With Yarzoth dead, the amount of venom you are able to collect is limited. Nevertheless, you get enough of it into containers to have two doses; your able to gauge the strength of the substance and its effects by examining both the poison and Marcus.
DC20, two consecutive saves to stop poison. 1d2 strength damage 1/round for six rounds.
Gwenyth channels a particularly powerful blast of energy straight into the altar, causing cracks to visibly appear on it and the altar to groan in protest. Following up with more positive energy, there is a great rumble from the room as the altar shakes and a tremor seems to shake the entire island; you can feel the very floor and walls of the underground complex shake along with the altar- which bursts open, revealing itself to be hollow. Great gouts of blood pour out of it, sploshing through the room and washing into the cave to the east. You begin to hear hundreds of soft whispers in the air around you, which turn to screams and howls as the chamber continues to vibrate... And then suddenly, a massive wave of energy seems to reverberate from the shattered altar, slamming into you all.
Chi gasps...."Arrgh!!!"
Fortitude Save:
Fort
All the men lose their feet as the earth shakes beneath them, while Gwenyth and Chi keep theirs planted on the ground. The screams and howls rise to a crescendo, and then suddenly all is silent. The evil aura on the altar fades away, leaving only a lingering aura that will dissipate in time. You can't help but think that something about Smugglers Shiv has changed, dramatically.
Chi watches Gwen in awe of the power she has and it's effects. After the catastrophic occurrence with the statue, she gradually gets her mind back in one place. "N..n...Wh...wh...What happened? Yo...Yo...You all OK? ... " Her face is white as she looks around unsure of what to do next, her mind in shock.
Tun'ada picks himself off the ground, nodding in the affirmative to Chi's question...
"It seems the dark influences that have plagued this island are gone. Now the question is how do we get out of here and off of this damned island?"
Chi watches Gwen in awe of the power she has and it's effects. After the catastrophic occurrence with the statue, she gradually gets her mind back in one place.
Gwen breathes heavily, clearly shaken by the experience of destroying the altar. Her face is pale, and she is shaking slightly. Her outlook, though, is considerably rosier.
Well, that was...fun. Now, what's this statue do? Is this serpent blood, here, do you think?
She points to the blood flowing throughout the chamber.
Chi recovering her poise, gives in to her native passions and speaks thus, "You want serpent's blood Gwen, here see the vanquished blood is still fresh on my arms, washed in our crimson victory. " She holds her arms up again, her arms darkened by the dried blood, with crimson dripping down from fresh blood in her hands. She smears her cheeks as if applying war paint.
That's...a good point, my friend. A slightly creepy, but good, point. Well, let's see what happens, shall we? I'm anxious to know if that hole represents our way out.
Gwen reaches down to the corpse of the serpentwoman, touching one of her more grevious wounds. She holds up two fingers slick with blood, and meanders over to the statue, after pausing briefly to retrieve her morningstar and buckler.
Would anyone else care to try this first, or...?
She gestures toward the figure in stone.
I'll go first if you all wish.
Chi watches Gwen as she goes, when Gwen asks the question she calls out, "No Gwen, you are too important to us all and dare I say less robust than some of our friends. Is it not best we let the strong and alert be the first to find our way out through that hole, if such a way exists. Would Tun'ada like the privilege to find our way out of here?"
"Wow, Gwen! You sure do pack a powerful punch!" Ambroze comments as he picks himself up off of the floor.
"Is it not best we let the strong and alert be the first to find our way out through that hole, if such a way exists. Would Tun'ada like the privilege to find our way out of here?"
"Ooo! Ooo! I'll try it!" Ambroze offers, waving his hand in the air and jumping up and down excitedly. "I've always wondered what it would be like to move around like a puff of smoke! Although I definitely want to come back here and study the carvings in this temple and in the scriptorium. And we may want to get rid of that amorphous blob thing. And what about Uli? How do we get him out of here?"
Chi looks at Ambroze, seeing the sparkle in his eye, "Well if you want to! Why not, I suppose?" She watches as Ambroze goes about the task, her face a little pained, brow furrowed as she thinks on Ambroze's questions. "Perhaps we should go back for Uli and free him of this place, let him return to natural air, blue sky and sun. As for that other creature, I have nothing much left to work against it and don't think our present state makes it a favorable match. However, if you decide to continue after it, then I will do all I can. I fear there is nothing that can be done for Mawj, it has been some time since he was taken and the thing looked hungry for blood." With her emotions in turmoil with all that has occurred in this temple, Chi begins to sob quietly to herself.
Marcus has been quiet while the others investigate the temple. He looks less than keen to do the normal jump in front of danger thing when it comes to being the first to invoke strange rituals in order to change ones state.
After we are finished here I think we should heal up as best we can and finish exploring. We managed to wound the thing. I'm assuming if we can retrieve Mawj's corpse quickly enough Gwen could use that scroll to bring him back to life.
We've left too many behind here to add another if we can avoid it.
Gwen smiles at her companions' zest.
One thing at a time, one thing at a time. Let's deal with whatever surprises await us on the other end of yonder hole in the ceiling before we worry about much else. At least the carvings in this room have been largely transcribed on those rolls of parchment the serpentwoman had.
She shakes her head sadly.
Sadly, I believe we must give up on Mawj. The spell on the scroll, while powerful beyond what I can truly comprehend, will not likely serve us in this case...While the spell closes mortal wounds and repairs lethal damage of most kinds, the body of the creature to be raised must be whole. I fear that whatever is left of Mawj is well into the process of...digestion...I don't believe he is capable of our help at this point. Fear not, Marcus, he died a warrior's death, and honored his people and his ancestors in so doing. He would be pleased, I think. I also fear that Uli may ultimately be beyond our help now. For all the aid she granted us, she is a beast now. If the Gods have an end in mind for her, they will see to it that she is able to escape. Much as it pains me to say, I think we should get out of here as quickly as possible and return to the others at the lighthouse. They will likely be worried.
Ambroze steps over to the serpent woman's corpse and dips his fingers into the pooling blood. The intrepid gnome then steps over to the statue of the fanged woman with bat-like wings. Giving his friends a thumbs-up signal, he places his blood-stained hand upon the statue.
Ambroze seems to dissolve into a translucent mist when his blood stained hand touches the fanged statue. He appears to be in control however, as the mist purposefully rises up and through the small hole in the ceiling.
You have control over your new form, and you can return to a material state as a standard action.
This X-shaped room has a low ceiling and walls dense with ancient carvings and bas-reliefs of the same bat-winged demonic woman, including a particularly large one on the northeast wall whose lips are smeared with dried blood. A number of supplies—food, discarded clothes, a few waterskins, and a well-used bedroll— lie in the center of the room. An examination of the various materials strewn about the room reveals the food to be locally caught or harvested (fillets of fish, shellfish, and strips of meat taken from birds and monkeys), while the bedroll and other supplies seem to be from the Jenivere—the clothing, in particular, is recognizable as having belonged to Ieana.
Gaseous-Ambroze floats about the chamber for a few seconds, but if/when it becomes obvious that there is no other means of egress he floats back through the narrow passageway to the temple where his friends are waiting and tells them what he found.
Marcus sighs in obvious relief when Ambroze returns.
OK I guess we should search her stuff. Seems like the room would be a good place to hole up and rest although I'm not too keen about the gassy thing. Do you need to study anything further Ambroze or were the notes enough?
"Ieana's bolthole does seem like a secure location for resting. There's a blood-smeared carving of the same bat-winged demonic woman in there as the statue here - I didn't get a chance to examine it in detail, but if I had to guess if probably functions similarly to the statue. If we camp out up there we'll need to be sure to have a supply of serpent's blood to activate the carving's magic, otherwise we may get stuck up there."
"I haven't had a chance to give Ieana's notes more than a cursory glance, but I can review them in depth if we choose to rest here overnight. I'd still like to come back and thoroughly map this temple, transcribe the runes and glyphs in the scriptorium, take some etchings of the carvings. This location is quite a find. Why, documentation of this temple may even be enough to grant us entrance into the Pathfinder Society! We should bring Master Gelik here..."
Hearing what Ambroze has to say about the statues, Tun'ada goes about finding a container to put some of Yarzoth's blood into...once he has the blood...
"Are you sure that the statue will work the same? If you are sure, I am ready."
Chi looks with envy at Ambroze, but it disappears when she realizes they will all be using gaseous form to ascend to the serpent woman's bolt hole. "How exciting to try this flying as a vapor of the air. Is it difficult Ambroze?" As Chi gets ready to drop some serpent's blood on the statue, her face flushed with adventure, eyes wide open. Despite her obvious enjoyment, she listens to Ambroze as he requests the collection of serpent's blood. She rubs her blood soaked hands together, "Who'd have thought, your life essence would provide us with the safety we crave for tonight..." she laughs, one foot standing on the corpse. She helps Tun'ada as they collect blood and save it in small glass vessels.
Gwen smears a smudge of blood on the statue and, once accustomed to the sensation of a gaseous form, maneuvers through the hole in the ceiling.
Chi follows Gwen, laughing as she floats up.
With a collection of the serpentfolk's blood, you all experience the heady sensation of becoming a cloud of mist and pass through the narrow tunnel. The room above is a little cramped for the five of you, but your able to make camp up there. Once your out of mist form, you have time to have a look around. It soon becomes apparent to you that there is a hidden panel near the winged carving- a concealed drawer of some kind.
Chi do you want to take a look?
"OK, if you want." replies Chi, a bit deflatedly, now the adrenaline rush of the spell and the fight have subsided and she is in the relative safety of this small cave. "Tun'ada help too if you want." as Chi takes a look at the secret compartment looking for traps. She seems unusually wary, and a little tired as she does it. Her hair keeps dangling in her eyes, which she has to brush behind her delicate elven ear, but it seems just a moment before it falls again. She mumbles about her hair under her breath, distracted by its movements. Despite that she still keeps looking diligently.
Aid Perception:
Examining the concealed drawer extremely carefully, Chi finds tiny traces of metallic dust on the outside of it. Inching the drawer opening by the tiniest margin, she barely makes out the beginnings of some kind of rune drawn with the same dust- she expects that it is triggered to activate once the drawer is opened. Disabling the trap would involve using her thin tools to carefully disrupt the rune without setting it off, but such a task would likely be difficult.
Ambroze hovers near Chi, ready to aid the nimble rogue with an inspiring word to disable any traps on the drawer.
When Chi indicates the presence of a rune drawn with metallic dust on the drawer, the gnome scholar activates one of his racial abilities to read magical writings and casts a spell to allow himself to discern magical auras in an effort to identify the rune and any powers it may hold.
Gwen moves away from the Gnome scholar.
Ambroze can detect a faint aura of abjuration coming from inside the drawer, but to accurately identify the rune would require him to open the drawer and have a proper look at it. Chi can tell that whatever the magical trap is, opening the drawer is the trigger.
Discovering the magical trap Chi, she starts to sweat. "I don't like this, you'd best take cover, or even leave and just let me stay up here, so if goes off, you'll all be safe. Unless we wait until we've all rested and and then try to open the drawer? I don't want to hurt anyone anymore than I have to. Yes, if we wait til tomorrow, we'll all be feeling a bit better and be out of the room. What do you say? Or we just leave it alone? What do you think?"
Wincing, Gwen says, "Go for it, Ambroze. I doubt that a scholar will be killed by letters. Gods be with you."
"You all may want to stand on the other side of the room. Preferably around a corner..." Ambroze warns his companions as he prepares to open the drawer.
"There's a healing potion in my pack..." he adds.
"You know, I can try and disable this trap, I just think we can wait until tomorrow, when we are all rested and wide awake, rather than now. Then we only need to have a couple of people remaining in the room. After all, if the glyph goes off, it might damage the contents too, which makes opening the drawer and setting it off rather self defeating." say Chi.
"I don't mind waiting. We can give it a go in the morning. This will give me a chance to examine Ieana's notes."
Despite the rest, Chi is still sleepy and her hands appear somewhat clumsy.
The night passes without incident- spent snugly inside the small chamber. The next morning, Chi and Ambroze remain as the rest of you leave and return to the altar chamber as mist. Chi attempts to disable the glyph she can barely make out- and accidently triggers it with a clumsy slip of her hand. The drawer opens fully, revealing a glowing rune that seems to flare red with power; bathing Chi in its light.
Before Ambroze's eyes, Chi is transformed against her will into a deformed, batlike parody of her true form—with a fanged mouth and twisted, bat-like ears, arms that look more like wings but function well neither as arm nor wing, and twisted legs that end in malformed talons. It appears Chi has been somehow deformed by the trap.
You feel a nagging pain in you, a gnawing hunger in you. You are incredibly hungry, as though you haven't eaten for days...
The contents of the drawer however, are unharmed and laid bare before you. Two scrolls, a candle, a block of incense and a stone cube with images of serpentfolk battles emblazoned upon it.
Chi screams as she is transformed, staggers and huddles in the corner of a cavern. With her talons she scrapes the floor, picking tiny insects and dust mites, before eating them. In her shame she cries to Ambroze, "Go, I am not clean anymore!" Trying to hide under her wing-like arms, she curls into a ball.
Just out of interest, what was the save against?
Will save. Its a horrendously high DC as I have boosted many things in the game to account for the extra player numbers etc. Yarzoth herself was too afraid to open the drawer!
You almost made it. As you've essentially finished Smuggler's Shiv however, it shouldn't impact play for too long, other than providing some excellent Rp opportunity.
Gwen anxiously paces the room below, fully rested from yesterday's ordeals.
What's taking them so long? I have a bad feeling.
"I do not know what is taking them so long. If they are up there too much longer, I will go up to see." the tribesman says, making a fresh cut into Yarzoth's body in an attempt to aquire enough blood to go back up and return.