Bram was relieved to see the skeletons behaving like thoughtless automatons, slavishly following their orders to fire their bows despite being engaged in close quarters.  Determined to put an end to this, he smashed his axe into the nearest skeleton once again.

---

Battleaxe hits the most damaged-looking skeleton for 6 slashing!

21:22, Today: Bramwell Caulder rolled 6 using 1d8+3.  Battleaxe damage.
21:21, Today: Bramwell Caulder rolled 15 using 1d20+5 with rolls of 10.  Battleaxe vs. Skelly.

Bram and Mayon's attacks both knock loose several bones from one of the skeletons, which clatter to the floor.

Both skeletons smoothly bend down, pick up a bone, knock them as arrows, and fire them at Bram. Both projectiles smash uselessly into Bram's shield.

---

Map updated (belatedly).

Everyone's up again now!

Round 7 Summary:

Dwee does nothing.

Oreioth is nowhere to be seen.

Asano moves toward the skeletons and fires a crossbow bolt at S1 - MISS.

Skeletons: S1 & S2 attack Bram at disadvantage - MISS.

Bram attacks S1 - HIT for 6 slashing.

Jak does nothing.

Mayon attacks S1 - HIT for 4 force.

Morg dashes toward the skeletons.

Round 8 Initiative Order:

Who	Init	Status
Dweeble	23
Oreioth	21	No longer visible
Asano	18
Skeletons	15
Bram	13	Bardic Inspiration (d6)
Jak	11
Mayon	2
Morg	2

This message was last edited by the GM at 19:37, Sun 09 Apr 2017.

Morg keeps running towards Bram and chucks his last javelin at a skeleton.

---

Bram, only read the spoiler after your turn if S1's been destroyed:
He shouts

---

Spoiler text: (Highlight or hover over the text to view)
"Bram, lemme get line of sight on it."

---

Move: 25' from C39 to F34.

Action: attack on S1 (or S2 if S1's been destroyed) with javelin2 - hits AC 18 for 11 piercing damage.

20:48, Today: Morg Danforge rolled 18 using 2d20+6, dropping the highest dice only with rolls of 12,20.  Attack S1 (or S2) with javelin2 with disadvantage (farther than 30').
20:49, Today: Morg Danforge rolled 11 using 1d6+6 with rolls of 5.  Javelin2 piercing damage to S1 (or S2.

Mayon sticks to his usual strategy, careful to aim so as not to hit his companions. The sooner they got this finished and took care of that necromancer, the better. It seemed his patron shared his thoughts as the surge of magical energy left his arm numb for a moment, stronger than anything else he'd cast recently.


Same plan as last time:
Action: Attack S1. If S1 is dead, attack S2.
17:45, Today: Mayon Graycross rolled 25 using 1d20+5 with rolls of 20.  EB S1. (HOT DAMN)
17:46, Today: Mayon Graycross rolled 18 using 2d10+3 with rolls of 9,6.  CRIT agonizing force damage.
So uh...Hits AC 25 for 18 force damage.
You know what, on second though, I think I'd just rather go for S2 instead of S1 if that's cool.
And if both are dead then I will be sad that my crit was wasted and will instead dash to H28.

Jak gave a small grin and then gave a nod. He looked around and saw that all the hand things were dead finally. He looked to where his allies were at, and then he moved forward as far as he could.

OOC: Double move to I-39.

Mayon's eldritch blast disintegrates one of the skeletons, and Morg's javelin scatters the remaining skeleton's bones.

---

All the undead are dead, again.

Total XP: 300
XP per person: 75

Where to now?

Mayon sighs as the last skeleton falls and steps out of his crevice, tired and now feeling the ache of the more recent arrow wounds.

"How's everyone doing? I think the sooner we get rid of that 'lord,' the better for everyone involved. I don't know how much time we'll have to sit and recover before he shows up with another swarm of those things."

Morg says to Mayon, while walking past him to go collect his javelins, "I won't be much use without a wee rest, so if we go after it now, I'll have to stay at the back and just try not to die. Maybe the other cave we cleared out had all the necromancer's 'supplies'?

Oh, when it cursed me with that magical crown, it felt like it was trying to make me lash out at you all, so we should probably not be too close to each other when we face it."

Jak gave a shrug after he caught his breath from running to catch up to his allies near the skeletons. "I'm a lil' wounded but nothin' t'write home about. I'll live." He grinned widely.

Then he eyed Morg. "Yeah. I'd like t'NOT get smashed by you or Bram."
This message was last edited by the player at 18:04, Mon 10 Apr 2017.

"I have enough grasp on the Weave for one more decent spell," Asano says, reloading his crossbow. "That said, I would hate to give this Oreioth time to prepare for us again. 'Twould be best to finish this, if we can. Do we have any healing magics left?"

Bramwell was glad to see the last skeleton shattered by eldritch energy.  He glanced back to the party and then to where Oreioth had disappeared deeper into the caverns, appearing anxious to carry on the pursuit.  He called out, "Is anybody wounded?  Gather to me, quickly!"  Once his companions had all arrived toward the far end of the cavern Bramwell first laid a hand upon Morg's bloodied shoulder and muttered something beneath his breath, and the dwarf's many scratches disappeared almost entirely.  He then did the same upon himself, Mayon and Asano, healing each to a lesser degree.

The half-elf breathed deeply, appearing somewhat taxed by the channeling of so much divinity all at once.  He gathered himself as well as he could and nodded to Asano, "Agreed.  We cannot allow the necromancer any more time to prepare an ambush, or to raise more undead.  We must give chase at once.  Are we all ready now?"

---

Cure Wounds heals Morg for max value of 11!:

• 20:21, Today: Secret Roll: Bramwell Caulder rolled 11 using 1d8+3.  Cure Wounds.

Lay on Hands:

• 5 HP to Bram (bringing me up to 19/21
• 2 HP to Mayon
• 2 HP to Asano

(1 HP left over for an emergency)

Morg, looking ready and eager to take on the necromancer after Bram's spell, turns to him and says "[Language unknown: Encestred ie siionc o hi ncsta ma sacewa ere of ionwassta Dehneer. Ch Marthammor Duin ore e san ethou wilhisndeich laratekor bean ourineers iv tontit arth nt lo seerce.]"

"As ready as we're ever going to be, though I'd prefer to stay in the back this time. My spells work well at a distance...though I doubt distance will be much problem for him, it makes me feel better." Mayon says with a faint smile, trying to hide the nerves.

"Thank you, Bramwell," Asano nods, as the glyphscribe heals the group. He glances around the group, taking stock of the party's condition. "Well, no time like the present to purge this locale of the foul power that has taken root. Dweeble, are you able to join us?" He glances back to where the diminutive newcomer had frozen during the fight.

Asano looks back toward the entrance for Dweeble, but she is nowhere to be found. She must have slipped away unseen during all the fighting.

Asano sighs, shaking his head, "Ah well, her skills may have been useful, but I wish her well."

"You know, I'm beginning to notice a running pattern here with our companions." Mayon muses, but shakes his head. "I hope she's alright, but it can't be helped."
This message was last edited by the player at 19:28, Tue 11 Apr 2017.

Jak looked at Morg with a raised eyebrow and a look on his face that seemed to speak of rudeness. "What was that? Sorry, I didn't catch it. It almost sounded like a foreign language." He stuck his tongue out at the dwarf.

At the mention Dweeble was gone, Jak frowned and shook his head. "Not everyone's suited t'the life of danger, dirt an' death."

He looked around at his allies one more time. "Anyone else need healin'? Or should I save my spells for the fight?"

Bramwell replied to the thanks for his healing, "Think nothing of it, friends.  We've a dangerous battle ahead, and I'd rather we all survive it."  He turned to Morg and with a smile replied in Dwarvish, [Language unknown: "Strss stros prerunri dipanc Tiope nde essle eithun, an, Oflar.  Utfiin ee ekthe whiouniouugh it ckloen, of atesomvor i.  Asstec acnotian itwa, yinbutday convorthe ss ev weas, li chri u la n ndhoenni un are ive ou.  Ort thard oveectredoer whi i terughwhe ssst ainhateauhou omweenev om il iv laion he pl leave Olic hi Ngnd Utecpe oures Oerthante."]

The half-elf appeared visibly heartened after saying these words, and took up his axe with renewed determination.  Approaching the cave down which Oreioth fled, he said, "We'd best not keep the necromancer waiting.  Shall we press on?"

Morg smiles at Jak, "Elvish ballads and laments are beautiful, but when it comes to working songs, nothing surpasses the classics like our "Diggy diggy hole" - tho I'll have to teach it to you in the original Dwarvish."
This message was last edited by the player at 22:12, Tue 11 Apr 2017.

The group makes its way in Oreioth's wake, first peering carefully around the corner, then advancing slowly. This part of the cavern is dark, yet light from the large cavern behind calls out the dark walls of the cave in enough detail to move forward. Scattered rocks here and there are the only objects around. A steady light in the distance illuminates the way forward, and grows brighter as the group ventures forward.

As they make their way past a final natural column of stone, the source of the distant light at last becomes visible.

An oval cavern opens several feet away, forty feet wide and sixty feet long. Dark purple tapestries hang on the walls. At the center of the room stands a pedestal fashioned of severed arms arranged to clutch one another in a cone.

Cradled in the uppermost hands is a glowing crystal sphere. A dark sigil with an eyelike slit floats above the sphere.

---

Cue dramatic music...

Map updated. I put you in what I thought might be logical starting positions, but feel free to rearrange yourselves as you post. It's always helpful to post exact coordinates ;).

The sigil above the glowing sphere looks like this: Floating Sigil

Mayon's eyes widen slightly. On the one side, the arm pedestal was horrific. And on the other, the sigil was fascinating. "What in the...?"


17:33, Today: Secret Roll: Mayon Graycross rolled 18 using 1d20+5 with rolls of 13.  Arcana check.
Long shot, but would Mayon have any recognition of the sigil or something like it from his arcane studies?

Bram peered wide-eyed at the occult shrine down the corridor, his curiosity at the symbols fighting against his revulsion toward the grisly pedestal.  Silently, he motioned to get the attention of his comrades, then swept his finger about to point at everybody, then pointed several times down the right corridor to indicate that they should all take the same path rather than splitting up.

---

Trying a couple checks to see if Bram recognizes any of the symbols, or to detect any magical functionality of the crystal.  Arcana went well, at least!

• 18:15, Today: Bramwell Caulder rolled 7 using 1d20+4.  Religion.
• 18:15, Today: Bramwell Caulder rolled 22 using 1d20+4.  Arcana.

Mayon sways after looking at the sigil. His eyes roll up in the back of his head, and he reaches out to the nearby rock wall to steady himself.
This message was last edited by the GM at 02:33, Wed 12 Apr 2017.

Mayon gasps as he snaps out of the brief trance, trying to steady himself and make sense of the visions. His ears still ring and he swallows back bile, blinking rapidly. That was the most blatant his patron has ever communed with him and it leaves him a bit shaken.

Marlos and those stone masks... He coughs softly, swallowing hard before speaking up in a shaky whisper to the others. _{"This symbol...it's connected to the triangle one Asano drew for the bandits yesterday, and the stone masks in the quarry. I...I think so at least. I don't know how exactly, but they are connected."}