The Professor knows that water elementals have normal elemental traits.
These ones are large enough to have DR/-. Their touch can put out fires, they can turn into whirlpools, and they get bonuses to attacks if both they and their targets are touching water.
Aquan:
"No, we guard its prison, but we did not imprison it."
"As you have noticed, there have been a lot of earthquakes recently."
The professor cringes a bit when he says the word earth.
"These quakes might possibly have weakened the structure, which could have broken certain seals and wards. It is imperative that the building is inspected as soon as possible so that the danger can be contained. As a sign of good faith, we will offer our expertise for free."
Human Unchained Rogue 4 / Daring Champion Cavalier 1 | Evangelist 4 HP 67/86 | AC 26* T 18 FF 18* (Uncanny Dodge) | Fort +8 Ref +14 Will +7 (+4 vs Electricity/Water, +2 vs Traps, Evasion) | CMD 18 | Init +9 | Perc +19 (+2 vs surprise) (Half penalty for distance) | Teamwork: Outflank
Ushaka waits patiently while the aquan conversation going on. slowly rolling himself over and enjoying the benefits of freedom of movement and water breathing.
"Hmmm. You make a good point. Very well, you can inspect the building."
They step aside.
You can approach the front doors! You notice that, while the building remained standing during the earthquake, several gems did shake loose from the walls. They glow with magic.
DC 26 Spellcraft:
These are elemental gems! There is one each of each element.
Large letters arch gracefully over the top of the large front doors, while much smaller writing covers the surfaces of the doors, interspersed with ancient, brightly glowing runes.
Anyone who speaks Vudrani or Aquan can clearly read Monastery of Unbreaking Waves above the door. The smaller writing is more difficult to read, as it is quite archaic. Anyone who speaks Aquan or Vudrani can get the gist of it, but it will take a Linguistics check to get a complete translation.
Rough translation, if you speak Vudrani or Aquan:
This was originally a school building but was repurposed into a prison, and it holds an undead creature guilty of murder. The monastery was intentionally abandoned after the creature was trapped within.
DC 22 Linguistics check (+4 bonus for Vudrani, Aquan, comprehend languages, or tongues):
The creature kept inside here went by the name Falehetu in life. After losing a match to a monk of Unbreaking Waves, he used forbidden techniques to create a tsunami, which destroyed our monastery, taking many lives and sending the wreckage of the buildings into the sea. We chose to start rebuilding the monastery beneath the waves, embracing the inspiration of the marids.
Falehetu returned, but this time as an undead horror, swearing vengeance on the House of Unbreaking Waves for his downfall. He killed many of us. Three brave monks subdued him in this building, giving their lives in the process. What was once our schoolhouse is now his prison, and this is the end of the monastery.
Human Unchained Rogue 4 / Daring Champion Cavalier 1 | Evangelist 4 HP 67/86 | AC 26* T 18 FF 18* (Uncanny Dodge) | Fort +8 Ref +14 Will +7 (+4 vs Electricity/Water, +2 vs Traps, Evasion) | CMD 18 | Init +9 | Perc +19 (+2 vs surprise) (Half penalty for distance) | Teamwork: Outflank
I speak Vudrani and am trained in linguistics linguistics+vudrani:1d20 + 7 + 4 ⇒ (3) + 7 + 4 = 14
Ushaka ponders the text "I see the word school several places, but they've all been replaced by the phrase 'murderer's prison.' It seems to have been intentionally sealed after that."
"Well done, Shonne and Ushaka! Look here, these wavy lines aren't just for decoration, they're a form of archaic Aquan. They say:
'The creature kept inside here went by the name Falehetu in life. After losing a match to a monk of Unbreaking Waves, he used forbidden techniques to create a tsunami, which destroyed our monastery, taking many lives and sending the wreckage of the buildings into the sea. We chose to start rebuilding the monastery beneath the waves, embracing the inspiration of the marids.
Falehetu returned, but this time as an undead horror, swearing vengeance on the House of Unbreaking Waves for his downfall. He killed many of us. Three brave monks subdued him in this building, giving their lives in the process. What was once our schoolhouse is now his prison, and this is the end of the monastery.'
Sounds like a very nasty creature indeed! Let's take these gems with us, we might need them if it has broken free of its prison!"
I think Water and Earth might prove useful. I doubt Fire and Air will be needed. Anyone willing to use their first action to activate one of the first two gems?
Female Elf Ranger 2/Transmuter 5/Eldritch Knight 3 | hp ¯\_(ツ)_/¯/79 | AC 23 T 16 FF 18 | CMD 27 | F +9 R +10 W +7 (+2 v Ench) | Spd 30' {60'} (Run x5) | Init +6 | Kn(Arc, Geo, His, Loc, Nat, Pla, Rel) +8*, Perc +14* (low-light), Scrft +10 (+12 ID), SensM +1* | Arcane Bond 1/1 | boots of spd 10/10 | wand of clw 14/50 | wand of cmw 9/11 | *Favored Enemy (human) +2 | bless, haste 7rds, life bubble 18hrs
Ushaka wrote:
Ushaka ponders the text "I see the word school several places, but they've all been replaced by the phrase 'murderer's prison.' It seems to have been intentionally sealed after that."
"That's better than what I was coming up with. Homeless Killers' Lodge.' Who has the sphere?"
Shonne doesn't mind holding on to one She has a handy haversack so they can come out relatively quick (a move action with no AoO). Anyone else want a gem or two or more? We might want to wait to break them until we have a look inside first.
"Undead horror? He sounds like another candy-ass jabroni to me. Is there anything in there on how he likes to cheat?"
"We know he used forbidden techniques and even cheated death. He's also an honorless loser taking lethal revenge for a well-deserved loss! Calling him a jabroni is making other jabroni's look bad! This one needs to exit the ring permanently."
"As he could create Tsunamis in life, he can probably still do this in unlife as well. Tsunamis usually go hand in hand with earthquakes, so the recent ones might be him trying to break free as he feels the key is getting near. He might even be close to escaping! My educated guess is he holds power over water and maybe earth as well."
"Anyone got any buffs to cast before I use the sphere to open the door?"
Shonne, do you still have hastes left? If so, haste would be a better first round option and I'll volunteer to use the gem.
The orb fits perfectly in the niche and glows with magic, unlocking the doors. The building is flooded, though the water is stagnant and smells of decay. You see rooms to your left and right and double doors in front of you.
"Let's quickly check the rooms to out left and right and then open these doors in front. We don't want something to attack us in the back or sneak away!"
The rooms to the left and right are quite similar. Each round room has a large, round, stone pedestal about three feet tall, with several round stone seats surrounding it. Scrawled writing has been carved all over the walls, looking distinctly non-academic. This writing contains no words in Aquan and looks very different than the writing on the front doors.
Vudrani:
The carved words are ranting against the Monastery of Unbreaking Waves and the leader of the Monastery of Untwisting Iron. The phrases “They killed me, they trapped me, I will be free,” appear over and over, as does the word “vengeance.” There are a lot of swear words.
Human Unchained Rogue 4 / Daring Champion Cavalier 1 | Evangelist 4 HP 67/86 | AC 26* T 18 FF 18* (Uncanny Dodge) | Fort +8 Ref +14 Will +7 (+4 vs Electricity/Water, +2 vs Traps, Evasion) | CMD 18 | Init +9 | Perc +19 (+2 vs surprise) (Half penalty for distance) | Teamwork: Outflank
Ushaka calls back over his shoulder "Nothing immediately threatening over here, the scrawls of a twisted creature claiming to have been killed and trapped here, seeking vengeance... also a reference to the Monastery of Untwisting Iron in addition to this one."
The Professor opens the double doors. Large stone panels throughout this round room feature carved images of figures demonstrating martial arts techniques. Flowing writing surrounds each image, describing the movements. A large window to the south looks over an elliptical arena set into the ground.
"Ok, let's put these poor souls to rest. Get out you silver or mithral weapons and we'll do a pincer manouvre, sending half of our number to the left and the others to the right. We don't want anything to escape this prison."
Female Elf Ranger 2/Transmuter 5/Eldritch Knight 3 | hp ¯\_(ツ)_/¯/79 | AC 23 T 16 FF 18 | CMD 27 | F +9 R +10 W +7 (+2 v Ench) | Spd 30' {60'} (Run x5) | Init +6 | Kn(Arc, Geo, His, Loc, Nat, Pla, Rel) +8*, Perc +14* (low-light), Scrft +10 (+12 ID), SensM +1* | Arcane Bond 1/1 | boots of spd 10/10 | wand of clw 14/50 | wand of cmw 9/11 | *Favored Enemy (human) +2 | bless, haste 7rds, life bubble 18hrs
"If these are the monks who died in defense of this shrine perhaps we should try speaking to them first. Perhaps they are still on guard. Do they speak." It is the most the party has ever heard her say.
"If these are the monks who died in defense of this shrine perhaps we should try speaking to them first. Perhaps they are still on guard. Do they speak." It is the most the party has ever heard her say.
"Unlikely. Many undead —Ghouls, Shadows, and Wights to name a few— turn their victims in undead as well, so that's surely what happened here too. As the dark energy that animates them is evil in its purest form all undead are heinous abominations of unlife. Killing these creatures quickly and putting their bodies to rest is the only way to give rest to the heroic spirits of the brave warriors that gave their lives."
