CHAPTER THREE: What the dead mage said

[onlyme]

Frowning at being ignored, Ulf watches as the ranged archers try to pick off the Orc sentries.

Sorry, Iomhar was willing to sneak around, too. But, the topography and their alertness made it too dangerous... especially once the first arrow flew...

[Gelatinous Q]

Let's have surprise & initiative rolls, please:

Orcs' surprise: [1d6] = 6
Orcs' initiative: [1d6] = 5

[Nuke66]

[1d6] = 5 suprise [1d6] = 6 init

[Alethan]

Frowning at being ignored, Ulf watches as the ranged archers try to pick off the Orc sentries.

Sorry, Iomhar was willing to sneak around, too. But, the topography and their alertness made it too dangerous... especially once the first arrow flew...

He was referring to casting a spell to mesmerize, I believe... Colour Spray. Sorry, Hedge, I thought I'd mentioned something about that IC when Ulf said that. Must have gotten lost somewhere... I was thinking we might want to hold on to that in case we needed larger crowd control...

[hedgeknight]

Yeah, no big deal. ULF is frowning, not me.

[Gelatinous Q]

[1d6] = 5 suprise [1d6] = 6 init

Nice rolling!

All right, guys, you have initiative. I'm going to close this thread temporarily and open up the combat thread. You can state your first round actions there.

[Gelatinous Q]

Gordon's first volley misses his mark, but Glogs and Iomhar follow with a set of shots that take down the guard who, just moments before, had been complaining about Vargahsh.

Seeing that he's grossly outnumbered, his companion moves toward the tomb entrance, but Ulf's sling stone knocks him to his knees, and Savik's volley polishes him off before an alarm can be raised.

A quick toss of the bodies yields 28 sp per orc.

The doors of the tomb are blocked open with some small piles of rubble. Ten feet tall and of beaten bronze, the portals show their age — as well as more recent scars: scorch marks, and gashes where (ostensibly) an axe was put to them. Stregghi inspects the damage and shakes his head sadly.

More piles of rubble flank either door. Among them you see charred scraps of armor and the occasional orcish body part.

Anything else before you enter Charrellsfane's tomb?

[Nuke66]

works for me, not like Entangle is going to work inside anyway.

[Alethan]

Bran makes a quick cursory examination of the orc parts in the burnt rubble.

"Stregghi, what caused this other destruction? Some kind of wards guarding the tomb? Are there more we should be worried about?"

[Argennian]

Savik readies another arrow as he moves up quickly with the others. He'll check to see if any of their missiles can be recovered while keeping an ear to their cleric guide for his answer to Bran's query.

[hedgeknight]

When the second Orc drops, Ulf stows his sling and moves forward quickly. "Careful friends, let me check the doors - dadgum Orcs may have 'em booby trapped!"
Carefully, Ulf checks for traps around the doors, and also the ground. He checks to make sure the doors and walls beyond are safe, as well as the floor.

GQ > will you make these rolls for me?

[Nuke66]

"Nice shooting boys, since I missed."

Gordon moves to the open doors, giving Ulf the room he needs, but making a comment.

"Orcs are too dumb to boobytrap"

[onlyme]

Iomhar follows in line, bow nicked.

[Gelatinous Q]

"Stregghi, what caused this other destruction? Some kind of wards guarding the tomb? Are there more we should be worried about?"

"After the mage was interred, the high priest of my temple sealed the tomb with a glyph. It remained unmolested until these euroz came along. Over three hundred years..." His voice drifts off.

"As for other wards within the tomb, I know not. No one from my order has walked these halls since the funerary rites were performed three centuries ago. No one has had reason to."

Ulf inspect the doors but finds nothing suspicious.

Longer update coming tomorrow!

[Gelatinous Q]

Beyond the blasted doors, a short 20'x20' hallway empties into a large room. Just enough daylight filters in to suggest it is rectangular in shape. Stregghi quickly and silently lights a couple torches and affixes them to wall sconces on the far wall, illuminating the area.

The walls are painted with murals depicting scenes from the life of Charrellsfane in a willfully primitive sytle: his childhood in Tassin's Wood (the Temple of the Velaeri is clearly visible in the background); his appointment to Ivid II's court; a triptych illustrating the sacking of the Grey Temple; his funerary bier surrounded by clerics and sorrowful looking peasants.

Near the center of the room lies the corpse of an orc. By all appearances, he was crushed to death.

Actions?

Also, marching order for 20' wide halls?

[Alethan]

Bran immediately looks up (to see if he can spot any gore hanging from the ceiling), then uses his dwarven knowledge of stonework to see if he can detect anything unusual about the room (as in, something that may have flattened the deflated orc in the middle of the room)...

[Argennian]

Once they make their way into the tomb, Savik reequips his bow and readies another arrow. He'll move over and take up a fire position at one of the northern corners of the room and keep his eyes and ears peeled for this Vargahsh fellow or anything else approaching them from deeper within the tomb.

[onlyme]

Iomhar looks around and wonders, "Why cant these tombs ever be simple crypts?"

He stays ready.

[rredmond]

Looks like mapping will be easy!
Anyone keeping track of treasure.

Glogs finds, or replaces his arrows shot.

He walks with the others, studying the walls looking at the primitive art: No artists of worth among your order three centuries, he remarks to Stregghi not even registering his derisive tone.

Should we go 2x2 in Marching Order?
Is it 6 PCs and 1 NPC

[Gelatinous Q]

Bran immediately looks up (to see if he can spot any gore hanging from the ceiling), then uses his dwarven knowledge of stonework to see if he can detect anything unusual about the room (as in, something that may have flattened the deflated orc in the middle of the room)...

No nasty surprises overhead as far as you can tell. Perhaps the creature was crushed by falling rubble when the glyphs blew, and the orcs dragged him inside? At any rate, you recognize dwarven stonework when you see it, and the tomb appears to be a fine specimen.

Once they make their way into the tomb, Savik reequips his bow and readies another arrow. He'll move over and take up a fire position at one of the northern corners of the room and keep his eyes and ears peeled for this Vargahsh fellow or anything else approaching them from deeper within the tomb.

From your vantage point, the hallway to the north is as dark and quiet as, um, a tomb.

Glogs finds, or replaces his arrows shot.

He's able to pluck one out of dead orc #1's abdomen. The other lies broken amidst the rubble.

Should we go 2x2 in Marching Order?
Is it 6 PCs and 1 NPC

6 PCs + Stregghi, your non-combatant torchbearer/healer.

This never got totally hammered out before, but I'll need a definite marching order before we can proceed...