GM Erich's Salvation Of The Sages (Subtier 10-11) (Inactive)

Game Master Thereus, Silver Crusader

Vladek easily identifies the main item as celestial armor, although it seems to be made of some sort of golden hide.

The other item lays at the paladin's side, it is a vial similar to the one you found in the acid room. and thus unidentifiable

"More crystalline aether." Sinuhotep adds.

I need a fortitude save from Vladek

Sinuhotep looks at the two corpses. "The paladin could certainly be spoken with, but the dragon's state... I'm not even sure a mouth remains under the crush of bones and scales. I will speak with whomever you wish me to."

@Theodric: I specifically did not touch the wands when identifying them--that's how you get cursed :-p

"Assuming this hidden sanctum is what we are looking for, do we want to leave that until after we have cleared the entire complex? It would not surprise me if the energies released during the magic ritual further destabilize this already shoddy masonry."

"Magor but maybe it's part of the key to beating this gem curse?"

Fortitude save: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (6) + 8 = 14 +5 vs disease, +2 vs death, +1 vs Transmutation/writing-based

If it is, in fact, a disease, the following is a Ward of Autumn use; if not, it is my folio reroll:

Fortitude save: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (12) + 8 = 20 +5 vs disease, +2 vs death, +1 vs Transmutation/writing-based

Vladek smiles at the lich. "Please, allow me...."

Rok moves up and finds the skull for Vladek if necessary.

The Ward of Autumn is used in this instance.

I am assuming you are talking to the paladin first. The skull is readily apparent in that case.

"At your service then, Master Vladek. Sinuhotep responds and approaches the side of the sarcophagus.

Let me know what you would like to ask first.

@Rogar: At least one of us is misunderstanding the other, and probably both. I was saying that this place may cave in during the ritual, denying us a chance to search any unexplored rooms.

Gotcha :)

"The paladin will want to help us if he knows we are trying to stop Tahari? Right?" Rok asks as he paces back and forth.

Vladek casts his spell and begins the seance.

"How do we prevent the rise of Aryana Tahari?"

The jawbone creaks and opens wide before answering in a hollow otherworldly voice.

"That which has been done, cannot be undone. She is a cunning foe, and strikes quickly with both poison gas and hideous disease... and dust that blinds the eyes and a sphere of flame that dazes your mind."

"How do we purge the sages gems of Aryana Tahari's influence?"

"I do not know of what you speak."

"Is Padrym of Erekrus an enemy of Aryana Tahari?"

"Most certainly. A visitor to Resa, I was honor-bound to destroy the evil sorceress once the locals pleaded for my aid. My hatred only grew stronger in the months after she captured me, before she made me succumb to the fading light."

"Are there weapons we can use against Aryana Tahari within her complex?"

"I only know of my own weapon, "Fortune Moon", which I lost upon the battlefield to her."

By my count, you still have another question...

Vladek sits down beside the sarcophagus, and there is a sense of time ceasing to pass as Vladek stares at the mummy - those who peer into Vladek's eyes during this interval see fantastic, terrible, and seemingly impossible vistas reflected in their unbroken opalescent surfaces, moving at lightning speed.

Finally, the deafening silence is broken as Vladek speaks:

Questions above are asked, then finally...

"We were told she came to this place, set on a task personally assigned her by the Pharaoh. What was it?"

Would you permit me to say I had 10 gp worth of alchemical salt available (given that the actual purchasing of expensive material components is sometimes 'handwaved' ad hoc, so long as the gold is spent)? That would give me 1 last question, and I just thought of a good one:

"If Aryana Tahari is such a wicked villain, and she slew you here...why did she accord you such a fine embalming and interment in the end?"

"Hmmm...yeah I wonder why the paladin got buried so well too.

Cool trick this alchemical salt!

"Maybe his resistance to disease meant he was the only one she could... well... you know..."

"We were told she came to this place, set on a task personally assigned her by the Pharaoh. What was it?"

"Through her ramblings while she held me prisoner, she bragged that she was the creator of not only the Night Plague but something new... Fading Light, she called it. That is what she used to destroy me. The creation of new diseases consumed her, I can only guess that was .. her ... purpose ... here."

With that, the jaw goes slack and silence fills the crypt again.

"Well, I am definitely saving that second antiplague until right before we enter her sanctum!"

"That's bad. We s-s-should arm ourselves with wisdom for this c-c-conflict." Rok looks back towards the libraries behind them and the paths they did not take.

Disease that kills paladins. I'm torn between thinking that is cool, or being upset that I drank my last antiplague during Rok's last session as I RPed his obliviousness.

"Wisdom indeed..we might need tiger claws too!" Rogar says smiling.

Just waiting on what you want to do next...

Some suggestions...

Loot the paladin's items
Speak with the Dragon (if it even has a mouth...)
Explore the tunnel to her "Sanctum"
Examine the two archives in more detail
Explore the western side of the map
Explore the "Doorway to Oblivion" at the very start

0. Avoid the sanctum and its tunnel for now.
1. Loot the paladin's items
2. Explore the western side of the map.

Rok loots the paladin, can't have the others getting sick.

Rok carefully pulls off the celestial armor from the brave fallen warrior and takes the vial as well.

I need a fortitude save vs disease from Rok. Yes, the monk who is normally immune to such a request...

fortitude; heroism: 1d20 + 16 + 2 ⇒ (5) + 16 + 2 = 23 +3 vs. poison, spells, and spell-like abilities, +2 vs. enchantments, +4 vs. fey and plant-targeted effects, +4 vs. death

Rok carefully inspects the dragons burial to see if there is anything of worth from the bones. I'll get a guidance for this please.

"Try to speak with the dragon. Then let's move. Off to the west."

Vladek gestures politely to Sinuhotep.

I only had the one.

Evad observes the desecration exploration of the burial sites. Keeping a weary eye on the surroundings, as the Lich attempts to speak with a long dead dragon.

You don't see this everyday. He ponders.

Rok moves to the dragon's pit. Sifting through the remains, he parts the huge sheets of dragonscales from the remaining bones, eventually finding the massive skull nestled far underneath. Unfortunately, there is no fabled dragon's hoard, here.

I need another fortitude save vs disease from Rok.

Sinuhotep moves over to the edge and readies himself. "Before I begin, is there anything in particular you wish me to ask?"

"Anyhing we should know about this area?" Rogar asks.

"'How did you die' is always a reasonable question," A thought strikes Vladek, who suddenly looks a bit unhappy with himself for not thinking of it sooner. "If it happens that it met a similar fate as the other fellow, then if Aryana Tahari is such a wicked villain...why, in the end, did she accord them such fine embalming and interment?"

"That is a very good question, Vladek. She does not seem the type to accord her enemies such respect. Perhaps it was another agent, and we should ask how the dragon became interred here, rather than presuming Aryana did it. The dead often take questions quite literally, and we can only ask so many."

fortitude; heroism, guidance: 1d20 + 16 + 2 + 1 ⇒ (9) + 16 + 2 + 1 = 28 +3 vs. poison, spells, and spell-like abilities, +2 vs. enchantments, +4 vs. fey and plant-targeted effects, +4 vs. death

@Magor - Rok seems fine...

Sinuhotep begins the casting of his spell and the dragon's giant skull shifts uncomfortably, straining against the detritus to answer. The voice is noticeably weaker than the paladin's, despite the obvious size difference.

dragon will save: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (2) + 8 = 10

"How did you die?"
"I was killed by the woman, not valiantly in battle, but slowly.. as a subject of her cruel experiments."

"Anything we should know about this area?"
"Death awaits you, unseen."

"Why did she accord them such fine embalming and interment?"
"Unnatural hubris. I fear I am but a trophy to her malevolence."

Two more questions are available...

"How do we free the sage's jewel from her"

"How do we kill her?"

I've been down with the flu for the last two days; sorry for the reduced post rate. I should be back in posting mood around Wednesday. In the meantime please feel free to bot me.

"Perhaps we should ask it what aid or knowledge it can provide us, that would help vanquish Aryana."

Evad listens carefully, Death awaits you, unseen. That's ominous

"Asking for aid is a good idea my friend dwarf"

Sinuhotep nods at the suggestions and turns back to the dragon's skull.

"How do we free the sage's jewel from her"
"I do not know of a sage jewel."

"What aid or knowledge can you provide us, that would help vanquish or kill Aryana."
"Do not let her near you. She will assume your mind. Many of my allies that day were not killed by her, but by me, under her control."

The dragon's teeth grind slowly together, and it is once again still.

Illuminating, shall we search the rest of the complex before heading into the sanctum? Evad inquires.

If in agreement Evad leads the team carefully back toward the entrance and then to the passage that was originally straight ahead.

I drop my icon on the map to show where; if not ignore.

Taking 10 on perception as I go for 31

Rok follows Evad, carefully sniffing the air and listening for any distressed spirits.

Magor nods at Evad as they walk toward the unexplored parts of the complex, "Very illuminating. I have a scroll which should help shield our minds from her control."

Will be using a scroll of communal protection from evil before we enter the sanctum.

@GM: Theodric, in his simplistic fighter mind, clearly favors the 'get in - get out quick' storming of rooms, but if these investigations are taking a long time, and the buffs are gonna expire, he will not be a nag about it and will ultimately sheathe his sword while the scholars take their good old time with everything. If we still have our 30 min buffs please let me know, as Theodric will argue that we should secure all rooms of this level before we go deep study mode in the libraries... however, I've made my bed with the idea that these buffs won't be there for the Inner Sanctum part methinks... hmm? :)

"Anything that can help against her is welcome"

Heading to the "Doorway to Oblivion"

As Evad carefully turns the corner, he sees a small room at the end of the corridor which seems to have perfectly square dimensions. A large shrine rests against the wall, draped in a flawless black silk cloth that covers some object underneath. A large onyx key with a black and silver eclipse adorning the bow lays atop the cloth.

It has been 13 minutes since you cast buffs outside.

Rogar follows the party then takes a look at the key.

knowledge nobility: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (20) + 12 = 32

"This was given to the House of Oblivion for their work"

"Splendid! we found a key! now we need a door!"

The key is rather large, think more of a "key to the city" type honor.

Ah... I see!

Is the shrine made of stone? If so, Magor can look through it, and see what is under the cloth.

"From the bottom, it might be a mirror. I have a bad feeling that it might be cursed, though."

Casting detect magic through the silk. Spellcraft: 1d20 + 17 ⇒ (13) + 17 = 30

Magor can get an aura through the silk but cannot determine what the item might be without thoroughly examining it. Knowledge(arcana) to identify the aura using detect magic.