Estietre spends the early morning just outside of camp in quiet but animated conversation with Kainey, and seemingly wither the surrounding air. She returns to camp with a smile. “I’m ready. Let’s do this ritual again, and get back to it. I hope there are more skeletons... I have something I’d like to try.” Her smile grows.. eager excitement.
Hana moves into position by the door, one hand hovering near the hilt of her sword. She waits for the rest of the team to form up.
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Once the group gathers and is ready at the doors, Hana opens the door to reveal an oval pool of what looks like softly rippling blood sitting at the center of this octagonal room, filling the air with a metallic tang.
Four round pillars support a ceiling decorated with criss-crossed supports and grooves, while ten two-foot-wide circular holes decorate the walls at chest level. Directly across the chamber from lies another set of double doors.
Hana recoils slightly with a look of disgust.
"What is this... filth?" she finally manages to state. She keeps her hand near her sword, still.
Estietre peers around her allies to get a look.
"Is that blood? Fresh blood?"
Hana wrinkles her nose and says, "It is... unclean. Reeks of maho."
Estietre exhales loudly... "Personally, I am alright with coming back to this after exploring the other direction."
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The party decides that the room with the octagonal pool of blood is a bit too creepy for their tastes at this time and heads back down the stairs and follows the western stairwell.
The stairwell turns to the north and continues upwards, arriving at the same level as the high bridge in the entry chamber and a chamber containing bits of bone and fragments of wood lie scattered throughout. 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.
• This chamber was once a scriptorium where books and scrolls sacred to the worship of Zura were transcribed and illuminated.
• This temple was built over an even more ancient temple—one that was dedicated to a deity referred to only as the “Beheaded One,” an entity that was apparently an enemy to the ancient Zura cultists.
• Several prayers seem to indicate that the ancients made use of undead slaves created from both “humans culled from the unbelievers and slaves of the Beheaded One.”
• As much hatred as the Zura cultists had for the “slaves of the Beheaded One,” they also seemed to despise their own kind—especially those they called the “misbegotten of Saventh-Yhi.”
"What is this?" says Hana cautiously. "More cultic designs, I would wager. Do any of you recognize these symbols or this language? I do not."
"Hmm... so much of it too." Estietre frowns. "I'm not getting much from it, but... I believe this fanged skull you see repeated time and again is a symbol of Zura. Of whom I know little."
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"What I do know is that she is said to be the first vampire to have come into existence... an Azlanti queen with an insatiable lust. A lust so great, in fact, it eventually led to feeding on other humans." She stands in quiet thought for a moment with a devilish look of someone delivering juicy gossip.
"There are stories of decadent feasts - err as in cannibalism with a hedonistic flair. They would literally bathe in human blood. Hmm." She looks back toward the direction from which they'd come in contemplation.
"Hmmnh. That sounds terrible. Let's see what other horrors await here before we brave that particular location," suggests Hana. Clearly the samurai-ko has an aversion to blood magic.
"Snake gods and vampire queens," Dereje muses with disdain, shaking his head. "Small wonder that this civilization collapsed."
In spite of his disgust, the significance of this place is not lost on Dereje. He imagines that it would be considered an incredible archaeological find. To an extent, he could appreciate it for that fact alone.
"It seems we have two doors to choose from this time. Shall we try the one on the left?"
Hana places one hand on the hilt of her katana and raises the other to place one finger over her lips, then she very carefully slips through the doorway as cautiously as she can.
Estietre nods resolutely to Hana to indicate her being ready to advance.
Hana slides cautiously into the hallway, wary about the possibility of traps but without much in the way of ability to deal with such a threat.
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Hana makes her way down the hallway carefully, looking into each alcove along the way. The alcoves were likely used as sleeping and meditation quarters for the priests of the Zura cult.
Turning the corner Hana sees a larger room that served as a communal chamber where meals were prepared and eaten and the source of the noise - four humanoid skeletons shamblling around the larger chamber.
Initiative Order:
Lawdrak & Sharpmaw
Estietre
Dereje
Hana
Skeletons
Adara
Estietre ducks into the alcove behind Hana.
"Oooh.. more skeletons. I'll take the one in the back!"
Estietre pulls a pinch of meat and bone from her pouch, waves her hand and contorts her fingers as she murmurs an arcane phrase.
After which she says.. "Fight for me. Kill the other skeletons."
Lawdrak and sharpmaw advance, waiting for a chance to engage.
Dereje grimaces, both at the news of more skeletons and at the incredibly narrow hallway he is stuck in. Even if he could actually see the accursed things, he was not quite confident enough in his aim to fire past more than one of his companions. Still, the hall could also work to their advantage.
"Let them come to us!" he suggests from the back of the group, not quite certain what Mum is attempting to do.
Hana nods at Dereje's advice and waits, hand hovering over the hilt of her sword.
Now that the enemies have advanced, Hana draws her katana with speed and slashes at the closest skeleton.
Estietre makes a quick gesture, then points to the skeleton next in line.
She fires a ghostly ray way off target, then makes her way back through her allies... "Let me get out of your way here", and ducks into the next alcove.
Lawdrak whistles sharply and gestures to the alcove opposite Hana, and Sharpmaw bustles into, whirling to be ready for the next attacker. A moment later, the druid squeezes past, taking position in the alcove behind her.
"Take a step back toward Dereje! Maybe they are stupid enough to let themselves be surrounded!" he suggests to Hana.
Hana moves back slightly to create a pocket and waits for the skeletons to approach.
With there now being a space for the skeletons to file into, Dereje carefully takes aim over Hana's shoulder, intending to blast away the first one that comes into view.
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Lawdrak's spear glances off of the skeletons arm with little to no effect, but Sharpmaw's bite splinters the creature in to hundreds of pieces.
The skeleton controlled by Estietre continues to claw at its orange clad companion, tearing off one its arms. The now one armed skeleton turns to strike at its now apparent foe returning the favor.
Hana steps up to the hot skeleton-on-skeleton action.
"HIYAAAA!"
With the two skeletons preoccupied with tearing each other to pieces, Dereje holds his fire. It is not as though he could curve his bullets, in any case.
Estietre stays back as well.. trying to keep out of the way, and letting her charmed skeleton do his duty.
Sharpmaw steps out and takes a bite at (orange).
LAwdrak slides into place int eh alcove Shaprmaw abandoned and strikes.