The stench of dead almost overwhelms you, but not before your vision becomes stark, red on black. The edges of things become like smoke, and the lives of those around you burn brightly.
You see the faces of the knights even as you know them to be concealed. Dried out, wrapped in bandages, preserved as best their handlers could—for surely they did not do this alone. You know their throats are carved out and filled with perfume. You sense heavy iron weights sewn shut behind their ribs where their hearts should be. The knights are afflicted with the very curse they make pilgrimage to imprison. They have been doing this for centuries.
Beyond the knights you feel the presence of the hoard behind you, and they in turn feel your probing senses. So many rotten faces, and overlaying them, the sleeping dead they should be.
Before your power wanes, you catch only the weakest glimpse behind the castle walls. Many undead. Something tremendous in scale and potency also, waiting with a terrifying patience…
Don’t bother looking if you don’t like zombie heads. It’s just a rough idea.
hmmmm, how close is the undead horde? Thinking of Channel Divinity for Twilight Sanctuary, but honestly there may not be a better time for Turn Undead haha
hmmmm, how close is the undead horde? Thinking of Channel Divinity for Twilight Sanctuary, but honestly there may not be a better time for Turn Undead haha
The start of the next round, the first wave will be upon you.
Meh, Twilight Sanctuary is cooler anyways. With any luck, the holy light will repel them from approaching like it did before.
Kirina runs her full 30 ft of movement northwest on the bridge following the others (although she doesn't make it all the way if I'm counting correctly), staying out of range of the knights. That should put her within 30 ft of everyone, whereupon she will whisper a blessing, and a globe of dim light spreads around her. Everything within 30 ft is in the light, so visible to everyone (I forget how dark it is here, but I know we're low on torchlight), and Kirina's allies feels reinvigorated!
Everyone can choose to use this temporary HP instead of whatever temporary HP they have if they end their turn within 30 feet of Kirina. That's different than how it was last time when we were all simultaneously doing stuff, we have a proper initiative order now
Geth roll 1d6+2 for temporary HP
Edit: Actually to be honest I'm not sure how the rolling works for this temporary HP. Does a new roll happen for each person, or do they just use this roll, or....?
looks like big M isn't going down in time. We could try to get on the battlements but a tough athletics check doesn't sound like the kind of thing all of us are going to do. We could try rushing the door?
Arthur charges up onto the bridge where the others are. The knight blocks the way ahead so he can't continue without getting hit. He stops and launches a bolt of fire against the knight standing in the way.
Arthur charges up onto the bridge where the others are. The knight blocks the way ahead so he can't continue without getting hit. He stops and launches a bolt of fire against the knight standing in the way.
Can't get past 1 without taking a hit.
Firebolt on 1.
Geth, roll 1d10
You said "1" too much, Geth thought that's what you wanted.
before serpent makes another post is it all possible we can form a plan? This feels like a somewhat dire situation and I'm not sure how we're going to get out of it. If nobody has an idea yet I'm going to at least proceed with the assumption that we want to get north of the knights and trap them between us and the zombies.
Since I might not get an update out at work today, I’ve done something I never do, which is take the turn of @mrpaku
Hopefully I know you well enough that this is a fair choice.
Gruush sprints away from the bridge and hops across to the singular peak rising up from the chasm.
Suddenly, the knight is enveloped in cold mist! As it dissipates the knight is nowhere to be seen!
They reappear in a rush of mist before Alzav! They step forward and run their thrusting sword through his side, the attempt to cut his head clean off with their other sword! The sorcerer steps back without a moment to spare, still feeling the steel graze his neck!
Alzav! You suffer 18 damage!
It is clear this knight’s concern is not with fighting the strongest opponent, but to maintain the defence of the drawbridge.
They clang their swords together twice, catching the attention of one of the soldiers renewing the ward, and then steps away from Alzav and carefully retakes position.
Geth roll 2d6+3 for Damage
Geth roll 1d6+3 for Damage
—
The Three
They kick away their broken lance and draw their longsword. It begins to glow faintly… you expect an attack, but the knight concentrates… until the sword emits bright light out to 20 feet! The weapon now almost looks sacred, despite the sinister nature of its master. (1)
As the undead descend upon you all, this knight cannot help but charge them down. Centuries of battles, each undead has potentially been slain by this very knight more than once… old grudges die hard, harder still then for the undead. (2)
The knight’s helm begins to glow from within, almost like a lighthouse. A flicker of flame appears above the heads of every other knight. Solomon… you’ve seen that once before… that knight has become a Beacon of Hope!
—
Lesser Knights
One of them whirls around from the wall and sprints towards Alzav, hammer swinging down upon his shoulder!
The ward is no longer being renewed. Slowly, slowly, you begin to hear the screams from within the castle! If you could destroy even some of the symbols on the castle walls…
Alzav! You suffer 6 damage.
I’ve taken their turns in one go since I might not reply later today, but I’m sure you can work around them without issue.
Whenever you start your turn with 0 hit points, you must make a special saving throw, called a death saving throw, to determine whether you creep closer to death or hang onto life. Unlike other saving throws, this one isn't tied to any ability score. You are in the hands of fate now, aided only by spells and features that improve your chances of succeeding on a saving throw.
Roll a d20. If the roll is 10 or higher, you succeed. Otherwise, you fail. A success or failure has no effect by itself. On your third success, you become stable. On your third failure, you die. The successes and failures don't need to be consecutive; keep track of both until you collect three of a kind. The number of both is reset to zero when you regain any hit points or become stable.
Rolling 1 or 20. When you make a death saving throw and roll a 1 on the d20, it counts as two failures. If you roll a 20 on the d20, you regain 1 hit point.
Damage at 0 Hit Points. If you take any damage while you have 0 hit points, you suffer a death saving throw failure. If the damage is from a critical hit, you suffer two failures instead. If the damage equals or exceeds your hit point maximum, you suffer instant death.
Simon snarled as the lithe Knight popped away and struck Alzav. He worried about how easily the knight had weathered the teams blow but saw few options beyond charging in. Then he looked back at both the Zombies nipping at their heels and the the majority of his team trapped between the zombies and the Knights. They needed any opening. He locked eyes with the knight directly ahead of him and then charged. Perhaps if he pushed hard enough the Knight in front of him would also hit the Lithe knight and both would be knocked prone. As he charged the Knight's weapon began to burn with a bright holy light.
Attempting a shove action to push knight 1 either to the ground or into Mordwyn to knock both over. Spending my inspiration to try and make this happen. Also activating second wind.
Alzav's eyes widen as the mist swirls before him, blades striking towards him before the knight had even fully formed. Again, sparks race off a sheer arc of energy that snaps between them.
I'm healthy but out of spell slots!
I think i went the wrong way? Should we try to use the rubble on the east side to scale the walls?
Arthur watches the scene unfold in front of him, and rushes toward Alzav's side. "Gather up!" he yells out to the others. They were sitting ducks if they were spread out, they needed to find a way to keep together and hope the undead and the knights found each other instead. Then, with a glint in his eye that was a mix of curiosity and hope, he raises his hand again and shoots off fire, this time, aiming for the symbols on the walls the knights were trying to empower. Maybe he could distract them back to their work to keep less of them looking at the group, maybe he could bust open doors and have another monster in the mix, but either way, he wasn't going to be able to take down a knight in a single shot and they needed some help.
30ft should get me all the way over to Alzav, then launching a firebolt at a symbol. Will roll dmg just in case that matters.
Edit: Sure Geth. Roll a 1 when burning someone who is attacking us, but let's hit max damage when hitting a wall.
From high up on his rock, could Gruush take note of what Arthur is doing burning the symbols and roughly follow suit: dipping some arrows in oil to light up with a tinderbox, and then shooting at the symbols?
If knight 3 is literally using the Beacon of Hope spell, then he has given the knights advantage on Wis saving throws as well as maxing out healing they might recieve. I wanted to try and nuke Mordwyn, but I don't want them getting healed
Solomon sees the knight glowing with divine energy. "You are still blessed, accursed as you are. Perhaps we're not so different."
Solomon had wanted to engage with Mordwyn, the knight was clearly formidable and needed to be dealt with. However, the blessing cast by this other knight would make that much more difficult. Solomon charges the holy knight, his greatsword shining with divine light. "I will free you from your burden. Go the Gods and face their judgement, and may they be ever merciful." The greatsword slashes out in a horizontal arc, tearing through the knight's armor and its undead flesh.
Geth roll 2d6+3 for Greatsword
Geth roll 3d8 for Divine Smite
Going to move to the NW spot next to knight 3. That would also make me a closer target for the lesser knights on the right, so if they join the fight I can hopefully keep them off the rest of the team. Divine Smiting knight 3, going for the kill or, at least, make his Concentration Save harder.
If there's no radiant vulnerability (might not be if they're casting divine magic), that's 27 damage. Half of that (rounded down) is 13, so a DC 13 Con save to maintain concentration.
Evil-Eyed Gruush pulls himself to the top of the rock as the dead begin to swarm around the first planks of the bridge. His friends hold the line, threatening to be crushed between the two opposing factions.
Gruush withdraws his bow, mind-racing as he watches the Knights and the Undead, wondering which to draw down on. He's just equipped his shortbow when a bolt of fire cuts through the air, headed streaking from the young wizard Arthur towards the strange glyphs upon the castle walls!
Considering briefly, Gruush finally let's out a chuckle from underneath his mask. "Right then..." Yanking open a section of his pack, the Mask spills tinderbox and oil flask at his feet, biting the cork out from the flask with his teeth and dipping an arrow deep inside the container. With a single motion, he sparks the shaft of the arrow ablaze, pulls the drawstring back to his ear, and let's fly at the nearest lit sigil!
Taking a gamble that the knights will pursue the undead threats, Alzav ignores the knight next to him and plinks off a bolt of fire at the undead nearest the bridge.
Shrouded in dark robes, a massive figure presses itself out of the castle, limbs moving beneath the robes like a spider.
From within the robes two wizened mages skitter out, looking left and right, more animal than man. Then, as if a switch was flicked, they compose themselves. One kills a lesser knight with a vicious spell that lashes out from their fingertips, black blades of ice shredding their body. The other aims for the lithe knight by the drawbridge and simply clicks their fingers…
From the castle, barely visible, many more undead make ready.
Stunned for but a moment, the knight makes for the huge robed monstrosity! They thrust, dodge, thrust, their swords a blaze of skill! Spending his action surge.
The knight slides back and takes a defensive stance… the monstrosity looms over them, a closed fist raised.
Geth roll 2d6+3 for Damage
Geth roll 2d6+3 for Damage
Geth roll 1d6+3 for Damage
Alzav will move NW to the statue and see what can be done with it.
At worst, he will use it for cover and start slinging spells from behind/upon it, but if it has anything that looks interactive, like maybe its a guardian in this place? Then he will attempt to magick it. (Please be a mech.)
I'll roll 1d10 in case i need to default to fire bolt at the nearest mage, and 1d20 in case I need to make a check of some kind to do whatever else is available.
Geth roll 1d20 in case of Gundam
Geth roll 1d10 in case of Fire
So this was the terrible menace that that leaked out of Oudru like miasma. Simon couldn't help trembling a little at the visage of animal-like men. These were true monsters. This was the evil that they had come to end. As the lithe Knight charged the monstrosity he was gripped by a dark thought. "Let them fight" he thought to himself. How poetic it would be to let evil and a dark knight fight to the death and then clean up whatever remained.
He sighed.
It just wasn't in him to sit back and let others fight evil. What kind of knight would he be? He just hoped that the Knight wouldn't choose to change targets...
He rushed beside the Knight and struck.
I run to the big bad and start laying on the damage.
You are sat within the chest of the statue! You’ll suffer no physical damage while within it. You can take damage and effect from spells. You control its movements as if they were your own.
The statue has 30 HP. This HP cannot be healed or gain a temporary increase.
The statue has a walking speed of 20 feet.
You sense the statue runs on a fuel that is almost finished. 3 rounds.
As a bonus action on your turn, you may make a reach melee attack action with the statue. This attack deals 2d10 damage. If this damage would kill the target, the rest of the damage is dealt to adjacent creatures.
Only those who took part in the ritual to earn a cantrip can pilot a statue.
Posts
The stench of dead almost overwhelms you, but not before your vision becomes stark, red on black. The edges of things become like smoke, and the lives of those around you burn brightly.
You see the faces of the knights even as you know them to be concealed. Dried out, wrapped in bandages, preserved as best their handlers could—for surely they did not do this alone. You know their throats are carved out and filled with perfume. You sense heavy iron weights sewn shut behind their ribs where their hearts should be. The knights are afflicted with the very curse they make pilgrimage to imprison. They have been doing this for centuries.
Beyond the knights you feel the presence of the hoard behind you, and they in turn feel your probing senses. So many rotten faces, and overlaying them, the sleeping dead they should be.
Before your power wanes, you catch only the weakest glimpse behind the castle walls. Many undead. Something tremendous in scale and potency also, waiting with a terrifying patience…
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The start of the next round, the first wave will be upon you.
Kirina runs her full 30 ft of movement northwest on the bridge following the others (although she doesn't make it all the way if I'm counting correctly), staying out of range of the knights. That should put her within 30 ft of everyone, whereupon she will whisper a blessing, and a globe of dim light spreads around her. Everything within 30 ft is in the light, so visible to everyone (I forget how dark it is here, but I know we're low on torchlight), and Kirina's allies feels reinvigorated!
Everyone can choose to use this temporary HP instead of whatever temporary HP they have if they end their turn within 30 feet of Kirina. That's different than how it was last time when we were all simultaneously doing stuff, we have a proper initiative order now
Geth roll 1d6+2 for temporary HP
Edit: Actually to be honest I'm not sure how the rolling works for this temporary HP. Does a new roll happen for each person, or do they just use this roll, or....?
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We’ll just use that roll throughout @kime
Ain’t nobody got time to keep rolling for it.
Thank the gods (one in particular) for Kirina’s light. Facing off with only Solomon’s torchlight would have been suicide.
—
Map:
pffft, y'all just need 300ft darkvision. I don't know why this is so difficult.
3DS Friend Code: 3110-5393-4113
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@AustinP0027
It’s late here, so I won’t be able to update until tomorrow.
Can't get past 1 without taking a hit.
Firebolt on 1.
Geth, roll 1d10
You said "1" too much, Geth thought that's what you wanted.
3DS Friend Code: 3110-5393-4113
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Since I might not get an update out at work today, I’ve done something I never do, which is take the turn of @mrpaku
Hopefully I know you well enough that this is a fair choice.
Gruush sprints away from the bridge and hops across to the singular peak rising up from the chasm.
Suddenly, the knight is enveloped in cold mist! As it dissipates the knight is nowhere to be seen!
They reappear in a rush of mist before Alzav! They step forward and run their thrusting sword through his side, the attempt to cut his head clean off with their other sword! The sorcerer steps back without a moment to spare, still feeling the steel graze his neck!
Alzav! You suffer 18 damage!
It is clear this knight’s concern is not with fighting the strongest opponent, but to maintain the defence of the drawbridge.
They clang their swords together twice, catching the attention of one of the soldiers renewing the ward, and then steps away from Alzav and carefully retakes position.
Geth roll 1d6+3 for Damage
—
The Three
They kick away their broken lance and draw their longsword. It begins to glow faintly… you expect an attack, but the knight concentrates… until the sword emits bright light out to 20 feet! The weapon now almost looks sacred, despite the sinister nature of its master. (1)
As the undead descend upon you all, this knight cannot help but charge them down. Centuries of battles, each undead has potentially been slain by this very knight more than once… old grudges die hard, harder still then for the undead. (2)
The knight’s helm begins to glow from within, almost like a lighthouse. A flicker of flame appears above the heads of every other knight. Solomon… you’ve seen that once before… that knight has become a Beacon of Hope!
—
Lesser Knights
One of them whirls around from the wall and sprints towards Alzav, hammer swinging down upon his shoulder!
The ward is no longer being renewed. Slowly, slowly, you begin to hear the screams from within the castle! If you could destroy even some of the symbols on the castle walls…
Alzav! You suffer 6 damage.
I’ve taken their turns in one go since I might not reply later today, but I’m sure you can work around them without issue.
—
Map:
They have a collective initiative of 1.
12 of them have arrived, with many more behind them.
You have no time to guess their capabilities, but they look as able as a living man, but maddened from their condition.
Your turn.
Rules reminder:
Whenever you start your turn with 0 hit points, you must make a special saving throw, called a death saving throw, to determine whether you creep closer to death or hang onto life. Unlike other saving throws, this one isn't tied to any ability score. You are in the hands of fate now, aided only by spells and features that improve your chances of succeeding on a saving throw.
Roll a d20. If the roll is 10 or higher, you succeed. Otherwise, you fail. A success or failure has no effect by itself. On your third success, you become stable. On your third failure, you die. The successes and failures don't need to be consecutive; keep track of both until you collect three of a kind. The number of both is reset to zero when you regain any hit points or become stable.
Rolling 1 or 20. When you make a death saving throw and roll a 1 on the d20, it counts as two failures. If you roll a 20 on the d20, you regain 1 hit point.
Damage at 0 Hit Points. If you take any damage while you have 0 hit points, you suffer a death saving throw failure. If the damage is from a critical hit, you suffer two failures instead. If the damage equals or exceeds your hit point maximum, you suffer instant death.
Attempting a shove action to push knight 1 either to the ground or into Mordwyn to knock both over. Spending my inspiration to try and make this happen. Also activating second wind.
geth roll 2d20k1+5 for shove
Geth roll 1d10+2
You charge is so forceful you flip the knight over the other, knocking both of them prone!
I'm healthy but out of spell slots!
I think i went the wrong way? Should we try to use the rubble on the east side to scale the walls?
30ft should get me all the way over to Alzav, then launching a firebolt at a symbol. Will roll dmg just in case that matters.
Edit: Sure Geth. Roll a 1 when burning someone who is attacking us, but let's hit max damage when hitting a wall.
Geth, roll 1d10 for Burning Symbols
Solomon sees the knight glowing with divine energy. "You are still blessed, accursed as you are. Perhaps we're not so different."
Solomon had wanted to engage with Mordwyn, the knight was clearly formidable and needed to be dealt with. However, the blessing cast by this other knight would make that much more difficult. Solomon charges the holy knight, his greatsword shining with divine light. "I will free you from your burden. Go the Gods and face their judgement, and may they be ever merciful." The greatsword slashes out in a horizontal arc, tearing through the knight's armor and its undead flesh.
Geth roll 2d6+3 for Greatsword
Geth roll 3d8 for Divine Smite
Going to move to the NW spot next to knight 3. That would also make me a closer target for the lesser knights on the right, so if they join the fight I can hopefully keep them off the rest of the team. Divine Smiting knight 3, going for the kill or, at least, make his Concentration Save harder.
If there's no radiant vulnerability (might not be if they're casting divine magic), that's 27 damage. Half of that (rounded down) is 13, so a DC 13 Con save to maintain concentration.
Gruush withdraws his bow, mind-racing as he watches the Knights and the Undead, wondering which to draw down on. He's just equipped his shortbow when a bolt of fire cuts through the air, headed streaking from the young wizard Arthur towards the strange glyphs upon the castle walls!
Considering briefly, Gruush finally let's out a chuckle from underneath his mask. "Right then..." Yanking open a section of his pack, the Mask spills tinderbox and oil flask at his feet, biting the cork out from the flask with his teeth and dipping an arrow deep inside the container. With a single motion, he sparks the shaft of the arrow ablaze, pulls the drawstring back to his ear, and let's fly at the nearest lit sigil!
Geth roll 1d6+2 piercing
Your assault shatters the bloody symbols! The ward, now incomplete, is broken!
Due to some connection between the symbols, as the area you strike catches fire, so does the entire outer wall of the castle.
The lesser knights working on the ward are blown back! Each suffers 17 damage! They’re barely hanging on!
—
Solomon
You are momentarily blinded as the knight catches fire from within, their armour falling apart around them as they turn to ash!
—
DOOOM. DOOOOM. You all hear something pound on the gates of the castle. DOOOM. You see the gates begin to crack! Something is about to break free!
Kirina runs to the knight ahead (#5) and smacks it with her Warhammer!
Geth roll 1d8+2 for hammer time
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Dazed by the burst of flame, the knight turns just in time for Kirina to smash his head into his neck! He crumbles to the ground.
Taking a gamble that the knights will pursue the undead threats, Alzav ignores the knight next to him and plinks off a bolt of fire at the undead nearest the bridge.
Geth roll 1d10 fire damage
It continues to move for some time, but as it immolates it slowly begins to fall.
Shambling, crawling, on all fours or at full sprint, the dead of Oudru descent upon the castle grounds.
Two reach the knignt that charges for them, and overwhelm him! They stab at the gaps in his armour, but he remains standing.
Geth roll 1d6 for Damage
DOOM.
The gates of the castle shatter open.
“Perish!”, bellows two voices at once.
One of the tall knights is obliterated.
—
Oaghavanth and Ubika-Ucchal
Enthroned of Oudru
Shrouded in dark robes, a massive figure presses itself out of the castle, limbs moving beneath the robes like a spider.
From within the robes two wizened mages skitter out, looking left and right, more animal than man. Then, as if a switch was flicked, they compose themselves. One kills a lesser knight with a vicious spell that lashes out from their fingertips, black blades of ice shredding their body. The other aims for the lithe knight by the drawbridge and simply clicks their fingers…
From the castle, barely visible, many more undead make ready.
Map:
Stunned for but a moment, the knight makes for the huge robed monstrosity! They thrust, dodge, thrust, their swords a blaze of skill! Spending his action surge.
The knight slides back and takes a defensive stance… the monstrosity looms over them, a closed fist raised.
Geth roll 2d6+3 for Damage
Geth roll 1d6+3 for Damage
A delayed spell…
The knight freezes in place! Then, as if a puppet on a string, they rise a foot into the air, their arms slammed to their sides!
They are held by magic. Every round they can try to break free.
Geth roll 1d20 for Save
Geth roll 1d6+2 for temporary HP
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Alzav will move NW to the statue and see what can be done with it.
At worst, he will use it for cover and start slinging spells from behind/upon it, but if it has anything that looks interactive, like maybe its a guardian in this place? Then he will attempt to magick it. (Please be a mech.)
I'll roll 1d10 in case i need to default to fire bolt at the nearest mage, and 1d20 in case I need to make a check of some kind to do whatever else is available.
Geth roll 1d20 in case of Gundam
Geth roll 1d10 in case of Fire
He sighed.
It just wasn't in him to sit back and let others fight evil. What kind of knight would he be? He just hoped that the Knight wouldn't choose to change targets...
He rushed beside the Knight and struck.
I run to the big bad and start laying on the damage.
Geth make a 1d10+3 for attack the monster
geth roll 1d10+3 for attack monster
As you clamber onto the palm of a weathered statue your innate magic swirls within your mind. You perceive the ancient knowledge buried within it.
The stone hand below you shifts, and before you can react, the other hand closes around you!
The earth moves. It parts. The statue rises until it is stood on two feet. It puts its arms by its sides… and Alzav is gone.
This spoiler is for @fadingathedges only:
The statue has 30 HP. This HP cannot be healed or gain a temporary increase.
The statue has a walking speed of 20 feet.
You sense the statue runs on a fuel that is almost finished. 3 rounds.
As a bonus action on your turn, you may make a reach melee attack action with the statue. This attack deals 2d10 damage. If this damage would kill the target, the rest of the damage is dealt to adjacent creatures.
Only those who took part in the ritual to earn a cantrip can pilot a statue.