Faldur succeeds in disabling the haunt allowing the party the escape unharmed!
Leaving the temple with the relic you make your way back to Eando Kline who listens carefully as you describe the item's properties and thanks you for your efforts.
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After another good night's rest you're able to meet with Gorm Greathammer.
The interior of her large, canvas tent is remarkably cool and dry, especially considering its location in a swamp. Several tables fill the interior, and various papers and small objects rest atop them, each carefully labeled. “Oh good. You’re here,” calls a deep voice from one of the corners. A male dwarf, his graying hair pulled back, beard and curled mustache carefully styled, stands up and approaches. He smiles broadly and extends his hand. “I am Gorm. Gorm Greathammer, leader of the Grand Archive. Whom do I have the pleasure of meeting on this fine day?”
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"Scerzaq. Seems we have everyone important gathered in this small camp. I hear you may have a task for us?" He thinks over the past few days, wondering if they were on some sort of vacation or something far more dire was going on. Surely all these important and busy people wouldn't take time out of their day just to train new recruits.
Gorm smiles brightly. “Those of us dedicated to the Grand Archive primarily concern ourselves with the pursuit and preservation of knowledge,” he says.
“While this takes us to unexplored locations and forces us to face great dangers, we’re typically not the thrill-seekers of the Pathfinder Society. That said,” he pauses and chuckles, “we do find ourselves in our fair share of hot water!"
“Since you should know what it’s like to work with the Grand Archive, I have a mission for you. Nearby lies an Azlanti ruin to which some of your fellow Pathfinders recently secured entrance. Your task is to head inside the ruins and gather as much information as possible."
“One more thing. As important as information is, it is not as important as our agents’ lives. If you find yourselves in a situation where you need to leave, even if it means you don’t get all the information, don’t push your luck. Any questions?”
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Gorm smiles at Aurika, was that a wink?
Gorm responds "Map, whatever else you can find will be great."
Heading down into the caverns you find a roughly hemispherical cave that is dry, dusty, and irregular. There are numerous spiders and other small vermin around.
Some of the walls appear smooth and polished, while others are rough and broken, as though crushed by a great weight. Two shallow depressions in the center of the chamber are filled with silty dirt. To the west, a series of shelves that are carved into the wall support an assortment of beautifully illustrated books and scrolls.
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Karianamu addresses the spiders in their language.
"Cousins and friends. I am a visitor to your home. I promise we will not stay longer than we need to. My soft and meaty friends here are very large and clumsy and may damage your webs and ruin days of hard work through their ignorance and gracelessness. I would like to help to make sure that doesn't happen."
"Can you tell me what passages there are leading from this room that my large and ponderous friends can squeeze through? Are there any dangers to their kind here like other monstrosities to rival their own repulsive selves? Surely it is better to warn us so that I can stop them from wandering into your webs as they scour this place for food and treasures?"
Between the spiders and the books you learn some interesting things.
Research on the Plane of Earth initially focused on ways to repel objects formed of that element. A later supervisor eventually directed the research toward an examination of improved stability in construction.
The records indicate several forays into the Plane of Water to test some technological (rather than magical) devices to allow breathing.
Elemental air was not included in the subjects of study at this facility, although the records are not clear on why that is. They only hint at a “howling madness” the researchers were worried about.
The spiders don't give Kirianamu the information they want but does lead them to a collection of several shell necklaces, nearby notes indicate were gathered from the Plane of Water, where they are used as currency.
Also among the books is also a scroll of magic missile
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Then a barely audible rumbling reverberates throughout the room. Dust and a few small rocks fall from the ceiling. There is a moment of silence followed by a sudden sharp crack as the floors shatter and split!
Rocks Fall!
Everybody takes from falling rocks.
Two of the rocks do more than just fall, they actively attack you!
Initiative:
Faldur (R 15)
Doven (R 15)
Big Solid Cyan Rock
Aella (R 15)
Scerzaq (R 15)
Little Yellow Dot Rock
Aurika (R 15)
Kirianamu (R 15)
Faldur and Doven are up!
Aurika and Doven get hit by rocks while Faldur dodges.
Doven can't connect with his flail and Faldur doesn't know anything about the rocks, but does suspect they are earth elementals of some sort.
The big rock rolls over Doven, knocking him down.
Initiative:
Faldur 26/26
Doven 21/30
Big Solid Cyan Rock
Aella (R 15)
Scerzaq (R 15)
Little Yellow Dot Rock
Aurika 11/12
Kirianamu (R 15)
Aella and Scerzaq are up! (Saves from Aella, Scerzaq and Kirianamu)
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Scerzaq nearly falls down as the rock slams into him. "I am never going to make it back. This physical labor alone is going to kill me." Scerzaq draws his blade, shielding himself in case anymore rocks come crashing down.
HP 13/14
AC 18 (19 w/ Shield)
Spells (1)
Focus Points 1/1
Bend Time 1/1 (1/Day)
Hero Point 0/3
Aella actually gets knocked down by the rocks!
Neither Rock can dodge though.
Scerzaq readies themselves for combat.
The little rock rolls over Faldur.
Squishing and knocking him down.
Initiative:
Faldur 14/26
Doven 21/30
Big Solid Cyan Rock (-5)
Aella (16/18
Scerzaq (13/14)
Little Yellow Dot Rock (-5)
Aurika 11/12
Kirianamu (R 15)
Aurika, Kirianamu, Faldur and Doven are up!
Those are earth elementals, specifically Living Boulders. They are immune to elemental stuffs like bleed, paralyzed, poison, sleep and burrow through rock.
Aurika's electricity is fairly effective/
Initiative:
Faldur 14/26
Doven 21/30
Big Solid Cyan Rock (-7)
Aella (16/18
Scerzaq (13/14)
Little Yellow Dot Rock (-10)
Aurika 11/12
Kirianamu (R 15)
Many Pathfinders are still up!
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Success Your gizmos go into overdrive, adding power to your attacks. As critical success, except the additional damage is equal to half your Intelligence modifier.
Failure You make a miscalculation and nothing happens.
Critical Failure Whoops! Something explodes. You take fire damage equal to your level, and you can't use Overdrive again for 1 minute as your gizmos cool down and reset.
Faldur's body empit a disappointing puff of hot steam.
He stomps over and attacks the enemy, capitalizing on the flank from Doven!
He wonders… why is it that every time he's on the verge of accomplishing some great academic research, he ends up punching rocks instead.
Faldur crits the rock, but it does not stop rolling!
It takes Doven both attacks to smash the living boulder into dead rubble.
Karianamu gets hit by a few rocks and lands at least minor effects from his spell before smacking the baby boulder with his staff
Initiative:
Faldur 14/26
Doven 21/30
Aella 16/18
Scerzaq 13/14
Little Yellow Dot Rock (-13) Frightened 1
Aurika 11/12
Kirianamu (14/15
Aella and Scerzaq are up!
The rock does not get out of the way.
Scerzaq moves up and weaves together a hydraulic push into a stab.
+ Knocked Back 5 Feet
The Ysoki's spellstrike easily finishes off the boulder!
After their defeat the ground continues to shake, leading you eventually be burried in rubble or escaping back to the surface.
Returning to Gorm, the Dwarf debriefs you.
Well, sounds like you’ve learned a great deal and perhaps there lies even more we can yet uncover! Maybe once things settle down in there, we can take another look. For now, you’ve done an excellent job and made a real contribution to our knowledge!"