07.11h: Dungeons of Inconvenience

[Joshua]

Things are going really well... until a wall of green necro-energy floods past the room, animating all the dead lizardfolk... Wow, can't catch a break today. (How much bad-stuff does the group have?)

So, who is actually in this room? and how are you dealking with 100 or so zombies, and protecting the remaining 50 or so lizardfolk?

Also of note, the crushed zombies and dismembered zombies, are crawling back together and regenerating. Plus, there seems to be an initial burst of strength that lets them extricate themselves (if a bit slowly). So, while all 100 are not in fighting capability to start with, they are rapidly getting there.

[Wyvern]

There's a rumbling crash from where Alys went out of sight down the main entry-way - easy guess that she simply collapsed the hall to buy some time there. A moment later she returns to the room.

...And now for the OOC commentary part of this post. Alys has significantly more warfare than I do; what does she think is the best way to proceed? In particular, I'm looking for two options here: option one is how she thinks things will go if she keeps her current form and "just" applies warfare & strength to the problems at hand; option two is what she thinks she could manage by going full dragon and making heavy use of fire.
Note also that both of these plans will assume Cameron is sticking around to help, and may include use of his engineering abilities to quickly create a more defensible position within the room.

Of course, if she and Cameron are - as seems likely now - both stuck here if they want any chance of saving anyone, this means a new plan is needed to ensure that Rogbar doesn't end up as collateral damage. Alys' current thought there is to give Tinder new orders when he gets back with a healer: escort Jiga to Rogbar, and, if Furball's around and providing a distraction, get Rogbar out of there.

[Wyvern]

((After some discussion with the GM over chat...))

Turns out the final plan is to go red dragon and make limited use of fire - mostly just searing claws to cut down on the zombies' regeneration. Though she'll toss in an outright breath weapon blast if she gets a clean shot. (And note that 'clean' includes living targets if saving them would cost a greater number of other lives; Alys is not at all squeamish about choosing who lives and who dies.)

"Cameron! We're going to need some sort of barricade - too many of them to keep off these people otherwise. See what you can do, please?"

Whenever Tinder shows up, she'll add, "Tinder, new plan: Escort Jiga to Rogbar; if Furball is there, you two can use him as a distraction to get Rogbar out. If not, stay hidden."

[khadjair]

Cameron nods, having come back down the rubble pile to help fend off the newly animated lizardfolk. The Star is surprisingly effective if a bit grotesque in effect - the same effect it had on the spear also seems to work on flesh. It doesn't inflict damage in the traditional fashion, leaving dimples and dents where he strikes, rendering limbs or snouts useless, permanently insetting eyes to make perception difficult. He makes his way about the room, eyeing various supports, then figures out where to strike. Each time the Star is swung at ruined iron bars, stonework, and the like, metal and stone groan and bend like steel in a forge. Soon there's a thicket of iron to try and cross to make progress; it's not a perfect barricade but it works against advancing creatures, slowing them and channelling them to limit how many can come at once.

"If you need more, I've gotta take out a support, and I don't know what things look like above us. I'm leaving the upper access so we can get out; if they're as dumb as zombies are usually made out to be, we may be able to thwart them and escape up or out as necessary"

He's panting, but there's a grin on his face as he looks over his work.

[ShadowOfPreservation]

Jiga's well aware of her limitations so has been quite content to play her role as medic and liardfolk wrangler for most of the battle. Once Alys' breath weapon comes into play however, she orders those in her charge to stay where they are and puts her aeriel acrobatics and agility to some good in rescuing a few of those that have been cut off or surrounded by undead and would be otherwise caught up in one of the Dragon's "clean" shots.

Preoccupied with her aerial rescue work, she misses Tinder's arrival but looks around when she hears Alys mention her name. Looking concerned, she pauses for a moment to examine what Cameron has been doing while she was otherwise occupied. The makeshift barricade has greatly reduced the zombie threat with clear choke points that will surely be filled with burning undead corpses before long.

Jiga catches Alys' eye and nods before turning to follow Tinder. "Who's Furball?" she asks but following the hound leaves little time for a response as they dash off.

[Joshua]

It will take a bit for Tinder to get to the other scene, cause... well... time-stuff and dramatic timing.

You've got a good defensible fort-like situation. Getting the victims out of the jail might be an idea, although, most don't look well enough to survive the teleport*.

The zombies are not making too much headway, but they are like pounding a wall with your bare hands. It's tiring and they don't drop easy. Sounds of reenforcements are getting closer. (Both from above and digging through the rubble of the collapsed area.)
________
*: Plus, all hell broke loose outside.

[khadjair]

Given a chance, Cameron will do his best to try and slowly shape the barricades into something more solid, his blows melting iron to wood to stone into a single annealed piece. Making it more difficult for reinforcements to get through without taking time to actually break the barrier. He continues to try and maintain and restrict more channels.

"I'm not sure how much more I can do," he pants, sweat starting to run down his face from the exertion, but despite his protestations he looks like he's still fresh, hitting that first wind after a warmup.

[Wyvern]

"Good enough," Alys nods. "But if we want to push out from here, we will need to avoid fighting on two fronts." Two quick twitches of her tail indicate both the main entrance and the hole in the ceiling. "If you can hold the fort here for a minute, I can seal the front door well enough to last for hours. ...Or I can hold the line while you go and put that hammer to use."

She pauses a moment for a response; if Cameron heads for the entrance, she'll take over defense of the barricade entirely; if he doesn't, then she'll head for the entrance herself (though, in the second case, she'll leave behind her cloak, sword, and a small pile of assorted daggers and other throwing weapons).

[khadjair]

Cameron looks up at the hole, and at the main door. "I don't think I can do it fast enough to keep from being overwhelmed/undone. I've got this for a few more minutes at least." He swings the hammer in a sweep, contacting the shoulder of one of the zombies and creating a deep dent in the flesh that renders the arm useless and throws it off balance and to the side. He grabs up a spear, ducks down and hammers the base of it to start making his barricade a little more active.

[Wyvern]

Alys heads out of sight again; after a few moments, there's a wash of light and heat from the entrance tunnel; after several more seconds, it's joined by a sort of crackling rumble that a particularly well-travelled sort might recognize as the sound molten stone makes when it starts to flow.

((Edit: and, as noted, there's a sword and some other weapons left behind; if any of the prisoners are in any shape to fight - and there might be one or two that only recently arrived in the dungeons - Alys won't be surprised if at least the sword is in use when she gets back.))