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Emboldened by the two prior deft strikes, Isilme continues to lay into the cultist, but this time channels raw arcane power into the blade, giving up its honed edge for the ability to bypass the magical defenses that Zanera was calling upon. Thus empowered, Cygnus's color shifts from its normal golden hue to its nocturnal silver coloring, and the gems on the hilt's basket flare up from their nearly invisible state, twinkling like stars in the sky.
"You seem to be having some trouble opening doors," she quips as her strikes weave through the cultist's defenses expertly, the blade finding no resistance as it repeatedly punctures her chest and abdomen. "I wish you better luck in your next life, but honestly my Lady Starsong is unlikely to give you a second glance as you writhe desperately around as an abyssal larva in the belly of some quasit."
Without anyone to fight, Külə turns towards Ary and Hinagiku and wordlessly begins charging towards them. Just as he reaches the two, his body seems to melt away into white light, and he passes through them, coming to a stop afterwards and turning to face them again, before his form returns to normal.
Hinagiku's arm shoots out to try and catch the cultist before he topples over into the pit, but she just wasn't fast enough. Drawing upon Desna's blessing, she dashes down the tunnel at full speed, not minding that it was completely pitch black. By the time she arrives at the other end of the tunnel, she comes to find that Xanderghul, Isilme and Valaria have already gained an advantage over Zanedra. She was grievously wounded, unable to defend herself against each of Isilme and Valaria's strikes.
Meanwhile, out in the larger Temple of Baphomet, Ehren stares at the goat in front of him. It stares back at him with intelligent eyes, and bleats angrily.
You hear, telepathically, a demonic voice: "I thramp boshi i thrab al um oshum, snishogh kam. I'mp skakhi gu hushuk bam, i'mp li!"
: "I will strangle you with your own entrails, mortal filth. You'll live to regret this, you'll see!"
Ary, Anevia, and Ehren are up!
Edit:
Ary moves past the dark tunnel slowly and carefully... moving to aid Ehren across the battlefield, staying outside of the range of the goat until she reaches its side, bringing Radiance into play.
Anevia nonchalantly moves through the hallway, incredibly glad to see light at the end of the tunnel... as she moves past Isilme to move around into the other corner, beside the kellid summoner. She brings her shortsword up, sheathed in enough force energy to form a really, really big greatsword... and jams the blade up with a twist.
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Anevia moves invisibly past Isilme and Valaria. She hangs back and waits for an opening, before shanking the summoner once and for all. The cultist collapses to the ground and starts to bleed out. Anevia abruptly appears there, beside of Valaria. Her skin is pale as the wound on her neck continues to gush blood, but she manages a weak smile and a thumbs up to the tiefling and the aasimar.
Meanwhile, on the other end of the tunnel, Ary cuts downwards into the small, angry goat, but finds that its goat-like appearance was only skin deep - the musculature and organs beneath were arranged in a nightmarish fashion, completely unrelated to what an actual goat's anatomy would be like at all. She steps back just in time for Külə to charge past, though his magic isn't strong enough to overcome her wounds, cursed as she was by Baphomet.
Ehren is up!
Ehren cocks his head, realizing that his spell failed to transmute the babau's mind. And as Ary's cut reveals, even though the demon now looked like a goat, even polymorphic magic could not veil its nature entirely. Perhaps that is for the best - the druid did not think he could butcher a primitive-minded animal in good conscience.
After returning the demon's message, Ehren raises his flame blade and brings it crashing down on the goat, its resistance to fire be damned.
Ehren brings his flame blade down into the demonic goat's flesh, causing the goat to scream horrifically humanly. Its flesh cooks, melts, and burns, though the disgusting scent that wafts up is definitely not that of roasting goat. he perseveres, though, until the blade cuts the goat clear in half. The two smoking halves of goat linger there for a moment before dissolving into ichor on the floor.
Combat Ends!
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Xanderghul steps up towards Anevia. "You asked to be saved, and here I am: following through. First the babaus, and now with my new godly powers..." Xanderghul touches Anevia's neck and casts scarify. The wound seals shut with an itchy, pulling sensation. It leaves a nasty scar in its place, but the whitish scar tissue doesn't bleed.
Xanderghul does a small bow. "And now I'm going to check out the cultists' plans. Will the rest of you check to see if any of these people are still alive? We should question them if possible." With that, Xander goes back into the room with the bookshelf and the desk and reads whatever he can.
"Huzzah! You saved, me Xanderghul! Ugh... itches though. Normally twiddle-fingering doesn't itch unless it's supposed to." She says, feeling where the wound was previously to see if she was still bleeding... then pauses with a frown. "Oh gods, no. Irabeth is going to kill me when she sees this..." she pauses again, then mutters something sibilant, before remembering, "Oh yeah, Ary, Ehren, anybody else that can hear me, we're all clear! I think."
Ary, meanwhile, twists her ring and intones, "I will shine in her Legion." clearing her gear of the worst of the enemy's gore... though only making it more clear that the bruising was deep from the slams of the clay golem. She sheathes Radiance and approaches the altar, drawing the Lucerne Hammer as she goes. "All opposed to me smashing this thing?" she whispers into the spell.
"Anything deeper in there that we need to worry about?"
With the summoner apparently slain, Ehren dismisses his spell; the flames composing his immaterial sword retreat into his palm before disappearing entirely. Taking Xanderghul's suggestion, he stoops down by the fallen bladebound, checking on whether any life remains in her. Reaching out, he grabs her helmet by one of its horns and tugs the entire thing off her head.
It is disappointing - but not surprising - that some of his own people were among Baphomet's followers. Demon worship was not uncommon among them, especially before the opening of the Worldwound, but for their belief to be so fervent that they received unholy powers in return...
"Now that it can't smash back? Go right ahead," he replies to Ary as he takes the Templar's pulse.
Isilme rolls her eyes at Xanderghul as he boasts of his new godly powers. She crouches down and begins searching Zanedra for anything of value, taking the time to detect magic to see if any of her belongings stand out.
"We should take the cultists back to town to have them identified if we cannot identify them ourselves," she says to the others. "I cannot imagine that there were this many Templars present here without maintaining some presence in Drezen.Also, someone grab the blade the magus was using. It is a black blade, and we could use it to test the purification forge."
When she is finished searching Zanedra, she drifts back towards the main room, intending begin searching through their base room by room.
Hinagiku slows her pace when she realizes that the summoner has already fallen to her companions. About to look for any remaining threats, Hinagiku stops when she hears Ary’s question.
”Wait, Ary.” she says, hurrying back to the main room. ”I.. I am not sure it would be wise to destroy it… I, felt something when the oni was released from the altar. A pain that I had been feeling for quite sometime was lifted. I might be wiser to figure out how this place is linked to me before destroying anything.” the monk says finally exiting the tunnel and entering the main room.
Ehren saves the magus if he can, before carefully going through her belongings. He stops at the broken black blade last, still not sure of how he broke it - or whether he did so at all. If what Isilme said was true, then the sword was no doubt permeated by evil. Even so, the druid reaches out and picks it up.
"Could it be related to the ley line we are looking for?" Ehren asks when he hears Hinagiku, at once relieved and concerned. He glances at the temple, wondering what kind of connection this place could possibly have to her.
"Maybe... or maybe the oni was hurting the ley by possessing the location. Mr. Xanderghul, Mrs. Isilme, is there a way to know exactly what was happening to me?" Hinagiku asks to the most knowledgeable in the group.
"I don't know for certain, but it seems likely that what you felt was Baphomet's taint in this place. The statue is carved straight from the rock, so it stands to reason it was corrupting the land here," she replies as she floats back into the main room. It seemed quite unlikely that Hinagiku could suffer any direct damage from destruction of a tainted altar, especially if sacred space had brought her relief. "When I sanctified this space, I cut off Baphomet from this altar, which forced the Glabrezu out of the statue. My spell--long lived though it may be--is only temporary however, and I imagine the pain will return the moment it ends unless the altar here is destroyed. In other words, I believe Ary has the right idea in destroying it."
Hinagiku nods, beginning to better understand the situation.
"Seems reasonable. Please Ary, go ahead." Hinagiku answers.
Isilme checks Zanedra's corpse. She finds the following:
1. 4 identical potions, sapphire-blue in color
2. 1 scroll
3. A hand-crossbow, that is magical
She also has some mundane goods:
4. 500 gp in diamond dust
5. A silver unholy symbol of Baphomet (in a shape of a bull's head)
6. An iron key
7. A silk pouch containing 320 pp and six pearls
Xanderghul flies around the room Zanedra was in, but finds no bookshelves in it. He heads back down through the secret tunnel, and back through the cultists' sleeping quarters into one of the other rear rooms he had investigated during the melee. Looking around, he finds no bookshelves. This room contains a large oak table, on which sits a neat stack of papers and some spare quill pens and ink. To the side squats a five-foot-tall and five-foot-wide cabinet with a solid-looking lock. Xanderghul checks out the stack of papers, but finds that all of them are blank sheets of parchment.
The name Baphomet does not come up in any of the druidic recordings you have absorbed - many demon lords had cults of worship in ancient Sarkoris, but Baphomet was not known to be among them.
Meanwhile, Ehren rips off the helmet of the magus, finding a curly-haired kellid woman beneath the bull's face. He doesn't recognize her face. He picks up her blade, finding that without the magus wielding it, the rapier was but a dull and tarnished hilt. There is no feeling of grim sentience within it.
In the main room of the temple, you can't feel any form of Heavenly ley, but you do notice that the ley itself is stronger here than you had anticipated given the maps you had drawn out of the region. You know the Heavenly ley must be deeper down into the earth.
At that moment, Isilme finishes moving the short uphill distance through the secret tunnel to emerge back into the main room where Ehren, Ary, and Hinagiku are. Ehren has just finished stabilizing the magus' wounds. She is near death, but she will live.
Isilme collects the items on Zanedra before heading out to the main room, then proceeds to search both of the side areas, left then right, the two back rooms, left and right again, then the secret chamber. In each she looks for any containers, secret compartments or items of value.
Isilme takes a quick route around the temple. The main temple was strewn with bodies and the detritus of the recent battle. Enormous fissures line the floor from where the glabrezu-possessed golem attempted to squash Ary with its enormous stone glaive. Other than that, though, the room seems fairly empty.
To the right and left of each temple are two barracks lined with beds. Each bed has a footlocker, though each footlocker only contains simple personal items - spare clothes, combs, little mirrors, spare silver and copper. There is nothing by way of identifying information.
The silvers and coppers have been minted in a variety of nations - from the obvious nearby Nerosyan, to Ustalav, to far-away Qadira and Iblydos. The visitors who have come to stay here from hailed from all over, or at least are well-traveled.
The rear room opposite the one Xanderghul is in is a mere storage room. Isilme pokes around in the barrels and only finds stockpiles of food and water.
Isilme then meets up with Xanderghul in the opposite rear room. This room contains a large oak table, on which sits a neat stack of papers and some spare quill pens and ink. To the side squats a five-foot-tall and five-foot-wide cabinet with a solid-looking lock. Xanderghul is busy rifling through the papers on the desk.
Isilme then returns to the secret room, only accessible by way of the secret tunnel through the altar of Baphomet. In the rear left-hand side of the room, she finds a cunningly hidden secret door within that secret room, carefully blended into the stone wall. It leads into another narrow tunnel, winding down into the darkness. Secrets within secrets...
"There is a secret passage back here, with a passage heading down ,she says to the others. "We should search the remaining cultists before heading down. Also can someone get the lock open in the room Xanderghul's searching through? The cabinet there."
"Some potions of cure moderate, and a scroll of planar binding," she notes as she drifts back to where Xanderghul was. "Care to attempt to identify this hand crossbow, Xander? Anevia, you want to take a look at these pearls?"
Just out of curiosity, she tries the iron key she had retrieved from Zanedra in the lock in the cabinet, after setting the crossbow down next to Xanderghul.
Ehren inspects the inert blade briefly before stowing it on his belt; they could address whether it still holds any power later. Confident that his bindings would keep the magus from bleeding out on them, the druid moves to determine whether there are any other survivors among the cultists. He treats them all similarly, removing their helmets before bringing them back from the brink if he can.
"Whatever it is, the ley is definitely strong here. Far stronger than I anticipated," Ehren remarks as he works, wondering how he could have overlooked this place. "And not because of the celestial ley line - that is still deep underground. This is the ley that we are already familiar with."
At the mention of a lock, Anevia's interest is drawn into the same room as Xanderghul. "Oooh, do you think it's secret messages on invisible paper..? err, no. Backwards. The other way. I'll... go help Val with that... over there." she says, pointing towards the cabinet.
Ary hefts the hammer onto her shoulder when Hinagiku suggests waiting... then when Hinagiku changes her mind at Isilme's suggestion, she moves it back into a readied position to smash... then when Isilme says that there's a way forward, she hefts it back onto her shoulder again. "So, should we wait to smash until after we've went deeper? Our luck, the whole place will come down when we smash the altar."
Outside, Ehren busies himself with unmasking and saving what Templars he could. Unmasking them, he finds that two of them are kellids he doesn't recognize, one of them is of Mwangi descent, and one of them appears to be Ulfen in descent. He does recognize one Templar though - a member of the Heartwood tree cult from Drezen named Gerwyn.
He is able to save the Mwangi male and Gerwyn, though they are still both unconscious. Gerwyn was blasted nearly head on by Ehren's ley bolt, while the Mwangi man was thrown off the altar's raised pedestal by Ary and then nearly slain with a deep wound into his clavicle.
Meanwhile, with a satisfying click! Isilme finds that the iron key does match the cabinet in the other room. As she pulls the drawers open, though, she finds that the entire cabinet is filled with a strange hazy white miasma. It roils - contracting and expanding within the space - but Isilme has the upper hand here on whatever this strange gas is...
This creature is an air elemental known as a Mihstu. They are essentially masses of miasma, but they are able to condense their bodies into barbed tentacles, that they use to envelop their victims. Mihstus rely on their insubstantial nature to close with opponents quickly, engulfing the nearest threat while continuing to attack any who seek to deprive them of their chosen victim. Like all air elementals, they speak Auran. As a gas, mihistu can pass through small cracks or holes without reducing its speed.
Mihstu can see in the dark. They can only be harmed by magical weapons, and are immune to electricity, but are weak to ice magic, which stuns them. However they have a natural resistance to all magic, and have many standard immunities, like all elementals have due to their nonstandard bodies. Also, the churning winds of a mihistu's body automatically deflects nonmagical projectiles, while magical ones have a 20% miss chance.
A mihistu that fully pins an opponent completely surrounds them and siphons blood, tears, and other vital fluids into itself (1d2 CON damage/round). When a mihstu manages to embrace a foe with its body, it drains away the creature’s vital fluids at an alarming rate. These fluids churn in the creature’s body for a few rounds before spattering against nearby walls or on the floor—the mihstu seems to gain no nourishment from these fluids, so this attack may be nothing more than a favorite method of cruelty.
The deadly mihstus hail from the Plane of Air. When they come to the Material Plane, they prefer to inhabit dank dungeon corridors, abandoned ruins, and the forgotten corridors of lost civilizations. Scholars dispute what drives the ambitions of these creatures, or even what they seek on the Material Plane, but all agree that they are deadly combatants and merciless hunters.
Mihstus are immortal unless slain by violence, and if properly bargained with, these deadly outsiders can actually be intriguing sources of information. Mihstus are normally interested in little more than stalking and consuming prey, and as a result only tend to provide reliable information or cooperate when supplied with intriguing victims to pursue and destroy. Nefarious creatures such as rakshasas and evil cloud giants often utilize mihstus as trackers and assassins, or sometimes employ them as guards in the forgotten corridors of their lairs.
You have access to the full Mihstu statblock.
Surprise Round!
Unable to determine what the miasma within the closet is, Isilme draws her weapon and empowers it with arcane energy. "We have company at the cabinet," she whispers, warning the others of the imminent confrontation.
Xanderghul steps back with surprise as the cabinet is revealed to contain a deadly air elemental. "The creature is called a mihstu," he reveals. "I don't know much about them, but they're air elementals that use barbed tentacles to assail enveloped foes. Be careful!" He opens up his assault with a spell - onieric horror, a phantasm that causes affected foes to believe they're being attacked by a horrifying monster. However, given his surprise, his spellcraft is weak and unlikely to penetrate any natural defenses the creature might have.
"I'd be willing to bet there's something good in there..." he mutters. "Guarded by some horrible monster."
Ehren sets his jaw when he recognizes the Templar, a sick feeling growing in the pit of his stomach. As he applies a salve to the man's gruesome wound, the implications of this revelation run through his mind. Before he can voice them, however, he hears Isilme's message. Leaving Gerwyn where he is, for the time being, Ehren hurries to Xanderghul's side. The druid regards the creature with a frown, unaware that elementals could be so... ominous.
Realizing the creature is an elemental, and not a demon or other evil outsider, Isilme decides to try to talk it down before the group begins to fight in earnest.
"காற்று வீசும் ஒன்று, உங்கள் எஜமானர் இனி சுவாசிக்கவில்லை. உங்களுடன் எங்களுக்கு எந்த சண்டையும் இல்லை. இங்கிருந்து புறப்பட்டு மேலே வானத்தை பயணிக்கவும்," she speaks in a series of sharp breaths in and windy exhales.
Hinagiku had been expectantly waiting for Ary to finally destroy the altar to Baphomet. But when she hears Xanderghul's comment, Hinagiku quickly makes her way to her companion's side. She was not expecting to see a slowly rolling mist seep out of a cabinet though. Falling back into a defensive position, she draws a long breath, who knew whether the mist was poisonous. Silent, she waits to see what effect Isilme's words will have on the elemental.
"Oh gods, why." Anevia says as Isilme opens the clearly trapped cabinet. The fact that it's full of monster rather than poisoned arrows was a surprise.
"Mihstu." Ary agrees. "Great at grabbing things... and wringing the moisture out of them. Even when they grab you they won't be slowed down at all. They're resistant to magic, but extra weak to cold. They're evil, and really only care about food." She adds as she moves in behind Isilme to guard her back. "Oh, and it flies."
"I'm full of moisture..." Anevia mutters as she dips away to get some distance.
"Oh, and it will deflect ranged attacks with wind." Ary adds, causing Anevia to tap her nose from the safety of being behind Ehren and Xanderghul. Tricksy time.
Xanderghul's magic beads off of the elemental like rain. But that doesn't matter. Isilme speaking in its own tongue seems to catch the strange being's attention. The whitish miasma swirls outwards, filling the entirety of the cabinet. Several pulsing red lights start to flash erratically within its gaseous form.
Not all outsiders birthed into the elemental planes are inherently neutral, which is postulated to be due to the influence of the neighboring outer planes inwards to the elemental planes. Some are drawn to benevolence and creation, while others are drawn to malevolence and destruction. Mihstus are of the latter.
"இரையா? அல்லது வேட்டையா?"
"Prey? Or Hunter?"
"நாங்கள் தேடியவர்களுக்கு நாங்கள் தென்றலைப் பின்தொடர்ந்தோம், இப்போது இங்கே இரையும் இல்லை. இந்த இடத்திலிருந்து விலகி கிழக்கு காற்றைப் பின்பற்றுங்கள். அங்குள்ள நிலங்களில் நீங்கள் இரையைக் காண்பீர்கள்," she replies, knowing from Ary's brief description that the creature likely reveled in hunting and killing prey. If it could be coaxed into hunting deep within the worldwound, it would solve two problems at once.
"நல்லது நல்லது. நான் அங்கு செல்வேன்...," the creature breathes, its form moving as if to leave the closet in peace. "அடுத்தது."
"Good... good. I will go there...... Next."
But then it suddenly convulses, sharp barbs protruding all over its body attached to the glowing lights. It surges forwards as one wave of gas at Isilme, but Ary reacts first, grabbing her by the back of her cloak and pulling her back away towards her, out of the reach of its semi-solid tentacles.
The Heroes Are Up!
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"Thanks, Ary," she says, to Ary as she's pulled out of reach of the creature.
Isilme sighs as the creature decides to attack anyway. There was no point in trying any further, the thing was clearly too bloodthirsty to be reasoned with.
"நீங்கள் என் இரத்தத்தை சுவைப்பதற்கு முன் உங்கள் மூச்சு நான்கு மூலைகளிலும் நிரப்பப்படும்," she retorts, punctuating it with a quick slash of her rapier.
Isilme quickly swipes out at the gaseous outsider, trusting that the magic she had laced across Cygnus' edge would be sufficient to injure it.
Xanderghul, Ehren, Ary, Anevia, and Hinagiku are up!
Hinagiku steps forward into position, and takes a single shot at the mist, hoping that the magical energy lent to her by the ley will be enough to damage the creature just like it damaged Eustoryax.
Hinagiku takes one experimental strike at the malign air elemental, but the creature senses her strike coming, and it manages to gather itself together so that the monk merely punches through an empty hole within its own body.
Xanderghul, Ehren, Ary, and Anevia are up!
Ehren could only understand one side of the conversation, but before the mihstu even acts, it is apparent that the negotiations have failed. Taking Ary's knowledge of the creature's weakness under advisement, he quickly conjures an orb of frost and casts it at the air elemental.
Ehren lobs a ball of ice into the mass of fog. The snowball passes harmlessly through, landing with a thud against the rear wall of the cabinet, but its effect on the elemental is noticeable right away. The gas contracts inwards, first, coalescing into a small sphere a quarter of the size it originally took up. The gas starts to swirl slower, while the lights imbedded within it begin to flash faster and more erratically. The gas begins to condense into liquid, causing beads of water to form along the inside of the cabinet.
Xanderghul, Ary, and Anevia are up!
"I'll just... stay behind you guys, I guess." Ary says as the front line remains the front line.
"Don't worry boss. We got this." Anevia says from behind their allies. "Just uh... don't let it go sucking your fluids." she says, pulling her bow up and drawing back to add silvery threads along its form, pulling them back until the gossamer lines are taut... and then releases the fully formed longsword towards the enemy.
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Xanderghul steps up and lays a hand on Valaria, imbuing her with an ounce of his holiness. Her weapons are limned in a gold and silver glow, ensuring that they would strike true against the evil monsters of the nether planes.
"I don't think any of us are planning on letting this thing suck our fluids, Anevia, but thanks," he adds.
Anevia's shot leaves long, spidery-cracks in the cabinet's wood from where it slammed into it. Seeing her miss, Valaria takes a step backwards so that she is next to Ehren, humming an old Varisian traveling song under her breath as she goes. She lines up her shot very carefully, and throws her starknife into the fray, but it again lands into the side of the cabinet with a thud. Valaria scowls and gestures with her open palm, causing it to vanish and reappear in her hand.
The Heroes Are Up!
Xanderghul reaches out and touches Isilme next, imbuing her with the holy strength to destroy evil. Her rapier begins to glow with a soft golden light, reflecting the sacred power Xanderghul bestows.
Ehren does not lower his hand, instead extending a finger and pointing it at the mihstu. A glowing dart of acid fires out with a green streak, right into the elemental's condensed body.
Just after Anevia shoots the stunned mihstu, and Valaria accosts it with a rapid-fire assault of her starknife, Ehren follows up with a quick splash of acid, that leaves a small hole in its rapidly condensing form. The outsider trembles and shakes, emitting a strange chattering noise that reminds one of teeth clacking together in reaction to a stunningly cold winter day.
Isilme, Hinagiku, Ary and Anevia are up!
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Taking advantage of the creature's stunned state, Isilme cuts into the mihstu again with Cygnus, this time slicing to neatly bisect its shriveled form.
"முட்டாள்கள், செபர்கள் உங்களை வீட்டிற்கு அழைத்துச் செல்லும்போது உங்கள் தலைவிதியை நினைத்துப் பாருங்கள்," she taunts, knowing the creature was soon to be gone.
"Thanks, Val." Ary says as the tiefling gives her the space needed to step in. She still has the hammer hefted, but shifts her grip while Faith grows back to full size, allowing her to hammer at the evil fog cloud in a less literal sense.
Anevia, meanwhile groans as Ary walks right back into her line of fire, but allows her shadowy tendrils to crawl up a cold iron arrow, lining it up as best she can before firing...
Just as Ary moves in to strike, the fight was over, as Cygnus shears the elemental in half. There is a temporary gust of wind that sends Isilme's hair and cloak flying, and then all is quiet.
Combat Ends!
Sheathing her sword, Isilme returns to the business of rifling through the cabinet for anything of value, using detect magic to augment her search.
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In a fairytale, a cabinet guarded by such an exotic guardian would surely contain riches and treasures, but as the mihstu fades from sight, all that is left are two books. One is small and bound in black leather, the other, a loosely bound tome of vellum pressed between a pair of slabs of teak, embossed with a symbol of a circle and an open-palm, the holy symbol of Irori.
The texts within contain secrets, subterfuge, a bounty, and a tome of martial knowledge.
The jade medallion attached to the text bound in teak is magical. It appears to be used to preserve the book from rot and decay. It also grants the text resilience more akin to stone rather than wood and paper. Any poison of contagion applied to the book is neutralized within 1 minute. This charm's magic can extend to a creature carrying the book, granting a +1 luck bonus to saving throws against disease and poison while the book is carried. The magic is weak, however, and will not penetrate through an extradimensional space.
Abyssal writing fills the black leather book, but it is unintelligible. It must have been encrypted.
In addition, there is a poster. It reads, in Common:
WANTED.
ALIVE.DANGEROUS SPELLCASTER. ALWAYS HEAVILY ARMED.
10,000 PLATINUM REWARD for the
CAPTURE of the TRAITOR ARUESHALAE(Beneath here is a small illustration of a young woman with short, black hair and small horns jutting from her forehead.)
The traitor Arueshalae is suspected of spying in regard to a special project of the TEMPLARS OF THE IVORY LABYRINTH.
An additional reward is available for any information about the TRAITOR’S whereabouts after she escaped imprisonment.
Upon Capture, Deliver with Haste unto Iz.
Within, scrawled Tien characters twine around diagrams of human bodies, complicated lines and markings tracing patterns that connect outwards into other intricately drawn symbols. An engraved medallion of brilliant green jade dangles from a skein of braided twine to serve as a bookmark. The text within proclaims itself to be an exploratory narrative plumbing the auras that permeate the silent twilight sea between heart and mind, but the concepts and philosophies presented within are so foreign to Avistani notions of magic or soul, that it is nearly impossible to parse. Even so, the first page states the title in three printed characters - Body Outside Body
In addition, there is a small message scrawled on the inside of the front cover in Tien:
Xanthir Vangの場合
バイアルに感謝する、あなたの錬金術師への贈り物。おそらく、彼はそれが役に立つと思うでしょう。
あなたが私を必要とするならば、あなたは私をどこに見つけるか知っているでしょう。
-マスターのマスター
You recognize the tome Body Outside Body . It is a martial tome held by the Murasaki school of Irori, whose students seek to meditate to attain an expanded awareness of the patterns of the universe and flow of ki within it, and how to unlock them in a way that can grant them success when facing great challenges.
Martial tomes are a common feature within Iroran martial schools. While all martial schools of Irori follow the same core tenets of his faith, each school diverges into their own unique philosophies and fighting styles. Martial tomes are written by the mentors at the heads of the schools, and are studied by their acolytes to elevate both their bodies and their minds.
While Irorans as a whole tend to believe that knowledge should be shared freely, it is unusual to see this tome so far from Tian Xia and the Murasaki schools of martial arts. Perhaps it was stolen?