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Torin moves into the room, "Can't see a darned thing, with all you longshanks in the way..."
Trying to line up a shot through the tangle of allies, Torin misses terribly...
The creature scuttles toward Kwin and begins to viciously rip him apart.
Kwin falls to the ground, gasping and dying. The creature seems to almost squeal in pleasure.
"Nothing downs a Blackfire and lives!" Koshukhep roared, his reverberating voice causing sand to sift down from the ceiling. He lunged at the horrible insect, claws extended to rip its carapace to ribbons.
Koshukhep steps over Kwin's dying, prostrate from and viciously attacks the creature with his razor sharp claws.
His first slash is wild and misses. But the second opens a gash in its carapace.
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"Ah.. You damned fool. Put it down boys before the lad bleeds out."
Kwin rises dramatically, grits his teeth and unleashes a flurry of precise stabs that utterly devastate the creature. It shakes, sputters, let's out a pitiful squeal and then is finally still as it enters Pharasma's cold embrace.
Wobbling slightly, Kwin lets the tip of his sword sink to the floor. Through panted breaths he curses quietly in Sylvan before violently kicking the bug's corpse. "And see what you get!" he fairly snarls.
The energetic kick causes him to wince, and he gently rubs the freshly-acquired gashes across his stomach.
"Okay," he says thoughtfully as he wipes the ichor from his blade, resheaths it, and turns to the group. "There's Da's 'reckless,' I guess."
"But, I'm still here," he adds with a lopsided grin as he jerks his head at the oozing carcasses, "and they're not!"
Izra shook her head, then stepped up, whispered a quick prayer, and laid a hand on Kwin's shoulder. A wash of cold energy flooded through the young Kitsune, vaguely reminiscent of wind blowing though a sepulchre.
Koshukhep flicked ichor off his hands with a grimace, then also placed a hand on Kwin's shoulder, much more gently than the last time. "Sekhmet has smiled on you, Kwin! A short trip to the land of the dead, and she sends you back with vengeance in hand! It is true that you are the charming one."
He prowled about the room briefly, looking for anything of interest.
"Dead? DEAD?" Kwin scoffs, looking offended. "I wasn't dead! Merely lulling that thing into a false sense of security. 'Drop the enemy's guard, then drop the enemy.' Besides, I..."
"Whoa!" he exclaims as a chill rushes through him thanks to Izra's touch. He experimentally probes where his wounds used to be and smiles. "Thank you Izra, I'm in your debt."
Then he leans close to her and asks quietly, "Any chance you could teach me how to do that?"
"The red stuff is supposed to stay on the inside. Keep that in mind next time."
Torin noses about for anything of interest.
"Whoa!" he exclaims as a chill rushes through him thanks to Izra's touch. He experimentally probes where his wounds used to be and smiles. "Thank you Izra, I'm in your debt."Then he leans close to her and asks quietly, "Any chance you could teach me how to do that?"
"That depends, Izra said, "have you been told by a divine messenger of a goddess that you were killed in direct contravention of destiny and prophecy? Because as far as my own personal experience goes, that's step one. Of course, there are other people who took different routes to similar abilities - priests of Pharasma, for example, but I never learned exactly how they do it." She shrugged, and gave Kwin a lopsided half-smile. "Never really needed to, I guess."
With another touch, Izra caused Kwin's torn clothing to knit itself together. She patted the Kitsune on the shoulder.
"The clothes, I can fix all day long. The skin and bones, not so much. Do try to keep your insides and outsides in their appropriate respective locations for the rest of the day, would you please?" Izra winked one glowing blue eye, smiled at Kwin, and turned to examine the rest of the room, paying special attention to the area the insects had come from.
"That depends, Izra said, "have you been told by a divine messenger of a goddess that you were killed in direct contravention of destiny and prophecy? Because as far as my own personal experience goes, that's step one. Of course, there are other people who took different routes to similar abilities - priests of Pharasma, for example, but I never learned exactly how they do it." She shrugged, and gave Kwin a lopsided half-smile. "Never really needed to, I guess."
Djehuti looks up from where he is studying the remains of one of the bugs, not so much taking notes as he is just poking around out of curiosity's sake. "You were told by a divine servitor that you are subject to prophecy? That is..." The bronze skinned elf shakes his head. "That is interesting."
The Band searches but doesn't find much aside from the remains of small insects that the creatures evidently devoured.
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Koshu stopped nosing around the room, coming over to look at Izra with new respect in his eyes. "So you were judged, and sent back?! That is amazing," he rumbled. "What old Antekh-Mon wouldn't give to speak with you! Tell us more of this prophecy!"
***
Koshu padded down the steps uncomfortably, keeping an eye on the insect holes. He sniffed carefully around the doors, then shrugged and looked to Torin and Kwin. "Your area of expertise, is it not?"
Izra sighed, quietly. Apparently, her voice had carried further than she'd expected it to in this large room.
"I was never told the prophesy. Just that it had been deliberately confounded. I did not make it to the top of Her spire for judgement. I was...it's all a bit fuzzy, really."
She shrugged, then headed towards the stairs they'd discovered.
"Alright, let's see what other goodies this place has to offer."
Torin heads down the stairs.
"Your area of expertise, is it not?"
"I'm competent with disarming traps. Spotting them, not so much. That's why I put up with this guy," he says, grinning as he throws a thumb over his shoulder at the dwarf. "Torin?"
As the Band descends the stairs, with Koshukhep in the lead, a serpentine-like head of sand suddenly explodes from the sand in the wall and attempts to bite the catfolk.
But the grasping maw is no match for Koshukhep's honed feline grace.
Torin Initiative: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (16) + 2 = 18
Koshukhep Initiative: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (13) + 3 = 16
Izra Initiative: 1d20 + 0 ⇒ (12) + 0 = 12
Creature Initiative: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (11) + 1 = 12
Kwin Initiative: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (7) + 4 = 11
Djehuti Initiative: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (2) + 8 = 10
Ahmed Initiative: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (8) + 2 = 10
Suri Initiative: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (7) + 1 = 8
This creature is a Sandling a type of Earth Elemental made of Sand. Slashing and piercing weapons will not be very effective, but they are weak to water
"Fight me!" Koshukhep roared, leaping at the sand-snakey thing with claws extended. He had no intention of letting the thing hurt his friends as badly as the giant insects had!
His claws raked down through the thing's sandy body, though whether this actually hurt it or merely irritated it wasn't clear.
"Sandling!" Izra called out in warning, "A type of earth elemental. Blades and claws will be less effective! They are susceptible to water, though," she added.
Then she called down a deluge above the thing's head.
The water just misses the Sandling. It recoils in horror at the sight of it, and then sets its hateful gaze on Izra.
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Thanks for the heads up Izra"
In a blur, Torin pulls out some blunt arrows and launches them at the creature:
W_R: Is it possible for Torin to restring the composite shortbow that we found, using materials from his current bow?
The Sandling barely reacts to the blunt arrow despite the damage it did as it is still focused on Izra.
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Djehuti grumbles something to himself about being better prepared and reaches down to pull out another arrow. He quickly aims and fires at the sandling.
Djehuti's arrow seems to simply be swallowed by the Sandling's bulk.
The Sandling glares at Izra but cannot reach her. Instead it decides to take out its anger on Koshukhep. Its maw descends on the ranger hungrily only to miss once again.
Not wanting to appear cowardly but realizing he has no effective means of attack, Kwin moves back to free up maneuvering room for others.
Having seen for himself how useless his claws were against this sandy beast, Koshu was inclined to agree with Izra. Instead he grabbed one of the waterskins hanging from his pack and tried to squeeze a stream of it at the creature, hoping this would have some effect.
With nothing else to contribute, Djehuti draws and fires again.
Izra, a little nervous at the sandling's attention,liftted her new shield, but held her ground, summoning more water.
"If you can't hurt it, try to keep it still!"
"Pour it on! Let's put it down."
The Sandling snarls as Koshukhep's stream of water hits it. But it is not enough to hinder it. But Izra's magically conjured gallons of water does. The Sandling moans as the water seems to dissolve its texture, making it sluggish.
Djehuti's arrow dings off a decent chunk of the Sandling, and then Torin wallops it.
Realising that in his current form, there is little that Ahmed can do against a creature composed of sand, Ahmed moves towards the creature and launches an attack which is merely an attempt at a distraction.
Using Ahmed's distraction to her advantage, Suri attempts to dig her claws into the creature's back.
Suri's claws manage to find purchase and tear off a slice of the Sandling's bulk. It howls in rage and decides to bite her in retaliation.
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Tossing aside his useless waterskin, Koshukhep dove in again to maul the sandling, hoping to distract it from Suri if nothing else. "I said, fight me!" he bellowed, his face wrinkled up in a fearsome snarl.
Torin just keeps firing:
Koshukhep and Torin finally bring down the Sandling. It collapses into a pile of wet, sandy mush.
Izra Takes a deep breath, then lets it out, carefully. Just for good measure, she drops another wash of water on the pile of sand, hoping to wash the remains away, or reveal any ruse.
"Carefully, now. If there are more of these things about, we'll need to-"
She cut off suddenly, having finally realized the severity of Suri's injuries.
"Are you all right?"
As the sand creature takes a bit of Suri's flesh away with his teeth, blood and fire pour from her skin, to Ahmed's horror. As the other's dispatch the sand monster, he runs up to her, wrapping his arms around her. "Take the energy from me," he whispers, trying to sound soothing but obviously somewhat shaken from the ordeal.
Suri reluctantly puts her hands on Ahmed's face. His skin lights up as she draws fire from within him, though only the smallest possible to stabilize her own wounds. "Take more," he orders, but she shakes her head in sadness. "Your current form wouldn't be able to handle it." While outraged at the idea, he knows she's right. "I'll be okay." she announces to Izra, forcing a smile.
Djehuti goes over to scrape the toe of his boot through the heap of sand that was the sandling. "Interesting. Is this a bound defender or an opportunist?" He mutters to himself as he pulls out his notebook to jot down a description of the creature and their encounter.
A tapestry hangs from a frame against the south wall of this large chamber; it depicts an otherworldly vista where the souls of the dead, shepherded by strange beings, enter an ethereal river ambling through space toward a landscape dominated by an impossibly tall spire. Columns sculpted in the shape of Osirian warriors wielding khopeshes stand in all four corners of the room. The floor is tiled in a white spiral pattern on a black background, and this spiral pattern is repeated on the stone double doors to the north, east, and west.
Izra looked around. The scene was vaguely familiar to her, as was the symbology on the floor and doors.
"Someone truly wished this man safe travels to Pharasma's judgement." She nodded, though whether it was in approval, or just punctuation to her own statement, wasn't clear.
She looked around the room, seeking for any potential clues.
"Why? What's the significance of this?" asks Kwin motioning towards the spirals and columns. "I mean, I'm not saying you're wrong, I just don't know anything about this... religion."