Up the stairs are tall black lacquered screens with prancing dragon designs, turning the corridor into a twisting maze. Jennix notes a trap ahead which would spring shuriken when the pressure pad was depressed but just as Jennix disables this trap, something leaps out from behind the screen ahead! It has a thick tangle of discolored entrails clinging to its skeleton, winding upward to loll from its jaw like a clawed tongue.
"I'm fairly certain that thing isn't naturally alive!"
Terflynn attempts to bring a curse of eldritch justice down upon the flesh and bones before them.
The undead resists Terflynn's retribution!
Zack shoots past his allies at the unnatural creature.
Knowing he will likely regret it, Jennix draws his blades, steps forward,and slashes at the creature with his katana. He then swiftly uses a trick of the ninjas, disappearing.
Zachary's arrows miss but Jennix leaps forward and stabs into the undead! It attacks Jennix back!
Terflynn tries to bend fortune away from the creature.
Zack fills the hallway with more arrows.
---
Terflynn's magic again takes hold but Zachary's aim is still off.
As a swift action, Miso will spend a ki point for +4 to AC (makes AC 30). He will then charge the undead abomination.
Jennix takes advantage of his invisibility to try to slip behind the undead but can't push past!
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Jennix then digs his katana into the monster's side! With a terrifying groan that can only be produced by an undead, the miserable thing swings back at Miso:
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Miso shakes off the loathsome touch and flurries!
As a swift action, Miso will spend a ki point for +4 to AC (AC 30).
The undead is starting to fall apart after Miso's powerful attacks!
Jennix hacks ineffectually at the undead.
Jennix misses with his flurry of attacks!
Terflynn waits to see how his companions fare against the abomination.
Zack steps forward and take shis first clear shots on the creature.
Zachary takes down the undead!
More screens fill the rest of this floor but as you work inward they are made of metal and depict writhing dragons in bas-relief devouring hidden prey.
In the very center four great columns carved with depictions of dragons overlook a gruesome scene in the center of the pagoda. Four gibbets hang from an iron column in the center of the chamber, next to a steep stone spiral stair that climbs to the ceiling.
Upside down in the cages hang two prisoners, a man and woman.
"Ho there! What fate has brought you here?" Terflynn asks, absentmindedly reaching for his robes that he no longer wears.
Miso studies the two figures when/if they reply to Terflynn's inquiry.
He will also look about for any mechanism to release them.
Miso notes that the keys are actually still in the locks of the cages but from the looks of it, it would have been nearly impossible for the captives to reach the keys and turn them themselves from the insides of the cages.
"A week. . . at least," the man whispers. "Spiders ambushed us, caught us and brought us here. I am Junzo and that is Udtsetseg."
When you unlock their cages and free them, they spend a few moments rubbing out their sore muscles before prostrating themselves at your feet. "Please, you are our saviors."
Miso helps them up. No, my friends. Fortune has smiled upon you with our arrival, but our clothes could easily be on one another's back; we are no better people than you. We ask only that you remember, and that you repay this kindness to others in your days to come.
After helping Junzo and Udtsetseg out of the place, you head up the stairs to the next floor.
Hundreds of stone needles and spikes jut from the floor of this large, open chamber. A row of iron grilles in the floor runs around the perimeter of the room, providing views into the level below. Thick webs sweep upward from the jagged floor toward the roof some sixty feet above, ending in a dark and shadowy funnel that slopes upward into the farther reaches of the pagoda. On each wall, a round window surrounded by iron barbs looks out over the garden surrounding the tower.
Several cupboards and concealed storage areas are hidden within the webs. One contains a trio of small bamboo chests. The first chest contains 3 flasks of elixir of tumbling, the second is filled with saffron worth 200 gp, and the third holds four simple opium pipes and 8 doses of opium, worth 25 gp each. Another small hidden cupboard high on the south wall contains an ancient string of coins worth 200 gp.
The webs on the upper level appear older, more festooned with decay and withered husks. The floor bristles with stone teeth. While most of the ceiling has been destroyed, part of the level above remains in place where the dragon pillars rise.
Various trivial oddments hang among the hundred or so bodies in the webs here. You find a beautifully delicate silver snuff box in the shape of a turtle (worth 200 gp); a rhinoceros horn drinking vessel depicting herons in f light (worth 90 gp); a jade belt hook (worth 300 gp); and a silver altar set with lotus flower decorations in a leather traveling case, consisting of a candle stand, flower vase, and incense burner, each depicting a crane standing on a turtle’s back (worth 500 gp in total). You also find masterwork nunchaku, a potion of cure serious wounds, a fine teak carving of a Tian dignitary worth 75 gp, a battered breastplate, and a pair of fine leather shoes, one of which contains a small white opal worth 300 gp hidden in its toe.
Heading up further, the thick webs converge around the ceiling of the shattered chamber above. Ancient skulls grin down from their last, terrible resting places, and skeletal arms seem to reach out for succor. The sagging remnants of the floor hang over the rest of the web below. A great ornamental palanquin stands on this dark ledge, next to a huge war drum. Above, another webbed funnel leads upward.
A corpulent figure swathed in filthy silk robes which look as though they haven't been changed in decades sits in this room, insects and spiders scuttling in and out of the folds of his robes and skin. He occasionally plucks one up to chew as a crunchy snack. "Gossamer! Defend me!" he shouts when you enter.
The fat man then casts a spell to create illusory images of himself.
Zack responds to the fat man's yelling and multiplication with a hail of arrows.
Zachary pops three of the images of the fat man!
Jennix moves up to the man, then vanishes.
Terflynn moves behind the pillar for cover, then weaves invisible magic into a force of oppressive calm, tempting the man to lie down for a spontaneous nap.
Aaaaaaand Terflynn puts the man to sleep!
Aura faint enchantment; CL 5th
Slot none; Price 4,000 gp; Weight 1 lb.
This simple ceramic flask looks like any other normal container for serving sake, or rice wine. If the flask’s silver stopper is removed and the command word spoken, up to 1 gallon of sake can be poured from the flask per round. In addition, once per day, a character can drink directly from the flask to gain the effects of a potion, determined randomly. Roll 1d6 on the following table to determine the type of potion.
d6 Roll Potion type
1 heroism
2 cure moderate wounds
3 enlarge person
4 reduce person
5 lesser restoration
6 rage
This potion cannot be poured out or saved for later use; it must be drunk, and the potion’s effects take place immediately.
You also find a narrow wooden shelf hidden just below the roof which holds a magnificent small lacquered screen (worth 30 gp), a bolt of very fine turquoise silk (worth 200 gp), an ancient tapestry depicting a lion embroidered on blue silk (worth 100 gp), a pair of embroidered silk lotus shoes set with opals (worth 750 gp), a blue silk robe with a dragon figure embroidered in gold thread (worth 95 gp), a porcelain tea set depicting eagles with silver and platinum handles (worth 450 gp), a carved jade dragon brooch (worth 200 gp), four jade hairpins (worth 20 gp each), a carved soapstone pig (worth 25 gp), a jade belt buckle depicting a demonic face (worth 75 gp), and a jade belt hook in the shape of a heron (worth 60 gp).
Concluding your epic journey across the Crown of the World, you finally reached the lands of Tian Xia and entered the city of Ordu-Aganhei. As you began to explore this strange city, you received an invitation from Batsaikhar, prince of Ordu-Aganhei, who wanted to meet these visitors from the far-off lands to the west. The prince hosted a variety of feasts for you, giving you the opportunity to impress your host while learning more about the current situation in Minkai. Batsaikhar rewarded you with gifts that should be useful for your journey.
During the final festival, you were attacked by agents of the Five Storms, who are now aware of your presence in Tian Xia. You received aid in the battle from an unexpected source—a woman named Miyaro, who had been sent by the kami, the spiritual protectors of the natural world. She told you that the road from Hongal to Minkai is guarded by the Five Storms, but that the kami would allow you passage through the Forest of Spirits, the vast, haunted forest that grows between Minkai and the rest of Tian Xia, to bypass the heavily patrolled main road.
Traveling through the wood, you encountered several of the spirits that give the forest its name. With the help of Miyaro and the kami, the journey was swift, but still dangerous. Meeting the kami in their forest home, you learned of an ancient pagoda in the depths of the Forest of Spirits called the House of Withered Blossoms. This palace once served as a prison for the Five Storms, but the oni somehow managed to escape. Unable to investigate directly, the kami asked you to search for clues as to how the oni escaped. At the same time, the kami know that the Jade Regent of Minkai is allied with the Five Storms, so any information you discover about the Five Storms while exploring the pagoda and its dungeons can only help them in their fight against the Jade Regent.
Entering the House of Withered Blossoms, you faced a tribe of araneas who have taken over the aboveground levels of the pagoda and now you are about to brave the regions beneath to discover what you can of the oni's escape.
A warm breeze carrying the unpleasant smell of decay wafts upward from the web-filled shaft heading below the pagoda. After a dizzying descent, the seemingly endless shaft finally ends. The tortuously narrow steps in the shaft broaden into huge, stone-flagged stairs that descend sharply into a wide, smooth-walled chamber. The room widens as it slopes upward to the northeast, ending at a vast wall of huge stone blocks. Rusting double iron doors, bristling with bloody spikes, offer the only passage through the wall. The air is hot, and smells of sweat and toil. Two Tian slaves hang impaled on the door spikes.
As the party descends Jennix twists his neck causing it to pop loudly, then cracks his knuckles. Elbowing his elven companion, he says. "Hey Terf, how many times have I died? Two, three times? Four? I wonder if Pharasma will ever tire of my escaping the Boneyard. Maybe she'll make me a pyschopomp when my time finally comes...."
Upon reaching the bottom, which felt like months to Jennix, he makes a face at the sight of the impaled bodies. "That's welcoming....."
Creeping forward, Jennix looks for traps, listens at the door, and checks to see if it's locked.
"I'd say so. With that kind of welcome I won't feel bad walking in armed." Zack says while drawing his bow on the door.
Jennix finds no locks nor traps on the doors and leads the way in: A broad stone-floored courtyard lies on the other side of the wall. A stone parapet runs behind the arrow slits atop the wall, connected by a wooden bridge that crosses above the door.
Four red-eyed hobgoblins are in the room and begin to shout foul curses at you in Goblin when the doors open.
Jennix grins at the hobgoblins, then darts into the room, attacking the yellow skinned one.
After making his attack, he calls on his ninja training to vanish!
Miso doesn't always comprehend sarcasm and pulls his eyes from the gruesome sight to turn to Jennix curiously. I do not find this particularly welcoming, myself.
In one hand the Kellid holds the prized javelin of lighning found in the dragon's hoard outside of Iqaliat; in the other, the trusty wand of scorching ray that he has had for some time. He remains alert as the party moves toward the imposing iron doors (blindsense 30 ft).
Jennix's blade cuts into the hobgoblin and the archaeoninja then disappears, leaving the hobgoblins wondering where he went. The jaundiced hobgoblin swings wildly at Jennix:
The other three take out bows and fire at the rest of the party!
yel: 30 dmg
Zack returns fire on the bowmen.