Sorry for the lack of a roll this week, I've been ultra busy getting a part done for one of my stories. We'll roll on Sunday as usual since I've still got some stuff to do, but I'll try and squeeze another roll in the week after if all actions are in on time.

Also, Seraphimo, I'm a...little confused by your action. Your first line of dialogue says to warn them, the second line implies you're going to cut them down.

Well Chas first thought about warning them then he got told by Bodnakin to not let them live so he went with attacking them instead, which is why there's two lines in conflict with eachother because he already told them to go away.

Having trouble with the roll, but don't worry, it is definitely been worked on.

EDIT : Roll is 95% complete. Will be finalized tomorrow and posted.

And here we are, as promised. I've had the players with active phylacteries set them down in the hallway before entering the fight - it's not a good idea to slog into a battle without doing so. Setting them down somewhere is a minor action at most, so you don't have to worry too much about wasting actions or anything


Seraphimo/Chas Delaney
[1] Whilst your corporeal companions get to work on moving the hefty stone door, you set your phylactery down in the corner, out of the way and out of harm's reach, then you walk through the wall and into the entry hall. The room is dark and hazy, lit only by an opening on the far side of the room and a handful of torches that had been brought down with the band of adventurers, graverobbers more like, and you go unnoticed as you look around - this room has been picked clean years ago, lacking even the braziers that were so common in the tombs below. Your eyes find the enemy, the six who have come to plunder your final resting place, and they are a motley band indeed, wearing mismatching pieces of armor and wielding weapons that look to have been stolen from a battlefield or something along those lines.

They look like they would provide little challenge in a straight fight...except the one man in the rear, an old soldier wielding a greatsword and armored in plate. His armor is battered and scratched from years of fighting, but also clean and well kept, the mark of an experienced fighter, but one without the coin for repairs.

He sighs, watching the others try to get the door open, but it is clear none of them have seen you, or are able to see you for that matter. You move closer, one step at a time, growing more accustomed to being unseen in death. You know full well what you want to do...

...but you haven't the first idea how to possess a man.

You have the capability to do so, you can feel it, but acting upon that power is more complicated than you had expected - your Death Knight comrades simply need to swing their swords about in order to translate their action into results, but taking a living man's body as your own is far more difficult. Do you walk into him, as if entering a doorway? Must you gather energy, first? Can it actually be done against a live man, standing awake and alert? Or is it only against the sleeping?

I must admit I can help you little with this puzzle. Perhaps drawing energy from the Soulstone is the key - it gives you life, after all, perhaps it is also the well from which your powers are drawn?

You focus intensely on the seasoned mercenary, moving closer as you do. You feel the hints of warmth upon living skin as you do, the taste of ale upon your tongue, the tiredness in your arms and the weight of your armor, and the mercenary yawns wearily as you get closer, closer, and then -

There is a loud, dull grinding sound as the stone doorway rolls to the side, your comrades having succeeded at last.

"Well done, mage! We might just get some coin after all."

The wizard swallows hard as he looks into the darkness.

"...that wasn't me."

Then your brothers-in-arms charge through the opening, and everything turns to chaos.



CaveCricket/Chaikin
[2] Forming a quick plan of attack, you grab hold of one of the stone's handholds, putting your shoulder against the rock as the other knights come to your side, and together, with a great, hefty heave, the stone rolls from its ancient resting spot and into the trench meant for it, a glimmer of sunlight shining through the cracks as the tomb opens for the first time in centuries. The sound is deafening, but the silence when it stops is even more so.

You lead the charge, rushing into the room with sword and shield in hand, all your comrades not far behind. The wizard had been working to open the tomb, and is stood in the front center; you move so quickly and come from the darkness so suddenly he has no time to react, no time to cast even the most basic of defensive wards before you're in striking range.

Battle calculations below!

You dart in, holding the grip of your sword tight and placing the other upon the pommel as the wizard throws his book to the ground and tries to fall towards the rear, the more heavily armored mercenary moving quickly to try and take his place only to be intercepted by the woman of your party. The wizard is fast enough to stop your blade from taking his head, or from opening his belly, but you are quick enough to change where the blow lands...and the wizard cries out in pain as your steel bites him in the top of his right thigh, cutting through cloth to the bone with ease. He crashes to the ground, carried by the last of his momentum, and clutches the bloody wound before the other death knight, armed with a greatsword, splits his head in half as if it were an overripe melon.



CrazyMLC/Bodnakin
[3] Whilst the wraith might be able to pass through the walls of the tomb as if they weren't there, you and your corporeal comrades cannot. The other death knight, the man with the sword and shield, puts his shoulder against the stone wheel that covers the entrance to the crypt, but he cannot shift it on his own. The woman puts her strength alongside him, and together the stone starts to move, albeit barely, so you draw your sword and set it down against the wall before joining them, taking one of the handholds and putting all your strength into the push...and finally, the stone wheel rolls up and out of its resting place and into the trench meant for it, sliding open as the light of day shines into the tunnels. The lich and the vampire stand aside, waiting, and you grab your sword again as the other knight leads the charge.

You and he both go for the wizard, whilst the woman catches the attentions of the heavily armored mercenary and tries to keep him at bay with lengthy and defensive fighting. Bursting from the darkness as fast as your legs can carry you, it's instantly obvious the graverobbers weren't expecting any opposition - they are out of position and disorganized, and only the mercenary and the rogue are fast enough to react to the rush. The wizard, stood at the front of their band, is caught utterly by surprise, and desperately tries to fall back to safety, only for his thigh to be caught by your comrade's steel, steaming scarlet dying the cloth of his blue robe purple as he crashes to the ground, clutching at the cut as he tries to staunch the bleeding.

All the fallen wizard's attentions are on his wound as you close in to finish the job.

Battle calculations below!


Running forward with your greatsword raised over your shoulder, the wizard barely has time to look at you before you are close enough to swing, and not enough time for him to do anything that might save his life. Your steel shines in the sunlight as it scythes through the air and catches the wizard by the ear, cleaving through skin and bone and brain and out the other side again. The wizard stares forward with a blank, vaguely concerned expression, so you kick him over and the top half of his head, hat and hair still attached, simply falls off.

Blood gushes from the wound, carried onto the stonework by three weak spurts of a dying heart, and what is left of the wizard's face twitches once or twice before finally falling still.



TheKebbit/Tsunnarad
[4] Lacking either the strength to push the gatestone like your more heavily armored companions or the ability to walk through walls like the spectre, you stand to the side, waiting patiently for the battle to begin. The three death knights combine their efforts to move the stone out of the way, but despite their combined might they can barely make it roll back and forth, yet alone up the small, triangular block that keeps it fixed in its position. Needing to practice your abilities to ensure that you will be ready for the coming fight, you grip the staff tight, and extend a hand, fingers placed as if holding the edge of a coin between thumb and forefinger. Focusing upon the right side of the stone wheel, you slowly move your hand, mimicking the path you want it to move...and the gatestone rises with the death knight's push, climbing over the small barrier and out of the way.

You let go, turning your attentions to the brightness shining in and how the vampiric champion shies away from the light, but as soon as the armored champions start their charge you move forward, into the entry way. The wizard is felled in seconds by the first two, his right thigh slashed to the bone before his head was halved, the knightess locks the mercenary into close combat, keeping his attentions whilst the other warrior - armored in boiled leathers and wielding a mace and shield - tries to circle around to take her from the side.

Then there is the rogue, a bowman of green and yellow stood near the entry way. His eyes lock with yours, and he quickly pulls a throwing dagger from his belt and hurls it towards you.

Battle calculations below!


The dagger careens through the air in a wild, unbalanced motion caused by the haste of the rogue's throw...so much so that your forearm is struck not by the blade, but by the pommel, hitting your robe and long gloves with a pitiful rustling before falling against the masonry with a louder, sharper clang. You look back to the rogue, smiling a twisted grimace of jagged teeth and ruined flesh that makes him recoil backwards in fear.

"Son of a ladylike...what are you?"

You deign to answer, and instead grip your staff once more, putting an almost-closed fist forward...and the rogue rises off of the ground, a plaything for your magic. You spy the bard, watching as she looks over at the dead wizard before turning pale and scrambling back towards the entryway, and so you hurl the rogue at her. He flails wildly, shouting wordlessly as he flies as well as his dagger had, then crashes into the bard and sends her to the ground, pinned beneath him and unable to escape, at least for the time being.



Maart3n/Luther
[3] Leaving the wraith to walk through the wall and the death knights to work on opening the way forward, you move to the side near the lich, setting your phylactery down in a safe spot before crouching down and loading your crossbow. The weapon is old, and uncompliant with your loading, but even when it was new it was designed for hunting, to be shot against game from horseback, and as such lacks anything like a stirrup of a windlass. Fortunately, the weapon is light enough for you to draw it by hand, and still has the strength to hold its energy for a time, even with a quarrel ready to fire; one of many reasons that had made sure it was the crossbow and the arbalest which were the nobility's ranged weapon of choice, not the longbow and its smaller kin, which are the weapons of peasantry, not noblemen.

By the time you have finished loading, your comrades have finally managed to open the gatestone...and you are almost blinded by the intensity of the sunlight shining through. Simply looking at it after so much time spent underground makes your skin crawl and your eyes tingle, but the wretched feeling subsides after a moment - so long as you stay out of direct light, at least.

The knights charge in, catching the band of adventurers almost completely by surprise, and though you had planned to shoot at their mage, he falls in seconds, before you even have a clear line of fire to take a shot at him. You sigh as you raise the crossbow, then look around the room for a good target - the bard is exposed, but her singing is as sweet as honey, and you don't feel like shooting her, not when there are others to deal with. The she-knight is busy keeping the mercenary's attentions, which has the added side effect of making it hard for you to be able to take a shot at him, either, and the rogue...the rogue is floating across the room.

But your eyes fall upon the second warrior. He's more lightly armored than the first, carrying a wooden shield to make up for the lack of plate, but he can move quicker without it...and he's trying to flank the knightess.

You raise your crossbow.

Battle calculations below!


The quarrel is loosed with a loud twunk, and crosses the distance in a heartbeat. The brawler has his back turned towards it, and it strikes him square in the top left shoulder, the man shouting out in pain as it punctures the leather and bites the skin only slightly. He growls angrily, tearing the quarrel from his armor, but he backtracks from her side and faces towards you, shield raised and ready for whenever you take another shot. You've managed to stop her from being flanked, but you probably won't be able to get another shot at him without being blocked by the shield.



TorrentHKU/Captain Brynhildr Kindaustein
[2] You watch as the spectre walks through the wall, passing through the thick stone as if it were not even there, then you turn your attentions to opening the gatestone. It is so large and so thick that it would be impossible to move, were it not for the handholds placed in the middle of its surface. You stride over with the others, gripping the handholds tight and pushing with every last drop of strength you can muster, even walking alongside as if trying to drag it along - it takes a few tries, but eventually it manages to climb over the small bump blocking its path and roll into the track meant for it to follow. Bright, warm light shines into the tunnel, driving the vampire into a dark corner, but you and the others have no such impediment.

Drawing your sword, you raise your shield and charge through the opening and against the band of graverobbers, planning to find their most heavily armed and armored fighter and keep him busy long enough for the rest of the party to join in...once the others have been dealt with, of course. The wizard is the first to be attacked, and the first to tall, his thigh slashed to the bone before he lost the top half of his head to a greatsword's blow, but the most dangerous enemy is right in front of you.

An old mercenary, a hedge knight armored from head to heel in battle scarred plate and wielding a two handed sword. He flips his visor down before you can get close, and reacts the fastest out of all the adventurers, despite his age.

Battle calculations below!


His moves are quick and practiced: with both hands upon the leather grip of his greatsword, he raises the sword up past his shoulder and swings. You barely bring your shield up in time to catch the blow. Sword and shield clash with a horrid bang and bone rattling force, driving you backwards from the impact and giving him an opening. He quickly moves his left hand up past the crossguard, thrusting the weapon forward, but the speed of the move drives it off course, and it succeeds only in scraping the sides of your breastplate, bright sparks glittering through the air. You dart backwards, past the reach of his greatsword, and the old warrior places the sword against his shoulder, breathing hard as he gathers more energy for another attack.

But you don't give him a chance to rest. Raising your sword and shield once more, you charge against him.

Battle calculations below!

He reacts quickly, and moves as if he had expected you to counterattack, bringing his sword around as you close in. Your shield is out of place to stop the blow, but your sword isn't, and you catch the attack on your crossguard - the mercenary pushes forward, trying to drive you against the ground, but you stand fast, refusing to yield, and match him.

"You're not bad for a woman."



"We lost Talin," the lightly armored warrior shouts as he backtracks towards the source of light, leaving the dead wizard behind. "Fall back towards the entryway! We'll take them on one by one!"

The mercenary heeds his words, walking backwards towards the entry and never once turning away from any of the champions as he withdraws, whilst the rogue and the bard struggle to stagger to their feet - the fallen pair are far enough away that none of the champions can hit them, which puts them almost entirely out of the fight. The lightly armored warrior stands besides the heavily armored one, and the two face off against the entire group from a narrow position that makes it impossible to get around them, yet alone get behind them.

Any attack against them will need to be a frontal one.