As Simon scouted ahead of them for what they would run into Ema waited patiently. When he returned and reported what he had found she rose and took one of the jars of mucus. Wrinkling her nose she took a deep breath and then dove beneath the water. "I have the ring to help me swim still so I can manage for now." She gestured for Simon to lead the way.
Simon leads the way past the dangerous coral in the first hall. Once you are gathered in front of the doors, you shove them open and prepare to attack! The skum snarl upon spotting you!
Victrix paddles through the water to take a swing at the nearest skum.
Calamity propels a card through the water at the skum's apparent leader, temporarily blinding him. Victrix scores a deep slice against the nearest foe.
The blinded skum pops a vial off his bandolier and chomps down on it, consuming its contents. A shield of force springs into existence in front of him.
The others move in to surround Victrix, reaching out with their bare hands. Two of them manage to grab a hold of the aasimar, wrapping their arms around her neck to strangle her as they pin her arms to her side! Fortunately, the tough barbarian is barely harmed by their feeble grips.
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Simon glances back at Ema, points two fingers at his eyes and then points at the floor behind the yellow stalker, before making a *boom* gesture.
He then points a finger at Ema, following that with a gesture in the direction of the leader on the edge of the room.
Hoping that his message got across, he quickly studies the yellow stalker in front of him, readies his spear and charges through the water.
While Victrix doesn't strenuously object to fish-creatures trying to choke her (I mean, really, are they even trying?), there's still the matter of them being in the way of rescuing the colonists.
She flexes a couple of times to throw off the skum trying to choke her.
Seeing Vicki grapped by two of the skum Ema gave them a dirty look as she tore open another rift through the planes. The water behind two of the skum became incredibly cold and a serpent made of ice slithered from the portal. Ema called out to it in aquan and asked the elemental of ice to assault the skum. It lashed out at the skum before it, massive power in the swing with the full intent of tearing through it and into the next one.
As her elemental struck Ema's eyes flashed as she converted some of her magic into more power for her reservoir.
Simon wounds the same skum Victrix struck earlier. It is badly hurt but still standing. Ema's summoned elemental fails to
Victrix manages to throw off one of the skum strangling her, but the other one hangs on tenaciously.
Calamity throws another card, but this one goes wide.
The skum's leader consumes another vial, and his muscles bulge as his body mutates into a more feral form.
The skum holding Victrix goes for a pin but falters, allowing the aasimar to slip free. The others lunge at her again, but they fend her off. The wounded skum withdraws, swimming swiftly out through a gap in the wall as it flees into the murky water.
Victrix retrieves her axe and takes a swing at the wounded skum before her.
The elemental, not about to let it's prey flee, shifted closer and lashed out again. This time with more precision behind the blow.
The strike hits it's initial target and continues through to the second.
The second skum takes the hit as well as the elemental's strike struck true. Both of the skum felt an incredible shill start to sink into their bones in the wake of the elemental's attack.
Ema used the distraction to come closer and cast a spell on the furthest of the normal skum causing his shadow to became caught in a shadowy bear trap.
Simon and Victrix slice into their chosen foes. The ice elemental pounds two of the skum, but both seem resilient to cold and are unaffected by its numbing ice. The skum resist Ema's and Calamity's magic.
Abadoning their grapple attempts, the skum lash out with teeth and claws. Their leader swims forward to stab at Simon with his longspear.
"See, mate? Now you're getting it!" Victrix chuckles and swings her axe twice at her current target.
The elemental lashed out again at the skum before it putting significant force behind the blow as it tried to tear through one skum and into the next.
Ema cast a spell again and sent a pair of missiles lancing out into the skum closest to Simon.
Simon dispatches the first skum with a studied strike from his spear. He turns to the leader, but his weapon's point scrapes harmlessly against the skum's shield of force. Victrix slices into one of her foes once. Ema's elemental fails to hit again, but the arcanist finishes off the wounded skum with a barrage of magic missiles.
Calamity moves closer and hexes the last of the skum warriors with her evil eye!
Hindered by the hex, that skum fails to hit Victrix. The leader drops its spear and attacks Simon with his natural weapons, managing to bite the half-orc!
Victrix hefts her axe and swings it through the water at the last skum warrior...
Ema's elemental lashed out again, this time at the remaining skum next to it, with a heavy slam determined to prove it's worth to Ema.
Ema moved a little closer to the fighting but otherwise held off on casting any more spells. She didn't think she could hit with most of them and she didn't want to waste more potent magic that could if she could help it.
Both Victrix and the elemental score a good hit on the skum warrior leaving him badly wounded. Simon stabs the leader once, sickening him, while Calamity hexes him with her evil eye.
The wounded warrior attempts to flee, swimming away and turning his back on his foes. The leader attacks Simon again, scoring a lucky hit despite his severe afflictions!
The elemental lashed out at the fleeing skum with another heavy strike.
With it's target gone the elemental charged the large skum fighting Simon with the force of an oncoming battering ram.
Unfortunately it looked like the larger skum saw it coming and was ready to dodge.
Ema began to cast a spell once more and sent a quartet of missiles flying out.
Victrix swings a little too wildly for her own good before turning on the skum leader with a pair of vicious blows.
While Victrix misses the fleeing skum, the elemental crushes its skull with a powerful fist!
Victrix and Simon both hit the skum's leader once. He snarls in fury while Calamity laughs nervously, extending her hex on him.
Despite his beleaguered state, the skum continues to attack Simon. The combination of the evil eye and sickening strike causes him to miss!
Victrix keeps on swinging.
Emaa called out some instructions to the elemental after realizing her only reliable spell just now wasn't going to work on this creature, "Attack and move to the side!" The elemental burbled back as it lashed out with another powerful blow.
This time it struck true with a battering blow before smoothly shifting to one side.
The skum fends off Victrix's attacks, but Simon scores a precise strike with his spear, and the elemental delivers a crushing blow that finishes him off!
1st—body capacitance, enlarge person, heightened awareness, identify, long arm, shield
Victrix scoops up the vial of cure light wounds and swallows its contents. She makes sure to make a tight seal around the vial's rim to keep the surrounding water out.
Simon is deftly able to disable the coral traps, rendering the room safe to traverse.
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After disabling the traps, Simon takes one of the oils of Cure Serious and spreads it on his wounds.
He looks out into the courtyard to see if the skum is visible or if any other dangers are out there.
If it is clear, he moves to the doors on the northern side of the room and quietly opens them to peek through.
Beyond the collapsed wall, other ruins of the temple grounds spread across the seafloor, many crumbled beyond identification. Simon does not see the skum that fled, but in the sand next to a collapsed building several dozen feet away, what appears to be a large, metal cylinder crusted with barnacles lies partially buried.
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Simon sighs internally, remembering the admonition to touch nothing until after saving the colonists.
Itching to swim in that direction, he simply turns to the others points the thing out, then mimes opening a pocketwatch and swirling his hand in a clockwise direction.
Moving to the northern door, he resumes the search of the temple.
A corridor stretches east and west beyond the doors. At one end of the corridor stands a statue depicting a hooded figure with four arms. Her armor and mask are sculpted to give her the appearance of a woman, but the spaces between the plates of armor reveal that her body consists of clockwork gears. One of her arms is extended, pointing an accusing finger at a statue at the opposite end of the hallway. The other statue, standing in a semi-circular alcove behind thick steel bars, depicts a stern woman with no mouth. A strange, featureless mask lies discarded at the statue's feet.
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Looking at the scene depicted by the figures, Simon wonders at the purpose of putting the figure of Lissala behind bars.
He scans the statue with his Deathwatch Eyes.
If the statue is not a construct, he will move down the hallway until he gets to the openings into the side chambers. From there, he can scan the statue of Eyndea to see if that is a construct and peer into the side chambers as well.
Neither statue in this corridor is a construct.
Peering through the north opening, Simon sees a large chamber. On a large dais occupying the central position in the room is a statue of a man sitting on a throne and holding a hammer in one hand and a closed book in the other, but the statue’s head is missing. This is a statue of the god Amaznen. Beside it stands another statue, and four others yet remain standing among the crumbled remains of other statues that litter the floor.
The second statue on the dais depicts a muscular woman wearing a helmet with a Y-shaped opening for the eyes and mouth, wielding a nine-foot-long spear and a large, round shield adorned with a symbol reminiscent of a crescent moon. Those of you who studied with the celedons back on Ancorato recognize her as Acavna, the goddess of the moon and defensive battle.
The statue standing left of the dais depicts a beautiful Azlanti woman with a look of mourning on her face, carrying a harp and a knife.
The statue in the northeast corner depicts a bearded man in a flowing chiton, wearing a gilded laurel wreath and holding a large key in his hand.
The statue in the southeast corner depicts a distant woman with long, flowing hair and skulls hanging from her toga. Her arms are crossed defiantly across her chest.
Through the opposite archway, Simon can see a statue of a warrior wrestling with a giant serpent stands on a two-foot-high pedestal in this columned hall. The serpent is coiled around the warrior and has locked its jaws around her upper body. The woman holds her sword high, ready to strike the serpent’s neck again. She has cut nearly all the way through, and only a thin piece of skin keeps the head attached to the long, sinuous body. Magical light radiates from the blade of the sword, illuminating the statue and the chamber. Jagged columns of coral stand among finely carved marble columns. The remains of the south wall lie in broken pieces, allowing full view of the ocean beyond.
Bas-relief carvings on the columns in the hall depict sceens of war and strife involving evil deities and demon lords, with mortals and outsiders alike battling demons and other monsters.
Near the southern end of the broken chamber, a small school of four great white sharks swim restlessly back and forth. They seem agitated, and the massive sharks' bodies bear many scars.
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Simon takes stock of the various deities and wonders of the inclusion of the entire pantheon into the temple.
This must have been a place where they taught about the deeds of the gods and the lessons to be learned from them.
He looks at the magically glowing sword, wondering if it can be removed. That will need to wait until after we clear out these sharks. Agitated and scarred. Something has been attacking them. Possibly the skum? I wonder if they simply need to be led out into the open water.
Quietly swimming back to the group, Simon holds a finger to his lips. He points toward his eyes, then holds up four fingers.
He swishes his hands back and forth in the water while moving them forward, then holds them straight up on his head while chomping his teeth together aggressively.
Motioning the group to follow, he starts swimming back toward the dry stairs so that he can talk to them.
When they get there, Simon waits for them to poke their heads out of the water and says. "Four sharks. They look like they have been mistreated. I am thinking that if we could lead them into the open water, we might not need to fight them.
Maybe I could go back and get Kitt's dolphin figurine to use as bait."
Ema waited with as much patience as she had for Simon to return. When he did she partially complied with what he wanted getting an ears above water so she could hear him. The mucus stuff prevented her from breathing outside of the water so this was the best she could do for now. As he explained about the sharks ahead Ema sighed and shook her head. She took a deep breath, popped her head above water, and quickly said, "I can summon a dolphin," then ducked back underwater to take a breath again.
Ema nodded and her eyes flashed a couple of times as she converted more power to her reservoir. When she was done she focused and tore open a portal to the celestial realms and calling out her dolphin friend. She followed Simon to where the sharks were and then gave her dolphin her instructions.
Victrix nods. "Poor things. Let 'em swim free."
And if they try to bite us, they'll regret it.
The sharks react to the dolphin's appearance, quickly moving to pursue the sleek marine mammal. They follow the dolphin through the gap in the wall and out into the open ocean waters, giving you at least a few minutes to explore the room safely.
Simon finds a few more coral spine traps strewn throughout the room, but he is able to easily disable them without incident.
The glowing sword in the statue's hands looks like it could be removed with enough force.
Upon looking at the glowing sword in the statue's hands, Victrix gets an idea.
"...that sword might help us. I'm going to see if I can get it out."
Remembering what Simon told the group about the statue, Victrix transforms from her aasimar self into a human version of herself--this time her hair is a more human-looking ginger and her skin is pale.
She swims up to the statue and tries to pull the sword out...
...and manages to pull it free! "Yes!"
With the threat of the sharks out of the way for now Ema began to examine everything they found. It might be helpful and it wouldn't take long to look through it all quickly.
A corridor stretches east and west beyond the doors. At one end of the corridor stands a statue depicting a hooded figure with four arms. Her armor and mask are sculpted to give her the appearance of a woman, but the spaces between the plates of armor reveal that her body consists of clockwork gears. One of her arms is extended, pointing an accusing finger at a statue at the opposite end of the hallway. The other statue, standing in a semi-circular alcove behind thick steel bars, depicts a stern woman with no mouth. A strange, featureless mask lies discarded at the statue's feet.
Knowledge (history): 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (14) + 14 = 28
"I recognize this one," Ema pointed at the mouthless woman, "This is Lissala, an evil deity of obedience, reward of service, and runes."On a large dais occupying the central position in the room is a statue of a man sitting on a throne and holding a hammer in one hand and a closed book in the other, but the statue’s head is missing. This is a statue of the god Amaznen. Beside it stands another statue, and four others yet remain standing among the crumbled remains of other statues that litter the floor.
The second statue on the dais depicts a muscular woman wearing a helmet with a Y-shaped opening for the eyes and mouth, wielding a nine-foot-long spear and a large, round shield adorned with a symbol reminiscent of a crescent moon. Those of you who studied with the celedons back on Ancorato recognize her as Acavna, the goddess of the moon and defensive battle.
The statue standing left of the dais depicts a beautiful Azlanti woman with a look of mourning on her face, carrying a harp and a knife.
Knowledge (history): 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (18) + 14 = 32
Knowledge (history): 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (2) + 14 = 16Knowledge (history): 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (1) + 14 = 15
"This one," Ema points at the beautiful woman, "is the Azlanti version of Shelyn. In the days of Azlant, Shelyn did not yet have her brother Dou-Bral’s glaive, which she acquired after her brother was transformed into Zon-Kuthon. This statue represents Shelyn after she and Dou-Bral had their conflict that prompted him to embark upon a journey to unknown realms. During this time, prior to his monstrous return as Zon-Kuthon, she was often depicted as being in mourning for her lost sibling.," Ema wasn't sure about the next couple of status so she bypassed those.
...statue of a warrior wrestling with a giant serpent stands on a two-foot-high pedestal in this columned hall. The serpent is coiled around the warrior and has locked its jaws around her upper body. The woman holds her sword high, ready to strike the serpent’s neck again. She has cut nearly all the way through, and only a thin piece of skin keeps the head attached to the long, sinuous body. Magical light radiates from the blade of the sword, illuminating the statue and the chamber. Jagged columns of coral stand among finely carved marble columns. The remains of the south wall lie in broken pieces, allowing full view of the ocean beyond.
Knowledge (history): 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (19) + 14 = 33
"This one depicts the Azlanti heroine Savith locked in battle with Ydersius, god of the serpentfolk. Savith decapitated Ydersius, but the serpent god’s bite later killed the heroine. After this great victory, Savith’s name was on everyone’s tongue, and many stories and songs were written in her honor."Bas-relief carvings on the columns in the hall depict sceens of war and strife involving evil deities and demon lords, with mortals and outsiders alike battling demons and other monsters.
Knowledge (history): 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (7) + 14 = 21
"I'm afraid I don't know this one either.," Ema said.When it came to the sword Ema looked it over magically but simply was unsure of what it was. Looking at Vicktrix she said, "Sorry, I'll have to study it some more after I think about what I saw from it."
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Turning around from disabling the last of the traps, Simon prepares to go investigate the glowing sword.
Seeing Victrix already holding the blade, he frowns for a second and sighs internally, but shakes it off and pats his trusty longsword.
He then notices Ema's lips moving as she examines the statues. Figuring that he can share any information that she was not able to recall later, he continues looking around the room.
Swimming to the gap in the wall, he looks out to see if the sharks have remained in the area. If not, he will take one more longing look at the cylinder lying on the ground near the temple and head back to the party.
With a questioning look on his face, he gestures back toward the stairs that the skum were guarding.