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As they begin to enter the ruin Avasir will cast Light on his masterwork dagger and hold it out in front of him. Until danger presents itself he will scan for magic auras every short distance as they explore.
"If some of the rest of you will scan for physical danger and traps, I'll keep an arcane eye out for magical auras, which I presume the "floating head" will almost certainly have."
He eyes the entrance as they get ready to delve in, waiting for the more physical types to take a short lead.
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Kenza drinks a potion , then walks at (or very near) the front of the group, keeping an eye out for danger. She's sure to always keep her body in between whatever lay ahead and her fellow Pathfinders, a literal human shield.
She seems completely undisturbed by Bielsi's ability to summon a spirit from his own consciousness. In fact, she seems to view him with even more deference than she did a moment ago. She nods at the spirit in respect when it appears, before going back to her duties.
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Before you venture into the unknown path, he request the members of the Scarab Sages stay behind a little while.
In little into the ruins, Bielsi summons his spiritual companion, away from wandering eyes that could feel at threat at the presence of a spirit.
The air cools as the tunnel leads deeper beneath Merab. Wooden supports shore up the walls in more precarious spots, and abandoned side tunnels show where the crew explored layers of older construction beneath the dig site. Eventually, the tunnel intersects a wall of much older construction than the surrounding area. Sledgehammers and other tools lie outside a hole in the wall large enough for a person to step through that opens onto a large room. The southern part of the room is largely collapsed. A sprawling message in red symbols covers the floor.
As you approach the message, the magic symbols on the floor writhe into a spiral and a telepathic message broadcast by an irritated, deep feminine voice enters your mind.
“Pathetic slave! Your base obsession with secrets served its purpose for a time, but you have grown tiresome. And now you dare to turn this obsession against me?! Foolish! You could have served a higher purpose, empowering me for all eternity. Now, for your defiance, you will grow to hate your immortality. You will wallow in ignorance forever, and even I, your master, will forget you.”
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Bielsi listens quietly and respectfully to Obahar's request but also studies him closely.
"Yes, all knowledge is important. More important than petty jockeying for favor and position, for example. We will bring back as much information as we can," Bielsi replies.
"I wonder if that message was to our quarry or from it," he comments as the words are projected into their minds.
He sizes up the 2 tunnels then shrugs and points to the 1 to the north.
"That one seems as good as any."
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Kenza replies to the extra orders with a bow of her head. "Yes, sir."
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As the mental message echoes through Kenza's head she looks around warily....
Seeing no sign of a source, except the magical circle she narrows her eyes. Leaving the mystery for better agents to ponder, Kenza looks down both paths. When Bielsi expresses interest in the northern path, Kenza leads the way forward, watching for signs of danger as they progress.
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Whatever the magic was, it has left the chambers, the arcane markings on the floor are nothing more than illegible markings at current.
The group proceeds then following Kenza's lead into a very small chamber. A chest, made of rotting wood, sits in this room’s western alcove. Although in a poor condition, looking easily breakable, the locks surprisingly hold.
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Led once more by Kenza, the group continues to press deeper into the ruins to explore it's hidden secrets.
Detritus litters this room, including bits of metal, broken furniture, crushed glass, leather strips, and shredded parchment. The walls, ceiling, and floor are covered in deep gouges forming words and phrases in multiple languages. You attempt to decipher the words written covering very surface of this room.
An opening leads west towards the next chamber.
Taking some time to study the room, you decipher that the room once contained a table with thick leather restraints, a single stool, and a small writing desk.
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Bielsi is reminded that, for someone who is part of a group so interested in the past as the Scarab Sages, and who makes his living writing things, that he doesn't know more languages.
Still, he studies the room carefully to try to glean any information he can from it.
He notices something curious about the scraps of paper, especially for a Scarab Sage but doesn't understand their significance.
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"I wonder if that message was to our quarry or from it," he comments as the words are projected into their minds.
Lindwickett repeats the telepathic message to himself turning it over in his mind slowly. "Well, the speaker does reference the immortality of whoever she is addressing three times there. Immortality would explain why this floating head still lives after thousands of years locked away. An immortal locked away forever would very likely end up hating their immortality if there was no escape. They would have to go mad sooner or later wouldn't they?” The gnome thinks about it for a second then adds on, "And as a corrupted djinn, a div is likely immortal."
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Kenza, who happens to be fluent in Ancient Orisiani, reads some of the text aloud.
“I will seek the Dungeons, find the screams, remember your name, KILL YOU”
She looks around the room with interest.
She takes a look at the scraps of paper and reads them. After a moment she announces: "This writing dates back to the Age of Destiny. That's around seven millennia ago."
Kenza eyes the Pathfinders around her, wondering why none of her betters speak the honoured tongue of her ancestors... No wonder they sent me on this mission.
Kenza waits a moment to see if her insights have helped her superiors puzzle out this riddle.
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Bielsi looks at Kenza quizzically for a moment before realizing that she was reading and had not been possessed by the spirits in these ruins.
"That seems almost certainly to have been written by the creature we're looking for. Perhaps the rest of the notes and designs are part of her plan," he continued.
"Let's see what else we can find," he says, looking to the exit to the room.
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Unfazed by your discoveries, you traverse once more deeper into what seems to be a curving hallway to a dead end. Over a dozen small alcoves line this hallway, each containing rusted shackles bolted to the walls and copious amounts of dust. Three of the alcoves contain brittle skeletons hanging from the shackles. Frantic whispers echo around the otherwise-silent chamber, seemingly originating from the skulls of the deceased.
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Bielsi starts to get a little creeped out by the whispering, which is saying something coming from a guy with a dead woman cohabitating his mind.
It doesn't stop him from doing his job, though and he turns his knowledge to the task at hand, with advice from Zarisha.
"These people were subjected to multiple diseases before they died. So many, someone must have used a great deal of magic to keep them alive. I suggest we be wary. That same magic no doubt lingers and may keep them alive in a wau, still. And as much as they must have suffered in life, I doubt they will be happy," Bielsi shared what he'd deduced.
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Kenza curls her lip in distaste at such treatment.
She waits patiently for someone more knowledgable than her to figure out what to do about the whispering.
As she waits she moves through the chamber, alert for danger and objects of interest to her superiors. She also examines the dead end, knowing that secret doors are a common sight in ancient ruins.
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No other magic lingers in the chamber accept for that pointed out by Bielsi. Searching the room for hidden doors or compartments finds nothing. Satisfied with the discoveries at hand, the group traces their footsteps back to the starting chamber to walk down the other path.
Broken marble litters the southern corners of this room, where a pair of toppled statues brandishing curved stone swords must once have reached nearly to the ceiling. Many broken weapons lie scattered about the room. The ceilings in this room are 20 feet high, while the stairs here rise to a platform 10 feet high.
Wandering aimlessly in the chamber is a lone skeleton, who turns its head to greet you with their evil looking faces as soon as you step in. The armored skeleton stands in a battle-ready pose, its weapon held high as cold blue light shines in its eye sockets.
Immediately the skeleton presses and engages with Kenza swinging it's longsword. It injures the half orc critically,
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Bielsi will call out the information he knows about their opponent to the rest of the team.
Then, he touches Zarisha, imparting much the same effect on her as Avasir does on himself, though his is psychic in origin.
Zarisha's simple, tattered dress, which is only a shade different in color from her skin and seems to be made of the same ectoplasmic stuff is soon covered by a simple breastplate made of mystic material.
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Bielsi recognizes these skeleton as formidable opponents, skeletal champions as they are called. They are resistant to any damage not made by a blunt weapon. And have no special attacks, but are expert swordsman.
Frostwind moves around the corner out of the way, finding an opening to lob a bomb! It works magnificently as the creature finds partial bones blowing out of it's body, but not enough to take it down.
Avasir and Bielsi cast some fortification to ensure safety out of this fight. Meanwhile Ashwell attempts to focus his mind but fails to find the right frequency.
The melee fighters have no luck against the undead as his armor proves to be much tougher to punch through than originally though. In reaction to the attacks, the skeleton takes a large swing with his weapon. It cleanly cuts Kenza, causing her to bleed profusely into an unconscious state. The sword follows through towards Zarisha but narrowly misses the Phantom as she shifts out of reach.
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Lindwicket tumbles around the skeleton staying one step ahead of it's reach at all times. She gives the group a hopeful flank. The group attempts to help bring Kenza back into the fight but as she picks herself up the Skeleton swings and knocks her back down!
Bringing the fight to the skeleton Zarisha, Ashwell, and Avasir attempt to bring the skeleton down, but it proves to be fortified with a good set of armor. The skeleton attempts to return the favour by attack Zarisha, but the phantom also easily dodges.
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Avasir sighs in frustration at his minimal line of sight through the doorway, around Bielsi to the skeleton. He has an angle, but it's not very wide.
"Bielsi, through or back, but out of the doorway!"
Again he concentrates, mutters a harsh incantation and sends another bright spell ray around the big body in front of him towards the skeleton.
"Any chance you all can draw it further away from the door?"
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The stubborn orc refuses to fall and takes a gulp of a potion in hopes to regain the energy to carry on the fight. However, the potion might have been a little defective as she falls back into unconsciousness immediately.
Avasir attempts once more to shoot divine energies at the undead, forcing it to shake to it's core. The spell hits but knocks off his armor, thus the skeleton barely felt the power.
[oob]Zarisha (MA), Ashwell, Frostwind, Bielsi, Lindwickett[/ooc]
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Bielsi takes Avasir's advice and moves deeper into the room, clearing the way for the rest of the group to enter. The skeleton is being quite tenacious in taking down Kenza and she is knocked unconscious again despite his healing, Frostwind's and her own potion.
He adds another dose from his wand to get her back to her feet.
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Bielsi turns to aid the fallen Pathfinder, a spark of hope as Kenza starts to once more regain her senses.
Zarisha continues the good fight with some good old fist fighting. The first hit misses but distracts the skeleton enough to give a wide opening for Zarisha to punch really hard! The skeleton shatters as it's bones spread across the floor of the chambers.
The crawl westward leads into an large chamber that acts somewhat like a decorative hallway. At the end of the passage, a single statues of a man with a hyena head block the passage leading north from this room. The statues seem to have wore down over time covered in cracks. It holds a sword raised towards the ceiling.
With a step towards the entrance, it becomes apparent that the statues move as the dust falls off it's sides. It is as if it was informing you not to step any closer, that it is a guardian of the doorway.