Balani echos Nim's sentiment as she draws her bow back. Wish me luck!
Masked man's AOO on a stirge as it enters his square:
damage the Necromancer gets a lucky swipe in on a stirge and kills it.
The other swerves around the spear. It lands, attaches and sticks it's probiscus into him, eliciting a scream from beneath the mask.
Shrugging his shoulders, Mihai does as asked.
Balani fires her sleep tipped arrow at the foe.
Mihai's blessing makes Balani's arrow fly true!
fort snooze....
The arrow takes the Necromancer in the in the throat...the stoneskin only stopping part of the damage before his grayish skin tone fades away. He chokes on the arrow even as the sleeping poison takes affect causing him to slowly float to the ground in the pit. A few seconds later as Kragnir thnks about leaping into the pit and ending the mage's life, the pit disappears and brings the sleeping masked man to the center of you all.
Kragnir speaks up as he stands near him, Ye want me to end him now?
Combat over...you are victorious and can do what you want with the man.
I have no objection. I saw nothing redeeming about him. Unless you think he can undo the foul magic he placed upon you? What about you Mihai? Can you restore Kragnir's strength?
Either way we should strip him of his belongings and bind him if we aren't just going to end him here and now, Nim adds as he begins to remove the man's belongings.
Balani shrugs at the question of what to do with the mystery man. I don't want to carry him along.
"I can restore only some of his spirit this day."
Lesser Restoration: ability damage removed
"As for the cheater of death... he should be put to rest with his abominations."
The decision appears made, Nim remarks nodding at Kragnir to finish the downed necromancer.
With a mighty thump Kragnir shatters the man's skull...he begins to whistle a satisfying Dwarven tune...
He looks towards the other room, We should check out those treasure chests sitting open. a certain gleam enters his eyes.
Danger now passed Mihai looks to Kragnir to assess how badly his soul is diminished...
Balani also turns a calculating eye toward the treasure room but with much more focus on the treasure than the room. That isn't to say she doesn't examine anything else that happens to catch her eye, or at least point Jawn in its direction.
The inner crypt has a series of interesting reliefs showing the life and struggles of some mighty jungle warrior. Of particular interest is pictures of him battling some reptile men...
Loot from the crypt:
+1 Spear
+1 Amulet of Natural Armor
+2 Headband of intellect (Knowledge Religion)
War Mask of Strength:
Aura moderate Transmutation; CL 9th
Slot head; Price 9,000 gp; Weight 3 lbs.
Description
Shamans and warriors of many of the indigenous tribes of western Garund add to their fierceness and mystique by wearing wooden masks that bear terrifying visages of demonic spirits.
A war mask is considered sacred and personal, and is often handed down to the next generation when a wearer dies. Individual masks are often notorious, and many tribes-folk can readily identify masks of other tribes with a DC 15 Knowledge (local) check.
A war mask of Strength provides its wearer with a +2 competence bonus on Intimidate checks and a +1 deflection bonus to Armor Class. In addition, the wearer may cast Bulls Strength once per day.
Other war masks exist with different abilities; some have higher deflection bonuses, while others can cast scare, fear, or flesh to stone instead of bull’s strength.
Creation Requirements Craft Wondrous Item, scare, shield;
Cost 4,500 gp
Obelisk of Nerull, Lesser
Aura moderate Necromancy; CL 12th
Slot None; Price 9,140 gp; Weight 3 lbs.
Description
Dedicated to Nerull, this 1 foot black ONYX egg shaped sphere radiates constant evil.
The Lesser Obelisk allows the user to cast Desecrate once per day with a duration of 24 hours. Evil Wizards often use this sphere to create powerful undead within.
Creation Requirements Craft Wondrous Item, Desecrate, Caster must be 12th level, ONYX worth at least 500gp.
Cost 4,820 gp
132gp
281sp
250gp in misc basic jewelry
The presence of the onyx obelisk deeply concerns Mihai. His jaw sets resolute and he growls "We should destroy this abomination."
At Mihai's strong conviction, Nim nods gravely before looking pointedly at Kragnir's hammer. Think that is up to the task? After a moment's hesitation he adds, One could be risking the ire of Nerull destroying it.
Levelling a flat and untroubled gaze at Nim "And to leave it stand would invite the ire of the Walker... Kragnir?" gesturing for the dwarf to attempt to rend the orb asunder.
Nim steps well back of the Obelisk, having some concern about the ramifications of smashing random minor artifacts of death gods with a large hammer. Anticipating the coming blow, he shields his face with his hands... before moving one to protect his groin.
The Necromancers book is covered in human skins...luckily for you the interior is standard papyrus.
It contains the following spells:
All 0 level spells, excluding Evocation and Enchantment
1st: chill touch, mage armor, ray of enfeeblement, Protection from Good, shield, true strike, vanish
2nd: blindness/deafness, command undead, false life, hypnotic pattern, mirror image, spectral hand, summon swarm
3rd: beast shape I, fly, ray of exhaustion, vampiric touch
4th: animate dead, contagion, enervation, stoneskin
You also find a small pouch with some granite dust (250gp) that you though was worthless until you saw this spell.
Balani, not interested in being blown up, jerks her head toward the exit, I'll wait outside.
Kragnir hits the obelisk with several hammer swings and destroys it. He cringes as it snaps open but nothing bad happens.
The magic fades and a sense of calm comes over the crypt. The air of uneasiness is gone from the evil item.
The Necromancer as made a mess of the crypt and the corpse of the ancient hero lies scattered around his burial mound.
If Kragnir was concerned by the warnings sent his way, he showed little sign of it. He hefted his hammer high and attempted to crush the object in much the same manner as he stoved in the necromancer's skull.
Nim peeks out between his fingers at the sound of Kragnir sundering the obelisk. Seeing nothing untoward happening he drops his hands. Never can be too safe, he shrugs before picking up the mask, headband and the spear.
Holding out the headband to Balani he says, Seeing as how everyone else is wearing one already, you might as well take this for now. We can always sell or trade it later. Hefting the spear and admiring it for a moment he adds, It is a fine weapon. Would you use it?
Turning to Kragnir he asks skeptically, What about you? Would you wear the mask?
With the Tomb secured and the evil aura eliminated, the group decides to uses it as a resting point.
The next several weeks are a blur. You continue to follow the river for about 10 days, encountering some Lizardmen as well as some evil tempered Hippos but nothing that you couldn't handle.
You get to a good point to leave the river and head into the Mwangi Expanse proper. There are little to no trails and disease is rampant. Disease actually infects a couple of you and Mihai is forced to address the problem head on with his magic.
You spend about another 10 days heading into the rough jungle, following the description of the destination from the journal. Without the clues from the journal you would have missed several landmarks leading you into the area of the outpost, Tazion, that you are questing for.
After two days of Nim looking around the jungle from the air he finally spots a large ruin ahead and reports back to the city. You make your way to the eastern edge of the ruin...
Let me know when you are ready to move forward.
Also let me know if you wish to make any special special preparations around exploration or your camp. I will provide an update or what you see on the eastern edge.
Nim suggests an aerial reconnaissance, in bird form, of the ruins to get a feel for the size, scope and rough layout of the place.
That recon won't be an issue. It is heavy jungle so a recon can get you some general layout and large features details.
Nodding Mihai confirms "If you can Nim... it would help to know what surrounds this place... and whether any of the other 'teams' have already arrived."
When Nim inquires about the spear Balani declines, It's not really my preference.
Nim returns Mihai's nod. I will do my best... without getting too close.
Seems simple enough. Should I need to convey more I would just revert to my human form for a time.
Balani, sure of her prowess in remaining a shadow adds, I can get very close without being seen as well. If Nim signals the all clear I will scout from down here.
She moves far enough away from the group to disappear into the surroundings but close enough to maintain communication while waiting for Nim.
Let me do the overflight first, so we can form some sort of plan, and then you can lead the approach from the ground. Any sign of trouble, that I am compromised, I will return to the group.
Nim takes a few steps, raising his arms as he goes. Feathers begin sprouting all over his body and after a stride or two more he tucks his legs up and takes to the sky in the form of a majestic bird of prey...
The first day at Tazion is less than ideal...major storms ground any attempts at scouting the area and you spend most of the day wet and miserable. Luckily the next day holds more promise...early fog and dampness open up to a sunny day.
Nim takes to the air for his first good accounting of the place.
First you make out what appears to be a ruined wall. The crumbling remnants of the massive enclosure wall mark the perimeter of the ruins. In its current condition, the wall provides little defense. Entire sections have eroded away or lie buried beneath sediment, while vines and vegetation strangle what little exposed stonework remains. The once massive enclosure makes a rough oval shape around what was once a large outpost.
The interior or the ruin is very overgrown. You see no major structures obviously within the walls. There appears to be three landmarks within the walls.
1) Barely recognizable as a ruined and overgrown fallen tower, only small areas of stone mark this ruin as anything but jungle. It is located on the east side of Tazion.
2) A single massive ruin rises from the dense brush, consisting of concentric rings of crude stone columns surrounding a yawning pit in the earth. It is located on the south side of Tazion.
3) Near the center of the ruins stand the shattered remains of three conical cylinders connected by low, thick walls of piled stone. Boab trees burst from crumbling structures, their thick roots and branches devouring large chunks of ancient stonework.
4) In the northern section of the ruins rises a mound of vegetation, barely recognizable as an overgrown ruin.
You see nothing else of note inside the ruins other than what you recongize as tar pits...dangerous to the average travelor but nothing you won't notice immediately and be able to steer the group clear of. The jungle vegetaion makes it difficult to pick out more detail unless you spend some time very near to these areas or scout the surroundings more closely.
Nim swoops down lower to get a better look at the various ruins, trying to spot signs of recent activity or inhabitants. He does not tarry, giving each area a high speed fly by, except for the fallen tower in the eastern part, which he circles before moving off to rejoin the others and report what he has seen.