2 Ghouls, 1 Ghast and 1 Wight coming out of the mist. But, the shuffling noises from up the hallway suggest more than just 4 undead approaching.....

Anything of note on those weapons/armor/trinkets?