Following your noses, you round a corner and find () a room covered with a layer of fine gray dust and ash, three inches deep. Across the room, opposite where you entered, is another set of double doors. There are two empty alcoves to the north and south. On small ledges in each corner of the room are pieces of what appear to be broken pottery.
As you move into the room, your steps send motes of dust and ash swirling into the air, and these clouds form into shapes.
First, from the ash, a dusty phantom assumes the shape of a woman. Her face is forlorn and tear-streaked. She throws up her hands in despair, rushes into one of the alcoves, and disappears.
Immediately afterward, two more dusty phantoms emerge — mighty warriors armed with jagged-edged swords and bearing fierce countenances. They move to block the doorway opposite where you entered.
"We'll see what Moradin has to say about this." say Katra as she moves forward. When she reaches the center of the room, she draws her holy symbol and holds it aloft, channeling the radiance of the Forge Lord to scatter the undead.
Katra, the shockwave from your holy burst seems to be enough to scatter the ashes. The room is quiet thereafter, but they begin to reform. It is likely they are indeed undead, exceedingly weak ghosts able only to hold single ashes. You find even your hand is enough to scatter them.
With the ashes discarded, you push through the doors with a vacuumous *pop* and the smell of rain nearly brings you to tears. "Ooo-ooo!" a primate screams. This enormous chamber is thirty feet tall with mighty buttressing and a vaulted ceiling. Parts of the ceiling and walls have collapsed, and raw earth has spilled down from a gaping hole in the east wall. Crushed beneath a fallen block in the center of the room are humanoid remains. Elsewhere around the floor are the chewed and decayed corpses of baboons. Through a hole in the eastern ceiling, daylight, rain and fresh air filter in. Above, through this gap, can be seen four baboons. They jump around the hole and and scream in agitation, and as they do, dirt begins to slide down the banks and rocks in the walls shift slightly.
Cloudrunner makes sure everyone gets into the fresh air before he enters. Even so, he can't help but take a deep, refreshing breath and savor it. But his attention turns back to the baboons, with his sword ready. "Be careful, they can be very territorial." Pointing to the baboon corpses, he says, "They have either been trapped long enough to eat their own kind, or... there's something else in here. Either way, don't be too distracted by the fresh air until we know if it's safe."
Pisco nods in agreement with Cloudrunner.
"I agree..there might be something lurking in this area that made a meal of those baboons. Let's check it out..carefully."
That said, Pisco drifts into the shadows as he searches the right-side of the vast chamber first.
Stealth:
"Bah. Let's just get this over with." Having said that, Katra walks to the center of the room and roars out a challenge at the top of her lungs.
Katra, it doesn't look structurally sound in here at all, especially the opening in the ceiling. In fact, you aren't quite sure how some of the stones have not already fallen down.
At the rumble of Katra's manly voice, some of the ceiling actually does collapse with random plops here and there. But then the rubble stirs beneath the opening, and bursting forth is a giant amphaesbina, the dreaded 2-headed snake of yesteryear! Slithering this way and that it's silvery green scales glisten in the rain, hissing and probing forward with its sick black forked tongues.
Round 1:
All PCs
Amphaesbina
These thoughts echo through the cat-man's head as he sees the giant serpent.
Reinvigorated both from the fresh air and a nice, obvious monster to slay, Cloud says "Now, THIS is something I know how to handle." He twirls his sword and then charges in to attack!
Cloud's padded feet quickly and quietly send him on his mission towards the huge creature, he leaps onto the first head and rakes the obsidian stones across the scales, spraying blood chaotically into the rain. He then flips across to the other head, but it saw him coming and retracted at the last minute, sending Cloud tumbling back to the wet stone safely.
Now that someone has the beasts attention, Pisco leaps from concealment, and lashes out with his clawed hands, slashing the snake to ribbons.
Attack:
Damage:
Attack:
Damage:
Sneak Attack:
Attack:
Damage:
Attack:
Damage:
Katra walks right up to it, saying "Here beastie. Come to mamma. I got something nice for you."
Once she gets within range, she will swing her hammer at it.
Pisco explodes out of the shadows quickly popping the bones in the snake's back one after the other rapidly. Katra waits for her moment and when one of the heads takes a snap at her she beats it away. Lidras is the first to bore through one of the skulls however, sending the snake coiling madly as its muscles lose control...finally, its motionless except for the rain.
You notice a baboon staring down at you from above contemplatively before zipping out of sight.
"Bah, Dwarves know that every day is a gift. It's why we drink so much; There's always something to celebrate!"
You could to barricade the doors if you wish, if so you would notice the poison gas from the temple's lower levels is slowly creeping up and out the hole outside. Perhaps with enough time it could all clear out, taking weeks or months.
"I think since we're here we should keep going." says Katra after channeling her god's blessing into her armor and praying for spells.
After a restful nap, Pisco will search the area for anything valuable. Once completed, he will sit down and have something to eat...all the while taking deep breaths of the sweet, clean air around him!
Cloud:
+1 Macuahuitl (longsword)
Galtar/Party:
bracers of defense
ring of protection
ring of fire resistance
ring of animal influence
potion of invisibility (dried)
elixir of health (dried)
Lidras:
bracelet of rock magic (While you wear this gold bracelet, it grants you immunity to being petrified, and it allows you to cast flesh to stone (save DC 15) as an action. Once the spell has been cast three times, the bracelet can no longer cast it. Thereafter, you can cast stone shape as an action. After you have done this thirteen times, the bracelet loses its magic and turns from gold to lead.)
Katra:
+2 axe, 12 charges (passwall, burning hands, gust of wind) recharges 1d6+4 at dawn
+1 dagger
Katra, that night you have a restless dream of living shadows creeping through stones lurching forward. You are very angry but you don't know why. As you wake, you cling to the axe instinctively and do not want to let it go, even for a moment.
I would take the bracers if no one objected
You approach the double doors to the southeast, the serpent doors. A jade plaque above them depicts the now slaughtered amphisbaena. Through the winding corridor, you reach a staircase leading upward into the gloom. It seems as though you have found the entrance to another layer within the complex!
Pisco and Cloudrunner both spot a glyph similar to the wall of fire glyph from before, covering a 10 ft square on the second step up.
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Lidras walked forward, feeling pleased. They hasn’t fully divided the spoils yet, but he had a new ring and the bracers? The thrill of the discovery was invigorating! Going towards the doors he reached for them, and stopped. He stared for a moment at his shadow, ice gripping his heart. It...wasn’t his. It was hers. It had been so long ago, he had managed to push aside the memory of where he had gotten his sword. His wings. His power. It had been easy enough to ignore. He closed his eyes. What does she want?! He opened his eyes again, and his shadow was once more his own. So lost in thought was he that he almost walked into another one of the glyphs! Of course he planned to blast it...
Thieves tools:
Thieves tools:
Thieves tools:
Pisco efficiently disarms the trigger plate, making the stairs safe to ascend. At the top a hidden passage is found that houses a large robotic dragon on four wheels, thankfully unarmed...otherwise it would have rolled down the stairs.
On the next level, after rounding a corner you find a large room decorated with a bizarre diorama depicting the land of the dead. Small, brightly painted clay statues have been placed about the room to represent the inhabitants of this realm and the unfortunate people they have taken into their care.
In the center of the room, the floor rises to form a small hill. A group of small figures seem to be struggling to roll a boulder up the hill, while a devil drives them on. Above the hill in the ceiling is a glowing spot that illuminates the entire chamber with an eerie silver light.
A cobblestone path leads from the western door to the foot of the hill. A similar path runs eastward and then veers south. Sections of the diorama around the perimeter of the room depict different environments in the land of the dead.
In the western end of the room is a region of burning sands. There devils torture those who have been unfortunate enough to fall into their hands.
Along the southern side is a grassy plain where people frolic and hunt antelope and deer.
North of the grassy plain and south of the hill, the floor opens into a model of a canyon. A river of lava flows down it while flames lick the walls.
East of the hill, in a side area of the room, is a counterpart to this fiery canyon — an icy waste.
To the north of the hill is a putrid, bubbling marsh where figures strive to keep their heads above the surface.
From out of the marsh a black, torpid river wends its way past the northern edge of the hill and flows west to pour over the lip of a steam-filled chasm in the northwest comer of the room. Within this dark chasm, worms pursue the fleeing forms of naked people.
In the south comer of the room on the eastern wall is a barred door.
Pisco will examine the southern side and the grassy plain.
Investigate:
or
Perception:
Pisco, as you enter the grassy fields a wave of nostalgia nearly brings you to tears, kitten memories of frolicking in similar sunny grains lifts your heart and mind up out of the moment...
Katra, the light suffuses everything and everywhere in the room. It seems to be coming from a glowing chimney near the center, the walls of the chute have some kind of fluorescent material on them. You might be able to block the hole or climb up inside it with a boost from a team-mate. You would need to first step on to the hill.
Lidras, you see as Katra above, but could fly up into the chute the entire way if you wanted. Directly above, maybe 60 feet, there looks to be a closed grate of some kind. There is also a branch to the left perhaps 30 feet up. The entire shaft is glowing with the same odd light.
CHA Save:
lol..nice knowing ya guys...I'll just stay here...FOREVER!!!!
Lidras, nothing happens, other than your skin reflecting the light somewhat expectedly.
Cloudrunner walks around the southern side of the diorama, hurming and nodding his head studying it, as if it should all mean something, but unfortunately does not. He will walk past Pisco, ignoring him for the moment.
He looks at the door, and seeing it barred, turns back to the diorama. "Do any of you see anything that might trigger the door opening?" Then he studies the Eastern side (icy, I believe), for what little he is able to given his general lack of skill in searching for clues.
Cloud, gazing into the display you experience a brief whiteout as 2 steam trails tumble out of your nostrils. The chain links between the layers of thin jaguar fur begin to bite with an extreme chill, glowing bright blue and cutting into you all over.
dmg to Cloudrunner
Katra, seeing that the light did not teleport people into the diorama as she feared, instead moves across the room to the door, but will stop to heal Cloud and she passes (specifically NOT looking at the diorama) and says "That looks like a trap. Can you disable it Pisco?"
Lidras, you fly up into the glowing square tunnel. It is cramped and eventually you are climbing more than flying, but its fairly easy to concentrate and make your way up...there is a slight enough incline to it. As you approach the branch in the path, your fingers and back get coated in thin webs, and before you know it a giant spider emerges, hissing and clacking its pedipalps.
piercing to Lidras
poison, Con save DC 11 for half
Round 1:
Spider
Lidras, and others