This is a fairly long report, combining several turns, which catches up to the current action.
Start Date: August 23rd, morning
Start Status: Blah blah blah
Start Location: ???
Adventuring: Rennard, Jinx, Brigg, Smoke, Zenobe
At the Tulip: Castor, Hagan, Xon, Aaron
The Turn
Brigg agrees to scout ahead while the others hide around the corner, ready to respond should he get in trouble. Smoke checks her weapons as the monk disappears into the dark hallway and keeps watch at the corner. The others wait a few yards back.
The group waits several minutes, The only illumination the faint light of Rennard's sword. The sound of a loose stone skittering across the floor alerts Smoke to someone's (or something's) approach. She raises her pistol, but Brigg calls out "It's me." He rejoins the group and they all retreat a short distance down the hall.
"I think there's a whole complex of rooms down there. The hall continues for about 70 feet, with a branch to the left, before it opens into a chamber. There are four doors, two per side, along the hall, and another set at the end of the left hall, 30 feet or so away from the intersection. The doors down the side hall are ajar, as are two of the doors in the main hall. I peeked into one, a small room that looks like something was using it as a den."
"There's also a pair of half-open doors across the room at the end of the hall. That's where the chanting is coming from, and some light, but I can't see inside. There are guards in the room. At least three. They're like the risen miners."
"How many in total, do you think?" asks Rennard.
Brigg shrugs. "I only checked the nearest open door. I didn't want to risk more. But the mercenaries said there were 20 or more and we've killed what, six or seven? Who knows if there are more of those things, or if they have allies down here. Oh, and that chanting? It sounds like the same language as the message back in the statue room. I didn't stick around to listen though."
After a hasty conference, Zenobe casts Bless, then Brigg advances along the east-west hall once again, this time with purpose. He plans to shoot at one of the guards in the chamber ahead in hopes of drawing some of them into an ambush set by the rest of the group. After he vanishes into the darkness, the others wait. After a thirty count, Jinx starts to move. "What are you doing?" whispers Smoke.
"Moving up to support Brigg."
"I thought we were waiting here."
"I thought we were moving up."
"We should move up," chimes in Rennard, who taps Jinx on the shoulder. The pair advances at a shuffling pace, mindful of the fact that they can't see a thing.
"Guess it's a slow advance," mutters Smoke, who follows. Zenobe trails, dividing his attention between the back and the front.
Meanwhile, Brigg has reached the first set of pillars, where he realizes his dark vision isn't going to let him see into the room. He pauses for a moment, trying to spot a target backlit against the dim light from the open door, but sees nothing. Reluctantly, he moves forward, past the south door. Behind him, he hears the faint clank of metal on metal and a whisper of voices. "Great," he thinks, "they're arguing about the plan now." He stops when he reaches the intersection and prepares his bow. Five seconds, ten. Movement. Draw and release!
The sharp sound of an arrow striking stone tells Brigg his shot didn't connect, but it draws a response. There's an inarticulate shout from the guard room, and the backlit figure he shot at moves out of the light. More alarming, the chanting stops. The rest of the group, alerted by the shout, stop their advance and prepare for action as well as they can in the dark.
Silence for a moment, then the light beyond the doors goes out. There is a creaking, grinding sound, followed by many footsteps and a commanding voice speaking an unknown tongue.
Brigg turns and runs for the safety of the party. "I think they noticed us!" he calls as he gets close to the group, who are about 20 west of the corner.
"How many?" asks Smoke.
"I don't know. I couldn't see. More than one or two though."
[Round One - Party Initative]
With no light to see by, the group is hamstrung. Rennard and Jinx take the front line with Smoke and Zenobe behind them. Brigg hovers at the rear, bow ready. Everyone can hear things moving in the dark, but no one can see anything. "I got a bad feeling about this," says Smoke. "I wish I could see something."
Her feelings prove correct, as several crossbow bolts rattle off the floors and walls around the party. "They can see us though!" exclaims Zenobe, his ears ringing from a glancing blow to his helm.
There is another metallic squeal from the hallway ahead, and Jinx hisses, "That was another door opening! Advance, retreat, or hold?"
[Round Two - Foe Initiative]
"Fall back to the corner, we can make a stand there," says Rennard. No one can see whatever is shooting at the group, but everyone can hear footsteps in the hall. As the group begins their retreat, a hulking figure looms out of the darkness in front of Rennard.
"Ogre!" cries Jinx as he readies his blunderbuss. The creature swipes at Rennard with a thick wooden club studded with bits of sharp stone, slamming the paladin's shield aside and striking him solidly [6 damage]. "It's one of them!" he adds when he spots a greenish crystal formation on the brute's neck.
"Watch yourself!" shouts Smoke. "Another!" This foe is human-sized – one of the missing miners, no doubt – and it uses a rusty pick to hack at Jinx. The blow strikes home [3 damage].
Jinx can just make out another of the creatures in the darkness behind the two on the front line. "Back, now. Steady pace!" He fires his blunderbuss at the bigger target and the shot rips into the creature [8 damage].
Smoke raises her pistol, firing over Rennard's head, and also scores a hit [4 damage]. The staggered creature roars but continues to press forward, allowing Rennard to take a swing with his sword. He runs the blade into the ogre's guts, and they spill onto the dusty floor [8 damage], followed closely by the creature's twitching corpse."
"Now, MOVE!" Jinx's shout speeds the pace, and everyone makes it around the bend. Once there, Brigg stows his bow and digs into his pack for an oil flask, and Zenobe calls forth the light of his holy symbol. The last miner-thing follows the group.
[Round Three - Party initiative]
Zenobe keeps watch from his position behind Rennard, ready to step into the breach if necessary.
Brigg finally gets out an oil flask and starts preparing a wick.
Jinx and Rennard attack the zombie that followed the group and score solid hits [6 and 3 damage respectively]. The creature falls motionless at their feet.
With the others busy, Smoke takes the opportunity to check the hall behind the group, holsters her pistol, and prepares a torch. There's nothing in sight, yet.
No foes appear around the corner, and the recent gunshots make it hard to hear anything.
[Round Four - Party Initiative]
"Light them up, Brigg!" exclaims Smoke as she applies flint and steel to her torch and the oil flask missile. Brigg nods and ducks around Rennard, who extends his shield. The monk hurls the flask, low and hard into the darkness around the corner. The flask hits the pillar/facade on the south side of the hall and sprays along the floor and wall. It doesn't appear to have hit anything but it does provide enough light to reveal more dead miners in the hall, five at least, all 10 to 15 feet away [Basically, the oil flask flew past them all]. Before he ducks back around the corner, Brigg also catches sight of something smaller in the shadows beyond the light. As he withdraws, crossbow bolts clatter off the wall behind him. All but one that is. It strikes home, [3 damage Brigg].
Jinx uses the lull in the action to reload his blunderbuss. Zenobe and Smoke stand ready in the second rank, and Brigg position at the back, keeping an eye on the south hall.
OOC:
The miner-things in the hall are approaching. You can't tell what the other things are or if they are moving forward. Odds are they aren't, as they're beyond the oil.
End Date: August 23rd, morning
End Status: Strategic Positioning
End Location: ???
The party is currently situated in the northeast corner of the map, and the enemy is advancing down the east-west corridor.
