(Hm. Weird. I edited in the damage roll, wonder why it says an error? Want a reroll? Ah, I see the second attack is different. The original result was 7)

20

The creature stumbles as Rhaecus guts it, but it inexplicably stays alive.

Zaela forces the last creature to make a DC 14 Wisdom saving throw or take 7 necrotic damage, using toll the dead. 

18

The creature clutches its head, but still it holds on.

Arteusa stamps her foot impatiently again, snorting. She reaches out towards the figure and casts guiding bolt at it.

Attack: 12 Damage: 16

Okay, it can't possibly survive another hit, right?

5

Oh, thank gods, it's finally bloody dead. Was that even worth the 30 xp you all just received?

(We're out of combat)

You have a moment to look about, now that you're no longer in danger. The room doesn't appear to have any obvious exits, but perhaps it would have, had half of it not been buried in rubble, most likely from a cave-in. There are no particular features that stand out, just a bunch of collapsed stone columns, rubble, and other junk like that.

"Ugh," Arteusa mutters, placing a hand on her sternum and casting a quick cure wounds on herself. "Guess we'll have to backtrack and take the other route." Then she grins, looking around at everyone. "That was some excellent fighting; I do look forward to many more battles with you all!" 

9 hp to Arteusa.

(Mobile)

Kaneís breathes heavily from the heat and battle, smiling as she puts her hands down. She seems to be finding new vitality from the entities she had cremated. “Heading backwards would probably be the best idea.”

(Kaneís gains 6 temporary hit points. I’m not sure how killing multiple enemies on the same turn and the absence of stacking THP interacts, but I’ll assume the lower value for now.)

Donos prods at one of the fallen figures. Sad creatures, he thinks to himself. He turns and nod to Arteusa.

"Swim on comrade," he says.

"Hold on, friends." Rhaecus holds up one hand, sheepishly as he hides away the dagger he had attempted the cheap shot with. "Should we not give them at least brief rites? Whatever else they may be, they wear the guise of man and perhaps once were just that. It would be an insult to our integrity to leave their corpses as such."

Surprisingly, he actually looks sincere about this as he sheathes his daggers and retrieves his bow.

(I think ancient Greeks were pretty serious about burials right? I read somewhere that it was an insult to human pride to leave bodies unburied)

Zaela replies after a bit of thought, "We're already in the depths of Hades. If they're dead, they're coming back. Let's not waste our time on burying our attackers. We should get going."

"I agree with Zaela," Arteusa replies, looking over the remains. "We're all dead here, remember; they're just...more dead than us, right now." She turns to head back the other way. "We will likely join them if we linger too long here."

He seems unconvinced. "True, we are dead. Yet, the rites of the dead have even more significance than in life. Remember the Argonaut's words? A proper burial will return us in pristine form to Elysium, as will turning the rings which I suspect acts as a miniature prayer wheel. Here, death alone absolves no-one and nothing without ritual. It is unlikely that these creatures will appear in Elysium but we may be able to at least send them to proper judgement instead of... This.

"Even if not, being caught in combat in this room with only one entrance is surely a better alternative to those cramped tunnels, where we must face them in a line like chickens lined up to be slaughtered. If we have alerted other enemies, would you rather they find us here or in the tunnels?" It seems that he will not easily leave these bodies well enough alone, using his wit and logic to back a choice rooted in emotion. If nothing else, he believes what he says.

(There's no prayer wheels in Greece but Rhaecus is well traveled. It's not something most people would guess at or know about)

(You think I’m smart enough to think of a reason why the rings work as they do? Nah, they just explode you because haha fire go fwoosh.)

"Do what you think is best, Rhaecus," Donos says. "Burial rites are more fluid in Atlantis. Occasionally great leaders may be entombed, however, for most a return to the cycle of the sea is the greatest honor."

Then he shrugs.

"I did not give it much thought. Stick a rock on top of me. Feed me to the whales. All the same when you only have time to consider the next great threat to your people." 

Arteusa sighs, gesturing impatiently. "Very well, let us get this done then," she finally says in the face of Rhaecus's refusal to be moved. Arteusa cares little for death rites; it was her duty to send others to death's embrace and then someday join them, not pamper the dead. "It likely as not will not matter to these wretched things, but if it will ease your conscience, I will help you." 

"I, frankly, do not care. If you are attached to burial rites, I will not stop you from performing them," adds Kaneís. If Rhaecus is determined to perform certain rites, she will more than happily oblige to rest for some time.

Zaela allows Rhaecus to bury the dead, but does not assist in the task. 

Rhaecus shakes his head at the disregard for human dignity shown by the others. Donos he could understand, a different land meant different traditions. The others were undoubtedly nurtured by the same land and gods as him, yet how could they disregard giving a proper send-off so easily? 

He digs shallow graves (with Arteusa's help) and places the remains of the shamblers inside one by one. He then runs through an abridged version of the Prothesis, Ekphora and Internment stages. When that's done, he dusts himself off and sighs. "You realize that if we did not have these rings, someone would need to perform these rites for us or we would not return to Elysium at all? I do not know what would happen to us when we die and do not return, yet I do not want to know."