Okay. Was trying to get caught up too quickly on my way out the door. Also missed Alexis asking about...something, the answer to which was: she is aware of the possibility that certain magical effects can be directed at creatures of a certain "type", like the difference between charm person and charm monster, for example. It could be that beargles are different enough from regular animals to be unaffected, which doesn't explain why the zombeargle was down here. Looking closer at the body reveals much older damage than that which you caused: rips in the flesh like claw marks and crushed bones too.
Nazard: Basically, pretend that Tracant just came down the tunnel all the rest of us are in and hung a left.
Tracant slithers his way up the northeast passage. Where the passage veers to the right, it ceases to be rough-hewn and becomes squared walls. Thirty feet down the corridor, it opens up into a wide, high chamber. Tracant cannot see the top of the ceiling, but he can make out enough of the far wall to discern that the room is circular.
The stench of decay in this room is overpowering, as there are literally hundreds of bodies lying on the floor: human and animal (a lot of animal). A faint yellow glow pulses from beneath the pile of corpses.
When Burnsten relays what Tracant reports, a look of revulsion crosses the princess' face. "Uuugh, that's vile! We will have to find a way of disposing of all that so that more zombies cannot be created. For now though, please ask Tracant to continue scouting following the left-hand wall as we discussed."
Pete looks over at Alexis, a look of concentration on his face. He rubs his eyes for a moment, and says quietly, "If this was a dwarvish fortress, 'then I'd say we stumbled on one o' der ammo dumps, he he." He gives Alexis a long look and then continues, "I gots a bad feelin' bout this, 'Lexis. Let's get th' scoutin' oveah wit' 'n git back to th' Rose"
A disgusted face starts to show in his face, he closes his eyes and starts moving his head sideways "What a grotesque view... disgusting piles of corpses of all sorts of wild life and skraelings" just the tought of the smell and getting dirty is not very intresting at all...
When Burnsten relays what Tracant reports, a look of revulsion crosses the princess' face. "Uuugh, that's vile! We will have to find a way of disposing of all that so that more zombies cannot be created. For now though, please ask Tracant to continue scouting following the left-hand wall as we discussed."
Nods towards Alexis way "Well you heaer Tracant I know it stinks and stay away from the glow just keep moving and use try to climb into a decent high to get a better view as you move"
Lady Alexis, could the yellow glowing be some type of magic that is raising these dead creatures or maybe what is attracting them? There is probably some foul necromancer at work somewhere around here...
It is easy for Tracant to climb along these walls, they are rough, cracked masonry reinforced by thick, massive tree roots. It would appear that this chamber lies directly underneath the massive oak tree itself.
As soon as Tracant enters the room, he notices two things. Firstly, as he looks back, he cannot see the opening any longer, even while he's still moving through it. It would seem to be another illusory wall. Secondly, as soon as he enters, climbing the wall, the pile of corpses begins to stir, however, not as one would expect with corpses standing up and beginning to move around. The entire pile itself begins to rise up, slowly taking humanoid shape as one gigantic and grotesque amalgamation of bodies into one enormous zombie, colossal size.
As the pile turns into the zombie behemoth, Tracant sees that it was not they that was glowing. Previously covered in rotting corpses was an ornate metal box resembling a sarcophagus. At the head of the sarcophagus stands another ornate device with a large clear gem set into the top. It is this gem that is glowing, slowly building in intensity over a period of several "rounds", and then fading back to nothing, each time accompanied by a hum which rises in pitch before falling with the illumination.
What does Tracant do? He thinks that he might be safe on the ceiling, as it doesn't look like the behemoth will be able to reach all the way to the top of the dome. He'll need a DC 20 Perception check to refind the entrance.
Upon Bursten relating the news to her, Alexis' shoulders slump and she calls out to the others, "Well the good news is, we don't have to fight 200 zombies en mass. The bad news is, they have become... "
After rubbing her temples for a moment, she asks Burnsten, "Can Tracant discern if the glowing device is attached or just sitting in place? Also, what's the maximum range of your link? One way or another, we are going to need to get away from that thing and a decoy would be helpful."
The device with the glowing gem is attached to the floor. Tracant can't tell from his current position if it's actually attached to the sarcophagus as well. From his higher vantage point, he can see that there is a glass top to the sarcophagus, but can't make out what, if anything, is inside.
Alexis muses out loud, "Well, clearly telekinesis isn't going to be useful here. Not without remote viewing anyway..."
"Burnsten, if possible, please have Tracant try to evade the behemoth to keep it distracted and draw it away from that sarcophagus. If you are able to lure it away, unsummon then resummon him atop the sarcophagus so that you can view what is inside and make note of any inscriptions or other designs you see on it or that glowing device. We need to get as much information as we can and then regroup with Brycen and Grey to try and figure out our next course of action."
"Yes lady Alexis, Tracant can hear your words as you speak them I have no need to tell him when we are linked together we share all 5 senses and our reach is 100 feet" pauses for a moment "Well there is another illusion wall that leads towards that bone behemoth and Tracant want's to find it also just in case, he is out of reach from the behemoth and will try first to see if he can have a better look from a safe position, if that fails I'll do your suggestion to reposition him by summoning him again after luring the behemoth away"
The zombiehemoth reaches its full height of just under 60' and swipes at Tracant with its 30' "arms" (each of which is made up of about 20 corpses). For those of you keeping track, that was 4 rounds of transformation. Its "legs" are comprised of about 16 corpses each, though at spots they're only 4 corpses thick. While each corpse is connected to others somehow (Tracant can't see any connecting tissues or bindings), the individual limbs of each corpse also flail, albeit ineffectively.
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Rolls for the following plan:
(Characters will Aid Another where possible.)
Before heading over there, Alexis casts Light on a rock and hands it to Rath. She also has Rath tie a rope around her waist in case an emergecy 'heir lift' is needed.
Tracant: Keeps Zombiehemoth distracted.
Rath: Throws rock over to sarcophagus. Then keeps a readied action to haul Alexis out of there (with everyone else following) at warp speed if it appears that she (or anyone else) is about to get splatted.
Everyone: Try to perceive wtf is up with this place and see if there are any inscriptions, glyphs, etc. of note that are worth remembering.
Abbas: Attempts Religion check on the zombiehemoth, sarcophagus and device to figure out what could have made it and how it might be destroyed.
Abbas, Alexis, Burnsten: Attempt Linguistics check on the sarcophagus (from a safe distance if at all possible) on any inscriptions.
Alexis/Burnsten: Arcana check to see if they can deduce anything about the magics used in this chamber.
Alexis/Burnsten: Conditional
- If Tracant is doing a good job keeping the enemy distracted, she'll try to make her way to the sarcophagus to have a closer look and peer thru the lid. Rath should pay extra close attention at this point for an emergecy evac.
- If the enemy instead turns towards us, Burnsten will resummon Tracant atop the sarcophagus for a look inside and at any runes etc. While doing so, Alexis will cast identify from as far away as possible (60-ft max range) in the hopes of determining what the nature of the glowing device is or if it is indeed an artifact/relic. (She warns Rath ahead of time that the backlash might knock her out so he should be prepared to carry her out of there if need be.)
The four will accomplish as much of this as possible and then retreat before they can be attacked. Burnsten should leave Tracant in the room just outside the large chamber to observe what the zombiehemoth does once the chamber is vacated and its would-be victims escape. (i.e. does it break up, go berserk, fall apart, etc.)
Aaannd GO!
Oh and maybe while we are doing this Pete could have a look down the other hallway (making sure to be stealthy, etc), while Elorin covers the intersection with his bow.
Pete gives a nod at Alexis, and says, " 'K "Lexis, ye be careful 'ere. That place is screamin' TRAP, so watch yeself. I make sure nothin' jumps us from b'hind."
He motions to Biter, and Gregor, "All right, gents, follow me. Looks like we gets th'plum job, right?" He chuckles quietly. Be careful 'ere. his is a prime time fer th' bushwhack. Biter, back me up 'ere. I want ye close ta th'others, in case they need ye."
He then proceeds down the southeast corridor, without any light, letting his darkvision handle it.
Already suspecting Biter might be apprehensive about working with Pete, Alexis says, "Biter, I'm trusting you and Elorin to keep this area safe. Please assist Pete in making sure we don't get cut-off."
blonde hair, blue-violet eyes...
Alexis arches a golden eyebrow at Elorin's suggestion, "Oh trust me, I don't like the idea of going in there alone either. However, as fortune would have it, I shall have the company of more than a hundred Skraelings. They all decided to... get together for this."
With that, she allows Ravarath to finish tying the bowline knot around her waist and heads out to see what they can learn. (Hopefully without getting stomped on in the process.)
Pete and biter find little of interest down either south passageway. The passageway to the southwest leads to a small open cavern with a sloping floor. The southeast passage leads to a small open cavern with a level floor covered in a litter of animal bones and rotting beargle feathers. It looks like this was its 'nest'.
Tracant attempts to distract the zombiehemoth and lure it away from the sarcophagus. Unfortunately, given the size of the creature compared to the room, he can't lure it away more than 10' away from the sarcophagus.
Alexis, you are free to use identify from the door, but you can't identify the properties of magic items unless you have them in your possession, which in this case, means right up next to it (and under the zombiehemoth).
Your first glimpse of the zombiehemoth doesn't do Burnsten's descriptions justice. The horrifying amalgam is like nothing you've ever heard of before. The best you can guess is that there's no telling what prolonged exposure to a necromantic field of the strength Lord Brycen reported could do to a pile of corpses. It doesn't tell you why there are so many corpses in the first place, however.
From the chamber entrance, it would seem that there is writing on the sarcophagus. It would seem to be in the same script as the writing fragments from the outer cavern.
Alexis casts her identify, and instantly, massive cutting pain slams her in the head. She sees double for a moment, but then her vision calms down, though the pain remains. She detects magic - lots of it. An aura of overwhelming power emanates from the sarcophagus. A second aura of strong power emanates from the glowing gem. Several lesser auras emanate from various locations among the debris. Alexis is unable to determine the school of magic of the overwhelming power or the strong power, but the others include 3 transmutation auras and 1 universal. If Burnsten and Abbas also cast detect magic they will be able to aid another, which might boost her knowledge arcana roll high enough.
As Grease-Bearded Pete begins to throw around orders, you can see Biter's hackles rise, a retaliatory retort forming on his green lips. It is only Alexis's timely words that prevent him from showing the dirty dwarf what Biter thinks of his orders.
With a curt nod to Alexis, the miniscule warrior stalks off to find his post, halfway between the rear-guard party and the main group.
After a few minutes, however, apparently boredom has set in and you can barely hear what sounds like a song coming from the dark where Biter is stationed.
In Limbo, in Limbo, if yer here t' make trouble - bewaressssssssssss!"
As Alexis starts to walk down the corridor.
Alexis, we may be in over our heads, shouldn't we report what we have found to Brycen and maybe get some support in trying to figure out how to defeat this creature and its magic? We already know Brycen is a spellcaster of some power and having another priest or two would help to defeat this creature. I don't like us trying to take this monstrosity on all by ourselves, we are capable but...
Lady, I must agree with master Elorin I believe we should bring this news back to lord Brycen and see if he can offer us any aid in destroying this monstrosity or unraveling the magics that animate it. Or perhaps we could explore the other caverns here the size of this cavern relative to the size of the behemoth should keep it trapped until we can return to deal with it.
Burnsten will cast a detect magic to attempt to aid Alexis.
Burnsten will save:
Burnsten casts his spell, and then crumples to the ground.
As soon as Burnsten collapses, Alexis grits and returns to the exit. Damn, no telling if Tracant will just wink out now that his master is incapacitated. We can't risk staying.
She motions to Rath asking if he can hoist Burnsten up so they can retreat back to the intersection. She does linger for a moment in the corridor to observe what happens to Zombiehemoth once it no longer has anything within the large chamber to hold its interest.
After what seems like an eternity to everyone's frazzled nerves, Alexis regroups with the others. She indicates that they should talk as they make their way to the exit. "Did you discover anything interesting, Pete? Abbas, were you able to discern any weaknesses that we might employ to destroy that... abomination?"
Pete replies to Alexis, "Nay, nuttin' down those ways we could find. Aye, seems ta me th' source is right oveah there."
He takes a closer look at her and says quietly, "Ye Ok, thar?"
"Ye Ok, thar?"
She walks in silence for a bit, "Are you doing alright? This isn't exactly what you signed on for either."
"Rath, Abbas, how is Burnsten doing? That backlash was like someone stabbing a knife in my head, I've never witnessed such a potent aura before and so many. We may well need to abandon this as a viable landing site if we can't come up with some means of purging this taint. I'll not sacrifice the lives of everyone in this expedition to such a fate..."
Pete looks back at Alexis, and feels a sense of compassion flowing from her. He can see why the others in the party always stumble trying to impress her, she was indeed a fine lady, even though she did not have any facial hair.
Dwarvem
Bluff
Sense Motive DC 7 Alexis only
The zombiehemoth attacks Tracant, as the eidolon can't get to the entrance without getting within range.
Zombiehemoth slam:
The entire cavern shakes as the zombiehemoth slams its 'fist' into the wall. Tracant "falls" through the illusion into the corridor. As soon as Tracant is through the illusion, the zombiehemoth begins to disassemble. It takes roughly the same amount of time for it to collapse into a pile of corpses as it did to assemble.
Burnsten is just stunned for 1 round. By the time you start hauling him away, he regains his senses.
Rath watches his companions' exchange carefully.
Alexis gives the geologist a wry smile.
"By my ancestors I haven't had this bad of a headache in years" as he starting to wake "I don't mind someone carrying me around but I can walk by my self and if lady Alexis won't mind to help me get my clothing clean please, I did felt the damage Tracant suffered, don't you remember I SHARE all 5 senses with him!!?" as he looks at them with a sour and angry face "You escaped and LEFT ME behind and just took part of me, you to left part of ME to my fate, I'll be sure to be this helpful next time" as he waves his hands to dismisses Tracant "By Erastil that damn behemoth can really hit harder then giants"
"You whine like a mule.. you are still alive!" Then the little hunter scampers forward to maintain his usual forward scout position. Red eyes peeled, blade ever-ready.
Upon reaching the exit, Alexis asks, "Do any of you have the means to erect a makeshift barricade to keep wildlife from entering or unlife from escaping? I would like to keep that abomination from feeding its hunger and for us to have a way of telling if anything has passed if we should return. At the very least, we should erect something to allow us to see if something has passes this way, even if only smoothing the ground..."