The room beyond the doors is extremely disturbing to look at. Dozens of paintings of a towering humanoid figure with four wings, a bird’s head, and a scorpion’s tail decorate the walls of this room, seemingly painted in blood. Old pews sit in a line facing the eastern wall, where a hideously defaced statue of a winged woman stands, and a shattered window that was likely once stained glass looks out over the castle walls. In the center of the room is a dire corby even more disgusting than the others you've seen. She is dressed in filthy robes caked with blood — filth that mats her feathers and smears her beak and talons as well - and carries both a longsword and an unholy symbol in the same bird-headed design as the images scrawled on the walls. Around her are the severed heads of several of the corbies you slew the day before, and she lets out a furious caw and points a claw at you.
In response, from the ceiling, one shadow detaches itself and swoops down, resolving as it does into the figure of a bat the size of a orc, with a wingspan wider even than the double doors. It lands in the doorway, the wings blocking much of your view of the rest of the room, and bites at Tybus.
Even as the fangs find purchase in the magus' shoulder, the dire corby lets out a deafening shout - literally. The sound hammers at you all, causing blood to drip from your ears and your heads to swim.
Yeearrgh! Tybus shouts in pain as the monster bat chomps down on him, but the pain kept his head clear and focused amidst the deafening burst of sound that threatened to knock away his senses.
Knowing they were in dire straits, Tybus diverts a bit of his limited arcane power into Song of Sparrows, then with his free hand weaves a familiar spell to channel through the elegant blade.
Tybus' blade slashes the massive bat with electrical fury, and it shrieks in pain.
Gan studies the hideous creature, realization dawning as he moves forward to help Tybus.
Lamsfel reels from the sounds, unable to get his bearings for a moment.
Tristan reels from the impact.
One of the many blessings that humans envy elves for is their keen senses of sight and hearing. Every blessing carries a price, though, and Callomeleth keenly feels the pain from the batsrosity's screech. He grits his teeth through the pain, however, and fires off an arrow at the bat's master, the filthy crebain.
Firing on the corby! Move to a spot where I've got a clear shot on her. If I'm within 30', then my attack and damage is at +1 each.
Aiming past the massive bat, Callomeleth only succeeds in shooting the doorway. The rest of his allies are stunned by the corby's magic, and can only watch in half-deafened horror as the bat attacks Tybus again, still screeching in pain.
Another brutal blow savages the sailor, and he collapses.
Behind the huge bat, the corby cleric mutters a blasphemous prayer, and suddenly shadows crawl across the room, including the doorway and the first few feet of the hallway as well.
"Tybus!"
Lamsfel leaps forward, standing over the stricken sailor, and attacks the creature that felled him.
Gan shakes the fog from his dual-mind, then moves up to stand with Lamsfel. He crouches, placing on hand on Tybus to call him back from beyond the veil. His own wounds close as well from the Traveler's divine presence.
Tristan mutters a silent curse and takes a wide swing at the bat.
,
Tristan's massive blade simply bisects the huge creature, sending the two halves tumbling to the floor and leaving the doorway open to the dire corby.
Tybus blinks at the hazy darkness, his wound still burning. He pulls himself up and moves outside the room, still mutely aware of the corby's presence in the hall.
"Someone get that craban!" Callomeleth calls out, rushing to Tybus' side. "I'll see to Tybus!" He begins to sing again, healing the wounds of his friends.
Seeing Callomeleth's channeling take effect, the corby snarls something and pulls a handful of pebbles from a pocket, murmuring an unholy blessing over them.
Lamsfel moves in cautiously, circling the dire corby to the right so another can move up and flank the horrid creature.
Tristan opens his mouth but no sound emerges. He charges the corby without thinking.
,
,
Tristan's blade cuts right through the corby's armor as though it weren't even there, and she gives a shrieking cry.
Gan's spear stabs right next to where Tristan inflicted the massive wound, making her shriek again.
With the craban handled, Callomeleth fell back closer to Tybus. He continued his song, and the wounds on his friends continued to close.
Channeling again, moving to exclude the corby from the burst, but including as many of my allies as possible.
With the added jolt of healing, Tybus shifts to a two-handed grip on Song of Sparrows and rushes forward. Arcane energy crackling around the blade, he brings it down in a slash against the corby.
Tybus' strike is not as accurate as his allies' have been; he slashes at the dire corby, but her armor easily deflects the strike. Suddenly surrounded, the corby focuses on her unholy symbol again.
With another prayer, she shimmers and disappears.
Callomeleth swears as the craban disappears from sight. "Block the exits!", he cries, moving into the doorway to prevent her escape. "Make her go through us to take flight!"
"Everyone quiet!"
He strikes out at the place where she was last visible.
Gan closes his eyes and tries to locate the creature by sound, but fails.
Helplessly Tristan also waits for her to reappear.
Abruptly, the dire corby appears in the room's far corner, her arm raised to throw. Callomeleth looses his arrow just as she hurls a pebble at Tristan.
The elf's arrow strikes true, knocking aside the vile priestess' aim. The rock hits the wall opposite and explodes, sending chips of stone flying. Gan attempts to match Callomeleth's feat, but his spear merely clatters to the ground next to the corby.
Tybus drives forward with his crackling katana swinging in a wide arc. He can't help but shout a wordless battle cry as he brings the sword down.
The mystically enhanced blade severs the foul creature's head from her body, putting an end to her blasphemies forever.
Lamsfel is caught looking the wrong direction and whirls at the sound of the bowstring and explosion, just in time to see the sailor end the threat. Again.
"My friend, I am glad you are on the same side. Well struck."
With a distasteful look at the room, he adds, "I suppose it falls to me to swab the decks of the captured vessel, eh, captain?"
The corby priestess carried four scrolls and a wand in addition to her unholy symbol, studded leather armor and what appears to be a masterwork longsword. the room itself is revealed to Lamsfel's careful examination as a former shrine to Desna, no doubt despoiled by the corby priestess in service to her foul patron.
One corner of the room holds the door to a tiny cell, likely the dwelling of the Desnan priest who once ministered here. Beneath the cramped cot he spies a footlocker, seemingly untouched since the castle fell.
Within there are three more scrolls, a quartet of masterwork arrows, and a tiny box on a leather headband, inscribed with images of butterflies and the night sky.
Tybus inspects the scrolls with read magic.
He'll take 10 on Spellcraft for an 18 on the wand and anything else that glows with detect magic.
Tristan shrugs, sheathes his sword and looks for some way to clean up the shrine somewhat.
The scrolls include cure moderate wounds (x3), dispel magic, remove disease and restoraton. Tybus recognizes that the wand is inflict moderate wounds and the headband with the box on it a phylactery of faithfulness, but he cannot recognize the aura around the arrows, which turn out to be more than simply masterwork.
All that is required to clean up the shrine would be time and effort, but a not-inconsiderable amount of both. It would likely be the work of several hours, even if you all pitched in to help.