Harald casually swipes a half-empty glass of wine as a he carefully edges forward. “Hmm. They look a bit… out of it. Probably the smoke ? Do you know these guys, Signor Valente, sir ? Not bad, by the way.”
Giacomo nods at Joseph to show he gets the hint.
If the others can move the zombie guards he will quickly search the door for traps, attempt to disarm any he finds, and attempt to pick the lock if the door is locked.
Too late to edit: If I can open the door I Will get to one side to get out of the way of whatever’s coming through. Of.course if anyone’s going to try to kick the door in, that’s another option.
I’ll ready my sling, in case we decide to take them.
[To Valente]
“Is the next staircase up behind that door?”
I have Blind-Fight as a feat, re-roll on misses due to concealment. If the smoke is considered concealment.
In a whisper to Joseph
“You seem to know what you are about. How would you have us proceed?” Taye hefts his crossbow and gestures “or I could try to knock two of the abominations back and allow you brawny fellows to swarm them?”
I’ll do as Joseph directs for this round, either firing the crossbow at one of the creatures or casting Magic Missile if he suggests knocking them back.
“If things go according to my idea, at least a couple of them will be falling over shortly. I’d say target any who remain standing while our larger companions close to range with the blackguards.”
“Very well, one of my quarrel’s should end this quarrel I daresay.” readies crossbow
Zachary holds fire for now (in every sense of the phrase…)
What the… urgent whispering You guys planning to jump these guys ? Are you *nuts *?! They’re… official guards of some toff or something. Look at them, that kind of getup doesn’t grow on olive trees. We’ll get in so much trouble ! These Italian milita dudes are super-jumpy and truncheon-happy, they don’t take kindly to assault. Trust me, I know !
“Do my ears deceive me, or is my best barbarian friend actually suggesting we bow out of an impending fight? Soon I’ll be seeing him sniffing flowers and prancing naked in meadows…”
quietly: “Norseman, those guards are more of the abominations we fought on the town square.”
[Still waiting for my answer to my question in #104, note.]
Looking confused
“Soon? Is this not the norm for you norsemen? Friend Hawkins? Tell me again the tale from our last meeting. The one about the naked norse thunderer. I believe you mentioned goats as well.” “And awaken Valente, I can aim this crossbow only so long.”
“Yes, the staircase is up behind that door, and though those… things… wear the family livery, I believe they’ve been corrupted by the same forces that attacked the square. Don’t worry about assaulting them; I can protect you from the law in this matter. My rapier, fine steel though it is, won’t be of much effect against that heavy armor. I’ll leave this one to heavier weapons.”
The party spreads out, trying to minimize sound and movement to avoid detection and retain surprise.
Harald: 19
Guard 1: 15
Solsken: 14
Giacomo: 14
Zachary: 12
Guard 2: 11
Taye: 8
Aji: 5
Guard 3: 4
Joseph: 3
Joseph triggers the battle sequence with a well-timed Grease spell, which coats the floor perfectly beneath the guards, knocking each to the hard wooden floor.
With a terrible cry, Harald charges, knocking tables aside as he attacks the center guard. However, the guard’s steel armor turns his axe aside and he does no damage.
The guard struggles to his feet, giving Harald an opporunity for a second shot. This blow cuts deep into the guard’s poorly armored leg.
Solsken lines up a sling bullet, but he misses. His prone opponent is too tough a target.
Giacomo darts up to a fallen guard, and stabs at the exposed neck of a guard with both daggers. He cuts deeply into the rotting tissue of the neck, but can’t quite sever it.
Zachary doesn’t attack; he’s carefully not setting the whole place on fire. More than it already is, I mean.
The guard floored next to Giacomo tries to stand. Giacomo cuts quickly across the guard’s neck and finishes severing its neck.
Taye looses a bolt, but only buries his quarrel in a table.
Aji charges forward and throws himself at the remaining floored guard. He whips the zombie’s arm behind its back as far as the armor will permit and pins it to the floor. The monster is entirely trapped and grunts ineffectually.
Joseph strides forward, readies his whip, and wraps it around the guard’s leg. The guard crashes back to the floor.
Harald roars again, frustrated at his failure to destroy the zombie in a single blow, and this time neatly severs the guard’s head in a single blow. His blow is so powerful that the axe then buries itself in the door behind the guard.
Two zombies killed and one pinned. Anything special you want to do with the prisoner other than dispatch it?
What, you want we should buy him a drink ? 
Ha. Well, if we have a guarantee not to be outlawed, that’s different. You see, Solsken, you have a bad influence on me. All that grumpiness after we got chased out of Milan…Pavia…Ceriale… that place with the church, too… Anyway. HEY, ASSHOLES ! ONLY BABY MEN WITH TINY PRICKS WEAR THAT MUCH POT METAL!
cue combat
pant, pant See ? What I told you about armour. Can’t move. Can’t see. Still lose your Christ-forsaken head. Ha ha. Good job, everyone. Um, alchemist, does your friend intend to keep that one as a pet ? (to Aji) Finish him and help me with that stupid door, brother, we’ve still got an elf to save.
I start twisting the zombie’s head off.
Next attack, I make another CMB check, with a +5 bonus for maintaining the grapple. If I succeed, I deal my unarmed attack damage to the zombie. I can (and will) apply my Power Attack to this roll.
Giacomo returns to his original plan to search the door for traps and disable what he can find. He also does a perception check to see what he can hear behind the door.
looking sheepish, while trying to free crossbow bolt from table
[COLOR=Black]“Careful, my friends, there are strange winds about. I felt one as soon as I loosed my bolt!”
[/COLOR]
Aji begins to dissociate the zombie’s head from its shoulders. Anyone who wants to interrupt him should post before I do later tonight.
Giacomo detects no traps on the door; hardly surprising, given that the Doge would be unlikely to place deadly traps in his own home leading to his bedchamber. He does hear the sounds of moaning, crashing, and occasional human-sounding cries from beyond the door.
Joseph smiles smugly as his plan comes together and loosely coils his whip back up.
“Right! How are we doing with the lock on the door? It is locked, isn’t it? Let me have a look… I think I’ve seen that model before…”
Joseph will burn another round of bardic performance to [COLOR=“Blue”]inspire competence on Giocomo’s lockpick check.[/COLOR]