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Nali looks thoughtful at the Baton as she carries it with her. "If Jistkan artifacts are behind locked door where we only found Taldan fakes before, could this place actually be Jistkan instead of Taldan? I don't remember much about Jistkan history."
Unfortunately for her, Nali's head is wrapping her head around that idea, that she slips on her first jump and sputters as she pulls herself out of the water on the other side of the pond.
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Kolris - Pass
Smiley - Fail
Jacques - Fail
Zhatara - Fail
Nali - Fail
Malik - Pass
This hallway has staircases leading down to the north and west. The wide staircase to the west leads to a room illuminated by the warm glow of a small, fuel-less forge next to an eight-foottall statue. The statue depicts a handsome, winged humanoid, though one side of his body is notably angelic and the other half fiendish. Skeletal remains in a red uniform lie in the middle of the room.
This forge is dedicated to the archdevil Belial, whose sculpted likeness stands proudly in the room. The corpse of the Chelish soldier has a gaping but cleanly cut hole through its rib cage. One of the corpse’s skeletal hands still clutches an amulet.
Something hot burned through the torso of the corpse
When walking towards the forge it trembles slightly.
DC 15 craft skill/Spellcraft check to repair.
DC 15 UMD to activate, based on above repair check.
The human corpse has a Jistkan gold bracelet that has the head of a goat engraved on it. The bracelet has faint abjuration aura on it.
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Kolris slowly extends his hand to take the baton, asking "What do you mean, 'active'?" as he accepts it from Nali.
"Ahhhh, okay." He begins to reason, as he tilts and sways the rod through the air, getting a feel for what's happening. "A little rumble. But that almost seems like it's not right. Could it be broken?"
He lifts the rod to his ear and shakes it a few times, then slaps it hard against his palm three times in quick succession. He gives it another shake up by his ear, frowns, and smacks it twice more. A final shake by his earn earns a smile as he pronounces it fixed. "Yup, that did it. The rumble is much smoother now. Nali, want to feel?" He offers it to her to touch or grab again, if she likes, then gets down to work again.
"Now, to figure out how it works."
"I think I've got it figured out; I'm pretty sure that I can activate this thing." He looks around the room, making sure to catch each Pathfinders' eyes. "Should I?"
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When Nali calls an halt to the party's march Zhatara reluctantly obeys:"Active? How?" the mesmerist asks.
After Kolris takes care of the baton Zhatara gives him a concerned look:"Careful now... we don't know what could happen but judging from those bones right there the effects could be unpleasant..."
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While waiting for the group to come to a consensus on whether he should activate the rod, Kolris collects both the amulet and bracelet, examining both for magic and trying to determine what they may do, if they are.
He also begins looking around the room. "This rod is supposed to control a construct... what around here could be that construct? If we're going to activate it, we might as well have an idea of what is going to activate, no?"
His eyes settle on the only thing that looks likely: the statue of Belial. "That would be an impressive construct, indeed...
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Jacques considers the situation.
"I have to admit that I am very curious.
However, since we have the treasure from this room and there doesn't currently appear to be any reason to activate the construct, it seems best to leave it alone.
If we later need something to cross a river of lava or something, maybe you can activate it then?"
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"Smiley, you're a chunk of quartz in a vein of coal."
Jacques laughs loudly. "Smiley, mon ami, no matter what else happens in this very interesting subterranean structure, it has been an absolute delight to have spent time here with you.
The deeper we go, the more profound your exclamations. So, let us go down another flight and find true enlightenment."
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Kolris puts the bracelet on, and pockets the amulet for possible later use. "Well, it looks like this room is otherwise a dead end..."
"So I guess we should backtrack to the other, smaller stairwell leading north." He keeps the rod in hand, wanting to monitor the amount of buzzing it does as they move through the area.
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On the east end of this dim hallway, two staircases lead to the north and south but the one to the north has collapsed. A painting on the eastern wall depicts four figures guided along a path by a rat, a goat, a raven, and a hound. A rounded tunnel extends to the west, and glowing runes on the floor divide the floor into four areas. Stairs at the far end of the hall descend into a larger room, and a decrepit corpse wearing a silver amulet is splayed precariously across the upper steps.
You determine that his neck is snapped because something nearly succeeded in tearing his head from his body.
This next section is horrible in a PbP setting, as it doesn't translate well at all. But, since you have gathered all the items and most of the spoilers, iI'll just explain how it goes... Long story short, since you found all three items (the fourth is on the corpse at the other end of the area), by displaying those tokens that you found, you are able to disable the glowing runes. However, because the last token is the amulet on the corpse AFTER the glowing runes (on the stairs heading to the next area), the FIRST person across to retrieve it will require a DC 17 WILL save. If you wish to drag the corpse back instead of tripping the runes, come up with a plan and test for it - go ahead and roll.
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"Anyone notice those four runes match the symbols aligned with the devils we have been passing? Curious...
I'm of the habit of not passing glowing runes, but I do have some supplies that I find useful in my normao profession that might help us examine the bracelet on that corpse."
Jacques retrieves his grappling arrow, ties his rope to it and aims to lodge the hook in the rib cage of the corpse.
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The air in this chamber is strangely humid, and a thin layer of fog clings all across the floor. A staircase descends from the east and another staircase to the west is fully obstructed by rubble. Several statues with serpent motifs stand in the area. To the north, a large, green stained-glass window looms behind a twisted statue of three serpentine men conjoined at the hip. Vines snake across the floor from a central pool filled with luminescent green liquid. In several places, faintly glowing arcane script inscribed on the floor tiles shines through the mist. Tall as this area is, the ceiling is 40' tall. You notice the secret door to the north. The vines are considered difficult terrain.
Anyone that attempts to read the glowing script on the dark stones must succeed at a DC 16 Will save or become fascinated for 1d4 rounds as the infernal heresies carved upon the stones take hold of his mind. Afterward, the heresies fade from memory, leaving only an oily sensation of infernal taint behind in the PC’s thoughts.
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Smiley does not enjoy reading much. He leaves that to the wizards.
I hear ya, Kolris. You can count on Smiley. My brother Magten always did my reading for me. That's how I learned that Elves all have seven toes on each foot an' they eat feathers to stay so slim and light on their feet. Fascinating, huh?
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"Right.... don't read the blasphemies. Sounds like my home town's knitting circle.
Still, I find magical glowing script to always be good to avoid."
Jacques steps past Kolris into the room with his bow out. He heads over to look at one of the vines.
"Odd to see vines growing underground like this. Roots I would understand, but vines?
Nali, they have weird vines in the jungle where you are from, right? Ever seen anything like this?"
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Jacques makes his way over to the pool and peers deep into its depths.
"Glowing water? No thank you, I'll not be diving in there."
Looking around the rest of the room, he'll report anything he sees in the pool and then continue.
"Well, we won't be going down that collapsed stairway without some serious excavation. Probably a good thing based on what we've found so far.
I guess the door to the north is the only way to go. Kolris, anything from the rod? Is that statue safe?"
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As the column in the water comes to life, Jacques jumps back in surprise.
"Sacre Bleu! Those things are alive! Kolris! Wake up, mon ami!"
Jacques quickly lets two arrows fly at Red and hopes the rest of the team hurries to keep him from getting the brunt of the coming attack.
5-foot step back
Full Attack with Rapid Shot
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Kolris hears the combat start around him; people are jumping to attention, a bow string twangs somewhere off in the distance...
The sounds come through like they're coming from the end of a long tunnel, not very present at all. This script though, it's just fascinating. Is it just the shape of the letters? Yes, they're beautiful... but the syntax is so elegant. Even though he doesn't really understand what it means...
A voice cries out to him from a great distance. mon ami, mon ami, mon ami
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Malik hits RED with a blast of water.
Nali casts DIVINE FAVOR.
Jacques shoots at RED with a full attack, only hitting it once.
Kolris is fascinated this round...
COMBAT ROUND 1===========================
Malik
Nali
Jacques
Kolris (Fascinated 1 round)
RED -25
GREEN
Zhatara
Smiley
RED stays still, and attacks Jacques with his GAZE attack...
But misses, scorching the steps behind him.
GREEN moves forward and attacks Kolris, its closest enemy...
...and it also misses.
Go for it Zhatara and Smiley!