"No! Fool girl, why did you attack the runner!" Vondal shouted at Adelaide, though his ranting would have to be cut short by Phil coming in with the life drain attempt. "Die monster! Again!"
As an aside, he threw some healing Daren's way.
Move closer to Phil if necessary
Warhammer attack, +4 to hit, 1d8 + 2 damage
Bonus action Healing Word on Daren for 1d4 + 3 + 3
Vondal's attack hits (Attack roll 12) "Phil" for 4 damage. Healing Word is cast on Daren for 8 HP, bringing him back up to 10.
As Vondal swung his warhammer at the spectre, he felt it sink into soft ectoplasm before it passed right through. It had some effect, judging from the way its visage twisted, but it was beginning to seem that Hanira's praise of the dwarf's hammer had been a case of overly-high expectations.
At least the healing worked. Daren felt the darkness before his eyes begin to lift, and his nearly-shattered skull ached a little less - although he wasn't back to full fighting fitness, being more than a step away from death was always a good thing.
Not a substitute for a formal medical consultation.Adelaide nearly growled as she sees Wimsey try to run off even despite all of Daren's efforts. She looks to pursue the man... but then, there are her allies right behind her... fighting undead monsters and already Daren was so bloodied. The big zombie with Ned's head was not fighting right now but should he join the fray again...
With some frustration, Adelaide does a complete 180 and runs right back where she came from... towards Vondal to attack the spectre harrying them.
Adelaide doubles back and moves to Vondal's side to attack "Phil". Hits (Attack roll 15) for 7 damage; bonus attack also hits (Attack roll 20) for 3 damage. She has enough movement remaining to step back behind Vondal.
"Phil" passes through Vondal to lash out at Adelaide, provoking an attack of opportunity (Attack roll 22) for 3 damage. However, it misses her (Attack roll 14).
Wimsey gets up from his prone position (15ft of movement) and decides to go for the skull instead of returning to the fight (uses Dash to move further down the corridor for another 45ft).
Adelaide returned to the fray and swiped hard at the specter, dissipating a little more of its ethereal form with every strike. Enraged, the ghost surged forwards and right through Vondal to attack the soldier, but all it earned was yet another thrust for its pains as its attack fizzled out yet again. Cold iron may have been anathema to the fey, but it seemed as though wrought steel worked well enough against the undead.
Wimsey began to sweat as he watched his creations falter. He picked himself up and dusted himself off, glowering with hatred at Daren... and scooted further down the passageway, pausing only to pick the fallen skull off the ground.
Not a substitute for a formal medical consultation.Daren run until he was safe behind the stone slab for cover, when a surge of energy came over him, helping to relieve his immense headache and the blur and narrowing of his vision. Suddenly, he was not seeing stars flying over his head.
"Gods bless you, Battlebeard! You can tell your Lady I'm returning the favour immediately."
He opened up his quiver, putting bolts side by side on the slab to reload better, and two knives - just in case.
He released the first bolt on the ghost thingy (wondering how the hell they expected to kill it with normal weapons anyway), and promptly took cover on the slab again (lest Rob's hands finds him again), and he reloaded like his life depended on it - and as a matter of fact, it did.
Attacking a creature adjacent to a ally to apply sneak attack - gives me advantage to hit and extra d6s. Bonus action to hide.
I am merely an agent of 'random'. Because you know, the order is only inside our minds. Out here, there is only Chaos.Attacking an adjacent enemy doesn't give you advantage, it only takes away the need to get advantage. Still, Daren hits (Attack roll 25 - Critical) for 10 damage (Sneak attack!), and "Phil" is re-dead. Daren attempts to hide from "Rob" with a check of 11, and succeeds in hiding behind the altar.
"Rob" is no longer turned, and moves 30ft from the wall. The abomination is now (roughly) 60ft from Vondal, Adelaide and Daren.
Daren let the bolt fly on a wing and a prayer, and as it passed through what should've been mere ectoplasm, the spectre slowly deflated with a fatigued wheeze.
"Rob" turned around at the sound, ceasing its attempts to hide in the corner of the room, but even though it began to lumber towards the party, it did so with a faltering step - its quarry had 'mysteriously' vanished.
Not a substitute for a formal medical consultation.Well, the dice have spoken...
Vondal casts guiding bolt. Spell attack roll: 1d20+5 = 25 (critical hit), which would've negated shield and Cutting Words. Given the distance of Wimsey after being chased down the corridor, he's also out of range of counterspell.
Damage dealt: 8d6 = 33.
Flash! "AAAAHHHHH!"
The bolt of light left Vondal's fist to the sound of an unearthly choir and rocketed down the hallway, and Wimsey turned... just a little too late. His eyes widened to the size of dinner plates as he saw the ray twist and spiral in his direction - and just to twist the knife, the goddess Serena stuck her hand in and decided to slow time down just enough for him to experience what had to be the last, longest moment of his life.
"HOW COULD THIS HAPPEN TO MEEEE-"
And then he exploded in a glorious mess of sparkles and fireworks and the sheer incandescence of the gods, the likes of which had not been seen in Golimar for an eternity... and which was sadly appreciated by none except the three adventurers.
The skull in Wimsey's hands fell to the ground with a hollow clatter. The oil lamps dimmed down again, shedding only faint amounts of light from their flickering wicks. And "Rob" remained staring at the three for just a little longer - and for a brief moment, the eyes of Ned fixed on them with a look of recognition and gratitude, just before the unlife went out of them and the patchwork monstrosity sank to the ground.
And for a moment, all was silence.
edited 3rd Aug '16 3:39:09 AM by Pyrite
Not a substitute for a formal medical consultation."WHA-" Daren put his hands to his temples, speechless as he was just raising his crossbow again to hit "Rob" and saw the pirotecnical show. He made a boom sound with his mouth while his hands made a gesture as his head was exploding in slow motion.
"Wait-a- you could do THAT? Why didn't you do it before? Gods above, and I thought me putting roofs on fire was flashy."
"This just in: Serena just got...scarier." he says, grabbing his equipment back. "Glad you're on our side..." Daren approached Vondal and gave two slaps on his chest armour, making a *clank clank* sound.
"You better take that skull. I have munitions and evidence to recover...I don't believe we can ask answers from the dead!..."
"O! If only there was someone solid and brave enough to get Ned's head back for cleaning our names and give him a proper burial, Adelaide!"
"I mean, even Ned knew I have a weak stomach."
edited 3rd Aug '16 2:02:38 PM by Kyef
I am merely an agent of 'random'. Because you know, the order is only inside our minds. Out here, there is only Chaos.Adelaide rolls her eyes at Daren's requests, probably mumbling about allies with weak stomachs... right before she swung down her halberd to neatly cut off Ned's head from the abomination it had been stuck on. Opening a sack, the strong gutted soldier carefully sets the head upon it...
Then she looks at Vondal with clear awe... letting out a whistle at such a spell "He must have really pissed off Serena... were you saving that magic? Got range and hits real hard" comments the soldier, who at least was quite appreciative and somewhat learned in damage and blows.
Letting out a soft breath... the situation somehow dawns on her "We... solved it. We found out the murderer... and Ned's remains are now in peace. Well, they'll be in more peace when we bury him all whole and together... but still... I'll... I'll go fetch what is left of Wimseybottom... we'll probably have to show the corpse and skull"
"Yeah, we finally did it. Weird, right? These two days will age me a year at least." Said Daren, managing to grin at Adelaide despite his already drying blood that ran from his eyes, nose and ears. He sists for a moment, laughs out loud takes a deep breath and starts to collect his ball bearings.
"Here, let me make sure you're not tripping on my balls. What do we do next?"
I am merely an agent of 'random'. Because you know, the order is only inside our minds. Out here, there is only Chaos."It's never too late to convert," Vondal said. "The Lady could always use another knight or... erm... Trickster? There's also the matter of the bounty on the skull that the constabulary is offering. I think we might want to collect what evidence we can, then head down to the guard so that we can definitively clear our names and clean our hands of this matter. After that, we ought to visit Hanira and then the priest at the cemetery to close up the loose ends."
He proceeded to start scrounging the area for hopefully some remains of Wimsey, a journal, or anything else they could bring to the guard that wouldn't just look like they killed a homeless person and framed him.
"As Ander would say, Amen, padre. Lucky for us that Cass girl can do that truth thingy if you left no real evidence."
Daren gets up and tries to assist Vondal in his search.
"Sorry, mate, you can count on me to help keeping you alive, but I've already got a god caring for me. Besides, both Serena AND Hanira make the hairs in the back of my neck go up."
Assist in investigation or look alone with perception?
I am merely an agent of 'random'. Because you know, the order is only inside our minds. Out here, there is only Chaos.Collective Investigation check (rolled with advantage): 17.
The late but unlamented Wimsey Poncebottom was resting in pieces - the only reason his head was still partially intact was because the explosion had blown it clean off and straight down the hallway, where it lay in the middle of the floor next to the (alleged) Skull of Neruok, his dying look of disbelief making a macabre contrast with the artefact's slightly-sheepish grin.
Beyond it, the corridor seemed to open up into yet another chamber, although the party was still too far from it to see what lay beyond. At the very least, though, at least it didn't seem trapped.
Not a substitute for a formal medical consultation.Daren crept down the corridor with trepidation, distrusting his senses with every step - but he reached its end without incident. If there had been any traps at all, Wimsey must've deactivated them at some point.
As it turned out, Wimsey's "escape route" wasn't much of one at all, because the room at the end of the passageway was a dead end. Similarly scorched by fire, it was hard to discern what its original purpose was, but it had been repurposed by Wimsey as a makeshift study, judging from the crude table in the middle of the room and the rumpled bedroll and backpack in the corner. Within a niche at the far wall, a small oil lamp on a pedestal provided the room's only source of illumination. Loose sheets of paper and parchment were scattered across the floor and table, along with a strange collection of other paraphernalia: a small crystal dangling from a cheap bronze chain, a cracked glass orb, a couple of broken wands similar to the one Vondal and Adelaide had found in the inn - and most ominiously, yet another skull.
Not a substitute for a formal medical consultation."How... many... skulls... am I going to be carrying back? Someone get the papers, it may help build the case against the loony" says Adelaide with a big frown as she goes pick yet another skull... however, the possibility of someone else taking this one doesn't seem to go by her mind "If you want, do a little search of the place but I think this is about it... should make our trip back to the watch"
Daren looks at the bunch of notes, not very excited. "Yeah, I guess that's — wait." he pauses, the flicker in his eyes reappearing.
"Oh man, really? Of course! I should have guessed it." he mumbles mostly to himself as he approaches the pedestal. "You are not going to believe me."
The half-elf crosses his arms, turning his back to the wall with a cocky smile until he was pleased with pissing his partners off by not saying anything, then turned on his heels.
"Would you look at that" he traced with his fingertips a couple of stones in the wall that very much resembled a door. Daren rubbed his hands.
"Open, sesame" he opened a grin of pleasure and started checking there, throwing dust to check for winds, then checking for notes or triggers, and lastly pushing the blocks in.
I am merely an agent of 'random'. Because you know, the order is only inside our minds. Out here, there is only Chaos.Daren's Perception roll = 15 (Pass), followed up by a check with Thieves' Tools = 17.
Luckily for Daren, his cavorting (just barely) failed to trigger the cunningly-hidden explosive trap tucked neatly in the corner of the false wall - and thankfully, a more cautious check revealed the disarming mechanism. A quick swipe of his tools later, the trap clattered harmlessly to the floor, and a hard push caused the stone panel to slide into its hidden groove, revealing the room behind.
This room, unlike the others, had been spared the ravages of the fire that had scorched the catacombs. It definitely still reeked of cult activity, though; the sigils that adorned the walls - a single white hand on a red background - hinted at the identity of its former owners.
What was stranger, though, was that Adelaide finally had an answer to the question: "Where in the hells are all these skulls coming from?" From the looks of things, the Cult of the White Hand had a pretty nice assembly line going, with two separate racks of skulls on opposite sides of the wall labelled "Plain" and "Enchanted", and a stack of scrolls on the long alchemist's table between them. Judging from the thin sheen of dust that had settled on them, it looked like they hadn't been disturbed in weeks.
Not a substitute for a formal medical consultation.

You can't shove as a reaction, so I'll go with the logical line of play.
Wimsey provoked an AOO with his movement. Daren's Attack roll: 1d20+5 = 13 (Miss). Wimsey moves into the corridor. Daren activates Disengage, moves up to Wimsey and attempts to shove: Athletics check - 1d20+3 = 18. Wimsey's opposing Dex roll: 1d20+3 = 8. Wimsey falls prone, but not onto the caltrops, and loses his grip on the skull. Daren runs back to the slab and out of range of Wimsey's melee range for the moment.
Rob remains turned.
Daren, still woozy from the blow, stabbed wildly - but missed Wimsey by just a hair. "You're gonna miss me when I'm gone," he muttered, and made to run down the hall... only for Daren to run up desperately and slide directly into his skinny ankles.
It worked. Wimsey fell to the ground, winded, and the skull flew from his grasp and down the hallway with a hollow clatter. "Heeeeey!" He scrabbled for it, and Daren took the opportunity to run back into the safety(?) of the sacrificial chamber. Fortunately for him, the undead monstrosity that had nearly hammered the living daylights out of him was no longer after his blood, but was instead clutching its undersized head as it crouched in a corner.
Not a substitute for a formal medical consultation.