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
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