Faced with a truly overwhelming selection of books, Allie reins in her usual smirk and sets to work at Ulrich's direction, collecting and sorting tomes as he requires.
She does however find one extremely magical book and raise the hue and cry.
"Over here... serious magic going on on this one!"
Allie is unable to identify the book’s properties.
Amnayel doesn't have an interest in the books either, but she hovers over Alessandra protectively in case something untoward comes their way.
She reaches over and points out "Oh hey, I think I recognize that..."
Even with Amnayel’s aid, it’s still not enough. Perhaps Ulrich will fare better?
Ulrich is absolutely gobsmacked, having discovered the lost library of his specialties. He looks through everything, reciting the names of brilliant (if completely unethical) scholars, describing the anomalies found in the preserved specimens.
"... wholly unethical, certainly. But they were geniuses, unrivalled. If our bodies were understood to such a degree that we could utilize mundane medicine to cure infections, illnesses of body and mind, and grant increased lifespan to whole populations... Can you imagine how the world would appear? Magical healing works well in the immediate, but the practitioners are so limited in number. A nation-wide illness is too much for the religious. But we could have doctors, well educated and certified, in far greater numbers."
At first glance, the magic book appears to be a tome of understanding, but Ulrich’s exceptional skill allows him to realize it is in fact a cursed item called a vacuous grimoire, designed to drain the intelligence of anybody who tries to read it!
The books here represent a fortune of scientific knowledge worth 12,000 gp, but they collectively weigh 4,000 pounds. Despite the rare knowledge they contain, their unnerving binding discourages most buyers—the tomes are bound in the flesh of humans, halflings, and various good fey and dragons.
One book in the room is a misfiled tome on conjuration, penned by one of Tar-Baphon’s minions who assisted in the original creation of the witchgates. The book stands out as the only book in the library not bound in leather, instead being pressed between heavy lead covers. The book explains early theories on operating the control network and grants a +5 circumstance bonus on Use Magic Device checks to operate the witchgates within the black pyramid. You still need the missing control device though.
Having actually found a book that's useful, rather than simply disturbing, Allie suggests the group move on. "If we take this other door we should be headed back towards the pyramid." She suggests. "We can come back here once we've secured the rest of the level, or if we choose to rest later. But no point wasting time now."
Panels of black marble bearing relief carvings of laughing skulls and dancing skeletons line the walls of this large chamber. A large brass table fills the room’s center, while shelves filled with long-empty baskets, drawers, and jars occupy much of the rest of the room. A thick layer of dust covers every surface—save a few obviously disturbed by a recent search.
Gabby’s sharp eyes spot four ghouls lurking in the shadowed corners of the room, attempting to remain hidden! When they realize they have been made, they rush out to attack!
"Ghouls!" Gabbi shouts out as she draws her bow. "Ware their bite and claws." Viewing the creatures as nothing more than vermin to be crushed underfoot, the dhampir keeps an eye out for any other threats.
Gabby shoots one of the ghouls with several arrows, but it does not fall. Instead, it drinks a vial from its belt, and its form wavers as it becomes displaced. The other ghouls swarm Gabbi to attack her before she shoots again. Two of them bite her arms and she starts to feel rigid.
"Gabriella, get back!" Amnayel says, stepping up into the ghouls and slashing at it three times.
Gabbi stumbles back under the creature's onslaught. Their viciousness outshining any other ghouls she's dealt with.
She takes another step back out of reach of their claws and teeth, drawing and firing.
Allie goes for the big guns and hammers the ghouls with divine fire before retreating (bravely) away from the ghouls paralytic claws.
Ulrich cast telekinesis, and attempts to trip on of the frontrunning ghouls.
Ulrich just comes short of tripping a ghoul. Allie waits till Gabby steps back and then calls down fire on the three attacking her, badly burning two of them. Gabby takes down both of those ghouls, and Amnayel and Elka gang up on the other to further wound it.
That ghoul tumbles a few feet away and drinks a potion of displacement. The one who did so earlier goes after Amnayel, but then paladin barely blocks its bite with her new shield.
Without warning, another undead creature drops down from the ceiling where he had been hiding! He is another graveknight, clad in mithral armor and with a longsword and shield shackled to his wrists. He plunges the poisoned sword into Amnayel’s back, smiting her and attempting to slay her outright!
"Look out for the ...!" Gabbi shouts out as the knight drops down to stab Amnayel. She shrieks at the creature and directs her arrows at him.
Allie too gives a yell, although her's is rather incoherent, and makes an odd clawing gesture at the grave knight. Filaments of light leap from the torches around the room, swarming the knight and gathering into chains.
"GAH!!-" the paladin gasps, summoning hte strength to fight on.
She sweeps her hands down her chest and recovers a fraction of the damage done to it, whirling to try and take out her attackers with her blade.
Ulrich tries to trip another ghoul, one that's standing next to Amnayel.
The graveknight dodges Allie’s chains of light. Gabbi shoots him with several arrows, but Amnayel only lands one blow on him, not enough to finish him off. Ulrich trips the ghoul attacking the paladin, allowing Elka to rip it to shreds.
The last ghoul takes its comrade’s place to flank Amnayel. Both the ghoul and the graveknight attack her with grim determination. The knight lands one hit.
Ulrich trips the ghoul
Allie growls and strides forwards to flank the graveknight in turn, jabbing with her spear.
Gabbi takes advantage of the fact that the graveknight is being flanked, and sinks her arrows into vulnerable spots.
Gabbi destroys the graveknight with several arrows and wounds the final ghoul with the rest of her barrage. Ulrich trips the ghoul, and once more Elka tears it apart.
Searching the equipment in this chamber reveals a hidden compartment behind a sliding brass panel in the table. It contains an image of a dull orb partially obscured by a crescent-shaped divot. The image invokes a solar eclipse, but the sun appears extinguished.
The crystal carried by the vampire you fought upstairs fits the divot, but does nothing when inserted except obscure part of the orb.
Amnayel takes one final swing with her longsword, ensuring it is down. Once it is down, she admires the mithral longsword on the ground, picking it up and examining it. "I think I may try this out, it is quite exquisite."
After the crstyal is inserted, she stares at it curiously. "Are we supposed to say some sacred words, perhaps?"
"Is it supposed to light up?" Gabbi questions as she looks over the strange artifact. "Allie? You have a spell of light, don't you?" she asks.
Allie’s light spell is automatically dispelled and darkness appears around the table instead. At the same time, a rod of thunder and lightning rises from within the table!
"Isn't that ... interesting," Gabbi comments, looking at the rod through narrowed eyes. She shakes her head. "I've got enough resources for one more battle," she says. "And I think the only thing we have left to examine on this level is that hand imprint." With a critical eye she looks over the dead ghouls. "I wonder if we should bring a hand along to test with?" She gestures at the likeliest subject. "How about that one, Amneyal? We don't need the entire body."
Once the grisly task is done, she directs the group back to the large chamber with the black pyramid. Before attempting anything else with it, she looks over the device carefully for anything they may have missed.
Gabby’s new search doesn’t reveal any additional clues.
"Well that was odd." Allie comments lightly. "And I'm definitely not putting my hand in it!"
She glances over the assorted loot but doesn't seem hugely interested. "That's three, or four graveknights now?" She asks. "Arazni said there were five? I think we can destroy the armor forever but it'll only work once so we may need to move quickly if we want to get them all in one go."
Gabbi looks down at the severed ghoul's forearm and then at the device. After a quick steadying breath she places her hand in the depression.
A spell restraint suddenly shoots out from the wall, clapping shut over Gabbi’s hand and trapping it in the depression!
Her inbuilt paranoia causes her to recoil from her first instinct, which is to pull her hand away, suspecting that that's the wrong choice.
Left, Right, or Forward? she considers. A moment later, she takes, what is to her, the only real option.
She pushes forward.
"Is anyone else concerned that our archer is the one risking her hand?"
When Gabbi pushes forward, the restraint retracts and the door opens. This small room contains two enormous stone sarcophagi, one to the north and one to the south. Each sarcophagus contains the desiccated remains of a cloud giant. The corpse in the northern sarcophagus still wears a belt of physical might +4 (Str, Con).
Ulrich activates a round of life sense to check over the remains, just in case.
The skeletons are not undead, but Ulrich surmises that their souls might have been used to create the dread wraiths that guarded the black pyramid.
"All clear. We destroyed their souls earlier. That should be everything for this floor, correct?"
"It looks like it." Allie replies, glowering at her sister for doing something so monumentally stupid.
"Shall we head down to the next level then?" She suggests. "I have plenty of magic left and we might as well. Staying here longer than we have to is not something I'm keen on!"
"Yes, I am ready to press on."
You return to the room full of bones and descend the stairs that line the pit here. As you do, you can hear a voice muttering from somewhere below, cursing the “fallen crusader” and his “oppressive mind magic.”
Rows of stone seating surrounding a raised, stone stage in the center of this circular chamber. A jagged hole in the ceiling above the stage drips with putrid water. Magical light fills the room with normal illumination.
A single undead creature stands guard here, a skeletal horror that staggers under the weight of the massive hook and chain impaling the bones of its midsection. When it sees you, its muttering intensifies and it lurches towards you to attack!
Before descending the staircase, Gabbi places an enchantment on her quiver.
"Gallowdead," Gabbi calls out before rattling off the things strengths and weaknesses.
"Huh." Allie says as her sister shows off, before blasting the creature with holy fire.
The gallowdead howls as it fails to dodge the flames. Smoldering, it flourishes its cloak which is adorned with weblike patterns. A great mass of sticky webs springs up around you!
"What's a Gallowdead? Doesn't matter. Begone, unholy creature!" Amnayel says, charging headlong into it as she avoids the webbing.
Ulrich gets caught up. He tries to struggle through the webs, but he just gets more and more tangled.
Kamosh also gets caught up in the webbing. He can't struggle free either.
Distracted by the creature, Gabbi just barely avoids the magical web.