Linah returns the shield slam with a vicious cut of her own, her blade crackling with energy as it makes contact.
HP 33/54
Cursing foully, Sekathral rolls out of distance and reloads his pistol.
Round 7, Init 19
Kyson sees the carnage around him, calls upon Sarenrae for aid.
Are you there, Sarenrae? It's me, Kyson. I need you. Please.
Kyson's devotions are rewarded with a channeling of the divine spark...one that he shares with the party (carving out the baddies selectively).
healing
He hopes everyone still stands and can kill the rest soon. He draws his rod of reach meta magic.
AC: 21 (4 armor, 3 dex, 4 shield)
HP: 103/109 temp
Light the Candle 4/10 used
Channel (7d6) 4/5 used
Heroism 6/13 rounds used
Righteous Might 0/12
Rod Extend 0/3 used
Rod Reach 0/3 used
Wand CLW 3/50 used
Left hand: Shield
Right hand: nothing
[ dice]1d20+12+2[/dice] touch hit;
[ dice]1d6+5[/dice] fire damage.
Spells:
Delay Poison (13 hours)
Heroes Feast (13 hours)
Ext Air Walk (260 minutes)
Kyson: 19
Khazmia: 16
Sekathral: 15
Zstelian: 4
Linah: 28
Antagonist: 23
Kyson heals his companions as Khazmia continues her magical duel with the arcane priests, responding to their attempt at destroying her brains with two of her own. Unfortunately, her foe ducks aside and resists the second magic, though one does fall prone. The other one leaps off the balcony, landing on its feet and putting itself some distance from the ongoing spells, while the second one leaps off the balcony too, though doesn't seem to have the energy to move any further.
Sekathral backs out of the way, ducking under a swing from the skinwalker and reloading his pistol as Zstelian and Linah continue their assault, the Varisian landing a couple vicious blows and the Sarenite another. Their foe looks badly hurt, but he remains on his feet, spear drawing more blood from Zstelian , though Linah's able to fend off its lion limbs.
SW8: 38
SW9: 11, exhausted (half speed, cannot run or charge, and takes a –6 penalty to Strength and Dexterity), prone
SW10: 37, fatigued (–2 penalty to Strength and Dexterity)
SW12: 203
As the tide of battle starts to favor the party Linah continues to press the advantage trying to end her opponents as quickly as possible.
Sekathral, glowing with the healing light of Sarenrae, takes a pistol in each hand and blazes away at the nearest Skinwalker
Round 8a
Zstelian's blade flashes again in the darkness, as he finally -- taking advantage of a distraction provided by Kayle, lands a killing blow, driving his blade deep into the shared skulls of the skinwalker and dropping him to the ground.
Linah and Sekathral's weapons rip into the other skinwalker, leaving him barely clinging to life as well as he lets out a howl of outrage and seeing the other go down.
Khazmia growls, frustrated at the complete uselessness of not one, but two spells. IWhy did I go ahead and try after I missed with the touch of idiocy????
Still, she tries again with another quickened spell.
She sends all the missiles at the nasty spell caster that is trying to escape.
Round 8, Init 19
Kyson takes a look at the wounds of others and hopes that the damage being put out is greater than is returning lest he need to step in soon. He spontaneously casts Mass Cure Light Wounds on all the good guys.
healing to all
He then moves next to the baddie #10 with scimitar drawn.
AC: 21 (4 armor, 3 dex, 4 shield)
HP: 103/109 temp
Light the Candle 4/10 used
Channel (7d6) 4/5 used
Heroism 6/13 rounds used
Righteous Might 0/12
Rod Extend 0/3 used
Rod Reach 0/3 used
Wand CLW 3/50 used
Left hand: Shield
Right hand: nothing
[ dice]1d20+12+2[/dice] touch hit;
[ dice]1d6+5[/dice] fire damage.
Spells:
Delay Poison (13 hours)
Heroes Feast (13 hours)
Ext Air Walk (260 minutes)
Round 8b
As Kyson again heals his companions, Khazmia sends missiles slamming into the skinwalker. It turns around and launches another fireball, flames washing over all of you -- and incinerating Linah's foe . The other remaining skinwalker climbs to its feet and puts some distance between itself and its companion.
SW9: 11, exhausted (half speed, cannot run or charge, and takes a –6 penalty to Strength and Dexterity), prone
SW10: 69, fatigued (–2 penalty to Strength and Dexterity)
”Take down the skin walker! Make sure that he does not escape”, Linah says and points to one of the skin walkers . ”I will engage the other one.” With that she runs up the stairs to close the distance between her and the foe.
Khazmia does her best to drop the escaping caster where he stands
Round 9, Init 19
Kyson strikes at 10 with his impervious scimitar!
to hit;
damage.
to hit;
damage.
AC: 21 (4 armor, 3 dex, 4 shield)
HP: 103/109 temp
Light the Candle 4/10 used
Channel (7d6) 4/5 used
Heroism 6/13 rounds used
Righteous Might 0/12
Rod Extend 0/3 used
Rod Reach 0/3 used
Wand CLW 3/50 used
Left hand: Shield
Right hand: scimitar
[ dice]1d20+12+2[/dice] touch hit;
[ dice]1d6+5[/dice] fire damage.
Spells:
Delay Poison (13 hours)
Heroes Feast (13 hours)
Ext Air Walk (260 minutes)
Sekathral takes advantage of the momentary pause to reload his pistols.
Kyson: 19
Khazmia: 16
Sekathral: 15
Zstelian: 4
Linah: 28
Antagonist: 23
Kyson hacks at his foe, to no avail as some force around it turns his blade, though Khaz's missiles have more effect.
As Sekathral reloads, Linah closes on the other, Zstelian's blades flashing by her.
They one manages to get off another spell -- another massive fireball, whose flames again flicker around Khazmia without effect -- before you're finally able to bring them down.
SW9: 57, exhausted (half speed, cannot run or charge, and takes a –6 penalty to Strength and Dexterity)
SW10: 110, fatigued (–2 penalty to Strength and Dexterity)
From the tough warrior: +2 bashing light wooden shield, +2 flaming burst macahuitl, +1 composite longbow (+5 Str), belt of giant strength +4, bracers of armor +4, amulet of natural armor +2
From the spellcasters: Two lesser rods of empower metamagic; two +1 daggers, two +1 composite longbows (+2 Str) with 20 arrows, 2 rings of protection +2, two cloaks of Charisma +2
A variety of mundane items that probably aren't worth me writing out.
Linah jumps down from the balchony and scans the room. "Is anybody seriously hurt?" she asks and emits a wave of positive energy that closes some wounds. She makes her way to the far end of the room and peers down the tunnel, checking for signs of trouble.
"There's a fair bit of usefulness things here. We should take them with us. How is everyone?" The Princess, while a bit dusty, seems otherwise as good as new.
Kyson airwalks around, his sword still drawn in anger. He looks left, then right, for more foes to fell after this fiery battle.
"Is that all of them? Are there no more?" Kyson asks, slowly calming down. "I didn't like them. I still don't...and it's good they are dead. Sarenrae would have wanted it that way."
Only when satisfied with the peace will Kyson stow his blade and tend to others and the loots.
Kyson goes to the body of the leader, taking time to examine his holy symbol (if there is one) and looking for the source of his power.
"Now what? We need to find that priestguy, right?" Kyson asks. "And make sure there is no more evil here. I think I'm ready."
Sekathral, realising that magical fire and blackpowder do not mix well, sensibly dodges out of the way of the blast. Once the skinwalkers are down, he spins his pistols on each index finger before holstering them.
"Might take the hide of one of them ****ers and use 'im as a hearthrug, ha ha. It's what they would have wanted"
He glances at Linah.
"I'm alright, ta. Don't know who wants that belt, but if nobody else fancies it, I'll have it. Beats bloody exercising"
Area 1: You approach a great exit on the cliff, 90 feet wide and just as tall. The red marble walls within are lined with carvings depicting strange gods and ferocious animals. A pair of crude wooden piers extends over the waters of the lake from the exit, where three canoes are tethered. A net stretched over a half-dozen thick pilings protects the approach, forming a semicircle around the stone landing.
Area 2: A monumental stairway climbs to a wide landing with an archway set in the east wall. Pillars decorated with abstract and intricate carvings support the ceiling of the chamber. In the middle of the cave, two square pedestals to either side of the center steps of the stairway support the feet and ankles of a collapses statue that once straddled the stairs. Some of the statue's features are still recognizable in the heaps of rubble scattered on the stairs, most noticeably the feathered texture of a huge pair of wings. To either side of the passage to the east leer two bas-reliefs of men with feathered headdresses. The one to the north shows a man with a brilliant sun over his head while to the south is a man behind a smoking moon.
You recognize the bas-relief figures as Tezcatlipoca and Tonatiuh, which means the statue likely was Quetzalcoatl.
Area 4: These rooms are lined with mats and furnished with fur beds and crocodile skin rugs. Ornaments of bones, feathers, and fish scales hang on the walls. Unfinished bows, arrows, and spears rest on the floor. A clay brazier in the middle sheds a soft light. The air reeks of grease, smoke, brimstone, and sweat.
Area 5: The walls of this grim room are decorated with stretched skins, most of which seem to have been harvested from men and women. The gruesome trophies are painted with twisting, coiling runes. A bloodstained stone block sits in the center of the room, a half-dozen obsidian knives glittering atop it. Mounds of furs line the west section of the room, and sitting amid them is a battered stone coffer.
Area 6: A stool sits before an array of stone levers near a peephole in the southwest corner .
Area 7: A single, luxurious bedding of tiger furs sits against the middle of the west wall. A wooden trunks rests at the foot of the bed, while a dozen colorful wooden shields decorated with large and brilliant feathers hand from or lean against the west walls. A large clay jug emanating a spicy, alcoholic smell sits in the northwest corner.
Area 8: This room is bare of furniture with the exception of a few stone benches along the wall, and a heavy layer of dust and fine sand covers the floor. A steep flight of steps in the northwest corner leads up to a narrow platform, and a trail of footprints winds through the dust between the steps and the southwest corridor.
The dust and sand on the floor cover a stone trapdoor.
Kyson looks around, seeing what others notice and want to do.
Sekathral toys with the weapons and peeps through the peephole . His eyes light up when he senses the jug emanating a spicy, alcoholic smell, and he sniffs it experimentally before taking a sip. Afterwards, assuming that he doesn't dissolve, or turn into a lizard:
"Nothing there after all. Good stuff, this"
"This does seems to be just another entrance. I think we should back track and explore the entrance. There was another passage there that we have not yet ventured down", Linah says while looking at the floor. "Zstelian, do you think you can follow these tracks?"
"Seka, are you sure now is the right time to be drinking? Maybe we should be focusing on not dying and finding maidens than drowning our infinite regrets and unending sadness in the temporary fleeing bliss that booze might offer?" Kyson tsks at Sekathral.
"This does seems to be just another entrance. I think we should back track and explore the entrance. There was another passage there that we have not yet ventured down", Linah says while looking at the floor. "Zstelian, do you think you can follow these tracks?"
Kyson nods, happy to follow his SunSister wherever, especially if it might lead out of here or toward the man they seek.
"I think that passage is the right way to go too, Linah."
"Shouldn't we take those skins down...but perhaps maybe afterward. So we can take them out to the sun." She follows Linah and Kyson to the room with the tracks.
"Seka, are you sure now is the right time to be drinking? Maybe we should be focusing on not dying and finding maidens than drowning our infinite regrets and unending sadness in the temporary fleeing bliss that booze might offer?" Kyson tsks at Sekathral.
"Infinite and unending what?" Sekathral stares back at Kyson. "No offence, mate, but it sounds like you've had a couple yourself."
He takes a healthy gulp of the liquid. "Tastes alright, considering it's been here for Cayden knows how long. Just hope a ****ing demon ain't pissed in it"
Sekathral decants some more of the Olman booze into a waterskin, then wipes his mouth.
"Right. let's go. If Zstelian and Linah think we're on the right track, that's alright by me"
He prepares himself, then moves off with the others.
"I think that passage is the right way to go too, Linah."
"Yes, unless these tracks can lead us somewhere. Although I think that we will be heading down that corridor sooner or later."
"Shouldn't we take those skins down...but perhaps maybe afterward. So we can take them out to the sun." She follows Linah and Kyson to the room with the tracks.
Linah shrudders. "You are right. I do not know what to do with them, but we can not leave them hanging there. Still, we need to explore this temple completely before we do anything else. I am afraid to say that I feel that we have not yet witenessed the worst of what this temple has to offer."
The steps in the sand appear to be nothing more than that, leading to the tall platform, where you can look down on the room below.
Heading back to the one unexplored area of the first floor of the temple, you enter a passageway that slopes upward at a slight angle. You're almost at the far end when you hear a slight rumbling and moments later an 8-foot-wide spherical boulder comes rolling down the hall toward you!
Khazmia:
Kyson:
Linah:
Sekathral:
Zstelian:
Beyond that, a room holds a 4-foot-tall clay pedestal fashioned in the shape of a miniature ziggurat sits sunken into the floor, a ramp at the north end of the room clearly having held the boulder that passed you moments earlier. You suspect the ziggurat was likely some part of the trap's mechanism, but the whole thing would need to be reset before it could trouble you again. To your left, a passageway leads back out into the wilderness.
Reflex vs. DC 35
Kyson is steamrolled by the approaching boulder, apparently unable to airwalk above it in the narrow corridor.
He lays bruised and thrashed for a few moment before rising and dusting himself off. He casts CLW from a scroll: healing
"Maybe we should rest before going back under? This place is really taking its toll on us," Kyson suggests.
"****! ****! **** **** ****ing bloody ****!"
Sekathral is not pleased.
"Yeah, I could do with a kip, having just been ****ing run over by a giant stone b%!#!$&. What a place."
I'm
Khaz surfaces, sputtering rock and sand. "Yes, let's do that. I'm so tired, I can hardly see straight."
You manage to find a place to safely rest for the night and refreshed in the morning you head back down to the lower level of the temple and resume your exploration.
Moving through the flooded room where you fought the hezrou demons the day before -- what seems like weeks ago somehow -- you find what looks to be an old torture chamber and cells, all of them flooded and containing little of interest.
The passageway to the norh seems separated by a raised area covered with pale fungus. You're about to pass through when Sekathral realizes the floor beyond is coated with green slime below the water.
The door beyond opens into a room with a stone desk carved in the likeness of an ancient Olman head with a flattened top sitting against the northern wall. The walls are fitted with stone shelving, with many stacks of clay tablet piled on it. Kyson can easily recognize it as some sort of archives that could be valuable to the right collector.
The head-shaped desk hides a secret compartment in the left eye. Within is a +2 human bane dagger, 500 gp and two coral statuettes of fish with ruby eyes worth 1,500 gp each.
Taking the other passage from the large flooded room, you wade through about 4 feet of water to enter a chamber with walls decorated with mosaics representing various fantastic and horrid creatures from the ocean depths. The door to the north appears to be stuck.
Sekathral, noticing something out of the corner of his eye, runs his fingers over the desk, before dexterously extracting the treasures from their hiding place
"Bugger me - that's a bit of alright. Who wants the shiv?"
In the morning, Kyson offers a heroe's feast to those that wish it (even Seka). He then prepares his explosive seeds, ant haul, and again walks in the air (he feels safer up there).
* * *
Kyson takes a few moments to examine the tablets, putting a few into his haversack in case they don't make it back this way.
Perception - collection
Perception - desk
"I don't need no shiv, thanks. I don't plan on being in a pirate prison anytime soon...you should keep it, Seka."
Kyson doesn't have the strength to move the door.
Linah makes a feeble atempt at moving the stone door, but quickly realizes the futility and stops. "This will not move any time soon. Kyson, Khazmia, do you have access to magic that can open this?"
"Got no chance doing it on my own, but I'll give the rest of you cullies a hand if we all want to have a go", replies Sekathral