Sula flew over the div and transformed herself into a crocodile, diving into the water. The div dived also and summoned a cloud of stinking gas at the other Scarabs. Kaa made a flying kick out over the water to pummel the div. Then Hutt flew over to the creature and cast a spell, and the div, shouting, "Trout!" In response, the div suddenly turned into a fish! Azzaria immediately slaughtered the fish, and Kaa devoured its head.
Beneath the water where the div had dwelt the Scarabs found a blue crystal pyramid and a communications pillar. The most recent message inscribed on the pillar told the party that the other flying pyramids were off the coast. After deactivating the pyramid, the party left the water chamber and went back to try again to access the room beyond the black iron bars.
Though they heard a distant grinding noise, the bars still did not open. Hutt, Kaa, and Uto joined together to examine them, determining that they held some enchantment that could cause them to become extremely hot without melting. Kaa tried putting one of the gems he'd recovered up to his eye to see if it revealed any hidden devices or inscriptions, but he saw nothing. The party began to discuss whether it was worth their effort to try to enter this room, as the only things they saw beyond the bars were three pools, several statues with the heads of animals, murals of river herons, and some small bones that Sula identified as remains of juvenile crocodiles. Then Kaa dived into the canal to see if there were any inscriptions under the water. He found none. Sula offered to use her ability to transform into a small cloud of whirling sand to pass through the bars and investigate the room. The others were reluctant, as no one else but Uto would be able to join her. But they were all tempted by the presence of what appeared to be an inscription at the bottom of the pool.
In the end Sula did enter the chamber, and Uto used one of his magical abilites to reappear beyond the bars. At the far end of the chamber stood two statues with the heads of crocodiles set on a dais, their bearing and iconography regal though they wore no crowns. But their heads were sculpted in a manner that indicated they could have had crowns. This intrigued the Scarabs, as the crown Hutt had taken from the elf statue had crocodile iconography also. Uto noted that these statues and the wall behind them held some magic. He approached one of the statues and set a crown upon the head of one.
A rush of hot wind filled he chamber and the statues began to crack. A masculine voice spoke in the ancient Osirian tongue, asking if this was wise and warning that intruders would reap their reward. A greenish gas began to issue from the nostrils of the statues and the bars at the other end of the room turned red-hot. Sula transformed herself into an elemental of earth. Uto flew past her toward the glowing bars. The cloud of gas expanded, reaching where Sula stood. When it touched her the elemental vanished, replaced by a young crocodile that immediately dived into the nearest pool.
Uto left the chamber, took out the air-cleansing candle the party had found earlier, and used it to dispel the green gas. The candle did not have any effect. Hutt had jumped into the water and transformed himself into the shape of a jackal as he paddled about. He realized that the gas's effect had been suppressed, but in his jackal form he was unable to speak. Uto re-entered the chamber and managed to capture the transformed Sula, although she had no more intelligence than a crocodile and struggled and bit him. The cloud began to move again and Uto barely escaped through the bars with Sula in hand. He cast a spell on her to break the enchantment and allow her to return to her natural form. Once this was done, the party members decided that they had done enough fighting and avoiding the dangers of the pyramid this day. They went outside the pyramid to rest and recover.
After they had retreated from within the pyramid, Hutt announced his desire to acquire a new familiar to replace his lost Little Anubis. The Scarabs decided to make another trip to Sothis to accompany him. While they were away, all of them realized that they had acquired new capabilities. Hutt obtained a familiar in the form of a tiny blue elephant, which he named Blue. Azzaria revealed that she could now assume the form of a young dragon and breathe dragon breath similar to what Kaa could do.
When they returned to the pyramid on the following day, the Scarabs made their way to the last unexplored area, the temple of earth. There they expected to face another div named Kaahbek. The door block required them to recite praises to this being for several minutes before it turned to sand. Inside they entered a circular chamber that smelled of earth. A large scarab beetle was painted upon the wall. Uto cast a spell on Kaa and Azzaria to enhance them. Kaa detected no traps in the vicinity.
The next space they came into was covered in a red gelatinous substance which was translucent and gave off a sour odor. The floor beneath this gel was covered in scrawled glyphs. When Kaa touched the red substance it did him no harm, though it was difficult to penetrate it and caused a slight tingling sensation. An inscription in ancient Osiriani read "Like to like opens the way."
Hutt decided to cast a fire spell into a corner of the room to see if it would damage the red stuff. This created a blackish-red gas and did damage some of the gelatin. Azzaria then turned into a dragon and breathed acid on the gelatin, which turned it to powder where her breath struck it. Uto recalled that acid was the energy of the element of earth and cast a spell of everyone to protect them from acid.
Azzaria breathed acid on the walls again, and Hutt decided to test lightning against the gel. This time the lightning bounced from wall to wall, electrifying the room like the exterior of the pyramid was electrified by the protruding iron rods.
After this, the group members decided acid was the most effective method for removing the red substance. Azzaria and Kaa cleared a route to a tunnel ahead, from which Kaa heard voices. He proceeded ahead of the group to see what was there. At one point in the passageway he experienced a moment of nauseation and dizziness. Then he peeked into a grand chamber full of stone sarcophagi, where the decorations on the walls appeared to be freshly painted. After observing this he returned to the rest of the group to report what he had found.
The whole group then went down the passageway together, experiencing the same nausea and dizziness that Kaa had felt. Because he was most experienced with magic that could manipulate time, Uto suspected they had met with some sort of time travel.
The room of sarcophagi proved to have three artisans in it, working on the decorations. They seemed oddly unconcerned by the presence of such an unusual group of individuals, assuming them to be other slaves and warning them of trouble if they didn't return to their own work area. Just as this conversation took place, a block of stone at one end of the chamber descended into the floor and a well-dressed man entered, followed by three spiny creatures the Scarabs recognized as devils.
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