Dakath steps over Kyo's fallen body taking his place in the ring of warriors. "Amibar pull him to safety," he shouts ready to engage the closest skeleton.
Ullar sees that he will have to take up the slack that Kyo left, though he only has five skeletons on his side. He is struck by a crude mace in the left temple, but ignores it, whacking yet another bony fellow and knocking him to the ground. The remaining four come after him with fury.
Taglio continues to fend off his three opponents with parrying blows, while Forte's luck finally runs out. He takes a sword blade in the cheek and then an axe near the stomach, bad wounds, which put him in quite a bit of pain. However, the energy flowing from the mace enables him to ignore it. He crushes in the skull of yet another skeleton.
Ullar brings his sword around, seeing that there are only a few left. He hits the head of one skeleton clean off, sending it flying like a child's ball. However, he begins to feel his strength finally wearing out. He does not know whether the last three are too many or not.
Realizing that there are only 3 left in front of him, Ullar continues to strike at his opponents, hacking at their legs to the best of his abilities. The fact that he saw some of his comrades go down in battle generates a fury which surely will be felt by the skeletons.
Taglio continues his defensive battle, as Forte misses for the first time since he began wielding the mace. His payment for that kindness is a short blade in the groin, which fells him, leaving Taglio with four opponents.
Tag can hardly feel the sting of his wound or the blood congealing down his neck, he feels adrenalin pumping through his veins as he dodges another clumsy blow. His opponents like puppets strung together by evil, monstrous marionettes clattering their dance of death in unison, continue their passionless parody.
Seeing Forte fall, he glances at the mace pulsing with power almost within his grasp. He shivers remembering its words calling him that fateful night and hesitates a moment paralyzed by a chill of apprehension. No one else seems close enough to take advantage of its power though. Then a growl rises from his throat which grows into a thunderous roar. He waits for an opportunity. Ducking under a blade he reaches for the dead priest's mysterious weapon, grabs it by the hilt and swings it upward in a wide arc for the groin of his nearest opponent.
"Venezia! Venezia!" he cries and then begins to chant as he tries to silence the clammering of bleached bone around him.
"When I'm dead and buried, dig my weary bones up, I won't need them cause I'm in heaven, so use them to brighten the house up.
Boil them with wine, potato and thyme, fit for the doge to sup on, fit for the doge to sup on.
Once all the meat is taken, nail them together and make em, into a stool for lazy old fools, to talk of their glories forsaken.
Boil them with wine, potato and thyme, fit for the doge to sup on, fit for the doge to sup on.
Take my skull bone and shine it, roll it around and then find it, a mantle piece and tell my niece, to polish me daily to laugh at.
Boil them with wine, potato and thyme, fit for the doge to sup on, fit for the doge to sup on."
Tag is even less suited to the weapon than Forte was, but finds it does most of the work itself, smashing through one of the monster's thigh bones and sending it crashing to the ground. One of his remaining opponents drops it's sword to the ground, but another is not so clumsy, striking him a numbing blow on the right shoulder with it's mace. The blow would surely have disabled Tag from fighting, but the mace almost raises itself to continue on, and Tag has enough strength remaining to half-heartedly wield it, continuing his song.
Amibar lacks the strength to pull or move Kyo in any way, but he manages to stop the bleeding enough so the large savage will not die right away. At the same time, Dakath moves forward to help Ullar with his trio of bony foes.
Dakath continues to fill the breech in the semi-circle of warriors hoping against hope that they may get through this alive. He hears Tagilio singing and he re-doubles his efforts in destroying the skeletons before them. He senses rather than sees Xania somewhere behind him and he prays that she's able to get out of this alive if he falls. "To lady luck!" he shouts before giving the battle his full attention.
Ullar's strength continues to provide, even though his arms ache with the effort. He turns his blade sideways to smash the head off one of the skeletons, which crumbles alongside it's score of companions. Dakath is similarly effective, though lucky to be able to use his small piercing weapon. He manages to dart through the thing's defenses and snap it's neck with a sharp blow from his sword. The only remaining skeleton on that side is unable to get by Ullar, who now appears to have things well in hand.
Amibar hears Rhune yelling out in anger from upstairs, but is unable to see what's going on up there. He sees that he cannot leave Kyo in this precarious position to find out what's what.
Tag's armor, the best in the party even with it's couple of open patches, continues to provide him excellent protection from the skeletons. He smashes the leg out from another opponent, leaving him with just a pair.
Ullar, thinking he now surely will win, gets a bit overconfident and does not manage to sidestep the long blade wielded by his last opponent. It hits him in the stomach and he falls heavily to the ground, not severely wounded, but extremely exhausted and unable to continue the fight. Dakath licks out with his sword toward the thing, and feels some satisfaction as it bites into the knobby knee, but is not strong enough to fell it.
Tag feels the strength from the mace ebbing somewhat, and finishes his song awkwardly, but is able to draw up enough strength send an overhand smash flying toward one of the last two, crushing it's skull and leaving him with only one. However, he is definitely wearying. It appears the mace, while having a great effect on his opponents, is not having such a great effect on him.
Dakath sees Ullar vainly trying to struggle upward, not successfully, and realizes that he must take this thing down himself. He does so with another vicious chop toward the knee, finally dropping it.
Dakath drops his sword and helps Ullar into a comfortable sitting position.
"You'll be alright my friend, just rest easy for a moment."
Almost as an afterthought, Tag swings a wide arc with the mace and crushes the last skeleton with a roundhouse swing. The moment he does so, all the energy the mace gave him fades, and he drops it, falling to the ground in exhaustion.
Looking about, the remaining conscious members of the group see that there are four open doorways leading out, and another ladder going down.
"Words fail me, mio amico, words fail me," Tag pants collapsing on the floor, too exhausted to move.
"Let me just lie hear a while and rest, si. It is peaceful now, like a grave. Are those frightful deathless ones all destroyed now?"
Tag's fingers let go the mace and it rolls away from him among the dust and bones.
"Augustus, I take back what I said, please help us my friend, without you we are surely finished," Tag mumbles almost delirious with fatigue.
Xania comes rushing down the ladder without Rhune, seeing to the injured warriors. Relieved to see Dakath in good shape, nonetheless the party's situation seems dire.
A few moments later, you hear footsteps from above, and the blonde head of Brother Augustus peers down, "Rhune said you all needed my help down here?" He immediately begins attending to the terrifically wounded men. Less than a minute later, the group hears a loud sound, and then dust comes floating down from the hole.
Climbing back up the ladder, Amibar sees some severed ropes next to the hole. More disturbing is the fact that someone has rolled a great boulder up against the opening leading into the building, blocking escape. It is quite massive, though the stronger men in the party might be able to push it out of the way, were they not incapacitated at the moment.
Shrugging his shoulders, Auggie tends to the group as best he can. As he tends to Forte, he sees that the great man is still semi-conscious, babbling deliriously, though the extent of his injuries is great. With the help of his magic and some of Kuzma's salves, he rouses the man up, though he is quite weak. He might be able to fight, but surely he could not exert himself strongly for fear of reopening his severe wounds.
Waving a vial of amazingly strong smelling salts under Kyo's nose rouses him as well, his quite impressive constitution enabling him to survive the myriad of small wounds he received. He clambers to his feet in little better shape than Forte.
Neither magic nor poultice can bring Asif alert again, though, and he remains lying some distance away from the others with a heap of skeletons about him.
Ullar and Taglio benefit from Augustus' tender care, but are still quite weak. Surely between the whole group, a ten-year old girl could knock them over with a broom handle.
The group begins to be disturbed by the fact that they are most likely trapped here, awaiting who knows what. A brief exploration reveals that there are no other exits besides the ladder down, and no furnishings at all on this level. Downward appears to be the only way to proceed.