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The 3 dirt covered Shoanti continue sitting against the northern wall even as Crowe greets them. One of them just shruggs before answering:"We are from the Sklar-Quah, from your tatoos it's clear you are from the Shriikirri-Quah. We are not kin" he states in a flat tone while his companions completely ignore the rest of your group.
The other 2 people held here are a different story though.
The man is bedecked in a deep blue waistcoat with gold trim and what were once matching trousers. Dried mud now covers the entirety of his calf-high riding boots and most of his breeches. His moustache and goatee, however, are meticulously groomed. He presents himself as "Marquis Jeor Haywood, from Taldor". He appears to be stressed by his circumstances and asks you to bring him back to Korvosa "immmediately".
The dwarven woman presents herself as Wattlee Battlesworth. She appears to be relatively thin for a dwarf woman. While studying you she purses her lips as she rubs the gold rings braided into her long, black hair.
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Using his natural charm Tak convinces Wattlee of the party's good intentions:"It's good you are here Pathfinders. I hope you will escort us out of here soon enough, altough I must admit this place's architecture is fascinating. The whole mountain chain is actually. But I digress. You probably want to know about the obese man and his scary servants right? He must be some sort of wizard, because I don't remember why I followed him here, I just did. When they opened this place they went south at first. Then there was some noise coming from the eastern room and they emerged from those door there" the dwarf woman says, pointing at the doors near the sitting Shoanti.
"After that they moved west, a place the obese man called "the chapel". They spoke a strange language with a creepy-sounding woman. The fat one come back and told us to stay here before the door swung closed. We have not seen them since"
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After a brief discussion you convene to check out what Naroth Balam did before entering the so called "Chapel", in case he left some unpleasant surprises for pursuers or some hints at his no doubt diabolical designs. So you enter the room to the south and immediately notice how near the north wall of the chamber stands a statue of a halfsnake, half-human creature covered in Thassilonian runes. The folded arms of the female creature's torso hold a quill and a whip. Six wings grace her back, and her lower body is a coiled serpent. In place of her head, a disk with a sevenpointed star, each point with a different rune, completes the amalgamation. The statue faces a huge circular door embossed with the same seven-pointed rune.
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Crowe looks at the Shoanti and frowns.
He stands tall before them, looks at them with a stern look and continues in Shoanti.
"We are Shoanti! In times of trouble we have always stood together or are the dwarf and the invader more kin to you than I!? If you are Sklar-Quah you fight with us against this evil or you can taste the flat side of my earthbreaker right now as a reminder of what it means to be Shoanti!"
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Mutahir snorts in derision as the Shoanti bicker, turning his attention to the room.
He seems incised at the sight of the statue and draws his blade swiftly.
It's always the same with all these cultists... trying to make up for their own weakness by borrowing power from things they don't understand and enslaving themselves to masters beyond their reckoning.
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Warpac gives the statue a wide berth and skirts the edges of the room until he can see down the passage to the north. Before moving he calls on Desna for a Lucky Presence and as he's moving he says,
"Are you going to deface the idol, Mutahir? Usually someone has defaced a shrine to Desna when I go on one of these missions. This will be a welcome change."
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The Lyrakien recognizes 2 magical auras lingering on the Shoanti. The weaker one was placed on the 3 of them and is enchantment aura. The other one is a divination aura and was only placed on the tribesman who spoke to Crowe. It's more powerful than the other ones though
Muthair doesn't notice anything out of the ordinary with the statue and cannot recognize the god or creature the statue is meant to depict.
Let's see what memories Nail will fill our minds with.
Aid from Nail
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Working together Tak and Nail realize the statue represents the almost forgotten azlant deity known as Lissala, the evil patron of duty, runes, fate and obedience. They also note that the whip and quill that the statue is holding are not made of stone like the rest of it. Furthermore they notice how the statue works as some sort of magical construct, once supposed to bestowed boons on the Lissalan faithful and cursed nonbelievers. But it's clear the statue is currently malfunctioning and randomly discharges a spell whenever it's touched.
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Tak casts detect magic looking at the statue. Do the whip and quill seem magical and/or like they can be removed?
If the group still wants to continue past these people Tak will carefully look over the doors to make sure they are safe to open.
"We will come back and escort you out as soon as we are done here. Sorry, it cannot be sooner."
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[spoiler=Warpac]Looking inside the room Warpac sees only darkness and shadows and some sort of bassrelief on the wall on his right. If he wants a make certain of what's in the room he'll have to enter bringing light with him
Tak does not notice much inside the room to the south besides some bassreliefs.
Muthair advances on the statue and tries to show his disdain for the divine in a very explicit fashion...
... and feels like something has happened to him... something making him better at staving off the effects of spells.
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Having decided the statue does not hold any real interest the pathfinders move to the room to the north of their current positon...
The place is very dark and the room appears to be largely empty, but the floor has large patches stained brown. The bas-reliefs on the chamber's walls depict Lissalan liturgical practices. Acolytes bowing to statues and altars, clergy branding themselves with the Sihedron rune, and flagellations are a common theme.
Suddenly something shifts in the dark... a shadow creature takes form wailing with dreadful rage...
Round 01 - Bold may post
Tak
Vybus
Shadow creature
Barm
Crowe
Mutahir
Warpac
Nail attempts to recall.
Nail also release the energy stored in their ioun stone.
Special attacks, weak save, special defences?
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Vybus would like to identify the shadowy foe.
(+16 vs Fey)
Vybus readies to cast a Persistent Command Undead on the greater shadow when it comes within range (which is 5' closer), spending an arcane pool point to increase the DC by 2.
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Saves:Fort +5, Ref +8, Will +7
Defensive Abilities: incorporeal, channel resistance +2, undead traits.
The Shadow screeches and charges Crowe! But cannot land an hit before Vybus casts a spell on it!
The undead manages to shrugg off Vybus' mental control and attacks the unfortunate Shoanti warrior!
→
The Shoanti feels his strength being ripped out of his body!
Round 01 - Bold may post
Tak
Vybus
Shadow creature
Barm
Crowe -6str
Mutahir
Warpac
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The undead is affected by Tak's magical misfortune while Warpac takes his time before making his move.
Mutahir and Barm, on the other hand, prove to be themselves men of action, managing to wound the creature despite its ethereal nature.
Round 01/02 - Bold may post
Tak
Vybus
Warpac
Shadow creature -27hp, Misfortune Hex 01
Barm
Crowe -6str
Mutahir