Malen takes the opportunity before him and touches the globe. He vanishes and a second later finds himself in darkness. His journey is similar to Zamanda’s, at least so far as she was able to describe it. Pharasma, as Malen understands it, grants him beautiful sight after beautiful sight. Entire star systems pass before him as he seemingly floats through space.
As Malen prepares to focus on Golarion and his friends, one final sight looms in the distance, and not a welcome one. From out of the darkness, a figure emerges, one with wings, claws, and long teeth. The distinct form of a dragon materializes before Malen and overshadows him. It looks poised to devour the priest entirely when Malen returns to darkness and soon after returns to be amongst his friends.
With your time with the globe at an end, you head back up the shaft, using its unique magic to easily propel yourselves back to the floor above. Bashiel examines the eastern door and finds it to be wholly mundane. Then Ilsa has the Mantis open it and nothing happens.
A strange bronze statue stands in the center of the room. The statue depicts a half-snake, half-human creature with the lower body of a serpent coiled about a stand and the upper torso of a slender human woman. Her hands are crossed over her chest to clutch two objects at her shoulders—the right hand holds a large quill, while the left holds a jade-handled whip. Six birdlike wings emerge from the torso’s shoulders, and instead of a head, it has a disk bearing a seven-pointed star. Jade runes run down the statue’s belly and along the length of its snaky lower body.
Zamanda’s keen sight spots a concealed drawer at the statue’s base. It is wide, but shallow. Inside is a 4-foot-diameter circular frame containing several wedge-shaped metal plates, each punched with its own intricate design. Each plate slides smoothly over or under the two adjacent plates along the outer ring.
You also recognize that the whip in one of the statue’s hands appears to be magical and removable.
The ring fits perfectly over the entrance to the illumacore; if it’s placed there, light from the shaft below shines through the openings in the plates to create a pattern of lines on the ceiling above. By correctly aligning the wedges, the markings line up to create a huge map of what the acropolis must have once looked like. A few rounds of study should allow a character to note that the few rooms that remain extant today are but a small fraction of the chambers that once sprawled here.
The statue depicts Lissala, the forgotten goddess of runes and fate. You also now realize that the holy symbol you found earlier was also Lissala’s.
(pass)
Zamanda studies the frame and metal plates she found in the drawer and figures out how they work. She takes the time to put them together, and then uses them over the illumacore to show a huge map. Comparing it to what they see now, it is clear that very little is left of what this place used to be.
She wonders if more of the structure still exists than what they can see, only available by magical means, but isn't about to try teleporting blindly on the off chance, even with a map of what used to exist.
Studying the frame, Zamanda tries to determine whether it would be of value to a collector and worth taking along.
If not, Zamanda loads it back into the drawer as a fairly pointless puzzle for someone else to find. If it is valuable, then she secures it to her backpack to bring it along.
(fail)
Surprisingly, the statue looks somewhat familiar, but Zamanda just can't place it. She figures she must have studied it in her general education class about ancient religions, but this one didn't stick. She wishes she at least could remember whether this one was good or evil. She should have paid more attention. ... She dismisses the familiar regret about her misspent youth, and focuses on the whip, checking to see if it is trapped.
As Zamanda went to work, Kalem reflected on the experience. The darkness had been so comforting, and while he knew it to be wrong, he couldn't shake how he had felt at home. Moreso than anything he had felt anywhere else. Not for the first time he thought to himself how different life could have been if he had not made the friends who surrounded him. Chances were he would have gravitated towards such a dark place.
He looked over at Ilsa with some quiet concern. He guessed that she was having similar thoughts to his own. He truly hoped that she would come to terms with her power and herself. She seemed to be on her way to doing the former, but he wasn't so sure about the latter.
When Malen returned to the others, he was both thrilled with the fantastical sights that he had seen of Golarion and terrified of the figure that had seemed so threatening in the vast expanse of space. The priest understood (or at least hoped) that had been a warning from The Lady of Graves of the group's adversary and what was at stake.
As the group moved into the next room, the cleric's eyes narrowed in thought as he looked on the clearly religious piece in the space, but he couldn't place the being. Probably from an earlier time with strange deities that had been forgotten. Or maybe a monstrous race god?
When Zamanda placed the disk over the magic device, showing a full map of the complex, Malen tried to focus on the portion of the place they were in, to get an idea of what rooms were close by, how large they were, and that sort of thing. Once that was done, he waited as the aasimar studied the whip to make sure it was safe to take, ready to move on once the room had been cleared.
|
Unlike some of the others, Ilsa leaves the darkness feeling empowered. Everything had tried to escape from her. She was a monster, one living with an unspeakable dread just behind her mind. But aside from what was in her own head, she needn't fear the world.
I have nothing to fear--all things will learn to fear me instead!
Seeing Kalem looking at her, she winks at him with a sly grin.
"All good?"
Kalem smirked. ”Never better. Glad to see you enjoyed the experience as well.”
Bashiel stands in front of the room with the extravagant statue with his arms crossed. As he pauses, his ancestors start feeding him some worrisome details about the goddess he's seeing depicted in front of him. He says "That's Lissala. An ancient goddess of runes and fate, which-" He pauses, listening to some of his oldest ancestors "-which was once a beacon of law and order in some long lost civilization. These days only crazies still worship her. Mostly those who would see themselves as tyrants."
"Not sure what era this place is from between those two. But the whole snake body is a little sinister."
Zamanda believes that the frame could be valuable, to the right buyer, but it would require a very specialized type of collector, one not likely to be found in Korvosa. Kaer Maga, however, might have just the sort of person or persons who would be interested in such a thing.
The bard examines the whip closely and doesn't find it to be trapped.
You recognize the whip to be a +2 axiomatic whip.
You notice that the whip is also cursed. Each day someone maintains ownership of the whip, he takes 1 point of Wisdom damage—this damage manifests as vague visions of menacing but indistinct shapes covered with runes lurking now and then at the edge of that character’s vision.
Further, Thassilonian runes become harbingers for great menace and fear to the cursed PC—even if he can read Thassilonian, he believes the runes hold some deeper threat to him and his loved ones. As long as Thassilonian writing is visible, the cursed character takes a –6 penalty on all Will saving throws. This curse can be lifted only by returning the whip to the statue’s hand, or by a remove curse or break enchantment effect against CL 18th.
Zamanda attaches the frame to her backpack, along with the metal attachments.
Not trapped, and ... looks like it is a magical whip with an enchantment against chaos, which means it hurts people who aren't gung-ho about poor laws, such as myself. I don't think I'll be touching it, but it's probably worth a fair bit if someone else a little bit more lawful wants to grab it so we can sell it.
”At least it will sell well enough.” Kalem added, pragmatically.
"Likely to be valuable, but..." Bashiel looks skeptically at the evil ancient god statue. "Taking it out of Lissala's hand seems to be tempting fate."
He focuses his senses on first the statue and then the whip itself.
"Well, regardless, lets take a look elsewhere around here first." He heads back to the main room and checks the set of double doors for hidden dangers.
Bashiel doesn’t detect evil from the statue or the whip.
Bashiel examines the double doors and finds them to be the same ornate, but mundane type as the rest you’ve found so far.
Beyond is a narrow corridor. This corridor ends abruptly, choked off by thousands of tons of collapsed rock and sand.
The next set of double doors also prove to be mundane, but open into a larger room.
The walls of this chamber are decorated with six life-sized bas-relief carvings that depict a diverse collection of priests, each adorned in billowing robes covered in Thassilonian runes. An intricate scripture winds around the carvings, coiling across them and along the walls like an immensely long tangle of ribbons. Several ancient skeletons, some clad in hide armor or clutching Shoanti weapons, lie scattered around the statue’s base.
Bashiel recognizes that the carvings portray upper-tier clergy of Lissala. The text on the walls appears to be in an ancient language.
It was for just a split second, but you could have sworn you saw a faint ripple on the water in one of the pools in the main chamber as you passed.
Um, something in the water back there, guys. Let's be careful, and quick, if possible.
Zamanda is getting jittery, worried that all of this has been too easy and they need to get out, but she tries to remain calm and get the job done.
She casts detect magic when they come into the new chamber, appreciating the grandeur, but trying to skip ahead to the looting.
Anything valuable on the skeletons?
"Something in the water? I don't see anything." Bashiel looks back at the water for a while before he shrugs. "I trust your eyes better than mine Zamanda. While you're taking a look in there, I'll watch our backs."
He stands guard in the back, waiting for trouble from the pools.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Kalem shrugs and puts the whip into the party’s loot pile. Nobody had *said* anything about why they shouldn’t take it. And when had they ever left loot behind before? It seemed odd to suddenly shy away from taking free gold.
Malen started to reach forward for the whip, eyes confused at the uncharacteristic hesitance of the group to claim the weapon, but the impulsive Kalem beat him to it. Shrugging the issue away, the cleric decided the group was just spooked by the eeriness of the place combined with the sinister half-snake goddess portrayed in the statue.
Trusting the keen senses of Zamanda, the priest readied himself for a confrontation, moving to where the corridor widened out so Kalem (presumably, since Bashiel was guarding the rear) could take point as they checked out the pool.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Nothing happens as Kalem puts the whip into the party's loot pile.
Zamanda casts detect magic in the chamber and finds the glyphs on the wall to radiate enchantment magic.
Zamanda is relieved when nothing happened to Kalem when he took the whip. She knew it wasn't trapped, but she had worried that it would hurt chaotic types. Maybe it was only if you used it in battle.
________________
Hold on, the glyphs are enchanted. Let me see if I can identify what they do. Likely a trap though, right?
If she can't figure it out, she doesn't mess with them. Just moves on.
Not knowing much about magic runes, the priest was more than happy to continue on if that was the party's wont. He cast another glance back at the water they had passed, wondering if it had been his imagination. Shrugging, he prepared to continue to the door nearly opposite of where they were on this level of the complex.
Bashiel leaves the glyph deciphering to the experts and maintains his rear guard. When the party heads off toward the north-west, he stays to the back of the group with his weapon out.
"The shoanti that came here were struck down by something - something we haven't come across yet. Are the ancients haunting this place? Is that why they reached into that blocked off room?" As he gives voice to the grim thoughts it only makes his more anxious of what might jump out at the group next.
Zamanda isn’t able to ascertain the nature of the glyphs.
You leave the glyphs behind and head to the door at the upper left of the main chamber. Beyond, you discover yet another narrow hallway with peepholes out into the main room. Continuing down the hall, you open the door to reveal a larger room.
The curved northern alcove of this chamber displays a brilliantly colored bas-relief carving of a woman with six wings and a serpentine lower body. The coils of her lower body wind in and out and around a large seven-pointed star. Tiny shards of gemstones embedded in her tail make her scales glisten as though with moisture, but in more places, chunks of the carving have cracked or crumbled away, giving the depiction of the serpentine woman a strange but undeniable look of age and decay.
Bashiel recognizes that this is not, in fact, Lissala, but rather is her hearld, Kurshu. During Thassilon’s height, she was known as “Kurshu the Divine Serpent.” She is known today as “Kurshu the Undying,” as she lingers despite the fact that her god seems to have moved on.
The sapphire and emerald slivers in the statue’s tail collectively total 3,175 gp in value.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Zamanda takes time to pick out the gemstone slivers in the statue's tail.
Bashiel watches the group's back as everyone files out of the main room, then, as soon as he's satisfied that they're not being followed he heads to take a look at the northern chamber. He squares his jaw in trepidation as he sees the statue there. "Lissala's herald, Kurshu. The Undying." He listens to the story as its told by his ancient ancestors. "Though Lissala is no longer around, Kurshu still haunts the world..."
He grips his rapier tightly. "Damaging the shrine of a living herald might be a dangerous thing." He points the tip at the gems. "A divine herald's interest is something I assume we want to avoid."
Ilsa examines the glyphs and finds them to be an intricate trap. It seems if someone could read the text, and started doing so, they would feel compelled to continue reading, well, forever. It seems the skeletons near the glyphs met such a fate.
Neither Zamanda nor Bashiel find any traps on the statue and so Zamanda is able to remove the gemstones without issue.
Without warning, the ground beneath your feet begins to shake and dust and bits of rock descend from the ceiling. It seems the entire acropolis is shaking at the behest of some unseen force.
In the main chamber, the waters of the pools slosh and churn. The acropolis almost seems to be calming when four writhing tentacles emerge from the pools. Each is a bit different than the last, but they all appear to possess a disturbing intelligence. Their attention is directed at you.
These are tentacles of the havero. The havero is a colossal aberration nearly beyond imagining. While you know little about the creature, you do know that its tentacles can act independently, have DR 5/slashing, and immunities to mind-affecting effects, among other things. They also have enormous reach, 60 ft of it, to be exact. If a tentacles strikes someone, it has the opportunity to grab its victim, then constrict them.
(fail)
Zamanda finishes gathering the gem shards and is just about to respond to Bash when the ground starts to shake and then, through the spy holes, they can see the tentacles.
Her mind immediately goes to the worst-case scenario. This must be what is killing everyone, and how those skeletons died. They have to get out, now! She's pretty confident she can get out alone with some creative acrobatics, but that would leave the party in here to get crushed.
I can teleport to the entrance with three of you. If anyone wants to do that, reach over here and grab my arm before I cast the spell. From there I can come back down the stairs and shoot to distract to help the last two get out, but it will give some of us a better strategic position at least. Anyone?
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
”Yeah, time to cut and run. Let’s get out of here. Leave me to cover the retreat then.”
Eyeing the tentacles through the gaps in the wall, Bashiel nods "Good plan. Let's go. The Shoanti might know something about what that creature is too."
Malen had misgivings about taking the gems from the forgotten herald of a forgotten god, but said nothing as Zamanda took the valuables. The priest thought for a moment about whether he was being hypocritical, since he had only wanted to object because it had a possible faith-driven purpose, but decided to leave the discussion for another time.
His eyes most certainly widened as the complex started to shake and the hellish tentacles appeared. Perhaps this Kurshu still had some influence on Golarion, but Malen wasn't ready to test how might the creature might be. Hearing the others' plan, the priest agreed wholeheartedly with the plan to escape. Reaching over, he intoned a quick divine request and lightly touched Ilsa's arm, imparting a potent protection from the Lady of Graves.
With that, Malen quickly stepped over to Zamanda's side, more than willing to be part of the trio teleported away, hoping that his incantation would be enough to allow Ilsa and the remaining folks to escape.
Zamanda uses Dimension Door to teleport some of the group out and Ilsa uses the same spell to teleport the rest out.
Safely out of the acropolis, you watch as it shakes before you, the ground trembling as well. You can faintly hear the water of the pools sloshing violently inside. Then, as suddenly as the shaking began, it ends.
The Boneslayers are outside where you left them and their eyes are wide with surprise from your sudden reappearance and the shaking of the acropolis. Unlike when you last saw them, the other Mantis are missing, but three body-sized disturbances in the ground point towards their possible fate.
The lead Boneslayer says, "It is done, then? You have obtained the Mark?"
Zamanda holds up her hand in greeting, the thrallkeeper's mark clearly visible.
three body-sized disturbances in the ground point towards their possible fate.
Bashiel takes a breath before he addresses the Boneslayers "Is that what normally happens? The uh, creature?" He refrains from mentioning specifics, considering that the Shoanti had mentioned that those who hadn't entered the place shouldn't be informed about what was within. "Assuming you've gone inside yourselves, of course."
"What happened to the Mantis assassins?"
Malen held up his hand as well, to display the Mark he had earned inside the complex. The priest eyed what he assumed were hastily dug graves with a neutral expression, having expected such swift justice when the group had deposited the assassins in the Shoantis' care. He kept quiet as Bashiel inquired as to the fate of their prisoners, though he prepared to interject should the conversation turn hostile.
Kalem smiled and showed his hand as well. He was in good spirits, given that they had looted the place and skedaddled once any real danger started.
The Boneslayers see Zamanda’s Mark and bow their heads in awe and reverence.
They don’t seem to know what Bashiel is referring to when he mentions a ‘creature.’
The lead one says, “None of us have been inside. It is a rare thing indeed for one to seek the Mark, much less obtain it. I have never been past the entrance, and my fellow tribe members here have never even seen the outside of the acropolis before today.”
To Bashiel’s question about the assassins, he says, “It is customary among the Shoanti to have at least two witnesses to a crime before carrying out judgment. As you all corroborated what happened, justice was carried out by a sentence of execution. We are not intimately familiar with these Mantis, but as they are assassins, our judgment was that death was the only proper justice for their deeds. It was a unanimous decision.”
Zamanda glances at the remaining assassin, wondering what Ishta will do with him, but trying to distract from an argument she says
Well, that's that. Now back to talk to the truthspeaker, correct? I'm afraid I won't be able to conjure any carriages until tomorrow, so we'll either have to camp here or walk for a while and then camp.
If the Shoanti are curious about what happened and it isn't forbidden to talk about, Zamanda would be happy to give them a play-by-play in their language on the way back, trying to add only linguistic drama and not actually make anything up, since she has become much more aware of her tendency towards untruth. If they aren't supposed to talk about it though, she'll keep her mouth shut.
|
|
Ilsa also holds her hand up, showing that she has obtained the mark.
She stands in front of the dominated Mantis assassin, not ready for anyone to kill him.
"We should go back to the Truthspeaker," she says. "I believe we have proven ourselves in every way they have asked."
She shifts uncomfortably at the thought of confronting the xenophobic Shoanti that had confronted them at every stage of this expedition. Things had--not ended well.
Thinking about the tentacled monstrosity the group had narrowly avoided, Malen suggested, "Perhaps we should travel away a short distance and then camp and rest and strategize about our meeting with the Truthspeaker. I believe we will want to present a united front with little deviation from our goal."
Bashiel sits and offers a prayer to Osiris to guide the Mantis assassin's wayward souls to a new reincarnation. One that would grant them a chance to redeem themselves in their next life. Once he's done, he gets up and speaks to the party.
"Right, to the Truthspeaker." Bashiel's concerns are in tune with Malen's and he adds "Traveling a short distance before we camp sounds like a plan. I'd hate to have that... thing, come after us while we're sleeping."
"What kind of unified front are you suggesting Malen? Is there any strategy we need? The Moon clan's warriors saw us defeat that beast in the ruin, and I think we've conducted ourselves honestly with them. Do you think we'll need to convince the Truthspeaker somehow?"
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Once the group was a safe distance away from the ruins and camp was set up, Malen replied to Bashiel. "Of course not...I'm more looking towards the Sun Shamans. We have several gifted speakers among us, and sometimes not all the stories they tell are seamless. It could cause confusion to those we are seeking help from. We should discuss what to include, what to leave out, who should speak, that sort of thing."