Cymric stands there, still wondering why he can't sing or tell jokes like he should be.
[i]The necrophidius tries to bite Seeker
Shukara continues to stand there, mouth slightly open, eyes glazed over.
With his companions disabled by the snakes mesmerizing magic, Seeker attempts to grapple the snake to disable it. Though he knows many species of snake prefer to constrict their prey, he hopes this isn’t one of them.
Seeker dashes across and grapples the creature.
The Necrophidius tries to break out of the grapple, but fails
Seeker does what he can towrestle the snake to the ground.
[i]Seeker manages to maintain the grapple but is unable to pin.
The necrophidius tries to break out of the grapple again
Seeker holds the snake by its throat with one hand and punches it in the face with the other.
Seeker's blow hits the snake, in return it tries to break free but fails again.
Seeker repeats the pummeling action against the snake.
Seeker punches the necrophidius and it howls in pain
Shaking his head to clear the cobwebs out, Cymric starts up his comedic routine again, hoping to inspire Seeker to finish of the creature.
The necrophidius tries to break free of the grapple and succeeds
Ogochukwu swings the flail hard at the bone creature as he snaps out of his Daze
Shukara blinks away the haze, eyes slowly focusing again. What...what just happened? She stares in confusion at the snake, wondering what it had managed to do to her.
Not important right now.
Instead of firing another useless crossbow bolt, she steps forward to offer what little aid she can. "Neith be with you," she prays as she touches Ogochukwu's shoulder.
Ogochukwu's flail smashes into the creature, it is still there but only juts.
With the inspiration from Shukara and Cymric, Seeker unleashes a flurry of attacks to put an end to the snake for good.
Seeker's blow smashes into the creature and it crumples into dust.
Ogochukwu your spell sees a single Osirian man in what looks like cultist robes sneak into the chamber and remove a large mask from the statue. He looks slightly injured and drips blood on the floor. He takes the mask and then leaves the tomb altogether.
You then see a few hours later a group of adventurers wandering in and you realise that it is none other then the Scorched Hand, the other adventuring group led by Velriana Hypaxes
"A mask has been removed from here. This is no good. A curse is coming, certainly. It was removed by a lone man, injured. We must track him down when we are done here. But he was followed by the Scorched Hand!"
A large silver summoning circle is inlaid in the floor tiles near the centre of this octagonal chamber. In the northeast corner of the room, a set of narrow steps leads up to a raised dais. A concave stone bench, almost a throne, perches atop the dais, flanked by two bronze braziers. Four columns carved in the form of fantastic creatures support the room's vaulted ceiling
The columns are fine examples of ancient sculpture. The column to the northeast depicts a beautiful hawk-winged succubus like woman, while the southeast column is fashioned in the form of a feminine figure of billowing smoke or clouds crackling with electricity. The northwest column portrays a half-skeletal spellcaster of some kind and the column to the the southwest resembles a winged, angelic creature wearing a metallic mask.
"The Scorched Hand? Should I know who that is?" Shukara isn't entirely sure what's going on, but she continues to follow along as they explore.
Ogochukwu you recognise the figures as follows:
The hawk-winged woman is Yamasha, a master of conjuration and enchantment.
The feminine cloud is Nethys's herald, the Arcanotheign
The skeletal spellcaster is the powerful lich Takaral
The angelic creature is the trumpet archon Bard.
Cymric you recognise that the columns are a type of construct known as a caryatid column. They have damage reduction against everything, they are immune to magic and any weapon striking them takes 3d6 damage
"The Scorched Hand is another adventuring party. They wanted to explore this temple but they did not get the draw... Apparently they found it and explored it anyway, robbing us of our claim. "
"We do not want to fight these columns... If they are related to a trap, we should be careful not to trigger it. "
Ogochukwu begins carefully searching for a trap
"Oh, okay. I suppose that makes sense; they probably figured the temple would have better treasure than wherever it was they were trying to explore. Kind of strange though that they managed to get here so early. You think maybe they hired the thugs that ambushed us outside?" Shukara frowns, considering this new possibility. "That did slow us down quite a bit."
She casts a wary glance at the columns and stays as far back as possible while Ogochukwu searches.
"They are lucky they did not fall foul of these beings." Seeker signs after Ogochukwu explains the situation to Shukara. "I do not think we could combat these, never mind the structural damage that could be done, were the creatures to animate." To Shukara he responds "I did not speak to any of the Scorched Hand. I could not say if they seemed like ones to resort to such tactics, but it seems unlikely. Perhaps the Hand, the gang, and the cultist looking person who took the mask knew of the masks existence and all felt it was worth killing for?" He adds his keen eyes to the trap searching.
You do not find any signs of traps in the room.
Ogochukwu carefully avoids the summoning circle as he goes over to the bench and braziers and inspects them. He tries to determine their purpose, then he will try to do an object reading on each of them, the four pillars, and the summoning circle
Before he starts, Ogochukwu addresses Shukara. "Hmm, that seems beyomd their means to afford. It could be. "
Seeker follows Ogochukwu to the dais, though he doubts he would be much help against the columns should they choose to attack.
Cymric stands at the doorway, however staying within thirty feet of the group, knowing that he is useless in combat other than providing support in the way of his oratory.
Shukara vibrates in place, not really wanting to move forward but also concerned she won't be any help from where she currently stands.
In the end caution wins out and she stays near Cymric. Her crossbow is out and loaded, although judging from what they've seen so far it won't do much good. Not against any enemies in this place.
Ogochukwu, you cast your spell. The braziers and bench are nothing special, they are standard decorative devices for a tomb. The spell reveals that crossing the summoning circle without wearing the raiment's of the high priest will cause the caryatid columns to attack.
"That should be easy enough to avoid." Seeker signs, relieved that the activation mechanism is so simple, though his stony and stoic exterior don't reveal it. "Interesting that the columns are tied to raiment's of a high priest, since this room seems to serve no other purpose." He waits to see if the others have any ideas as to why this room warrants such heavy guard.
With nothing more to take or learn, Ogochukwu leaves the room, avoiding the summoning circle, and moves on to the next one
Locked bronze gates block each of the entrances to this room, although the northern gate looks as if the lock has been disabled so it is merely closed. You can hear low talking coming from within.
"Maybe it was just meant to be a simple trap." Shukara is relieved that Ogochukwu figured things out, (and glad she'd stayed outside where she couldn't accidentally step on the circle). "Easy enough to avoid if you were meant to be here, but if you weren't supposed to be here and didn't know about it then things could turn nasty."
Shukara's eyes widen as they hear voices. The Scorched Hand? She sneaks closer to see if she can make out what they're saying.
Seeker nods in agreement with Shukara.
His rocky kind not being built for subterfuge, Seeker opts to listen from a safe distance to see if he can glean anything from the hushed conversation.
"Come on Velriana we need to be quick. That other group are probably on their way here now."
Another voice says,
"Relax Idorii, we are nearly done. There is only one treasure chamber left. Besides if that other group are here we can deal with them if needs be.
Seeker you recognise the voices as belonging to 2 members of the Scorched Hand.
"We have caught up to the Scorched Hand." Seeker signs in his superior form of stealth communication. "They sound as of they mean hostilities towards any followers. I hear at least two."
"We should deal with them now " Ogochukwu signs without speaking, preparing to cast spells to prepare himself for a mighty battle
Seeker palms two of his shuriken; they would be far more effective against a flesh foe than the stone creatures they had been facing. He listens for any more dialogue from the Hand.
Shukara double-checks to make sure her crossbow is loaded, then nods. ”Ready when you are,” she signs.
There seems to be more general conversation around the topic of trying this or that chest but nothing else.
Opening the doors two rows of columns support the vaulted ceiling of this large chamber. Inscribed heiroglyphs cover most of the room's walls, but the southern wall is rough and unfinished. Three passages, each closed with a bronze gate, exit the room to the north, east and west.
Turning round, surprised are four individuals that some of you recognise, they are the members of the Scorched Hand.
Seeing an enemy in front of them, Cymric immediately begins telling jokes to inspire his companions.
Seeker throws a shuriken at one of the Hand but misses by a wide margin, even with the element of surprise.