Anesti's revelation stuns Nik'o. Trying to make sense of it, he looks to Charivia. She's just a tool now, just like me. Possessed? I could it be? I'm some host to a- a parasite?!
And then Nik'o recalls Helac's comments, the three Kalashtars tricked. What happened to them again?
[dice=Sense Motive]1d20+10
I too don't like the smell of it... Plus, it's not clear what happens to the living key, which bothers me much. Kiana! Helac! Take me as hostage and threaten to take my life! I don't think we should let them have what's in the tomb, Tremble Tooth be damned!
Ooops, sorry. Kiana's a lousy one to take him hostage, she's a ranged person. Helac is a melee person and can take him hostage, Kiana can cover
Good with me, Helac, you put a blade to his throat and I'll cover them with the bow.
Kiana waits for Helac to grab Nik'O, and then draws her bow and arrow and keeps it pointed at the bad guy. Her wings flap as she begins to hover, so she's ready to zoom away if need be.
Action Points 6/6 | Power Points 13/42 | Transfer Wounds 7/7
The Kalashtar left peacefully.
As to the taking you hostage, I'm not much of a fighter, and as such, don't know if I can sell such a ruse, but I shall try.
Helac shrugs his shield onto his back and then pulls a brass knife for camping from his belt. Stepping up behind Nik'o, he places it to Nik'o throat, and gestures with his morning star.
"So, you suggest Nik'o is now instrumental in the opening of the tomb. That would suggest we are now in a better position to ask a few questions about the Tooth and the Tomb... or am I wrong?" Helac grins in what he hopes is a creepy or unsettling manner.
Kiana draws an arrow and her bow, and while flapping, holds the arrow 2 inches from Nik'O's head. "Very hard to miss from this distance. If you make any moves, or cast any spells, I'll put 2 arrows through his skull before you can finish them." She says calmly. I will too, just so you're aware. This was your idea.
Sense Motive 10:
She will, she has no issue putting arrows through Nik'O's head. Nik'O told her to take him hostage, so she is.
Action Points 6/6 | Power Points 13/42 | Transfer Wounds 7/7
Internally, Helac notes, My. I knew he was talented at deception, as most changelings take to it, but Nik'o would make a wonderful actor.
Projecting to the Kiana, Charivia, and Eroh, hoping to not break Nik'o's concentration, Helac adds, Watch the minions as well. One might attempt stealth or... some sort of sudden strike.
"Thou dost spake true...what sort of information dost thou seek? "
Anesti's voice is low as he speaks slowly and carefully.
"[b]The Tremble Tooth is believed to date to the Age of Demons. According to legend, it senses the greatest fears of those whose eyes see directly in it, and the Tremble Tooth makes those fears real.
Helac:
The half-giants have assumed a stance indicating they are ready to dart forwards at a moment's notice, though no weapons have been raised.
Action Points 6/6 | Power Points 13/42 | Transfer Wounds 7/7
Helac mentally retorts, ...I am under the impression that they wanted to open the tomb to get the magic items inside, specifically the Tremble Tooth. Or am I wrong?
Acquiescing to Nik'o's question, he continues out loud, "I suppose then... how does the living key work, and what do you want to do with the tomb?"
"Thou dost know already why I am here. I seek two treasures of the Tomb,"
Anesti lowers his voice, before continuing
"aside from the Tremble Tooth, which thou mayest keep if thou dost uphold thy bargain."
Reminder of what he was looking for.
"As to the Living Key, it is a network of energy originating from Irian. Before ith can be activated, all four of the other Keys must be put in their places, and a potion I hath prepared is placed in a crevice that shall appear. Thereafter, the one who holds the Living Key must step over the entrance to the Vault--the effects ought to strengthen your changeling friend, albeit temporarily. When the Vault of King Fremaryllis is open, the Living Key will depart for another body, though it will be of no concern to us provided that all we need is retrieved from the Vault before we close it again."
Anesti is being honest as far as you can tell.
However, one of the humans in his entourage looks as if he has been made somewhat uneasy by the sudden outbreak of threats.
Anesti is being honest as far as you can tell.
However, both Herolyse and one of the other humans in his entourage looks as if they have been made somewhat uneasy by the sudden outbreak of threats, and/or by their lord's reaction.
Nik'o sends to his companions: Sounds like he'll keep his word, but I'd keep an eye on the others. I'm not sure they all see things the same way. Anyway, I say we proceed. We'll never get the Tooth if we don't.
Kiana looks at Nik'O and Helac, then returns the arrow to her quiver and 'stands' down while hovering lightly. "I see... Very well." Her body language quite plainly relaxed.
As the fourth key is placed in its pedestal, the construction at the center of the chamber rumbles deeply. All four pedestals shake as they sink below the floor, and a six-foot wide depression forms in the middle of the floor.
"The Vault begins to open as I expected,"
Anesti comments. Suddenly, another yuan-ti runs in to the room from the east, looking frantic.
"I have received word from our homeland, my lord."
the newcomer says to Anesti,
"Tam Jath is under attack from both the Shaaral and a squadron of the Harmonius Shield. Queen Prugshon commands a retreat immediately following the retrieval of the Starlight Tomb's contents!"
The other Syrks in the room all appear alarmed, and begin frantically speaking to each other
"Now? Did they know we were gone?"
"How did they get Riedrans to help?"
"Is this tooth thing really so important that we have to stay here?"
"How did they even get there in the first place?"
"Maybe the rest of the tribe is dead?"
"HUSH!"
Anesti cuts everyone off.
"Haaraa, set the others to leave immediately, I shall finish our buisness here myself. Nik'o,"
Anesti turns back towards the group, and lowers his voice, though he is still noticeably agitated.
"My deal with thee still stands, if thou art still in agreement. Time hath become of the essence for me. I beg of thee, changeling, step in to the dip in the bone floor, quickly."
sense motives, 25:
Anesti really wants to get out of the Starlight Tomb. However, he is not as surprised at the news as his followers appear to be.
Nik'o cherishes this moment. They had worked so hard and killed so many to get there, stuck in a Sarlonian political web they understood only partially. As the tomb started opening, he took advantage of this distraction to drink one of his extracts.
Drink Focused Scrutiny.
As the commotion spread, his gaze narrows. It looked too convenient.
Sense Motive with Focused Scrutiny:1d20 + 10 + 10 ⇒ (4) + 10 + 10 = 24
Can't believe it...
"Anesti, I'm choosing to trust you, but can you trust your colleagues? Is your word enough? Will they respect it?" he asks, but nonetheless steps in the dip...
"You may trust my followers as much or little as you do me. They will obey me in important matters."
Anesti replies calmly.
As Nik'o steps into the depression, the ground begins to rumble. The four pedestals glow brightly with a dazzling series of lights, before all four sink into the floor and vanish.
Anesti pours a bubbling potion into the space where Nik'o is standing, and the bright orange liquid coalesces around the changeling's feet, and send a send a stinging sensation over Nik'o, before the liquid vanishes.
For the next 24 hours, Nik'o has a +4 enhancement bonus to Strength, Constitution, and Dexterity.
Finally, an ear-piercing snapping sound erupts from the area on which Nik'o stands, and a four-foot wide region under him is lifted up and sideways like a trap door, depositing Nik'o on the floor to the north. A nearly circular hole is left in the bone floor: the space below the hole is pitch black with supernatural darkness, so you cannot see what is inside. However, a thumping, echoing, roar that sounds much like the giant otyugh you fought earlier emits from the hole.
When you're done arguing with yourself, let's figure out what we're doing. Kiana says, recognizing the sudden starting and stopping of Helac's constant mental dialogue indicating he's arguing with himself.
She looks around. "That it? I thought that door was supposed to open, not a pit..."
Nik'o smiles as new energy courses through him, He feels like a cat, his body moving with perfection. He lands softly to the side. Unable to pierce the darkness, he looks at Anesti: "Congratulations?"
Sensing your inaction, Anesti steps towards the hole and drops a pebble in to the hole. The clanking sound if it hitting the floor below echoes up almost immediately. "There," he hisses, "it is not too deep for skilled adventurers."
Charivia, who has been silent all this time, projects to the rest of the group through Helac's collective
It doth seem the pit ith not more than twenty feet deep. I daresay I dost not like this Tomb, nor continent, even less knowing what I was to be used for before my death. I shall continue to aid thee whilst in the Tomb, as I promised thee, but when we art done I may part with thine ways and try to return to what wath once mine home.
Can't blame you on that. Kiana thinks back. With a shrug, she walks over to the pit, and as long as it looks like there is sufficient room, she'll flap her wings hard and hover down slowly, using her dark vision to see what's up in the pit area.
The darkness quickly vanishes as you reach the bottom--about eight feet from the floor the darkness ends and you end up in a dimly lit corridor. What you find is a jagged, wide corridor whose walls and floor are carved entirely of basalt, as if this entire chamber was formed of a volcanic eruption. The corridor is about 25 feet wide, but jagged so you cannot quite see the end. Along the walls are more of the ancient carvings you saw in other parts of the Tomb. These pieces of artwork, however, depict the scenes with a mix of indentures in the stone and with sapphires adhered on top of the basalt.
In the artwork, the shadowy eyes from the earlier carvings compress into a single massive eye, which is fuzzy as if part of a dream. Yuan-ti standing below the fuzzy eye release four pillars of light, which merge into one and push the eye back out of the picture. All the yuan-ti on the last half of the corridor walls then turn and bow in deference to a singular entity that you can't see (because the corridor is curved, you can't see the end.) However, the bowing yuan-ti stand above a rising darkness, which now resembles a jaw with teeth, ready to devour the yuan-ti in one bite....
While you can't see the end of the corridor directly from where you are, you can barely make out a bright light, as whatever room lies beyond is brightly lit. What sounds like another giant otyugh is thrashing about beyond your field of vision, and you can also hear an echoing sound of fire bursting out in the air, as if a volcano were underneath the Vault.
otyugh? perception:1d20 + 12 ⇒ (9) + 12 = 21 Kiana make a stealth check if you don't want the creature to hear your wings flapping.
Bunch of carvings, all the yuan-ti in the carvings look like the drove off some eye using magic or fire, then got eaten by something for their troubles. Don't think the yuan'ti ended well for all their efforts. There's something else down here, might be another otyugh. Also sounds like fire. If you come down, no lights, you might draw attention. And be as silent as you can be.
Kiana draws an arrow and knocks it, as she waits for the others to come down or respond.
Action Points 6/6 | Power Points 13/42 | Transfer Wounds 7/7
Projecting as an aside to the halfling, Helac adds, Much like Kiana, I cannot... fault you for that, Charivia, though I've found myself appreciating the aid you have given. I will miss your company once you are gone. He nods once to her and steps to the edge of the hole.
Projecting to the group at large, Kiana, asking... or even expecting me to be unobtrusive is... unrealistic, even if I try. That being said, Helac grabs the edge of the hole and lowers himself down to lower the drop. Once hanging as far down as possible, Helac lets himself slip from the edge, flexes and collapses his legs so that he falls into a roll at the end, making as little noise as possible.
Once in the vault, heeding Kiana's warning, Nik'o downs an elixir extending his reach. To his companions, he says: Right, no light. Let's use that beacon in front to guide us forward. Now, Helac, you stay behind me, and Kiana, you are our eyes and aerial support. Whatever is groaning will likely try to eat us. Must be hungry after so many aeons...
Readying his longspear, he steps in front of Helac.
Kiana moves forward as silently as she can to take point. How exactly does something survive down here with no food? I've always wondered that, in all the stories, you have people unsealing old tombs and then some monsters leap out and attack and try to eat them. What were the monsters eating before the tomb robbers opened the tomb to rob it? Mice?
Anesti hops down, and lands on his feet like a skilled gymnast.
Spellcraft 10:
He manifested Catfall.
Charivia also hops down,
acrobatics:1d20 ⇒ 16
perception, 20:
There are numerous stalactites hanging from the ceiling, which seem to be an unnatural mixture of basalt and limestone. Many of them are loose and might fall if a very strong blow were delivered to the walls.
As Nik'o advances forwards, a thunderous roar echoes through the corridor, and a gargantuan otyugh comes in to sight. Its skin seems like a hybrid of skin and dark,red scales, and small fumes of smoke can be seen coming out of its mouth.
Knowledge (Arcana) 13:
This creature is a half-otyugh, half red dragon. Such hybrids can be formed through magical means, or by a nonmagical mating of dragons with other species.
Knowledge (Arcana) 18:
In Argonesson, the draconic parents of half-dragons are looked down upon by their peers, and so Argonessan half-dragons are relatively rare. In other continents, however, hybrid dragons are more common--even more common than they appear, as many blend in to humanoid societies.
The otyugh rears itself onto hind legs, as if preparing to attack, before suddenly opening its mouth and speaking. It's voice is hoarse, deep, and garbled, but it sounds like Old Riedran
Riedran and Linguistics check (DC 10):
"[b]You, invaders, you slew my children. King Fremaryllis' soul will not see the unworthy, like you, viscous foreigners!
Argh... It's the bastard son of some adventurous or madly curious dragon. It says we slew his childern and are not worthy of meeting King Fremaryllis' soul. I think he means to attack us. He'll likely use fire...
The ceiling is boobytrapped, the stones hanging down are not made out of the same stone as the rest of the cave, it looks like a strange mix of stones. Looks like they'll fall if something large hits the wall, or something hits them specifically... something large like a half dragon creature for example? On the other hand, we could probably knock them down with ranged attacks as well right on the thing's head...
Kiana looks up and positions herself under the hole, flying over the others, so there's nothing above her to fall on her. She knocks and arrow, aiming not at the creature, but up in the air... at one of the stones above it's head... She doesn't fire though unless it moves to attack, or someone tells her to. Readied action
The stalactites should now be visible on the map (all the squares with 'stal' written on them), which is also now in the campaign short description. If Kiana is under the hole she entered from, she won't have line of sight to the otyugh.
I think Kiana wanted to aim the arrow at the stalactites and make them fall on the otyugh.
What do you mean Kiana, should we stay put and we're good, or should we move and try to engage the beast, but making sure we don't stand underneath them? Are there a lot of them? asks Nik'o trying to understand the situation.
Right then! Ok, so we can move forward, but it's best if we can taunt it to come to us, right? I'll try to get it talking for now. Everybody stay where your safe from stalactites and behind me if possible, except Kiana, of course.
Switching to Riedran, Nik'o replies to the creature:
Riedran:
"Oh! These were your children? Well, they attacked us first, and we had no choice. As for seeing King Fremaryllis' soul, how do you know were not worthy? How can we prove our worth?"
"None who live are worthy of the precense of King Fremarylls, for he was greater than all who ever lived. Only the dead may see him."
Its voice is even more garbled than before, as if its throat is congested.
The otyugh wheezes up on its hind tentecles, before barrelling forwards to attack!
Helac mentally agrees with Kiana's observations about the stalactites and accepts Nik'o's information without comment.
He focuses on the monster and attempts to forcefully link it to his collective, in the hopes that there will be life energy he can steal from it. Unwilling participant. Will Save DC 19.
