The young human turns west, leading with his shield as he moves into the dining room.
Merutep and Aya follow close behind...
Hibbins falls in line behind the others.
Moving west, the party enters a modest dining room. A long, stone table sits close to the northern wall. There are no sign of any seats or other furnishings.
To the south, an open archway leads to a sandy interior courtyard.
To the west sits a more impressive dining room, an enormous marble table running the length of its western wall. Strangely, several human skulls seem to have been lined up on the table.
To the east, is the hallway the party left.
Rashim peers around this room, looking for anything out of the ordinary.
"Not very welcoming of guests, are they? Not one chair?" he says with a grin, clearly loving his own wit.
He nods toward the next room to the west. "Check the perimeter and work our way in? Looks like the next room is a bit more interesting than this one."
Merutep looks around with interest. "As you say, Rashim."
An enormous stone table, the marble top polished and smooth, runs parallel to the west wall of this large room. A much smaller stone table stands in the east side of the room. Splintered piles of dust and wood lie in the corners and along the walls-the only remains of chairs after untold years. A strong, fetid stench pervades the room. An open, sand-filled hallway lies to the south, while an open doorway leads east.
In a macabre display, six skulls sit on the western table, polished clean and resting atop tarnished silver goblets. As Caius enters the room, the skulls rise from the table, hovering in mid air.
"If these were undead abomination, they would be doing more than floating above the plates, wouldn't they?" Meriui moves forward cautiously, trying to detect if they are Evil or not . . ..
As the heads levitate Merutep jumps in surprise. "Uhhhhh... Hello?"
Aya turns a disapproving eye on Merutep.
"Oh! Right!" Merutep exclaims in embarrassment.
She bows deeply to the skulls after saying something to them in the ancient tongue.
Straightening herself, she waits to see the skulls response.
Aya nods once at Merutep, as if to say 'Better.' Then she turns to face the skulls and waits, looking rather regal.
"You really have to ask if the floating abominations are floating abominations. Can we just put these things to rest and keep moving?"
Caius moves slowly forward and moves to examine the silver goblets.
"Very funny Rashim. What don't you stop moving the skulls and we can keep looking around." he says with a smile as he reaches for one of the goblets.
Rashim grins nervously at that. "Afraid it's not me this time, Caius. I'm good, but I can't do that many things at once." He steps forward a little, tilts his head, and looks at one of the skulls. "I could try to move one and see what happens..."
When Caius approaches the table, the floating skulls burst into motion, swarming the swashbuckler.
Hibbins sighs"Oh look, I was right. Caius, DUCK!" and tosses one of his dwindling supply of acidic compounds.
6 damage splash acid. DC 16 reflex for half. Precise bomb to avoid Caius.
"Oh! I know of these! They're beheaded! They are created by evil spell-casters to serve as guardians or hunters. Feel free to destroy them with impunity!"
Merutep moves forward and swings her quarterstaff at the green skull.
Aya flaps forward into the green head's space and claws at it!
Rashim's heart sped up to a million miles an hour as the skulls started swarming, though he tried not to show it. Deep breaths now, don't flub it... He focuses on a nearby piece of debris, and a small, deteriorated piece of an old chair suddenly goes flying to the southern-most skull.
He then takes a small step back to clear a path for those behind him. He grins as his projectile hits and says "Not so tough! At least they aren't more giant spiders."
"Don't let them surround you! Stay out of their swarm, if you can."
The Keleshite uses shield and flail against the swarming heads, swinging a whichever he can get closest to without trapping Caius in the swarm.
[/spoiler]
Hibbins' alkahest bomb dissolves the two floating skulls in front of Caius. Merutep finds less luck in her attack, missing the beheaded entirely, although Aya gouges it with its claws.
Rashim obliterates a third beheaded with a well-aimed piece of debris, sending bits of skull ricocheting around the room.
The remaining skulls move to attack, with two flanking Aya, but they fail to deal any damage.
Merui moves up to support Caius, but his swing falls short.
Caius steps forward to support Merutep, cursing under his breath. "Cursed skulls!"
He quickly draws forth his rapier and plunges the tip at the nearest skull, his blade erupting with hellish flame.
The Keeshite focuses on the skull close at hand, hoping to help resolve this quickly.
Merutep swings her quarterstaff at the blue skull!
"Hold still!" she tells it.
Aya hovers in place and claws at the blue skull with her talons.
Rashim moves south, eyes bouncing back and forth between the two remaining skulls. Big guy can handle himself, better help out Merutep... As soon as he gets a clear shot, he sends another piece of debris flying in.
Hibbins attempts to stab a skull, not expecting it to do much.
Rashim smashes the final beheaded with a well-aimed stone, scattering fragments of bone across the long marble table. The silver plates and goblets the skulls rested on seem undamaged by the fight.
A short hallway to the east leads to the servants dining room.
A doorway to the south opens into a hallway that connects to a door on the western wall, an open archway leading east to the manor's courtyard, and a second doorway to a southern room. The southern room appears to have a wide set of stairs going to the second floor.
"Looks like down the hallway where Rashim is standing is our only real path. Let's go down and take a quick look through the openings, at least."
Merutep nods. "Alright. Lead the way."
Meriui moves far enough down to get a good look into the courtyard, and to the other side.
Rashim grins a cocky grin as the last skull falls. "Not so bad, really. Keeps you on your toes, anyway." He gestures ahead to the hallway, letting Meriui pass by into the hallway, as well as any others, before taking up the rear.
Caius nods in agreement and moves further down the hall.
"So far so good. I wonder what else we shall find in this place."
When Meriui looks into the courtyard he sees a square patch of sand and earth surrounded by a tiled walkway. A balcony on the second floor overlooks the area, and a square hole in the ceiling opens to the sky. Four columns in the corners of the atrium support the roof above, and the walls are decorated with symbols and hieroglyphs depicting animals, celestial creatures, and the sun and the moon.
A statue of a beautiful Osiriani woman sculpted from the same packed red earth as the courtyard floor stands in the center of the room. Her head turns and meets the eyes of Meriui. It offers the paladin a smile.
Merutep packs the silver plates, glasses, and other silverware into her backpack.
---
Merutep follows Meriui down the hall only to see a moving statue!
"How fascinating!" Merutep exclaims. "Look at it move!"
Aya tilts her head at Merutep and lets out a CAW!
Merutep smiles sheepishly as her kite scolds her once again.
"What a wonderful relic." she remarks in a calm, serene voice.
She approaches the statue to see if it reacts to her as pleasantly as it does Meriui.
Aya gives Merutep a nod that is reminiscent of a mother approving of a wayward child's apology. Then she casts her beak to the ceiling and strikes a rather regal pose from atop Merutep's shoulder.
"Relic?" the statue asks. "I am no relic. I am the spirit of this house." Its voice is feminine and sibilant, giving the impression of sand running through an hourglass. "I have long awaited the return of mortals. It has been terribly lonely."
Merutep is uncertain what the statue is. It could be undead, an outsider, or some kind of construct.
He tilts his head slightly, much like a dog. "Spirit of the house? My companions and I seek knowledge of those who used to be here, of whom they were and how they lived. We also seek treasures and artifacts of their lives, and the elimination of the unliving corruption which has already proven to be in the area."
Merutep gasps and claps her hands. With an embarrassed look at her kite she blushes, straightens herself, and then bows to the spirit.
"Greetings, Spirit. I am Merutep, and this is Aya. What may we call you?"
The spirit seems to ponder this. "I cannot remember their names, it has been so long. I'm so lonely here. Can you imagine being locked up in a house with nobody to talk to?"
It turns to Merutep, but seems to look at Aya. "My name is Heshsharu. How strange. Do mortals often keep other, smaller mortals around? Is it a snack?"
Merutep laughs. "Oh, no, of course not. Aya is a conduit to the goddes Isis. She is not for eating."
She looks at the spirit strangely. "Do you recall the days when this house was in use? Cats were a common pet. I am sure they must have had some. Yes? They were companions. Not for eating..?"
Caius makes his way over to look inside the courtyard. Upon seeing the statue his eyes go wide for a moment in surprise.
"Hello...Heshsharu."
"That's true, cats were common pets, so the spirit of a house should know that . . .." He pulls his shield to ready as he evaluates the nature of the animated statue.
"Of course, cats." Heshsharu states quickly. "How could I have forgotten? Cats are fine companions and certainly not for eating."
The sand-like being turns to face the party, its feet breaking from and reconnecting to the earth of the atrium's floor. "It has been so long, my friend Merutep. Why eat some smaller mortals, but not others? Like the cat and the Aya?"