"Curse you!  Stand still!" Urmdrak bellows.  Finally, he's able to get a clear shot at the zombies belly and skewers it with his spear.

Hit 21 for 5

18:23, Today: Urmdrak the Rebel rolled 21,5 using 1d20+1d3+1,2d3+1.  attack, damage.
This message was last edited by the player at 20:10, Sun 02 July 2023.

Skinny Elan, still trying to find some kind of mechanism to mess with, flattens himself against the wall when the acid puke sprays off the portcullis bars. And Tarin is standing behind hefty Morris and doesn't really have to skip backwards when the screaming starts.

But poor Morris and Cianna. The couple is standing close to the portcullis when it happens, and catch the acid spray full on. Cianna shrieks and turns in to Morris chest, which is already dissolving with acid.

As for their fate... Let's just say nobody is going to have a stomach for soup tonight.

20:34, Today: Nanbanjim Road rolled 14 using 1d20.  Tarin Reflex Save. – 14

20:32, Today: Nanbanjim Road rolled 17 using 1d20.  Elan Reflex Save. –  17

20:34, Today: Nanbanjim Road rolled 2 using 1d20.  Morris Reflex Save. – 2

20:34, Today: Nanbanjim Road rolled 6 using 1d6.  Morris Acid Damage. – 6

20:32, Today: Nanbanjim Road rolled 3 using 1d20.  Cianna Reflex Save. – 3

20:33, Today: Nanbanjim Road rolled 5 using 1d6.  Cianna Acid Damage. – 5

This message was last edited by the player at 02:58, Wed 28 June 2023.

Seeing the zombie preoccupied with oral expulsions, Jack attempts to stick it to the creature.
07:19, Today: Jack Quick the Beggar rolled 15,3 using d20-1,d4-1 ((16,4)).

Between the dwarf’s powerful spear thrust and Jack’s strategic strike between the vertebrae, the monster collapses.

The wood of the portcullis is unhewn and still has strength, but the lashings keeping it all together dissolves quickly, and the entire thing collapses. it’s now a simple matter to pull out a single standing timber to squeeze through.

"Well, heave-ho, people! Let's get this timber cleared so we can be on our way. Jack? Jack! No time to nap! We're going!"

Pyke makes a show of giving the wood a bit of a half-arsed shove.

Jack pulls himself painfully to his feet. He moans slightly as he massages his neck where the zombie grabbed him.

But before trying to help with the timber, he makes a cursory search of the zombie's corpse for anything of value.

Aside from the worm larvae “bleeding” out of the abomination you find nothing of value on this revolting corpse.

Chayce is a hunter and has seen her fair share of viscera but still... what happened to Cianna and Morris is horrible.

Holding her breath, Chayce hooks her hands under their armpits and drags what's left of them off to the side so that they're not blocking the way forward.

Ocrin and Sharper, being larger and stronger, work on dismantling the portcullis. With the lashings dissolved, they work on pulling out one of the standing timbers, which should provide enough space for everyone to squeeze through.

Chayce checks up on Jack, not that she's a healer or really knows what to do. "How bad is it?" she asks. "Do you need a hand?"

Sharper, meanwhile, casts a glance back at the corpses. There's a glimmer in his eye. Greed overcomes any tightness he feels in his stomach as he goes back to search them for valuables.

"Let's keep moving forward," Chayce suggests. "...trying to stick together as much as possible."

In reply to Tecumseh Lane Crew (msg # 39):

Jack tries to smile at Chayce's but it only makes him look more miserable.

"Could be better," he croaks, "but I'll live."

"There's our good lad!" says Pyke, slapping Jack on the shoulder and nearly knocking him over.

"As invigorating as it is to be destroying undead, we should be off! Chayce, perhaps you would be so kind as to lead? We don't want Jack tumbling on a spike in his condition, do we? Besides, these dank, dark tunnels must be your cup of tea, hey? Remind you of your burrows and holes from home, no doubt!"

"I'm just short!" Chayce replies indignantly. "I'm not a halfling!"

Then, with a glance to Tarin the halfling, "Not that there's anything wrong with halflings of course. My best friend's brother's friend dated one, until it cheated on her. I mean 'he', not 'it'. Fine people, those halflings. Especially the, uh, good ones?"

She claps her hands together to change the subject. "Tarin! You are a proper halfling, are you not? Not a pretend halfling like myself, ha ha. You see in the dark, so why don't you take the lead?"

Meanwhile, Sharper the gambler is giggling to himself as he robs the recently deceased. Cianna's rope is ruined and of no use, but her copper will still spend.

"Dice, eh?" Sharper says, searching through her pockets. "I'm a dice man myself. Sorry we didn't get to play. I'd love to add yours to my collection but, under the circumstances, I'm forced to conclude that they are unlucky dice. So, go ahead and keep those." After that, he nicks the flint & steel and the copper off Morris. "Hehehe," he titters to himself.

Pyke strokes his chin thoughtfully as he examines Chayce.

"Hmph... My mistake. Apologies fair hob...err, human"

"Stop with the quibbling already," Urmdrak barks as he grinds the zombie's worms under his bootheel.  "I didn't come down here to have a lovely little chat on who is and isn't a halfling.  Let's do what we have to do and get out of here."

In reply to Urmdrak the Rebel (msg # 44):

"Ha! Love the enthusiasm! If there's nothing left to see here, let's be off. Urmdrak, since you're bristling with ambition, you lead the charge!"

And Pyke takes up his place in the march. several shoulders back from the front.

Jack groans quietly as he shambles along trying to keep up with the group. He clutches the torch like his life depends on it, scanning the floor, walls and ceiling for hidden dangers.

"About bloody time," Urmdrak replies.  He hefts his spear and begins the march forward.

Sharper, full of greed, checks to see what's in the rotting crates, barrels, and open casks in the storeroom.

Chayce watches him but doesn't participate in the search. She's more curious about the portcullis.

"So who dropped this?" the diminutive hunter asks of the portcullis. "And from where? It seems like it had to be deliberate, intentional. But who would want to trap us in a room with a zombie? I can't imagine that the zombie would trigger this. Not from inside a muddy wall at least."

Chayce looks around to see if she can figure out what's above the storeroom, as presumably there must be some space up there for the portcullis to fall from.

Jack takes a few steps then stops and mumbles something. Then he tilts his head a little like a dog when you say "treat?"

He repeats what he said before, only a little more audibly: "Mucus?"

He turns and re-enters the cell and stares at the ceiling. He holds up his torch and repeats "Mucus? What's 'at doing there?"

He proceeds to poke around it with his torch and see if he can find any source for the ooze.

As Sharper searches through the crates he finds a spear worth salvaging.

Sharper grabs the spear worth salvaging.

"HAR HAR!" he chortles, probably disproportionately to the value of the find. "HAR HAR!"

Flush with success, he pushes Tarin forward. "Lead the way, little one," he rumbles.

"He's a jerk," Chayce whispers to Tarin. "But go ahead and take the lead so he doesn't get angry."

"Yarp," Ocrin nods sagely.

"Jack? Jack! Are you addled from that zombie squeezing your neck? Maybe a little woozy from lack of air? Come along! We're returning the way we came. Nothing more to see down here -- we're done!"

Tarin, indeed halfling, just grimaces at Chayce's verbal awkwardness. "Please," he says in his reedy voice, "I'd prefer you not humiliate yourself to death. Not just yet, anyway." He gingerly steps to Urmdrak's side. "Stay behind me, but not too far. I'm quieter, I'll scout a ways and then come get you. Leapfrog, my old man called it."

Elan stays back with Sharper and Ocrin, after helping move his comrades' bodies that is. He's not shaken, not as such, but distinctly quiet and dour now.

You hear screams coming from the passage to the northwest.

Chayce readies her bow, but lets Tarin take the lead.

Ocrin and Sharper, being taller, look out over the heads of the shorter Chayce, Tarin, and Urmdrak as they advance.

This message was deleted by the player at 20:10, Thu 20 July 2023.