"EEWWWW!"
stuff drips off a huge unseen thing 20' up:
"But -- you see?!? You see how she exploded? It was apoplexy, I tell you! Let that be a lesson to us all: we must learn to deal with our anger -- before it destroys us..."
Hadjii's voice-out-of-nowhere can then be heard burning another charge from his wand o' Cure Moderate Wounds:
The 2nd set of missiles kill the handmaiden leaving the group out of combat..
You do however still have two tame handmaidens..
...and a crown! Once Hadjii hands it to Findlay, he will study the crown in detail (for half-a-minute or so):
reporting what he learns telepathically -- along with the following note, direct into the minds of the party:
"By the way, these ghostly young ladies will serve me for about 15 minutes -- so let's go get some use out of 'em!"
while Findlay studies our new toy, Hadjii will use a few more charges from his wand:
and he'll eat a few Goodberries to top off.
To save you time and effort you get nothing from the crown other than a faint magical aura.. You feel something must happen to unlock its powers..
After cures and what not you have about 13 minutes left on the control undead.. You are pretty sure they can speak btw..
Ama will hit Canaan with Greater Restoration
What next team?
it appears the only option is back into the boats (), and head west to the 'T' intersection; from there, Hadjii mentally votes south...
Being invisible, Hadjii volunteers to scout south from the 'T' ahead of the party, if the others like that idea.
Findlay gets back into the boat, keeping his two ghosts circling 10' overhead; he continues studying the crown...
You get to the intersection and look south.. You see:
An imposing statue stands in a niche at the end of this canal. The statue is made of metal turned green with verdigris, and depicts a hippo-headed humanoid clad in armor and bearing a wicked spear. The statue’s gaping mouth is lined with rows of shark teeth.
The statue is made of bronze and is 15' tall. It brandishes its spear aggressively and looks downward. Closer inspection reveals a large blue sapphire sitting in the statues mouth.
"Is it just me or do you also thing grabbing the gem will make it attack us?"
Hadjii mentally replies:
"I think it will attack if we do anything other than departing and giving up our quest! Oh, and based on my scant knowledge of religion, I believe this was a character in the great bard Disney's story called 'Fantasia'..."
"It does look rather eager to prod someone..."
That statue reminds me of the mud sorcerors tomb
Amarnatha recognizes the statue of a Okhetamun, which is fact yall have fought before I think..
Findlay recgonizes some hinges on the statue that would allow you to move it's arms into different positions. He's pretty sure it would take someone stout to do so though..
does Findlay think a 16th-level <Telekinesis> would be up to the task of moving the arms around?
He is fairly confident yes.. Muscles are free though.. Your choice.
Canaan isn't a whimp.
"Crickets"
OK, since we have no better ideas Canaan will see if he can bend the head to look up instead.
You can move the joints.. You can move the spear into an attacking position or move the spear tip downwards, basically a 180 from it's current location.
Findlay ponders mentally "aloud":
"I was just thinking: the figure is looking down -- perhaps you should align the spear tip with where the statue is looking..."
Findlay has the two ghost-oids dancing in the air
Hadjii telepathizes:
"perhaps it will trigger something elsewhere: I will listen to the north..."
Hadjii drifts invisibly to a spot just north of the intersection.
Canaan will follow Findlay's suggestion.
Findlay verbally commands one of the ghost-thingies to position itself where it can "...receive the statue's blessing" (right where he thinks Canaan should point the spear) -- then conveys mentally:
"...just point the spear at the ghost!"
(if it activates in a hostile manner, let the spear stick one of our expendable things; in that case, Findlay will act surprised and command the ghosties to attack the statue)
Canaan moves the statue and nothing appears to happen and no other noises can be heard..
"OK, I've had enough of playing with dolls. Is there a point to this? Should I just grab the gem?"
"Hey Findlay, ask your new pet some questions. "
They reluctantly tell you that there is another statue around the corner and you must make thier positions the same.
Canaan makes it so.
Huge Hadjii will drift invisibly forward (north), peering around the corner and mentally reporting what he sees -- describing the pose of any statues there. If there is only one, Canaan can easily match the statue he is at to the one Hadjii sees.
Findlay does indeed ask the ghost dude if matching the statues is how this puzzle is supposed to work, but then moves the boat away from the statue before Canaan moves it again...
()
Hadjii makes his way around and moves west.. He see's a odd sight along his search for the other statue..
"Closely spaced pillars of black iron hinder entry into a grand chamber to the south. Twisting sigils are etched in their metallic surfaces."
Beyond the pillars he see's..
"The ceiling of this grand chamber is painted with scenes from the banks of the River Sphinx. A trio of pools filled with crystal-clear water a few feet deep run along the center of the hall, with painted crocodile hieroglyphs on the floor between them. In four alcoves to west and east are simple floor paintings of river herons. On each side of these alcoves stand heron-headed humanoid statues of dark basalt, in mocking poses. Two statues of crocodile-headed humanoids sit on thrones atop a large dais to the south. Each statue carries the crook and flail of kingship, but conspicuously, neither wears a pharaoh’s crown. Scattered across the floor are the bones of small animals."
And then up and around the next corner to the north he spots the other statue. It appears to have it's speard tip pointed up.
getting word from Haadji, Canaan points the spear up.
After a couple of tries Canaan moves it into place.. Somewhere in the complex you hear what sounds like some stones grinding against one another.. The pillars Hadjii saw are still in place though.
Yalls move at this point.
"Let's go find what that was. " in the interest of expediency we'll head for the unexplored section.
Bypassing the pillar room described above the group boats around to the unexplored area and see's..
"The canal ends at two side-by-side landings, with identical archways. Beyond each archway is a square room filled with murky, bluegreen water that gives off a pungent, salty smell. Seawater fills this chamber, and long, snaky lengths of huge plants grow out of the water, extending to the ceiling ten feet above. Beyond, a crystalline sapphire pyramid floats half submerged at the western end of the room, surrounded by glowing lights."
It's hard to tell how deep the water is in the room as it is murky and you cannot see past 5' in it.. When/if you cross over the threshhold give me a will save.
bah
...Hah
Entering the room Can, Hadjii, and Findlay realize the jungle is a powerful illusion.. They can tell that the room is empty save the tiny floating pyramid and a pillar in the middle that stretches into the depths..
Water still there yea sorry.. Still cant see the bottom..
Findlay will have his two ghost-oids enter from separate entrances...