Benedict sighs and pockets the gemstones.
It was worth a try.
He tries to guess how much the purple gems in this room are worth. How much wealth is being eaten by this thing?
There were crystal veins in the other room too, the one with the Aklo writing, correct? Maybe we can salvage some before the creature eats it all.
He goes back down to the south.
"It's out of the way now, at least. Ready to move on?"
The crystal creature shows excitement when it's led into the first chamber -- the one with the gemstones embedded into the walls. It immediately begins scrambling up the walls to reach the lowest gemstones. Fortunately, it seems to have little skill for climbing and will only be able to reach a few of them. However, Benedict is unable to convince it to follow the gems in his hands when there's so many along the walls.
He estimates that the gems aren't extremely valuable, though certainly worth at least a few gold each.
Returning back to the southern cavern, they inspect the large double doors. There is apparently no other way beyond.
Enormous salt crystals hang from the ceiling here, glittering in the light of a glowing blue crystal set in an inhuman, insect-like statue in the center of the floor. Mist drifts along the floor of the circular chamber, swirling in the gentle currents of air. The western wall has collapsed into stony debris, but on the eastern wall a carving of a huge, withered dragon's face leers above a metallic door set deep into the stone.
Woven mats made of dried grass cover the floor, while bundles of dried herbs hang from the walls, filling the room with a pungent grassy odor.
Four troglodytes are here, two kneeling before one in priestly robes. The fourth stands in attendance to the priest. They all turn their heads at the intrusion and hiss menacingly, the priest issuing some sort of epithet in its sibilant language.
Amélie seizes the initiative and moves into the chamber, arrow nocked. She draws back, aiming at the closest troglodyte and lets the arrow fly.
Her arrow wounds the troglodyte, but it does not fall.
Amkarang walks into the room and swings his meteor hammer at the nearest troglodyte.
Benedict hurls a javelin at the troglodyte that Amélie wounded, but his throw is off and the weapon clatters along the stone floor.
After Grum slays the troglodyte in one swing, Jie fires an arrow at the one Amélie wounded.
The arrow caromes off its thick hide, doing no damage.
The troglodytes all begin exuding their foul musk reflexively.
The priest casts a spell and a shimmering field of force surrounds it. The acolyte gestures and points at Grum, or specifically his weapon. The grip of his falchion becomes slick, and he has to struggle to hold onto it.
The injured trog steps up and attacks Amélie.
The nimble archer avoids its blows.
"Grum! Flanking!"
Benedict moves up, shrugging off the stench, and readies to attack the acolyte should it try to cast another spell. His movement provokes an AOO from the acolyte, but it's worth it to be able to threaten both casters. With flanking and the wall, we should be able to pin them both in so they can't 5' step and cast.
Amélie again succumbs to the stench. Despite this, she risks an attack from the trog menacing her to take two shots on it.
Amélie just barely avoids a nasty wound, and is able to wound her foe further, though her second shot is wide.
Amkarang is completely unfazed by the stench. He walks next to Grum and lashes out with his meteor hammer trying to trip the troglodyte in front of him.
The priest swings wide.
Jie fights off the stench, then fires an arrow at the trog menacing Amélie.
Her well-placed arrow drops the troglodyte.
Both Grum and Amkarang's attacks are ineffective against the trog priest.
The priest steps over her fallen servant and slams her fists together. A massive wave of stone shards spreads out from her, ripping into all those within ten feet her.
She also attempts to cast a spell, targeting Grum.
The acolyte also tries to cast a spell. Benedict is ready, and hits it hard as it goes through the motions to cast.
The spell fails, causing the trog to give a menacing hiss at the warrior.
Benedict dodges some of the stone shards, and again holds his battleaxe ready to disrupt the acolyte's next spell.
"Jie, Amélie, don't let them cast!"
Amkarang avoids the worst of the shards before he swings twice at the troglodyte next to him.
"I'll take zis one, you take zat one!" Amélie shouts, stepping to give herself a clear shot on the acolyte. Meanwhile, Jie steps to her right to give her a clear shot on the other spellcaster.
Grum's taunts about the creatures about their magics failing to affect him is entirely accurate, the magic isn't quite 'nothing.' His massive blow is just barely deflected off a shimmering field, and what would have been a mighty wound is entirely avoided.
Stepping back out of the reach of Grum, the cleric begins to chant again, trying to cast another spell. Jie is ready, however, and puts an arrow into his shoulder.
The spell fizzles as Jie's arrow disrupts his casting.
The other spellcaster also tries to cast just as Amélie sends an arrow into his flank.
His spell is also disrupted.
"Nice shooting, ladies!"
Benedict swings his battleaxe at the acolyte who is pinned against the wall.
It's not a solid blow, but it's still a hit.
Amkarang swings at the priest, trying to trip the troglodyte.
Amélie adjusts her position and keeps her bow trained on the acolyte, ready to loose an arrow the instant it tries to cast.
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Grum hits his foe hard this time, and Amkarang follows up by wrapping his meteor hammer's chain around the priest's leg and hauling him to the ground.
Jie, seeing the foe on the ground, drops her bow and draws her long sword. She brings the blade down on the troglodyte.
The priest tries to stand up, drawing attacks from everyone around him.
Jie misses, but Grum's massive two-handed blow beheads the priest before Amkarang is able to get a strike in.
The acolyte wails upon seeing his mistress slain, and tries to cast a spell.
Benedict's presence distracts him, and the spell fizzles while Amélie's arrow flies in and gives him another small wound.
Benedict keeps attacking the acolyte, swinging the battle axe at his foe who is pinned against the wall.
Benedict's strike has it hanging onto life by a thread. Amélie switches tactics by firing two arrows, hoping to end its threat.
Unfortunately, she suffers a wave of nausea and her arrows fly past the acolyte and carom off the stone wall behind him.
Amkarang walks forward, swinging his meteor hammer at the acolyte, the iron ball making a devastating strike on its reptilian skull.
With the last troglodyte killed in an impressive manner, the chamber goes quiet. The foul trog musk eventually dissipates to just a lingering burn in the back of the nose.
A search of the trogs' belongings discovers several items of curious note. The priest possessed two feathers similar to the one that conjured the messenger bird. It also had a gnarled stick with runes etched into the wood, four flasks of liquid, a stone weapon with embedded crystals that would function as a well-made morningstar, bandages with arcane markings on them, nice-looking bracers, and a valuable-looking aquamarine necklace.
The acolyte possessed a heavy crossbow with 10 bolts, a finely-made spear, two flasks of oil, another flask of liquid, and a geode of some value. The other trogs just carried simple clubs like most of the others in the complex.
In a small alcove apparently used as a place to sleep, a small pouch contains two handfuls of a glittery dust.
With the danger past, the features of the chamber become more interesting. Most notably, a large, polished blue steel door appears otherworldly in the otherwise stone chamber. The door is decorated with pictograms, and at the center is a depiction of an unusual head with bulging eyes and wisps of hair radiating in every direction. The head looks simultaneously like an old woman and an insect. The hair (or is it legs?) that radiate out point to the various pictograms, which depict a beetle, a rock, a wedge, a hammer, a crying face, a flame, a claw, a door, a metal bar, a figure standing in triumph, and a bottle.
You notice that several of these pictograms also appear in the carvings of the third chamber. (L3, on the map)
Benedict doesn't notice whatever it is.
The old woman/insect image makes him think of the Aklo phrase he translated.
"grandmother, in seeking the Excavator, turned her eyes to the Stone, and to the Steel, and finally to Woe."
"Is everybody ready?"
He waits for his comrades to be in place, and to use any healing they wish to use. He took a bit of shrapnel but is basically fine.
He assumes the phrase relates to this door, so he tries rotating the image so that its eyes point to (in order) the pictograms of the rock, the metal bar, and the crying face.
Benedict lives up to his moniker, and deciphers the riddle. Like an ancient combination lock, he finds the face able to spin quite freely. The door unlatches with the correct combination, and it swings open.
A three-stepped riser fills most of the room, atop which lies a stone sarcophagus depicting a vaguely insectoid creature similar to the ones depicted in the statues of this place. The sarcophagus is shut.
Four coffers are arrayed around the stone coffin. They are lidless, and contain the glint of precious metals and stones.
You see a partially crystallized remains of an ancient, four-armed insectoid creature. It crumbles to dust at the slightest touch.
They contain 115 cp, 730 sp, 335 gp, 10 pp, 14 amethysts, 9 aquamarines, a buckler, two strange smooth stones, and a heavy belt made of interlocking jade plates.
Benedict hesitates.
"What do you think? Should we investigate the sarcophagus and coffers? Or go back and deal with the skeletons?"
Benedict will examine the sarcophagus and coffers for traps.
If he finds no traps, he opens them.
Benedict detects no traps around anything within the final chamber.
Opening the sarcophagus, he reveals the partially crystallized remains of an ancient, four-armed insectoid creature. It is not a threat, and crumbles to dust if disturbed.
Inside the coffers are a variety of gems and coins as well as a few objects that appear to be of value.
Benedict looks in puzzlement at the strange four-armed insectoid creature. He touches it while looking around for anything else in the sarcophagus and it crumbles to dust.
"Uh... sorry."
Then, because this is what you do when you don't have a caster, Benedict puts on the jade belt.
"On to the skeletons? Let's put these gems securely away where the crystal creature can't get them. Hopefully it will be happy with the minor stones in the walls and will have eaten its fill."
Benedict doesn't notice any immediate effect when he dons the belt, except that it's rather heavy.
Stepping back into the chamber with the gemstones where the gelatinous creature had been, you notice the gemstone creature does not appear to be a climber. It's eaten all the precious stones that it could reach. When you all arrive, it scurries up to each of you, apparently expecting a treat.
Benedict goes back to the priest's room, breaks some of the salt crystals off the wall, and brings them (along with the party) back to the gelatinous cube room.
"Let's bring this crystal with us when we go in - it should make the crystal creature follow us, and if the skeletons attack us it may come to our aid."
When everybody is ready he will open the door, crystal held in his buckler hand and battle-axe in the other hand.
The creature nibbles the salt crystals but doesn't appear to really enjoy them, seeming to only favor the ones with some value.
It follows reluctantly into the next chamber. As the party enters, the skeletons hammering away at a cold forge turn and start menacingly toward the invaders.
Amélie takes two quick shots at the closest skeleton.
Her two shots shatter bone and sever the strange connection of unlife in her target. It falls to pieces, finally at rest.
Amkarang tries to wrap his hammer around the creature’s bony ankle to trip it.
Amkarang easily trips the diminutive skeleton. It land on the hard stone floor and tries to pull itself back up.
Jie moves in and shoots at the last standing skeleton.
Her arrow does minimal damage.
The tripped skeleton stands up, eliciting a free attack from Amkarang.
Amkarang hurts the undead creature, but it steps forward with a strange weapon in its hand that it uses against him.
The other skeleton moves toward Jie and attacks.
Both warriors receive a small scratch from the skeletons.
Benedict tries to think if he knows anything about skeletons.
He settles on just swinging his axe.
Grum destroys the skeleton previously damaged by Amkarang's blow. Benedict swings his axe, but his attack misses the surprisingly nimble remaining skeleton.
The lantern brought into the room so the archers can see hisses and sputters, then suddenly the room bursts into a brief but potent conflagration!
Everyone takes 12 fire damage as some sort of odorless yet flammable gas in the room ignites with a loud The final skeleton crumbles into scorched, burning pieces as soon as the fire burns out.
The crystal scorpion looks horribly agitated and hurt by the fiery blast.
"Benedict, throw it the crystal!"
Benedict takes 1 of the 14 amethysts and gives it to the crystal creature. He takes another and tosses it deeper into the forge.
"Let's get out of here and climb back up to the first level."