As Kriger now finds himself equally as beaten as Marcel, he spits a wad of blood out and yells, "This sucks! We gotta move, fellas! This thing'll kill us before we even realize we're dead!" Kriger then withdraws from the golem.
The golem lands flat on its back, slipping in thick grease. It keeps attacking quite convincingly though.
Seeing the golem go down, Marcel spits blood and says through gritted teeth "Now Kriger! Hit it with all we've got!"
Eyes going wide at such a golden opportunity, "You don't have to tell me twice!" he says to the rogue as he swings with anticipation at the fallen golem with everything he's got.
Despite being on its back, the golem manages to evade most of the attacks, as though doing a strange rhythmic dance, but finally, both Marcel and Kriger manage to land deadly blows, and the construct ceases to function properly, brought down to a miserable and annoying grinding.
You are in a vast circular chamber, with four massive columns holding the domed ceiling. Two sets of double-doors lead out. To the right is the one Marcel has opened, leaving another to the left.
”Very good.”
Malaswyn heads over to the unlocked doors, ”We May want to explore this room but these divine allies will not be with us much longer. Let’s put them to use.”
Malaswyn opens the door.
Invisible Oberlin speaks nearby.
"I do understand we are in some matter of a hurry, but we need to be a bit more cautious. We have activated traps now in 3 of the 4 rooms that we have entered. I do not believe that this ratio can continue indefinitely without some casualty."
"Also, we should probably heal whomever needs assistance before pressing forward. I am certain that the rooms of spinning blades, acid rain, crushing walls and a hundred undead warriors ahead will need our warriors to be in top physical form if we stand a chance to overcome them."
Malaswyn opens the double doors, revealing a wide staircase digging further into the hill in what looks like a natural cavern. From the darkness ahead, just as Oberlin finishes his commentary, a frightening wail shouts through and echoes in the wide circular room, followed by the sounds of numerous boots scrambling on rocks.
Marcel, holding one arm over his bleeding abdomen, harrumphs at Oberlin. "We did not 'activate' three traps. We disabled most of what we saw, and a golem isn't a trap anyway."
Marcel finds a dark corner next to the door and ducks into it, reaching into his belt for a potion.
Malaswyn sends the summoned creatures into the room, commanding the archons to illuminate the room .
Kriger motions to those behind him to hold a moment as he himself attempts to remain as quiet as possible.
Oberlin moves silently forward to sand near the group but to the rear, still invisible.
As the lions and archons charge through the darkness, they are met with a hail of arrows, ensues a terrible clash. From where you stand, at the top of the stairs looking into the dark cave, you can make several undead warriors, eight or so, fighting the summoned menagerie. They seem much better than your usual skeletons though, and have the advantage.
Marcel, crouched in the corner next to the door, pops the wax seal on the vial in his hand and quaffs it.
Nodding, "Thanks, Kals. That sure worked out a few sore spots." Kriger then pulls out his potion and just as he's about to pop the top and drink it, he notices Marcel still a bit worse for wear. "Here, friend, take this one too. The way you look, you need it more than I do." He then hands it to him before finishing with, "But it ain't gonna help you look prettier than me," he remarks, chuckling as loud as one can through a closed mouth and giving a wink.
Malaswyn appeals to Her divine fire to bless Marcel with healing radiance.
The battle between summoned and undead rages for a little while, then the few undead survivors advance on you, but you make short work of them.
The chamber is a wide natural cavern. A thorough search reveals nothing of interest.
A set of double-doors lie at the far end of the cavern. No sounds can be heard beyond, and the door is not trapped, but magically locked.
Spending time making sure there was nothing to find in the cavern, Marcel moved to examine the doors. Not surprisingly, the locks were arcane in nature. He turned back and looked to make sure the others were ready before he began working. Once again, the tin of dust came out and he started to disable the lock.
The door is easily convinced to open. At this stage, you have two clear possibilities: the door in the circular room where the iron golem stood (where you just were), and this one in the cavern where you dealt with skeletons.
This massive door is locked just like the others, but Marcel manages to convince it to let you through. The passage is filled with heavy fog and you can't see beyond your hands. A set of stairs going down extends underneath your feet.
"Then again, maybe not." Marcel mutters as he looks dubiously at the fog.
Malaswyn shakes his head, ”Does the Tuger Lord command such magic, or is it the tomb’s creators?”
Oberlin sighs.
"We discussed this. The fog fills all stairs and corridors. I expect the stairs to be webbed as well. And to be honest, I doubt that the Tiger Lord has access to these arcane spells, I imagine that the tomb itself is able to be activated in some way for defense. That would correlate well with the ancient runic inscription at the waterfall, and the rolling rocks." Oberlin pontificates.
Marcel tries to listen through the fog, but his comrades' discussion makes it impossible. All he hears is scholarly debate.
"So...which way?"
All eyes turn to the king.
Marcel nods. He pulls up his balaclava and and drops into a half crouch. He moves forward, silent as the grave...
Silent as a grave, Marcel leads the group through the mists. You deal with a few side passages, losing a bit of time as the mist confuses your mind, but eventually make your way further and deeper into the great hill's tunnels.
The cave turns back into proper carved tunnels and opens on a much wider room, almost a hundred feet across, filled with columns reaching into the darkness of the room's ceiling. The columns form multiple rows and resemble armed soldiers. Two churning fountains take up alcoves on both sides of the room.
Ahead, about fifty feet away are two brazeros, whose red glow illuminate two massive statues of Gorum, bathing their dark iron in blood-red light, which flank a staircase digging deeper still...
"Two iron statues of Gorum? What are the odds these are more golems? I mean...really..." Marcel whispers. "Wait here..."
He sets out quietly, approaching the statues. Trying to make himself as small as mouse, he observes the iron sculptures to see if there is any sign they have moved in the past.
Malaswyn sheathes his scimitar and draws his bow.