"This way..." shouts back, as he makes his way back towards Sionnach's favorites, the princesses of death.
Addled and frustrated, Akri follows Khairam.
"Never thought I'd find rapport in a tomb! But that darned cat-"
|
"Khairam," Sionnach begins, a mix between amusement and confusion in his voice, "I appreciate your desire to lay eyes upon the beautiful ladies once more, but they rather specifically asked us to eliminate their husband first, and I'm pretty sure that was him. Shouldn't we be heading the opposite direction and putting an end to his cruel reign over them?"
Eisalka continues following Man.
"Feel free to remove that skeletons life or death, if it pleases your lady friends! Just don't expect me to help you against him and that cat!" Khairam replies as he hurriedly makes his way putting distance between himself and the undead feline.
|
|
Sionnach looks over his shoulder to see if the cat and/or mummy king are following them.
The explorers flee back to the queens' chambers, but between Akri's short legs and Sionnach's heavy armor, then both take hits as the undead hunting pair pursue them. Eventually they all duck into the room from before, and Bastetabi and Senenetka give them all surprised looks as they run in. "Back so soon? Out of breath from the thought of seeing us again?" Senenetka asks just as the skeleton champion and the ubashki leopard turn into the chamber from the hallway. The champion points and the leopard rushes at Akri; then he fires an arrow at Man.
Despite the leopard's speed and furious attacks, Akri manages to hold off its assault--mostly. He takes a slash from one of the preserved cat's claws, drawing blood and clipping a few stray beard hairs
The skeletal champion lands an arrow in Man's leg. It doesn't land deep or hit a major artery, but it's still painful nonetheless. Bastetabi, standing next to him, comments, "I see you've met the royal huntsman and his cat..."
=====
Initiative!
Akri (10 damage)
Eisalka
Khairam
Sionnach (5 damage)
Man (3 damage)
|
|
"Hello again, my radiant queens," Sionnahc offers with a polite bow made somewhat awkward by turning to face their foes at the same time. "Indeed the thought of you takes my breath away. In fact, I thought you'd hate to miss out on all the action, so we brought the action to you. Sit back and enjoy the show," he says, confidence brimming from his voice.
He then takes a swing at the cat.
Despite his shaking body, arms, legs and hands Kharam turns back to face the deadly cat from distance, "D...Do..Don't think Sionnach's q...qu...queens will be shaken by your roar, you force me to protect these g... goo ... good ladies. Remember the fire, that cat doesn't react well to fire!!!" He searches his backpack looking for some fire like substance he can use. He finds a flask of alchemists's fire, his hand still shaking he draws it from the bag.
Akri brings his weapons down on the leapord mummy thing.
Eisalka lands on Man's shoulder and gives him a scolding peck on the side of his head. "Don't be such a scaredy-human!"
They turn around, Man pulls out a wand and sends a ray of enfeeblement at the cat.
The queens exchange amused looks and stand back, staying out of the fight. Akri and Sionnach swing their weapons at the leopard--flanked, the creature suffers two hits, only dodging Akri's mace. Khairam retrieves a flask of fire from his pack, and Man lands a strength-sapping ray on the leopard. Its withered muscles seem to shrink back even further. Cornered and furious, it continues to lash out at Akri.
The ubashki leopard manages to bite through the armor on Akri's arm, but he shakes it off as it tries to hold on. It makes a sound between a mewl and a growl as it takes a defensive posture. It doesn't look to be in very good shape.
The royal hunter nocks two arrows in succession as it fires them off at Man again, cold practicality burning in the fires that inhabit its empty eye sockets.
One arrow pierces his side, and Man is beginning to look like a dark-red stained pincushion.
=====
Initiative!
Akri (12 damage)
Eisalka
Khairam
Sionnach (5 damage)
Man (9 damage)
|
|
Sionnach smiles at the queens as he says, "I certainly hope you're enjoying the show," and swings his mace again.
"Good hit, Man. Now help the others out."
Man drops his current wand and pulls out another one, then casts enlarge person on Khairam.
"Don't be scared, Khairam, you're bigger than him!"
Khairam moves forward towards Sionnach and throws his flask at the leopard, shouting "Burn in the fires of the sand, in Sarenrae's waters."
Akri grits his teeth and lays into the mummy-kitten-
With one mighty swing of his axe, Akri slices the cat's front clean open, revealing its preserved flesh within the bandages. The once again lifeless creature keels over and lies limp.
With the leopard defeated, Khairam picks up his bow again and tries to land a shot on the royal hunter with a blunt arrow. She ducks out of the way, though, and manages to dodge Sionnach's attack after he bows to the queens before moving up to hit the archer. It makes an angry rattling sound with its jawbone before stepping back and launching a couple of arrows at the Kitsune.
The first arrow misses, but the second pierces Sionnach's armor. He moves at just the right time, and although the arrow is painfully sticking out of his chest, it missed his heart - barely.
Man pulls out a wand and points it at Khairam. The scruffy explorer starts to rise, and suddenly he's towering over everyone else in the room!
=====
Initiative!
Akri (12 damage)
Eisalka
Khairam
Sionnach (8 damage)
Man (9 damage)
Eisalka casts a simple cantrip at the skeleton, hoping that his allies have the rest mostly in the bag.
Akri wipes the blood from his brow and grips his mace in his left hand, grunting as he moves to engage the royal hunter.
"Dodge all ye want, Bonesey, we Pahmet will have our revenge!"
|
|
"And so, dear ladies," Sionnach says to the queen, hiding his painful winces behind the sound of a small laugh, then gestures towards Khairam, " when I say he's a big pain, I really mean a big pain!"
Nice one!, comes an effeminate voice inside his mind.
This is responded to by a slower, more thoughtful voice which says, I don't rightly s'pose ridiculing one's teammates is quite the most effective way to build trust.
Sionnach simply ignores the voices in his head and steps up to the archer making a dramatically assertive movement to hide the pain of moving and swings his light mace.
Despite the explorer's best efforts, they can't seem to land a hit on the archer. She jukes out of the way of every attack, showing off the dexterity that must have made her an impressive hunter when she was alive. She steps back and fires her arrows at Akri this time, seeing his leopard wounds.
One arrow plants itself in Akri's leg, and the blood wells up and immediately becomes a broad, dark stain. Hastetabi calls from the other room, "You're doing a great job!" It is unclear whether this is sarcasm or not.
=====
Initiative!
Akri (21 damage)
Eisalka
Khairam
Sionnach (8 damage)
Man (9 damage)
Surprised by his sudden increase in size, Khairam looks long and hard at Sionnach, "Was that you, one of your little jokes Sionnach." Hace darkens, "should I say one of your BIG jokes!" Khairam drops his bow, takin out a dagger he trundles over to the archer, hoping to grab him and stop his bow from causing further harm.
Khairam grabs at the skeleton, but she nimbly ducks under his grasp. She then takes another step back further into the hallway. Worried about the towering figure before her, she fires another volley of arrows, this time at Khairam.
One arrow plunges into Khairam's hand, dripping sticky red on the thirsty sandstone floor.
=====
Initiative!
Akri (21 damage)
Eisalka
Khairam (8 damage)
Sionnach (8 damage)
Man (9 damage)
Eisalka audibly sighs, which is an interesting sound coming from a raven. Man pulls out a scroll and shoots a ray of fire at the stupid skeleton.
Unfortunately, Man's quiet voice is swallowed up by the sounds of battle and he must have said something incorrectly when activating the scroll, because...
the spell fizzles.
As he watches Sionnach and Akri pursue their enemy, Khairam sighs and goes after the hunter again. Finding it difficult to maneuver in his new size, he tries to bully his way past the aged yellow bones of their foes.
Akri spits blood onto the floor of the ancient tomb and wipes his cracked lips on the sleeve of his tunic, and follows the skeletal hunter, weapons drawn but bringing the mace down onto his foe.
Khairam pushes past the royal hunter, interposing himself between her and a quick getaway. Her jaw moves up in down, clacking in protest, but there's nothing she can do to stop herself from being surrounded. Seeing Khairam as a singular, if large, threat, she tries to plant a few more arrows in him. Unforunately, most of the explorers manage a swing at her as she reaches for her quiver.
Despite getting knocked around by a couple of maces, the royal hunter manages to get her bow in action, firing at Khairam looming above her.
At his increased size, Khairam proves an easier target. Another arrow draws blood, but only with a shallow graze.
=====
Initiative!
Akri (21 damage)
Eisalka
Khairam (10 damage)
Sionnach (8 damage)
Man (9 damage)
Akri ignores his bleeding mouth and the gash in his leg.
"To claim one Master's life releases the Pahmet's debt, and should I die... I will not die!"
Man fires off another ray of positive energy.
Akri's axe chips the skeleton ribs--the blade is meant to bite flesh, not cleave through bone. But the dwarf's forceful blow hammers through, and the hunter collapses in on herself and her weakened rib cage. She twists toward him, but her top half tumbles over on to the ground, scattering bones across the floor. The burning pinpoints of light in her eyes flicker out, and all is still.
The royal hunter's corpse has a quiver full of silver-tipped arrows and a finely made sword. Bastetabi and Senenetka emerge into the hallway to check on you all, the former bored and the latter smirking. Senenetka says, "Looks like you've bested the royal hunter and her cat quite handily." Bastetabi crosses her arms and adds, "Yes, I suppose you fared well. Maybe you will be able to dispose of His Majesty after all. Come let us know if you manage to find him--and live." With that, the queens turn back to return to their chamber.
Akri dry-heaves onto the stone floor, and points to the skeletal hunter's quiver.
"Khairam, do those arrows fit your bow?"
Another wave of nausea wracks the Pahmet's frame as he drops to his knees.
"I think we all need to get a little health back before we continue on to find this Pharaoh." Khairam says looking at the gash in his side, as his finger follows the line of the arrow. "But maybe we can have a good look round the chamber this hunter chased us out of. I mean if there's no more cats in there. Didn't like that cat at all, not at all cuddly." He smiles through the pain. "And being supersized like this I can see the tops of any reliefs or hieroglyphic writings in the chamber. I'd like to go there now if we can. Perhaps I can leave my healing for a short while. Now that Sionnach has made me great!!!"
|
|
Sionnach is mildly amused at being given the credit for the spell. However, he's also wise enough not to claim that credit with the bird hovering nearby. Instead, he simply says, "Well, you already had the big head, Khairam, it's just nice that the rest of the body fits now," and pulls out the wand.
Carved nature scenes cover this chamber’s walls, depicting humanoid figures hunting a wide variety of prey—crocodiles, elephants, hippos, leopards, lions, and even stranger beasts. An open sarcophagus lies at the far end of the room.
Let's follow Khairam back to the hunter's chamber and see what it's all about.
Akri 's wounds close as Sionnach's magic takes hold. "As if a dwarf needs a longer liver- and though it chills me to pay alms to the Pallid Princess, I will be dropping coins in her basket when I next visit Absalom. I do not choose my saviors, they choose me.
Sionnach, you cunning fox, I agree- let us rest for the night. We have smashed much of the Pharaoh's defenses, but we will need your spells and Khairam's creations, and Man's arcane blasts to finish the Pharoah."
"Perhaps we should sleep in that new chamber, give me something to do whilst we rest?" asks Khairam, raising an eyebrow expectantly.
"Seems like a reasonable idea. I could definitely use my spells refreshed."
Akri flicks his calloused thumb down the length of his dwarven war axe.
"Hmm, no blood. I'll run it along a stone, and take first watch. Rest should help us all, best to ye needing the night to recover spells and such. Even if the tomb grants us no quarter, the idea of rest is nice- this has been a trial worthy of song. I'm with the investigator- if he can pull history from these forgotten walls, I'm happy to grab a stone and sing the sounds of sleep."
The explorers take shelter in the tomb of the royal hunter. Aside from the carvings of great hunts and the hunter's open, empty sarcophagus, the room is bare. The five take turns keeping watch and taking rests. All is quiet through the night. The stone is oppressively quiet, in fact, and the thousands of pounds of sandstone all around dampen the sound and provide no warmth or succor to the resting explorers. While on watch, the only escape from the heavy silence is the occasional, faint whir in the distance--the still spinning wheels of the pyramid construct in the entrance hall's pit trap.
In the morning (or at least, probably morning; there is no sky visible through the stone), the explorers are well rested and their wounds have started to scab and scar. Sionnach still appears to be a pale Urgathoan, but there is something different about him in the morning.
Eisalka takes a few minutes to re-prepare her spells once she and Man awake, and a raven preparing spells is quite the sight to behold for the others.