When you leave the fountain room and open the large doors leading south from the entry hall, you see a natural cavern whose ceiling sparkles with thousands of tiny crystals. The center of the cavern is split by a chasm that drops 50 feet below the level of the bridge.
A stone bridge stretches over the gap. Form the center of the bridge, a black granite obelisk covered with gems and hieroglyphics rises. The obelisk is a masterpiece of sculpture, with flawless lines and beautifully rendered images of the past.
You note a faint glow from coming from the chasm.
To examine the obelisk or peer into the chasm, you will have to enter the cavern. Please move yourselves on the map to indicate where you go, but not past the obelisk yet.
Oronia, Maherpa, Kintampo, and Lecate notice that jeweled eyes on the obelisk turn to look at Lecate as he approaches the chasm.
Mareq and Husarq are caught by surprise.
Maherpa's instincts serve him well, and he can act briefly before anything else can happen. Then something will happen, then Oronia, Kintampo, and Lecate can act .
In subsequent rounds the initiative order will be:
1. Maherpa
2. Something
3. Oronia
4. Kintampo
5. Lecate
6. Husarq
7. Mareq
what map?
Just before combat begins, Kintampo, Lecate, and Oronia, who are standing at the edge of the chasm, have a better look at the light shining from below.
I made a mistake with the opponent's initiative. The proper initiative order for the surprise round is:
Maherpa
Oronia
Kintamo
Lecate
Something
In future rounds it is:
Maherpa
Oronia
Kintamo
Lecate
Something
Husarq
Mareq
Oronia, Maherpa, Kintampo, and Lecate noticed that jeweled eyes on the obelisk turned to look at Lecate as he approached it. Your instincts told you something is about to go very wrong.
Having noted the moving eye on the obelisk, Maherpa waits a moment, Oronia shields her eyes from a potential gaze attack, and Lecate seeks a blessing from The Song of the Spheres.
A wave of desert heat suddenly washes over the entire party. Everyone sees two realities: One, the cavern, bridge, and obelisk, from which a host of spirits stream; and two, a bleak stretch of sun baked desert where thousands of dead Osirians rise up from ancient tombs to meet armies of corrupted genies (divs) marching forth from a massive structure of black stone. A plague of locusts sweeps across the desert toward the divs.
Kintampo, ever vigilant, swipes his quarterstaff at the approaching spirits, but it merely passes through them.
The spirits issuing from the obelisk strike at Lecate, who, in his thoughts, hears them whisper “Remember.”
Though the spirits reach out to Lecate, they fail to touch him.
1. Maherpa
2. Oronia
3. Kintamo
4. Lecate
5. Spirits
6. Husarq
7. Mareq
As the positive energy washes over the spirits, they howl and then burst, splattering Lecate, Oronia, and Kintampo with ectoplasm that quickly evaporates. The visions you have been experiencing end abruptly.
Now that Oronia is standing by the obelisk, she sees that it is covered in masterfully rendered Ancient Osirian hieroglyphics. The eyes of the figures in the hieroglyphics are set with tiny rubies, topazes, and emeralds that sparkle in your light.
The hieroglyphics detail the history of Osirion up through the beginning of the Qadiran occupation.
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Oronia, of course, takes many notes on the history as quickly as she can.
"We need to finish our exploration, because we do not have all the time in the world. The spirit that I pushed back will return and I'm not sure how long that will take. At best...we have a day."
With that, she takes a look at the hole again. "Can someone go and see what our brother found down there. It's clear, to my eyes, the light is coming from a wayfinder."
Kintampo and Husarq easily climb down into the chasm.
At the bottom, they find the crumpled and broken body of a female halfling who clearly was killed by a fall. The corpse is about as decayed as the one under the pillar in the Entry Hall and Sellana's "little fish".
The body bears a broken, scarab-embossed wayfinder that still emits light. A wand, a ring, and a long, rough prism have withstood the ravages of time as well. All four items detect as magic. The wand and wayfinder have faint auras, while the gem and ring have moderate auras.
PCs casting detect magic and trained in the following skills may make the following checks regarding the items:
Anyone casting detect magic may also make Spellcraft checks to identify the properties of the items.
The chasm leads off and downward to the east.
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Kintampo closes the eyes of the deceased Pathfinder. "we will get you a proper funeral later companion"
He then calls to his fellows "I have found some items here and the chasm continues through the rock, will you come down?"
He then tries to identify the items using a minor spell. (Detect magic)
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Lecates armor is quite heavy and cumbersome, but with the knotted rope he figures he can do this.
He makes the sign of a butterfly over his heart and prays for Desna'a grace (bit o' luck) And heads down the knotted rope.
As he gets to the bottom, he is twisted around and stumbles as he disentangles himself from the rope.
"Stupid Armor."
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"Without even looking at those items, I trust nothing in here after what the elemental told us. I do want to look though!" There is a glimmer of delight in her eyes as she says so.
She then casts a detect spell and begins to examine the items.
[Wand=Take 10]
"Wow, those are some really potent items...I have no idea what they are!"
She jots a lot of things down as she looks over the items and then lets whoever wishes carry them. "Shall we continue?"
After you spend a few minutes bring the halfling's body up from the chasm and take some time to examine the obelisk, you eventually turn your attention to the archway on the far side of the chasm and the obelisk.
The archway is covered with detailed carvings depicting the life and accomplishments of a female pharaoh. The charred corpse of an elf, covered in flecks of glass, rests just inside of the archway.
The archway opens onto an enormous columned chamber. You see a dias crowned with a large round table surrounded by three chairs. Corpses dressed in fine red, yellow, and green silk robes sit in the chairs as if in conference with one another.
The columned chamber shows signs of past comforts, but an ancient battle scorched the walls and ceiling, and cracked and smashed the floor and columns. The remnants of furniture are scattered against the walls, and piles of bodies are stacked in the sleeping alcoves along the south and west walls.
A slight breeze whistles through with a sound like a distant, murmuring voice.
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Concentrating mostly on the lock, she says firmly, one of her fine picks in her teeth, her thrush sitting on her shoulder, "Unless Sellana checks anything and everything we find here, I won't wear a bit of it. Not going to happen. This place is tainted and as far as I'm concerned, all the items are, too."
Oronia deftly disables the magical trap by tinkering with the disabling switches.
Once the trap is disabled, you can safely examine the corpse of the charred elf. His backpack survived the trap relatively intact. Inside, you find notes about the ruins up to this point and a letter bearing the seal of the Decemvirate.
Most of the elf's equipment was burned and scoured by the trap. However, the pack also contains a broken, scarab embossed wayfinder and a bone tube containing a scroll.
The final resting place of the Topaz, Ruby, and Emerald Sages beckons....
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"Nice job Oronia, there is the second switch Sellana mentioned." pointing to a partially concealed switch on the far side of the archway.
"...and beyond should be the stairs that leads to the personal quarters of the sages."
Looking at Oronia " Is it safe to enter the The Gathering Hall of the Sages?"
Entering the room, Lecate finds a set of stairs in the northeast corner of the room. However, they are buried in stone. Getting down there would require a major engineering effort or magic. The remnants of furniture
are scattered against the walls of the Gathering Hall, as well as the piles of bodies are stacked in alcoves along the south and west walls of the Gathering Hall suggest that the collapse took place before the demise of the Sages and that the Sages and their supporters lived in this room for quite some time.
As previously described, in addition to the collapsed stairwell and the various alcoves filled with furniture and bodies, there is a dias with a large table, at which corpses dressed in red, yellow, and green robes are seated. There are several relatively large shards of red crystal on the table before the red-robed corpse.
Now that you are closer, you also see that the thick dust on the table has been disturbed. It has been cleared from the red crystal shards. In addition, there are two spots on the table, one in front of the green-robed corpse and one in front of the yellow-robed corpse, that are clear of dust, suggesting that objects rested there until recently.
A slight breeze whistles through the Gathering Hall with a sound like a distant, murmuring voice, but there is no sense or meaning in it.
From behind you, from the direction of the courtyard, you all also briefly hear the muffled sound of a voice raised in anger.