Sara pulls her hood up and collapses into the form of a great golden lion! The lion roars, full of anger and fury.
The shabtis chant Celestial incantations and waves their hands in arcane patterns, bolstering themselves with magic!
"I can play the spell game, too," Zhi mutters to herself before casting another enchantment and then vanishing.
She then draws her weapons and moves to within melee range.
The lion charges forth, pouncing upon one of the shabti and trying to grab it in its mouth.
Zileska makes a languid gesture with her holy symbol and attempts to dispel the shield of faith that one of the shabti just evoked.
Melodie does likewise, targeting the shabti with the unknown spell.
https://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic/all-spells/d/dispel-magic/
No reference to a cap that I can see :)
Moving in past Sara, Maria stabbed at one of the shabti.
Melodie and Zileska both try to dispel one of the shabti's wards, but both fail to do so.
Safina fires upon one of the shabtis. A spiritual shield around him deflects one of her bolts, but the other two slam home. Maria moves in to stab the tomb warden, then Sara pounces upon him, grabbing him and ripping at him with her claws. Charms on a bracelet around his wrist begin to crumble, its magic protecting the shabti from Safina's and Sara's critical hits.
The uninjured shabti casts a spell and touches his ally, who slips effortlessly out of Sara's grasp, protected by a freedom of movement spell. The wounded one brings its halberd to bear on the lion, scoring two hits!
Heavy footfalls on the stairs in the previous chamber presage the arrival of the golden statue of Taldaris! Now animated as a golem, it emerges from the stairs and plods towards you with malicious intent.
Melodie says something very quietly which might well have been unladylike. She closes her eyes for a moment and then she, Safina and Zileska disappear.
"Invisibility Sphere." She whispers. "Stay close to me."
The lion continues frantically assaulting the one that had escaped its maw just moments before.
Zhi takes down the wounded shabti with two strikes, then turns to stab the other one. Safina unloads another barrage but only manages one hit on the remaining tomb warden. Sara savages the guardian, grabbing a hold of him and leaving him terribly wounded. Melodie casts a spell causing those nearby to vanish from sight.
Wanting to clear up their backlines quickly before the new threat arrived, Maria moved in and tried to finish off the last shabti.
Maria finishes off the shabti with three precise strikes to his torso. He slumps in Sara's grasp, leaving just the golem to contend with...
Zileska uses her wand to soothe Sara's recent injuries, which of course does not obviate her invisibility.
The golem stomps determinedly over to Sara, walking right past the invisible Melodie and Safina.
Seeing the hulking golem lumbering down on them, Zhi taps her heels together, casts another defensive spell before attempting to move past the construct.
"Fall back," she hisses to Mel and Safina when she reaches the other side.
The lion disappears as Sara pulls back the hood, knowing her heels to be sharper than her claws.
She prepares herself, taking a breath and studying it.
Melodie, unknowingly, copies her wife and activates a defensive spell.
Moving up beside Zileska, Maria quickly downed another extract to protect herself from the construct.
Zileska unleashes the blessing of fervor to speed the ladies in their fight against this massive foe!
Increase its speed by 30 feet.
Stand up as a swift action without provoking an attack of opportunity.
Make one extra attack as part of a full attack action, using its highest base attack bonus.
Gain a +2 bonus on attack rolls and a +2 dodge bonus to AC and Reflex saves.
Cast a single spell of 2nd level or lower as if it were an enlarged, extended, silent, or still spell.
These effects are not cumulative with similar effects, such as those provided by haste or a speed weapon, nor do they actually grant an extra action, so you can’t use it to cast a second spell or otherwise take an extra action in the round. Blessing of fervor does not stack with haste.
The golem swings its fists at Sara, impacting with bone crunching force. It's bejeweled scepter flares with the colors of the rainbow, and an orange beam strikes Sara, scouring her flesh with acid!
"Lure it deeper into this room, I have an idea," Maria called out, stepping back and readying her guard.
Dreading the impact of the the golem's huge fists, Zhi grits her teeth in determination and focuses all her efforts on bringing this thing down now!
As the thing lumbers forth from Zhi's invisible assault, Sara kicks it hard, as high as she can reach, hoping to leave it dazed and unresponsive. Another assault like that would kill her. She follows up with a series of lower shots, taking her frustration out on where its genitals would be.
Zhi doesn't spare the time to smile as she takes advantage of the bohemoth's distraction and stabs at it again.
Zhi's blades leave deep dents in the golden golem's body, though her rapier seems much more effective than Koriana's Blade. Sara delivers a devastating kick to its chest, followed up by another solid strike to its lower body. Already seriously weakened, the golem rapidly melts into worthless slag, releasing a cloud of noxious fumes as it is destroyed!
With the threats neutralized, Zhi is able to study the figurines she recovered.
Maria's stance deflates somewhat as the golem gets torn to pieces, which is quickly forgotten as she realises the danger of the fumes its giving off.
"Are you guys okay?"
"Phew. Who knew that the guardian statue of Taldor would fart when it broke?" says Zileska, waving a hand airily.
"That went better than I expected." Melodie agrees, sheathing the Scion's Dagger. "Can I keep the Lions?"
Sara coughs most of the poison out, very glad the thing died.
As the golem collapses into a toxic cloud, Zhi rolls away to avoid its effects.
She shakes her head a bit to clear it and then moves to Sara's side, patting her on the back as she coughs out the last of the fumes. "You are certainly one bad-assed b$$+~," she says with a smile as she looks over the woman's injuries. Assuring herself that the woman is stable and seeing Zileska approaching, she returns to her wife's side.
The small woman shrugs as she hands Melodie the figurines.
"I think we need to take a moment and rest," she says, addressing the others. She turns her attention to the guardian lions, curious to see how they reacted to the violence. "Would it be ok if we rested here for a bit?" she asks them.
The guardian lions had returned to their paintings, but now they emerge once again. "Suit yourself," Luccaro says cheerfully. "I'm pretty sure those were the last of the tomb's guardians. Nothing else should disturb you if you need to take a breather."
Myrllial grunts and mutters something about the waste of a good golem.
"Thank you Luccaro." Melodie says with a smile, offering the cheerful creature another snack and trying to encourage it to sit down so she can pet it properly, and possibly use it as a pillow later on.
Luccaro purrs happily as Melodie pets him.
You rest within the tomb, the night passing uneventfully. In the morning, you continue on past the trapped constellation room. The chamber to the south seems to have been destroyed in a cave-in long ago, so you take the only path remaining to the north.
Several rounded steps lead up to a low platform to the east, upon which sits a large stone sarcophagus draped with a fur-trimmed cape. Low stone benches and shelves support a wealth of grave goods, many brittle with age. Large chunks of plaster have fallen from the ceiling, leaving an uneven coating of white dust across the floor. Where the ceiling’s plaster has survived are painted messages in a variety of languages.
The grave goods are numerous—including a bow, food, wine, fine oils, clothing on crumbling mannequins, lamps, a disassembled bed, and more— but only a few retain any worth. The only magical item among them is a wand of repel vermin (6 charges) carved from hippo ivory.
The cloak on the sacorphagus is the fabled Mantle of Kings, a fine garment of golden linen trimmed with gold-hued animal hair. The mantle’s magic is limited to preservative enchantments, and without proper benediction and reactivation, it has no other powers.
"We should get started on the ritual then I suppose." Melodie says. "How exactly is it meant to work?"
Zhi chuckles a bit at her wife's warning.
"When she's out to here," Zhi holds a hand out from her belly as if she's carrying a watermelon. "Then I'll worry about rolling around on the floor." She moves close to Melodie and plants a gentle kiss on the woman's cheek. "Thank you for worrying, though. You can come lay next to me and rub my back."
~~~~~
Zhi holds up a cautionary hand at finding the final(?) tomb. She moves around the room carefully, checking for tripwires, pressure plates, and magical runes.
Zhi doesn't find any traps within the tomb. Melodie begins arranging the rare candles, incense, and oils that Lady Morilla provided you as she goes over the ritual in her mind.
As you are making preparations, though, the sound of armored footfalls comes from the hall leading into the tomb. Two tall, helmed warriors wielding massive battleaxes and shields flank a third figure. Surrounded by lightning, this impressive female warrior wears a gleaming golden breastplate and carries a shining spear. She bears a striking resemblance to a figure on one of the sarcophagi upstairs: that of Ohalia, one of Taldaris's companions.
"I hope you have an explanation for your presence here," she says, an edge of menace in her voice. "And it had better be a good one."
"Ohalia?" Melodie asks, unsure if she really is conversing with a living (or dead?) legend. "We're here to invoke the First Emperor. The empire is facing a succession crisis and we need Taldaris to anoint his true heir. We are here in all due reverence."
Sara winces as several broken ribs pop back into place under her corset. She thanks Zileska for her healing with a tight embrace and a deep kiss. "Truly Zileska, without you in my life I'd be dead many times over. But you are here. And I love you."
She responds to Zhi's compliment with a playful punch. There's more force behind it than intended, but it's all in good fun.
___
Sara narrows her eyes at the intruder. Taldaris's mortal companion or not, she was just being rude.
"We are rescuing Taldor from her moment of crisis. We have been nominated by our nation's rightful ruler in retrieving the Mantle of Kings, and in doing so, either prove her claim to the throne or provide us the means to locate said true heir."
"Is that so? Forgive my brusque questioning, then." The woman gestures, and her two companions lower their axes. "Yes, I am Ohalia. I must confess to knowing little about the current situation in the empire. For most of the past millenia I have traveled the planes to watch over battlefields and escort noble souls to the afterlife. I have only returned now because I heard a desperate cry for help from my former liege. I know not what fate awaited Taldaris's soul after his death, so I came back to his tomb for guidance. I thought the First Emperor's distress might have come from someone disturbing his remains, but I see now that is not the case."
She takes a few steps forward. "If you intend to perform the ritual of imperial augury, please allow me to assist you and lend my voice to yours. Perhaps if Taldaris hears me, he may be more inclined to reveal himself."
"By all means," Sara gestures, quite taken with the valkyrie now that she has bent to their side. "And what a beautiful voice it is, I must say."
She offers Ohalia a friendly smile and a discrete wink.