The dwarf cocks his head to the side at the appearance of the humans speaking in a dead language.
”This whole place is supposed to be deserted and quiet. There are entirely too many people here for my liking.”
As Tribim responds to the priests, Mahmoud notices a faint smell of grave dust and decay.
Mahmoud looks distrustfully at the priests. "Are they really here, or is this another kind of haunted room?" he mutters to Tribim.
Epperson pulls out a flask of holy water from his belt at Mahmoud’s suggestion of hauntings.
Hearing Mahmoud's question, Tribim pauses and scratches his head. Looking from the two 'priests' back towards Mahmoud, then Epperson and finally Aerith, he shrugs and mouths 'I don't know.' Determining a course of action he turns to the two priests and asks, "My friend wants to know if you're really here or some type of ghost or undead."
As soon as they see the flask of holy water, the priests' appearance shifts to withered undeath.
Their mouths open in silent screams as they lunge forward.
Raising an eyebrow as the priests' appearance shifts to withered undead, Rory dances left then right, as the priests attack. Frowning, he adds, "You could have just answered 'yes'!" As he chatters, he feints with the gladius in his right paw, then slashed with both hands, crisscrossing the blades
Aerith wanted to send her blade out to attack, but her mind truly wasn't into it. Once again, figures from the ancient past turned out to be frauds. The disappointment was so great that she could taste it. With that filling her head, she could not concentrate on the complicated task of wielding her blade with her mind.
As the things transform at the dwarf's production of holy water, his old habits kick in.
the malefactor waggles his thumb at his nose as he smashes the flask into the other undead horror's face. Or tries to.
Mahmoud moves behind one of the pews and throws his magic dagger at the creatures threatening his friends.
Mahmoud's dagger dispatches the closer undead as the other shifts its focus to Epperson.
Epperson dodges the two claws then brings his flail down on the thing, hard.
"Well done Mahmoud!" Encouraged by his friend killing the first undead, Tribim steps opposite Mahmoud and redoubles his efforts attacking the second. Feinting with the blade in his left hand, he slashes with the blade in his right, then again with both blades.
Mahmoud smiles briefly, one side of his mouth going up into a quick smirk, before he throws his daggers again at the other creature.
Aerith’s blade moved sluggishly, which matched her mental state. The others had the situation under control, and her disappointment was palpable. Truly, her heart was not into the fight.
Mahmoud and Tribim quickly dispatch the second undead, leaving the chapel safe once more.
Potential Loot
Silver Dagger
Silver Chalice
The dwarf quickly handles both of the silver items, critically assessing them for his favourite thing - curses.
Epperson detects no curses on the items.
Relieved that Epperson was still checking things for curses, Tribim happily let's him handle the two objects. Shaking his head, he nods back towards the stairs, "It looks like the only place left to check is the basement.'
Not waiting for anyone to respond, he begins to head that way. Once arriving at the steps he moves more cautiously, checking each step carefully.
Mahmoud follows Tribim carefully, slowly, as they proceed down the stairs. He tries to be very quiet, for if there are others here who are preparing another ambush, he does not want to give them time to prepare themselves once they know the Four are almost upon them.
As you return to the entrance hall on your way to the steps, part of the floor stretches and pulls as if elastic, taking on the form of an earthen humanoid with thick, stony arms. It hurls a chunk of sandstone at Tribim.
Aerith calmly looked around, drawing upon everything she knew about these types of guardians. What she wanted was to find the capstone so that it might be destroyed…but to do that would require knowing details about how the creature was bound and what the capstone would look like. Moreso it would take sharp eyes…
dodging the chunk of stone, Tribim furrows his brow, "Hey, that's not nice!" Moving near the creature, he feints with the blade in his left hand. slashing with the blade in his right, then again with both blades.
”Uh oh,” the dwarf grunts, moving to aid his teammates.
Mahmoud moves closer and flings his dagger at the akhat, hoping that like other elementals it does not have any particular defenses against them.
Tribim and Mahmoud damage the elemental, but it continues to fight. Disappearing back into the floor, it resurfaces behind Mahmoud and strikes with fists of stone.
You recall that an ahkhat's keystone is integrated into the structure the elemental is bound to. It's typically a large stone block with an inscription on it. You see nothing like that in the entrance hall.
Epperson stoically grunts and takes some of the damage for Mahmoud.
”Come here, you confused cornice,” Epperson grunts, stepping and swinging with his flail.
Realizing the creature has moved near the dwarf, Tribim watches as Epperson almost hits himself in the head with his fancy flail. Hoping to help is friend out, Tribim moves near the creature flanking with the dwarf. Feinting with the blade in his left hand, he slashes with the blade in his right, then again with both blades.
"Keep an eye out everyone for the ahkhat's keystone." She yelled out. "This elemental is bound by it. It should look like a large stone block with an inscription on it. If we can destroy it, then it will be gone for good."
As it turned out, yelling out instructions wasn't the best idea when trying to concentrate on a task as complex as using one's mind to telekinetically command a floating sword.
Mahmoud throws his dagger at the akhat from point-blank range.
You continue to carve away at the elemental, but it isn't going down easily. This time, its attacks are directed towards Tribim.
Having turned to look for a 'keystone' Tribim didn't react fast enough as the creature slammed towards him. "Ow, that hurt!" Changing his tactics, he feints with the blade in his right hand, then brings it back quickly slashing at the creature, while stabbing with the left and then the right.
Epperson deflects the second blow of the akhat away from Tribim, then attempts to slam home his flail.
Finally focusing on the task at hand, Aeirth held the sword in wait. When the opportunity showed itself, it suddenly launched forward at the guardian…
Mahmoud repositions and continues the barrage of attacks from his magical dagger.
Tribim stabs the elemental again, but it's Aerith's flying blade that finishes off the guardian.
Mahmoud grunts wistfully, regretful that they could not subdue the guardian and turn it against whoever had set it upon them. He looks it over carefully before they continue.
”That is one way to put it down.” Aerith said, recalling the sword to her side. ”Let us keep an eye out for the keystone that bound the guardian. Just to be safe, I would destroy it, to ensure that it cannot come back.”
Seeing the stone thing finally go down, Tribim nods in agreement, as he sheaths his blades and draws out a wand, "That's not a bad idea." He hands the want to Aerith, "You mind healing these wounds? Then we can head to the basement."
Once the educated elf heals the wounds, Tribim collects his wand and sets his ioun torch on his head. Drawing the blades, he continues on his way towards the basement.
A stone bench sits against the eastern wall of this octagonal chamber. Black tiles line the floor, walls, and ceiling. A short passage to the south ends at a gate of bronze bars.
Epperson notices faint bloody footprints between the gate and the stairs.
"That's a bit strange," the dwarf points out the bloodied footprints to the others. "We saw similar tracks upstairs. I wondered if they were a ruse."
"I'm less convinced now. Whoever came in here before us has been injured."
Crouching, so the light from his ioun torch shines on the tracks, Tribim nods in agreement with Epperson, "Strange indeed."
Not exactly sure what to make of the room, he moves towards the stone bench and inspects it, then moves towards the gate made of bronze bars and inspects it as well. If everything appears to be normal, he will attempt to open the gate.
”If nothing else, it means we have a trail to follow. And it shows that the victim lacked the ability to magically heal himself.” Aerith said, as she marveled at Epperson’s keen eyes.
Mahmoud listens carefully to try and recognize enemies nearby, signalling with his eyes that their approach might be heard, but remaining silent regardless as is his preference.
The gate is locked but untrapped. However, Tribim notices that it's been designed to automatically close and relock when opened. .
The chamber beyond has stone doors exiting to the east and west. A statue of Nethys stands against the southern wall.
Epperson peers hesitantly at the Nethys statue.
"This would be a good place for a trap, methinks," he reasons.
For her part, Aerith did her best to see if there was a trail that they could still follow. Whomever came before the was clearly injured so logically speaking there should be something that they could follow which would lead them to the unfortunate treasure hunter.
Taking a moment to permanently disable the gate, Sariel pauses at Epperson's observation, asking, "You think so?"
Not sure if the dwarf meant someone could pop out the doors, or that the statue may come to life. Cautiously approaches the statue, Sariel draws out his blades just in case. As he inspects the statue for any signs of a trap he asks, "Has anyone found anything?"
As soon as Tribim steps into the room, the statue begins to move!
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You realize the 'statue' is actually a specialized construct known as a Graven Guardian. Used to protect religious sites, they ignore worshipers of their associated deity unless specifically interacted with. Their stony construction makes them difficult to damage , and while they lack the immunity of a true golem, they're still quite resistant to magic .
Furrowing his brow at the stony creature, Tribim nods to his right, "Epperson I'll move to the side, see if I can distract it so you can get behind it."
Wondering if the statue will take the bait, Tribim gets ready to attack with his shortsword.