Etienne's arrows missed this time; a couple of them that looked as though they should have hit fell harmlessly away. Ranchefus slammed a fist into the fallen Echo's face before picking her up and taking to the air again. He landed on the watchtower and faded into the darkness. Whether he stayed on the tower or flew away was impossible to say.
Aloysius scrambled to grab a couple of daggers. He managed to avoid any hits from the remaining three zombies, and Blacky, continuing his awe-inspring performance, rid the courtyard of the three undead.
The three standing members of the party in the courtyard realized that after a long battle (or maybe it was only a few minutes), there was no one left out here to fight. All were badly hurt and more than a little exhausted. Kaileer still lay where Etienne had hurriedly bound his wounds. Jana's prone form lay crumpled on the east side of the courtyard.
Etienne moved to Jana's side and quickly looked over her wounds, then started to bandage what he could.
After quickly collecting the remaining daggers in the immediate area, Aloysius squinted into the darkness towards the tower. "Eric," he whispered, "I know not where the dark priest took Echo. Howe'er, the archer in the tower will awaken soon 'enow." He looked at the carnage in the courtyard, and the blood covering himself and the mighty fighter. "Methinks it may be best if we retreat to the wood, at least until we can regroup and return." His face saddened. "I doubt we have strength 'enow to enter the Keep proper retrieve Echo. Howe'er, we can get Kaileer, Janathell, and mayhap the gypsy girl and escape. Didst thou see where either the gypsy or Arachne went?"
"A man took Rumer through that door. Aloysius, when you're done getting daggers, search the bodies of the men and woman we fought first for anything useful. One of them may have a healing potion or something, I think the half eared man in the room had bracers on, they could be magical. We need to find _anything_ that could help us stay here if we can, otherwise things that would help us when we return. Grab anything that looks valuable," Blacky said quickly.
"Etienne when you're done with Jana, draw a bead on the sleeping archer, I'm going to look for a way up." He said as he searched.
"There's no way up from here. Etienne, can you see to shoot that archer? We really can't afford for him to wake up." Blacky said and began helping Aloysius search bodies.
Aloysius quickly did as Blacky directed and headed back to the room with all the bodies to see if any of the dead (those who were once actually alive within the last day or so, that is) had any interesting looking equipment. He specifically removed the bracers from Half Ear as Blacky mentioned. Aloysius also retrieved the two daggers he had thrown while inside that room.
Aloysius was searching the bodies as Blacky entered. "Eric, methinks it would be wise for us to depart soon. That way, all of us save Echo have a chance of escape. If we remain, Ranchefus will likely return with reinforcements and we will all likely fall." The mage shook his head in weary resignation. "I like not the idea of leaving Echo here, but I see no other option for the time being."
A hurried search of the bodies by both Blacky and Aloysius yielded a coin purse from each of the seven except the man who had been wearing only his breeches. The man who had wielded the bastard sword, who, like the half-eared man, smelled distinctly of fish even over the stench of the undead and battle gore, also wore a ring and had a metal flask on his person as well. The half-eared man's gold earring looked to be a some value, as did his unattractive gold bracelet, which was inlaid with ivory skulls. The woman in chain mail wore a silver ring with a cluster of moonstones on her left hand.
Minutes passed as they searched the dead. No sign of movement came from the tower above.
Aloysius grabbed the coin purses without bothering to see what they contained. He also took the bracers, ring, flask, and bracelet off Half-Ear. He stuffed all of these things into his pack, leaving Blacky to do what he would with the things from the chain mail clad woman.
The mage was becoming noticeably more nervous. "Eric, please......." he said in a shaky voice. "Let us get Kaileer and Janathell and depart. The druid said she would establish a camp of some sort for us if we needed aid. Let us rejoin her and the Silverstar and decide what to do from there. If we stay here, we shall surely perish."
Aloysius exited the room with all of the bodies, and addressed Etienne as he hurried over towards the corner of the courtyard where the glowing rock was. "Etienne, is Janathell going to survive?" he asked, a tremor of panic edging its way into his voice. "Dost thou knowest where Arachne is?" Aloysius picked up the rock and headed back to where Kaileer was. The mage seemed to be growing very nervous as he quickly glanced around at the tower, the courtyard, and at any doors within the range of illumination.
"Very well, but I would suggest you wear those bracers and let me carry the flask. If we run into more trouble soon and that is a healing potion, I am in the best position to protect the rest of you. I don't suppose you could cast a spell now to see if any of this is magical?" Blacky said as he pulled the ring off the woman and slipped it on a finger. He collected as many weapons as he could and still carry Jana. "Etienne, can you carry Kaileer? Arachne, where are you?"
"Uh.....no, not now," replied the mage. He seemed a little less distressed now that Blacky had agreed to leave.
Aloysius dug the flask out from his pack and handed it to Blacky. Then, he made sure that all of Kaileer's equipment was intact (especially making sure they had his spear). "Etienne, afraid am I that I'll be of little use in transporting the injured, but mayhap I can carry some of the equipment. If you can carry Kaileer, I'll carry whatever else I can."
He looked around the courtyard. "Arachne?" he stage whispered. "Where art thou?"
The mage drug his pack, as well as Kaileer's spear and the other items he'd picked up earlier and headed towards the gate area. He was careful to keep an eye on the still-dark part of the courtyard where the eighth zombie had disappeared earlier.
Aloysius looked about the courtyard, and then seemingly remembered something. He moved over to the door adjacent to the one that led to the room the party started out in. "Eric, methinks Arachne went in here whenst the battle commenced. Wouldst thou aid me in investigating yon room in case some evil denizen resides therein?" Aloysius looked at the door to see if it opened in or out.
Etienne looked around, "I believe we're all tapped out on spell energy right now. I have one spell left but it'll do us little good right now."
Etienne nodded, "Kaileer is going to be all I can manage right now. Jana's bleeding has stopped but we really need to get her to Oleanne. She came very close to leaving this world tonight."
Etienne shook his head, "We have to worry about getting ourselves out of here first,Aloysius."
"All right, then let's find Oleanne. Any sign of trouble, you guys get behind me." Blacky said as he shouldered his pack, cradled Jana in his arms and headed out the gate.
Aloysius slowly approached the half-open door, drawing a dagger from his bandolier as he did so. He approached the door by moving along the west wall, hinge side. As he neared the door hinges, he reached out with his foot and tried to push the door all the way open so he could see inside.
"Aloysius, quit screwing around. Last I heard you were most anxious to leave." Blacky said while holding Jana by the gate.
Aloysius pushed the door rest of the way open, allowing more light to stream into the room. The dim light revealed bunk beds and various articles of clothing scattered about the floor. Aloysius had left the light stone wherever it had fallen when he threw it, so he had no source of light.
Blacky was hard pressed to carry both Jana and his own equipment. Even the strong fighter staggered under the extra weight of the fallen warrior, her armor, and her equipment. Etienne was able to pick up Kaileer, but he was forced to leave the elf's equipment for Aloysius to carry.
Blacky headed off into the darkness and then stopped as he quickly realized that he couldn't see a blessed thing.
"Arachne?" Aloysius whispered into the room. "Come along, we are going". The mage then scrambled after Blacky. When he saw how much there was to carry, Aloysius grabbed Kaileer's equipment and waited for Etienne to lead them out into the darkness.
There was a scrabbling noise from under one of the bunks and a fairly dusty gnome emerged. She followed the wizard out into the courtyard and helped him gather up gear. Carrying some stuff, she went after the others. She said nothing.
As the four concious party members reached the gate area, Aloysius peered into the darkness. "Hmmmmmm.......", a sound of concern in his voice. "Arachne, if thou canst assist me, mayhap Etienne can guide Eric? Uh......does anyone recall where, exactly, it was we were to seek Oleanne?"
Etienne grunted as he carried Kaileer, "She was going to mark the trail so me or Kaileer could spot it. So just follow me." Etienne moved along at a slow pace.
"If one of you could carry that bastard sword and maybe a long sword or two, I'd appreciate it." Blacky said to Arachne and Aloysius. "If not, let's get a move on." He moved into the darkness attempting to follow Etienne.
