The Forgotten God (Table 3) (Inactive)

Game Master Rednal

The injured bird continued to bleed out, but the other one managed to smoothly avoid both attacks. Based on the terrain, though, you simply weren't going to be moving far enough - not at five steps at a time - to avoid full assaults from the birds. Some acrobatic movement, withdrawing to inside of the temple, or simply running and trying to avoid getting hit would be necessary for that.

Melee: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (11) + 10 = 21
Melee: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (11) + 5 = 16
Melee: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (5) + 10 = 15
Melee: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (6) + 5 = 11

On the bright side, neither of them quite managed to hit you after your last set of misses, and you were able to promptly retaliate as the first bird continued to bleed out... with rather more success this time around, given the accuracy of your critical blow. The second bird was looking badly injured by now, and probably couldn't survive more than one blow - two, at most.

With a cry of alarm at the sudden series of heavy blows, the harpy turned and started flying away - as did its companion.

Acrobatics (Avoid Provoking): 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (11) + 2 = 13
Acrobatics (Avoid Provoking): 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (4) + 2 = 6

It could very well be possible to land an attack of opportunity on them as they moved...

Also, I've been meaning to mention this, but I need you to update your quick reference bar - it's a bit out of order. Abbreviate the class names if you need to, then use this exact format: Classes | HP: X/X | AC: X, T: X, FF: X | Fort: +X, Ref: +X, Will: +X | BAB: +X, CMB: +X, CMD: XX | Init: +X, Perception: +X |

line updated. it was out of order because i was using like 3 of the different bars to make one long one.
bleed on previously slashed: 1d4 ⇒ 2

AoO: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (5) + 5 = 10 vs Harpy 2
damage: 1d6 + 4 + 1d4 ⇒ (4) + 4 + (2) = 10

"What was that?" Harath asked of his companion.

800 XP.

It took a few moments for the woman to return. "A pair of harpies... I guess. There are quite a few of them further up the Hollow Mountain, but they don't usually come down this far." she said, frowning. "I don't think there will be any more inside... are you going to be all right?"

"I have survived worse, but I am wounded. You wouldn't happen to have any magical bandages or anything of the sort? What I meant earlier was, the alarm... who might be sounding that?"

i meant this line: With a cry of alarm at the sudden series of heavy blows, which, in hindsight, might have been them, i was wondering what the heavy blows were? that fight seemed like a flurry of misses mostly, for both sides, haha. your description had me picturing maybe a huge wardrum from somewhere.

Your blows did a lot of damage. The harpy cried out - not expecting to be hurt that badly, that quickly, given all the misses - and decided it didn't want to die today.

The woman gave you an odd look, but shook her head sadly. "I'm not a cleric. We've got a few bandages at the campsite, but most of our people who could do anything, well..." she gestured to the bodies.

oh, wow, i had to go back and look at it. even though it appears i edited it to put in the crit confirm and all that, i have no recollection of that, i think i just got used to missing and assumed i have missed this whole time. hectic work week i guess

Use Magic Device, DC 20: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (10) + 9 = 19
Use Magic Device, DC 20: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (7) + 9 = 16
Use Magic Device, DC 20: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (20) + 9 = 29
Use Magic Device, DC 20: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (12) + 9 = 21

CLW: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (5) + 1 = 6
CLW: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (8) + 1 = 9

Harath pulls out a wand and begins trying to use it, pointing it at the places the harpy claws slashed deep into his skin. After a few tries, he finally gets it to work.

"This is all I have, and it is limited. Hopefully I have better luck inside."

"Take it slow. And do try not to break anything within - it could hold literally irreplaceable knowledge." she observed, nodding to the entrance of the temple. With the harpies gone, the main part of the building ought to be free of creatures and easy enough to explore.

Harath heads in carefully, looking around the chamber before finally stepping through the hole.

The inside of the temple was as you'd seen before, albeit emptied of enemies now. There were two doors in the very back - one broken-down passage in the north, while a door that remained intact guarded an entryway on the south. Both seemed to lead to fairly small chambers.

"Can you tell me anything of this place's original purpose?" Harath asked, carefully scaling rubble to get a closer look at the broken-down portal.

"What do you think we were researching?" the woman asked from the entrance - she seemed unwilling to go further. "And it's a bloody temple - one way or another, I imagine they were conducting worship services."

Meanwhile, this small, irregularly-shaped room contains little more than debris from the smashed barrier, ages-old dust, and a shaft descending into the darkness. Iron rungs installed on the southwest wall offer a ladder heading down.

"Hmm, I don't think we should go down just yet. Can you tell me if this door collapse was recent or old?" Harath asks, pointing to the door while moving to the other door and looking through it.

"Old, I think." she called out as you examined the other chamber.

At the southeastern corner of this room is a gruesome statue of a man. He is bare chested; scars, brands, and seeping wounds cover his exposed flesh. He stands with arms crossed, hands gripped tightly like a penitent. Blood oozes from his lacerations and he grits his teeth as though in excruciating pain, though the corners of his mouth turn up slightly, suggesting he derives some wicked pleasure from this perversion of his flesh. A strange mask made of iron covers the statue's face, the metal etched with complicated sigils. A broad belt made of leather and adorned with copper disks girds the statue's waist.

i think you answered this before, but i dont recognize this statue as venerating a deity known to me?

"Do you recognize this statue?" he asks of the woman.

perception: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (2) + 7 = 9 to learn other details of the statue, including what stone it might be made of, and paying attention to any coating of dust it might or might not have on it.

She's not inside the temple and can't see the statue. Also, no, THIS statue - the one inside the room, which you didn't see earlier - isn't of any deity you recognize.

The statue seems to have been made of the local stone - both the mask and the belt could be removed, though they don't seem to have been touched recently.

oh, i thought she was coming along, i asked the question IC to see if she would follow in and look at things, telling me things i don't know.

"The mask and belt look like they could be removed. Do you think they were put on as an offering?" Harath asks, implying that the woman should come in and take a look. He slowly moves forward, alert for signs of change in his environment, wary of traps or the statue coming to life.

perception: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (16) + 7 = 23

In case it hadn't been made clear by now, she really doesn't want to enter until she's sure the entire temple - above and below - is completely safe. At the very least, you'll need to make a Diplomacy check to convince her to do something she'd rather not.

The mask seems to be a mundane replica of a more important item - possibly mass-produced, though there are no others in the immediate area. However, you don't see any sign of traps or problems, and the statue doesn't look mobile in any way.

"I don't have any idea what their rituals and customs were - that's what I'm here to find out." she answered from where she was waiting.

ah, i see. i had thought she was going to stick around and stay back during combat. no biggie though.

"Alright. Well, I will move ahead then, and see what I can learn."

Harath will then move forward to the statue, inspecting it much more closely. He looks at the belt in particular, figuring that the disks might have some kind of writing on them.

There's no obvious writing on the belt, though it's certainly a well-made item... unusually so, in fact, and it likely has at least some properties of interest.

Harath will examine the belt, to include feeling the make of the material with his hands.

kinda dont want to take it and awaken the statue or curse myself or something, but very interested in it.

spellcraft: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (13) + 10 = 23

As you touch the belt, something within the statue clicks, and a blast of superheated air erupts out of it to fill the room. The statue had been trapped after all - and cunningly enough that you hadn't been able to spot it while searching through the room.

Heat Damage, No Save: 3d8 ⇒ (1, 8, 5) = 14

On the bright side? You now have a Belt of Giant Strength +2 hanging off of the statue, and the trap doesn't seem like it's going to reset on its own.

CLW: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 1 = 4
CLW: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (8) + 1 = 9

Harath recoils at the blast of flame. Then, angry at himself for not having been more careful, draws once more the wand and uses its magic to cure the worst of the burns.

"Well, looks like I've earned this." he says to himself, and places the belt around his waist before stepping away from the statue.

He then scans the room for other features of note.

perception: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (12) + 7 = 19

There's nothing of note in this chamber that you haven't already found, and the mask on the statue, while interesting, doesn't seem like it's of anything more than historic value. The woman outside will probably enjoy studying it later. With this room cleared, all that's left is the northern chamber and the pit within.

Harath proceeds cautiously to the northern chamber, first inspecting the doorway from a distance and slowly drawing near, wary of any traps.

You already examined some of the chamber, and there's no sign anything has changed - if there are any traps here, they're further inside and down the ladder.

"Well, I'll be descending via this ladder. Hopefully all goes well."

Harath then proceeds to the pit, and begins his careful climb down the ladder.

how big around is the pit? what is the material of its walls? how deep down can i see?

The pit is five-feet square, and goes down just thirty feet into the darkness - well within the range of your darkvision. The walls are all made of hardy, fitted granite, and it's quite easy to reach the bottom safely. There's no natural light at all, though, so it's a good thing you can see in the dark...

The ceiling of this chamber is ten feet above, and its walls are covered with fading frescoes depicting a parade of cultists engaged in grisly acts of self-mutilation involving knives, scourges, and more bizarre implements. The depiction of the ground beneath the repugnant pageant seems to be composed of thick, snake-like tentacles whose appendages and tooth-filled orifices lick greedily at the blood cascading down from the cult figures. To the east, debris from a smashed wall is scattered, spilling into the hall.

Harath will orient himself upon stepping foot at the bottom, and head through the broken wall segment.

Someone broke through this way...

The path leads both north and south. The northern passage takes a turn to the west fairly soon, and there seem to be quite a few statues there. The southern passage extends for quite a long ways, but also eventually turns west.

Harath takes the northern path, as quietly as possible.

stealth: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (8) + 8 = 16

Map updated.

To the north, on a raised platform, stand leathery brown statues of withered and emaciated humans poised as though attentively observing passers by. The statues have a grim, realistic appearance, and each one is flayed and modified in a unique way.

The hallway continues to the west for about forty feet, and appears to open into a larger chamber.

perception: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (18) + 7 = 25 vs traps, and those statues coming alive or other statue-related dangers, blood stains on walls/floor/ceiling there's really no win here, i will keep checking statues for signs of life. if they never come alive, he will keep checking, and if one does come to life... "i knew it!"

Harath will proceed cautiously down this hallway, keeping his senses on high alert.

Closer examination of these gruesome "statues" reveals that they are actually the petrified corpses of sacrificial victims. The figures have their throats and wrists slit and most of their mouths are sewn shut. Some of them have their forearms separated between the ulna and radius, splitting even the fingers of the hands to create additional appendages. Others have portions of their skulls removed and replaced with a different, leathery material. Some have modifications to their torsos, in which the ribs have been split, pried out, and sharpened to points. One figure in the middle of this display sits with its arms raised, palms out. Its teeth have been pulled out, filed to points, and then embedded into its hands. The uniform color of the corpses and distortion of features from their death agonies make details difficult to discern, so its takes some time to discover some of the finer details. What's been done to them was clearly a kind of nightmare... and therefore within your realm of interest.

There are not, however, traps or treasures - and you're able to proceed safely into the next area.

The wall decorations of cultists engaged in horrific rituals continue into this large chamber. Ages-old blood stains the floor and walls in dusty flakes. A mosaic similar to the one in the temple above covers the floor, partially obscured by dozens of naked corpses scattered across the floor.

Are the corpses fresh? Do they show similar mutilations? Are they complete in terms of limbs/head?

The corpses look almost mummified, and have clearly been here a long time. They've also been mutilated, with strips of skin town from their bodies, but they do seem to have all of their limbs (and heads) in the right places.

does the placement of the corpses suggest a purpose, like a ritual of some sort?

Harath starts to skirt the edge of the room, highly suspicious that these are going to animate before deciding better of it and kicks a stone at one of them.

Yes.

The stone strikes the body, and other than a small 'thud' sound, nothing happens. The bodies seem to be honestly dead, not mere undead, and have been so for quite a long time. Given what must have happened to these people, that's probably a small mercy.

Harath will move across the room, skirting the wall to the door opposite where he entered from. He inspects the door.

perception vs door: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (20) + 7 = 27
arcana for ritual: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (9) + 8 = 17

With some scrutiny, you're able to note that the center 10 foot portion of the western wall is a doorway barricade of irregular stone held in place with dried clay. There's no way to open it short of breaking it down. (Hardness 8, 40 HP, for how much work you'll have to do)

As for the ritual, there's not much you can tell simply from the placement of the bodies - it's too old, too esoteric. Given that Thassilon was involved, though, it was almost certainly sinful in some way.

so this is a bricked-over doorway? if so...

Harath will try the other hallway that he did not traverse before.

Preeetty much. It is, however, breakable if you spend some time at it.

The hallway you're traversing eventually hooks around, like an upside-down question mark, and ends with a dead-end wall made of irregular stone and dried clay similar to the one you just left. Incidentally, both are near-identical to the destroyed wall that you passed through to reach this hallway in the first place. Whoever built this place up seemed to have erected quite a few of them.

Odd. both ends are bricked up...

Harath searches the ground he has covered thus far, looking for signs of tracks and secret doors. would like to take 20

i figure there has to be one since both ends are bricked up.

Breakably bricked up.

As you move down the short corridor, about 20 feet down from the place you ended up, you're able to spot a few oddities along the western wall. It looks like there's a well-concealed door you could pivot inwards to allow access to another chamber.

yeah, i just figured there was movement this way recently enough that the mortar wouldn't have dried already, so there had to have been another way.

Harath gently pushes the door inward in an attempt to remain silent, but also in an attempt to hear any mechanical traps and dodge out of the way if possible.

The stench of death is strong in this ornate shrine. Another mosaic like that found in the grand temple above lies on the floor immediately west of the entryway. Two rows of slender columns carved with dizzying designs support the ceiling twenty feet overhead and every inch of the chamber's walls are covered with intricate sigils and pictograms. A fat pillar stands in the center of the chamber. Six corpses lie on the floor near the base of this central pillar. An altar of red marble stands near the western wall, and it has iron manacles attached to its surface. The air is charged with palpable malevolence.

Harath takes in the scene, trying to piece together how things transpired.

do the corpses look like they were killed as part of a ritual, or for having touched the pillar? do they have manacle marks on their wrists? are there any books, writings, or doors in this room?

Given the overall design of the room - it's hard to not recognize a shrine when you see them, especially given who and what you are - this was definitely a chamber where rituals took place. There's an open passage to the south, and the walls are covered in ancient writing - but you were barely able to take a step forward when a ghast vaulted over the altar at the far end and laughed as it looked at you. The creature was dressed in truly ancient priestly robes, and red stained its mouth. "More fresh meat! Haaaaah... hahahahaha!"

Talking... probably wasn't an option here.

Init (Enemy): 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (2) + 9 = 11
Init (You): 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (7) + 4 = 11

You could Surge that into a success. Otherwise...

The ghast chanted under its breath, and flung a Cause Fear spell towards you a moment later.

Will 17 Partial: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (15) + 8 = 23 You're Shaken for one round.

"Come get some." Harath taunts, adopting a defensive stance as energy faintly thrums around his form. His taunt lacked force, however, disgusted as he was at this creature's existence.

Manifesting Force Screen, so AC is now 22 (still had the (22) in my stat line, figured I'd do it again.)

The undead monstrosity spoke a cursed word a moment later, clearly attempting to use his unholy powers to wear you down and make it far harder for you to fight.

Cast: Blindness.
Fort DC 19 negates: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (2) + 7 = 9

And unless you had a great idea to throw that off with, it was entirely possible that things had just gotten much worse as the world started to fade from your view...

well, that certainly spells the end of my time in this particular complex.

As Harath's eyes clouded over and his vision went black, his thoughts scrambled for salvation. In the recesses of his mind, he found a scrap of what he needed. It would only get him so far, however, and it appeared the mysteries beyond the bricked walls would remain mysteries to him for quite some time.

Harath focused his mental energies inward, connecting the synapses leading to his now-dead eyes to those of his face, allowing the light to reveal his surroundings in a new way. manifesting Synesthete under Wild Arcana. It'll last 80 minutes.

bluff: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (11) + 9 = 20 "You wretch. Fight with honor!" Harath spat at the creature, feigning some swings of his fists in front of him, allowing the creature to believe he had truly been blinded... which he had been, to his own horror.