Silvia gives the horrid little creature a good kick, sending its body skidding across the floor. "Hope I never see one of those again," she says simply. She looks between the bone chariot and the door they just passed through, thinking. "Did someone leave this thing here for us, in case we left? Why go through all this instead of just killing us?"
|
"What in the world..." Wallace asks, prodding the little creature with his sword before sheathing it. After prying open the crate, he adds the crowbar and a hammer to his pack. "Anyone willing to hold this lantern? I'd do it myself, but I'm at my best when my hands are full of the means for defense."
"Nice blow Ketra, that's quite the swordarm you've got!" I must be a little rusty, but that's ok this time. Nobody got hurt because of my shortcomings.
"I don't even know what it is, really, but is it possible it crawled in here? Seems little enough..."
“I don’t use a shield, so I will carry the lantern for you,” offers the halfling. Garret grabs the lamp and fills it with oil, sparking the wick with a cantrip.
"Zsofia, watch out!" When the extraplanar creature uncurls to bite the phantom, Sanduro stretches an arm out in her direction, his body unconsciously echoing his mind's reach for their connection as he tries to take on some of the damage before Zsofia is forced back to the Ethereal Plane.
"OWWW!" Sanduro jerks his arm back, which begins to bubble and bleed in the same spot that the creature bit the phantom. He grits his teeth and says, "Well done. I think it's time to go back to being a ghost, though."
Once the phantom has returned to her spectral form, the druid murmurs a quiet prayer to Pharasma. Some of the damage he assumed from the ostovore's acidic bite fades, and he sighs in relief as much of the pain fades with it.
"Argh, that hur... wait, boyo, don't... oh, damn your eyes!"
The phantom, now incorporeal, floats less than an inch above the stone floor, glaring at Sanduro. After another sour grunt, she turns her back on him and gives a curt nod to Silvia and Ketra before turning to the crate.
"So what about this? Maybe something worth getting left for dead and fighting a bone-bug for, hmm?" Zsofia rubs her incorporeal hands together with glee while she waits for Wallace to open the crate, then stalks off to the far end of the room to sulk when she sees what's inside.
Garret:
As he looks around, Garret is puzzled by this place even more. "I suppose there is nothing for it but to keep moving forward," he suggests, "Whenever you are ready."
"Well that was a horrible little thing." Ketra carefully wipes off the machete as the rest of the party comments. She grins in response to Wallace's praise "Yep! I know a thing or two. Just enough to be dangerous."
"As for what that bug was about, I'm as puzzled as you Silvia. Whoever moved us into this-" She looks around at all the stone walls and sarcophagi. "-this tomb, they obviously didn't want to just kill us. It feels more like a ritual kind of thing. Interring us with the burial shrouds and all that. A mite bit extravagant if we were just supposed to get killed by a bug afterward."
"More likely we're somewhere dangerous enough that bugs like that just stop on by every so often." She looks to the south and her voice lowers "Nowhere near Roslar's Coffer."
---
Expecting more trouble now that its been established that this tomb isn't safe, Ketra moves somewhat quietly toward the alcove to the southeast. and then if there's nothing of interest, she looks over to the south. She listens in after the group quiets to notice if anything or anyone is approaching.
Ketra's investigation of the alcove proves fruitful, as the closed cabinets--once cautiously opened--contain what appears to be a small med-station, possibly for resident priests or other caretakers.
[12] candles
small waterproof box with [20] tinderwigs
a silver holy symbol of Aroden
[5] potion vials containing a pale blue fluid, and which detect as magical
[1] healer's kit
The alcove opens out into a grander chamber. The marble walls of this large hall are carved with several images of battle, each featuring a knight astride a lean horse. The knight wears no helmet and has long hair and a wide mustache. In each of the images, the knight is charging at undead horrors with a rapier in hand.
Two halls lead out of the western portion of this room, one to the north and one to the south. Three large archways lead out of the room to the east. The archway to the northeast is carved with the words “At My Right Hand, Peace for Years of Righteous Labors”; the archway to the east is carved with the words, “Roslar: Hero and Paladin at His Well Earned Rest”; and the archway to the southeast reads, “Loyal Abdell, Support Thy Master Always.”
Sprawled in the center of this room is a human-sized metal figure that resembles a skeleton wrapped in robes. The limbs of the figure are askew and melted, as though with acid.
You recall from your studies during training that the hero-knight Roslar was enamored with Arazni, the angelic Red Crusader, herald of Aroden and former patron saint of the Knights of Ozem. However, he was never buried in his tomb...reading between the lines, it is widely believed nowadays that his reputation was marred by scandal of one type or another, though there seems to be little agreement on the specifics.
After a quick glance over Ketra's shoulder at her find, Silvia continues past the alcove and into the chamber. She makes a circuit of the chamber, giving the metal skeleton a wide berth, while taking note of the carved words. Pointing at the easternmost archway, she says to Ketra "I think we are in Roslar's Coffer. Here's his tomb, even has his name on it. Maybe those ostowhatsits just have a talent for finding their way into boneyards."
She looks back at the other archways, raising an eyebrow at the last one. Who is Abdell?
Garret will move up and cast detect magic, attempting to determine what aura and purpose these potions have, though finding them with a healer's kit would seem to give some indication.
Sanduro looks in the crate and picks up the flint and steel - It never hurts to have an extra way to make a fire - and one of the flasks of oil before moving on.
"I think we are in Roslar's Coffer. Here's his tomb, even has his name on it. Maybe those ostowhatsits just have a talent for finding their way into boneyards."
"Ostovores? That's the way I remember hearing about them. I don't know how smart they are, but I think it would be hard to set one up for a trap for any length of time."
Neither the carvings nor the skeletal metal knight mean anything to Sanduro, but when he looks over Ketra's shoulder into the alcove, the healer's kit hidden there does. "Nice find, Ketra! That kit there could be useful, and it doesn't seem to be doing any good here. I can hold onto it, unless someone objects?" Before slipping it into his pack, he offers the healer's kit to Ketra, seeing as she found it, and to Garret, Silvia, and Wallace figuring that as trained soldiers they might be well-versed in battlefield medicine.
Sanduro also casts detect magic and looks the items in the alcove, and back over at the crate just in case. As the potions' auras shimmer into view, he says, "Need any help, Garret? Or have you figured out what they all are?"
Ketra pauses in the center of the cavernous chamber, looking at each of the walls in turn. "Huh. Maybe this whole thing is Roslar's Tomb then." She points to the three eastern archways "For him and his closest teammates."
"I don't think anyone recently has ever gone inside the tomb, considering that it was sealed up for so long." She frowns "If we're inside it right now, that means someone went and broke their way in, only to put us in those caskets. That's insane." She brightens after a moment of flabbergasted reflection "Ah, but it means we're not far from getting out!"
After walking around with Silvia, she stops in front of the metal skeleton. "What's going on with this thing? Its creeping me out. Just thinking about it behind us after we go down one of these passages..."
Sanduro waits for Wallace to catch up to the group. "It seems like you have been stationed in this area for a while. Do you know anything about these Red Shrikes? Is it possible that Roslar's Tomb is this big? I didn't think it looked quite so large when I visited the cemetery."
”These are minor potions of curing; I suggest we each take one,” says Garret.
Though destroyed and acid-melted, you recognize that this being was once a celedon, a construct dedicated to the protection of tombs and graveyards. This one appears like a skeleton wrapped in ceremonial robes, a common motif of the church of Pharasma.
Under the sound of your boots scuffing the stone and your companions conversation, you hear the rattle and scrape of bones and the scuttling of tiny feet coming from the south-east chamber.
You see a pair of tiny, glowing red eyes peering out at your from the pile of metal scraps--but after a second it's gone. You're confident that another ostovite is hiding within the pile!
Before he can focus on the statue, Garret hears something, saying, ”Be on your guard—I hear what might be another bone creature in the chamber to the southeast.”
Sanduro nods at Garret's warning. "I heard it, too, Garret. You're right, it sounds like bones." He moves further into the room and nocks an arrow in his bow, aiming toward the southeast doorway. "Zsofia, would you please take a look?"
"Oh, sure. It isn't like I can do anything else, since I'm only a ghost." The phantom glides to the entrance to the chamber and looks for anything that could be the source of the noise.
"No idea what this thing is," Silvia says. "But I'm keeping my distance." She doesn't hear anything herself, but follows after Szofia, pistol at the ready.
Zsofia drifts over to investigate the noise, Silvia close behind, and so they are the first to see skeletal horse rising to its feet, a red-eyed ostovite frantically scuttling about the ribcage of its bone chariot. The horse advances on them with menacing intent.
Round 1
Silvia
Bone Chariot
Ketra
Wallace
Sanduro
Garret
"We've got another one!" is all the warning Silvia gives, before stepping forward, her pistol raised in one hand, spewing fire and smoke. Before the smoke has finished clearing, she is already dropping another bullet down the barrel.
Ketra takes a healing potion from Garret with a grateful nod. Having remained in front of the weird metal skeleton, she's left a bit on the back foot when another bone construct springs to life.
Forewarned and forearmed, Silvia levels the barrel of her pistol and fires, the retort echoing throughout the enclosed chamber. The bullet strikes to devastating effect, blasting through the horse's skull and neck and severing it entirely! The ostovite lets out a frantic chittering sound as the now-headless mass of bones barrels towards Zsofia.
Rearing up, the skeleton's hoof slams down, missing the phantom completely and ostovite's chittering takes on a decidedly outraged tone. Suddenly, a second ostovite that had been hiding in the pile of metal scraps leaps free and scuttles across the room with startling speed!
Round 1
Silvia
Bone Chariot(-11hp)
Ostovite #2
Ketra
Wallace
Sanduro
Garret
|
|
"The scholars at Castle Everstand taught me that the hero-Knight Roslar was certainly a legend, however, due to some less savory behaviors he was never actually buried in his tomb. The details are contested, but all of my teachers were in agreement that his tomb is simply not where his body is interred," Wallace shares with everyone.
When the symbol of Aroden is acquired, he takes it in his hand and offers a silent prayer. Guide us, like you did the Good General.
"Damn!" Wallace shouts as a bug scuttles across the floor, well beyond his reach. "Hold the line! We can use the walls to our advantage and box them in!" Shield ready and sword in hand, he rushes after the bug to the next alcove.
________
Seeing the strange little creature rattling around in the skeletal horse’s rib cage, Garret casts a spell and mouths a silent scream while focusing on it, trying to disable the bug with sonic pressure.
Ear Piercing Scream: and dazed one round, DC 16 Fortitude to half the damage and negate the daze.
Garret's sonic magic causes the dozens of bones in the chariot to vibrate, then splinter and crack and the edifice shatters, sending the ostovite tumbling to the gound!
Wallance approaches the other ostovite, which turns and scuttles back towards the wall, chittering wildly and glaring at the knight. Behind the sarcophagus, beyond Wallace's view, a new scraping on bone upon stone can be heard.
Round 1
Silvia
Bone Chariot
Ostovite (Blue)
Ostovite (Red)
Ketra
Wallace
Sanduro
Zsofia (-6hp)
Garret
With ostovites scurrying out of what appears to be every pile of bones or hidden corner, Ketra gives an unhappy wince. "What happened to this place? Its infested." She runs up to Wallace and hold her machete at the ready to back him up.
Sanduro jumps as Silvia's weapon - which the duskwalker had assumed was a kind of hand crossbow - explodes with a roar, followed by the sound of bone fragments hitting the stone floor. When Garret's spell finishes off the bone chariot, he knows what comes next.
"Zsofia, move to the side so I can get a clear shot! Go see what's happening in the other room!" Sanduro runs further into the room and looses an arrow at the blue ostovite as soon as the phantom moves out of the way.
Zsofia looks down at Silvia's pistol in surprise. "Now, that looks like a lot of fun! Any chance you'd be willing to loan it to me when I'm more - " she gestures at her intangible form - "myself?"
At Sanduro's direction, she sighs, turns, and gives the druid a sarcastic salute before moving out of the doorway and through the wall into the next room and looks for threats beyond the red ostovite.
Silvia gives the spirit a grin and a twirl of the gun, but says "This one's a special case, I don't think it would accept anyone but me."
Sanduro's arrow catches the ostovite standing atop the wreckage of its horse-bone chariot, and buglike creature shrieking as black sizzling blood drips to the ground. While badly injured, it's not finished off yet.
Zsofia floats into the western room to see the other ostovite--and a skeletal serpent, seemingly crafting of hundreds of small squares of polished bone rippling like scales as it moves. The serpent rears back and flares it's "hood" and lets out a wet gurgling hiss at the phantom.
This creature is a bone cobra, a weaker and less expensive version of the iron cobra. Despite their macabre construction material they are unintelligent constructs rather than undead.
ROUND 2
Silvia
Bone Chariot
Blue Ostovite (-7hp)
Red Ostovite
Bone Cobra
Ketra
Wallace
Sanduro
Zsofia (-6hp)
Garre
Silvia once again takes careful aim at the ostovite, erasing it with a flash of light. She begins the process of reloading again as she turns her attention to the dustup in the next room.
The one-two punch of arrow and lead slug takes care of the first ostovite, and the party turns its attention to the remaining foes. The ostovite lunges at Zsofia, mandibles snapping shut on empty air. The cobra slithers over the top of the sarcophagus, coiling in the door and striking against Wallace! Prepared for this, Ketra lashes out and catches the creature mid-strike, but the bone tiles that make up its form deflect the blow harmlessly aside. However the impact is enough to steal its momentum so the serpent's lunge falls short of the knight.
ROUND 2
Silvia
Bone Chariot
Blue Ostovite
Red Ostovite
Bone Cobra
Ketra
Wallace
Sanduro
Zsofia (-6hp)
Garret
ROUND 3
Silvia
Bone Chariot
Blue Ostovite
Red Ostovite
Bone Cobra
Ketra
Wallace
Sanduro
Zsofia (-6hp)
Garret
|
|
"Are these all Undead?" Wallace wonders out loud as he slashes the Bone Cobra in retaliation. Keeping his shield low, where the snake is most likely to strike, he readies to catch its snapping jaws upon it. "Whatever they are, they're no match for our coordinated strike!"
"Sanduro, your charge isn't looking well, do they need to retreat?"
________
"Hey, big guy! I'm right here and I have a name, you know!" Zsofia makes an offensive gesture at the red ostovite and glides slowly behind the bone cobra and shouts
Sanduro shakes his head to hide his smile. "Thank you for your concern, Wallace. Zsofia is currently intangible, so the ostovites and their bone chariots cannot hurt her. They are not undead - they are from another plane, and they construct moving homes for themselves out of the skeletons they find." He thinks of a small creature he saw once at an animal market. "Like a really nasty hermit crab."
He nocks another arrow and moves into a more central position. The duskwalker focuses intensely on the red ostovite, aiming carefully between Wallace and Silvia, and lets his arrow fly.
Moving up close enough to get the Red Ostovite almost into range, Garret readies an action to blast is with focused sound if it moves closer to the group (range is 25', red is currently 30' away).
sonic damage and dazed 1 round, DC 16 Fortitude save for 1/2 damage.
"A really creepy hermit crab. And hardy too, at least while they've still got their shell." Ketra switches stances, spinning once before delivering a punch to the cobra .
Silvia tries to find a clear shot on the cobra, but between its rapid movements and the danger of hitting an ally, she instead grabs for its tail, trying to throw it off balance enough for Wallace to hit it again.
Wallace's blade and Ketra's right hook shatter bone and send tiles bouncing across the stone floor, but the cobra's wire-frame interior still holds together. Twisting on the floor, the serpent snaps ineffectually at Zsofia, a foul-smelling fluid dripping from its fangs.
The ostovite fares only slightly better, as arrow and sonic pulse splinter the little bugs shell. It manages to shake off the worse of the effect, however, and rushes forward in an attempt to break out of the room it's trapped in, but swift strikes from Silvia and Wallace destroy it. The cobra turns its attentions on the most recent person to damage it, striking out at Ketra! The dancer smoothly sidesteps the attack.
ROUND 3
Silvia
Bone Chariot
Blue Ostovite
Red Ostovite
Bone Cobra (-11hp)
Ketra
Wallace
Sanduro
Zsofia (-6hp)
Garret
ROUND 4
Silvia
Bone Chariot
Blue Ostovite
Red Ostovite
Bone Cobra (-11hp)
Ketra
Wallace
Sanduro
Zsofia (-6hp)
Garret
Expecting the others to have the last bug handled, Garret looks around behind them, checking their six and flanks in case another enemy might be trying to sneak up on them.
|
|
"We are the bulwark upon which our foes break!" Wallace shouts as the ostovite's chariot splinters against them. "One more and this is over, but don't get reckless," he warns. I'll have to speak to Sanduro more about Zsofia's capabilities. If she isn't a Ghost in the traditional sense, yet has these ghostly abilities, she just may prove an invaluable ally!
________
| 3 people marked this as a favorite. |
"Wallace, you're making this sound way grander than just squishing some bugs, ever consider a career in the bardic arts?" Ketra's laughs echo off the walls of the area as she goes for another punch, this one with a bit more strength behind it.
"Give it up little bug, we've got bigger things to deal with!"
Wallace's war cry is punctuated by another brutal chop at the bone serpent--though its sturdy frame blunts the worst of the blow it looks on the verge of collapse. Ketra's blow is powerful but doesn't land solidly, clipping the cobra's hood and bouncing off. Silvia continues feinting and jabbing at the bone cobra, distracting it and giving Wallace an opening for his next strike.
The serpent for its part turns its attention once more to the creature hurting it the most. It lunges at the knight, its fangs still dripping that reeking slurry.
As its fangs jab through the knight's ringmail and sink in, the cobra convulses and vomits up a great mass of that foul ichor--a slime which rapidly begins to harden, making movement difficult for Wallace.
ROUND 4
Silvia
Bone Chariot
Blue Ostovite
Red Ostovite
Bone Cobra (-14hp)
Ketra
Wallace (-2hp; Entangled, Sickened, Cannot Move)
Sanduro
Zsofia (-6hp)
Garret
"Maybe everyone should take a step back from that thing?" Sanduro pulls the flask of oil he took from the stash in the other room and begins preparing to throw it, adding a scrap of ripped fabric as a fuse.
Oil: A pint of oil burns for 6 hours in a lantern or lamp. You can also use a f lask of oil as a splash weapon. Use the rules for alchemist’s fire (see Special Substances and Items on Table 6–9), except that it takes a full-round action to prepare a f lask with a fuse. Once it is thrown, there is a 50% chance of the f lask igniting successfully.
Thinking quickly, Garret says, “If you can get the oil on it, I can light it.”
Silvia eyes widen when she sees what Sanduro has prepped, and she takes a step back, pistol raised. "Good thinking, Sanduro. Wallace, I've got you covered."