Zilchus takes a knee, driving his sword to the ground and leaning upon it as he recovers.
"Those things don't miss. Every slice seemed to find a gap in my armor."
Zilch bows his head and takes a few breaths, giving himself time to recover.
"Uh, thanks. I kind of like it when I don't die in these fights," Zilchus says, trying to regain his strength. He waits to hear about the circle, glad for a moment of quiet before the next crisis starts.
Ben breathes a long sigh of relief when he sees the last caryatid going doing. "I agree", he says, commenting Florence's words. "Actually, in my case was just luck I'm afraid..."
With a smile, Ben walks to the debris which constitutes all that rests of the caryatids and studies them attentively.
After the examination, he stands up and communicates everything he has found out to his friends. Then, he scratches his chin as he stares at the magic cirle. He then looks at Cahal. "In truth, I don't know nothing about it yet. But circles on the ground never inspire confidence to me...You know, in Cheliax the vast majority, if not all, of them are used to bind devils, so you can understand...Anyway, let me study it at a distance, so that I can tell you more".
Ben casts his divination cantrip and studies the circle as long as needed in order to grasp all of its information.
Unfortunately Benedictus also knows little about the columns. They remain a mystery to the party.
Oh, and it was planes or religion, not both. I take your first roll, which in this case is higher, in cases where too many rolls are made.
Zilchus smiles at Florence, thankful for the healing. "Thank you. It's good that you help with that." With that he struggles to his feet after Ben explains what he knows about the circles and whatever.
"Should we move on? I think I have my legs again." When others are ready, Zilchus moves to the next area to explore.
"Mmmh..." Ben scratches his chin with a thoughtful expression. "To be honest, I don't know much about it. The circle does not radiate any magic, so it may not be dangerous...Better not to test it though". Ben shrugs, then follows Zilchus. "Let's go".
The bronze gates here are locked as the others. Close examination (assumed) reveals the lock has recently been picked.
Beyond the gates however, you see a large, star-shaped fountain with a circular basin in the center occupying most of this octagonal chamber, surrounded by a ring of stones engraved with hieroglyphs. Roaring blue flames rise from the basin to almost touch the ceiling. This pool is a near twin to the pool on the ground floor, and the Ancient Osiriani hieroglyphs that encircle the fountain identify it as such.
The flames crackle softly and give off heat as well as light, though the heat is insufficient to cause any damage.
Nidhi follows the others towards the octagonal chamber. "Ben, can you read what it says?"
Nidhi examines the basin and contemplates why it exists.
"I wonder if the Scorched Hand knew what this room was used for. Was this what they were blabbering on about?" Nidhi frowns and places one hand on her hip, tilting her head. Horrid people...
Not seeing a lot of interest in the pool, Zilchus moves to inspect the double doors then open them when people are ready.
Perception
Yes, though it's not clear from the description, there is in fact clear cool (presumably) water in the pool. This one being on fire, does radiate magic - Knowledge Arcana DC 26 to identify the spell in place.
Nidhi isn't sure what the pool would have been used for, but certainly not for bathing. It's a ceremonial pool at the very least, though possibly also a water source for the temple (as with the one upstairs). Hard to say for sure from this angle, but she thinks there's some mosaic in the bottom of the pool, or perhaps just some detritus. Can't tell without closer observation.
Zilchus examines the doors and finds nothing unusual.
Ben takes his time to analyze the star-shaped fountain beyond the gates . An expression of curiosity on his face reveals that the fountain has somehow aroused his interest of scholar.
First of all, Benedictus will try to ascertain if the fountain radiates any magical aura. He does so by casting his cantrip. Once he realizes that the pool radiates a magical aura, Ben grins and tries to understand the exact nature of the spell cast on it.
After the magical examination, Ben will also try to read the hyeroglyphs, assuming they're not completely identical to the ones from the twin fountain the party has already seen.
- - -
The hieroglyphs are not identical, but they are very similar. Largely they, as above, praise Nethys and refer to this as the 'Pool of ...' You can't see the remaining text as it's around the corner inside the cage and you can't see it from behind the gate.
Ben shrughs. "If we'll be able to get inside later, we should. There's still a part of the inscription that I can't read due to angolation". With that said, he follows Zilchus.
"At least once we've made sure there's nothing else down here so we can take our time looking around. I mean since we're already here and all, may as well make thorough job of it - right?"
"My thoughts exactly," Zilchus says, opening the door now that he has a mass of people.
"Here, maybe I can unlock it," Nidhi steps forward towards the gate, close to inspect.
If Nidhi detects a trap, she'll alert the others - allowing them to back up - before proceeding.
Nidhi unlocks the door on the second try. She slides over to the door by Zilchus and easily slides the picks in the lock and unlocks that one too (though it's still closed for now).
Benedictus makes his way into the chamber to see the hieroglyphs on the far side. The Pool of Destruction is the complete title.
The water looks crisp and refreshing...
Zilchus opens the doors.
She turns to the room and warns about the inscriptions: "The Pool of Destruction! We should keep out!"
"The pool of WHAT?" Nidhi jerks backwards, unsure as to what the fountain actually does. After a few minutes, Nidhi cautiously steps closer once more to examine the pool (particularly the mosaic that rests at the bottom.) Nidhi does her best to avoid the flames. If Nidhi feels threatened by the flames, she retreats.
Nidhi knows she shouldn't, but she feels consumed with curiosity. "What do you think it destroys? Should we try throwing something in?"
"When I told Velriana and her thugs that destruction is fundamental part of Nethysian faith, I was not lying, my friends..." Ben says, thoughtfully. "No rhetorical exaggeration."
Ben stays still for a whole minute, unable to decide what to do with the pool. His mind contemplates all the possible options, the actions and their consequences. "I believe we should not disturb the pool. If we toss something into it, perhaps it will just destroy it, as we all expect. But it could also produce some other effect, potentially beneficial for us. There's also the chance, however, that the pool triggers the distruction of the whole temple...I don't think we should take the risk."
Ben sighs, as a child forced to give up doing something he would have loved to do. The scholar shrugs, then walks to Zilchus.
The party investigates the pool a little, and just as they're about to turn away and rejoin Zilchus at the slowly opening door...
Nidhi finds a secret door in the wall of the pool chamber.
Zilchus stays far away from the Pool of Destruction, though he does dream about uses for it.
"Maybe should have left one of the Nethysians alive so they could explain the pool to us...and if they didn't talk, we would have had a nice test of the pool, I suppose."
Zilchus waits for people to be ready before proceeding.
Nidhi calls to her companions: "Hey guys, I found a secret door in the wall of the pool's chamber." Nidhi inches towards the secret door, trying to maintain as much distance from the pool's waters as possible.
"I don't think there's a trap," Nidhi informs her companions, but she stays to study the area more closely before continuing
Nidhi pulls out her Masterwork Thieves Tools and sets to work trying to unlock the secret door.
"Who wants to go first?" "I can't open it!"
Nidhi, needing no special skills this time and facing no traps, creeps in and opens the door, keeping as far from the water as possible. The small room beyond the door contains a carved sandstone figure of a humanoid engraved with hieroglyphs.
This figure looks very much like the form that peeled out from the walls above and pushed Nidhi down the stairs. The carving is about five feet tall. Close examination of the hieroglyphs (in ancient Osiriani) reveal a name, “Muhsin el-Masri”.
Nidhi stares at the statue, "Who is Muhsin el-Masri?” Nidhi turns to glance back at her companions.
"Muhsin el-Masri?" Zilchus quirks up as well, wondering if he knows the name.
Know (Local, Osirionologist)
Know (Religion, Osirionologist)
The name doesn't ring any bells with anyone.
It's nothing particularly special as far as you can tell. Just a name.
"Maybe we should take a sketch?" Nidhi carefully leave the room and goes into the hallway to stand near Zilchus and Benedictus. Nidhi eyes the doors up and down.
When it looks like everyone is able to proceed, Nidhi pulls out her Masterwork Tools and sets to work on the doors if they appear to be locked or trapped.
Zilchus waits to hear what Ben says about the Mushy statue, but also waits to open the door.
"Muhsin el-Masri...Mmh..." Ben scratches his chin thoughtfully as he thinks about the name. "Was he...no...perhaps he was...no, no...mmh..."
Zilchus at last opens the door to the next chamber.
A stone altar flanked by two bronze urns sits against the north wall of this chamber. To the south, three rows of stone pews face the altar. A lacquered wooden cabinet is bolted to the western wall at head level, and a long stone table runs parallel to the east wall. Stone double doors exit the room to the east and west.
A skeletal figure is kneeling before the altar in fervent prayer. As you open the door, it rises to its feet, gathers the spear from the stair above it, and turns to face you (image) silently with glowing blue eyes.
Benedictus (acts in surprise round)
Cahal
Florence
Nidhi
Zilchus
Good Folk
Zilchus stares at the creature.
Know (Religion)
⁞⁞⁞⁞ ⁞⁞⁞⁞
‖‖‖‖‖‖‖‖ • • ‖‖‖‖‖‖‖‖
Ben darts into the room and takes position behind the second row of stone pews facing the altar. “And here we go again…” curses Ben through gritted teeth with a bit of sarcasm.
⁞⁞⁞⁞ ⁞⁞⁞⁞
‖‖‖‖‖‖‖‖ • • ‖‖‖‖‖‖‖‖
Ben finally feels like his options are not so limited, although the peculiar nature of the monster makes most of his spells useless. The scholar pulls a scroll out the case tied to his belt and reads it aloud, trying to concentrate on it. As soon as he’s done, a dart of sheer magic energy flies to the undead!
_________________________
Info needed: DR, resistances, special abilities
Conditions – mage armor (+4 AC, 3 hours); 2 Dex damage, 1 Con damage
Wizard spells prepared (CL 3rd, concentration +7)
2nd ()― glitterdust (DC 16), locate object,
1st ()― burning hands (DC 15), color spray (DC 15),
Cantrips ()― dancing lights, detect magic, mage hand, prestidigitation
Benedictus identifies your foe, and hits it with a missile, chipping away a little at its form.
- - -
The figure nods to Benedictus slightly out of respect for the magic. It then speaks, its voice hollow and echoing in its empty chest. ”You shall not take what is protected here!” Then the skeletal figure leaps down upon Benedictus with fury and fire in its eyes.
It brings a blessing down upon his spear, swiftly, even as it attacks. The spear cackles with negative energy - discharged on the hit.
(d6 is negative energy)
- - -
The spear flashes in the parties light as it cuts down your professor. He drops in a pool of his own spurting blood, draped over a pew. The skeletal figure hovers over his body, "Blessed be Nethys, go in peace."
It turns to face the doorway and the rest of the group.