Unsure if the swarm has dispersed or not, Omen takes no risk in opening the door before him. Instead, after swiveling his masked gaze back a forth in search of another doorway, he then moves south through the structure toward the nearest door he can see.
HP: 11/14
AC: 12 (11 T / 11 FF)
CMD: 10
F/R/W: +2/+1/+5 (+2 vs death effects)
Resist: acid, cold, electricity 7
Omens used (swift demoralize): 0/1
Black Motes used: 2/8
Shield charges remaining: 15
Spell Slots Used
Level 1: 0/6
Ongoing Effects
Surubi dashes quickly away from the serpent, as Chephren tries to discern what dangers its poison could present. He is unsuccessful in doing so. Meanwhile within the house, Omen moves further away to a different door, unbeknownst to any of the others outside.
Gabriel, now able to pinpoint the snake, warns "That is an asp. It's poison could kill an average man rather quickly if uncured." As Surubi stops right in front of him, he can see the degree of her injuries. He then decides to grant her some healing energies. Then he moves forward and stands prepared with his weapon in case the serpent follows.
Appearing almost out of nowhere, a flying, disembodied, and bestial head covered in lashing hair and curling horns bites you. The thing has a look of wicked delight on its strange face.
Malik begins to answer Surubi, but is cutoff by the new threat. "Well, this one noticed there is a presence of magical auras... by the pharaohs, this one will continue after the snake is handled." He steps up, and prepares to use a conjured dart of acid on it if it comes out after them.
The snake does just that, and gets a hit solidly by the acid. It damages it, but not enough to deter it from coming after Brennan. The big snake continues its movement under the bench at the table, to rise up almost to the height of Brennan's chest in its strike pose, before snapping at the man.
----------------------------
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As the snake moved in, Brennan readied his blades. The snake was faster, and the man felt the fangs pierce his thigh, even as he slashed at it with his knives. The venom burned, but he was able to ignore it for the moment. He leaped over the snake, trying to put it in between himself and the others, hoping a little flanking would make quick work of the creature.
HP 19/22(20). Current AC: 17/14/13
Active conditions: -2 Con damage (13)
Active spell effects:
Omen grunts and offers a dark curse under his breath as the creature flits back after biting him. Throwing open the door, he moves out into the courtyard and then sends an inky black shard of the nothingness between the stars lancing into the strange head.
HP: 8/14
AC: 12 (11 T / 11 FF)
CMD: 10
F/R/W: +2/+1/+5 (+2 vs death effects)
Resist: acid, cold, electricity 7
Omens used (swift demoralize): 0/1
Black Motes used: 2/8
Shield charges remaining: 15
Spell Slots Used
Level 1: 0/6
Ongoing Effects
Seeing the opportunity Brennan has provided, Chephren once more asks his god for the bleeding touch of death before he moves to the snake.
"Anubis, grant your servant the ability to end this threat."
Surubi, renewed by Gabriel's spell, dashes forward with her sword, attempts to vault past the decorations next to the stairs, and instead slams into the stone decorations there. Momentarily seeing stars, the poor girl drops her bastard sword and sways backward, barely catching herself as she staggers around Chephren. She returns to her senses enough to draw another weapon, but she still looks woozy and makes no effort to use it.
The snake moved faster than Brennan was prepared for, as it slipped in past his first blade to bite him. The burning of the venom now coursing through his blood disrupts him enough that the snake weaves away from his second swing. He instead dances cautiously around the thing to surround it.
In an attempt to perform an angelically graceful maneuver onto the table, Surubi crashes like an orc into the column by the doors. The smack corrects her course of action, and she decides to move around for a good shot instead.
Chephren braves the snake's bite enough to move in and smack the thing with divine essence of his god. The wound caused by Malik's conjuration tears, causing blood to begin seeping from it.
Omen comes backing out of the southernmost door attached to the courtyard, casting a spell back into the house. A fresh bolt of pure blackness fires into the house from his fingertip.
Gabriel follows the actions of the others, stepping forward to close the distance with the snake. With his morningstar still drawn, he strides forward to stand between Chephren and Surubi and swings the heavy headed weapon. The snake once again weaves away from the swipe.
Recognizing the potential dangers of such a venomous viper, Malik decides to brook no more thriftiness. He creates a glowing bolt of force to shoot from his fingertip and strike the snake precisely.
The snake decides that it is no longer the more powerful, and gives up the fight, darting away from the group as fast as it can.
----------------------------
-------------
+
The poison coursing through the wound continued to burn, sapping Brennan's strength. His vision blurred slightly as he lashed out with the dagger in his left hand, cutting at the snake. The blade in his right dropped to the ground as the poison coursed through him.
"Mister Omen! Watch out for the snake! It is injured and likely to attack!" Surubi sees the fleeing snake pass near her new, unwary ally and draws a bead on it. She pulls two arrows from her quiver; the first shot lands between the snake and Omen, warning the snake away from the man; the second shot pierces the snake's body, tearing its flesh.
;
;
Omen hustles nearer to the group, his head on a virtual swivel as he watches for the floating head. "There is yet another trouble about, this one a fanged, disembodied head. Be on your guard." He readies himself for the creature's reappearance, this time intent to bring a column of void-stuff down atop it should it show itself.
HP: 8/14
AC: 12 (11 T / 11 FF)
CMD: 10
F/R/W: +2/+1/+5 (+2 vs death effects)
Resist: acid, cold, electricity 7
Omens used (swift demoralize): 0/1
Black Motes used: 2/8
Shield charges remaining: 15
Spell Slots Used
Level 1: 1/6
Ongoing Effects
Brennan lashes out as the large snake slithers past, but his blade doesn't have a sharp enough angle to pierce the tough rubbery hide. The snake continues on its path past Omen. That is, until Surubi fires twin arrows at the thing. One is to the right of it, but the other finds its target and sinks into the muscled flesh of the predator. The thing then ceases to move.
----------------------------
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Yes, the River Rat trait gives +1 damage with daggers.
There was a formatting glitch in the bbcode. You should be able to see the traits now.
Chephren quickly looks around for the fanged, disembodied head Omen has warned them about...
but obviously sees nothing. He just shakes his head in disbelief.
"Brennan, let me look at that bite," Chephren says as he moves over to Brennan.
Chephren steps forward, paying close attention to Brennan's bite. He starts asserting pressure directed toward the wound to try and bleed the venom out.
Omen stares wildly about, his focus prepared on calling down more eternal darkness, as he issues a warning to the others. When he does, Gabriel moves up quickly to stand nearby and looks for the head they were warned about, "Where is it? Is it still inside? I don't see anything."
With no sign of a target by anyone, Malik returns his attentions to investigating the presence of magic he discovered near the granary where the swarm emerged. First, though, he moves to be nearer the group in case anything does show itself. He does offer a theory, [m]"This one remembers we found a headless body within. Maybe the two are connected. This is surely haunted."[/b]
Regardless, there is no sign of any floating head.
----------------------------
-------------
With Chephren's aid, Brennan weathered the worst of the poison, though it sapped him of some of his vitality. "Thank, Cheph, I...just thanks."
He picked up the dagger that he had dropped and wound it back into its sheath. Looking around, he spotted the snake bleeding out on the ground.
"Someone cut the head off that snake, will you? I want the fangs for a necklace. And what's this about a flying head? Chephren, sounds like something in your wheelhouse."
Surubi takes stock of herself and her surroundings; when she does not notice any more immediate threats, she takes a deep, calming breath, then walks over to her sword to pick it up.
Chephren thinks about it for a moment...
"Well it could be another haunt, but I would need to see the manifestation to be sure. But I do not see anything around us at the moment," he explains.
"Was anyone else bitten by the snake?"
Chephren, the only undead you know of that appear specifically as floating heads are the beheaded. Those floating skulls that you all had fought earlier that were setting decoratively on the table. Then again, Omen wasn't present for that, so maybe he saw one of those.
"Hmmm, another floating skull. The last ones were defeated easily enough, but this group needs rest, and soon. The inn might be a safer place for the night, but the claim on this tomb may be ignored by other less scrupulous adventurers--or by those people who wanted to have this specific spot." Surubi sheaths her sword but keeps her bow at the ready. "At any rate, this one believes we should not leave this monster to ambush as we rest or collect our things from inside. Where did it go, Mister Omenhotep?"
The burning in Brennan's leg subsided as the poison finally dissipated in his system. Still, there was a lingering weakness that he didn't like. Nodding his thanks once more to Chephren, Brennan took up his daggers again and prepared for whatever it was that Omen had seen.
"Whatever the creature, it proved resilient to the magics granted me by master. That, and I heard its words in my mind. It is baleful and foul, whatever its nature."
"Well, I don't see it anywhere; maybe it ran away?" Surubi looks around for another moment or two, but neither sees nor hears anything. "I also think something strange was happening in the room while we were resting. Mister Darkblade suddenly got it in his head to slice Mister Malik; though I have seen that you are mercenary, I do not think you would do that without some kind of outside influence Mister Darkblade." Surubi looks over at the rogue, clearly concerned for him.
"No...you aren't wrong, sister. Something in my head said it would be the best thing to do, but I wouldn't do that normally. Not while on the job."
Omen pans his masked gaze from Surubi to Brennan and then across the group as a whole. "Perhaps that head I encountered is behind all of these troubling occurances tonight. Or, something else is at work and it is just another symptom." He takes a breath before adding, "Regardless, it seems clear we will find no rest here unless the source of these troubles are stopped."
Malik, maintaining his investigation of the old granary, adds over his shoulder, missing the part about Brennan slicing him. "This one also heard a voice offering advice. It suggested that this one leave the house to face the centipede. The notion sounded reasonable at the time." He continues, as if remembering something, "As an aside, there are no signs of magic here. It may be the same work of this head of which Omen speaks. There do appear to be remains within, though." He ceases his detection spell, and turns, before Suru's statement, and Brennan's subsequent response, sinks in. He eyes the man nervously, but says nothing.
Gabriel asks, "Well, what do we do about it? We hunting this thing down, or are we gonna find somewhere else to sleep and come back for it?"
"I do not think I wish to venture through the Necropolis at night nor do I think the main building of this estate is safe for us. I think the only room relatively securable is that old granary there," he remarks as he points at the granary and it's door.
"These attacks do not remind me of being a haunt, but rather a creature. As such it may also be able to control magic for either a limited amount each day or be able to control magic limitlessly. Where we can only wield so much per day and my resources are diminished greatly. We are aware of a second floor to this home and I believe there was another out building on the other side of house, so there are still numerous locations the creature could hide and continue to harass us from for the reminder of the night. So even if the creature has a limited use of magical powers, we may still be vulnerable to other haunts or creatures using the house as their lair."
"Our best option may be right in front of us. If we can remove the remains from the granary and we are able to secure the door, we may be able to make it through the remainder of the night. It will be cramped and tight fit for the six of us."
"What do the rest of you think?"
"If you think that being inside the granary will block its powers, then cramped is better than hunted or worse." Surubi takes a moment to look around for the arrow she missed the snake with, then goes to look at the remains in the granary.
"Why cower in a granary when you might simply walk out of this necropolis and return at first light?" Omen's words, while perhaps harsh, are an honest question and his tone is void of judgment. He seems genuinely interested as to the reasoning and motivations behind such a plan.
"The Necropolis is not a place for the living to wander at night, if they wish to remain as the living. Night is the time when the dead walk the City and the living stay behind closed doors in Old Wati."
The contents of the granary are not spectacular, though it does seem to have stayed in fairly decent condition, especially holding the whole swarm of scarabs inside as it did. Beyond that there are the remains of three fleshless human skeletons, and one filthy heavy flail. The weapon appears to be of decent make.
Both Malik and Gabriel balk at the notion of sleeping in the granary, but Chephren's reminder of what lies within the Necropolis at night convince them that the granary may be the better option.
Chephren will take the time to move the 3 skeletons with care and respect to temporary locations outside the granary.
"We can bury these remains when we bury the other household remains. While I do not suspect that these three skeletons are from this household, I do not have the means to identify who they were to do otherwise with them," Chephren explains to the others.
He will then try to get some rest for the remainder of the night.
Surubi spends several painstaking minutes gathering all the bones and clothes from the three skeletons and puts them outside the granary. "Mister Chephren, Mister Malik, will you accompany this one inside to get my things? This one has left several bags in the room there. It is possible that you others may wish to get your things from the room as well; though it will be even more cramped, leaving gear to be stolen or cursed by the denizens of this place is not a good idea."
Once at least two others are willing and ready to go back inside, Surubi returns to her former sleeping place via the room that had a spider, collects her things, and brings them all out to the granary--waiting for any others that wish to do the same.
Chephren helps bring out everyone's gear and then curls up in a corner of the granary for some sleep.
Omen nods once, accepting the wisdom of the plan, and observes the granary in silence. He casually remarks to no one in particular as they fortify their position, "This is not the world I expected to wake to. What a strange time."
Before everyone settles down for the evening, Gabriel looks over the injuries and offers what remaining healing he has to those looking the most injured. He can do nothing to help Brennan recover from the snake bite, but he can use some curative magics on Surubi and Omen.
With everyone crammed into the small confines of the granary, and the order of watch returned, the group manages to get an undisturbed rest. Though one time during the night, there was a light tug at the door, but nothing the person on watch couldn't hold. After that all was quiet. Due to the excitement of the night before, a few of the members had to get a couple more hours in to get the rest they needed. By the time everyone was awake and ready for the day the granary was really starting to turn into a sweatbox, and even the heat of the early desert was a welcome difference.
As Surubi had predicted, the weather was indeed hot and dry, but there was a strong wind coming out of the desert that seemed to blow sand everywhere unwelcome. Despite the goins on the night before, returning to the interior of the house may be a welcome respite. Before anyone enters, Malik speaks up, "This one will use the day's light to his benefit. This one has thought long through the night, and his sleep has suffered. Malik no longer feels comfortable around Mister Darkblade, after Surubi's statement and his reply. I know it was the voice we all heard, but these last couple days have been tumultuous, and this one feels that quiet study in the Grand Mausoleum better suits his comforts. This one thanks you all for the experience." After some goodbyes and assurances that he has made up his mind to go, Malik moves to leave the Necropolis with word that if needed for information or any way he can help, he will most likely be found at the temple poring over old books.
With the new day, Chephren says his prayers to Anubis. Asking for guidance through out the day and the ability to turn back any that threaten the group or the homes of the Necropolis.
He ask Anubis to bless his sight so that he may see the magical auras of the world and look at the heavy flail.
The flail itself bears no magic, but is well-made and does not look like it belongs to the age of when the contents of the Necropolis was a living community. It is probably the missing possession of a previous tomb-robber. Likely even one of the remains removed from the granary.
Chephren is reminded that, magically, the padded armor he currently wears is of an undefined nature with a moderate transmutation aura. Also, in all the excitement of the night before, the cache of items hidden under the sand creature include a magical crossbow of faint evocation and magical scale mail of faint abjuration.
The actual magical nature of the scale mail and crossbow elude Chephren's efforts.
Brennan scowled as Mailk made to run away. Sure, he'd considered cutting the whiny man's throat, but that didn't mean he'd do it. Well, not without reason. He decided to ignore the sage as the man scampered away, tail tucked between his legs. Instead, he moved over to Chephren, who was looking at the magical armor that they had found.
"Any idea what it is, yet? I'm not one for trying things on that I don't know the effects of. Made that mistake once, when I first got here. Damn belt turned me into a girl for a week. The priest I paid - good money too - could hardly stop laughing long enough to remove the curse."
Hearing Brennan's comment, Surubi pauses momentarily in putting her hijab back on, blushes deeply, and hurriedly finishes covering her head and face. "This one is not familiar with the use of such heavy armors; but it is commonly known that they weigh one down enough in the sand that they prevent free movement. The shield that helps against vermin like the scarabs from last night should still be around somewhere though."
Omen shakes his head at Brennan's question. "The mysteries of what magics are woven into the armors and the weapon seem to be beyond me, for now. I am afraid that I am... diminished, since my long slumber began." He shakes his head at his predicament before squaring his shoulders and looking out toward the building they'd tried to shelter in the night before. "What now then? Once more into this estate or you mean to find another destination?"
"I am sorry, the padded armor I wear and the crossbow still perplex me on what their magical properties, but this set of scale armor has..."
"Do you mean this shield, Surubi?" Chephren asks as he taps thes shield on his arm.
"I am ready to continue within the estate. I wish to find any other remains of the household, so they may be buried properly and their souls released to the heavens. Before I forget, does any one wish to care this heavy flail in case we have the need for a bludgeoning weapon? If not, I will."
Omen shakes his head again, this time at the proffered flail. He waits for one of the others to lead the way into the building, waiting to be the last through the door.
Gabriel indicates the morningstar he carries, "I'm fine with this, but I'll carry the flail if no one needs it."
With that he's ready to return inside, willing to follow wherever the group intends on going within.
"Please wait a moment and this one will be ready to go." Surubi takes several minutes to do various stretches, limbering her body for the coming day's activity, then checks over her gear--checking her bow string, moving arrows from the quivers in the sacks she carries to the quiver she uses, sharpening the blade of her long bastard sword (and for some reason, sighing often and looking off into the distance at a white cloud while sharpening the blade). Finally she has everything in hand. "Alright, this one is prepared."
The group gathers themselves and their things, and congregates back in the kitchen where sleep was initially intended the night before. Gabriel starts by looking for any evil auras as the group moves into the house.
"I think that I saw some closed doors in the northwest. We should probably check those out before we tackle the stairs, jut to make sure we aren't missing anything."
"Sounds like a good idea, Brennan. Please lead the way," Chephren says as he readies to follow the man.
Omen nods his masked face once in agreement and waits for the others to pass before he takes his proper position at the back. As they proceed he asks of the group as a whole, "Is there anything in particular you all came to this place to find?"
HP: 14/14
AC: 12 (11 T / 11 FF)
CMD: 10
F/R/W: +2/+1/+5 (+2 vs death effects)
Resist: acid, cold, electricity 7
Omens used (swift demoralize): 0/1
Black Motes used: 0/8
Shield charges remaining: 15
Spell Slots Used
Level 1: 0/6
Ongoing Effects