In an attempt to help their new friend Caller, Meredith and Denair focus their ire on Red, trying to bring him down. While Denair manages to deliver another powerful slam that sends some teeth flying, Meredith's jab with her longspear pierces nothing but air.
Also trying to help Caller, Skye focuses his attention on Blue and tries to will the enormous scarf-wearing hulk to fall asleep. Blue blinks as the magic settles over him...
...then he utters a big yawn and slumps to the ground, snoring like a bear!
With one of the two creatures out of commission, at least temporarily, Caller turns his wrath on Red and goes for broke with a desperate swing that connects with the creature's head and crushes it like a melon!
That just leaves Blue who is currently a sitting duck as he snores away...
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A blonde head with perfectly parted hair pops up from beneath the pile of sprawled ogre with a smile on his face "THAT WAS AWESOME!" He bellows, climbing out of the strangely constructed 'ogre fort' and puffing his chest out a bit and giving Denny a low five.
"Told ya I had him!" Frankie nearly loses his balance though when he sees the sight of Caller covered in blood. "You ok Mr?"
Denair looks at the sleeping giant, and looks up at Caller's wounds. She bares her teeth and calms herself down. "Boss, can you and Frankie look outside to make sure none of their friends heard anything? Thank you!"
She looks up to Caller. "Should I kill him, or do you want to? Maybe you should heal up."
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Caller takes several minutes to catch his breath and heal up. He will give Denair the honor of dispatching the foul ogre.
Using his resources- Wand of Cure Light Wounds
47 hit points of healing (8 charges).
"I am grateful for all of your efforts at keeping me from falling to those foes. They were much stronger than I had anticipated. I have fought ogres before, but none as powerful as these."
Okay. Okay. Deep breath. Deep breath.
It's just like repelling those crazy fey from the Court. Just be quick about it.
Don't let Frankie see you, either.
She knows right where to smash the giant's puny head.
She takes a deep breath once it's over. "It's not fun, and it's really messy. My fur is gonna be stained red again..."
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Not normally a warm and friendly guy, Quang Chi nevertheless notes the unease Denair feels towards her self-appointed duty. When finished, he places a hand on her shoulder and says quietly, "It was necessary. Thank you."
His eyes slowly pan around the room at the broken bones and trash before he bends to one knee. Something about his face shifts slightly. His nose seems to get a little longer and may even have a small black area at the tip, though it's hard to be sure in the dim light.
He takes his time to carefully examine the detritus more closely, even going so far as to sniff at some of the bones and fur scraps.
While Caller tends to his wounds Denair takes on the grim task of ending the sleeping brute's life - a dirty job indeed, but someone's gotta do it.
The immediate danger now past, everyone now has an opportunity to actually have a closer look at your surroundings. Animal bones, gristle, and long-rotten viscera are haphazardly scattered across the floor. Stairs to the east and west lead to slightly elevated walkways flanking the recess. Doors lead away from the entrance hall to the northwest and southeast.
As Skye turns on his magic eyes and begins a thorough scan of the area he notes a number of things, most of them being the various items the two large humanoids were carrying. Between the pair are 10 potions (8 of one type and 2 of another), two greataxes, two cloaks, and two rings - all magical. They were also each carrying a chain shirt, three javelins, and about 77 gold pieces.
Hey, they're all Cure Light Wounds potions!
Ooh, these are Cure Moderate Wounds potions!
They're both +1 Greataxes.
These are Cloaks of Resistance +1.
These are Rings of Protection +1.
Skye also notices one other thing - the presence of a large stone plate, set into the floor and partially buried under the pile of animal bones and rotten viscera. While it doesn't radiate magic it does look like it might have something written on it. Quang Chi also stumbles upon this plate as he noses around the debris on the floor.
"Oh, thanks Chi!" Denair uses Prestidigitation clean herself a bit before hugging the stoic archer. "I had to choose, so... I choose to protect you."
Denair looks at the stone plate and begins to use Prestidigitation to clean minor debris. Assuming she doesn't see a trap, she will use her reach to clear any debris her magic can't.
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Meredith escorts Frankie outside, to look for exterior threats. She grunts a bit as she hears a sickening crunch. Thanks, Denair.
"Outside looks clear to me. Let's head in and see what's inside." She notices the gore, Chi comforting Denair, and then she notices the treasure.
"Caller, hold onto these potions. They're good for curing Light and Moderate Wounds."
"Anyone good with Greataxes? These are basic magical axes. Might be too big."
"Basic rings of protection. Might be useful for anyone taking the front line. Caller? I wouldn't mind wearing a ring, honestly."
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Calling upon Desna's guidance, Skye examines the items Meredith hasn't yet identified. "These are cloaks of resistance +1."
He pockets one of the potions of cure light wounds, happy to give the rest to his companions.
Then he helps Quang Chi clear away the animal bones and rotten viscera obscuring the large stone plate set into the floor. "Looks like something's written on it. Anybody able to read it?"
If no one can decipher the script, the shaman retrieves his wand of comprehend languages and activates it.
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Frankie heads outside and starts rushing around, checking for more ogres, traps, sparkly rocks, and finally some snacks in Meredith's backpack while she looks the other direction. "All clear!" He mumbles through a mouthful of crackers and heads back inside.
"They've got lots of stuff, what are they again? They look like giant people.. must be GIANTS!" Frankie ticks off two fingers and puffs out his chest, adding two giants to the tally of vanquished foes for Frankie the Flash.
It doesn't take all that long for Frankie to grow bored with looking over cloaks and plaque's on the floor, he grabs Serge's hand and drags him to the north towards the doorway "Let's check out what's down here, gotta stay quiet though!" He smiles and pulls out his glowing ioun stone and sets it to circle about his head then creeps ahead quietly.
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"These are all truly valuable objects of magic. Maybe they can be given as gifts or loot upon our return. You should all feel free to take anything that might be of aid to you for the rest of our journey."
Bowing to Denair, "As a honor for you deeds in combat, you should have the first pick... or at least that is what I think."
Caller will wait until everyone else has chosen one or more items before making his selection.
With both creatures very much deader than dead you begin to divvy up the spoils, which will be put to much better use in your hands than they were in their former owners'.
Syke, Denair, and Quang Chi also set about cleaning away the bones and debris covering up the stone plate. The plate - noticeably cracked down the middle - has two lines of carved text, with each facing opposite directions as to be read by someone either entering or exiting the sepulcher:
'Kia Nau, Haere mai'
'Ma te Wairua e arahi i a koe'
'Be Welcome, My Cousin'
'May Your Spirit Guide You'
As you ponder this, the air above the cracked plate shimmers and the ghostly figure of an elderly Shoanti woman appears, hovering in place. Her form is covered with many tattoos depicting travel and various wild animals - particularly hawks - and her expression is kind and welcoming.
"Be welcome, my cousins," she smiles at Skye and Caller. Then she notices the presence of the rest of the group and her smile widens. "And guests from other lands! My, it's not every day that I get to meet people from outside the quahs, you know."
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Quang Chi returns Denair's hug less awkwardly than one might expect from his usual demeanor. When Skye announces what the cloaks are, he looks about at what his companions are wearing, noting that only he and she seem to lack such magics.
"Apologies, but if none object, Denair does not wear such a cloak. Nor do I."
And if none object, he hands a cloak of resistance to the fox-tree-lady and dons one himself.
With his new-ish cloak in place, he begins cleaning up the grounds. His features shift back to their normal shape as he does so, the smell of the rotting viscera being a bit too much for the extra sensitive nose he'd conjured.
He suddenly stops cleaning, a broken bone in one hand, when the apparition appears. He moves aside to let the two resident Shoanti make the first introductions, before belatedly remembering to add the bone to the pile of refuse.
Denair giggles as Chi fixes the cloak onto her. There's so much magic in these pressed reeds!
She moves up to Meredith and watches her curiously as she speaks to the apparition.
*Hoot!* Sova greets the spirit adorned with hawk tattoos.
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Frankie's eyes widen as the ghost comes out of the ground. He takes a defensive step back at first, remembering the last time they dealt with ghosts. "Who. Umm, hi. Are you friendly? We never meet friendly ghosts..." Frankie grabs on to Serge's hand, just in case he needs to save him from another ghost attack.
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Caller is very respectful towards the spirit and answers her questions in Shoanti.
"I am Caller of the Quah. Spirit of our ancestors we mean you no trouble, but as the one called Skye has said, it is our duty to repair the damage done by an intruder."
"If this sacrilege can be repaired, do you know what must be done?"
Taking a moment to study the spirits form Caller asks a few more questions, "Why do you dwell here? Are you a guardian or keeper of this place? Is there anything we can do for YOU?"
Oh yes, definitely a ghost. But at least it's a friendly one!
"Well, my name is Hearth Keeper of the Shriikirri-Quah," the ghost replies amiably. "They say I had quite the reputation for bringing peace and unity to the quahs back in the day. Personally, I think that was all a bit overblown, you know. I just did so hate to see my people quarrel among themselves, that's all."
Hearth Keeper peers closely at each of you, taking in your appearances. She seems especially intrigued by the non-Shoanti members of the group, which is most of you. "My, my, it was almost unheard of for the Shoanti to travel with outsiders, back in my day. I'm glad to see that things have changed since then! Almost makes me wish to be alive again!"
"But anyhoo, what's this now about sacrilege?"
The curious and chatty ghost looks around and then down at the stone plate underneath her; her eyes widen with surprise as she spots the crack running through the center of it.
"Dear me, when did that happen? My old bones are under that plate, you know. Hmph! Some people have no respect for the dead!"
She shakes her ghostly fist at the air but then calms herself. "That said, that might explain why I'm suddenly here again. *Something* stirred me from my rest, after all. There was a skeletal beast who looked over this place," she gestures to the pile of animal bones and rotted viscera, "but judging by the looks of things, it's been blown up!"
Hearth Keeper peers down at the group again. "You all seem to know more about what's happened here than I do. Please be dears and fill an old woman in, would you? Then maybe I can be of a little more help."
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"Greetings, Hearth Keeper of the Shriikirri-Quah," Skye says. "Allow me to share what we know."
"About one year ago, one of our colleagues, a Pathfinder named Lumketul Simset returned to the Grand Lodge with notes on a rather exciting discovery: a Thassilonian ruin, tucked in a remote area in the Iron Peaks in Varisia."
"However, thanks to Cousin-to-All, an ally from the Shriikirri-Quah, we learned that what Lumketul claimed was a Thassilonian ruin was, in fact, the sacred Shoanti burial site known as the Muschkal Sepulcher. Shadde-Quah leadership contacted the Skoan-Quah, which sent out their boneslayers to confirm the reports. Thanks to their efforts, we learned that Lumketul had damaged and plundered the sepulcher."
"We've returned the sacred objects that Lumketul looted: four carved wooden weapons, a bolas, a bow, an earth breaker, and a klar, as wells as a small stone statue of a wolf cub and a ring stylized as a scarab beetle."
"Our Society has also sent us here to restore the sepulcher to its proper state. Our leaders gave us an artifact, the Scavenger’s Stone to enable us to repair anything that has been broken."
"Ah! Now things are much clearer," Hearth Keeper replies with an understanding nod. "Hmph! The nerve of some people, not doing their due diligence. Still, it's very kind of you to come all the way out here to fix what this Lumketul broke. A little surprising that the quahs allowed it, I admit..."
She pauses and gives the group a sidelong glance. "They did tell you you could be here, didn't they?"
"Not that I could do much about it if they hadn't," Hearth Keeper laughs. "Pretty sure I wouldn't be able to stop you from wandering around in here, even if I wanted to. But don't worry, dears. I'd much rather help you put things to rights than try to chase you away."
"Now, these objects...those sound familiar, let me see..."
Hearth Keeper strokes her chin, thinking, and then snaps her fingers. "Ah yes, now I remember! Those weapons are relics infused with magic replicating the courage and honor of the heroes who once wielded them! Well, not the relics, exactly, but the weapons the heroes wielded in life. I think they’re symbolic. Those should belong in the room to the east of here, although I don’t remember exactly where they go, I'm afraid."
"The ring belongs to Lore Whisperer, one of the legendary oral historians in Shoanti history. He’s just a bit farther inside."
"And that statue contains the spirit of Hunts-at-Night, the companion of Silent Footsteps. Silent Footsteps is probably still here, so I imagine he misses Hunts-at-Night quite a bit!"
"Now, if you have a map or if one of you wants to sketch one, I can point out roughly where these things need to go, to make it easier for you..."
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When the chatty sweet old lady ghost(!) finishes, Quang Chi steps forward. He begins, of course, with a bow to the guardian, and in his Xa Hoi accent assuages her concern.
"Apologies, Hearth Keeper, for my friend's omission. Yes, a council of the Quahs voted to let us enter and fix the mistake our predecessor made."
He smiles slightly as he considers something. "They did not give us any proof of their blessing to do so. Perhaps because they did not expect us to meet anyone here," he finishes with a smaller and more familiar bow.
Looking at the map, he suggests to his companions that they proceed thru the eastern door and return the weapons first.
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Caller is very sad and troubled by what he is witnessing. Regardless of Skye's noble intentions he is angry that the spirit of one so noble, kind and wise has been disturbed.
"Kindly and gentle spirit. Our duty is to help you as well. What must we do to put you at rest? We can do this before going any further. So that you will not be troubled."
This violation must be fixed and Lumketul must pay the price for desecrating this place.
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Now that his fears are squashed (Not that Frankie the Flash fears anything!) the boy releases his tight grip on Serge's hand and steps forward and waves at the friendly woman ghost "Hi! I'm Frankie!" then proceeds to introduce anyone that hasn't yet done so while he moves around the ghost to get a good look from all angles.
"How long have you been down here stuck in that rock? Do you want us to fix the rock with our rock? We've got one!" He points to Skye, who he thinks is the one with it. "Or... did we just rescue you from the rock and you want to be free forever!?! We can do that too!"
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"Er, I am not certain she was really stuck in that rock so much as she was stuck here..." Serge ponders how to explain this to Frankie. He gets low to the halfling's height and puts on a concerned voice as he explains. "Sometimes, when people travel far away, so far that they disappear, some part of them gets left behind. Think of it like when you finish drinking a cup of hot cocoa, and there's a layer of chocolate stuck at the bottom of the cup. This ghost is... the left over chocolate."
I guess...?
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"No, I imagine they didn't," Hearth Keeper smiles at Quang Chi. "But please don't worry your little heads about it - I believe you. Liars and looters probably wouldn't have stopped to have a conversation with a spirit, oho!"
"And I tend to lose track of time dear, so I don't really know how long I've been here," she continues, turning her gaze to Frankie. "Your friend in the armor put it well...even if being compared to leftover chocolate is a first for me, haha! I certainly don't need rescuing though; this is where my bones are meant to stay."
Hearth Keeper's countenance turns thoughtful once more.
"As to how to help me? How kind of you to ask! Well, I suppose repairing that plate there would probably be a good start. Not right this very second, of course, not if you're anxious to get to work further in. Just before you leave, if you please!"
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"So you're the chocolate left over? Weird. You must be pretty scared of milk then I bet!" He makes a swirling motion with his cocoa water skin as he remixes any settle chocolate back into the slurry. Left over cocoa? I think I need to teach these guys how to drink these properly!
He doesn't need to hear Meredith say 'go ahead' more than once. He drags Denny away to scout, waving Serge on to keep not too far behind.
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Skye's refers to the documents Venture-Captain Valsin gave the team. "According to Lumketul's entry in the Chronicles and his notes, it looks like he found nothing in the 'maze room' to the west except two 'lightning dogs.' But to the east, he found a 'water room' where he looted four wooden weapons."
"Why don't we start there?" he asks, heading up the stone steps to the door in the southeast corner of the entry room.
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Quang Chi doesn't really follow the discussion about chocolate nor how that relates to a ghost. These yěmán rénuse the strangest language sometimes. Simply tell the boy that she is dead. Surely he has killed enough foes himself to understand death.
Moments later, he barely suppresses the urge to roll his eyes when Skye and Caller finally figure out where to go. Not that he didn't suggest exactly that before. Though with all the chatter about chocolate sludge and repairing the little old ladies' gravesite, it feels like it's been days since he said it.
So the quiet monk holds his tongue and takes several deep cleansing breaths as he moves into his position in the line.
"That sounds perfectly fine to me, dears," Hearth Keeper responds cheerfully as you decide to put things to rights from deeper within the sepulcher first. "I've been here for ages so a little bit more won't kill me," she chuckles.
After eventually deciding to head east first to return the relic weapons to their resting places - though there's some confusion on exactly whose idea it was first - you begin to make your way towards the eastern door. Skye and Caller scan the ancient stone door for magical auras and poisons respectively and, finding nothing, motion for the group to give the door a good inspection...
Take 10 Perception (& Stealth)
Meredith: 10
Frankie: 25 + Trap Spotter / Frankie Stealth: 22
Caller: 21
Serge: 12
Skye: 26 + Heightened Awareness (+2)
Denair: 25 / Denair Stealth: 27
Quang Chi: 25
...which also turns up no traps, locks, or other discernible shenanigans. All that being done, it's time for Frankie and Denair to do what they do best - look for trouble scout! The pair carefully meld into the shadows and ease the door open, revealing another decent-sized chamber.
A recess in the floor seems to have once contained water but is now empty. A plaque sits on a stone shrine to the south, with two shallow indents flanking it on either side, carved out of the stone. At each of the four corners of this room are steles depicting what look to be Shoanti warriors in battle stances. One would have to get closer to the steles to get a better look at them, however.
There don't appear to be any more ogres or giants or whatever those things were in here and there doesn't appear to be any other creatures in here either.
No sooner have Frankie and Denair gotten the door into this chamber opened than the eidolon, Serge, Skye, and Quang Chi all hear the faint sound of running water - though the recess in the room appears to be bone dry. And mixed with it, the sounds...of battle!
Uh-oh...it's a haunt! Even worse, it's a haunt that's immune to positive energy. It seems likely that something in particular needs to be done to destroy the haunt for good.
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Skye
Meredith
Caller
Frankie
Serge
Denair
Quang Chi
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A Thing!
Active Conditions: None
Environmental Conditions: None
Skye, Serge, Denair and Quang Chi may act!
"Wh-wh-what is that?" Denair hears a lot, but she doesn't see anything. She readies herself to strike the first hostile force in place.
Having heard something, most of the group is quick to react: Skye draws a wand, Serge bravely takes point and moves forward into the hallway, Denair readies to attack the first thing that gets too close, and Quang Chi adopts the focus of the Mouse.
The room fills with ghostly, faceless soldiers screaming and streaming forward, bearing the flag and insignia of Cheliax. They stream toward four ghostly Shoanti warriors, all standing back-to-back in a heroic attempt at a last stand. But the Shoanti are weaponless, powerless to resist the onslaught. The soldiers cut them down, only for the Shoanti to rise, and be cut down again. And again. And again.
But the ghostly soldiers of old Cheliax do not reserve their hatred for the Shoanti spirits alone. They also turn their attention to Serge, one of them striking out with a blade...
...except the blade does not cut when it connects; Serge instead feels more as though he's just taken a blow from a hammer or other blunt weapon. He also notices, now that he's in the hallway, that the floor inexplicably feels not like firm stone but sucking mud and boggy terrain!
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Skye
Meredith
Caller
Frankie
Serge
Denair
Quang Chi
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A Thing!
Active Conditions: None
Environmental Conditions: Difficult Terrain (Entire Room)
Everyone is UP!