Still not in the best place for charging at the foe, Thorkild was still happy that he would get to test out his new axe, he had been expecting raiders or pirates, but only fools would stay too long in places like this, when the weather was as mercyless as it had been on their travel north so far, perhaps that was why the undead where shampling at them. Thorkild moved forwards towards the first of the zombies, aiming to simply go through the enemy group one by one for now as he came in with a wide swing to cut down the zombies
Farull went dashing forward with a mighty war cry letting his weight pull him forward that much faster as he attempted to barrel through shrieking skull and into the mob of undead beyond him. Unfortunately it seemed that the warning system was warded in some fashion and rather than trampling it into dust the ogre was repulsed from its surface, thrown a few inches off the ground and left to smash down on his back wondering what in the hell had just happened. Argot laughed at this flaunting his obvious superiority as he stomped around the shrieking skull and prepared to swat it with his weapon. "Can't even beat up puny skull!" Snorting arrogantly blackjack thundered into the screaming trap...and was promptly swung back into his own face leaving him too wondering what the zog was going on. Further sorcery was at play as Malik found himself pushing his limits to call upon the Winds of Aqshy. Despite Ozumat being so thoroughly choked off by local weather conditions the vizier saw to it that coats of burning fire now enveloped himself, Sakeis and Gunther, simply unable to find the strength to actually protect their whole party. It was now time for the real charge to hit home. With superior range and an actual gun in clawed hand Sneek would claim first...bone dust? A shot caving in the skull of a Crossbone which had stood up several feet away, from their position post Argot clubbing himself. Even with his steed embarrassed and confused Skaven could line up a solid shot. Notably these skeletons crossbows were of rather ornate make bearing small parchments inscribed with blessings and prayers or engravings of golden faced saints and warriors of Sigmar. One of the approaching skeletons even wore quite the tall cap that would of made any Chaos Dwarf jealous of its majesty. These same skeletons were all intent on chopping into the Ogres seeing as everyone else was currently diving head first into waiting zombie claws and maws. A bolt punched through the air threatening to impale Sneek, missing him by a whisker while Man-Eater beneath him finally got his senses back in time to thump away one skeleton only for another to jam a rapier into gut, its tip easily penetrating his gut plate and seeing his eyes light up with a generous amount of utter hatred. Farull nearby suffered a lighter blow as his Gnoblar compatriots yelled and hollered for his attention, pointing him toward a third skeleton which hacked into one of his thick arms with a hatchet, inflicting otherwise minor damage. At last there was Sakeis, Thorkild and Gunther! Their shambling foes were a colorful lot one could tell, bedecked in rags, bandannas with a multitude of tattoos visible on their only partially decayed flesh, all of them recently turned by the looks of it and most likely the corsairs the captain had mentioned. Gunther's war hammer knocked the arm off of one as it reached out to attack him, sparing him one hit only for another to latch onto his weapon so it could haul itself closer, both gloved hands closing upon each side of his head and pressing with force enough he thought skull might crack, eyes threatening to burst out. It swiftly became a battle of attrition as zombie hands were starting to burnt away, it was simply a question of if Warrior-Priest was going to lose his head or not. Sakeis found his weapon lost to him as he speared through one risen pirate only for glaive to become lodged between several ribs as it just kept walking forward utterly un-phased by what would of been a fatal wound in life. It turned into a sick game of keep away as Sakeis pushed weapon out to keep foe at bay while it just walked on further and further impaling itself until its torso was approaching his claws, slowed just enough it hadn't attacked him in those few seconds. Thorkild was the only one to meet with any real success in his strikes, battle axe proving itself as fine a weapon as any when it hacked off the knees of a Zombie, dropping it down to level where it stared at the dwarf with dead unblinking eyes. Reaching out toward him fruitlessly before head was split in half by curved blade. Mercenaries: Argot: 20 Gunther: 9 Sakeis:17 Thorkild:16 Sneek:10 Snik: 8 Farull:16 Malik:12 Ammo: Argot: Pistols x2[10] Sneek: Pistol [9] Snik: Javelins [5] Conditions: Gunther/Sakeis/Malik - Fire Shields (4) Frost Bitten and Chill Bones: Skeletons: 10/10/10 Zombies:3/8/8 Shrieking Skull: 1 Crossbones: 10 Ammo: Crossbones: Crossbows [10/10] Conditions: So long as the Shrieking Skull remains active it will summon enemies from deeper in the cave each turn. @Colapse @High_Adept_Zeth @Grall_Stonefist @Casavay @Maleth @FlashyGit
OOC:I really hoped that GM is not so cruel to blow me up on such a low level spell Thank you merciful GM!I will sacrifice a goat in your name! The incantation proved to be more taxing,as breath of the God-Maker was snuffled by vile magics of this place.Despite this,the ritual provided mediocre success and Malik was glad at that thought,that even if Wizard Caliph saw him...he would not consider him as a total failure.Surely the cruelty of the environment demanded some alleviating points. "That...idol!"...yelled Malik between panted breaths as the battle unfolded around him..."that skull!"gesturing with his scimitar to the Shrieking Skull,Vizier turned to Sakeis and Gunther,both,enfolded in the fiery shields of Ormazd! Vizier understood that only those two would understand the meaning of his words,both having experiences with ancient magic in some form. "We have to destroy it before it overwhelm us!We have to break the wards!"yelled Vizier as he pirouetted with a downward slash to bisect the approaching zombie with his scimitar.
With misfortune taking his weapon from him, and fortune (or rather some good work from Malik) handing him a flaming shield, Sakeis decided to eschew the use of weaponry and resort to more primal methods: His claws. Yet there was also the matter of the ward that Malik pointed out that would no doubt eventually summon more trouble than the band could deal with. So the Lizardman disengaged from the skeleton and advanced upon the Shrieking Skull, intent on destroying that accursed idol before it created too many problems.
"SIGMAR'S BLOOD!" Gunther cried as yet another foe, lacking any real imagination, went for his head! Cursing his bad luck, Warrior Priest dropped his hammer and threw a punch into zombie's head, hoping to break the undead's brain and maybe see if the urban legends about zombies and their heads were real.
"To destroy it we have to get to it, to just do like our good ogres is dangerus for those without five feet of fat to protect their organs." Thorkild said, he had taken solace in the kill, even if it had just been a scrambling dead, it was honest work to rekill the dead, even these pirates deserved better than to be desecrated, to put them back down was good. And with the same mindset as before Thorkild moved forwards, though this time he made an overhand swing, hopefully giving him the chance to end the zombie first swing, the quicker they got to that neusance of a shreiking skull the better.
It did not escape Sneek that his mount-boss was on the verge of going absolutely ballistic, and between him, the veritable crossfire of bolts, and the sudden explosion of fire from his allies, he decided it best to ditch him, jumping off Argot's shoulder and joining the battle proper. After that close call with the Crossbones, however, he also decided that standing still would be a lethal decision, denying him the chance to reload. Once more drawing his scimitar, Sneek charged the skeletons engaging the ogres, hoping to gain the attention of his boss, being the masterful warrior he was.
Now Farull was mad. "He attempts to ride only to fall and roll to the left onto his belly. Gut plate scarring the ground. He finally gets his bearings and rises club and iron fist in hand. "Skuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuulllllllllll!" He roars as he stomps up to the skull slowly this time to not be throw on his back and starts to bead the dust out of the skull.
Farull found his efforts thwarted once more as both weapons were repulsed again and again with force enough to actually harm him as both limbs were jarred with bone shaking force following his fifth and six attempts at pounding through the blasted things barrier. Argot came over in another attempt to upstage his fellow ogre, intent on pounding the thing to oblivion with a single titanic overhead smash! This too failed as weapon whiffed off its invisible warding and simply cratered a part of the floor. Fight was only going to get a lot heavier as a third ogre joined the fray! Called forth from the depths by the screaming sentinel its lumbered toward the back of the zombie pack and those hewing through it with a rusty anchor clasped in both hands. A faded red bandanna wrapped around its scalp while a trio of eye patches were plastered over its left eye with crusty mucus. "Raaaaaaaaaaaawrg braaaaaaains raaaaaaaaawrg. " It wasn't in the fight just yet but given that it was an ogre that would feel even less pain than normal chances were it wasn't going to die before that point. Plenty to keep their hands full in the meantime at least as Gunther punched clean through a decaying skull with mailed fist. Malik wasn't doing too grand on the other hand as his blade took a hand from a zombie which would in turn simply wrap stub limb and opposite arm around him for a deathless lover's embrace, jaws closing down on his face and starting to chew off his nose. Similar to Gunther and his last hungering foe the Vizier's flame shield was tearing away at would be devourer, its face drying up and flaking away as eyes melted out of their sockets. Still getting his face eaten by a burning zombie probably wasn't all that grand. Thorkild was on the case though as his battle axe clove clean through zombie at the waist severing spine and toppling it down to ground level. Back slapping down axe followed and brain was split roughly down the center by dwarven craft. Sakeis met with similiar success as impaled glaive holder of an undead was shredded by burning claws, flesh withering further and coming away like strips of jerky. It was thrilling, emboldening and absolutely primal for the Saurus. Still a matter of the skeletons though and Sneek found himself in the sights of the Crossbones still. Lining up another shot despite its painfully obvious lack of eyes a shot went flying for ratman, thankfully his dark sight was better than that of others and he was able to even see this happening in the dim lightning and shadows around those engulfed in flame. Scurrying aside as bolt embedded itself in cave floor another skeleton was already waiting for him. Rapier wielding limb recoiled for what appeared to be a killing blow ready to spear him clean through an eye the moment his body slid to a halt. It never came, at least, not for him. Opening an eye Snik was impaled through on the blade having run over and lunged into its path looking to steal the kill from Sneek and finding only death in turn. Goblin was thrown to the floor with a roll of skeletal wrist, sliding off gentleman's blade with ease. Sneek found himself unable to attack as Skaven instincts were momentarily overwhelmed by his good fortune and the multitude of opportunities, soon to be wasted, it provided. Two remaining skeletons ran past him without a care, going after Argot both they readied a warhammer and spear between them but ultimately failed to inflict any damage as hammer simply tenderized an area of flabby pudge while spear was caught in a pair of fat rolls and snapped off leaving head trapped in there somewhere like an extra bothersome splinter. Mercenaries: Argot: 20 Gunther: 9 Sakeis:17 Thorkild:16 Sneek:10 Farull:14 Malik:10 Ammo: Argot: Pistols x2[10] Sneek: Pistol [9] Conditions: Gunther/Sakeis/Malik - Fire Shields (3) Frost Bitten and Chill Bones: Skeletons: 10/10/10 Shrieking Skull: 1(1/2) Crossbones: 10 Risen Ogre: 18 Ammo: Crossbones: Crossbows [9/10] Conditions: So long as the Shrieking Skull remains active it will summon enemies from deeper in the cave each turn. */* Mark notes how many waves have been summoned, how many in total will be summoned thus far.
