The water splashes, and it definitely looks nasty, but otherwise nothing happens. Examining the stone altar reveals little; the pool is magic, but you can't discern any details about the magic. The stone itself is very heavy, very black, and very old; it really does look like an altar of some kind, but to whom you aren't sure you really want to know, given it's appearance.
Severus follows quietly, taking in the room and everything in it.
Pavro scowls at the pool, "If that water is magic it's bad magic, can we tip it over, or at least put a lid on it? Maybe somebody who isn't me could get some rubble from the other room?"
"Maybe the pool ws once for collecting the blood from the sacrifice, but it does look like blood current." he says wandering over to look at the alter.
You could tip the altar over, and drain the bowl up top, but the bowl would still automatically refill as long as there was magic in it, and it would take a lot of time, effort, and tools to tip the altar over that you simply don't have right now.
"I seen to remember an account of Runelord Alaznist allowed minions to worship Lamashtu. Does this look like a alter to Lamashtu?"
"It would seem so, but I am not familiar with the tenants of that faith." Severus says distastefully. "It is unholy water, do not touch it."
"I've got some holy water, would pouring that in do anything? I was going to use it on the Quwhatsit..." Pavro says, "I suppose anything crawling out of it would have to be pretty small, lets worry about it later."
He moves forward to the doors and reaches to open them before glancing back to Severus, "Did you want to check these out first, just in case? Maybe I'm getting paranoid, but the evil altar with built in unholy font is making me lean towards thinking whoever built this place was not good people."
Severus raises an eyebrow at Pavro, but does what is requested of him.
He searches the doors carefully for any signs of traps or spellwork.
The door does not have any traps or spells tied to it.
With Aressa ready to leap in front of him as soon as it opens Pavro opens the door and steps back.
Severus waits breathlessly as the doors open. The last few hours have been fairly exciting, and he was sure the excitement would continue.
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Moving up towards Severus, Marcoul glances at the alter. Hrm, if The alter is as you suggest then we should be careful. The mother of monsters is a hateful god and the waters could be as dangerous to us as holy water might be towards the undead.
Either way I would treat it with caution. Let's continue our exploration.
Marcoul, from what you remember about Lamashtu, you think that contact with that water would probably lead to some kind of deformities, physical and/or mental, if the Mother of Monsters holds true to form.
This huge room looks like nothing more than an immense underground cathedral. Stone doors stand to either side of the main entrance, but
beyond this, the walls are carved with strange, spiky runes. In the center of the room is a large pool, with a ring of polished human skulls balanced on stone spikes arranged in a circle around the deeper
midsection. At the far end of the room, a pair of stone stairways leads up to a pulpit on which sits a second pool, this one triangular and filled with churning, bubbling water that looks almost like translucent lava. Yet while wisps of what look like heat and steam rise from the strange orange liquid, the room itself is deathly cold. You have little time to examine the room, however, as a piece of stone near the entrance seems to come to life and, pulling away from the wall, assaults Aressa, doing 7 damage and knocking the breath out of her for a moment.
Avian
Marcoul
Pavro
Severus
Thandion
Vors
them
Combat order (bold still to go)
Marcoul, Severus in posting order
bad guys
rest of the party in posting order
Current Status
Aressa 7/14
Avian
Marcoul 17/17
Pavro 18/18
Severus 16/16
Thandion 19/19
Vors
earth elemental
Not really being able to see or reach anything, Severus remains where he is. "What is it? What's happening? You may as well do that speech thing you do, Marcous."
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Grinning in spite of himself Marcoul flashes a smile at the professor. Oh I will, but that’s not the only trick I have at my disposable... just wait! Rearing back Marcoul points at the earthen figure. Careful my friends, We are under attack from a Earth Elemental! Guard yourself and see to each other. Steel your hearts and quiet your fear. In this the sanctum of the unholy Mother of Monsters do not hesitate. Remember why we are here! Grasping his holy symbol with one hand Marcoul calls upon the fiendish trickery of Asmodeus, seeming to suddenly appear in two places at once. Disconcertingly each image seems to perfectly mimic its twin and your unable to tell who is the illusion and who is real.
The elemental slams it's fist into the eidolon once more, causing her some pain as she takes 6 more damage.
Aressa steps forward and hurls herself, bloody and battered at her elemental foe sending dirt showering forth as she snarls in fury.
Pavro hurries into the room and chants a spell to heal his companion, as he surveys her wounds apprehensively.
Vors waits for an opening in the fight, taking a moment to admire Aressa's fighting prowess and then looses a shot from his bow, grimacing as it fails to connect.
Avian moves to within 20 feet of the elemental, takes aim, and fires on it.
He then, with claws moving faster than an eye could track, rips open a cartridge, pours its contents into the pistol, rams it in, and grips the pistol, ready for another round.
The rock sinks to the ground, lifeless, once more. There are no more immediate threats, but you can't help but feel that you are being watched.
"Can someone heal 'Ress? That's all I've got," Pavro says glancing about worriedly as he absent mindedly strokes the still badly wounded Sphinx's hair.
Vors keeps a watchful eye on the surroundings as he moves up to Aressa, lightly laying a hand upon her wounds.
Thandion will cast detect magic and move carefully around the pool to U26.
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Now that Thandion has opened up some space to move unhindered Marcoul steps forward and lays a hand on Aressa. Here you are my dear. I'm afraid it won't be as quick as Vor's but it will be more effective in the long run. Closing his eyes for a brief moment the priest of Asmodeus clutches his inverted pentagram and wills forth a dark energy into the Eidolon.
As the sphinx's wounds begin to slowly knit together, the priest raises his head and begins to take in the underground cathedral.
Finally able to enter the Cathedral proper, Severus holds his crossbow at arm's length, keeping it ready as he carefully searches.
As Marcoul looks around, frowning as he is unable to figure out who was venerated here, as nothing here suggests any of the known dieties, Severus starts frowning even more. He remembers that while Alaznist may have encouraged demon worship, she was still the center of her own cult, as were all of the runelords. The room itself, while sparse in decor apart from the two pools and some occasional decorations on the wall, seem back this up, as what little there is definitely suggests Thassilion influence.
Severus looks at the pool of water for a moment, intrigued by its design. It seemed magical to him, but he had no particular sense for magic active at the moment.
"I would not touch the water. It doesn't seem entirely safe."
He next turns his attention to the earth elemental's remains and attempts to identify if it is something foreign, native, or similar to the stone the room is composed of.
Aressa inclines her head in thanks to Vors then Marcoul, and Pavro stays near at hand until the eidolon is finished healing. Once Aressa is fully healed she stalks forward slowly gaze sweeping the room, with Pavro following close behind.
At the first pool Pavro throws in a chunk of rubble, with both he and Aressa staying well back out of the potential splash zone.
The stone composition of the earth elemental seems to match the stone of the rest of the room, complex, and tunnels; wherever the energy came from from to enliven it, the material seems to be the native stone of the region. As you study the shattered rock, you think you hear a light flapping sound from up around the smaller orange pool.
Nothing seems particularly amiss about the large pool or it's water. It splashes harmlessly on the surrounding stone, and there is no magic aura to it.
Urging the others forward with him Pavro follows Aressa up the steps and casts detect magic checking out the two pools starting with the bubbling one. Once he has scanned it with the detect spell he tosses another piece of rubble into the bubbling pool, again ensuring everyone is well away from any possible splash back.
The second Aressa set foot on the steps, another one of the creatures emerges from the orange pool and moves to intercept the eidolon. He is able to get a bite in before Aressa can react, and sinks his jaws into her flesh hard, knocking her back to 1 hp, and sending wrathful thoughts surging through her mind.
At Pavro's order Aressa waits as the summoner hurries around to one of the beast's sides whipping out his dagger as he does to offer a flank. Pale and obviously queasy the eidolon also waits to see if Marcoul is feeling inspirational again and then attacks.
But her roiling emotions get the better of her and for once her attacks are ineffective. Seeing this Pavro takes a Defensive stance.
Assuming the new creature is on the stairs say AB26. Thandion will single move up the other stairs (and attack another creature if it emerges) and then move again to flank the creature from the top of the stairs.
Avian rushes to 20 feet away from the creature and fires his pistol, then reloads.
Severus raises his crossbow and shoots at the sinspawn, seeing no other enemies in range, but strangely curious about the wing-flapping sound he heard earlier.
(Is the bonus for sermonic performance also doubled on a crit?)
You think there is probably a magic aura of some strength on the orange pool, but you have not yet had a chance to study it enough to have a chance of figuring out anymore. Both Avian and Severus hit the creature, while Thandion is able to almost get all the way around this round, ending just at 15 feet from the creature as it stands at the bottom of the stairs.
Vors nocks another arrow and lets fly at the thing.
Fortunately for the eidolon, all the ranged attacks coming at it, especially the ones that hit, cause the strange creature to miss with both of it's claws, and it's bite, though one of the claws comes perilously close to penetrating Aressa's tough hide.
Sinspawn is up on stairs meaning that while Pavro is in melee with it, Avian is not.
Combat order (bold still to go)
Marcoul, Severus in posting order
bad guys
rest of the party in posting order
Current Status
Aressa 10/14; mage armor, infernal healing, sickened
Avian 16/16
Marcoul 17/17
Pavro 18/18
Severus 16/16
Thandion 19/19
Vors 22/22
sinspawn 5 damage
Aressa pale and furious hisses,
"Let's try that again." But again her efforts are feeble and she steps back evidently disgusted to let someone else get at the creature.
Pavro waits to see if he can help anyone by offering a flank, or getting out of the way, ready to go defensive and step back once he has either been of use or sees someone who wants to get into combat.
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Marcouls eye's narrow as the Sinspawn magically appears from the orange pool and charges Aressa. By the lord in darkness! Did we trigger a trap or something else. It seemed like the creature was conjured. Maintaining his current position behind the Eidolon, Marcoul calls upon the divine trickery of the Dark Prince, splitting his form into two separate forms. Wasting no time the twin images of Marcoul raise their silver pentagrams and intoning a sonorous dark prayer to The Lord in Darkness calls forth a blessing upon his companions.
Thandion moves down the stair and as he moves the sap begins to glow.
"Where did the thing come from?!" Severus asks no one in particular, stowing his spent crossbow and shooting with the other one.