"Fascinating." Ry'leh commented, content to observe from a far. That, and the torches they rest of the team were throwing around wouldn't really do him any better given his affinity towards water. "It appears these zombies retain far more of their previous abilities. Far better than the ones we had encountered earlier. Give me a few moments here to compile my observations here... I have a slight theory about these necromanctic byproducts."

busily seeming to do absolutely nothing in some respect, Ry'leh was simply watching the movements of the zombies, they seemed autonomous enough, and thus there would most likely be no controller within an area of effect of reasonable distance manipulating their actions. Thus the first conclusion is to assume whatever wizard created these abominations of life, is already outside a sphere of influence with regards to this encounter. Second, from past encounters with similar state organisms, these are slightly more versatile than their earlier counterparts, if not more resistant to fire as well. Being said, high energy voltage seemed to dispatch them as well. Finally, the nature of the magic driving them is powerful, yet physical damage would seem to be ignored for the most part by their undead nature, thus as they are biologically inert, destruction of the vessel seems to be the best choice. Fire or high voltage for example would do this, however, would it be possible to restore biological dependencies?

"Let's run an experiment, eschewing reasonable controls and proper safety protocols given the situation..."

The rest of the team seemed to be gathering torches, and using them against the zombies, which worked rather well. I guess I should say, everyone but R'lyeh, who I assumed would dry out like clothes on a sunny day if he were to get that close to an open flame. R'lyeh, however, seemed intent on studying the creatures, as they have apparently proven themselves different enough from the ones at the entrance to make him interested. I had no clue what he figured from that, but he seemed to have some sort of answer. The paladin's corpse finally decided to get up, and it cast some sort of weird, dark spell on R'lyeh, though, for some reason, it didn't seem to do much to him, something somewhat cemented by his almost sarcastic-sounding voice as he said "Oh, dear me, it seems I have been slightly injured. Well then, onwards to the science." I was relieved that the spell didn't kill him, or worse just make him into one of them. The zombie goblin thief then tried to attack Backstabs again, only to have her literally backflip over him, steal my torch, and, after having some of the dust cover the thing, light the living corpse on fire... the fire ended up looking more like a bonfire and the zombie shouted something along the lines of "You humans can't have it! Even if it was given...! This is... our... treasure...!" Before it returned to dust. Surprised from all of that, I remember that I didn't have a torch, and the last few were all on the opposite side of the room, or past one of the two other zombies. I couldn't say anything, but I really felt as though I should to SOMETHING, so I head over towards the torch on the opposite side of the treasure room, managing to catch the attention of at least one of the other corpses on my way there. The zombie monk in particular looked as though he wanted to attack me.

Dorisma looked at the remaining zombies to determine who to crush next and found the robed one that looked vaugly like a monk was giving Robert an evil look. Deciding it best that the smaller kobold be the one dealing the hits rather than taking them she promptly engaged, besides perhaps the monk had a trick or two she could learn, though since they were probally controlled by a necromancer it was unlikly they would retain much skill from thier previous lifes. She roared and swung the torch at the zombie but it was still agile enough to move easily out of her way. She would get him with her next swing for sure, besides she was blocking him off from Robert, if the zombie tried to go past her she could attack when he passed her. Dorisma resisted the urge to chuckle as the zombie mage tried shooting a fireball at her but only suceeded in lighting up the cave more.

The zombie mage shot a fireball across the room, which thankfully didn't hit anyone, and the monk seemed to be making it's way towards Robert, who went to grab another torch. Dorisma seemed to be capable of handling the monk, so Trey went for the mage. He used the same spell again, this time doing a bit more damage. The mage had several bits of burning flesh falling off of it, but it was still alive. "One more hit will probably finish this one off." he said.

Upon hearing this, R'lyeh turned to the mage, and began to heal it. Trey was about to stop him, but then the zombie stopped moving and turned to dust. For some reason, the healing magic damaged it. Unfortunately, Trey didn't have any healing magic, so he'd have to rely on fire. He wasn't sure if Robert could, but if that was the case, he'd have a better source of damage than the torches everyone was hitting them with.

Trey was keeping an eye on the two zombies that remained, but neither of them seemed to be coming after him at the moment.

I make it to the torch, only to notice that it was, unfortunately, unlit. I use my lightning magic once again to light the torch, and just like last time, succeed, easily. I then notice R'lyeh somehow hurt the zombie by casting 'cure' on it, not only that, but that finished off the mage for some reason with its last words being "The... treasure... was a gift... for our qu...e...s...t...". R'lyeh said something about his hypothesis being correct, and I thought about using cure magic after I was finished with this torch, however, I was already feeling slightly tired from all this overuse of magic. The paladin tries to cast another one of those anti-cure spells on me in my daze, and I narrowly avoided the spell, only for it to hit the ground right behind me after missing. I then decide to try to attack the paladin with my torch, and somehow manage to hit it, with it screaming in pain, afterwards. Not satisfied with just standing around, Backstabs tried her hand at attacking the paladin, however, apparently, she wasn't as used to the torch, being used to a dagger, instead, and managed to completely miss the paladin. I then wonder what, exactly happened here before we came in, or, rather, before this blight came in and wrecked the place. From the bits of information I gathered from these zombies, I could guess that the goblins here were giving their treasure to the humans, but, obviously, at least one of them was opposed to the idea of giving it up. Backstabs' family might have been firm supporters of giving the treasure away, and thus, were a target for those who believed it should stay in this very room... of course, that didn't make any sense to me, WHY would the goblins give their treasure to invading humans? It just didn't add up.

Deravan looked as another zombie was beaten down. He then quickly grabbed 2 unlit torches. He wanted to go and dual wield them.... to strike the zombies 2 times.... this though didn't happen. On the first torch, the torch stayed unlit... On the second torch... it started to go on fire slightly.... before exploding and getting on Deravan's fur. Suddenly Deravan was on fire, burning.
"AHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!" Deravan then yelled, before running around in circles, before suddenly tackling the zombie paladin, making it fall down on the floor as Deravan run pass him, on fire, yelling from the pain of fire burning his fur, the odor of burnt fur being very.... pronounced in the room. This was ridiculous... he only wanted to use a torch as a weapon, and he instead lit himself up on fire...

Dorisma looked around for another target to smash. It looked like they were all beating up the armored one so naturally Dorisma lumbered over raising her torch for a devastating downward swing, and promptly tripped stumbling to the ground, luckily avoiding hurting herself or anyone else. Dorisma was furious and struggled up from the ground eager to redeem herself by smashing the remaining zombies to paste.

They were down to two zombies now. While everyone else was focusing on the paladin, the monk stumbled over to Robert and took a swing at him. Luckily, the monk was a little off-balance, and the attack ended up going right over his head. Trey tried to set the Monk ablaze, but instead ended up creating a scorch mark on the wall behind it.
"God damn it." Trey said. It seemed like everyone's attacks were missing. Not only that, but he was beginning to fell tired out. He'd probably be able to get one more attack out, but after that he'd have to use a torch like everyone else.

R'lyeh mumbled something and cast some sort of healing magic on the zombie paladin, which seemed to sting, as indicated by the hissing noise it made when the magic hit it. The creature then tried to counter with another shadowy magical spell, which missed R'lyeh by a mile, hitting the leftmost wall when R'lyeh, himself was standing in the center of the room. I then tried to smack the thing with my torch, but unfortunately, the paladin knocked the torch out of my hand before I could do so. It didn't take too long to pick it back up, and in that time, Backstabs ran up, and hit the paladin with the torch, however, she hit the strongest, thickest part of its armor, which, of course, meant that the attack didn't do too much at all. I then considered using a healing spell to attack the zombies when I got a chance next time, however, I then remembered that I'm already almost drained of my magic, and decided against it, even if it was the more effective choice. I then caught a glimpse of Deravan, who somehow caught on fire and ran into the zombie paladin using his own currently burning body as a weapon against our enemies. I decided against laughing, or cheering, as both seemed rather inappropriate considering the fact that Deravan is currently on fire, and we might want to do something about that as soon as we can... of course, throwing this dust on it probably won't help, as the stuff seems to be flammable, at least, if what I've seen of it so far is true. I tried to think of some encouraging words to say to Deravan, but couldn't come up with anything, so I simply stood there, as usual, waiting for the others.

Dorisma once again attempted to smash the puny zombie but it was once again in vain as zombie somehow once again managed to avoid her swing. How something that was already dead was so resistant to returning to its original state was beyond her.

Deravan, who was still on fire, quickly moves, before slowing down, and then grabbing 2 unlit torches. He then used the fire that was on his fur to light them up before. He was trying to stay calm now.... It hurted like heck... but he had to use it to his advantage instead. He then swung both his torches at the zombie monk. His first missed completly, the zombie dodging it somehow. The second hit right on the zombie's arm, damaging it a bit but not that much. So... throwing the torches did more effect then striking with them... that he will start doing more instead... He then cringe in pain from the fire. God dang it... he hope to find water after this or someone can FREAKEN PUT HIM OUT!

Using what was left of his magical energy, Trey lit the monk on fire, doing a decent amount of damage, but not enough to kill it. Now that he couldn't use magic, he'd have to use a torch like everyone else. Now he wouldn't be doing nearly as much damage as he was doing before. It did seem like the two zombies that remained could be finished off pretty quickly, though, so it wasn't that much of a problem.

R'lyeh tried another healing spell on the paladin, however, it managed to move out of the way of the spell just in time, laughing as it did. It then tried to cast another one of those shadowy spells, but this time, it aimed for the zombie monk, which confused me until I saw the zombie monk draw strength from that, as if it healed him... as if the enemy was healing his ally, as a normal, living, paladin would. The monk cheered at the paladin, which gave me a chance to hit the thing with my torch. It almost maneuvered its way out of my attack, but I still got it, and I even managed a pretty good hit on the thing, too. The zombie paladin was so focused on me that it forgot that Backstabs existed for a moment, or, rather, just long enough for her to finish it off with her torch, finally burning the thing to a crisp. As it burned, it managed to utter "Why... would you go against... your leader's... decision, goblin...?" this made it seem as though the village really did give its treasure to the humans, but, that only raised a new question: Why? What would possess a goblin village to give up their treasure, their most valued possession, and to a group of humans, no less? There has to be a good reason for this. Goblins don't just give away their treasure. Maybe they threatened the goblins, or maybe they bribed them... I think as I wonder what could have possibly led to this. Obviously, as seen from the goblin thief from earlier, not everyone agreed to this, and yet, here these humans were, trying to take the treasure that may or may not have been promised to them.

Deravan seeing that only the monk was left, decided to go and throw a torch at it. He felt like it would be better to throw the weapon instead of going and melee attacking in this case. The zombie attempted to dodge, only to slip and then start to fall. Suddenly the torch that was going towards it's chest suddenly hit the zombie's head, striking full force at it, making a large thud as the torch hit, making the zombie scream in pain from this. One thing for sure... that heal the zombie paladin did before had been cancelled partially cause of the attack that he just did... Well that worked well.

Dorsima grinned as one of the zombies finally went down. Unfortantly it looked like the remaining one was raring and ready to go. She turned to the flaming troll and figured that it was probably better to try to extinguish him then then fight the rather healthy, er unhealthy? zombie so instead she blew really hard to try to extinguish the fire but it had no effect.

What a beautiful day, with the sun's rays peeking through the slits of leaves. This village was concealed nice and well within the density of the forest, and sure enough the forest ended up saving my arse. Did I ever tell you about the time I spent two days in the forest to get away from two of my kidnappers? Good times. I wonder what they're doing now, those wankers.

This village was called Birchvale, surrounded by forest and hills. Cabins and shacks littered the place, though for some reason it was pretty easy to remember the path you went on, and signs littered the walls which divided parts of the village. They didn't take too kindly to strangers or orphans, so I didn't any welcoming parties or anything. Some nobles lived here simply because the village was virtually isolated, unknown at times to a majority of most Kobold. I looked like them, but I certainly didn't talk or act the same way they did. For one, I was a compulsive gambler; or, since I have no addiction and know how to play my cards, I was a conman in this village. Guards often patrolled the alleys looking for scum like me, but more often than not there's always a few people willing to bet their lives away for a jackpot or so, hence why I stick around. Even the times where I bet legitimately simply because I liked the other person, they will still lose. Either way, I got money; enough to buy food and maybe some better clothes. I need a house to live in, but an alleyway is cheaper and close to my workplace.

I've run into a few bad people. I've seen things, whether that be my own father beating me and betting me away, to the scum of this village who didn't tell me they were going to mug me. Sometimes, I'd be lucky and able to run. Other times... well, I'd end up with a few bruises. If I was so lucky, I wouldn't be in Birchvale scamming everyone I met. More importantly, I wouldn't even be in Birchvale. I never really for any of this, and I know from watching my own dad betting me away that this'll kill me one day. Argh, life isn't without its ups and downs. I can't keep sweating everything I know, and I just want to make sure I can get some cash together to move to another village. Lately, they've been cracking down on people like me, stepping up on patrols and instantly jailing the poor. Yes, the poor. Nobles don't do too well against a class struggle. Why else would they do that? The only criminals here would be me and a few people in my old gang. It's very unlikely you get jumped, but it does happen; regardless, it's pretty bullshit for them to suddenly start arresting anyone they think acting shifty.

So, here I was, hanging out in the alley, waiting for anyone to come along. If you get into a business, you'll find out quickly there's three types of people: those who look at you funny and walk away, those who're interested but still walk away, and lastly those who genuinely want a transaction. I'm still trying to decide whether I want to continue down this deadly path or just call it quits and become a merchant. At least I could fight back against robbers, and for some reason they always tended to trip or smack their heads against furniture.

Anyway, the same applied here as a conman. Even though I had a good location (near the shady part of an inn), I wouldn't have too many customers. I never had regulars, 'cause they'd constantly get cheated of money. Some of them did in fact get a guard or even tried to attack me, but I just sneered at them while running away. Counting my pack of cards, I was like a magician; they'd fly a bit, they'd get mixed up, and at the end of the day I still amaze myself. My father did teach me a few tricks in gambling, but he was certainly down on his luck when he bet me away. Oh, how unlucky I was... the universe must be compensating now.

I bought a few clothes to make myself stand out more, but I never went over the top. Not only could I barely afford them, but 'a 'noble' walking through an alley? Let's get him!' is actually a common thought that runs through the scum around here. I got a few clothes but nothing fancy, and looked as if I was trying to fit into a party. If I did went to a noble's party, I would definitely look out of place. Either way, the regular tosser didn't seem to notice.

Suddenly, a guard. "Hey, you!" I could notice the gleam of their breastplate in this dark alley. A lantern on the walls of the inn often revealed the danger lurking towards me; if it was shining, it was probably a guard or a bandit and that running was imperative. If it was murky, it was just a homeless dude or even a customer. Either way, he didn't seem too impressed with me, what with my clothing in this alley and the pack of cards in my hand. Almost every guard in this place knew me.

"Relax, it's no one." I said, not even smirking at the guard. "I'm just waitin' for someone, to get drunk with and have a few bets." He was certainly able to through that illusion, and he was walking slowly towards me with his hands on the hilt of his dangling sword. Aye... that didn't work. I wonder what else I can do.

There was only one zombie left now. Trey couldn't do much to it without magic, so instead he focused on his burning teammate. Unfortunately, he'd stopped paying attention to the monk, which resulted in him receiving a punch to the side of the head. It wasn't a strong punch, but it still knocked him to the ground. He was able to get back up, but he could tell that he wouldn't be able to take another hit.

Dorisma seemed to be trying to extinguish the flames by blowing on them, which wasn't working.
"It'll take more than that, Dorisma." Trey said.
He began to flap his wings, which created a gust that was strong enough to put Deravan out.

R'lyeh, muttered something in his native tongue, something that made him sound annoyed, or otherwise mad, as he walked over to the nearest torch, and tried lighting it, however, it didn't work out too well, which was probably better for him, anyways. I noticed Trey get smashed in the beak from that monk, and use my last bit of magic to heal him. Thankfully, I could still rely on damage from my torch, and, just as well, Backstabs seems to have found a weak spot on the zombie... or, rather, a weakER spot on said zombie, as being covered in wounds typically meant being covered in weak spots, but she must have found one that the zombies actually felt as the thing actually surprised me as it, somehow, screamed in pain. Not only did this mean that these creatures, however twisted and controlled they were, could still feel pain... even if that sense is dulled, it was still there. I expected the zombie to burst into flames just like the last ones have, so far, but the flames, instead, were extinguished quickly, leaving a very weakened-looking zombie. I couldn't do anything about it at the moment, as I was still trying to figure out how we'd deal with this problem without our magic, the main source of damage, as far as I knew this thing had a way of restoring its health, much like the paladin did, and if it did that... well, we'd be up a creek, so to speak, as we had no usable magic among the group, JUST as we figured out that the best way of killing them was via an easy to cast 'cure' spell, as odd as that sounded. I honestly hoped that the others wouldn't get mad at me for 'wasting' my magic on healing a 'useless' mage, but somehow, I got the feeling that the zombie was expecting me to cast cure on it... and I'd really rather our new friend not die in this horrid cave, lest he, too, become one of these foul beings.

Deravan, taking his luck on his hands, decide to go and attack with a dual strike. He carefully takes another torch and the lit it up with his other one, before starting ant swinging the first torch at the zombie. The zombie tried to dodge it, but failed, only to get hit in the head by the torch. It didn't do as much damage as Deravan wanted, but it still hurt it a bit. He then tried and strike again the zombie, only for it to move to the side after the first hit. Well at least he didn't miss his first attack. He hoped the others would be able to finish it off.

Dorsima screeched her fury and once again swung viciously at the zombie but once again the foul creature somehow managed to avoid her attack and her torch scraped against the wall instead of zombie flesh. She grunted in anger, these things were more slippery than cave fish and probably not nearly as tasty.