Not sure if the door is high enough for them to see, but we’ll say the door is 10’ as the ceiling is 15’ and they have shots with cover.
It is not clear to me why the height of the door matters here. I have summoned the archons right above Zilchus and Stelle's head, and I assume they are not 10 feet tall.
With the golem on the ground, Benedictus dissolves the grease in order to allow Stelle to charge past the construct. The spell had the effect desidered. In the meantime, the archons continue to fire beams of light at the golem.
"Wait until it stands up!"
Orders Ben using the Celestial language.
If the golem does not stand up, Ben gives the command to attack anyway.
[ dice=Damage]1d6[/dice]
[ dice=LA3 light ray (+2 inspire courage, -1 slow)]1d20+3+2-1[/dice]
[ dice=Damage]1d6[/dice][/smaller]
Round 2, Init 11
vs. DC 17 Slow
"OW!" Zilchus cries again as he is hit again.
Zilchus calls upon the Croc for aid as he swings his heroically bard-songed & good-fortuned blade at the golem. He grunts as he swings down twice at the golem.
to hit; (+hero,+bard,+DF,+stelle,+grunt)
adamantine slashing damage. (+bard,+hope,+DF)
to hit; (+hero,+bard,+DF,+stelle,+grunt)
to hit; (+hero,+bard,+DF,+stelle,+grunt) (fortune)
adamantine slashing damage. (+bard,+hope,+DF)
to hit; (+hero,+bard,+DF,+stelle,+grunt)
adamantine slashing damage. (+bard,+hope,+DF)
to hit; (+hero,+bard,+DF,+stelle,+grunt)
adamantine slashing damage. (+bard,+hope,+DF)
[ dice]1d20+12+2+2[/dice] to hit; (+hero, +bard)
[ dice]2d4+13+2+2[/dice] adamantine slashing damage. (+bard,+hope)
[ dice]1d20+12+2+2[/dice] to hit; (+hero, +bard)
[ dice]2d4+13+2+2[/dice] adamantine slashing damage. (+bard,+hope)
HP: 12/66
AC: 26/23 (7 armor+1, 2 dex, 1 dodge, +3 buckler +2 ring)
DF:2/10
Weap: 0/9 rounds used (+2 bonus/flame/frost)
Grunting: 1/7 used (+4)
Quick Prayer: 1/7 used
PoP1: 0/1 used
Armor: 0/9 minutes used
Crocodilic Aura: 0/5 used (5d6)
Smite: not used
Grit: not used
Panache: are you kidding me?
Ki: not used
Rage: maybe later
Please be careful with your summoned creatures. These don’t have the precise shot feat, so they have a -4 to shoot into combat. Also, the golem is prone, so another -4 to hit. Please note it in your post as it saves me from having to do as much math. Thanks!
- - -
Nidhi drops her torch and draws her bow as she realizes how slow everything has become. Zilchus stands firm against the onslaught and returns blow for blow. In the end it is the stone golem who collapses in a pile of rubble - and we are out of combat!
Benedictus and Nidhi are slowed for most of a minute before they catch up with the parties movements.
Now that you have a chance to draw a breath and look around, you see it’s a tomb. Hieroglyphs depicting the life of the master craftsman decorate the walls of this chamber. A large stone sarcophagus fills the center of the room, but its lid lies on the floor next to it, and the cavity inside is empty. Close examination shows it happened very recently. If you were to hazard a guess, you’d think invisibility might have been used while minions kept the golem occupied a few rounds. Just long enough to steal a body!
The hieroglyphs on the walls detail the public life and works of the acclaimed architect and master tomb builder Chisisek, the greatest of his generation. The hieroglyphs make no mention of the final years of Chisisek’s life, however, with no references to the construction of Hakotep’s tomb or of Chisisek’s work with Shory technology.
Don’t forget the secret door spotted on the far wall in case it’s not clear on the map.
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"Oh, look!" cries out Stelle, pointing to the sarcophagus. "We're too late for this one, it seems," she pokes at the sarcophagus with her lance.
"If it were me as a Pharaoh," she announces, "surely one of my dearest generals would volunteer to occupy my Pyramid Parlor while I myself would be buried safely further in the Pyramid -- perhaps somewhere behind a secret door."
She adds thoughtfully, "That would be kind of romantic."
She winks, moving Anubis to the door. She waits until her companions are ready.
Zilchus takes to knee after the golem falls, having taken three vicious hits from the construct.
"No, don't worry about me, Stelle," Zilchus says, wheezing where there should be new dents in his armor.
"Oh, I'm sorry, Zilchus," says Stelle, slightly baffled by the tall, great warrior's fit. She rides over to Zilchus and holds her hand up to him to help him back to his feet. "What would you like me to do? Are you O.K.?"
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"That was trippy. Everything was slowed down. I thought we entered a worm hole - because worms move slow," Nidhi comments. She puts away her bow and reaches down to pick up her torch. "So do you all need to heal up before we proceed? ...Should I use my magic touch?" A teasing smile plays on NIdhi's lips as she wiggles her fingers at her companions.
"Should I use my magic touch?"
Maybe you should f%*!ing heal me, Zilchus replies, waiting to catch is breath and hoping his ribs aren't too cracked. But maybe making jokes about my pain is funny. I'm probably the bad guy...the one with the internal bleeding.
After healing has been administered, Ben pushes the group to open the secret door. "But be careful..."
"Thanks, Flo," Zilchus says, rising up to his feet with Stelle's help. "I think my kidney is still raw. Tender." Zilchus pushes at a few sore spots in his abdomen. "Thanks for the hands up."
Zilchus will get over to the secret door, takes a look, and opens it up.
Perception
Stelle and Zilchus take up their positions and open the secret door. Your light reveals a broad tunnel with incredibly smooth walls, leading to a door on the far eastern end. The door is closed and sealed in lead with Chisisek’s hieroglyph (an owl inside a house) upon it. It does not appear that the cultists made it this far.
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"As long as you're not peeing blood, you're good,"
"I'll let you check later," Zilchus replies to Flo's interest in his pee. He moves into the hallway, heroically checking for traps.
Perception
If it looks clear, he waits the others opinion on things before opening the next door.
Ben scans the tunnel and the door with detect magic, and if he detects no troubles, he gestures his companions to go ahead and open the next door. Otherwise, he gives a halt gesture and tries to learn more.
"Nidhi, Stelle, come over here!" he whispers, looking back over his shoulders.
Stelle looks behind her as he hears Ben whisper her name. She cocks her head to the side in confusion, and gestures to demonstrate that both she and Nidhi are both already present. Shrugging, she turns her attention to the door.
Stelle removes a piton from her Dungeoneering kit, and starts using it to peel the lead between the frame and to door off.
She pulls out a sunrod too, just for fun.
"Does anyone want to alternately carry and drop this?" If not, she'll return it to her haversack, and either way make a mental note to get a modification made to Anubis' saddle.
Zilchus finds no traps and Benedictus (with Florence confirming) finds no magics. You cut out the lead, break the seal and, eventually, fling open the doors!
This chamber is crammed with a variety of objects and grave goods, a celebration in carvings, crafts, and paintings - all an homage to the master architect buried in this tomb.
The treasures buried in Chisisek’s tomb include:
effigy of Anubis* (6,900gp)
eyes of the eagle (2,500gp)
scarab of mummy defense** (12,000gp)
a scroll of stone to flesh (1,650gp)
a mummieid crocodile worth 350gp to a collector (but a bit bulky), a platinum comb worth 300 gp; a crocodile mask with obsidian eyes worth 250 gp; a magnificent gold funerary mask set with jade worth 3,500 gp; a magnificent model of a galley crewed by ivory, jade, and onyx figurines worth 5,000 gp in total; a gold shepherd’s staff worth 790gp; three mummified cats; a collection of wax-sealed urns containing human ashes; and an assortment of ancient coins totaling 19,814gp to a collector.
Chisisek was more than just an architect, and one of his other creations, a clockwork golem, was placed in this chamber to guard his secrets and treasures for eternity. Fortunately, an eternity has passed, and the golem has run down. You do find a key among the grave goods that looks like it might fit. Do you crank it up?
It will also take some hours to sort through all the grave goods to discern their meaning. There are hieroglyphs on the walls, urns, various documents, etc. You also still need to spend an hour or two on the book - the combination might help tie up some loose ends.
In addition, an effigy of Anubis can be used to bring a dead creature back to life. Breaking the figurine reveals a hollow interior filled with diamond dust. If this diamond dust is sprinkled on a corpse that has been dead for less than 48 hours, the creature comes back to life as with Raise Dead. Once used in this way, an effigy of Anubis loses all of its magic and is destroyed.
- - -
In addition, anytime the wearer would be affected by a curse or disease effect, the scarab of mummy defense can absorb the effect with no harm to the wearer. Upon absorbing 12 such effects, the scarab turns to dust and is destroyed. An effect that’s both a curse and a disease, such as mummy rot, is considered a single effect for these purposes.
- - -
Zilchus makes a slow careful search for secret doors within the secret room whilst others begin to catalog the items and do whatever research is necessary (after all, he ain't helping with it).
"Mummy Defense? Seems like it'd be best suited to someone up on the front lines, like Zilchus or Stelle."
"Stelle should take it," Zilchus says, taking out a bottle of celebratory applejack. He peels off the tab, begins to drink. "I don't have any mummy issues."
"Let's leave it be, I agree," Ben replies to Florence concerning the key and the inactive construct. "No reason to run some risks without knowing what we would gain."
Benedictus spends all the hours needed to identify the magic items and read the books found in the tomb. He also tries to identify the hieroglyphs on the walls and urns.
"Stelle should take it," Zilchus says, taking out a bottle of celebratory applejack. He peels off the tab, begins to drink. "I don't have any mummy issues."
Stelle looks at Zilchus curiously and with concern. He has mummy issues.
"It's... beautiful," she gasps, taking the Scarab. "Let's see," she says, donning it, "if there are any mummies near by..."
She concentrates.
Stelle helps with the cataloging, and aids in identifying/translating where ever if possible and necessary.
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Anubis wags his tail blissfully as he sniffs at the Effigy of Anubis. Oh! Look! A mini-me!
He takes the Effigy in his mouth and trots over to Zilchus with it, kicks up a little sand as he sits in front of Zilchus and stares expectantly up at him.
You drink enough of that stuff, surely it hurts you inside as it hurts my nose outside. Mistress Stelle has much nicer smelling ales. You should wait for those.
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Stelle detects no mummies in the immediate vicinity.
Not long after you begin to sort through the loot, Tetisurah joins you. ”I am glad you were successful! Oh, a Clockwork Golem. I haven’t seen one of those in a while. Beautiful.” she turns her attention back to the party, ”So, what have you found?” She’ll watch as you categorize and sort, even helping a little from time to time. She also casts Daylight on her necklace to aid in lighting the dark chamber.
Chisisek’s treasure trove is a complex depository of lore, consisting of carvings, hieroglyphs, scrolls, and architectural plans. All of the information here is in Ancient Osiriani which limits some of you perhaps in aiding in the research (though not Tetisurah, who speaks Ancient Osirioni well).
Chisisek’s greatest achievement was the design and construction of a flying pyramid tomb for the Sky Pharaoh Hakotep I, utilizing Shory technology.
That not withstanding, in Hakotep’s later years, considerable resources were consumed constructing a vast system of earthworks that claimed the lives of thousands of slaves and incorporated bound elementals to create a mighty weapon that could be used against the Shory. Chisisek contributed his expertise to this grand design, and took some pride in the completion of this great work, but more details on what, or where, this weapon is remain a mystery.
Tetisurah knows a little about the Shory, supplementing that which you already know. The Shory were an ancient people who traveled the world in great flying cities during the Age of Destiny* and created the Shory Empire. Their flying cities and many other wonders were accomplished through the use of a form of long-forgotten magic once known as Aeromantic Infadibulum.
The fall of the Shory was not caused by a single event, so much as a long decline. One by one their magnificent flying cities fell to disease, war, or monsters. It is believed that most of these crashed flying cities lie scattered across the mountain peaks surrounding the Mwangi Expanse.
Since no one could determine a definite final fate of the Shory Empire, their history passed into myth. Some modern scholars now believe that the tales of the Shory cities' ability to fly to be nothing more than fanciful exaggeration.
Studying the Matriarch’s notes is difficult. They were clearly meant only for her, and are coded. Some of it you can figure you by context, but some of the meaning will be lost to the ages (who’s going to get the bread and milk now?). However, you are able to piece together a little more that’s helpful. The cultists arrived here a few days ago with a dual purpose. Wait for you to arrive (and kill you) and research Chisisek’s tomb in order to discover the whereabouts of Hakotep’s pyramid.
As far as you can tell, they failed in second as badly as the first, though she did send a small caravan of items northward to another location - the Sightless Sphinx. Apparently some secret headquarters for the Cult of the Forgotten Pharaoh. From the journal, and some guessing, you suspect Chisisek’s body and the larval queen were sent with the cultists to the north.
Tetisurah does not know exactly where the Sightless Sphinx is, but she has heard of it. ”Must be somewhere far to the north. The Sightless Sphinx is a colossal statue of a six-legged, faceless sphinx that represents Areshkagal, the demon lord of greed, portals, and riddles.”
”It’s magically protected too. I have tried, without success, to find it in the past, but it eludes my magics.”
- - -
He takes the Effigy in his mouth and trots over to Zilchus with it, kicks up a little sand as he sits in front of Zilchus and stares expectantly up at him.
"Oh hey! An effigy!? Is that for me or for you!?" Zilchus offers Annie a good scritching, completely fine with Annie taking the effigy as a chew toy. "You're a good puppy, ain't you? Who's a good girl? Who's a good girl!?"
Zilchus pours some 'jack in a cup for Annie, happy to share his good with such a good girl.
Zilchus takes another good drink of 'jack, looking at the sphinx and the party.
"So...are we going to the Siteless Sphinx? How are we going to find it if it doesn't have a site? Where else would it be?" Zilchus asks Ben to explain.
He takes the Effigy in his mouth and trots over to Zilchus with it, kicks up a little sand as he sits in front of Zilchus and stares expectantly up at him.
Nidhi eyes Annie, what a good puppy. "I don't think the doors are trapped. Go ahead and open then. Magic hasn't stopped us before." Nidhi narrows her eyes conspiratority, "or are they trapped?"
Nidhi casts detect magic.
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Although obviously and thoroughly enjoying the scritches, Anubis backs away from the proffered cup of Applejack, snorting as he does so. No thank you. I don't drink that, and I don't drink on duty anyway. And I'm always on duty.
He trots over to Ben and gently lays the Effigy at his feet. He looks up wagging his tail briefly before returning to Stelle.
Mini Me, for you. Maybe you can store it. Perhaps it will bring you fortune.
"So...are we going to the Siteless Sphinx? How are we going to find it if it doesn't have a site? Where else would it be?"
"Gee, Zilchus -- how much of that stuff have you had today? The Sphinx is sightless," she explains, pointing to her eyes, "not siteless. It's to the north, and if it's colossal, we should be able to spot it following the trail of the cultists. You will too, assuming that drink doesn't blind you first."
"Gee, Zilchus -- how much of that stuff have you had today? The Sphinx is sightless," she explains, pointing to her eyes, "not siteless."
Zilchus takes an angry drink.
"Well, how was I supposed to know that?! I suppose the rest of you just knew that, did you?" Zilchus takes another drink, half the bottle gone. "Like it would make sense to make a statue of a blink sphinx? What kind of sense does that even make? How would people even know the sphinx is blind? Why would people even think to ask if the sphinx was blind? That don't make no more sense than what I thought it meant. You know what I mean?" Zilch grouses, giving the perfect Annie another thorough scritching because good dogs get good scritchings. That's the way it should be.
"What are we doing next? We leaving today, or do we have time to get a bath in at that spring? Might be time for a bath, you know?" Zilchus is getting so tipsy that a bath sounds like a good idea.
Stelle listens to Zilchus' tirade with a very patient look on her face.
" ... Like it would make sense to make a statue of a blink sphinx? What kind of sense does that even make? ... "
"Oooh, you're absolutely right, Zilchus," says Stelle, with a touch of sarcasm. "That makes far less sense than creating a colossal sculpture while having absolutely no place to put it." She starts heading for the entrance climbing aboard Anubis. "Perhaps it's just not a prophet, or maybe it's wearing a blind fold," she pauses to look at Zilchus, or maybe just a sack over its head."
She waits by the room's exit not voicing her opinion about pausing for a bath, but waiting to see what the others think.
Maybe there is an upside to this Applejack...
Ben is about to explain the difference between sightless and siteless to Zilchus, but Stelle precedes him. The scholar just shrugs and smiles at Zilchus. "I would have explained with a lot of complex words, but yes. What she said. And so we are going north."
_______________
It takes a few hours to sort through everything and decipher the notes. It is around lunchtime.
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Good thing it wasn't a 'cite'-less sphinx or we would never have found mention of it in any books, Zilchus grumbles to himself as he drinks a bit more.
After noon and lunch, Zilchus will loll down to the spring for a nice bath in an attempt to avoid the summer's heat. He will continue to drink his applejack and loll for the afternoon, eventually being drunk enough for his shift at watch and then ready to go in the morning, via chariot, chasing after the flightless sphinx.
Ben uses the afternoon off to write down a scroll of dimension door and then, in the morning, he summons the chariot as planned. He keeps mostly to himself, but when and if he has the opportunity, he will conversate with Stelle in order to improve their relationship.
"Stelle, can you tell me something more about the status of halflings in Osirion? In Cheliax, unfortunately, many members of your race are house servants or worst...Is that any different here?"
"Maow," he chirps, content.You'd make a good cat.
Zilchus scritches the heck out of Bynx, should the cat allow him. There is one thing Zilch loves more than scritching good dogs...and that’s scritching good cats. Because good cats are better, obv, being guardians of the afterlife and all.
He will laze about after his bath, scritching and playing toss the rat with Bynx should the cat wish to play.
* * *
In the morning, Zilchus will be ready to ride the chariot to the sphinx who may or may not be vision challenged.
The party spends a relaxed afternoon avoiding the worst of the hot sun. Tetisurah rigs up a harness and drags the giant and lamia bodies out of this valley and into the next valley over where she leaves them for the desert to consume.
What are you going to do with the camels? Leave them for Tetisurah to deal with?
Also, I’ve updated the map. Please let me know where you’re headed tomorrow. Remember you can clear two hexes a day in relative comfort, even in the ‘mountains’ (more like tall hills), thanks to Benedictus’ spell and Stelle’s banner.
Nidhi is eager to leave the grave and get back to Wati. Although, she is curious about the exotic creatures in the desert: "Were you guys interested in that bird Zilchus thought he saw? We could maybe tempt out the beast with a camel snack." She looks at the other, wondering if they'd be opposed to sacrificing a camel for a chance to see a giant bird.
Ben stares, mouth agape, at Nidhi's proposal. "Wait...what did you just say? Camel snack? This...This is mean, Nidhi!" Horrified, Ben instinctively puts his hand on one of the camels. "Do you think it would be impossible to take them with us? They are in their natural environment, after all, and they should not slow us down...Isn't it?" Been looks to Zilchus and Stelle for confirm.
***
Ben studies the territory for a few minutes, hoping that someone will propose a good plan for the travel. As it seems, however, no one in the group is sure about the itinerary to follow, thus Ben takes the stage. "Why don't we start with north-east and then we move north-west from there? It seems like a reasonable solution to me, at least for today."
The camels will slow you down considerably actually. The chariot you summon has a number of magics which make it simply move across the sands. Also, Ben, please remember to take a slot for the daily spell. :)
The party breaks camp and Tetisurah flies along with you for a while before she retires back to the valley to continue correcting the damage the cultists wrought. She wishes you luck in your journey and blesses your trip.
Whether due to Tetisurah's blessing or just your own luck, you manage to encounter nothing in the deep desert mountains. The terrain isn't too bad, but you spend your time either going up or down it seems all day. Thankfully your magical mounts do not tire and their sure footed nature keeps you moving.
Late in the day however, you encounter a sunbaked corpse lying on a sand dune. The body’s upper torso resembles that of a human man, but it’s joined to the body and curling tail of a giant scorpion.
But what attracts your attention though is a second figure, equally parched and withered but much more animated. It crouches over the corpse, tearing off strips of flesh and stuffing them greedily into its mouth, slurping and chomping with disgusting glee.
This howling corpse has hideously elongated legs and a bow made of bone. It has not yet noticed you. You're about 100' away or so.
- - -
Do you think it would be impossible to take them with us? They are in their natural environment, after all, and they should not slow us down...Isn't it?"
Zilchus isn't as horrified, but still easily sides with Ben. "Nah, we don't need to mess with the eagle. We have more important things to do, you know?" He's happy to leave the camels to the desert, after a good watering at the bathhole.
He listens to Ben's plans for travel. "Sound fine to me, Ben. It's just sand and sun out here, mostly. Seems like a good route," Zilchus says as he busts out his delightful parasol, holding it above Florence and himself on the chariot.
* * *
Zilchus holds up his hand as he sees the creature, indicating he wants Ben to slow the chariot so he might get a better look.
Know (religion)
"Ben, what is that?" Zilchus asks, casting Magic Circle against Evil, a long lasting effect that might be needed.
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"Stelle, can you tell me something more about the status of halflings in Osirion? In Cheliax, unfortunately, many members of your race are house servants or worst...Is that any different here?"
Stelle turns to Ben. "Yes, it is true -- Cheliax is unkind to my kin. It is a compelling reason to go and upend tyranny in distant places, but unfortunately I can not get the support of any of my Uncle Otterfoot's comrades to act on it -- although they are very sympathetic."
She pauses, possibly thinking fondly of her Uncle and his comrades, or possibly further scheming. With Stelle, you can never be sure.
"But to answer your question, I feel blessed to be so far away from such abusive environments. There are fewer Halflings here in Osirion, but the race is treated no better or worse than any other. Thank you for asking," she says, blinking gently at him in genuine appreciation. "Are you from the Cheliaxian region?"
~~~
"Were you guys interested in that bird Zilchus thought he saw? We could maybe tempt out the beast with a camel snack.""Wait...what did you just say? Camel snack? This...This is mean, Nidhi!" Horrified, Ben instinctively puts his hand on one of the camels.
With all the Applejack consumption, can we trust anything Zilchus sees that we do not?
"Careful, Ben!" she says soothingly, taking the bridle, "Camels are very sensitive. They'll spit at you if they think you're upset," she glances in the direction of the bathing Zilchus, "or if they don't like the way you smell..."
"I could take them back to the spring after Zilchus is done, and let them have their fill. We could then take off all the gear and set them free. They're in their natural environment -- and frankly -- likely much better off on their own."
~~~
"Is that an Imp?" Stelle asks, regarding the strangely armed and legged scavenger.
"Yes, I was born in Westcrown," Ben confirms, his eyes staring at the void horizon. "Life was good, there. I didn't have any friends, except for my father, but as a traveling merchant, he was rarely at home. I only had another friend, and it was Milo, my halfling servant. I never considered him as such. He was tasked with looking to my needs, and keep me safe, but we became fast friends. Oh, if I enjoyd his tales!"
Ben smiles at Stelle. "Well, I hope I have found another halfing friend in you, Stelle!"
***
Concerning the camels, Ben praises both Zilchus and Stelle for coming up with a much more sensed idea than his, and quickly agrees to take them to drink and then leave them to the desert, their natural environment.
***
Questions: SR, special abilities, DR, other
"It's a baykok. An evil undead. It can't be reasoned with," Ben whispers to his friends before starting to speak the words needed to begin his summoning ritual, his eyes glowing with arcane energy for a moment as he concentrates on the spell he will get to cast in the next round.
"Bay-cock, huh? Some sort of undead cross between a wolf and chicken? No wonder it cannot be reasoned with," Zilchus grunts, happy to take this evil out of the world while they have time. "Get us closer if you can."
But what attracts your attention though is a second figure, equally parched and withered but much more animated. It crouches over the corpse, tearing off strips of flesh and stuffing them greedily into its mouth, slurping and chomping with disgusting glee.
This howling corpse has hideously elongated legs and a bow made of bone. It has not yet noticed you. You're about 100' away or so.
Nidhi looks a bit dusgusted by the sight, but she isn't scared. The only creatures she really feared were insects. Now, if there was a worm crawling out of the creature's eye socket - that would be terrifying.
Nidhi begins to sing, inspiring competence her allies' skill checks. She only sings for what would be considered 1 round, but the effects of her song seem to linger.
"Another undead?" What else would feast on flesh? ...Did I eat ginger today?
The camels are watered and well tended to before being released into the open desert to do as they will. There is no spitting as they trot off, in various directions, to their freedom.
- - -
The party prepares for combat, even as the creature looks up from his meal. He licks his chops with an impressively long tongue, reaches down, and rips out the ribcage of the dead creature before him. As he does so, each rib becomes an arrow in his hands as he draws his bow.
No SR or DR on the foul undead, but it does have a number of special abilities.
Devour Soul (Su) A baykok can take a standard action to devour the soul of an adjacent dead or dying creature. A dying creature can resist this attack with a DC 19 Fortitude save. If it fails, the target is instantly slain. If the creature is already dead, it does not make a saving throw, although the body cannot be more than 1 hour dead. A creature subjected to this attack cannot be brought back to life via raise dead (resurrection and more powerful effects work normally). When a baykok devours a soul in this way, it heals 5d6+10 points of damage and becomes hasted for 4 rounds (as if affected by haste). This is a death effect. The save DC is Charisma-based.
Dread Howl (Su) Once per day, a baykok can unleash a blood-curdling howl. Any living creature within a 30-foot-radius burst becomes paralyzed with fear for 1 round unless it resists with a DC 19 Will save. Any creature that makes this saving throw is instead shaken for 1 round. This is a fear effect. The DC is Charisma-based.
Infused Arrows (Su) A baykok creates arrows of bone as it fires its bow—it need not carry arrows as ammunition. These bone arrows do normal damage for arrows fired from the bow, but gain a +1 enhancement bonus on attack and damage rolls. In addition, each arrow deals an additional 1d6 points of negative energy on a hit. Further, the first creature struck in a round by a baykok's arrow must make a DC 19 Fortitude save to avoid being paralyzed for 1d3 rounds. A baykok can fire normal arrows from its bow if it wishes—such arrows, however, do not gain the special negative energy damage or paralysis effects. The DC is Charisma-based.
The other creature is somewhat hard to see, but it looks like it might be a girtablilu, N Large monstrous humanoid. They are tough fighters with a poisoned stinger and the ability to summon other scorpions to their aid.
- - -
Benedictus (acts in surprise round)
Florence
Nidhi
Stelle
Zilchus
Baykok