The aasimar's silvery voice fills the air again as she turns towards the wolf-form, which snarls as Grandblade's sword cuts through its translucent body. Stepping closer to Melea, it bites again at the archer...
...and tears a pair of terrible gashes in her leg and arm with its strange teeth.
Round 6! Bold may act!
Blue
Yellow (-69)
Nicodemus
Bielsi
Zarisha (-5)
Melea (-19)
Galilah (-1)
Red
Felicitas
Grandblade (-3)
Azra (-5)
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As Zarisha gives up on her task and releases her grasping grip on the tether between herself and Bielsi, she shrinks down to human size once more.
The invisible Oread then summons her back into his consciousness and she fully disappears.
Bielsi directs his spiritual scimitar across to the yellow wolf for an attack.
As the Pathfinders hesitate, the construct bites and swings at Zarisha once more...
...but the bite barely leaves a mark.
Round 6! Bold may act!
Blue
Yellow (-69)
Red
Nicodemus
Bielsi
Zarisha (-7)
Melea (-19)
Galilah (-1)
Felicitas
Grandblade (-3)
Azra (-5)
Grandblade moves in for the kill, but the wolf-form dances around his blade and snarls at him. The moment is ruined by Azra clanking between the two combatants, the ground shaking from the golem's strike behind her. The wolf-form bites at the gnome, but its teeth only scrape on her thick armor as she tends to her wounds.
The moment between Grandblade and the wolf-form is further ruined by an arrow that catches the creature in the jaw. With a yelp, it vanishes - leaving only the large construct blocking the exit.
Heeding Nicodemus's words, Felicitas steps back next to Galilah. The construct doesn't move, but attacks the closest invader it can see - Nicodemus.
The ratfolk is too quick and dodges the massive limbs easily before a whistle from behind distracts him. "What are you doing, dancing about like a man afraid of a spider?" Memory-Tender asks with a raised eyebrow. "You have awoken the guardian - now put it back to rest so we can investigate the damage to the sepulcher." Behind her, a handful of boneslayers chuckle.
Round 7! Bold may act!
Blue
Yellow
Red
Nicodemus
Bielsi
Zarisha
Melea (-14)
Galilah (-1)
Felicitas
Grandblade (-3)
Azra
Nicodemus bravely pokes the construct with his rapier, but the golem's hardened bones seem to blunt the damage. Melea nods in gratitude to Felicitas as she sends an arrow flying into the creature's neck joint, causing several skulls to hang loosely even as the arrow ricochets off the golem's sturdy structure. Galilah races forward, but she doesn't avoid the notice of the golem as it lashes out with a massive arm...
...and wallops the cat squarely in the torso. Galilah snarls and latches onto one of the construct's arms, but it shakes her loose and her teeth scrape down the bones without leaving a scratch. Azra sends her own missile at the golem, but the magical pellet merely splats against it without effect. The blade of force is also similarly ineffective against the construct, dissipating into mist as it touches the hardened bones.
Grandblade again attempts to throw his weapon...
...but it clatters on the ceiling before returning to his hand. The golem bites and swings at Nicodemus...
...and leaves the ratfolk battered and bruised from a pair of attacks.
Round 8! Bold may act!
Blue
Yellow
Red (-56)
Nicodemus (-22)
Bielsi
Zarisha
Melea (-1)
Galilah (-15)
Felicitas
Grandblade (-3)
Azra (-5)
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Grandblade, now running low on the ability to use his Hand of the Apprentice, casts the spell Long Arm upon himself so he can engage in melee. He then shifts 5ft forward, and shouts helpful advice to his most visible ally Biesel.
"Aim for its open area between the left foot and the right arm!"
Benefit(s): As a move action, you can offer useful advice to an ally engaged in combat at just the right moment. Designate an enemy; your ally gains a +2 competence bonus on her next attack roll against that enemy. For your ally to benefit from this feat, you must be able to clearly see your ally and the designated enemy, and your ally must be able to hear you.
Bielsi's hand touches the golem, but the pale light surrounding it dissipates harmlessly against the spine acting as a leg for the construct. Grandblade's arms elongate as the aphorite shouts advice to the oread. Nicodemus presses the attack even as his blade's sharp point is dulled on the hardened bone. Galilah tears a smaller skull away from the construct's foot, but the creature is too massive for her to take out its legs. Melea ignores the sound of claws screeching on bone and sends another arrow at the creature's head, landing with a nice hollow thunk even as it bounces off.
The constructs swings its massive arms at the Pathfinders surrounding it...
The construct wobbles unsteadily, rocking back and forth on the hollow left by Galilah's theft from its foot. It bites down at the tiny ratfolk, but Nicodemus sees the massive skulls coming at the last second and jumps back. As the creature's head crashes into the floor, the ratfolk leaps at the opportunity and jabs at the construct's head. A piece of broken skull clinks on the floor, then another, before a cacophony of clattering fills the entrance hall as the guardian construct falls back into pieces.
As Azra tends to the Pathfinders' wounds with another burst of healing, Memory Tender nods approvingly. "It is good to see you have found the path here," she states. "I have no doubt you will find the path back just as easily while we examine the sepulcher for additional damages before resealing it."
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The journey back to the Storval Stairs is uneventful, the sun slowly setting on the calm river to usher in a crisp, clear night. Ol' Jia is easy enough to find at the base of the stairs - or rather, the large cloud of smoke from his pipe surrounding him. As the smoke clears, the Pathfinders see the familiar surroundings of the Grand Lodge once more. Ambrus stands from his chair and strides towards the group, brow furrowed in worry. "Agents, you've returned. Report."
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"Lumketul Simset is a real.." Bielsi switches to his native language and dialect. What he says essentially translates to "a person who deserves neither an afterlife nor a proper burial" but it's far more insulting than translation can convey.
"When you send someone to get him, I want to go," he continues, the tomb raider's desecration of the peaceful rest of the dead infuriating him all the more now that he's actually seen it than it did when he first heard of it.
He glowers as though he can see the man but takes a few breaths to calm himself enough to report.
"We convinced the Quah to let us try to fix things, though that was a close thing. When we got there we found..."
It's clear he's overcome by anger again and he has to pause. "Well...we fixed what we could. It was the worst of the damage in any case. We can hope that the Quah sees our effort beneficially, if not the final results."
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Melea doesn't chip in to secure a seat for the 'Bring Lumetkul to Justice' mission, but she wouldn't argue if she were to go.
The aasimar also doesn't go into much detail about the mission. "More will follow in my written report. But we entered the Sepulcher and made our way through, fixing what we could. Our wealth of knowledge helped pacify several nonliving threats, as did the Scavenger's Stone."
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With another adventure done, Grandblade cleans off his massive sword and pats his allies on the back. "It was a grand adventure we had, hopefully our next one will shine cleaner on us. Most exquisite talents from the lot of you, I would say." He awkwardly congratulates his team, words having a hard time stumbling out of his mouth.
Hopefully his message comes across fine and they appreciate his effort.
********************************************
Back at the Storval Stairs, Grandblade only offers knowledge of what they encountered inside the tomb itself, in hopes that knowledge of entities will make future Pathfinders know when to tread cautiously around danger.
Ambrus nods solemnly. "You have my gratitude," he replies. "Take some time and rest - I'll be notifying you when I hear back from Cousin to All."
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After a few days, Ambrus summons the Pathfinders once more to his office. A large crate sits open on his desk, several bottles poking out from the straw. "As you can see," he says, gesturing broadly at the box, "Cousin to All sent a delivery. She says it's to thank the Society for their efforts in righting the wrongs of Lumketul. She also wrote that several other councilmembers wished to express their gratitude as well and have sent gifts as well. Well done, Pathfinders - well done!"