Confirming that there don't seem to be any demons in this unusual chamber Djahan and his phantom begin to look around a bit more closely. But there doesn't seem to be anything else that's particularly eye-catching here; no magical auras are present and even the desk seems to be strangely bare.
Unable to shake the feeling that he's missing something, Djahan politely requests the group's assistance in searching this odd, balconied chamber. Rather than circle around Onye takes the direct route and climbs up the balcony itself while the rest of the group backtracks and enters via the portcullis.
As it turns out, the tiefling's request pays off - while rummaging around in the oddly-empty desk, Demm discovers a secret compartment in one of the drawers! Upon opening it, you find a journal with some very interesting entries written by one Tancred Desimire - the same man whose name was on the receipts funding the construction of Sinner's End that you found in the library.
Continuing on, you head back down to the corridor and turn the corner. Several tons of rocks fill these hallways, blocking passage into a larger dungeon complex. It looks as though clearing them would take much more time and effort than you have at your disposal at the moment.
Down at the far end, the corridor rounds a corner to the north, ending at a double-door. At first glance, it doesn't appear to be locked.
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After Djahan and Data give the door a good inspection and feel certain that it isn't trapped, Djahan cautiously opens it...
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A narrow wooden plank spans a twenty-foot-deep pit, within which sits an unsettling scene. Several groups of corpses have been arranged here, mimicking poses of family merriment. There are half a dozen such macabre scenes set up throughout the pit, including a middle-aged couple engaged in a romantic meal, a family of four nestled cozily in a bed, a dancing couple, and six men who appear to be brothers playing a dice game around a crowded table. Interspersed between the sinister dioramas are seemingly random objects, like a jar of eyeballs, a cage full of snow-white doves, and a large pile of ragged, filthy blankets.
You barely have time to even register this macabre sight before the pile of blankets shifts and an emaciated, hairless canine emerges and flies up to investigate the source of the noise!
This is a yeth hound, a wicked outsider creature that delights in hunting intelligent prey. They lope through the night skies, relentlessly pursuing their chosen quarry for miles, and harrying them with their frightful baying.
This one looks to be a tougher specimen than most.
______________
Aurora
Onye
FelixBot
Djahan’s YFM
Data
==============
????
==============
Demm
Djahan
Active Conditions: None
Environmental Conditions: None
Aurora, Onye, Djahan’s YFM, Data are UP!
The phantom moves forward and is clearly interested in what is happening and completely shocked when it views the scene!!
"You will pay!!" it says and shows its tounge which leads to two magical missiles flying out of the phantom and hitting the hound's body!!
Mythmaker (Su): A priest of the fallen can channel many different hero-god phantoms, though only one at a time. These spirits will not suffer being confined in a mortal’s consciousness and must be manifested in ectoplasmic or incorporeal form or they return to the Ethereal Plane. They each have an emotional focus depending on their personality and retain some of their hero-god powers, determined by their mythic archetype. A priest of the fallen can channel a hero-god phantom with a ritual that takes 1 minute to perform. A priest of the fallen can channel only one herogod phantom per 24 hours, but once channeled, a hero-god phantom remains until a new one is channeled.
Archmage: The phantom gains magic missile and sleep as spell-like abilities. It can use each spell-like ability a number of times per day equal to its Hit Dice, which it uses in place of a caster level. At 12th level, it can also cast fireball and hold person each once per day.
Incensed by the gruesome display down in the pit, Djahan's phantom flits into the chamber and blasts the hound with magical missiles. The thing yelps with pain and surprise!
______________
Aurora
Onye
FelixBot
Djahan’s YFM
Data
==============
Canine-Thing
==============
Demm
Djahan
Active Conditions: None
Environmental Conditions: None
Aurora, Onye, Data are UP!
|
"Fascinating" Aurora gazes at the theatre below. "Which one of our little monsters did this I wonder?"
At the strange hound emerges from the pit, Aurora scowls. "I quite agree, Djahan-in-Spirit. Let's remove this nuisance beast."
Aurora raises her holy symbol and invokes the wrath of the Divine Princess.
Aurora also quickly pushes into the room and edges along the wall so as to not block the doorway. She calls upon the Divine Princess and channels a burst of negative energy over the hound; the creature's skin does wither somewhat but it seems to resist the worst effects.
______________
Aurora
Onye
FelixBot
Djahan’s YFM
Data
==============
Canine-Thing
==============
Demm
Djahan
Active Conditions: None
Environmental Conditions: None
Onye & Data are UP!
Data steps into the chamber and fires off a shot at the flying hound but the creature proves evasive and ducks the shot! Onye moves in as well and readies himself should the hound come within reach of his weapon. FelixBot moves up closer to the door but waits, not sure of how much room there is to maneuver inside the chamber.
Still hovering in the air, the hound throws its head back and utters a low, eerie howl that raises the hair (or fur or scales) on the back of your neck!
______________
Aurora
Onye
FelixBot
Djahan’s YFM
Data
==============
Canine-Thing
==============
Demm
Djahan
Active Conditions: None
Environmental Conditions: None
Everyone is UP!
The little incorporeal phantom grimaces and the is shrieks in fear!
“Ahhhhhh …. “ it shouts and in that moment Djahan casts the remove fear spell!!
A smile comes back to its face and the whimsical nature takes over!!
"Wow! Thanks Djahan!!" it says with surprise.
Again it shows its tounge to the hound which leads to two magical missiles flying out of the phantom and hitting the hound's body!!
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"What is it with all the damn howling here?" Aurora complains.
"Where are you going? There's a fight to be fought." Aurora casts Unbreakable Heart upon Demm, quieting the kobold's screams. "It is NOT a zombie. But whatever it is, Djahan-in-Spirit's blasting seems efficacious. Why not add some of your own, Demm?"
Djahan shrugs off the hound's frightful baying and produces a helpful scroll, ready to aid one of his allies should they prove less lucky. Demm isn't as lucky however and begins to flee!
Aurora finds all the baying and fearful screaming irritating rather than scary but does similar to Djahan and readies a spell in case anyone else succumbs to their fear. And as it turns out, Onye's fur fluffs up as he too readies to flee - but Aurora is able to step in with her magic and suppress the effect.
FelixBot proves fearless as he moves into the chamber and readies his longspear, should the hound attempt to move in close.
Djahan's YFM finds the howling quite scary indeed but Djahan is ready with his scroll and manages to calm the phantom down before it has a chance to flee. The phantom then casts more missiles, which strike the hound and further injure it.
Data doesn't find the noisy hound particularly scary. He takes aim and fires another arrow; it strikes true but doesn't do as much damage as the android was expecting!
The hound sets its sights on Djahan and moves in; Felix strikes at it as it advances on his ally but the creature dodges the blow. Snarling and hungry for blood, the hound sinks its teeth into Djahan's leg and *just* manages to yank the tiefling off his feet!
Despite being quite injured, it seems that the hound isn't going to go down without a fight!
______________
Aurora
Onye
FelixBot
Djahan’s YFM
Data
==============
Canine-Thing
==============
Demm
Djahan
Active Conditions: None
Environmental Conditions: None
Demm & Djahan are UP at the bottom of Round 2 & everyone else is UP at the top of Round 3!
"Oh no Djahan! Those buttocks deserve no spanking!" the phantom says a little concerned.
Again it shows its tounge to the hound which leads to two magical missiles flying out of the phantom and hitting the hound's body!!
Though shaken, Djahan quickly mends a few of his wounds and strikes out at the hound as best as he can from the ground. But fighting like that is more difficult than it seems and the blows go wide!
Djahan's phantom fares better as he continues firing magical missiles at the hound; they strike true and leave the creature looking terribly, terribly injured!
______________
Aurora
Onye
FelixBot
Djahan’s YFM
Data
==============
Canine-Thing
==============
Demm
Djahan
Active Conditions: None
Environmental Conditions: None
Demm is UP at the bottom of Round 2 & Aurora, Onye, Data are UP at the top of Round 3!
Aurora takes a moment to bolster herself and her allies before readying he crossbow while Data switches out arrows and fires another shot. This one also connects and does just as much damage as expected! With a mournful howl, the hound falls back into the pit below - dead.
|
Demm spend the next few moments fleeing for his life."Theyamallgonnadie.Theyamallgonnadie.Theyamallgonnadie." By the time ha has reached the exit, his senses slowly return under his control. He listens down the hallway for any indication of what happened. They still am may all be dead. Zombie dogs am dangerous.
The kobold slinks back down, not with trepidation, but not with confidence either. He then hears the taller Pathfinders speaking. So, they am not dead. That am surprising. He looks in turn from one member to the other. Am very surprising indeed. Demm wordlessly joins them as if nothing happened.
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Onye slings his pole-arm over his back. "I will descend in ord--HISS!" The hackles on the amurran's neck suddenly rise, and the masked warrior runs out of the room and down the hall and past the returning Demm. It only lasts a moment, but the catfolk is fast. When his senses return to him, he chuffs, shakes his head and returns. "I apologize. That was unnerving. As I was declaring, I will descend in order to search for any more unnatural foes."
He climbs down the side of the pit.
Though Aurora is a bit uneasy about the sturdiness of the wooden plank, it looks to actually be a pretty solid walkway - or about as solid as a plank across a pit can be, anyway.
Once everyone reconvenes, Onye is the first to brave the depths of the pit and carefully makes his way down. As he looks around, it becomes apparent that aside from the staged bodies, there isn't a whole lot else of interest down here. Most of the strange items and trinkets scattered around are mundane and essentially worthless...though anyone scanning the area for magic, such as Djahan, does notice that the jar of eyeballs glows.
It's an Eyeball Jar.
When created, this clear glass jar contains four eyeballs floating in a viscous fluid. As long as the jar contains at least three eyeballs, the eyeball jar grants its wielder all-around vision. Additionally, the eyeball jar grants its wielder a +2 bonus on saving throws against gaze attacks. Any time the jar’s wielder fails a save against a gaze attack, she may, as an immediate action, expend one eyeball to absorb the effects of the gaze attack. This negates the gaze attack’s effects as if the wielder had made her save, but destroys the eyeball. When the last eyeball in the jar is destroyed, the eyeball jar shatters and becomes useless. A jar found with fewer than four eyeballs is worth 25% less for each missing eyeball.
Perhaps more importantly however, Onye makes a surprising discovery - nestled amid the pile of tattered blankets and rags are two sleeping children! One boy, one girl. Given they didn't wake during your fight with the hound and lack of magical auras, it's likely they've been drugged. Onye notices that the girl's appearance matches the form that the crazed halfling woman wore before you pierced through her disguise.
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Aurora joins Onye in the pit.
"Remarkable. Underbough must have hidden them here. Looks like I'll get my apprentice after all."
"Oh, the jar of eyeballs is an eyeball jar. Yes. Don't blame me, I didn't invent the name. It protects against gaze attacks, grants the holder all-around vision. Useful."
"Anyway I'm not sure how to rouse my apprentice and her brother. Anyone got smelling salts?"