There seems to be traffic going back and forth between both passages...multiple sets going back and forth...something humaniod has obviously beeen going back and forth at least several times as you see boot prints, multiple sets.
Anton flips a coin. "Desna says west."
Mihai shrugs "West it is then"
The hallway goes up to the West before turning and going up to the North.
It ends in another room. Bits of bone and fragments of wood lie scattered through this room. The walls are carved with hundreds, perhaps thousands, of strange runes interspersed with the periodic image of a stylized rune that looks like a fanged skull.
The stylized rune of the fanged skull is identifiable with
as the symbol of Zura.
The scribings seems to be in Azlanti and there are quite a few. You can translate them but it will take some. Assuming you move on...
You move to one of the other doors and open it, Bare alcoves line the walls of this hallway, each containing a scattering of wood and cloth fragments. A larger empty chamber lies ahead.
Nothing is in the larger room expect for scraps of debris.
You move back to the east goig up the stairs to the next landing...
Anton spots a trap in the floor and then disables it. You move on past it until you get to a hallway to the West and some double doors to the North.
You confirm that the hallway to the west opens back into the entrance chamber but only after having to disable another trap. The hallway to the north contains yet another trap, luckily for you these are fairly easy to spot. You diasble it as well.
You open the double door to the north...
An oval pool of what looks like softly rippling blood sits at the center of this octagonal room, filling the air with a metallic tang. Four round pillars support a ceiling decorated with crisscrossed supports and grooves, while ten two-foot-wide circular holes decorate the walls at chest level.
Knowledge Religion
"Interesting design. If time allows later, I'll go over the writings here and see if they say what it is."
Nim waits for the others with knowledge in such things to chime in about the room before moving in himself.
The taste in the air leads me to believe that is actually blood... as absurd as it sounds...
Anton looks thoughtful. "In that case, how has it not clotted, dried out, and crusted over? Either it's fresh, or it's preserved by magic, or it's alive -- like a blood monster or something -- or it isn't blood at all. Maybe it's just water full of rust; and maybe there's a monster hiding in it."
The halfling scowls. "I also don't like those holes in the walls; maybe they're decorative, maybe they channel blood down from a sacrificial altar, or maybe they hide deadly traps. Or some combination thereof. Seriously, this room makes that pit full of bones look inviting by comparison."
My inclination would be... preserved by magic...
Anton, you going to enter and look around the room for traps and such?
Anton snorts. "Well, I'm not going in there until it passes the most basic test." The experienced scout pulls out one of his pitons and throws it to land next to the pool, on the opposite side from him.
You wait for about a minute and nothing happens...
Magically preserved? Perhaps. Lets see for a moment...
Nim offers, I could summon an animal to move about the chamber if you wish.
Anton perks up at Nim's suggestion. "Yes! Preferably an animal as big as you. And warm-blooded. I really don't want to be the first one to get close enough to an apparent POOL OF BLOOD to find out what's up with that. Some people might have other words for it, but I like to think of it as 'practical' and 'common sense'." He spins one hand in front of his chest and tilts his head in a sort of bow.
The animal, a pony, is commanded to go into the chamber and walk up to the fountain. Nothing immediately happens when it enters, but suddenly a bronze wall slides down from the ceiling blocking the entrance to this room or any escape. It looks thick and heavy.
You can't see what happens in the room but you hear and feel three big rumblings, one every 5-7 seconds before it goes quiet for a few seconds and the wall suddenly slides back into the ceiling. The dog is gone but you see a lot of blood splattered all over the floor where it once stood.
All is quiet again. You can now barely make out where the bronze wall slides up into the ceiling, you are guessing that the bronze is at least an inch thick.
Not one to be able to offer much in the way of tangible trap removal advice... Mihai remains silent and watchful. Any suggestion of using summoned flesh for the purposes of experimentation causes him to raise an eyebrow... but he does not intervene to challenge it.
Aedalis detects Transmutation Magic...after several round it is a moderate aura.
Give me a perception check. If you beat a DC 20, read the second spoiler, if not them continue with your next action.
You spot small auras of transmutation magic glowing on the pillars.
Not one to be able to offer much in the way of tangible trap removal advice... Mihai remains silent and watchful. Any suggestion of using summoned flesh for the purposes of experimentation causes him to raise an eyebrow... but he does not intervene to challenge it.
A reasonably powerful aura of transmutation is what I have discerned...
Nim focuses his own vision to search the room for auras along with Aedalis...
Can you tell how the trap is activated? Or better yet, deactivated? What if we keep our distance from the pool? Can we dash through the room to the other doors perhaps?
There seems to be smaller auras emanating from points upon the pillars in addition to those from the pool, ceiling and walls...
Some sort of sensors? Or perhaps a way to deactivate the traps?
Can you see them Aedalis? I am unschooled in art of identifying the type of magic involved... but they seem to be of a similar type of magic as the rest.
Anton stares at the blood spatter that is all that remains of the summoned pony, listening to Aedalis and Nim discussing magical auras. "Transmutation, eh? And all over the place. So the room is basically one giant trap. (As I suspected.) Now that I know what I'm up against, I might be able to mess it up; but I'm going to have to lighten my load, and get out of this armor. On the plus side, we can put it in the doorway, and maybe it can hold up the wall long enough for me to escape if I don't get it right the first time." The halfling shrugs off his backpack, and starts taking off his magical breastplate.
Do you think discarding your armor wise?
I suspect salvation or destruction awaits you at the pillars...
Do you wish for me to accompany you within the chamber? Perhaps if the trap summons something that can be fought?
Anton gives a half grin. "'Wise' would be to not go ahead. Possibly see if there's a back way in through the pit of bones, and otherwise just shrug and leave. But if we're going forward, then I'll need every advantage to succeed at breaking the trap before it triggers. And no, I doubt you could help. Too rhythmic, too much vibration. I'm pretty sure it uses a mechanism of some kind."
All that is left to say then is... good luck.
Focus on the pillars Nim spoke of.
Anton focus' on the pillars for a few moments after laying down his armor in the doorway. He knows his life could depend on his sharp sight and ability to defeat many traps...
He thinks he spots something on the pillar, but he has to get closer to be sure. Moving into the room Anton looks for pressure plates, tripwires ...anything that will set off this trap as he moves up. Approaching the pillar and he is able to make it out now, a circular difference in the pillar about 4 feet up.
Anton reaches up and touches the circle, it seems that it can move so you push it, something clicks in the pillar and you start to look around. All is quiet...
A grin comes over your face as you think you may have defeated the trap!
It is short lived though, just as you begin to give the group the thumbs up something makes you hesitate...you hear some whispering coming from the wall to the west nearest the group...a couple of the others start to hear it as well..voices from the wall.
Suddenly an eyeball squeezes through what is an impossibly small crack in the walls followed by some flesh, then another eyeball and a mouth with jagged teeth. Like a fountain of jellified flesh, something spews out of the crack in the west wall...it is horrific. This horrid mass of eyes, mouths, and formless flesh stares in all directions, its countless maws whispering ceaselessly.
initiative strings:
Order of Combat: Mouth of Madness 1:
Creature 21
Anton 19
Aedalis 16a
Tragershen 16b
Corbrius 14
Nim 11a
Wic 11b
Mihai 1
The voices coming from the creature seems to claw into your mind, muddying it, what should you do, it is hard to think!
The creatures turn is over.
It is a Gibbering Mouther. A powerful abberation. It's body is immune to critical hits and precision damage.
It's voices are called Gibbering (Su) As a free action, a gibbering mouther can emit a cacophony of maddening sound. All creatures other than gibbering mouthers within 60 feet must succeed on a DC
13 Will save or be confused for 1 round. This is a mindaffecting
compulsion insanity effect. A creature that saves cannot be affected by the same mouther’s gibbering for 24 hours.
It is a Gibbering Mouther. A powerful abberation. It's body is immune to critical hits and precision damage.
It's voices are called Gibbering (Su) As a free action, a gibbering mouther can emit a cacophony of maddening sound. All creatures other than gibbering mouthers within 60 feet must succeed on a DC
13 Will save or be confused for 1 round. This is a mindaffecting
compulsion insanity effect. A creature that saves cannot be affected by the same mouther’s gibbering for 24 hours.
It has DR5/Bludgeoning.
All-Around Vision (Ex) A gibbering mouther sees in all
directions at once. It cannot be flanked.
Amorphous (Ex) A gibbering mouther’s body is malleable and
shapeless. It is immune to precision damage (like sneak
attacks) and critical hits, and can move through an area as
small as one-quarter its space without squeezing or oneeighth
its space when squeezing.
Blood Drain (Ex) On a successful grapple check after grabbing,
several of the creature’s mouths attach to its target. Each
round it maintains its grapple, its mouths automatically
deal 1d4 points of bite damage and 1 point of
Constitution damage as it drains its victim’s blood.
You can read the Beastiary entry and know everything about it.
Will Save:
Aedalis marred the creature's ability to attack and extended the hex, all while sending Tilsini forward with the touch of fatigue spell the familiar was holding.
As its tiny body made contact with the creature, Tilsini acted as a conduit for the spell Aedalis had cast upon the familiar, delivering it.
Will
Knowledge Dungeoneering
01–25 Act normally
26–50 Do nothing but babble incoherently
51–75 Deal 1d8 points of damage + Str modifier to self with item in hand
76–100 Attack nearest creature (for this purpose, a familiar counts as part of the subject's self)
Failed save confusion roll Til
Failed save confusion roll Ant
Failed save confusion roll Trag
Gibbering Mouther CR 6
XP 2,400
N Medium aberration
Init +3; Senses all-around vision, darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +12
Defense
AC 23, touch 13, flat-footed 16 (+3 Dex, +8 natural)
hp 54 (4d8+28)
Fort +8, Ref +4, Will +5
Defensive Abilities amorphous; DR 5/bludgeoning; Immune
critical hits, precision damage
Offense
Speed 10 ft., swim 20 ft.
Melee 6 bites +9 (1d4+2 plus grab)
Special Attacks blood drain, engulf (6d4 damage plus 2 Con
damage, AC 13, hp 4), gibbering, ground manipulation,
spittle (+8 ranged touch)
Statistics
Str 14, Dex 21, Con 28, Int 8, Wis 17, Cha 16
Base Atk +3; CMB +5 (+9 grapple); CMD 20 (can’t be tripped)
Feats Weapon Finesse, Weapon Focus (bite)
Skills Perception +14, Swim +10; Racial Modifiers +4 Perception
Language Aklo
Ecology
Environment any underground
Organization solitary
Treasure standard
Special Abilities
All-Around Vision (Ex) A gibbering mouther sees in all directions at once. It cannot be flanked.
Amorphous (Ex) A gibbering mouther’s body is malleable and shapeless. It is immune to precision damage (like sneak attacks) and critical hits, and can move through an area as small as one-quarter its space without squeezing or oneeighth its space when squeezing.
Blood Drain (Ex) On a successful grapple check after grabbing, several of the creature’s mouths attach to its target. Each round it maintains its grapple, its mouths automatically deal 1d4 points of bite damage and 1 point of Constitution damage as it drains its victim’s blood.
Engulf (Ex) This ability functions as swallow whole, except for the following changes. An engulfed creature is trapped in the gibbering mouther’s body, where several of its mouths continue to feed and drain
blood. A gibbering mouther can engulf only one foe of its size or smaller at a time. If an engulfed creature cuts its way free (the mouther’s damage reduction still applies to those inside), the mouther simply flows together again and can still use its engulf attack. This horrid mass of eyes, mouths, and formless f lesh stares in all directions, its countless maws yammering ceaselessly. Giant, Storm–Gibbering Mouther
Gibbering (Su) As a free action, a gibbering mouther can emit a cacophony of maddening sound. All creatures other than gibbering mouthers within 60 feet must succeed on a DC 15 Will save or be confused for 1 round. This is a mindaffecting compulsion insanity effect. A creature that saves cannot be affected by the same mouther’s gibbering for 24 hours. The save DC is Constitution-based.
Ground Manipulation (Su) At will as a standard action, a gibbering mouther can cause stone and earth under its body to grow soft and muddy. The ground remains muddy for 1 minute after the mouther moves off of the location. A gibbering mouther can move through these areas with ease, but other creatures treat them as difficult terrain.
Spittle (Ex) Each round as a free action, a gibbering mouther can emit a stream of acidic spittle at one target within 30 feet. On a successful attack, the target is blinded for 1d4 rounds unless he succeeds on a DC 18 Fortitude save. The save DC is Constitution-based.
Tilsini turns on his master and bites Aedalis on the neck!
Anton just stands there with a blank look on his face unable to do anything this round.
The rest of the party seems unaffected by it.
Aedalis, you can adjust your action if you wish. Tragershen and the rest of the group is up.
Round 1:
Managing to block out the droning voices Mihai sees his companions begin to act queerly and turns to Nim. Extending the grace of the Walker he pleads "End this quickly Nim... slay the beast"
You got lucky and got the "act normally" roll. Feel free to act. The effect only lasts one round so I didn't bother saying anything about it.
As he draws forth a wand, Tragershen calls out "Don't let it grab you, it will engulf you and drain your blood!"
He says no more once the wand is ready, instead focusing on invoking its magic.
Cast Bears Endurance on Nim using the wand.
Recognizing the creature for the threat it represents Corbius quickly intones words of power before drawing his rapier and moving between the babbling blob of flesh and an exposed Anton. Ignoring the caccophny of sound emanating from it's many mouths Corbius drives his rapier deep into the pulsating flesh knowing that the blade itself will do little but smiling as pulses of electricity arc from the blade burning and cracking the flesh around the point of entry.
Withdraw Anton!! Corbius shouts as he places himself between the unarmored ranger and the beast.[/b]
Anton titters.