The Storming of Marrowbrook Castle (Phoenix City Chronicles)

The member 'Narrator' has done the following action : Roll Dice:

'd20' : 8, 17, 19, 8, 12, 19, 1

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Seeing that she had been wrong to pull her punches last time, Nevara brought a couple of allies into the fray....

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Nevara activates Animate Shadow
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Cellus steeled herself for an attack, closing her eyes and throwing up her staff. When no attack came, she looked up and surprise, "Th-thank you," she whispered, not loud enough for anyone to here. Recovering, she turned and fired an arrow straight at another skeleton.

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Cellus uses Bow and Arrow: 6
6 Roll + 7 Attack + 6 Bow and Arrow = 19
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The member 'Cellus' has done the following action : Roll Dice:

'd20' : 6

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Watching as the skeleton comes up rushing towards him, cerys braces for the incoming attack, by the wretched skeleton.

As the skeleton retreats back to saftey, seeming he has done a good job,
"What... you leaving without having a party with the three of us... well fine then we shall come to you."

As he rushes forward to the retreating skeleton, flicking his wrist unleashing his claws,
"Time to make you feel the scratch of the cat."



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Cerys Defends Against Sword
16 Roll + 12 Defense = 28 (Failed, -1 hp)


Cerys Attacks with Claw 1
5 Roll + 10 Attack + 4 Claw + 4 Enhance Weapon = 23

Cerys Attacks with Claw 2
6 Roll + 10 Attack + 4 Claw + 4 Enhance Weapon = 34

Shadow Cerys 1 Attacks with Claw 1
20 Roll + 10 Attack + 4 Claw + 4 Enhance Weapon = 38

Shadow Cerys 1 Attacks with Claw 2
1 Roll + 10 Attack + 4 Claw + 4 Enhance Weapon = 19

Shadow Cerys 2 Attacks with Claw 1
15 Roll + 10 Attack + 4 Claw + 4 Enhance Weapon = 33

Shadow Cerys 2 Attacks with Claw 2
9 Roll + 10 Attack + 4 Claw + 4 Enhance Weapon = 27


(Cerys Remaining HP 23 / 24)
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"Enough!," Light stepped between Nevara and the skeleton, flashing a brilliant blast of energy at it.

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Brother Light executes Light Attack
~ Rolling Magic check; result = 16
~ ~ 16 + Magic 8 + Light Attack 4 = 28 total

Turn Order
Nevara = 24
Cellus = 18
Knuckles = 16
Cerys = 15
Brother Light = 13
Skeletons = 12
Tal = 7
Burk = 6
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The member 'Narrator' has done the following action : Roll Dice:

'd20' : 16

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"Good to see ya caught up to the battle in time," Knuckles laughed as he slammed first one, then another skeleton into the dirt.

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Knuckles executes Fists of Fury 1
~ Rolling Attack check; result = 12
~ 12 + Attack 12 + Fists of Fury 4 + Brass Knuckles 2 = 30 total

Knuckles executes Fists of Fury 2
~ Rolling Attack check; result = 6
~ 6 + Attack 12 + Fists of Fury 4 + Brass Knuckles 2 = 24 total

Knuckles executes Fists of Fury 3
~ Rolling Attack check; result = 4
~ 4 + Attack 12 + Fists of Fury 4 + Brass Knuckles 2 = 24 total

Knuckles executes Fists of Fury 4
~ Rolling Attack check; result = 12
~ 12 + Attack 12 + Fists of Fury 4 + Brass Knuckles 2 = 32 total
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The member 'Narrator' has done the following action : Roll Dice:

'd20' : 12, 6, 4, 12

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One by one, the skeletons fell. Knuckles found that the skeletons he attacked simply crumbled, already snuffed by Burk, who promptly laughed at his successful prank.

As Tal utterly destroyed the skeleton attacking Cellus, another jumped in to tackle him, but was promptly cut off, in more ways than one, by one of Cerys' shadow clones.

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Skeleton 5 resists Light Attack
~ Rolling Resistance check; result = 17
~ ~ 17 + Resistance 5 = 22 total (Failed; dead)

Skeleton 6 defends against Bow and Arrow
~ Rolling Defense check; result = 12
~ ~ 12 + Defense 9 + Shield 1 = 22 total (Success!)

Skeleton 6 defends against Staff 1
~ Rolling Defense check; result = 4
~ ~ 4 + Defense 9 + Shield 1 = 14 total (-8 hp; unconscious)

Skeleton 6 defends against Staff 2
~ Rolling Defense check; result = 6
~ ~ 6 + Defense 9 + Shield 1 = 16 total (Unconscious; coup de grace; dead)

Skeleton 7 defends against Zweihander 1
~ Rolling Defense check; result = 7
~ ~ 7 + Defense 9 + Shield 1 = 17 total (-19 hp; dead)

Skeleton 9 defends against Zweihander 2
~ Rolling Defense check; result = 18
~ ~ 18 + Defense 9 + Shield 1 = 28 total (-2 hp)

Skeleton 9 defends against Zweihander 3
~ Rolling Defense check; result = 20
~ ~ 20 + Defense 9 + Shield 1 = 30 total (-17 hp; dead)

Skeleton 8 defends against Claw 1
~ Rolling Defense check; result = 14
~ ~ 14 + Defense 9 + Shield 1 = 24 total (Success!)

Skeleton 8 defends against Claw 2
~ Rolling Defense check; result = 14
~ ~ 14 + Defense 9 + Shield 1 = 24 total (-10 hp; unconscious)

Shadow Cerys 2 coup de graces Skeleton 8

Skeleton 10 defends against Shadow Claw 1
~ Rolling Defense check; result = 1
~ ~ 1 + Defense 9 + Shield 1 = 11 total (-29 hp; dead)

Victory!
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The member 'Narrator' has done the following action : Roll Dice:

'd20' : 17, 12, 4, 6, 7, 18, 20, 14, 14, 1, 12, 7

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"Appreciated, your help was back there," Tal nodded to Cerys.

As Cerys stood up over the lump of bones, which was previously a walking skeleton, glances back Tal's way

"Not a problem Tal, this one should now know never to leave without finishing his battle with me." giving a small laugh at it,

'Well now that this place is clear, what will we have to go up against now since these were only the guards...'

"This is far from over," Brother Light glared toward the castle, as if mirroring Cerys' thoughts, "I suggest we make haste."

With that, he took off running toward the castle door which, the others noticed as they followed, was wide open. Who was this confident mage that welcomed death?!











Once inside, the group found that they were standing in a long, brick hallway that led off in a fork out of sight at the end.

Cellus peered into the distance, "Well, there are two ways to decide which way to go..." she said quietly, "we can split up, or we can flip a coin, which one do you think will cover more ground?" she asked with a wry smile.

"Under the circumstances, I feel that dividing our numbers would be extraordinarily dangerous," Brother Light estimated.



"Agreed," Nevara nodded firmly, "Our best chance of survival lies with strength in numbers."



"Guess it's settled then," Knuckles pulled out a gold coin and flipped it, catching it on his hand and looking up to the others from the result, "We go left."

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Knuckles flips a coin (d100; 1-50 Left, 51-100 Right)

Result = 28
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The member 'Narrator' has done the following action : Roll Dice:

'd100' : 28

Cellus nodded at Knuckles and started down the hallway, veering towards the right before realizing her mistake and turning left with a blush while muttering something about "Never having gotten the hang of lefts and rights."

The left passage led to another hallway, which in turn led around a corner.



"Well, this is getting real old real fast...," Knuckles grumbled, "How many hallways to nowhere does one castle need?"

Cellus shrugged and let out a little giggle, "I guess its sort of the status quo... have you ever heard of a castle that didn't have countless twisting hallways and corridors?" she asked with a smile.

"Hai!," Tal chimed in with a grin, "Brave the labyrinth, must not the hero, before he can rescue fair maiden?"



"I guess so," Knuckles frowned, "But we don't know where fair lady is, and I never heard the one about the evil sorcerer raising the dead."



"Unfortunately, many such accounts exist," Brother Light noted grimly, "Most real, and few with happy endings."



"To speak thus," Nevara walked just ahead of the others and motioned to the corner, "Every moment we waste that girl, if she is alive, inches closer to death. Shall we proceed?"



"I'm game!," Burk grinned.

"And while he's no fair maiden, let's not forget about Vincent," Cellus said quietly, looking nervously around, it was clear she wasn't very comfortable here.

Without another word, Knuckles trudged past her, a look of mingled anger and regret on his face.













Around the corner, hallways somewhat gave way to doorways, three in all, which just about anyone could figure out were connected to the hallways that had been seen earlier.

The left-most door was carved of bloodstone and boasted grotesque reliefs depicting human sacrifices.

The middle door was carved of a blue marble like the floor, and consisted of a relief depicting a maze.

The final door, on the right, was made of onyx, and had no relief at all.

Cellus carefully examined each of the carvings, shivering upon examining the bloodstone, "I don't think we can to flip a coin on this one," she said quietly, withdrawing to stand next to Burk.

"Nope," Burk steeled his nerves, "I got a nasty feeling this is our room..."














Reaching out steadily, the large grasslader was surprised when the door simply swung open with but a turn of the knob, leading to the room beyond.

This room was composed of barren grave dirt, upon which rested several rows of cross-shaped tombstones. Four such stones lay to the far east of the room in a private plot, two of which had human victims tied to them. Although they were tired and clearly mistreated, they were also breathing. One was in a dirty red robe that covered most of his body, and the other was a female with slightly damaged armor and had tangled red hair.