Arkun gives his staff a twirl after the final zombie goes down, heaving a sigh of relief.  He stands quiet as Rylan gets out his frustrations and fears on the fully dead body of the zombie.  Good thing Brandy is not here to see this....

As they walk along and discover the apparent author of this undead grotesquerie, Arkun stops and crouches, his senses tingling and he grips his staff even tighter.  He counts the numbers in the next room and begins to formulate spells in his mind that would be helpful... He looks to Aldric, simultaneously reaching back with a hand for Rylan, looking to calm and quiet the warrior as they ponder the best way to approach.  He listens for any whispered command and readies himself to attack.  

Rylan's face registers fear and revulsion as he involuntarily whispers to himself... "Selune's tit... This place just gets worse and worse... Where did these bodies even come from?"

He tries to catch Aldric's eye, indicating toward his sword as if to say, "Do we fight?"

The hooded figure nearest you pauses its work and turns to face you, standing deathly still aside from its jaw that hinges open and shut, its jawbones creaking the only sound as it watches you.

Aldric's eyes narrow just a little more as he recognizes that the hooded individual is most likely undead. He doesn't turn, but says to the others over his shoulder, "If the last chamber is any indication, there's no way to pass by these ... creatures without them attacking us. It's possible we could retreat and try another passage." He takes a breath. "But the increased numbers of sentries would indicate close proximity to our ultimate target."

"Mn. That does make a whole lotta sense. It'a be a bit of a stretch to try 'n rush'em, but I think we can manage as much." Rumble said just quietly enough to keep his voice from carrying too far from the group. "Not sure how clever the skullies are compared to the dead heads we've met before. But, if'n the plan is to deal wit'em, prolly you more magically inclined ones aughta open'em up first. Fer with any luck, they won't recognize ya'll are cast'n some'n dangerous 'till its too late I'd imagine." He further went on to say while dousing the lantern and carefully packing it away, seeing as the rooms were more than well lit enough. "But, I'll defer to ya'll wisdom on it." He continued with a hint of eagerness or building excitement behind his tone. 

Arkun leans in close to Aldric, saying softly “I can bind them in some vines and creeping roots that will reach up out of the ground and grab them, if that will help.  Then we can take them one at a time…until the zombie maker focuses his attention on us, casts some evil magick on us or something.  How should we begin?”

Aldric nods as Arkun speaks. "That would be very helpful. The fewer we have to manage at a time, the better."

Turning to Rumble, the knight's face darkens. "I question your training. In my day, we were taught to never forget that it is our job to protect. Your axe should always be on the front line. Those who wield magic can attack over your shoulder. Hiding behind an arcane wielder is not only cowardly, but also foolish."

He turns to face the room, again speaking over his shoulder. "Let us proceed slowly. At the first sign of advancement, Arkun, slow their approach as best you can."

"Wha-I!? That ain't at all what I was-" The earth genasi tersely began his rebuttal but had to stop short as he felt his voice start to rise above a whisper. Even still, his expression remained a mask of indignation and hurt from hearing his suggestion get crudely misconstrued as foolishness and veiled cowardness. When all he meant was for the casters to initiate things. Nothing else. Not bandy about ahead of the front 'less such was needed, and with such in mind, he'd trust their wisdom over his own limited experience with magic!

At least... in the heat of the moment so was how it was read by the Rumble...

But whether the near outburst is overlooked or an admonish glare is sent his way, Rumble neither persists or shrink away, as Lance Rock was no place for heated debates or disunity. So after a moment or two, regardless of outcomes, he'd close his eyes, take a breath, then take out his axes and make himself ready to follow Aldric's lead. Not as a shadow, but loosely at the Orc's side had Rylan not already stepped up to do so while Rumble had been... distracted. But going forward he'd just hold his tongue, and pointedly keep from meeting Aldric gaze least his less sensible side gets away with him. Again.

Rylan points a nervous finger towards the human behind the counter.... "W-what about him? If he's behind all this he might have some powerful magics. Blast us all to smithereens. Should we do something about him? Or... you know... maybe back out of here? Keep looking around? See what other fresh horrors we find before squaring off against this... whoever he is?"

Aldric gives a small shake of the head. "He's not the master of this place."

Rylan gives Aldric an incredulous look that says, "How the heck do you know that?" but doesn't press the matter, choosing instead to act with caution by backing up and ensuring he's got full cover before the battle kicks off.

"Alright then. I suppose..." He looks to Arkun, speaking with visible nervous energy, "We'll take your plant binding as our cue for the-um... fun to begin."

Arkun gets ready but waits for the signal from Aldric, he whispers that he's going to move within about 20 feet of them and then cast the spell...he looks between Aldric and Rumble, making a face as to suggest that he's no shrinking violet, he can move forward and cast, then mix it up with the rest of them.  

The robed figure rasps and grinds its teeth together, beginning to walk toward you as you discuss your options. As if hearkening the nature of the creature, the body parts within the baskets at the foot of the tables begin to writhe, and five severed hands begin horrifyingly crawling across the ground toward you.

Round 1 Order:
Players <=====
Enemies

Placement:
All combatants are within movement range.

Health:
Rumble is lightly wounded.

Seing that the fight is inevitable, Rylan will emit a terrified war cry as he attempts to rush forward before Arkun casts his spell.

He'll attempt to and tackle the human grip tight to his throat to keep him from using any verbal components.

(I have no idea what to roll for that, so by all means, DM, feel free to roll for me)

Arkun sees / feels Rylan start to race forward toward the man and he changes tactics, he will concentrate on the zombies and the skeletons in the distance to slow their arrival and hopefully trap them further on in the room.  He waves his hands and with a range of 90 feet, he casts entangle, causing a 20 foot wide square of grasping vines to reach up from the floor and restrain the maximum number of zombies and skeletons possible, restricting their freedom and speed of movement.  He stays put, not rushing forward, alarmed by the scuttling of the hands on the floor.  

DC 13 strength / athletics or they are restrained, and the ground affected is difficult terrain.

((Up to you DM as to where to place that for maximal effect to restrain the zombies and skeletons in the distance))

Aldric is temporarily surprised by Arkun's battle cry. The half-orc halts for a heartbeat before bearing his own teeth and marching forward to begin attempting to cleave the disembodied limbs in two.

Attack on the nearest hand: 9, damage: 6

Though a touch put off by Rylan's "war cry", the shock of it fortunately swiftly wanes as righteous fervor seizes the genasi's heart. "Frok'a-toah!" The words are practically growled out through clenched teeth. Yet all the same, with every step into the charge, the latent primordial energies that suffused his being surged up, transforming his skin again from craggy stone to something more metallic in tone and density.

Nary a second thought is spared the added layer of protection as Rumble threw himself into fray with the hands, and hacked away to cut off a few fingers at the very least!

Action: Attack with Handaxe to prone Zombie. (DM's choice, since both 'appear' to be in the same health condition)
(Melee, Lethal, Vex)Handaxe - Attack #1 - To Hit: 10 For: 5 slashing damage. 

OOC: Apologies for the confusion here and slowing us down but I need some clarification on Rylan's and Arkun's turns that I don't want to assume. In combat with us right now is the zombie (the robed figure) and five crawling claws. The skeletons and the human at the table are at the far side of the room, and I'm realizing I should have spelled out more clearly how far away they are and that my original description didn't paint a clear enough picture. In the re-posted map below, you can see the two areas of the room that were described - the tables with human corpses at the south of the chamber, and the workbench at the far north of the chamber, where the human and the skeletons are (the zombie/claws are not depicted on the map).

So as far distances go, the zombie/claws are all within movement range - the human and the skeletons are not yet considered part of combat (unaware of or not reacting to the party so far) - that's not to say that the party can't involve them in combat, of course, but the human at the workbench is about 100 feet away and the skeletons are about 120 feet away.

All that being said, please let me know if you'd like to adjust your turn or keep it the same as posted. Sorry again for the unclear description and let me know if the layout of the room is still unclear.

In that case, Rylan will space himself out from the group by running to the north east, attempting to take whatever cover he can in the stone wall to block line of sight from the human.

En route, if his path can take him close enough to snap his whip at one of the claws (making good use of its 10' reach) without inviting any opportunity attacks, he'll do that as well.

OOC: Sounds good. Just need some confirmation from Arkun then, since entangle does have a 90 foot range and can still reach the far side of the room - Arkun would have to move into the cluster of crawling claws to have the range needed, but could still entangle them at the back of the room. Or, would he want to target the crawling claws instead, or something else entirely?