Denair spreads her leafy wings and flies over Serge's head, into the spooky chamber. "I got it! I got it!" She lands at the altar and lowers the bolas gently onto the dais. "Um, here you go."
Quickly realizing what you need to do, the carved relic weapons are swiftly passed to those who can move the quickest through the mud or over it entirely. Denair takes the bolas and flies into the room, while Frankie takes the bow, Caller takes the earth breaker, and Quang Chi the klar. As he hands out the weapons, Skye also uses his wand to grant everyone a small blessing to help with the task, should they need it.
Denair's first instinct is to head for the dais in the room, which is no problem thanks to her powers of flight. But when she gets there she realizes that there are four different indentations where a carving could be placed, one at each corner. Which weapon goes where?
She - and anyone else that approaches the dais - can now also see the words carved onto the plaque. Those that know Shoanti have no trouble reading it:
'Ma Te Maarama Na, Ma Te Peeke Maatau e Whakaaro Tatou'
'By These Waters, We Will Overcome Our Enemies'
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Skye
Meredith
Caller
Frankie
Serge
Denair
Quang Chi
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A Thing!
Active Conditions: Bless
Environmental Conditions: Difficult Terrain (Entire Room)
Serge is UP!
"Um...where do I put the bolas?" Denair scratches her head.
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.
"Oh! Maybe I have to put the bolas on the warrior statue trying to throw something."
Unsure of what else to do, Serge also presses forward into the room, ready to take blows for his friends and allies or perhaps to guard against anything else lurking nearby.
After giving it a bit of thought, Denair realizes that the steles in each corner of the room - each depicting a Shoanti warrior - might be the key to figuring out which carving goes where. As she does, the ghostly warriors of Cheliax continue to stream forward, striking down the Shoanti spirits but also continuing to strike out at the living as well!
Slightly battered but also with a better idea of what to do, the party's eyes turn towards each of the steles...
The warrior depicted here is holding a bow.
This warrior is carrying a bolas.
This warrior holds a klar.
This warrior is holding an earth breaker.
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Skye
Meredith
Caller
Frankie
Serge
Denair
Quang Chi
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A Thing!
Active Conditions: Bless
Environmental Conditions: Difficult Terrain (Entire Room)
Everyone is UP!
"Okay, I'll scout around!" Denair flits about like a butterfly inspecting flowers for their pollen.
Since she's near the southwest statue already, she inspects it closely. "This one is holding a... klar? Chi, you should come here!"
She shrugs off the Cheliaxian ghost and flies to the northeastern stele, since it's the furthest away. "Oh hey, bolas!" She places the bola at the base of the stele. "I did it!"
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Meredith casts Spider Climb on the Caller. "Just climb across the walls, like a spider. See what's in the northwest corner. Denair can help with whatever's in the southeast."
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Skye moves the crowd still in the hallway and enters the chamber. The shaman casts burst of radiance, placing the brilliant flash of shimmering light so as to avoid his companions.
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Frankie looks up at Meredith and Denny as they call out direction. Frankie has never been very good at figuring things out, or coming up with a plan. Frankie's plans usually just happen... more like reacting than planning really. Looking down at the bow in his hands and seeing the two spot Denair points out as needing something NOT a bow, he takes a chance and slogs towards the closest corner: NW.
"Hey, this one needs a bow, sweet!" He plops it down in its rightful spot then looks around for where ever the next evil Chel is going to whack him upside the head.
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Following Denair's instructions, Quang Chi shoulders his way past Skye. He peers at the statue and compares it to what he's holding, just to be sure. Not that he doesn't trust her, but people - even nice fox-tree-fey-people - do make mistakes sometimes. Satisfied that she was indeed correct, he places the klar relic into the indent in the stone.
"It is done," he announces.
Denair zips around the chamber with the greatest of ease, first pointing out where Quang Chi should go to place the klar and then happening upon the stele that depicts a Shoanti warrior wielding a bolas. Full of confidence, she zips down and pops the corresponding carving into place.
*WHSSSH!*
There's a flash of light and then a ghostly bolas materializes in the hands of one of the Shoanti spirits!
Eager to do what she can to help, Meredith zips up to Caller and uses her magic to grant him a spider's climbing power, better to bypass the strange invisible muck in the chamber.
Thinking that perhaps he can target the ghostly Cheliax soldiers directly, Skye bravely pushes forward into the chamber as well. He conjures a burst of bright light, taking care to avoid his friends...but the spell doesn't seem to have any effect whatsoever.
Taking a guess, Frankie trudges through the invisible bog towards one of two unidentified steles...and is delighted to find that this one depicts a Shoanti armed with a bow! He pops his carving into place.
*WHSSSH!*
Yet another flash of light and a ghostly bow appears in the hands of one of the Shoanti!
Quang Chi and Caller follow suit, moving to the remaining two steles. Both of them pop their respective carvings into the indentations, returning the spectral Shoantis the rest of their weapons. Now armed, the four brave warriors take the fight to their ghostly enemies with a vengeance, their voices uniting as one in a rousing battle cry! It isn't long at all before the four stand victorious, celebrating their victory with warm embraces and jubilant victory song.
They glance your way, smile, and raise their weapons in salute.
And then slowly fade from sight.
With the spirits here put to rest and the carvings returned to their rightful places, the recess in the middle of the room begins to slowly fill with crystal-clear water. Those standing on the ground also realize that they can now move about normally.
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Quang Chi returns the spectral Shoantis' salute with a precise bow, but by the time he arises, they're already gone.
"I suppose we cannot really do 'the Pathfinder thing' and loot the tomb. That would seem to work against our mission," he notes with a wry smile.
"Ah, Meredith. Apologies, but if you would be so kind," he asks while handing her a wand "I should have done this before we came into the crypt," he adds sheepishly.
With his magical armor in place, he points toward the northwestern door out of the room. "Next is the ring, yes?"
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Frankie's bracing for the impact of another that new comes quickly softens as the scene turns friendly again. "Woah. That worked great!" He gives a virtual high five to the ghostly warriors as they fade off into the background.
Quickly before the water fills the room Frankie looks around to make sure there isn't any damage that they might need to fix then heads off dragging Serge towards the next room and hopefully more action!
Now that things have been put to rights - at least here within this chamber - you take a few moments to apply some new magical protections and to mend what few wounds you suffered at the hands of the restless spirits. A few of your earlier protections also fade away at this time but you were certainly able to get plenty of use out of them while they lasted.
Curious about the clear water in the pool, Skye scans it for magical auras and isn't disappointed in the least to find out that it is indeed magical! He cautiously samples a tiny drop with his finger...
...and is rewarded with a feeling of being slightly bolstered in both mind and body! Further research reveals the water to offer the same benefits upon consumption as that of an Aid spell.
After the group takes a quick peek at the northwestern door out of the chamber and determines it to be safe, Frankie the Flash is off, eagerly pulling Serge along behind him. The pair - followed closely by Denair - make their way north through a narrow hallway. They pass by a small alcove containing a small number of coffins but pausing to search the area doesn't reveal anything of interest besides some disturbed remains, which are easily returned to their rightful places.
Moving on, the group turns a corner and sees the next chamber just ahead, which looks to be a large, circular room. In the center of this circular room is a platform overlooking a 10-foot-deep pit. Inside the pit is a heavily damaged sarcophagus and a broken skeleton.
Denair's gnarled, wooded feet are in the pool. "Yummy!"
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"Hang on, Frankie, this is magical sweet water. Try some," Serge pauses at the pool to have a drink, and hopes that Frankie doesn't go for an impromptu bath.
"Magic water? You know how I feel about drinking plain water..." He chugs down the last of his cocoa, dips the water skin into the pool and lightly swirls it around the bottom and drinks it down. "There, don't want to leave any cocoa leftover!" How does that ghost woman not know about doing that?
Before actually proceeding to the large circular chamber the rest of the group makes it a point to drink from the cool, refreshing water in the pool and everyone feels much better for having done so! What's more is that there seems to be plenty of water to go around so it should be possible to come back for another drink later, if anyone is so inclined.
Back in the large chamber specifically, the group watches and waits...but nothing seems to happen. A bit of shuffling occurs for Skye and Meredith to step up and scan as much of the area from the door as they can for auras, which reveals the area to be free of magical auras as well as evil ones. Feeling a little more secure, everyone carefully begins to file into the room - but you all still keep your eyes peeled for trouble.
Between the seven of you you're pretty dang sure that there's nothing worrisome lurking within this particular chamber. There's still the matter of the sarcophagus and skeleton at the bottom of the pit, though. Best guess is that the sarcophagus once sat upon the platform that overlooks said pit, but was either accidentally or deliberately knocked into the pit, causing it and the skeleton within to suffer a great deal of damage.
Since the pit isn't terribly deep - only 10 ft. or so - it should be possible to haul the sarcophagus and the skeleton back out and return them to their rightful places.
But it might take some elbow grease to do it.
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"Okay, I can help. Or maybe I can lead? I dunno, the Boss says I'm pretty strong."
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"Not bad!" Frankie heads off to explore, pulling up short when he sees the broken coffin in the hole "No way something doesn't try to eat us here!" He looks around the room in a wary stance, ready to jump out of the way at any moment!
It takes a couple minutes but finally the group convinces him its safer than it looks. "Well, how about I stay up here and help pull with a rope maybe.. keep an eye out!"
When the group finally gets it up and out, Frankie hoots and hollers, then looks around nervously for the sneak attack.
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Quang Chi takes a quick walk around the circular room just to make sure everything is as peaceful it seems. Satisfied, he sets his bow down and asks Meredith for her blessing. He then hops down into the pit and sets his shoulder to the sarcophagus.
With the sarcophagus safely on the edge of the pit, he takes a moment to gather up the remains. Bag of bones across his shoulder, he clambers back out and sets them into their proper place.
He steps back from the sarcophagus and bows deeply in penitence. "Apologies, noble one."
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It does indeed take some elbow grease but with the use of some rope and several of you pulling from up top and pushing/lifting from the bottom, you manage to haul the sarcophagus out of the pit and return it to its rightful place. Quang Chi is also careful to collect the bones and place them back into the sarcophagus in the proper anatomical configuration.
Having been content to keep clear of the heavy lifting, SkyeBot steps forward and proceeds to use the Scavenger's Stone to repair what was broken, restoring the sarcophagus and the skeleton within it to their former state. The cherry on top comes when Skye produces the ring, stylized as a scarab beetle.
"Can't forget this," he remarks as he carefully slides the ring onto the skeleton's finger.
A gust of air whips through the chamber and the lights embedded in the walls flicker. The ghostly figure of a wizened and heavily tattooed Shoanti man materializes just above the sarcophagus; Skye and Caller recognize the tattoos - mostly bones and skulls - as those favored by the Skoan-Quah, or Skull Clan.
The spirit bows respectfully to you all and mouths two words: 'Thank you', before fading away.
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Frankie keeps out of the way, watching over for creepers trying to sneak up on them, sling shot in hand "All clear guys... woah a tattooed ghost!" He yelps before calming down and smiling, waving the man good bye.
"Aww, he didn't even stop to chat!" Frankie shrugs, puts away his sling shot and grabs up Serge's hand and drags him off towards the next target!
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"Hmm...you know, it's pretty rare to run across a spirit that's as down to chat as Hearth Keeper is," Skye remarks after this new, unnamed spirit fades away. "I'd like to go and lend her an ear for a bit, see if there's any wisdom she might be willing to pass on about the Shoanti of yore, you know?"
He passes the one remaining relic you've yet to return - the statue of the wolf cub - and the Scavenger Stone over to Quang Chi.
"Here, take these. If you need me, you know where to find me."
With that, Skye heads back the way you came and ostensibly back to the sepulcher entrance to pick Hearth Keeper's ghostly brain.
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After looking at the map it becomes clear that the quickest way to reach the spot where the wolf statue belongs - assuming you all wish to return it first before exploring anywhere else - would be to head out door on the western side of the large, circular chamber.
The western door is given a good once-over for magical auras and traps and comes up clean, whereafter Frankie and Denair blend into the shadows and proceed down the corridor beyond. The pair scout ahead a little at time, taking care to wave the rest of you forward at periodic intervals.
After turning a corner to the south and then another corner back to the west, Frankie and Denair see another door that leads away to the south. The corridor also runs another few feet and turns back to the north; it is this way that should eventually lead you to where the wolf statue should go.
That said, there's always a question of whether or not it's wise to leave unexplored routes at ones' back.
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Quang Chi bows to Skye as he takes the statue and stone from his hands. "May you find peace and wisdom, my friend," he mutters to the retreating figure as he tucks the two items into his pack.
When word of the scouts' dilemma reaches him, the monk reminds the others that the 'maze room' is where Lumketul encountered the 'lightning dogs.' He also mentions that in the twisting and short corridors, he won't be of much use if he can't line up a shot.
"But, the wise course would be to carefully clear the area of unknown dangers."
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"Good idea, Skye. You can watch out backs, too." And stay away from that creepy ghost. She sighs.
"So we can proceed, or we can check on the maze." She sighs. "Let's check this maze. Denair, come here for a second."
She casts Lesser Evolution Surge on Denair, granting her Electric Resist 10 for the next 6 minutes.
"Okay, go ahead first and take a look- we'll be right behind ya."
Deciding that it might be best to err on the side of caution, the decision is made to investigate the chamber to the south before pressing on any further. After carefully inspecting and listening at the door for a few moments, none of you detect anything untoward or out of the ordinary - either with the door itself or beyond it.
That done, Denair is given the go-ahead and cautiously pushes the door open. Pillars of stone fill this space. Each is etched with some sort of writing, but the inscriptions are chipped, scorched, or otherwise damaged or obscured.
From their position at the doorway, Frankie and Denair both notice that the ceiling a few feet away from the door appears to be damaged in a manner similar to the damage the stone pillars are showing. While it doesn't look to be in danger of total collapse, there's enough debris that might come raining down to give anyone caught underneath it a major headache.