Theophilus then notices the smallest shoggoth with pilfering hands.
Excuse me my good sir! But this is a place of sciene! Not some romper room to be debased!
The roaring sounds of laughter from the White Rabbit float in the air...
Mara called Charlabu over, "There's a nasty shuggoth that is bothering Dervak; Could you help him with that?"
The hound archon flew over behind the Bloodrager asking him, "May I be of some assistance, sir?"
The mutated shoggoth tries a different tactic but finds that so long as Dervak is angry fate protects the bloodrager.
"Go ahead, Charlabu! This thing tried to take Upianshe!"
Dervak has had enough of Tentacle-thing. "You don't take my friends! Or my stuff! Or whatever the sword is!"
He takes a step and tries to carve it up.
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Ci Ci extends her rod at the shoggoth.
"Pewpewpew!"
Theo (munching on freshly popped buttery popcorn) watches Dervak demonstration of his culinary skills.
Mara teleported Charlabu forward into flank, so he could make a full attack.
Mara teneded to Dervak's wounds with her healing hex.
Dervak gives the destruction of the Mutated Shoggoth working in concert with Upiandshee’s spirit to extinguish the strange ooze. While it can’t avoid the majority of Dervak’s fated slashes, it manages to squirm out of the way of Charlabu each time. Ci Ci’s pew pew bolts disappear harmlessly right before it strikes the creature.
Behind Mara a pair of Lantern Archons appear and shoot their own pew pew lights. Two of which strike the shoggoth.
Dervak attacks with Teralindar's Honor; the sword seems aggrieved by being briefly stolen and is especially ferocious in its hits on the mutant Shoggoth.
Theophilus disappointedly reaches for more popcorn but he comes up empty.
Dervak it seems we have an egregious error! No more popcorn!
The Witch takes out his frustrations on the blob.
Dervak finishes off the creature that doomed the elder things' civilization.
Among the corpses of the elder thing scientists you find three more labeled chip, 3, 5, and 10.
The White Rabbit is seen making more popcorn.
Theo takes out a wand and floats over to Dervak.
Dervak listens for any more movement down the corridor.
If he hears nothing, he will end his rage.
He cleans the ichor off of his sword.
"Should we go northeast? Where it came from?"
Ci Ci calls upon the fire within to heal her injuries.
Northeast, Spawning Vat
A ten-foot-by-five-foot block of greenish black marble sits at the north end of this pentagon-shaped chamber. A large section of the top of the block has been cut away and lined with a strange steel alloy to form a basin or pool. A scent like a mixture of lavender and ozone lingers in the air. The walls and floor are smooth stone here as elsewhere, but also remarkably clean.
Theophilus looks in awe at the cleanliness of the place.
The White Rabbit is seen wearing a maid's outfit complete with feather duster.
"Hmm."
Dervak looks around, wondering if there are more of those numbered chips.
Like playing cards or something?
"Say, Theophilus, Mara, can you heal Erich Zann? I believe he was also struck by the shock-bombs."
"Stand near me, Erich," Ci Ci says, as she calls on her power and expends it out in a wave of soothing energy.
Mara attended to Erich as well.
Now that the danger had passed, she took some time to have a good look around the chamber.
Erich writes in his notebook, "You have my thanks."
Mara finds little else in this room.
Erich points down the hall to the next chamber, but waits for someone else to take the lead.
Dervak leads the way down the hall to the next chamber.
Theophilus smiles at the bard. He puts his wand away before tiptoeing directly behind Dervak.
The White Rabbit is seen wearing a safari outfit. He is holding tightly to Dervaks other trousers leg.
A small worktable covered with alchemical equipment occupies the eastern corner of this high-ceilinged, five-sided room. The bottom of a steep ramp begins at the western edge of the room, constructed from the same cold marble as the rest of the building.
[dice=Perception DC 25]You find an oil of daylight, and three potions of cure serious wounds. [/spoiler]
Ci Ci recognizes several of the vials on the table and points them out to the rest of the party.
"These could come in handy," she says. "Who wants to carry them?"
Theophilus looks at the White Rabbit.
The White Rabbit is seen wearing a burlap sack and a frown. He points to the bard.
"Well, if the Star Stela is not in here, then it must be in that room to the south."
Dervak heads back to the Observation Chamber and, when the others are with him, leads the way into the next room.
A pentagon is engraved plainly on the surface of the door with a sigil in its center, the number 19 in Aklo. At each exterior point of the pentagon and at the middle of each straight line is a small five-sided indentation, as if designed to accept some object inserted in each of the 10 slots.
Mara closely examined the pentagon, trying to get a clue about how the lock worked.
"Perhaps the numbers in each line add up to the same amount?"
”Ah ha! That’s it!” Ci Ci exclaims, solving the puzzle.
Ci Ci realizes that the numbered keys they've collected need to be inserted in such a way that they add up to 19. She inserts the 10, 4, and 5.
A familiar-looking column stands in the southern point of this room. Two metal objects stand on either side of the stela, mounted on a metal apparatus to hold them in place. The objects are long, thin, rectangular sheets of silver metal that are curved to a semicircle, resembling a tube cut lengthwise, and they cup the stela from a few feet on either side. Cables run from the objects and snake upward, disappearing into the stone wall. Blinking lights and a series of changing symbols emanate from directly inside the stone wall. A soft hum fills the room.
Theophilus and The White Rabbit strut into the chamber. They both look about for a moment, study the puzzle for a mere second, before both snap their fingers.
Taking out a rusty pair of scissors, they walk up to a cable and cut it.
The White Rabbit immediately kicks the Witch in the trouser leg.
OUCH! I bruise easily you know!
Theo tries another wire.
The blue one to match your eyes?
Dervak holds his breath as Theophilus works.
The White Rabbit is seen handing out clean handkerchiefs to everyone....
You hear the faint sound of a siren blaring outside. The building begins to vibrate steadily for 23 seconds. Then abruptly they both stop.
Casting Time 40 minutes
Components V, S, SC (up to 4)
Skill Checks Knowledge (arcana) DC 28, 2 successes;
Knowledge (dungeoneering) DC 28, 1 success; Spellcraft
DC 28, 1 success
Range touch
Target one Star Stela
Duration 1 day/character level of the primary caster
Saving Throw none; Spell Resistance no
Backlash All casters take 3d6 points of damage and
are exhausted.
EFFECT
In what is essentially the reverse of the beckon the stars
occult ritual, this ritual seeks to unravel the connection
between Carcosa and Thrushmoor. This ritual must be cast
within 30 feet of the designated Star Stela, and the primary
caster must remain within that range throughout the ritual.
Theophilus and the White Rabbit take a bow. They both then begin the ritual to reverse the flow...
Dervak will stand ready on guard while the smart people do the ritual.
He is just as happy that he lacks the ability to tamper with such forces... he has had more than his share of occult experience.
Twenty three minutes into the ritual the twisted and spectral from of Count Haserton Lowls IV appears before you. He floats above the observation chamber His face and form are twisted and marred by fungal growths. It seems the man has somehow followed in his mother's footsteps.
Your former employer commands you, "Stop!" His voice is ragged and distant.
Teralindar's Honor begins to vibrate, she's eager to destroy this affront to reality.
Mara concentrated, speeding up the flow of time for her allies.
"Yes, we're going to stop YOU!", she replied to her demented former employer.
Ci Ci moves forward and draws upon her power. "May the darkness consume you, body and soul!"
Theo knows....
Theophilus smirks at the ugly manifestation of Lowls.
Got his haircut all wrong. His head had a lump from wear he fell over a candlestick holder. I commissioned the hat to cover it up.
Nodding in satisfaction, the Mad Hatter decides to Fortune Hex his friend Dervak.
The Witch stays within 30' of him.
Keep me close
Waves of terror wash over from the gnawing darkness in front of you.
Zann begins to shake in fear but without being able to see the cause he's able to hold it together. The elderly man plays a haunting melody on his viol pushing you to greatness. He disappears but you can still hear his music.
"Cerise," Dervak says, "I can't see the foe because of your spell."
He will cast Long Arm.
Ci Ci nods, and dismisses the magic. "I didn't hear him screaming, so I'm guessing he was immune to its effect, anyway." She sighs in disappointment. "I should have just blasted him."