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Black Midknight flicks the ghoul flesh and fluids off her starknife with a dramatic gesture. She grins wide under her mask at the perfect execution of her one-liner.
She holds out her wand of cure light wounds. ”Anyone that could help me heal up, I’d appreciate it. Doesn’t work the most reliably when i try it.”
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Marcie changes her beat at the end once Black Midnight lands the killing blow Baarummpt TISS! As the ghastly ghoulie falls over dead squared.
"Holy smokes my boobs are sweatin' like a pig on Easter over here! You guys ok? Lemme fix you up quick." Marcie takes everyone's wands and heals them up right quick before she wipes the sweat from her brow with her dress sleeve.
"Now let's find the rest of those people... keep yer eyes open, there could be more down here like traps or more... whatever that was."
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Thorlist's body quickly disintegrates into a pile of ash, leaving behind another strange device as his face fades away. This one is shaped like a jawbone, and radiates with faint evocation magic. It looks as if it would snap easily into one of the cheek guards you had found earlier.
Thorlist also carried a porcelain case. Inside is a kit of obsidian scalpels, platinum needles, and other strange fleshcarving instruments. Though somewhat disturbing, the kit looks as if it could be valuable.
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"Ah, I knew we had 'im," Reggie says with what seems to be not quite enough irony from the person who was knocked unconscious by the beast and came very close to it happening again.
"And you...you were useless you big dumb moose. I assume your plan was to avenge our deaths?" he says in a playfully teasing tone to Rowdy as he mounts the wolf. They explore the room while waiting for his turn for Bash's wand wielding.
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The party makes their way back to the sealed wall, and strike at the stone. The distinctive sound of stone grinding on stone reverberates
down the hall and the barricade falls away with ease.
Peering around the corner, a great stone block has descended to obstruct the hall. The boulder looks like it would have blocked the party's path if not for the concealed door leading back to the room where they had fought Tholrist.
There is little to be found beyond the barricade.
The dried clay wall at the other end of the undertemple is also easily broken. Behind the broken-down wall, a cave is revealed. Suspended upside down from above—thin, spiked wire cruelly wrapped around them from ankle to neck—are many brutalized corpses similar to those in the previous chambers. As air eddies out from the cave, carrying with it an unsettling odor of ancient decay, the dangling mummified faces, three feet off
the floor, stare back.
An opening is visible at the end of the pit, but it looks like you would have to squeeze along a 2-foot-wide ledge to get through.
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Once Marcie finishes off healing those bruised and battered, she grabs up the case filled with medical contraptions "Huh, nifty looking stuff. Must be a doctor's bag or something." She stuffs the find into her backpack and away they go.
As they stare ahead into the dank pit with the narrow ledge around the edge she gets a bit frank with the situation "See this here? This is where something bad always happens... mark my words!"
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As the group all moves across, well except full plate Reggie, Bash looks back and quips "Try not to stare at my ass the whole way darling! I must admit, I'd have a hard time!" She blows him a kiss and wobbles it a bit before clinging back to the wall and continuing on.
Damn that was almost embarrassing.
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"I was going to so that I wasn't tempted to loom down! Now, if I fall to my death it's your fault!" Reggie quips in return.
He doesn't even try to get across on foot. He DOES make the attempt on wolfback.
Rowdy plainly thinks he is crazy and looks put upon but pads across as slowly as Bash. Reggie does not rush him and does look down several times, turning pale before looking at the backside of whoever is in front of him then up at the ceiling.
[pic]Assuming taking 10 is an option, Rowdy has exactly a 15 with his ACP modified Acrobatics check. Let me know if you want me to make a ride or handle animal check, too.[/ooc]
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Just as Bash begins to cross, she hears something: a faint, angrily muttering mob that seems to be coming from the mouths of the hanging corpses above. At the same time, a loud ring sounds out in the direction of the opening at the end of the ledge.
As the party squirms along the ledge towards the opening, the room they had just left is filled with a cacophonous eruption of angry voices shouting hateful curses in a strange language. They move quickly enough that they're unaffected by the haunt, and the cursing dies down.
Set in this cavernous grotto is a statue carved from dark stone depicting a frightening demonic creature tearing a human apart. Tentacles wrap around the figure and others wriggle outward. Each tentacle terminates in a claw, talon, pincer, or other wicked appendage meant to inflict pain. Its circular maw contains rings of jagged teeth which grip an oddly cheek-shaped piece of black metal, its surface etched with symbols.
The etched black metal radiates with faint evocation magic.
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"Good God that sounds like an angry mob of drunks that don't know a good drum solo when they hear one." She gives the statue the hairy eyeball from the back of the line as Blacky and her sparkly puss do too.
"Finding anything good? That cheek thing might be another piece of this thing we've got. Think its possible to toss that creepy ass statue down into the pit? Or maybe we should go down there and investigate..." She drags out her length of rope and grapple.
She rigs it up and prepares to head down for a look-see.
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The loud cursing starts up again just as Bash attaches the rope and begins to descend, and the dwarf finds herself hanging 10 feet in the pit as the voices reach a crescendo.
Bash does get a better look inside the pit, which is filled with huge chunks of sharp, jagged rocks, but little else.
Inside the statue room, the voices aren't heard, but the loud ring heard earlier is heard once more and seems to be emanating from the cheek guard Black Midknight is examining. The party does not find any traps on the statue.
-- Bold is up --
Reggie, Black Midknight, Solum
Bash
Haunt
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Bash shimmies up the rope just as Black Midknight pulls the cheekguard off the statue. She and Silver Starlight, Reggie, Rowdy, and Solum watch as tendrils of light shoot through their bodies, leaving empty space in their place. They feel a sharp tugging as something drags them up towards the ceiling, and then everything goes black for a moment. The party opens their eyes to find themselves back in the room before they had knocked down the clay wall, cheekguard still in Black Midknight's hand.
Meanwhile, Bash hangs alone, precariously over a spiky pit. At least the cursing has stopped.
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Marcie pulls herself to the top of the rope to find a quiet, creepy cavern filled with wired up, dangling corpses over head. None of which at least appear to be her teammates. "Where'd you all go off to? This ain't no time fer games." She browses around the area to try to figure out where they went, not to mention keep her cool.
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When they get back to Bash, only to find her unharmed and the haunt dispersed. Black Midknight stands up straight and folds her arms. ”Looks like doing two things at the same time fixed the problem. As I suspected.” It was really more of a hope than a suspicion, but she sure as hells wasn’t gonna say that.
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"Good instincts," Reggie says, with a tip of his head and a pleased smile to Black Midknight.
He looks at the objects that they've found, noting how they might all fit together. "I think we're done down here and, honestly, I'd rather examine that thing with less dirt and rock between me and sunlight. How about we take a look at it outside, or at least in that main chamber upstairs?"
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With the entire undertemple explored, the dig crew rescued, and Pathfinder Riemme's body located, the party heads back to the main floor. The two cheek guards, jawbone, and forehead easily snap back together to form a mask that radiates with a moderate evocation aura.
The party accompanies Pel and Saala back to the seaside camp with Riemme's body. Halla and the surviving workers greet them with great enthusiasm. "Oh, Pel, Saala, you're alright!" She runs up and hugs the two, but then notices the body, steps back, lowering her head. "Oh.. I see..." She sighs deeply. "Even one of the Society's did not survive down there. I am glad to see you all back here alive, at least," she says to the party as he begins to lead her crew back aboard the Winking Wyvern.
As the ship sets sail, Halla debriefs with the party. "So, what of the temple? Is it safe now? I'd like to know what was there, and any details on the location itself. Any historical finds? If you've any artifacts, I'd love to examine them."
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Solumn stands tall against the mainmast of the ship, but his spirit feels like he should be in the fetal position. "That location was, and may still be, a place where horrible things were done to people in the name of their depraved god. Much of the architecture, though, seems to be intact. The one thing we did find was this head piece, which was scattered around the temple in pieces." He points towards the object (whoever happens to be carrying it) as he explains the ghastly corpses and hauntings that they came across, as well as the undead and fiendish creatures that they came across.
"As far as we can tell, the place should be secured, but it may be prudent to bring a team who can specialize in consecration or other such things."
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Halla takes the device and examines it as the Winking Wyvern dips through the sea. Her jaw agape, she looks at it from multiple angles, even holding it up near her face at one point. When she's done, she smiles broadly. "Splendid! This is an acrimony veil, a rare, ancient magic device created by Alaznist. You know, the Runelord of Wrath. I believe invoking its power generates a sense of anger and rage in oneself, as would be expected of Alaznist. The Society will have great interest in this artifact."
"With the site secured, I have every intention of returning to the dig at the earliest opportunity. I will ask that your Venture-Captain recruit another archaelogical team to join me. I'm sure they will be interested in your finds. Thank you."
And so the ship arrives in Magnimar, and back at Heidmarch manor, Sheila Heidmarch ensures Riemme Batelle's body is returned to his family. She takes the acrimony veil into Society possession for archiving and thanks the party for their services.
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Somewhere along the way back, Black Midknight and Silver Starlight disappear for a few moments. Right on cue, Rowena and Stella stride out from behind the brush, complete with sundress, darkened glass, and sunhat.
”Like, oh my gods. I just went for, like, a little walk to help Stella get fresh air to help her little tummy-wummy, and you all, like, are back already? Oh my godssss you are all, like, seriously awesome.”
She walks up to the acrimony veil and looks it over with a fashionista’s eye, finally acoffing and turning up her nose at it. ”Is that, like, Lissala’s work? It looks sooooo gauche, like a funeral or something. I’m so glad I didn’t, like, go. It would’ve been SUCH a drag.”
She starts walking towards the boat. ”So is it, like, time to go?”
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Marcie isn't sure who to shake her head at more... Halla or Rowena. "That place ain't somewhere's I'm goin' back to. And if ya are gonna bring in a bunch more dust nerds then next time bring more guards! And be sure you warn 'em 'bout what they're getting into first." She scoffs and heads below deck to find a drink and a soft bed.
I'm all for some neat history but some history is best left buried in the sand.
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"You definitely want someone who can deal with the dead. We cleared out pretty much anything hittable, but I don't know that we got rid of all the tormented spirits," Reggie chimes in.
"And after you get your research done, I suggest you destroy the place. Nothing good ever happened there and nothing good is going to happen in a place like that."