In a dazzling display of swordsmanship, Eadie hits and crits once, then misses, then hits and crits again! Alas, though Boneapart has left bones strewn across the field, it is still up! It comes after Eadie with everything it has!
Boneapart’s big teeth come close to Eadie’s ear, snapping inches away from the stalwart fighter — but still a miss.
Then two sets of sharp claws rend at Eadie, tearing mercilessly at her!
★ --- ★ --- ★ --- ★
Finally, it is Sinuhotep’s turn, and he casts Freedom of Movement on Fendel.
★ --- ★ --- ★ --- ★
Round 3
Active conditions: Grasping Rotting Hands, Life Bubble (2 hours), Visibility 30 feet, Blessing of Fervor, Freedom of Movement on everyone.
Dragon
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Boneapart: HUGE UGLY SKELETON (-168)
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Ariana
Fendel
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Grey Troop of Ghasts (DEAD)
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Quenly
Dunia
Rufeo and Kali
Sinuhotep (-9)
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Green Troop of Ghasts (-18)
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Eadie
BOLD is UP!
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Battlefield screams fill Eadie’s ears.
I wish whoever’s making that racket would SHUT THE HELL UP!
Then she realizes it’s her.
Feeling broken ribs and bleeding muscles through the rends in her armor, Eadie still manages to crack a smile.
“I’m glad you made the choice you did, Bone’apart. Because I’m not your biggest threat.”
Giant Eadie looks down near her feet. “I think you’ve already met my friend, Ariana.”
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The air elemental, formerly known as Rufeo, shouts out a command in what sound like tiger growls to Ki'lala, she circles the obelisk, and settles on her haunches, getting ready to pounce...
Then Rufeo focuses on the approaching ghast, calling down heavenly flames to deal with them.
Ki'lala moves around the obelisk and gets ready to charge....
Eadie screams her defiance! Dunia hits the next ghast troop with another crit! Then the sockless and soaring Rufeo hits the ghast troop with a blazing flame strike, hoping to see them light up like tinder at a bonfire.
The skating ghasts get caught in the full effect of the flame strike! One moment, it’s a precision troop skating on the air in a terrifying formation. In the next, they’re little more than a greasy and smoking spot on the sands.
★ --- ★ --- ★ --- ★
Round 3 / 4
Active conditions: Grasping Rotting Hands, Life Bubble (2 hours), Visibility 30 feet, Blessing of Fervor, Freedom of Movement on everyone.
Dragon
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Boneapart: HUGE UGLY SKELETON (-168)
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Ariana
Fendel
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Grey Troop of Ghasts (DEAD)
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Quenly
Dunia
Rufeo and Kali
Sinuhotep (-9)
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Green Troop of Ghasts (DEAD)
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Eadie
BOLD is UP!
With exquisite teamwork, Quenly, Ariana and Eadie work together to take down the gigantic skeletal monstrosity known as Boneapart. It falls apart under the joint onslaught, in a spray of bones and shards.
The sandstorm dies down, and undead all over the battlefield fall and crumble back to the ground. There are no more taunting voices, just quiet. The other sages return, bearing some marks of battle but largely unharmed. Tahonikepsu brushes herself off. “Well, that was a bit more exciting than I anticipated. Are you all alright?”
After a bit, Fendel’s deft fingers finally unlock the monolith, revealing a darkened stone staircase leading down. Meanwhile, the ruined village lies open on the surface. Glancing around the wreckage, you find two wands and a gleaming khopesh lying on the sands, as if uncovered by the sandstorm.
What do you do before going down?
Well fought, friends. Some of us are injured. Our warrior-women, and Rufeo especially. But I see this wand holds a moderate healing spell. I will gladly use it to mend your wounds now if you wish.
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Eadie *fist-bumps* each of her companions and Sinhuotep. “YEAH! Way to get it done, everyone.”
“Say, that rhymes! Maybe I shoulda been a bard?”
“Do you mind if I take one charge of the CMW wand? And then could you top me up with my own CLW wand please, Quenly?”
"Dunia, could you please read a shield spell from my scroll into my ioun stone?"
Eadie then hefts her pack and *flicks* an ioun torch into orbit around her helm. “Ready.”
Ki'lala relaxes as the bone beast falls...then looks behind her as her companion returns to the safety of her saddle.
I am ready to descend. I suggest Fendel takes the lead. Quenly resumes his elven shape.
Once the bird delivers the wand, Torch looks at Rufeo. “So the crisis has been averted. Good. Time for us to go down and kick ass again.”
As you descend the stairs and enter the tunnels you see that the walls are hewn stone. The ceilings are 15 feet high in corridors and 20 feet high in rooms you pass. The magical illumination failed long ago, leaving the rooms dark. The occasional flicker of energy or sputtering light from faded torches only serves to distract you.
The shifting and rising of the settlement has revealed hidden passages within the complex. The sages agree to split into teams to search for a site tied to the necromancer where they can best perform Amenopheus’ ritual. Tahonikepsu looks at all of you. “Once again, we give you the choice to choose one of us to travel with you as you explore the ruins. Who will it be, Pathfinders?”
Several of you wordlessly point to Grand Master Torch. Torch raises his eyebows, and then nods. “Excellent. Me and the Pathfinder Society, diving into something shady. Seems like old times.”
“Very well,” Tahonikepsu nodds. “We’ll have you and Torch explore one path, and then we Sages will explore the others.” The group prepares to separate when the structure rumbles as the ancient wards continue to shift the sunken town toward the surface.
RATTA-RATTA-Crackle-Crackle-Rrrrrrrr.
“That... doesn’t sound good.” Amenopheus looks up, warily, eyebrows drawing together. “I suspect we have only a few hours—perhaps as many as 6 but I would prefer to assume only 4 to be safe—before this forced raising of these ruins causes irreparable damage and the facility collapses on itself. So no one dally, and don’t lose track of the time.”
“Yeah, got it.” Torch checks his watch, and makes note of the time, and then slaps Fendel on the back. “You heard old Menopause! Get moving, there’s no time to waste!”
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Rufeo will go ahead and cast Hunter's Blessing.
Looking over his shoulder at Ki'lala...."Girl..this looks a little tight in here. I know you don't particularly care for this. but I am going to use the transformation spell on you again..I'll let you come back if we need you."
Rufeo will then pull out a scroll and activate it. Ki'lala then becomes tiny and hardens into a little figurine. He then picks it up and places it in a pouch strapped to his chest....
"Let's go"
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So Torch, you knew what we'd find when you directed us to Seeker's Folly. I am sorry for what happened to you and your comrades. What do you intend to do if our current mission succeeds as we hope? Do you believe you can lift your curse? Return those you have lost to life?
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There is Truth in the darkness, Dunia.
So Torch, you knew what we'd find when you directed us to Seeker's Folly. I am sorry for what happened to you and your comrades. What do you intend to do if our current mission succeeds as we hope? Do you believe you can lift your curse? Return those you have lost to life?
“I’ve thought about that,” Torch admits. “But so much time has passed, would they want to be pulled from the lands beyond Pharasma’s boneyard? I figure that I’ll decide that once I get through this, and stop the presence that I hear whispering in the back of my mind.”
Dunia sniffs at what she considers to be Quenly's rather rose-tinted version of events, Restorin' de ones you lost ain' gon' bring back de ones you hurt t' get here. Plenty o' people gotten a hand as bad an' ain' fallen into de dark.
Torch laughs. “Glad that you’re saying that to my face, rather than whispering it behind my back. Maybe others in my circumstances would have made different choices, but I’m not them. I’m no longer kissing the Decemvirate’s boots.” He snorts. “You may not like the path I tread, girl, but you can’t deny that I tread it with style.”
★ --- ★ --- ★ --- ★
★ --- ★ --- ★ --- ★
You approach a door leading further into the section you are to search, as you open it foul air rushes out, dousing you in a fine, dry collection of sand and dust. It would have left you gasping and coughing were it not for the Life Bubble that you have on everyone in the party... but Torch.
The burnt Sage wheezes for a moment, and then starts coughing like he’s hacking up the contents of his lungs. He falls to his knees, his skin turning blueish as he continues to cough again and again. Finally, wheezing once more, he stops.
“Do you have any idea how much anti-toxin and anti-plague I’ve drunk today?” He studies the spittle on his hands with disgust before prestidigitating it away. “But hey... It’s clear of blood and mucous, so maybe it was enough. What in HELLS was in that air?”
Beyond the door, you find a hub. This small, circular chamber serves as an intersection, with hallways departing to the north, west, and east, and stairs leading upward to the south. A faintly glowing inscription of hieroglyphic writing spirals out from a round stone pillar carved with similar markings in an ancient script.
East - South Archive, Waste Disposal, North Archive, Slave Pits, Incubation Chambers
South - Central Chambers
West - North to Cleansing Room and Memory Extraction, South to Plague Laboratory
To the west you see diverging paths, the southern leading to an observation port with a view into the next room. There is writing on the floor here.
You all spend a few minutes staring at the Osiriani. Torch looks at all of you, and then says, “Up to you which way to go. As for me... I think that we might want to find out a bit more about what we may have unleashed upon the world. Whatever was in that air was nasty.” Then he grins. “If only I thought to bottle some as a gift for the Decemvirate... Ha! Just kidding!”
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I may have to keep a closer I on Torch than I expected. He still harbors a deep grudge for the Decemvirate.
The detective quickly reads ancient markings aloud for those who cannot make out their meaning. "If we have indeed loosed some long dormant disease Torch, best to get you to this 'Cleansing Room' with all due haste. Also, the Library may hold much needed answers to our current conundrum."
Your group heads West.
The path ahead of you immediately forks, right and left. As promised by the pillar, the room to the North is marked, Cleansing Room.
A soupy, viscous fluid covers the floor of this pillared chamber. Arcane runes form three distinct horizontal bands on each pillar, the first third glowing green, the second blue, and the top third red. Tattered, dusty remnants of clothing fill niches in the walls.
As Fendel studies it, he realizes that the room, while geared to clean disease, is also most definitely a trap, and a rather ingenious one.
Any creature infected with a disease entering the room triggers the trap. When it activates, the trap seals each entrance to the room with a wall of force and immediately affects each creature within the area with remove sickness. On the second round, the trap affects each creature in the area with remove disease. On the third round, the trap incinerates all diseased creatures and objects in the room, dealing fire damage. The room remains sealed for an additional 3 rounds as a vents open to suck any remaining contaminants from the area, after which each wall of force dissipates.
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Is it possible to 'disarm' the trap, or does the very nature of it prevent that?
"Careful, this entrance is similar to portals I have witnessed buried under a Numerian foothill. It is designed to maintain the integrity of the oxygen supply. It will lock in the air as well as occupants. In this case, it will sterilize the area with fire. Anyone diseased will set it off. Let me see what I can do."
The detective once again swaps out his lenses and applies his craft.
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I think that word is 'laboratory', rather than 'library', Fendel. Still, it will likely be a source of useful information nonetheless. Deadly traps too.
Via the dragon, Quenly translates the Ancient Osirion for anyone who needs it.
Fendel discovers that he can disable the trap. Are you disabling all of it, Fendel, or just the fiery bits?
You all slip down the hall, and peek at the next room to the South. It has the words ‘Plague Laboratory’ written in Ancient Osirion over the door. “Oh, this’ll be loads of fun,” Torch says grumpily as he peers through the doorway.
The room does not appear to be trapped. Three tables laden with alchemical equipment, glassware, and other arcane tools occupy this chamber. A thick liquid drips from a broken glass jar that never empties. Numerous marked vials that appear intact are enclosed within glass-fronted cabinets along the southern wall. A sealed metal canister sits in the southwest corner.
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Well, the laboratory seems to be ...intact?
"Please don't touch anything in here. I suspect that the sterilization process could be due to whatever they did here. Though, I would posit that the Outcast Sage was trying to perfect something, not protect the local populace. We may have to reset the trap, lest we are responsible for some global pandemic."
The detective reviews the contents of the room and inventory.
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“Can you tap all of us with remove sickness please, GMT?”
Eadie drops her cold iron falchion into a low guard, to try and minimize any accidental breakages.
“I’m actually not sure what we are doing in here? Could there be some kinda alchemical concoctions that help against Black Moon’s plague attacks?”
The warrior looks genuinely confused. “I don’t like this place much. Should we think about moving on once Fendel's done his stocktake?”
Yes, perhaps antidotes can be concocted here. Or we could determine what manner of terror Black Moon was developing.
After Fendel disables the trap within, there appears to be nothing left to find. The garments hanging from the walls are fragile and crumble if touched. The fluid in the room seems to be a watery growth medium, suitable for developing microbes, but now inert.
“Yeah, I’m happy to use the wand,” Torch says to Eadie. “That cleansing room is bad news. I was burnt to a crisp once, and would rather not repeat the experience.” Torch hits everyone — himself first — with the remove sickness wand while Quenly scans the place for magic.
Meanwhile, Fendel starts inventorying the room, moving through the fully working laboaratory in a methodical manner. As he walks through, he discovers scraps of notes written in Ancient Osirioni.
★ --- ★ --- ★ --- ★
- ...A fresh harvest from the village arrived today. They seem healthy and strong and I'm giddy as an artist with fresh canvas. The plague grows stronger with every potion I feed them...
...The fourteenth trial failed. One in 10 survived. Unacceptable. The survivors stared at me in gratitude as if things had gone properly. I killed them on the spot, and will send them to gather their replacements from the village. I'm sure their families will appreciate seeing them...
...Strange crystals formed as a waste product from the infected. They radiate a pure aura, one the plague cannot tolerate. Until I master my fate, I'll set some aside as a precaution and put the distillation notes in the south archive...
...I found Kabede snooping about in the incubation room. I don't know what he found and cannot trust the div. I'm tired of their constant betrayals! If his mind is the problem, I have just the place to put it...
...A holy warrior crashed into my laboratory, leading an insurrection against me and speaking of the justice of Osiris. His pain at watching the villagers die is only the beginning...
...He succumbed at last! I will cherish forever his horrified pleas to Osiris as the plague set in. No one is immune! His soul will find no rest in death. My plague is ready, my immortality at hand. Soon Jistka, the Pharaoh—all will feel the plague's touch. I am called to court to deal with a Sarenite uprising, but all should be ready when I return...
★ --- ★ --- ★ --- ★
“Yeah, I wouldn’t exactly consider that a benevolent physician,” Torch says, holding one of the scraps of paper in his hand. “She really had a thing going if she managed to make a Paladin sick. But then maybe she’s just boasting, or he was some other kind of holy warrior.”
Fendel’s further searching reveals in one of the cabinets a vial containing a clear viscous fluid that spontaneously crystallizes into fractally complex formations before melting back to a liquid state. Quenly notes that this Crystalline aether radiates a strong universal magic aura.
The vials along the back of the room are labeled numerically from #1-44, with the metal cannister in the corner being labeled #14. Do you open or examine any of them?
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“Maybe she meant holey warrior, and just can’t spell good in Osirisianite?”
Eadie fingers the fist-sized pits Bone’apart punched through her own armor. “Also, holes in your head – like ears, nostrils and eyeslits are a good way for infection to get in and like, GROSS stuff to get out.”
She taps the side of her head with a gauntleted finger. “Sometimes ya gotta think outside and share, Grandmaster.”
His soul will find no rest in death …
“Sounds like the incense of corporeality and scroll of anti-incorporeal shell might come in handy.”
I don't know what he found and cannot trust the div … If his mind is the problem, I have just the place to put it...
“Could that be an allusion to a brain-in-a-jar?”
Eadie frowns as she thinks. “Or maybe some kinda construct powered by a Div’s spirit?”
She switches back to her enchanted falchion.
... Strange crystals formed as a waste product from the infected. They radiate a pure aura, one the plague cannot tolerate. Until I master my fate, I'll set some aside as a precaution …
“Maybe that’s what’s in box #14? Can we check it for traps and see if that’s the case please, Fendel?”
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With a slow sigh, the detectives eyes close for a moment, he then simply nods his head, "Yes, of course." He steps back to #14 and takes a closer look.
"You mentioned brain in a jar. That seems a rather inelegant solution for this perfectionist. Given her history, perhaps a gem to serve as a phylactery?"