Mundarion examines the remaining magic items:
spellcraft for Potion 6:1d20 + 10 ⇒ (18) + 10 = 28
"This potion will protect against range attacks," the khorvair sighs, it is a potion of Bullet Shield.
"At least I can be of minimal help now, since I was of no use during the fight."
If you have Read Magic, you can automatically identify the scroll, meaning between you you have identified all the magic items here.
"That is quite a stash" - Krezen smiles widely, looking at the magical items.
Though I don't think any of the items is useful for me - perhaps the belt, but only if no one else actually needs it :D
"And you are right Sorjla - being trapped in undeath may well be one of the worst possible fates anyone can face" - the warrior nods - "Would it make sense to search the premises, perhaps for something we can use against Karavakos ?"
For spells, Jan has 3 1st level, 2 2nd level, and 1 3rd level left. That's plenty for a normal encounter, but if the fights against the splinters are particularly hard then that might not be enough. Ideally I would want to cast shillelagh and divine favor again.
GM: Any chance we could use a potion of inflict like a splash weapon?
Not against most creatures. But if there's some creature that would be forced to ingest something splashed on them (e.g., if they have a bunch of pores on their body, or if they have a giant always-open mouth for eating people), you could splash it on them.
At Jan's questioning, Hozela comments
"I'd expect that this Splinter is no less powerful than the other two, at the very least. He ought not to be underestimated. Do not forget that you also have a request for aid from the Otyugh Empress. Additionally, there is one other remaining Splinter on the first floor of the Pyramid, and that Splinter possesses the Head of Vyrelis."
She turns specifically to Jan and Krezen, continuing
"You weren't here for it, but the Head of Vyrelis is an artifact containing the remains of one of the Pyramid's first prisoners. They,"
she gestures to Gemheart, Yessai, Mundarion, and De,
"found it early after arriving here, but lost it after we tried and failed to fight the first floor Splinter in the Library of Whispers."
You might also want to consider whether you want to keep all of these NPCs trailing you at all times. They are all at least a level below you and non-gestalt, and they aren't getting any more powerful. One or more of them will almost certainly die if you keep using them in every encounter.
You might be able to find a use for your allies other than as additional bodies in combat.
Forgeborn map Armorist(Symbiotic Knight) / Incanter 6 || HP 53/60; g
definitely agree on the base-making. it could be a safe place for the factions to treat with others. maybe. a bard might even remind the prisoners of life on the outside and make them want to team up to get out.
Okay, the question now is where you want to set up your base.
To make things easier, I just redrew the entire first floor map (link is in the campaign short description). It includes all the areas that Gemheart and the original PCs explored, even though Jan and Krezen have only seen a tiny portion of the first floor. It doesn't include unexplored areas. If you have questions about anything on the map you can ask me--Gemheart should remember most of it in character and could tell Jan and Krezen, but out of character I know the human brain forgets things that happened three real-life years ago.
So where could you use to set up a base? A majority of the first floor is claimed by one of the factions. The entry pit is free, but it's surrounded by the harpies/sahuagin, the arboreans, and the dragonborn. The sahuagin are reasonably friendly, or at least not openly hostile. The dragonborn are not particularly friendly, but did send Hozela to help you. The arboreans are definitely not friendly. Also, anyone new to the Pyramid would show up in the entry pit.
The big chamber at AH71 that's just south of the Grand Stairway might work as a base, since it was unoccupied. It's just east of an area which connects to the Otyugh Empress/Charnel Lord's territorry, and just north of the sahuagin's area, and neither of those factions are currently hostile towards you. It's also just west of a trap-filled icy chamber in which a mezzodemon is help prisoner, and in which two of the original PCs (Midio and Thomas) "vanished" without explanation.
On the second floor, the entry area of the 2nd floor is unoccupied. It's right next to the lair of Thoraska, who is also nonhostile. There's also the remains of the Sundered Temple, which contains a link to the Far Realm that drives everyone in it insane. The last thing the original PCs did before Jan and Krezen arrived was destroy the Splinter of Karavakos that was there, but that doesn't mean the area is safe.
And lastly there is the third floor, of which you've only seen a little bit, and all of it so far has been filled with undead.
There's also the possibility that you could look in one of the unexplored passages on either of the first two floors for a more suitable area, or try to convince one of the nonhostile factions to let you use one of their rooms as a base. Or fight one of the existing factions for their territory. Or do something that I haven't thought of.
They did not defeat Arat Karavakos. They entered the library of whispers looking for something that the dragonborn requested. They fought a bunch of spawn of Vecna that were in the Pyramid eating its secrets. Then they fought the Splinter, and lost. The Splinter let them leave, but kept the head of Vyrellis (an artifact containing the living essence of Vyrellis, one of the Pyramid's first prisoners). As far as you know, the Splinter is still there.
I think I agree with Jan - even though I would like a more central area, that one seems more defensible, and perhaps they can try small forays from there.
You make it to your destination with relative ease. Four crumbling marble pillars encircle this large chamber. Each appears to have been smashed in one corner--the one closest to the center, and wisps of grey steam rise out of them. In the center lies the charred decapitated body of an eladrin.
An eery chill fills you as you enter this room. Nonetheless, the chamber seems unoccupied and unclaimed by any of the Pyramid's factions.
Reminders for Gemheart:
This was the room in which Vyrellis' body was held with a trap. When you put the Head of Vyrellis back on the body,
it came to life and attacked. Vyrellis later asserted that it was probably a trap Karavakos set a long time ago
"This room should suit. Do we have any way to jam the doors? I could use a spell to create a block of wood six cubic feet in size, but I can only do that once more today, and there are two exits. Such a block would last six hours."
Gemheart wrote:
"That's Vyrellis's body. It attacked us once. If we put the head on again we should be prepared."
"If putting the head on made it attack you, why would you do it again?"
The arborean in the group nods,
"I can stand guard whilst others rest."
If you just want to get the benefits of a full rest, you can do that without trouble. If you want to set up the room as a more permanently defensible base of operations, you'll probably need more than blocks of wood.
If you just want to get the benefits of a full rest, you can do that without trouble. If you want to set up the room as a more permanently defensible base of operations, you'll probably need more than blocks of wood.
Since the blocks of wood are not permanent, it would just be a stopgap measure anyway. But I think the plan was to leave the NPCs here the next day?
Jan creates a bloc of wood in front of whichever door it is that is more easily blocked for the night.
As the night passes, your minds are filled with vivid dreams.
Dream:
The familiar cackling of a tiefling fills your mind,
but his words are too indistinct to understand. The you can see the Pyramid of Shadows from the outside. It's enormous, like it appeared just as you were about to be pulled in, but now it is covered in flames.
The Pyramid is burning...
burning to ashes. Five sillhouette figures stand on top of the pyramid.
Two are mere outlines around shadows. The other three are glowing with a dim orange light, but they too are fading to nothingness.
Finally, the tiefling's voice becomes clear.
"Mine. They time at which you shall become mine draws near!"
When you wake up you are fully rested, and the room remains undisturbed.
Forgeborn map Armorist(Symbiotic Knight) / Incanter 6 || HP 53/60; g
"If that is what you wish. I wish only to be free of this place, and it would seem there are too many pathways towards that end. Any of them are fine with me."
"I dreamt of a burning pyramid, and what I think must have been the splinters of Karavakos. Was your dream the same? And do you think it means anything?"
Gemheart wrote:
"If that is what you wish..."
"I have no particular preference. I don't wish to face those shadows again though if it can be avoided."
I was thinking maybe going after the splinter on the first floor that you had to retreat from before.
"Bah!" - Krezen snorts - "Nothing more than a nightmare is all lads. Means nothing" - he adds, picking up his backpack, and getting ready to go - "Are we definitely finished with those undead?"
Okay, since the only suggestion was to go for the Splinter in the Library of Whispers, that seems to be what you are doing. You should probably decide which NPCs to leave behind to guard your area, though.
From where you were resting it is easy to get back to the entrance to the Library of Whispers. The room is entirely dark, without the ambient light of the rest of the Pyramid, but you can see in if you have dark vision.
Darkvision:
Shelves packed with books line the walls and stand to the sides of the room. There’s about ten feet or so between the tops of the shelves and the ceiling. In the center, a grassy square surrounds a proud statue of an eladrin princess. At first, the room appears to be deathly quiet. Then you begin to hear faint whispers. They start out barely audible, but then grow louder and press upon your mind—an unintelligible jumble of words in many languages, like a thousand voices murmuring at once.
There are no visible creatures in this room, but there are plenty of hiding places between bookshelves.
Perception, 25:
Amid the whispers of the library itself,
you can hear some creature hissing, and the rustling of paper coming from the edges of the room.
The NPCs who used to be PCs don't have affiliation with any faction other than yours. Hozela, Sorjla, and Hathnor each belong to one of the Pyramid's factions, but have differing degrees of loyalty.
And, Hathnor's faction might not be entirely unified.
Hozela: A Dragonborn sorcerer originally from Sigil, Hozela was a part of a group of dragonborn bandits that operated in Sigil, but were all pulled into the Pyramid and now operate from the northeast of the first floor. Garash Vren, the dragonborn's leader, wanted the PCs to recover a book called the Tome of Vecna's Breath from the Library of Whispers, and so he sent Hozela to help. (The PCs never recovered any such tome, since they fled the library after fighting the Splinter of Karavakos). The dragonborn faction as a whole seems content to stay in the Pyramid, but Hozela herself wants to escape back to Sigil, so she views you as being more allies than her old faction.
Sorjla: A grig cleric and servant of Thoraska the dragon. Thoraska has a lair on the second floor of the Pyramid, and seems to be isolationist in her views of the other factions. She was willing to lend aid to you because she was attacked by the Splinter of Karavakos from the library of whispers attacked her, and also because she is concerned about aggressive action by the arboreans.
Sorjla seems fiercely loyal to Thoraska, and you can probably assume that she will only continue to aid you for as long as your objectives align with Thoraska's.
Hathnor: An arborean and melee combatant, Hathnor was sent to help the PCs after they encountered the arborean speaker. The arobreans as a whole are the faction that seems to be on hostile terms with everyone, including the dragonborn, the harpies, and Thoraska. There's also some sort of internal strike among the arboreans, with a significant number of them unsatisfied with their current leadership. Not very much information has been revealed about Hathnor in particular.
Mundarion: And elf wizard/rogue who used to be a PC.
Yessai: A githyanki direlock who used to be a PC.
De'arv'ki: A catfolk ninja who used to be a PC.
