"Oh I know this spell!" Ashira exclaims, happy to feel useful
Ashira identifies the ring as a ring of protection +1. In addition, there is other treasure buried in the dust of the room: a silver anklet set with tiny gems and an ankh charm (worth 150 gp), a tarnished silver serving tray (worth 35 gp), and a small ornate vase (worth 75 gp).
Walking North through an open, sand-filled hallway, you come to what was once, millenia ago, the dining room. An enormous stone table, the marble top polished and smooth, runs parallel to the west wall of this large room. A much smaller stone table stands in the east side of the room. Splintered piles of dust and wood lie in the corners and along the walls — the only remains of chairs after untold years. A strong, fetid stench pervades the room.
Half a dozen human skulls have been set upon the larger table. Each skull is polished clean and balances atop a tarnished silver goblet standing on a tarnished silver dinner plate.
Even as you see them, the severed heads seem to sense your presence - they rise, noiselessly and remorselessly, heading for you! One of them slams into Devon, while another butts heads with Say'ri.
Ashira 20/20 hp
Devon 12/20 hp
Eli 16/16 hp
Say'ri 12/24 hp
Ashira channels a burst of energy to destroy the skulls.
Ashira's channelling causes the skulls to fracture and split, some more than others, but all of them are still standing floating.
Devon grunts in pain and swings her crowbar at a skull!
"Do take it, Saw-ree! The Gods know these undead love saying hi to you."
And it is just so. Once again, Say'ri is assaulted by the undead and Eli reels away before finding the necessary courage to point his finger at a skull and invoke the right magical words to make it go boom.
Say'ri's flail almost crushes a skull; sadly the skull in question is Ashira's, who just ducks out the way in time as the heavy weapon whooshes through the air.
Devon shows how it's done, smashing one of the floating skulls to fragments. Eli's ray misses.
In return, the skulls target the more threatening enemies. Say'ri's newly-acquired ring twice protects her from damage , while Devon is struck once more.
Ashira 20/20 hp
Devon 10/20 hp
Eli 16/16 hp
Say'ri 12/24 hp
Devon snarls and swings on another skull!
Eli aims at a skull, notices a fancy detail in the ceiling's decoration, and fires an anti-undead ray that fails to hit his target - or any target, really.
Ashira calls upon Pharasma's power once again, and the remaining skulls shatter into fragments, falling in pieces to the floor.
She uses the rest of her spells to patch up the more badly-wounded, but is now out of magic for the day.
A search of the room reveals nothing more than the six silver goblets (worth 45 gp each) and six silver plates (worth 30 gp each) that the skulls were resting on when you entered the room. The lack of moisture in the air has kept the silverware from tarnishing; it may be thousands of years old, but it could have been bought yesterday.
Devon quickly appraises the tableware before moving on to the central room on this floor.
|
"Wait Delvin!" Say'ri says, putting a hand on the burglar's shoulder as she makes for the next room. "If Ashira is out of magic we may do better to retreat. We've cleared quite a bit of this place and I don't want to take any risks after that sarcophagus in Akhentepi's tomb. If we'd been prepared it wouldn't have..." She hitches for a second. "Ended the way it did."
Ashira lets out a sigh of relief, showing signs of stress.
"I do have two more channels, but yes I'm out of spells. Sorry."
Carrying the various goodies you have found, you leave the house and return home via the Necropolis.
Once more, you find yourselves standing outside the gates of the house . Where will you go next?
"Alright, let's do it." Devon leads the way to the courtyard.
------------------------------
Spells
------------------------------
0th (at will) Create Water, Guidance, Light, Virtue
1st Bless, Magic Weapon, Shield of Faith, Domain: Deathwatch
Ashira steels herself for another harrowing dive and follows after Devon.
The wizard slams his spellbook (well, spellbook - t'is more like a fledgling chef's recipe book, really) shut and throws a pair of overly big eyes at his companions. "I'm dun! Now, are y'all ready to finish this job? I prepared one of my aunt's favorite spells. She loves cookies, you see, so much that everyone started to hide theirs and with this spell, no cookie could evade her crooked teeth. Eh, anyway, I can slap Devon up with a temporary glamer that turns her invisible. That way, we can get a glimpse of what's ahead. How does that sound?"
Making your way through the house, you visit the final room on the ground floor: an internal courtyard. The walls on all four sides provide shade from the sun and it is blessedly cooler than the streets you have walked through to get here. Once a garden, everything here has withered and died long ago.
A tiled walkway surrounds a square patch of earth and sand in this high atrium. A balcony on the second floor overlooks the courtyard, and a square hole in the ceiling opens to the sky. Four columns in the corners of the atrium support the roof above, and the walls are decorated with symbols and hieroglyphs depicting animals, celestial creatures, and the sun and moon.
As you watch, the sand begins to move, floating through the air until it coalesces into a statuesque form of a beautiful human woman.
"Greetings, strangers." The voice is sibilant and slightly raspy, exactly as you would expect sand to sound like. "I am the spirit of this house, and it is long since I have had any to speak with. Tell me of yourselves."
She stares with open fascination at Devon's catlike features. It's clear that she has never seen anyone like the rogue before.
"Oh, uh. I'm Devon," the catgirl offers lamely, shifting uncomfortably under the woman's stare. She is both intrigued by and scared of the spirit.
Ashira looks at Devon and tightens her lips in concern.
"I am a priestess on a mission, and these are my companions. Who are you, gentle one? What is your story?"
Eli scrapes his throat and flicks his tongue over his dry lips. He isn't sure whether they're finally meeting a friendly place in this undead infested hole or if they're being fooled. He opts for the former. It's too easy to be negative about everything! "I'm Eli, a student of the arcane and, if I might say so - my aunt told me so, after all - a talented artist when it comes to creating stuff that ain't real!"
The statuesque young woman smiles again. "Hello, Eli. You are welcome to this house. As are you, priestess, although in the long years I have encountered many such followers of the gods. Which deity do you follow?"
Say'ri doesn't spot any obvious dangers. The courtyard has four separate exits into the house, one on each side.
Ashira hadn't really thought that far ahead. Realizing she's got her holy symbol of Pharasma right in her shield hand, she awkwardly tries to palm it into her armour.
"Abadar. I'm a priestess of Abadar." Ashira responds.
The figure gives a low, bubbling laugh as its features melt away into something a lot more sinister, even monstrous: a medusa-like horror with tentacles and an enormous jaw that widens into a mouth full of fangs almost as large as its head.
Its eyes glow red as it gazes at Ashira: "It isn't nicccce to tell liessssss..."
At the same moment it transforms, the air becomes thick with a soporific haze, making it hard to concentrate and stay awake. Devon and Say'ri quickly collapse to the ground, unconscious. The monster strides past their prone forms to strike at Ashira!
It hits her solidly but the priestess fights off the further wave of lethargy that the sand brings.
Ashira 16/20
Devon 20/20, asleep
Eli 16/16
Say'ri 24/24, asleep
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Devon curls up in a ball on the floor, taking a little cat nap.
"Pick 'er up!", Eli barks at his feathery companion. The bird, however, flies right at Say'ri and picks at the sleeping woman's nose.
He then immediately starts twisting reality and bending it to his will. Well, parts of reality. Namely, the ones that can be covered up with the twisted imaginations of his bog-boggled mind. Like his supposed bravery in the face of danger, it's all a facade. "Oh desert spirits, sand us home! No, crap, wrong word!"
As he finishes the intricate wiggling of his fingers, the room fills with sand. Lots and lots of sand. It's a trick his companions have seen before and, with them being covered by it, one they see right through. The heaps of sand become transparent - it's just an illusion! But unlike other times, Eli doesn't say nor explain any of it this time. What if their foe finds out?!
Ashira replies "We are messengers of the Lady of Graves. She sends her regards."
After that, she starts casting a spell upon Say'ri's flail, enchanting it with magic.
The thing's face twists into a sneer as Eli conjures up a mountain of (illusory) sand. "Foolssss! You think that will sssstop me? I am ssssssand!"
It moves forward, completely unfazed by the illusion. It's not even clear whether it recognises it as an illusion.
Moving forward, it strikes at Say'ri. Even with the illusory sand hiding her position, it doesn't seem to stop the creature: its blow lands solidly, and Say'ri falls to the floor again.
Ashira 16/20
Devon 20/20, asleep
Eli 16/16
Say'ri 19/24, asleep
Foggert's beak finds a way past Say'ri's armor and pecks the woman in a painful manner. "Wake up! Wake up!", it screeches.
The wizard then touches Say'ri and pulls a thin sheet of shadow over the woman. With that and a flourish, she vanishes.
Ashira takes another step back and begins to pray "Not today, not yet. Bless us with your foresight."
Devon snores softly.
The thing spits a curse of pain as the flail slams into it, but retaliates in kind. Even with the protection of the illusory sand, Say'ri is still hit - although she manages to stay awake this time.
Ashira 16/20
Devon 20/20, asleep
Eli 16/16
Say'ri 15/24
Thing - 10 damage
With his spell repertoire running dry, Eli has no choice but to join the fray. Unlike Say'ri, he does not wield a fearsome flail. Instead, he handles an oversized toothpick. Much to his surprise, the iron toothpick finds its way to and into his foe - so that's what that feels like!