Round #07
Combat Encounter Completed

01) [25] Skeleton Warrior - 1d20+6: 25 Dmg: 10+8+13+3+12+13=59
02) [24] Kireth - 1d20+7+2: 24 - HP 1/27 (Bloodied)
03) [21] Skeleton Troopers - 1d20+4: 21
Skeleton #1 Dmg: 10+11+6=31
Skeleton #2 Dmg: 9+14+6=29
Skeleton #3 Dmg: 9+11=28
Skeleton #4 Dmg: 14+4+9+24=51
04) [18] Tradden - 1d20+3+2: 18 - HP 25/32
05) [15] Zero - 1d20+4+2: 15 - HP 17/30
06) [15] Celestia - 1d20+1+2: 15 - HP 5/26
07) [10] Elf Mage - 1d20+2: 10 Dmg: 18+4+18-5-5-5-5+11+11+11=53
08) [06] Khalin - 1d20+2+2: 6 - HP 13/31, plus 5 temp hp (Bloodied)
09) [01] Children
Offa - HP 10/27 (Bloodied)
Bailey - HP 10/27 (Bloodied)

All squares that contain a small triangle in the bottom right hand corner are marked as difficult terrain and cost two squares worth of movement to enter.

Illumination: Darkness, with light provided by torchlight. Visibility shown on map.

This scene was originally written within Google Wave. The scene has been transcribed here for completeness, and has been edited where required.

The original Wave is now lost with the demise of Google Wave, but the PDF extract of that original scene is provided here.

Tradden’s jaw fell open wide.

Moving skeletons? What next?

Realising a lack of confidence was not the best thing to be displaying at this moment he took heart from the fact that Khalin was already at his side and looked completely unfazed. The young fighter therefore steeled his nerves and drew his swords.

Behind him he could hear a whimper and a gasp from the two boys and also the increasingly familiar sound of Kireth murmuring as he started to prepare a spell. The usually quiet Celestia was also quietly speaking - likely drawing strength from her patron, Melora. Zero was nowhere to be seen, which he knew was actually a good sign.

‘Steady everyone... boys, time to show us exactly how good Sergeant Valino is as an archery teacher...’

Strike fast and strike hard. Seizing the initiative, Kireth pushed he was through his companions, entered the chamber and darted left.

‘Istar Rutha!’ he called, his eyes taking on a blueish glow as he finished the words.

Next he channeled his hands into the now familiar ball shape, sparks crackling away. ‘Templa Koron!’ cried the mage as the ball of energy speed towards it target at incredible speed.

Seeing the mage suddenly swamped by the skeleton figures spurred him into action, he moved forward onto the space in front of him, toe to toe with the first one.

Noticing that the awkwardly moving skeletons were lined up nicely, he seized his chance.

In a manoeuvre in many ways more suited to a ballet recital than the dark depths of some underground, undead-infested tomb in a far away land, Tradden pirouetted down the line, one pointed foot always on the floor, the other skipping up and down to help keep balance and to give him momentum.

High in the air his longsword threatened to slice skulls clear from skeletal bodies, but each strike was a feint, the damage being done by the shortsword, cleverly held out at waist height.

Once, twice, three times the blade found rib or spine - splinters and chips of bones flew in every direction.

Suddenly, Kireth did not face the fiends alone.

‘Hello.’ said Tradden, eyes still on the undead forms in front of him. ‘Thought you might like a bit of company...’

From out of the darkness in the corner of the room came a soft whistle as a bolt flew up towards the dark robed elf on the pedestal.

Celestia strode forwards, the symbol of her deity, Melora, pushed out in front of her, sparks and auroral lights emanating from it in all of the colours of the rainbow.

As she moved she chanted under her breath, drawing on her mistress to vanquish the abominations laid out before her.

‘Save some for me!’ roared Khalin as he belatedly entered the fray. Gliding past Celestia with as much grace as he could muster while hurtling into battle.

The warlord made a beeline for the large skeleton warrior, raising his shield in defence while taking a mighty swipe at the behemoth of bones...

‘And misery does love company,’ Kireth replied to Tradden in acknowledgement to his assistance. It was as much as a thank you as the young fighter was going to get.

‘Now, let us see about those that dared strike me.’

The young mage whirled his staff over in his hands, ‘Gurtha da Sinome!’. The blue bolt had barely left the staff before Kireth was spinning it round again, ‘Gurtha da Sinome!’. A new, second bolt speed towards its target.

Kireth laughed, a laugh that was just a key on the unnerving side for his companions.

‘Always a pleasure, never a chore,’ Tradden nodded to the mage as he brushed past.

The young fighter’s eyes were now on the larger skeletal warrior who was currently locked in combat with Khalin. His eyes could not help but be drawn to the silvery blue blade, which looked strangely beautiful to the young fighter despite the horrific appearance of its wielder.

Taking a round-about path to keep out of the sight and reach of the skeleton for as long as possible, he then charged in from the side, his left shoulder brushing the raised platform as he entered combat. The skeleton must have seen him coming out of the corner of its eye as it turned its baleful glance and repositioned itself to be able to take on both the fighter and the warlord.

Tradden had already raised his longsword high into the air and the glint of the various light sources along its blade could not fail to distract the skeleton. Tradden took his chance to strike lower down with his shortsword, stabbing strongly in the hope it would hit home.

Zero kept crouched down low. He’d been spotted now, so even in the dim light at the edges of the chamber he would be seen. He took careful aim at the elf atop the platform, hoping to hit him with a distracting blow.

Zero loaded his crossbow a further time and let fly.

Celestia kept her symbol raised uttering her deity’s name. A sacred beam of blue and green light crashed down onto the skeletal warriors head from above.

Khalin stole a glance at his companions, the battle was on a knife-edge - quite literally, he was reminded, as the stinging pain from the skeleton’s blade fought to grab the warlord’s attention.

‘Kireth! KIRETH! Snap out of it! What are you, sir? Mouse or man ...er ...elf?’ Khalin shouted, trying to spur the mage out of his daze. ‘You’re not going to let this trumped up quack get the better of you are you?’

The dwarf gritted his teeth again and swung at the towering skeleton warrior. ‘Now then skull-boy, my hammer will prevail - can you feel it in your BONES?’

His mighty swipe opened up the monster’s stance for Tradden.

Khalin quickly swept the hammer back at his foe.

Both Offa and Bailey raised their bows and aimed at the closest enemy.

The cloud all about him, filling both lungs and mind. The world had become slow and blurry and he just about heard the dwarf calling him. Just to draw breath was an effort but he still had his mind and that was still thinking ahead. There was something he could do that no matter its immediate outcome would be of benefit to them ‘think ahead of the opponent’ he heard the old masters tell him.

He slowly raised his staff, pointing its tip at the elf and uttered words inaudible to his colleagues. Fire, as red as any ever seen, leapt from the staff whipping out at the elf.

The flames licked harmlessly at the elf but Kireth managed half a smile anyway. All was not lost.

Tradden felt a sudden lurch and a great tugging pain from the centre of his lungs and his heart as if his very life force were being dragged from him

Tradden found himself struggling to keep up with everything going on in the claustrophobic vault!

The mage atop the platform was throwing death left and right at will - both Zero and Celestia were clearly dazed and reeling from his attacks, and Kireth, whilst more with it, had clearly been hurt badly. Worse still, Khalin had taken huge chunks out of the larger skeleton, but at some cost - the dwarf was now prostrate on the floor having gone down under a flurry of icy, pale white strikes. The young fighter himself was outwardly untouched, and yet the strange attack from the mage left him feeling increasingly empty inside, and he knew something was horribly wrong, his breaths harder to take with each intake.

All in all, although the group still outnumbered the enemy, things were starting to look desperate.

What could he do? As he felt panic start to rise, at the same time a strange new feeling came over him. He could only describe it as a serene calm - everything started to slow down and he suddenly felt he had time to consider the options despite the battle being at its peak.

The two smaller skeletons were a threat, but less so than the two other main players in this sortie. The mage was clearly the biggest threat, but he was a nimble climb away - he would have to wait. Tradden desperately wanted to aid his stricken friend Khalin, and that meant one thing - the larger skeleton had to go down.

It struck him that this was exactly the kind of time for a pithy, inflammatory remark prior to launching at the thing, but his new found coolness in battle didn’t stretch that far. Yet. Therefore, he just attacked, putting as much hope as he dared in the shortsword which had done so much damage thus far...

Pirouetting at the same time as stepping forward, Tradden’s smaller blade cleaved through the air at head height. The young fighter felt it bite, but was not stopping to watch, crouching down as his turn span through its latter 180 degrees - as he did so his longsword curved round at knee height, catching the skeleton behind him and shattering neatly through kneecaps.

Ending his spinning attack facing the larger skeleton, his blades held out at angles suggesting he was not necessarily finished, he waited to see whether the monstrosity would fall...

The shortsword caught the skeletal warrior in the chest, cracking through rib after rib. For some moments the skeleton continued standing and then it fell, crashing to the floor in a cacophony of splintering bone.

The shorter skeleton fell at the same time, slipping off Tradden’s longsword and joining the bone pile on the floor.

Tradden took the chance to gather his wits!

Tradden felt elated at having dispatched the two skeletons and felt himself get a second wind. The elation was soon over though, as another pulse of pain clawed at his heart, and he whimpered despite himself. What was going on?

Slowly, painfully, slowly, Zero raised his crossbow and aimed at the elven mage’s vicious grin.

Celestia raised her holy symbol one further time building up the energy with her soft prayers and unleashing them with fury at the remaining skeleton.

Cursing that the skeleton had managed to dodge her attack, Celestia summoned her energies once more with fury.

Khalin felt like he was waking from a dream - or a nightmare. The cavern slowly came back into focus, but the towering skeleton warrior had fallen. The dwarf pulled himself up and quickly appraised the situation, his ire quickly rising as he saw the state of the battle.

The warlord roared with rage, seeking to inspire his comrades...

Khalin whirled on the final skeleton, ready top wreak his wrath on the undead minion...

Kireth felt a sudden lurch and a great tugging pain from the centre of his lungs and his heart as if his very life force were being dragged from him

His chest felt like it was being crushed and his heart yanked from him. He didn’t know the particular spell being used against him but he recognised the similar effects. He also knew, as he drew shallow breaths, that he could not take another. And yet, as a small trickle of blood escaped from the side of his mouth, he smiled. He had planned this next move and, it would seem, the elf was oblivious to the hell that was coming.

From the last wrench at his heart he had half sunk to his knees but with all his remaining strength he pushed against his staff and rose up one final time. Standing, albeit slightly unstable, he threw one hand after the other, as if hurling darts, at the elf.

‘Gurtha da Sinome!’ he called three times

As the final bolt left him Kireth let out a blood curdling scream of defiance.

The dwarf, anger rising all the time, saw the skeleton’s blade fall on Celestia as she held out her holy symbol against it. Without heed for his own safety he ignored the flashing blade and moved himself between it and Celestia as best he could, striking out with his own warhammer as he did so.

Things were still manic, but Tradden was still cooly focused.

Things were looking up - Kireth had suddenly sprung into life with a magic show to equal that of anything the elf mage had done so far. Khalin had... well, he had literally sprung to life, which was good enough for Tradden. Additionally, the nagging pain in his chest had suddenly disappeared, and he felt lighter on his feet for it.

The remaining skeleton was still on its feet - but only just. Trusting his companions to finish it off, the young fighter, ahem, rushed off after the elf.

Khalin, turning on the skeleton, saw murder in the young lad’s eyes. It was not a look he particularly liked on the youngster, but certainly one he could understand right now.

Tradden careered around the base of the platform, fully expecting to find a dead injured elven mage. Retribution for the pain inflicted to his friends today would be swift. However, in the near complete darkness around the back of the pillar there was nothing to see - and no sign of the elf.

‘What the ...’ the others heard as a half-shout from around the corner.

‘Oh no you don’t...’ thought Tradden to himself, quickly sheathing the more cumbersome longsword and reaching into his pack for a torch and his lighting flint. The ‘adventurers’ pack he had bought from that dodgy merchant on the corner of Elm and Shortstreet back home had certainly been a worthwhile purchase. Lighting the torch quicker than he ever had been able to before he held it up to illuminate the small, dark space...

Zero took aim once more at the remaining skeleton, firing a bolt towards the undead’s rib cage.

Celestia kept her holy symbol aloft and cursed the final skeleton.

[...Combat Encounter Complete...]

Hearing the sounds of battle culminating in another whoop of triumph from the two boys, Tradden knew that the final skeleton was now just pieces of bone on the floor.

Seeing no torches to light, he instead held the torch and walked forward, searching the back of the raised platform for any sign of the elf - he had been knocked violently back from the pillar, and there was no way to Tradden’s mind that he could have just got up and walked away without any of the group noticing, despite the dark. He fully expected to find a twisted elven body with charred holes in its chest...

Starting to worry that the elf could not be found, Tradden, always thinking, tried to think of a way to cast a better light.

Sheathing his shortsword he tossed the flaming torch up onto the edge of the pillar above him, and with a nimble athleticism belying his tall, gangly frame he quickly climbed up to the top of the pillar. If the carved demons whose heads and legs Tradden were using to as hand and footholds objected, they didn’t say anything.

From the point of view of the group, a new mysterious figure appeared atop the pillar, lit from below so as to give him a ghastly look of his own. The ominousness of this new apparition was somewhat diminished when part of its frilly shirt caught fire after having come slightly too close to the torch laying on the floor of the dais whilst climbing up. A slightly comedic moment ensued as the figure tried to put out the flames, and the curse mentioning one of the lesser known gods also helped to reinforce the fact that this was not some new threat, unless one included Tradden in that bracket.

Unclipping the lantern he had been carrying with him from since the sarcophagus crypt, he used his tinder box to light that as well. Picking up the torch with his other hand he now held up both, giving a much stronger luminosity which spilled down from the top of the pillar, giving a circular area of light all around it. Turning around on the spot, he looked around again, including the top of the pillar in his search.

‘Right, this is daft!’ he exclaimed. ‘Everyone get torches out if you have them - lets light this place up!’

‘Hmm,’ said Tradden, looking down at the bizarre sight on the top of the pillar. ‘Kireth, this might interest you, but let’s find this elf first. There are a few questions I would dearly like to ask him.’

Zero reappeared from the darkness. He wandered over to the remains of the closest skeleton and nudged it with his boot, frowning in disappointment.

Skeletons had little use for money or jewellery.

Their shady summoner, however, was a different matter.

He marched on over to the fallen corpse. Suddenly, he paused, a prudent thought interrupting him. He drew his crossbow and edged closer, pointing right at the elf’s head.

No movement.

He knelt down and examined the body.

‘Well that’s not something you see every day,’ observed Khalin matter-of-factly. The others looked at him as if he’d grown a second head.

‘Well you see all sorts in battle!’ he tried to explain, shrugging. ‘Oh, never mind...’

‘Zero?’ enquired Tradden.

Concerned, the young fighter left the lantern atop the dais and dropped down onto the floor proper, rushing over to the rogue to see if it was just him being shocked by what had happened, but fearing the worst.

‘Kireth, Celestia!’ he called, on the basis that one was a magic user and the other a healer. ‘Get over here! Khalin, boys, could you keep watch please?’

As they came over Tradden knelt down beside Zero to see if his own basic healing skills, in addition to his natural knowledge, could help, or at least detect anything of note.

Khalin now looked more concerned. ‘Surely Mister Nothing’s just fainted?’

The warlord remembered Zero’s startled reaction when the apparition had first appeared in the mausoleum. His chagrin began to rise as Kireth and Celestia quickly stooped down next to the fallen rogue.

‘...hasn’t he?’

Zero came to fairly quickly. He looked a little surprised at everyone around him, and managed a ‘Ungh!’ to let everyone know he was still alive. He sat up, and pushed himself back until he was resting against the platform, unknowingly leaning against one of the carved devils.

‘Whoa - worried about you for a second there my friend. Seriously, no more involvements with ghosts for you from now on!’ quipped Tradden, giving Zero one of his nearly traditional ’just a bit too hard’ friendly pats on the shoulder.

He turned round to survey the rest of the room.

‘Right - let’s see if there is anything of note to take back to town - I am sure the Council will be more than interested in what has gone on here. Everyone have a look around, and then we head back.’

As the group started to disperse out a little, checking over bodies and looking for anything of interest, Tradden took a moment to go over to the two boys, sadly choosing to use the tone which he thought was spot on, but was in fact slightly on the condescending side. It was hard to tell if the boys picked up on it or not.

‘You lads did really well back there - you should be proud of yourselves. Don’t worry, we will have you back to town in no time. Could you do me one more favour? Can you stand just inside the archway where we came in - if you so much as hear or see any little thing, run like the wind back to us and shout as loud as you can!’

Giving each of the boys a clap on the shoulder each, he went to join in the search, making a beeline for the remains of the skeletal warrior and the glowing, icy sword that had enthralled him so much earlier...

Zero looked over the trunk that Celestia had found. It was mainly wooden, with brass fastenings and bound with iron strips for strength. A large, inviting lock sat on the front. Zero stopped shivering as he pulled out his pouch of tools and set to work with steely determination.

With a satisfying click, Zero turned to smile at Celestia. ‘Poison gas,’ he said, matter-of-factly. ‘See the small holes here?’

He pointed at some barely perceptible holes in the iron strips, and then chose another tool from his pouch.

With another sharp click Zero flipped open the lid with a flourish, a beaming smile on his face.

‘At last!’ he whispered, mainly to himself, and grabbed a small open pouch from the top of the contents, gold sparkles reflecting on his face from Celestia’s torch.

Tradden held the sword he had found, testing its balance. It seemed OK, but he didn’t trust it just yet - worth having a look at later he decided.

One of the things he had done whilst whiling away the hours on the voyage over to the mainland was to fashion an additional set of small, hardened straps to his pack. Whilst he kept his blades attached to his belt, he had envisaged having them strapped to his back at some point, in a way that seemed fashionable to some of the guards, particularly those of private employ, back in Deepingwald. He used the opportunity to sheath the new sword on his back now.

As Zero withdrew, Celestia took the opportunity to look inside the trunk. Under some simple black robes were an ornate, golden, sacrificial dagger and two tomes. The dagger looked menacing and evil to Celestia and she left it within the trunk. The two tomes she removed and handed to Kireth for inspection.

A search having been completed, the group gathered in the main room with the pillar again, and gathered in a circle to see what Kireth could make of all the items. The mage was portraying his usual calm manner, but the glint in his eyes betrayed his excitement at various magical items, especially the tomes, to look over.

The boys, still keeping watch on the door, and wondering whether rescued people always got put on guard duty rather than being taken safely home, looked back furtively from time to time.

As Kireth did his thing, Tradden remembered the burned letter, and retrieved it from his pack. ‘Hmm, ‘elf’, ‘cave’. I wonder if this was what the good Guard Captain was on about?’ he mused to no one in particular.

That also triggered his memory regarding something he had been meaning to mention for a while.

‘Oh, whilst I think on, remember when we were on the Guiding Fire?’

This was understatement of the year from the young fighter - none of them would forget that voyage anytime soon.

‘That Kassar chap - in league with those strange creatures which attacked us? He had one of those amulets on - the wooden ones with a swirl. I didn’t get chance to grab it, but I saw it after he had been crushed by the mast. Not sure if it is important, but thought I should mention it. I wonder if this elf had one?’

While Kireth and Tradden compared notes, and after Khalin had given Zero a nod of concern and reassurance, the dwarf began a careful inspection of the large pedestal at the centre of the room, mindful of the hidden compartment he’d found upstairs, yet also the potential for this troublesome elf to wreak mischief from beyond the grave.

Zero still looked shaken from his close encounter of the spectral kind. He wandered about in a mild daze, furtively looking at everyone.

Then, abruptly, he blurted out what had happened, what the ghost had revealed to him.

The shadow was the last in line of the Kaius Dynasty, a long line of warlords protecting this location, bound here as a punishment for a crime that it couldn’t even remember - years of undeath and solitude stripping the spirit of its memories and sanity, but remaining loyal to the place by guilt and ancient familial loyalties.

Images of a huge carved stone with the names of the warlords being lain over a black entrance, sealing what was within - the warlords striving to hide the evil place even after their own deaths.

Then scenes of the elf, dominating and bending the shadow to his own will with dread magic and moving the protective slab for his own foul needs.

Words and phrases resounded in Zero’s ears even though they made no sense, only one phrase stuck, ’Bael Turath’, and it chilled him to the bone.

‘...and I’d very much like to leave now,’ he concluded.

After much time, likely more than the rest of the party would have liked, Kireth finished his examination of the items they had recovered.

‘This staff,’ he said, ‘will come as no surprise to you is a mage’s staff. It has some sort of affinity to light but I will need some time to understand it.’ He turned and threw the amulet at Celestia who, although surprised, caught it. ‘You may find use of that. It is powered with the energy of life and health.’ Offering no further explanation he either didn’t know or didn’t care.

Tradden, by now chomping at the bit, was almost hoping from one leg onto the other ‘What can I tell you that you will not already have surmised?’ He kicked the hilt of the sword in the direction of the young fighter.

‘Although plain in appearance it most certainly has been imbued with the element of frost. I would be careful where you wave that,’ he said offering Tradden a word of caution, ‘such items are rare and highly desired.’

He narrowed his eyes considering the young man’s personality. ‘Show that off to the wrong types and you may find it taken from you.’

‘Zero,’ turned the mage, giving Tradden one last look to make sure his point had been understood. ‘The cloak is well suited to your skills. Perhaps by trickery of light or perhaps by affecting the sight or mind, this cloak does not want to be seen. Wearing it will give you something of an advantage.’

‘One of these is the elf’s spell book, if I am reading the wordings correctly. I believe I recognise the spells contained to be those used against us. These are not magics I can use but they are interesting nonetheless and, unless there are other plans, I would like to read them more.’

He gave a brief look around the party, it was more a challenge than a look for approval. Continuing, ‘The second tome does not read well, at this point, and I will certainly need more time on it.’

‘Finally, this,’ the mage confirmed holding it by its point, ‘is a dagger.’ He dropped it ungracefully onto the stone cold floor before walking away. The lecture was apparently over.

‘Right,’ said Tradden, shaking his head just a little. ‘Lady, gentlemen - shall we?’

With that, Tradden scooped up the longsword and resheathed it on his back. He also picked up the dagger, and after throwing it in the air and catching it a couple of times to test its weight and balance (which was poor) he tucked it safely in his belt.

He took a moment to sidle over to Zero, who was holding the cloak in both hands, weighing up his own new addition and trying to work out how light did, or didn’t, reflect off it the way it should. The rogue was still visibly pale.

‘Come on Z - let’s get back to town. I will buy you whatever passed for a good red in these parts - maybe those lasses that waved us off will be even happier to see us coming back as well, eh?’ he said softly, giving him a wink.

That done, he stalked off to the cavern entrance to join the boys, ready for the journey back through the catacombs and back to the town.

[...continued in Book #01, Chapter #01, Scene #06...]