"Oh dear," Malavine sighed and approached the women. "My name is Malavine, and I suspect you can tell us something about those we hunt...but first thing first. Are there many more injured? We can chat after I've done some healing, it seems."
"There were no patrons in the library when they came," says the injured woman. "Just myself, and one other. She...is awaiting burial."
"Am I to understand you are here investigating the break-in?"
"I'm sorry," Malavine replied as she reached out to the injured woman. "My powers only work within a certain time, or I'd try to help them too. But I can help you, if you would like."
"As for investigating the break-in...apparently we are now, but it's part of a larger investigation. The same...group, I suppose it is, attacked Wati and stole a mask there. And launched a plague of the undead. We stopped it, but they escaped. Now we're following, and...arrived here. Can you tell me what they did here?" She assumed they'd stolen a book, but you never knew.
"This way," the woman nodded. She lead the group back into the massive semi-circular main stacks, where probably millions of books and scrolls awaited the eager reader.
Surprisingly, though there were many traveling scholars, there were many locals as well; the general populace of Tephu seemed more well-read than average.
Heading up a staircase along the outer wall, the custodian lead the team to the upper floor. There, in the back, in a hidden nook, was a non-descript but very secure looking metal door.
"Through there is the entrance to the Vault of Hidden Wisdom. This area here," she gestures, noting a blood stain on the floor nearby, "is where the attack occurred, and we were forced to allow access to the men in the golden masks."
"A city guard went down after the attack; we heard a scream and he never returned. If you believe you can resolve this situation, I will allow you access."
"Men in golden masks? More than one?" Malavine said a word most likely unsuited to a library. "Sounds like they left some undead to guard the place and hide whatever it is they did or stole." She looked at the others, not wanting to push them into heading down...but clearly wanting to do so.
Shmick didn't seem to even have a single thought of just leaving this be as it was, lifting up his arm as it started to reconfigure with a whir of clockwork and hydraulics. "Make sure to stay behind me." He directed towards the elder.
Hickle snorted in exasperation, but lit up his hands in a spell regardless. "As if you were seriously planing on getting any close to the fight yourself, hm? You're just not built to take that kind of beating!"
Green light layered in front of both master and companion as the familiar spell went to work, vanishing visibly after it had finished. "I could've had real armor. Super strength. You just had to give me a gun though." He glanced down to it, and something flashed behind his coal-burnt eyes. "Not that I have any reason to complain."
Behind the door, unlocked by the curator, is a tight metal spiral staircase, leading down a narrow shaft.
At the bottom of the shaft is a large double-room, with a desk in the doorway connecting them.
The shelves are wrecked, with books and scrolls strewn all over the floor, and a dead guard, as well as a dead Cultist, his gold-covered mask removed from his face, sit near the desk. Spread out on the desk are several scrolls, held open by rock paper-weights. An unnerving rattling noise can be heard in the back of the room beyond the desk.
Malavine scanned the area for dangers. The rattling noise was likely the reason for the dead guard, and possibly the cultists, but there might be magical safeguards or something equally unpleasant.
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"Gratitude," Liath intones to the injured scribe as they are given access to the Vault. "The fallen shall be forever remembered as Torm's finest," she finishes as way of easing the woman's sorrows.
Liath was eager to come to grips with whatever was down there, but at Malavine's pause, she puts a comforting hand on the woman's shoulder. "It is better for a man to be afraid than happy," she intones solemnly, allowing a martial warmth to fill them both.
Perception + Sense Magic, Sense Life
There is nothing here that qualifies as "life" aside from your party; as far as magic, there are remains of an evocation magic around the cultist's corpse, as if perhaps one of the scrolls or books he opened was protected by a magical trap. It is residual, though; should be fully discharged.
As Malavine examines the area, she senses motion in the other room. Looking up, the group sees a giant monstrosity, a collection of magically enchanted bones forming not a humanoid form, but an unrecognizable conglomeration of bony death.
Initiative:
Bone Collection:
Liath:
Malavine:
Hickle:
Zelda:
Kephry: :
The swirling mass of bones moves from the back of the room to where the green circle is and takes a swipe at Malavine.
Malavine steps back, narrowly avoiding the attack as the "creature" smashes through the desk, knocking scrolls on the floor.
Party may act.
Bare feet scuffing across the floor to avoid the attack, Malavine sighed. "Why would you even do this?"
She hurled her Starknife at the abomination.
"My word! What kind've monstrostity is that?!" The gnome shouts, as he fumbles slightly with his crossbow, before taking a potshot with it's piercing bolt.
Something inside Shmick's arm starts to rev, a new modification that he was dying to test out. And wouldn't you know it, this was just hte perfect chance. "Something that's about to explode into bone shards."
His first shot seems true, and within seconds the gun inside his arm let's off another crack. This time however, the crack seems to echo off the walls, the sound of thunder ripping though the air and straight into the bony monstrosity.
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"This is a sign that our enemy will do whatever they care so long as they reach they're goal. We must show no mercy."
With only a moment's pause to mutter a prayer to Imrael, her Angel of Confrontation for success in battle, she emits a blood-curdling scream, and the WarPreistess charges in to GLORIOUS COMBAT, her flail swinging with great power.
Shmick's attacks prove most effective thus far; Hickle and Malavine both missed entirely, while Liath scored only a glancing blow (all three were an AC miss, the glancing blow is just flavor).
Holding on Zelda and Kephry
Zelda:
Flaming Musket Attack:
Confirm Critical:
Musket Damage: fail to confirm
Flaming damage:
Charge and attack:
great terbutje (raging)
Top of Round
The creature screams in pain and attacks back, one horrid bite from a floating crocodile skull against Liath, two bone smashes against Kephry.
Bite:
Slam:
Party May Act. Liath and Kephry are in melee with the thing. Everyone else is at range.
Malavine hurled her starknife again, hoping to end this thing fast.
Construct and master worked in tandem, one taking multiple shots at the beast to chip away at the bones one at a time while the other charges his magic. Instantly the boneshards burst apart, lactating the creature even further as macrebre bombs explode.
The team proves a very effective fighting force. The remaining bones clatter and fall to the ground.
The room is now a mess, but you're able to gather up most of the materials that were organized on the table. Some of them were torn in battle, but most are lightly damaged at worst.
Taking responsibility for the damages, Buckle and Shmick dedicate some of their time to Mending and Making Whole some of the material where it's needed.
As he cleans and repairs the damaged scrolls, Hickle notices several references to Hakotep. Being up on Osirion history, The gnome recognizes the name from the infamous "Slave Trenches of Hakotep," written to have existed far to the south of Osirion, though they've never been found.
The mentions do not stop there. Hickle is engrossed and cannot stop from reading while the party surveys the room to make sure no more nasty surprises await.
Evidently, at some point late in his reign, Hakotep became convinced that an attack was coming from enemies who lived in cities in the clouds, and that he was frantically searching for a weapon to defeat them. The texted seem to indicate he found such a weapon, though they do not continue further than that.
Evidently, Hakotep, original owner of the Mask you're seeking, later known as the Sky Pharaoh, was in possession of even more powerful weapons than a mask that raises the dead.
"So they're using the mask of an insane pharoh to hunt down a weapon to destroy people from the clouds," Malavine summarised. "OK then. At least we have some idea of what's happening."
The gnome brushes his beard in contemplation as he reads over the scrolls for a third time. "I suppose this begs the question girls, of just where should we be off to next?"
"Follow the compass, now we know they're not at this point." Malavine shrugged.
He looks over to the other woman, ignoring Shmick. His son would follow him into hell just to make sure he didn't trip on his way in if need be. "I find that reasonable, what say you three? Of course, we'll have to meet with the scribes upstairs first and foremost."
Shmick looks as if he wishes to comment on Liath picking bones from the dead, instead he shakes his head with a mutter of 'Organics'. His work with the scrolls is nearly finished, and he's even set them up in neat piles. Well, as neat as he can with a gnome grabbing papers from the top, bottom, and middle every few minutes.
The party heads back up to the main library.
You find the curator who let you in assisting a patron on the same floor; as soon as she notices your return, she hustles over.
"Did you find the guard?" she asks, looking expectantly as if he might return with you.
"We did, and a cultist. And the thing that killed them both. It's been disposed of. I'm sorry we couldn't do more to help."
Following the compass, the team heads out of Tephu before first light. Having rested from their travels, they are now healed and at full strength. As you reach the edge of the city of Tephu, looking out into the desert, Hickle notices some movement along the rooftops.
Initiative:
?:
Liath:
Malavine:
Hickle:
Zelda:
Kephry: :
Since Hickle is the one who noticed, essentially Zelda and Kephry wait for him to announce:
"There are people following us."
Looking around, you note four individuals on the rooftops, preparing crossbows to aim in your direction.
Party except Malavine first, then bad guys, then Malavine.
"What are you people doing up there? Why don't you come down and see us!" thr gnome happily invites, throwing his hands forward. At a point just over the street chains burst fourth, wrapping around any kf the arbalists within range. Then at once, they are flung towards it and left in a free-fall.
Shmick's arm clicks and transforms, and he waists little time in finding a target.
Reflex Saves:
Two of the snipers fail their Reflex Saves and are pulled the entire length of the chain. The other two are pulled only half the distance, which allows them to remain balanced on the edge of the rooftops. One of those two is shot for 5 HP.
The two that failed their saves drop to the ground from somewhere between 10 and 20 ft.
Kephry readies her weapon and charges one of the ones on the ground:
Zelda and Liath may act.
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"If you are tough enough to attack us, then I doubt that killed you," Liath spits as she stalks toward the other of the fallen ambushers, taking only the briefest amount of time to pray that Torm grant her armor Grace. "Hence, you are still able to fight. But how well are you able to fight without...that!" she shouts, he flail snaking out like a living thing....
The weapon is TORN from his hand and FLUNG 15 feet back toward Hickle.
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One of the two fallen men, unsavory types dressed in all dark colors, looks pained as Liath removes the rapier he had just drawn from his hand, and takes a second move action to draw a dagger.
The other one, locked in combat with Kephry, has drawn his rapier and attacks:
The two on the edge of the rooftop fire their heavy crossbows, one at Hickle and one at Kephry.
Hickle:
Kephry:
Poison Save (from Crossbow Bolt):
Poison Save (from Crossbow Bolt):
1d20+9
Kephry takes 2 Con damage.
Zelda and Malavine may act.
Malavine hurled her Starknife at one of the attackers on the roof.