Shard grins at the phoenix.
… And Miloban graces us with his presence, looking fabulous while he steals the kill.
"Sheyln's Eyes! What a horror! Such evil. We've never experienced anything like this." Martius tends to everyone's wounds.
I'd say the fashion show in Geb was worse. Miloban also stole that show.
"I thought it was macabre that time you cracked jokes after the time we cleared that undead whore house.... You've out done yourself this time."
Shard looks around the room for more treasure and clues.
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A chest in the room’s corner contains rare incense worth 1,200 gp. There was plainly much more incense here, but the kimenhul has used up most of it in fruitless attempts to enact the Amaranthine Pillar’s ritual.
Each of you notice a secret door to the northewest.
There is a small chamber to the south. The rounded walls of this small alcove cause sounds to bounce strangely, creating a susurrus of whispers. This natural chamber near the Amaranthine Pillar provides an unusually close connection to the Ethereal Plane. The original builders of the monastery smoothed its walls but had little use for it. The Gray Gardeners, however, found it the ideal place to contact the sahkils that were already drawn to the fear and terror the Gardeners had sowed throughout Galt.
Recent scratches in the floor and some residue of powdered silver are the only remaining evidence of the Gray Gardeners’ summoning rituals.
Shard gestures to the secret door. Looks promising.
"Cough cough.... you shoulda seen z'other guy... mumble mumble. Cough."
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You head through the secret passageway after getting Amour back on his feet, with more bandages on his body than a mummy.
A stone sarcophagus stands in the center of this room. Four metal doors line both the north and south walls, all missing nameplates. Deep gouges in the floor indicate that the sarcophagus was hauled from the southeast door, which stands partly ajar.
Shard narrows his eyes at the sarcophagus. He glances at Martius, wondering if the religious person has any ideas. He glances at AMour to see if he notices any traps. He glances at Miloban, wondering if there's magic present.
Shard opens the sarcophagus.
Before he does, Martius unfurls the red, flame, scarf from his glaive.
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The sarcophagus lid grinds open, making quite the raucous as the stone on stone rubs together. The sarcophagus contains a dread blindfold lying within.
A few moments after grabbing the blindold the door to the north opens as a trio of Worm Prophets stands in the doorway. "I told you I heard something Xanthe." Allesanre says to the high prophet.
Xanthe is a tall, pale woman with untidy brown hair and a piercing glare visible through her silvery veil.
Alessandra is a short, dark-skinned woman with tight curls and a veil that only covers the top half of her face. Beneath it, she always bears a wide, false smile.
Emindo Sallash is a small, sallow, unpleasant man whose face rarely goes without his distinctive sneer beneath his thin, silvery veil.
"We cannot allow interference with the ritual. Finish them quickly, the Conqueror Worm is close."
The three prophets step forth from the room as their skin splits open at several points. Blood spurts to the corners of the wall as their skin sheds off into lumps on the floor as the three prophets enlarge into large worms resembling the Conqueror worm itself.
──────────
BOLD: GO!:
──────────
➤ Amour
➤ Miloban │
Prophet 1 (Red) │
Prophet 2 (Green) │
Prophet 3 (Yellow) │
Shard
Martius │
"Aren't you the quite the horrors? Let me tell you of the true horrors from the dark..."
He then casts Shield and prepares to block the first attack that hits him (Hardness 25)
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The trio of worm prophets get extremely confused as Miloban runs away screaming at the top of his lungs while Amour leans heavily into name calling.
The confused worm sends a beam of divine energy at Amour as another flings past Shard. The third worm draws a dagger and begins slicing itself across the tail.
──────────
BOLD: GO!:
──────────
➤ Amour
➤ Miloban │
Prophet 1 (Red) │
Prophet 2 (Green) │
Prophet 3 (Yellow) │
➤ Shard
➤ Martius │
Minob—
Shard shrugs and Whirlwinds, even though he can only reach two worms!
Frightened 2 on crit
Frightened 2 on crit
Martius recites a Battle Prayer at the thing right in front of him:
He then spins as he fights, establishing a Heroic Presence! "Miloban! Get your ass back here!"
Finally, he uses his glaive, trying to slice open a terrific wound
for and and
Amour deflects the attack with his Shield spell and uses Suspect of Opportunity to make Red his investigation target.
He tries to recall knowledge on these creatures as a Free Action.
He then pulls out a scroll of Phantasmal Killer, heightened to 5th level, and casts it on Green.
DC 36 Will Save
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Shard spins all around as his fauchard slashes deep into two of the worm-like prophets. Martius offers a battle prayer that gives the group a bit of zealous conviction.
Martius' glaive slits the worm's tail open as a green and red ichor pulses out.
While Miloban flees further away Amour tries to tell a bit more about these prophets.
Amour knows these Gray Gardeners as high cultist worm prophets. High clerics in their own right, though when a spirit dies in their presence a worm prophet can siphon off a bit of the spirit as it leaves the body.
Amour tries to offer the worm prophet just as much fear as they did to Miloban.
The trio of worms shudder as their minds slowly clear back to normal. As it does a negative energy pulses through the ground into the area as they remain self destructive.
──────────
BOLD: GO!:
──────────
➤ Amour │
➤ Miloban │
Prophet 1 (Red) │
Prophet 2 (Green)
Prophet 3 (Yellow)
➤ Shard │
➤ Martius │
Shard shrugs off the Harm spells. Really?
He whirlwinds again, dancing with his fauchard!
Frightened 2 on crit
Frightened 2 on crit
Amour looks for an opening against Red.
He moves in on red and strikes.
Attack=Nat 20+31=51
He then casts Shield and prepares to block any attack directed at him with it for 25 hardness.
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Shard flourishes his fauchard once more whirlwinding through the worm's soft bodies. The three harm spells push Amours preparations to their limit. He is bombarded by the first two waves of negative energy as the spell immunity finally manages to kick in for the third.
──────────
BOLD: GO!:
──────────
Amour
Miloban │
Prophet 1 (Red) │
Prophet 2 (Green)
Prophet 3 (Yellow)
Shard
➤ Martius │
Martius keeps up the pressure! He tries to spread the divine pressure, targeting the creature in the back with a righteous battle prayer:
While attacking the creature before him.
for and and
finally he steps into a more dangerous spot, trusting himself to survive juuuust long enough....
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Martius' battle prayer seems to get to the humanoid worm as it burns similar to the one slashed by Martius' glave that smears green and red blood across the floor. Small maggots spill out of the wound as they crawl about harmlessly on the soiled blood.
The still quite healthy prophets instill one more wave of their self destructive negative energy. "You will get no further than these doors. The Conqueror Worm shall consume all."
One of the prophets smiles as he perishes into a blackened husk on the floor.
──────────
BOLD: GO!:
──────────
➤ Amour
➤ Miloban │
Prophet 1 (Red) │
Prophet 3 (Yellow)
➤ Shard
➤ Martius │
Juggernaut
Juggernaut
Juggernaut
Frightened 2 on crit
Frightened 2 on crit
Shard whirlwinds again, but feels a little wobbly after that.
Amour uses his reaction to also make Green the subject of his investigation.
He attacks!
Attack= 19+31=50
He will use his final action to close with Green if Red is now dead.
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Getting quickly drained from the negative energy Shard slices the worm-like head from the prophets body. Amour quickly closes in on the final prophet, his sword cane stabbing deep into the soft underbelly.
──────────
BOLD: GO!:
──────────
Amour
➤ Miloban │
Prophet 3 (Yellow)
Shard
➤ Martius │
Martius takes a moment to heal himself: . Net result is 37 damage.
He then steps forward and attacks with his holy glaive
for and and
"Let's heal up and then move on. We are close!"
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"Aye. I can feel it. The ending that is. Not the climax. That's.... anyway, let's get on with it." Martius will form a quick ward and do his medic duties.
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The wide passage from above extends steeply downward for 100 feet before opening into the vaulted chamber. Part of the ceiling of this vaulted chamber collapsed some time in the past, making for a wall of rock just ahead. A wide opening to the north opens into a well-lit room with an altar at its center.
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The walls have been removed from these three chambers, creating a connected series of rooms with a shrine in each. Lit braziers burn in the corners, casting ominous and flickering shadows.
Miloban senses no magic coming from the altars.
Each of these rooms is dedicated to one of the major deities of the monastery’s pantheon. The wall behind the altar in the west room bears the symbol of a black and white mask. The wall in the central room features the image of a hooded, shrouded head. The wall in the east room bears the symbol of a clockwork mask.
Martius recognizes the west symbol as that of Nethys, god of knowledge and magic. The other two deities are slightly more obscure but Martius easily recognizes them. The hood symbol as that of Ng, god of secrets and travelers, and the clockwork mask as the symbol of Brigh, goddess of inventions and knowledge.
The ancient monastery’s inner circle came to these three rooms to meditate and receive a spiritual visitation from one of the deities of their pantheon. Though their symbols remain, these principal deities won’t answer calls here any longer.
When the Gray Gardeners arrived, they had little use for the religions on display here. They nevertheless adopted the suggestions of the iconography, wearing masks and hoods to conceal their identities.
"Suddenly a whole lot of history just came into focus."