It doesn't seem there's anything more up here," Aurelian says. "Aurelian Fache is afraid he's going to get you wet. Sometimes he can't help it..."
Houghton looked sulky when he leaves the water, soggy, "tis worse bein' out than bein' in, when damp. Argh..." It seems something of an affectation, considering that Houghton has not seemed to mind actually being cold, at all.
Continuing down into the new passage, you descend below the water again.
At one end of the corridor stands a statue depicting a hooded figure with four arms. Her armor and mask are sculpted to giver her the appearance of a woman, but the spaces between the plates of armor reveal that her body consists of clockwork gears. One of her arms is extended, pointing an accusing finger at a statue at the opposite end of the hallway. The other statue, standing in a semi-circular alcove behind thick steel bars, depicts a stern woman with no mouth.
The four-armed woman looks somewhat similar to the clockwork mage you fought in the hallways above.
"They do not look happy," Aurelian observes, eyes going back and forth between the two statues.
"Perhaps we should see what she is pointing at."
Aurelian starts to venture down the east hall .
Tatienne pauses at the statues, clucking her tongue to the roof of her mouth as she runs through her mental catalogue of statuary and religious symbols.
"The mouthless woman represents Lissala, an evil deity of obedience, reward of service and runes. I'm not sure about the four-armed one."
Hoisting her spear, Tatienne follows after Aurellian.
---
On a large dais occupying the central position in the room is a statue of a man sitting on a throne and holding a hammer in one hand and a closed book in the other, but the statue's head is missing. Beside it stands another statue, and four others yet remain standing among the crumbled remains of other statues that litter the floor.
This statue has a ring on its finger that you identify as a Ring of Spell Knowledge II.
Accoridng to myth, Amaznen sacrificed himself to lessen the blow of Earthfall and save Golarion when a rain of meteors threatened to end all life on the planet. There are many stories about Acavna--another Azlanti deity--and Amaznen having been star-crossed lovers, and Acavna's death may have been oen of the reasons Amaznen sacrificed himself. The story goes that after Acavna sacrificed herself to weaken Earthfall's wrath, Amaznen appeared before the onslaught of meteors and siphoned away the magic empowering them, vanishing forever in the process.
The second statue on the dais depicts a muscular woman wearing a helmet with a Y-shaped opening for the eyes and mouth, wielding a nine-foot-long spear and a large, round shield adorned with a symbol reminiscent of a crescent moon.
The statue standing left of the dais depicts a beautiful Azlanti woman with a look of mourning on her face, carryiing a harp and a knife. This represents Shelyn as she was known during the Azlanti period, before she took up the glaive of her brother Dou-Bral (now known as Zon-Kuthon). The siblings had a conflict that drove Dou-Bral away on a journey to unknown realms. He returned as the monstrous god of envy, loss and pain. During the interim period, Shelyn was often depicted as being in mourning for her lost sibling.
The statue in the northeast corner depicts a bearded man in a flowing chiton, wearing a gilded laurel wreath and holding a large key in his hand. You recognize this as an Azlanti depiction of Abadar. The Azlanti knew him chiefly as a god of cities and gold rather than of law--Amaznen held that position in the pantheon.
The statue in the southeast corner depicts a distant woman with long, flowing hair and skulls hanging from her toga. Her arms are crossed defiantly across her chest. You recognize this as Pharasma, whom the Azlanti knew much as she is known today.
---
A statue of a warrior wrestling with a giant serpent stands on a two-foot-high pedestal in this columned hall. The serpent is coiled around the warrior and has locked its jaws around her upper body. The woman holds her sword high, ready to strike the serpent's neck again. She has cut nearly all the way through and only a thin piece of skin keeps the head attached to the long, sinuous body. Magical light radiates from the blade of the sword, illuminating the statue and the chamber. Jagged columns of coral stand among finely carved marble columns. The remains of the south wall lie in broken pieces, allowing full view of the ocean beyond.
Bas relief carvings on the columns in the hall depict scenes of war and strife involving evil deities and demon lords, with mortals and outsiders alike battling demons and other monsters.
Also, there are sharks (big ones) in the southern hall, swimming about the large chamber. The sharks seem agitated by your presence, but aren't swimming toward you. Counting them is difficult since they alternate between the chamber and the outside, but you don't think there are more than five.
Aurelian stands guard against the sharks at the southern entrance, but doesn't go in any further to bother them. He glances at Zay, wondering if they could reach some arrangement so he doesn't have to kill the silly fish.
Houghton points out the secret door in the northern wall, and cackles, "it would appear that's the same mummy chamber door we saw earlier!"
After swimming through the tunnels, amazed and blissfully curious, occasionally making notes scratched into some sort of malleable tablet, Houghton doesn't have much to add.
Houghton points out at the end, "Well, I've seen those before at least that's Abraxas, Achaekek the Mantis God, the sun deity Nurgal and Zura the Vampire Queen."
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Zay swims along, very much at their ease in the water, happier perhaps than on land. They listen with only half an ear to all that their colleagues say about the statues. When they see the sharks ahead, they brighten. "Oh! Hang on. Maybe I can chat with them and convince them to let us pass."
Fluid as the water around them Zay twists back into a body with enormous teeth and a big tail. Zay doesn't try to approach the other sharks, lest it kick off a terrain squabble, but instead communicates to them from where the group is currently swimming.
Hello brothers, sisters. I will not hunt in your waters. I only seek to swim by you, with this-my-frenzy. What troubles you? May I pass without fighting?
Tatienne lingers in the hall, pleased to find more statuary. She would need to come back here when it was safer, and write a detailed account of everything, from floor the ceiling.
"The man on the throne as Amaznen, the primary god of magic worshiped in the ancient Azlanti empire. The other statues in the hall depict deities of the Azlanti pantheon with whom Amaznen was believed to have maintained friendly or at least neutral relations. Amaznen's followers considered their god the leader of the pantheon, a notion that worshipers of the other deities did not necessarily reciprocate."
"That statue of the warrior and serpent depicts Savith, a mortal warrior, as she decapitates the serpent god Ydersius. The heroine is later said to have died from the venom of her foe. The state was erected to honor her memory. After this great victory, Savith's name was on everyone's tongue, and many stories and songs were written in her honor, even if the majority of the Azlanti people didn't fully understand the extent of the war with the serpentfolk and the threat they posed to the world at the time. The empire had many enemies, and the Azlanti leadership used these threats to convince the populace that dedication to the empire was paramount."
The sharks seem to calm down as Zay introduces you. One of the sharks seems to be the leader of the frenzy.
Fish are friends, not food? There are other ones about that have sharp fangs. Be careful.
Now that they aren't swimming so vigorously, you can tell that the sharks are heavily scarred.
Magical detection efforts recognize that the longsword held by the statue is magical, but she can't make out what enchantments are on it.
My thanks! That's right. Friends not food! We will be careful. May meat be abundant for you.
Zay lightly swims in circles, keeping their shark form between the party and the natural sharks, just in case any of them get ideas about how tasty Zay's friends look, while Tatienne looks over the sharp traps.
"I'm guessing we ought to avoid those."
Aurelian continues to wait, not having much interest in the sword or ring -- though perhaps others will.
"Who do you think left those traps? Aurelian Fache would bet it wasn't the sharks!"
"It IS difficult to create traps without thumbs," Zay answers Aurelian, wagging a fin a bit for emphasis. "Maybe the designers of the complex? The same entities who created all the metallic guards we've met? Good construction to withstand the corrosion of salt water, I'll say that much."
Neither the sword nor the ring seem to terribly interest Zay, either. Zay's a shark. Glub, glub.
"I have no need of the ring. The sword though... looks magical enough. Does it do anything other than glow? My shield can already do that."
The sylph looks around and takes in the area's ancient reverence to the gods. Dismayed as he realizes that his writing utensils won't work in this environment, he notices Houghton's tablet.
"Brilliant. How did you come by one of those?"
Stopping at the longsword, Tatienne grabs the hilt and tugs, as best she can, placing her feet against the statue for leverage.
Houghton also takes a stab at grabbing the sword.
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The shark would arch its brows if it had brows at the failed attempts. "I don't have currently have thumbs," Zay points out. "Not that strength is my strong suit. Maybe we can swim back later to try and collect this, um, pointy booty? How about we swim further north?"
"I'm not too keen on the idea of having to swim through those sharks more than once. Swimming past them seems like it increases our odds of swimming into open water. Perhaps it would be better to go back and search the rest of the complex for what history we can preserve?"
Returning to the surface, you return to the storage room of clockwork parts, finding it unchanged from your earlier visit. The smell of oil and grease fills this room, where armor-plated statue heads, limbs and torsos as well as gears of all sizes have been placed on stone shelves. Beautifully crafted plates of platinum and intricately gilded steel compose these construct components, giving them the appearance of roughly human (albeit emotionless) faces and musculature. A nearly complete body consisting of similar gears and armor plates lies face down on a stone table with a large key embedded in a clockwork mechanism in its back.
While it may not have stood out to you earlier, you recognize that the clockwork on the table has its key embedded in its back as being unusual. Typical clockworks are separate from their winding keys.
"Would it be wise to turn one this key? Does it turn it on? What secrets might it know?"
Invandi goes to strap down the clockwork's limbs before turning the key, unless someone stops him.
Houghton looks a little hesitant, but after a moment, he aids Invandi. "Aye, seems like it would be good to experiment, see what happens. Anyone got rope here to tie it up if'n it wants to bash our heads in?"
"If it wants to bash our heads in, Aurelian Fache will teach it a lesson it will not forget!" the swordsman declares, making it clear he means the lesson to be at the point of his sword.
"But perhaps a single turn, or half a turn, so it will not have to learn its lesson for long if it misbehaves!"
As it is wound, the clockwork looks about for a few moments, observing its surroundings before speaking to you.
Houghton chuckles, and helps Aoinse to sit up, but keeps it restrained,
He holds up a hand,
The clockwork replies to Houghton, looking down at her missing leg as Houghton sets her upright.
It is quickly becoming apparent even to those not privy to the conversation that this clockwork is acting far more humanlike than the clockworks you have encountered thus far.
"Perhaps we should fix her," Aurelian suggests. "As lovely as she is, she does not seem like she will hurt us."
"Yes," Tatienne says, following along Houghton's conversation with Aoinse with keen interest. "Fixing her could prove very valuable. The information she possesses about her society and its era is just... tantalizing to imagine."
Zay resumes their humanoid form, and looks with interest, but not comprehension, at the clockwork figure. They rely on Tatienne for translation, idly stretching their back by turning in place as they listen.
"It's a worthwhile goal...... but I'm no good with machines. Are any of you? Perhaps, as Tatienne says, she has many things that she could tell us."
Zay rummages in their pack while they happen to have hands, digging out some jerky to gnaw on. Sharking makes one hungry.
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Houghton scratches his head, ”not me. Though I’d wager we can chat with her anyway, even without a leg. But I wouldn’t object to helping the lass out either way.”
He turns to Anoise, speaking carefully in accented (to the clockwork) Azlanti, as if he’s learned the language only from reading,
Anyone who listens and understands can tell that he’s trying to use formal grammar and words when speaking to Anoise, in contrast to the loose way he speaks Taldan.
Invandi nods along as the party tries to make peace with the device that may have knowledge of a time long past. This would be the talk of the town back home!
"Anoise, a pleasure to make your acquaintance. Can we count on you to treat us amicably if we aid you in your mobility?"
As Houghton translates, Aurelian asks, "Have you not been awake at all? You didn't see anyone else here, or creatures that look human?"
Aoinse responds to Aurelian through the translation.
"When I was last aware, the cataclysm was befalling Azlant. If you are looking for someone that came here recently, I'm afraid I don't know where they are. You should know that the cathedral has secret areas. The priests did not tell me their locations."
Aurelian looks excited.
"That must be where they are! We shall be back, Aoinse, once we have dealt with the body snatchers who have taken Tobias and Marguerite!"
Joining the imposition upon Houghton, Zay asks a few questions as well:
"Hello. My goodness, you really have been here a long time! Were you bored? Aionse is a pretty name, though.
"Can I ask what this place was under your old masters, the priests? A temple, or more than just that? What was your role here?
"And should we meet other clockworks, is there a word we can use to get them to, um, stand down? They may attack us as intruders, you see, and I'd hate to harm creatures just doing their job."
"Aoinse, lovely. What is your most important function? Also, what would the people of your time say the most exciting event they ever saw was?"
Invandi can't help himself, the idea of bringing back possible ancient modern trivia for the Azlanti back home too sweet a tidbit to pass up.
Houghton nods along as the others pepper the automata with questions.
"Thank you for the compliment," Aoinse says as Zay tells her that her name is pretty, though her lack of expression and flat voice make the display of gratitude seem somewhat unnerving.
"This was once the Temple of Amaznen, a place of learning, knowledge and faith. We served the Father of Invention and His faithful here. I assisted the priests with their experiments and at times was entrusted with teaching the faithful in His ways."
"Though I cannot leave this place myself without further repairs, I will ensure that the defense orders issued to the other clockworks are rescinded. Additionally, if you locate any recording gems, I should be able to replay the information on them for you. Other similar stations may still be functional."
"Yes, telling the other clockworks to leave us alone is good," Aurelian says. "Now, let us go find these secret chambers!"
"Oh. Oh!" Tatienne exclaims, a broad smile breaking across her face. "So the others of your kind won't attack us now? That is very welcome news. If they won't attack, we should be able to get you assistance. And I agree, Aurelian, let's go!"
"Great news indeed! The more we can keep intact the more we can learn."
"What does a recording gem look like?"
"A recording gem is a type of ioun stone, somewhat like this one," she says as she points to one embedded in her forehead.