Kawrock's attack misses terribly, but a lone arrow from Rufus flies into the room and takes the lion in the chest and it falls.
Looking around the room, the only thing of interest are the fragments of green crystals in the geode. They might be valuable, but would take about a half-hour to chip them all free.
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"Whoa!" Ali exclaims in the middle of his cantrip. "That's odd, my spell became weaker when I focused on the gems! Could they be anti-magic or disguised somehow? Maybe we should leave them be until we determine whether or not we actually need them to open a door or portal or something. Come, Thorgrim! A show awaits!"
There is a carving over the door to this room, written in Azlanti. Within, the curved western wall of this room depicts a vast field of stars with such realism that one feels perched at the edge of an infinite gulf.
As Thorgrim and Oloch gaze upon the field of stars they become fascinated by the surreal view and struck with a strange conviction that they could step out of the room beyond and fall into the sky.
Thorgrim and Oloch stand at the door, staring silently at something dark and glittering across the chamber. They do not yet respond to Ali's question.
Fascinated: A fascinated creature is entranced by a supernatural or spell effect. The creature stands or sits quietly, taking no actions other than to pay attention to the fascinating effect, for as long as the effect lasts. It takes a –4 penalty on skill checks made as reactions, such as Perception checks. Any potential threat, such as a hostile creature approaching, allows the fascinated creature a new saving throw against the fascinating effect. Any obvious threat, such as someone drawing a weapon, casting a spell, or aiming a ranged weapon at the fascinated creature, automatically breaks the effect. A fascinated creature's ally may shake it free of the spell as a standard action.
Fascinated: A fascinated creature is entranced by a supernatural or spell effect. The creature stands or sits quietly, taking no actions other than to pay attention to the fascinating effect, for as long as the effect lasts. It takes a –4 penalty on skill checks made as reactions, such as Perception checks. Any potential threat, such as a hostile creature approaching, allows the fascinated creature a new saving throw against the fascinating effect. Any obvious threat, such as someone drawing a weapon, casting a spell, or aiming a ranged weapon at the fascinated creature, automatically breaks the effect. A fascinated creature's ally may shake it free of the spell as a standard action.
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Bardic Performance! Distraction!
"My friends!" Ali says in his booming voice. "Whatever is in that room can not be as entertaining as the Amazing Ali! Watch as I ASTOUND and AMAZE!" Ali sets off a few small fireworks in the background and adopts a theatrical pose.
Thorgrim and Oloch are both saved by Ali's Amazing Grandiloquence™, and can act normally again.
Deciding to leave the room of stars be, the group turns to the final door in the area. Thorgrim performs another B&E and opens the door into a large chamber overgrown with foul-smelling mounds of strangely colored, shuddering fungi, many of which glow with a sickly green luminescence. A large alcove to the west seems less overgrown. Metal bars wall off this alcove, but a door in the bars hangs ajar, and through the opening come two hideous creatures shambling forth on ropy vinelike legs. Their "bodies" consist of swollen, brainlike bulbs encrusted with fungal shelves and bisected with wide mouths.
These are Cerebric fungi - a race of carnivorous, intelligent fungi native to a distant planet. Although they are one of the lowliest life forms on their homeworld, the fungi still possess an alien intellect far beyond that of most terrestrial creatures. They have an otherworldly mind that makes mental divinations dangerous to use on them.
Star-Shriek - cerebric fungus can unleash a shrill scream of madness that unsettles those who hear it.
It has a resistance to cold.
All DC 17 knowledge plus:
Cerebric fungi display great curiosity about other races and species when they visit other worlds, asking endless, apparently senseless, questions and engaging in disturbing experiments. Some eccentric scholars claim to have learned unsettling secrets from these interrogations.
Touch of Madness - a touch from a cerebric fungus may leave a living creature dazed for a short time.
All DC 17 and 22 knowledge plus: you know that it has a vulnerability to sonic attacks.
INITIATIVE
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"Not sure what these are, but most plants burn." Kawrock casts a spell on one of the strange fungi causing a ball of fire to appear next to it.
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Oloch muscles his way in front of Thorgrim. he laughs as he swings his greatsword at one of the flower-people.
But he's distracted by the strangeness of their appearance and simply slashes at the air.
Kawrock summons a ball of flame to burn one of the creatures as Rufus takes a shot through the door. Oloch intimidates Golarion with his earth shaking blow to the ground. Ali sends forth magic that knocks both creatures over.
Barley waits.
All those looking at these creatures are assaulted with a confusing collage of images seemingly gleaned from your thoughts.
The wounded creatures give an otherworldly shriek that rattles everyone to the bone as they roll back to their strange legs.
Thorgrim charges in with his weapon, but slips on all the vomit Oloch is decorating the floor with and misses badly with his maul. Kawrock creates another ball of fire to burn the other creature. Rufus fires an arrow which pierces deeply into the side of one of the monsters and it sags lifeless to the floor and smolders under a burning sphere. Ali casts a wondrous magic missile, further injuring the other creature. Barley waits for an opening, but doesn't find one yet.
Smelling a bit like roasted vegetables, the remaining monster shuffles away from the burning sphere, biting and lashing at Thorgrim.
Thorgrim smashes the creature and it explodes like an old cabbage under a meat tenderizer. Parts of it splatter Oloch, Kawrock, and Barley.
After rinsing the bile from your mouths, a search is made of the chamber and alcove beyond, but nothing of note is found.
Thorgrim leads the group across the central vault, bashes through the eastern door, and finds a short hallway beyond that leads to a small chamber with large doors to the north and south. A sinister statue looms in an alcove to the east. The thing is ten feet tall with a human body, but with the head of a deformed, fanged bird and two coiling serpents for legs. The statue clutches a flail in one hand, and holds a large, open book in the other.
This statue depicts the demon lord Abraxas.
No magic is detected in the area.
Passing through the large doors to the south of the statue you enter a short hall with doors in every direction. Those to the north (which you just entered through) and south are double doors, and those to the east and west are barred doors beyond which empty rooms can be seen.
Everyone senses something in the area. A soft babbling echo. Suddenly, malignant clouds burst through the barred doors to the east and west. Shadows boil in the air, and skeletal claws manifest, followed by a skull that babbles eerily.
Those who fall prey to madness and take their own lives sometimes find themselves lost on the path to the afterlife, trapped in a state between life and death. These unfortunates, known as allips, suffer from the violent and incurable insanity they faced in life and take out their terror, confusion, and rage upon the living. They reach out to those they encounter—possibly in wrath, but also perhaps oblivious to their own insane nature—spreading the psychoses that led to their own untimely deaths.
Allips are incorporeal undead.
Babble (Su) An allip constantly mutters to itself, creating a hypnotic effect. All sane creatures within 60 feet of the allip must succeed at a DC 15 Will save or be fascinated for 2d4 rounds. While a target is fascinated, the allip can approach it without breaking the effect, but an attack by the allip does end the effect. Creatures that successfully save cannot be affected by the same allip's babble for 24 hours. This is a sonic, mind-affecting compulsion effect. The save DC is Charisma-based.
Madness (Su) Anyone targeting an allip with a thought detection, mind control, or telepathic effect makes direct contact with its tortured mind and takes 1d4 points of Wisdom damage.
Touch of Insanity (Su) The touch of an allip deals 1d4 points of Wisdom damage (DC 15 Will negates). A successful critical hit causes 1d4 points of Wisdom damage and 1 point of Wisdom drain (instead of double Wisdom damage). With each successful attack, an allip gains 5 temporary hit points. The save DC is Charisma-based.
PERCEPTION
INITIATIVE