As the voice replies it sounds different to each of you in turn.
To Setesh it speaks Elvish in a halting and weak feminine voice.
To Jaru it speaks Taldane in a lecturer's voice... dry and devoid of emotion.
To Tarik it speaks in Kelish, superior and dismissive as though he is beneath it's notice.
To Noor it is raw and bestial, growling in what you gauge as Draconic... though you can understand it.
"The vault was sealed by compact... but I sense the touch of the Cerulean upon you..." As it speaks to you it invades your thoughts and repressed memories " Hetshepsu will not allow it." the mental tendrils tear at your subconscious, ripping from it...
Will save
Setesh slowly feels himself transforming into a mindless beast, feeling only the desire to feed...
Noor slowly feels herself transforming into a mindless beast, feeling only the desire to feed...
She is changing into Setesh!
Tarik's mind attempts to stand strong, but cannot hold against the latent powers of the Fiend Pharaoh. As his mind reels, it pulls up the one thing Tarik thought he had buried forever, his single greatest fear as a child: his teacher.
Valurak Meijees stands tall, his gray hair a signifier of age, but his body more like a statue. The twinkles of powerful magics betray his skill, but his face is one of sad disappointment.
Before Jaru's eyes his companions seem assaulted. Both Setesh and Noor seem to be swelling in size and their features are becoming more bestial, while Tarik is cowering before a tall and overpowering scholarly figure...
Feeling the change overcoming her. No...what is happening? This is not me...I am not doing this....hair and teeth? No...I don't want to bite people...or that crap demon or scorpions....NOOOOO! I do not want to be a monster!
She paws at her arm, not even recognizing either limb as her own. Where are my scales?...my lovely scales...they flash in the fire light..
She falls to her knees, scraping at her arms as if trying to remove her skin. ".....my..scales....I want my scales..." escapes her lips between sobs.
Jaru's fascination with the powerful magics that allow the manifestation of thought quickly grows to concern for his companions...and his own health at the sight of Setsh and Noor. He pulls at Tarik's sleeve, "Snap out of it, Tarik! We've got bigger concerns than some old man."
Jaru's fascination with the powerful magics that manifest one's thoughts quickly grows to concern for his companions and his future safety around Setesh and Noor. He pulls at Tarik's sleeve, "Snap out of it, Tarik! We have bigger concerns than some old man!"
To Tarik's eyes he sees a fellow student approach, imploring him to escape from Valurak's gaze.
Noor's form appears to undulate and strain, a combination of dragon's scales and the fur of beasts warping and flowing across her skin. Long lines of red show upon her arms as she struggles to regain control of her form.
Though the student exhorts Tarik to tear himself away, the young Nexian man finds himself rooted to the spot.
"So, my boy, what have you been doing lately to further your studies? I certainly hope you haven't been wandering around waving that stick you call a sword around again. You know how...displeased I will be should that be the case." Valurak's gaze is like steel, begging Tarik to disappoint him.
It as though none of the intervening years had happened, no growth had occurred. For a moment, he was that stripling once more, left with nothing but his itchy nose and his sword stick.
However, something was still there that had not been when this memory actually happened: courage. In his years since that moment, Tarik had found the courage to stand up and decide to face his fears, and that was something he could use.
Drawing himself up, Tarik willed himself strength. Facing Valurak squarely he said, "I am no longer your little student, Professor. I have grown beyond your reach, beyond your petty little games. Now, I choose my own path. My sword and my spells have taken me far from the cloistered halls of Nex, and into new worlds. I am free."
Setesh concentrates, doing his best to shape and control the transformation, attempting to make sure that it does not overwhelm him. He then focuses his thoughts on reversing the process, dragging the beast back into his heart, causing his form to shrink, hair to fall out, and claws to retract...
I have a beast within, but I am its Master. It is nothing but a mindless, albeit useful, tool. It will not control me!
Measure of Spirit's Ability to Fight Back:
Despite the initial onslaught of the images borne from the party's subconcious, you seem able to wrest back some control over your person and environment.
Setesh's form undulates, but it appears that the bestial side is retreating.
Noor's grasping hands seem to slough away the aspect of the beast that had grown there - revealing her smooth skin once more.
With the assistance of Jaru, Tarik's rejoinder to his master leaves him speechless - tongue flapping in the breeze but no further sound issuing forth.
The entity does not speak further yet, though you sense an urgency and uncertainty take root in the environment. Walls and the door quaver and shake, colours fade in intensity.
Gaining control of her form, Noor needs to show her parents, her mentor, her people...and that voice in the dark cave....that she is the one in control. I will leave the cave and enter the light. There, all will see the shimmer of her scales.
The opening should be just ahead, and it will reveal the path forward in her life.
Snarling in rage, Setesh begins scratching at his 'skin', attempting to peel his false 'hide' from his body, to reveal the true Setesh beneath.
The flesh is but a shell, some of it more transitory than the rest...
Tarik resists the urge to smile at the man. "If there is nothing else, master, then I will return to my duties. I have great works to accomplish, and so little time to complete them." Tarik turns smartly, and walks away from his past and into his future.
The group's continued struggle against the entity force the environment to warp and change. The very air seems to stretch as you enforce your will against that of the entity. The world becomes taut, then shatters before your eyes - casting you to the earth within what now appears to be a conventional circular room of hewn stone the same ochre colour as the ziggurat above. In the centre of the chamber you can see a small wooden box floating about a metre off the ground spinning slowly on all axes. The entrance that you came through is open once more, and the very ziggurat begins to shake.
The entity's voice sounds out through the room, though it's timbre is now higher and it whines with a similar keening to the spirits that haunted the chamber. "You cannot leave with the stone! Hetshepsu would not allow the vault to be reopened! Go now from this place without the key!"
The ziggurat continues to shake ominously as the party seems frozen in time....
Jaru shakes his head wondering if they all have been returned to reality. "Let's grab the box. I believe we've earned it."
"Definitely the best option! I don't really care what the Fiend Pharaoh would want, but I know that we don't get any further without grabbing that thing!"
Tarik rushes up and grabs the box before hurrying his way out of the ziggurat.
"Agreed! Let's get out of here..."
As Tarik puts his hand around the box an impossibly loud keening wail sounds from the presence. It drives into all of your skulls and threatens to drive you to your knees.
Despite this you are able to pull the box free from its floating position by applying some force. It comes free as though a foot that was caught in mud, sucking and heavy before releasing with a start. Stumbling away from the centre of the room, the wail continues and the shaking of the building intensifies... small shards of plaster beginning to rain down upon you.
The sound is so loud, soon it converts to pain. Noor stumbles along, bouncing off walls as she tries to head for the exit.
Will save
Not particularly sharp of hearing anyway, Jaru grits his teeth and attempts to pull the others through the exit.
Maybe it's the sand in his ears, but somehow the wail seems muted to Tarik's ears. Gritting his teeth, he carries the box out of the now rapidly collapsing temple.
Staggering, Setesh is able to shrug-off the worst of the effect, and hurries towards the exit...
Able to withstand the high pitched scream driving into your heads you pull Noor along with you and out of the ziggurat. Moving through the hall and back around the circular corridor the shaking continues to intensify. By the time you surge out of the entrance into the world above, brick sized pieces of the structure are raining down with regularity.
Greeting you as you exit is a stony faced Fresnic with his guardsman Gorkan by his side. While weapons are not yet drawn, they are not looking upon you kindly. Bas'rac stands to one side with your camels, and while his face is kinder - you sense he is also upset.
Behind you the ziggurat appears to be slowly submerging back below the sand.
"Well, I certainly didn't expect to see all of you here right now! What brings so many to the same place today, hm?" Though Tarik is being flippant, he is certainly afraid that violence will once more break out.
Sternly Fresnic replies "You knew damn well we'd be waiting boy. Now what in the nine hells have you done?!"
Noor can't hear, but can see concerned and angry faces.
In a voice she is incapable of hearing, Noor says, "Thank the Gods! We escaped that cursed place."
She looks around confused, "Are all your men safe? That place was just waiting to collapse and kill everyone." She sets to coughing trying to clear the sand and silt from her lungs.
"More like what did that place try to do to us? We're lucky to escape. I apologize if your studies have been interrupted, but we may have done you a favor. Just be thankful you weren't buried in this cursed place."
asssist
In a measured voice Fresnic continues "I know that you snuck away into the ziggurat during the confusion when the camels bolted. Obviously you did something there that has caused this to occur." gesturing to the sinking stone structure "What did you find inside and what.. did.. you.. do?!"
"Well my dear Fresnic, perhaps we can answer that question." Turning away from Fresnic and Basrac for a moment, Tarik sets the chest down. Whispering to his compatriots he says "Shall we see what's inside?" Tarik slowly attempts to open the chest.
Fresnic's eyes grow wide as Tarik lays down the small chest. He crowds forward so that he might overlook while it is opened.
Tarik finds that there is no latch or lock, so the lid is easily opened. Within is a small collection of items: an ornate bejewelled spyglass, a key in red colored metal, an amulet of obsidian shaped like a teardrop, a small mosaic picture roughly 10 inches across that seems to just be random colours and a smattering of small gems and old coins.
Stealth:
"Careful! I do not think that the spyglass is as it appears; see those two small rubies towards the larger end? I think that they might be closed eyes..."
Fresnic raises an eyebrow at Setesh's suggestion, but cannot discern anything peculiar about the spyglass.
Curious about Setesh' exclamation, Jaru casts detect magic and look over the items.
know history
Spellcraft(Spyglass):
Spellcraft(Key):
Spellcraft(Amulet):
Spellcraft(Mosaic):
Jaru detects magic upon the spyglass, amulet and mosaic.
The spyglass has a faint aura, but Jaru is unable to determine the type or strength. The spyglass has yet to react to anything that you have done to it.
The amulet is designed to protect the wearer from harm.
The mosaic radiates strong magic and Jaru is able to glean what he thinks might be only some of its secrets. With the mosaic in hand by focusing his mind Jaru is able to make an eye appear. Then when he closes his own he sees himself from the vantage of the mosaic. Further concentration makes the mosaic glow as though a radiant torch... Additional study may yield more secrets.
Tarik wastes little time once Setesh spots the strange eyes. Wrapping his hands in cloth, he picks up the spyglass, examining it from every angle. "Given the rather decorative nature of the item, I would have to say this is in fact a rakshasa...though one of the lesser varieties. We won't be seeing any shapechanging tiger men here. More likely, this creature is a simple snake, that can take the form of an object, or multiple objects. Very curious."
Fresnic steps back in surprise and thought "This could be a link to Hetshepsu himself..." before his face returns to being stern "I discovered this dig myself and don't think for a moment you are leaving with these treasures. I demand due recompense."
So many fascinating things these Pharaohs must have had! I can't imagine what else we might find in our journeys.
Finishing his fantasizing, Tarik screws his mouth up in thought for a moment before shrugging and placing the spyglass against his eye. "And you've done an admirable job in keeping this dig site going. However, I hate to say it, but you never would have found this without us." It really makes me wonder who our employer is to have found such a key. How would Lathrat have come across such a thing?"
Tarik raises the spyglass to his eye and gazes through it.
Her hearing finally coming back, Noor tries to diffuse the situation. "Tarik is most blunt, but right. It is the most opportune that you have labored here to open this site, before our arrival. But as you saw, it was a empty ruin without our key. Now together we can come to some equitable division. The one item we must insist upon is the red key. The other others I say we divide."
You are overcome with a compulsion that the spyglass must not be given to Fresnic at any cost.
A weight presses upon your mind, but you are able to fight it away. You gauge that the spyglass was enchanted to cast a spell on the first to look through it.
Visibly calming Fresnic concedes "Aye, you are right that I may not have been able to plunder what was within if you did not arrive" hand sweeping to the ruin almost fully sunk beneath the sand "But you also destroyed any chance I have of further gain. I accept your compromise, and ask for the spyglass and mosaic. You can keep the key and amulet - the coin and jewels we split?"
Though nothing visually changes in Tarik, something about his demeanor is different as he lowers the spyglass. "I don't think I can agree to that, Fresnic. This spyglass is a wondrous object. How can I let it go to someone who hasn't risked their mind and soul for it like we have?"
Fresnic eyes Tarik warily for a few moments before adding with a resigned hand gesture "Fine, keep the glass - though I want the mosaic and all the coin and gems" he states resolutely and extends a hand to shake on it.
Fresnic leans forward and scoops up the mosaic, coin and gems. Although he outwardly looks somewhat disappointed, you can sense that he's reasonably happy with the deal and will be able to turn a reasonable profit.
Bas'rac then ushers you to move over to stand with him. As you approach "That was not a good stunt that you pulled to get into the ziggurat... was it worth it?"