Anton grimaces as a wave of foul energy washes over him, sapping his very life essence. Ugh. Not another one. He grunts with pain as the skeleton next to him claws and bites, finding spots that his armor doesn't cover, but he stays focused on the real threat. On Ieana. He looks for her holy symbol...
Corbius listens to Ieana's pathetic threats a smile spreading across his face. Looks like you are going to end up like the rest of your long lost race. DEAD!! With that Corbius strikes for the creatures heart with his blade. He feels the satisfying bite of metal on flesh as the blade sinks deep into her scaly hide.
The dinosaur that Nim has become dashes through the blood and up the steps to get into a flanking position on the skeleton behind the alter before biting at it with his wickedly sharp teeth...
Wic continues to lay motionless upon the floor...
Round 4, Init 16
The near-feral halfling in front of you is not the Anton that you're accustomed to. Normally, he would take his time with a strong opponent like this -- watch her, get to know her patterns first. But no, he just swings his polearm furiously, striking at Ieana's holy symbol with all of his strength.
Round 4:
Will Save:
Feeling Ieana's energy wash over him, Mihai grits his teeth and responds with a wave of his own. "No Ieana... our path does not end here."
Order of Combat Round 4:
Corbrius 22 *gone
Nim/Wic 19 *gone
Skeleton RS2 17a
Mihai 17b
Anton 16
Ieana 13
Aedalis 8a
Tragershen 8b
Skeleton RS1 7 *destroyed
SR
Corbrius hits Ieana...the electricity surrounds her but she doesn't seem to be affected! The blade strike still hurts her though.
You are starting to believe that Ieana has Spell Resistance. You can roll your own spell penetration roll.
Nim then moves up in Dinosaur form and lands a viscious bite on the skeleton, tearing it apart.
Mihai send out some healing to the group.
Anton sees a pendant on her chest and strikes at it, destroying it.
You will pay for that Halfling!
Ieana shifts 5' to -M,-2 then uses an ability defensively and speaks to Nim in a magically laced tongue, Flee from here, go back to the jungle!
Aeadalis and Trag. to go.
Casting another spell, Aedalis abandoned the Chill Touch and delivered a spell through the ghostly hand, designed to enfeeble Ieana's mind; if it could break through her resistance to magic...
Casting another spell, Aedalis abandoned the Chill Touch and delivered a spell through the ghostly hand, designed to enfeeble Ieana's mind; if it could break through her resistance to magic...
[dice=Melee Touch Attack (Spectral Hand)]1d20+2+2+1-1
[dice=Caster Level Check]1d20+4
Ieana easily dodges the ghostly hand...
Not wanting to hinder any of his allies with his remaining spells, Tragershen flings his club at the remaining skeleton as he moves closer to the fight, but to no meaningful effect.
Move to -L3 and use hand of apprentice with his club.
To hit
Damage
The last skeleton strikes out at Anton...
Both claws rend Anton, leaving him feeling a little woozy...
Order of Combat Round 5:
Corbrius 22
Nim/Wic 19
Mihai 17b
Anton 16
Ieana 13
Aedalis 8a
Tragershen 8b
Skeleton RS1 7
Corbrius is up then the rest of you.
Corbius frustrated by his spells failure Corbius continues to flail his sword at Ieana to no real effect. He hopes at least to keep her attention while the others deal with the skeletons.
Corbius looks towards the dinosaur like creature that he has never seen before. Whatever it is it is attacking the skeletons so it must be on our side.
Nim sees Corbius flailing away at Ieana, and Anton in difficulty against the skeleton, and he hesitates for a moment...
Those close enough, notice that Mihai's positive energy seems to mend some of Wic's grievous wounds slightly. A sign that the wolf still lives? He remains motionless upon the floor however...
Round 5, Init 16
Anton sees a pendant on her chest and strikes at it, destroying it.
You will pay for that Halfling!
Anton bares his teeth in a fierce grin. "How about I pay you the same as Nylithati?" He appears to think that this is a witty comeback, which implies that he is not entirely rational at the moment. The reptilian skeleton that he's ignoring claws him savagely, and the halfling coughs up blood. "Like this." He stabs at the snake-headed spellcaster with his spear-headed polearm.
Round 5:
As his companions continue to be beset by Ieana and her creations, Mihai plants his feet and with arms at his side maintains the flow of wamth from himself to his companions. The harrow cards that each of them bear grow warm as they act as lodestones to draw in Sinashakti's healing grace.
The dinosaur looks as if it is going to move towards the skeleton raking Anton, but switches direction and steps towards Ieana instead...
...before becoming a blur of claws, talons and bites directed at the treacherous Ieana...
...opening a couple of significant wounds upon her.
Beast man, your form tricks mean nothing! she seems ready to do something then screeches in anger before using the scroll in her hand.
Cast defensively from the scroll in her hand,
Cure Moderate Wounds.
Your pathetic magic will not save you!!
Knowing that his presdigitation will cleanse his boots later, Tragershen steps into the blood to help finish the skeleton, allowing the more able warrior to focus on their primary foe.
Move to -M2 and attack the skeleton.
To hit
Damage
Possible crit, confirm:
To hit
Damage
The dinosaur ignores Ieana's mewlings and moves in for the kill...
...tearing into her again with teeth and claws...
...ravaging her flesh with numerous horrific wounds.
Giving up on trying to land the spell on Ieana for now, Aedalis placed a Fortune hex upon Corbrius.
The skeleton lands one glancing blow on Anton. As Corbrius moves to stab Ieana Nim leaps upon her. What follows is a savaging that none of you have ever seen before. Blood, gore, flesh being flung all over the area.
When he is done, Ieana struggles no more. It is an easy matter to dispatch the skeleton at this point...the one who started this is dead. When you look back at Ieana you see her true form.
You recognize the general type of creature you see, it's called a Serpentfolk, but this one looks different. As far as you know serpentfolk are little better than brute animals, marked primarily by severe devolution of higher brain functions regarding language, craftsmanship, magical ability, and basic hygiene. Still, some remarkable attribute, universal to even the most savage members of the species, prevents the loss of their racial telepathy, and these creatures retain a glimmer of subhuman intellect even in the most extreme of mutations. Hunched and powerfully built, degenerate erpentfolk demonstrate far greater deviation from a common form, though the “average” member of the caste stands 4 to 6 feet in height and weighs between 180 to 220 pounds. Heavily armored, these freakish monstrosities have also been observed with more or lesser limbs, including vestigial heads, dual tails, and other abnormalities. Obviously this one if different...very different.
With Ieana and her skeletal retinue defeated, the anger that had sustained Anton leaks away. Bruises show through where he isn't covered in his own blood, and the halfling leans heavily on his polearm, still standing protectively over Wicewakan's still form.
Several things of note about this chamber:
1)The blood weeping from the altar and filling the trough is real and at body temperature.
2)The temple is giving off a feeling of dread in you and unease, with further study you could probably deterine the source of it.
3)A 1-foot-diameter hole in the ceiling just west of the altar is spotted, though it is far too narrow for any creatures larger than Diminutive size to traverse.
4)The bat-winged statue depicts Zura, the demon lord of vampires and cannibals. The statue radiates moderate transmutation magic. It has the power to affect those who smear blood upon its lips with gaseous form.
5)There appears to be very detailed notes of many of the carvings and writings on the walls, probably 70-80 pages of them here. They appear to be written in Aklo.
6)You have been down here for about 2 hours so far.
What is next...Ieana is dead, you are now the masters of the island!
Unless the others distract him and ask other things of him, Tragershen will get to work translating the Aklo writing.
The dinosaur circles the vast chamber, checking to ensure no threats remain. It stops frequently and sniffs the air before making its way over to the fallen wolf.
Mihai marks the passing of Ieana with an exhalation of breath and muttered prayer. Expending the last of the Walker's glory, he moves to tend to the fallen wolf - kneeling beside him and laying hands upon his flank.
Unless the others distract him and ask other things of him, Tragershen will get to work translating the Aklo writing.
One last thing, this temple, so far south from the time of Azlant, is actually a significant discovery...you believe the Pathfinders or the Sargavan government would be very interested in it.
Wic finally stirs as his wounds are magically knit. He nuzzles Mihai in thanks as the dinosaur bobs its head up and down, apparently also in a show of appreciation. The wolf is still quite banged up but dutifully assumes his position at his master's side.
You get the impression that Nim is not ready yet to assume his human form... as he once again patrols the room. He heads back to the door and scans the previous room for trouble before making his way back to the altar and statue. He then lets out a screech while looking at the rest of you...
After a good look through the Aklo notes, Tragershen says "Worth keeping, and further review." If he finds any sketches of the altar itself by just flipping through it, he'll stop and read those to learn more about it. Otherwise, he'll tuck the notes away for later review.
When Nim lets out a screech about the altar and statue, Tragershen approaches. He'll join the Nim-creature in examining the stonework, starting with a Detect Magic casting and concentrating to see if it helps narrow down the source of the unease.
"Just the location of this place may be of significant value to the Pathfinders. Should we make it clear of the island, we should take advantage of that."
Room description again, Judging from this cathedral-like chamber’s decor, this area must have once been a significant temple dedicated to some vile god. To the west, a few steps lead up to a shrine presided over by a ten-foot-high statue of a beautiful, fanged woman, save that instead of arms she possesses two upraised bat-like wings and instead of feet her legs end in talons. She looms over a glistening altar of blood-red stone that seems to weep blood into a trough below; this trough of blood runs the length of the room before disappearing to the east through a set of bronze bars in front of a wide opening in the wall that drops away into darkness. Stone pillars support the roof 25 feet above, and two dry fountains sit opposite each other against the walls in the middle of the room. Three large alcoves, one to the south and two to the north, contain complex wall carvings. The entire chamber feels unnaturally cold, and now and then strange disembodied whispers slither through the air.
The detect gives off two aura's of transmutation, overwhelming on the Altar, moderate on the statue. The altar gives you a headache for about an hour after it almost knocks you out...
Mihai, if you wish to do a reading let me know.
Noting also that Anton is bloodied, Mihai moves to the halfling and expends further of his god's divine grace. Coughing as the transfer takes place and he is left slightly emptied by the experience.
Relative safety restored, Mihai sits on the stone with a sigh and thump... letting the adrenaline of the conflict flow from his body as he regards the carvings and architecture with a cautious eye. Putting his hand in his pocket he comes across the flute... though figures that music may yet still be premature in the place of danger, he fishes out his well used pack of harrow cards... and contemplates...
Corbius watches in shock and awe as the dniosaur Nim descends upon Ieana. Wiping smears of blood from his face he looks cautiously at the creature standing before him before moving on to help the others explore.
At Tragershen Well lets hope we get off this island so we can tell someone. With a smile Corbius heads to one of the alcoves to examine the wall carvings for himself.
You don't recognize the statue but between Aedalis, Mihai, and Tragershen they were able to figure it out.
You find yourself standing there with you sword out...it suddenly speaks, This is facinating and what I came here for. she ways sadly.
At least I can help you with what you are seeing.
It appears that the alcoves are telling a story of this Zura cult in three different times. It is all written in Azlanti.
There appears to be prayers and parables written in the alcoves as well, they might have been used for meditation for the cultists. The most interesting part though is the story. We should learn more about their story and how they came to be so far to the west and south of the Azlanti empire.
At Corbius "Indeed. Though getting out of this temple complex may not be as difficult as we may have feared. I believe the blood from that statue may give us a temporary form not unlike fog or smoke."
"Anton, this altar gives off an aura of tremendous dark power. Often an altar such as this will hold an artifact relevant to the faith it represents. Can you help me see if such an object is secreted here?"
Anton nods. "Of course. With the way that it seems to be creating blood, I suspect that the altar is the artifact, but it's better not to make assumptions." He looks it over carefully.
You find no secret panels or compartments. It seems to be solid stone which blood comes out of a top opening and flows down the front to create the "river" of blood.
Mihai's reading seems to be muddled...as if a dark power is trying to block you from gleaning anything useful.
Face dark Mihai gathers his cards and stows them once more "The fates are clouded... no doubt this casts a shadow on them." gesturing towards the altar. "Should we plumb the rest of the compound first before we consider the path of blood?"
The clever halfling finishes his careful inspection of the altar. "Yep, no secret compartments. Just solid stone with a blood fountain."
At Mihai's query, Anton bows gratefully. "Thank you again for your healing. I think that we've explored everything else except for the pit of bones near the entry."
Here is the description of that chamber, there is nothing of note in the chamber other than 2 soulbound dolls you fight and dispatch with relative ease.
At first glance, this damp cavern seems natural, but here and there the mineral deposits on the walls and ceiling don’t quite obscure ancient walls that were carved by hand. The floor is covered with a shallow layer of brackish water from which numerous small mounds of delicate crystals emerge. A large mound of ancient bones caked with thick mineral deposits lies along the west wall under a hole in the ceiling.
The dolls you understand contain the souls of living creatures and would be worth quite a bit to evil creatures trafficking in souls. Selling souls in such a manner is quite an evil act since most of them get used in horrible rituals. They are easy to destroy if you wish to do so and free the souls?
The temple search is completed...you feel pretty sure you are alone in the temple, other than the evil whispering that continues to eminate from the shrine area.