Sunday, 1 August 1280, Late Afternoon (Zed Men Walking)

Gaven hefts his club: "Likely more ghouls." Gaven readies himself to enter the room.

Oloc shudders at the thought of facing more ghouls. But the Mage summons forth what courage he can muster. He pulls out his magical dagger and prepares to throw it at whatever foul undead lies beyond the door.

Duran nods and pushes the door wide open.

Through the doorway you see a 20' x 30' room, as anticipated, with another door directly across from you in the opposite wall.

Near the north wall is a stone sepulcher, similar to the ones you've seen before with the following inscription:

The lid to the sepulcher has been cracked and thrown aside, and you see six slavering zombies in torn, ragged clothes groaning over the abbess' remains, voraciously sucking marrow out of the bones. Their expression is as close as a zombie's face can come to delight.

As you open the door, however, they drop what they are doing and turn toward you moving in to attack.

Zombies (red) jump down from the tomb to attack the party (blue).

One zombie claws at Gaven, cutting the cleric fairly badly (OOC: damage = 5 hp; Gaven is now at 7/12 hp). Two others gang up on Almo. The halfling is able to dodge one attack, but the second attack finds its mark, and Almo staggers backward a step as the zombie strikes him (OOC: damage = 3 hp; Almo is now at 4/10 hp).

As the zombies clash with Gaven and Almo, Duran is able to jump back from the door and get off two shots with his bow before the melee becomes too confused for further missilery. One of his arrows strikes the zombie from which Almo recoiled, wounding it severely, but not quite killing it.

Oloc, too, is able to throw a dagger through the gap opened by Duran's movement, targeting the zombie wounded by the fighter's arrow. The thrown blade spins through the air, slices through the undead creature's throat, and returns to Oloc's hand.

The zombie crumples to the floor, as another steps up to take its place.

Recovering from the pain of the zombie's clawing attack, Gaven raises his hand to turn the foul creatures.*  The zombies stop in their tracks suddenly, as if in agony, then spin around and begin to rush for the door on the opposite side of the room.

Zombies (red) in flight from the party (blue).

*************************

OOC: Actions?

*I took the liberty, as Gaven did this against the skeletons, and it seemed the most sensible course of action here as well. If you would have attempted some other action, let me know and I'll edit accordingly.

Current Situation:

The five surviving zombies now have just turned their backs to you; they are still right in front of you, maybe about 10' from the doorway.

Gaven is in the doorway; he is currently at 7/12 hp.
Almo has recoiled away from the door after being hit; he is currently at 4/10 hp.
Duran stepped back to get off his shots before melee was engaged.
Oloc has stepped up to a position through which he can throw through the doorway.

Given this position...

Gaven (I believe he still has a spear, no?) and two others could make missile attacks from the doorway (or just outside the doorway). It could be Oloc and Duran, but doesn't necessarily need to be since the mage and fighter are not actually in the doorway, like Gaven is.

Alternatively, any number could press into the room to try and make any combination of missile/melee attacks (once through the bottleneck of the doorway, there is no hindrance to any combination of missile/melee for one round, after which, if melee is engaged, missilery would likely be blocked by those in melee).

All attacks you choose to make against the zombies are at +2, since you're behind them.

Since the zombies have been turned, they cannot attack at all – the zombies are allowed no action other than flight for the next 3d6 rounds.

*****

Time: 16:55 (combat time, no significant change after 1 round)
Current Torch Expires:17:10

*****

Combat Details

Round 1

No surprise for either side.

Initiative: Zombies 5 – Party 4

Zombie 1: Attacks Gaven
d20 = 18 + 1 = 19 (hit); d6 = 5

Zombie 2: Attacks Almo
d20 = 4 + 1 = 5 (miss)

Zombie 3: Attacks Almo
d20 = 16 +1 = 17 (hit)

Zombie 4: Cannot attack, no room.
Zombie 5: Cannot attack, no room.
Zombie 6: Cannot attack, no room.

Duran:
d20 = 17 + 2 (short range) + 1 (hit bonus) = 20 (hit); d6 = 1 (zombie wounded)
d20 = 1 + 2 (short range) + 1 (hit bonus) = 4 (miss)

Oloc
d20 = 13 + 2 (short range) = 15 (hit); d6 = 3 (zombie killed)

Gaven
3d6 = 11 (successful) All zombies flee!

Party Henchmen: Cannot attack, no room.