[IC]Back to Basics

OgreBattle · Post by **OgreBattle** » Wed Jan 28, 2015 7:17 am

Flintbeard attempts to get into a flanking position with Atani against the crypt thing while swinging away with the black mace (Buckler in his off hand).

Ancient History · Post by **Ancient History** » Wed Jan 28, 2015 10:48 am

Xaxus once again invokes the majesty of his dark god - and this time, the zombabies stop and seem to pay attention, their little dark eyes fixated on him.

Atani's assault does some damage to the Crypt Thing, but perhaps more importantly sets the Crypt Thing's shroud on fire; the thing screams and claws at Atani, the nails skating across the mithril armor, leaving furrows behind. Flintbeard's strike misses.

Somewhere behind Atani, Tim has a torch and a bottle of oil and seems unsure of what to do.

Darth Rabbitt · Post by **Darth Rabbitt** » Wed Jan 28, 2015 3:03 pm

Now that they're (presumably) controlled, Gilles will head past the zombabies and attempt to backstab the Crypt Thing.

Lokathor · Post by **Lokathor** » Wed Jan 28, 2015 3:54 pm

These zombabies are too much even for Xaxus, and he doesn't actually want them to last too long. He commands two of them them to flank the Crypt Thing and impede it as much as possible so that Gilles and Atani have an easier time (some sort of Aid Another type action if possible?). If the zombabies are killed by the Crypt Thing Xaxus will simply send in more until they're all gone.

Dean · Post by **Dean** » Wed Jan 28, 2015 11:19 pm

Atani will continue to try to beat the monster to death, hoping that the combination of fire, mace, and blade will kill it before she kills him

OgreBattle · Post by **OgreBattle** » Thu Jan 29, 2015 7:25 am

Flintbeard swings away

Ancient History · Post by **Ancient History** » Thu Jan 29, 2015 10:38 am

Two zombabies fling themselves at the Crypt Thing, latching onto her shins and try to gnaw her to true death, but the pitiful fangs of the anklebiters cannot penetrate her necromantically-infused flesh. The Crypt Thing responds in kind, kicking at the crawling abominations - except her blows are much more effective on their small, squishy forms. One she simply steps on, its body exploding in a splatter of blue and green, ropy entrails and tiny spine shattered to fragments; the other she winds up and kicks - sending the head flying into Gilles' face (no damage, but lose your action).

Unfortunately, in engaging in this bit of sport the Crypt Thing has basically turned her back on Atani and Flintbeard, who respond with crushing blows from magic hammer and flaming sword.

Tim carefully steps around the babies. "Have you ever noticed she always attacks the person or thing that attacked her last?"

Darth Rabbitt · Post by **Darth Rabbitt** » Thu Jan 29, 2015 2:23 pm

After a brief period of shock, Gilles wipes zombaby guts from his face as he ponders what Tim says. Once he's sure his mouth is clean, he speaks: "Hmm, you're right. Perhaps we should sic the last of the anklebiters on her while we escape?"

OgreBattle · Post by **OgreBattle** » Thu Jan 29, 2015 2:26 pm

Flintbeard agrees to that plan if there's any zombies of our own left.

Dean · Post by **Dean** » Thu Jan 29, 2015 4:30 pm

"No we can beat it! Command the zombies to attack after us. If we time our blows to strike before the zombies then she will attack them while we hack at her. The corpses can take the blows that would otherwise be meant for us. We must almost have her, nothing could take much more of this. Send the swarm and allow them to take our blows, there's some of the infants left yet"

Lokathor · Post by **Lokathor** » Thu Jan 29, 2015 4:37 pm

Xaxus will order another pair of zombabies to attack immediately after the other party members according to the timing described.

Ancient History · Post by **Ancient History** » Fri Jan 30, 2015 8:11 pm

So it goes. Timing your attacks well, the Crypt Thing suffers assault after assault, all while turning her attention back to the zombabies, which she pulls apart messily and with something like glee with claw and fist and foot. After the last of the undead rugrats has been destroyed, Flintbeard manages to land the final blow, setting his black hammer on her skull and driving it into the floor with a swift stamp of his boot.

With the destruction of the undead, the atmosphere in the room lightens considerably, as if some malign presence you had not been aware of were suddenly gone from the air.

Tim asks Atani if he could have his flaming sword back.

Dean · Post by **Dean** » Sat Jan 31, 2015 5:29 am

Atani shakes his teammates excitedly celebrating their unlikely victory.

To Tim Atani says "I make no claim of it but doesn't carrying an amulet that turns you into a Hydra make you deadly enough? Why not let a sword specialist carry the sword until we reach topside. Where did you even get the thing?"

Ancient History · Post by **Ancient History** » Sat Jan 31, 2015 1:23 pm

"Oh,it was the weapon the Zombie Lord was carrying around. It has buttons!" Tim says excitedly. "I want to see what the rest of them do!"

Darth Rabbitt · Post by **Darth Rabbitt** » Sat Jan 31, 2015 1:46 pm

"Truly a miracle that we have won," Gilles proclaims, taking Atani's hands in his when the Wood Elf comes to shake with him. Letting go, he turns in a manner that he is also facing Tim. "Well, whichever of you wants the staff may have it. Are we going to meet with the Serpent, still? Or shall we simply make our way out? I think we've cleared this place out."

Dean · Post by **Dean** » Sat Jan 31, 2015 10:09 pm

"Very well then" Atani hands the sword back to Tim

"I say we speak with the serpent before we go, I believe he was looking for this sword and one of the beverages we carry"

If everyone's onboard I'd like to head back to the surface stopping at the golden snake to see what he has to say.

Darth Rabbitt · Post by **Darth Rabbitt** » Sun Feb 01, 2015 3:10 am

"Ah, yes, the Elixr of Bros!" Gilles chimes in, suddenly remembering. "Do we have any vessels of the beverage left?"

Ancient History · Post by **Ancient History** » Sun Feb 01, 2015 3:14 am

[All of the canisters of Elixir of Bros are intact. Also, everyone gets 330 XP for the Crypt Thing and the zombabies. Tim is having fun pressing buttons on the handle, and the flaming sword blade winks out and retracts.]

Ancient History · Post by **Ancient History** » Sun Feb 01, 2015 5:11 pm

Retracing your steps, you travel once more through the corridors and rooms, arrive after a short period in the antechamber. There you find an unexpected sight - a few of the porters and workmen, dressed in obviously improvised hoods and robes, are busily draining the blood from the headless corpse of a gnome into the great bowl of the skeleton statue, two fellows holding the legs while the third squeezes. The gnome's head - along with two others - lies knotted by its hair to a rope slung around the statue's neck, their eyes and mouths sewn shut with twine.

In the doorway, another worker looks on with casual interest, chewing a stalk of grass. He tips his cap as he sees you come in.

Darth Rabbitt · Post by **Darth Rabbitt** » Sun Feb 01, 2015 5:18 pm

With equal amounts surprise at the sight of the ritual and regret that he has been unable to offer any of the little humanoids to the Sea Mother in a similar manner, Gilles will try to figure out what precisely this gnome-sacrificing ritual is. (Religion check).

Ancient History · Post by **Ancient History** » Sun Feb 01, 2015 5:27 pm

Gilles recognizes it as a very half-assed and inept Standard Blood Sacrifice #12: Adoration of Baleful Idols/Reconsecration of the Unprofaned Shrine, according to Gilbert's classification system, usually associated with some old and obscure cults connected to a largely-derided vein of myth that says the Supreme God of Death was, himself, killed by a coalition of deities and that fragments of his divine essence lingered on, and in some cases animated, sacred statues related to his cause. However, without a guiding intelligence, the idols are mostly powerless, and the cults operate more out of habit and tradition than any supposed supernatural guidance; remnants of this movement can be seen in the Drow holiday of Redfingers, the ancient Elven children's game of Ear-Piercing, and the traditional sacrifice of a goat (in the past, a goat-man) by the President before the opening of a new session of the meeting of the Estates General. Indeed, a fascinating exercise in obscure anthropology, however shoddily done - the lads are strong, but are clearly unfamiliar with the prayers, and the bloody runes around the rim of the bowl are just bad squiggles. You'd think they'd never seen the written form of the dire speech of Evil creatures before.

Lokathor · Post by **Lokathor** » Sun Feb 01, 2015 5:33 pm

If Gilles explains any of this background to Xaxus he will immediately object to the ritual and demand that we break it up. God of Death attacked and chopped up into parts? What an extreme heresy. I will show them the proper rituals instead (which might be totally made up since Xaxus has no Religion skill himself).

OgreBattle · Post by **OgreBattle** » Mon Feb 02, 2015 4:23 am

Flintbeard looks on the beheaded gnome ritual with interest then turns to the henchmen with the task of clearing the tomb of loot.

Dean · Post by **Dean** » Mon Feb 02, 2015 7:50 am

"I can see no possible way this could help us and several possible ways this could go terribly, let us stop this at once."

Atani will say to the men "Stop at once. I am not offended but I am confused. Where exactly did you get the idea to do this from?"

If their answers are even remotely reasonable Atani will still get them to stop at least until they've spoken with the snake and then he will go do exactly that. Also he will ask for the flaming sword back from Tim for the time being and any information he learned on how to operate it.

Ancient History · Post by **Ancient History** » Mon Feb 02, 2015 10:27 am

At Atani's order, the workman leaning in the doorway removes his cap and saunters over. You can see by the small tattoos under his left eye that he's a guildsman and Union representative.

"Ah sirs," he says, "so glad to see that you're back whole and hearty...most of ye. As ye can see we've had one or two small issues here." He nods to the three fellows, who have stopped pumping the corpse and are standing around, shuffling their feet. "It's the statue, innit? Bit of a curse. First couple of boys that tried to move it got religion. Started their own little death cult. Of course, them being my boys, they're dumber than a sack of hammers to begin with, but they've got gusto, aye?" He gives the men in the impromptu hoods and robes a smile, and the bloody-handed cultists beam.

"Now, we've got a good health plan - de-cursing as standard on a tomb job, as a matter of fact - so these lads are likely to be fine once we get 'em back for the archpriest to sort out. But there is the little matter of the bylaws," and here he pats a small book set in his left breast pocket. "Union rules, y'know, on fair practice of religion. Discrimination an' all tha'. So they may be murderous initiates o' a dark god an' all now, but they're still union members, by all the powers of darkness. So until we get back, they've claimed rights to practice." He paused and then added, quietly, "besides, it's only been bleedin' gnomes so far, innit? Not like they're hurtin' people."