Omen sits up at Surubi's shouts, his masked visage regarding the pair silently for a moment before his gaze drifts to the dagger. "What is the meaning of this? Are there more apparitions about?"
"You know what? Fine, this one will just take that walk in the desert and clear my head. This one is more comfortable out there in the sands than in here anyway." Surubi turns and heads to the eastern door of the room, opens it, and steps out into the night...
Omen rises as Surubi ignores him and storms out into the waiting night. He looks to Brennan then, "What has changed? You were all very insistent that we secure ourselves inside for the night after that enormous insect arrived. Now Surubi walks off alone? Explain this to me, Brennan."
"No idea. That one's been more than a bit strange since we met. Sometimes he...she...whatever gets weird and wants to be alone."
Chephern turn over to see what the noise is about, "What is occurring? You complain that we would not let you sleep before when we thought we were in danger, and now you must sink to a level to stop us from sleeping? And where is Surubi?"
Omen points to the door for Chephren's benefit, "She wanted some air, though I question the wisdom of it more with each breath we take." He turns his masked gaze back to Brennan then and adds, "This is troubling. You said you thought Surubi had suggested you put your knife to use? But if she denied it and we were all asleep, then who said it, Brennan? A better question, why listen to them?"
There is little judgment in Omen's tone, it carrying more of a philosophical air. He doesn't wait for an answer, the question meant to stimulate thought rather than dialogue, and strides to the door in the hopes of calling Surubi back before another giant insect arrives to trouble them.
Brennan ignored Omenhotep and turned to Chephren. "Look, bub, there's no reason to get your dreads in a tangle. Surubi took off, wanting to get some space. Still, better go after her before she gets in trouble."
Chephren gets up and goes after Surubi.
Once he catches her, "Come back inside, Surubi. We can work out any issue in the safety of our group. No need to be out here."
"No, I definitely needed to get out of there. Brennan was acting very strange," she takes a deep breath "Or else I must have fallen asleep and dreamed he was doing it. I guess I think worse of him than I thought." Surubi seems confused, then shakes her head and turns to walk more. "The moon tonight... it's so beautiful... so white, like his tusks." She begins to hum quietly and wander around the courtyard, looking skyward.
Omen shakes his head from the doorway as he witnesses Surubi refuse Chephren's invitation to come back inside. "This makes little sense to me, Brennan. Do you think it is safe for her to wander so?"
Chephren stays in the courtyard with Surubi walking and having small talk with her, while keeping the both of them within eye sight of the door.
"I doubt it. We've been burned, beaten, attacked by sand monsters, seen ghosts, and are now hearing things. I doubt anything's safe in here. Chephren'll take care of it, and if he hollers, we'll come running...maybe." Brennan sat back down at his watch post and began his habit of cleaning his nails with a dagger.
Omen turns to Brennan as he sits down. "Truly? I did not realize your time in this place had proved so harrowing. Your dedication is to be commended, Brennan."
Malik and Gabriel mumble and grumble with the rest, as the group seems to be prevalent toward bickering. Malik, shifts nervously at the look flashed at him by Brennan now and again. There's something about it that just seems to unnerve him.
Gabriel decides to pipe up, "What the Hells is up with you guys? I thought I was lined up to join a group of professionals, but you have been bickering and jumping at apparitions all night. I'm starting to wonder if there is a group worth joining that doesn't devolve into pettiness. Can we just get through the night?"
At this, Malik somewhat stands up for the others, "Malik is now questioning the wisdom in staying here for the evening. Malik wonders if we can make it through the night, or what the risks are in trying to navigate leaving the Necropolis at this late hour. Are we safer with whatever is happening in here, or daring to face what may roam the streets at night out there?" He shrugs, and gives Brennan another nervous glance, considering how close the man was to him when Suru called everyone awake, but he doesn't know what is bothering him.
This small room is empty save for dust, debris, and empty shelves built into the walls. The bright moonlight outside shines lightly into this room, making the shadows under every shelf much darker by contrast.
Brennan is engrossed in cleaning his nails and looking about. He can't be bothered to listen at the same time.
Surubi lets out a quick and very feminine "Eeeek!" and dashes for the courtyard.
As Surubi emerges into the small unlit chamber off the side of the house, she spots a large insect as it eyes her for its next meal. She prepares to rush away, but the thing is faster than her. It drops from the ceiling and snaps at her with its large mandibles, while grasping at her with its pedipalps. Despite it getting the jump on her, the gangly and hurried nature of its fall causes it to miss with all but one of its claws.
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Surubi takes one claw to her arm as she dashes out into the courtyard, leaving a short trail of blood behind.
At the sound of a scuffle coming from the door that Suru exited only a few seconds ago, Malik interrupts the group, "Malik fears that there might be something we should attend to with haste." With that he stands from where he had been sleeping, and grabbing his crossbow, moves toward the door from which Chephren was just about to follow Surubi.
The hungry insect follows Suru out of the small room and into the courtyard, going out a little further, before noticing the young woman attempting to take cover in the shadows along the side of the building. It gets to her and attempts to snap with its powerful mandibles. Lucky for her, the sudden change of direction caused it to misjudge its distance from her.
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Brennan moved out into the night, alerted to the danger by Malik's words. He caught sight of the insectoid, and surmised from the sounds of fighting that it was engaged with Surubi. Both hands held daggers as he slipped into position behind the creature.
Omen strides out to the foyer and with a stern, outstretched hand, calls down a column of inky black orbs from the blackness above onto the spider-like creature harrying his attendants.
HP: 14/14
AC: 12 (11 T / 11 FF)
CMD: 10
F/R/W: +2/+1/+5 (+2 vs death effects)
Resist: acid, cold, electricity 7
Omens used (swift demoralize): 0/1
Black Motes used: 1/8
Shield charges remaining: 15
Spell Slots Used
Level 1: 0/6
Ongoing Effects
Chephren follows Surubi in to the night and rounds the corner to see a familiar creature.
With out-stretched hand he call in this god's gifts, "Anbuis, grant your servant the power to end the threat of this vermin."
Confronted once again by the eight-legged beast, Surubi draws her bastard sword and holds it pointed at the creature. She sees that Brennan has moved to its back, and swings the enormous weapon as best as she can at it.
;
Surubi pulls her oft-unused sword, and brings the heavy blade down hard on the large bug. The blade crashes through the carapace with a loud crack, and it's easy to see that she has greatly injured the thing.
Brennan comes out to the courtyard, and moves to a position to harry the thing from two sides with Suru.
Gabriel stands and follows the others outside, after the sound of the ruckus. He draws his morningstar as he moves, ready to engage whatever it is they face.
Chephren too moves up to the beast, and calls upon his god's aspect to pull the life's blood from the insect. While he concentrates on it, the insect snaps at him ineffectively, and Chephren easily avoids it. His touch agitates the crack made by Surubi, and the creatures fiercely begins to ooze ichor.
Omen follows the others out, though more striding casually out the nearby doors. He pulls darkness from the night sky, and tries to drop it on the large scuttling insect. The cold blackness causes the thing to shudder, and then lie still.
Suddenly, the door beside Surubi opens unassisted, and inside can be seen the writhing mass of a multitude of tiny insects. They are stacked all over one another, well over many thousands of shiny scarab beetles. The act of the door opening agitates the swarm, and they begin to rise on both wing and many legs.
Malik finally follows out the door to stand not far from where Omen stands. He sees the swarm riling up inside the darkened granary, and hurriedly reaches to dig through his gear.
Between Suru's strike, and Chephren's touch, the large insect is not likely to stop expelling goo.
The swarm of scarabs, as well as the stench of filth and rot they carry with them, pour out of the old granary profusely. They pour over Suru and the solifugid, devouring them with an immeasurable amount of tiny bites. The solifugid does not react.
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"Cursed vermin. My attendants are not for feasting upon." With another gesture, Omen calls down another column of swirling blackness to engulf a large number of the chittering scarabs.
HP: 14/14
AC: 12 (11 T / 11 FF)
CMD: 10
F/R/W: +2/+1/+5 (+2 vs death effects)
Resist: acid, cold, electricity 7
Omens used (swift demoralize): 0/1
Black Motes used: 2/8
Shield charges remaining: 15
Spell Slots Used
Level 1: 0/6
Ongoing Effects
;
Surubi, covered in smaller bugs that she is more used to seeing, calmy steps away from them while brushing a few off here and there. She pulls a flask from her belt as she moves, and with a clearly practiced motion, tosses it at the buzzing swarm. "Spread out! These bugs stay together as a group!"
;
Surubi quickly extracts herself from the swarm of scarab beetles, and moves a decent distance away from them. After retrieving a flask of incendiary, she smashes it among the swarm, and many of them burn, or even worse alight but don't die. Despite those that died outright from the flames, there remain a fair number flying or crawling about with wisps of fire stuck to them, not yet succumbing to the heat.
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Taking heed from Surubi's call, Brennan moved back quickly, grabbing his last flask of alchemist's fire from his pack.
With a quick glace around for a spot to move to, Chephren hastily moves away from the swarm. Once a safe distance from it and his allies, he retrieves an alkali flask.
It doesn't take long for the members of the group to all come to the same conclusion, and it helps that they also all have something to use. Stepping away, like the others, Brennan reaches for a flask of alchemist's fire.
Keeping the cover of the corner, Gabriel can see enough of the swarm to pull his own flask, but he waits for the timing to be right. He pauses long enough for Chephren to follow suit with the others and step away before he throws. He lobs it at the closest space, but hooks the throw too much so that it lands around the corner, yet still somewhat among the swarm.
Chephren follows suit, backing away as well, while drawing a flask. His flask, however, contains a different substance.
Omen, from his perch on the top of the side stairs, calls down a column of freezing darkness. Despite the flames that lick at the swarm, the cold sets a sudden change that strikes a number of the beetles dead.
Malik, having already retrieved his flask, throws it at the massive swarm in the space where the solifugid lay dying. Instead, he comes just as close to almost hitting Gabriel as he does the swarm, as the flames kiss both of them. Like the others, he moves away from the swarm, and others, to avoid being a bigger target.
With the fire, cold of the void, and a mostly devoured solifugid the only thing with them at the moment, the swarm moves on to the next closest target. The mass of insects rushes toward Omen on the stairs and encircles the odd newcomer.
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Overcome by the buzzing, chittering, and biting that suddenly engulfs him, Omen steps back into the building and shuts the doors on the swarm, separating him from its writhing, pulsing mass.
HP: 11/14
AC: 12 (11 T / 11 FF)
CMD: 10
F/R/W: +2/+1/+5 (+2 vs death effects)
Resist: acid, cold, electricity 7
Omens used (swift demoralize): 0/1
Black Motes used: 2/8
Shield charges remaining: 15
Spell Slots Used
Level 1: 0/6
Ongoing Effects
nauseated
* 1.5
As soon as Omen leaves the swarm, Brennan steps forward and lobs his container of alchemist's fire straight into the mass of insects.
Surubi pulls out another flask, this one a slightly different color, and lobs it at the swarm before moving away.
;
The swarm doesn't seem to care much that a few thousand of them were still being cooked by the pervasive fire.
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Chepren steps away from his allies, to provide more separation between then. He lines up his aim and throws the alakli flask at the swarm.
Finally he pulls out another alakli flask.
Suru, not wanting to take any chances, hurriedly tosses a flask of acid at the massed swarm. Erring on the side of caution pulls her throw a little too much, and it gets knocked back by the mass of insects to land between them and her.
Gabriel pulls a second flask of fire, but he once again waits until the others get clear. In this case it is Omen he's waiting for before throwing.
Chephren steps up with the flask he just drew, and tosses it toward the swarm, but the thing mostly falls from his grasp. It crashes to his left and merely splatters himself and the insects with the concoction.
Next comes the moment Brennan and Gabriel were waiting for, as Omen is barely able to step back into the building and close the door behind him. As he does so, both Brennan and Gabriel throw their flasks. Brennan hits the swarm, but the container doesn't break all that effectively, barely singeing a fair number of them. Gabriel, however, manages to toss his at just the right spot that it hits Brennan's slightly broken vial, causing the two together to burst out. The spray of flames is enough to finally cause the swarm to disperse. Little flying and crawling motes of flame drift off out of the compound or across the ground. The lights dance across the open space with little flickers.
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"Suru! Watch your leg, there's a snake under that table. Move. now!"
Surubi looks down just as the last burst of flames lights on the bugs and she clearly does not like what she sees, as she immediately dives back toward Brennan and her sword held in a defensive position.
Oblivious to the animal, Malik moves back toward the section of the house they emerged from, and casts a spell. "This one thinks something may have triggered the door opening." Just then the snake rises from its coils to display its hood. Brennan and Suru caught a glimpse, but not soon enough to do much before it strikes at the latter. Luckily for her own attentiveness and Brennan's warning, she was able to react just enough to avoid the venomous bite.
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Surubi continues to back up, but takes enough time to ask over her shoulder, "Mister Malik, what do you mean? Which door was triggered to open?"
Without any skills to identify the type of snake at his disposal, Chephren intones a quick spell of detection to learn the type of poison the creature may have.