Another hit. The ostovite withdraws and scampers onto the stone box drawing AoOs from Don and Etgar. It is headed to a one foot crack in the wall.
Donovan, Etgar AoO ✔
Etgar hisses in frustration and stabs out at the little creature with his spear.
Etgar kills the ostovite. End initiative. Regarding the winged woman on the carvings in the other room. No one did very well. IIRC, Agni has a knowledge local and Don has a religion remaining.
Etgar looks around in concern. Are these things going to be plaguing our every step in here?
Resting her weapon over her shoulder, she gives the elf a stern look. "Careful what you wish for. If Sarenrae has any say in the matter, we'd be lucky if that's all we faced here."
Etgar, while he's in the position to do so, uses his spear to lever off the lid of the large box, or at least move it, to see if there's anything left within.
The box that once contained Abdell’s bones holds silver and jade adornments from the decayed bridle.
Donovan looks around trying to remember the lessons his mother use to teach him durring the cold winter months. Something about this winged woman was ringing a bell.
With the box open, Niu begins picking up bones and placing them back in the box.
"We can't heal the damage to the box itself, but at least we can make sure that the spirit of the animal is put back to rest. Perhaps we can figure out where the other bones came from."
Etgar helps to put the bones back to where they presumably came from. I don't know why these little...creatures are here, but I'll of course be including all of this in my report. For now, I think the most important thing is to get out of this place so that the report can actually get to the right people.
Are we ready to move on?
Agnimitra quietly nods in agreement as she helps to place the bones back into the tomb. "Let us move on from this place."
As they are starting to leave, she turns to look at the other parts of the crypt. "Should we check on the other remains first? I'd hate to have left any of those things to ravage the other bodies."
Etgar sighs and steels himself. Yes, I suppose so. He then heads into the eastern crypt and searches around, even pushing aside the lid if he's able to. He'll wait for others to gather around before opening it, though
Niu follows and help Etgar.
Agni will also help to check the tomb.
Etgar sees where the odor is originating. A skeletal looking cobra is coiled up behind the sarcophagus.
Etgar
Donovan
Niu
Agnimitra
bone cobra
Round 1
Agnimitra 10/13 Donovan 12/12 Etgar 9/9 Niu 7/7
Don, Agni, Etgar ✔
Cobra
Niu
Frowning, Agni approaches the snake, mace leading.
Standard Action: Attack cobra with MW mace.
Etgar skips to the north and lets out a whip-like strike with his spear towards the snake.
Watch out!
Donovan Moves forward behind his shield and swings at the creature with a powerful blow.
Agni bludgeons the cobra. Etgar hits it but feels like his spear did little if any damage. Donovan shatters what remaining bones held it together. End initiative.
Before he noticed the snake, Etgar was going to open the sarcophagus. That will require a strength check.
Satisfied with the shattered snake, Agnimitra will help to lift the lid.
Arcana, Niu or anyone else.
Etgar tries to lift the lid as well.
Niu knows this rare construct to be a bone cobra. The bone cobra is a simple construct that resembles a hooded cobra made out of bone. The bone cobra is typically used as a bodyguard or guardian of treasure, though its magical ability to unerringly locate creatures means it is also used as an assassin. The bone cobra’s internal reservoirs are filled with a revolting slurry that functions as a tanglefoot bag. A living creature is sickened for as long as it is entangled.
The lid to the sarcophagus has yet to budge.
"That snake is likely not with the ostovites. It was probably here to protect that sarcophagus.
Pharasma would probably appreciate it if we left the obviously undisturbed crypt alone, but maybe the ostovites figured out a way to open that one without breaking it, like they did the horse's.
They could also have figured out how to secure the lid again. Probably several of them waiting in there, so it is our duty to open it and sort through the treasure contained within.
There was a crowbar in that other room that might help."
Niu heads over to the northern room to see if there is anything else that could be helpful.
Niu returns with the crowbar. Looks like you might need it. You can keep rolling on strength checks iirc.
Donovan, I think we'll need your muscle over here. He puts his hands on the crowbar, wedging it in place, then looks at the others. All together then? On three...one...two...three!
Agni tries to help with the lid, but can't seem to find a good place to position herself.
Giggling, Niu grabs a corner of the lid, preparing to lift in time with Donovan's use of the crowbar.
Donovan leans in and begins to push with the others.
"This whole thing seems off. Not just us getting locked here, but I have been in this crypt before and there weren't any monsters down here before."
With Niu's aid the lid slides open. Although the sarcophagus is empty, the interior of the lid is carved with a slender angelic woman with a benevolent gaze surrounded by clouds, looking down as though from a great height. Words around the image read, “O Arazni, the Red Crusader, Watch Over My Eternal Rest.”
"Where is Roslar?"
A little over 1,500 years ago, the ancient wizard Tar-Baphon—slain by Aroden millennia earlier—returned to Golarion as a powerful lich known as the Whispering Tyrant. He ruled an empire of the dead, bringing much of central Avistan to heel for 5 centuries before Taldor finally launched the Shining Crusade to halt the Whispering Tyrant’s conquests. The paladins of the crusade carved a slow, steady swath into the Whispering Tyrant’s forces, and summoned Aroden’s herald, Arazni, to finish her patron’s work. But Tar-Baphon had grown more powerful on stolen secrets and borrowed glory than anyone suspected and struck the archon down, throwing her lifeless body before Taldor’s armies. She was later animated as a lich bride by the evil ghost wizard Geb during the failed Second Crusade. Roslar was enamored with Arazni, the angelic Red Crusader, herald of Aroden and patron saint of the Knights of Ozem. A cloud of scandal hung over Roslar after his heroic death.
Roslar’s adoration of Arazni was his undoing, for he wanted more than her aid against the Whispering Tyrant—he wanted her love. He listened to the insidious whispers of unscrupulous agents who promised to help him gain Arazni’s love, and he accidentally revealed important information about the Knights of Ozem as he fantasized about meeting Arazni to express his adoration. Roslar was horrified to discover later that his unknown benefactor was an agent of the Whispering Way, and that the information he revealed ultimately helped pave the way for Arazni’s death. He threw himself into the fiercest of the fighting and died, to all appearances, a hero. An extensive tomb was constructed to honor him and his associates, near the town that would later bear his name. Before Roslar’s body was placed in his tomb, rumors of his involvement in Arazni’s death surfaced. The Knights of Ozem, reluctant to call shame upon one of their own, conducted a lackluster and inconclusive investigation. Roslar’s legacy was shrouded in scandal; his body was instead buried elsewhere.
"Ah, yes, that is right. Roslar was never buried here, and Arazni, the angel that he betrayed to a spy, is probably glad that his body was never lain against her image.
Still, it makes you wonder why there were guardians placed here, if there is no treasure to protect. Perhaps there are hidden areas?"
Casting Detect Magic, Niu scans the room.
The bone cobra pieces are magical and fading. Nothing else in the room is magical.
Agni considers the information that Niu provides about the town's hero. "I have to wonder how many people actually know this information. That a big deal."
As she's talking, she makes her way to the northern alcove. "Let's finish checking these. I'm not keen on disturbing those at rest, but I'd rather be sure that nothing else is disturbing them, either."
The inscription above the entryway reads “At My Right Hand, Peace for Years of Righteous Labors"
Several long stone slabs line the walls of this room like shelves. The shelves are pitted with acid and contain scraps of old cloth. A few chunks of bone litter the floor. Nearly 20 of Roslar’s loyal retainers, squires, and servants were laid to rest here, each on a slab carved with the servant’s name and position.
Agni searches the room, looking for anything important, as well as keeping an eye out for trouble. As she is looking, she delves her memory for any information on these people.
You recognize none of the names. You do locate a gold wedding ring inscribed with “For Aloisius; my love, my heart, my morning dove.” You also find a single bead.
Niu looks into the room over Agni's shoulder.
"This must be where the first set of bones came from. We should return them, if we can."
If it is obvious where the bones came from, Niu will start carrying them back into the room. He only glances at the ring and bead.
Etgar listens intently to Niu's story, the dangers of this place forgotten for a moment. Thank you Niu, that is indeed quite the revelation. Pride and love.. He shakes his head. Sometimes they lead down the wrong path. If this place is safe, then let us move on.
He stops to pick up the lamp again as he heads to the south. When the others join him, he will lead on, taking care to keep an eye out for more of these little beasts, or their animated forms.
A small alcove on the east wall of this hallway contains stone shelves with some boxes and bags. On the floor are several shiny plates of insectile exoskeleton that glimmer with a faint green-yellow glow. The room to your south is illuminated.
Donovan is overwhelmed by the flood of information. He stands back lost in thought. 'Rosler fell from grace, what hope do I have?
Once things start moving he moves to stand guard over Etgar as they move on.
Etgar watches the exoskeletons for a moment, sure they're jump up with an ostrovite under them. After they don't move, he narrows his eyes at them in an unspoken threat and then searches through the shelves for anything pertinent to their situation.
A glowing ostovite emerges from the exoskeleton.
Etgar
Donovan
Niu
Agnimitra
ostovite
Round 1
Agnimitra 10/13 Donovan 12/12 Etgar 9/9 Niu 7/7
Donovan ✔
Ostovite
Etgar,Niu, Agni
Damn! I should have known, watch out everyone!
Donovan strikes what he hopes will be a decisive blow endings the threat quickly.
Donovan lands a good blow to the ostovite. The ostovite tries to bite Etgar but misses.
Donovan
Ostovite
Etgar,Niu, Agni ✔