Carefully, Alis reaches down and gently picks up one of the snakes. She holds it up to each of the tall stones in turn, allowing its to lick the blood on each of the stones in turn. As the serpents vanish at the spell, she reaches out and takes the goblet from Sasha, motioning for the rest of you to step back a few feet.
Heeding her instructions, you do just that. You watch quietly as the sea water poured into the top of the pyramid runs down channels in it side, pooling in the basins at base of each side. As the last of the water flows out of the goblet, Alis takes a deep breath and raises her hands high above her head.
In a loud, clear voice, she shouts a single word, ""
ghoul fever 1/2 saves DC 16
diseased
Theme: The Blood of Qingu
The moment Alis shouts the ancient name into the sky, the wind, crash of surf and sounds of the jungle all fade to silence. For several heartbeats, you stand in silence wondering... waiting. It is then that you feel all the hairs on your arms and neck stand on end and the smell of ozone permeating the night air.
Suddenly you are blinded by the searing flash of lightning arcing up from the four megaliths! The shockwave of thunder drives the breath from your chest and you fall to your knees desperately trying to shield both eyes and ears from the overwhelming cacophony of light and sound.
Yet the initial thunderclap is as nothing compared to the deafening roar coming from your west. Wincing in pain, you look down to witness an incredible sight. As if pushed by the hand of some invisible titan, the glowing green waters of the lagoon are swept away, back out to the sea, perhaps beyond, exposing what lies beneath.
As you watch, desperately hoping that the thunder ringing in your ears will subside, your attention is caught by movement to the south. There, just beyond what has become a waterfall, a set of great stone door swing open at the base of the cliff above a curling spur of rock. Seaweed covers the doors, handing down in thick green and black sheets, just obscuring some sort of carvings on their surface.
At last, after nearly a minute, the lightning and roar of receding waters finally subsides. The low thrum of powerful, ancient magics can be felt as much a heard emanating from the tide stones still warm from the great power they just channeled.
Looking around, you can see that Sasha is cursing up a storm while Priyya is barking back at her in visibile irritation, however, when the two turn to Alis, pointing fingers and gesticulating angrily, you can only hear a dull ringing sound. Nearby, Talvyra lies on the ground, covering her ears while King Tut goes from hugging Lureene's face for dear life to springing over to his mistress whereupon he promptly ducks inside her tiny backpack and out of sight, only his tail visible.
After few moments, just as she looks about to blow, Alis waves a hand and points do the lagoon whereupon you all gather at the edge and take in the sight below. Seaweed, sea urchins of all colors, bright green anemones, scuttling kep crabs, and bare rock glisten there, laid bare to the sky by the departed waters.
In the middle of the lagoon, a derelict old ship, previously submerged has become visible. The front two-thirds of the wrecked ship lie upon the rocks, its bow mostly submerged but its ruined midsection propped up on a ridge of slimy rock. The sides of the wreck are thick with seaweed and barnacles. Dozens of crabs clatter around on its deck.
MAP: Y-The Tide Stone, (Round 117)
ghoul fever 1/2 saves DC 16
diseased
Lureene can hear nothing except the insistent ringing in her ears. She holds her hands up covering her ears, then hold her fingers up in a 'wait a moment' gesture.
While she waits for her hearing to return, she focuses her attention on the derelict shipwreck revealed scanning for any movement from it.
It takes a few moments, but before long Alis and Priyya (and Sasha presumably after a rebuke from the warrior priestess) come to realize that everyone else has been deafened by the effect of the ritual.
While Priyya examines Mal and Darvesch to ensure that the condition is indeed only temporary, Lureene squints down at the moonlit shipwreck below. While she can see some crabs skittering about and fish flopping on the floor of the lagoon, that's about all she can make out.
Once she's able to verify that each of you is finally able to hear again, Alis says, "Well according to Aycenia, there was a span of about 6 hours between when she saw this same display last night and when she heard the waters return."
She points down to the door you've all observed. "Unless anyone has any compelling theories to the contrary, I'm guessing that Ieana must have been trying to enter... well, whatever is behind those doors. Hopefully we can get in and get back out without getting trapped. Judging by that fact that Lureene cast her mage armor on herself, Priyya, and me about 15 minutes ago, I'd say that if we're in there long enough for it to wear off on its own that we need to get out as quickly as we're able... unless, of course, we can find some other way back out."
Taking a deep breath and running a hand across the thick braids encircling her head, she asks, "Any questions or counsel before we get started?"
Lureene nods, relieved her hearing has returned to normal. "Yes 'Lis, I agree with you about Ieana. Since the waters DID return to cover up those doors, we know Ieana is either still inside that...complex, or she escaped it and fled elsewhere on the Shiv. Since she knew about the ritual beforehand, I suspect she left the complex and is is hiding out on Red Mountain, but I cannot be certain of that. She may still be trapped inside, so we need to be cautious."
Mal takes in the news and frowns. "So she ether went in and left in under 6 hours, or she stayed in there and is still inside, or she went in, stayed in, and discovered a new way out, huh?"
He shrugs. "I'm not searching the whole damn mountain for someone who might not be out there. Let's go see what she came for."
"Hey, think we should check that old ship down there?" Sasha asks. "Maybe there's some more stuff we can take!"
"Ummm...Sash? I don't think we will have time to search that shipwreck for any sunken treasure. However, I DO think we need to swing by it, to make sure Ieana did not leave any surprises for us."
"If there are any surprises left for us, wouldn't we want to avoid the ship?" Darvesch asks.
"Tsk, tsk," Priyya clucks, a subtle smile evident in her almond-shaped eyes, "you're just saying that because it's logical, aren't you, Darvesch?"
Although Priyya's comment goes over Lureene's head, it's pretty obvious to the rest of you that she's teasing Lureene again, albeit somewhat more gently than usual. Sasha just stands rolling her eyes behind the priestess' back, clearly irritated with her for some reason.
"Of course," she gestures over the cliff at the empty lagoon below, "if we want to reach those doors, we'll either have to pass by or thru that wreck or swim for it."
Lureene shakes her head, confusion on her pretty face. Was that meant as a joke? I wonder, it did make sense to me...
When she hears the suggestion about swimming to the doors, a look of revulsion passes over her face clearly showing what she thinks of THAT idea.
"If it's all the same to you, I would much rather walk to the doors." She glances at the shipwreck again. "I can summon some aquatic monsters and send them to the shipwreck. If there is something like that crablike beast we fought back at the Pearl, then it should be flushed out. Best to do that rather than have it sneak up on us."
"Have we seen any shred of evidence that Ieana even knows we're here much less cares? She didn't leave any traps in the caves and Kovack's scrawl didn't indicate any such suspicions. And this damn place," he sweeps his arm out over the bluff, "was already guarded by a devil. If she had a mind to care about being pursued, she's missed several really good chances to do something decisive about it."
Picking up his pack he starts heading back below. "Go flinch at your own shadow if you like but don't expect the rest of us to."
Priyya simply shrugs and calls out, "Don't hold back now, Mal, tell us how you really feel!"
"Calm down! We have our goal in sight. Let's get to it already!" Darvesch snaps. "We can't afford to sit here and whine about 'what if's' and 'i'm right, you're wrong's'. Time is wasting away, people!" Darvesch starts toward his goal, the stone doors.
Lureene thinks, Has Mal taken leave of his senses? Did he forget about Aerys and the others being kidnapped by the giants earlier? How does he thinks the giants even knew about us? Not to mention that avatar!
She starts to retort to the stoic ranger, but is stopped short by Darvesch's exclamation. She nods at him, "Right, Darvesch. Let's go."
She waves Mal forward, and smirks "After you, my brave warrior!"
Sasha sticks her tongue out at Mal and Priyya's backs and says to her friend, "Don't worry, I'll shoot up whatever you like, Ellie!"
With that, all of you head below to find that the water level is now a good 20-feet lower than before, the rocks slippery and treacherous. Noting that Darvesch isn't exactly well-suited for puddle-jumping, the huntress asks, "Which way did you guys want to go anyway? I was thinking we could just hop across to the rocks the boat is wrecked on and just walk along the edge like that."
"That sounds fine to me. Does anyone have any polite objections to that?" She keeps her eyes on Lureene and Mal as she stresses the word 'polite'. For his part, Mal remains silent.
Lureene shakes her head, responding with just a trace of sulkiness."No, 'Lis, I think that is a good plan."
Acrobatics DC 17: Jump from O13 to Q12
Acrobatics DC 17: Jump from AF11 to AI13
Acrobatics DC 30: (10-ft, severely obstructed) Jump from O12 to Q12
Climb DC 15
Swim DC 10
Perception Checks
It takes a couple of minutes for all of you to make your way down onto the sandy, slimy rocks at the base of the lagoon. Rather than swimming, you decide to stick to the ground as much as possible hurdling across the flooded rifts in the ground as you come to them.
This doesn't prove overly difficult to most of you. In fact, Alis, Lureene, Mal, Priyya, and Sasha make it look downright simple. Of course, none of them are as heavily armed as Darvesch or harbor as strong of an aversion to water as Talvyra.
On his initial attempt to leap the first gulf, Darvesch stops short and just keeps himself from going in. Realizing that he's going to need more of a run-up, he backs up and tries again this time making it over safely. The next jump proves easier for him, but not Talvyra who ends up half-soaked when she comes up about two feet short. A low rumble escapes her, green eyes glowering at anyone with the temerity to stare.
As you head south towards the wreck, Alis gives a low whistle and points out into the pool at the base of the waterfall and the deeper channel to your west — sharks!
"Good thing we didn't opt to swim for it..."
Approaching the old shipwreck, you can make out a placard covered in verdigris:
As you get closer, you can see that the end of the ship does not actually rest upon the rocks entirely leaving a nearly 20-foot gap strewn with old timbers and other debris. Without batting an eye, Alis hops across followed shortly thereafter by Mal. The rest of you, however, do not fare so well. One after the other, Priyya and Lureene come up short and find themselves in the water.
Although the warrior priest climbs out quickly, Lureene has a much more difficult time and ends up flailing about with futility.
"Don't worry, El, I'll save you!"
After firing a couple warning shots at a nearby shark tugging futilely on her friend's leg, Sasha jumps in and helps to get her water-logged friend untangled from the seaweed clutching her foot. The look on Mal's face when he pulls her out is a cross between resignation and exasperation and he offers no comment.
With a kick of her heel to its nose, Sasha manages to fend off another shark before quickly clambering up out of the water. "Good thing you're made out of tougher stuff than your boot, El, or we'd be making you a peg leg! Hahaha!"
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Nearby, Talvyra merely glowers as she attempts to leap up and crawl her way across the ragged lower deck of the ship only to have her claws lose their purchase on the slick decking her into the drink again. She hops out of the shark infested waters with a speed you didn't entirely think possible, ears pressed back against her head, teeth bared, and tail swishing in agitation.
With a sigh, Mal notes that his Little Sister wasn't the only one to take such a route. Knowing full well that if even Lureene and Priyya couldn't make the jump then he surely couldn't, Darvesch also attempted the seemingly safer climb only to end up in the drink as well.
Unable to do more than tread water, the stalwart dwarf is forced to endure the insistent prodding of sharks against his mithril cuirass and tugging on the mail at his joints before the big ranger is able to throw him a rope and pull him out. More than one ends up getting a gauntletted fist to the gills for its effort and the dwarven warrior comes out with a few shark teeth stuck in his kit as souvenirs for his trouble.
You are in the midst of drying yourselves out when you hear a high-pitched, nasal voice coming from atop the wreck.
"Gadzooks, we've got men overboard in shark infested... rocks?!"
Looking up, you see a small, blue-skinned humanoid with long ears, leathery wings, and about half his teeth missing. He points you out with his pipe to a squirming anemone he holds in his left hand while a jaunty, albeit soggy, bicorn threatens to fall down over his eyes.
"You there landlubbers, report on this damnable low tide!"
MAP: Y-The Tide Stone, (Round 226)
Lureene sighs in relief now that she has dried off her wings. I really am starting to hate this place...I wish this whole island would slide into---
The words coming from the wreck startles her, and she turns her gaze to the strange creature which just addresses the group. For some reason, he reminds her of the Knight-Captain Felmor Traker who had been apart from the party for a couple of months now.
She cautiously waves back to the individual, "Well, I am no sailor but I believe low tides happen every day on a regular basis. Who are you?"
As she addresses the individual, she looks him over trying to determine if he has extraplanar origins...
When you look up, those of you who have any knowledge of planar creatures immediately recognize the little fellow as a water mephit. The impish looking thing sighs and shakes his head sadly. "Just like the old admiral said, women are for lookin' not sailin'. Well at least you're all a bunch of lookers even if you don't know port from starboard. Er–" he spies Mal and Darvesch still near the edge, "well the ladies are lookers least ways..."
He flaps down and puts the anemone in a puddle before rapping his pipe sharply on the broken mast. "Now then, what are all you lasses strutting around The Salty Strumpet for? Don't go getting any funny ideas 'bout seducin' my crew out from under me. Shore leave is one thing but I'll brook no deserters!"
Lureene sighs in relief, noting he did not appear to be hostile. She gives the mephit a dazzling smile, "You are SOOooo right! I hate to sail Just talk to anyone else here, they will back me up, ha ha!" She pauses and looks off to the south where the doors await. "I have no plans on seducing any member of your crew. I am curious to know, have you run across any other...umm...lookers recently?"
The mephit doesn't appear to be particularly impressed by Lureene's admission that she hates sailing. Shaking his little blue head, he puts the stem of his pipe in his mouth and blows a few bubbles, gazing dubiously at the buxom winged woman before him.
"Ahoy Captain," Alis calls out, "even if my sister doesn't like to sail, you're not the only one here who knows how to read a sextant or to ride out a gale with a drogue. How fare your lads with the Strumpet resting on her keel as she does? Maybe a bit of shore leave would be good for morale."
"The name's Wardove, Captain Wardove, and these are my mates. That's my curly headed sister, Ellie you're talking to so mind you eyes and hands. Now then, let's have the pleasure of your name you salty old sea dog!"
The little Captain's bright yellow eyes go wide upon hearing familiar jargon from the slightly shorter blonde. He flies up before Lureene and sweeps his hat off is smooth little head in a grandiose bow.
"Captain Ekubus of The Salty Strumpet. Hope you weren't takin' no offense, your sister's a fine piece of work and I do like the wings. Now then Miss Ellie," he kisses Lureene's hand before he situates his oversized hat back on his head, "what was it you were askin' ag'in?"
He furrows his brow, gaze drifting down from her face for a moment. "Mmm... Oh that's right! Lookers you said! Well, ain't nobody come along in some time that I'd call a looker, least not compared to present company, but now that you mention it, you're not the first folks to pass this way recently. Not the first extra-low tide the crew have seen lately either for that matter... Anyhows, a funny-lookin' lass came thru here just last night actually and went thru those big scary doors. Ain't seen 'er since."
"Then she's still there." He mumbles to himself, mostly. "We have our mission then. Get in, find Ieana, and stop her. Agreed?" He looks to his companions.
Lureene smiles at the gallantry displayed by the Captain, although inwardly she is confused. I don't know of any mephits that claim to be Captains of vessels that are no longer seaworthy...still it is good to know Ieana entered here and did not leave, at least not through this door anyway.
She waves to Darvesch to hold a moment. Trying to keep the excitement out of her voice, she replies "Really? Did this lady talk to you at all? Was she alone? Do you know of any others that have passed through those doors before she did?"
"Don't know that I'd be callin' a lass with a tail instead of legs a lady," he takes off his hat and scratches his bald pate before blowing some more bubbles out of his pipe. "Anyhows, she came down that gulch with a big old brute behind her, giant of some kind with red tattoos all over 'im. That's when he showed up, the scaly bastard with wings what carried off the Admiral an' his prize sextant..."
The mephit takes a seat on a turtle that begins crawling along like some walking stool. "Oh I know the good Admiral gave that demon what-for, but 'at was the laaast I seen of 'im, gods bless 'is heart..."
"Been stuck here ever since, run aground on these rocks, no instruments to guide the lads and I home."
He pats the hull of The Salty Strumpet and one of the board gives way, obviously turned to mush from countless years of rot.
"Where was I?" He looks around from one woman to the next, seemingly not paying any attention to the men, "Oh right, the girl! Anyhows, when I seen that she cast some sort of spell on the demon that left it addled, then bled that giant brute dry, I reckoned she weren't no more a lady than me mum and figured it best not to hail her. Never much cared for gals with scales anyhows..."
Suddenly, Ekubus looks toward Darvesch and starts shaking his pipe at him, clearly agitated. "Well don't you think they're scary then? Oh no, not you in all that fine armor, no course not. Well I don't like it, not one bit! Who in the bloody hell builds doors under the sea anyway an' then covers 'em with carvings of bloody vampires?! Real head case I tell you that!"
For some time the mephit wanders about calling a uniform inspection for a group of crabs edging their way away from the ship and its mad little captain.
Lureene sits back and thinks on the tale Ekubus told. So Ieana, who is some sort of serpent race, made it to the Stone and was attacked by the Devil, but her giant bodyguard fended off the attacks. Then she enspelled it in some way to kill her bodyguard. Now she is in this ruin where serpent vampires are said to be....and she is still in there, we think. But WHY??
She pulls out the brass sextant Sasha discovered in the nest of the Devil. "Captain Ekubus, I wanted to thank you for your information. Your instincts were correct, that serpent woman would have killed you had she seen you. We are going to stop her." She hands him the sextant, "We found this after we slew the Devil guarding that place. Would this be what your Admiral lost?"
Ekubus' eyes go wide and he reaches up eagerly to grasp the well-crafted instrument. He turns it over in his hands a few times until he finds what he was looking for.
"To Captain Farrell, love Molly," he reads. With a sniff, he wipes away a tear. "Ye've a heart as gold as your head, lass. Aye, that be the one..."
After a moment, he looks up and exclaims, "Billy!"
He then flies off into the wreck and you hear a commotion as he reprimands a crew-member for attacking a superior officer and to "stand down!"
About a minute later, her returns with a new hole in his hat and a coil of seemingly brand new rope in his hands. "Billy here's not much for a life at sea, but he does an honest day's work if'n ye ask nice. Don't figure what with havin' wings n' all that you'll be workin' together ere long, but if ye could help him to find a new port ta call home, ye seem good at findin' things..."
With that, he flies up and droops the coil of rope around the succubus' shoulders. You note that at one end it has a gold fist holding what appears to be a small, black anchor. On instinct, Lureene casts detect magic and discovers that "Billy" radiates an aura of faint transmutation — a rope of climbing!
Spellcraft Checks
Lureene stares at the rope of climbing and is surprised to feel tears forming in her eyes. Such a sweet man…errr…mephit! Not wanting to embarrass herself any further, she gives the Captain a brief hug and kiss on his bluish cheek.
”You are so kind, Captain Ekubus. I will make sure Billy finds a good home once I have earned my wings. Please take care of yourself, and if you do see the scaly woman, stay away from her. ”
She then stows the rope in her pack and looks to the others, ready to proceed.
"Let's do this then. It was nice meeting you, Captain. But now, we have something to take care of." Darvesch walks through the doors.
"Well g'night and smooth sailin' to ya, so's ta speak."
With that, the good 'captain' flies back to The Salty Strumpet and begins performing what can only be a uniform inspection... on the barnacles.
Poor little guy is probably half-mad with loneliness. That was sweet of Lureene though.
Alis smirks at the odd little being's quirky nature even Tut helps her to pull the seaweed off the open doors so that she can better examine them. Once they have been cleared away, she conjures up her dancing lights spell to have a better look.
"Priyya," her look darkens, "come have a look at this, please."
"Something interesting?"
Gazing up at the door, the Surya-ka-Vahaak's brows furrows at the scenes of vampiric demons feasting on young maidens.
"Wait, is that...?" Her gaze snaps to Alis, a questioning look on her face.
[spoiler="Rolls"]Perception Checks
The princess shirks away from the door, one hand clutched to her heart, her face a cross between fear and revulsion. Looking to her friend, she nods solemnly. "Charelle..."
Lureene overhears Alis’ response, and her heart constricts in a spasm of fear. She remembers all too well the assassin Chivane, and the fact she, along with the other members of the Coil, were working under the direction of Mistress Charelle.
She walks over to Alis, and puts a hand on the princesses' shoulder. ”’Lis, why would Ieana head to a place desecrated to Charelle? What could she possibly be interested in here?”
What?!
Priyya's concentration upon the gravity of the find is shattered when her hand reflexively slaps her forehead.
"Shoo! Shoo!" She waves her bow at the succubus, "It's been a long day, Mother Sarah doesn't have time to teach curly-headed little harpies the difference between something being dedicated to a power versus desecrating something that is sacred to a power. Off with you!"
While Alis appears to appreciate the moment of levity, she still looks rather grieved by the find. She shakes her head.
"I can't imagine what she would want in a place sacred to Charelle. Desecration of the site could actually be her aim but then why all the secrecy? This place has to be as old as the one to Qin–" she looks up, eyebrow raised, "–gu... Wait, why would a temple to Charelle be accessed by using the name of another deity? What's going on here?!"
Looking at the thickness of the doors, you do notice something else. It appears as if the carving they are looking at were made in an additional layer of stone that was melded onto the doors and then carved separately. The stone is of the same quality and not merely a veneer either. The only thing that comes to mind is that the door must have been thickened — perhaps to cover up preexisting carvings rather than weakening its structure with stone shaping magic.
"Heh. Any dwarf would be able to tell you that's not the original carving. Look here." Darvesch points to the thickness of the stone. "There's something else underneath it. We can spend the next couple hours trying to figure this out. Or we can go get Ieana." Darvesch sounds impatient.
"A temple to Charelle built over a temple to Qingu perhaps?"
Priyya shrugs.
"Ironic that the new tenants would redecorate but not change–" she points in the direction of the Tide Stone, "–the lock."
Looking upon Alis' concern, she gives her a light whap on the bottom with her bow. Doing her best old schoolmarm scowl, she scolds, "Pretty girls shouldn't make scary faces. You wouldn't want to get stuck like that now would you?"
"Besides," Priyya concludes, doing her best to keep a straight face, "you've got me here. What could possibly go wrong?"
Alis simply gives a short laugh and shakes her head. "What indeed?"
Lureene grasps Alis' hand and gives a comforting squeeze. "At least you don't have to face this alone, 'Lis."
Alis smiles at her friends and gives them a hug. "Thanks, now let's get inside before Darvesch and Mal get too impatient!"
Nodding to her cousin, the dwarf sets foot inside, Alis just behind him and to the side when the floor below them glows hot and red.
The elf girl dodges backward just in time, her pet monkey screaming frantically as an ancient rune concealed upon the dusty floor, erupts in a veritable geyser of flame.
"DARV!"
By the time is magic has been spent, the warrior's armor is hissing and black from the heat and his beard, hair and face are badly burned. He's still on his feet, but he looks like hell.
Reflex DC 22
saved (none, evasion)
failed (full)
ghoul fever 1/2 saves DC 16
diseased
MAP: Z-Temple of Charelle, (Round 253)
Lureene gasps as she sees the effects of the rune, left as a ward by Ieana no doubt. She glances at Mal as if to say I told you so!
She then turns to Priyya, "I hope you have some of your healing power left. Darvesch looks...and smells...terible."