"Let's be sure. Just to be safe." He says, stopping short of the entrance to the north. "Everyone, be on the lookout for anything out of the ordinary, or out of place." Darvesch looks about the room for anything that may seem odd, out of place, or out of the ordinary, like it may be a trap.
Mal holds up a hand and scouts head, to allow his nose to inform him of what your eyes cannot. After a few moments, he returns and says, "Smells like there's more ghouls who 'live' in this place, but by the smell of it, they aren't here now. There's still a lot of fresh tracks leading into the water, but not nearly as many coming back in."
Stealth Checks
Survival Checks
"So the undead hunt by sea and their living kin by land. My but what a foul and fascinating ecosystem developed here... Too bad for them that I had designs on this island. Plenty of good hunting, wouldn't you say, Mal?"
If the sarcasm in Priyya's voice didn't inform you of her thoughts on such an arrangement, the way her aura flares as she tests the draw on her bow surely does. "As for an ambush, they would have been better served to do that from the start. The ones we destroyed a few minutes ago seemed almost lost without their priestess."
Mal gives the indomitable woman a sardonic grin. "Hunting undead is sport for you, but I wouldn't start calling them game just yet."
With a nod to Darvesch, the inquisitor leads you up the twisting ramp. To your right, you can see the low ledge where Nylithati spotted the light from Lureene's spell. To the left is a long cavern scattered with bones, body parts, and bits of seaweed. A hole in the floor to the west echoes with the sloshing of waves. Beyond it, a cliff overlooks the watery grotto below.
At the far end of the north wall, it looks like there is another tunnel doubling back.
MAP: VV - Caves of the Mother, (Round 380)
"Alright everyone. It looks like the cathedral and its guardian are all that's left. What do you want to do from here?"
After Darvesch speaks, Lureene looks about her and represses a shudder as she remembers the late Captain Kovack and how he wanted to feed on her in that dreadful place. I do NOT feel like going back to that horrible place! Still I wonder how many other ghouls are left. It is a good thing we are not staying the night here.
”This place looks clear, and it looks like there is just one place she could have her chamber located.” She points at the passageway doubling back to the east. ”It looks like that is our next destination.”
Apparently Lureene has chosen to ignore Darvesch, at least for the moment.
"I do want to see what that dark..." she hesitates to glorify it with the word 'cathedral, "place still holds, but let's she what we find down that passageway in the north wall."
You move closer to the cliff overlooking the sea caves below and find a small tunnel sloping upwards and curving around to the east. "Smells like that hag was the only one to ever come this way," Mal mutters.
Upon reaching its terminus, you find that the cave walls are covered with carvings of snakes and skeletons. A hideous mound of bones and dripping seaweed forms what can only be "A nest?" in the middle of the room.
Stealth Checks
Survival Checks
MAP: VV - Caves of the Mother, (Round 346)
Lureene gazes about her, and softly responds "I don't know about the decorative motif in this place. I suspect 'Lis would be appalled by this, if she were here."
She shrugs, while chanting a detect magic cantrip. "Well, let's see if she left anything here for us to discover."
"I wonder what those mean.." he stops for a moment, and ponders out loud as he looks to the mound, "..I wonder" He begins dismantling the mound of bones, scattering them about, trying to sort through them, hoping he might find something of use or value.
Within the stinking, sopping pile, Darvesch finds a large round stone tile. There can be no doubt that this disc is from the same era as the cathedral to Typhon - the finishing on the stone and the elegant serpentine runes are of the same quality. It appears to have been mended by magic at some point as evidenced by carvings that have been 'erased' as the original state of the stone was restored along where it must have cracked.
Idiot amateurs these giants, he thinks.
In the center of the disc, is a bas relief carving of a giant cobra winding around a great sphere, perhaps Elsemar itself. However, upon closer examination, you can see that its body is comprised of thousands of humanoid forms intertwined. The script is written around the perimeter of the top face, although he is unable to determine what it says. The fact that some of the runes have been erased by a mending spell doesn't help matters.
As Darvesch looks at the stone, Lureene discovers several vials containing magical liquids.
Before Lureene can even begin to speculate on what they are, Priyya's eyes narrow. "Unless any of you have a death wish, I would recommend against taste-testing those potions."
She looks over her shoulder at the inquisitive succubus she just heard casting detect magic. "Evil... and not the warm fuzzy kind. Although I suppose ghoul fever could at least make deliver on the warm part. As for whether or not Alis would be appalled, unless Darvesch can climb while carrying several hundred pounds of stone under his arm, we just get to find out. Unless we wait until dawn tomorrow, I suspect she's the only one among us who might have a spell prepared now to translate these glyphs."
She looks up at Mal and continues, "After ensuring these caves are secured for a royal walk-thru of course."
Lureene sighs at the mild rebuke from the warrior-priestess. At least everything turned out ok, I hope. Shrugging again, she replies "Do you think the cathedral would be safe to explore, now that Nylithita has met her end? Or does the avatar lurk there still?" Her tome shows no desire to head back there, but she also realizes they needed to determine why Ieana went there to begin with.
"Only one way to find out," Mal grumbles.
Lureene replies, "Well, since we need to head back in that direction anyway, we could just peek in. I could summon another beetle and have it check things out. That seems to be the least risky way to see if that avatar is still there."
"You know, I'll go ahead and take a peek. I'm not sure how descriptive a beetle will be when asked to give details of the room." He says as if he had only just discovered sarcasm. "If I see it still milling about, I'll make sure to run back into the tunnel. I'm not eager to meet round two of its fangs, but I'm not afraid to at least check if it's their still."
He makes a note of the stone in this 'room' and heads toward the cathedral where the 'avatar' last resided.
Lureene looks at Dravesch with an odd look on her face. Is he ...MAKING FUN of me??
She tries to keep the irritation out of her voice as she responds, "Dravesch, All I was saying is if there is any threat in the cathedral, it would go after the beetle first, rather than you or anyone else."
"But remember, it didn't wake up and assault us immediately. It wasn't until after Priyya channelled the will of her goddess that it woke. No offense Priyya, simply an observation. I'm just not sure a beetle is the best option knowing that, though it is otherwise a great idea." He places his hand on her back, since he can't quite reach her shoulder without being awkward, "Save your spells, we might need them later. I'll be fine." He says with a hint of an apologetic tone in his voice.
"No offense taken. As you say, it is a simple observation, nothing more. I do think it would be best to avoid casting any spells in the vicinity of that chamber, particularly ones that call upon the higher planes."
Lureene flinches at the dwarf's touch, clearly not used to someone touching her at that particular spot. As a matter of fact, the last man to touch her there was...Lureene's face flushes in a recollection of memories.
On Priyy'a statement, her face falls, but she nods in agreement. "You are right, Priyya. Even summoning one of my creatures would be risky, as they all reside in the Celestial Realm...their celestial blood may trigger the avatar's return."
She readies her gear, and motions to Mal. "I am ready to go, this place gives me the creeps."
"Agreed." With that, Darvesch leads the group to the cathedral where the Avatar last resided.
"Roger that, let's get going then."
As your group retraces their steps and you approach the fissure leading to the cathedral, Mal calls a halt. "Darvesch, want me to tie a rope around you? If you get knocked out at least we could haul you back out."
Priyya smirks. "Well, that's the hope anyway. Either that or Mal wants to go fishing."
"Fine. Make it quick." He reluctantly agrees. After the rope is tied, he walks to the end of the tunnel, careful not to move too quickly. He looks toward the south of the cathedral, as more of it comes into view, and braces himself for whatever surprise he might face.
Upon finishing his knotwork, Mal gives the seemingly fearless dwarf a nod and grips the other end of the rope tight. "Hopefully this will go better than earlier."
He recollects the way in which you entered the cave complex. On both counts...
While the rest of you steel yourselves for the worst further back, Darvesch seems to place more emphasis on seeing what notice his approach generates rather than on being completely stealthy. Yet if there is anything lurking inside the chamber then it is completely silent. Tightening the grip on his axe and shield, he leans out into the room, wary for attack before quickly ducking back.
Nothing.
He takes a second, longer look and finds that the enormous cobra you encountered earlier has reverted back into a spiraling pile of bodies at the south end of the room. Kovack and the other ghouls remain on the ground, broken and torn where you felled them.
When no reaction is forthcoming, he steps several feet out into the chamber and waits for a good minute with no signs of movement from anything in the room.
Stealth Checks
Lureene watches the progress of the dwarf with more than a little trepidation. Even the lack of any response from the cathedral's residents fails to reassure her.
She glances at Priyya, and asks in a barely audible whisper, "Would it be wise to check the area for evil emanantions?"
Priyya give the succubus a sidelong glance before answering dryly, "Yes it would, and yes it does."
That's all I needed. Darvesch walks slowly to the pile of bones that used to belong to the animated cobra-thing. Making sure he's at a distance the thing won't reach immediately, he says to himself "Kahn, grant me the power to purge this evil with cleansing flame." He holds his axe tightly in his hand, and walks to the Avatar. Instead of poking the thing, and potentially starting off without an advantage, he raises his axe high into the air and forces the axe downward with all his might.
With grim resolve, Darvesch brings his axe crashing down into the middle of the 8-foot tall wall of corpses.
Bones and dried out husks of what were once men splinter and burst apart at the furious blow. And then in the next moment, Darvesch knew darkness!
From outside, the rest of you hear a tumbling sound and the noise of Darvesch's armor impacting the floor... hard!
With a curse, Mal pulls on the rope but it doesn't budge.
Dammit, what's going on?
Dropping the line, he yells, "KEEP TRYING!"
He rushes forward into the room, claws bared and stops not 10-feet into the room. There, up ahead, lies Darvesch, buried under a veritable pile of smoldering corpses, a section 8-feet tall and 10-feet wide having collapsed atop him.
The hell did he do?
As he watches, the rope goes taut again and Priyya slowly pulls Darvesch free, a few corpses still atop him as his armor scrapes loudly along the floor.
"Okay, OKAY!" It's everything he can do not to laugh. Reaching down he flings aside the dead bodies as if they were rag dolls covering a child. "So I take it there was a cave-in, huh?"
He extends the determined warrior a large hand and pulls Darvesch back to his feet with relative ease.
Wonder if taking a leak on it would do anything...
"Hey Lureene, get up here..."
Reflex DC 10
Lureene hurries into the cathedral, her wand ready...and stops. She looks at the dwarf piled up in the bony, gory remains of the corpses, and then realizes the avatar has not manifested...At least, not yet anyway.
She gives Darvesch a look of amusement, tinged with exasperation, and responds with a note of sulkiness "I did NOT memeorize a prestidigiation spell, so you will have to clean yourself off using soap and LOTS of HOT water."
She then scans the area for any signs of activity.
"Yeah. A collapse. Let's not talk about it and check out the rest of this cathedral." He gets up and brushes himself off, then proceeds to walk around the cathedral, along the wall counter-clockwise.
Priyya surveys the disarrayed corpses, Darvesch's burning axe, and the slowly burning pile of collapsed corpses. "Well, that's one approach to preventing an avatar from manifesting. Disrupt the summoning rite itself. Clever..."
Here's hoping it actually works.
Darvesch and Lureene sweep north along the east wall while Malandraenas and Priyya take the west. Four massive stone pillars, carved like coiling serpents support the vaulted ceiling 60-feet above. Four small cells blocked by rusted bars sit in the walls to the east and west. All of them are empty. To the north, an immense carving of a snake's head looms, and ash-caked door clenched in its jaws.
Upon reaching the doors, Darvesch points out that the fact they are covered in ash reminds him of a gas explosion in a confined space, although clearly the vastness of this chamber is anything but confined. As she leans closer to have a look, something (perhaps the soot) agitates Lureene's nose and she gives a loud sneeze that resounds off the stone walls several times.
Nearby, Priyya softly mutters a prayer and flashes the succubus a brief smile. Lureene suspects that it must have been a blessing for good health.
Stealth Checks
Bluff Checks
Sense Motive Checks:
After approaching the snake-door, he takes a guarded position, and warns "Be on your guard." After waiting for everyone to gather and guard themselves, he tries to open the door.
Lureene returns Priyya's smile, Gods, I hope I am not getting sick here.
She sees Darvesch approaching the door, and holds up her hand. "Hold up, Darv. It may be trapped." She cautiously heads towards the door, checking for any glyphs or othe markings indicating a magical trap.
When Lureene steps forward to examine the area for traps, she steps within the area of the scorch mark before even realizing what she has done. Thankfully, whatever trap was here seems to have been completely discharged earlier and she is unable to locate any actual mechanisms. Resorting to spellcraft instead, she detects the lingering traces of a greater glyphs of warding on the floor and ceiling.
What's more, she also notices several empty vials nearby radiating traces of conjuration magic.
"Hmm, style of glasswork is the same as some I remember seeing on Ieana's belt." Mal goes to have a look and sniffs at one carefully. "Yep, smell like her too... Well her if she'd just climbed out of a blast furnace anyway."
Priyya clucks her tongue in mock concern. "Be a terrible shame if her spellbook went up in smoke..."
MAP: VV - Caves of the Mother, (Round 432)
Lureene regards Mal with a serious look on her face, "So, what you are saying is she deliberately triggered the glyphs on herself? Why would she need to do that? To summon the avatar of Typhon?" She looks back towards the southern end of the cathedral. ...Or did she sacrifice Kovack here to bring the avatar here?"
"What?!" Mal looks at Lureene like she just stabbed him in the ear with a spoon and tried to stir his brains. "Are you fvcking with me again?"
Priyya lays a hand on Mal's arm. There is a gleam in her lustrous eyes and the hints of a smile at the corners of her mouth. "What Mal's saying, Lureene, is is that Ieana did as good a job of finding the trap as you did and walked right into it."
With a growl, the big hunter extends a hand to the shorter priestess. "Yeah, that. C'mon if Kovack had gotten hit with something like this do you think there would have been much left of him? There's... four vials here!"
Lureene struggles for a few seconds beofre comprehension dawns on her. So Ieana made it here on her own, and was not guided by Nylithita? Was she aware of Ieana at all? Too many questions...
"OK, so Ieana was not as...ummm....skilled as myself when it comes to bypassing magical traps..." She affixes a glare on the priestess and the ranger, forestalling any sarcastic rejoinders, at least not openly. "So, if she felt it necessary to risk immolation to breach that door, then we need to see what is on the other side!"
"Then I'm opening it. Brace yourselves, just in case." He then proceeds to try opening the door.
Keeping his shield up, Darvesch throws his weight against the doors. With little effort, the double doors swing inward on silent hinges revealing an octagonal room beyond.
A low stone altar, its sides carved like coiling snakes and its top carved to resemble a yawning viper’s maw, sits in the center of this room. Each wall of the chamber is carved with different images of anthropomorphic serpents using strange, pointed megaliths of stone to work great feats of magic—transforming an army of humans into zombies, calling down flaming bolts of lightning from the stars, or parting the waters of the sea to dash human ships upon the exposed rocks of the seabed below. This final image seems to have been recently cleaned of dust, and several lines of the strange text you observed elsewhere have been made more legible via the application of inks and perhaps blood.
MAP: VV - Caves of the Mother, (Round 441)
Lureene gazes at the images on each wall of this altar chamber, her mind racing. "So...Ieana made it here, and if I am not mistaken, she learned the ritual to part the waters in that crab shaped lagoon Aycenia mentioned earlier. She is getting close to what she seeks, if she has not already achieved it!"
She chants another cantrip and scans the altar, along with the wall images seeing if they still hold any magical auras still.
Darvesch studies the images and the text.
The carvings themselves do not appear to be magic. While you suspect that spells such a prestidigitation or make whole could have been used to clean or restore the carvings, you also realize that any such magical auras would have faded away less than a minute after having been cast.
While you cannot read the inscriptions, you can at least make out the scene carved in bas relief that Ieana was presumably examining.
These carvings depict anthropomorphic serpents splashing blood on curved runes carved on upright stones. They stand before a red mountain. The snakemen then hold fanged serpents against the blood that they might lick it. The next scene shows one of the celebrants pouring a liquid from an ornate bowl onto a pyramid-shaped block of red stone. After that, all of the celebrants stand before the stone pyramid with arms upraised and mouths agape as if shouting to the heavens. Lastly, you see a scene that seems all too familiar — bolts of lightning arcing up from the stones to the clouds, and parting seas sending ships full of humans crashing to the seabed.
Lureene studies the inscriptions for a few moments, but inspiration eludes her. She turns to Darvesch and asks him, "I am not sure what else Ieana was seeking, other than instructions to perform the ritual. And it looks like she was successful. Do you believe there are any other hidden passages leading from the cathedral?" Her tone indicates a belief this palce has been fully explored.
She then turns to Mal, "I think it is safe here, at least for now. Do you believe it is secure enough to have Alis join us?"
Mal whispers, casting a light spell onto one of the empty vials and hurls it down the long cathedral chamber illuminating it as it goes. Just before it smashes on the far wall, you can see that the disarrayed pile of bodies has stirred no further. He recasts his light spell on his claws, then turns to Lureene and shrugs. "Guess it's as safe as we can hope for now. Want me to head back and get her?"
Lureene nods quickly, "Yes, please bring her back here. if she can decipher these inscriptions, then this will shed some light as to what Ieana is trying to accomplish." She lightly touches the warrior on his arm. "Thanks SOOO much. Please hurry."