[IC] Beginner's DnD 5e Game - Group 2

[Ms Ravenwinter]

Yvah turns, back to the wall, hands flexing in readiness as she held a combat stance, only to watch the ooze get finally cut down. One hand clenched to a fist, pumping it inward as a victorious gesture. "Alright, Lex!" she cheered from the side with her usual bright beam. The adventure seemed to be turning out much less dire, she thought. She started to walk over toward the felled creature, subtly mimicking the way her friend Daisy would always skip about. "Okay, time to pull Daze out of the goop and on we go!"

But soon she started to notice, and the skip in her step faltered. Daisy wasn't moving. The sludge had collapsed, losing its vacuum grip on the tiefling's body. And yet, no struggle. Just face down in the acid. "D-daisy?" said Yvah, feeling her heart suddenly plummet in anxiety.

She rushed over, wasting no time in pulling the girl out from the danger. Still nothing. Turning Daisy over, Yvah knelt down beside her. The face was burned badly, emerald skin turned to a sickening ashen and brown color. "Oh," she muttered, but then laughed. It was a tiny utterance, dread suddenly driving her to denial. "Heheh, good one, Daze," she tried to put her smile back on, "What a nice little trick..."

Not moving.

Not breathing.

Yvah started to shake her friend. All she wanted was to be startled, watch the grotesque illusion fade as Daisy would shout, and she could hear that intoxicating laugh again. But it never came.

[Mistiel]

Ceria was stunned as the cube collapsed and Daisy remained, quite literally smoking. Ceria thought back to only minutes before when she had grabbed the effervescent tiefling's arm to warn her about staying with the group. Daisy's last words to her rang hollow in her pointed ears and made her head swim: " "I'm not a child anymore. I've done this before, and there was no real threat until now, and no guarantee of one still. Risk is part of life! How else does one make a name for themselves?"

The elf numbly walked over to the tiefling and sank to her knees. She knew of no remedy for the other woman as tears slid freely down her face. Just as the tiefling's rigor mortis was starting, she whispered: "That's why I said don't go so far ahead. I'll miss you Daisy. Atra du evarínya ono varda, fricai" (May the stars watch over you, friend.) When the tiefling's chest gave a final heave and lay still, the elf slowly stood up, staring blankly ahead, knuckles white from clenching the bow so hard. Chip, sensing his friend's sorrow, appeared from her pack and scampered down to cuddle up on Daisy's body.

Ceria Verkorcoran ran. She ran back the way they had come, not giving a literal rat's ass about the hole in the wall. Not caring if she ran into more fish people. There had been too much loss for the still-young elf this day. She could no longer cope with it all.

Though it took her time, she ran all the way up the up the stairs, through the cathedral and back through town toward the inn, unable to look at the stupid anti-elvish slur over the door. The door was open though, warm light spilling across the ground. Ceria hardly noticed that it was nighttime, barely even registered the bawdy singing and nightly festivities from inside the tavern. She had run for nearly half an hour, chest heaving, eyes red and wet brimming with brine.

She passed a random drunk outside on the street too drunk to notice his surroundings and she snatched up his half-finished beer tankard without him even stirring. The hard liquor was down her gullet a split second later as she tossed the mug aside with a thunderous crash into the side of a building across from the tavern.

The elf, with a cold, blind rage in her eyes, nocked an arrow from her remaining quiver of thirteen and sent that thirteenth arrow flying at the first living, non-human thing she saw: some sort of livestock wandering in the street (Atk: 15 / Dmg: 10 )

She left whatever it was in pain and ran around behind the inn. Sinking to the ground, the tears fell fast and loose and she absolutely bawled, whimpering and sobbing into her arms which were folded across her knees now. Her bow lay on the ground next to her, her quiver with the remaining twelve arrows pressing roughly into her back. All of these details were lost as the elf cried, and cried, and cried some more. First Arthera left her for petty reasons, and now Daisy, the life of their little group, had suddenly just died out of the blue. Ceria couldn't believe it. What the hell was the purpose of being in a party the size of theirs if people still died? She'd almost died herself today because of that stupid dodgy drake. Her world was in shambles. Worst. Day. Ever.

[corneredbliss]

As the excitement subsided and the reality of the situation began to sink in with Yvah's shaking of the body, Araerys had no words. She stared at the scene, at her new friend, wanting to look away but willing herself to keep her gaze steady out of respect. There was no doubt about it; their tiefling companion was dead. The acid of the cube had burned the green girl's face into something unrecognizable, and it seemed the group knew nothing could be done to fix this nightmare. Blame could be pointed at the gelatin monstrosity, or even at themselves for being too late to save her. But it did not change the fact that what lay in Yvah's grasp was a corpse.

Ary felt a few tears bubbling into her eyes, pushing for which would win and fall first onto her skin as Ceria stood from beside the feline and escaped the tunnel the way they had come. The bard watched but didn't do anything to stop her, knowing she would be useless in trying to cope with her guilt and grief in tandem with consoling the reckless fullbreed. She searched her mind for something appropriate to say to the remaining party, having not known Daisy as long as they have but still wanting offer her condolences. Araerys came up empty and so kept quiet, allowing the hot droplets to roll freely down her cheeks.

[Oraculum]

Ulor had not the time to unleash another blast before the monstrous ooze collapsed under the paladin's blows, spreading its foul ichor over the tunnel's floor. It seemed as though the creature, though seemingly subterranean or at least liable to being encountered in deep, dark tunnels such as these, had found itself more cramped and exposed by its large size than it had benefited from it. Then again, to do it justice, it had probably not expected to encounter a large and armed group such as theirs, and besides, despite it being so outmatched, its attack had nonetheless proved effective enough. Indeed, the tiefling did not seem to be moving even after being freed from her viscous prison. Could it be that it-?

Beckoning for the octopus to join him, Ulor approached the green and malodorous form. He paused as first the feline, and then the elf bent and spoke over what was by now quite clearly a corpse, then moved a few steps closer and, wincing with one eye as he reclined his head to one side and scratched his chin pensively. Truly, the gelatinous entity's corrosive abilities were prodigious. In so little time, it had managed to potently burn what was not even, all things considered, normal skin. Now that he thought of it, the body did reek of the vegetables that had been a little too close to the fire he had eaten, day after day, in his youth. Not enough to be as appetizing, fortunately, but the resemblance was striking.

"Regrettable, but-" he thought better of it and did not finish the sentence. People grieving over bodies tended to react badly if stirred, appropriate though it might have been not to linger for long where they were. The fact that now was just such a case did not, as by the unspoken rule, appear to concern them. The ooze was destroyed, but, if such beings did indeed crawl out of the walls with little warning, they would have done better to prepare in the event that more should appear. Not to mention that there still was much to see. Ulor exchanged a mildly annoyed glance with the octopus, who, however, did not seem to be quite as impatient, and began to quietly rap his fingers upon his staff. Hopefully, the usual rituals would not take much longer.

[Ms Ravenwinter]

So that was it. Two years of laughs. Two years of songs. Two years of tears. Two years of friendship. All snuffed out in a single moment.

Yvah was trembling, all strength sapped from her in this turmoil. But she had to gather herself. Her knees nearly buckled as she struggled to stand, Daisy's body being laid in front of her. Breathing was chaotic and unstill. Her eyes couldn't tear away from her friend for longer than a moment as she stood and battled with herself internally. Eventually, she turned to the group, her face donning a smile like a shattered mask of comedy drenched in the tears of tragedy. "Hey guys," her voice was dripping with a painful facsimile of life and joy, "Just keep your spirits up, we have to..." her words broke into a gentle sob, "Have to... keep going, yeah? Yeah."

Before the party could see her like this for much longer, she turned away, glancing only sidelong at Araerys, before passing by over the bridge to press on. She shambled into the next room, looking about with tear-stricken eyes. A familiar sight was before her. Another tank. Two coffins flanked it on either side of the room, and no exit made itself known. As Yvah stepped into the room, the tank started to thud insistently as a small voice seemed to supernaturally fill the entire room. "Hey, out there," the voice of a girl perhaps half Yvah's own age boomed with a magical presence, "Owie, can you let me out?"

[JBRam2002]

Eilina hadn't known the tiefling long (barely even could remember her name... some sort of flower?), and so she largely stood awkwardly silent as the others mourned. The elven ranger pushed past in her grief, and Eilina did nothing to stop her. It was a cowardly thing to do: running away when faced with mortality, but the gnome had more important things on her mind. Soon after, Lex the Paladin stated that he would go upstairs and keep watch in case Ceria returned, and also left. The party was quickly dwindling.

It was only after the feline kurjian mentioned that they should move on that Eilina stepped past the crumpled body on the floor, not wanting to look at it. She hadn't the stomach for that sort of thing, and Yvah's short eulogy already had gotten her slightly teary-eyed. Instead, she sniffed and wiped away the tears that threatened to spill from her eyes, composing herself for the next room.

Current Map

In the northeast corner of the tiny room was a tank with a young humanoid girl, barely taller than Eilina. The gnome wondered if the spell that the girl used to enhance her voice hurt her ears any, and winced in empathy. Next to that tank was a coffin, and another tank and coffin on the opposing wall. The tank opposite was empty, but still filled with the same liquids. Perhaps it was in preparation of another victim?

Worse, it seemed like they had reached a dead end. "I'm sure we're missing something," Eilina said quietly. "Maybe they hid a clue inside the coffins? I don't think we should open them until everyone is ready... and maybe after we save the poor girl."

[corneredbliss]

Araerys knew how hard it must have been for Yvah to paint that broken smile on her face. She knew the delicate balance of composure could be shattered by any touch or show of affection meant in support. And it took every ounce of willpower in the half-breed not to walk over and simply envelop the girl in an embrace, urge her to take whatever time she needed to grieve... Imagine? Losing a close friend like that, especially after the episode she'd just had in the cathedral. Empathy was a weakness that the bard was usually in control of, but at the moment, she was drenched in the kurjian's sorrow.

So when she caught Yvah's sidelong glance, Ary followed the girl like a magnet into the room across the bridge. She entered at the tail end of the omnipresent voice's sentence, taking in the tanks and the coffins, the humanoid girl who'd spoken, and most importantly, the dead end. Before any of the rest of the group came inside, Araerys reached out, gently wrapped her fingers around the feline's wrist, and briefly squeezed. She waited a beat, then released it, cleared her throat a little, and murmured, "Time fer more lockpickin', I think..."

As Ellina entered behind them, Ary wiped her cheeks free of any lingering tears as she more closely examined their surroundings - namely, the coffins. They seemed to be made of some sort of stone, though what, she really couldn't make out. They looked valuable, but way too heavy to move. It was a really strange place for them to be; coupled with the fact that she knew these things were not above keeping living creatures in water tanks, Araerys was fairly certain whatever these stone caskets held were going to be bad news. Even worse was the fact that they seemed to have no layer of dust on them, meaning they were probably handled in some way, and recently.

She shivered slightly at the many possible meanings that held, and said, "I don't know... I've got a weird feelin' abou' them."

Spoopy coffins, mebbe?

6 Investigation tells Ary that:
1) the coffins might be stone? maybe marble?
2) probably valuable, too heavy to move.
3) the lids have no dust on them.

[Ms Ravenwinter]

At the squeeze of her hand, Yvah's ears folded down weakly. She tried her best to keep a sunny composure as always, but the gentle acknowledgement from the bard beside her caused her to briefly falter. Sighing this away, Yvah made her way to the tank. Back to business.

The proximity to the wall was helpful, as she exerted less effort kicking herself off the wall and onto the tank than in simply hoisting herself up from the edge. It was perhaps an unecessary flourish, but she was in place swiftly. With pick in hand, she started to work on the lock. Her fingers shook, making the work difficult, but she knew this lock well enough now after coercing its twins to cooperate that soon the latch popped open.

>14 to pick the lock, made to 20 after Advantage from familiarity.

[corneredbliss]

"By the Raven's feathers, if someone doesn't get me out of here soon, I'll scream! You hear how loud I am now? Just wait!"

The loud - and very sudden - proclamation jolted the bard from her thoughts, urging Araerys to peel her attention away from the caskets to Yvah and the girl in the tank. A bit miffed at having jumped so easily from paranoia, she called back to her, "Don' get yer panties twisted, now! Be patient, lest we up an' leave ya in there!"

She seemed to have been freed thanks to the kurjian's skill, but still needed to be lifted out of the tank somehow. The cat looked to be starting the process of attempting to heave the stranger up and out of the chamber, but was having some difficulty; and so Ary moved to help her, only to realize that the one way she would be able to give aid was to step onto the unnecessarily spooky coffin for the added height.

Frowning slightly, she gave the thing one last suspicious look before carefully climbing on top of it. She straightened up slowly, as if expecting at any moment to be thrown off by whatever might be beneath its cover. When nothing came, she exhaled with some annoyance and positioned herself to help Yvah lift the girl out. "One, two, three-!" Together, the two females succeeded in carrying what looked to be a young, humanoid girl up and out of the chamber and onto the ground.

Now with wet arms from the endeavor, the half-elf hopped down from the coffin and turned to take a good look at her. She looked to be just a wee babe of a person, and could easily appear to be harmless - but the previous booming demands suggested there was something more to the lass. Throwing back whatever hair had fallen into her face, she furrowed her brows together and placed her hands on her hips, assuming the air of what could only be described as a reprimanding mother. "What's yer name, girl?" she asked, slightly out of breath from the exercise.

We lift, kind of.

Yvah rolls 15 for Athletics to pull girlie out with Ary's help.

[Ermine]

When she was finally helped out of the tank after what seemed like hours of this group doing their thing in this room, Peony was hoisted out of the tank, momentarily reminded of the last time she was picked up by either of her parents. That was about a decade ago, though, before their business picked up, so it wasn't particularly nostalgic; it was the same as if she'd randomly imagined a unicorn prancing by...which she had done earlier. She hadn't had a lot of other entertainment at all.

When she was finally out of the tank and on her feet again, she looked around at the group skeptically. "And would any of you happen to have a spell or something to dry me off? Or at least some clean clothes? Or better yet, have you seen my equipment? If you have, give it to me. Or let me borrow some." She shivered a little, but readied herself for a fight if these were just looters or slavers. Obviously wouldn't be the first time she was kidnapped.

[Oraculum]

At long last, the rest of the party had decided to put an end to its untimely vigil, and, much to Ulor's satisfaction, move on to the further end of the corridor. He briefly nodded as Lex trampled by upstairs, then hobbled eastwards. On the bridge, he paused to cast a glance at the water flowing below. The octopus eyed it inquiringly, but he shook his head, both inwardly and outwardly. There was no telling what might have been lurking down there, and to stir it while standing on that bridge - and swimming under it - without anyone more robust that could have been put in the way was more than even he was willing to risk. One of the comparatively few things he had learnt over the years that were actually useful in practice was that it was better to leave the parts of a cavern, dungeon or suchlike that seemed the least safe last. If he was correct in his guess, there was a good chance to lose something he would have needed elsewhere. If not, well, it was a relief.

Someone's unfamiliar voice loudly called from the east, and Ulor continued on his shuffling way through the tunnel until he reached the chamber at its end. It was small and already rather tightly packed, leaving him to stand outside and try to peer over everyone's shoulders. Or, well, face the matter more creatively. He motioned for the octopus to float over head and under ceiling, extending and contracting its way above the group. All the while, he projected his sight through its eyes, conveyed by the aether of thought. From overhead, he could see two more of the seawater-filled (it seemed to be seawater this time as well, and besides, why would it be anything else?) tanks, one of which had just been relieved of its less liquid contents. A human, this time. Loud, but not large. There seemed to be a pattern of the people having been put to marinate being shorter than the human norm. Curious indeed.

Besides the tanks, there were two oddly placed coffins in the chamber. Now, while it was by no means uncommon to find tombs and sepulchres under a church or cathedral, the uses this one had been put to suggested that the coffins, as well, could very well have served some ulterior purpose besides honourable interment. Hovering over the one, then the other, the octopus turned its body downwards, it dull and rather short-sighted - like master, like familiar, after all - eyes sweeping over the stone lids. Thus seen, there did not appear to be anything odd about them. They must have been leftovers from the time some major religious order had occupied the building. With this having been seen to, there was not much else worth a glance, but Ulor let the octopus remain hanging where it was, in case something transpired that needed seeing. Or, which would have been better, hearing.

Nothing to see here. Circulate, circulate...

A 6 in Investigation doesn't give Ulor much insight into whether the coffins might have been put to strange uses.

[LovelyAnastasia]

Solglia frowned softly, realizing with the elf that ran away, that the littlest of their rag tag group was no more. Taking her pendant into the palm of her hand, she praised the AllFather for letting the little one die with honor in battle. "May ye look to her with kindness, guide her through the heavy mountains and into the purest summer lands," she whispered softly, dark curls glimmering with warmth, "Let her soul march with the Warriors into your guiding arms and may no harm she ever suffer again."

The she-dwarf's whispers were oddly melodic with her husky voice, as if she could sing these words. Everyone started to wander and drift away. No one tended to the little one's shell of a body. Should...she do something? Perhaps someone who was less attached to the sweet little thing should take care of her last rites then? Or the little body could be put entirely into the acidic goo to completely dissolve and her spirit be relieved of any worldly mortal connections. It could work the same as purifying fire.

Lifting the little body and putting into the goo, the she-dwarf held up her holy symbol and murmured prayers over the little body. Tonight she would sing a farewell song to the spirit as it passed through the veil. But for now, life for the living trudged on. With a nod, she trudged towards the room with the others in it.

"A person is checking the coffins fer things, aye?" She asked a bit louder than her usual speaking voice.

[JBRam2002]

As Solglia approached, Eilina briefly stopped her. "That was beautiful," she whispered to the dwarf. "I don't know if they'll say it, but thanks." The gnome gave her a smile before turning back to the others.

The pounding of footsteps on the coffin at first seemed normal, as one might expect from standing on a mostly-hollow structure. But as the girl was lifted out of the tank, the noise grew, even while none moved across its surface. The lid for coffin on the far side of the room began to shudder slightly, then both lids burst upwards as a pair of skeletons arose from the coffins, throwing the monk and bard to the side as the lid crashed down on them. Inside one of the coffins was Peony's gear, but it was currently guarded by a very angry-looking skeleton. The other coffin held a few various objects, but the threat of the axe-wielding bony enemy made careful observation a bit hazardous.

>Roll for Initiative!

>I need Dex Saves from @Ermine, @corneredbliss, and @Ms Ravenwinter to avoid damage from the crushing force of the coffin lid.

[JBRam2002]

Current Battle Map
Initiative!

20. Octy - @Oraculum
16. Ary - @corneredbliss
16. Solglia - @LovelyAnastasia
14. Yvah - @Ms Ravenwinter
10. Eilina - @JBRam2002
9. Fast Skelly
8. Angry Skelly
7. Peony - @Ermine
6. Ulor - @Oraculum

@Oraculum - As the skeleton leaps forth from its tomb, the octopus rapidly veered aside, sweeping wide of the undead creature's reach. Clinging close to the corner of the corridor's northern wall, and indeed almost flowing over it, it slides out of the chamber, rapidly propelling itself through the air to bring itself before its master. [Octy has learned its lesson from the fight in the marketplace and Disengages before moving away from the skeleton, flying to the spot between Eilina and Ulor.]

@corneredbliss - Ary, frustrated because she predicted these coffins held something sinister, sort of growled as she recollected herself from the floor after contact with the fallen lid. She took a few steps back until she was just at the edge of the entrance to the room while simultaneously hissing her spell at the skeleton to her left. Whatever the effect, she shouted out to the party, "Someone hit it!" [Araerys casts Dissonant Whispers on the skelly between her, Yvah, and Peony. 8 psy dmg. The skeleton passes his Wis save for half damage.]

@LovelyAnastasia - Solglia grunts with a short nod when her rites are called beautiful but then flinches when bones come to life in their own coffins. She grumbles something about reckless blind wand wrings being too much like her own troubles, and lifts up her war hammer. People were brought down by the bag of bones so she doesn't have to worry about hitting anyone. "This One really has been wanting to hit something... Praise AllFather for this gift!" The she-dwarf lets a smile slip over her mouth and looks right at the bonezo who has too much gear. She swings... And it misses. The bonezo is too fast! Fine! She focuses on the one with the new person's things and takes out her holy symbol. If anyone can, Moradin can. So she calls on the GreatHammer to place his strength into a weapon of his spirit, the divine magic glowing in the darkness. Her God answered her call, his form shifted into that of a far more impressive foraging hammer than her own war hammer. It drove through the air and focused on the hissing mad skellator who stood in his own coffin. The AllFather did not miss.

@Ms Ravenwinter - As Yvah slipped around the falling coffin lid, she found herself unable to maneuver in such cramped quarters. Looking for a way through, she swung her staff in the skeletal man's direction, followed by a swift jab of her foot. Wood and heel both caught air as the undead swooped around each strike.

@JBRam2002 - Eilina stepped forward, barely able to see the enemies. "Draw them out here!" she called out before sending a handful of arcane bolts of energy forward, blasting the angry skeleton for 11 damage.

The fast skeleton, after dodging the monk's attacks, retaliated with a stab from its short sword, hitting Yvah for 8 damage.

The angry skeleton flew into a rage, slamming its hammer into Solglia in retaliation, dealing 9 damage as it roared.

@Ermine - Peony makes a mad dash for her sword, wanting to dispatch the skeleton as quickly as possible and keep it from attacking anyone else, despite her own defenselessness at the moment. She picks up her longsword and runs the blade through her clenched hand, and where her blood touches the blade, flames erupt. She chants a quick prayer that sends electricity into it as well, before swinging it at the skeleton guarding it. [So...it appears she's right by this skeleton, but free action to pick up the sword, swift for rite of flame, action for booming blade to keep it where it is for now. In her haste, the blade swings wide.]

@Oraculum - Made aware of the sudden appearance of the skeletal assailants by the octopus's hasty retreat and the surge of fearful thought that came with it before even the party's calls and rush to arms, Ulor craned his neck, squinting to glimpse the nearest undead creature from behind both the gnome and the corner. Immediately, he intoned a litany of discordant, cacophonic sussurrations which wound their way through the air like a toxic miasma. [Ulor casts Dissonant Whispers at the angry skeleton, dealing 16 damage.]

@Oraculum - Seeing its master's spell rattle the creature's skull, the octopus, emboldened, though still cautious, retraced its winding way through the air, flowing over the gnome's head and slipping into the chamber. As it hovered under the ceiling, it contracted its gelatinous body and spun in an odd way, weakly though determinedly sending some drops of ink flying at the skeleton. All the while, it seemed to wave its tentacles in the dwarf's direction, as if inciting her to strike. [Octy Helps Solglia (@LovelyAnastasia) for her next attack against the skeleton, hopefully distracting it - however that would work - with an ink drizzle.]

@corneredbliss - After noting the skeleton had no reaction to her spell, she finally drew her rapier from its sheath for the first time since joining the group and yelled at the rest of the party: "The gnome's right! It's too crowded in this damned room!" Ary, assuming a stance proper to the blade, darted forward and jabbed at the one still caught between the three of them. Whether or not it made contact, she jumped back and, keeping her eyes on the monstrosity, called to Yvah, "Try once more! Chances are you'll definitely hit it this time!" She was inching back toward the doorway where Solglia stood, but did not exit yet, realizing her spells were few and her rapier could only reach so far. [Ary jabs at skelly with her rapier (12 attack, missed), then casts Bardic Inspiration on Yvah.]

@LovelyAnastasia - Solglia grunted with each near miss her fellows flew at the too fast bag of bones. Octosquad, nearly on the ceiling, seemed to try and distract the hissing guardian of darkness that was her own target. Picking up her warhammer she grinned at the angry creature, paying little attention to the quick target everyone else focused on. "I hear bone dust can be useful for spells," she growled in her guttural Dwarven language, "How about a little harvest then?" With a gnash of her teeth the war cleric wondered a bit why the boney creatures didn't attack. Not that it mattered to her. The undead did not belong in this realm. She had no qualms about sending it straight back to the afterlife.

Solglia grunted with each near miss her fellows flew at the too fast bag of bones. Octosquad, nearly on the ceiling, seemed to try and distract the hissing guardian of darkness that was her own target. Picking up her warhammer she grinned at the angry creature, paying little attention to the quick target everyone else focused on. "I hear bone dust can be useful for spells," she growled in her guttural Dwarven language, "How about a little harvest then?" With a gnash of her teeth the war cleric wondered a bit why the boney creatures didn't attack. Not that it mattered to her. The undead did not belong in this realm. She had no qualms about sending it straight back to the afterlife. Of course not even The Hammer of Moradin was making a hit on these things. Both she and the Spiritual Weapon failed. What in Dacorian's pits was going on?

@Ms Ravenwinter - Yvah gathered her bearings from the previously dodged strikes which had nearly put her off balance. With a calm exhalation, she summoned the presence of mind and body to set upon the skeletal automaton with a flurry. A decisive swing of her staff hooked under the thing's ribcage. The blow was deftly parried, but her strike held true as Araerys's honeyed words sang into her ear. The strike blew through its defense and shattered several bones on its way up.

As the the thing recoiled, Yvah drew her weapon back and shifted her weight into a vicious kick in the same motion. With a resounding crack of bone, her heel impacted the skull, sending it flying backward and bouncing off the shimmering spectral hammer at its flank.

Using her surge of energy, Yvah bounded backward around the tank. Another forward strike with her heel was leveled against the furious skeleton. The impact splintered its shoulder with a small shower of bristled bones. Immune to pain, the creature seemed to shrug off the blow, but its rage burned brighter. [Yvah bounces off that last kick into the nearest unoccupied space.]

@JBRam2002 - Seeing that the skeletons weren't going to be coming out any time soon, Eilina carefully slipped past Yvah and Solglia, making sure the dwarf blocked any potential attacks from the remaining skeleton. [Eilina uses Disengage and moves forward to get a clear shot.]

The angry skeleton held its hammer aloft and laughed at the pitiful attempts against it, but its reckless swing not only left him open for a counter attack, but failed to connect with anyone, harmlessly bouncing off Solglia's protective armor. [Any attack rolls vs Angry Skeleton have advantage until his turn!]

@Ermine - Peony roars at the skeleton, and repeats her previous action: casting Booming Blade through her flaming sword, although it required moving closer to the other skeleton, although doing so from the stairs wasn't exactly easy. [Hits for 11 damage, slashing is resisted]

@Oraculum - From what little Ulor could see beyond the room's corner, the skeleton - the last remaining one, if the motions of the rest of the group were any indication - had exposed itself in a rather reckless strike. This afforded an excellent window of opportunity to land his own blow, one that would have been even better had everyone not apparently decided to fill the corridor between him and the creature. Bending forward in a manner that almost made him appear hunchbacked and contorting his face into a startling grimace, Ulor spent some brief moments lining up his hand to the visible parts of the skeleton, then abruptly thrust it forward, wraithly energy crackling in a stream from his fingers. [Ulor's attack misses its target, instead striking Peony @Ermine for 1 damage!]

@Oraculum - It seemed that Ulor's blast striking not its intended target, but someone who was fairly clearly not a hammer-wielding skeleton had somewhat displeased the octopus. Deftly slinnking away from its place near the dwarf and viscously brushing the heads of those it passed in the corridor, it hovered in circles above its master, pulsing in a way that might have vaguely reminded one of a goblin cursing at an unruly device of their construction (though, fortunately, it was nowhere as loud as that). However, it did not seem very eager to return to the forefront and engage the undead itself, and, despite its flailing, continued to slightly edge further from where it had come. [Octy Disengages again to move away from the skeleton.]

@corneredbliss - Araerys then turned her attention to the remaining skeleton, and, being a bit further from it than the one she'd been sparring with, repeated her unpleasant melody for it. [Ary casts Dissonant Whispers on remaining skelly for 9 damage, defeating it.]

A guttural “yeh!” of victory flew from the bard’s lips as her words proved true, their bony acquaintance toppling from Yvah’s blows. A renewed surge of adrenaline burst through her and she whipped around to their final adversary, who was still swinging the damned hammer at the rest of her party. “Enough!” Araerys barked, her eyes squinting in focus on the skeleton. Once it was locked in her gaze, her lips parted once again, this time emitting a series of jarring, discordant notes that only the fleshless corpse could hear. Immediately the melody took hold of its figure, the pain from its psyche apparent in the way it suddenly began shaking and jerking about. The motions added to its already demonic presence, becoming faster and harsher in its intensity until the bones themselves seemed to be vibrating violently. Finally the thing let out an agonized howl as cracks began to rapidly form along its chalky structure, which tumbled backwards from lack of balance and smashed itself into the wall behind it, transforming into a cloud of white dust upon impact. “Tha’s right, ya do!” Ary screeched in reckless delight, pushing in front of Solglia to gloat in front of what was now just a pile of powder and bones. “I fuckin’ knew you were hidin’ in there all along! Serves ya right fer climbing up outta yer bed, thinkin’ you could get the best of us, huh?” The half-elf snorted, flicking her rapier at one of the lifeless things before buttoning her excitement with a huff as she resheathed her blade.

Combat Complete!

Everyone gains 900 exp (except Ceria).

[LovelyAnastasia]

Half-elves. Solglia rolled her eyes and shook her head a bit. Nevermind that her last few hits had missed. Nevermind that some half-blood light-foot had taken victory. Nevermind that both the tentacled creatures and the leaf-brained Magic-flinging gnome had used her as a sheild... Nevermind most of that sorrowful disgrace of a battle!

The she-dwarf rubbed her bruised side and made a sucking noise of disgust at her battle display. Basic and without beauty, her entire battle. She had been nothing more than a hammer-wielding child, relying on the Soul Forager for the most part, underestimating her opponents. With a blessing of thanks to the AllFather for lending his strength, she dismissed the Spiritual Weapon.

How pitiful she had become in that tank! Had she soaked up more disgraceful and pitiful qualities, locked away as a prisoner? With a growl, she slung to lock her hammer to her back once more, rather a bit more sour and out of sorts than before. "Someone search the coffins and corners," she grumbled, "By His Spark, I hope we got something more than a harsh beating as a reward for all of that!"

[Ermine]

"That one has my stuff. If you touch it, I'll do worse to you that I did to that skeleton." The small teen human girl walked back to the coffin, turned away from the group, and took off the soaked robe, standing naked for a moment, and shaking like a dog to try to get as dry as she could, even shaking her head and projecting the liquid that clung to her hair outward in what she imagined to be a magnificent display. She then stood still momentarily before reaching over as modestly as she could, aiming to not show any of her naughty bits as she grabbed her clothes and armor and donned them as cutely as she could.

After gathering her remaining possessions, Peony looked to the rest and smiled awkwardly, her pose displaying a view of the holy symbol dangling delicately from her neck. "I don't believe I've thanked you all for removing me from my overly moist confines. I don't believe I've introduced myself, either. I am Peony-Corinne Rhys. Call me any of those three, or Sister. Anything else requires prior approval. Written form. In triplicate. Allow three to six weeks wait, and the privilege of calling me that name may be revoked at any time, with or without notice." Her tone remained that of a cordial invitation to talk throughout her monologue.

[corneredbliss]

After the burst of showy victory, Araerys was quick to sift through the coffin for anything of interest or use. For everything that's just happened, and the life they had just lost for venturing down into these tunnels, the bard refused to accept that they would gain nothing to show for it. She unceremoniously tossed the lifeless bones aside until she found something, finally something to give them any sort of direction again.

She extracted from the opened casket a wooden box, seemingly normal upon first glance. It appeared to be a solid piece of wood with no obvious way to open it, and just as she was about to announce the thing to the rest of the party, a closer inspection found three words inscribed on its side in Sylvan: Skiff. Rower. Return.

With brows furrowed she turned to the room, fairly lost in her theories that she missed most of what the new girl said. "Yeah, yeah..." came her absentminded response to the monologue, before she held up the box for the group to see, engraved side facing out. "Happen to see any boats on yer way in here?" Then, realizing not everyone probably spoke the language, she pointed at each of the words respectively and listed them in common. "Skiff. Rower. Return. What d'you think about that? These skellies were probably here to keep whomever from finding this thing." She shook the box a little next to her ear, curious if anything would rattle around inside. Nothing.

Araerys took another look over the box. She knew that magic items were triggered by words more often than not, and gathering by the big wad of nothing that happened when she listed them in common, decided to try again in its written language. "Skiff," she said in Sylvan, and before she could get any of the second word out the box seemed to tumble from her hand of it's own accord, suddenly and rapidly expanding from its humble wooden origin into a boat that looked like it was growing to be a size big enough to fit the party.

Araerys, eyes wide, tried to scramble out of the way of the swelling thing, but it was nearly impossible in the already cramped room. The ladies within would begin to feel it pushing them back towards the walls of the chamber, getting impossibly bigger than what size it had been. "Rower!" the half-elf shouted into the room, hoping it would quell the situation. But nothing happened other than a slight shimmering of the boat, and as soon as Araerys realized this, she shouted the last word in Sylvan, and breathed a huge sigh of relief as the water skiff immediately responded and began shrinking back into its original form.

Soon it was as if nothing had happened; the wooden box sat innocently in the middle of the floor and was nothing other than what Ary had pulled out of the coffin. "What," she breathed, pointing an accusing finger at the thing, "in the nine hells. Was that?"

[JBRam2002]

Not being one to enjoy getting squished by a rapidly-expanding boat, Eilina was a bit annoyed with the intrusion until she took a closer look. "That's a folding boat," she said excitedly. "Perfect for getting places that are blocked by water. I don't know about you all, but I'm not interested in going swimming, and there's only one place we haven't explored yet."

Eilina pointed at the sewer river flowing under the bridge. "The water appears to be flowing North to South, if my bearings are correct. I suggest we look downstream first. If there is something going on upstream, I would expect to see evidence of it in the water."

[Ms Ravenwinter]

At the sight of shattered bones, Yvah wondered at her friend's fate beyond death. About if Daisy would become one of these wretched things. About if she would have to be put down, and if Yvah would have to be the one to do it. Idly, Yvah poked through these bones in a shallow attempt at searching along with her peers.

But the adrenaline coursed through her still, so lethargy had not truly set in. She could feel the mood growing grim, even with the fresh face. This was bad. It was always bad. Grimness would make them give up. They couldn't give up. Not while they were still here. Yvah needed to cheer them up. If they didn't cheer up, they might all die.

"Um," she stammered a little in the face of the newest set of introductions. Yvah reached for the casket and plucked a skeletal arm only held together by shreds of armor. She pushed it in Peony's direction and said, "Hi Penny, I'm Yvah, let me give you a hand!" Her face pulled and contorted into a grimace of a smile. It was freakish, torn from the reality of their situation.

The disembodied arm was quickly abandoned when the small room started to overflow with an ever unfolding wooden structure. She avoided squeezing against the wall by slipping out of the room. Soon after, the offending mass of wood folded back into its confines. But from the bridge, Yvah heard something. Chanting.

"Here," she said, pointing southward in the direction suggested by Eilina. "I hear the fishies down here."

[JBRam2002]

The group pressed forward, all hopping into the Folding Boat they had just procured. The vessel came with a pair of oars, and the strongest among them began to guide the group south among the winding sewer tunnels. It wasn't far before a light was seen ahead, accompanied by the chanting in a language most did not understand. Eilina, however, was ready for this after hearing Yvah mention the fishies.

Darkness come and drag us under
Break the Platinum God asunder
Hells and Waters join unseen
And raise to power the Dragon Queen!

Eilina repeated the chant aloud for the others to hear. "It seems their goals are quite clear," she whispered to the others. "But the matter is... how. Something as dreadful as this would require multiple deities working together.... The kidnappings! They were going to sacrifice us to some fiendish god! If they're chanting like this, they must have started already! That's probably why all the guards had left."

She urged the group forward into a narrowing of the sewer tunnels. A final bend, and a large room could be seen, likely some sort of mechanical workings for the sanitation department of the city. The chanting was clearly audible now, although the language still unknown by all except Eilina. The bow of the boat was too long to get a good view of anything other than the edge of the water, but a bridge could be seen in the center of the room spanning the sewer river. Unless the group wanted to go swimming, it didn't look like there was a subtle way in.