[Pathfinder] Wrath of the Righteous, part 45: Forge of Corruption

Retcon from last session: The bone rings the Crusader Knights received from Rhino do not grant an ability score bonus. They are rings of communication that grant a permanent message spell available on activation.

When we had dispensed with the vampire and Jiro had used what healing power was left to him to soothe some of our hurts, we investigated the other chambers that led off from the torturer's workshop. The room I had entered where the troll was confined was first to be examined. The troll was badly hurt and Jiro and Runa were unable to determine if its natural regenrative abiltiy was enough to keep it from death. Jiro's generous heart wished to grant the creature its freedom, so Shim freed it of its bonds and Jestak reluctantly agreed to help carry it up to the surface for further care.

The other prisoner rooms that were connected to the workshop were not occupied.  Then Shim opened a door that led into a library filled with several hundred tomes on sturdy wooden shelves. A cursory review of these revealed many volumes on the Abyss, on methods and tools of torture, and on the personal history of the the vampire Therak Nul. His unliving existence had been a long one and he had apparently documented every detail of it. Zosta scooped all of Nul's books into her magical bag to take them back to Horgus Gwerm. Then she lifed up the carpet that lay on the floor, hoping to find a trapdoor beneath it. In this she was disappointed, but she rolled up the carpet and put that in her bag as well.

Next Zosta spied scuff marks on the floor that ndicated something had been dragged toward the wall. This evidence led Shim to discover a hidden door. Within the room stood a coffin, no doubt the vampire's resting place. Jiro heard the faint sound of something breathing rapidly as if in terror. He went into the room, speaking gently to tell whatever creature he had heard that he had come to help. There he found upon the floor a pale, wasted man in the garb of a Crusader, his hands and feet bound. He had clearly been drained of blood by the vampire. Runa joined Jiro, offering the poor man a drink of water. This caused the vampire's victim to be so overcome with emotion or weakness that he fainted. When he revived a moment later after Runa administered one of Iomedae's healing blessings, she and Jiro assured him that the vampire could never harm him again.

Shim then pushed his way into the room and in his usual brusque manner asked for the man's name and whether he wished to leave this place. The poor prisoner introduced himself as Idrian Vosner, a name none of us recognized. He also did not know who we are, indicating that the vampire had taken him before the events that nearly destroyed Kenabres. Naturally Idrian Vosner wished to escape the dungeon as quickly as he could. Runa helped him to his feet after his bonds were removed and helped to support him after he left his prison. The vampire's resting place proved to contain nothing else of value besides his victim.

Because Jiro was once more able to provide little healing and several members of our party had been severely weakened by the vampire's attacks on them, we determined that it would be better if we returned to camp to rest before proceeding to the corruption forge Joran Vhane had told us awaited us. Irabeth was eager to speak with Idrian Vosner when he was brought back to the army's encampment. Jestak informed us that on occasion the succubus Kiranda had taken Vosner's form to lure other Crusaders into her deadly embrace.

Horgus Gwerm and the sages he has recruited were quite eager to examine the contents of Zosta's bag. While I was determining the magical properties of the wand, dagger, and armor Therak Nul had left behind when he was destroyed, Gwerm asked if I could do the same for other objects his investigators had found.

We learned a few more facts about the murder in the camp that Aegon had told us of. The evidence pointed strongly to the demonic forces testing their ablity to attack the army with stealth. The result had put the entire force on alert. Irabeth also asked us for our opinions of Jestak's trustworthiness. When Jiro and Runa confirmed that they felt she was reliable and genuinely wished to make a new beginning, Irabeth explained that she wished to reassign Jestak to accompany Aegon and Darra back to Kenabres to pursue their former comrade Abel.

When other affairs had been concluded, Runa went to work with the healers. Jiro sought Gwerm's aid in finding ways to protect my companions from the shadow demon we expected to face in the corruption forge. I used my power to recharge a healing wand in Jiro's possession, then retreated to my tent to transcribe a spell Aravashnial gave me into the magic book I recently acquired. I think this spell could be most efficacious against the shadow demon. While I was occupied with this, Shim obtained a potion to counter the draining effect of the vampire's attacks.

The next day as we prepared to enter the forge, I girded myself against fire, and Jiro cast spells to do the same for the rest of our group. Leaving Jestak behind, we descended past the torture chambers down a flight of steps. At the bottom of these steps was a wide ledge overlooking the forge, which lay at a level some twenty feet lower. Along the edge of the ledge stood iron bars, and a cage attached to a pulley system to allow it to be lowered down a shaft to the floor of the forge area.

Though the ledge was not unusually warm, we could see the air below rippling with heat. Everything in this area radiated a stong aura of evil. Runa said later that she could feel the sorrow of intelligent enchanted objects as their good nature was turned to evil by the corruption forge. As Joran Vhane had told us, there were salamanders present, six of them who worked and protected the forge.

Jiro stepped up to the bars that separated us from the forge area and addressed the salamanders, saying to them, "We did not come to fight you." One of the salamanders replied to him, "You should not be here, our mistress will not be pleased." Jiro told them, "The Citadel has fallen, little remains to your masters. If you stand aside you will be free to do as you wish." The salamanders accused him of lying and insisted that their mistress could not be slain, threatening that we would all be tortured by the vampire. They did not appear to believe Jiro when the told them the vampire was already vanquished. It became obvious that the salamanders were bound there and would defend the forge area with their lives no matter what Jiro said to them.

Runa stepped behind Jiro and cast a spell upon him. Jiro then cast a spell of his own, granting aid to all of us in the coming battle. Shim, Runa, Jiro, and Zosta climbed into the cage and Shim used his considerable strength to lower them down to the floor below. I chose to remain on the ledge above to ply my magic against the creatures.

As the salamanders swarmed toward the lift with their spears at the ready, I summoned spears of my own, stalactites of ice that would do more harm to creatures of fire. But thought I recited the correct words and made the required gestures, when the magic left me it reached the barrier of iron bars and vanished. I realized that the bars, perhaps even the whole ledge area, were enchanted to block magic from passing. I could not see clearly what my friends were doing below, thought it seemed that one of the salamanders had caught Runa in its long tail. I summoned my spear and hurled it, but with my companions and their foes grouped so closely together I missed my aim. A second spear struck one salamander but could not penetrate its reptilian hide.

In frustration I drew out my bow and fired an arrow, though I had little hope that it would find any more success than my spear and I was not wrong. Suddenly Bohgnong appeared at my feet, having clambered up the lift shaft. "Use a spell that will let you move through earth and stone," the white monkey told me, then darted out of my sight.

I regret that such a thought had not occurred to me. I have no such spell written in my book, but the Ancient Tree has given me the power to cast spells I do not have if I know of them. This spell I was aware of even though I had never before cast it. I called it to my mind and sank into the floor. It is a strange sensation to be encased in earth and stone and yet still able to breathe. I could feel the lives of living creatures that dwell beneath the soil, and the roots of green growing things, even though such things do not dwell in the dungeon of Citadel Drezen.

After I had descended a short distance I decided to test whether the magic-repelling effect continued all the distance down to the floor or was contained around the bars. I was able to put my hand out of the wall, to my relief. When I had done this I realized that I could allow a portion of my body to extend out of the stone and attack the salamanders from above while partly shielded by the wall. I pushed my head, shoulders, and arms out of the wall and fired a beam of frost at the nearest salamander. It is not a powerful spell, but I can cast it repeatedly and such fiery creatures suffer more harm from spells of cold.

My companions continued to battle the salamanders, which seemed to be determined to capture Runa as they caught her with their tails over and over, perhaps attracted by the symbols of Iomedae on her gleaming armor. In a short while the salamanders all lay dead upon the floor. I am sorry that we could not persuade them to let us pass and return to their native realm rather than give up their lives to no purpose.

When I had emerged from the wall and joined my friends by the forge, I called Kirara to my side and cloaked us both in magic to resist the oppressive heat. There were other rooms off the forge area and these we checked for enemies before proceeding to the heavy double doors on the far side of the forge. One chamber proved to be the salamanders' resting place, while several others were armories containing weapons and armor and a workshop where the forge tools were maintained and stored.

Once we had assured ourselves that no foes waited behind us, we approached the double doors. Though they were quite heavy, they had not been locked or barred, perhaps because those on the other side did not expect any enemies to be able to get past the vampire or the salamanders.

A flight of broad steps led down from the entrance, into a chamber with a high ceiling. On the far side of this chamber, beneath a stone arch that radiated an aura of evil, lay a pool of bubbling red liquid that appeared to be blood. This pools was surrounded by candles and arcane markings, as well as by cultists who were clearly engaged in a ritual of some kind. I surmised it was the ritual to destroy Drezen that Joran Vhane had warned of. Several of the cultists turned toward us in surprise when the doors openened. I saw a tiefling woman look at us with an expression of mingled irritation and frustration. A ritual to bring down an entire town could not be done in a short time, and we had arrived sooner than she expected. I had no doubt this was Chorussina, the current commander of the demonic occupiers of Citadel Drezen.

Next: part 46, Chorussina's Bane

[Pathfinder] Wrath of the Righteous, part 44: The Vampire's Lair

Asami's letter to Master Seimei continues...

As we prepared to pass through the door into the next area of the dungeon beneath Citadel Drezen, we were startled by the sound of footsteps approaching our party from behind. We turned, expecting to face enemies, only to find ourselves looking at our friends Aegon and Darra, who had parted from us only a few days earlier to travel back to Kenabres. Naturally we had not expected to see them again so soon. We greeted them, and Jiro asked what news they had.

Aegon told us that there had been a murder in the army's encampment while we were absent. A paladin by name Ardwen, in the unit to which I have been assigned, had apparently been slain by a babau. The signs indicated that the killing had been planned, possibly to test the army's defenses.

In addition to this sorrowful news, Aegon had also brought a parcel for Zosta. A member of her tribe had come to the camp to deliver it. It was clearly sent by Rhino, which irritated Zosta because she feared it was another object which the redeemed demon had made for her by using his own life force to grant it magical power. She did not open it but went to put it in her bag after reading the note that had been attached to it.

Jiro then asked Aegon and Darra what they intended to do next, to remain at Drezen or return to Kenabres. Aegon I think wanted to go to Kenabres. They had already seen indications that their former comrade Abel had chosen to support the demons, but Aegon by his expression seemed to feel that Abel might still be redeemed. Darra meanwhile clearly had lost all hope for him and would have been just as pleased to see him dead. After they ended their short discussion with Jiro, the two of them went back up to the camp, leaving us to continue making our way through the subterranean chambers.

While Aegon was talking to Jiro, Zosta heard a clinking sound from the package he had given her and decided to unwrap it to see what made the noise. Inside it she found eight finger-rings of a white material, and a pair of bladed knuckles like those she wears, which were also made for her by Rhino though she has lately ceased using them due to her displeasure with her adopted brother harming himself to make things for her. Jiro, Runa, and I all attempted to gently cajole her into accepting  Rhino's gifts in the spirit in which they were given. She had set the objects out on the floor and Jiro picked up one of the rings to look at it more closely. Runa also sensed that the rings had a magic aura. Jiro handed the ring to me and I realized that it was carved of a very light but dense type of bone, which I suspect may be the bone of an angelic being. I did not tell Zosta this for fear it would make her even angrier toward Rhino. Each of the rings is enchanted to enhance a person's natural strengths. Each one also has engraved inside it the name of one member of our group, and the ability the ring will enhance is tailored to the person whose name it bears. The ring bearing my name will improve my spellcasting ability, Shim's ring will make him mightier, Runa's will enhance her ability to channel the power of Iomedae, and I presume that Zosta's ring will make her stronger or more agile.

The other items in the package were another pair of bladed knuckles, made of a different material than those Zosta already had. I realized they were crafted of adamantine. Like the other pair they bear the words "Little Sister" engraved upon them, which are the words Zosta speaks to activate their power of demon-burning flames. Jiro took time to examine them very closely to spare me the discomfort of touching the metal and assured Zosta that this pair was not bound to Rhino's life force, so she can use them without fear of causing him pain. I wondered for a moment if Jiro would say this only to persuade her use Rhino's gift, but I do not believe he would lie to her.

When Zosta had donned the knuckles and the rest of us had slipped our rings on our fingers, Shim opened the door and then stepped back to allow Zosta and Jestak to precede us down the staircase it revealed. The stairs led us down to the torture chamber Joran Vhane had told us to expect. The odor of fresh blood assailed us. Inside the chamber we found four babau, engaged in tidying the implements of torture that were stored there. They seemed unsurprised to see us. Shim immediately rushed down into the room and took up a position by one of the torture devices that stood to the left of the entrance, so I could no longer see him for I was the last person to descend. I could only see what was directly ahead of me: a table in the center of the room and two doors in the opposite wall.

One of the babau crossed my field of view as it moved to attack Shim. Runa then descended the rest of the way into the room to aid him, and a second babau joined its comrade. Zosta began to taunt them to draw their attention from Runa and Shim, for they had already dealt my two friends several wounds that were not minor with their spears and claws. The room suddenly went dark as one of the babau used their innate ability to rob an area of light. I heard one of the foul creatures give a chuckle. Jiro stepped into the room, the light of his lantern banishing the darkness. Zosta leaped past him and I watched her knock a babau off its feet and then slam her new blades into its body. Jestak followed her, charging forward to engage with another demon. I stepped down to the bottom of the staircase and invoked my protective ward, though I knew that it would benefit only Jestak, who lacks the enchanted protective objects the rest of my companions and I are privileged to wear.

Runa attempted to reposition herself using the magic boots she recently acquired, but the magic of the boots failed to activate. She called on the power of Iomedae to grant Jestak a chance to strike again. Then one of the demons fell to Runa's blade. The babau Zosta had knocked down crawled away. Another babau suddenly vanished and reappeared by Runa, clamping its teeth on her and penetrating her armor. Jiro moved to heal her wounds, for the demons had left her very bloody.

Kirara screeched, but before I could try to determine what had happened something stabbed me deeply in the shoulder and I cried out in pain myself. The wound stung, leading me to suspected the blade was coated with poison. To my horror, the vampire torturer we had been warned against had crept up behind me with a dagger. The poison did not seem to harm me, to my great relief. Runa stepped back and cast a spell to make all of the others' weapons more effective against evil creatures. Jiro stepped forward and addressed the vampire, saying, "We have come to end you, Therak Nul!" Zosta tried to lunge at the vampire but the stairs foiled her effort.

                                    Theruk Nul, half-orc vampire

I scrambled away from the vampire and cast a protective spell on Jiro to defend him against the creature. On the other side of the room, two of the four doors leading out of the chamber opened to reveal yet more babau coming to attack us. Through the spell I had cast to allow us all to communicate in whispers, Shim warned us that vampires are difficult to injure and are capable of draining a person's abilities. Jiro summoned a spiritual tetsubo to attack one babau, while a spirit appeared behind the vampire to attack him as well. Bohgong had retreated under the table in the center of the chamber, and I saw a missile of force come shooting out from below the table to strike one of the demons. I threw my spear at another demon but it went wide. Jiro's tetsubo vanished.

Shim was standing in front of one of the doors that had opened to reveal more babau. He reacted by slamming the door shut and then exerting his maximum strength to crush the door handle so it could not be reopened. Runa managed to slash the vampire quite severely with her blade, but the wound it left seemed less serious than the blow implied and Runa reported that she could see the cut healing immediately after it was inflicted, reinforcing the accuracy of the vampiric abilities Shim had warned of earlier. I called a lantern archon to join us and give its aid to my friends.

Jestak had moved toward the second door that had opened, and now she saw a second babau appear within the room beyond it, perhaps the same demon that had been locked in the other room by Shim. I tried to help Jestak by lending her the protection of my ward again and throwing my spear at the demon, but the narrow entrance of the room caused it to bounce harmlessly off the wall rather than strike its intended target. Then Jestak told me that there was a torture victim within the room. Though I knew that the babau could reach me with their spears if I slipped behind Jestak to enter the room, I decided to risk it, fearing that the victim might be some poor Crusader taken captive from Drezen.

As I ran past Jestak both demons jabbed me with their spear blades. Inside the room I found a torture rack to which a troll-like creature was bound, its body covered in wounds. I feared it might be some trick, so I cautiously touched the wooden frame of the rack. It appeared real enough to my touch. Before I could attempt to release the victim, I heard a clatter behind me and the room filled with darkness. Then demon claws sank deep into my flesh and I could no longer stand.

I was unaware of this at that moment, but when he felt that I was near death, Jiro abandoned the struggle with the vampire to Runa, Shim, and Zosta, and ran into the room where I had fallen to heal me. One of the babau had cast a spell of darkness on his spear and thrown it into the corner nearest where I had fallen. Jiro's lamp removed the darkness, but now the outer room was left without light. Bohgong recognized that one of the other demons had used the same trick to rob that room of illumination. He grabbed the spear that lay on the floor by the table and slid it across the room into the entrance of the room Jiro and I were in, where Jiro's lantern would counteract the darkness borne by the spear.

Once Jiro had healed enough of my injuries that I was able to rise, I got quickly to my feet and told him to return to the others as they needed his aid. I did not know that Zosta had grappled the vampire and held him helpless. The demon that had clawed me still stood before me, and it now grasped Jiro's lantern and dispelled its light, leaving us once again unable to see. Jiro cast a spell to restore the light. I threw my spear across the short distance to strike the babau. Jestak slew the other babau in the room and moved toward the one that had extinguished Jiro's lantern. It fled by teleporting itself from the room.

By the time I left that room, the vampire had transformed himself into a cloud of gas and was attempting to escape through a small opening in the stairwell. As he fled, Zosta, Runa, and Shim all struck at him, and despite his gaseous state he could not withstand their blows. The cloud dissipated into nothing as the vampire was destroyed, leaving behind only a wand, a suit of leather armor, and the dagger with which he had stabbed me.

This fight had taken a great deal out of all of us. Jiro had expended much of his magic to keep us alive, and both he, Shim, and Runa had few of their divine gifts left to them. We considered that perhaps we should withdraw and rest to recover our strength before continuing to explore the underground structure. I worry that our enemies will be better prepared for us if we give them more time to do so, but they were already aware of our arrival, and we can only hope that they will not be able to summon reinforcements from elsewhere while we recuperate. Were we to continue to explore in our current state we should not be able to withstand even more babau, much less any more powerful foe. I must have time to pray to Qi Zhong and the Ancient Tree for guidance of what spells I should prepare for tomorrow. We will soon reach those parts of the dungeon that Joran Vhane has never seen and we do not know what awaits us there.

Next: part 45, Forge of Corruption

[Pathfinder] Mummy's Mask, part 44: Allies and Enemies

The Ruby Scarabs spent the rest of their time in Wati taking care of personal business and acquiring enchanted items to aid them when they returned to the Khepsutanem. Kaa borrowed some gold from Sula to purchase a magical robe, and Sula was advised to buy a new headband. Uto took care of the sale of some objects they had acquired that were of no use to any of them.

Kaa also made a trip to the docks to visit the tengu community there. After he had returned the possessions of the Scarabs' former member Koori to her people, their leader had given him a task: to find a golden statue and bring it back to them. Kaa had bartered with the naga Zaid for a statue in the abandoned temple Zaid had chosen to occupy, and he took this to give to the tengu leader. When the tengu who met him at their boats tried to escort Kaa below decks to meet the old tengu woman, Kaa refused and insisted she come up to meet him. He still felt resentment toward the tengu community in Wati for failing to show any appreciation to him for bringing Koori's possessions to them, nor showing him any hospitality.

When the old woman emerged, she still showed Kaa no sign of respect or welcome, and after he gave her the statue he had the feeling she had only given him the task to find it as a way of getting rid of him. This angered him. In response, he told her that if she wanted the statue so badly she could get it herself, and he hurled it as far out into the river as he could, which was not a short distance. Then he told the tengu of Wati that he felt no kinship to them even though he had been born there, and if they tried to retaliate against him or his friends he would return and burn their boats to the water line. No tengu tried to block his path after he departed. He returned to the Tooth and Hookah and meditated for a time to regain his composure.

The next morning Hutt's magic carried the Ruby Scarabs back to the Khepsutanem, with Nyema concealed as a figurine in Sula's belt pouch. The Scarabs intended to take on the roc that guarded the site first, as they had already left the figurine of the roc on the pedestal in the chamber where they had found the ankh-shaped Life Lantern. They believed that placing the figurine in this way would deprive the roc of its ability to cast spells.

They made their way to the roc's nest, a raised area in the center of the Khepsutanem. As they walked, they discussed their target, wondering if perhaps it had been given long life by some magic, as rocs didn't ordinarily live for thousands of years. Sula suggested summoning a roc to fight it on their behalf, as she was now capable of summoning such a creature, but they concluded that this might not be effective since the guardian of the Khepsutanem was an intelligent creature. Azzaria also approached Kaa, who led the group, and asked him if he would teach her about how to disable traps and pick locks. In response Kaa pulled a set of lockpicks from his pouch and presented it to her.

When they approached the nest, Hutt cast a spell on everyone that would permit them to communicate with one another mentally. He also employed a wand to grant them magically enhanced speed. From their vantage point below the nest they could tell that the roc was present and seemed to be resting, but they could see little else. As they prepared to assault it, the enormous bird lifted its head and turned to look at them. The Scarabs had encountered a roc before, but this one was nothing like that creature. Its feathers were shot through with blue and red, and its head bore scales and horny protuberances that were not typical of ordinary rocs. They already knew it must be much more intelligent than an ordinary roc because it was capable of casting spells, though they had no idea how it had acquired its unnatural ability. Azzaria called out to the roc, "Can we talk with you?" hoping that perhaps they could persuade it not to fight or even convince it to leave. It replied, "Intruders! I have my duty."

Sula immediately began to call upon the powers of nature to grant her access to lightning to blast it. Uto, Azzaria, and Hutt all took flight. The roc rose up out of its nest on its massive wings and to their suprise cast a spell of its own.  Suddenly all of the Scarabs found themselves flying up in the air in a manner that was so disturbing that Azzaria became nauseated. Kaa realized that if he turned himself upside down he could in essence stand on air, for the spell had caused localized gravity to reverse itself. Hanging upside-down in midair, Kaa breathed a burst of fire at the roc, but the flames washed over it without doing it any apparent harm.

Hutt flew around behind the roc and cast a spell at it, but when it failed to affect the giant bird he shouted, "I got three more! You'll be turned into a duck somehow!" Uto raised the hand of the bronze sentinel and pointed it at the roc. A thin ray of green energy shot from the sentinel's finger without effect. Sula's first bolt of lightning hurtled down from the sky but it too failed to cause the roc any harm. Sula then transformed herself into a huge air elemental and flew to a spot near Hutt. Some unseen force grabbed the rougarou mage, clamping his arms agains his sides and preventing him from casting any other spells. Despite her nausea, Azzaria began to taunt the roc.

A dark blur shot in at the roc, hammering it with blows as Kaa plied fists and feet against the gigantic creature. His attacks had more effect than anything else. When he stopped hitting it he suddenly plummeted into the deep trench that lay beyond the nest, for he had only been held aloft by the magic of the roc's gravity-reversing spell and the area affected didn't extend to the roc itself. As Hutt struggled unsuccessfully to get free of whatever held him, Azzaria flew toward the roc, holding a spell in her hand. The Scarabs had taken the horns of the gorgon they had slain in Isatemkhebet's pyramid and ground them to a powder that could be used to turn a living creature to stone. Azzaria struck the roc with this powder, and then began to batter it with her weapons. The roc's feathers started to petrify where Azzaria had touched them.

After seeing the success of Azzaria's touch, Uto spoke to the roc, telling it that it didn't need to die protecting the Khepsutanem. Though it was difficult to read expression on the bird's face, it seemed to be moved by Uto's persuasion. It turned and flew away from its nest. As the Ruby Scarabs watched, the vast wings vanished into the distance.

The Scarabs searched the roc's empty nest, finding an enchanted headband, a bagger that appeared to be larger inside than it was outside and contained some platinum coins and gems, and a staff of white ash that was comforting to touch. It was obvious what the bag was, but Hutt determined that the headband was similar to one that Uto already possessed, and the white ash staff could cast healing and disease-removing spells. The bag was given to Igby, who then asked the question that had been on all of their thoughts: how could the roc have cast spells if they had left its figurine on the pedestal? Either they had misunderstood what the figurine would do, or someone had removed it from the pedestal. They decided they would have to go back to the room to find out if the figurine had been moved.

When the Scarabs arrived at the room where they had found the Life Lantern, they knew immediately why the roc's spellcasting ability hadn't been inhibited: the figurine sat on the floor beside the platform. Igby examined the area and reported that some large humanoid creature had come through the wall and approached the platform, as could be seen by its footprints. The Scarabs knew that there was a guardian they had yet to encounter and how to summon it. Uto suggested they call it and ask if it had moved the statue.

When the warden responded Uto communicated with it while the others waited. As they conversed, Uto sensed that perhaps this warden, whose name was Tef-Naju, was not entirely pleased to be bound here in the service of Hakotep. Tef-Naju was unaware that Hakotep's spirit had been divided and a portion of it stolen by the Sacrosanct Order of the Blue Feather. After Uto explained this to him and told him that the Ruby Scarabs' goal was to reunite the parts of Hakotep's spirit and lay it to rest so that he could move on to the afterlife, Tef-Naju stated that perhaps his goals and theirs might be aligned if the final result would set him free. He then instructed Uto that they should activate the Khepsutanem and meet him at the Sun Disk when the sun was at its highest in the sky.

It was several hours until noon, so the Ruby Scarabs decided to explore more of the Khepsutanem and identify some of the obelisks known as the Sekhrepheres, which held powerful elementals bound within them. First they went to the chamber they had found before, where a circular dais was meant to receive the Life Lantern. Hutt placed the Lantern in the spot on the dais that appeared to be designed to receive it. It seemed as though the Lantern was meant to sit there. The dais rose from the floor and tilted until it was vertical, then began to float toward the lighted, copper-lined tunnel that led out of the chamber. The Scarabs watched as the disc entered the tube. The lights than lined the tube brightened. When the Lantern entered the portion of the tunnel that was lined with copper sheets, the tunnel filled with energy, with the elements of fire and electricity. A deep thrumming sound filled the chamber, enough to shake their teeth. Kaa had withdrawn from the chamber before this happened, concerned that once the energies formed it would become dangerous to be near where the dais had stood.

After the disc stopped moving, the Scarabs left the chamber and climbed went out to look for the statues. Chisisek's spirit had told them in what order the Sekhrepheres had to be activated to empower the Sun Disk. They found obelisks dedicated to the ancient Osirian gods Horus, Isis, Khepri, Maat, and Sobek before they approached the Sun Disk at noon.

The Sun Disk structure centered on a disk of gray basalt fifty feet across, faintly carved with hieroglyphics. The stone of the disk contrasted with the yellow sandstone of the structures around it. The disk was unusually devoid of sand. Beside the disk stood a masked humanoid figure, more than twice the height of any of the Scarabs. As they neared the figure removed his helmet, revealing that his skin was black as onyx. The Scarabs realized that he was a shaitan, similar to those they had encountered at the desert fortress but in his case a shaitan of the element of earth. He bore a large axe and was attired as a warrior. The shaitan greeted them in the common language, introducing himself as Tef-Naju. After the Scarabs also introduced themselves to him, Uto emerged from the bronze sentinel wearing Hakotep's funerary mask. Tef-Naju recognized it, stating that he had personally placed it over the Pharaoh Hakotep's face. If the mask was not in Hakotep's burial place then what Uto had told him earlier must be true - Hakotep did not rest in the afterlife as he should have.

Uto removed the mask to display his own face. As he approached Tef-Naju, he transformed into his stony living monolith appearance. A long conversation began as Tef-Naju told the Scarabs about the other guardians of the Khepsutanem. At the endless cascade of sand they would find a powerful earth elemental, which was content to spend its life counting the grains of sand in the cascade. If the sand was disturbed it would attack. It could not be negotiated with, but Tef-Naju agreed that if Kaa's passwall ability could let them descend below the cascade they might be able to get past it to reach the chamber that controlled the Sekhrepheres. There they would find a map of the Sekhrepheres. Tef-Naju then explained that on the east side of the Khepsutanem they would find a figure with a secret compartment holding a wand. This want could be used to tap the Sekhrepheres on the map, thus activating them. This came as a pleasant surprise to the Scarabs, as they had thought they would have to go to each obelisk to activate it. They had been struggling to plan for activating all eleven obelisks between dawn and noon of the same day when there were only six members of their party and the Khepsutanem covered a distance of some six miles.

After Tef-Naju told them about the map, he went on to warn them that they would face much greater danger when they entered the Akumemnet, which was the most important chamber in the complex. The Akumemnet was guarded by a black jinni named Agazuberi, who would not be willing to abandon her post. They couldn't expect to persuade her to let them be as they had done with Tef-Naju. Tef-Naju explained that he was prohibited from entering the Akumemnet, so he would be unable to help the Scarabs fight Agazuberi, though he would not be sorry to see her destroyed. Furthermore, the Akumemnet was warded against teleportation magic.

After Tef-Naju finished describing the challenges of the Akumemnet, Hutt asked him if he knew what would be guarding Hakotep in his tomb. Tef-Naju hesitated and finally responded that he might be able to give this information later. He did provide more information about what abilities the jinni had, including an unusual vulnerability to having certain holy texts recited in her presence. When he had finished, he called for his mate, Aiveria, to join them and introduced her to the Scarabs. Aiveria was not a shaitan like Tef-Naju. He told the Scarabs he had summoned her to help him escape his bondage at the Khepsutanem and they had grown close. Earlier he had confessed that at one time in his life he had taken his anger at this bondage out on any who approached the complex, but it seemed that the presence of Aiveria had calmed him and led him to change his ways.

Next: part 45, The Akumemnet

[Movie Review] Hellboy 2: The Golden Army

Hellboy 2: The Golden Army
2008
Directed by Guillermo del Toro
Starring: Ron Perlman, Selma Blair, Doug Jones, Jeffrey Tambor, Seth MacFarlane, Luke Goss, Anna Walton, Roy Dotrice

SPOILER WARNING: I am going to talk a lot about what happens in this film. If you have not seen Hellboy 2: The Golden Army and do not wish to read spoilers, STOP READING NOW.




All right, here we go. Hellboy 2: The Golden Army is one of my favorite films. When it's on television and I have the time I will watch it. It's a comfort movie. I know it's ten years old now, but I feel like reviewing it.

I was just watching it on tv a short while ago and I realized that this film is a terribly poignant movie. Hellboy was an action movie and a funny movie. Hellboy 2 is funny too, and has plenty of big action scenes, but it's crammed with poignant moments and those are what make it special for me.

The poignancy starts early on, when Prince Nuada (Luke Goss) must go to meet his father, the king of the elves, in a dingy building in an industrial district. It continues when Nuada murders his own father to claim the first part of the Crown of Bethmora.

It's terribly poignant when Hellboy chooses to destroy the beautiful forest god, last of its kind, that Nuada used to attack the citizens of New York. It's poignant when the crowd turns on Hellboy despite his having just rescued a baby from the creature, and when Liz (Selma Blair) must finally face that her fiery power has permanently separated her from the rest of the ordinary human world.

Abe Sapien's (Doug Jones) affection for Princess Nualla (Anna Walton) is poignant when you imagine how the amphibious man has spent his life in isolation being treated as a lab specimen. Liz's determination do whatever it takes to save Hellboy after Nuada mortally wounds him is poignant. Liz making an agreement to accept the consequences of saving Hellboy is poignant. Princess Nualla sacrificing her own life to stop her twin brother from destroying the world is poignant, as is Abe's sorrow at her loss, and the way the elves turn to brittle stone and crumble to dust when they die.

The feeling of painful love and loss is heavy in this movie. The magical supernatural world to which Nuada and Nualla belong is fading, vanishing from the world. It will never be seen again. Perhaps no one will ever again visit the underground chamber in Ireland where the Golden Army rests. No one will wake the giant who guards the entrance and it will sleep forever. Maybe no one will ever make an agreement with the Angel of Death again.

There's also an element of poignancy for me because there will never be another Hellboy movie starring this cast directed by this director. Hellboy has moved on. Another actor has taken the role, another creative team has made their own version. That's a pity, because Ron Perlman was the perfect actor to play Hellboy in my opinion, and Guillermo del Tor was the perfect director to impart his special visual and storytelling touches to the film. I doubt the new creative team will produce something like the sorrowful love stories in this movie or the achingly beautiful forest god. I wish there had once been things like the forest god in the world. I feel sorrow that such a thing has never been.

[Pathfinder] Mummy's Mask, part 43: The Last of Isatemkhebet

As the Ruby Scarabs caught their breath, they heard a scream of frustration and Isatemkhebet began to move again. Sula had been so focused on the gorgon that she didn't notice until she heard the noise. Isatemkhebet had been unable to move her head while held by Igby's spell and was unaware that Hutt had caused a ten-foot-high wall of iron to appear behind her and the gorgon. Igby immediately dove toward her on the offensive. Sula abandoned the wall of wind she had been prepared to cast and blasted the undead general with lightning. Isatemkhebet's armor sparkled with blue energy and appeared to have absorbed some of the electrical energy.

Isatemkhebet leapt forward, bashing the gorgon with her shield, which broke the hold of the magic on the creature. Realizing that Kaa was still sorely wounded, Uto opened one of the bronze sentinel's portholes and extended his hair out to cast a healing spell on the tengu. Azzaria sprayed water from her flail and hurtled toward the general, attacking with the flail in one hand and her kopesh in the other. Both weapons ripped through the scales of Isatemkhebet's armor and into her unliving flesh.

Hutt began to fly and moved closer to his iron wall. A bead of fire shot from him to engulf the gorgon. Kaa sent a cone-shaped spray of acid at Isatemkhebet and was gratified to see it bypass her shield and burning through her wrappings and melting her flesh.  The gorgon released its breath, washing all but Sula and Nyema with it, but all of them resisted the petrifying effect. Sula called the lightning down on the creature.

Isatemkhebet rushed Azzaria and pushed her backward some five feet. The gorgon turned on Igby. Uto summoned a wall of whirling blades across the width of the chamber between himself and Isatemkhebet. Then he channeled positive energy to harm both undead things. Azzaria flew up behind Isatemkhebet and fiercely plied both her weapons, though by this time many of her images had been destroyed by the generals attacks on her. Then Hutt sent a single actinic bolt of lightning through both the general and the gorgon. Isatemkhebet screamed. A pulse of black energy flowed out from her body, followed by a strobing blue light.

Even those of the Ruby Scarabs who were not in flight at that moment felt themselves lifted off the floor as Isatemkhebet collapsed. An instant later they all felt the tremendous impact as Isatemkhebet's pyramid crashed to earth.

The fall left all of the Scarabs sorely injured. Nyema was barely breathing. Sula rushed to her side to cast a small spell of healing to preserve the lioness's life. Uto crawled out of the bronze sentinel and lifted off the floor in flight, turning to Sula and Nyema who were behind him to grant healing to them, then dismissed his wall of blades. Rubble now littered the chamber and cascades of dust fell from the ceiling. But the gorgon stirred.

Azzaria immediately turned on the gorgon and slew it before it could attack them. Behind the iron wall he had summoned, now bent by the force of the impact, Hutt let out a howl of grief as he discover the shattered remains of his homunculus.

Kaa did not know what to say in response to Hutt's grief. He went out into the hallway to investigate a bright light.  Though he was flying, he was caught by a strange force that caused him to float upward. He pulled away from it and returned to Isatemkhebet's burial chamber. The other Scarabs pulled themselves to their feet and Uto gave them more healing. They removed all of the magical equipment and armor that Isatemkhebet had worn, and Kaa then checked the hovering sarcophagus lid, where he found a compartment holding a gem-encrused helmet. There were spaces for more gems that were empty. When Hutt examined the helmet he realized that it was a type of enchanted item known as a 'helm of brilliance'. Each gem could cause a different magical effect, though once used the gem's power was exhausted. The helmet itself could also protect the wearer from flames.

Isatemkhebet's compartment also proved to hold an amulet that could close wounds, which would have been no use to an undead creature that would be harmed by the amulet's energies. A ring of sandstone that would grant the wearer stony skin attracted Uto's interest.

When the general's other items had been looked over, the Scarabs went on to assure themselves of what had happened to the rest of the pyramid and any other denizens it might hold.

The exit from the chamber was jammed shut, but it was not the only exit. The control room proved to be still occupied by the invisible stalkers, though a subdued Hutt reported that they seemed agitated. The markings on the walls no longer glowed.  Around the corner they found a room marked with Hakotep's symbol on the wall. An inscription in ancient Osiriani read, "I have arisen. I am no longer dead. I plan to retake my throne." After that message there was another, from Isatemkhebet, and a response from Hakotep telling her to go to Wati and capture the Ruby Scarabs, though the list of names given omitted both Hutt and Igby. Hakotep told Isatemkhebet to recover his funerary mask, and that preparations were underway to raise the tombs of his other fifteen generals and attack the cities of Osirion. The writing was clearly done by two different hands. A stylus designed for inscribing clay tablets lay on the floor.

After a few moments of thought and absorbing the news that there might be fifteen more flying pyramids, Uto picked up the stylus and wrote a message that Hakotep should pass on to the afterlife and be judged by the gods. He signed the names of all the Scarabs but Igby. Igby asked to have his name left off so that his presence could be a surprise. A moment later a response from Hakotep appeared on the wall, making threats and boasting of his power. Kaa then inscribed a rude message, and the Scarabs left the message chamber.

They returned to the serpent head and inserted one of the other fangs in a socket. The grinding noise this time did not sound quite the same as before and it took longer for the tunnel to reposition this time. The tunnel wound down through a broken pasage that was too narrow to accomodate the bronze sentinel or Nyema. Uto left the sentinel and Sula told Nyema to wait there as the rest of the group went through. They emerged into a very large area that appeared to have once been set up as a stable. The floor was littered with broken bits of statues of people. This rubble was worn in a way that indicated it had not been caused by the fall of the pyramid. The Scarabs suspected that the gorgon had been kept here and had turned prisoners to stone.

After departing from the stable the Scarabs found an even larger room with a mural on the floor depicting an overhead view of a lake surrounded by picturesque villages. The ceiling had also been decorated with a mural of a sunny sky. In the center of the room stood an ancient reed boat, now shattered. In the middle of that boat was another boat. Uto realized it was magical, and Hutt determined that its properties made it possible to fold the boat to a small package for easy transportation, and the boat could travel across sand as easily as on water. It could also be enlarged to the size of a small ship. Uto folded up the boat and the Scarabs took it with them.

By this point the Scarabs were ready to leave the pyramid. But they were concerned that if anyone entered the pyramid to explore or loot they might encounter the invisible stalkers. The town guard of Wati were not equipped to fight such creatures. Since Hutt confirmed that the stalkers were damaged by the fall, the Scarabs returned to the control chamber and Kaa burned them to death while Hutt directed his aim.

When the Ruby Scarabs emerged from the fallen pyramid they found that it had fallen near several buildings and damaged hem. A crowd of onlookers and guards had gathered, some staring at the Scarabs with fear and others with admiration. Soon a messenger came to tell the Scarabs that Sebti the Crocodile, high priestess of the temple of Pharasma, wished to speak to them. Hutt parted from them then to go and bury the remains of Little Anubis.

When the Scarabs met with Sebti, she wanted to know how Isatemkhebet had known their names. Uto then told her much of what had happened since the Scarabs left Wati. He confessed that due to some of their experiences the Scarabs were not entirely comfortable dealing with the priests of Nethys, but they needed the magic the priests could offer them.

The temple of Pharasma gave the Scarabs each a strong healing potion, and they then went out to find rooms at the Tooth and Hookah, where they had lodged during their explorations of the Necropolis. Once they had settled in they began to talk about how much they should tell the priests of Nethys. Sebti had remarked that those priests would not be happy to have information withheld from them. Azzaria in particular was afraid that if the priesthood of Nethys knew about the Khetsutamen they would desire its power for themselves. The other members of the group assured her they didn't want that to happen and would do everything in their power to prevent anyone from being able to replicate what Chisisek had done for Hakotep. They would use the temple of Nethys to provide them with magical equipment, but they would not share all of the information about Hakotep's achievements.

RIP, Little Anubis

Characters are now 14th level.

Next: part 44, Allies and Enemies

[Pathfinder] Mummy's Mask, part 42: Against the General

The Ruby Scarabs traveled down the long hall and looked at the view of the sky that Kaa had discovered. Through the opening they could see not only sky but a second pyramid. Kaa, Igby, and Uto all observed that there was no air movement in the hall, indicating that there was not really an opening to the outdoors. The party members decided to go through the door to the left of the sky arch. Kaa found it unlocked and detected no traps. It led into a domed chamber with rectangular walls constructed inside it that didn't reach to the dome. In the center of the rectangle stood a sarcophagus. Kaa examined the chamber cautiously. He found no traps or hidden compartments except for a black vault beneath the sarcophagus. He instructed the others to turn their backs while he made sure the vault wasn't trapped, but he found nothing within it.

The Scarabs then proceeded to the door on the right of the arch. The next room they entered was shaped like a wedge. At one end motes of multicolored light shone. These came from a mosaic of colored glass depicting animals, which behaved as though sunlight shone through it even though there were no openings on the outside of the pyramid other than the entrance. Uto scanned the wall to see if it was magical. Kaa crossed the chamber, and as he neared the mosaic he realized he felt much refreshed.

Then the doors closed, and as they did a figure appeared in the room that resembled Kaa in every detail but for its head, which was the head of a lion. It even carried gear identical to the things Kaa bore. Hutt reacted to this by casting a spell of alacrity on his comrades. Kaa backed out of the room and closed the door, hoping to lock the strange apparition inside. But an instant later a section of the wall next to the door vanished as if Kaa had used his power to remove it, and the lion-creature emerged into the hallway. Sula directed Nyema to move away from the creature, while Igby rushed in to attack it. Hutt attempted to turn the lion-creature into a duck, but his spell failed to affect it. Azzaria and Kaa joined Igby in attacking it. Then Azzaria struck it a mighty blow and the creature seemed to transform into shards of colored glass like the mosaic inside the room.

The Scarabs waited for a few moments to see if any other hazard would appear, and Uto healed the injury the creature had dealt to Igby. Then the party moved on past the mosaic room into another chamber. This one held a magnificent statue of the Pharaoh Hakotetp. As soon as they entered the room they all felt a sharp pain on their foreheads and realized that the heiroglyphs of Hakotep's name were being burned into their faces, something that Sula had experienced previously in the tomb of Akhan-tepi in the Necropolis of Wati. Kaa struck off the head of the statue, halting the process before anyone could be permanently marked.

After Kaa decapitated the statue, he found that within its legs were two magical rods that could be made immovable. He took these. There was nothing else in the statue room, and the Scarabs left it behind. In the next room they came to, they were surprised to find a group of statues all with distorted faces. Some of them bore cartouches with the name of a merchant family line that had faded long ago. Beyond the statues was a wall made of clay bricks rather than stone. Kaa made an opening in the clay wall to see what lay beyond it and saw an area six or seven feet wide containing small tables, chests, coffers, and weapon racks. He also observed a scepter in the form of a shepherd's crook and a diamond on a stand. Uto detected that the gem was a magical one that could create light. Hutt found that the crook was a scepter than would grant the bearer the ability to summon a suit of resplendent garments. The coffers proved to contain over six thousand gold pieces. After examining the faceless statues more closely the Scarabs theorized that the merchant family had opposed or offended Hakotep and had been petrified by some effect that also robbed them of their faces so that even if the petrification was dispelled they would die horribly, blind and unable to breathe.

The Ruby Scarabs left behind the cursed family and returned to the serpent's head, placing a different fang in the socket to gain access to another passageway. This time they traveled to aroom approximately ten feet long and twenty feet high, with a door that was quite tall and wide. A short passage beyond the door led into a hexagonal room where blue sparks popped and crackled. The walls were covered in magical writings. In the center of the hexagon was a small pyramid with a five-pointed star on its southern face.  Hutt warned the others that there were five invisible creatures in this chamber, creatures called stalkers that were likely placed there to guard the chamber. He, Uto, and Kaa read some of the inscriptions on the walls and realized that this chamber was the control room for the Aeromantic Infundibulum that inabled the pyramid to fly, storing energy to control its direction and altitude. But the energy to power its flight came from elsewhere. The inscriptions also indicated that the power being broadcast to this pyramid was also being broadcast to Hakotep's pyramid and perhaps even to other pyramids.

The Ruby Scarabs withdrew from the control room without engaging with the invisible stalkers. They passed through another doorway nearby that led them into a very large room. Along the sides were two long pools of water. In the center of the chamber a white marble sarcophagus sat, its lid hovering several feet above it. Fountains splashed into the pools and the walls were made of alabaster tiles.

As Kaa warned his friends to look out for water elementals in the pools, a figure of a mummified woman in armor rose from the marble sarcophagus. Uto addressed her, saying, "We want to negotiate peace." The woman responded, "Then you have come to surrender." Uto asked her, "Are you Isatemkhebet?", the name inscriptions throughout the pyramid had mentioned. She answered, "Yes. Are you Uto?" When Uto answered in the affirmative, Isatemkhebet said, "Then I will take you to my lord and Pharaoh Hakotep. He did not specify that you should be living."

Two mummified harpies suddenly entered the room. One flew to the pool on the right and began to sing. Nyema was entranced and moved toward the singer. Kaa breathed a blast of flames at Isatemkhebet. She called out a few words and a moment later a mummified bull with strange blades protruding along its back appeared in the room. Uto cast a spell to detect the level of injury suffered by everyone in the chamber. The water in the pools began to churn and two very large water elementals emerged, as Kaa had feared. Hutt again granted extra speed to everyone. Igby realized that the mummified "bull" was actually a gorgon, a creature with the power to petrify with its breath. Azzaria remarked, "Now we know what made the statues in that room!"

Igby cast a spell of his own and both Isatemkhebet and the gorgon froze in place, unable to move. While they were held, the Ruby Scarabs applied themselves to defeating the harpies and elementals. Azzaria and Kaa both took flight. Sula summoned lightning to strike the harpies, which were able to evade it, then she turned her bolts on the elemental nearest to the enthralled and oblivious Nyema. The elemental struck the big cat even though she posed no threat to it at that moment. Azzaria attacked one of the elementals using the Crook of the River flail, which allowed her to rush it and be drawn toward it. Despite that the flail's attack was water it harmed the elemental. Igby continued attacking the elemental while Azzaria turned on one of the harpies and Sula continued to attack the second elemental with lightning.

Hutt meanwhile looked into the passage that the harpies had entered from to be sure no other enemies approached and saw a bright shaft of sunlight.

One of the elementals was transformed into ordinary water by Igby's attacks. Both harpies went after Kaa and he slew one. Uto healed both Nyema and Kaa. The second harpy fell to Igby and the second elemental also died. With their other enemies slain, the Scarabs quickly healed some of their wounds and turned to face Isatemkhebet and the gorgon again. Sula cast another spell prepared to drop a wall of wind in front of the gorgon if it began to exhale its petrifying breath.

Next: part 43, The Last of Isatemkhebet

[Pathfinder] Mummy's Mask, part 41: Into the Flying Pyramid

The following morning after Hutt had made sure he could safely teleport back to the chamber where they had found the ankh key, the Ruby Scarabs emerged and climbed back up to the surface. Uto levitated up, using his enhanced strength to carry Nyema since the lioness couldn't climb up a rope. Once they were on the surface level of the strange earthworks, the Scarabs intended to seek out the guardians they would have to eliminate or disable before they could activate the power that would allow them to bring down Hakotep's flying pyramid.

They had hardly begun when Uto received a another magical message from the priest Ptemenib in Wati. Ptemenib told him that the Scarabs' former comrade Igby, who had parted from them before they left Wati to travel into the desert, had returned to the town. Realizing that to have another person with them would make it easier to activate the structure known as the Khepsutanem. Ptemenib told Uto that he had a priest of Nethys with him who could teleport himself, Igby, and Ptemenib to the Khepsutanem with Uto's direction. Uto agreed to this and provided as much detail about the Khepsutanem's location as he could, advising Ptemenib that they should teleport to the river bank where Hutt had placed the Scarabs when they first teleported to the location. After he finished the communication, Uto told his companions to expect the arrival of Ptemenib and Igby soon, and they headed toward the river to greet the new arrivals.

At a bend in the river that was nearest to the Khepsutanem, they found a small group of people, including two men wearing the half black, half white robes of Nethys' priesthood, and a tall muscular brown-haired man wearing the holy symbol of Iomedae over his armored breastplate. This was Igby, who the Scarabs greeted warmly and introduced Hutt to him. Meanwhile one of the priests of Nethys became very interested in the mask of Hakotep that Uto wore and asked if he could examine it, which Uto firmly declined to permit. After greetings and introductions were done, Ptemenib showed the Scarabs an image of the five-pointed star that appeared on the face of the flying pyramid that had appeared ove Wati. None of the Scarabs recognized the significance of the emblem. They questioned Ptemenib and the other priests about the appearance of the pyramid, and wondered if it was truly Hakotep's pyramid or if perhaps there could be more than one flying pyramid in existence. The command combination Chisisek had given them was only designed to bring Hakotep's pyramid. If the pyramid over Wati wasn't the pharaoh's own structure, the combination wouldn't work against it.

As they spoke further, Igby mentioned that the pyramid over Wati looked as thought it had been ripped out of the ground. It was described as a smallish pyramid, perhaps 500 feet along each side. Uto speculated that it might not be as powerful as Hakotep's pyramid. The more they talked, the more the Scarabs began to feel that they should return to Wati and try to eliminate whoever was controlling the pyramid before they attempted to activate the Khepsutanem. The Nethys priest who had teleported their group to the Khepsutanem explained that he didn't have the magical capability to teleport the entire group to Wati himself. He shared his memory of Wati with Hutt, who had never been there, so Hutt could teleport the rest of the group.

When Hutt cast his spell, the Scarabs found themselves standing outside the temple of Nethys. One of the priests told the Scarabs that the priests had been unable to dispel the pyramid's power of flight - it was too powerful. The Scarabs would have to attack it in the air.

Hutt then cast a second teleportation spell, carrying the Scarabs to the portico of the pyramid overhead. Because it was a tiny portico and they didn't know what they would find inside, Sula remained in her normal form with Nyema secured in her pouch as a figurine. They found themselves standing before a dark opening. Just inside, something moved in the darkness. As their eyes adjusted they saw several mummified winged figures, their bodies blackened, standing guard. Two of these creatures had longbows. Then they heard a feminine voice commanding them to leave their weapons and armor to appear before "the general." The voice was intimidating, but no one obeyed its command. Hutt responded by sending a blast of fire down the passageway, but it seemed to have no effect on the winged creatures. None of the Scarabs recognized what manner of creatures the sentries were.

The creatures with bows fired at Kaa, who stood at the lead of the party. Then one of them began to sing and some of the members of the Scarabs realized they must be harpies. That didn't help Sula, who was immediately entranced by the song and began to move toward the singer. Hutt cast a spell to grant alacrity to everyone and then flew down the passage. Igby moved forward to engage with the nearest harpy. One of the harpies flew toward the Scarabs. Azzaria became enraged and used the power of the river to rush toward a harpy and attack it with both her kopesh and her mace. Sula encountered a barrier that halted her movement toward the harpy. A cloud of green gas filled the passageway, burning with acid. A magical field covered the exit. Uto suspected there was an invisible creature in the passage and directed one of his invisible spirits to kick sand at it to reveal it. Hutt cast a spell to dispel the magic, then surrounded himself with a field that would repel living creatures, forcing any creature near the entrance to be repelled. One of the harpies flew past Azzaria and suffered a blow from her, while another harpy flew up out of the green fog. Kaa pummeled a harpy with his fists and she dove at him.

Uto headed down the passageway but was blocked by the same unseen force that had stopped Sula's progress. This same barrier did not appear to affect the undead harpies. Uto dispelled the barrier with his magic, and the acid fog disappeared as well. One harpy collapsed when Hutt sent magical beads of force at it. Kaa tackled the harpy whose song had enthralled Sula. Uto sent one of his spirits to push a fallen harpy off the portico and attacked another harpy but missed his strike. The harpies who had been firing their bows dropped the weapons and drew their kopeshes to attack Kaa. Igby moved to Kaa's side to battle them. After another harpy fell and did not move again, Hutt ordered Little Anubis to stand guard over it. Azzaria's furious blows destroyed another harpy.

Sula was suddenly freed of the effect of the harpy's song and withdrew behind the bronze sentinel, drawing the figurine of Nyema out of her pouch to restore the big cat to her normal form. She then cast a spell on both of them to harden their skin into a barklike consistency. The remaining harpies began to move more rapidly, as though they had access to the same magic that Hutt could command. Uto channeled his healing power to injure the undead harpies. Igby pinned one of them in the corner of the passageway. Hutt moved back to the entrance and searched the body of a fallen harpy, finding a stone tooth in its belt pouch. Then the last remaining harpy fell to Kaa.

The Scarabs searched the bodies of the other harpies that Hutt hadn't examined but found no more stone teeth. They took the armor and weapons the creatures had borne and put them in the floating sarcophagus that followed the bronze sentinel. Two more of the harpies carried stone teeth like the one Hutt had found. Azzaria went to check around the corner in the next hallway and observed that on the walls was a message formed of tiny feathers. There was also a mural at the end of the hallway depicting Osiriani warriors looking up at the message. Azzaria also found a small room containing a statue of an armored woman. Kaa discovered a panel behind a five-pointed star emblem like the one Ptemenib had shown them. Inside the panel was a map of the interior of the pyramid, indicating that there was a deadly trap in another hallway. The map also showed that the pyramid contained various rooms dedicated to military purposes, such as an armory and a parade hall.

The next corridor was approximately sixty feet long. The map Kaa had found indicated that it contained no traps, but the tengu checked for them anyway. He noticed a seam in the floor that might indicate it could be caused to open. On examining it further he realized that there was a continuous panel in the floor that extended right up to the door. The floor was also decorated with a mosaic of the sun and inscriptions of blasphemous prayers. The door was the trigger to open the floor panel, which the Scarabs assumed would cause the victims of the trap to fall through the bottom of the flying pyramid and plummet to their deaths. Kaa disabled the trigger for the floor panel. Beyond the next doorway was a twisting corridor with an archway in the shape of a serpent's head. Three fangs were missing from its open mouth. This did not have any traps Kaa could detect with his not inconsiderable skill. Kaa took the three stone fangs the harpies had carried and inserted one of them in one of the empty sockets in the serpent's mouth. The Scarabs heard a grinding sound from the far end of the twisting tunnel. The other two sockets closed. When Kaa removed the fang, they heard the grinding noise again and the two closed sockets reopened. Kaa then went to the other end of the tunnel and observed that the turned and ascended. One of the other fangs caused the tunnel to slide forward and descend slightly, ending in a door. The third fang made the tunnel extend about forty feet and end in an archway flanked by two doors on either side. Through the archway the Scarabs could see a long pathway and a swath of open blue sky.

Next: part 42: Against the General