Dem aint no leapord claw marks! If those marks were made by a Leopard than I'll put on my leopard skin outfit and do my morning jumping jacks right here right now.
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"You have a leopard skin outfit? Might wanna be careful, or I'll have to take that bet," laughed Amir, both surprised and curious by the sudden statement. His interest piqued, a smile couldn't help but begin to form across the dusky traveler's lips.
"If it's not the leopard, then what do you think could have made those marks Yazi found, Paige?" the Pathfinder inquired as he trudged along, slinking his way towards the southern entryway.
Hajar moves with the newcomer, lighting his way. This place...something is wrong with it.
A foul, metallic miasma assails the nostrils here. This vast chamber is clearly some sort of ominous worship hall. Frescos upon the walls and dozens of columns depict the terrifying power of magic, as radiant figures destroy entire worlds. Massive pillars support the chamber’s loft ceiling, each covered with complex glyphs and designs. Between each column, glass lamps hang from chains of green copper, radiating pallid, bluish lights that pulse and flcker in unison. At the room’s southern end, the temple’s alabaster altar gleams in the erratic blue light, its pedestal carved in the shape of winged, scale-covered bulls.
A small chamber rests at the southern end of the hall.
Hajar moves forward, Tempest lighting the way. He uses his Sarenraen sight to detect evil in the room.
Nothing detects as evil in the chamber.
Paige is surprised by the lights and glow of this area. Slowly she walks toward this glowing bulls.
Bartan follows along, still in wonder at the magic of this place.
Khayal takes a moment to marvel at the sight around him. He had truly never seen a thing like this before. Have you seen anything like this before? he asks the more magically inclined around him.
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"Once, recently. Was part of a dig headed by the Osirion Lodge near Tephu, along the Sphinx Basin. Some of the locals had uncovered a small tomb near the riverside, so the Society wanted to know why it wasn't listed in any of the public records," replied Amir, still ogling the room like some sort of wonder-struck schoolboy as he expounded on his own experience to Khayal.
"We thought at first it might have been the burial site for a well-to-do emissary of one of the many God-Kings. It wasn't. It was a tomb, yes, but we think it was for some kind of cult; one that'd been dead for centuries before anyone had stumbled across it. There was still some old magic left in that ramshackle grave, but nothing like this shrine to Nethys. Faint traces of necromantic auras, a few signs of enchantment... for the most part, that magic had all but faded. Here? Here, it's still alive and well."
Taking a moment, Amir set his wayfinder back into his satchel, content to let the glow of the ominous blue flames illuminate the den. Focusing for a moment, he murmured a few more hushed words intoned in an airy arcane resonance. Like the room with the multitude of illusionary sights and sounds before it, Amir had a hunch this chamber might muster up some level of magical energies of its own.
With the spell cast, the Pathfinder continued southward towards the small chamber at the end of the chapel.
The walls here are actually large glyphs that constantly, slowly, move. You're positive that if you studied them for a looooonnnnggg time, you would be able to make out actual spells, as if they were written in a spellbook.
Running ahead of Paige, Amir took a closer look at the glowing altar. Perfectly clean and polished, the sides of the altar are covered in hundreds of scaly sculptures - snakes.
When Amir is close enough to touch the altar, one of the snakes on the altar disappears off of the stone, and materializes in front of the taller man.
It's an asp. They are known for their poisonous bite.
The snake was summoned via Summon Monster I. Such creatures have the Celestial or Fiendish template.
After the snake materializes in front of Amir, you detect it as evil.
The snake attacks as soon as it appears. It's fangs glow a dull red as it tries to bite the flat-footed Amir.
Con; re-roll for 6 rounds; cure = 1 save
ROUND ONE
Init:
Paige runs forward to help Amir. Paige knows a lot about nature but is too flustered to identify the creature. and also thinks it's a real snake. Drown, filthy little beast!
Khayal will double move toward the commotion.
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Distracted by the multitude of scrolling glyphs and runes, Amir was all too unprepared for when a snake suddenly formed in front of him upon the altar! Letting out a hiss of his own as the snake struck true, the Pathfinder's hand recoiled as its fangs nipped him through his leather gloves and scraped his skin with its pointy little teeth!
Though hardly a druid himself and unable to identify the little pest beyond the obvious fact it was a snake, Amir knew magic when he saw it; and this frisky little cur was definitely summoned by magic.
"Some kind of summoned snake! Bastard tried to bite me," barked the explorer, more than a small measure of annoyance in his tone, both aggravated by his own clumsiness and angry at the creature that tried to snap at him. Taking a step back from the altar as Paige worked her natural mojo, Amir drew his dagger from the small of his back and let it fly towards the snake!
Move Action: Draw Dagger.
Standard Action: Ranged Attack w/ Dagger against the Summoned Snake.
"Great Nethys, do not send your minions against us... we mean no harm to your shrine!"
Bartan double-moves to get nearer the action, though he can't be useful quite yet.
As most of the adventurers rushed towards Amir's location, the man himself fended off the snake attacking him. The summoned serpent kept doggedly after Amir.
Paige's hydraulic push forced the snake back against the altar .
Hajar says "Fiend! Face the blade of the Dawnflower!"and he closes to attack
-Posted with Wayfinder
The paladin chopped the serpent into pieces, which writhed on the floor for a few seconds before turning into smoke that drifted away.
Technically, when you roll for less than 1 lethal damage, it deals 1 nonlethal damage, just FYI. :) Under Minimum Damage
Careful not to slip on the wet stones, everyone.
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"Bah!" grunted Amir in annoyance as the magical snake's fangs sank themselves into the leather of his breeches, once again coming dangerously close to puncturing his flesh as they raked across his leg. Thankfully, Paige and Hajar made short work of the little pest, earning Amir a minor reprieve for the moment.
"Thanks for that," the Pathfinder chimed in gratitude, watching as the summoned creature dispersed into a puff of smoke. It was stupid of him to get so close without knowing what was going on; sure, it was just some summoned viper this time, but he had to be careful! There was no telling what else might show up.
A small chamber rests at the southern end of the sanctuary. Once a vestry, the chamber now stands open and barren. You discover that the rear wall pivots, opening into a crumbling cavernous hall.
Paige nudges Yazi in the back. Go! she says...Let's see what's in there.
Hajar pushes past Yazi and the others, heading through the secret door.
Come. he says.
A vast cavern looms ahead, its outlines obscured by eerie vapors. Foul with the scent of ancient decay, these noisome mists crawl unnaturally along the chamber’s irregular floor. Unnerving outlines rise among the strange miasma, then fade back into nothingness as quickly as they appeared. Whispers can be heard further into the cavern.
You are Confused by the hallucinogenic subterranean vapors in this cavernous area. As long as you are within this room, you must roll each round:
d% Behavior
01–25 Act normally
26–50 Do nothing but babble incoherently
51–75 Deal 1d8 points of damage + Str modifier to self with item in hand
76–100 Attack nearest creature (for this purpose, a familiar counts as part of the subject's self)
You are allowed a Concentration check DC 15 (1d20 + WIS, CHA, or INT, whichever is your pertinent modifier: Druids, and Rangers add their Wisdom modifier, Bards, Paladins, and Sorcerers add their Charisma modifier.) each round to ignore the confusion effect for that round and act normally.
The smoke bothers Hajar only for a moment before he shakes off the effect. Hello! Hello! he says, while holding Tempest aloft as his light source.
Yazi, stop! Paige rushes to Yazi and attempts to pull her sword tip away from her chest...
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Reclaiming his knife as the paladin and his comrades pushed forward, Amir couldn't help but feel a tinge of jealousy. They were a ballsy lot, no doubt about it. Sheathing the minuscule blade, the Pathfinder trudged ever deeper into the mysterious opening Yazi and her compatriots had found, ogling wide-eyed at the secret cavern that lied beyond.
"By the Everlight," he murmured as he took in the unnatural sight... and the eerie smoke that crept along every surface.
Coughing and sputtering as the mists worked their magic, Amir followed along behind Bartan; or so it might have seemed. From his eyes however, for just a moment, the harrower almost seemed to transmogrify amidst the cloudy vapors -- first a man, then some great undead warden from his past, his skin sloughed off with an unnatural fire burning where his eyes ought to have been as it turned to look at him hungrily. It almost seemed as if the Pathfinder were going to draw steel and quarter not-really-Bartan, the urge to do so was certainly there, but then his mind and vision cleared, a grip so tight on his sword that he could feel his knuckles whitening, though slowly subsiding with each new breath as the abomination faded and only Bartan remained in its place.
"What... I... what's going on?" he stammered, returning to the world with restored clarity as he groggily followed along. "Something... something's wrong here. My head feels like it's full of mud..."
Even in his addled state, though, there was a tingling in the back of his skull. Something familiar he'd rambled on about recently. Could it be this was the holy smoke the old gaffers had told him about? The source of visions for the faithful? If so, then it was hardly a myth. Even worse, if what he was seeing were the visions the followers of Nethys subjected themselves to, then no wonder this place was abandoned.
"I think... I think we've found that holy smoke..." Amir coughed loudly and frantically to the others, mind still foggy as shapes danced creepily amidst the cavern's miasma. He hadn't even noticed Yazi's attempts at self-mutilation until Paige rushed to her aid; shocked, it was clear he wasn't the only one afflicted. This was bad. Real bad.
"We shouldn't stay here," wheezed the explorer. "We can't stay here."
By the Dawnflower! What is going on here!? Hajar says, seeing his friend struggling with the newcomer.
GIVE IT TO ME YAZI! *tug tug*
Bartan had a sudden urge to smash his own quarterstaff into his face, but resisted it. "This... something is causing us to act strangely, my friends. Ladies, stop fighting, please!"
Bartan tries to wedge himself between Yazi and Paige, also trying to keep Yazi from stabbing herself.
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"I'll give it to you POINTY END FIRST if you don't back off!" Her voice is more a snarl than anything as she pulls away from Paige before rounding on Bartan. "You! You just want to give it to her as a gift! I've given you everything! But as soon as something new comes along you throw me away, just like everyone else before you!"
"Yazi my dear, you are not acting like yourself! Snap out of it!"
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Stepping forward, Amir poised alongside Bartan, trying his best to muster what little diplomatic skills he had whilst battling his own demons.
"C'mon, Yazi. Listen to Bartan. Listen to your friends. No one's trying to hurt you. They're just trying to help you," the Pathfinder said slowly, sheathing his sword so as to appear less threatening as he stymied a cough of his own from the vapors. "It's the smoke that's making you act like this. Got us all on edge. Just put the giant sword down. You don't want to stick your friends with the pointy end, right?"
What? It's the smoke? says Paige thoughtfully.
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As Amir talks Yazi's tensed body starts to relax before her eyes narrow to points as her ragged breathing increases. Pulling the sword from her chest she points the blood soaked weapon at the newcomer. "Who the f##% are you? What are you doing so close to Dealer? Get away from him! He's mine! Mineminemine!"