|
Hamith inclines his head to Asvika once they look to be backing down. "You have nothing to fear from us," he glances at Po Po, ears still ringing from its screech, "Except maybe a slight loss in your hearing. Anyway: please tell us of this evil. What sort of creature could it be?"
Afterward, once they are through conversing and the looters are out of the way, Hamith says a prayer to Iomedae, motioning his hands in wide semi-circles.
|
Asvika does her best to describe what she saw, but is in such a hurry to leave, that her description is a bit vague. She tells you of a pair of creatures with bodies of a well-muscled man, a crown of frilled horns, and eyes that glow like rubies. "Please, can we just leave this place now?"
|
|
"I've never heard of such evil, but if this place has been tainted, fear not, we will cleanse it."
Hamith's stomach rumbles. He leans the handle of his greatsword on his shoulder and digs in his pack. After a moment, he produces a small piece of bread and absently tears pieces off, popping them into his mouth while inspecting the walls of the temple.
|
|
You allow the looters to flee, leaving behind their bags of loot. You find several gems and holy symbols, as well as an apple made of solid gold.
In the next chamber, a mosaic of a monkey-faced figure decorates the floor of the room, though the tiles that would form its eyes are missing. The north end of the room is filled with rubble blocking an arched passageway. To the west, vines and foliage intrude into the temple through an open-air balcony, while a similar balcony to the east remains relatively clear of plant life. An open archway leads south.
Continuing to the open balcony, a narrow path extends between the exterior wall of the temple and the thick web of vines and tree branches that cover the temple’s walls. At either end of the path, small open-air balconies lead back into the temple.
As you make your way back into the temple, you see A 20-foot-tall, high-relief sculpture of a mountain dominates the north end of this large chamber. A statue of a figure now missing its head sits in the lotus position at the mountain’s peak, while smaller statues of monkey-faced pilgrims rest on ledges farther down the mountain. Shattered pieces of yet more monkey statues litter the floor.
The southern half of the room is filled with rubble, obstructing an arched passageway to the south. In the center of the room, a small enclosed shrine made of dark brown stone faces south toward the rubble. A hallway to the west leads to a balcony overrun by foliage, while a hallway to the east leads to an open balcony.
|
|
As you enter the room and begin to explore, two arrows fly from the shadows, both of them striking Glomintar. You hear a cackle come from the east side of the shrine and you can see two creatures clinging to the wall. They look exactly as Asvika described.
Round 1
Brooaka
Isabel
Hamith
Jivan
===========================
Red
Green
Event
===========================
Boon
Glomintar (-5)
|
|
Brooaka fires a musket ball at the demon with the greenish horns that strikes true, though the wound immediately heals a bit. Isabel quaffs an alchemical reagent and preares her bow, while Hamith fires an arrow himself. The arrows hits the creature in the shoulder, although it doesn't seem to cause any harm. Jivan tosses more money at the problem but the tiny creature manages to dodge it. Both creatures continue to loose arrows at the wayang, one of them striking particularly hard, as the musket wound continues to heal over more. As Glomintar reels back from the arrows, the temple reverberates with the wrathful screeches of monkeys that seem to originate from nowhere in particular. The screeching makes the demons seem quite uneasy.
Round 1/2
Brooaka
Isabel
Hamith
Jivan
===========================
Red (shaken)
Green (-4, shaken)
Event
===========================
Boon
Glomintar (-14)
|
Boon 5 foot steps forward, pulls out an acid flask, and tosses it at the green one.
"They seem to be regenerating. We need to try a variety of damage types, like fire, acid, and stuff, to see what stops that. Unless anyone knows anything about these critters?"
"Get down here so I can bash you with the quarterstaff, you little bastards!"
|
|
Boon tosses a flask of acid that ends up hitting the wall right between the two creatures, but what acid does spray them, doesn't seem to harm them. Glom, tired of being a pincushion, moves behind cover and pulls out a wand. Brooaka's musket jams on him, though Isabel has a bit more luck, landing another arrow, though not injuring the creature as much as it seemed it should. Hamith calls on his god to smite one of the evil beings, hurting it significantly. Jivan tries to hit one with a dart, but it bounced harmlessly off the wall. Seeing the paladin as the greatest threat, they both fire arrows in his direction, but miss wildly. Just then, monkeys pour in through the temple’s many openings and mob the asuras. Though the simians don't seem to actually cause any harm, they successfully disarm the outsiders and carry off their weapons.
Round 2/3
Brooaka
Isabel
Hamith
Jivan
===========================
Red
Green (-11)
Event
===========================
Boon
Glomintar (-14)
|
Looking around as the Monkey's pour into the temple, looking to Boon back to the Monkeys and so forth, "Please tell me you all just saw that,"
Turning to heal Glomintar she realizes he scurried away, so she'll chase after him and then try and heal him quickly.
And the wand fizzles and spits out a few sparks but doens't activate, "Hunh. . that's odd, normally it works,"
|
|
Hamith yells over the noise of the monkeys, "They're evil creatures! I have holy water in my pack if anyone can make use of it. It may cut through their defenses!"
He turns his attention back to the swarm of monkeys. "I see it, Lady Isabel. I see! The temple is with us! The Inheritor is with us. We cannot fail!" He feels the warmth flow through his muscles again, the feeling of being in the right place, on the right path. It flows down his arm as he pulls the bowstring back, it slows his heartbeat and breathing, and focuses his vision as he aims for the creature with the green horns.
As the arrow flies, Hamith drops his longbow to the floor and picks up his greatsword, seething at the tainted things. "Come then, devils."
|
|
Boon prepares to show off his quarterstaff skills while Glomintar summons an acidic arrow from his wand. Though the arrow seems to strike, it doesn't seem to actually cause any damage. Brooaka works on fixing his musket as Isabel fumbles with a wand. Hamith fires another arrow with divine power, striking the asura and causing it to fall to the ground with a soft thud. Jivan flings a dart at the remaining creature that seems to sizzle as it imbeds in the skin. Having lost its bow, it scrambles down the wall and tries to sting Boon but fails, though its wound from the dart heals over a bit.
Round 3/4
Brooaka
Isabel
Hamith
Jivan
===========================
Red (-3)
Green
===========================
Boon
Glomintar (-14)
|
|
As the asura moves in to bite Boon, he lands a devastating set of blow on the creature, leaving it clinging for life. Though Isabel can't finish it off with an arrow, Hamith cleaves the in two with a massive swing from his sword, leaving a spray of blood across one of the monkey statues.
Out of combat!
In the small alcove to the south, you find a large statue of a monkey-faced man sits on a pedestal at the north end of this small shrine. The statue’s arms and legs are missing, and deep scratches have been gouged into its face. Pieces of broken stone, rotting plant matter, and other assorted rubbish lie in heaps on the floor of this room. The smell of rot is particularly strong here. You find a furry brown belt on the statue, that somehow avoided being desecrated by the asuras. Additionally, a small cabinet in the pedestal below the statue holds a richly illuminated copy of the Vigrahin Patitraka (a Vudran holy text) and a handwritten journal belonging to a priest who accompanied Khiben-Sald on his travels around the Inner Sea.
On your way out of the temple, you find that the monkey carvings have changed in the first chamber. Two of the carved monkeys are now kneeling and holding the weapons stolen from the asuras out, as if to present them to the you as a gift or trophy. And in the jungles outside, you screeches of monkeys echo in the distance all around you.
You meet back up with Baron Rudyahm, Count Matsada and the rest of the hunting party, who have been waiting patiently for your return. As you approach, the Baron runs up to meet you. "I'm glad to see you're alright! I got worried once I heard the howling of those blasted creatures again, not along after a group trio of looters ran by. What in god's name happened in there?"
|
|
Bowing before the good baron, "This has been an enlightening journey, I hope you were as satisified by it as we were!,"
Taking his hand, "The Sovereign Court is a conglomerate of Lords and Ladies around the inner sea who have banded together to help spread Good through the region, our number would be strengthened immensely by your joining. Will you join our grand mission?"
|
|
The Baron ponders the offer, "This hunt has shown me that I am getting old and perhaps I need to hang up my musket. I have been considering expanding my contacts to start investing some of the wealth I have accumulated over the years. This sounds like it may be just the opportunity I have been looking for. I thank you for this offer."
The rest of the hunting expedition passes without incident, and you make your way back to Absalom without any difficulty. Baron Rudyahm is grateful to all of you for your help, and to his son-in-law Falroun Matsanda for organizing the expedition. Finally satisfied that he avenged the friends lost on his last expedition, he retires from hunting to write his memoirs. Falroun is also overjoyed with the Pathfinders for helping him bond with his father-in-law. For those that successfully abgged an animal during the hunt, the Count arranges to have their trophies stuffed and mounted and delivered to them as a gift when they disembark the ship.
Though Ambrus Valsin is excited to inspect all of the items you found in the lost temple, he is especially thrilled about the journal in recounting Khiben-Sald’s travels. He immediately refers the log to the Society’s Vudran historians for analysis, hoping to glean information about other lost sites the Maharaja may have built or visited during his travels.