The giant begins working on the altar, which resists his initial attempt at toppling, and begins a peaceful disobedience to Mortimer's slurry of strikes to break it down. It does begin to show signs of damage, but the work will take some time, as each blow is turned away by the quality of the stone, and the mundane nature of the crowbar.
Mortimer drops the crowbar and starts using his bare fists.
The altar, sheltered for its entire existence, can't weather the storm that is Mortimer. The stone chips, pulverizes, and erodes into a pile of rubble, making its previous, sculpted form unrecognizable.
The Scrolls continue to rest on their phantom altar, suspended mid-air, as if supported merely by the green light that tethers them to the ulgurstasta chamber.
Mortimer stands, sweating from his effort, staring at the smug Phantom Altar.
"How are we supposed to turn this off?!" he asks exasperatedly, gesturing at the Eerie Green Light. " Maybe we should set up to attack the Ulgurstasta"
Aware of the racket he's made, he quickly grabs his crowbar and quaffs a potion of Invisibility.
Heading back down the hall. he flattens himself against the wall opposite Solrisa.
"We should all stick close to the gnome and Eidi. Eri, why don't you fire at it and see if you can even hit it?"
Weapon Equipped = None
Conditions = Magic Vestment on Buckler (+2 ench AC)(1/9h), Bless (2/18m), Prayer (1/18r)
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) (0/3)
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): (3/7) Cure Serious Wounds, Daylight, Magic Vestments, Neutralize Poison, Prayer
Fourth (20): (2/5) Blessings of Fervor, Cure Critical Wounds, Protection from Energy Communal, Restoration
Ascaria moves down the hall and casts Prayer on the group. It may effect the creature too but I'm assuming not - not sure about the size of the hole, bursting, etc.
He then puts the rod away.
He whispers to Eri, ”If you’re going to shoot, shoot, don’t talk.”
Solrisa giggles as the 'trap' is about to be sprung.
"You get it, Eri! Then I'll pounce!"
Eri is wary of the green light. Making sure everyone is ready he takes a 5’ step and aims a fireball deep inside the oval office, er circle cavern.
”fire FIRE hehe hehe.”
A pea-size ball of red forms at the archer's fingertip, streaking down the hallway, towards the awaiting ulgurstasta. Before it enters the chamber beyond, it strikes an invisible wall, exploding the flaming ball early!
Those remaining in the hallway, not the altar room, feel its effects. The flame burns out with little to no pressure, the stonework of the hallway hardly touched by the fire. And yes, the green beam of light still pulses and writhes.
There seems to be something akin to a Wall of Force up and running, which interrupted Eri's casting.
Solrisa hides her face from the blast, then giggles happily until she sees the lack of happy from her companions.
"What do we do now?" Solrisa asks, wondering why it didn't work or might work.
Weapon Equipped = None
Conditions = Magic Vestment on Buckler (+2 ench AC)(1/9h), Bless (2/18m), Prayer (2/18r)
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) (0/3)
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): (3/7) Cure Serious Wounds, Daylight, Magic Vestments, Neutralize Poison, Prayer
Fourth (20): (2/5) Blessings of Fervor, Cure Critical Wounds, Protection from Energy Communal, Restoration
(prayer)
Expecting an arrow, Ascaria is surprised by the flood of heat that blasts down the hallway.
"Ouch. Uh, so that didn't work. Now what? Anyone have any ideas? Spells are burning..." he frowns, wondering what's protecting the creature. He wants to walk down the hall to check, but holds off until smarter folk take a look at the wall.
Mortimer blinks incredulously at the invisible wall. "Is that a also a physical barrier, or can you shoot an arrow through it? Is it dispel-ible?"
He squats over Bozal's remains and stares at them. "Why did he say he'd be proven victorious in dying? Is he going to turn into a zombie too? Hey, Eidi! Were you familiar with Bozal? You seemed to know him. Who was he? How did you come to know about him?"
He straightens up and looks at the Temporal Stasis beam.
"It's like this whole space isn't here, for all we can do to affect it..."
He continues, pensively, "I don't know much about magic, but is there anyway if we can tell if Bozal finished The Summon? Maybe he forgot do do something? Should someone take a look at the scrolls again? Should I try standing in the green light? If it's like the club, it's unholy, but I don't know what that would do to me."
"It seems like a wall of force is on the work..." muses Eidi "The magics on this place are well ahead of our capabilities. We cannot go inside even on ethereal form, only teleportation might work, which none of us I think have access to"
"Bozal" answers the half-elf to Mortimer "Celeste and myself, we have been looking for him after we discovered the undead he has been creating. He was a real danger to the country as this has demonstrated"
"I currently only see as a solution attempting to produce a demolition of the structure and hope that will hold the beast inside" he looks to the scrolls "Of course we can try to make an extra read on the scrolls but I doubt we can stop it. The worm is here, there is no ritual to interrupt"
Nevertheless, Eidi gives a second look at the scrolls looking for any clue on what kind of state the urgalasta currently is.
Eri sees his fireball misfire and his face gets as red as the flames. As the flames get closer and closer the Eidi, he tenses up and tries to yell out a warning, but nothing comes out.
AAAIIIIIIIGGGGGGGHHHHH
”Wow, what a colossal fook up!”
He looks around, dejected. Finally he says, ”Um, it will take some time to get anything out of those scrolls, an hour at least. Do we have that kind of time?”
"What about Dispel Magic? Can we dispel the wall?" Ascaira asks, hoping to get through.
Eidi begins to read through the Apostolic Scrolls, fully able to parse the black tongue of Abyssal. Within the first several minutes, the elder half-elf begins understanding more and more of the ritual, and the expectations the Reader should have of the Summoned. The ulgurstasta is the Apostle of Kyuss. This Scroll and this Apostle are bound together. The Scroll can not be used again.
How much longer do you allow Eidi to continue reading? Eri has the right of it- the conclusion of an hour, and the half-elf will have drawn a summary of the body of text. The question is one of time.
Solrisa waits patiently, often considering if she should go get the zombie's head, ending the unlife and granting mercy.
She bites her lip as she considers.
Eidi reads the scrolls attentively, making strong efforts to avoid any kind of distraction. "Aham... so that is..." he musses from time to time "The Apostle of Kyuss. Bound to the scroll..."
"So destroying the ulgurstasta destroys the scroll, and destroying the scroll destroys the ulgurstasta..." he thinks out loud.
Incredibly interested, the half-elf attempts to avoid any interruption to keep reading.
"How long have we been down here? Are we already missed? When is our next required appearance? I say the hour is worth the time, if we can spare it."
"Keep reading it. Since you cast the group invisibility already, we're going to have trouble getting back to our room anyway, unless you can cast it a third time."
"Yes, fine, read on. It seems we have no choice." Ascaria grumps. He eyes the giant worm-thing warily.
He hopes Eidi saved an invisibility to get back out...
The hour proceeds, on pins and needles. Spells wink out, while the green beam continues to throb and glow. The archer and elder continue to sift through the text of the Scroll, seeking information pertinent to the problem at hand. You learn a good deal more for their troubles, as they share what they can process.
The Reader, in this case Bozal, would have been able to touch the Scroll, as well as dismiss the Temporal Stasis at will. It's unclear from where the energy pulsing between Scroll and Apostle is being drawn, but the Reader benefits from its energy, as a kind of conduit for having read the words .
The complete Ritual would have taken a period of twenty-four hours to complete, though he may have as easily broken up the task over three days, with eight-hour installments. Woven through the specific ritual to summon the ulgurstasta is plenty of Lore related to Kyuss and his blasphemous religion.
The containment sphere, referred to in the Scroll as 'the Impenetrable Womb', is a thing of wonder. It's meant to endure the entire time of the incubation/restoration, the ulgurstasta being somewhat weakened in its ripping from the Wormcrawl Fissure. The Womb is imbued with negative energy, making it likely to repel living creatures with a touch.
The Womb disintegrates at the conclusion of the incubation. To end it sooner, magics equivalent to a Disintegrate, Rod of Cancellation, Miracle, Wish, or Sphere of Annihilation would be sufficient. With its nature of negative energy, a cleric might be able to weaken the Womb sufficiently for a Dispel Magic, but at great personal risk, should he/she fail to bring enough divine power to Turn the Womb.
Slaying of the Reader halts the incubation. In a matter of days, the creature will weaken, and the Womb will burst. How many days is nigh impossible to discern in the reading of the Scroll. With observation of its rate of decay, combined with further study of the Scroll, and you may be able to pin an arrival date...
An hour has passed. The arena above is likely roaring with excitement, as the Second Day of the Gauntlet brings new spectacles to delight the thousands of spectators, most all of them blissfully unaware of what seethes below.
"It seems the creature requires an incubation time. It is now in a weakened form, but the circle protecting it, its Womb, can only be destroyed with Disintegrate or a more powerful similar spell..." Eidi comments with clear frustration in his voice "The good news is we delayed the incubation by killing Bozal, but it will require more study and observation to discern when the Womb will open and give live to the Ulgurstasta"
"I really do not know what to do with this thing. If we are lucky we might be able to find and buy a disintegrate scroll in the city before the Womb breaks, but we might not find as good opportunity to come back here" Eidi frowns looking at the pulsing green light "Damn it!"
Solrisa wishes she could be helpful or useful here...but she isn't. She wishes her sister were there...because she is sure her sister would bash through the wall or stone or whatever to get at the threat. Or Mum. Mum would be by the wall in a heartbeat because that's what Mum does.
Solirsa, however, is a sweet and dear woman and does not have anything to help here.
She readies to return to the surface, wondering what they should do with the zombie, if anything.
"How long have we been down here? Are we already missed? When is our next required appearance?"
Mortimer leans against the southern doorway facing east, pensively filing his nails with a sparkly nail file.
"The docket for the next round of the Gauntlet won't be up until tomorrow morning. That gives us the rest of today to clear out and secure this space down here, and tonight to rest. Hopefully no one upstairs knows about the secret wine rack wall. We'll have to try to sneak out of here around dinner time -- there might be enough commotion up there then to get us by without being noticed."
"If nothing else, I can pretend to have gotten hit in the head again, and being disoriented accidentally stumbled into wrong kitchen while you guys sneak out behind me..." He stops filing point his thumb to his nose. "... unless someone has a better idea."
"If we win, Ekaym will come back, and we can tell him to procure that what we need -- using the Gauntlet cash. We'll just have to make sure we win the next event if we're to come back here and take care of things proper."
"We'll need to do something about what's left of Lahaka first, so we know what to tell Ekaym to get us for when we return here."
Ascaria doesn't like this at all. "It's weaker now, and we can't touch it, great." he listens to Eidi and Mort as he nods.
"Yeah, we've a few things we could sell. I'd like to destroy that club, but it's value will buy what we seek sure enough. If we have the scroll though, can you cast it Eidi? Or you Eri? Should we get two just in case there's a problem with one of them?"
"I say we check the rest of the rooms here as Mort suggested earlier. Then we lay low for supper and make our way back out like he said. Eidi, do you have another invisibility? Or are we sneaking?" he snickers at the thought of the group trying to be quiet - even with Sol in her leathers...
Finally, he adds, "I don't think we can sneak Lahaka out. Eidi, can you confirm we need to destroy her to free her soul for a resurrection? I don't think her state is reversible, but you and Eri know better than I."
though I think it's a knowledge arcana myself..
Solrisa leads the way back to the passage that was on the left. She hopes that it might lead to a back entry to the bad thing.
"This way. We almost went this way before," Solrisa says, leading.
"I have never attempted to resurrect and undead, and authors are not agreeing on the process. Depending on the source some assure targeting a resurrect on the zombie is enough, others assure you have to destroy the undead to then request its resurrection" explains Eidi.
"I only have an invisibility sphere remaining for the day, so if we all go to shop we will be unable to come back easily. But I can go alone disguised as a servant or guard" comments the elder half-elf "Anyway that is not the problem, the most difficult will be to sneak out and back into the Arena once we have the scrolls. You have all seen the security measures to access the place..."
"There is yet another way..." the half-elf looks down worried "... I did not comment because it most probably can lead to death, but a powerful enough cleric might use its channeled energy to turn the Womb, making it then susceptible to be destroyed by means of dispel magic..."
"Regretfully enough my reserves of positive energy are exhausted and even then they are too weak for these magics"
”I will be able to cast disintegrate from a scroll.”
”Let’s go down that hallway that Sol pointed out. And I’m for Mort’s plan of investigate until supper and sneak back then. We might want to have a story ready if we are asked where we’ve been all day. Did we lock the door when we left?”
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The following are a few facts that are considered common knowledge among civilized peoples.
1.) Most undead were once living. Knowing details about the phase of existence that preceded a creature's undeath is often invaluable in determining its motives.
2.) Holy water damages undead as though it were acid. Distributed by goodly religious orders the world over, holy water is the only line of defense against undead for many commoners.
3.) Undead are invariably evil, as are the means to create such beings.
4.) Undead are healed by negative energy and harmed by positive energy.
5.) Undead are immune to numerous magical effects, including mind-affecting effects and abilities that affect a creature's physical constitution.
Ascaria and Eidi approach the question of Lahaka's Redemption from a religious bent, while Eri considers the divine magics capable of performing such a miracle. Both avenues lead to the table of discussion. Raising the dead is one thing, but Raising the Undead is not possible. A Resurrection, simple or True, is required, and requires at least part of the body to bring about the transformation. Also quite expensive, denying all but the wealthiest the luxury of such miracles.
...
As the team begins to see the futility in dealing directly with the ulgurstasta in the moment, so begins the ferreting out of further hallways and rooms in this hidden level of the underground structures. Instead of returning to the north at Tynan's initial insistence, the party returns to the southern part of the complex at Solrisa's, seeking the same thing- a new vantage on the creature's chamber.
The door is unlocked, allowing all into a small room. The north part of this room is occupied by a piece of ancient machinery built of stone and metal, but seems not to have been in use for centuries. The machinery is connected to the northeast wall by a very large pipe. The pipe would facilitate a small creature's passage, with squeezing.
Mortimer inspects the machinery carefully.
Hrm. What this? If I were building a space, to hide a worm womb, would this be useful? Is it on?
"Hey Canary, have you seen any equipment like this before, like -- maybe in a mine somewhere when you were working in them?"
Ascaria peers down the tunnel, "I think this leads back to the birthing chamber. If we can't get in the other way, I'm betting we can't get in this way either." he taps the side of the pipe lightly, "Besides, I'm the only one that'll fit, and I'm not going in there." he smiles.
He looks at the machine but recognizes nothing, "I never did look at the equipment much, I was always more focused on the miners and their health. I, uh, don't really know much about mining or the equipment used." he shrugs.
"We can't get the scrolls until we talk to Ekayim I think. He's going to need to get it for us. So no need to sneak back in here tonight. I say we destroy the undead Lahaka so that she may be resurrected later. I only hope that Ekayim is as wealthy as he appears."
"I say we leave, under the invisibility circle again, and contact our sponsor just as soon as we can to get the scrolls. Then we come back, again just as soon as we can."
"Er, have we visited every room down here? I agree we should do that first." Ascaria isn't sure if there are more doors to check.
Solrisa strongly agrees that Ascaria not go into the narrow tube, remembering what happened last time the gnome went first...almost as if some evil entity had delighted in the opportunity to strike at the gnome with deadly force, then delighted in the experience.
"Alright, Ascaria, let's go get Lahaka's body," Solrisa says, sheathing her sword and drawing her morningstar. "I'll use this so I don't remove too many limbs when I re-dead her."
Solrisa pauses, thinking.
"What are we going to do with a stinking body, Ascaria? We can't really hide it and we have to fight tomorrow. What are you going to do with the body? Or are we just leaving it here?"
Ascaria frowns in disgust, "We don't need the whole body for a resurrection. I suggest we take only the hand, carefully wrapped and bundled so we can hide it and smuggle it to Ekaym."
"I must admit, I'm not keen on this particular defacement of her body though, and would welcome some other suggestion, but I don't think we can hide her whole body in our gear." he looks to the others for some better solution that is less... macabre.
Eri will cast detect magic on the machine and then try to figure out what it’s use is.
”Maybe this thing puts the beast back in the scrolls? Maybe it provides air for it once it awakens? Maybe it is a player piano?”
”OK, clear this level and then head back.”
"Maybe we should seal it down here...like we should have with that wolf den way way back..." Solrisa counters. "Maybe we seal it in with many many strong walls and rocks. Maybe that will fix it."
The machinery has fallen into a state of disrepair, to be sure. There are several pulley systems, which may have helped to automate the practice dummies, or may have been linked to other machinery no longer present, to leverage some kind of steam-generated power. Hard to say.
The pipe, however, magnifies enough of the ulgurstasta's sluggish turning to reach your perceptive ears. If your stomach could gurgle from hunger, outside of your body, you'd imagine the current noises sound an awful lot like it.
Returning to the north room, Artists and Outcasts finds Lahaka waiting, patiently. She hasn't moved an iota from the last time, leaving her easy pickings for whatever plan you concoct to bring her back to Ekaym.
You are once again confronted by the central pillar of green marble carved in the likeness of a segmented worm. The room continues to be dimly lit by the single incense burner. Tapestries of green worms, a bed, an armchair, and a cupboard, a small nightstand and an ornate, elongated trunk await you.
The door to the west is still closed, and one of the keys on Bozal's ring of keys seems likely to unlock it.
Mortimer inspects the machinery carefully.
"Maybe this thing puts the beast back in the scrolls? Maybe it provides air for it once it awakens? Maybe it is a player piano?"
Mortimer shrugs.
"Hmm. Whatever it is, it hasn't been all that well maintained." He lines himself up with the machine and shadow boxes at it. "It's as if it was hooked up to something else -- no longer here... " He steps back from it, considering, then tears a chunk of one of the practice dummies off.
"I can hear the Ulgurstasta on the other side of the pipe..." Keeping half of Solrisa's suggestion in mind, he then shoves the piece of dummy into the end of the pipe.
"... just in case you're right about breathing part, Eri."
Pulling out his punching daggers, he follows the others back to the north room. He eyes the incense burner, the worm theme, the elongated trunk and the rest of the esoteric bedroom decor before gasping at the listless Zombie Lahaka. Sufficiently creeped out he stops his forward movement, holds his hands out as if to halt everyone and queries, "Sol, let's show it Mercy1"
"May the Dragon take you!" Solrisa shows the zombie the Dragon's mercy, crushing it delicately in the stomach and leaving much of the face intact.
Solrisa looks to Ascaria as what to do with the body, happy to carry it for a bit as needed, but unsure what his plan is.
Sheathing her morningstar, Solrisa awaits the opening of the door.
When the zombie has been destroyed, Ascaria takes out his ill used knife and, looking to the party for any last input, shrugs and cuts off the dead woman's hand.
He wraps it carefully and solemnly places it deep in his pack. "I'll carry it." he says with some remorse.
After a moment, he turns to the room, "Let's make sure there's not anything here." he opens the trunk and searches the room, casting Detect Magic to aid his otherwise weak abilities.
When the room has been checked, he lines up near the next door. "Shall we finish checking these chambers?"
"Do you think we might access the Womb through the pipe?" asks Eidi.
At the zombie room he looks stern as the undead Lashaka once was finds her end "Aroden have it in his heart..."
Then, looking at the door, the half-elf prepares himself to see the new chamber open.
Upon closer inspection, the gnome is treated to another display of blasphemous imagery on the ornate trunk, as well as anyone interested in the artwork. Made of darkwood and bound with steel, the trunk measures 36x18x18 inches. A steel plaque representing a screaming skull infested by worms, the unholy symbol of Kyuss, is nailed to the lid. The side panels are painted in tones of black and green with a cycle of apocalyptic images that runs around the trunk like a frieze. The images are divided into two horizontal strips, underground and aboveground, by a cutaway of the earth’s crust. Underground, the horrible figure of a man made of worms lies imprisoned in a huge stone monolith. The figure has been represented in perspective on all the trunk’s four sides. Huge green worms writhe in the surrounding caverns and break through the cavern’s crust to invade the aboveground part of the paintings, where a sickly green light illuminates a blasted landscape. There, the writhing worms tower over a population of monstrous undead and naked, terrified victims.
The trunk is locked, preventing easy access to its content.
With more intense study, the gnome is able to suss out that the trunk itself emanates two auras, abjuration and necromancy. The auras are strong.
Ascaria is repulsed by the images on the trunk and advises caution, "Tynan, be very careful there, the trunk is magical. Strongly magical. Could be a trap."
"Wait a moment. Those are strong auras, and we should know what it means, if we can, before anyone touches it. I don't trust these worm-people."
"Eidi, Eri, what do you two think?"
He backs away a little to let the others work, but stays in eyeshot, in case healing is required.
"Oh! I can open it!" Solrisa cheers happily and no fear (wise or unwise). "If you want, everyone should stand back."
Mortimer watches Ascaria wrap Lahaka's hand and pack it away.
Oh, Lahaka, however did you end up here?
"Hey, if the Resurrection is successful, is she going to remember any of this? I mean -- how she got here, how she ended up like -- that?" he asks, gesturing toward the body.
~~~
Mortimer examines the 'ornate trunk' carefully, albeit from a respectable distance.
"Oh! I can open it! If you want, everyone should stand back."
"Wait a second! Why is the coffin so long? Do you think maybe there's a big worm-filled worm in there? Maybe we should leave it alone, until we have more positive energies or know how to contain worms ... or even if it's just an evil Dead Guy... Who was Kyuss, again?"
He shakes his head.
He turns to the party. "It's not going anywhere. Maybe we should save the magics we have for now, and check out the next room first. Maybe there is something helpful in there, maybe there are more clues!"
"Wait Sol, let me check it forst."
Tynan scans the chest for traps, but doesn't attempt to disarm anything until the casters complete their magical inspection.
God I hope she doesn't remember...
Ascaria nods at Mort, "Sure, we can check out the next room first. Let's go."
If the group agrees, he'll move up and make ready.
Solrisa stands well back from Tynan as he inspects the trunk, waiting for Tynan to finish before going to the next room.
"Wait for Tynan, Ascaria," Solrisa says sweetly, standing next to the gnome in the hallway.
”Eidi, Eri, what do you two think?"
”I think that it will be nice to clean up a small corner of this city and then leave. Also…”
Nodding to Ascaria, Eidi casts detect magic and closely studies the trunk.
"Yes, let's go and discover what lies ahead of that door" says the half-elf while setting his staff ready.