(036) The Remains of the Day

[waysoftheearth]

sulldawga wrote:
Dorgan *gulps* in surprise as he stumbles toward the zombies. They slash and grab at him but he is (barely) able to get his shield between their claws and his exposed throat. A sudden tug-of-war ensues as the zombies try to pull him deeper into their midst and Highbough strains mightily to pull him back.

Both parties are equally matched, and might well still be there contesting possession of the dwarf, except that Dorgan's shield buckles and splinters, exploding off his arm into pieces.

"Not today, ye stinkin' bastards..." the dwarf mumbles, rubbing his neck.

Dorgan will take the opportunity that his free hand presents, switching his axe to the right and pulling free a vial of holy water with his left.

He will then fling the vial at the zombies, praying to the All-Father for lots of splash damage!

[waysoftheearth]

danhem wrote:
Ulric hurries back down the corridor toward his comrades in the second vault. Once he reaches the passage opening he shouts, "This way! The passage is clear!"

If any of the filthy undead are in the clear Ulric will summon the Anthracite Sufferance to burn them back to hell.

OOC: Not sure how much of that I can get done, but we're desperate.

[waysoftheearth]

mushgnome wrote:
Highbough has his oil but waits to see the results of the holy water.

(OOC: In an emergency situation, can a lantern be used as an oil-grenade? Also is this passage open or does it have a door that can be shut?)

[waysoftheearth]

waysoftheearth wrote:

(OOC: In an emergency situation, can a lantern be used as an oil-grenade? Also is this passage open or does it have a door that can be shut?)

Yes, a lantern makes a good incendiary missile [img]images/smiley/smiley.png[/img]

This passage is open; there is no door.

[waysoftheearth]

rleduc wrote:
Guntrum continues to watch the rear, at least while Josiane is chanting. Should she stop, or should Dorgan's mishap open the front rank, he will step in to seal the breach.

[waysoftheearth]

tonneau wrote:
Gustave wipes the sticky bits of corpse juice and flesh from his face with the back of his mailed hand, a look of stunned disbelief, or outraged disgust, or both, on his face. Black bile drips down the front of his shining breast-plate, running between the cracks of the finely embossed metalwork. A filthy fingernail, fringed with grey fleshy bits, clings still to the hilt of his sword. It is all very very smelly indeed.

His eyes harden.

A kind of whining emanates from his strained lips, as he pulls his sword free from the walking corpse with the aid of well placed boot, and brings the blade down again, limb removal very much on his mind.

[waysoftheearth]

heartless wrote:

Ulric hurries back down the corridor toward his comrades in the second vault. Once he reaches the passage opening he shouts, "This way! The passage is clear!"

If any of the filthy undead are in the clear Ulric will summon the Anthracite Sufferance to burn them back to hell.

OOC: Not sure how much of that I can get done, but we're desperate.

Wibert is annoyed the edifice did not help stop the undead.

If Wibert can get a backstab on an undead he will to aid his friends escape, else Wibert will just run down the passage behind Ulric in search of an escape route. "How do we stop them, we need to escape", shouts Wibert.

[waysoftheearth]

waysoftheearth wrote:

Ulric hurries back down the corridor toward his comrades in the second vault. Once he reaches the passage opening he shouts, "This way! The passage is clear!"

If any of the filthy undead are in the clear Ulric will summon the Anthracite Sufferance to burn them back to hell.

OOC: Not sure how much of that I can get done, but we're desperate.

Ulric will be able to make it make to the entrance of the first vault and cast a spell, but the room is a melee. He would risk hitting his fellows with the Anthracite Sufferance.

[waysoftheearth]

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

Guntram keeps watch again, while Josiane continues her chant.

After losing his shield, Dorgan thinks better of tangling with the drooling, twitching, jerking dead again, instead fetching a ceramic flask of Holy water from his belt and flinging it at the offenders as Gustave falls upon them again, hewing and slashing like a Man possessed.

Highbough observes, ready with his lantern and spear in the second rank.

(initiative is rolled: 1d6; Gustave=3, Dorgan=2, Enemy=2)

Gustave lays into them furiously (1d20=17) and deals the nearest abomination a "deterring" blow (2dd=5,5) for 11 hit-points! This being enough to slash off an arm, puncture its gullet and then dash off the upper half of its moldering head. The remainder of the body collapses awkwardly in a jumble of broken limbs and begins to tumble down the stair, underfoot of its (former) fellows.

The adjacent dead-thing grasps at Gustave greedily at he same moment Dorgan lobs his missile.

(2d20; Dorgan=10, Enemy=5)

Gustave fends the leading blow effortlessly with a turn of his armoured shoulder just as a flask flies by and smashes on the monster's fore-head. The contents spill all over the monster, causing a great cloud of hissing vapour to erupt along with a piercing squeal! (2d6=6,2) The things head and upper chest is voraciously dissolved for 8 hit points, and it pitches over the edge of the stair in its frantic flailing, vanishing into the darkness over the lip.

The four monsters remaining on the stair seem to have suffered minimal splash damage from the Holy water.

[waysoftheearth]

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

The refrigerated melee continues. The enemy seem unbeatable; each time these horrors are cut down they rise to fight again.

Ulric re-appears in an open passage way to find the company outnumbered two or three to one, and hails his companions to fall back toward him. With the jerking dead overwhelming the vault, the remainder of the company are only too happy for an option to retreat. Pelenwin and Wibert make a dash into the new passage, while Dieter, Olaf and Desmond/Mondes make a fighting withdrawal -- each fighter now faced with multiple opponents.

(Initiative is rolled: 1d6; Dieter=4+1, 3+1, Olaf=2, 1, Desmond/Mondes=5, Enemy=1)

The hard slogging butchery continues (1d20; Dieter=9,2, Olaf=1!, Desmond=16) Dieter and Desmond make them suffer initially (2dd=6, 1) 8 and (3dd=6,4,4) 9 hit points, respectively. Dieter can't believe his opponent isn't felled by this fierce slash -- but there is a lot that can't be believed in this place. Desmond legs his foe, and it tumbles to the ground, but Olaf trips on an uneven flagstone and scarcely avoids falling over backwards himself.

The enemy presses everyone back by weight of numbers (1d20; versus Dieter=1, 4, versus Olaf=3, 14, Versus Desmond=12, 15, and Olaf makes his own second attack 1d20=9), but their attacks are in the main, slow, awkward, and misdirected. Only Desmond is struck meaningfully for (1dd=1), but even this is a mere scratch for 1 hit point.

Olaf recovers his balance and lands a daring blow for (2dd=3,4) 6 hit points as he scurries away, but even this doesn't drop the enemy!

Everyone is now either in, or at the entry of, Ulric's passage. It is only 5 or 6ft wide, and probably only wide enough for one abreast.

Pelenwin and Wibert are already into the cold passage. The others can (hastily) determine who goes in which order.