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While Jair tries to negotiate with the looters, Lasaraleen will check the bodies (if they did not disappear upon falling) and ensure they are not regenerating.
These vile creatures were not native to this plane and had foul business. By the Dawn we were fortunate to vanquish them.
She will excluded both of them from her channel of positive healing to catch the entire party.
Sarenrae, heal our battle injuries against your enemies.
Lasareen discovers one of the creatures has a fragment of a stone tablet inscribed with ancient runes.
As Jair talks, the Aspis agents sheepishly emerge from the alcove to thank you for rescuing them. The apparent leader of the prospectors, a burly human, introduces himself as'Just Joh'.
Soon thereafter, you hear a series of loud croaks, like an army of frogs, outside and coming closer.
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Hearing the croaks outside she turns to the Aspis agents.
Lets do this quickly Joh. Protect the rear while we finish exploring the place and, I hope, find a way to restore the protection from the fiends to survive this cursed place.
Seeing the fragment, she points at it and adds Have you in your possession something like that? We will need it.
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Lasaraleen points out the tablet to the others.
Doodle, we may totally want to check those tablets out.
I will do what I can to patch us up before we move forward.
She will gather those still injured around her for another (half) channel
Lasaraleen shrinks down to her normal size and loses her aura of righteousness.
Jair tells the thieves to protect your back, which causes a few to look confused, but then very agreeable. "Sure thing!"
Regarding the fragment, though, one of them mutters in response "That one was in our possession until a few minutes ago..."
With everyone healed, you hear many boots stomping just outside.
The looters don't really have much to say, other than they don't know what's going on.
A few armored gripplis do enter shortly after, well armed. "Are you those Pathfinders we were told to expect? Your backup has arrived."
"We can cover these looters, if you like, " says Purpurrup, the leader. The grippli look quite serious.
Just Joh falls to his knees. "There's no need for that. Seriously, we've seen the error of our ways. You let us go, we'll leave everything, we'll leave the grippli's alone, and I'll be sure to tell our superiors in the Vanji Prospector’s Guild about how kind and generous you all are."
The grippli look to you.
Meanwhile, the bulk of the gripplis then form a defensive perimeter around the temple. The majority of the gripplis investigate the damage done by the Aspis Consortium’s operation and begin efforts to salvage what wards and ritual seals they can.
Purpurrup provides you with four potions of cure serious wounds for the battle ahead. He also assigns six grippli fiend-keepers to accompany you into the temple to make sure that Parveen does not escape.
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Thank you so much for the vials and the assistance. It would be most wise to keep a close eye on these looters. We totally appreciate the help, but do not want to put your people at risk. What can you tell us of any foes remaining? Like do you know numbers or types or where they will be found?
Lasaraleen nods to the others, soliciting any other questions or objections.
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These Aspis hid behind their wall and did not help us fight, even though we fought their battle. They have broken into your home and stolen from you and in so doing endangered your tribe and perhaps much more. And they knew what they did. I will not speak for them. Stormy turns her back on the Aspis.
This long, wide hall is littered with thousands of smashed and broken relics, idols, icons, and statuary of all kinds. An enormous door, slightly ajar, sits at the end of the hall.
Peeking through the doors, you see this next room terminates in a wall of stone and iron, seemingly newer than the rest of the complex, decorated with glowing runes and symbols. A hole large enough for two humans walking side by side has been hacked through the wall with mining tools, revealing a staircase that spirals down into the darkness beneath the temple.
The crumbled wall reveals a winding staircase that leads down into a much larger space beneath the temple.
Great stone stairs reach their end well below the surface, terminating in a fifteen-foot-wide corridor whose length suggests a larger structure than what appears above the earth. The western end of the hallway lies choked with rubble from an ancient collapse, while a large, bronze double door marks a likely entrance to the inner reaches of the lower temple.
The creators of this temple built towering stone bookshelves into this chamber’s walls. Many of the shelves still stand, although some have collapsed under the weight of years. Each bookshelf is adorned with a carefully crafted frame depicting the sun, stars, and other celestial bodies. Looters have chipped away at the frame, taking what they could from those carvings. Those looters seem to have also stripped the rest of the chamber bare, as the empty shelves seem devoid of any lore that the Ghol-Gani left behind. The northern wall has partially collapsed, though in the large pile of rubble is a single hole large enough for one human-sized creature to fit through at a time. A muted purple light shines from the chamber beyond.
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Right, Jair. If there are four more ahead of us, they could be heading towards a larger group. But like a group of whats? Likely more looters and those set on destroying knowledge.
Not like our Society, as seekers to preserve knowledge.
She will keep going with the group, looking ahead for foe or trap as best she can...
The ceiling of this large chamber rises to a height of at least fifty feet, with carvings along the sloping walls depicting a precise and detailed diagram of Golarion’s constellations in each of the four seasons. A violet light bathes the entire chamber, emanating from a ritual circle at the center of the room surrounded by rubble. A twenty-foot-tall, six-armed creature surrounded by glowing weaponry is trapped within the ritual circle, bound by chains that crackle with white lightning.
When Radagast enters the room, he sees (although cannot tell the rest of you) two of the agents are working to topple a rune-covered pillar while the other two hack at a statue of a robed cyclops clutching a large tablet. They appear poised to succeed at their tasks given just a few more uninterrupted moments.
The grippli fiend-keepers recognize this and immediately move to position themselves adjacent to the ritual circle, hoping to keep Parveen at bay by drawing a portion of her spirit into themselves. However, they lack the power to contain Parveen and also deal with her new minions. It falls upon the you to save the day.
2 gripplis scramble in, and then another one of you can enter.
Parveen (the six armed creature) remains aware of her surroundings but cannot break free of her bonds. A circle of magical energy surrounds the bound asurendra, preventing anything from physically interacting with her.
Radagast hits 3 of 4 of his attack (no crit), making some gashes on Red, but far from disabling him. In fact, many of the attacks seem less effective than expected. His face looks vacant, as he fights back - as if he is possessed.
Red swings at Radagast with a pickaxe that he was using to destroy the seals. Both attacks miss.
Green steps in to followup with his own attacks, which also do not penetrate the tough dino-hide.
Blue and Orange move forward.
Lasaraleen casts her spell, but finds that the target is resistant. Still, the magic takes hold on one of them, and red grabs his eyes due to the blindness and the pain.
Fizzle.
Stormy and Shade come roaring in, bathing the area in light and blood. Stormy's shillelagh hits, albeit not as hard as it might and she hears a bone crack from the hit.
Shade bites the man, but the spell seems to fizzle. Still, the bite does a little damage, and the lion manages to hold tight to the man's arm (grab succeeded).
Jair takes a moment to examine the creature in the circle, and she is fairly certain that this is Parveen, the powerful asurendra you are here to prevent from escaping. If she breaks the seal, you will not survive.
She then attempts to cast Hold person on orange.
Zaldurr jumps in and attacks, and would have just missed except the orange man freezes just as he is about to dodge the attack!
The rest of the grippli's charge in and start to position themselves around the circle, performing some ritual that appears to be reducing Parveen's influence on breaking the seal. But it appears to pain them greatly.
Radagast slashes and tears, making 3 hits.
Red steps back 5', and then levitates up 30' into the air.
Green continues its assault on Radagast.
Blue attacks the lion, but to no avail.
Orange closes in on Zaldur, and swings his heavy pick to and fro.
Haste is in effect: +1 bonus on attack rolls and a +1 dodge bonus to AC and Reflex saves, one extra attack with full attack, move at +30’
Zaldur reacts to Orange moving again, and stabs the man once, and just barely misses the second attempt.
Haste is in effect: +1 bonus on attack rolls and a +1 dodge bonus to AC and Reflex saves, one extra attack with full attack, move at +30’