Tristan:

Now clad in gleaming plate armor, Tristan sits astride his bison steed.  He also wears a shield, has a longsword strapped to his waist, and a bison horn pennant flies from a Lance haft sticking up straight from the elaborate saddle.

”How did the scouting go?” he asks the sneaky group.

Larry is sitting on the ground, waiting, wearing full plate which has been enameled a green so dark as to look black at first glance.  The only weapon of size at hand is his bow.  He has an assortment of smaller weapons both on his waist and secured to his legs.  The decorative short sword and ornate dagger from earlier are positioned to be the easiest to grab.

As Tristan rides up, Larry stands in a quick, simple, fluid motion which seems to ignore the bulk and weight inherent in Full plate armor.

"I agree with you in principle" Ozus says to Naero as he joins the others. "But I've got more to gain than lose in being practical. They don't need it anymore. I might. Easy math"

Turning to the others, he gives a quick update. "Some undead, as expected, but not in any particular number. Two sections, one likely to have valuables, one that's better if someone were trying to remain hidden."

"...And the richest part, the Main Graveyard, contains the Hallix Mausoleum, which is the complex that should be most promising to explore" Khessa completes "Perhaps it will be worth taking the time to eliminate the undead that roams freely... so that we do not find them bothering us at the most inopportune moment".

"Those of us able to scout effectively should be able to spot them a few at a time, tell us their position..." the tall adventuress muses aloud "and we should be able to eliminate them from a distance before they can get close to us and become dangerous. After that, we should be able to explore the Hallix Mausoleum with a bit more safety".

"If you have range, thats an excellent idea. I however, find myself most effective when i can get up close and personal"

Naero

"Give me the word and I'm happy to put to rest those that defile the graveyard. They are an insult to the cycle of life." Naero clearly has a distaste for undead. 

Khessa smiles at Ozus, as a magical mote of fire forms in her palm: "Oh, sure, each of us has his own preferences... I too, often face enemies up close - but magic also allows me to attack from range, when it is more convenient".

During the extermination of the undead, the blonde arcane warrior actually resorts mostly to throwing motes of fire - or acidic bubbles, if some targets are very close to each other. Simple but effective cantrips, which allow her to wipe out the slow zombies spotted from a distance with practically no waste of magical resources.

A dusting of ash swirls around Ozus, before coalescing in his hand, becoming a scimitar. As they clear the graveyard, he eliminates a few before they get too close with Eldritch Blast , dark bursts of energy laced with glowing embers punching holes in the undead. He does seem to prefer melee, the vast majority of his kills accomplished through an elegant dance of his pact weapon and dagger. It's hard to say, but he nearly seems to enjoy the carnage.

"Up close and personal, but from hiding and unexpected is my preferred method.  There's no reason to give these undead that much of a chance, though.  This is an extermination."  With that pointed out, Larry casually uses his bow to dish out final death.

[ooc: mechanics: use steady aim to take advantage before releasing an arrow, do both base and sneak attack damage (using savage attacker to choose better base damage) and slow the recipient if it survives the first arrow.]

The wandering undead fall one after the other, standing no chance before the onslaught unleashed on them. Before long, the air is quiet and still, with only a trace of rotting flesh lingering in the air near a few of the zombies.

The undead dealt with, Hallix Mausoleum awaits.

The towering stone mausoleums in Neverdeath Graveyard cluster near the wall separating the Main Graveyard from the Pauper’s Graveyard. Hallix Mausoleum is a squat, unassuming granite block in the shadow of larger monuments to the west and south. Its metal double door bears a rusty broken chain and a padlock that hangs off the door.

Tristan:

Gripping his Lance and riding in loose circles around the group, Tristan impales any undead unfortunate enough to get close to the ranged attackers in his party.  The holy warrior seems quite at home in the saddle, and he easily lances the weak undead on his Lance Lily a macabre shish-kebob.

Once the team reaches the mausoleum, Larry snickers at the closed and locked gate.  "Anyone want to check for magical protections before we try the lock?"

After the group has done what they will in that regard, and dealt with any discoveries, Larry will examine the lock, looking to see if it is trapped, and then if it is too rusted to open.

Naero 

Like the wind, Naero speeds through the graveyard re-deading the walking dead. With the group in full extermination mode he is only able to lay a few zombies to rest. Each one receiving a flurry of blows from the speedy elf. When his last foe drops he heads to the mausoleum and rejoins the others. "Let's hope they remain dead this time" he remarks sincerely. 

"Good idea, Larry!" Khessa approves, beginning a esoteric ritual [[ OOC: She ritual-casts it ]] "Better be safe than sorry".

At the end of the arcane procedure, the blonde arcane warrior is imbued with the familiar ability to sense emanations of magic... and even see their auras, if she takes the time to focus her sight in the direction of said emanations.

Does the tall adventuress sense magical auras?

Khessa senses no magical auras around the entrance of the mausoleum, and the lock appears to be relatively new.

"No magic..." Khessa announces "It seems only this relatively new lock stands between us and the mysteries of the mausoleum".

The blonde arcane warrior waits to see if anyone in the party thinks they might be able to pick the lock... If possible, it would be a more stealthy option to break it with Maul's strikes - as she is anyway prepared to do, if needed.

Ozus takes his time, extracting what blood he can from the undead, slipping two small vials of the rotted blood back into his pack as he rejoins the others. "Call me what you like; at least  I'm not wasteful."

He sighs, annoyed by the lock. "Don't suppose anyone has a lock pick on them?" He considers it for a moment. "Also, either this lock is regularly replaced, or someone is absolutely in there who shouldn't be." 

"Of course I have a lock pick on me.  Much harder to get into places others want to keep you out of without one."  Larry pulls his tools out of a belt pouch and turns to the immediate task.

30

[ooc:  Assuming the very likely success]

Once he gets the lock open and off the chain, he tosses it towards Ozus.  "Trail shouldn't have led here if the somebody wasn't getting in and out."

[ooc: 42?  I used the dice roller and told it 2d20 with advantage? Let me add another roll as 1D20 with advantage.  Learning the tools.  Sorry.  And of course it rerolled the first one, too.  <sigh>]

32

Rather than catch it, Ozus takes a step back, letting the lock clatter to the ground before kicking it aside. "Thanks captain obvious." His voice is laced with disdain. "Hear that everyone? Breaking news: Ice is cold, water wet." He says mockingly.

Tristan:

Looking at Ozus carefully, as he gathers zombie blood, Tristan turns his attention to Larry as the latter easily opens the lock.  About to compliment him, Tristan instead hears Ozus' mocking and pointedly ignores it.

Insight -- Is Ozus trying to be funny, or is he really disdainful of Larry?:  18

Dismounting from his steed, the holy warrior picks up the lock and puts it in his bag, nodding at Larry, saying, "Well-done.  Let's move in."

(How big is the opening & passageways?  Can the bison join us, even if there is limited room for Tristan to ride it?)