The air Kazikli sends at the statue hits it and while little bits of dust fly off of it, it otherwise seems unharmed. But his positive energy hits the mummy and causes it to crumble to dust!
The statue turns toward Barb and swings its fist, colliding hard with the barbarian's side and grabbing a hold of her. It slams its other fist into her again and then swings a third time but doesn't get enough behind it.
Koruk's strikes are thrown of by the odd, jerking movements of the creature, but Lande manages to shoot in the back and it crumbles to dust.
Barb looks a lot better after Kazikli's spell. Lusinel just manages to knock the statue over and as it falls, it lets go of Barb and she's able to get out of the way.
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"My thanks, my friends," Barb calls as the healing and battle medicine take effect. [/b]"Now let's finish off this monster."[/b]
With the statue prone at her feet, Barb swings her greataxe.
"Aargh! I need to add a new routine to my training. I'm not used to hitting things on the ground."
"At least it looks a little dented," she adds with a sigh.
Barb gets some revenge, taking large chunks out of the statue. Cracks spread from the impact site of her first strike and bits fall off of the statue in other places. She hits again, though her last attempt misses.
The statue manages to stand up after this beating, though it is looking considerably damaged now.
It punches out at Kazikli and grabs a hold of him.
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Barb continues to hack at the statue, venting her frustrations and talking quietly, "This is not a spirit? Just an animated pile of rock. Then the appropriate thing to do is prevent it from causing more harm. This is the best way I know how to do that."
In a louder voice, she addresses the statue directly, "Let go of my friend you great brute!"
Barb hits the statue with another mighty strike of her axe. This time, she cuts it clean through. It drops Kazikli and the half-orc backs out of the way as the top half of the statue hits the ground and cracks apart. Its legs stand there motionless.
The danger appears to be over. The man who claimed to have been a Pathfinder lies dead at the statue's feet.
You feel that you have fully explored the site, but if there's anything further anyone would like to do before returning to the surface they are welcome.
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"Good work," Kazikli says, mostly to Barb. He calls on his magic to heal himself and his fellow half-orc.
Following that, he goes to pick up the magical stone he saw. He does so with care and axe drawn, in case the lights go out again. He looks over it with Read Aura, shares his findings with the team, then stands in place. A tiny whirlwind whips around him as he restores his magical energy.
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Barb's shoulders slump as she drops out of her state of rage. She looks at the others, "Great teamwork everyone. That could have become really ugly without us all working together."
She happily accepts Kazikli's healing spell, thanking him, then bends to pick up a small object from the rubble of the statue. It is a stone, shaped like a panther. "Pretty, I wonder if it has a purpose ..." her words trail off in thought.
Once they have finished searching the area and made sure everyone has fully recovered, Barb asks, "What should we do with this one?" and she gently nudges the body with her booted foot. "Should we take him back to the lodge for further identification and investigation? Maybe hand him over to the guards upstairs? We shouldn't just leave him here, that would be disrespectful of the dead, both him and anyone else entombed here." After a brief pause she adds, "And we definitely don't want to risk him rising as undead, we've already seen that there is a presence here that can cause that."
Lande, the man's compass looks similar to a wayfinder, but, looking at it and knowing it is fake, you can clearly see that it is not. Whether the man altered a normal compass or how he came by it, you can't really tell. However, it seems likely that an organized group would do a better job at forgery.
Kazikli, you learn that the faint magic of the stone is of the transmutation school. For the sake of expedience, I'll say that the party spends some time looking it over and figures out it's a dull grey aeon stone.
Lusinel, the only thing you find on the man's body is some papers. Upon taking a look, you discover that they look quite identical to the permit you were given by Venture-Captain Balentiir. In fact, the requester of this permit is Balentiir as well, though it is dated almost a year ago.
Barb comes up the stairs into the desert carrying the body of the false Pathfinder. As the others arrive behind her, you see the guard do a quick head count and process that all members of your party are alive and counted for. Who is that? Is that the other Pathfinder? What is the meaning of this? What happened?
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"This man is no Pathfinder but an imposter. Unfortunately, before we could fully ascertain what had occurred and what motives he may have, we were attacked by a large animated statue and some undead. This one was killed in the opening moves of the statue. All have been put to rest, at least all that we know of.
"I have brought him to you as the local authorities to deal with the investigation as to who he may be and what he was up to. Also, of course, to arrange for his proper burial.
"If you prefer we take him to the lodge and that the Pathfinder Society conduct the investigation, I will abide by that decision."
Barb gently lays the imposter down, treating him with due care and respect.
The guard's eyes go wide. Animated... Undead... She thinks for a moment. Wait here, please. She wakes up one of the other guards and speaks to him. While he stands up and stretches, she comes back over to you. I will accompany you back to Osirion. We can visit your Sandswept Hall first and then I will assist your venture-captain in contacting the proper authorities.
By the time the group makes it back to Osirion, the sun is beginning to rise. Venture-Captain Balentiir looks well-rested, perhaps causing some of you to realize how tired you are. Like the guard, he seems to do a head count when he notices the false Pathfinder's body. Noticing the guard as well and the look on some of your faces, he asks, What happened?
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Barb cocks a wry smile, "The good news is that the site has already been cleared. We completed an initial inspection and retrieved a few items this one," she gestures with her head toward the body, "had collected." Barb pauses a moment before adding thoughtfully, "Perhaps a team more experienced in the history of this area could make better sense of the place. It didn't feel like a regular tomb, yet it definitely had aspects of one."
Almost as an afterthought she adds, "Oh, and we should draw a map marking where we found a trap. Don't want anyone to walk into that unknowingly."
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Lusinel helpfully draws the map Barb requested, adding in the margin an entirely unnecessary and unasked-for review of said trap. ("Sturdy construction, good damage potential, but unsophisticated mechanism. Not as much fun to disarm as it could have been, but still a decent piece of work, considering its age. 4 out of 5 stars.")
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Officer Elrekah adds her own details to your explanations, telling Balentiir about the excavation of the site and the papers the man presented. Balentiir asks to see these papers.
These are impressive, but nonetheless, fake. Yours is the only group I provided a permit to. He pauses for a moment, thinking. I wonder if perhaps this man worked in the permit office. I can think of no other way for someone to gain the knowledge needed to pull off such a scheme. This is deeply concerning. Elrekah, was it? Thank you for accompanying the Pathfinders. I will contact the Osiriani government this morning.
Officer Elrekah nods and after bidding you all farewell, departs.
Balentiir shakes his head. This looks to have been the work of one man, but you can all be assured I will work with the Osiriani government to be certain. I will also make sure this man is identified and receives a proper burial.
He bids you follow him back into the gardens where you first met with him. For now, you have all earned a rest. And payment, of course! You are to be commended for dealing with the threats you discovered at the site. Future expeditions there will be safer thanks to your efforts. Feel free to enjoy the gardens and other amenities at Sandswept Hall until you are ready to depart.