As Therena, Josef and Rikar follow the vampiric mist around, it heads for the area to where you were told goes deeper into the temple. You reach a tall standing stone, at least twice as tall as a normal human. The stone stands before an ancient masonry wall, so old it looks almost the same as the unworked rock walls around it. Both the standing stone and the wall behind it show several half-erased marks and symbols.
Never Enter The Lost Temple Again
So Sayeth Heaven, Stone and Time
Just below these words, written in the same language, a new message can be seen, carved much more recently:
The Son Goes In
The Dragon is Mightier than the Gods
Misha and Telman, while keeping the rest of the group in sight, move off to the northwest and come to another building. You enter yet another Athan burial chamber, this one strangely preserved even through the ages. There is only one sarcophagus inside the chamber; two green-flame torches still burn on the left and right walls, illuminating the entire chamber. The sarcophagus represents a man with arms crossed, his face a mask of wisdom and serenity. There is also a metal box leaning against the wall, four feet tall, two feet wide and deep.
”Oh look. Ancient Athan writings. If only one of us knew how to read them! Let’s head back with the others. We don’t want to go deeper into this area without being at full strength.”
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Josef translates the carved messages and looks around the area closely.
"They really thought their dragons were mightier than the gods, eh? I'm not sure of that, in the metaphysical sense, but in sheer earthly might, it's hard to argue.
This way leads further into the temple, we might want to check the rest of the place before we commit to that direction."
”But this part about the dragon and the son is recent. Perhaps our quarry was doing some bragging.”
Misha wonders if the box is part of the chamber or a new addition.
Misha inspects the sarcophagus and the metal box. They both look quite well preserved, however their are tell tale clues that they are both from the original destruction of city years ago.
"If Therena is right about the vampire looking for a new home, I am assuming this sarcophagus is occupied," Misha comments to Telman. "I'm not sure what the box is, but I don't think anyone's messed with this since the fall of the city." She looks at him. "Should we call the others in before going any further?"
"Many undead ...... Not that I doubt our abilities, but fighting at half strength seems like bad tactics. Although I am curious .....if there is a beastie in there, isn't it easier to kill before it wakes up and comes out?"
"Id hate to give up an advantage."
Telman stares at the box the entire time he is speaking, but does it approach any closer.
Misha shrugs. "Well, we tried that with the vampire and seem to have managed to screw it up. Honestly, at this point I feel like we're doomed to bring on the end of the world rather than do any good here. I'm not even sure why I'm here anymore. Somehow the passion ends up being dampened when your thirst for knowledge could end up bringing about everybody's doom. I don't want to end up like my dad, abandoning everyone to a horrid fate because our curiosity got the better of us." She sighs. The light of discovery seems to have gone out of her eyes.
"Come on, let's tell the group what we've found, and then we can go poking at things with sticks."
If Telman agrees, she waves to the party to meet them, and tells them about the burial chamber with the strange metal box.
Therena relates about the Athan writing.
"Ah, Misha, things aren't as grim as all that," Rikar weighs in, laying a friendly hand on the bard's shoulder. "At least we're not fighting that vampire now, and we may have destroyed it entirely, in spite of my being a bit overeager to smash its coffin."
Considering a moment what they've found, he continues, "I'm not over eager to mess with that metal box, but it seems we should take a look at it. And I hate to say it, but if there are vampires about, there might be something of use in the holy man's sarcophagus."
Calling over to the others of the group, Misha and Telman point out the sarcophagus and the metal box, and ask what the group wishes to do.
While discussing Therena does mention what the Athan writings on the stone near the door are to the group:
The standing stone reads the following message, in great carved words written in the Ancient Athan tongue:
Never Enter The Lost Temple Again
So Sayeth Heaven, Stone and Time
Just below these words, written in the same language, a new message can be seen, carved much more recently:
The Son Goes In
The Dragon is Mightier than the Gods
"I don't want to open the sarcophagus if it invites the vampire in, but perhaps given we still need to find some things before we finish this, we'd best see what's in the box."
Misha eyes it carefully for signs of trouble.
"I'm curious about the box too, Mishinika," Rikar offers. "Think you'll be able to get it open, or should I be ready to help?" he adds, hefting his scythe.
Misha checks the box and the sarcophagus for traps and finds none. Opening the metal box first she finds the desiccated remains of what appears to be a goblin dragon in mostly rotted robes. Casting detect magic, there appears to be no magical items or auras in the box. Moving on to the sarcophagus, with Rikar, Josef and Telman at the ready since you all remember opening coffins many levels above and finding undead, Misha grunts a bit but the lid slides off, and inside is the body of man, wrapped in cloth, similar to the mummies you found above but this one does not move. It seems that the mummification process was not completed properly and the man is simply dead, rather than undead. He does however have two items that glow as magical, s gold and jade scepter, and a scarab-shaped necklace. There is also a non magical jeweled holy symbol of the Dragon Lord.
As neither of the bodies come to life, you all breathe a sigh of relief, and Misha grabs for the two tears. As before when someone took a tear, she seems momentarily frozen in time, and has a vision.
Predawn – Emerald Tear
Dawn – Copper Tear
Morning – Diamond Tear
Afternoon – Sapphire Tear
Evening – Bronze Tear
Stars – Brass Tear
Moon – Silver Tear
Deep Night – Opal Tear
It then shows that the ruby tear is placed in the dragon eye on the floor. As soon as that is done, those nine tears each emit a beam of light matching their color that come together at a point just above the ruby tear and in the center. The final tear, the gold one is then touched to that point of convergence and phrase ‘Atha Ah Moru’, ‘The Terror of Atha’ in ancient Athan is said aloud. Then a portal opens, and everyone within the confines of the area is swept into the portal. The vision ends there.
As you prepare for using the stones to create a portal, you remember something from Fiall journal:
The cave is utterly dark. This must be the origin of darkness. This must be the end of the journey.
This is the Nameless Wyrm.
He fills the entire cave with his dark presence.
He is ready.
Thus shall the Dragon God be smitten,
Or else has awoken for ruin and woe.
–Fiall Garnwynn
Therena is going to prepare a divination spell to cast first thing in the morning, before she prepares the rest of her cleric spells. Before she does, she asks around for what everybody thinks a useful question would be to help ascertain what they’re about to face.
Misha informs the party of the visions she sees, and as the party prepares to use the tears to open the portal (), she shares the final passage from Fiall's journal as well.
She casts secure shelter for the party to rest in, and when they awaken, she casts heroes' feast. "May be the last meal we eat, so eat up."
As Therena prepares her divination, she asks, "Is it the darkness that smites the dragon god?"
”Is that the question you want me to ask? I was thinking of something a little bit more practical, like are we expecting an actual dragon, maybe what colour it is, something like that?”
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"Maybe if there's a secret weakness or flaw in the wyrm? Some chink in its armor or tactic we could exploit?"
Josef seems very intense and focused, sometimes whispering the beginnings of spells or hints of lore.
"Misha, I must admit, I love what you've done with the place! This meal is quite fantastic, and if it is our last together, I am glad for it."
He smiles at the bard, then turns to the others with the same grin.
Having eaten the feast, you watch as Misha puts all but the ruby and golden tears in the stone posts, and waits for the others to be ready before summoning the portal to take them somewhere. Therena is preparing her divination spell and requests suggestions from the group as to the question that is to be asked.
After the question, folks cast their preparation spells.
"I have a feeling we're past things as simple dragon colors here, though I could be wrong. But how many questions can you ask? And they must be yes or no questions, correct?"
”No, this spell let’s me ask about a chosen course of action and get Sinishakti’s advice. Hopefully, her advice isn’t, ‘Don’t’.”
Rikar savors the feast magically prepared by Misha, the event bringing to mind the feasts prepared by his own clan on the eve of some great event, or in celebration of one. "Hopefully we'll get to eat a similar meal to celebrate that we've all made it through this," he remarks, wiping grease off his chin with the back of his hand.
Still licking his fingers a bit, he watches as Misha prepares the portal to be opened, then turns to Therena as she considers what question to ask her god. "Maybe something like 'How do we defeat the foe we're going to face?' or 'What are the weaknesses of our foe?' I always like to know that."
Therena thinks for a minute, then casts her spell (10 minutes).
”How would we best prepare to defeat the foe we are about to face?” she asks.
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"Fancy breakfast, new spells, and almost certain doom. I must say, this is turning out to be quite the interesting day this morning. If we dont make it out past this dragon creature, it's been a real honor and privilege traveling with all of you. I couldn't ask for better companions in this venture."
Josef salutes the team with a steaming mug before tucking back into the meal.
83% chance of success
He who slew Gamageth the Wolf god at the beginning of time; back when dragons and gods were the same thing, is the bringer of fire and death. Have all use all their abilities, and you may survive him.
Telman raises his mug at Josef's toast. "Thanks for letting me come along, its been quite the adventure." He finishes the mug in a single pull.
"And now let's finish it."
Therena is silent as she finishes her spell, and a look of strain and worry comes over her. Visibly, her effort increases, like she’s trying to break through something or remember some long-forgotten bit of trivia. Just at the point when sweat begins to run down her face, her strain vanishes and the look of worry becomes one of pure joy. Beads of sweat become tears as she is wracked with uncontrollable sobs of happiness.
After several moments, the euphoria begins to fade, though her face still seems to glow with a heavenly light.
”I heard him. Sinashakti spoke to me. Something here tried to block him, but it wasn’t strong enough. He warned me about two things: fire and death, and I think he meant those literally. This dragon once slew a god, back when, and this is me hoping here, gods were weak enough to be killed by dragons, but if we use all our abilities, we may yet survive this.”
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"Great work, Therena. Knowing fire is coming out way is very helpful. At the least I'll know which dragon form not to use, and which spells to avoid. I think we have some energy resistance magic available, so that's key also. I wonder if the death is literal, or referring to necromantic magics. Something to keep in mind."
Misha lifts her mug as Telman does to Josef and Rikar. "Let's go kick some ass and solve some mysteries!" She declares, and finishes her ambrosia.
When everyone finishes, she dismisses the secure shelter -- "Glad I finally got to figure that spell out. That's handy."
When preparing the party right before they go through, she casts spells in order of how long they will last, with the shortest duration right before going through. In addition to casting the same ol' message as usual, she also casts the usual good hope.
She also, unusually, casts communal tongues. "I know that's weird, but if something starts cursing at us in an ancient language, I doubt we're going to have time to pause and translate."
On Rikar, she casts freedom of movement.
On herself, she casts freedom of movement, alter self to the form of a dwarf ("If only Krieg could be here with us!"), and heightened awareness.
She also pulls out the two scrolls of cat's grace and uses one on herself, and the other on the first volunteer who calls dibs.
She will use her potion of resist fire, but ONLY if the others do not have energy protection spells they cast on the party first, as theirs will have a better duration.
If she needs to pop death ward, it's the first thing she'll do after going through the portal.
"Meow!
”Dracolich! Fire and death! What if this thing is a dracolich? Misha, what do you know of those creatures?”
"If it's a dragon that is also a lich? I know we should turn around and go home," she said, "Except if others bring him out, all of Varisia could be in danger, and then some."
"Okay, you want to know what I know? Don't cast your quick burning protections yet..."
And Misha leans back and talks about whatever she knows about dracoliches or similar beings.
Misha draws up in her mind a vision of a block of numbers and ability descriptions, but taking note of the arcane runes she pictures in her mind of "CR 7" says out loud, "No, that can't be right." She looks up to say, "I've heard tell of adventurers clearing out an ancient gold mine protected by a lichified gold dragon, but even as formidable as it was, we've faced far greater threats. Still, if the process was used on a more powerful dragon..."
"Anyway, I'd be prepared for powerful necromancy and spells and dragonness--you know, flight, nasty breath, so on. I'm really honestly not sure what to say that you yourselves don't know. If it's a spellcaster it could even dispel all the fancy wards we're putting up, but hopefully we're putting up enough it won't get through all of them."
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"Using powerful necromancy on powerful creatures yields even greater results than you'd think. A human made into a zombie or skeleton is one thing, but a giant or even a dragon, now that's a different sort of beast. At least I should be able to match it for size, and between Telman and Rikar, they hit hard enough to put down pretty much anything we've seen this far. I am ready, whatever comes of it."
After muttering a few arcane words of his own, Telman gives a nod. "So spread out to avoid giving it an easy cluster of targets, don't let up the pressure on whatever evil we find there, and try to watch each other's backs while we're doing it."
"Sounds like fun, let's get started."
Misha uses her bonus scroll of cat's grace on Latys.
+2 Underground
+12 Underground
rounds
In the circle with all but the last three tears in place, Misha looks around and watches as everyone, including herself cast preparation buffs for the unknown but hopefully final test of Fiall journal.
Putting the red tear in the tear place on the floor, she watches as each of the tears emits a sharp line of light, with all connecting at the center. The final tear is placed there, and as expected a portal opens, however you have little choice as all of you are sucked into it and appear a moment later in a dead black area. Everyone, even those with dark vision, while still seeing to the extent of your vision, find the whole area completely and utterly dark and seemingly devoid of any kind of light. Four things happen almost simultaneously; a voice from the darkness in a deep resonant voice, "Aurebaor, show your true self", a cold, cloying miasma of greasy darkness settles over the group, what you knew as Latys polymorphs into a gold dragon and responds "I am here Nameless One, you will die.", a cone of fire comes from the right, and those with dark vision momentarily see what appears to be a dark colorless wingless dragon, who then blends back into the shadows.
Even Misha's quick mind struggles to keep up with all that's happened in just a few blinks of an eye--and even then all resources are immediately put to the effort of trying to roll underneath the worst of the flame tossed straight into the party's path.
She blinks at the giant gold dragon where Latys was a moment before. "Rikar, you holding back on us?"
And then she vomits as the unholy effect washes over her. Charming AND heroic as always, our Misha.
In spite of the sudden impediment, she shouts, "That's it, blow your load early, we're here to stay, and there's no hiding from us!"
She runs toward the northern edge of the cave and casts perhaps an unremarkable spell at their level--but one that will hopefully keep the inky dragon from melting into the shadows for long.
All of Therena’s pets are fried and disappear. Theren is nearly fried as well.
I’m not sure by your colourful description if the dragon has some sort of invisibility, or if it’s just moving out of our darkvision ranges. I’m assuming either the latter or that her true seeing shows her the dragon.
Therena moves up to just behind the group of stalagmites, trying to take some sort of cover, and fervently praying that this new gold dragon creature is actually on their side. Once there, she casts a quickened haste on everybody, and then crooks her finger at Rikar in that way that tells him he’s about to be launched (except she’s invisible so he can’t see that). She calls out, ”Rikar, here’s a boost” then casts telekinetic charge to put him next to the dragon.
The wave of confidence Telman rides through the portal is quickly replaced with waves of nausea. As the companions scramble into action against the foe hiding somewhere in the darkness, he mutters "Oh no you don't ...."
He centers himself, simultaneously thinking about the beast in the shadows and the strong magical aura Therena's presence gives off. Focusing on both he fits a single arrow to the string, inhales, and exhales saying a single word.
"Seek."
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SR check (almost certain success) VS SR 20:
Will save fail, take 11 since LN, not sickened
Reflex Vs Firebreath fail, take 103 since resist 30.
Current HP 101.
"Gah! Not expecting that outta the gate. Probably should've to be honest."
With an arcane word, Josef morphs into a massive (Huge) gold dragon, similar in shape and form to Latys.
"Good kitty, we can be playmates with this evil dragon now!" his voice booms out from the draconian form.
Don't roll a frickin one, please! I'll take the 3!