Jazadi ponders Adol's question. Was animal sacrifice a hallmark of the religions of Ancient Osirion?
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"It was so that beloved pets could travel to the afterlife with their masters." Say'ri supplies. "Also it was often considered devout to sacrifice one of your gods holy animals to lead your way through the underworld. Obviously though a hippo was out for most people so cats, as guardians of the soul were popular."
She frowns and continues. "I know that, in some reigns, the practise was taken much further and it became common when a rich person died for their slaves and servants to be killed too, so that they could follow their leader into the afterlife... it probably explains how there are so many bodies in these tombs which could be reanimated as undead."
« These ancient Osirianis were wise in a lot of ways, but it’s a good thing that those practices aren’t done anymore, wether for sentient beings or innocent animals. »
"Silly humans," Uthe says with a chuckle. "They should know better. Cats have no master."
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"Silly humans," Uthe says with a chuckle. "They should know better. Cats have no master."
Jazadi looks between Uthe and Say'ri at that comment before opting to not make a smart remark.
Stepping out of the way proves to have been a very good move on Say'ri part, as the door opens to reveal tidy wooden cabinets with brass knobs and labels fill this musty library to the brim. A large cedar table stands against the south wall with an old looking birdcage on it. The severed head which starts screaming the moment you enter is no bird however, and neither are the three skeletons who draw their weapons!
The skeletons advance, swinging their blades but the doorway bottlenecks them while the head screams obscenities. "Fools! Idiots! The rot of ages strike you blind!"
"Push them back!" Jamie shouts. Unable to reach the skeletons, she tries to bolster Adol's aim.
Uthe flicks a paw-like hand towards the caged-head and a small ball of acid flies towards it.
Adol barely notices that some rather powerful dark magic was just cast on him! Instead, he blinks at the floating skull in confusion. "'The rut of ages'? You mean - you, and me, until I...? Well, this is new. And twice on the same day, too..." A second later, his eyes widen in horror. "I mean, NO! Definitely not! In this lifetime *or* the next, even!"
Somewhat fortunately, a skeleton swiped him in that exact moment, drawing him from his horroric imagery, and he counters in return!
Jazadi moves behind Adol and snaps her whip at one of the skeletons!
Uthe's acidic squirt sizzles on the cage of the severed head. Say'ri's Pistol goes off with a starling bang as the closest skeleton's head shatters into fragments before its body follows in rapid succession; tumbling to the floor.
Adol steps forwards and strikes the skeleton behind although his blow is dulled by the tight bonds that hold the bones together but Jazadi's whip follows up closely behind and sends it crashing to the floor.
Adol easily deflects the blow from the prone skeleton and shatters the skeleton into pieces with his riposte.
The final skeleton emotionlessly steps over its compatriate and swings at the Paladin.
The terrifying head continues to scream. "Fools, idiots, imbeciles. You couldn't hit a target if it stood still in front of you!"
The terrifying head continues to scream. "Fools, idiots, imbeciles. You couldn't hit a target if it stood still in front of you!"
"I'd rather not test-" he begins, then goes rigidly still.
Jamie sighs as Adol is paralyzed. "Say'ri, get in there!" she calls as she moves forward and grabs a hold of Adol. Her tiny muscles bulge as she drags the rigid paladin back out of harm's way.
Her annoyance at the caged seems to get the better of her and Uthe expends the last of her significant magical resources to send three mystical bolts into the cage with the thing.
Adol remains rigid as Jamie pulls him away...
Jazadi moves behind Say'ri and tries to trip the last skeleton!
Dhakira moves to be able to see in the room and casts a summon spell. Henri the Celestial Hyenas appears behind the skeleton and tries to bite it.
Henri
if he succeeds and the skeleton is not already prone, he tries a trip
The head screeches and moans, fixing Say'ri with its hateful gaze. Fortunately the gunslinger is able to harden her mind and fire a lethal bullet that smashes a hole into the cage and thumps into the head. Uthe follows up with a barrage of missiles as Jamie drags Adol out of the way and Jazadi distracts the skeleton with a flick of her whip. Henri attacks but cannot penetrate the skeleton's ancient armor.
The final skeleton swings mechanically at Say'ri while the head continues to spit and curse, sending a bolt of darkness at her.
Horus is watching over his follower however and the bolt misses her head by inches.
"Oh for--FALL DOWN!" Jazadi groans as she tries to trip the skeleton up again.
Jamie casts guidance on Say'ri to help her shoot true!
Dhakira goes around Jazadi to touch Say'ri and casts Resistance to strenghten her saves.
Henri attacks the skeleton again
if not prone
Finally, Adol breaks free of the paralyzation! "Thank you, Jamie. I'm surprised you were able to move me that easily. You're much stronger than you look!"
”Today, I am a champion,” Jamie replies to Adol. For a moment, her morose disposition falters, and a faint smile plays across her lips.
"'Today...?' As in, you mean it varies? That's... interesting? Probably pretty useful, too." Adol responds sideways, while trying to look past the group to the remaining enemies. And from what he could tell, these Falcons were kicking ass as expected of them! He could probably take it a bit easy.
"Hm... think you can teach me that trick when we're done saving the city? It'd be great to wake up as a cook some days and not have to eat dried jerky all the time," he muses, continuing his conversation with the halfling for now.
Uthe stomps one foot when it's clear that the head in a cage is still spewing insults and carrying on. She considers just throwing another vial of alchemists fire, but reins in that urge. Instead, she sends another splash of acid towards the caged ... thing.
Jazadi upends the remaining skeleton, although the skeleton's armor keeps it safe from Henri's biting teeth. Adol breaks free as Say'ri focuses on defense and keeping the focus on her.
Uthe meanwhile fires a splash of acid into the wall, causing a cackle of mad laughter from the head.
"Useless imbeciles! Hold still and think about how useless you are until you can actually hit something!"
The skeleton continues swinging, hacking at the gunslingers knees, but Say'ri dodges easily.
Jamie aids Say’ri’s aim!
Jazadi ignores the skeleton on the floor and moves within whipping distance of the head.
Then she swings her whip!
Dhakira casts Resistance on Adol and Henri continues to attack the skeleton.
Unfortunately, with Say'ri frozen in place, Adol cannot get back to either the sekeleton in front of her or the floating skull - well, short of violently yanking her out of the way or walking through the cabinet to her right. He decided against either due to courtesy and practicality, respectively.
"Thank you, Drakhira," He nods in thanks at her blessing. Then, due to having no other useful options, he takes out a wand and casts a simply spell from it to guide his aim!
Another splash of acid strikes the innocent wall and the amurrun begins to growl in frustration.
As Jazadi leaps forwards to tackle the head, she meets its hateful glare straight on. The sheer anger of the undead makes her reel and her whip cracks harmlessly from the cage.
Unfortunately no-one does any better, which leaves the severed head cackling maniacally, even as the skeleton lumbers to its feet, swinging its sword.
"Fools! Imbeciles! My grandson will destroy you all!" She screams, a bolt of darkness leaping from her eyes to wrack Jazadi with pain!
"That's enough out of you!" Jamie snaps at the head. She raises her crossbow and tries to fire past the melee in front of her, but she doesn't hit.
Not wasting any time, Adol walks forward and attempts to finish the remaining minion!
Henri’s
Henri attacks the skeleton if it’s still up, otherwise he moves to the head and tries to attack it
Seeing how dangerous the head is, Dhakira steps forward 5 feet and decides to use her last burst of divine energy to try and hurt it.
Jazadi lets out an incoherent babble of pain before snapping her whip at the head again!
As her blob of acid goes wide for a third time, Uthe snarls and mutters under her breath something about replacing the defective spell at first opportunity.
As her blob of acid goes wide for a third time, Uthe snarls and mutters under her breath something about replacing the defective spell at first opportunity.
"I feel your pain, Uthe. Truly, I do." Adol says in between the fighting, glancing at his cursed wand(s).
Adol and Henri combine to destroy the final skeleton and the severed head doesn't last much longer against your combined attacks. Unable to do more than roll a few feet it is more or less a sitting duck, for everyone except Uthe (for whom barn doors prove to be a significant and difficult target).
It seems that the severed head was quite talkative, and her rambling thoughts have been faithfully transcribed by her skeletal minions into a number of journals scattered around the room. Reading the journals reveals that the head, formerly a woman named Neferekhu, suffered from nightmarish visions of a cursed funerary mask of immense power. After her death her grandson Nebta-Khufre apparently used necromancy to reanimate her and came to Wati from Tephu in search of the mask.
There is nothing about what lies further in the sepulchre but Neferekhu's ramblings speak of a mysterious creature in the shadows that her grandson views as a mentor and teacher...
Apart from a scroll of Death Ward there is nothing else of interest on this level so you take the stairs downwards to an immaculate chamber tiled in blue ceramic which lies at the bottom of the long flight of stairs. Large bronze double doors exit the room to the south.
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Jazadi pokes the eastern wall for a moment. "Huh... sounds kinda hollow. Looks like a secret door!"
She slides the door open to reveal the tile storage room beyond. "Well."
"'Nebta-Khufre', huh? Does that mean Eliza and Kyra are innocent in this...?" Adol mutters, somewhat lost in thought, just as Jazadi opens the secret door and triggers the trap. "Found someth-? ... oh."
Jamie peeks around Jazadi’s legs, helping her search the secret door. ”Careful! Looks like there’s a trap,” she says, pointing out some suspicious flagstones in the floor.
The amurrun continues to pout as the group makes its way down the remaining set of stairs. She waves a fur-covered hand over the bronze doors as she checks for magical auras, but then steps back to let the others examine it further.
It seems that having expended her magical arsenal, the woman is now in a self-directed snit.