While its difficult if not impossible to see through the crowd ahead Finn does get a sense of what is transpiring.  As his friends shift forward, surge back and forth, he sees less and less of a sea of white bones and blue skulls.  In practically no time the band of oddities is facing down the monster built out of spare parts.  Razzel is so sure of their victory, after all their others, that his mind drifts to days and months from now.  He wonders where his path will take him.  Will he in truth discover that Mika'il is lying, and that the dastardly bastard does have spell books hidden somewhere?  And what treasure will Finn carry home from this place?  It is a sort of bank after all.

Gustav Moves to his Right and swings to finish off the Skeleton SS, but it doesn't work as planned.

Where did Sadda get to? Judoc wonders. The demon blackbird has yet to show its face, and with Mika'il taken off the board, Sadda is the only real threat remaining in this place.

Up ahead, the passage ahead is still choked with people, and so Judoc waits for his chance to strike.

OOC: Wait.

In reply to Judoc the Merciful (msg # 33):

Rondald looks briefly at the other skull and swing his axe up at it with equal accuracy. His training has taught him to focus on the now, so he concentrates on removing the abberation.

Even those stuck towards the far end of the hallway are aware of that the room chalked full of skeletal undeath has slowly been hewn down, the dry bones cut away one at a time as slowly but surely, the massive behemoth is one of the two remaining foes, and soon to be the only...

Gustav fences back and forth with the last remaining of the smaller skeletons, swiping his sword at the thing though his blow goes wide, clanging off the edge of the monster's shield as it knocks the weapon away.  The thing strikes back, a brutal blow which swipes just below Gustav's small shield cutting neatly through the links of his light scale armor.  The wound bleeds bright red which splatters and trickles down the bright scales, causing Gustav to falter back, the black holes of the skeleton's eyes staring death at the swordsman as it raises it's weapon again...  Though Gustav has no need to fear, for the thing shatters into a million pieces before it can attack again, Bjorn's axe cleaving through shoulder, spine, and hip - leaving the thing lifeless and scattered across the ground.

In the tunnel where the group had entered, four of our heroes still battle the one single floating skull still eluding them.  Rondald swings his axe, and Terri too with her knife, though both attack land wide as the floating aberration spins and bobs upwards and forwards, blasting Rondald in the face with the toxic gas that burns his face and eyes, tearing at his throat as the sailor struggles to breathe.  As the skull dodges ahead, Finn and Judoc swing their weapons too, Finn's knife missing wide as well as the blasted jet of fire from the wizard's staff, the skull still bobbing happily, it's mouth akimbo as if in silent laughter.

Magnus, his only foe now the skeletal monster in front of him, lashes out with his mace at the monster's right flank.  The thing's sword comes in to cut away the blow, though the defense is not in time and the mace strikes true, though just barely does the mace strike against the hip of the Bone Sovereign.  And indeed, for a moment, Magnus is curious if he hit the thing at all, for the bones in the monster are already moving, shifting, swarming about and around his mace, spewing outward....

Both Magnus and Bjorn jump back, thinking the change some sort of infernal attack, though instead the bones congeal and form together, creating six new skeletons to deal with!

To make matters worse, from the far room flapping wings echo and the form of Sadda appears, his massive crow-like form appearing just above head hight as he takes the corner at full flying speed, his eyes glowing with red hate.

OOC:  Thanks for the patience for this post guys.  I'm hoping to be on a normal schedule from here on out.

Neither Ron nor Magnus rolled on the required HT roll so I rolled for them, and both failed so they lost 1 FP.  Gustav took a moderate cut to the torso and Rondald took a light toxic blow to the face and both are at a shock penalty for the next turn (unless you have High Pain Threshold).  The Mutant Skeleton seemed to spawn 6 new skeletons on this turn rather than attacking, some of which are armed with clubs, and one with an axe, though most of them are unarmed.  Terri is facing up on the map, as is Magnus.  No one has seemed to manage a hit on the last floating skull, which is simply bobbing up and down in a halo of blue light as it blasts it's toxic breath all over the place.

Let's do two rounds of action this time.

Gustav Moves to his Right (Left and down as you look at the map, away from Terri).
He takes all out defense for the first move, then lashes out at the unarmed Skeleton in front of him.

The flying skull is beginning to be annoying, and Judoc growls as he tries again to kill the thing.  The gigantic skeletal undead in the chamber looms from beyond, and—is that Sadda, coming at last to join the fray? But Judoc cannot spare much more than a thought for these other enemies. First, he must destroy this floating unholy terror.

OOC: Concentrate.

In reply to Judoc the Merciful (msg # 37):

Frustrated, Rondald swings half-heartedly at the skill again, but it is really more to keep it distracted while he tries to recover. Of a second to recover, though, he swings much more accurately...focused on the thing in front of him and trying to ignore the pain it inflicted.
This message was last edited by the player at 11:24, Mon 16 Dec 2019.

While its difficult to see through the mass of shifting bodies and arms Razzel is vaguely aware that more skeletons have entered the fray.  He is growing more frustrated, at his own failure to render the floating skull void and being stuck so long in the damned hallway.

Inside the room, the battle rages, but in the small corridor leading away, Judoc, Finn, Rondald and Terri are all simultaneously engaged with the single, bobbing blue skull that seems to laugh as it sprays out its toxic rage, missing Finn by the narrowest of margins.  All four lash out at the thing, each hit missing by the scantest of margins as the jaw of the tiny monster cranes up and down in slow hilarity...

Unfortunately, Terri and Rondald, who had been facing the other direction, seem not to notice the new host of skeletons that were unleashed just at their back.  Rondald is lucky, his unarmed foe merely gripping at his sweat slicked armor, a grapple which slips away as the sailor turns his body, lashing out another blow at the floating blue skull, one that finally connects, ending the thing finally as it blasts into a thousand pieces...  Terri however, is not so lucky.

Crack! "Aiiiieeee!"

Terri screams as she stumbles forward, her knife sailing out of her hand as she crashes to her knees, her right arm cradled against her chest in pain!

Thinking to step between the foe and her, Rondald pushes his body to the side, though his movement is somewhat slowed as the skeleton behind him grabs again, this time managing a two handed grab around the sailor's shoulders and crossbow strap.  The thought seems to work, at least somewhat however, for as the club swings next it is coming at him instead of his wife!  Encumbered far more than he is used to, Rondald's defenses are slow and he takes the club straight in the chest, a blow which crackles against chain links and bone!

Finn steps forward, thinking to heal Rondald's wife with a simple touch, though the spell fizzles on his fingers!

Deeper within, Gustav dips to the right, his shield swatting away the clutching fingers of his own foe.  The thing lunges again, and this time Gustav manages to cut a light blow across the thing's ribs which crackle with the force!

Bjorn, facing the worst of the lot as well as another of the vile things, picks the lesser of the two foes, swinging his deadly axe with murderous precision, cleaving the foes arm clean from his body even as he stumbles forward, clutching the Northman's body.  Once, Bjorn manages to swat away the deadly black sword of the Bone Sovereign, but as he attempts to shuck off the grip of the one handed skeleton, he stumbles, his shield swinging out wide for balance...  The sword cuts down again, this time slashing Bjorn cleanly through his mail shirt!  Blood spurts high as Bjorn stumbles backwards crashing into the wall of the cave, his breaths coming in great ragged gasps!

Indeed, Magnus is the only one who seems to be holding his own in this fight, for his mace crashes into the skeleton with the axe to his right, annihilating the thing in a single blow even as he bashes aside his other foe's feeble attempt at a grab.  Magnus returns his next attack to the other side, destroying the skeleton with the club into a pile of fragments and dust.

But before Magnus can think to attack again on the massive bone conglomeration before him, the thing turns his direction, the massive kite shield hiding the majority of its body...

From behind, Sadda swoops down, clawing at Gustav as the swordsman steps back from his other foe.  But the Islander is ready and manages to get his sword in the deamon's way, managing a small cut in the demon bird's thick hide.

OOC:  Not nearly as good of a round for you guys that time.  Rondald is now facing SW as is grappled over his shoulder by the skeleton that is directly S of him (really in close combat).  Terri has dropped her weapon and has a crippled right arm, at least for the rest of the combat.  Finn, you can step over her if you want to (to fight the skeleton plaguing Rondald and her) though you lose the ability to retreat on your defense with that movement.  Bjorn suffered a major blow to the torso, which knocked him off his feet, although he still seems to be conscious.  Magnus took out two more skeletons which Bjorn crippled another and Gustav managed a minor injury on a third.  Let's do another two rounds of action.

Rondald swore as he releases his grip on the axe, the lanyard the only thing stopping it from hitting the ground, as he latches on to the skeleton holding him moving in such a way as to put the offending skeleton between him and the flying club.

Finn cringes as he hears an audible crack and then a scream.  This is followed almost instantly by Bjorn stumbling backwards as blood begins spraying from his chest.  Razzel knows the northman needs help.  He and the Minotaur have been the rock which everything has been resting upon.  He isnt sure how many more blows are needed but the plucky mercenary doesn't want to take unnecessary risks.

Finn hops over the woman and yells behind him.  ”Judoc.  Help her.”


OOC: Step over Terri to work on the skeleton.  As soon as I can use Retreating defense.
This message was lightly edited by the player at 19:24, Tue 17 Dec 2019.

"Somebody killed that damn skull!" Judoc snarls, his anger rising as the thing's acid hits his skin, sending a stinging sensation through his body. How hard could it be to hit a stupid flying skull? The next second, Rondald shatters the thing, and Judoc is free to focus on the rest of the fight.

And then both Terri and Bjorn fall back, injured far more seriously. Gritting his teeth, Judoc stretches out his staff again to touch Terri and whispers words of power.

OOC: Stretch out staff to touch Terri. Concentrate.

Gustav uses his shield to keep the Skeleton at bay while he hacks away at it   [assuming Sadda has moved away, per the map, if not, first swing is at him].

Despite his size, and the inherent benefits of his unusual heritage, Magnus had also endeavored to remain realistic about his capabilities.

It this way he was sometimes completely at odds with Finn's unflappable confidence in everything he set out upon, and in some ways Magnus could be called overly self critical.

Cautious to the point of hesitation.

There had been hard one lessons in his youth regarding numbers. Humans always had more, and just like any people they tended to get more aggressive in groups. There were never more Minotaurs, only his parents. Until he had met his friends it had been him. Just him.

He retreated, deliberately, but he gave ground before the ossified giant to both save his own skin and to give his friends room to work. He lashed out with bestial strength, but only against the lesser skeletons, trying to regain the advantage of numbers.

Terri, her right arm broken and cradled by her left, crawls back up the passage on her knees as Finn hops over, his knife slashing out twice at the skeleton with the club who is even now swinging his stick at Rondald, completely unaware of the thief approaching.  Twice the knife strikes, slashing twin scratches across the surface of the bone, doing just enough damage to knock the monster's own swing off course, missing Rondald by the smallest of margins.

Judoc steps forward too, reaching down with his staff as he channels his mana into healing Terri, and though the spell is successful, it seems to do little for the huddled limb as Terri continues to retreat.

The sailor meanwhile, struggles with a skeleton of his own, which grapples Rondald still by shoulder and crossbow strap.  It lurches in, broken teeth exposed, trying to bite the open skin at Rondald's face, though somehow he manages to shirk his shoulder across the monster's chin, keeping it from doing any harm.  Rondald reaches in for a grip of his own, trying to manhandle the thing into some semblance of a shield, though it takes him a moment to get a solid grip on the monster's clavicle, his chest still heaving from the bruising strike he took a moment ago.

Gustav too, rushes back and forth, scoring another small cut as he knocks away the clumsy grip of the monster.  Though the wound is not bad, Gustav knows sooner or later the thing must fall from the combination of its injuries.

Magnus seems to have the worst of the fight, having drawn the attention of the massive conglomeration of bone.  The thing's sword lashes out, cutting deeply into the wood of Magnus's shield, notching one of the planks so forcefully that it cleanly severs one of the center planks.  He sidesteps to the right, his shield raised to his left shoulder as he swings his mace down hard on the skeleton that has clutched on to the Northman.  The thing splinters and cracks, crashing to the floor, the dim light in its eyes extinguished in a moment.

Again, the sword whips around, just barely catching Magnus's as he raises it into place, buckling and splintering the supports as the aegis seems to hold on by thinnest strands of bending wood.  Unsure what else to attack for the moment, Magnus lashes out at the giant with his own mace, though the massive tower shield crashes down on the head, knocking the blow astray.

It is just enough however, to distract the monster from Bjorn, who is now on his feet again, the links of his mail still darkened with blood, his axe thrashing down in a swing that catches the monster in the area around it's hip.  Bone cracks and splinters, though it does not seem to be nearly enough to slow the monster down.

OOC:  Rondald is still grappled by his skeleton, though how he has a hold on it as well with his left hand.  Finn managed a couple of small slashes on the skeleton with the club, who now seems to be targeting Finn rather than Rondald, with each of you defending the other on the last turn.  Bjorn is back on his feet, though he seems pale and slow, and is in danger of passing out at any moment.  Gustav managed another small cut on his skeleton, the combined wounds seeming to slowly take a toll.  Judoc did manage to heal Terri, though it seems to have done little for her arm, which she still cradles in her left arm.

Overhead, Sadda circles the cave, his claws cocked forward as if ready to dive...

Let's do 2 more rounds.


This message was last edited by the GM at 05:12, Mon 23 Dec 2019.

Gustav, feels this skeleton is just an obstruction and puts his weight behind the next blow...



He then tries to get to Sadda, stepping closer and swinging over hand.

Most who know Finn have never seen him handle anything but a large hunting knife.  Its the perfect weapon for the mean streets which a conman and thief lives in.  Sneaking around the town with a broadsword under one's coat isn't easy and bad on one's health if caught by the watch.  Where stealth and guile are king a knife is a mans best friend.  But truth be told Razzel is handy with a few other weapons, chief among them a mace.  When the prize was revealed from the tube found in the belly of the beast Finn had thoughts of keeping it for himself.  But that idea lasted about as long as a fart in a whirlwind.  When Rondald and later Magnus volunteered to swing that beat stick Razzel knew it was in the right hands.  Never has that feeling been more true as the thief-mage scrapes and pokes at his foe, rather feebly, while the hugely muscled man-bull wreaks havoc on everything in his wake.

Using ones enemies against each other was always a favorite trick, but this was more literal than usual Rondald grabbed the Skeleton and swung it with all his might at the one wielding the club.

Amidst the steady flow of adrenaline and the nervous trembling in his thick limbs, Magnus experienced what could be called "Deja Vu", or perhaps if one was being generous, an epiphany.

Twice before, he had been here. Not "here" here, but it had been twice now that that thing, the big bird, it's name escaped him at the moment, had been watching them in some fashion as they had all struggled for their lives.

It was a tremendous act of will to do anything but focus singularly upon the nightmarish amalgamation before him, but unlike the predatory apes the rest of the group was descended from, his ancestors had been prey, and his eyes were larger and situated on the sides of his head, all the better to detect predators lurking in the periphery.

He saw the bird, and in flash he had made the decision. If they did defeat this thing, the bird would run, and the chase would begin anew. Not this time. Not if he had anything to say about it.

Suddenly Magnus lept back and to his left, his intention to seal off the small chamber. If it wanted to get out, it had to go through the group, or it had to go through him. And while he trusted Bjorn to fight to the bitter end, part of him wondered about the potential of ending this fight not by shattering the lumbering tower of bone, but by beating the life out of the one who had orchestrated it.

At first when Judoc had resolved to become a mage in the Megalan army, he had thought the best use of his time was in learning offensive magic, and he had devoted himself to all the different fire spells he could learn. However, here, in his time spent working with his current companions, he has realized that perhaps offensive magic is not the main focus of a combat mage. He still highly valued his fire spells, of course, but the ability to heal a wounded comrade is a huge boon in a battle, he realizes, and where a sword may accomplish what a fireball can, only magical items or rest can replicate a healing spell’s effects.

With a touch of his staff and a few murmured words, he heals Terri somewhat, though it will take a different spell to heal her arm. Next is Bjorn, but between Judoc and the Northman are far too many enemies.

”Hold on, Bjorn! I’ll get to you!” Judoc yells, though he is not quite sure how he is going to accomplish this.

OOC: Try to move toward Bjorn.

Back and forth the stalemate churns, Bjorn's darkened blood slowly curling over the links of his mail shirt.  Somehow, the barbarian fights on though, his shield gripped in his hand as he slashes at the bone monster's flank, though somehow the thing's shield catches the blow, sending the axe harmlessly to the side.

Magnus stumbles backwards and to the side, thinking to block off the rear entrance of the cave, swatting downward hard on the black sword as it flicks outwards with another devastating blow.  This time the shield catches the flat of the blade, causing the loose panels to shudder somewhat though it does not seem to cause any further damage.

Meanwhile, back and forth, Gustav and his own skeleton fight.  Tired of the standoff, Gustav throws his defenses to luck, putting everything he has into his next blow!  However, the skeleton dodges nimbly to the side, reaching with both arms to grasp his arms around the swordsman... only by luck does Gustav avoid it, the arms gripping just inches away from his chest as the swordsman steps to the side, swinging his blade again in an attempt to finally make the thing die.  And finally the swordsman connects with force!  His blade crashes through lower vertebrae and hip, collapsing the monster mid-step as Gustav swats away the the thing midfall with the edge of his shield.

Finn, however, seems to be having much worse luck...  He strikes out with his knife, the but the blow is badly errant, missing his moving mark by nearly a foot.  He managed to dodge away from the return attack, though only at the last minute does he notice Sadda, the demon bird diving at screeching speeds in his direction!  Finn swivels his head as the thing flies past, it's ragged claws rustling the whiskers of Finn's beard.

Rondald too, makes his effort to turn the tide.  His skeleton lurches in towards his face, it's broken and horrid teeth gnashing about his cheek, though the injury is minor and Rondald is undeterred.  Smashing a forearm into the thing's ulna, he managed to break its grip on his crossbow strap and hurtles the thing forward into the club wielder.  The two skeleton collide with force, though instead of falling, each turn only a quarter of a step and renews their assault.

The one with the club steps towards Finn, it's weapon flashing downward with incredible speed.  Unprepared for the blow, Finn stumbles backwards, backing right into Judoc!  Still, this movement isn't enough, and midstride the club connects with Finn's chest, bruising his right lower shoulder and causing his grip on his knife to slip as the weapon clatters to the floor below!  Judoc steps to the side, lashing his own weapon out to attack the one with the club, though the attack misses by an inch or two...

Magnus, his eyes intent on the eagle-sized demon which swirls round and round near the ceiling finds an opening to attack, though his swing is clumsy and misses the small demon which continues to climb back upwards for another diving attack.

OOC:  The bone sovereign has now turned back towards the NE and is facing Bjorn, both of their attacks having been successfully defended on the last turn.  The map is a little inaccurate with hexes.  Judoc is actually in CC with Finn, and the club skeleton is in the hex that shows Finn.  Finn can no longer retreat with his defenses unless he moves forwards on his next turn.  He dropped his knife due to a crit success of the skeleton on the previous turn and unfortunately you can't use a hero point there.  The other skeleton is in the hex SE of Rondald.  Ron is no longer grappled and has his axe ready in his right hand.  Note that Sadda is small (bird-sized) and is flying, so his hex is not treated as 'occupied'.  Those wishing to attack him however can simply declare that and wait until he gets close enough for an attempt.

Let's do 2 more rounds.

Gustav moves to his left, behind the Skeleton attacking Finn and attacks it from the rear with an AoA (Damage+2 ) ; assuming that one goes down, he'll hack into the one attacking Rondald

Rondald swings his axe, but has it side on to swat the skeleton in front of him. Unfettered, he fights much better and his attacks will force it to dodge or take a good whack...
This message was last edited by the GM at 19:15, Sun 29 Dec 2019.

The battle rages, and though Judoc keeps his head amidst the chaotic churn of axes, clubs, and swords, it is clear that his comrades are taking a beating. In particular, Bjorn is all but collapsing, and if Judoc doesn't hurry, the Northman may be killed. By now, Judoc has a good grasp of what it means to be a battle mage: keep the fighters on their feet and fighting. So, although he exposes himself to the skeletons, Judoc races toward Bjorn, heedless of his own safety.

OOC: Run towards Bjorn.