As you enter and explore, finding some interesting items around the room, a hidden figure, wrapped in rags and taking lurching movements, suddenly steps out and attacks!
Caladius happens to be the closest at that point, and the mummy steps out, crooked arms raised high to slam into the tall Ranger. The stench of rotting flesh wafts off the creature in disgusting waves, and it brings it's arms down with terrific force.
The flat-footed Ranger is caught completely by surprise and is unable to form any sort of defense against the devastating blow descending upon him. However, just before the strike lands, the creature freezes completely, red eyes locked on Caladius's person. It then stands up, aggression completely gone, and stares at the Ranger.
"What the-? Why'd it stop?" Despite the mummy's checked swing, Caladius prepares to end it.
The mummy continues to watch Caladius impassively as the group responds to this sudden, and odd, threat.
Caladius looks to the Viscount, his sword limned in purple energy, "Do you even have to ask?" Then, with a dark scowl, the tiefling brings his blade crashing down on the terrible undead creature.
When Caladius strikes, Sabinus will use his healing hex to harm the mummy.
"It's staring at the glaive..." Enko does not join in on the fight immediately.
"Hold your sword!" Ava's hand shoots out to stop Caladius before he delivers his blow. "Don't you see the opportunity here? Enko's right - It's responding to the blade. Maybe it recognizes it as a relic of its former master."
"If that's true, then maybe it can be of use..." She takes a deep breath, analyzing the creature as she tentatively circles around it. "Caladius, try giving it a command."
Caladius looks incredulously at Ava, "It's a mummy, Ava. But yeah, ok. A command." He takes a breath, steadies his gaze then orders, "Die," as he brings his sword down in a gleaming overhead arc.
Caladius's powerful strike cuts an immense gash down the front of the undead creature, and some of it unravels and spills onto the floor in a shower of dust. It does not react otherwise, just continues to watch the glaive, and stand docile. Sabinus's healing hex causes the undead to quake slightly, a bit more dust rustling to the floor.
Caladius chops until the undead is no more, anger fueling his every strike. "This!" chop "Is!" slash "For!" hack "Amburian!"
Sabinus watches with a neutral expression as Caladius hacks the mummy to pieces. He then begins to carefully and systematically search the room .
The mummy succumbs to the Rangers fury, slowly, quietly hacked to bits. Sabinus finds nothing more than Enko discovered earlier.
"Well...perhaps this can be used to our advantage? We'll see if the glaive's effect extends to other undead beings, if we meet them. If we have a chance," says Enko mildly, looking askance at the mummy crumbs.
"You won't. If you want to consort with devils or demons or gods know what kind of planar creatures like that hungry, blobby thing Cornelous like to summon, you're welcome to. I draw the line at talking to, negotiating, or controlling undead. No question. If it's undead, it dies. Again. I hope that's understood." With that, Caladius storms past the rest of the group and back into the hall beyond, his shoulders bunched with frustration. If there's anything within the room that's of use, he leaves them to find it. He waits with his arms crossed for them to finish their thorough search.
"Ah, what a waste." Ava says, crouching by the remains of the mummy. She gently pokes through the dust with a dagger, covering her mouth with a hand. "I'm sure there's a twisted arcanist somewhere that'd would've paid handsomely for a mummy. Maybe this dust is worth something... You never know with these wizard types."
Ava continues looking around, picking through the rubbish, but doesn't find anything else of value. She adjusts her pack, bags of gold clinking softly.
"Room in that pack for the armour?" she asks, looking over at Sabinus.
Sabinus searches in silence and doesn't comment either way on Caladius' decision to destroy the compliant undead, but he does respond to Ava's query: "Yes, amazingly enough, it should not be any problem for me to carry the plate metal armor."
|
The Viscount inventories his mental list of ingredients useful- wondering if mummy dust has value to spellcrafters.
Detect magic (of course) and search:
The undead are fowl. Perhaps even more fowl than some of the devils I have encountered- most devils have chosen to give up their souls when bargaining with the lower powers. Undead are ripped from their graves forcefully. While we may pity both- the devilkind almost always have made a choice regarding their destiny.
"If you guys are done talking about undead chickens, can we move on now? I'd like to find that crux or whatever it is and get out of here already. This place is weird and I don't like it."
Enko eyes Caladius' second set of horns and wisely says nothing. "Do we recall anything that suggests where it might be in the Knot?"
"I don't recall anything off the top of my head, but I don't think we've finished exploring all the passages, so the unexplored areas are the obvious place to start."
Corneleous collects some of the valuable mummy dust, recalling a man interested in such material who'll pay handsomely for the substance.
There's one remaining room to the north which you move to investigate, using all appropriate caution. This strangely shaped chamber is empty of furnishings. A large, circular side chamber nearby contains what appears to be a weirdly flickering spiral staircase leading up into the shadowy
shaft above. Looking up, you can see the staircase suddenly cuts off, it's form flickering and shifting slightly, as if not fully formed. There truly doesn't appear to be much of interest here, and no where to go except up the unfinished stairs.
"I'll go first." Lucon says, swallowing. Cautiously, he tip-toes his way up the flickering stair case, swallowing hard as he peers into the abyss below.
Enko follows Lucon, ready to rescue (?) the bulky fighter. "Lucon, tread lightly..." he whispers.
The ascension up the stairs proved uneventful, the stairs becoming noticably soft and squishy beneath Lucons boots. They end about 30' up, the tower continuing on into darkness high above your heads. It seems to be a dead end.
Sabinus will search the top of the stairs with and without detect magic. Does it look like these are probably the stairs the tiefling took to attack us from above? What are the stairs made of?
Sabinus will let the others choose how to proceed afterwards.
The stairs are made of stone, and no magic is detected. It's almost as if the builder of this planar place ran out of time or initiative to finish this particular area of the Knot. In your inexpert opinion it doesn't look like anything has ever ascended or descended from these partial stairs.
"Southeast may lead us into the Knot further...I would choose that way."
"Agreed." Caladius takes point, occasionally shooting a scowl at the halberd over his shoulder.
Ava follows silently at the rear, holding her shortbow ready as her eyes scan the shadows.
A junction in the hallway presents multiple methods to progress. A rough, cave-like tunnel winds away to the side (west). Opposite the door you just entered, three stairways proceed—two leading down to the left and right and one leading up in the center. Wooden signs with writing on them hang above the entrance to each flight of stairs.
Caladius points out the signs and translates for the group. "Maybe the middle stairs? I don't think the others sound as... nice."
"Uh, yeah, I agree."
Moving up the central stairway you first notice the wooden walls of this room are painted a somewhat nauseating yellow color. In the west wall, an oak door with a large lock on the handle stands, a message burnt into the front. Likewise, hanging wooden signs bear messages as well, six in all, each hanging over a stairway leading out of the room. Ruined heaps of what may have once been chairs and a table lie scattered over the floor. A shrill small voice calls out, "You poor things! Suffering so from such baseless fears! Please, step into the therapy chambers and face these terrors. When you’re cured, bring me your prizes and I’ll pronounce you cured. You want to be cured, don’t you?"
Caladius rolls his eyes at the signs, translating once more. Then, with a deepening scowl, he takes the halberd in hand and clears his throat. "Hey. Anvengen's Edge. What's the deal with this room? What's down those stairs?"
Can we tell where the voice is coming from?
Sabinus looks around carefully but is unable to locate the source of the little voice. It does however respond to Caladius' question "You've got Anvengen's Edge from the ugly bearded fellow!? Well done! You must really be insane and in desperate need of healing after facing that one!"
"Yes... and yes. I have no problem leaving you under a pile of junk in that room we just left." Caladius lets the threat hang in the air, casting an uncertain look around the room as the voice responds to his having the halberd.
"This is like the play all over again," says Enko. "It appears we'll have to face each fear and then parley with our invisible friend. Shall we? This is a game. Of course, as it will be an unfair one, any opportunities to cheat are fair as well."
Enko draws his rope dart, looking decidedly non-menacing.
"Sounded like it was meant for all of us." Ava says, responding to the Viscount. "I like the enthusiasm. Let's get through this quickly."
She points towards the NW sign. "Will we work our way around?"
You walk up a flight of stairs to reach this cylindrical, thirty-foot high room. The walls of this room are studded with narrow holes and hundreds of short wooden pegs. You stand at the end, still on the stairs, and survey the room.
"No prizes for guessing what those holes are for." Ava says, looking around.
"Snake holes, if this is what's in the room. Does anyone have torches, or thunderstones, or anything else to deal with many wriggling things?" Enko pulls out his flash powder.
"Uh. I don't really have anything to help here, aside from putting the snakes to sleep one by one." Sabinus remains on the stairs, towards the back of the group. He takes out and loads his crossbow.
Caladius looks at the wooden pegs, shifting his weight from one leg to the other. "Hmpf. This place is wierd."
As Ava inspects the room, eight small hissing vipers suddenly boil out of various holes around the room, slithering over the pegs to descend upon you!
Enko
Corneleous
Ava
Caladius
Sabinus
Vipers
- Party
- Vipers x8