Eidi closely examines the scrolls and the green light "Mmm... the scrolls seem under the effect of an extremely powerful spell. A temporal stasis. We would be unable to touch them or move them" he follows the green light to the double doors "If this is the effect of the light, it might be possible that shutting down the light frees the scrolls" the half-elf points towards the double doors "What is there to the west?"
Looking to Ascaria Eidi explains "I will need fifteen minutes to pray for a spell able to help Ascaria. Do you think we can do it here?"
The half-elf scans the equipment of Bozal and explains his findings "This is a +2 Unholy Club, there is a potion of Cure Serious Wounds, a scroll of Restoration, a brooch of Shielding, a wand of Inflict Moderate Wounds with 32 charges left, a +1 Chain Mail and a lesser Strand of Prayer Beads with a bead of Bane and a bead of Infliction"
If possible, Eidi will kneel in front of Ascaria and pray for a remove blindness spell.
Eidi casts remove blindness over Ascaria.
"That was some good Oopsy Topsy Sol. We'll have to play again soon!"
While Eidi tends to Ascaria, Tynan moves to the doors and examines them.
Ascaria follows along as best he can without his sight. "So we found the scrolls, but can't destroy them? Disappointing. I don't think we're in a terrible rush, but 15 minutes sounds like a long time. I don't know..." he shrugs content to wait for now. He sits on the floor, and tries a drawing-without-sight.
He tries to draw the scene from memory, guessing at perspective and whatnot, expecting quite an interesting, likely surreal drawing at the end when he can see again. He spends some time on it, as he has time to kill and hopes for an interesting bit of art, if not an accurate one.
When he's done, he tucks it in his pack to experience later. He waits...
Solrisa tries to destroy the scrolls. First she will try to slice them with her sword, then try to burn them with a torch. She tries, and tries hard, because that is what Sol believes will work.
When that fails, she will go about blocking the beam from the other room. First she tries using a dummy (no, not Eri), but one of the practice dummies form the next room. She puts it in front of the beam to stop it.
She watches what happens when the beam is broken.
"Mmm... the scrolls seem under the effect of an extremely powerful spell. A temporal stasis."
"A temporal... stasis?" Mortimer repeats, hearing the words but not completely understanding their meaning. He looks at the green light. "What if I stepped into the green light like that -- devil thing? Would I still not be able to touch them?"
"I think it's O.K. for now -- in this room, for Eidi to take the time to cast the spell. We can't have you being completely without sight."
Mortimer takes a guarding position by the southern corridor, facing west s so that he can also see the northern and western door. He hears the familiar noise of the captives to the south moaning.
"Should we help out these guys? Maybe we can stabilize them and leave them where they are until we can find an alternative exit route?"
"Oh, right, thanks Mort." Ascaria stops drawing a moment.
"Sol. They're suffering from worms. A remove disease should do the trick. It may not revive them, but it will save their lives." he says into the darkness.
Between Eidi and Eri , you confirm that in front of you, under strong protections unassailable, even by the maiden, are the Apostolic Scrolls. For the light emanating from them, and against the double doors, both arcane fellows in your group are reasonably sure that the Scrolls have been read, and have summoned an ulgurstasta, within 100' of your current location.
Eidi is uninterrupted for the 15 minutes needed to draw on his divine power, and Ascaria is brought back to sight, though it is limited. The half-elf only has so much to work with...
The double doors are have no locking mechanism, and do not appear to be trapped, magically or otherwise.
Solrisa's machinations with the practice dummy(no, not Eri) leads to the practice dummy being bathed in green light, much like Bozal was moments ago. The green light continues to flow in its writhing beam into the double doors, nonetheless. Like dropping a rock into a rapids. A beam, unbroken.
Ascaria is pleased when he can see again, but he does not like the looks of the scrolls, or the green light.
"Well this is unpleasant."
for information on the ulgurstasta
The Ulgurstasta, also known as an Apostle of Kyuss, is Chaotic Evil Gargantuan Undead, summoned from the Wormcrawl Fissure, one of the most dangerous and mysterious places of your world.
"Sol. They're suffering from worms."
"Oh no! They have the wurmies!?" Solrisa's smile fades for a moment, then is immediately replaced with a look of concern and worry.
"I'll do go see what I can do now."
Solrisa marches back to try to help the men, at least once on each.
healing & PL vs. Disease
healing & PL vs. Disease
healing & PL vs. Disease
"You should be better now...maybe. We can try again tomorrow. Don't worry."
* * *
Know (Rel) - ulgurstasta
"Can the scrolls only be used once? We better go find the pet."
"We better go find the pet."
"What pet?" Tynan gives Eri a questioning look.
"Oh, and the door doesn't appear to be trapped or locked. It's ready when we are."
"Yeah, pet is right. Ugh." Ascaria shakes his head as he thinks about what little he knows...
"The Ulgurstasta, also known as an Apostle of Kyuss, is a Chaotic Evil Gargantuan Undead, summoned from the Wormcrawl Fissure, one of the most dangerous and mysterious places of our world. It has been summoned, and we must destroy it, or it will certainly wreak havoc."
"Let's get ready for the fight of our lives. This will not be easy." Ascaria says as he gets out his rod of extend spell...
both arcane fellows in your group are reasonably sure that the Scrolls have been read, and have summoned an ulgurstasta, within 100' of your current location.
Eri gestures at the green beam.
"The summoned pet within 100ft of this. I wonder how we can break this."
Eidi nods in agreement when Ascaria comments what he knows about the Ulgurstasta.
"I am unsure we are prepared to fight such a beast..." he looks at the scrolls and the green light "But, if we are right and it was summoned... the more time we wait to face it the stronger it will be... All I can offer right now is to shroud us again into invisibility so we might have a chance to surprise it"
Eidi will cast shield from his staff before moving on. He then casts sphere of invisibility for the group.
Solrisa be-shields herself again, getting grim, then happy as she prepares for a bigger, badder battle. She even readies her long, blue sword as well.
"Tell me what you need me to do!" Sol exclaims with a smile, dinging her shield once with her sword to verify that both sound unbroken.
"Which way do we go?" Sol's ready to smash evil.
"Well, wait --" Mortimer interjects, pulling out a couple of vials of holy water. "These scrolls summoned It? Is this green light coming from the altar and the scrolls physically linked to the Evil Gargantuan Undead? If we can't touch the scrolls, will we be able to touch this Undead? Or, does breaking the light finish the summoning and throw it out of the Temporal Stasis, freeing It?"
He looks down at the Holy Water. "I'm not sure this will do much good down here. It's Asmodean. I can't help but think maybe it will work against us. Maybe I should use thunderstones or tangleburn bags to start..."
Weapon Equipped = Rod of Extend Spell
Conditions = Magic Vestment on Buckler (+2 ench AC)(1/9h), Bless (1/18m),
Life Link (9)(100’) = Eidi, Eri, Mort, Sol, Tynan
Channel Energy (4/9)(7/7) (DC: 22)(Avoid 6) (5d6+1+2d6)
Amiable Blunder (1/1) (if Diplomacy failed by >5, reroll to avoid worsening attitude)
Rod of Extend (lesser) (1/3)
Melee Attack: BAB +6/+1, Size +1 Damage: +0
Ranged Attack: BAB +6/+1, Dex +1, Size +1 Damage: +0
Spells (Caster Level 9, Concentration +15)
Once per Day: Arcane Mark, Comprehend Languages, Message, Read Magic
Zero (16): Create Water, Detect Magic, Guidance, Light, Purify Food and Drink, Spark, Stabilize
First (17): (6/8) Bless, Cure Light Wounds, Diagnose Disease, Enhance Water, Liberating Command, Remove Fear
Second (18): (7/8) Burst of Radiance, Cure Moderate Wounds, Lesser Restoration, Light Prison, Pilfering Hand, Suppress Charms and Compulsions
Third (19): (4/7) Cure Serious Wounds, Daylight, Magic Vestments, Neutralize Poison, Prayer
Fourth (20): (2/5) Blessings of Fervor, Cure Critical Wounds, Protection from Energy Communal, Restoration
"Good questions Mort. I don't know what the green light is to be honest." Ascaria shrugs, "but surely we'll be able to touch the undead. I suspect your fists will be more harmful than that holy water though." he agrees with Mort's unease regarding Asmodean holy water.
green light
"We cannot leave with this thing here. We must try and face it - and destroy it." He admires the tangle burn bag, "It might be too large to be effected by that, and I doubt it's a caster, so the thunderstones might not do anything to it either." he frowns, realizing he's not offering much good advice.
"I'm sorry, I just don't know much about the thing other than to say it's very very big. And nasty. But yes, let's go in invisible if we can and close up as soon as possible to hem it in."
When the group is ready to proceed, he casts Bless using the rod to extend the duration. He keeps the rod in hand for his next spell as well, but he holds off casting for now.
"Oh! Mort take this potion." he hands him the potion of cure serious wounds.
He takes the scroll of restoration, unless Eidi wants it.
He holds up the necklace, "This is nice, but I have a necklace. Anyone have room? It'll protect you from magic missiles for a time."
One he's distributed the few items, he helps Mort stow the rest. "Let's go shall we?" He gestures to the door.
Mortimer packs away his holy water,TBbags and Thunderstones along with everything else. Once invisible, he pulls out and quaffs one potion of Cat's Grace. Mmmm! Like mint tea! He hangs onto a single potion of Spider Climb.
Once the group is ready, if Rose is not available to open the west door, Mortimer will open the west door.
Through trial and error, Solrisa comes to understand that her healing is less effective on the stricken men, while the disease runs rampant under their skins. Curing the disease first allows a full healing to take effect.
All three men cease moaning, in turn, and in turning, become somewhat belligerent. They begin wresting their wrists from the shackles that bind them, to no effect. All three men strain at the length of their chains, trying to grapple the maiden. The chains allow them a 5' radius of movement, but Solrisa easily evades their lurching attempts. What remains of these men is something feral, and unthinking.
...
The double doors open smoothly, once one of you steps up to do so. The green light continues its writhing path to the end of the hallway before you, ending in a stone wall. The wall depicts an orgy of the dead. Skeletal bodies, with worms working their way obscenely from one corpse to another, in all manner of sexual positions. Above it all, in the center of the stone portal, is the Skull of Kyuss, uttering a silent, triumph scream.
The green light passes through the Skull's mouth. The hole in the center of the wall is roughly two feet in diameter. The wall itself is roughly two feet in thickness. The green light makes viewing through the wall somewhat difficult...
"Let me check out that wall. Wait here."
Tynan cautiously moves up the corridor, avoiding the green beam, until he reaches the wall at the end. He examines the area thoroughly.
There doesn't appear to be anything mechanical or trap-like in the vicinity of the wall. Through the wall, you manage to see something stir. It is colossal. It is like a grub, shifting worm-like upon decay and rubble. It pulsates slowly, dormant in some suspended sleep state.
Looking at the wall, Mortimer exclaims, "Oh, well. That has got to go!"
He cringes as Tynan begins to enter the hallway, remembering the Iron Ball trap sprung on them at Whispering Cairns. He absentmindedly starts fiddling with the worry stone in his pocket.
"So what is the deal with this -- hall and wall? Is the Gargantuan supposed to come shooting out of that hole in the wall?"
Tynan makes his way back to the others, and relates what he saw.
"I'm fairly certain we'll have to find another way beyond the wall. Perhaps the passage to the north circles that way. That said..."
Tynan pauses, and looks worriedly back up the hallway. "I saw something through the opening... It looks like a colossal, pulsating grub. It wouldn't fit through the hole, though it could probably knock down the wall with little effort. I think it might be in some sort of sleep state though. Didn't you say the scroll is protected by a temporal stasis or something?"
"Thanks Ascaria. You can keep the scroll. I will take the beads if no one else plans to make use of them" comments the half-elf.
"A wall..." muses Eidi once Tynan comes back "That will be no problem. Let me open a passage through it for us"
Provided the group accepts it as a good idea, Eidi casts stone shape on the wall to make an opening for the group to access the creature's room.
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"Wait! That might wake it up immediately! Let's check the northern passage first."
Eidi nods and follows Tynan.
Solrisa looks confused. On one hand, she wants to follow the green light, on the other hand, she is confused.
She follows Tynan.
As a consensus is reached, Tynan leads everyone down the northern corridor, to a door which opens to one of the keys on Bozal's ring of keys.
A central pillar of green marble carved in the likeness of a segmented worm supports the ceiling of this square room. The room is dimly lit by a single incense burner that sheds a sweet, fruity aroma. The room is lined with woolen tapestries depicting coiling green worms, and contains a bed, an armchair, and a cupboard. Near the bed is a small nightstand and an ornate, elongated trunk. The western wall is punctuated by another wooden door.
There is a sole occupant in the room, currently sitting in repose in one of two chairs along the southern wall. She sits there, unmoving, staring down on two cups of wine, already poured. Closer examination, still no movement, and you behold a ghastly visage. The rot makes it difficult, but you can recall the face, from the locket of Ekaym. You stand before Lahaka. Or at least what remains of her. She doesn't stand. She doesn't turn to acknowledge your presence.
She has been turned into a zombie.
"Can we fix this? Can we bring her back to life? We shouldn't attack her if we can reverse this. Am I being naive?"
"We can only send her to her grave, and try to have her raised later, though I remember something about being unable to raise those who have fallen to undeath..." Ascaria whispers.
He looks at Tynan, "We should not have come this way. We need to face the beast, not stumble into who knows what down here circling around. It may not sleep if it hears us battling again." he frets.
"We should go back, and go through the hole in the wall with Eidi's help. If we must deal with her now, it may be easy - she is a zombie." he shakes his head sadly. Poor Ekaym!
The beam is connecting the altar and scrolls to the chamber of the ulgurstasta. You've interacted with the beam with a practice dummy, but none of you has touched the beam, nor been able to break its connection between altar and chamber. You did observe Bozal benefiting from the beam passing through him, while he stood in its way. It's not unreasonable to assume that the beam only came into existence once the Scrolls had been read, though how long the beam may continue to link to the ulgurstasta is difficult to tell.
"Fine. Lead the way, Ascaria." Tynan gestures back down the corridor toward the scroll chamber.
Solrisa follows Tynan, following Ascaria. She would put down the zombie and report on that to Ekaym, but she's not sure that is the best option.
"I wonder if the beam is still working on forming the beast. I'd like to kill it before it grows any more, if that's what's happening."
The Apostolic Scrolls are laid out to be readable, if unmovable. Perhaps with dedication and careful translation from the black tongue of Abyssal, you might extract the information you seek regarding the overall process of summoning such a powerful creature. And time. You need time to read the Scrolls, roughly hour.
Eidi studies Lahaka "Mmmm... this is terrible. The spells needed to bring her back are well away from our power. And we will have a terrible time concealing her in this state... I only see two solutions, we either destroy her so Ekyam can pay a costly resurrection, or we leave it here closed in the hope we might be able to come back here with the help" he then checks the woman in the hope her transformation might not be complete "Damned Bozal... how much damaged have you caused?"
--------------------------------
Eidi agrees with the idea to go for the ulgurstasta before it wakes up "It might be it has not yet reach it's maximum power, if so, we should face it now"
Observing the group agrees, he closes to the wall, and bringing a small piece of clay from his pouch, he uses a stone shape spell to mold it into a hole without making noise.
Eidi uses his last pearl of power to recover magic missile before going inside.
Mortimer scratches the back of his head. "Yah, I don't know. It would be nice if we understood the beam at all. I'd like to destroy this altar, but that might draw unwanted attention right now..." If only we understood this green light better, or ...
"Is there such a thing as a reverse summon?"
He shakes his head.
"I'm just hoping the green light is keeping that thing from moving/waking. Maybe there's another way into that room without destroying the hole in the wall, which might be focusing the beam. There's a door to the north that we passed on the way in."
Ascaria isn't sure either, but he doubts it. "A reverse summons? I don't know of anything, but I don't summon stuff generally so I don't know..."
"Yeah, Eidi, can you make a different hole? Don't enlarge the existing one, but make one next to it?"
Solrisa waits for a plan to save/recover the body of Lahaka. When that is done, she moves back into the scroll room, preparing to face whatever they might find in the adjoining chamber.
This will be fun! I bet Rae wishes she was here for this!
You've heard of certain practitioners in magic who specialize in countering summoners in the act of a summoning , but the creature is already here, and would require a powerful Dismissal, or even Banishment.
Eidi steps forward, creating a circle in the wall to the right of the central hole, roughly three and a half feet wide. Through it, unobstructed by the green, writhing light, all can see what lies beyond- a colossal yellowish grub, shifting worm-like upon decay and rubble. It pulsates slowly, dormant in some suspended sleep state.
The chamber that lies beyond the hole is barely able to contain the creature.
Eidi returns to the group, casting the invisibility sphere, before continuing.
Shall I lob some spells in there before we enter?
Ascaria whispers, "No, it'll be tough for us to fit through the hole, so wait for Mort and Sol at least."
He wonders a moment, "But uh, maybe we could just beat it up from here? If it can't get out of there, maybe we can just shoot it through the hole?"
He doesn't like that idea, makes him really nervous, but if it worked...
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Shall I lob some spells in there before we enter?
"Oh, that's a good idea," Solrisa says, her eyes opening appreciatively. She presses herself against the wall so that the ranged yahoos can take their shots. "I'll be ready to move in or stop it if it comes down the corridor. There is absolutely no reason to think this plan will fail."
"The Temporal Stasis though -- is it because of the green light?if we can't touch the scrolls, will we be able to touch that thing?"
He takes out his homemade Quarter Staff and holds it in the light, to see if anything happens to it.
"What if we just try breaking the beam?"
"Yeh, if it wakes up and there's no one in there, most of our attack will be on the wrong side of the wall. I'll wait."
Mortimer waves the quarterstaff through the beam, with no observable effect. The light continues to bathe the interior of the grub chamber. From what the group gathers, closed double doors or no, the light seems to pass through and around anything placed in its way.
"Keep your eyes on that thing," says Mortimer heading back out through the double doors.
He proceeds to approach the alter, and without stepping into the light, he tries to push it over toward the east.
"I'm going to see if I can break it this way."
Mortimer begins whacking away at the altar with his crowbar.