The kraken has no treasures in its sandbox. And no magic.
"The food would be more than enough worth for us... unless the meat is tainted with the Rough Beast's presence. Is that possible?"
Heshan thought it through as he passed on the opportunity to get healed. He looked visibly fine albeit a bit weak from the drains.
"The food would be more than enough worth for us... unless the meat is tainted with the Rough Beast's presence. Is that possible?"
"I'm sure as hell not going to eat that..."
Omari channels Erastil's gifts (after making sure that poor Swiper is out of the backpack ) :
Then he digs out his wand of Cure Light Wounds ...
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With the first channel Ohrmizd wounds fully close "Do not know..., we have not really eaten anything in a time..." the Keleshite pads his belly obviously hungry.
"But I am not really that desperate... still can pass without eating the Princess stagecoach wheels..." Ohrmizd removes the idea of the kraken for dinner.
Seeing everyone is healed, he opens the doors west "Let's claim that bestial treasure!"
Ohrmizd can't hold back and opens the doors. The large crypt behind contains three vaulted alcoves that form a clover-shaped room centered upon a dais. Atop the dais rests a single massive block of deep black stone. Carvings in each alcove and on the sarcophagus itself depict the terrifying image of a nine-legged spider with a gaping maw.
Ohrmizd gulps at the sight of the nine-legged spider symbol "Rovagug's holy symbol..."
Despite Manuun's comment, he finishes pushing open the door "The beast has been defeated. There is no way back for us..." slowly, he approaches the sarcophagus and reverently passes his hand over the sarcophagus without touching it. His hand trembles "Someone as important as to deserve this huge temple lays here buried... this must be something very important to Rovagug's faithful..."
At this point, Ohrmizd looks for the phylactery of the faithfulness and holds it strong in his hands trying to address what the goddess feels about opening this sarcophagus "I do not want to free a beast Sarenrae trapped here"
"Thank you Omari" - Roryx nodded as Swiper's wounds mended - "For now you will stay there" - he added to his companion, who peered at him from the backpack.
------
Not being particularly faithful or a strong believer, as they entered the large crypt Roryx remained on watch duty over the others.
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"It's far too late to worry about someone noticing, my friend." Heshan pointed to the now very dead octopus creature.
His jolliness lessened upon hearing the nature of the temple. He would do a quick scan on the area.
"For a group of people who want to destroy everything, they sure put up a lot of effort on this temple."
The sarcophagus emits some magic.
Omari asks "Ohrmizd, what do your senses tell you?" He pauses, and watches what Heshan is casting,
6 ranks +3 trained
and then continues "Good Idea Heshan, learn everything you can" .
He continues "I suggest we perhaps leave these until we searched for other guardians, like the octopus thing. They will keep while we rest an prepare ourselves."
"I will tell you: awfully evil" smirks Ohrmizd, but he follows the good advice and scans the sarcophagus anyway for Evil, Law, Chaos, Goodness, Poison and Magic.
"Sorry, but that is an awful idea. If we leave it here, someone else can come, open it, and take whatever is within" Ohrmizd clears the sweat from his forefront due to the tension of the decision "And I have started to think two rooms ago we are being played patsys to come down here and do all the hard work for someone else. Where is Rokova? We were driven here because he was supposed to be here, but instead we find all this strange vault that no one seemed to dare face before... and no trace of the one we suspect has been manipulating the Carrion King."
Before seriously considering to open the sarcophagus, Ohrmizd contemplates the act using the pylactery of faithfulness to make sure this will not put him against the edicts of Sarenrae's Church.
"Sorry, but that is an awful idea. If we leave it here, someone else can come, open it, and take whatever is within" Ohrmizd clears the sweat from his forefront due to the tension of the decision "And I have started to think two rooms ago we are being played patsys to come down here and do all the hard work for someone else. Where is Rokova? We were driven here because he was supposed to be here, but instead we find all this strange vault that no one seemed to dare face before... and no trace of the one we suspect has been manipulating the Carrion King."
"Come on Ohrmizd, use the street smarts we learned in the bazaars. If we camp in the garden upstairs, anyone who wants to get to this cavern has to sneak past us...Although I admit, you may have a point about Rokova. We were thinking he was deeper in this hole, but you have looked for tracks and found no traces of anyone else being down here. If he is using us for a patsies, should we expend more effort defeating more of the guardians down here? Presumably if we've found no tracks, does that mean he's coming up behind us, waiting for us to clear his path, and then jump us after we do all the work?"
"I am curious as to what may lie in there" - Roryx admitted with a chuckle.
"There is magic inside" Ohrmizd comments about his findings.
Given the phylactery is not ringing him not to do it, the Keleshite leans towards opening the sarcophagus now, but given Omari's vehement call to delay on taking the road forward, he holds back, at least for now "What you others think about it?" he nods to Roryx and looks at Manuun and Heshan.
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On Omari's insistance the group examines the rest of area first. Beyond the crypt lies a tangled network of twisting tunnels. Many of these tunnels are lined with burial niches, some of which contain strange bodies that seem something more than human. Some bodies are twice as large as a man, some have additional arms and bestial features, or are strangely undecayed and remain beautiful or handsome even in death.
The bodies themselves were not buried with anything of value, and there are no monstrous guardians waiting here to ambush intruders.
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"Actually, that's a good point." Heshan proceeds to cast Mage Armor, creating a protective sheen around him.
"It seems like this is more of a burial ground for servents of the Rough Beast. It seems... oddly affectionate."
Ohrmizd grins at Heshan comments "Indeed those Rovagug constructors did not really get the tenants of the God of Destruction it seems"
Feeling the majority of the party is for opening the sarcophagus now, Ohrmizd casts guidance, shield of faith and instrument of agony on the scimitar following Manuun's advise, then pushes open the tomb.
Within the sarcophagus lie the bones of an ancient gnoll priestess. She wears a glistening suit of +3 mithral chainmail, a periapt of Wisdom +4, and grasps in her bony hands the shaft of an immense greataxe of life stealing, its wide and serrated blades covering her skeletal feet. .
Not without effort, Ohrmizd moves away the cover of the sarcophagus, his eyes go wide at the clearly precious treasure inside "That is awesome stuff"
Only then he shivers and becomes pale "I-it is a bit cold in here, isn't it?"
Before people start to touch things and identify items, Ohrmizd focuses himself in the gnoll priestess trying to discern if this is a still undead or a really dead corpse.
He also adds detec evil, thinking if undead it will have an evil aura.
Only then, he attempts to identify the magic items.
"Wow! Look Omari, this headband will enhance your connection with the gods"
"No evilness, and the priestess is dead-dead" Ohrmizd explains, then starts removing the items and giving them away to the companions that want them.
He shivers again "Isn't it a bit cold here?" trying to heat himself he looks back "I guess it is time to go back and have that rest"
As Ohrmizd removes the greataxe, a scroll case made of bone comes into view that was hidden under the axe.
Opening the scroll case produces a large scroll which contains a single large rune.
From closeby, he peers at the scroll - "Can you decipher it?"
Before Roryx opens the case and peers at the scroll, Omari says Let Manuun check it for magical traps first!"
6 ranks +3 trained
6 ranks +3 trained
Before Roryx opens the case and peers at the scroll, Omari says Let Manuun check it for magical traps first!"
"Suit yourself then." Heshan let a foot tap the ground as he waited for Mani8n to do his thing.
Ohrmizd was faster than all precautions and in hindsight nothing bad happened.
Omari pronounces a simple Erastillian funeral blessing over the dead gnoll "From dust we come, naked. Naked, to dust we return. Rest peacefully for eternity."
Then he turns to the others "All right, we have explored this hole, and found no sign of Rokova. Let us return to the garden and rest. Then we can clear the rest of this den of gnolls. Perhaps we can find some clue to this Rokova's whereabouts from them..."
Ohrmizd nods in agreement "Let's rest and then we can deal with the prisoner and the priests we spot up. Perhaps one of them knows where is Rokova"
Before leaving he hands the greataxe to Roryx "I guess you are taking this one, isn't it?" and the headband of Wisdom to Omari "And you are taking this, isn't it?" while he takes the effort to remove the chainmail from the priest, not without effort "Hum... even Garavel smells better than this one..."
While the group traces their way back to the garden, Ohrmizd gives a glimpse to the scroll found by the axe "Are you taking the scroll Heshan? I guess it is some ancient powerful spell of destruction. It might come useful"
All piety goes over board when it comes to retrieving the chainmail from the sarcophagus. At the end it is a chaotic pile of bones in a stone box.
In a fit of paranoia, Omari takes the skeletons head and hands aside from the rest of the bones and crushes them into powder.
"Some destruction in the name of good is always welcome." Heshan takes the scroll and tries to decipher what it reads.
While they walk back to the garden, Ohrmizd passes the scroll to Heshan and looks at him for an opinion with interest "So what is it in there? Fireball spell?"
Heshan takes a look at the scroll in the magical spectrum. He drops everything and stares into the distance.
3 rank+3 trained +2 wis
6 rank +3 trained
Ohrmizd notices how Heshan halts while looking at the scroll "Ei, Heshan, are you ok? Is it an intricate drawing of the Princess in lingery as Manuun suggests?" the Keleshite chuckles trying to break the tension, but he seems in fact worried by what discovery might have made the arcanist stop like that.
"He used detect magic on the scroll; clearly the result has overwhelmed him. He should snap out of it in a minute or so... But what in the Horned God's name have we found?"
"That's maybe an artifact rather than a normal magical scroll then..." Ohrmizd picks up the scroll with renewed interest and attempts to decipher its writing rather than identifying its magic.
If this requires several minutes, Ohrmizd will sit in the garden, below some tree, and finish his inspection there, with anyone who wants to join and help.
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Ohrmizd notices how Heshan halts while looking at the scroll "Ei, Heshan, are you ok? Is it an intricate drawing of the Princess in lingery as Manuun suggests?" the Keleshite chuckles trying to break the tension, but he seems in fact worried by what discovery might have made the arcanist stop like that.
"They actually did that?" Apparently it was the last thing he remembered before he found out there was in fact no painting of such kind.
"Lesson learned. No need to add more magic to that scroll." Heshan shook his head a bit to get his bearings straight again.