The hand reaches through Mirri's chest and she feels a stab of pain surging through her veins. Immediately thereafter, the thief's skin dries up, cracking and bleeding as her entire body becomes desiccated and dehydrated.
Petra recognizes the curse and knows it originates from an Aghash Div. Terrifying, haglike beings, aghashes wander deserts of the Material Plane spreading doom with their gazes. These wretched creatures hold nothing sacred, taking particular pleasure in bringing vain and arrogant mortals, particularly spellcasters, to ruin. Ragged and filthy, an aghash moves with a staggering motion. Its hoofed legs bend like those of a goat, giving its emaciated frame an obscene, jerking gait.
They delight in curse their victims, both with spells and their own innate ability.
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"Mirri!" Say'ri yells as the halfling undergoes the dramatic transformation. Marching forward Say'ri lashes out at the spectral hand, aiming to slice it in two with her khopesh.
As she does so Akhentepi leaps from her shoulder and takes to the air, his shadow suddenly painting a monstrous silhouette on the floor beneath.
"That foul curse is the work of a div!" Petra shouts, ignoring the hand to try and find the creature responsible. She begins to circle the fountain towards where the shadowy creature was briefly seen, calling out as she goes:
"I know little of them other they look like starved goat-men and curse their victims."
Say'ri tries to cleave the disembodied hand, but it is small and nimble, and the warrior doesn't want to decapitate her companion.
Petra spots the div hiding behind the statue, its face showing a giant maw encircling a single, massive eye.
Focused on searching, Mirri never saw the spectral hand until it buried itself in her chest. The halfling's eyes went wide and she convulsed with shock for a moment before staggering back away from the appendage. Although the physical effects were obvious to her comrades, Mirri did not seem to realize the transformation, or at least was too caught up in the moment to give it real notice. Something hurt her, and that something was still around.
Instinctively, Mirri knew that her affinity for finding weak spots when fighting would be of little help against the disembodied hand. Therefore, she used the momentum gained by staggering back from the hand's touch to vault toward the statue, then with knife draw make a bee line for the div as Petra singled it out.
Next up: Ibrahim
"There! Behind the statue!"
Ibrahim heeds Petra's warning and moves to engage the creature.
Mirri and Ibrahim advance to cut off the div's escape and see it--
Draped in rags and hunched over on goatlike legs, the creature possesses a featureless face, save for a large eye ringed by fangs.
It murmurs a spell and sends the ghostly hand at Ibrahim, trying to inflict him with the same malady as Mirri. It then slinks away around the statue.
Next up: Ibrahim save, then party
Petra runs through the columns until she has a line of sight on the creature. She nocks an arrow and lets fly.
Petra's arrow flies very true, apparently.
Ibrahim shakes off the cursed hand, and moves around, firing at the enemy.
Petra's aim is true, striking into the massive, singular eye. An otherworldly howl of pain bellows forth from the div as Ibrahim freezes the arrow wound for good measure.
Next up: Mirri
Petra frowns. "That arrow had force behind it, but I feel that it was blunted by the flesh of that foul thing."
Mirri hops down, trying to duck past the div's reach to flank it. The creature slashes at the thief, who has to dive back behind Akhentepi to avoid the attack.
Sensing the danger from the approaching foes, the div steps away from Akhentepi and mutters a few words, vanishing from sight.
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"What did it do?" Say'ri asks, hurrying the last few paces onto the dais. "We need to be on the lookout in case it returns. Mirri - you're staying in the middle now." She informs the halfling, her tone brooking no argument.
"If we keep moving, it will have a harder time coming back to find us. Let's search around here quickly and then move on. I suggest east first." Say'ri takes up a watchful guard position, leaving the others to business of searching.
"It might have gone invisible!" Petra points out worriedly. "I have no prayers to make the unseen seen again."
Mirri looked wide-eye at the blank space where the Div once stood, then turned the look to Say'ri as the human woman spoke. Instead of responding however, the halfling glanced down at the bare skin on her arms and saw the cracked skin the Div left her. Looking almost ready to howl, Mirri was stopped by Petra's alarming declaration. She then darted quickly to the shadows to hide and watch for the Div.
Ibrahim follows Petra's lead and also looks around with detect magic, not quite sure yet of what type of aura he should be searching for.
"This water is magical. Perhaps it can heal wounds?"
Ibrahim cups his hands and drinks from the fountain.
Petra slowly untenses after nothing attacks them for several long seconds, shaking her head. "Perhaps it is gone. Let us keep moving east then as Say'ri says-- once Ibrahim is either poisoned, or not."
Was that a joke, Petra.
As the other group members slowly relaxed under the realization that the threat was gone, Mirri warily emerged from the shadows. The halfling began examining her reflection in the polished stone, and her mouth hung open. Look...look what's happened to me! Her voice rising as she spoke, by the end her shrill tone was matched by her wide eyes. Her frightened gaze landed on Say'ri. Wha...what am I gonna do 'bout this! I'm all cracked and scarred, they'll run me right outta town if I come back lookin' this way!
Mirri also looked over at Ibrahim as he drank the water. She said nothing more, but her anxious look clearly conveyed the hope that if the waters benefited the magus they might her as well.
The water is cool, clean, and refreshing. Ibrahim feels as though he has a small surge of power in his magic. [ooc] You can cast one spell of the abjuration school (that you know, I should say) at +1 caster level and with a +1 bonus to the saving throw DC. The effect lasts for 24 hours or until used, and the benefit can be gained only once per day.[ooc]
Say'ri throws open the double doors into the eastern chamber to reveal an immense tiled pool (rectangle to the NE), empty and no more than two feet deep, lying beneath a vaulted ceiling covered with images of celestial beings.
Four columns stand beyond the pool to the northeast, each carved to represent one of the four primal elements. A ring of Ancient Osiriani hieroglyphs encircles the base of each pillar. The hieroglyphs around the columns identify each element, and Petra recognizes that the pool’s water did not symbolize life, but rather a melange of all creative
energies.
You realize that such large, shallow pools were not uncommon in ancient Osirian architecture, particularly on temple grounds, though this one is unusual in that it is indoors.
Straightaway East: A small shrine occupies a raised dais in the north of this room.
Two waist-high fonts stand on either side of the altar, and a small wooden cabinet is bolted against the eastern wall. Two rows of stone benches stand to the south of the dais. A fetid odor permeates the room.
The shrine features a bas-relief of Nethys rising out of an artistic representation of the Maelstrom behind him. The altar has been defaced, but so long ago that the impact of the desecration has lost much of its shock value.
A few ceremonial religious tools are scattered across the floor.
Two woman crouch by the altar, turning to look at you with pleading eyes and speaking in Ancient Osiriani.
Look what has happened here! Help us!
Not only are they speaking Ancient Osiriani, but their accents are archaic, centuries old.
Petra looks over Mirri's skin with a frown. "This is very concerning. You look ill-- are you worsening? The divs have a curse, but I do not think I can lift it right now..."
Unable to assist just now, Petra tries to urge Mirri onward.
"Hold, friends," Petra says sharply in the Common tongue to her companions. "These women speak as though ages out of date. Something is not right here. Ghost or shades of the past, perhaps."
In Ancient Osiriani she asks, "What are your names and natures?"
Mirri's shoulders slump as the fountain waters did nothing to heal Ibrahim, while neither Petra nor Say'ri could offer any assistance. The halfling proceeded to pull her cloak up over her head and face, while ensuring her sleeves covered as much of arms as possible.
Mirri sullenly and wordlessly consented to Petra's urging to move on, but stayed as hidden and unnoticeable as she could behind Say'ri. From that position she kept an eye out for traps as usual, but said nothing and tried to keep out of sight from the two strange women in the room.
Say'ri and Akhentepi approach and the others follow suit, unable to see through the women's ruse. But Petra catches something odd in their dialect, and scans their auras , finding a moderately strong permeation of evil about that.
Before she can warn the others the women strike, rushing Say'ri. One tries to claw at Say'ri's face, but it proves ineffective.
Next to act in surprise round: Petra
Hey! Why'd ya do that?? Mirri's startled, angered voice came from behind her darken cowl and was aimed towards the surprise attackers. Despite directing her comments at the two now-foes, she was as much mad at herself for not paying close enough attention, caught up in her own predicament.
But she now jumped into action, darting forward past the group to a spot by the wall just to the back side of one of the enemies. As she did she vaulted past the foe to avoid an attack as she moved and called out, Ibrahim! Just step forward and hit 'em! The halfling then waited for the magus' hoped-for move to distract her target before striking herself.
[ooc]Damage, if hits +
Ibrahim, about to step forward and offer aid, instead offers cold steel (literally) after hearing Petra's warning.
Second attack will be against "blue", and still has Frostbite active
Mystic Focus 1 more round
Frostbite 1 or 2 more attacks (if 13 missed)
Round 1
Petra skirts up to get a clearer shot, dropping her wand and lifting her bow.
"If we can pull back a bit Mirri can strike at her most effective," she grunts while loosing an arrow.
Red
Ibrahim, Mirri
Blue
Petra, Sayri
When Say'ri dodges the clumsy strike, she sees through its illusion (as does Petra from her divine sight): Rotting vestments hang across the withered flesh of this walking corpse, and its mouth hangs open in a silent scream.
Petra invokes Anubis' blessing, and the undead howl in rage at the sound. She knows them for what they are: Huecuvas are the risen corpses of heretical clerics who blasphemed and renounced their deities before meeting death. Their unholy flesh is resistant to strikes unless the weapon is magical or silver.
The first Huecuva strikes Say'ri, raking her cheek.
Ibrahim tests his newfound abilities, slashing the huecuva in retribution. He marks her with the All-Seeing Eye of Nethys, which serves as a bullseye for Mirri. The nimble thief strikes true, sliding her small blade through the huecuva's temple.
The remaining one rends Ibrahim under his sword arm.
Say'ri's swing is defensive and goes wide
Akhentepi wraps his talon's around the rotting woman's neck, but the damage is ineffective. Petra can't draw a bead, and the huecuva strikes again.
Next up: Party
"Foul fallen priests!" Petra cries out. "We would need blades enchanted-- or silvered-- to slay them best. But Anubis will provide."
Mirri offered back a blank expression as the description of the Huecuvas was given. Shrugging, she then beamed a wide smile as her very much non-magical, non-silvered knife ended one of the two foes. Seeing the tactic was effective once, she thought why not try again!
Ibrahim, step into the corner 'fore you hit 'er! The halfling's words were followed by Mirri herself sliding around the cover. As before she waited for the magus to move before attempting to catch the 2nd enemy off-guard.
+
Ibrahim, too preoccupied with trying to look cool using his new abilities, is still quite baffled by the illusion, despite being savagely clawed.
Though he is oblivious to what he is fighting, the swordsman anticipates Mirri's flanking maneuver with the grace of a panther, sliding into place and lashing out with his sword.
Again, Ibrahim marks the fallen priestess and lights the way for Mirri's strike, the two working in tandem to send the tortured soul to its rest after all these years.
Say'ri, meanwhile, starts to get the chills.
Combat Over
The items near the altar include: A few ceremonial religious tools, including a silver chalice, a silver ritual knife, and a tithing box. All are slightly damaged and dented. The wooden cabinet, which once held these items, is undamaged and empty.
Off to the south, back towards the entrance, you hear the sounds of someone speaking.
Petra frowns, looking back in the direction of the sound. She makes no move to touch the objects discovered just yet, holding her finger to her lips and pointing south. She taps Mirri on the shoulder, and then points at her eyes.
Normally effusive and chipper after battles end, Mirri just stared at the fallen foes for a brief moment before freezing in place at the sound of voices near the entrance. Her head whipped towards Petra as the dwarven woman tapped her on the shoulder, the halfling's cracked skin showing beneath her cowl. Eyes serious, she nodded in response to the alert, and quickly made for the shadows.
Ibrahim grabs his side as the last creature falls. Just as he is about to ask for aid he catches Petra's warning.
Sneaking around to the south Mirri sees the div from earlier--it lies in wait but doesn't seem to notice her.
Seeing the Div, Mirri scowls but says nothing, quietly returning to the party and whispering in the ear of each of the three what she has seen.