If Stelle can at all reach the ankh she will ride over to the statue, politely nod to it, and gingerly release the ankh catch.
"Excuse me."
"It's like an amalgam of different fog spells - it blocks sight like a Fog Cloud, hinders movement like Solid Fog and burns like an Acid Fog."
Stelle peers at the mist curiously. "Kosei, I don't suppose you could summon another hot spinny haboob and suck all of that into it, could you?"
As the party discusses what to do with the mist, Stelle walks up to the statue, pops off the ankh, and pulls out a wand from within. She has to stand in the saddle to reach it, but once back down, the spell crafters identify it easily.
It is a wand of Stoneskin with 12 charges remaining.
The statue remains stone and does not, this time, attack anyone.
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Zilchus shakes his head, pushing his way forward. ”Nah, I got this. I’ll go ahead and check things out. I’ll be fine. The Great Croc grants thick skin,” Zilchus says unironically with his very thin skin. He does, however, cast Resist Energy: Acid (30) upon himself.
When others are ready, he alone will go into the mist and see if there is a catch or release to stop the acid on the other side, or figure out how big/long the walk is.
Perception
Zilchus keeps any out as he walks through, then takes his time to look around when he exists the mist.
Perception
Kosei nods to Stelle "But I will need fifteen minutes to commune with the winds so they can grant me the blessing to control winds"
The Garundi marvels himself once more on Florence smartness "That's so acute my friend! As the fog is not damaging the stone, the architect has sure placed this wand here to protect our skins from the effects of the fog"
"We can try the wand or your bubble sage Florence, I am on that with you, so we can explore this labyrinth" but when Zilchus he makes a prayer and touches him with guidance "Might the strength of the earth be with you friend. Are you sure you don't want to wait and look for a safer way?"
When Zilchus disappears into the mist Kosei says "No way I am leaving him alone" the man shifts into a medium earth elemental and moves into the mist after Zilchus.
Zilchus, followed by Kosei, examine the halls. The cloying mist is moist, and a little sticky, as the two make their way into the darkness. Their light sources, due to the thick fog, only reach 5’, so they’re mostly feeling their way. Further, the fog is such a hindrance, they’re moving at half pace.
But at least they’re not taking damage.
Eventually, after a few twists and turns, the passage forks. Which way gentlemen, to the South, or to the West?
Kosei moves close to Zilchus, holding the man by his armor back. The Garundi moves his rocky hands in strange gestures "This is impossible to see my friend. Very disorienting. Oh look, a fork in front... we are away for a time now, let me come back and inform to the others so they do not worry. Wait here. Just few seconds"
The elemental moves back and glides through the wall to appear on his friends room "We ok. Long tunnels with thick fog. We are in a fork. I should come back in short minutes friends. Be patient" and without losing touch with the walls, as if this is to guide him, Kosei glides back to Zilchus back.
"I am back my friend. Have you seen anything through the fog?" Kosei looks to the west and tries to hear anything "Why don't we take the west side for example?"
Zilchus twiddles his thingy waiting for Kosei to return, glad for his magics that stop the acidic mists.
When his susurrous friend returns, Zilchus feels that it’s best to go to his right (left on map).
”This way,” Zilchus leads on.
As Zilchus followed by Kosei enters the mist, Stelle looks impatient for a few seconds. Why does that lughead alway insist on going off alone?
""Okay, if you're certain. But come back at the first sign of trouble! Or call out or something. Both of you. Alright?"
Stelle looks more impatient.
"So, are we saving the wand for something else?"
She stares at the mist, paused in thought.
"They're going to fall into a pit or something. We should go in to look after them. Can you cast please the Stoneskin upon us, or at least Anubis and me?"
Once protected by the stoneskin, Stelle and Anubis trot into the fog -- hopefully with Florence and Nidhi.
Stelle enters the fog, and like Kosei with his stony skin, completely immune to the effects of the acid. As with the others, they too are slowed and very nearly blinded by the mist.
With Stelle’s usual aid, Kosei will notice at the edge of his vision, some sort of glyph. Yes, yes, there is a magical trap of some kind to the South (where you are headed West). You leave it alone for now as it seems to only trigger when you pass through that hall - so you're safe as long as you don't step on it.
Zilchus, Kosei, Stelle, and perhaps more, move a little further on the map, to the next intersection. You may go South or East from here. Perception checks please, for any in the mist. Aiding another is fine.
Zilchus scans what he can of the mists , first moving east, looking , then going south and looking again . He thinks that's a better way to go.
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"Take care, there is a sort of glyph there" Kosei warns the others when he spots the trap.
The Garundi casts detect magic and attempts to use it to help himself find if more of those glyphs are ahead as they slowly walk through the tunnels.
"I feel we are lost in the mists of time... perhaps the oarsman will approach us to show us the path to the land of the mortis" the elemental keeps talking as the group walks, observing every single bit of magic ahead.
He follows Zilchus south.
Detect magic does little in the halls - the acid fog itself is magical, creating a white noise through which nothing is seen. Both Anubis and Kosei have some trouble with their sensory capabilities. The acid is continually washing away the odors that might have been left behind by a passing creature. So if they do detect anything by scent, it'll be from something that came through recently.
Zilchus goes a few feet to the east, and finds nothing new (though the passage does continue South). He proceeds to the Southwest, whereupon he hits a magical trap of his own!
The trap has the effect of a greater dispel magic. It attempts to dispel four magics on Zilchus, starting with the highest level and working down.
If the Acid protection is dispelled, and you chose to retreat, it will take you six rounds (at a 30' move) to fight your way through the acid fog back to the entrance. With his current size, I don't think Kosei can carry you through the walls. Florence could hit you with the wand however and you may have spells of your own to help.
Just in case, here's the acid damage for those rounds.
The rest of the party is unaffected by the trap though it appears to reset immediately. Zilchus, if you do not move off it, it'll trigger again in a round. I didn't move you though, because you could go to either side of the trap.
Zilchus initial panics as first his air walk is dispelled (sending him crashing 5’ to the ground), then his Gr. Magic Vestment, & Magic Weapon, then too...his MCPE 10’. Thankfully, Kosei’s barkskin is spared the onslaught.
But when the burning starts is when he really begins to fret...but by then, he is saved my Florence’s quick work.
He will let others attend to the trap...or else find a different way forward.
Nidhi winces at the sight of the acid damage. "Let me take care of that." She cautiously drifts over on her carpet and pulls out the luminous lock picks.
Zilchus looses many magics to Desna's unkind glare.
Florence stone's him up while Nidhi drifts over, and by the dim light of her tools, disables the dispel-magic trap.
I've connected a couple obvious tunnels to narrow your choices to two. South or East. I need a perception check from the poor bastard in front, and one other can aid. More than that, and you're too far away to see, and there may be traps yet awaiting you in the moist dark hall...
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"Are you ok Commander my friend?" Kosei whispers at Zilchus, scared someone might be lurking in the mists. When Florence helps him to move forward, the Garundi moves after him.
"Let's take the tunnel to the East. I have the feeling we will have to make a lot of path changes in order to navigate this system, taking always the less direct tunnel" and Kosei points to there while trying to help Zilchus spot the traps so Nidhi can remove them like this last one "Perhaps you should let me go first, the dunes of Osirion protect my skin. They cannot be dispelled"
Zilchus picks himself off the ground, grousing at the very stupid trap that sucks. He pulls out his pearl of power 4 and recasts Air Walk, not trusting any of the grounds in these damn sand structures.
"Yeah, I'm fine Kosei, just a jarring fall. Wasn't expecting that," Zilchus says, watching Nidhi work and rubbing his injured backside.
When that's handled, Zilchus will follow the east, keeping his eyes open and ready to lead again when necessary.
Perception
Kosei enters the darkened tunnel, followed closely by Stelle and Anubis lending their aid as the rest of the party trails behind. Kosei stops just short of another trap, and as it’s the last one (and Nidhi can safely disarm it without risking being effected by it if she sets it off) I’ll say it’s disarmed as well.
At the end of the short maze is a small room and a simple stone door set in the South wall. It’s flush, but there is a simple lever to open it - it has no lock.
Zilchus will move up to inspect the lever, and if it looks somewhat safe, he will give time to those who wish to move to do so, then will pull/push/twist/tweak the lever.
Perception
The door twists open easily, like a pretzel, to reveal a long hallway free of mist stretching off into the darkness.
Each wall of this hall is adorned by a bas-relief showing blindfolded, animal-headed men and women carrying offerings of tribute. The floor slopes downward slightly to the south, which is somewhat surprising as the rest of the complex has been level - unlike all the other complexes you’ve visited.
As you step into the hall, really just past the threshold, one of the hieroglyphs, a jackal-headed human, speaks to you in Ancient Osiriani, ”You are not worthy to gaze upon the magnificent works of the Sky Pharaoh!” Almost as if on queue, several other heads parrot the same speech in different voices, cadences, and even starting points, to make quite a cacophony of voices for a few seconds before the hall is silent once more.
Beyond the slope the hallway opens to a larger chamber with statues along the walls (more as you get closer). How do you proceed?
Zilchus offers his middle finger to the assembled peanut gallery, then smashes another with the palm of his adamantine blade. Then another. He smirks as each is smashed.
”Shuddap!”
Zilchus moves up to the slope and airwalks up as high as he can, moving side to side (left to right on the map) to raise himself so he’s not walking on the slope and is high up.
He waits for others to be ready before proceeding in.
Stelle follows Zilchus wincing each time he smashes something.
"Zilchus, why are you doing that?! Stop the gratuitous smashing! We don't know if these have a function useful toward our goal! Save your energy for a real enemy!"
Zilchus and Stelle move to the edge of the ramp - and discover a trap!
There's some form of magical trap, and a nasty one, on the ramp (unaffected by Zilchus' smashing). The Telekinetic Enucleation Trap causes force to pluck out the eyes of offenders walking down the ramp. It's permanent blindness and only regeneration can heal it. On a successful attack, the eyes drop to the ground and roll down the sloped floor toward the next chamber.
It is difficult to disarm, in part because the mechanism could trigger the person doing the disarming if they fail. However, bypassing the hallway is simple enough, if you're trusting. You merely need to be blind already - a blindfold is sufficient - to walk down the passage safely. Anubis and Bynx will need their own bandanas as well of course if you take this approach.
Let me know how you plan to proceed...
"I don't doubt your skills, but I think I will better just move through the walls" that said, Kosei skips the trap by gliding through the right wall of stone.
Once reaching the room, he inspects it, including scent and detect magic before the others arrival.
Stelle reaches into her bartending kit and produces a handful of clean dish towels for dispersion to any who need it.
She regards Zilchus way up high, and hands him a towel with a couple of cucumber slices stuck to it.
"Your eyes are puffy, here -- try this."
Once Anubis is blind folded, she closes her eyes and urges him down the slope.
Kosei slips through the walls, while Stelle provides a nice cucumber-wrap to Zilchus before blindfolding herself and Anubis. Florence protects Bynx and the pair enter the room as well. For simplicity, and because the next bit is complex (and far reaching) I’m moving the party up into it. No one looses an eye…
The hallway opens to a medium chamber, more junction than room. Six life sized statues of men and women, each pointing an accusing finger or other menacing gesture in the direction of the northern entrance to the room, stand along the east and west walls of this six-way junction. Flights of stairs lead down in four of the hallways, while the southern hallway is blocked by a large stone door.
Each statue is impressively carved, but in the style of the time - they are not creatures turned to stone for example. To Detect Magic spells, each statue radiates strong necromancy, and as you enter the room, strange things may begin to occur. Each statue is depicting a specific Akhumen - one of Hakotep’s personal guard. In life, these were powerful people in their own right. Who knows what death has brought them?
Duatseti
This petite woman has a shaved head and is clad in robes and a pectoral necklace that indicate her high standing in the church of Set. Cruel and capricious, she served as the Akhumen’s religious advisor and priestess, and helped to ensure that Set’s will was always upheld by the group. She carries a spear in her hands, and points it at Zilchus’ holy symbol.
Harkhofre
Harkhofre is a squat, ugly man with short arms and legs. Built like a wall, this bearded soldier commanded the Akhumen’s own internal guard and was often responsible for the protection of their holdings. His statue wears bulky armor and carries a brutal-looking mace. He points at Kosei’s stony form.
Iphenkaphri
The youngest of the Akhumen, Iphenkaphri was beautiful and a talented singer who served as the Akhumen’s diplomat and negotiator. Her statue wears flowing robes and carries a curved dagger in one hand. She points to Nidhi’s varied and wonderful jewelry.
Nebtutawy
This woman wears imposing steel lamellar armor and wields a brutal looking khopesh sword. She stands in a battle ready pose, her expression one of bloodlust. Unattractive and heavily scarred, Nebtutawy was the most brutal and destructive of the Akhumen, and often served as the group’s executioner or thug. She points at Stelle’s lance and Zilchus’ falchion.
Sifrukhenmen
Lithe Sifrukhenmen is tall and thin. His statue holds a longbow in one hand and gazes alertly toward an unknown target. Sifrukhenmen was the assassin and spy of the Akhumen, a sinister man whom even the others of the group felt uncomfortable around. He points at Nidhi’s bow.
Thutnesret
This elderly Osirian man is clad in regal finery, a man with deep wrinkles in his face and a glint of cruelty honed by age in his eyes. He was the master wizard of the Akhumen, an expert on arcane magic and a key part of the project to reverse-engineer captured Shory magic. He leans on a long staff topped with an ibis head whose bill forms a cruel hook. He points to the wand in Florence’s hand.
To be clear, the statues themselves aren’t moving. It’s a little like the eyes of some paintings following you. They’re not moving, they just happened to be pointed at those things the moment you enter the room.
"Uh... n-n-no," stutters Stelle unconvincingly, her eyes darting from Duatset to Nebtutawy and back.
Will (+1 more vs Divine Magic)
Will (+1 more vs Divine Magic)
Already pretty filled with zealotry, Zilchus seems annoyed that one of the statues would point at his holy symbol (that of a majestic river crocodile) and again smashes his adamantine pommel into the offending statue’s face.
”Don’t you point your s&~&ty god s##+ at me,” Zilchus rumbles, ready to take his blade to the statues neck next.
"Zilchus! Why are you doing that?" she gently asks again. "We told Tef Naju we wouldn't break anything if we could help it."
She holds out another dish towel. "Here -- someone who can reach? Tie this over Thutnesret's eyes. Let's see if anything happens."
”Like that big uptight, know-it-all, flying sea cow can make it down here!” Zilchus grumbles in response. ”Besides the statue started it.”
"Oh, he's fine," Stelle says, waving the towel at Zilchus. "Here, you're pretty tall. try blindfolding Thutnesret."
The bard acknowledges the necromantic auras but doesn't seem too perturbed.
Nidhi examines the statue of Iphenkaphri more closely. "What a beautiful woman! Even if these statues are creepy, I don't mind being watched by something as prettily craved as this." Nidhi doesn't mention the statue of Sifrukhenmen, but she grips her bow a little tighter. "In fact, I think she resembles me... or I resemble her. I was probably a member of a royal court in a previous life." Nidhi shrugs.
vs DC 20
Nebtutawy’s visage seems to flicker to a smile briefly, but Zilchus resists in the end (it is divine). Kosei too resists the lure. You all felt a tug, briefly, as the statues washed over you, but that is all. You know something happened, but don’t know what, and the moment has passed. The statues continue to radiate a menacing necromantic aura, but they seem unable to effect you.
Lots of doors and passages in this room. There is a short flight of stairs leading down to each door. A quick check of all the doors reveals no traps.
The Northwest door is stone and is decorated with the symbol of the Akhumen - a pair of swords crossed behind a diamond shaped shield. Magical investigation reveals the door is Arcane Locked, making it rather harder to destroy or open.
To the Northeast you’ve a pair of double stone doors with a singe phrase in Ancient Osiriani, ”Beyond lies the Traitor’s Crypt - may she fester in life forever, eternally barred from the Great Beyond!” This door too is Arcane Locked, and the seams have been sealed by strips of cold iron, melted into them, and the lock.
The Southeastern double doors are also sealed with an Arcane Lock. I’m sensing a pattern…
To the Southwest, also stone, the doors have no magical protections to speak of, and appear unlocked, even inviting - breaking the pattern. The same is true of the double doors to the due south, though they looks less inviting somehow, though you can't see how exactly.
Where do you go from here? So many options!
After avoiding having his eyes plucked out and done being yelled at by statues, Zilchus is glad to continue. Picking mostly randomly, he spins to his left and goes up the upper right corridor to the door there.
He keeps his eyes out for traps and trouble.
Perception
”You all think we can get through this door? Or around it?” Zilchus asks, looking at Stelle. ”You think your flying friend from outside is gunna get mad at us if I try bashing this door down?”
Zilchus takes a crack at the Northeast door. As Florence warned, it is quite solid, but after some sweaty effort in the cool subterranean tunnel, Zilchus hacks enough away to peel apart the rest and the next chamber is laid bare.
This octagonal room is empty, save for a single sarcophagus at its center. The sarcophagus’s lid and sides are carved to show depictions of a beautiful woman, her body contorted in pain as numerous spikes pierce her flesh. The walls are carved with images of legions of sickened and plagued souls on their hands and knees or crying out to the heavens for aid. The north wall depicts a majestic flying city in the sky, with the same beautiful woman floating in the air as she fires upon the sickened mob below with a bow.
When her obsession with supernatural diseases and magical manipulation of the sick and plagued was revealed, she was forced to flee the Shory city of Kho. Pursued by vengeful hunters, she sought asylum with Hakotep, who was only too eager to provide sanctuary to the exile. In return, Jeshura shared much of what she knew of Shory magic with the Sky Pharaoh. Her advice helped Hakotep immensely in the early days of his work.
- - -
But as fate would have it, Hakotep soon grew more fond of Sehela than of Jeshura, who had hoped to become Hakotep’s queen - in Jeshura’s mind, the “gift” of her sister should have ensured her own role as Hakotep’s queen, but instead she saw the Sky Pharaoh becoming more and more reliant on her sister’s aid.
Jeshura found her role reduced to little more than that of an assassin, and eventually her jealousy got the better of her, and she decided to assassinate Hakotep as a way to earn her place back among the Shory. Yet Jeshura knew she needed a boost in power to accomplish this, so she exposed herself to a potent supernatural disease of her own design. This contagion consumed her body and destroyed her flesh, but reincarnated her into the body of a powerful outsider associated with disease and seduction - a pairaka div.
Before she could move against Hakotep, the Akhumen discovered her plot, and as her body was rebuilding into her deadly new form, they captured her and imprisoned her within a cruel sarcophagus that was more iron maiden than coffin. Trapped within the sarcophagus and now undying, Jeshura could do nothing but wait and grow ever more insane as the years turned into centuries and then millennia of imprisonment.
This must be her!
- - -
Know (history)
Zilchus nods along with Florence, stopping the nodding when he realizes she isn't continuing. She's missing half the story.
Not wanting Z-splain things to her, but also unable to help himself, he does. "...and so I think this must be her!" Zilchus shakes his head as he explains the story from his youth, not believing it to be true, but here lies the evidence before him.
Zilchus will look around the room, but if there is nothing of interest to be found, he will return the other way.
Perception
He will try to seal the door back up after everyone is out, then move to the lower right door.