02.12.2017
Session 19
Character level: 6th
After departing from the sceaduinar the Ruby Scarabs returned to the priests’ living area where
they had fought with the crypt thing. There was a set of doors they had yet to
open, which they had already learned were magically enhanced. Kaa checked the
doors for traps and found none. The doors were securely locked, and after
several attempts the tengu was unable to unlock them. Even a prayer to Pharasma
didn’t provide any assistance. Igby realized that the magical effect on the
doors was an abjuration effect, which likely was contributing to the difficulty
in picking the lock. At this point Azzaria decided it was time for a different
approach. She took out her adamantine flail and bashed the doors open. This
dissipated the magic effect, confirming Igby’s opinion.
On the other side of the doors lay a short staircase leading
down. At the bottom of the stairs could be seen a small fountain, and beyond it
a pair of stone feet. When the Scarabs descended the stairs they found
themselves in a small antechamber that was unusually quiet, its vaulted ceiling
muffling the sound of the burbling water from the fountain at its center. On
either side of the chamber a pit appeared. On the opposite side of the fountain
from the stairs stood a tall statue of Anubis and another door. As the Scarabs
had already had an unpleasant encounter with a ‘statue’ that turned out to be a
magical construct beneath the Sanctum of the Erudite Eye, they were wary when
they realized that the statue of Anubis blocked the doors exiting from the
opposite side of the antechamber. They also noticed that the statue didn’t
stand on a base or plinth, which made them even more suspicious of it.
As soon as the Scarabs entered the antechamber, the statue
moved, clearly casting a spell. Several members of the group realized that the
spell was one that would increase the construct’s speed, which was also
familiar from the construct in the temple of Nethys. Azzaria, remembering how
that construct had actually taken her life, stepped forward to swing her flail
at the figure of Anubis. Igby chanted a blessing. Sula realized that her weapons
and Nyema’s fangs and claws would be of no use against the construct, so she
called on the spirit of lightning to blast the construct from above. Kaa swung
his fists at the figure but his blows didn’t connect, and he was rewarded by a
return blow from the construct. Sula brought another lightning bolt down on its
head. Igby moved forward to strike it, but like Kaa he couldn’t make a mark on
it. Then Azzaria’s flail struck it full in the chest. The construct’s torso
cracked in two and the upper half fell into one of the pits. The statue ceased
moving.
The Scarabs were surprised by how quickly they had been able
to defeat the construct. But they returned their attention to exploring the
underground structure. The door that the statue had guarded bore an inscription
in the language of the celestial beings, which none of them could read. Uto
took out a tablet he carried that could allow a person to read such languages
and read the inscription. It stated that if a supplicant put a piece of silver
worth 50 gold pieces in the fountain, it would transform the water into holy
water. Uto was carrying the 30 silver rods taken from the pool in the first
underground room they had entered, and he knew that these rods were worth about
50 gold. He put one of them in the fountain basin and filled two water skins
with the resulting holy water.
The door the construct had guarded was not locked. The
Scarabs looked through it into a large circular room with a platform in the
center in the form of a truncated pyramid. An elevated walkway ran around the
perimeter of the room, beside columns carved in the shape of Pharasma. The
circular chamber’s floor was scattered with corpses, some that looked very old
and others more recent. On the platform, seated on a throne-like chair, was a
living man wearing a golden funerary mask that bore an unusually animated
expression.
When he saw the intruders the man rose to his feet,
demanding, “Why are there always interruptions?” He gestured and two mummies
moved to stand at his sides. Then a pulse of energy issued from the platform,
and many of the bodies on the floor rose to their feet and began to shuffle
toward the Ruby Scarabs. The masked man, who the Scarabs assumed to be
Nebtah-Khufre, rose into the air, his hands moving in spellcasting gestures
that they recognized as the same spell of haste that the construct in the
antechamber had used. Sula still had access to the lightning she had called on
the construct, so she sent a bolt at Nebtah-Khufre.
The two mummies rushed forward with unnatural speed to
confront the group at the doorway. The aura of despair they carried with them
paralyzed Sula, leaving her helpless, though she was still able to control the
lightning. Nyema and her comrades were able to resist the mummies’ aura. Wings
suddenly sprouted from Kaa’s back, but before the tengu could take flight one
of the mummies struck him and he collapsed. Uto drew a spell scroll from his
pack and began to read it.
Nebtah-Khufre swooped toward the
party at the doorway and spoke the words of another spell, but none of the
Scarabs could recognize it. The floor beneath them transformed into molten
glass, scorching everyone and then cooling to form knife-like shards of
obsidian. As the glass cooled it trapped their legs. Most of the group were
able to break free by exerting their strength, but Sula was still paralyzed and
remained trapped in the solidified glass. Once Nyema pulled herself free the
lioness began to claw at the glass encasing her master’s feet.
Uto completed reading the spell
from his scroll. In the air near Nebtah-Khufre a winged figure wielding a
scythe appeared, a vanth psychopomp that Uto had summoned. It immediately
attacked the mummy standing nearest to Azzaria, for its mandate was to slay
undead. Uto then sent a wave of positive energy to heal his companions of the
burns inflicted by the molten glass. In the meantime more zombies approached
the Scarabs and Igby killed one, while the vanth slew another.
Nebtah-Khufre shot a ray of
energy at the vanth but it had no effect. Uto issued another wave of healing
energy, restoring the paralyzed Sula to full health. Kaa, who had been rendered
near death by the mummy’s attack and the molten glass, was able to regain his
feet. Nebtah-Khufre summoned two balls of lightning and sent them at Azzaria
and Igby, but Igby resisted the magic and one sphere vanished.
Though it left his own health
much depleted, Uto healed his friends again. Kaa flew into the circular
chamber, blasting Nebtah-Khufre with scorching flames, but his attack seemed to
have no effect on the necromancer. Nebtah-Khufre flew up beside Kaa and send
out a burst of gray energy that made everyone’s heart race with fear, though
all but Igby were able to withstand the desire to flee. Only Igby panicked and
raced out of the room. Nyema had clawed Sula free of the obsidian, but even
though the druid had been trapped and paralyzed, she had been able to shower
three more lightning bolts on Nebtah-Khufre. Now the paralyzing effect faded
and Sula was able to move again.
The vanth destroyed the last
remaining zombie and flew up to attack Nebtah-Khufre. Kaa struck the necromancer
a blow that stunned him, causing him to drop the gilded femur he held. The vanth
then attacked him again, followed by another attack from Kaa. The necromancer’s
skin had a stony appearance, so the group concentrated on causing damage to
deplete his magical protection. Nebtah-Khufre responded by drawing a wand and
issuing a charge from it at the vanth, but it again had no effect on the psychopomp.
Sula could not reach the flying necromancer with her usual weapons, so she took
out her sling and hurled a stone at him.
Uto’s hair shot out and grabbed
hold of Nebtah-Khufre. As his was held in the grip of the hair, Kaa pummeled
him until he fell unconscious and began to float gently toward the floor. Uto
wanted to question him about the Forgotten Pharaoh, so he used his magic to
prevent the necromancer from bleeding to death, then bound him. Igby recovered
from his fear and returned, covered in blue tile shards. He fastened manacles on
the captive. Afterward, they searched Nebtah-Khufre and removed everything he
carried. He had on his person two curative potions; a spell scroll; a wand; a
magic ring; a wizard’s spellbook; a pouch of diamond dust; a quantity of onyx
stones used for raising zombies; holy symbols of Anubis, Pharasma, and
Urgathoa; and the gold mask he wore over his face.
While the group searched him, Nebtah-Khufre
expired. Uto realized that he must have been fortifying himself with magic, and
that had ceased, leading to his death by the wounds he had suffered. Further
examination of the room revealed that an ornate sarcophagus on the platform had
been desecrated. It seemed that Nebtah-Khufre had been trying to raise the
occupant of the sarcophagus as an especially powerful mummy. The Scarabs used
some of the holy water from the fountain to clean the sarcophagus as best they
could. In the process they realized it was the sarcophagus of the original
Nakht Shepses, ancestor of the priest they knew.
The Scarabs gathered up Nebtah-Khufre’s
body and the items they had taken from him and left the Observatory. They were
able to return to Wati without difficulty, and took the body to the Grand
Mausoleum. Shortly afterward the most senior priests of the temple were
summoned to hear the story the Ruby Scarabs told. Two high priests from the
temple of Nethys also came to hear. The priests had never heard of the
Forgotten Pharaoh and could not explain why Nebtah-Khufre was so interested in
acquiring his mask. When they examined the mask they found that it contained
the ka spirit of a powerful person, probably a pharaoh, but they did not
understand how such an artifact could be made. The mask revealed that it had
different properties depending upon whether the wearer was a person of a good
or evil nature. It could also be used to raise the dead, which was clearly how Nebtah-Khufre
had raised the zombies in the circular chamber. The priests also identified all
of the other magical items the Scarabs had taken from the necromancer.
The priests could not agree on
what should be done with the mask. They argued over it for two days. At last
they called the Scarabs back to the Grand Mausoleum, and asked if they would
take charge of it and research the Forgotten Pharaoh. They recommended that the
Scarabs go to the nearby city of Tephu, which had an extensive library that
might hold information about the mask’s mysterious owner. Kaa then asked if the
priests would pay them for that service. This led to a long discussion of how
many valuable items the Scarabs had taken from the Necropolis and whether the
temples ought to at least give them enough gold to pay for the river ferry to
Tephu. Nakht Shepses also expressed displeasure that they had taken the magical
shield from his family altar under the Observatory, though he hadn’t known it
existed prior to their showing it to him. The Scarabs pointed out that they were
willing to return it to him, but Sebti the Crocodile suggested that they ought
to keep it as part of their reward for removing the necromancer from the
Shepses family mortuary temple.
In the end, the Scarabs kept the
shield and all of the things they had taken from the Observatory and from Nebtah-Khufre.
In addition the temples gave them 100 gold pieces to pay for the ferry to
Tephu. Though the adventurers found it strange that they should have the
responsibility of finding out just who the Forgotten Pharaoh was, they accepted
it and agreed that they would pursue the answer to that question.
Loot:
2 potions of cure
light wounds
Scroll of stinking
cloud
Ring of sustenance
Spellbook
Diamond dust worth 500 gold
Onyxes worth 500 gold
Silver holy symbol of Anubis
Silver holy symbol of Pharasma
Silver unholy symbol of Urgathoa
Rod of lesser
disruptive metamagic
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