(I was counting too. Rayhan should have had the rope. I thought he was at -1 as well.)
(Hajar, you'd only be stuck if you rolled a "1" each time you failed the save. No fail, no need to roll to get stuck.)
(OOC, you have a "real" earthquake going on. Not an attack. But part of the "collapse of Kakishon" that is still ongoing.)
As the adventurers get stuck in the sand, the disembodied skull of a great dragon appears out of thin air above them. Red flame flickers in empty eye sockets, and the sand around and beneath the humans flows outward and away from their bodies.
Even as Rayhan falls, unsupported, a tiny ring falls from the wyrmskull's jaws, a sliver-sized ruby disappearing from the setting. Rayhan coughs violently as the old man breathes again.
for Rayhan:
You have 7d6 ⇒ (2, 2, 5, 2, 1, 5, 3) = 20 hit points restored above zero.
You have gained two permanent negative levels, the same as raise dead.
You have a 50% chance of keeping all your prepared spells. Roll individually to find out if you still have them.
(I'm not going to argue whether breath of life or raise dead was more appropriate in this case. Just go with raise dead.)
"My!" Venema Shodair says in everyone's heads. The rumbling of the ground stops as the wrymskull floats down to your level in the night sky. "Here I thought I would see you at Kirhosk's treasure hoard, and what do I scry? You poor children caught in an earthquake!"
"I apologize for not being here sooner," the undead dragon says, "but my contingency was hard to activate properly!"
Male Male(Human) Class Level Fighter 12 Weapon Master | HP 93/122| AC/Touch/Flat 24/15/19 | Fort/Ref/Will 8/8/6| Init: +6 | Percep: +12 BAB 12 | CMB +17 | CMD 30 (33 if kukri related)
Khayal is somewhat at a loss for what is going on. Was that a natural earthquake or did the things you saw do that to us? He looks to Rayhan. We are lucky to have the side of one as powerful as a dragon.
Human Male Human (Varisian) Magus 7/Rogue 2/Arcane Trickster 3 | HP 72/72 [13 TEMP] | AC/Touch/Flat 1923/14/15 | Fort/Ref/Will +8/+11/+6 | Arcane pool 5/5 | Impromptu sneak 1/1 | Init: +5 | Percep: +7
Bartan watches one of his friends get killed, then resurrected by the undead dragon. "Friend Venema, we thank you for your aid. This plane is getting more unstable by the moment. We MUST hasten our actions."
Welcome to the world of the permanent negative levels, Rayhan! :-S
I'm confused though. Did Rayhan die, or didn't he? Because I thought he did, and then Khayal pointed out that he didn't fail the first save and so he would be at -1 not -18.
(I did the action just in case, because you said Rayhan was buried deep and would die the next round, even at -1, not just at -18. So I went with the raise dead.)
(Venema Shodair is not a deus ex machina - she is one of the possible allies you could have, according to the book. There are other combat multipliers available to you, but only if certain actions are performed.)
(Will this be the Last Battle of Kakishon? Will our intrepid heroes save the demiplane, and themselves? Let's find out!)
"Well," Venema answers Bartan, "I was going to just watch as you fought the shaitans a second time, and teleport in if they tried any shenanigans again, but this earthquake..." The dragon head turned toward Khayal. "It was natural - the center was actually East of here, at the edge of the Mermaid Necklace and the central island of Kakishon. What those earth-genies must be thinking right now! It would be like one of us seeing the beach tide move out to the horizon, only to come back, taller than the tallest sand dunes."
The wrymskull's eyes flickered as she finished "That wasn't the only earthquake. Kakishon is dying, from the East to the West. I daresay we have more than a single rising and setting of the sun left."
To be fair, when I assumed he was a dead man I was also assuming the sandquake was ongoing and would continue for a while...it ended that very round and so even while buried we could have dug him up and administered healing (I think). Just let me know what happens with Rayhan. If he has the negative levels that's cool, its certainly your call.
(Treat Rayhan as if he had raise dead performed upon him, with the negative levels.)
Seeing the others ready, Venema said "I have not scryed the shaitan since you left, so I have no idea what they have been doing since then. Maybe this earthquake will convince their leader to listen to you."
The wyrmskull floated to the rear of the group. "I can help with my move sand ability and a few spells, but if you have any other allies you can call upon, it might be best to use overwhelming force with these earth-genies. I saw their 'guardians' - I have a surprise for them! You all concentrate on the earth-genies."
Male Male(Human) Class Level Fighter 12 Weapon Master | HP 93/122| AC/Touch/Flat 24/15/19 | Fort/Ref/Will 8/8/6| Init: +6 | Percep: +12 BAB 12 | CMB +17 | CMD 30 (33 if kukri related)
Artel seems like the kind of person who might help, he was very grumpy, but as long as we make sure he is very grumpy at the earth genies he may be of great assistance.
Winding your way down the sands, the adventurers plus one deceased dragon crest sand dune after sand dune, until the rocky edge of the Golden Bowl greets them again. False dawn shows the ledges without the gargoyles.
The Bowl has seen better days. In the past, the seasonal rainstorm would keep the golden dust down to a manageable level. The last time you were here, the sand was merely difficult to get around. With the recent earthquake, the sand is now like a bowl of recently-cooked gruel, with occasional quivering sending a slow ripple across the surface.
Perception DC 25:
You see a bored male shaitan leaning on his scimitar tip between the pillars of the northern temple. The eleven-foot tall man yawns as the sun rises in the East.
(Are you going down into the Golden Bowl and up to the Temple through the sands, or taking the route from the jagged rocks at the top, and coming down from the North? Either is possible.)
Human Male Human (Varisian) Magus 7/Rogue 2/Arcane Trickster 3 | HP 72/72 [13 TEMP] | AC/Touch/Flat 1923/14/15 | Fort/Ref/Will +8/+11/+6 | Arcane pool 5/5 | Impromptu sneak 1/1 | Init: +5 | Percep: +7
Through a sandy bowl (likely full of drum-sand) seems like the perfect opportunity for us to get swallowed by sandworms. Let's go up to the jagged rocks.
Male Male(Human) Class Level Fighter 12 Weapon Master | HP 93/122| AC/Touch/Flat 24/15/19 | Fort/Ref/Will 8/8/6| Init: +6 | Percep: +12 BAB 12 | CMB +17 | CMD 30 (33 if kukri related)
Bartan make a good point. Khayal begins to make his way over to the jagged rocks, looking for any danger and while also relying on his experience in the desert. perxeption:1d20 + 10 ⇒ (20) + 10 = 30 survival:1d20 + 8 ⇒ (1) + 8 = 9