[Pathfinder] Mummy's Mask, part 40: Caverns of Death

After Uto had his invisible servant gather up the bones of the dead slaves who haunted the cave, the Ruby Scarabs decided to continue exploring the underground tunnels in search of anything that would provide more information about the trenches above.

The tunnel where they had encountered the haunting continued on for another twenty to thirty feet before it intersected with another passage. As the group approached this intersection Kaa and Uto heard a faint shuffling sound and a cough, followed by a moan. Kaa crept forward to examine the area they thought the sounds had emanated from but he found nothing. The others joined him and they crossed the larger area around the tunnel intersection to the next passage. Other tunnels led off to their left and right, the left-hand one getting more and more narrow. The right tunnel let off into another side passage to the right again, but the main passage continued forward until it curved to the left and was dark.

Suddenly Azzaria noticed that the light was shifting in the same manner as it had when they encountered the lingering spirits earlier. Kaa also observed this phenomenon. Azzaria and Kaa both moved away from the area of wavering lights to avoid being targeted by the spirits and Kaa went into the next tunnel beyond. Azzaria went in the opposite direction, backing toward the rest of the party. But the lights seemed to follow them. Then a dark creature emerged from the natural stone wall, its body draped in fluttering black robes. The portion of its face that was visible had a mouth filled with many sharp teeth. As it appeared it emitted a terrible cackle.

                                                          Geist

Uto had emerged from the bronze sentinel, and as he did he realized that Sula looked ready to flee. Kaa sent a bolt of lightning at the creature, which seemed to do it less harm than usual, as if the creature was not entirely corporeal. Azzaria drew both of her blades, one of them enchanted to allow her to strike insubstantial creatures. Uto recognized that the creature was a geist, a type of undead creature that could panic other creatures with its awful laughter and was also capable of controlling haunted spirits. He quickly cast a spell on Sula to banish the effect of the geist's cackle and to protect himself and Azzaria, for the geist was still laughing. Kaa was too far away to receive the benefit of Uto's spell.

An instant later Kaa, Azzaria, and Uto found themselves covered in glowing green lichen just as they had been when they encountered the other haunted area. The geist must be controlling the spirits of this place to attack them. The geist moved away from Azzaria, perhaps sensing that her weapon could harm it. Hutt sent Little Anubis forward to jab at the geist with its tiny spear. The geist approached Kaa and snapped at him with its many fangs. Having realized the geist was undead, Uto used his power to channel positive energy to harm it. Sula also slammed it with her stony fist, as she had remained in earth elemental form as they continued their exploration of the caves. In response to these attacks the geist retreated into the wall.

This action reminded Uto that geists could not only pass through solid material, they could pop out to make quick attacks and then pass into solids again, making them very difficult to combat. He warned the others, and Kaa responded by using his ability to manipulate stone to open up the cavern wall where the geist had disappeared, revealing the creature in its hiding place. Hutt had summoned an invisible guard dog to protect him and its barking could be heard at the appearance of the geist even thought the dog couldn't be seen. Azzaria leaped behind the geist into the space Kaa had created, while Sula swung at it again but was unable to connect with it. Kaa and Little Anubis also moved in to attack the geist, and it retreated into the wall again.

A moment later the geist re-emerged to attack Azzaria, but because she was under a displacement effect it couldn't harm her and retreated again. Hutt called Little Anubis back to his side, and his guard dog ceased barking, indicating that the geist wasn't near enough to trigger that response from the spell. Then the geist reappeared behind Kaa to attack Uto. Uto responded with a curative spell that wounded the undead creature. Kaa stepped back and then attacked the geist, and a moment later its wounds caused it to discorporate.

With the geist eliminated, Uto set his invisible servants to gather up the many bones of the slaves who had been abandoned there and left to become haunts. After this was done the Scarabs continued with their exploration of the underground passages. They reached another area where the tunnel looped back on itself and then led into a connecting passage. At the next intersection of two tunnels they again saw the light of the greenflame lichen flickering in the manner that heralded more haunts. This time Azzaria, jumped back, Kaa went forward, and Sula joined Azzaria, and all of them avoided being affected by the haunts. The group moved on to a junction where one passage ran perpendicular to the tunnel they were in, then followed a short hook to the left. Rounding the hook brought them into an area of worked stone.

A staircase ascended fifteen feet to a circular room from which a golden glow emanated. The light did not come from lichen as in the natural caves; it issued from a gold and sapphire ankh that stood on a dais in the center of the room. Beside the ankh stood a lectern or podium. On a platform along one side of the chamber rested a chest on legs, which was decorated with a design of a winged scarab beetle. Kaa immediately wondered aloud if the ankh might fit into the ankh-shaped depression in the dais that occupied the first circular room they had entered before discovering the tunnels.

After Kaa assured them that there were no traps inside the chamber like the light trap or pits they had previously encountered, most of the Scarabs approached the room or went into it, leaving only Nyema on the stairs. Uto stopped the bronze sentinel just outside the entrance. Examination of the ankh's aura indicated that it might contain magic that could be used to activate something, which made it seem even more likely that it was meant to fit into the dais that would slide into the copper-lined tube.

The platform of black stone on which the chest stood had hexagonal shapes inset into its sides, which looked like they were meant to be receptacles for something. Azzaria and Hutt both sensed strong magical interference in the chamber. The chest also had a magical aura on is lid, as well as indications that it held something magical inside it or had some type of magic effect on its interior. Concerned that it might contain a magical trap, Kaa suggested that everyone else should leave the room while he tried to disable it. This reminded the rest of the group too much of what had happened to their first tengu comrade, Koori, who had lost her life to a magical trap in the tomb of Akhan-tepi in the Necropolis of Wati. As a result they all refused to leave him. Hutt then offered that he could cast a spell to block the magic and they could remove the chest and take it elsewhere to open it. Just after he said this some of the Scarabs heard a subtle sound from the ceiling, which was the actual source of the golden light in the chamber rather than the ankh. Kaa immediately cast a spell at the ceiling, blasting it with cold energy.

From above the party's heads two voices spoke, sounding like children. Both of them cast a spell simultaneously, which some of the magic practitioners in the party recognized as meant to summon a wall of force energy. Uto heard a message in his mind telling him that the Scarabs would not be allowed to do what they planned. A blinding light flared out, leaving everyone but Sula with watering eyes and eliminating Hutt's ability to see at all. Sula looked around the room to identify where the wall of force had been placed and realized it covered the doorway, preventing the Scarabs from exiting and trapping Uto and Nyema outside the room.

When she told her companions what she sensed, Kaa attempted to climb up the wall to attack their child-voiced foes, but he found that the wall of force also extended across the ceiling. Uto climbed out of the bronze sentinel and spoke to the creatures, saying, "Why can't you let us do what we need to do?" The Forgotten Pharaoh demands it." To this the voices replied, still speaking only to Uto, "You are not he. He commanded that we are the guardians of this place." Again the sounds of spellcasting could be heard, this time a spell that would turn aside the magic of other spells. Azzaria cast a spell on herself to allow her to see invisible things so she could clearly see where the walls were located. Uto turned to Sula and asked her if she could heal Hutt's blindness, as the rougarou mage was stumbing around the room complaining that he couldn't see and threatening to take action despite being deprived of sight.

Sula burrowed into the floor to get out of sight of the unseen assailants, pushing only her face and one arm above the floor surface to cast a healing spell on Hutt and restore his sight. When he could see again Hutt cast a spell to dispel the brilliant light from the ceiling. Kaa asked how much of the room was covered by the force wall and Azzaria told him that it reached just above the door; the wall covering the ceiling was separate. Kaa then manipulated the stone of the chambers wall and floor to create an opening toward the stairs so the Scarabs could bypass the force wall to leave. While he did this, Uto attempted to convince the creatures to allow the group to leave, but they refused, responding by creating a mass of corruscating colors over the ankh. The colors had no effect on the Ruby Scarabs.

Hutt surrounded himself with a globe of power that would block all magic, and Kaa pushed the chest into the area covered by this field. Uto teleported into the room and flew up toward the ceiling. In the center of the room hovered two creatures that resembled emaciated children with contorted clawed hands. Uto recalled that such creatures were called shining children, evil beings from the Outer Planes. He allowed himself to float gently to the floor and warned his companions that the shining children were capable of casting spells like wizards and were also immune to some forms of energy. At that point the Scarabs all agreed that they should take the ankh and the chest and leave.

                                                     Shining child

At that moment two brilliant beams of light projected down from the ceiling to strike Uto, seriously injuring him. Despite his injuries Uto realized that this was not the effect of a spell - the shining children could do this as an innate ability! Azzaria and Hutt quickly coordinated to lift the chest, and Hutt grabbed the ankh and put it in his pack. Inside the magic-banishing field Hutt had created, Kaa opened the chest, only to find that it contained nothing! Azzaria also looked inside and saw no contents. This left the Scarabs rather confused, but they decided to remove the chest anyway. Uto returned to the sentinel and began to use his magic to heal the wounds the shining children had inflicted on him.

As Kaa stepped out of the anti-magic field, the shining children sent two more rays of light at him but only one ray struck him. All of the Scarabs heard the shining children say, "These things are entrusted to us, we cannot let you take them." The other Scarabs waited for Hutt to exit the chamber first as he was still surrounded by the magic-suppression field. He descended the staircase, causing the sentinel to stop functioning as he passed it, as did the enchanted collar Nyema wore. Sula moved out of Hutt's way and directed Nyema to move away from him as well.

The shining children descended and tried to snatch the ankh away from Hutt, then when that failed they attempted to wrest his pack from him. Azzaria ran back to help him. Hutt moved back into the room. Kaa entered as well and sent a bolt of lightning at one of the shining children. The wall of force across the doorway reappeared when Hutt's field ceased blocking it. One of the shining children flew up and fired a ray at Azzaria, then made to cast a spell but failed to complete the incantation. Sula commanded Nyema to stay where she was and headed back to help her friends. She burrowed through the wall of the chamber to emerge above one of the shining children that had just touched Azzaria with flames. Uto teleported back into the room, grasped hold of Azzaria, and teleported back out again.

Hutt began to laugh at the shining children when he saw Sula's stony face and arms emerge through the wall of the room. Kaa pummeled one child while Azzaria attacked it as well and within moments it was dead. The second child flew at Hutt and grappled him, burning him. Hutt decided that the anti-magic field was no longer necessary and dismissed it. Then he used his magic ring to switch places with Little Anubis, leaving the shining child holding on to the tiny bronze homunculus. The shining child repositioned itself, hissing, "Return the ankh or I will kill your friends!" It slipped past Sula as she tried to grab it. Hutt carried Azzaria past the wall of force. Her ability to see invisible things allowed her to perceive that the wall of force by the doorway was gone but the second wall remained inside the room. Azzaria and Sula both managed to strike the remaining shining child. It began to cast a spell, attempting to dispel the magical protections of the Scarabs, and succeeded in removing Hutt's protection from fire. Uto reacted to this by using a magical rod in his possession that allowed him to grant resistance to fire to everyone but Kaa without having to touch them. Kaa was too far away for even the rod's power to reach him.  Kaa opened up the stones of the chamber and emerged behind the shining child. Then Azzara flowed across the room like a wave to strike it and it died like its mate.

The struggle with the geist and the shining children had depleted the energy and magical power of the Ruby Scarabs. They decided that the chamber where they had found the ankh was a good enough place to rest and recover. But first they would check the rest of the area to make sure they wouldn't be threatened. They quickly determined that the chamber lay at the very end of the natural tunnels and there were no other caves beyond it. The haunts they had run into earlier appeared to be gone as well. This made them feel more secure about resting in the chamber. Uto's spirits gathered up more bones with help from the Scarabs. When they returned to the room nothing had changed, indicating that the two shining children had been its only guardians.

Hutt made an effort to identify what magic was on the chest, but was unable to do so. Sula took a look at it and determined that it was a chest that could hold far more than its exterior dimensions made possible. A person could even survive within it for a short time. It could be folded into a parcel the size of a loaf of bread for transportation, but the objects stored inside it would not be accessible when it was folded. Kaa had already determined there was some sort of trap on it, but none of them could make a definite determination of what it was, though it seemed likely it might be a symbol that would cause insanity since that was a power the shining children possessed. Hutt suggested having Little Anubis test this out since the homunculus was immune to insanity, but in the end Kaa disabled it with magical aid from Uto. Once the trap was gone the chest revealed that it held some bottles of very old fine wine, and a velvet pouch contained six objects that felt like ushabti,

When the six objects were removed from the pouch, they proved to be statuettes similar to ushabti, with hexagonal bases that looked like they would fit into the depressions along the side of the stone platform where the chest had stood. Each figure was made to look like a different thing. The first was a likeness of Chisisek that seemed to be made of ash. When removed from the pouch it crumbled. The Scarabs couldn't determine what magic it had contained, and there was none that could reform it.

The remaining figurines were all made from obsidian: a cloaked figure without legs, a bird, an earth elemental, a mummified dinosaur, and a humanoid whose features resembled some earthy creature. Hutt examined them to find that they were linked to the spirits that guarded the Slave Trenches. The bird represented a roc. If the bird figures was placed on the platform the roc would awaken, but while the figurine was on the platform the roc would be weakened. The legless statue would activate a trap that would transform into an assassin and attack the person who placed it in the depression. The earth elemental would suppress some of the power of an extremely powerful earth elemental that lay somewhere within the earthworks. The mummified dinosaur statue would grant an actual dinosaur mummy enhanced abilities. The last figure was a warden that formed a telepathic link to the wardings of the area.

As the Scarabs discussed these things and what they should do with them, Hutt and Sula recalled that when they had flown over the trenches they had seen an opening near the stone sphere in the circular structure which had looked like a nest. They suspected this was the roc's next. They had also seen an enormous 'waterfall' that was actually of sand, though they couldn't see where the flow of sand began.

Sula offered to search for an easier exit out of the tunnels so they could get in and out of this chamber more quickly, as it seemed likely that someone would have to remain in the chamber and switch the figurines. Hutt then looked at the ankh. They feared it was also trapped so it was dumped unceremoniously out of his pack so no one would need to handle it. It seemed that as they had guessed it was meant to be inserted in the dais in the circular room connected to the copper-clad tube.

Hutt then cast a spell to create a luxurious structure inside the chamber where they could rest in peace, looked after by a number of invisible servants like those that served Uto. Once he was rested and refreshed Hutt looked at the ankh again with help from Uto. It was a portion of a greater mechanism that would cast the light of the sun if held by a living creature, or create impenetrable darkness if held by an undead thing. In the light a dying creature would stabilize or a dead creature would be restored to life without suffering the usual loss of abilities that accompanied returning from death. In darkness it could be used to create undead creatures of greater power. When placed on the dais it would power the trenches for up to a week.

The Scarabs took all the information they had acquired and began to discuss what they should do next. They decided the best course of action would be to find all of the locations they needed to know to empower the trenches and locate all the guardians such as the roc and the earth elemental. Hutt would memorize the location of the chamber so he could teleport to it, to allow them to retreat to it if they needed to seek sanctuary.

Next: part 41: Into the Flying Pyramid

[Pathfinder] Mummy's Mask, part 39: To the Slave Trenches

Having recovered the stolen mummy of Chisisek and cleared the evil denizens of the Sightless Sphinx, the Ruby Scarabs had been about to set off for the strange magical earthworks Chisisek's spirit had told them could control Pharaoh Hakotep's invisible flying pyramid. But that plan was almost interrupted by a message from the priest Ptemenib in Wati, who told them that a flying pyramid had appeared over the town, accompanied by flying mummies, and that the occupants of the pyramid had demanded that the townspeople hand over the Scarabs for sacrifice.

The Scarabs considered Ptemenib's plea, concerned for the safety of their adopted home when they had only recently saved the town from rising undead. But after they discussed what the best plan would be, the group decided to continue with their original plan to seek the Slave Trenches, in the hope that they could force the flying pyramid to come to them and leave Wati safe. Uto sent a message back to Ptemenib to tell him an abbreviated version of this. Ptemenib responded that he felt the town would be able to survive for a time while the Scarabs carried out their mission.

Once the communication was done, the Scarabs used the  map that Chisisek had provided for them to allow Hutt to teleport them to the Slave Trenches. Hutt decided to take them to the bank of the river that the Slave Pits lay near. But because he had never been there and had only a map and not his own memory of the place or a description from someone else who had visited it, Hutt wasn't able to make the journey as accurate as they had hoped. As they materialized, they all suddenly realized they were standing on a slope covered in scattered scree. The loose rocks caused Kaa to lose his balance and slide downhill.

They didn't know where they were, so Sula transformed into a dire eagle and flew up to get a view of the surrounding terrain. Hutt cast a spell on himself to allow him to fly with her. Sula quickly caught sight of the river Hutt had been aiming for, but it was a considerable distance away. She also spied some regular lines on the opposite side of the river that seemed likely to be the Slave Trenches. Having seen the river made it possible for Hutt to cast a second teleportation spell after he and Sula returned to the rest of the party, and this time the magic carried them to their intended destination.

The air around the river felt more damp than what they had been accustomed to in the desert around the Sightless Sphinx. Rough scrub grew along the river channel. Ahead where the probably Slave Trenches lay they saw something glowing in the bright sunlight, a faint light like a campfire seen at dusk, but the time of their arrival was morning.

As they climbed over the crest of the raised river bank they saw spread out before them a vast earthworks, narrow trenches dug in straight lines going north, south, east, and west. They estimated the works to cover many square miles of the desert. Off to their left, on the east side, they saw a semi-circular structure. The glow they had seen appeared to be emanating from the center of it.

When they approached this mass of trenches they saw that the walls of the trenches were lined with thousands of statues, some of them larger than others, many of them heavily weathered and crumbling. The larger statues appeared less worn than the smaller ones, and the Scarabs speculated on whether those statues might have been protected from the ravages of time by magic, or perhaps they had been created more recently. The arrangement of the statues reminded Uto and Azzaria of a monument to the eleven gods that they were meant to seek here. Chisisek had given them directions to this monument, but his description was vague.

The Scarabs knew that they had to activate all the trenches and then the monument to take control of the pyramid. They needed to identify certain statues to determine which ones should be activated to engage the magic. As they began to explore the massive structure, they heard a faint continuous hum coming from all around them. They passed by many cracked and broken statues before coming to a larger statue of the old Osiriani goddess Isis. Uto and Hutt both took flight to get a better look at the tall statue and found a hieroglyphic inscription that could be interpreted in two ways dependent on the direction from which it was read. There were also numerous obelisks in the trenches, and it seemed that perhaps half of them were somehow contributing to the humming sound. These obelisks seemed to represent the four elements and it was likely that there were elemental creatures bound within them, something that Chisisek had described. Uto felt a strong aura of magic from these obelisks.

Eventually as the Scarabs worked their way along the trenches they came to a monument to the god Horus. At the end of the trench beyond this monument they detected something glowing. There was an opening there. The trenches were quite deep, ten times the height of an average man or elf, but the opening didn't extend all the way to the floor of the trench. Runes surrounded the dark gap but nothing could be seen within, as though a magical darkness blocked the light. One of the runes glowed and Hutt realized the glowing rune meant 'light'. Uto flew up to the opening while the others used ropes to climb up the ten feet between the trench floor and the bottom of the doorway. On the ground below the opening they saw human bones and remains of plant materials.

Uto spoke the word "Light" in the ancient language of Osirion, but it had no effect on the darkness. Sula then cast a spell to bring the light of day into the space. The Ruby Scarabs stood within a space twenty feet high, ten feet wide, and at least ten times that long. Runes of light glowed every twenty feet along the ceiling. Twenty feet along the wall to their left another opening led into a narrow hallway. Kaa moved forward first, examining the walls, floor, and ceiling for signs of traps and snares. He quickly realized that the light runes were a trap meant to flood the long passage with blinding glare. When the tengu monk turned to look back toward the rest of the group he saw an inscription on the inside of the entrance that read, "Only in the embrace of Set can Ra's light be stilled." He and Uto realized that this implied that one could only be rid of the blinding radiance by death, but this didn't prevent Kaa from disabling the light trap.

The room at the end of the narrow hall had been rounded off at the corners to form a kind of circular chamber with a dais at its center. The top of the dais bore an 'ankh' symbol in the center. The sides of the dais were covered in more hierroglyphic inscriptions that spoke about an alignment of energy between earth and sky. Another passageway led off of this chamber, but it was a cylindrical tube lined with copper. Kaa realized that the dais could be raised and would slide into this tunnel. Hutt told the others that the dais radiated faint magic, and that it seemed to be a key or a means of conveying energy. He then tried jumping on top of it, but the dais didn't shift. The Scarabs all suspected that this strange arrangement had something to do with energizing the trenches, but when they were unable to discover anything else about the dais room or the copper-clad tunnel, they went back out into the long corridor and continued down it.

The hallway was lined with cartouches bearing the name of the Forgotten Pharaoh, Hakotep. This hallway turned to the left, to the east, leading the Scarabs toward another chamber. At the end of that chamber could be seen a short passage leading into yet another room. The first and larger room had a floor covered in complex designs. Four large statues of Set occupied this area, two at the far end of the larger chamber and two beyond it in the smaller room. Kaa realized that the floor of the large room was partly an illusion concealing four pits. Just as he warned his friends of this, the two closest statues turned toward him and raised the spears they held.

Inside the bronze sentinel, Uto drew out a scroll and then moved the sentinel toward Kaa. The other two statues rapidly entered the larger chamber. Hutt realized they were constructs rather than animated statues. Azzaria was very disappointed that they were not golems, as she had an enchanted amulet that could help to protect her from golems. Hutt cast a spell on all of the Scarabs to increase their speed and dexterity. Sula stepped just inside the doorway and began to summon a lightning storm. Kaa called out to the others that the constructs were a kind of such creation that they had met before, designed to fight to the death to defend a certain location and dedicated to Set, the god of death. His fists flew as he repeatedly struck the construct nearest to him, deftly avoiding the edge of one pit. The two constructs at the rear of the room began to gesture and Hutt recognized that they had cast the same spell on themselves that he had cast on the party.

Uto cast a spell of his own, dispelling the magic that hastened the constructs nearest the sentinel and Kaa. This unfortunately meant that Kaa, too, lost the advantage of Hutt's magic. The statue closest to the bronze sentinel opened its mouth as though shouting and stabbed its spear into the sentinel. The other construct struck out at Kaa and he was unable to avoid its blows. Azzaria charged into the room toward the construct attacking the sentinel and slammed her adamantine weapon into it. She seemed to flow like water, rising up from the floor to carve into it with both of her blades.

Uto's spell had also eliminated the illusions masking two of the pits, and it was not possible to see that the pits in the floor led down to a natural cavern some fifty feet below. While Hutt drew out a wand and moved to hasten Kaa, Sula brought a blast of fierce lightning down on the construct in the far corner. Kaa's fists flew again and the construct facing him broke into pieces. He then leaped across the pits to attack the figure Sula had just blasted. Both of the constructs at the back of the chamber stabbed their spears at him but the tengu was moving too quickly for them to strike him. Kaa hit the construct with a well-placed kick. The construct struck back at him with a spear wreathed in electricity. The second construct at the rear moved forward to throw its spear at Azzaria but missed her. The spear hit the wall behind her and then crumbled, while a new spear began forming in the construct's hands.

Uto emerged from within the bronze sentinel wielding a wand, which he used to make a slope in the stone of the floor at the edge of one of the pits. He had hoped to cause the construct to lose its footing and fall into the pit, but the construct adjusted its stance and didn't fall. It turned on Azzaria, but her swift blades sliced it to fragments. Only one of the two remaining constructs was still engaged in fighting the Ruby Scarabs. Sula directed her lightning at the other construct as it was now armed again and turning on Azzaria. It shattered, and one of its arms tumbled over the edge into the pit beside it. Kaa meanwhile had left his opponent scarred and dented, and Azzaria now ran behind it and as it twisted to strike her she smashed it to dust.

Kaa had taken many wounds from the constructs and Uto now went to him to heal him. While he did this the others looked down into the pits, where they could see stalactites in the cavern that lay beneath the chamber. Azzaria also went to look into the smaller chamber. She saw an alcove at each end of it, and a side passage leading away. Hutt was looking down into one of the pits and noticed a greenish glow that likely came from phosphorescent lichen. He was excited to spy a bone on the floor of the cavern, though he couldn't tell what sort of creature it had come from.

After Uto drank several potions to heal himself of the injuries he had absorbed from the others, the group decided to descend into the cavern to see if anything of interest could be found there. Sula took the form of an earth elemental to make the descent and made ledges in the sides of the pit to allow Nyema to descend with her, while Kaa leaped back and forth from one pit wall to the other to make his descent. The rest flew or climbed down with rope.

The bones Hutt had seen proved to be the remains of humanoid creatures, though they were very old. The glowing lichen were identified by Sula as greenfire lichen, which could cause madness if consumed. Ahead of them the Scarabs saw a natural tunnel only five feet wide. Sula had to meld herself into the stone walls to pass her huge earthen form through this tunnel. This tunnel went forward to the northeast for eighty or ninety feet, then doubled back on itself and looped to the west. After the loop it split into two passages, but these rejoined after a short distance. Up ahead they observed that there was more green glow, and the light flickered as if something was moving about. Kaa sent a line of lightning shooting toward this glow. Uto called out a greeting, and they heard a dry cough. The green light clung to Kaa, Azzaria, and Sula, making them all feel strangely hungry and a compulsion to eat the lichen, but all of them were able to resist this desire.

Hutt recognized this green glow as a strange form of a spell he was familiar with. Uto realized that it came from spirits who had died in this place, left to starve and driven mad by eating the lichen that was the only source of food. These people had been among the slaves who had dug the pits, abandoned there once their work was done. The shaman experienced a vision of their long-ago suffering after the heartless Hakotep left them to their terrible fate, but he wasn't sure how to release their spirits from captivity in the cave. Azzaria and Kaa moved out of the glowing area, while Sula receded into the wall leaving only her stony face visible. Uto then channeled positive energy into the area occupied by the spirits and commanded his ever-present invisible spirit servant to gather up the bones for burial. When this was done he used a hex of healing on the area as well. The green light faded and he hoped that the suffering spirits had been able to pass on to their designated afterlives.

Next: part 40, Caverns of Death

[Pathfinder] Mummy's Mask, part 38: An End to the Darkness

Once the Ruby Scarabs had found the armor and weapon of the priestess of Sarenrae who had been left to guard the Sightless Sphinx, a discussion began about whether they should continue to explore the rest of the structure or leave to pursue the whereabouts of Hakotep's flying pyramid. Azzaria argued that they had already agreed they didn't need to cleanse the temple, only find the corrupted maftets as they had promised Erayu. Kaa wanted to continue searching the remaining spaces inside the Sphinx, hoping to find more valuable items. Uto favored searching the rest of the temple also, as he did want to eliminate the dark aura that permeated the place if that was possible. In the end the group decided they would go on through the remaining unexplored spaces. But in order to prevent anything evil within the Sphinx from escaping, Kaa closed the openings to the exterior that he had created.

The party returned to the two large spaces on either side of a hallway that they had passed by earlier. As they looked more closely at the room full of slowly swirling mud, Hutt checked it for magic and found nothing. But they all suspected there might be something living underneath the mud since there was no reason for it have currents inside the Sphinx. Sula also spied three small niches in the far wall that were the same size as the three tiles they had found. Each niche had a hieroglyphic symbol above it, which Sula couldn't read. Unwilling to touch the mud, Azzaria and Kaa flew across it to examine the niches up close. Both of them were able to read the ancient Osiriani hieroglyphs. They discovered that the niche on the left had the symbol for 4 above it, while the right-hand niche had the symbol for 2. The center niche had no symbol. It was Kaa who realized how the tiles related to the numbers: one tile was of a four-legged sphinx, one of a legless snake, and one depicted a two-legged human.

When each of the three tiles was inserted into the niche with the matching number of legs indicated, a hidden door opened in the floor of the chamber on the opposite side of the hallway, revealing a descending staircase. Once Kaa had assured that there were no traps on the stairs the Ruby Scarabs climbed down into a dark chamber that smelled musty and disused. The floor was covered with slightly damp sand except for a small pool in the corner to the right of the stairs. Their lights fell on a double door opposite the stairs. Then a gargantuan creature lunged out of the darkness and snatched Kaa up in its massive, toothy jaws. It was a vast, mummified crocodile.

                                    Mummified Dire Crocodile

Kaa struggled unsuccessfully to free himself from the gigantic crocodile's grip. Sula, who was still in her earth form, glided over to the crocodile and slammed a stony fist into it. Hutt granted magical speed to everyone, allowing them to attack almost twice as often. Azzaria flew to the other side of the creature from Sula so they could take advantage of their opposing positions. The crocodile began to roll just as an ordinary crocodile in water would have done, repeatedly smashing Kaa against the floor. Kaa responded by pummeling the crocodile. Its head was damaged by his attacks, which enabled him to pull free of its jaws. Azzaria realized that the creature had very tough hide and began to pound it with her adamantine flail. Within moments the enormous mummified crocodile slumped over and ceased moving.

Sula looked around the rest of the chamber and realized that there were no tracks anywhere. She speculated that at some point the chamber had been flooded, which would have erased any signs of activity. After Uto extended some healing to him, Kaa examined the double doors and determined they were magically warded by a symbol that might be intended to influence the mind. This was more difficult than other traps he had dealt with previously, but he was able to disable it and open the doors.

Beyond the doors lay a chamber that clearly held the wealth of the temple of Areshkagal. Three squat figures of demons sat at one end, next to several chests full of coins and gems. But it was what stood in the center of the room that the Ruby Scarabs' eyes were drawn to: a large sphinx with six legs colored blue and wings tinted red. This sphinx's face was entirely unlike Tetisurah's humanoid features. Instead it had two glowing red eyes and a gash of mouth on an otherwise featureless visage. The sphinx stretched languorously and spoke, remarking on the nuisance of the Forgotten Pharaoh cultists upstairs. When Kaa and Hutt responded that the cultists had been eliminated by the Ruby Scarabs, the sphinx snarled, "Then I, Areshkhesbed, have no more use for you!" and lunged forward.

                                                       Areshkhesbed

Sula descended in to the earth beneath the floor and glided toward Areshkhesbed. The sphinx cast a spell, which Hutt identified as a spell of blasphemy, and once more granted haste to his companions, omitting only Sula because his magic couldn't penetrate the earth. Kaa aimed a blast of flames at the demonic sphinx, but as the fire reached her he saw it transform back into the ki energy that had fueled it. Azzaria, raging, began to fly toward the sphinx, her images swirling around her. Sula surged up through the floor and swung her fist at the sphinx but her punch went wide. In response Areshkhesbed took flight. Azzaria struck her repeatedly. Areshkhesbed retaliated by smiting Azzaria with unholy energy. Hutt attempted to transform the sphinx into a duck, but his magic failed to affect her. Kaa drew his immovable rod and positioned it above his head, then leaped up to balance on it, pounding the infernal sphinx with his fists. Azzaria's flail swung rapidly, raining blows on Areshkhesbed, but only once did it make contact. Sula raised herself a little farther out of the ground to strike, charging her fist with her innate lightning, which appeared to have no effect on the sphinx. Her punch also did less damage that it ordinarily would have done. Kaa's fists and feet found better purchase, and Areshkhesbed suddenly slumped to the ground. Uto announced that she wasn't dead yet; he could still sense her life force and her wounds were healing. Azzaria charged her and made sure that she wouldn't recover.

The chamber where Areshkhesbed had dwelled proved to contain fewer riches than had first seemed when the Scarabs entered. The sphinx wore a magic headband and bracers, and they also found a magic cape of golden sphinx feathers and an enchanted sickle in the chest. But the three demonic statues were not magical, only made of valuable materials, and there was a relatively small quantity of coins and precious jewels. The chamber showed no sign that anyone other than Areshkhesbed had entered it in a very long time. Uto surmised that she was a divine guardian, tasked with looking after the Sightless Sphinx and unable to leave it, though she could scry on any point within the structure at will as well as teleport to any space within it.

When the Ruby Scarabs had gathered up the valuable and magical items from Areshkhesbed's chamber, they returned to the chamber upstairs. The oppressive atmosphere of the interior of the Sphinx had gone with Areshkhesbed's demise. They continued along the hallway that led past the mud room. After turning a corner, they came to a room where a glowing stone disk hovered in the center. Beyond it was a door covered in figures of twisting demons and a snarling sphinx. Kaa was unable to determine how to open this door. The activating mechanism eluded him. except that it seemed to be somehow connected to the floating disk. Sula detected that the disk was kept floating by transmutation magic, but she didn't know what specifically it was. Hutt then jumped up to stand on the disk, tilting it on its axis. Immediately the door swung open.

The room beyond the door was a curious one, with a curved wall opposite the door and the lower portions of its walls covered in glittering crystals that Hutt thought might be diamonds. A statue of a cat-headed figure stood inside. There was also a slightly cracked image of a faceless female figure wearing a pharaoh's crown. In the center of the room stood a circular dais, its edge covered in silvery magical symbols. Kaa stepped into the room in an effort to read the symbols. Azzaria climbed up onto the dais. Suddenly the cat-headed figure began to move forward. Kaa backed out of the room and Azzaria followed him. The figure pursued her. Sula dealt it a heavy blow. Azzaria swung her flail at it. Hutt announced that it was a kind of golem called a panthereon that could inflict victims of its bites with a curse, and could also fire a beam from its eyes and grant itself increased speed. He then jumped off the disk, intending to shut the door. Instead the golem blocked it open. Hutt quickly used his wand to speed everyone. Azzaria remembered that she had a clasp in her possession that was enchanted to help fight golems, and reminded her friends that they would need adamantine weapons that were not edged weapons to defeat the golem.

                                                       Panthereon

Sula had no adamantine weapons, but her large earthen fists were not edged weapons so the swung them a the panthereon. The golem began to move faster, too. Azzara flew into a battle fury and her flail smashed it to pieces. The door to the odd room slammed shut without the golem to hold it open, but Hutt jumped on the disk again and it opened once more. Kaa searched the room, finding no items and no secret compartments. The dais however showed signs of recent traffic. Hutt detected conjuration magic throughout the room. He realized that it was a protection against anti-teleportation magic. The rest of the Sightless Sphinx was permeated with wards to prevent teleportation. Only in this room could one teleport into the interior of the Sphinx. But the door had to be closed for the teleportation dais to function. Once this trick was uncovered, Hutt suggested blocking the door open so no one could teleport in. The Scarabs placed the broken fragments of the destroyed pantherion on the disk to keep the door open.

Beyond the teleportation room they came to a long hallway flanked by several rooms. The first room they looked into held the remains of several cots, and some fragile wall scrolls that might have some value if they could be removed without falling to dust. The Scarabs decided to leave them for later and continued on to the next room. It held wooden scroll racks that were in fair condition, but most of the scrolls they had held had crumbled. Only a few scrolls and scroll cases were still intact. Hutt sensed four sources of magic within the room, emanating from the intact scrolls and cases. One of the scroll cases was carved from ivory and inset with lapis lazuli, though its contents had turned to dust. They gathered up the ivory case and another case of bone, as well as several scrolls containing spells.

Across the hall from the scroll room was a chamber that had probably been the quarters of the senior scribe. Four more rooms after that were all barracks for the scribes. Azzaria wondered if the Scarabs should use their magic to restore the decayed scrolls in the scriptorium, but Uto told her they had probably all been religious texts devoted to Areshkagal that would be of little value. The sleeping quarters for the scribes yielded no items of interest and contained no hidden compartments. The group then returned to the room with the hanging scrolls and Hutt cast a spell on them to restore them to transportable condition. Afterward the party discussed how to remove the golden emperor scorpion from the sculpture gallery.

When at last they returned to the outside, Uto healed some of the madness afflicting the maftet prisoners. While he was able to improve their mental condition, he couldn't entirely restore them to the state they had been in before being corrupted by the malign influence of the Sightless Sphinx.

Within a day the other maftets led by Erayu arrived at the Sphinx. They were saddened to learn of their people who had been slain, but they were so glad and grateful that some had been spared that they held a feast in honor of the Ruby Scarabs. Erayu also presented the Scarabs with a very fine enchanted scimitar as a token of gratitude. He asked the Scarabs if they could seal up the Sphinx to prevent any future generations of his people from being tempted to enter it. As part of this Kaa reset the riddle trap on the main entrance, working with Uto to devise an even more difficult riddle. Uto also placed a wall of stone across the secret etrance in the damaged left foreleg, leaving that entry as a place that the Scarabs could use in future if they chose.

As the Ruby Scarabs spent their last day at the Sightless Sphinx, Kaa suddenly heard the voice of Ptemenib, the priest of Pharasma in Wati, speaking in his mind. Ptemenib frantically relayed that Wati was under attack by a flying pyramid, and that those within the pyramid demanded that the Ruby Scarabs be handed over to them for sacrifice. He begged the Scarabs to return to Wati to lend their aid.

Next: part 39: To the Slave Trenches

[Star Wars] Guardians of Peace, episode 14: "Chasing Shadows"

Hidden groups and dark forces are at work to undermine the centers of peace and order in the galaxy. They use extortion, blackmail, and bribery to destabilize and discredit the galactic governments. They work through criminals, pirates, and dark cults to achieve their evil ends.

Jedi Knight Taanar Ryl has thwarted an assassination attempt on a New Republic Senator, and captured the person behind the plot, Breena Alfassa. After questioning her and leaving her in custody on Taris, the Jedi and her companions learn that Breena Alfassa was killed by a mysterious figure.

Next they confer with allies in the New Republic and the Empire on a plan to unmask their hidden foes….

Back aboard the Stellar Flare, Taanar Ryl met in conversation via commlink with both Jedi Master Kanan Jarrus and Imperial Sector Ranger Magda Insco to tell them what her team had learned and what had happened on Taris. The planet that kidnapped Imperial Knight Vimma Montari had mentioned to Nema Secura, Valdax 3, was located in the Outer Rim and was unknown to either the Antarian Rangers or the Imperial Scouts. Sector Ranger Insco explained that the Star Destroyer Autocrat, which had been seen by the Stellar Flare, had been reported destroyed. The other two ships were unidentified.

After Taanar signed off, Den Secura suggested that perhaps the team should talk to their old friend and informant Dexter Vex to see if he'd ever heard of Valdax 3. Meanwhile Ayja analyzed the video the Stellar Flare had taken of the three Star Destroyers, observing that they were apparently doing some mining on an unknown planet and ore carriers were transporting something both to the destroyers and to the pirate vessel.

Some time passed as the team prepared for their next mission in pursuit of Vimma Montari. Ex-pirate Ferb Skywalker completed Ranger training and was assigned to the Fortune of Greepo as pilot. The team then planned to join with Ranger 17 and visit the unknown planet where the mining was taking place to find out what Shadow Wing and their mysterious allies were up to. In preparation for this journey the Secura brothers stocked the Fortune of Greepo with grenades and thermal detonators. Ayja also armed herself with a new weapon.

Taanar's team was joined by five other Rangers in addition to Ranger 17 as they set off for the unnamed planet. As they approached their destination they noted with concern that there were no ships in the vicinity and no signals coming from the planet. It was a Class M planet, habitable for oxygen-breathers. As they flew over the mine site they observed a shocking sight: the entire site had been destroyed by orbital bombardment over an area of 50 kilometers. The blast zone was still smoldering, causing local weather disruption. Visibility was poor due to the ashy rainfall.

Nema suddenly warned her comrades that she could feel someone in pain and fear near the blast zone. Despite the poor visibility, Ferb landed the ship perfectly. Once they exited the ship Ayja detected a lifeform. The party fanned our to search with Nema in the lead, following her Force sense. The terrain beyond the blasted area was jungle. The group made their way toward a sandbar in the river, where they spotted a crude lean-to hut. Nearby lay the carcass of a dead bipedal creature, resembling a tauntaun. Nema called out to the hut, attempting to sound non-threatening. Ayja followed by repeating the greeting in several languages in case the occupant didn't speak Basic, "We're here to help." Den worried that the being would be hostile after the bombardment and warned his cousin to stay back.

A bloodied humanoid emerged from the hut, limping on an injured leg. He shouted at the new arrivals, "Get away! You're here to kill me!" He had a simple spear in his hand, but Den gently disarmed him and Ayja approached to examine his wound. It had become infected. The other Rangers quickly assembled a stretcher to carry the injured man back to the Fortune. Realizing that the newcomers didn't mean to harm him, the man answered their questions. His name was Danton, and he had come there with a group of colonists who had declined to join either the New Empire or the New Republic. Their community had been attacked by pirates who enslaved all the colonists and forced them to work in the mines by holding their children hostage. They had named their planet New Sanmar. Danton was in very poor condition, and after he gave the Jedi group this information, he died despite all Ayja's efforts to save him.

After this sobering event, Ren suggested that perhaps Ferb should move the Fortune up on the bluff above where it would be less exposed in case the pirates returned. He spotted some prints going toward the hills and the group wondered if there might be other survivors. Then Den detected someone apparently watching them. The brothers split up and slipped into the forest to seek the spy. As they neared the watcher, Den created a diversion to allow his brother to get closer. But the watcher surprised him by waving. A figure in dark armor approached, removing a helmet to reveal that it was Sector Ranger Magda Insco! Ren crept up behind her unseen and greeted her, "Sector Ranger, it's good to see you again." He was gratified that this startled her. Then two companions joined her. One person they recognized as Imperial Knight Teemo Fallon, who they had met when Vimma Montari was abducted. The other was also an Imperial Knight, an older man named Alomar Ring.

Suddenly the two groups heard a distant explosion. An Imperial Scout appeared and provided details of the location where the explosion had occurred. The two groups joined and decided to hike there. The explosion had occurred in a cliffside across the blast zone from the sand bar where they had found Danton. When they neared they saw a Gungan, and a ship, which Ayja identified as an old YT-1760 light trader. The ship had been parked in a cave, but boulders had fallen and blocked it in. The explosion had presumably been the Gungan's attempt to free it.

Taanar approached and called out to the Gungan, asking if he would be willing to accept their aid in exchange for information. The Imperial Scouts and the other Rangers had all hidden themselves to avoid giving away their numbers in case the Gungan was hostile or had companions. The Gungan responded by introducing himself as Woo Rummers. He told Taanar that he had been hiding there before the colonists arrived, ever since the Clone War, but Ayja murmured to Taanar that it couldn't be true because his ship wasn't that old. Taanar decided to call Woo Rummers out on his lie. In response, Alomar Ring ignited his lightsaber and demanded to know what Woo knew about Vimma Montari.

Woo Rummers argued that he was only there to notify the pirates if anyone came to the planet and didn't know anything about Imperial Knights or kidnapped children. His answers to questions about whether the pirates would be returning were evasive. Den cautiously confiscated his inactive commlink. Then Alomar reported that their Scouts warned of two approaching shuttlecraft. Within moments the two shuttles arrived at the site where Rummers' ship was trapped, each disgorging ten people. The Ranger and Knight groups all took cover in the forest before the shuttles landed. Magda Insco remained with Woo Rummers, who she had put in binders.

As the pirates emerged from their shuttles, Den began to fire on them. Teemo Fallon shouted, "Light 'em up!" and a grenade launcher fired from the Imperial Scout group. Ren fired on the pirates and two figures fell from the ramp of one shuttle.

Taanar moved closer to the two shuttles, drawing her lightsaber. Two blaster bolts were reflected from her saber back at the pirates and one of the shooters fell. Despite the binders, Woo Rummers made a run for it. Ren shouted, "Surrender! Throw down your weapons!" but the pirates didn't comply. Taanar stunned one pirate and decided to draw her own blaster rather than get into hand-to-hand range with the pirates. Alomar lifted a huge boulder and used it to pin down the fleeing Woo Rummers.

As Den stunned another pirate and Taanar moved closer to Ren, the Imperial Scouts moved in to wipe out all of the pirates with their heavy weapons. In a few moments the fight was over. Taanar and Nema noticed that despite being crushed by a boulder, Woo was still moving. Taanar removed the rock. Alomar angrily choked the Gungan, but Taanar demanded, "How can he speak when you're choking him?" and Alomar relented. Taanar then questioned Woo again. He admitted that the pirates were waiting in the nearby asteroid belt, intending to capture the Jedi when they arrived. But they weren't pirates, they were mercenaries hired by the Stellite Monks. Taanar persuaded Woo to signal the mercenaries, and the combined Ranger and Scout groups decided to take one of the shuttles out to meet the mercenaries in the asteroid belt.

As the mercenary shuttle headed out toward the asteroids, Taanar searched her feelings and couldn't refrain from muttering, "I have a bad feeling about this."*

*The GM had given each player a quote on a slip of paper at the beginning of the game. When it was time to use the quote he prompted the player. My quote was "I have a bad feeling about this", which he prompted me to say just before the end of the session.

[Star Wars] Guardians of Peace, episode 13: The Rot Within, part 3

Dark forces are at play in the galaxy. Shadowy figures and cults move among the far-flung systems of the unknown regions. Growing ever more daring, they advance toward the bright centers of the New Republic and the Empire.
After discovering evidence of the missing Imperial Knight Vimma Montari in the abandoned Imperial Tower the Jedi move on to their next objective, finding a link between the SHADOW WING and Senator Valens. They make plans to attend the reception for the Senator in the prestigious Robb Tower...


In the aftermath of the terrorist attack on Senator Jalaila Valens, Ranger Ayja had been knocked unconscious. She was transported to the local infirmary while the rest of the Jedi group were giving their statements to the senior constable who had secured the scene.


Once the mop-up at the Senator's office had been completed, the Jedi group went to the infirmary to check on Ayja's condition. Worried that someone in the constabulary might be in league with the terrorists or Shadow Wing, Ren surreptitiously took Ayja's datapad. The group then returned to their hotel except for Ren, who volunteered to remain and keep and eye on Ayja.


At the hotel, Taanar put Nema and Den in a Force trance so they could all recover from their injuries. Once he was fully recovered, Den decided to return to the infirmary to fetch the datapad from his brother. When he arrived he as spotted by a holonews crew and found himself struggling to answer questions from the reporter without giving away any information that might alert the Shadow Wing to the Jedi activities on the planet.


Once Den was able to get free of the reporter, he crept into the infirmary and tried to prank his brother, but Ren caught him. Assuming a more serious demeanor, the brothers decided that they should go together to take the datapad to FE for examination. They contacted the senior constable to ask that guards be placed in the infirmary to look after Ayja while they were gone. When Den told his brother about his encounter with the holonews crew outside, the Secura brothers decided to try to disguise themselves as maintenance workers to avoid being accosted again. Unfortunately for them, all maintenance at the hospital was performed by droids. Instead they had to disguise themselves as patients to slip out of the building.

Once the datapad was delivered to FE, the droid had some trouble extracting the data Ayja had acquired during the party. While the brothers were working with the faithful astromech droid, Taanar spoke with Senior Constable Zekman, who told her that Breena Alfasa hadn't been seen since the party. Afterward she and Nema went to the hospital and asked that Ayja be released into their care. They took her back to the hotel, where a few hours of Force trance allowed Ayja to fully recover from the injuries she had suffered.

By the time Ayja had recovered and could look at the data she had acquired, the team learned that Master Frowd, the Stellite monk leader they had encountered on Sathazaar, had been in contact with the Stellite monastery on Balthazaar. There was also information indicating that Breena had recently received an encrypted message from a disguised female humanoid asking for a progress update on their operation against Senator Valens. The team decided they would share this information with Senior Constable Zekman and sent him an invitation to meet them at their hotel. As they waited for Zekman, they were contacted by the business from which they had rented the speeder the Secura brothers had used. Taanar was told that the insurance coverage they had purchased would cover the damages to the vehicle, but the swoop bikes they had also rented had been stolen. Then Zekman arrived and they told him what they had learned from Ayja's datapad. In return, he shared with them some security cam footage that appeared to show Breena using a Force mind trick! After he showed them the video, Taanar told him about their entire mission to find the headquarters of Shadow Wing and locate the kidnapped Imperial Knight Vimma Montari. Zekman revealed that Shadow Wing had a relationship with a local swoop bike gang called the Flying 15. 

After Senior Constable Zekman parted from them, the team discussed trying to get information about Shadow Wing from the Flying 15 gang. Ren recalled that when he'd snuck into the pit area at the swoop bike racetrack he had seen a Herglic who looked very similar to the Herglic they had encountered previously in their contact with Shadow Wing pirates. He contacted the rental agency again and persuaded them to give him the information on the location were the stolen swoop bikes had been detected. Then they rented another speeder transport and set off for the Undercity.

While Taanar's team were on the way to the last known location of the stolen bikes, she received a message from the Stellar Flare informing her that reconnaissance telemetry of the three recently discovered unknown Star Destroyers showed them transferring goods to pirate ships. One of the Star Destroyers had been identified as a vessel that had broken away and disappeared ten years earlier during the Rebellion, but the other two ships were of an unknown design. Telemetry also indicated that there was some type of manufacturing or mining going on on the planet where the ships were detected. Taanar absorbed this information and continued on toward the stolen bikes.

Shortly after, the team arrived at the Ace Tap Cafe, a known hangout of the Flying 15s. They parked their transportation far enough away that it wouldn't be easily spotted and approached the cafe. Ren took point. Loud music issued from the cafe, conveniently drowning out the sound of their approach. A row of swoop bikes was parked out front. Ren took some liquid cable from his utility belt and used it to tie all the bikes together to prevent the gang members from using their bikes to flee. While he completed this activity, the rest of the group went inside the cafe to create a distraction. As they entered the music abruptly ceased. "What have we here?" one of the occupants of the cafe asked. 

Den responded, "You've got our bikes." He attempted to sound as intimidating as he could. The gang members all pretended innocence and claimed the bikes out front belonged to them. Suddenly the sound of bike engines revving could be heard from outside, followed by a crash as Ren's liquid cable prevented the bikes from taking off. The team hurried back outside to see who was trying to get away. 

They found Breena Alfasa just getting to her feet from the fallen bike. As Den moved toward her, she flipped out of his reach with a move that looked to Taanar very much like something a Force user would be able to perform. Den fired at her with his blaser and scored a definite hit. Breena shouted for the Flying 15s to stop the Jedi group. Ren then shot her in the head and she collapsed, clearly deceased. Taanar reached out with the Force and pulled Breena's body over toward Ayja so the Kaminoan medic could try to revive her. Ayja's medical skill was able to bring her back a moment later. The bikers began to fire on the team. Taanar used her lightsaber to deflect the blaster bolts from Ayja while she worked to stabilize Breena. Taanar attempted unsuccessfully to disarm the leader of the gang. Ren shouted, "Isn't the price of this job getting to high?" and fired on a female member of the gang, hitting her. Then Nema fired her blaster at the gang leader and dealt him a serious burn. Several of the gang members fled. Taanar turned to the remaining two and asked, "Would you like to join them?"

At that moment, the Herglic arrived. He carried a heavy blaster, which he fired at Nema. She hadn't yet noticed him, but fortunately for her he missed his aim and his bolt went wide. He was joined by a Gungan, a Klatoonian, and a Nikto. Den shot the Herglic. Suddenly Vimma Montari appeared, landing next to Taanar and attacking her! While Ren joined his brother against the Heglic, Taanar stunned Vimma . 

A second Gungan and another Klatoonian arrived to join the struggle. The second Gungan tossed a grenade toward Den but the blast was party blocked by a nearby heap of rubble. Vimma recovered from being stunned and murmured to Taanar, "I have to make it look good or they'll kill the children." Taanar released her, and Vimma used a Force power that knocked everyone but Den off their feet. Then she withdrew. Nema, who was unaware of what Vimma  had said, pursued and attacked with her lightsaber. Taanar attempted to disarm Vimma but the young Imperial Knight held on to her saber. Then the second Gungan threw another grenade, this time at Ren and Ayja. Ayja used her own body to protect the injured Breena from the detonation. One of the Klatoonians shot Nema and Den fired back, leaving the shooter staggered. Vimma swung back at Nema but her saber didn't connect. Ren took down the grenade-throwing Gungan. 

Taanar grabbed Vimma  and pushed her behind the rest of the group. One of the Nikto took cover behind the Herglic and fired at Den. The first Klatoonian fell after Den shot him, and his brother took out the second Klatoonian. Nema ran after Vimma , who had jumped up and run away from where Taanar had put her. As Nema ran after her, Vimma jumped on a swoop bike and called out to her, "The children are on Valdax 3 in the Outer Rim!" Then she sped away. The Nikto who had been trying to hide behind the Herglic tried to flee, but Ren shot him down. The battle was over.

The Jedi team took Breena and handed her over to the local constabulary. When she had recovered enough to be questioned, they interrogated her along with Senior Constable Zekman, but she revealed very little. 

After Breena was in custody, the group shared what they knew with Senator Valens. Then they received a call from Constable Zekman - Breena Alfasa had been killed. A disguised humanoid had infiltrated the detention facility, used a Force mind trick to evade the guards, and slain her. 

Next Episode: Episode 14: "Chasing Shadows"

[Pathfinder] Wrath of the Righteous, part 43: Into the Depths of the Dungeon

To Master Seimei -

I am still struggling with the best method to protect Jiro. I have learned to summon allies from Elysium much more rapidly than is typical, and by the blessing of the gods of magic my spells now last much longer than they should. Perhaps I should take advantage of this to summon friendly celestial beings to remain at Jiro's side and defend him. I must seek out a creature capable of giving healing that can offset the harm Jiro absorbs from the rest of our party when we are engaged in battle.

Jiro has created a sanctuary for the world of green growing things here outside the Citadel. He desires to add pathways and seating to make it a place of respite. I had not realized how much I missed the presence of living trees and shrubs until Jiro made it possible to feel them again.

In preparation for encountering the shadow demon Joran Vhane had warned us of, Jiro thought it wise to to acquire a wand that could grant my companions armor of force. Aravashnial agreed to create this item and I now carry it with me. I have also taken charge of a wand we found among Staunton Vhane's possessions that will make it more difficult for divinations to detect us. I have taken greater care to fill my enchanted quiver with wands containing spells that I think will be efficacious to my companions.

As we girded ourselves for our descent into the dungeon, Shim recalled all that he had learned of the abilities of shadow demons and reminded us that such demons can create nearly impenetrable darkness. He also gave each of us a vial of antitoxin in the event that any of our foes chose to use poison against us. Runa went to visit Joran Vhane again, but she did not share with us what they spoke of.

Irabeth then called us all together and presented each with a medal in acknowledgement of our deeds. All of the medals grant magical enhancements to their bearers, but each of us did not receive a medal with the same type of enchantment. The medals given to myself and Jiro will help to protect us from spells or effects that are meant to cause death. Naturally we were all very appreciative of these gifts, though Irabeth's demeanor gave an impression that she feared we would not return from the subterranean level of the Citadel.

At the bottom of the staircase leading down into the dungeon, we found a sturdy door, not as well crafted as the doors within the Citadel itself but still providing a challenge to Shim's skill at picking locks. Beyond the door lay an area confined within iron bars, with another locked door opposite the point of entry. Concerned that the door we had entered through might lock behind us and trap us below, Shim attempted to block it open, but could find nothing with which to block it. Zosta ran back up the stairs to fetch a chunk of rubble from the room above for that purpose.

The cells that bordered the barred foyer contained only long-deceased corpses. All around us we could hear a constant whispering of voices, never clear enough for us to make out their words. Jiro identified them as spirits, perhaps the remnants of those poor individuals whose remains lay in the cells. After Shim opened the next door, Zosta pushed a desk into the opening to prevent it from closing. Beyond it was a short passage and a third door that admitted us into a longer passageway lined with more narrow cells.

We had scarcely set foot in this corridor when two specters emerged from the deep shadows. Zosta, who was at the front of our group, immediately moved to attack them. Runa leaped behind them to flank with Zosta. Shim stood beside Zosta, and one of the specters thrust its shadowy limb into his chest. I could not see his face from my vantage several paces behind him, but I knew it had harmed him by the way his spine stiffened then sagged when it withdrew its limb from his flesh. I heard Jiro calling upon the spirits of his ancestors to aid us, and a distinguished old samurai in ornate golden armor appeared, swinging his daikatana at one of the specters. The moment the blade struck the creature it shattered and the spirit vanished, indicating that the specters were resistant to magic.

Zosta jabbed one specter with her fists and feet while Runa used her sword to slash it, the blade's enchantment allowing her to harm the specter as though it was made of flesh. Jiro's wand brought a weapon into being to attack our foe, but as with his spirit it was dispelled by the creature's resistance. A bead of force shot over his shoulder from Bohgong but it too failed to overcome the specter's resistance, the wand being one of minimal power. I tried the same with my own more powerful wand but experienced the same result. One specter reached for Runa as its comrade had done to Shim, but it failed to penetrate her armor. Runa used her divine power to grant Zosta a burst of alacrity so that she could pummel it again, and then two slashes of Runa's sword blade caused the specter to dissipate.

A third specter had appeared suddenly in the midst of our battle. It had taken up position so that it and one of the others could flank with Jestak, who had volunteered to accompany us. As Runa turned to face the other specter I hurled my spear into it, and Shim's curved blade then robbed it of its existence. Zosta repositioned herself to flank with Jestak. Runa granted her another opportunity to strike it after striking it herself, and those blows sent the third specter into whatever afterlife awaits such things.

The attacks of the specters had left Jiro considerably weakened from the harm they dealt to Shim and Runa. He used a wand to heal some of his own injuries, but the wand could not remove the weakness the specters had inflicted. Shim had only just had similar deleterious effects removed from him, and there was no magic that could remove the draining effect from him until the passage of another week. We would have to proceed despite the harm the specters had done to him.

To our left lay an area that Joran Vhane had told us was used to imprison mages, while to the right was a corridor leading to the torture chamber where we expected to meet the vampire. Directly ahead was another chamber surrounded by cells where the cultists had held their more valuable prisoners. Runa and Jiro moved toward this area to see what lay within it. As soon as they approached Jiro heard the sound of doors opening, though it was very dark within and little could be seen by the light of his lantern. Jiro felt some magic touch him, attempting to gain control of his mind, but it failed to subdue him. Shim then darted forward and pulled a surprised Jiro away from the entry to the cell block, at the same giving a rallying call to those who stood nearest to him. Figures had emerged from the cells, which I realized upon seeing them were the vampire spawn Joran had told us to expect. I called this information out to my friends, then flung a spear at one of the spawn, though the proximity of my companions caused my aim to go wide of the mark.

Jiro set his lantern to float in the air and called for another spirit. This time a very noble samurai in red lacquered armor appeared. I heard Bohgong emit a gasp of shock, though I did not know why. This samurai bore a flaming tetsubo to wield against the vampire spawn. Zosta charged past Shim to slam her fists into one of the spawn and it disintegrated into a cloud of ash. She turned immediately on the next one and it too was destroyed. Runa prayed to Iomedae and a blinding radiance left the spawn unable to see, but this did not seem to limit their movements. One of them managed to bite her shield arm.

Shim scrambled spider-like up the wall beside him and dropped down behind one of the spawn, slicing through it with his curved blade. There was so much movement that I decided hurling my spear into the melee would be unwise and instead brought a lantern archon to aid my friends. It tried to blast one with its rays, but it too was hindered by all the fighting. The fiery blade of Jiro's spirit transformed another vampire spawn into ashes. Zosta slew three more in quick succession. Only one spawn remained. This one lunged for Runa. My spear and the archon's rays both failed to strike it, but it died to a blow from Jiro's staff.

When the spawn were all gone and the floor was coated in their ashen remains, Jiro introduced us all to the spirit he had last summoned: despite that Bohgong is the current vessel for the spirit of Jiro's respected uncle, this spirit also represented that same person! Bohgong was clearly amazed that such an occurrence could be possible, and Jiro himself was quite bewildered. The spirit bowed courteously to us and then faded away as the spell's duration came to an end. Runa then entered the area the spawn had emerged from to see what else might await us there. The other cells were occupied only by more corpses.   

With the vampire spawn eliminated, we next decided to investigate the cells where spellcasters were held. This area proved to contain only two large cells separated by a space approximately the size of the cells combined. Like the rest of the area when had passed through there was nothing of equipment or furnishings in the space, as if the cultists had retreated elsewhere and taken all their goods with them. Only one of the two cells was unlocked. Concerned that these cells might contain some effect designed to suppress magic, I did not approach them. The open cells walls were covered in sigils that none of us could interpret. Jiro determined that these markings themselves were not of a magical nature. The other room's symbols glowed a malevolent red, and Shim stated that there was some dark and powerful magic in them.

Runa took a chance on looking into the open cell and was amazed to find that the walls were covered in images of butterflies etched into the surface, marring and covering the other sigils. Shim remarked that the butterfly is often used as the symbol of the goddess Desna. The whole cell held a strong aura of goodness and chaos, which was stronger on the north wall. When Shim went into the cell to examine it he stated that he felt energized by this aura, for it was Desna who had sent him a vision telling him to seek us. Runa then saw that along with the butterflies there was a prayer inscribed on that wall, which she read aloud. The words of the prayer asked for aid to escape and swore to serve the unnamed deity wholeheartedly should such aid be given. Shim admitted that he felt a sense of familiarity from this prayer, and realized that the person who had inscribed it had once saved his life. Inside the cell the oppressive aura of evil and the whispering spirits were no longer apparent. We surmised that the prisoner in this cell must have been Arushalae, the succubus heretic who Joran told us had escaped.

After thoroughly examining that cell, we moved on to the second, locked cell with the glowing red sigils. Zosta volunteered to try to look inside through the small window in its door. She saw no one within. She felt that the effects of several enchanted items she wore were suppressed, but once she moved away from the symbols the magic returned. Jiro expressed a desire to see inside the cell, but when Shim attempted to unlock the door he was unable to do so. He took a battering ram out of his magical haversack, and he and Zosta used it to smash the door off its hinges. The cell proved to be unoccupied. Jiro reported that when he entered he still felt the unpleasant aura and heard the spirits murmuring.

We departed from that area next and went to the doorway leading to the torture chamber. As with the other doors we had encountered, it was locked, but Shim had little difficulty unlocking it.

Next: part 44, The Vampire's Lair

[Pathfinder] Wrath of the Righteous: Interlude

Author's note:
After posting many installments of my campaign journal from the Shadows of Greatness campaign, I realized that the way I've been writing the Wrath of the Righteous campaign journal isn't nearly as interesting to read. It's dry and impersonal. To give it a little more passion, I'm writing this interlude from the viewpoint of Asami. I may start writing my whole campaign journal in this format.

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To:
Master Seimei of the Council of the Golden Flame
Golden Lotus Pavilion
Ayajinbo
Jinin

Respected Master:

Please forgive your unworthy apprentice for failing to write to you as soon as we arrived in the city of Kenabres. Much has happened since our arrival at the Worldwound. That does not excuse my failure to communicate with my master. 

Young master Jiro and I have been in the West for only a few months, yet so much has taken place in that time that were I to write of all of it, it would be necessary to send this missive to you in a chest. We delivered the letters of introduction to the human woman Cennami as directed, and she introduced us to a group of other people with whom we began to train in the Westerners' techniques of combating demons. This training was enhanced by the presence of an actual demon, of whom you were no doubt already aware. He is known by the name Rhino and has dedicated himself to aiding the fight against his own people. His assistance has been most welcome. It is heartening to consider that even the denizens of the Abyss can seek redemption.

In addition to Rhino, we became acquainted with a small group of others, one of them a member of Cennami's tribe who sees Rhino as her adopted brother. Her name is Zosta, and she wields in her fists and feet far more power than one might guess from her stature. She revels in fighting demons and their followers directly, but is able to enhance her blows with magic and is not unskilled with weaponry. 

The next member of our group of demon-fighting students is Frairuna, a tall woman partly of orcish blood. She is a warrior priestess of the goddess Iomedae and most devout in her faith, as skilled in oratory as she is in arms. Kenabres also boasts a devout warrior of Iomedae who like Frairuna is of orcish blood, and when we first began to go about the city as a group Frairuna was on several occasions mistaken for Irabeth Tirabade. It is extraordinary to think that we now travel alongside Irabeth and in many respects she looks up to Frairuna.

When we first arrived our number was joined by a half-elven man by name Aegronius, who had come to Kenabres with two comrades to join the Crusade. But his life has taken a different path and he no longer walks with us.

Were you to meet Jiro now you would hardly recognize him, so much has he been altered by his experiences. Humans are indeed an adaptable race. No more is he the timid and clumsy gardener who departed with me from Minkai. He has learned to fight with weapons and to wield greater magics than he commanded in the past. Yet he is still humble and courteous, and his heart is most content when he is able to see to the green and growing things of the earth. 

We had been in Kenabres less than a month when the terrible event of which you are doubtless aware took place. While we listened to one of the leaders of the Crusade speaking to the crowd during a celebration, a huge demon rose up over the walls of the city and began to battle with Telendrev, the silver dragon who had taken the city under his protection. The earth beneath our feet split asunder and all five of us fell helplessly into the dark depths. I cannot deny I feared we would fall into the Abyss itself. But somehow we were preserved from death, perhaps by the intervention of the dragon himself though he did so with his last breath as the demon slew him. We found ourselves in dimly lit subterranean tunnels, which we swiftly discovered were inhabited. Others had also fallen into the depths with us, a wizard of our kindred named Aravashnial who had been blinded by the demon attackers, and a human woman, Anevia, who is wed to Irabeth Tirabade. Anevia's leg had been broken in the fall. Also among those who fell when the earth opened up was a human nobleman called Horgus Gwerm. We determined to look after their injuries as best we could and escort them back to the surface if a way could be found. We did indeed find such a route, with assistance from the mongrelfolk who dwell beneath the city, and they also helped us to discover that some of the demons' followers had secretly infiltrated Kenabres to help effect the surprise attack. As soon as we reached the surface we hurried to notify the remaining authorities of the city and leaders of the Crusade of this force of infiltrators in their midst.

Kenabres was much damaged by the attack, and in the aftermath some of the worshippers of evil had taken charge of a structure known as the Gray Garrison. The forces within Kenabres had few resources left to retake the well-fortified garrison, yet they had urgent need to enter it to wrest away from the enemy the Wardstone that had protected Kenabres from the encroaching Worldwound. When we five were asked to enter the Garrison ourselves and seek the Wardstone, we did not shirk from this task, We were successful, but when we employed the enchanted rod we had been given to destroy the Wardstone lest it be used for ill by our foes, something none could have anticipated occurred when the stone shattered. I am but your apprentice; forgive me for speculating upon maters best left to those of greater wisdom. But I believe that when the stone broke apart some of the arcane and divine energies sealed within it were imparted to us. We five have gained new abilities we cannot explain by training or nature. Furthermore we all received a vision from the goddess Iomedae, whose fane the Gray Garrison once was. Each of us also received a vision of another kind, in which we were visited by deities more suited to our own upbringing and beliefs; I believe the entity which appeared to me in my vision to be the Spirit of the World Tree. I cannot explain the message it gave me, but I feel that it is my destiny to continue the fight against the demons and all creatures from other planes of existence that would seek to enter this plane to do harm to those who dwell herein. Aravashnial is a member of the Riftwardens as were my parents before me, and it is my intention to seek membership in this organization to further my goal. I hope that this choice will meet with your approval, my master. 

The destruction of the Wardstone did far more than impart new abilities to our small band of comrades in arms. The network of Wardstones that have defended the lands along the Worldwound from demonic invasion is gone. All of the other stones failed when the Kenabres stone was destroyed. Scouts from the army of Mendev have reported that many hundreds of evil denizens of the Abyss were slain by the energies released in this event, and they are yet disorganized and confused. But soon enough they will realize that the defenses have fallen. While we have the advantage we are attempting to retake the small city of Drezen, which lies closer to the Worldwound and was once a bastion of the defenses. It has long been held by the enemy, but while they are weakened and the attention of their commanders is elsewhere we shall undertake to wrest it away from them and recover the divinely blessed banner known as the Sword of Valor which once was held by Iomedae herself when she was yet a mortal woman. Already we have been able to free from the enemy's grasp an elemental being of wood whose grove they despoiled and who had been enslaved by them. Though I am proud that we were able to keep the Wardstone from the Enemy, I feel greater pride and joy in freeing this one captive. 

I cannot hazard to guess what you would think of me now. You would tell me never to guess. My companions have told me that my appearance has changed since we were given these divine blessings, but I have not observed this myself. Kirara has undergone a more obvious transformation: she is no more an ordinary feline, but has become a creature of Elysium, a silvanshee agathion, and she now delights in flying about me wherever we travel. Bohgong the monkey has revealed himself to be the vessel for the spirit of Jiro's illustrious ancestor, who has been teaching Jiro and Zosta the martial arts of Jiro's noble family. We have also acquired another comrade to replace Aegronius, who left us to pursue a personal matter. Our new companion Shim is like Aegronius partly of elven blood, trained in alchemical magics. We came very near to losing him as soon as he joined us, but Bohgong's quick thinking and the fragment of Wardstone I carried in my pouch combined not only to save his life but to bestow upon him the same kind of blessings the other four of us had been granted. We have been given the honor of knighthood by Queen Galfrey of Mendev herself, and named her Crusader Knights. 

We have also found what you and the other council members feared: the oni have indeed sought to ally themselves with the demons of the Abyss. Jiro's half-brother has joined them, though we are uncertain whether this was voluntary. But he has become possessed by the Nine-Tailed Fox. I myself have witnessed this with the aid of the spirits with whom Jiro can speak. I have seen other oni as well, preying upon the suffering people of the Worldwound. I will do whatever is in my power to stop them. 

I can but hope that you will approve of my actions here and find my efforts worthy of your teachings. I will write again when I am able. 

Your humble apprentice,
Asamiel no Seimei
Drezen
The Worldwound

Next: part 38, Seeking Redemption