(036) The Remains of the Day

[waysoftheearth]

heartless wrote:

The Second Vault
(Dieter, Olaf, Pelenwin, Desmond/Mondes, Wibert, Ulric)

In the second vault it is sheer mayhem!
...
A few scant yards away, Wibert hastily investigates the edifice. It is a strange thing indeed... a semi-sphere of stone carved in the vague likeness of a man-shape, and with an inset depression which would exactly accommodate a man within the stone. It looks... almost comfortable. Wibert doesn't find any secret door by which to escape, but he does notice a series of fine channels in the man-shaped depression in the stone, which appear to culminate in a finger-width hole at the bottom of each heel. These open into a rim-like bowl at the front base of the edifice, which also has a hole in its bottom. This appears to go straight down into the floor...

What now?

Does it look like to Wibert a person could stand in side the edifice?

"This edifice must do something. What the hell..." says Wibert . He will poke his dagger in the holes and see what happens. If nothing happens he will pour some water down the finger-width holes in the hope it does something to aid their desperate situation. Wibert will also examine the floor around the hole at the base of the edifice.

[waysoftheearth]

waysoftheearth wrote:
The First Vault
(Dorgan, Gustave, Highbough, Guntram, Josiane)

Guntram keeps an eye on the way back, while Josiane continues her chant. She tries to edge forward slowly, maintaining the mantra, but the narrow passage is blocked by her fellows.

The dead are twitching, snarling and itching to get at Dorgan and Gustave, but seemingly held off by the clear, true ring of Josiane's prayer.

Gustave (whose reach is longer than Dorgan's) lunges at the enemy with his bright sword (1d20=14) puncturing the nearest through the chest (2dd=1,2), a blow that would surely drop a man (4 hit points) but only annoys the monster, which snatches the hilt of the blade and draws him nearer to riposte (1d20=19) with a ferocious head-butt (1dd=4) that smashes into Gustave's face as a mace-blow for 4 hit points (unless he sacrifices his shield).

Simultaneously, Dorgan purposes himself with delivering another taste of his axe (1d20=1!) but as he steps forth he almost trips over the edge of the top stair and only succeeds in stumbling forward several steps -- right into reach of the foul enemy! The front-most pair of these happily accept the dwarfish morsel and immediately attack (2d20=16, 4) and poor Dorgan suffers a serious clawing (1dd=3) for 3 hit points (unless he sacrifices his shield) before Highbough pulls him back out of their scrambling reach.


The remains blocked by six undead.

What now?

[waysoftheearth]

waysoftheearth wrote:
The Second Vault
(Ulric)

OOC: I missed the last round it seems. Apologies.

Let us say it took Ulric a full round to head down the passage he explored, and another to return back to the Second Vault.

I could always lob a fireball down the zombie-choked passage. [img]images/smiley/eyesroll.png[/img]

A plausible stratagem.

[waysoftheearth]

waysoftheearth wrote:
The Second Vault
(Wibert)

Does it look like to Wibert a person could stand in side the edifice?

The face of the edifice is positioned at about 45 degrees to upright, so if a person were to "lay" in the cavity, they would be resting half way between horizontal and vertical. So neither "standing" nor "laying".

[waysoftheearth]

doctorx wrote:

Josiane will take a moment to locate her oil and set it to one side in plain sight (praying fervently to her White Lady that no-one kicks it into the pit) before attempting to restart the Soliloquy.

Josiane keeps chanting her holy mantra...

[waysoftheearth]

waysoftheearth wrote:
The Second Vault
(Dieter, Olaf, Pelenwin, Desmond/Mondes, Wibert, Ulric)

The mayhem in the second vault continues unabated.

Our heroes are forced back by the sheer weight of the enemy pressing forward; and their absolute indifference to the wounds dealt them.

Pelenwin falls back, although there is little space left to retreat into, fighting defensively now to save his life.

Dieter, Olaf, and Desmond/Mondes continue to fight offensively, though now they face two enemy apiece, while others still come!

Wibert continues to fidget with the edifice, while Ulric nips down the second passage in search of an escape route...

Initiative is rolled (1d6; Dieter=4+1, 2+1, Olaf=6, 6, Desmond/Mondes=4, the enemy=3), and Olaf immediately hew into the enemy (2d20=14,4) hacking off a gruesome head at one fell swoop (2dd=4,4 for 10 hit points!) so that the body drops like a sack of potatoes.

Dieter (2d20=14,3) likewise hacks and slashes, and almost bisects one of the enemy with a heavy blow for (2dd=3,3) 8 hit points.

Desmond/Mondes plies Mads' Cold Iron Axe double handed (1d20=9) and catches one of them (3dd=6,5,1) a very nasty horizontal chop 7 hit points to the hip, hacking off a leg at the hip and dropping it.

But the horde seems in-exhaustible, and more walking corpses keeping coming! Dieter, Olaf, Desmond/Mondes and Pelenwin too are beset! A multitude of blows hammer down upon them (8d20=10, 7, 1, 11, 6, 14, 4, 4), but in the furious swinging and hacking and gnashing only Mondes is hurt (1dd=3) suffering a cruel slash across his face for 3 hit points.

(4d6) All the four monsters that were dropped last round jerk and twitch and begin to arise!

Gods! There must be a dozen of them in the vault already, and more yet in the passage.

[waysoftheearth]

waysoftheearth wrote:
The Second Vault
(Wibert)

This will be the last "free" round before Wibert is attacked (unless he flees).

Scant yards from the awful melee, Wibert pokes and prods at the mysterious stone edifice. The holes are only finger width, and he can't find anything in them with his dagger. Hastily pouring a splash of water into the cavity reveals that it runs down the channels, toward the heels, then is funneled into the "bowl" that makes up the rim of the dais upon which the edifice sits, and then gurgles down the bowl's sink hole and vanishes down into the floor.

[waysoftheearth]

waysoftheearth wrote:
A Passage Off the Second Vault
(Ulric)

Ulric hastily leaves the second vault (which seems a wise course as it is being overrun by walking corpses) and explores the only other passage he can safely reach. It looks doubtful that he will be able to safely re-enter the second vault upon his return.

The passage is dark, narrow and cold, but he presses on. Some 50 or so feet down the passage he spies an opening, and pursuing this he approaches near enough to cast his light into another vault, not dissimilar in size to the one which the others are presently engaged in. It does not appear (immediately) to be occupied.

[waysoftheearth]

mushgnome wrote:
"Chop their heads off!" suggests the ever-helpful Highbough.

[waysoftheearth]

eris wrote:
Olaf keeps fighting shouting, "Stay together, don't let them break our line!"

OOC: It's looking more and more grim, isn't it? It reminds me of the old joke, the punch line of which is "Shoot up here among'st us, somebody has got to get some relief!"