PART I - THE SURFACE

[dumfis]

"Aiiieeee!" "Forgive me Osiris, I like not your children here!"  "Hear me great Maahes, give me your strength to smite these fiends!"

Dumfis will continue to try and close and grapple his skeleton to the ground to defeat it's speed that way as he strikes.

[tp]

[seandon4]

The skeletons may be fast, but our heroes have wit. Funklebun begins to swing his axe in long arcs making it harder for the skeletons to evade. Iulius pulls out a dagger, enabling him to strike more rapidly. Dumfis closes in, reaching for a skeleton, barely grabbing hold of one just long enough to make the skeleton an easier target. Meanwhile Lorendiac, Lazarus, and Telfur come in for the finishing blows, smashing the skull of the very last ghastly monster...

And then silence, at least for now... the altar remains yet unopened in the center of the ring of stones...

[OOC: Lazarus takes 1 for spite damage tp please subtract 1 from CON. Each character gets 105 EP. Please update your character sheets. 1d3=2 bonus on the DEX checks due to tactics.]

[How would everyone like to proceed?]

[Make L1 save on DEX vs Skeleton Speed]
[Lazarus [6,1]+22+2=31 L1=20 on DEX: Hit]
[Dumfis [6,4]+10+2=22 L1=20 on DEX: Hit]
[Lorendiac [4,2]+15+2=24 L1=20 on DEX: Hit]
[Telfur [3,3]+[6,2]=8+13+2=29 L1=20 on DEX: Hit] [EDIT]
[Funklebun [1,6]+11+2=20 on DEX: Hit]
[Iulius [3,5]+12+2=22 on DEX: Hit]

[Combat]
[Lazarus Club: 2d [3,1]+15=19
[Dumfis Poinard: 2d+1 [5,3]+1=9
[Lorendiac Staff: 3d+10 [2,5,4]+10=21
[Telfur Pickaxe: 3d+11 [6,3,3]+11=23
[Funklebun Pickaxe: 3d+14 [4,4,3]+14=25
[Iulius Dagger: 2d+5+2 [1,2]+5+2=10
[Party HPT: 107]

[Skeletons : MR 42 5d+21 [1,3,4,4,4]+21=37
[Skeleton HPT: 37]

[tp]

Lazarus hunts round to see if he can find his arrow.

[darrght]

As the dust settles [OOC: should that be bone dust?], Telfur looks at the newcomer and merely nods in acknowledgment of the part he played in the skirmish. Then, turning to his fellow dwarf asks, "Funklebun, get a blaze going will you? These horrors of the undead should be cleansed with fire so that they cannot cause us any more problems before we attempt to open the altar again!" With that he starts to pick up the larger fragments of skeleton and begins to make a pile outside the ring of stones.

[dumfis]

"This one can not say that was fun."  "It is without hope that this one wishes further discovery will be easier."

[To the newcomer] "Thy presence was a God send"  "I am named Dumfis al Atrash.  Are you just passing or would you like to join our company?"

Dumfis will retrieve his thrown Javelin while collecting bones for the fire.

[Iulius]

Iulius takes off his steel cap, checks his head with his hands and thanks the Gods there isn't any blood there.

He wipes his brow, acknowledges the nod from Telfur by nodding back.

He says "It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, good Dumfis. I am Iulius Cruxplate, from G'eon on the Dragon's Claw. I have traveled far on a quest with a companion, who unfortunately has recently perished from the fever."

He continues, "I may have bit off more than I can chew, so it is with some good luck I have happened upon your group. If there's a chance for treasure, provisions and good company, then my sword is yours, if you'll have me!"

[dumfis]

"Speaking of treasure good Iulius; Has anyone seen anything of value amongst these broken bones?"

[Iulius]

Iulius approaches each member of the party to shake hands and make his introductions.

After doing this, he begins to examine the holes in the earth where the skeletons erupted from to check for anything unusual/of value.

[khaboom]

Funklebun grins at Telfur and sets up getting a fire going. "Doesn't smell the same without flesh," he coughs, rather ghoulishly. He greets Iulius and tells him he is welcome to warm himself before they venture below. "There going to be chills in store for us down where the devils go," he says, jerking his thumb at the altar.

[Werrrdna]

"Let us not tarry, lest these demons from the underhells be upon us once more," says Lorendiac after begrudgingly shaking hands with the newcomer. "We fought well this hour, but we should not rest on our laurels. Keep on guard."

The elf approaches the entrance in the altar and peers into it.

[OOC: what's down there?]

[seandon4]

Iulius finds nothing but loose dirt and bits of bone from where the skeletons emerged. Sadly Dumfis finds nothing of value from the skeletons. Their bones and shields have been mangled from the skirmish, and no gold... as of yet.

Once Telfur and Funklebun have set fire to the skeletons outside the ring, the bones burn up with dark smoke, soon to be nothing more than glowing cinder.

Dumfis is able to find his javelin, having missed its target. Alas, Lazarus's arrow, on the other hand, was badly broken upon impact after hitting a skeleton.

After sliding the lid from the altar, Lorendiac can see it is a 10x10 stone shaft that runs straight down into the mound. The elf is able to see some ways down under the sun's light, but even with elf eyes, can't quite make out whatever is further down, as it continues into darkness.

The sides of the shaft are made of smooth-cut stone...

[EDIT: I should probably add that it looks like a long fall down...]


[EDIT: OOC: Additional EP award for saving rolls
Round 1
Lazarus [3,4]=7 EP Dumfis [4,2]=6 EP
Lorendiac [6,2]=8 EP Telfur [4,1]=5 EP
Funklebun [2,5]=7 EP Iulius [3,2]=5 EP

Round 2
Lazarus [6,1]=7 EP Dumfis [6,4]=10 EP
Lorendiac [4,2]=6 EP Telfur [3,3]+[6,2]=14 EP
Funklebun [1,6]=7 EP Iulius [3,5]=8 EP]

[Werrrdna]

Lorendiac fishes through his pack and pulls out a torch. After lighting it with flint he peers into the darkness below. "The abyss awaits, friends. Let us venture into this forbidding maw."

[dumfis]

"Ssssss [sucks teeth]"  "Unless someone remembered rope the question begs; who do we throw down first, to break the fall of the others?"

[khaboom]

"Telfur, you can lower me down when the rope is ready," Funklebun says with relish. "I can almost smell those gnomes down there!"