Merle once again hastes the group.
Hamar, as ever is in the front. He advances on one of the fiery forms sliding to the far right to ensure that he is on the creatures' flank and more importantly, not the center of attention for all three of the dead creatures...
Attack #1 Scimitar Planar - Keen - Damage .
Attack #2 Off-Hand Vorpal - - Damage .
Attack #3 Scimitar Planar - - Damage .
Attack #4 Off-Hand Vorpal - - Damage .
"What have we here? Ekuur? Ever seen THESE before?!?" Justin calls out, moving to keep optimum distance between himself and the fiery tornadoes.
"Undead and fire should NOT be able to mix freely! it's just,... WRONG! And very unfair to us fire-wielding wizards!" Justin complains loudly as he mentally goes through his spells to try and figure out how to fight fire with,... fire spells.
Justin shakes his head. "Sorry Ekuur. But THIS looks like the perfect time to try out this new spell I've been working on,..." Justin says apologetically, and begins casting.
Justin's hands begin to glow with fiery energies, and there is a shimmer of magical energy that pass between Justin's hands and the targeted fiery-spinning-toy-top-of-death. Then there is a massive burst of distorted heat shimmer from Justin, as he rapidly ABSORBS the heat from the menace and it's surroundings. Justin positively glows with the heat as he magically sheds it as fast as he can absorb it, and a cascade of shimmering crystals forms around the fiery top, rapidly solidifying into a block of ice.
"C'Mon! Faster, faster!" Justin snarls though clenched teeth as he pours his willpower into the spell, trying to freeze the air around the creature faster than it can burn it off,...
Fire fight rd 1
Hamar: 20 [three hits-27 dam]
Bone tornadoes: 20 [1 Karrin, 1 Arnav, 1 Hamar]
Justin: 19 [ICY prison-15dam/rd]
Blayze: 18
Naridre: 17
Arnav: 17
Merle: 14
Ekuur: 8
Karrin: 4
The three fire whirlwinds square off against Arnav, Karrin, and Hamar. Pseudopods of flame shoot out at them
As no discernible anatomy I assume no scout skirmish bonus damage.
The creature Justin targets screeches as it becomes encased in a sheth of ice. Its fires dim visibly
The Barbarian catches fire screaming in pain but pressing the attack against the foe his hand position on the hilts shift to allow him to windmill in successive strikes at the fiery undead. Though not as deadly stationary the Barbarian's spinning blades spin incredibly quickly giving the appearance that he could almost take flight!
Attack #1 Scimitar Planar - Keen - Damage .
Attack #2 Off-Hand Vorpal - - Damage .
Attack #3 Scimitar Planar - - Damage .
Attack #4 Off-Hand Vorpal - - Damage .
While he seems to have caught fire, this doesn't seem to actually be causing him any pain or slowing him down at all. While it looks very impressive, undead are not known for their aesthetic appreciation. which is just one of the many reasons that they need to be destroyed.
Nari's eyes glow as she draws heat energy away from the air around her, sending an energy current of pure cold against the middle fire whirlwind, then arcing off to also hit the one next to it. "I also must apologize, Ekuur, but I don't think that these creatures deserve to have the sacred energy of flame."
Fire fight rd 1
Hamar: 20 [three hits-27 dam]
Bone tornadoes: 20 [1 Karrin, 1 Arnav, 1 Hamar]
Justin: 19 [ICY prison-15dam/rd]
Blayze: 18
Naridre: 17 [ice psyke-2 kill]
Arnav: 17 [One hit 31 dam]
Merle: 14
Ekuur: 8
Karrin: 4
Nari's cold blast shreds the two adjacent undead. The only one left now is the one encased in Justin's icy prison
Hamar drops and rolls to the ground to try and put the fire out!
"Let the frozen one be until the ice melts! THEN smash it!" Justin yells, running for Hamar.
Justin chants a single phrase, engaging a minor magic to make his hands damp, then tries to help extinguish Hamar.
Hamar drops and rolls to the ground to try and put the fire out!
The enraged fire ghost is slowly becoming smokier and smokier. The ice is melting though
For all its furious pulsations it cannot breach its icy prison
Hamar Reflex Save
"That ice won't hold much longer. And that was my only cold spell I prepared today. Nari or I can trap it in a bubble, but otherwise my only suggestion is when all else fails, go back to basics."
Justin looks at the new(er) members of the crew.
"Keep hitting it until it stops getting back up." He elaborates.
"I haven't dropped my concentration yet," Nari says. "I can hit it with cold again, same as the others, but once I do that it will probably trigger some other nastiness....that seems to be how these rooms work. So be ready."
Nari's energy manifestation bolsters the ice prison Justin summoned, thickening the dripping mush back into iron-hard frozen ice. The ice expands and the thing trapped inside howls as its flames are extinguished. The room falls silent except for the crackling sound of ice warming and the faint clatter of frost-rimed blackened bones falling to the floor.
The glass sarcophagus still remains the same. The green-blue figure inside has not moved.
"So do we open it and deal with it on our terms or wait for it to come out and surprise us while we're dealing with other things trying to eat our souls?" he says with sardonic cheer.
Justin nods in approval as Nari refreezes the ice trap and finishes the fire creature.
"ICE work Nari!" Justin grins at the mental magician with a wink at his own pun.
"So do we open it and deal with it on our terms or wait for it to come out and surprise us while we're dealing with other things trying to eat our souls?" he says with sardonic cheer.
"Weeeeell,..." Justin says with unusual reticence.
"Normally I would say open it, kick it's sorry undead corpse to the curb, check the clothing for loose coins, and move on. As that has always seemed to work well for us in the past. However, I must admit that our standard MO seems to have been less than effective in this fortress. Perhaps, a more studied approach is in order?" He raises an eyebrow.
"Without wasting too much time, everyone spread out, search for magical auras, Physical traps, anything that might tie this glass coffin to anything else that might open it as Arnav suggested. Last thing we want is both that Necro-Ooze and this sleeping beauty both coming at us at the same time because someone rang a big iron bell." Justin directs, Then immediately mentally kicked himself in the pants for mentioning the bell again.
'Maybe she didn't hear that last part?' He hopes silently as he begins searching for magical auras,...
"Well, Karrin says looking the strange lady over at a distance, "If she's asleep I bet I know what would wake her up. I'm thinking a big metal musical instrument . . ."
d20+18; d20+18
The sarcophagus is magical, but it seems to be some sort of passive type of dweomer. Necromantic in nature, perhaps preservative. As Justin gets closer he notices there is a small brass plaque at the base of the sarcophagus. This plaque looks like one of the children's puzzles that he used to enjoy in his youth: A collection of differently-symboled squares that move along a floating back. Once you drag them into their proper place by shifting in sequence them they would spell a phrase or picture out.
Hamar still smoking a bit searches the room.
Perception
Hamar discovers a hatch hidden in the floor. Within is a black box 1x.5x.5 meters in diameter. There is a keyhole in the lid, but the hinges are interior. The box is some sort of metal.
Hamar hands the box to the Wizard, "What do you make of this?"
"Well, Karrin says looking the strange lady over at a distance, "If she's asleep I bet I know what would wake her up. I'm thinking a big metal musical instrument . . ."
'Sigh. Wishful thinking,...'
Justin bends over to examine the interesting plague on the base of the sarcophagus. He is just reaching out to touch it carefully when Hamar shoves a box under his nose.
Hamar hands the box to the Wizard, "What do you make of this?"
"Eep! I mean, let me take a look." Justin collects his wits, and the box, waits for his heartrate to slow down, and examines the box.
"Huh. Big. HAve we found a key since entering this place that I don't recall?" Justin asks aloud as he examines the box to see what kind of metal it is made of, or if there are any markings on it.
It's a very unremarkable box, no markings of any kind. The metal isn't insanely heavy, probably about what steel would weigh in such a configuration. It has no rattling when moved.
"Huh. Big, plain Jane,... no markings. Ok then, time for a closer examination."
Justin murmurs a chant and his eyes glow with a pale blue light as stares at the box once more.
"I could try opening it with a spell?"
"Huh. Big, plain Jane,... no markings. Ok then, time for a closer examination."
Justin murmurs a chant and his eyes glow with a pale blue light as stares at the box once more.
d20+18
The metal of the box is thick enough to block the spell's power, and the box itself is non-magical
"I could try opening it with a spell?"
"The metal of the box is too thick. I can't see any auras of anything inside. IF there's anything inside. If you have an unlocking enchantment, be my guest! UM, AFTER we take appropriate precautions, of course." Justin gives a wan smile.
Justin finds a clear spot on the floor, deposits the case on the ground, and steps back.
"I'm not expecting any trouble from a case. But then, I wasn't expecting fiery tornadoes of terror either! Best to be safe."
Justin waits til anyone else who doesn't feel silly 'preparing' to fight a case gets into position, then nods at Merle.
"Open when ready!"
"Sure thing."
Cater lvl check
The spell sinks into the box and there is a *snick* sound as the lock turns. The top pops open. Inside is a velvet lining that holds several items snugly. There is a necklace with a circular pendant that glows in a swirling rainbow color. A set of ivory skull earrings. A deck of cards, and a gold square with intricate niello designs chased on its faces
"Intererstin'""Blayze mutters, peering into the box.
"I'll be honest, I was expecting a kaboom, an earth shattering kaboom"
"Wizard, you should inspect these wares when we are in a place where the dead do not outnumber us tens of thousands to one..."
Arnav will glance over at Hamar with a look. This is a finely calibrated look that communicates two things. The first is: "Your advice is prudent and logical." The second is: "Why are you asking the rain not to be wet?"
"Yeah. Right. Sure thing Hamar. You Betcha." Justin mumbles absent mindedly as he stares at the now open box and it's wondrous, obviously magical treasures.
He rubs his hands together briskly,...
The room is silent. The air still reeks of burning flesh. The figure in the glass sarcophagus remains still. The interesting objects in the case glitter invitingly
Arnav will look at the puzzle on the back of the sarcophagus. Not touch, just look. If we weren't going to play cards, we might as well kill the dead.
"So, are we looking at a servant of this forgotten god or a prisoner? Being undead likely puts it on the side of the undead god, but maybe she's a prisoner from another god? Why keep her in a sarcophagus? So many questions."
Hamar will keep his eye on the figure in the sarcophagus in case it moves. He will otherwise remain silent and let those who know decide what to do next. Every member of a tribe has their roll to play, thinking is not Hamar's role, acting is.
Justin begins muttering over the items in the case, his eyes glow with a faint blue light, and he studies the auras he can see intently. However he still manages to find time to talk,
"Well, That's actually a good question Karrin. I've been thinking that everything we've run into so far have been either guards, or an aspect of some sort of this 'missing Power', whose 'missing temple-fortress' we seem to be wandering around in."
"Whether or not THIS is another aspect of some sort of our silenced Power, or a prisoner? I'm,... not sure."
"AND I'm pretty sure I don't want to wake THIS one up and find out the hard way. But based on the fact that THIS one came with guards, presumably to prevent us from disturbing it, and the previous necro-goop of destruction did not, you may be on to something there. This might be a prisoner. OR it might be a really high ranking priest who deserved an honor guard. Who knows?"
Justin looks over the items. They all glow magically, and he examines them slowly and carefully to try and get a sense of their purpose.
The pendant radiates a strong conjuration aura. The glyphs inscribed around the rim of the rainbow-swirling center of the pendant are draconic, and point to some sort of dimensional travel device.
The skull earrings evidence a necromantic aura. Likely they involve either raising or controlling undead.
The deck radiates a melange of auras. That and certain patterns Justin carefully reads on the back of the thin ivory cards lead him to believe that this deck is indeed one of the fabled Decks of Many Things that are so prevalent in adventurer's tales.
The cube radiates conjuration magic as well. It seems to be dedicated to some form of summoning. The patterns on its faces seem to be some sort of stylized Aklo glyphs, stretched to make geometric designs.
Justin relates, in layman's terms, what he can tell of the objects to the others.
"So, most of these may be useful, considering we are in a fortress filled with undead," He indicates the earrings, "And could use all the help we might be able to conjure," He indicates the cube. "And, if there is even a chance this is what I hope it is, it will make getting back to Sigil much, MUCH easier!" He almost crows, holding up the rainbow swirled pendant.
"THAT, however, I don't know whether to laugh or cry over." Justin points to the deck of cards, lying there innocently.
"That almost has to be one of the Deck of Many Things that all the old tales have in them. I actually thought, maybe hoped, that they were really just tales. Considering that as often as they appear in the tales, they would have to be as plentiful as rabbits." Justin smirks nervously.
"So, either the single greatest treasure ever claimed by adventurers, or the greatest cursed magical item in existence. You be the judge. But NOBODY touch the blasted thing! I'm leaving it IN the case, and sealed tight, until I can confirm it's real, and more importantly, figure out if there's a safe way to use it."
"What?!" Justin asks the couple of his companions who are eyeing him warily. Like he just grew a second head.
"I'm crazy about magic, but not stupid!"