As the huge serpent reared its five human-like heads above them, the Ruby Scarabs tensed for battle. But both Azzaria and Uto first attempted to defuse the naga's anger with diplomatic words. One of the naga's heads seemed to be considering their request for conversation rather than combat, but the other heads appeared closed, and the face that Zaid Faad had worn was still angry. Then the five heads looked at each other and the naga appeared to grow even more terrifying. Three of the heads spoke in unison, "You must make penance for disrespecting us. Kneel," glaring at the Scarabs as they made their demand. Tetisurah exclaimed something about the moon, her voice sounding panicked. Kaa called out, "I can't hear!" Nyema growled and began to paw at her ears.
Azzaria moved acrobatically past the naga, ending her movement inside the temple resting on one knee. The eyes of Uto's mask glowed red as he said, "You look into my eyes!" The naga slithered backward slightly and began to mutter an incantation. Kaa sent a blast of lightning through the doorway of the temple to strike the snake. The naga turned one of its heads toward Azzaria and said to her, "You have entered what is mine." One of the other heads spoke to the rest of the group still outside: "If you cannot obey you will be punished!" The naga's form began to blink in and out of sight.
Sula had been outside the temple comforting the deafened Nyema. She had realized that the huge serpent had an ability to cause harm with its gaze, and she had shouted out a warning to her companions though of course it was too late for that to save Kaa. Now she realized that she could help her friends fight the naga. She sent her magic toward him and suddenly the snake became clearly visible again. The naga glared at Azzaria, but his gaze didn't affect her. Uto once again triggered the power of the pharaoh's mask to no effect.
Azzaria began to rage with battle fury, her form becoming blurred and moving with exceptional speed as she drew her weapons and attacked the naga. Uto summoned a mist to surround the serpent, making it more difficult for it to turn its gaze on her. Azzaria was also surrounded by six images of herself to confuse her opponent, but as the naga fought with her one image after the other disappeared.
Outside the temple, Tetisurah suddenly flew up and swooped over the roof of the temple toward the cliff face it stood against, her flight unsteady. Kaa sent another burst of lightning at the naga while Azzaria tried to breach its armored hide with her weapons. Uto's also became difficult to see and entered the area he had filled with mist, stretching his hair out to heal some of the wounds the naga had inflicted on Azzaria. He activated his mask a third time, and this time the mask's power overcame the naga's hardiness, leaving it sickened. Uto could see that Azzaria had been able to pierce its hide. The naga turned all five of its heads on Kaa but only one successfully struck him. Kaa's wound bled excessively.
Sula summoned lightning from the heavens and a bolt shot down from the ceiling of the temple to strike the naga even though she couldn't clearly see him. After two more such bolts struck him he looked ragged and ready to collapse, and when Azzaria hit him again he slumped to the floor of the temple.
Because the Scarabs had never really desired to do the naga harm, Uto used his shamanic magic to prevent the creature from bleeding to death. Then Kaa entered the temple to search it briefly before going outside to find out what had become of Tetisurah. Sula had seen her fly toward the cliff. Kaa discovered an unlocked secret compartment behind the altar which held sculptures, jewelry, and pottery, but left to find Tetisurah without examining the contents any further. He found her with her back against the cliff face, trying to hide behind a rock that was too small to disguise her. The naga's gaze had left her both blinded and deafened. Kaa soothed her with gentle touches until she came back down to the temple entrance.
Meanwhile Uto and Sula examined the things from the compartment, finding that while most of them were somewhat valuable only one object was magical, a triangular amulet of iron with a feather in gold along each edge. Sula determined that this thing was a power source for some type of automaton or construct. Once the objects had been discovered and examined, the Scarabs, with the exceptoin of Kaa, began to discuss what they should do with the naga. Would it be best to slay him and protect others from the danger he posed? Should they simple leave and let him live or die as fate willed? Or should they heal him enough that he wouldn't immediately die and leave him behind? They also wondered if they should take the things from the compartment. These seemed to have been made during different periods of Osirion's history and the trio felt that the items hadn't been left behind when the temple was deconsecrated. They suspected that the items might have been collected by the naga.
Azzaria, Sula, and Uto all wanted to leave the objects with the naga and heal him enough that he wouldn't be in danger. Uto was concerned that when the naga regained consciousness he would still have his baleful gaze active and they considered blindfolding him to prevent him blinding or deafening anyone else. But in the end the didn't cover his eyes. Instead Sula went outside and prepared to call the lightning again if the naga attacked, while her three friends all turned their backs to the huge serpent and Uto healed more of its wounds.
Once the naga was awake enough to converse, Uto told him that the Scarabs only wanted to talk to him and warned him against making any hostile movements. The naga responded by saying, "I will not serve you." He rose up, and even from a distance Sula could see that he looked at Uto and Azzaria with hatred. Then he glanced toward the altar, confirming that the things hidden there were probably his possessions. When Kaa returned he was disappointed that they weren't taking any of the things they had discovered, as he was attracted to a gold statuette, but he agreed to abide by the decision his three comrades had made once he was able to lip-read what they said. Uto asked the naga to cease its harmful gaze, and it did so, but not until it had accused the Scarabs of being thieves and brigands.
When the threat of its gaze was gone Uto and Azzaria turned to face him and asked him if he had seen any representatives of the Cult of the Forgotten Pharaoh, sphinxes, or knew of the place called the Sightless Sphinx. The naga denied having seen anyone like the cultists, or any visitors at all recently. He also told them he had never heard of the Sightless Sphinx, but he had heard a rumor that somewhere nearby lay an ancient temple to the demon lord Areshkigal, who was depicted as a faceless sphinx.
Kaa asked loudly if the naga had the power to banish the deafness caused by his gaze, but Zaid lacked that ability. Uto meanwhile considered what Zaid had said about Areshkigal and recalled that the demon lord was said to be a six-legged sphinx without a face and was considered lord of greed, portals, and riddles. It certainly seemed likely that the Sightless Sphinx they sought might also be the temple to the demon lord.
Uto then asked Zaid if he knew what the triangular object in his stash was. The naga didn't know, but when Uto expressed interest in acquiring it Zaid offered an opportunity: he had lost his crown near a river a few days earlier, and offered to give the triangular object and other items to the Scarabs in exchange if they would recover the crown. He gave only a vague description of the place where he had lost it, and no description at all of the crown itself.
By this point it was clear that the naga was too arrogant to express gratitude toward the Scarabs for sparing his life, and he wanted nothing more than for them to leave the temple and let him be. But he agreed they could camp outside that night before going off to seek the crown. Poor blind and deaf Tetisurah spent the night leaning against the temple facade, which she seemed to find soothing. The next morning Uto asked the spirits to grant him the ability to remove the blindness and deafness suffered by the sphinx. He was also able to restore hearing to Kaa and Nyema. When everyone had recovered, the Scarabs and Tetisurah made their way to the north of the temple to the river where Zaid had misplaced his crown.
By good fortune, Kaa possessed a magic rod which could detect metallic objects if he willed it. The Scarabs worked their way along the river, Kaa scanning the area with his rod as they went. The river was narrow but deep and slow. They found it pleasant to be near water after having traveled many days through the desert. As they came to an area where the bank was rocky and higher on one side, they beheld a wondrous site: four birds stood in the water searching for food, birds that resembled ibises but were twice Uto's height, their gleaming feathers apparently made of silver and brass.
With encouragement from Uto, Sula recalled that these birds were magical creatures called stymphalidies. She warned her companions that the birds were very territorial and aggressive, and that they could both use their shiny feathers as projectiles and as reflectors that could blind the unwary. The Scarabs considered whether to go on and leave the stymphalidies be, but they needed to search that part of the river. They decided to approach the birds and try to drive them off, but they were prepared for a fight if the birds reacted poorly to their presence.
While Sula's skin took on a stony appearance, Kaa sent a blast of lightning at two of the birds. The lightning didn't appear to penetrate the metal feathers, but the birds became agitated. One bird fired some of its feathers toward Uto, two of them slashing his flesh. Another razor-sharp feather aimed toward Kaa but he deflected it. Sula brought down a rain of pebbles and small stones on the birds, which seemed to have no effect on them but made the area around them difficult to walk through. Azzaria flew into a rage, her body flickering from place to place. Tetisurah hurled a pawfull of fire at one bird but it washed over the metal feathers without doing any harm.
One of the birds hopped over Sula's stones toward Azzaria and Kaa, while a second flew awkwardly up to Uto. Kaa continued to blast them with lightning. Sula moved to attack the bird nearest Uto with her spear, which she charged with lightning, but her spear blade bounced off its unusual plumage. Uto summoned the lightning to strike it and stepped away from the bird. Tetisurah put her paw on Sula's shoulder and Sula felt herself infused with greater strength. When the bird slashed at the sphinx, Sula stabbed with her spear. The blade couldn't pierce the feathered armor, but her lightning did, and her stony skin protected her from most of the slashing feathers. Nyema tried to help her master by unsuccessfully attempting to bite through the bird's feathers.
Then one of the birds folded its wings around itself and a dazzling glare shone from its feathers. Nyema snarled in fright as she was robbed of her vision. Sula called out to the lioness to get away from the birds. A second bird performed the same action, leaving Azzaria and Uto blind. Sula's sight, accustomed to the glare of the sun on sand, was unaffected. Kaa continued to blast the birds until two of them fell. He had already brought one down. Despite being unable to see, Azzaria slew the fourth of the stymphalidies.
When all of the stymphalidies had fallen, Kaa cut their throats to ensure they were dead. Azzaria had dropped her weapon in the mud when the bird blinded her, and Uto sent his invisible spirit to fetch it. Uto had absorbed many wounds from his friends during the struggle with the birds and he now focused on healing his own injuries. A short time later the blindness wore off and everyone's sight was restored. The Scarabs decided to remove the hides of the birds in the hope that their marvelous feathers could be made into cloaks or possibly weapons; and Kaa decided to remove their feet to be turned into metallic footwear for avian feet.
While Uto and Sula removed the birds' feathers, Kaa continued searching the river with his rod. Eventually he discovered the crown in the silt. He couldn't resist trying it on after he rinsed it clean, but it was far too large for his head. After the crown was recovered the group decided to search the rest of the area around the river so they would know what lay there. Then they made their way back to the temple to return the crown.
Zaid looked a bit healthier when they returned, though he declined to allow Uto to heal him any further. In exchange for the return of the crown, he gave the triangular amulet to Uto. Kaa told the naga how he had been asked to find a golden statue and requested the statue he had seen in Zaid's collection, offering the naga another object that he had been told to replace the statue with. Though Kaa's item wasn't of much value, the naga appeared to like it and agreed to trade the statue for it.
Next: part 26, Tower of the Efreet
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