You all move in to slay the ensorcelled creature, which is easy now that it no longer defends itself.
Combat Over
With the threat vanquished, you take a moment to look through the room. Most of the cells have barred iron doors, although two of the cells don't have any door at all. Most of the cells also contain dry and brittle human bones; most look like they would be complete human skeletons.
Other than the two creatures' ranseurs, there does not appear to be anything of value in the room.
"What fell magic created these beasts?!" Halvor exclaims, looking to Lynnda and Cerin, the ones who seemed most stooped in that sort of knowledge. Largely a rhetorical question, since they had already encountered one. The large fighter hoped they wouldn't find any more of the things!
"Shall we follow the platform to the east, then?" The fighter narrows his eyes against the pain from the bite, but is game to continue.
Kyrian grabs another arrow and keeps it at the ready. "Whatever they are, they apparently thought you were tasty. Considering we've fought three of these things, I'm beginning to think that we're going to find more of them. I'd take a good guess that fire will kill them, as well as blade and arrow. Any of you want to take a second look at these things," he says as looks towards Lynnda, Cerin, and Krissina "so that way we know how to better take them out? Quite frankly, I'm too pretty to be slaughtered by something so damned ugly as this thing here..." he finishes saying as he kicks the corpse of the fallen monstrosity with a light laugh.
Krissina also checks over wounds to check for any signs of infection.
"I don't know, they seem to die when you hit them hard enough, I suppose that's enough to be going on with."
"Yeah. For as ugly as those creeps are, they do seem to die if you hit 'em hard enough. They're obviously not immune to my magic, but it looks like they are particularly strong-willed—It took three tries before I could get a hex to stick on this one! And... I still have no idea what they are!"
Finding nothing of particular interest in the room, you decide to return to the walkway and follow it to the passage to the east. The floor returns to the familiar tiled stone that seems typical throughout this complex. The mosaics on the walls in this corridor include that seven-pointed star you've seen several times in this complex, and another repeated spiky rune.
The corridor quickly opens into a room. The room contains several ancient relics that appear to be torture implements, although their function and style seem strange and archaic. In one corner sits a spherical cage with spikes protruding inward from its iron bars. In another stands what appears to be a star-shaped wooden frame, its surface studded with hooks. And in the center of the room is a long table covered with leather straps and a number of cranks that seem designed to rotate and swivel. Stone doors lead east and south.
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"Hmmm... Very old Thassilonian, I really should study the language further. Several modern human tongues derive from it, you know. I think this means either righteousness or wrath?"
As they walk into the torture chamber he looks around with obvious distaste. "This room looks like it could have been used for either one..."
"Shall we head south?" he asks as he strides quickly over to examine the door.
Not having any clue as to the writing's meaning, Halvor just stands motionless while Cerin studies it. As the gnome makes his conclusion and suggestion, the warrior nods, striding forward to stand before the door, waiting for Cerin to finish his observation before he opens the door.
Keeping in mind with what the gnome had said, Kyrian remains cautious as they continue on. "Well it's a good thing that we haven't seen anything smart enough to use this stuff. I don't know... You think what ever those things are were human at one point? Maybe this place changed them somehow? Considering that it's not like this place has had any kind of visitors in the last couple hundred years that is..." As for the direction, he just shrugs. "Don't matter to me. Lead the way friend..."
Examining the door, Cerin does not notice anything out of the ordinary, other than its sheer age. Pressing his ear to the door, he does not hear anything beyond. The door is latched, but unlocked. He pushed the door open.
Beyond is a trapezoidal room. The crumbling remnants of several chairs and a collapsed table clutter the floor. To the south stand three stone doors, each bearing another of those strange seven-pointed star symbols.
"Hmm, what's this" Krissina, pokes at the panel on the wall.
Halvor steps forward, peering more closely at the area the redhead points out to the group. Frowning, he looks to Kyrian and Cerin, the more sharp-eyed of the gang, waving them forward to take a look.
Kyrian walks over to the safe and puts his hand on his chin as he looks it over. "Hmm... I suppose I could work with it..." Grabbing a set of tools, he begins to fiddle with the safe.
Cerin examines the camouflaged wall safe, and finds the hidden release plates that need to be pushed to open it. However, it refuses to open. Taking out his tools, Kyrian pulls off a few of the tiles to reveal the ancient mechanisms underneath. After a few moments, there's an audible -CLICK- and the release opens. Kyrian swings open the door.
...hit
As the small door opens, two things happen. First, a small dart fires out of a hidden mechanism as the door opens. Fortunately for Kyrian, the springs the fired the trap must have lost some of their torsion over the centuries, and the dart bounces harmlessly off his armor.
Surprise Round
Second, and more terrifying, a six-foot-long skeletal snake whips out of the space beyond the door! The thing has a tiny human-like skull for a head and bony mandibles reminiscent of those of an insect! Its empty eye sockets shine with an eerie green glow. In a fluid snakelike motion, it lashes forward, biting Kyrian in the neck!
Round 1
The skeletal snake whips past Kyrian to the floor. It rears up like a cobra about to strike, but instead of striking, it sways back and forth in a rhythmic manner.
Halvor starts to bring his longsword around in a sweeping motion, but the dance of the skeletal snake enraptures him. He stands there, not quite helpless, but not taking any overt moves towards the creature as he studies its rhythm with filmy eyes.
Kyrian chuckles at the darts that bounce off his armor. As he turns his head to say something, he gets caught off guard by the snake. Feeling the fangs pierce his neck as he fights it off, he stands there in shock. "How could I have missed this?"
"What is that thing?" realising Halvor is distracted she pulls him back.
"Yikes! Be careful around that thing-- it looks like a magical construct called a necrophidius! You want to bash it with something blunt-- that smashes the bones. Cutting or poking it won't hurt it much! And don't let it bite you-- it can stop you in your tracks! And they're immune to any magic that affects their mind or health-- because they don't have either!"
She casts a spell, and a ray of cold shoots from her fingertip.
Kyrian is dazed for rounds.
Halvor and Kyrian both place their hands on the hilts of their weapons as the thing burst out of the safe, but seem entranced by its rhythmic swaying and cannot take their eyes off it.
Carin slashes his scimitar at the bone-snake, and connects... but the blade seems to pass between its bones without damaging it, as if the thing were held together with magic!
Halvor does not resist when Krissina firmly repositions him, but neither does he move on his own accord.
Lynnda's ray strikes the creature, and bits of its bones become brittle and shatter when it moves.
Round 2
Monster status: hp 18/21
The creature strikes at the motionless Kyrian again, biting him once more.
"Stop hitting people that can't hit back" Krissina shouts as she swings her 'star back at it.
Halvor shakes free of the thing's ensorcelment, glaring at the creature as he implores Cerin, "Step back, Cerin!" If Cerin complies, he strikes at the creature with a shield bash of his own.
The snake's second bite into Kyrian's flesh wakes him from his daze, but quickly notices once he attempts to pull the snake off that he's unable to move.
Lynnda casts the same spell, and shoots another ray of cold at the thing.
Kyrian just breaks free of the creature's hypnotic dance when it strikes him, sinking its mandibles into the half-elf's leg. A strange lethargy takes over the man's limbs, and he finds that he cannot will his muscles to move at all!
Sheathing his blade, Cerin attempts a shield-bash, but the monster nimbly slithers out of the way. Lynnda fires another magical ray at the thing, but the ray strikes the floor where the thing had been. Krissina swings her morningstar down at the skeletal snake, smashing it squarely. Bits of cracked bone go flying. Halvor switches position with Cerin and attempts to shield-bash it, but it's too quick.
Round 3
Monster status: hp 10/21
The necrophidius lashes out at the last person to hit it: Krissina. With a lightning-fast strike, it catches her in the leg. Its pincers tear a nasty gash.
Halvor curses under his breath as Kyrian is disabled and Krissina takes a hit. He grits his teeth in determination, taking careful aim at the weaving creature before throwing his shoulder behind another shield bash attempt.
"Burn you." Krissina shouts in response to the stinging wound, swinging her 'star back down at the creature.
Halvor's shield bash breaks off one of the construct's mandibles, then Krissina bring her morningstar down on its head. The thing's skull shatters, and the rest of it collapses into a pile of bones.
Combat Over
An instant after the necrophidius is destroyed, Kyrian finds that he can move again.
Inside the wall safe are a gold bracelet set with garnets, a bone scroll tube, a wand, and two crystal phials sealed with wax.
"Kyrian" Krissina reaches over and closes her eyes, letting healing fire spread from her hand.
Halvor reaches inside and secures the loot that had brought on the terrible worm-thing. He holds the scroll tube, wand, and phials to Lynnda sheepishly, not really having any idea how to tell what they are.
As he slowly begins to move again, Kyrian puts a hand to his neck where the creature had bit him earlier. Letting Krissina heal his wounds, he feels them close up on his neck despite how sore the spot still is. "Remind me next time to make sure there's no trap when I open a hidden vault safe in the middle of a tomb... That wasn't very fun..."
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Cerin puts his sling away after the more powerful members of the group finish off the construct. "Don't worry yourself, a trap like that is almost impossible to detect."
After Krissina heals Kyrian he reaches out to her. "You took a pretty bad hit yourself. Gozreh, heed my plea and sooth this mighty warrior's pain!"
"Sure, I'll have a look." Lynnda casts a spell and her eyes glow with a faint bluish glow. She picks up each of the items in turn and looks at them intently for several seconds before moving on to the next.
"Well, the bracelet doesn't have a magical aura. It just looks valuable. The wand looks like it contains magical healing energy, with a good number of charges. The first potion is restorative, returning lost vigor to the person who drinks it. The other vial is also a magical potion, but I can't tell what it is. And there's something magical inside the scroll tube."
She opens the scroll tube and carefully takes out an ancient parchment covered with spiky runes. She casts another spell and the scroll seems to shimmer.
"This is a magical spell scroll that summons a ball of flame that the caster can roll around with his mind."
There are still three stone doors leading south. Each is marked with that seven-pointed star-rune you have seen throughout this complex.
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"Let me see that potion." Cerin says, holding out his hand. He mutters a few phrases, then opens the stopper and inhales deeply with his eyes closed. "Ah, yes. The nose knows!" he states with a grin, tapping his prominent beak with one finger.
Once his keen nostrils have identified the potion, he trots over to the westernmost door to listen.
Once everything is identified and distributed, Halvor will follow Cerin to the western door, sword out and to the ready, determined not to be surprised again.
With a prayer to the Wind and the Waves, Cerin receives the blessing of supernatural sight. The aura from the unidentified potion reveals that the person who drinks it cannot be perceived by the walking dead, rendering them effectively invisible to such creatures.
Cerin presses his ear to the door and hears no noise beyond. Halvor then tries the door and finds that it's locked. You repeat that for the other two doors, and find the same: Locked, with no signs of life beyond.
Kyrian extends his hands out as he cracks his knuckles. "Alright then, which door do you want open first?"
Halvor shrugs, pointing at the...middle door.