The star-shaped cavern ahead has many clefts in its walls. Only two, across the cavern, seem large enough for normal-sized creatures to traverse.

Three zombies stand in a rough circle within the area. One is costumed like a bear, another is dressed as a lady in a frilly dress and thick makeup, and the last is costumed as a jester with jingling bells on its collar and sleeves.

As you approach and Jak's lantern casts light upon the three figures, they slowly begin to move in a mockery of a high court dance, performing intricate steps despite their imprecise shuffling movements. The jester's bells tinkle softly.

---

=)

Map updated.

To Jak: correct; I'm using Passive Perception when applicable unless you're actively looking for something and roll for it.

The dark confines of the walls around her seemed to grim deeper and shallower with every movement she made.  Each time she'd advanced sideways along the walls' clefts, she'd only found another connecting cleft to venture through.  She couldn't be sure how long she'd been in the walls, let alone where she'd started, but panic had begun to set in as she'd failed to light her lantern in the dark.  Without anything to be seen but darkness, her only companion was the soft scampering of rodents and the metallic scrapings of her daggers and swords along the rock walls.

She slid down to sit once more when a new sound greeted her ears.  It took her a moment to realize what the noises truly were.  "Words...  People!"  She thought to herself with a mixture of nervousness and excitement.  The noises quickly coalesced into proper speech and the direction was almost immediately obvious to her.  Without another thought, she stood up and began to slide between the tight cracks, ignoring her own discomfort as she hastily pushed past bends and jagged rocks alike.  As she rounded a final corner, she realized she was once more able to see.

She followed the light quickly as she heard the voices continue, the sound of them passing just ahead a telltale sign that her mind wasn't playing a trick on her, as it so often did.  She heard a voice, a man's, speak of things coming from the passages and she shrank away from what she now saw was an opening into a proper walkway.  Were they looking for her?  Had one of the fences really tracked her down to this place?

As the light began to fade she made a gut decision and reached out from the wall, pulling herself out from what had been her surroundings for so long only to find a dwarf of near equal height before her.  "You're not an assassin," she remarked matter-of-factly as she saw a group of tall folk behind him.  "Right?"  Her words rasped from her lips and raw throat, nearly too quiet to hear even.  Her eyes were ringed in deep black circles and her greasy black hair stuck to her forehead from the wetness of a stone she'd passed beneath.  Unlike her disheveled appearance, however, her eyes were alight with eagerness at seeing something besides darkness before her.
This message was last edited by the player at 23:32, Wed 15 Feb 2017.

Mayon's jaw drops a bit at the ridiculous sight, and it takes a moment to fully register what he's even looking at. He shares an incredulous glance with Bram and Jak and biting his lip to avoid laughing when it seems this is indeed actually happening. Making a mental note to write home about this later, he moves cautiously forward, a spell sparking in his hands should things turn ugly.

Mayon is going to try and move to AB53 as quietly as possible.
16:28, Today: Mayon Graycross rolled 13 using 1d20 with rolls of 13.  Stealth.
He is also prepping an Eldritch Blast if the zombies attack, which would end up being:
16:29, Today: Secret Roll: Mayon Graycross rolled 6 using 1d20+5 with rolls of 1.  Prepped EB.
Absolute garbage. *sigh*
Since Morg is in the back, I'm going to assume Mayon is a bit too distracted by the dancing zombies to notice our new player yet? i.e. I had this written before her post, rolls and all :P

Bramwell stopped dead in his tracks when the bizarre scene first came into view, likely causing Mayon and the rest to bump into him.  Zombies in formal attire performing a shambling imitation of baroque dance...  There it was right in front of him, but it took several stunned moments before he could believe it.  Once he'd collected some of his wits the half-elf stepped into the chamber and to the side as slowly and as quietly as he could manage, leaving room for his comrades to file in behind.

With face frozen in an expression of unsettled astonishment Bram muttered quietly, "How?  ...Why?"  For once the verbose Glyphscribe was at a loss for words.

---

WTF!  haha

Staying in the spot I'm in on the map, though if initiative breaks out I'd like to try to get to AB55

Morg grabs his warhammer and is about to bring it down on the halfling zombie, when he realizes that zombies probably can't speak. Keeping his weapon ready, he says "Don't move necromancer!" as he hears bells behind him.

Dweeble's eyes go wide as the dwarf raised his warhammer, though at what she couldn't be sure.  After all, even those fences she ripped off would want a chance to get their goods back.  Even as she reached for the swords strapped to her belt, his next words made it incredibly clear to her what was going on.  "Necromancer!?  Where!?"  She pulled her weapons free as she spoke, the glint of her steel blades reflecting the low light as she twirled them.  She turned to face the necromancer that must have followed her out of the cleft in the wall.

"Dweeble's never fought a necromancer before.  I hope you carry some special trinke-."  Her words cut off as she saw nothing but the black space she'd just slipped out of.  With a look of concern, she turned and stared up at the hammer-wielding dwarf.  "Hey, you tryin' to trick Dweeble?"
This message was last edited by the player at 06:38, Thu 16 Feb 2017.

Morg smiled and relaxed his stance a bit when he saw how nimbly the halfling handled her swords, thinking that this was probably not the evil wizard they were looking for.

"Where's the rest of your party? Oh, and have you seen a drow? He carries a mace, and we've, um, lost him..."

Asano gasps in surprise as a small voice squeaks from behind Morg. He whips around, his wand outstretched as far as the cramped quarters will allow. He almost laughed at the disheveled sight behind them, though.
"And what brings you out here, little halfling," Asano chuckles, ignoring the gasps of horror from the leading end of the party. "Keep close, and we'll get you out of danger's grasp and back on the road to civilization. Danger lies in these caverns, danger of a foul sort."

Jak stopped as the figures began to move and he could see them a bit more clearly. His mouth opened and closed several times as his eyebrows rose upwards. After a long moment, he finally managed to whisper out. "....I...don't even know what t'say t'that..."

He heard something from behind him and glanced back and down as well but it was difficult to see the Halfling.

The zombies complete their dance, finally bowing slowly to each other in their circle.

As they straighten up, they turn towards the newcomers. The bear's head has fallen low over the zombie's brow, so that the undead's eyes are hardly visible. It raises its hands, clothed in bear-paw gloves with long black claws, and mimes scratching motions in the air. The lady makes a stiff curtsy, pulling the pink frills dramatically out to the side. The fool simply stares, vacant eyes fixed straight ahead beneath a colorful jester's cap.

All three suddenly pull forth gnarled cudgels from beneath their costumes and advance. Mayon's blast of arcane energy slams uselessly into the far wall, missing the shambling creatures completely.

---

Map updated.

Note that we're in close quarters, and that moving thru an ally's space is technically considered difficult terrain (spend 2 squares of movement to move 1 square, or 10' of movement to move 5' thru an ally).

Round 1 Initiative Order:

Who	Init	Status
Asano	22
Jak	17
Dweeble	16
Zombies	16
Mayon	15
Bram	7
Morg	3

This message was last edited by the GM at 02:45, Fri 17 Feb 2017.

Asano turns from the newcomer behind the party as the mood ahead suddenly changes to deadly serious. He pushes past Jak and immediately leaps behind Bramwell, leveling his focusing wand at the zombies menacing the party. "Why change an effective tactic?" he muses aloud, a freezing ray lashing out at the rearmost enemy.

OOC:
Ray of Frost att- 21 vs Z2
Ray of Frost dmg- 7 vs Z2
Move to AC52

The zombies shamble towards the group, brandishing their clubs. The bear swipes clumsily at Mayon, and the lady catches the side of the rock wall with its swing at Jak.

---

Mid-round update

Z1 moves from AA55 to AB54 and attacks Mayon.

Z2 moves from AA57 to AB55.

Z3 moves from AA56 to AC54 and attacks Jak.

Map updated.

Both zombies miss; Z3 can't attack from where it is.

This message was last edited by the GM at 13:05, Tue 21 Feb 2017.

Mayon curses at that. Damn it all, he HATES being caught in close quarters like this! Making a note to work on his spells later, for now he simply grabs his staff and swings towards its head, wincing when he misses wildly in his frustration.

He does NOT want to be remembered as 'the guy who was killed by a zombie dressed like a bear.'

No movement.
Action: Quarterstaff swing--
08:03, Today: Secret Roll: Mayon Graycross rolled 5 using 1d20+1 with rolls of 4.  Quarterstaff Z1.
Aaaand that misses. Curse my scrawny warlock arms!

Hearing a commotion behind him, Morg turns around, and seeing the throng of strangely costumed zombies decides to not barrel past the tall folk, but instead use a javelin.

---

Movement: none.

Action: attack Z3 if it's still standing, otherwise attack Z1 with javelin1 - hits AC 10 for 12 piercing damage.

03:01, Today: Morg Danforge rolled 10 using 1d20+6 with rolls of 4.  Attack Z3 with javelin1.
03:02, Today: Morg Danforge rolled 12 using 1d6+6 with rolls of 6.  Javelin1 piercing damage to Z3.

This message was last edited by the player at 01:16, Mon 20 Feb 2017.

Before she could think up much of a response, she saw weapons get prepped and spells cast as the undead shamblers she'd so far been able to dodge and avoid seemed suddenly alerted to their presence.  More importantly, that meant they were alerted to her presence.

As the others turned to attack, Dweeble quickly made up her mind and slid one of her swords away.  With the same hand, she quickly drew a dagger and tossed it over the dwarf with a swift jump as she launched it towards the first masquerading creature she could see.

---

Movement: None.

Action: Attack Z3 with dagger, hits AC 13 for 9 piercing damage.

10:06, Today: Dweeble rolled 13 using 1d20+7 with rolls of 6.  Attack Z3 with dagger.
10:10, Today: Dweeble rolled 9 using 1d4+5 with rolls of 4.  Dagger piercing damage.

It took Bram a few moments to come to grips with the situation and realize that these dancers were still indeed zombies and still intent on eating the flesh of the living.  He reared back and hacked at the one blocking the corridor in hopes of cutting a path for his comrades still trapped in the narrow passageway.

---

Hit Z3 with 16 vs. AC for 7 slashing

21:17, Today: Bramwell Caulder rolled 7 using 1d8+3.
Battleaxe damage. 21:17, Today: Bramwell Caulder rolled 16 using 1d20+5 with rolls of 11.  Battleaxe .

The zombie-lady collapses to the floor of the cave under the group's assault.

Behind Asano, a scraping sound echos around the cave. Asano turns and gapes as an animated skeleton slides out of the narrow cleft in the rock, wielding a jagged shortsword.

---

Map updated.

Asano, Jak, and Dweeble are up now. To keep things moving others can post now & include contingencies (e.g., "I'll move towards Z2 and attack it, melee if possible"), or edit later if needed.

Round 1 Summary:

Asano attacks Z2 with Ray of Frost - HIT for 7 cold damage. Z2 speed is reduced by 10' until the start of Asano's next turn.

Jak does nothing.

Dweeble readies an attack.

Z3 moves from AA56 to AC54 and attacks Jak - MISS.

Dweeble's attack triggers - thrown dagger vs. Z3 HITS for 9 + 3 sneak attack = 12 piercing.

Z1 moves from AA55 to AB54 and attacks Mayon - MISS

Z2 moves from AA57 to AB55.

Mayon attacks Z1 - MISS.

Bram attacks Z3 - HIT for 7 slashing.

Morg attacks Z3 with a thrown javelin - HIT for 12 piercing. Z3 is down.


Round 2 Initiative Order:

Who	Init	Status
Asano	22
Jak	17
Dweeble	16
Zombies	16	Z2 speed reduced by 10' until SoANT
Mayon	15
Skeleton	8
Bram	7
Morg	3

This message was deleted by the player at 14:12, Thu 23 Feb 2017.

"Oh, hells," Asano snarls, wand coming up as the skeleton squeezes through the stone crevice. He shouts a quick incantation and a ghostly hand materializes in the creature's face, lashing at the bony monster. The creature's surprising and close proximity speed causes the magical attack to fly wide, missing the creature entirely.

OOC:
Chill Touch att- 19/7
Sadly miss due to disadvantage.

Bram circled the oddly-garbed zombies in an attempt to keep them engaged.  A quick glance back revealed the alarming fact that a skeleton had crept out of one of the crevices surrounding them.  Perhaps unnecessarily he called out, "Watch the cracks!  Skeletons!" before burying his axe in the nearest zombie's shoulder.

---

• Move to AC54
• Battleaxe hits Z1 for 5 slashing

09:43, Today: Bramwell Caulder rolled 5 using 1d8+3.  Battleaxe damage.
09:42, Today: Bramwell Caulder rolled 16 using 1d20+5 with rolls of 11.  Battleaxe attack.

Dweeble watched as the first undead abomination fell.  Well, she at least got a small look out of it as she worked to peer around the comparatively large dwarf in front of her.  A moment later she pulled another dagger and threw it over Morg's shoulder, a look of concentration on her face.  "Y'know, dwarf, you make a better door than a window!  How do you expect Dweeble to see anything like this?"

---

I'm assuming Z1 isn't going down from just Jak's damage.  If it does, Dweeble will hold her action until Z2 can be seen or Morg moves away, in which case she'll follow close behind him.

10:55, Today: Dweeble rolled 13 using 1d20+7 with rolls of 6.  Attack Z1 with dagger.
10:55, Today: Dweeble rolled 7 using 1d4+5 with rolls of 2.  Dagger piercing damage.
10:55, Today: Dweeble rolled 1 using 1d6 with rolls of 1.  Sneak attack damage.

The zombies press in on the party. The bear-zombie swipes at Mayon and viciously rakes his face, while the expressionless fool-zombie's cudgel bounces off Bram's shield.

The skeleton stabs at Asano and catches his leg, which starts bleeding.

---

Mayon, Bram, and Morg are up now, though Mayon & Bram have already posted.

Mid-round update:

Z1 attacks Mayon - HIT for 6 bludgeoning .

Z2 moves from AB55 to AC54 and attacks Bram - MISS. (This movement prevents Bram's movement)

Skeleton attacks Asano - HIT for 3 piercing .

Map updated.

"Let me at 'em." Morg says to Jak before throwing his last javelin at the bear-looking zombie that attacked Mayon.

---

Move: 5' to AE54.

Action: attack Z1 with javelin2 - hits AC 12 for 13 piercing damage.

08:26, Today: Morg Danforge rolled 12 using 1d20+6 with rolls of 6.  Attack Z1 with warhammer.
08:26, Today: Morg Danforge rolled 13 using 1d8+6 with rolls of 7.  Warhammer bludgeoning damage to Z1.
00:55, Today: Secret Roll: DM, on behalf of Morg Danforge, rolled 7 using 1d6+6 with rolls of 1.  javelin damage vs. Z1.

Edit: changed AC55 Warhammer attack to javelin2 attack per OOC thread.

This message was last edited by the player at 23:11, Thu 23 Feb 2017.

Mayon gasps in pain as the zombie rakes its hand down his face, and he grips his staff tightly. Okay...okay, that hurt like hell. He looks around frantically, but there's nowhere to run. Just a skeleton behind and two zombies in front. He grits his teeth, holding up his quarterstaff defensively and hoping he can hold out a little longer.

EDITED in hindsight:
Action: Mayon is going to Dodge. Until his next turn, all creatures attack with Disadvantage against him if he can see them, and he can make Dexterity saves with advantage if one became necessary.

Jak was startled by the strange dance, apparently, and was slow to act. He managed to not get hit by the undead for the moment. He readied his shortsword once more, finally, and swung at the zombie in front of him. "Man, the worst thing about fighting these zombies? Such a DEAD crowd! No use for humor or mocking!"

10:27, Today: Secret Roll: Jakrynn Redgate rolled 13,4 using d20+4,d6+2 with rolls of 9,2.  Shortsword attack on zombie2.