Alexite nodded his thanks at Dragolan after the burly man downed the lacedon. Seeing Jack succumb to the undead and Joll holding off two of the fiends spurred the ranger into further action.
He thought about pulling Jack away but in the end decided to circle the pillar and attack the undead from the other flank. Holding the falchion in his right hand and using his left to 'cling' to the pillar, the ranger went around the pillar at breakneck speed.
The ranger then raised his blade and brought it down on the lacedon's head. But the wiry monster sidestepped the blow at the last minute leaving the ranger exposed as he tried to balance out his missed swing.
A half-intelligible sound comes from Joll's lips as he freezes into immobility.
'And first prize in the "things that will get me killed"-category...'
Quinta circles around with Alexite, but goes a step further than he. As soon as she has a clear shot on the lacedon Alexite is currently fighting with, she stops singing and starts chanting: "Nisil mors, nisil vivens, terminus est!"
Another beam of golden, sizzling energy shoots from her finger to strike the undead.
Jack remains frozen for what seems like an eternity, helpless to defend himself or aid his companions. He strains with all his might against the rigidity of his muscles, but it is to no avail.
Quinta's ray misses the lacedon by a wide margin.
Dragolan moves towards the fight and pulls Joll clear of the two lacedons.
For what seems to be an interminal span of time, Joll stands rigid with his every fiber locked in place by the vile taint of undeath. Absently, he wonders why he does not fall over and if is still breathing. The sense of vulnerability is overwhelming.
Then he sees that he is moving and thinks that the ghouls have moved in to finish him. Oddly, his motion is arrested and he looks out at a blank stone wall, wondering what is transpiring behind him.
Dragolan yanks Joll back, but the ghouls seem to care little for the paralyzed inquisitor both turning upon Alexite and one of them ripping into him with its teeth and a claw as the ranger struggles to fend off the torrent of attacks.
Frantic as he saw Dragolan drag Joll away leaving the ranger exposed to the two undead, he again hefted his falchion to strike.
But the two monsters turned on him with vicious claws and fangs. The ranger struggled to dodge and weave but failed miserably. The first lacedon setting up the ranger for the second's attack.
And suddenly, a coldness seeped into the ranger's limbs. Slowly at first but soon his entire body seemed encased in ice. The ranger struggled to no avail; his last thought before he momentarily blacked out is 'why isn't Dragolan using his special power!?'
Torrents of sweat drip into Joll's forcibly open eyes as he watches silhouettes play out a violent drama on the wall of the cavern. The light from Draolan's mace moves about frenetically, distorting the shadows. Then for a moment all is black and Joll hears Alexite's voice cut off.
An instant later, the light once again shows the combatants. But now another one is unmoving.
Dragolan sets himself to meet the lacedon's onslaught and laughs. A wave of life flows from him, blasting into the aquatic ghouls.
"Cracrapcrapcrapcrap!" Quinta yelps. "Nisil mors, nisil vivens, terminus est!" she chants, launching another bolt of golden energy at the lacedons, and then runs to Dragolan.
The lacedons recoil as Dragolan's channeling hurts them, but neither seems to take the full force of the positive energy. With Alexite frozen Quinta is able to aim true and strike the injured creature with her ray of light, but though more necrotic flesh sloughs from its frame it remains standing - though obviously grievously injured.
The ghouls do not have eyes for Quinta though their hate filled gazes rest upon Dragolan's holy symbol and as one they shriek and move past Jack to hurl themselves at the oracle maws gaping! But neither can bring their fangs to bear upon the rotund holy man, whose armor serves him well in fending off their fangs!
The fat oracle smiles, but there is steel in his gaze as he gathers a portion of his vast stores of life energy and again releases it in a blasting wave.
Both of the ghouls scream under the force of Dragolan's channeling, one collapsing and beginning to fall apart, the other's hoary skin cracked and desperation flaring in its mad eyes.
"Finish it, Quinta!"
When she sees the lacedons coming straight at her, Quinta scrambles backwards, trying to execute one of those fancy flips she had seen Ishirou and Pezzock perform.
The result is less than satisfactory, and Quinta finds herself falling on her butt. Terror surges through her at the pressure of it all, but she tries to marshal her willpower to the situation.
Breath coming raggedly, Quinta raises her hand one final time and repeats the incantation: "Nisil mors, nisil vivens, terminus est!"
A ray of golden light shoots forth to strike the undead horror and burn it out of existence...
And Quinta's bright bolt sends the last lacedon, and former Captain of the Jenivere down. There is no last moment of thanks from the creature that he has become only a despairing shriek as he is sent to oblivion.
The three paralyzed men manage to regain their ability to move seconds later.
While it is impossible not to note the skill that must have gone into carving out such a place, it is hideous, somehow alien and jarring to the senses. The walls are carved with images of serpents walking upright like humans, snakes coiling about and eating helpless women and children, and stranger scenes. Four stone pillars carved into the shape of coiling snakes support the ceiling thirty feet above.
Four small cells blocked by rusty iron bars sit in the walls to the east and west. To the north an immense and terrifyingly life-like carving of a snakes head looms, an ash caked door clenched in its jaws, while to the south rises a horrific pile of bones and partially decayed body parts in an eight foot tall heap arranged as if to evoke the image of a coiled snake made of corpses.
"Well," Quinta says as she dusts herself off and looks the injured over. "I guess you boys will be wanting to borrow the Aegis in the coming days. Those lacedons got you and good - er, bad."
The Chelishgirl looks the 'cathedral' over, her upper lip curling in disgust - and so exposing her new, fang-like canines for a moment. "This place is revolting," Quinta says.
Once the paralysis wears off Joll turns around with a start. He had no idea who had been victorious from watching the shadows play out on the wall.
"Quinta, Dragolan...thank you" is all he can say.
When the others have recovered and it becomes clear that there is no immediate threat, Joll looks over the cathedral. He inspects it for any signs that will help him determine what this place is and which deities it is dedicated to.
Knowledge (Religion)
Knowledge (Arcan)
Knowledge (Nature)
The ranger watched in panic as the 'girl' and Dragolan fought off the last two undead creatures. He saw Jack and Joll come about, their bodies no longer paralyzed, as he continued to struggle against his own bond.
Rampart thoughts run through his head: is my condition permanent, have I become a cripple only able to sense things, who's going to take care of me, how will I eat...
Thankfully, his body readjusted and 'released' him. The ranger was sweating profusely and looked very nervous as he patted down his limbs making sure everything was more or less OK. Quickly realizing that everyone was looking at him strangely, Alexite's face changed from pale white to a ruby red.
he breathed a heavy sigh of relief and went over to personally thank Quinta and Dragolan, "I guess that's proof enough that we are indeed a team and should continue watching each others' backs. Thank you both."
He then picked up his weapons and went about exploring the temple. He was particularly interested in the cages and in the snake-head with the door in its mouth.
Dragolan shakes his head as the last of the ghouls falls. "Most unbecoming. Well done, Quinta." He extends a hand to her before raising his voice and addressing the rest of the party. "Do not concern yourselves with your present state; the paralysis will wear off in short order. Perhaps we should depart this place quickly, however. There is something down here more powerful than these three, and we have expended much in putting them down."
"You're welcome," Quinta tells both men, her voice very sincere. "Like Alexite said, we're a team. No way I'd willingly abandon any of us to those... things."
"Indeed, we do work well as a team. But you are correct, Dragolan, we have expended much of our blood and strength on these wretches." Here Joll involuntarily sneers as he looks at the remains of Kovack and the others. "If there is a greater threat lurking here perhaps we are better off recovering before me confront it."
The door is clearly large enough for a humanoid to enter, and covered in a strange layer of ash cakes it.
Joll squints as he stands near to the carvings. Then he backs up to take in more of the details of the walls. "Dragolan, Quinta, could you bring your light closer? I see some things that I recognize. If possible, can you make your light float up higher, nearer to the walls?"
Once the light has illuminated more of the cathedral's features Joll absently points to things and his lips move several times before he speaks.
"The carvings depict serpentfolk, a kind of snake-people. I was told that they had a great empire long ago that clashed with the Azlanti Empire."
"A scholar in Corentyne mentioned them once. He used to research old archives that we kept in the office of the harbormaster. Mostly they were ancient captains' logs, shipping records and such. I remember he said that the serpent-people worshiped a terrible god named Ydersius. He showed me some parchments that looked just like the scenes on the walls here. Initially, I thought he was jesting, or at least exaggerating. But he was a serious man and was very earnest in what he said."
"Now that I think about it, he seemed to regret it after he showed me the text about the serpent-god, as if he were almost ashamed. I was only a boy at the time. He changed the subject abruptly and gathered up his notes. Then he made a point of having the harbormaster's chief assistant put the book back into the archives. I got the impression that he thought it inappropriate for a youth to hear about what he was researching."
At this point Joll seems uncharacteristically reflective. Certainly this is the most that he has ever spoken at one time. "He died very soon afterward. I heard the others talking about him one day. But when they noticed me they quickly changed the subject. That night I went into the archives to look at the book myself. It was gone. I asked the harbormaster about it and he said that, if I wanted to keep my job, I should never bring up the subject again."
When Joll realizes just how much he has said he looks embarrassed.
"In any even, that is what the carvings are about."
"Fascinating, Joll. However, our investigations here should, in truth, await the removal of the greater threat. I should not be pleased to be interrupted by whatever lurks elsewhere in the cavern."
"Wait, wait, hold up," Quinta says, frowning. "Ex-captain Kovacks... Didn't he describe that Vjeksín who enchanted him into crashing the ship as 'a serpent in human skin' or something like that? No, wait, his exact words were that Ieana was: 'A serpentine demon who wore a Varisian's skin'."
Quinta looks at the images of the Serpentfolk and bares her teeth again, the expression unusually ugly for her. "They're disgusting," she mutters. "Really upsetting."
The Chelishgirl crosses her arms and turns her back on the carvings, shuddering just a little.
"I don't know..", Jack mumbles as he paces the room examining everything, but paying special attention to the door when he reaches it.
"They're kind of exotic."
Dragolan cocks an eyebrow at Quinta. "If I recall correctly, the fang marks that Ieana (presumably) left on the cook were quite large, like those of the creatures we see here. Interesting.... I do not, however, recall ever coming into physical contact with Ieana, even by chance, so I could not tell you if she was cold to the touch."
The ranger cocked his head, "So we are thinking that that woman was actually one of these snake-people and that she somehow 'charmed' the captain to crash the ship here?
"If that's true then was she looking for this temple?
"Dragolan, could you be sensing Ieana to the northwest?"
"I thought Kovacks wrote she Ieana was strongly interested in the red mountain," Quinta says. "Unless she changed her mind, I doubt she's here. I hope she isn't here; I'd hate to fight an undead spellcaster who can enchant people."
When Quinta pulled her lips back Joll looked at the two pointed teeth in front of her mouth. Previously he had thought them more canine than anything else. But now he wondered otherwise.
"Yes, let's be at our strongest when we confront Ieana."
Jack traces a finger through the ash caking the snake mouth door as he listens to the conspiracy theories behind him. After a minute, he speaks up, his voice reverberating off the walls of the chamber. "Looks like someone set off a trap here pretty recently. Doesn't look like it's still active. There's no way to tell whether there's anything -- or anyone inside without investigating it."
If no one protests, he tries to open the door.
"Hold up, let me check," Quinta says. She mutters a brief spell and makes a gesture.
"It comes to me to ask: why are we still here, when we share the caves with a powerful and presumably hostile undead creature? "
"It comes to me to ask: why are we still here, when we share the caves with a powerful and presumably hostile undead creature? "
The ranger nodded as he looked at the deep gouges left by the lacedons, "Aye, I for one could use some healing if you have any to spare. But hold, maybe you should save your gift, I have the potion we found in the witch's lair."
He thumbed the arrows in his quiver, "Another thing of which I'm guilty myself, we cannot afford to close in with the ghouls. We must attack from distance. Are you all equipped to do that?"
"I can hurt them from a distance, but not enough to slay one, I think. In close, I can bring the judgment of Asmodeus to bear on them with a weapon in my hands. But it is taxing and I can only do it once in a day, so I leave it for the most fell of opponents. The rub is how to determine which are the most fell."
"The spell that went off here was fairly powerful," Quinta mutters. "It should be gone now, but beware more mundane traps, hm? Alexite, Dragolan, maybe you should check whether those ashes belong to a dead 'snake demon'."
Turning to Joll, Quinta crosses her arms again. "I have a spell that can do that... now. I can use it as many times a day as I like, but it is not extremely powerful, and I need to hit the undead for it to have any effect. My aim is not perfect."