Mahsati nods and murmurs a quiet word of thanks, both to Farooq for thinking about creating the substance and Cahal for brewing and dispensing it. With Cahal's idea of cobbling together a small passable bridge. "A good idea. Does anyone remember if those pillars back int he snake room were moveable?"
"Why not just bring it when you come in here?" Zayid calls back. "I can come get it, but aren't you all coming this way regardless? This man in here needs it badly."
"There are several of us in need of the mixture," Apedemak says after Zayid's comment. "The dying man takes priority, but then give some to our elder, at least."
The thief looks at the ceiling resting precariously on the shelves and wills the massive stone not to fall...
Ayaal put two fallen stones into the goo to create a place to stand and carefully opened the partially tipped cabinet. The things inside shifted, trying to slip out. She supported the cabinet door and carefully began pulling things out one by one, gently tossing anything that might be useful to waiting hands.
Of the dozen earthenware jars that had been inside, eight were unbroken.
Of those eight, two were full of those bluish salts. More than enough for a few more batches.
The other six had a thick oily paste in them that smelled somewhat minty.
"There's quite a bit of water in here." Zayid calls back. "I wouldn't drink it, but it's probably fine to use for your mixtures."
Farooq smells the paste experimentally and then cautiously dabs a tiny amount on this tongue. After a few seconds of thoughtful lip smacking, his face brightens.
"It's antiseptic ointment, just the stuff for bad chemical burns"
Snatching a pot, he greedily applies the salve to his burned hands, sighing with relief.
"Ointment for burns?" Apedemak asks, wondering about the substance. After seeing Farooq apply it to his hands, though, the warrior-priest rubs some on his own burns, and lets out a little sigh--almost a catlike mew--of relief.
That done, Apedemak offers to transport the salts over to the next room, knowing his natural agility will make the trip simple enough. He also offers to help anyone else with the crossing.
"Why not save the ointment for emergencies? I can heal you all together," Hasanni calls from the romm beyond.
"Do you need me to bring some water, or are you all coming in here?" calls Zayid.
With the addition of the new salts, a path through the caustic muck is quickly cleared.
Apedemak willingly takes the jars and puts them in his pockets before carefully picking his way across the room, agilely navigating the goo even as his hands burn again.
Ayaal dances easily from the room.
Once everyone is clear, she debates going back in to risk searching through the other shelf.
Right. Might as well join up with the others. With a look of grim determination on her face, Mahsati moves to make her way across the remaining puddles of ooze...
... Only to slip right into it, cursing as she goes down.
The group carefully makes it's way under the precarious shelves into the next room. There were a few tense moments where people nearly fell or almost bumped into things they should not, but in the end they all made it into the next room.
The unconscious man had been laid out on the ground by the rest of their group.
Behind them, the strange water-covered table shone beneath the light like a faintly rippling mirror.
Farooq will scan the room with Detect Magic
After helping everyone else into the room, Apedemak hisses as he feels the burning on his palms once again. "Perhaps now is a good time for your healing, Hasani?" the warrior-priest asks, looking at the burnt flesh that, though somewhat soothed by the ointment, still pains him.
Hasani hurriedly raises his holy symbol and calls forth powers of Ash with a prayer,
"Ash bless us and preserve us, you who are are succor in the desert, the life amidst the death!"
A fresh clean light ripples forward, smelling fresh and lush and the air seems tinged with moisture for a moment as the light ripples against wounds causing them to knit and close.
Zayid procures a dose of the antidote from Cahal, and under his guidance applies it to the unconscious man's foot-stump (and anywhere else that seems affected).
The unconscious man's eyes finally flutter open as Hasani's healing energies wash over him. He seems dazed, looking from face to face in bewilderment, he hisses in pain as the neutralizer is applied to his stump.
"What... what happened? Who are you?"
"You are one of the original group sent to explore here?" he asks.
"Um... yes? I... my name is Kahai. I... I am a researcher. Ow."
"Do you recall what happened to you Master Kahai? Did your companions place you here? We have been sent to discover what transpired and save those we can, I am afraid your colleagues are all missing presumavbly withing the bowels of this complex." Hasani says, trying to keep his tone as soothing as possible while he imparts the dire news.
"I... ah... we were cataloging a ruin. This ruin... I think. We... they... discovered an... alter? A big statue? Pretty. We realized we needed to work from the bottom up to more efficiently... um... the chief wanted to check the entire place before... We headed down into a room full of broken shelves. I... stepped in a puddle, I think. My foot started to hurt. I told the others that I'd catch up and I sat down to check my boot. It was burning me. I... got it on my gloves but managed to get them off. I tried to... it really hurt. I used some water from that... this... pool thing. It didn't work. I think I must have passed out after that. I..."
It was then that he noticed the blistered stump where his foot used to be.
"Oh. Oh no."
He swallowed and just stared.
Zayid puts a hand on Kahai's shoulder. "Let's get you out of here. The rest of you go ahead without me... I'll catch up."
Suiting action to words, he helps the man to his feet and supports him while they slowly make their way back toward the observatory.
"I'll help," Apedemak offers, slipping his arm under the man's shoulders as well. To suddenly lose a limb... I can't imagine. The warriior-priest shakes his head just a little.
Zayid and the wounded man disappear under up the hall and under the leaning cabinets.
"Well he said they headed for the bottom, presumably subject to the same compulsion some of us are. Bearing in mind that I am under said compunction it still seems our best course is to follow them down with as much haste as we can muster while being prudent." Hasani says, watching the poor man leave with Apedemak anxiously,
"Apedemak if you are able to without endangering yourself, do you think you might be able to bring my armored coat over from the other side? I am not strong or agile enough to willingly risk it, but I feel a tad naked without its protection."
"It's best we don't string ourselves out too far. While we wait for Zaayid to return from the surface, we have a few minutes to look around here."
"Certainly," Apedemak says to Hasani, "and here--" He hands over the jars of ointment.
Hasani takes the jars, nodding,
"I will try to distribute them sensibly. I think those who cannot heal by other means should take them in case they get a chance to heal a comrade. Yes?"
Ayaal takes a moment to duck down and stick her head into the room adjoining, taking her time and moving carefully.
This one was different from the last though. The hardened pile of sandstone was darker and pocked with fist sized holes. It rose all the way to the ceiling rather than stopping at the top of the window, which seemed quite odd. It was partially covered with a papery layer that spread across the walls.
Large insects the size of her hands crawled along the walls and up the mound, twitching iridescent wings that reflected the weak light.
These are Papyrus Hornets, which are something like a cross between termites and wasps. Above ground their nests look something like this. The are very aggressive and territorial, and have been known to swarm and kill full grown men. These ones are significantly larger than normal.
Elsewhere up the spiraling hallway, Zayid and his footless friend had just entered the chamber with the serpent altar...
"The... eyes are shut?" he said with a hint of sadness. "Oh! The others! They went... down! We should... I need to get... We should turn around. I need to follow them. They might need help!"