The group continues cautiously on around the corner, until a low flickering light becomes visible. The light increases in brightness as they approach a widening in the narrow passageway.

The passage opens into an enormous cavern illuminated by several guttering torches set in sconces on the walls. The floor is uneven, and the ceiling is forty feet up.

Three flat boulders near the passage serve as tables for human corpses. Severed body parts sit in baskets by the corpses, covered in dry gore. A figure in a dark hood stands by the third table, its back to the new arrivals. Matted hair juts from the hood, and the figure holds a bone needle threaded with dark cord in its hand. It slowly turns as the group steps into the chamber, and its eyeless gaze takes in everyone. The zombie wears a bloodstained apron below its cowl, and a tool belt around its waist festooned with grisly implements. It grins toothlessly. Strangely, the design upon its apron seems to depict six humanoid figures in dark red outlines.

Farther into the cavern to the west, a stone stair climbs the north wall, ending near the ceiling.

A stone slab like a counter juts from the wall across the room from the base of the stairs. From a distance numerous tools including saws and knives are visible. Four skeletons stand beyond this tool bench armed with shortbows, blocking a wide passage that exits to the west. A man stands behind the bench, calmly arranging and cleaning tools.

After a moment, all eyes slide to the figure at the bench as he looks up from his work. "Hello," he drawls at them, taking in the new arrivals. The man's dank hair sticks out at all angles, and his voice grates as it echos off the walls. "I see the sacrifices have returned. A poor decision for their existence on this plane, but an excellent decision for future thralls."

He points at the group and smirks. "Bow before the Lord of Lance Rock! Me! Oreioth! Behold my dark terrors!" With a mad hint of a cackle, he gestures toward the undead thralls and preens.

Letting his smile fade he stares into the distance and intones, "Bring them to me." Then he casts a spell, and a slight greenish glow appears around his body. The skeletons knock arrows to their bows.

---

Map updated. The grey squares on the map are the 3 stone slabs and the tool bench.

Lit torches are set at regular intervals throughout the large cavern, so light is not currently an issue.

Technically Dweeble acts before Oreioth, but I'll tell you now that Oreioth will cast Mage Armor on himself this round. The skeletons will shoot arrows at targets I'll determine randomly.

So let's say Dweeble and Asano are up now. But anyone can post now & include contingencies (e.g., "I'll move towards X and attack it, melee if possible"), or edit later if needed.

Round 1 Initiative Order:

Who	Init	Status
Dweeble	23
Oreioth	21
Asano	18
Skeletons	15
Bram	13
Jak	11
Mayon	2
Morg	2
Zombie	1

This message was last edited by the player at 02:36, Wed 22 Mar 2017.

"Bramwell, Dweeble, engage the zombie if you will,"Asano says as he slides by Jak. "The rest of us should engage the Oreioth and the skeletons." He moves to the northern wall and dashes up the chamber as fast as he can, trying to put stone between himself and the archers.


OOC:
Action: Dash
Move: From I54 to N43
Bonus: Issuing orders

The skeletons pull back their bowstrings as one, and loose. One arrow strikes true through the halfling's armor, but the other arrows fall short of their targets.

The basket next to one of the corpses shifts suddenly, seemingly of its own accord.

---

Mid Round Update:

Oreioth casts Mage Armor on himself.

The skeletons attack Dwee, Bram, Mayon, and Jak with disadvantage due to range. HIT Dwee for 7 piercing , other arrows miss.

Now up: Bram, Jak, Mayon, and Morg.
This message was last edited by the GM at 02:18, Thu 23 Mar 2017.

Mayon doesn't even hesitate before he starts running, past the zombie and tables. As he does, he focuses his eyes on Oreioth and mutters a quiet spell of his own, his hands twitching slightly with the eerie dark magic. This is the one they need to focus on.

Movement + Action: Dash 60 feet to I41
Bonus Action: Hex on Oreioth. Giving him disadvantage on Wisdom checks. Mayon now deals an additional 1d6 necrotic to him with any future attacks.
Mayon is now concentrating on this spell and has expended one spell slot.
If Mayon is unable to see Oreioth or is not within 90 feet of him (I think he is but may have counted wrong) then he will do nothing.

Bramwell slowed to a stop just inside the entrance of the huge cavern, horrorstruck by what he saw in the dim torchlight.  He'd read histories of necromancy, but those dry records had failed to prepare him for the heinous realities of its practice.  His grip on his axe-haft had tightened to the point of trembling, and he noticed then that an odd feeling had overcome him as the necromancer spoke.  After some consideration he concluded that it was a combination of fear and rage.  This sensation was rather new to him.

The paladin strode with purpose toward the undead surgeon, or whatever it was meant to be.  He cut between the gore-splattered slabs and fell upon the monster, hacking at its throat with all the might he could muster.  He called out loud enough to carry across the long distance, "You are no lord.  You are nothing more than a loathsome butcher.  This atrocity ends here!"

---

• Move between the slabs to F47
• 11 vs. AC on a Battleaxe attack against Z, dealing 11 slashing if its AC happens to be that low
• If any ally is attacked while adjacent to me, use my reaction to impose disadvantage on that attack (gather 'round, pals!)

22:09, Today: Bramwell Caulder rolled 11 using 1d8+3 with rolls of 8.  Battleaxe damage.
22:09, Today: Bramwell Caulder rolled 11 using 1d20+5 with rolls of 6.  Battleaxe vs. Z.

Morg runs forward, and with all his might throws a javelin towards the necromancer.

---

Move: 25' from J54 to I49.

Action: attack Oreioth (exactly 120' away) with javelin1 - hits AC 13 for 11 piercing.

18:37, Today: Morg Danforge rolled 13 using 2d20+6, dropping the highest dice only with rolls of 18,7.  Attack Oreioth with javelin1 with disadvantage (farther than 30').
18:39, Today: Morg Danforge rolled 11 using 1d6+6 with rolls of 5.  Javelin1 piercing damage to Oreioth.

Jak frowned at how far away the mage and his skeletons were. He moved up to take a bit of cover from arrow fire, but wanted to help out. He lashed out at the zombie Bram was attacking, "Hey! I can't if the smell is worse comin' from you or the corpses nearby! Whew!"

OOC: Move to H50.
Vicious Mockery on Zombie in G48 (Wis saving throw or take 1 damage and have disadvantage on next attack).
This message was last edited by the player at 18:28, Thu 23 Mar 2017.

As Jak moves between the stone slabs, one of the baskets of body parts again wobbles, tips, then falls to the floor, scattering its gruesome contents. Suddenly all of the baskets start moving as severed hands crawl out of them like spiders, skittering onto the floor.

After Bram's attack strikes true, the zombie grins toothlessly and removes a long metal rod from its belt. Its face falls slightly at Jak's insult, and he misses when he swings at Bram. As it moves, Bram sees that it is the party's likenesses crudely outlined in dried blood on the zombie's apron.

Oreioth gapes at the incoming javelin but it rebounds harmlessly off his magical shield. "Take the nearest ones down," the man screeches to the skeletons behind him, pointing to the rapidly approaching Mayon and to the wall where Asano is hidden.

Then he turns back the entrance. "This dwarf will bow to Oreioth!" He points to Morg and casts another spell, then retreats behind the line of skeleton archers.

---

Map updated, including the 5 new arrivals (crawling claws).

Dwee & Asano are up now - Oreioth is casting Crown of Madness on Morg, and will then retreat to H19 - Morg, you need to make a Wisdom save (DC 13) to avoid its effects. You can do that before your turn. If you fail I may have some additional instructions for you before your actual post this round.

Others should feel free to post also, particularly Bram & Jak since you already know the skeletons have orders to attack Mayon & Asano.

Round 1 Summary:

Dwee does nothing.

Oreioth casts Mage Armor.

Asano dashes for cover.

Skeletons attack Dwee, Bram, Mayon, and Jak with disadvantage due to range. HIT Dwee for 7 piercing , other arrows miss.

Bram moves and attacks the zombie - HIT for 11 slashing.

Jak moves up and Viciously Mocks zombie - fail save for 1 psychic damage. Zombie has disadvantage on next attack.

5 Creeping Claws crawl out of the baskets of parts.

Mayon moves towards Oreioth, then casts Hex. Oreioth has disadvantage on Wis ability checks, and takes +1d8 necrotic when Mayon hits him.

Morg moves up and attacks Oreioth with a thrown javelin - MISS.

Zombie attacks Bram with disadvantage - MISS.

Round 2 Initiative Order:

Who	Init	Status
Dweeble	23
Oreioth	21	Hexed by Mayon
Asano	18
Skeletons	15
Bram	13
Jak	11
Creeping Claws	5
Mayon	2	Conc: Hex
Morg	2
Zombie	1

This message was last edited by the player at 23:32, Thu 23 Mar 2017.

---

Coronation time!

00:46, Today: Morg Danforge rolled 6 using 1d20+1 with rolls of 5.  Wisdom save (DC13) vs Oreioth's Crown of madness.

Jak let out a surprised yelp as the corpse baskets moved and tumbled....and his eyes widened as clawed severed hands started moving about!! He drew his shortsword hurriedly, and stepped closer to one of the hands. He swung the shortsword in a tight side arc but was pretty freaked out by the thing and missed.

To Bramwell he called out "Bram! We're gonna need ya t'make short work o'that zombie like we all know ya can!"

OOC: Draw shortsword.
Inspire Bramwell with Bardic Inspiration (d6).
Move to G50.
Attack Creeping Claw #4.

17:04, Today: Secret Roll: Jakrynn Redgate rolled 8,4 using d20+4,d6+2 with rolls of 4,2.  Shortsword attack on Claw #4.

"Mayon, 'ware the archers," Asano shouts. He mutters a few words under his breath and three glowing balls appear in his palm. He throws them around the wall, and they streak at Oreioth.

---

17:13, Today: Asano Breathkill rolled 5 using 1d20 with rolls of 5.  Wild Magic Surge.
17:14, Today: Asano Breathkill rolled 12 using 3d4+3 with rolls of 2,4,3. Magic Missile dmg.

---

Action: Cast Magic Missile at Oreioth
Move Action: From N43 to M40
Bonus Action: None

---

HP: 13/13 AC 13
Buffs/Debuffs:
Conditions:
Spell Slots/Sorcery Point Remaining: 2/3, 2/2

---

"Got it!" Mayon calls back, running from a corner slightly out of the skeletons' view. From there, he takes aim at the necromancer and lets loose a bolt of magic, but it flies wide. His mind is frantic, trying to recall any information from his readings about arcane magic.


Movement: 30 feet to L38. Not sure if that gives any cover or not but worth a try.
Action: Eldritch Blast Oreioth:
11:32, Today: Mayon Graycross rolled 8 using 1d20+5 with rolls of 3.  EB Oreioth.
Gonna say that missed.
Free action: Arcana check--specifically, if we kill the necromancer, do his minions fall as well?
11:33, Today: Mayon Graycross rolled 9 using 1d20+4 with rolls of 5.  Arcana check.
Damn you, dice roller.

Orieoth cackles as a twisted crown of jagged iron appears around Morg's head, and he retreats backwards toward the far end of the cavern.

The skeletons advance as one to the edge of the toolbench, then fire arrows at Mayon and Asano. Though two of the arrows strike the rock walls of the cavern, the others find their mark.

---

Mid round update! Note I haven't yet updated the map.

Bram is up now, and Morg if he wants to post before the crawling claws' turn. The claws will mindlessly attack whomever is closest, if that makes you comfortable to post.

Dwee is welcome to post too; we may just have to recon if needed. Sorry if I'm posting too fast - just trying to keep things moving ;).

Oreioth casts Crown of Madness on Morg - Morg fails the save. Then he retreats to H19.

Skeletons move closer to the workbench, to B-E25 - S1 & S4 attack Mayon with half cover, S2 & S3 attack Asano with half cover. Mayon is hit for 3 piercing , Asano is hit for 8 piercing.

Bram hacked at the zombie butcher once more in an attempt to sever its head.  Not that dismemberment seemed to hinder these monstrosities, judging by the scuttling hands swarming all around the bloody slabs.  "We can't allow these wretched claws to delay us.  We must reach the necromancer!" the paladin urged, looking for an opening to break away from the grisly melee.

---

• Battleaxe hits Z for 7 slashing damage!
• If this attack kills it then move to K40, which provokes an OA from C1

15:45, Today: Bramwell Caulder rolled 7 using 1d8+3 with rolls of 4.  Battleaxe damage.
15:44, Today: Bramwell Caulder rolled 18 using 1d20+5 with rolls of 13.  Battleaxe vs. Z.

The claws clatter around the floor and jump up to attack the party members near the stone slabs. One claw vaults itself high enough in the air to claw at Bram's face, while another punches Morg in the stomach.

---

Mayon doesn't know if the undead thralls would drop if the necromancer was killed.

Map updated. Morg is up (Crown of Madness has no effect this round), and Dwee if available.

Mid round update 2:

Crawling Claws:
C3 moves to I48.

C1 attacks Bram: HIT for 2 piercing .

C2 & C4 attack Jak: MISS.

C3 attacks Dwee: MISS.

C5 attacks Morg: HIT for 3 bludgeoning .
This message was last edited by the GM at 02:01, Sat 25 Mar 2017.

Morg touches the magical crown on his head, turns, and says, "Stay away friends, I've been cursed!"

He turns back towards the necromancer and shouts "Dwarf kings bow to no oneOof!" but is punched in the stomach by a dead hand he hadn't noticed before, doubling over a bit - making it look like a little bow. He take out his warhammer to swat away the hand, but misses, and runs off trying to get as far away from his friends as possible.

---

Action: attack C5 with warhammer - critical fail.

Move: 25' to H44 (provoking an opportunity attack from C5).

07:53, Today: Morg Danforge rolled 7 using 1d20+6 with rolls of 1.  Attack C5 with warhammer.

The zombie takes another slash from Bram, which cuts off the arm holding the metal rod. Calmly the creature bends down, grabs the rod with his other arm, then swings it at Bram. It clangs loudly off the paladin's shield.

---

Round 2 Summary:

Dwee does nothing.

Oreioth casts Crown of Madness on Morg - Morg fails the save. Then he retreats to H19.

Asano moves up and casts magic missile on Oreioth for 12 force damage.

Skeletons move closer to the workbench - S1 & S4 attack Mayon with half cover, S2 & S3 attack Asano with half cover. Mayon is hit for 3 piercing, Asano is hit for 8 piercing. Mayon fails the save to maintain concentration, and the Hex spell ends.

Bram attacks zombie - HIT for 7 slashing.

Jak moves away from Morg and incurs an opportunity attack from C3 - MISS. He uses Bardic Inspiration on Bram. He attacks C4 - MISS.

Crawling Claws: C3 moves to I48. C1 attacks Bram: HIT for 2 piercing. C2 & C4 attack Jak: MISS. C3 attacks Dwee: MISS. C5 vs. Morg: HIT for 3 bludgeoning.

Mayon moves for cover and attacks Oreioth with Eldritch Blast - MISS.

Morg attacks C5 - MISS. He moves up, provoking an opportunity attack from C5 - MISS.

Zombie attacks Bram - MISS.

Round 3 Initiative Order:

Who	Init	Status
Dweeble	23
Oreioth	21	Conc: Crown of Madness
Asano	18
Skeletons	15
Bram	13	Bardic Inspiration (d6)
Jak	11
Crawling Claws	5
Mayon	2
Morg	2	Crown of Madness from Oreioth
Zombie	1

This message was last edited by the GM at 15:35, Sat 25 Mar 2017.

"Bow to the Lord of Lance Rock, or you will be bowed!" Oreoith calls. He steps forward and casts a spell at Morg, and a ghostly skeletal hand rakes at his arm. The crown on his head vanishes.

"My armies will scour the lands, and its ranks will grow with the fallen! Join me, or just leave me alone if you prefer," he finishes somewhat lamely. He turns and moves quickly to the back of the cave and turns a corner.

The skeletons once again fire arrows at Mayon and Asano. One arrow hits each of them, but Asano quickly casts Shield and one arrows clatters harmlessly to the floor.

---

Map updated. Getting to be quite the scene!

To move things along I'll post Round 3 actions for Oreioth and the skeletons here - if anyone does something that blocks these actions we can retcon changes.

Dwee, Asano, Bram, and Jak are up.

- Oreioth steps forward 5' (H19->H20) to be in range of Morg, then casts Chill Touch. It HITS for 8 necrotic damage. Morg can't regain hp until the start of Oreioth's next turn. This also ends the Crown of Madness. Then Oreioth moves back to J15.

- S1 & S4 attack Mayon with half cover, S2 & S3 attack Asano with half cover. Mayon is hit for 4 piercing, Asano is hit once but casts Shield to prevent the hit.


This message was last edited by the player at 16:58, Sat 25 Mar 2017.

Asano grits his teeth in frustration as the necromancer retreats deeper into the cave. Looking back, he sees the group has been bogged down by the sudden explosion of crawling claws and the zombie surgeon they support. He bends the Weave to his will, and a three glowing snowflakes of force zip across the room at the zombie surgeon. Taking a breath to steady his nerves, he bolts across the room.

---

08:37, Today: Asano Breathkill rolled 14 using 1d20 with rolls of 14.  Wild Magic Surge.
09:06, Today: Asano Breathkill rolled 13 using 3d4+3 with rolls of 4,4,2.  Magic Missile dmg.

---

Action: Cast Magic Missile, target zombie
Move Action: From M40 to G38
Bonus Action: Convert 2 sorcery points to one 1st level spell slot

---

HP: 5/13 AC 13
Buffs/Debuffs:
Conditions:
Spell Slots/Sorcery Point Remaining: 1, 0/2

---

This message was last edited by the player at 17:30, Sat 25 Mar 2017.

Mayon grunts in pain at the arrows and curses as the necromancer flees. Chasing after him seemed a foolish move, so instead he fired a burst of magic at one of the skeletons and followed Bram's call, running towards the paladin and keeping his eyes on the undead archers.



Movement: 30 feet Moving from M38 to J41
11:21, Today: Mayon Graycross rolled 17 using 1d20+5 with rolls of 12.  EB S4.
11:21, Today: Mayon Graycross rolled 11 using 1d10+3 with rolls of 8.  Agonizing blast force damage.
This message was last edited by the player at 01:27, Tue 28 Mar 2017.

Jak grimaced as a second clawed hand thing came over and attacked him as well! Thankfully, they both missed him! But they cam close enough to throw off his aim as he attempted to swing his shortsword at the same one again. He let out a frustrated sigh.

OOC: Sigh.
18:12, Today: Secret Roll: Jakrynn Redgate rolled 7,3 using d20+4,d6+2 with rolls of 3,1.  Shortsword attack on Claw #4.

---

If the Crawling claws don't move

Removed the rest of this post because C5 (which I forgot about, thinking only about C1, C2, and C4) moved. I'm making a new post below.
This message was last edited by the player at 11:01, Tue 28 Mar 2017.

Bram brings down his axe upon the nearest scuttling undead hand, severing multiple fingers and leaving it crippled.  With the zombie surgeon dead, the paladin leaves the necromantic slabs behind and advances toward the skeletons.  From behind his shield he calls out, "Asano, Mayon!  Take cover behind my shield!"

---

• Battleaxe likely hits C1 with 14 vs. AC for 8 slashing damage
• Move to I41, provoking an OA from C1 if it happens to still be alive
• If any ally is attacked while adjacent to me, use my reaction to impose disadvantage on that attack

15:52, Today: Bramwell Caulder rolled 8 using 1d8+3.  Battleaxe damage.
15:52, Today: Bramwell Caulder rolled 14 using 1d20+5 with rolls of 9.  Battleaxe vs. Claw.
This message was last edited by the GM at 01:26, Tue 28 Mar 2017.

The zombie lurches after Bram only to take three glowing darts of magical force in the back. Its body suddenly stiff, the walking corpse falls forward onto its face and moves no more.

Bram chops the nearest hand in two and moves toward the skeletons.

Skittering like insects, the claws jump to attack Jak, Dwee, and Morg once again, raking their claws into each one of them.

---

Mid round update! Also, map updated.

Morg, I didn't take into account your post, since C5 moved to attack you - feel free to update your post now. Remember you can't recover hp until the start of Oreioth's next turn...

Mayon, you can update your post too if desired.

Dwee also can act this round.

Crawling Claws: C2 & C4 attack Jak - C4 HITS for 2 slashing.

C3 attacks Dwee - HIT for 4 slashing.

C5 moves to I45 and attacks Morg - HIT for 5 slashing damage.

This message was last edited by the GM at 02:02, Tue 28 Mar 2017.

Morg's eyes goes wide when he sees the cold skeletal hand scratching his arm, and tries to shake it off, when a crawling zombie hand comes up behind him and slashes at him, nearly knocking him unconscious. He swats at the zombie hand with his warhammer.

---

Action: attack C5 with warhammer - hits AC 11 for 8 bludgeoning.
If that destroys C5, then:
Move: 25' to H48 for some cover.

Should I keep the original C1, C2, or C4 throws for C5?

14:47, Today: Morg Danforge rolled 11 using 1d20+6 with rolls of 5.  Attack C1, C2, or C4 with warhammer.
14:48, Today: Morg Danforge rolled 8 using 1d8+6 with rolls of 2.  Warhammer bludgeoning damage to C1, C2, or C4.