A Stitch in Souragne - La Rue des Tristepas

[steveflam]

Goren frowns at the feeling he received. Concentrating, he grasps his holy symbol and chants, moving his fingers in an odd way. He focuses his spell on the approaching undead so it doesn't affect his companions.


Goren casts Soundburst at the Zombies.

Soundburst damage 5

[Ken of Ghastria]

Dread growing in his mind, Lucien mutters, "All right... wrong about the plants, then." Backing away from the bizarre talons, he again focuses his will ... and another barrage of razor-sharp shards bursts forth from his outstretched hand!

Without taking his eyes off the horde, he calls out to someone behind him, "Warden Sarosse, some assistance would be most appreciated!"
____________________________

Move: Shift 5 feet back if necessary to avoid the zombies.
Standard: Again use 4 power points to attack as many of the creatures as possible with Swarm of Crystals: 4d4=12 slashing damage; 15-foot cone, no save.
Free: Yell at the apparently unhelpful clerics behind me.

[Guzrath]

A small yell of surprise escapes Vincent's lips as suddenly razorbladed fingers slash into him. The speed at which they moved amazed him. He always heard stories that zombies would be slow. "Damn liars" he mumbles. One hand in the sack he pulls out a flask. While dropping the sack at his feet he unstoppers the flask with his teeth, his free hand reaching for his weapon.
Instead of throwing the flask he starts to splash it on his attackers.
He looks around and sees he's still standing nearby the coach. He back up slowly to make sure he won't be attacked from the rear and tries to evade the attacks, while emptying his bottle of holy water on the zombies. He hopes that they didn't lie about the holy water or he would have lost useful time. He looks at the stitched zombies amazed, still a little freaked about the way they look.

OOC: I am at work and have no (more) access to any information. So I have no idea how much damage the Holy Water would do.

[Rock of the Fraternity]

Zumba leaps forward, staff whirling, fist blazing -- and the Man In White leaps forward, batting the Capoeira's attack aside! "Foolish boy," your enemy growls, his inhuman voice somehow putting you in mind of dead things crumbling in the dark. "I warned you and your friends that there is no escape from death. In her name, you shall fall."

The Man In White raises his silver blade, which appears to come to life. A flashing wheel of silver, reflecting bright flashes of sunlight into Zumba's eyes as it flicks forward and backward, piercing his defenses with contemptuous ease. Worse, the other Man In White is starting to circle around Zumba, his presence threatening to distract the young Souragnien from the terror lancing into him. This despite the fact that the second Man In White is still coughing and spluttering from whatever Lucien did to him...

(Man In White #2 attacks Zumba and deals 12 damage to him. Man In White #1 moves to flank.)
________________________________________________________________________________

Goren and Lucien's powers lance into the zombies, sound and scything crystal combining into a blast of unprecedented fury. The entire host of monsters staggers, trembles -- and starts to laugh. At first, the sound is muffled, a dull huh-huh-huh squeezing itself out between lips fixed together. Then their mouths tear open grotesquely as the stitches pop one by one. When the last one snaps, the zombies open wide their mouths, and stinking black ichor comes spilling out together with insane, soul-chilling laughter. The stitching on their eyelids is next to go, as the zombies' faces start to inflate grotesquely.

Chills run up and down Goren's back when he feels the power swelling up inside the enemy; he recognizes his own divine magic, twisted and blended with something undescribably foul.

While the zombies cackle and guffaw, that power rising up inside them starts to overflow. The last stitches holding their eyes closed snap, and -- jets of black liquid come shooting out, spraying Goren and Lucien both. Two jets hit Goren dead-on. Three strike Lucien.

(Goren takes 6 damage. Lucien takes 14 damage. Horror saves to the tune of DC14, please.)

The pain the liquid causes is hideous, and you can see your flesh blacken and swell where it touched you. It smells as if your flesh is burning where the black goo hit you -- and while you are still reeling from this hit, the zombies you just struck start to fall down one by one. Their laughter ends, but their bodies continue to swell while you look.

(Int. check, DC 10.)

Behind you, you finally hear the Anchorite and the Voodan cry out. Sarosse calls on the power of Ezra, and you see a small flask of holy water fly past you and strike the ground. The glass shatters, and you suddenly feel a sense of great wellness envelop you, of safety. Belhomme calls upon the name of the Maiden of the Swamp, and another flask of holy water flies past you. Where it hits the ground, a sudden rainstorm erupts, enveloping you all for a brief, precious moment before it is snuffed out by whatever curse has enveloped Souragne.

(Sarosse casts Consecrate, while Belhomme goes for a Holy Storm. Goren, do a second Int. check, DC 10.)
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Vincent's attempt to splash the zombies works marvelously well; he thoroughly soaks all three of his attackers as he backs to the carriage, preventing them from flanking him.

Which is to say, it works marvelously well up to a point. That point being, the zombies do not spontaneously combust, fail to start to melt, and certainly do not run away moaning in agony. They just keep coming, their claws flashing in the light of the summer sun!

Vincent continues to be too spry - or lucky - for these monstrosities to take down easily, however; two of the attacks miss completely. The third cuts into him again, shedding more of his blood on the dusty earth.

(Vincent takes another 5 damage, but has successfully avoided flanking.)
________________________________________________________________________________

DM corner:

Goren: -6 hp.
Lucien: -14 hp.
Man In White #1: Crisis of Breath.
Man In White #2: A-okay!
Vincent: -18 hp
Zombies: 27 dead, but still have a surprise up their sleeve. 3 A-okay and fighting Vincent
Zumba: -12 hp.

[steveflam]

Goren recoils from the goo and swears under his breath. The priest feels an odd sensation now, comprehension flitting at the back
of his mind. Then Sarosse and Belhomme cast their spells and he understands what is about to happen! Moving away from the Zombies he yells as loud as he can Souragnien "No, no spells at Zombies. They, they all going POOF! No! No! Stay far from Zombies! Black liquid will kill us all. Zombies go BOOM! Away! Away! Hurry! Hurry!"

The red haired priest is waving his hands frantically as he yells.

[Guzrath]

His eyes widen again as he realizes he justed wasted precious time because of mis-information of religious people. He needs to buy some time to safely get his weapons out. He suddenly drops to the ground quickly and rolls under the carriage, coming out the other end. He stands up as quick as possible and draws his weapons, this time ready for these foul smelling corpses.
He hears Goren yelling. "What goo? What spells?" he thinks and doesn't seem to understand what the red-headed forgeigner is saying exactly.

OOC:
Declare Dodge on the zombie that hit me twice already (should've done that earlier)
[urlhttp://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/2869999/]Tumble 18[/url] to dodge their attacks while dropping to the ground and rolling to the other side of the carriage. WOrst case scenario Mobility will grant me extra AC.

[Ail]

Zumba is badly hit, and feeling cornered. He can't quite believe how easily he was hit, but anyway, a change of plans is in order now, he thinks. He attacks but immediately after tries to evade the flanking figure, tumbling in the characteristic capoeira moves to avoid any opportunistic strike. He dodges the figure he is attacking.

OOC:
He makes a first strike against the coughing man. Then he tumbles to move away from both and avoid flanking. He can walk 50ft per action, so he can tumble 25ft. He will try to manoeuver so as to stay as far away from both figures as possible and at least 10ft from the edge of the roof (since he's 40ft away, that should be automatic).
He dodges against the man that attacked him.

[Ken of Ghastria]

Lucien cries out in agony as the black liquid sears his flesh! For a moment, his mind seems to dance on the edge of an abyss of panic, but he recovers and staggers back from the zombies as quickly as possible. Did Goren's prayer actually empower them? He barely has time to summon an invisible shield before the next horrific attack comes. I pray that pearl is doing its work...

__________________________________
YeeeEEEeee! Nearly out from that one.
Horror check (1d20+6=23) = success.
Int check (1d20+4=15) = success.
Move: Head directly away from the creepy folks.
Standard: Expend 1 pp to manifest Force Screen and gain +4 shield bonus to AC for the next 4 minutes. It is, of course, positioned between him and the zombies.

[Rock of the Fraternity]

There is a dull rumble, coming from the twitching pile of mutilated flesh. As Goren, Lucien, Sarosse and Belhomme make tracks, one person stands transfixed and watching the bulging skins of the dead. The Anchorite who had been healing the living has stood frozen since the appearance of the zombies. His lower lip trembles and his eyes bulge as he watches the horror taking place before him.

"No..." the priest whimpers. "No... Ezra, protect meeeeeeeee....!"

The corpses detonate. Black liquid splashes a wide area. Lucien, Belhomme and Sarosse have managed to clear the blast area -- just. Lucien can hear drops of the vile stuff spatter against his shield and hiss. Goren is slightly less lucky. A gout of the vile stuff hits his shoulder, burning straight through his clothes and into his flesh.

(Goren loses 5 hp.)

Vincent manages to roll away from the zombies' claws without being hit once, and is completely shielded from the blast by the coach. He becomes very aware of the liquid's work, however, when the coach suddenly starts to sag and dissolve into a pile of rancid goo. That, and the horses in front of the coach have taken a direct hit. Screaming, frothing at the mouth and kicking, the poor animals are as dead as the nameless Anchorite who failed to move.

It is a hideous thing, to see flesh dissolve and run down exposed bones as red-and-black slime.

Vincent may also not be happy to see that the threesome he rolled under the coach to avoid has weathered the blast much better. Dripping with black goop, the three zombies are not charging; they are patiently waiting while the coach sags and runs into a puddle before they start to plod towards him.
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Atop the roof, Zumba can hear the rumble, the detonation. It is possibly less pressing a matter than the two Men In White, marching towards him with silver blades levelled against him. One of them is still wheezing and gasping for breath, but that does not seem to be keeping him from advancing.

"Death awaits, its cold embrace will enfold you," the other Man In White grates -- and suddenly reaches up and flips back his hood. The face of Terror assails Zumba's mind.

(Zumba, please roll a Fear check, DC17)

"Interesting," an elderly voice says, apparently completely unruffled. "I was about to say the same thing to you."

At the edge of the roof, Zumba can see a hand. It grabs the edge of the roof, tenses, and the old man who was standing in front of the Temple gates pulls himself up onto the roof. He gives the Capoeira a calm nod and does the same to the two Men In White. The visage of fear does not appear to affect him at all.

Souragnien: "What say you, boy? Want to help me sweep the roof?" he asks of Zumba, his wrinkled old face impossibly calm. With a flick of the wrist, a silver longsword lies in the old man's hand.
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Where the path to the Temple of Ezra was, flanked by the statues and small altars of the benevolent loah, there is now a deep pit full of bubbling sludge. The vapours that rise from its depths evaporate almost immediately in the heat of the Souragnien day, but the stench lingers. It is a stench of death.

All around the pit, the ground is scarred. The screams of dying horses and a dying Anchorite seem to linger as does the stench.
________________________________________________________________________________

DM corner:

Belhomme: A-okay!
Goren: -11 hp.
Lucien: -14 hp.
Man In White #1: Crisis of Breath.
Man In White #2: A-okay!
Old Man: A-okay!
Sarosse: A-okay!
Vincent: -18 hp
Zombies: 3 A-okay and fighting Vincent
Zumba: -12 hp.

[Guzrath]

Vincent bites back a stab of pain from his wounds as he gets up behind the coach. he draws his weapons expecting the zombies to move around the coach. They've shown that much intelligence. He turns to look at the sides as suddenly he hears the explosion and the hisses. He hears the horses scream and then the coach seems to melt away before his eyes. The words Goren shouted earlier suddenly make sense as he sees the hissing puddle where the group of zombies stood moments before. His eyes fix for a moment on the the body of anchorite that seemed to have a bit to close as the zombies had exploded. The three zombies left move in his direction.
He sees Lucien standing with other anchorites.
"Lucien" he yells "you and Goren go help Zumba, we need answers, and take my bag, there might be something to helpfull in there". He slowly backs away as the Zombies close in. I'll try to get rid of these" nodding at the incoming Zombies "I need some new clothes anyway" he says smiling.

Vincent looks around looking for a clear space, while backing off from the incoming Zombies. He smiles at the Zombies bowing.

OOC: Vincent will be fighting defensively for 1 round trying to lure the zombies away from crowds or buildings until he has them in a clear area.

[Ken of Ghastria]

"Lucien" he yells "you and Goren go help Zumba, we need answers, and take my bag, there might be something to helpfull in there". He slowly backs away as the Zombies close in. I'll try to get rid of these" nodding at the incoming Zombies "I need some new clothes anyway" he says smiling.

"Are you mad? You don't..." Lucien starts to say. No, he's right. Go. You need to focus on the puppet master, not the puppets. Fine. He nods grimly at Vincent, then grabs the bag. He looks up and yells, "ZUMBA! Press your attack! He can't escape without choking to death!" He knows he can't match Zumba's alacrity in climbing up to the top, so he turns to Warden Sarosse and Belhomme, who seemed stunned by what's just happened. "They're twisting your prayers!" To Belhomme, he yells, pointing at Vincent, "Help him! But don't get too close." To Sarosse, he says, "Warden, we need to get to the roof. Quickly! Show me the way." He runs into the temple, hopefully with Sarosse leading the way toward a roof access.

_________________________
Between picking up the bag, yelling, and running, that's my turn.

[steveflam]

Goren moves right next to Lucien, he being the closest he can heal. Souragnien "Lucien, I fix you hurts. No afraid." The red haired priest lays a hand on Lucien. Grasping his holy symbol, he concentrates and energy flows through his fingers into the man.


2nd level cure on Lucien.
Cure on Lucien 2d8+4=16

[Ail]

Zumba looks at the two men, poised to attack him, and although he has retreated to a position where they are not an immediate threat, he is still in doubt. Another sword blow like the one that hit him will level him instantly.

As he calculates his next move, always tiptoeing in a steady rhythm, one of the figures throws his hood back.

Zumba's tapping stops at once and a shiver runs him down. He's frozen for a moment. At the same time, a new voice comes from the edge of the roof, and an old man, apparently undaunted, impossibly calm, invites Zumba to action. Yes, yes, let's sweep them all, he thinks vehemently. But his limbs don't move, the words he thought he'd spoken never left his mouth. He holds his staff more firmly, while a silver sword like the ones that are so prevalent on this roof remains hanging from his belt. The fear holds him, at start, then he throws a bullet in the direction of the coughing man, keeping his distance while the old man doesn't approach.

OOC: Ok, edited.

Zumba dodges the second man.
He only makes a ranged attack this round, hoping that he can change weapons with the move action

Attack Roll: 1d20 + 6 - 2: 18
http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/2888417/

Damage Roll: 1d4+2 = 4
http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/2888437/

Is Zumba under the effect of Goren's bless?
If so, add 1 to both rolls.

[Rock of the Fraternity]

Zumba is not under the effect of the Bless spell, as he started to move up the Temple before Goren could cast. Alas.)

Zumba's projectile flies true, eliciting a cry of pain from the Man In White suffering from the choking effect of Lucien's pearl. The Man In White staggers, clutching at his head while his companion -- turns his back on Zumba and stalks towards the old man!

"Delivering you into the arms of Death will please both him and her," the fear-inspiring abomination says as it raises its sword.

"Ending you should be pleasant to both my Lady Ezra and to the Maiden!" the old man says, his voice rising to a shout at the end of his sentence. The one hand not holding his sword clutches the necklace about his neck. Just as the Man In White rushes in, sword stabbing forward in a snakelike motion, the old man is enveloped in blinding light. When the glow passes, he is covered from head to toe in steel armour, and a heavy shield hangs from his free arm.

Just as with Zumba, the fiend in white manages to snake his blade through his new opponent's defenses. The old man grunts as his blood spatters on the rooftop -- and then launches forward with his own attack! Now it is the Man In White's turn to grunt and falter, as black blood mixes with red on the rooftop.
The two warriors, each holding a silver blade, eye each other more warily now as they start to move forward for the next exchange.
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"This way!" Sarosse calls to Lucien and Goren, and points to a doorway hidden artfully behind some decoration. A narrow, twisting stairway lies behind the door, one that leads up, up -- and finally spills you all out onto the roof one level beneath the titanic battle now unfolding between a steel-clad knight with the symbol of Ezra on his shield, and a man clad in the white and green of that same goddess, both wielding the silver longsword so beloved of Ezra's order.

You can all see the other Man In White, the one who shot the bird-man-creature -- and beyond him, Zumba! Unfortunately, the Man In White sees you, too, and starts to make desperate noises that might have been words if not for his current shortness of breath.

The Man In White fighting the knight briefly glances in your direction, and his face... his face...!

(OOC: I'm assuming Goren goes with Lucien. If not, let me know, okay? You've traveled up quite a ways, so unless you have minor actions ready, that's you for all of the last round. But please do remember to roll a DC17 Fear check for beholding the Face of Terror.)
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Once again, Vincent stands alone against the oncoming zombies. His quick, clever movements manage to outwit them while he backs away, backs away. His rapier clashes sharply with the steel claws of one zombie, then those of the second... but not of his nemesis, the third zombie. This creature, which has already drawn Vincent's blood twice before, again manages to sneak its claws down under your guard -- and up through your warm flesh.

Behind the zombies, Vincent can see Voodan Belhomme come running up, a stout mace in one hand. Before the Souragnien can reach them and do some good, however, he trips and almost falls. His mace swings harmlessly past the zombie he was trying to attack.

(OOC: Nemesis Zombie rolls a critical hit despite Vincent's defensive fighting and confirms. Total damage to Vincent: 12 hp! o_o This little zombie is going for recurring villain status, yes, he is...
Belhomme tries to attack the zombies without magic, but rolls a 9... Bad luck.)
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DM corner:
Belhomme: A-okay!
Goren: -11 hp.
Lucien: A-okay!
Man In White #1: -4 hp. Crisis of Breath.
Man In White #2: -6 hp
Old Man: -5 hp
Sarosse: A-okay!
Vincent: -30 hp
Zombies: 3 A-okay and fighting Vincent
Zumba: -12 hp.

[Ail]

Zumba rejoices with his success, and decides to throw another one. He considers closing again on his enemy, but then decides it's better to let him come to him.

Attack: 17
Damage: 3

http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/2899143/