Despite your best efforts, and even with Filibus doing his best to point it out, you can't seem to make out the creature he seems 100% certain is there, just under the sand.
Ulysses waves the others along and creeps forward. He indicates the others should be ready, then picks up a rock and throws it into the pool.
The sand explodes into motion when the rock touches its surface, as the most enormous centipede you've ever seen erupts from its slumber and slithers with horrid speed toward you. It has to be twenty feet long at least.
Venom drips from its mandibles as it skitters toward you.
[color=green]
Ulysses (16/17 hp)
Filibus (3 dmg)
Nevai (17/17 hp)
Centipede (0 dmg)
Melech (21/25 hp)
[/color]
"We've disturbed a whiptail! Probably don't need to tell you to not let it bite you! This will be fun!" The grin on his face is as wide as it is inappropriate. He loads a bomb into his bombchucker and then, well, he chucks the bomb.
Then he takes a step back.
Nevai in, drawing his khopesh, before it has fully gained its bearings.
Before Nevai moves toward the centipede, Filibus loads up and pops off a shot, burying the bolt deep in its... neck?
Nevai almost charged the beast but ended up simply moving in cautiously. As well he did; he might otherwise have not been able to avoid its slavering mandibles, which he just barely deflects with the scarab shield; the centipede's tail lashes out at his legs, but he manages to sidestep it just in time instead of ending up on his back.
[color=green]
Ulysses (16/17 hp)
Filibus (3 dmg)
Nevai (17/17 hp)
Centipede (22 dmg)
Melech (21/25 hp)
[/color]
Melech rolls his eyes as he once again has the wrong weapon drawn. He drops his flail and draws his falchion as he calmly walks to the impressively large insect. Then he attempts to cut it in half.
As Melech comes in to face the centipede, it whips around and lashes out with its dripping mandibles, goring Melech across the torso and spinning him around with the force of the blow.
The mandibles dig in deep and Melech feels the horrid toxin pour into the wound.
He feels his limbs begin to seize up, but fights off the effects.
[color=green]
Ulysses (16/17 hp)
Filibus (3 dmg)
Nevai (17/17 hp)
Centipede (37 dmg)
Melech (7/25 hp, flat-footed)
[/color]
Ulysses sees the creature nearly bifurcate Melech and has no idea how the big man survived. We better kill this thing fast. He loads up another bomb.
The bomb falls short of the centipede, but the fringe blast is enough to rip bits of fire and shrapnel through the beast's long, sinuous body. It lets out a keening, wet sound before flopping to the ground in a great cloud of dust and sand, then slides slowly over the lip of the pool and out of sight.
Unfortunately, Nevai was also in the radius of the blast.
Fortunately he dodges the worst of it, and quickly bats at himself to put out the embers scorching his robes.
COMBAT OVER!
As the sand and dust settles from the fall of the massive insect, the party feels invigorated, as if they have learned new secrets and gathered new power as they become
Ulysses pulls out the wand again and taps Melech with it twice.
"I still have two bombs, and I need to know what's behind those doors over there." He points to the north.
Melech revels in the sweet pain of the healing magic and, though he can't explain it, he feels even more invigorated than he was before the centipede almost killed him. "Yes, let's keep going."
He checks the sand the centipede came out of and then explores to the north, toward the small building.
Melech and Ulysses find nothing in the sand, neither in the dead garden nor in the pool where the whiptail centipede was hiding away from the harsh midmorning sun.
There are a pair of double doors to the right, leading into the house, and a mausoleum directly ahead, with heavy stone double doors. They appear to be open a crack already.
Melech leads the group to the mausoleum and checks the doors.
The mausoleum doors are unlocked and appear to be untrapped. A tiny sliver of daylight stretches down a short, wide stairwell. The doors, while heavy, look like they wouldn't give much trouble to Melech and Nevai working together.
Melech opens the doors with Ulysses's help.
Ulysses is just a little too small to be of much help, but Nevai steps in and pulls the doors open. Daylight spills down a twenty-foot hallway, into a room beyond, but it's too dim to make anything out just yet.
Nevai touches the slayer's falchion and it begins shedding a soft, warm light, like morning sun through a window.
With Melech and Ulysses leading the way, the party steps down into the family crypt. The short stairwell leads into some sort of undershrine. A stone altar sits upon a raised stone platform in the center of this square room. Caryatid columns carved in the likenesses of male and female figures with their arms crossed over their chests and khopeshes or ankhs in their hands stand at each corner of the platform. Empty torch hlders are built in all four of the room's corners. Two stairways exit the room--the one to the south you just came from, and a narrower stairwell to the north that leads further down.
Ulysses goes right around the altar, examining as he goes.
And Melech goes left.
As Melech and Ulysses move around the outside of the altar, Nevai steps in and glances around curiously.
From behind the altar, a creature rises up. It is humanoid in size and shape, but is covered head to toe in bandages. It lets out a rasping groan and lurches at Ulysses.
[color=green]
Ulysses (23/24 hp)
Melech (35/37 hp)
Filibus (3 dmg)
?? (0 dmg)
Nevai (25/27 hp)
[/color]
Except... wait.
Are its bandages... moving?
What in the Nine Hells is this thing??
This is a creature known as an adherer. They are aesthetically similar to mummies, but they are not undead. They are, however, very, very sticky. Any physical weapon attack has a chance of getting stuck to the creature.
"Adherer! Not undead but anything it touches might stick to it!"
Melech steps forward 5' and studies the creature.
Ulysses drinks his mutagen and takes a short step away from the ... thing.
The adherer rushes at Ulysses and swings, smashing a heavy fist against the gnome's face. Dozens of weird, sticky, flesh-colored filaments whip off the adherer's fist and latch onto Ulysses.
[color=green]
Ulysses (17/24 hp, grappled)
Melech (35/37 hp)
Filibus (3 dmg)
Adherer (0 dmg, grappled, -2 AC from charge)
Nevai (25/27 hp)
[/color]
Ulysses uses his natural slipperiness to try to slip out of the adherer's grip.
Melech runs around the altar, falchion at the ready.
Ulysses manages to wriggle out away from the creature. It seems to weigh its options between Ulysses and the newly arrived Melech, and decides to bring a fist down on Melech, slamming into his chest and leaving several strong, sticky filaments behind that grip Melech by the torso.
Filibus fires a bolt at the adherer, but in his fluster, the bolt sails wide.
[color=green]
Ulysses (17/24 hp)
Melech (28/37 hp, grappled)
Filibus (3 dmg)
Adherer (0 dmg)
Nevai (25/27 hp)
[/color]
Nevai steps back and draws his sling, lobbing a bullet at it. No need to lose a perfectly good khopesh.
The adherer glances down in mild irritation as the sling bullet sticks to its gooey surface with a soft paff!
[color=green]
Ulysses (17/24 hp)
Melech (28/37 hp, grappled)
Filibus (3 dmg)
Adherer (0 dmg)
Nevai (25/27 hp)
[/color]
Ulysses takes a step back and hucks a bomb.
Melech's weapon is too big to swing this close so he attempts to free himself.
Then he steps away.
Melech feels the creature's grip release and smiles. Can't hold me, can't hold my sword. He adjusts his grip on his falchion and swings it at its neck.
Ulysses' bomb strikes the adherer, and its pink, fleshy coating sizzles and dissipates in a small plume of oily black smoke, and it lets out a wet, gurgling cry of anger.
Melech finds himself free of its grasp, but he can't quite right himself in time to make an accurate swing.
Filibus gets in a surprisingly solid shot. It should have been incredibly damaging to the adherer, but instead it seems to have merely annoyed it.
In a fury, the adherer lashes out at Melech, but the pain of its injuries makes it telegraph the swing, and Melech takes it easily on the armor.
[color=green]
Ulysses (17/24 hp)
Melech (28/37 hp)
Filibus (3 dmg)
Adherer (15 dmg)
Nevai (25/27 hp)
[/color]
Nevai, seeing how useless the sling is, plucks up the khopesh off the floor and moves in to the adherer, stowing the sling as he goes.
The adherer lashes out at Nevai as he approaches, but it is still reeling from the fiery agony and misses.
[color=green]
Ulysses (17/24 hp)
Melech (28/37 hp)
Filibus (3 dmg)
Adherer (15 dmg)
Nevai (25/27 hp)
[/color]
Ulysses tosses his last bomb.
Melech thinks it's been a while since he's had a crit.
Filibus is less accurate this time from trying to avoid hitting not one, but two allies in this fight. The adherer continues to swing at Melech to no avail.
[color=green]
Ulysses (17/24 hp)
Melech (28/37 hp)
Filibus (3 dmg)
Adherer (26 dmg)
Nevai (25/27 hp)
[/color]
Nevai brings the khopesh down on the adherer while it's still not sticky.
Everyone's just not feeling it right now. Misses left and right.
[color=green]
Ulysses (17/24 hp)
Melech (28/37 hp)
Filibus (3 dmg)
Adherer (26 dmg)
Nevai (25/27 hp)
[/color]
Melech thinks it's still been a while since he's had a crit (or a hit, for that matter).
Ulysses is out of useful things to do so he pulls out his crossbow and loads it.
Melech swipes an uppercut with the falchion, opening the adherer from thigh to throat. The adherer gags and gurgles on the fountain of blood escaping its chest and abdominal cavity into its now-open throat, and dies from shock within seconds. A stench like glue and carrion rapidly fills the air.
COMBAT OVER!