Amvolwatt and Tarcog manage to avoid the worst of the howl, but the aura catches Amvolwatt while they were unprepared for it.
Then Tarcog gets a fist to the face!
Tarcog moves back slightly as Amvolwatt steps so their back is against the wall.
Then Tarcog says to Red “Bad idea to be standing in water when hit with electricity.”
As Tarcog is mentioning how Red is all wet, Amvolwatt breathes out a bolt of electricity which hits both of the burning monks.
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Jayma smiles with somewhat muted satisfaction and having sent poor Fabio to the Boneyard with her blast of cold. Huddled under her pink shield, she watches intently as her strong defenders keep their fiery ex-friends at bay. "Capable colleagues make all the difference on these missions." As the magical charge running through her veins rebuilds, she once again considers her options given the new knowledge that Thurston shared with them. "Cold worked pretty well, but it seems that water is preferrable. Let's see how they like *this*"
She then proceeds to move her arms in a complicated swirling motion, increasing the tempo until her hands are practically blurring. The room becomes noticeably more arid as all the humidity in the area condenses into a sphere of liquid floating above her head. Even the walls start sweating as the trapped water within is drawn out to join the ever-growing ball. With a shout of, "sodden sphere smothers sizzling skeleton," The ball accelerates down the hall in the direction of the monks.
Once again, she concentrates on the aeon stone in her wayfinder, and with the words, "scutum magicae," the space around her shimmers a light pink.
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Seeing the battlefield clearly, as he typically does, Dr. Lazarus avoids the worst of the blazing howl. He then studies the enemy to his left.
Lazarus frowns as he calculates that the smoke and flames may affect his hammer's flight path. "Tis a shame. Best to be certain. Time to get these hands dirty." He shrugs and changes tactics. He calls to the barbarian, "How 'bout a little flanking, my dear bestial colleague?" Lazarus moves into a flanking position to help Turiik with his attack and swings with Grabthar's Hammer.
+1 Striking Cold Iron Grabthar's Hammer (w/ Stratagem) vs Blue: 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (5) + 16 = 21
Dr. Lazarus completely evades the fiery howl. Tarcog and Amvolwatt take Fire Damage, but repay with an intimidation and Electricity!
Red manages to dodge partly out of the way of Amvolwatt's shocking breath weapon, but Blue takes the full amount to the face! Then Jayma's hydraulic push not only slows Colel, and pushes her away ten feet, but it also extinguishes her entirely. Colel's burnt face reappears momentarily in relief as she crumbles to ash.
Then Dr. Lazarus flanks with Amvolwatt to hammer out his disagreement with the Combusted, and hits!
★ --- ★ --- ★ --- ★
Dr. Lazarus
Meadow + Silence
Turiik (2 Reflex Saves DC 19)
Jayma (Shield Raised)
Tarcog + Amvolwatt (-14, d6+2 Persistent Fire)
Combusted Red Batz (-70)
Combusted Blue Colel (DEAD)
Combusted White Fabio (DEAD)
Meadow looks for a weak point and quickly draws and throws a bomb.
plus 1 splash damage plus 1 persistant fire damage
extra damage on the first hit.
She then launches a brace of arrows.
The bestial form of Turiik endures the pain of the flames, the light flickering in his dark eyes. He roars as his enemy gets blasted away down the hallway. Skin blistered, he growls and steps into the flames surrounding the remaining burning soul. His massive jaws snap while he grabs at the flaming ribs with a clawed hand.
Meadow discovers to her dismay that the 'Fight Fire with Fire' information was absolutely erroneous, and the fire damage does nothing to Red. However, her first arrow is enough to finally slay Red and bring Batz to rest. He too has a moment of peace as the arrow hits his heart and his body crumbles to dust.
★ --- ★ --- ★ --- ★
FINAL STATUS:
Dr. Lazarus
Meadow + Silence
Turiik (-20)
Jayma (Shield Raised)
Tarcog + Amvolwatt (-14, d6+2 Persistent Fire)
Combusted Red Batz (DEAD)
Combusted Blue Colel (DEAD)
Combusted White Fabio (DEAD)
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Jayma is only slightly put out at Meadow getting the kill shot on the third of their ex-guides, but the feeling soon passes. Surveying the remains of the monks, she shakes her head. "What a terrible way to die... twice." She looks about the hallway with some trepidation. "I really do hope we don't go the same way, especially since there won't be anyone like us around to make sure we get safely to Pharasma." She shudders at the thought of wandering around these tunnels for eternity engulfed in flames and having to listen to Thurston moaning endlessly about how hot it is down here and how his precious books are now ash.
As the last of the flaming bones disintegrates before his jaws can close down upon it, Turiik growls and looks around hungrily. However, in the absence of danger, the darkness drains from his eyes and his hair resumes its normal color. He falls to the ground as his more dramatic physical transformations regress.
Once he has fully returned to his normal form, he props himself up by one arm groggily. "Oh. Ow" Turiik says, gingerly touching the blisters on his neck. "The burning monks must have caught me. But most of you look unharmed. Oh. Most."
He stands and rushes over to Tarcog to try to pat out the flames.
Meadow bursts into tears. "It didn't work! I was sure it would. Why didn't it work? Now they're dead. It's not fair."
She breaks down into incoherent sobbing. She buries her face in Silence's feathers and hugs him tightly.
Tarcog drops to the floor and rolls to try and put the fire out. It works.
Silence hoots softly as he endures Meadows embrace.
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With the kobold's flames put out, he turns to Meadow. "Oh. Um. I'm not sure what you tried, but I don't know anyone who would have survived what happened to those poor monks," he says and awkwardly pats the half-elf on the shoulder.
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Satisfied the creatures are no longer a threat, the Doctor assesses the damage. "Well done, my colleagues. Ahh, Turiik and Tarcog. Seems you lads took the worst of it. Why don't you join me, so I can take a look?" While it would make far more sense for the able-bodied (and uninjured) Doctor to go to the wounded, he appears to be unpacking his healer's tools where he currently is. He urges them along, "That's it gentlemen. Just over here."
Seeing Tarcog still afire, the Doctor douses some bandages in water to administer some quick first aid. However, he's happy to see the kobold managed to put out the flames on his own. "Now both of you hold still. That's it." He takes 10 minutes to treat them.
After he's done, he sees that Tarcog still has some lingering scars. He asks the group. "If we have a little more time, I'm sure I can get him to near 100%. Or I can do some quick in-battle medicine. Do we have time?" He looks for consensus.
As the doctor is treating him, he notices that Tarcog’s wounds are very slowly healing on their own. It is no surprise that as Tarcog’s wounds are treated, the wounds on Amvolwatt are also healed.
“Thanks for the healing Doctor!” he says as Dr. Lazarus finishes treating his wounds. Although he expected some minor wounds to remain, it seems the small kobold is completely healed.
Turiik smiles at the elf's ministrations. "Thank you."
Amvolwatt goes up to the doors and looks closely at them. He is careful to not touch them. “Is there some sort of trap here that caused that?”
Meadow releases the owl and dries her eyes on her sleeve. "Thanks, Silence. You're a good friend. "
She pulls some wax paper from a belt pouch and unwraps a piece of spiced meat that she gives to the owl. She blows her nose on the wax paper and composes herself. She stands and addresses the other pathfinders.
"Okay. What's next?"
With the kobold's flames put out, he turns to Meadow. "Oh. Um. I'm not sure what you tried, but I don't know anyone who would have survived what happened to those poor monks," he says and awkwardly pats the half-elf on the shoulder.
Meadow sighs. "You're probably right that they were already. doomed. I just remembered reading something once and thought maybe..." She trails off, shaking her head sadly.
As you catch your breath, you feel an alien vibration echo within your own bodies. What at first feels like a light hum quickly grows into a shiver and then an overwhelming but inaudible tone you feel rearranging both your body and mind.
Everyone but Turiik falls to the ground unconscious for a few seconds. Jayma, perhaps because of her inherent musical talents, is out cold for a full minute. All of you realize that you now possess an inherent new power that is somehow connected to the alien music you can feel pulsing within your bodies. This is true not just for you, but also for your animal companions, familiars and eidolons, as Tarcog discovers when he remanifests Amvolwatt.
You are each in possession of a Deviant Ability. If you have an Awakening listed (for the Level 2 Deviant Feats) you get that ability as well. Unlike the monks, you can decide when to activate the powers. Each power comes with its own quirks and its own possibility of backlash.
Whenever you attempt to use a deviation, roll a DC 5 flat check. On a success, you use your deviation and the DC for subsequent checks increases by 5, to a maximum of 20; on a failure, you use your deviation and then suffer a backlash effect, after which your flat check DC resets to 5. Backlash progresses from mild, to moderate, to severe. When you have already taken mild backlash in a given day, the next time you would take backlash, you take the moderate backlash instead, and if you have already taken moderate backlash, you take the severe backlash instead, and your deviation can't be used for the rest of the day— attempting to use it simply brings pain. When you make your daily preparations, your flat check DC returns to 5 and your next backlash returns to mild.
Any effects from backlash can't be reduced, prevented, or otherwise bypassed. Conditions and damage you take from backlash can't be reduced or prevented by resistance or immunity, but still triggers any weakness you have to it.
[reaction] FEAT 2
RARE CONJURATION DEVIANT MAGICAL
Quirks
Musical Notation Your deviation produces strange ethereal tones or chimes when activated, or you activate it through singing, whistling, or similar performance.
Fractal Sign Your deviation causes sand, droplets, small insects, or other lightweight objects to organize themselves into strange, geometric patterns whenever activated.
Trigger An enemy's Strike would hit you and you weren't already concealed, hidden, or undetected by that enemy. Your body flickers momentarily into the Ethereal Plane. You become concealed for 1 round, and the flat check for concealment applies to the Strike that would have hit you. If the flat check fails, the Strike misses you.
Awakening When your body flickers, you momentarily assume a terrifying form. If a creature fails the flat check against concealment from your Eerie Flicker, it becomes frightened 1, and it doesn't reduce the frightened condition from this effect at the end of the same turn it gained the condition.
Backlash
Backlash: Encroaching Presence Seeing and touching the beyond leaves you open to its alien influence, warping your perceptions and thoughts.
Mild Backlash Something inexplicable touches your mind, leaving you with lingering horror. You become frightened 3.
Moderate Backlash Disorienting visions and figments cover your vision, as if you're seeing through another set of alien senses. For 10 minutes, all creatures become concealed to you as they are covered in visual distortions only you can see.
Severe Backlash Your life force is siphoned away as the presence tugs your soul to wherever it resides. You become doomed 1 and drained 2 until your next daily preparations.
★ ---- ★ ---- ★ ---- ★
[free-action] FEAT 6
RARE DEVIANT HEALING MAGICAL NECROMANCY
Quirks
Musical Notation Your deviation produces strange ethereal tones or chimes when activated, or you activate it through singing, whistling, or similar performance.
Harmless Wound When you use your deviation, trace amounts of blood drip from your eyes or nose.
Trigger Your turn begins. Your wounds knit together with barely a thought. You regain Hit Points equal to double your level. When you gain this deviation, the GM secretly selects one type of energy damage or precious material, such as fire or cold iron. When you take damage of that type, your wound smokes until the end of your next turn, preventing you from using High-Speed Regeneration.
Backlash:
Backlash: Strained Metabolism
Your body's overclocked physiology requires larger-than-usual amounts of nourishment, leaving you weakened when it kicks in mid-combat.
Mild Backlash Your metabolism immediately burns through your body's energy stores, making you enfeebled 1 and clumsy 1 until you take a bite of food (which usually requires 2 Interact actions: one to retrieve the food and another to consume it).
Moderate Backlash Ravenous hunger wracks your body. You are enfeebled 1, clumsy 1, and fatigued until you can eat a full meal, which requires at least 10 minutes.
Severe Backlash The strain on your body is truly incapacitating. You become sickened 2 as nausea wracks you, and you are also enfeebled 1 and clumsy 1 until you can eat a full meal (which requires you to no longer be sickened). You are fatigued until you can get a full night's rest.
[two-actions] FEAT 6
RARE DEVIANT EVOCATION MAGICAL
Quirks
Musical Notation Your deviation produces strange ethereal tones or chimes when activated, or you activate it through singing, whistling, or similar performance.
Atmospheric Disturbance When you use your deviation, tiny clouds, light wind, or other small atmospheric disturbances occur within 5 feet of your body.
Power
You spit out a freezing breath or sonic scream. You deal 4d6 damage, plus 1d6 damage for every level you have beyond 6th, to all creatures in a 30-foot cone, with a basic Reflex save.
Backlash:
Backlash: Energetic Meltdown
As you channel energy through your deviant abilities, some of it turns back on you, spiking your body temperature or dancing across your skin.
Mild Backlash You take damage equal to your level as energy scours your body.
Moderate Backlash Energy wracks your body. After taking the damage, you gain weakness to the energy type of your backlash until your next daily preparations. The weakness is equal to one-third of your level. You also lose immunity to the energy type if you had it, until your next daily preparations.
Severe Backlash Whatever furnace or well within you that provides the energy for your deviation overloads completely, cascading out of you in an uncontrolled burst. You deal 1d6 damage per level to all creatures in a 30-foot emanation with a basic Fortitude save. You automatically take full damage without attempting a save.
★ ---- ★ ---- ★ ---- ★
[one-action] FEAT 2
RARE DEVIANT EVOCATION MAGICAL
Quirks
Musical Notation Your deviation produces strange ethereal tones or chimes when activated, or you activate it through singing, whistling, or similar performance.
Fractal Sign Your deviation causes sand, droplets, small insects, or other lightweight objects to organize themselves into strange, geometric patterns whenever activated.
Power
An invisible arm extends from you to grab and manipulate objects. The arm reaches up to 15 feet, grabs an unattended object of 1 Bulk or less, and immediately deposits it in one of your free hands or at your feet. Alternatively, it reaches up to 15 feet and performs a simple Interact action like pushing open a window, though it can't perform actions that require significant mechanical dexterity. For every 5 levels you have, the amount the hand can lift increases by 1 Bulk, and the arm's range increases by 15 feet. Being ghostly, the arm can affect ghosts, spirits, and other incorporeal entities, though in most cases, you need an awakening for this to be useful.
Awakening Your invisible arm can grab on to an unsuspecting target. You can modify the power's target to be 1 creature within range. You make an attack roll against the creature's Fortitude DC and add the attack trait to the action. On a success, the target is grabbed by the arm (or restrained on a critical success). This lasts for 1 round or until the creature Escapes.
Backlash
Backlash: Encroaching Presence Seeing and touching the beyond leaves you open to its alien influence, warping your perceptions and thoughts.
Mild Backlash Something inexplicable touches your mind, leaving you with lingering horror. You become frightened 3.
Moderate Backlash Disorienting visions and figments cover your vision, as if you're seeing through another set of alien senses. For 10 minutes, all creatures become concealed to you as they are covered in visual distortions only you can see.
Severe Backlash Your life force is siphoned away as the presence tugs your soul to wherever it resides. You become doomed 1 and drained 2 until your next daily preparations.
[one-action] FEAT 2
RARE ATTACK DEVIANT EVOCATION MAGICAL
Quirks
Musical Notation Your deviation produces strange ethereal tones or chimes when activated, or you activate it through singing, whistling, or similar performance.
Fractal Sign Your deviation causes sand, droplets, small insects, or other lightweight objects to organize themselves into strange, geometric patterns whenever activated.
Requirements You have a free hand (or claw.) A directed beam of heat or an arc of lightning is one of the simplest ways to project energy. You fire a blast or beam from one hand. Make an attack roll against a creature within 30 feet. If you succeed, the beam deals 1d6 damage for every 2 levels you have to the target, or double damage on a critical success.
Awakening Your beams blast through targets. Instead of making an attack roll to damage a single creature within 30 feet, you can use Blasting Beams as a 2-action activity to damage all creatures in a 60-foot line, with a basic Reflex save.
Backlash:
Backlash: Energetic Meltdown
As you channel energy through your deviant abilities, some of it turns back on you, spiking your body temperature or dancing across your skin.
Mild Backlash You take damage equal to your level as energy scours your body.
Moderate Backlash Energy wracks your body. After taking the damage, you gain weakness to the energy type of your backlash until your next daily preparations. The weakness is equal to one-third of your level. You also lose immunity to the energy type if you had it, until your next daily preparations.
Severe Backlash Whatever furnace or well within you that provides the energy for your deviation overloads completely, cascading out of you in an uncontrolled burst. You deal 1d6 damage per level to all creatures in a 30-foot emanation with a basic Fortitude save. You automatically take full damage without attempting a save.
★ ---- ★ ---- ★ ---- ★
[reaction] FEAT 2
RARE ABJURATION DEVIANT MAGICAL
Quirks
Musical Notation Your deviation produces strange ethereal tones or chimes when activated, or you activate it through singing, whistling, or similar performance.
Chromatic Absorption Whenever you use your deviation, you absorb or mute a specific color from an object near you, and any manifestation of your deviant ability has that color. The absorbed colors return to your surroundings within an hour.
Trigger An enemy within 60 feet uses an ability that has the trait corresponding to your deviation damage type. Your connection to energy is so much stronger than the offending display in front of you, allowing you to claim it for yourself. Attempt a counteract check against the triggering effect as you draw it into your body. If you successfully counteract the ability, you gain temporary Hit Points equal to double the counteract level of the ability, which last for 1 minute.
Awakening You channel some of the seized energy into your next attack. Choose one of your weapons or unarmed attacks. Until the end of your next turn, Strikes with the chosen weapon or unarmed attack deal an additional 1d6 damage of a type matching the energy you consumed.
Backlash:
Backlash: Energetic Meltdown
As you channel energy through your deviant abilities, some of it turns back on you, spiking your body temperature or dancing across your skin.
Mild Backlash You take damage equal to your level as energy scours your body.
Moderate Backlash Energy wracks your body. After taking the damage, you gain weakness to the energy type of your backlash until your next daily preparations. The weakness is equal to one-third of your level. You also lose immunity to the energy type if you had it, until your next daily preparations.
Severe Backlash Whatever furnace or well within you that provides the energy for your deviation overloads completely, cascading out of you in an uncontrolled burst. You deal 1d6 damage per level to all creatures in a 30-foot emanation with a basic Fortitude save. You automatically take full damage without attempting a save.
[one-action] FEAT 2
RARE DEVIANT EVOCATION MAGICAL
Quirks
Musical Notation Your deviation produces strange ethereal tones or chimes when activated, or you activate it through singing, whistling, or similar performance.
Strange Biology When you gained your deviation, you grew extra eyes, a set of chitinous antennae, or some other strange biological feature unusual for your ancestry. While you might be able to hide it underneath clothing, your deviant abilities all center around this organ, so it must be uncovered and unobstructed for you to use your deviation.
Power
Sharp shards of bone tear forth from your elbows, wrists, or other parts of your body. For 1 minute, you can make bone spike unarmed Strikes, which deal 1d6 piercing damage and have the versatile S and sweep trails. When you take the Bone Spikes action, you can choose one weapon on your person and duplicate its weapon runes onto your bone spikes (with the exception of any runes that couldn't apply to the bone spears).
Awakening Your bones grow longer, lashing flexibly at range. While you have bone spikes, you can Interact to give your bone spikes reach 10 feet until the end of the current turn.
Backlash:
Backlash: Strained Metabolism
Your body's overclocked physiology requires larger-than-usual amounts of nourishment, leaving you weakened when it kicks in mid-combat.
Mild Backlash Your metabolism immediately burns through your body's energy stores, making you enfeebled 1 and clumsy 1 until you take a bite of food (which usually requires 2 Interact actions: one to retrieve the food and another to consume it).
Moderate Backlash Ravenous hunger wracks your body. You are enfeebled 1, clumsy 1, and fatigued until you can eat a full meal, which requires at least 10 minutes.
Severe Backlash The strain on your body is truly incapacitating. You become sickened 2 as nausea wracks you, and you are also enfeebled 1 and clumsy 1 until you can eat a full meal (which requires you to no longer be sickened). You are fatigued until you can get a full night's rest.
[two-actions] FEAT 2
RARE DEVIANT MAGICAL TRANSMUTATION
Quirks
Musical Notation Your deviation produces strange ethereal tones or chimes when activated, or you activate it through singing, whistling, or similar performance.
Forgotten Prayers When you gain your deviation, piecemeal knowledge of a forgotten language fills your mind—not enough to communicate, but enough that you control your deviation by commanding or beseeching some higher power in the language.
Power
Your limbs tense as you deliver a mighty swing. Make a melee Strike. If it hits, you deal an extra die of weapon damage and push the target back by 5 feet. If you're at least 10th level, increase this to two extra dice and push the target by 10 feet, and if you're at least 18th level, increase it to three extra dice and push the target by 15 feet.
Awakening On a critical hit, you push the target back double the normal distance and knock it prone.
Backlash:
Backlash: Strained Metabolism
Your body's overclocked physiology requires larger-than-usual amounts of nourishment, leaving you weakened when it kicks in mid-combat.
Mild Backlash Your metabolism immediately burns through your body's energy stores, making you enfeebled 1 and clumsy 1 until you take a bite of food (which usually requires 2 Interact actions: one to retrieve the food and another to consume it).
Moderate Backlash Ravenous hunger wracks your body. You are enfeebled 1, clumsy 1, and fatigued until you can eat a full meal, which requires at least 10 minutes.
Severe Backlash The strain on your body is truly incapacitating. You become sickened 2 as nausea wracks you, and you are also enfeebled 1 and clumsy 1 until you can eat a full meal (which requires you to no longer be sickened). You are fatigued until you can get a full night's rest.
Meadow shakes her head. "Wow! I feel funny. What's that weird music?" She frowns. "It's not really music though, is it? More like vibrations. Like a heartbeat but so much more complicated."
"Is everyone okay?
As Tarcog regains consciousness, his first thought is to wonder what happened. He sees that Turiik seems alert while most everyone else is recovering. Jayma is still unconscious.
Looking to Turiik, he asks “What happened?”
In answer to Meadow, he says “I think so. I feel like something is using my scales as if they were bells to be rung.”
Getting up, he dusts himself off and then summons Amvolwatt back into existence.
Once Amvolwatt is fully manifested, he says “I feel wrong, like I’m slightly disconnected from the material plane.”
“You are a creature of the astral plane.”
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“This doesn’t feel like that. This feels like a discordant note that interrupts everything.”
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Awakening on the ground, the Doctor rises and retrieves his hammer. He looks around with some concern. "That was most ... unusual. Is anybody hurt?" Seeing Jayma lying motionless, he rushes to her side. Finding her unharmed, he helps rouse her and get the little gnome to her feet.
Then, for the first time, he hears what sounds like incomprehensible fragments of Ancient Osiriani. He flexes his muscles. He feels, if he puts his mind to it, that he could put a little more punch in his strikes.
He stands beside the door, ready to investigate the next room.
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Jayma feels a strange vibration in her body, but before she can do anything about it, she slumps to the ground unconscious. Twyl also passes out, but recovers faster and proceeds to try and wake his mistress up by stroking her face and licking her hands.
When she finally comes around, the first thing she sees is Thurston looming over her. Still a little woozy, she says, "Oooh! What a strange feeling that was." Then, seeing that she was laying flat on her back, adds, "Why am I on the ground? Did I faint? How embarrassing." When Thurston helps her to her feet (much to the joy of Twyl, who retakes his usual place on her shoulders), she thanks him. "Thank you, Doctor. I am undamaged."
After casting a quick spell to clean herself up, she looks around at the others who recovered a lot sooner than she. "Was I the only one affected?" She frowns as she feels the new power coursing through her veins. "I.. I, feel different." She then hiccups and her breath condenses almost instantly into a foggy cloud before her. "How odd. I'll have to be careful or I may hurt myself..." "...and others.", but she leaves the last part unsaid.
Gathering Twyl into her arms, she probes him through their shared telepathic link and finds that he too had been affected, though in a different manner. She would have to be careful with him too, or the poor creature might suffer torments of a different kind.
While everyone else falls unconscious, Turiik's eye turn black and he grimaces. "No! This is my body. You can't have it!" the beast within growls. He looks hungrily at his unconscious companions for a moment before his eyes return to normal.
-----
"I don't know. You all fell asleep," he answers Tarcog and points at Jayma.
. "Was I the only one affected?"
“Everyone except Turiik went unconscious. You stayed that way longer than the rest of us.”
"I.. I, feel different." She then hiccups and her breath condenses almost instantly into a foggy cloud before her. "How odd. I'll have to be careful or I may hurt myself..."
Tarcog gives her a speculative look, then says “Remember what I said about burping.”
Looking around, he asks “So, shall we spend a small amount of time trying to figure out what just happened to us, or immediately chase after the sound that caused this?”
Turiik looks around furtively before suggesting, "Maybe we should press on. Try to stop it before it happens to us again."
Tarcog nods. He and his dragon appear ready to move on when others do.
You open the doors into the next room.
Several stone coffins lie along the length of this large chamber. Each coffin appears ancient but bears carvings and decorations that remain relatively intact. A set of doors in the northern and southern walls lead out of the room. Larger doors allow passage to east and west.
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Jayma's apprehension at the changes in her slowly fade when she doesn't spontaneously explode into flames like the monks. "Looks like our bodies can handle the strange emanations this place generates, but maybe we shouldn't linger any longer than necessary, just in case. Let's move on."
When they enter the coffin room, Jayma takes in all the carvings and decorations and is suitably impressed. "I wonder who's buried here and how old these tombs are." As a seasoned adventurer, she's fully expecting the lids to move aside any moment to release their undead occupants.
"Very well. The dead remain dead, which is just the way things should be. Let's see where some of these doors lead."
Tarcog goes over to investigate the coffins, make sure their seals are still good and nothing has been desecrated.
When you glance at the coffins, you realize that these graves must be ancient. The names on the plaques are so worn that they're unreadable.
But for all their age, it's clear that the Order of Yllado has lovingly maintained the graves, keeping this area well-swept and maintained. The graves stay mercifully quiet, with no sliding lids.
LIBRARY
Several large stone tables stand in this room, each spaced evenly. Shelves built into the wall hold hundreds of books, several of which lie open on the central tables. In this room are also two monks, coated in sweat and twitching. “We’ve been abandoned, and now enemies come!” the woman calls, wild-eyed. “Adibaro, attack with me!”
The two dodge behind bookshelves and take aggressive stances, power crackling in their hands.
★ ---- ★ ---- ★ ---- ★
★ ---- ★ ---- ★ ---- ★
Turiik
Jayma
Meadow + Silence
Dr. Lazarus
Abidaro
Xiomena
Tarcog + Amvolwatt
Turiik instinctively throws his hands into a submissive posture. "Wai--!" he only gets half a breath of a plea for peace out before his inner beast takes over. Even faster than before, his black hair fades to white while the whites of his eyes turn black and his body twists with ursine features.
"At least blood still pumps in your veins!" he growls as he leaps across the library to land in front of Xiomena and lunges for the woman's neck with his jaws.
Meadow rushes into the room. "No wait! We're not enemies! We're here to help! Adibaro you have to believe me!" Meadow scowls. "Oh now look what you've done. You've got Turiik all riled up. Turiik knock it off! We're here to help these poor people, remember?"
The young ranger focuses on the woman calling for violence and pulls out a bola.
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Dr. Lazarus rubs his chin as he walks through the burial chamber. He muses aloud, "Not unlike the morgue back in Osirion." When the monks yell out, the Doctor adds, "Well, my morgue is quieter..." When he sees one of the monks is their new friend Abidaro, Lazarus frowns. "I fear there may be no saving him, Meadow."
In case Abidaro can be saved, Lazarus focuses on the woman ordering the attack. He strategizes a plan, recalls what he knows of these monks, and shares any information with his allies.
Seeing an opening, he moves into the room to get a good throwing lane to her.
+1 Striking Returning Cold Iron Grabthar's Hammer (w/ Stratagem) vs Woman: 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (17) + 16 = 33
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After several of her companions enter the library, Jayma pokes her head through the opening and sees the apparently non-burning and still-living monks preparing to attack them. She watches as Meadow and Thurston ready themselves, but Turiik is faster, and before she can react, he's gone all werebear and is tearing into Xiomena. She sighs. "So much for talking our way out of this."
Seeing that there was no chance of pacifying Xiomena, what with her being mauled and all, she turns to Abidaro. Jayma first calls to her fellow Pathfinders. "Wait!" Then starts weaving her hands in a mesmerizing fashion; her face blurs slightly as if bathed in a dreamy haze; and in a voice dripping with honey, she says, "am ally, Abidaro".
Turiik leaps and tears at Xiomena's throat, hitting a vein in a ferocious attack. Meanwhile, Meadow grabs out her bola, in an attempt to handle this non-lethally. Dr. Lazarus follows up with a non-lethal* takedown of Xiomena.
Then Jayma decides a charm might be in order on Abidaro.
Abidaro blinks and lowers his hand and cries. "Please help me and Xiomena. Something has happened to us." He momentarily discorporates his body into fractal patterns of roiling smoke and ash before reforming again. "I feel twitchy and scared, and don't know who to trust other than you," he says looking at Jayma.
He kneels beside the bleeding Xiomena. "Will she die?"
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