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As the skull rattles Hibbins immediately throws in a flask of volatile alkali angling to avoid his compatriots as best he can.
or depending on how you want to handle inanimate. I'm not sure how the bomb affects non animated inorganic material. 6 damage to everything else in splash radius.
Caius sees the skull begin to rattle and smirks to himself as he sees Rashim give a small tell.
He pretends to look startled as the skull shakes, which is quickly replaced with genuine shock as Hibbins launches one of his concoctions at the skull.
"The spirits must be playing some game with us." he says.
Merutep grins at Hibbins. "I think you got it!"
Rashim looks slightly shocked at Hibbins' reaction, but rolls with it anyway. "Excellent work, Hibbins! Good aim!"
Having heroically defeated the offending spirits, the group finishes searching the outbuilding. Nothing of value is found.
Outside, a gust of wind stirs the dusty vegetation that clings to life in the barren courtyard.
Merutep peeks her head into the granary and looks around.
"The dead should stay put."
Caius moves to just outside the granary. "I guess we'll search this out and then head into the main building?
The granary is empty but for a trio of fleshless skeletons and a heavy flail. The weapon's head is formed from a flat black metal with hints of deep purple and blue. Before she can remark on the strange object, she notices movement: a single scarab.
The sun from the courtyard reflects off of its iridescent blue-black shell. It's joined by a second, then a third, and then a fourth, and then there are dozens swarming from beneath the granary. They surge towards the cleric, taking flight on buzzing wings.
"EVERYONE BACK UP, THIS ONE IS MINE!" Hibbins lobs a flask of liquids into the mass of scarabs.
double damage to swarm.
Merutep grabs the flail and hurries back up out of the way.
"Got it!"
Caius quickly draws forth his blade and swipes at the swarm, before taking a quick step back.
Gah! Bugs again! Rashim sends a nearby rock shooting into the mass of crawling insects, a solid mass accumulating around the rock as it flies in.
Although his aim was true, Caius only slays a few of the oncoming beetles, his sword little use against the press of chitinous bodies. Hibbins' bomb coats the swarm in flames, killing hundreds of scarabs. Rashim smashes scores as well, yet still they come.
Merui, his blade useless against the beetles, steps forward to try and slow the advance of the tide. The swarm rolls onto the paladin.
12 damage to the swarm
6 to the play, save for half DC 16
Hibbins continues to huck vials of alchemical base into the swarm. A gleeful smile on his face.
"Oh my! Be careful Merui! Look out, Rashim! Back up!"
Merutep pulls out a vial of acid and waits for the others to get out of the way. Once they're safe she throws her acid at the bugs.
Aya calmly flies back out of Merutep's way.
Caius backs away from the swarm to better allow his companions to bomb it.
"Yeah Hibbins light them up!"
Rashim hurriedly backs away from the swarm, his skin crawling. He then sends another rock sailing into the swarm, strands of force forming around it as it flies.
Merui throws himself away from Hibbins' second bomb before it blows away the rest of the scarabs. Dusting himself off, he winces at the dozens of painful bites. He smiles weakly at the alchemist, trying to ignore the minor scalds from the half-orc's chemical attack. "Quick thinking there, doctor."
"I do hope the rest of this little adventure is as easy as these last few fights have been."
Merutep examines the flail she found.
"Does anyone want this? It's a bit heavy for me."
After someone claims the flail (or offers to put it in their backpack), Merutep wanders over to the little building in the corner and peeks inside.
Merutep is unable to determine the make or material of the flail, although the metal seems hard, harder than steel.
Merutep approaches the house's smaller side door. She presses her ear against it and listens.
Caius looks at the flail with disinterest. "I have no need for such a weapon."
He then follows Merutep to the small side door and attempts to open it.
"Maybe we should get a pack mule for the next foray."
While Caius moves towards the door, Merutep hear something shift above her. Looking up, she spots a nightmarish creature about the size of a dog, but shaped like an elongated, ten-legged spider. Oversized jaws grind slowly beneath a set of beady eyes.
Before the cleric can react, the creature drops from the ceiling on to her back, its double jaws punching through her armor.
"Eeek!" Merutep exclaims in a rather undignified fashion.
Merutep whacks at the beast with her quarterstaff.
When they catch their prey, solifugidae hold down their meal with their front two limbs and feed with a pair of vertically aligned mandibles.
Hibbins draws his sword, knowing there was not much he could tell about the arachnid that would help his friends.
Caius stands his ground and quickly draws forth his rapier. He then plunges the blade toward the creature.
Rashim shuffles forward, eyeing this new threat. "Egh, dog-sized spider thing, get off her!" he yells, as he sends a stone flying in toward it, trying to aim very carefully.
The fight is over almost as soon as it began, the solifugid stabbed and pummeled into a sticky goo.
Merutep hears nothing on the other side of the door.
"As a group, you keep displaying an amazing ability to kill anything which appears. How is everyone doing? Anyone need healing?"
"I think we're good. Would you like to do the honours?" she says, gesturing at the door.
He grins. "Like?" Even so, he moves forward and opens the next door.
Two stone tables sit against the western wall of this kitchen, while a third occupies the southeastern corner. A small, square wooden butcher's block stands in the northeast corner, almost crumbling beneath its own weight. A stone oven sits in the middle of the north wall. A humanoid skeleton lies beneath the northwestern table, surrounded by smashed crockery. An open doorway to the south exits further into the house.
Caius grins at the conversation. "Always good to lead with the tower shield."
Caius enters into the kitchen and upon noticing the skeleton kneels to observe it and the smashed crockery.
Rashim gets a grin on his face, and prepares his skeleton stunt again... before his face falls, and he remembers the fiery explosion that proceeded from his last attempt. He instead gives a sigh and starts helping to look around the room.
Merutep approaches the skeleton slowly, curious if its going to attempt to eat her alive.
Hibbins quietly reaches to his pouch in case he needs to throw yes another concoction... and notices his supplies are getting a bit low for his liking.
The owner of the skeleton died violently, that much is plain. A pitted and rusted dagger lies wedged between its ribs.
Besides the skeleton, the party finds little else of interest here.
Merutep places a hand on the skeleton. She prays aloud in Ancient Osiriani.
Then she stands up, brushes off her hands and looks around. She moves into the next room.
"Now that the dead have been blessed, should we continue? Through here, yes?" The young man points with his shield, before starting to move in that direction.
Caius moves quietly into the nearby chamber, attempting to duck low and take cover, into the corner of the room.
The party enters a short hallway. To the east sits a double door that should exit back into the courtyard. Through an open doorway to the south lies some sort of shrine, and to the west is a dining room.