38 - Roy Jenks - Half-Orc Battemage loots 20 - Origi - Halfling Battlemage *rolls dice* he comes away with 2 x healing potion.
*rolls dice*
38 - Roy Jenks - Half-Orc Battemage is spotted cutting off Origi's fingers and popping one in his mouth.

The Protection from Evil spell wears off due to the power of the attacking Nightmares.

13 - Roosevelt - Human Paladin engages the Nightmares while edging up the tunnel. *rolls dice* Roosevelt scores a critical hit on a Nightmare that strays too close and slays it.

68 - Peloquin - Dwarven Thief attempts to move past the fight with the Nightmares to reach the Giant Rats.
*rolls dice*
Peloquin is noticed *rolls dice* two Nightmares breakaway from the group to attack.
*rolls dice*
68 - Peloquin - Dwarven Thief strikes one of the Nightmares with his hammer *rolls dice* it does little damage.

67 - Rufus - Human Cleric sends his Holy Guardian against the Nightmares while heading up to face the Giant Rats.
*rolls dice*
The Holy Guardian grabs a Nightmare and rips its head clean off, killing it.
*rolls dice*
Two Nightmares attack the Holy Guardian, barreling it to the ground and tearing it apart.

74 - Yeenwi - Drow Necromancer casts control undead towards the Nightmares *rolls dice* He targets one of the two attacking the Dwarven thief *rolls dice* He successfully takes control of a Nightmare leaving just one attacking 68 - Peloquin.

58 - Tanea - Halfling Shaman - casts Calm Animals *rolls dice* as the first person to roll a 24 out of 24 Tanea takes control of all eight Giant Rats. They stop in their tracks looking confused.

58 - Tanea - Halfling Shaman earns the achievement *The Dice Are Loaded*

25 - BenKii - Human Warrior, 45 - Loradan - Elven Mage and 63 - Fish - Half Orc Berserker all edge their way up the tunnel.

76 - Shins A'Hoy - Halfling Thief readies his weapons.

4 - Strigon - Drow Necromancer stands ready crossbow in hand.

40 - Gilius - Dwarven Druid - tells the Stone Elemental to hold its ground for now.

Well that turned out better than I expected. But Peloquin is still in trouble. Whoever is closest needs to help him. Roosevelt, Siegfried can either of you cast Protection from Evil again or Turn Undead by Peloquin to help him out?

The rest of us further up the tunnel should go past these rats carefully. We don't know how long they'll stay confused. I recommend me, Shins, and the Stone guy move up past the rats to scout for more traps.

(Also, Doc said Tanea took "control" of the rats. I don't think it means direct control but if it does she could send them towards that last nightmare.)

40 - Gilius - Dwarven Druid

Well done Tanea !! (and the others)
I order my stone elemental to go back, charge and smash the nightmares to help Peloquin to reach us.
Meanwhile, I'm waiting for the others to go forward to follow them.

(Wow. Considering how bad the first round against the nightmares went, we got really lucky now.
What are nightmares vulnerable against? Are physical attacks something you can take them down with effectively, or does it require specific/special abilities/weapons? What else is there to know about their (the nightmares) abilities? I know nothing about all these creatures. :-( )

"Good job Tanea, that was impressive!" Loradan said triumphantly to the halfling shaman.
"Now people, let's move ahead in case these animals will decide to snap out of their trance."
"And someone kindly check our path for traps, please."

Loradan, however, wasn't as much happy about the latest addition to the party, a Nightmare:
"I hope you'll really be able to control that thing, Drow. Please keep it at a distance from us".

(Alas, no, my protection spell is exhausted for now. Unless I can pray for more power from the Gods, but that will also require time).

*Roosevelt recoils, stunned as his protection spell breaks. The banished Nightmare doesn't even register to him as he tries to reconcile that in his mind.*

"Shit, lads. We need to run, NOW! My protection is broken. Siegfreid and Rufus, we need to banish the rest of these Nightmares and buy ourselves a few precious seconds, but the others need to go and quickly since the rats are no longer a threat!! So go down the tunnel, and we'll cover your back. Siegfried, Rufus, if either of you can turn these, that would be helpful. Otherwise we should engage them if they approach. Someone also needs to help the newcomer, as he doesn't seem like he can hurt these things!!"

*To suit his words, he will try to help the now revealed thief Peloquin by engaging that Nightmare and disposing of it and then retreat down the tunnel, West.*

*He turns his attention to Gillius*

"Wait! That thing will be useless against these creatures, don't take it away from the group, it will be useful as they are getting away from these spirits!!"

++ROOSEVELT WILL ATTEMPT TO HELP PELOQUIN BY GETTING RID OF THAT NIGHTMARE, THEN RETREAT WEST FURTHER INTO THE TUNNEL, GUARDING THE PARTY'S BACK AGAINST THE NIGHTMARES++

===============================
Roosevelt, Human Paladin
Silver infused Morningstar Flail ++ATTACKING NIGHTMARE TO FREE PELOQUIN++
Full plate armor
Large One handed Tower shield
2 Healing spells
-1 protection from Evil -BROKEN- -USED-

67 - Rufus - Human Cleric

Pointing to the Rats and the calmed nigtmare "Are you really controling those beasts?"
(Spells stands generally for up to 5 turn)

"Maybe we should get away from them while we can, or send them somewhere else. No?"

To Roosevelt "That's a shame... I am sure my hammer on fire won't have any effect on this last Nightmare. At Beast classes, my professor always said: Whatever it is, a zombie, a rat, a giant rat and mostly a spider... Just kill it with fire! But it will be useless against a Nightmare."
"Could we control the timed-tamed-Nightmare to attack the other one?"

74 - Yeenwi - Drow Necromancer

First, I have a few questions for Doc:
1: Was the last set of dice throws Turn 3? It would be very helpful, if you include the Turn number at the beginning of a dice throw post.
2: What exactly do the spells "Wail Of The Banshee", "Consume Corpse" and "Death Armour" do?
3: Does the "Control Undead" spell's effect last for 5 turns or until the creatures under my control are killed? In the case of the Nightmares I think, it should be until it's killed, because it wasn't summoned by a spell. By the same logic, if I tried to control an undead creature that was summoned by someone, I should have control of it for a maximum of 5 turns (or sooner, in case it's killed)?

I've edited my actions below after talking with Doc about my spell limitations.

Yeenwi orders the Nightmare under his control to attack the second Nightmare that is attacking Peloquin. then quietly starts moving down the tunnel in order to go past the group of confused rats, while at the same time taking care not to be too close to the others going the same way to avoid them having the -2 negative effect. While doing that, he says to Fish and Roy Jenks: "Stick close to me, guys, if you want to maximize our chances of survival."

(I don't know if Doc is using these rules but maybe it will help. Check these links for explanations on what some of the spells do.)

http://www.d20srd.org/indexes/spells.htm

Wail of the Banshee:
http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/wailOfTheBanshee.htm

Calm Animals:
http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/calmAnimals.htm

After Yeenwi tries his luck with Control Undead, it's my time to cast Turn Undead against any Nightmares not yet controlled (if there any by the time it's my turn for my dice rolls) and to run forward with the others.

Tanea, if you have full control of the rats, I think you should send them up the tunnel... Not only to interfere with any possible remaining Nightmares, but also to buy us time in case the monster in the central chamber decides to visit our tunnel.

(I have lost track of how many Nightmares are where and in which state, but this could be the last chance to put this spell to good use. If of all them are dead or controlled, then no need to cast Turn Undead yet, I'll just advance with the others.)

~~~~~~
Siegfried the Human Paladin

( No, just keep the rats in the middle, we don't want to risk getting the attention of the centipede!
In case there's only one of those monsters (I doubt it tho), we can still hope that it will follow a different tunnel.

EDIT: oh btw, I think that Tanea can't actually give orders to animals with that spell )

( I think only 2 Nightmares are left.
Yeenwi managed to control one and he's attempting to do the same with the other. )

Thanks. In that case I will wait until the result of this spell, then if any Nightmares are still attacking us, cast Turn Undead and attack with my silver sword. If there are not a danger anymore, then I will run with the others.

~~~~~~
Siegfried the Human Paladin

I can also wait to cast Turn Undead if we try this first. Seems like a waste for only one Nightmare.

~~~~~~
Siegfried the Human Paladin

( I think that Tanea can't actually give orders to animals with that spell.
Also, any interference with the rats could make them snap out of it.
Just avoid them and move ahead with us

Btw, the extra 2 Nightmares you mentioned are still on the ceiling and never attacked the rest of the group.
I suggest to ignore them, unless they'll follow us or become hostile.
They could still be useful if the centipede decides to go through this tunnel ;)
)