In this epic battle in the dark, the mighty opponents on both sides have been largely missing each other.
The silent skeletons on the chariots aim for the two closest threats...
...and then check to see if their ancient bows are broken. Their bony fingers tap along both bow and string, testing.
Tap. Tap.
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I see by the rules that the archer next to Crowe provoked an attack of opportunity when he shot up close.
Crowe (normal and AoO), Oloch and Quinn are up!
Quinn, bolstered by his concoction, adds his blade to the fray. Slashing at the skeleton, since it was the best weapon he had.
Hit!
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The half-orc double moves forward, eager to reach the battle, and willing to make himself a target to protect his comrades.
Quinn strikes the first blow against the skeletons, but his attack does less damage than Quinn might have expected. His skeleton is still standing...
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Crowe tries again to hit the skeleton before him.
for
Yes, now there is light! Crowe obliterates his skeleton. Crowe, you still have an AoO too!
Crowe takes advantage of the missed arrow to reply with a big slam.
for
Crowe obliterates a second skeleton.
The three remaining skellies on foot shoot!
One of the skellies hits Jan hard for 12 points of damage, but then Jan's Attack of Opportunity triggers and kills him.
The remaining skellies are hit by Archon's Burst of Radiance and crumble into holy, sparkly bone meal.
When you search the room you find, in addition to the chariots, some broken chainmail, broken swords, and cruddy bows and arrows.
You find Maurice off to one side of the room, lost in his own thoughts while reading the hieroglyphs.
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Crowe downs a potion of CLW.
After the Chamber of the Chariots, you travel down a very short hallway. Forking to your left and south, another hallway extends off into the darkness farther than any of you can see.
However, straight ahead to the west is a closed doorway. This doorway is charming, carved with wild jungle animals of every kind and more hieroglyphs.
Pharoah Sekh-pa-Mefer's closest friend
Loyal to the Pharoah until the very end
He hunted the desert and forest wild
But now
Once again, you all look for traps on the door...
...and see none. Jan and Crowe carefully open the door. Carved nature scenes cover this chamber's walls, depicting humanoid figures hunting a wide variety of prey—crocodiles, elephants, hippos, leopards, lions, and even stranger beasts. An open sarcophagus lies at the far end of the room.
Alarmed by the open sarcophagus, you move cautiously in with the light and then see the two creatures that were waiting silently in the darkness for you. One is an armored skeleton, standing in a battle-ready pose, his longsword held high as cold blue light shines in his eye sockets. The other appears to be some sort of undead... leopard? All the fur has been shed from this once-great cat, leaving leathery skin hanging loosely over its bones. Red embers glow within the eye sockets, the telltale sign of a malevolent force within.
As for the cat, the creature was once the pet of a powerful pharaoh, and when he died the pet was sacrificed and embalmed to serve its master in death as it had in life. These undead guardians are known as ubashki. With so little moisture in its body, ubashki are highly vulnerable to flames.
A howl of some more powerful ubashki can frighten even the bravest warriors and send them running in terror.
Oloch, Wadi, and Quinn are up!
Oloch interposes himself between the villains and the party, readying an attack should either of the bad guys come within reach.
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From the back row, Maurice sniffs. "They call that a sarcophagus? I thought this tomb had standards."
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"They are just like normal skeletons, only stronger. And use fire against the cat thing!" he warns
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Wadi nods on being informed of the undead leopard's weakness to fire. "Well, I have something that will definitely piss it off. So be ready for its charge!" He replies to Oloch.
He then reaches under his shirt and detaches a golden marble from his necklace. "OK here goes nothing..." He then tosses the marble at the undead feline, which streaks towards it and impact it solidly!
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"Ah, these would be the sacrifices mentioned earlier, probably his best hunter and his or her faithful pet. They are not mere skeletons, but rather "ubashki". They are smart and cunning, and carry a nasty bite that will leave it's mark, some foul disease, as a reminder. No doubt they have other dark tricks up their proverbial sleeves as well. Does the name "ubashki" ring a bell with anyone?"
The ubashki ducks the worst of the fireball, but due to its vulnerability still takes seven points of damage. It yelps, and the sound it makes... it's horrible. Even this small yelp sounds high-pitched and eerie, evoking for just a few seconds a feeling of terrible despair and loss before it fades away.
Meanwhile, the hunter closes with Oloch. He takes damage from Oloch's readied attack but still keeps coming, a grim blue light gleaming his otherwise empty sockets...
...but his blow glances harmlessly off Oloch's armor.
Archon, Jan and Crowe are up!
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Crowe follows Oloch strategy and readies a strike to anyone approaching.
for
for
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"Oh, sorry, I didn't catch that Maurice. Say again. . . Oh, well, I'm not really certain how a pirate hat is going to help, but thanks for offering."
Maurice assumes the form of the other sarcophogus, adding a jaunty pirate hat to the stone effigy decorating the lid. Then he shakes himself. "Nah. Still tacky. There are some design elements even pirate hats can't fix."
He returns to his own far more elaborate and detailed sarcophagus form.
Jan charges his shield straight into skeletal huntsman, and the huntsman crumples under the assault! Archon pierces the Ubashki with his spear.
Suffering from both his wounds and the loss of his companion, the Ubashki raises its head and lets out a ear-piercing howl that bounces off the walls of this ornately decorated room. As he howls, visions pass through your heads of lush forests, a desert palace, the joy of the hunt... then betrayal as his beloved handlers strangled him and his companion and brought him here, to this cage of lifeless stone. The sound rises in pitch, making all of you remember your own moments of searing fear, loss and betrayal.
Crowe, Quinn and Maurice become frightened for three rounds.
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The whole party is up! Poor, sad leopard...
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"Oh, my nictating membranes!" Maurice cowers behind Wadi, all his tentacles trembling piteously. "You'll protect me, won't you, blasty boy?"
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Wadi hears the howl wash over him and feels the urge to flee from this nearly hopeless situation. Still he recalls many worse situations he has been in, even before joining the Pathfinder Society.
Once the fear has passes, he dashes forward sending a fiery ray of fire at the Ubashki. Unfortunately his aim is off due to some aftereffects of the unearthly howl.
The ubashki glares at Jan with smoky red eyes. Recognizing the one who slew his companion, he bites ferociously at Jan...
...but the cat's sharp teeth miss the warpriest, and only scrape along the edges of Jan's shield.
Then it's the cat's turn to dodge as Wadi shoots a ray of flame at it.
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Oloch, Quinn, Archon, and Crowe are up!
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"MOMMA!" yells piteously the bloodrager, fleeing.
Crowe runs for his mama. Quinn cowers with Maurice behind Wadi. Archon, boldly taking on the role of protector of the party, puts the ubashki out of iits misery with a final spear thrust..
It does not take long for your frightened comrades to recover. You find only a masterwork longsword and a non-magical gold colllar engraved with the hieroglyph, "Nefer" which means "Prettty Boy" around the neck of the ubashki. You decide to press on to the next room while your buff spells are still active.
Ancient Osiriani hieroglyphs cover the door.
Quinn translates it easily to read:
You are called to be King of air, water, earth and fire; but to reign over these four living creatures of symbolism, it is necessary to conquer and enchain them. He who aspires to be a sage and to know the Great Enigma of Nature must be the heir and despoiler of the sphinx: his the human head, in order to possess speech; his the eagle’s wings, in order to scale the heights; his the bull’s flanks, in order to furrow the depths; his the lion’s talons, to make a way on the right and the left, before and behind.”
You ponder these words for a moment before preparing to open the door.
The door opens eaily. As you walk in with wayfinders held high, you see a largely empty room. Each corner of this room holds a stone obelisk carved with hieroglyphs. The obelisks surround a golden circle engraved in the center of the floor.
A cool breeze emanates from the southeast obelisk. The southwest obelisk seems to be normal stone. Heat radiates from the northwest obelisk, and the northeast obelisk is covered in a layer of moisture.
Immediately suspicious that nothing whatsoever is attacking you, you look around the room some more.
Crowe detects a secret panel in the northwest obelisk, and points it out to everyone, holding back Maurice from eagerly whacking it with his tentacles.
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Wadi points out each of the obelisks. "Each of the obelisks is connected to one of the four elements--air, earth, fire, and water--and were used to summon elementals to assist in the construction of the pyramid." He then points out the circle in the middle. "That looks like where they would appear after being summoned. If this area is trapped then the elementals summoned would be hostile."
After being told of the secret compartment, Wadi smiles. "The heat coming from that obelisk won't bother me so I can see what that compartment contains...should we risk it here. We may need to trigger the obelisks in a certain order else the trap is triggered."
"Do as you wish, Wadi. But since nothing's troubling us, why just not move past the room?" says Crowe with a shrug.
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"Water, Earth, Fire, Air? Or I wonder, was the title, "King of air, water, earth and fire" a clue? I don't know, brother Crowe, it might be important. . . Or what I meant to say is there might be treasure. Even a weapon that might lead to the lamenting of the women. . ."
None of you have checked the secret compartment. This is driving Maurice crazy, because Crowe won't let him explore it.
"Can't we just take a little peek?" The mimic waves his tentacles in the direction of the pillar.