Fawziya launches a globule of acid, but it falls short, splashing on the ground and sizzling on the floor with an acrid smell.
The three stirges move in to attack, one for Zoisa, one for Reu, and one for Fawziya. The one that flies to Reu also flies into range of Seyhannah, who makes quick work of it.
While Fawziya manages to brush the stirge aside, The other one manages to latch onto the smaller folk of your party.
At the end of the turn in which they are attached to creatures, stirges drain blood dealing 1 point of Constitution damage.
Alem's magic shoots off course, but Fawziya manages to squash the non-attached stirge to a pulpy mess.
All PCs may act!
Zoisa lets out a weak giggle as the stirge drains her.
"This...is NOT fun!" she manages as she begins conjuring another glob of acid to try and burn the stirge off her.
Zoisa wobbles a bit on her feet.
"Tastes like...rust and throw-up."
Seyhannah moves reflexively to Zoisa. "Stand very still, my blade is sharp." She then carefully slips her curved blade the into the giant insects immobile body.
As the stirges fly in close, Alem forgoes the esoteric arts. Instead, he brandishes his staff at them, trying to fend them off.
With the leftover stirges now stuck in place as they draw the blood from your companions, The party makes quick work of the blood sucking insects. Though, you all begin to wonder if it was a good idea to aim such deadly attacks so close near your fleshy bodies....
[From here you can continue into the hallway next to the room, or go back from where you came from and explore other sections.]
"Don't worry...I am VERY good at standing still!" Zoisa says as she wobbles. When the ugly bug is dead, she smiles a bit more. "Thanks, Seyhannah! You're a darn good dervish!"
As she regains her composure, she focuses on the pile of offal.
"Anyone feel like going digging? If no one else wants to, I'll volunteer. It'll be easy to ignore if I'm high."
Now that the fighting is over, Kaspar appears from wherever he had scampered off too. The inquisitive little monkey cocks his head at the pile of offal and Alem's eyes go wide. "Kaspar, I know what you are thinking," he says in a warning tone.
The monkey looks back at Alem, mischief gleaming in his eyes.
"Do not do this thing," says Alem, glaring at his familiar.
Grinning, Kaspar dives for the offal, digging through it with abandon. Alem cringes and sighs, knowing that it would be many hours before he would be able to prepare new spells to clean the filth from Kaspar's fur.
Zoisa tries not to laugh as Kaspar springs into action.
Fawziya wrinkles her nose at the thought of digging through the filth. "Ugh, I think not. Whatever might have been lost in there should stay lost to time." Though she does snort in laughter as Kaspar leaps into the heap with gusto.
"We can clean it with magic! Or soap! Or magic soap!" Zoisa says cheerfully.
"Besides, we'll end up covered in stuff like this if we keep hacking apart gnolls and pugwampis and giant beetles. I've always wanted to see a giant beetle. I hear they've got one in Osirion, and they can fit an entire PALACE on it!"
Anyone with a modicum of social understanding can tell Zoisa's rambling to try and distract Fawziya from the disgusting display of Kaspar's search.
The only thing any of you find in the pile, is filth. And now you have a very smelly monkey as a companion.
Zoisa tries not to giggle as Kaspar makes a mess of himself.
"Alem, you know that cleaning cantrip, right?"
With the group deciding to move, you proceed through the hallway to the west and happen upon the North Cloister. A sweeping bas-relief sculpture along the north wall depicts five bearded, larger-than-life humans riding the wind with triumph carved upon their faces. Though some of their arms and hands are missing, each is clearly meant to wield a distinctive weapon. One of the five warriors holds a large axe, while another holds a fragment of what must once have been a regal staff. In the distance, an ominous mountain looms over the quintet. East of the wall decoration, two open arches lead into small rooms off the north wall. The south wall is little more than series of open arches that look out into an open-air courtyard.
You recognize the five figures as the Templars of the Five Winds. The stone carving bears name for each genie, engraved near their feet. They are Kardswann, Pazhvann, Vardishal, Zayifid, and Davashuum. You also notice that Davashuum wields a broken staff while Kardswann wields a strange axe. The other weapons are unrecognizable, they are so far faded.
Ambrose grits his teeth as Kaspar finds nothing of value. "I do, yes. But I must wait until tomorrow before I can prepare it," he says, glaring pointedly at the filthy monkey. Kaspar grins and scampers over to Zoisa to hide.
When Alem sees the relief, he forgets all about his dirty monkey and he approaches it with wonder. "Yes, yes, what have we here?" Reading the names out loud, he scratches his chin. They sound familiar, but distant. "This band of genies, I believe they were called the Templars of the Five Winds. I wish I could remember more of their legend. What it more, I wish I had remembered to bring supplies to take rubbings!"
"These Templars," Fawziya asks, clearly intrigued by the windriders, running a hand across the large axe carried by one of them. "What sort of warriors were they? Marauders? Vindicators? Gloryhounds?"
Zoisa shoos Kaspar away from her.
"Oh no you don't little guy! You need a bath first!"
When they approach and examine the wall, Zoisa smiles at Fawziya's question.
"Since they're being honored on a monastery's wall like this, I'd say they were probably heroes. The Dawnflower's got a thing for heroes. Maybe someday WE'LL have our pictures on a wall!"
Further searching around the hallways surrounding the courtyard, but all it reveals are more murals.
In the south Cloister
An open arch along the southern wall at the eastern end of the corridor leads off into darkness, while a series of archways lines the north wall, looking in on the monastery's massively overgrown courtyard. The southern wall bears a bas-relief sculpture in the form of a triptych. In the first scene, a heroic-looking bearded figure takes leave of four similarly attired companions, who rise off into the heavens, leaving him to stand vigil over the large mountain in the background. The next scene depicts the bearded figure in battle with a flaming half man, half snake creature wielding a spear. The fire spirit transfixes the bearded hero with the spear, seemingly striking a killing blow. In the final scene, the hero appears twice - once on the ground with a wound in his back and once standing over this form, looking down upon it sadly.
In the West Cloister
The outer wall of the west cloister passage bears a massive carving. The central figure - the heroic man with the pointed beard - preaches to a variety of human clerics from throughout the long history of the monastery. The first image depicts the figure manifesting in a spiritual manner to a small group of pilgrims of Sarenrae. Another shows the figure conversing with a man in religious finery while the monastery itself is being constructed in the background. Thereafter follows a procession of similar poses, each depicting a visit by the bearded man and the leader of each era of the temple. The depictions of these clerics often also bear an identifying inscription, complete with dates that span the last several hundred years. The most recent carving is from thirty years ago, and while ample room remains for additional carvings on the west wall, the last thirty feet or so are completely blank.
Two open arches on opposite ends of the west wall lead out into the ruined nave.
As they march through the cloisters, Alem pays careful attention to the reliefs, batting his staff at Kaspar to keep the monkey from smearing his dirty paws all over them. "Vardishal was one of the Templars of the Five Winds - it is possible he is also the namesake for this temple."
Zoisa gapes at the southern cloister's murals.
"Wow. Vardishal was a badass! Fighting half-man-half-snake things is always badass, and if it's on fire, that makes it even MORE badass!"
She taps her foot as she thinks on what this badass creature might be.
"You speak the wisdom of Cayden, Zoisa!", Fawziya replies to the enthusiastic gnome. "Monsters that are on fire are more glorious to defeat than monsters that are not!"
Not quite.
There is a series of rooms in the southwest portion of the temple. For simplicity sake, I'll assign numbers and I'll take the first number given.
#: 1-5
Zoisa smiles at Fawziya's encouragement.
"Alrighty! Let's find some monsters on fire! Glory for everyone!"
She marches in an exaggerated manner after Fawziya.
Option 5: Library
A sagging wooden balcony overlooks this large room, which must once have been the monastery's library. An overpowering odor of musty, rotting paper and old leather fills the air here, and hundreds of books - most too damaged even to open without destroying them - litter the floors. Empty bookshelves line the walls of both levels..
Zoisa frowns.
"Pretty sad, right Alem? I know books are your thing."
Alem gingerly steps through the piles, occasionally poking at a book with his staff. "Fear not, magnificent Zoisa. Many of these texts are common to temples of Sarenrae. Yet it is a shame to see the work of so many scribes left to ruin."
For his part, Kaspar enjoys climbing and leaping around the empty bookshelves, leaving dirty monkey prints as he goes.
"We have to keep in mind that we are here to bring this place back to life. Sarenrae teaches us that sometimes we must have destruction to be remote growth. I am beginning to think this may have been her divine plan for this temple all along." Seyhannah says, trying to put a positive spin on the crumbling library.
Zoisa shrugs.
"If you say so. Let's see if there's something intact enough to take with us!"
She begins looking among the stacks and in the corners.
"Or something hidden within the stacks!", Fawziya adds to the gnome's reply.
Zoisa paws through some of the tomes, careful not to touch where Kaspar has rubbed filth all over them.
Zoisa pauses to look at a cute beetle scuttling across the shelf before her.
Thr group searches through the room, but finds that time has weathered these tomes, so much so that the merest touch send most into piles of dust.
However, Zoisa does spot possibly the only book left standing.
She hops and grabs it, its thick leather bound cover and special paper quality somehow preserving it through the years.
It is called Courts of Stone and Flame, it looks like a rarity and from a cursory inspection of the pages, you find it is about the treatise on genies of the elemental planes.
Zoisa's eyes light up at the discovery of the book.
"Can I read this when you're done with it Alem? I figure you'll want to read it to "expand your mind" or whatever you wizards call it, but it looks like a fun read beyond that. Especially with the illustrations of some lady genie courtiers getting pampered! Hummana HUMMANA!"
Five austere beds line the north wall of this humble office and living quarters. A dented metal chest rests at the foot of each bed, and a simple mosaic pattern of red and orange glass chips brings some color to the wall. A layer of grime and filth coats many of the surfaces in this small room, and the redolent stench of dirty fur hangs heavy in the air.
On the wall, there sit resting against the vines, are four baboons that eye the party curiously.
Picking up the book, Alem's eyes light up with greed. "This is a magnificent find, Zoisa! Of course you may read it. I believe that you will find its wisdom to be as wonderful as your pesh!" The young wizard is oblivious to the sultry charms of the lush illustrations, less interested in indulging his carnal appetites than his hunger for knowledge.
As Kaspar reaches his filthy paws for it, Alem swats him away with his staff. "No, Kaspar! Bad monkey! I shall not allow you to desecrate such a treasure with your tainted hands. And do not go crying to Zoisa. She cannot read it either if you soil it."
Alem hangs back, following the others at a distance as he pages through the tome. He looks up when Kaspar screams at the baboons, eager to make new friends.
Zoisa follows Kaspar into the room and is surprised by the baboons, quickly clearing her throat and waving to them as she waggles her fingers with her other hand to activate her gnomish gifts.
"Arr! Arr! Grunt grunt grunt! Honk honk eeEEEK! Eeeek?"
Fawziya is settling into a defensive stance as Zoisa begins screeching at the baboons. She raises an eyebrow at the sorcerer's antics, preparing to shove her out of the way in case the apes decide they don't like the tone of whatever was said.
Zoisa looks innocently at the baboons, hoping they weren't insulted by her greeting.
The baboons look at each other, and screech back at Zoisa.
"You no gremlin! Bring food or we attack!"
The baboons look at you all fiercely, as if priming to jump onto your party, but haven't yet. Most likely surprised by the fact that one of your party can speak their tongue.
Thinking fast, Zoisa opens her pack and takes out her trail rations, spreading them out for the baboons.
"They said they won't attack us if we offer them food!"
"Works for me," Fawziya replies, lowering her sword but not sheathing it. "There's no glory in slaying monkeys. Tell them we'll trade the food for those chests, and we can leave them in peace." She gestures towards the battered chests at the foot of each of the beds.
The baboons seem to get angrier, jumping up and down and picking up loose bits of refuse and debris and throwing them at you, each shot landing close but not quite hitting.
Food now!
Knowing her previous history with animals Seyhannah steps back out of the room and draws her bow just in case. She doesn't want to hurt Zoisa's chances of a successful "parley?"
Zoisa gestures to the rations she's just laid out in offering for them.
"Fawziya, put some of your rations with mine! They're hungry!"