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-----"Whatever you do, do it faster!" Kazel yells at people in general. "Somebody hold it down or tie it up so I can get at its throat." Not risking the mercs trying to swing at air again, she attempts to stab the thing in its dark evil sockets with her dagger anyway for the moment.
-----Suddenly the wretch shoots its hand up and a fiendish blue glow engulfs its dead palm. As it begins to reach for Kazel�s arm around its neck, Krord swings his right fist down. With a beefy smack, the big human�s fist is stopped by the undead thing�s hand. The cold fingers close around Krord�s hand and the big guard moans. His fist quivers in the grip of the slightly subdued form and Krord falls to one knee. Throwing his head back, his eyes roll up in his head and in the next second, the monster releases its hold on him. Krord slumps back on the floor in a weakened state.
-----The Dread Pirate now hefts Kazel�s long sword and for a moment, he handles it in a way that draws an uncertain glance from the others. Looking a bit unbalanced by the sword, the Dread Pirate nevertheless thrusts the weapon in impaling the struggling thing in the belly. With a ripping action, Gimplefwick then dislodges the thing�s dead entrails spilling a large amount of black blood across the floor.
-----At almost the same time, Kazel drives home her dagger and even though it may not find the thing�s black eye sockets, the dead flesh around the face gives way to the blade.
-----The struggling instantly comes to a stop and Kazel pauses a moment holding the still form in the deadening silence of the tower room. The butcher eases her hold on the thing slowly and the small form offers no sign of life, undead or otherwise.
-----Just as Kazel gets comfortable enough to push the silent form from her, a quivering commences within the robed form. Apparently it appears that the thing is truly lifeless but it now convulses in a way that hints at some building force. Wisps of dark smoke-like vapors begin to rise from the open mouth, eyes and nostrils as a closed kettle might do over a hot fire.
-----Drawing upon his past experience with a zombie, the Dread Pirate looks suspiciously at the corpse and yells, "Right! Out the window with her! Give me a hand, Runik!"
-----Gimplefwick then grabs ahold of an arm and a leg and commences hauling the newly inanimate zombie towards the nearest window, apparently intent upon heaving its carcass out to the waiting templars below. He moves his feet as quickly as possible, trying to pitch the zombie out before it explodes or whatever it seems intent upon doing. Runik quickly moves seeing the desperate intent of the situation.
-----"Ha, my thoughts exactly!" Kazel agrees as she grabs ahold of the undead corpse and helps to throw it out into the streets below.
-----Lifting the jerking corpse up on the bare stone of the window opening, they manage to chuck the body out. The Dread Pirate then yells out the window, "Don't go near it!"
-----Ducking back behind the sheltering wall and looking at the others, he says, "Arrr, that was a nasty bit o' work. I could really start to hate the undead. Especially the spell throwin variety of undead."
-----As if to punctuate his statement, a resounding boom is heard outside followed by splattering sounds as if small pieces of wet material are hitting the outside of the temple. Groans and cries of surprise are heard from the assembly of templar guards somewhere below on the streets.
-----Gimplefwick then states, "Well then, let�s everybody recover fer a moment and then Kaz can go check out the next floor. Speakin o' which," the Dread Pirate looks at Kazel's longsword, all coated with rotted zombie intestines and foul, black blood, then distastefully hands it back to its owner. He then walks over and recovers his cutlass.
-----Kazel wryly retrieves her sword and taps it on the wall to shake off the bits of guts, then whips it around a few times to flick off the gooey black blood in every haphazardous direction. "I've seen worse than that. But a nice bit of butchering job there, Dread."
-----Krord moans as he slowly rises to his feet. Flexing and stretching his arm muscles, he shakes his head as if to clear it. Runik stares at something across the room and with a grunt of surprise points at it. As everyone looks, they see lying on the floor a large fist-sized gemstone. It looks like one of the dispelled Darkening Crystals.
-----"Ach, not the most dignified end for a high priestess," Kazel shrugs as she peers at the crystal. "Let's see what they figure happened here and what to do with that crystal."
-----After everyone has time to rest for a bit, Kazel begins to examine the level above, seeing if it leads to another floor or the roof. Since the ladder is too rotten to climb up, she takes the one from the second floor to see if it reaches.
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